The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 93 Plotting against Each Other

The sun was about to set, and the sky was suffused with a red glow.

The scene reminded people of a line of a poem: the sunset is extremely beautiful, only that night is falling.

Under Qi Lu’s warm invitation, Chu Xun and Hong Ling came to Qitian Jewelry Corporation on Beihua Street.

Beihua Street was one of the most crowded streets in Gujiang City. With each inch of its land as precious as gold, Qitian Jewelry Corporation had its own building on the street.

Looking up, one would see three words “Qitian Jewelry Corporation” shining brightly under the glow of sunset.

At the moment, those who just got off work, regardless of their status and jobs, all came out for a walk and enjoyed the cool leisurely.

Therefore, there were more people on Beihua Street at night than in the day.

Chu Xun and Hong Ling went to the street by Qi Lu’s car, a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

It seemed that rich people all loved this kind of car. The car Chen Hanlong gave Chu Xun was a Rolls-Royce Phantom as well.

Qi Lu opened the door of the car for Hong Ling affably.

When the bodyguards at the gate saw the scene, their eyes popped out. Usually, it was them that opened the door for Qi Lu, so they wondered what happened that day.

When Hong Ling got out of the car, the two bodyguards stared at her with fixed eyes.

“Miss Hong Ling, this way please.”

Qi Lu behaved in an elegant manner and hid the longing and desire in his eyes well.

Seeing the two bodyguards’ stunned looks, Qi Lu snorted with dissatisfaction.

His voice startled the two bodyguards, who immediately greeted him and said loudly, “Good evening, Mr. Qi.”

Qi Lu ignored them and led Hong Ling into the building.

Chu Xun pushed the door open and got off the car. He could not help but smile when he found he was ignored.

Seeing Chu Xun get out of Qi Lu’s car, the bodyguards regarded him as an important figure and opened the gate for him.

Qi Lu looked back and happened to see the scene. Anger rose in his heart, and he thought he must fire these two silly guards.

Chu Xun looked around and found the building decorated in a simple but elegant style.

He saw a sign beside him, on which it wrote:

First floor: gold and silver jewelry.

Second floor: gems and jade.

Third floor: ancient jade and emerald.

“Miss Hong Ling, walk around and choose whatever you like, take them as my gifts for you,” Qi Lu said in a generous tone.

Hong Ling chuckled and replied, “I won’t be hesitant if anything captured my eyes.”

Qi Lu was overjoyed and knew that Hong Ling rose to the bait. “Sure enough, all the women are gold diggers.”

“Let’s have a look on the second floor.”

After saying this, Chu Xun took the lead walking to the elevator.

Qi Lu gnashed his teeth in anger. What sold on the second floor was gems and jade, which were much more precious than gold and silver jewelry sold on the first floor.

Though Qi Lu was a lech, he was a businessman as well, so he hoped he could achieve his goal at the lowest cost.

“Yes, Miss Hong Ling, let’s have a look on the second floor. These silver and gold are too tacky for you, and a beauty like you deserves gems and fine jade.”

The words Qi Lu said were pleasing despite that he felt angry inside.

The three of them went up to the second floor.

“Miss Hong Ling, walk around and take whatever you like. Just as I said, take them as my gifts for you.”

“Thank you, Young Master Qi. I won’t restrain myself then.”

Hong Ling smiled charmingly, which entranced Qi Lu.

“Do not hesitate to take whatever you like,” Qi Lu said manly and stared at her fixedly.

Chu Xun seared the place with his divine sense carefully. He needed a lot of fine jade.

“Go to take the Jade Card carved with a phoenix ten meters away on your left.”

Hong Ling was scared and almost jumped up when Chu Xun’s voice appeared in her mind.

“Don’t be afraid. Just do as I said.”

Chu Xun’s voice rang again in her mind.

Though Chu Xun told her not to be afraid, Hong Ling was still surprised and frightened. The situation was so amazing.

Hong Ling suppressed her fear and walked to the showcase ten meters away on her left, just as Chu Xun told her. Pointing at a Jade Card carved with phoenix, she said to the salesgirl, “Please take this one out and let me have a look.”

The salesgirls there were carefully selected and good-looking with sweet smiles. Seeing Hong Ling accompanied by Qi Lu, they served her even more warmly.

“It’s nice. I’ll take it,” said Hong Ling.

The Jade Card was priced at 10 million yuan.

“No problem!” Qi Lu seemed not to care about the price at all.

As a matter of fact, he did have a plan. Judging from Hong Ling spending 80 million yuan casually, he concluded that she was very rich. He was thinking that after he got her onto his bed and conquered her, her money would become his money. By then, he could win not only a woman but also her riches.

“Let’s go and see if something else would catch your attention,” said Qi Lu.

Just when Hong Ling was about to refuse, Chu Xun’s voice rang in her mind once more.

“Take ten steps forward, and there is a pair of jade bracelets in the showcase on your right. Take them.”

Hong Ling had no choice but to walk forward and take the bracelets.

“Take 15 steps forward, and there is a jade ruler in the showcase on your left hand. Take it.”

Hong Ling was about to weep. If she took anything more, she would really be regarded as a gold digger.

However, when she thought of Qi Lu’s disgusting gaze on her, she no longer felt guilty toward him.

The moment she got the jade ruler, Chu Xun’s voice rang again. “Go to take the pair of white-jade earrings in the showcase behind you.”

Hong Ling gritted her teeth and cast all her worries behind her back.

“Walk forward about five meters, and take the five jade pendants in the showcase on your left.”

“Walk forward three meters, and take the two jade rings in the showcase on your left.”

“Walk forward ten meters, and take the jade dragon carving.”

“Walk forward six meters, on your left...”

“Walk forward three meters, on your right...”

Under the orders, Hong Ling went back and forth like a butterfly, and her hands were filled with jade objects.

Qi Lu’s expression changed, and his smile froze on his face. Now, he could barely put on a smile.

He began to admire Hong Ling’s taste. She only took what was expensive, not what was right for her. Qi Lu did not understand why Hong Ling would take a jade ruler, which seemed useless to her. So far, the jade objects in Hong Ling’s hands were worth over 200 million yuan.

“Did I take too much?” Hong Ling looked a little embarrassed. “Or just let me pay for them myself.”

Qi Lu’s eyes lit up. Judging from her words, her possessions were worth more than 200 million yuan.

“Don’t joke with me. It isn’t much at all. Take whatever you like, and just as I said, it’s on me.” Qi Lu wore a smile again and felt happy inside. “No matter how much you take from me now, you will pay back double.”

“These objects are nothing to Young Master Qi. If you pay him, he will feel as if he were slapped on the face,” said Chu Xun.

Qi Lu now was more satisfied with Chu Xun and found his words pleasing.

“Let’s go to the third floor!”

Chu Xun’s voice rang in Hong Ling’s mind.

Hong Ling rolled her eyes and thought since she had decided to swindle Qi Lu, she might as well swindle him thoroughly.

Qi Lu had no objection to Hong Ling going to the third floor.

There was nothing on the third floor that Hong Ling could take away, so he was not worried at all.

Different from the first and second floors, the third floor was decorated luxuriously.

The floor was full of moving people, sounds of machine working, and people’s shouts.

“What’s this place?” Chu Xun was curious.

“This whole floor is a venue for people to gamble on stones,” Qi Lu said in a proud tone.

For the time being, gambling on stones was popular among people. As people got richer and richer, a hot wave of gambling on stones overwhelmed them.

Qi Lu rebuilt the third floor to a venue for stones gambling, and different from other open-air venues, this venue was more like an entertainment club, where people could get foods, drinks, and have fun.

One had to admit that Qi Lu had a talent for doing business. The business in his venue was much more successful than that of other stones-gambling venues.

Chu Xun recalled that in his previous life, he once heard about stones gambling, but back then, he was just a college student and had no access to the field.

It was said that those who gambled on stones could suddenly become poor or rich and might lose everything.

Apart from professional knowledge and experience, luck played an important role in stones gambling.

During gambling on stones, some people would get rich in one morning while some would lose everything, which was common among those who gambled on stones.

“Are you interested in it?” asked Qi Lu affably.

Hong Ling nodded.

Qi Lu tried to take her hand and go over with her, but Hong Ling avoided his hand minutely.

Qi Lu was neither embarrassed nor annoyed, and still led the way for them enthusiastically. However, just as he turned around, gloom flashed across his eyes.

Qi Lu led Hong Ling and Chu Xun to the crowd.

Both gamblers and onlookers greeted Qi Lu one after another.

Qi Lu raised his head high and looked proud. He managed to put on airs imperceptibly.

Chu Xun looked around and found this one-hundred-square-meter venue divided into eight parts, and each part was filled with raw jade materials.

“Miss Hong Ling, pick one and try your luck,” Qi Lu said to Hong Ling.

“I...” Hong Ling was a little hesitant, but at last, she decided to try her luck and picked one stone.

Though the stone was just about the size of an adult’s fist, it cost 150,000 yuan, which was expensive.

The following step was to dissect the stone.

This step included two processes, burnishing the surface and cutting the stone open.

Hong Ling appeared to be a laywoman for she made a hasty choice, so there was no need to burnish the stone she chose.

The stone-cutter was a veteran. After receiving the stone, he cut it open and found nothing but stone.

The onlookers laughed uproariously but were not jeering at Hong Ling. After all, Hong Ling came there with Qi Lu, and she had a try just for fun not because she really wanted to gamble.

“It seems I’m not lucky.” Hong Ling smiled with self-mockery. Though she did it just for fun, she still felt a little upset.

“Not really. Only one of a hundred stones may be precious, so it’s normal to pick up a pure stone. Even if I were to choose one, I probably would choose a useless one.” Qi Lu comforted Hong Ling.

Qi Lu behaved well along the way. Facing such a young, elegant, and rich gentleman, ordinary women would have fallen in love with him, but Hong Ling was not an ordinary woman.

If she did not have any artifice, she would have been a plaything of those big shots for long.

In other words, Hong Ling was not a simple woman.

Qi Lu was too naive compared to her.

“Would you like to try one?” Qi Lu looked at Chu Xun and asked.

So far, he did not ask Chu Xun about his name even once, which was his way to show his undisguised disdain toward Chu Xun.

“Nope. I always have good luck, so I afraid I’ll pick out some precious ones,” Chu Xun said flatly.

Huh?

Those who were present, including Qi Lu, were surprised to hear the words and thought Chu Xun put on airs too much.

Qi Lu snorted coldly and said, “Just pick whatever you want, and if the one you chose is of high quality, I’d love to buy it from you with a tenfold price. If it’s not, you need to pay for it yourself.”

Qi Lu laughed coldly in his heart. “Poor guy, you don’t seem able to afford even a raw stone.”

“Okay!” Chu Xun chuckled and walked to the stones.

Qi Lu was surprised. He did not expect that Chu Xun dared to have a try because he was just trying to provoking him. Now, he changed his opinion that Chu Xun was a sensible guy and thought he was an idiot who would bring about his own destruction.

Chu Xun came to a pile of raw stones marked as No.1. The moment his divine sense swept over the stones, he got to know which ones were precious.

Stones gambling was indeed a deceptive game. Not as Qi Lu said that one of a hundred stones might be precious, the fact was that it was hard to find even one precious stone out of a thousand. Among those several hundred stones, less than five were precious.

Chu Xun did not know if the case only existed in Qitian Jewelry or existed in all kinds of stone gambling venues. If it was the latter, then gambling on stones was of high risk.

When Chu Xun’s hand swept over a raw stone by accident, True Energy burst out from his palm and shattered the jade in the stone.

Then, he stroked three raw stones at different locations carelessly before picking up a raw stone about the size of half of a football.

“This one!”