Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 881: Chapter 877: The Blue Book

Madam Yan nodded, ”Yes, this box is made of golden Phoebe nanmu.”

What a coincidence? Huo Sining was somewhat surprised but didn’t think too much about it.

Under normal circumstances, ordinary households would not use such a box to store things, but the Yan family was different. During the warlord period, the situation was turbulent, and the ones who controlled military power were at the top of the food chain. For a military governor’s family, having a few golden Phoebe nanmu boxes was not unusual.

Huo Sining did not speak, waiting for the Old Granny to open the wooden box.

While opening the box, Madam Yan said, ”The items in this box were collected by my father-in-law from somewhere years ago. To be honest, I come from a family of scholars, and my husband and I were both educated abroad, having seen the big world. However, we couldn’t figure out what the items in this box are. They’ve been stored here all this time. I wonder if you can understand them.”

As she spoke, the Old Granny unlocked the lid of the box.

A jade-green bead the size of a ping pong ball appeared out of the box. As soon as the box was opened, the bead seemed to glow coldly in the darkness.

”This bead glows, especially on a full moon night; it emits a silver light. My husband and I once took this bead to a geologist for identification, but he couldn’t determine what it was. All he could tell us was that it might be a cold light source.”

Cold light source? Huo Sining had heard about this, saying that fireflies glow because they have a substance called cold light source in their bodies, but so far, the world has not identified the properties and essence of this substance, nor have they created a cold light source that can replace modern lighting tools.

The fact that this bead is a luminous object itself is not surprising to be considered a cold light source. However, Huo Sining subconsciously felt that this might not be possible. If such a thing existed in the world that could replace electricity and light, the law of energy conservation would be broken. What would balance this material world?

Huo Sining felt that there must be another reason why this bead glows. It might contain some special minerals that absorb heat and convert it into light.

On the side, Li Quan and Qiao Zhenhuan were quite interested in this bead. Upon hearing it was a cold light source, they immediately got excited and reached out to grab the bead for a closer look. But Jiang Xiaoqin beat them to it.

The young girl took the bead and instinctively made a face at the competing Li Quan and Qiao Zhenhuan.

Jiang Xiaoqin felt the coldness of the bead in her hand and shivered unconsciously. She curiously said, ”This bead is so cold, was it taken out of the refrigerator?”

The Old Granny smiled and shook her head, ”No, it’s naturally cold like this, just like millennium cold iron. It’s been in this box for decades, and its temperature has never changed, always this cold.”

Jiang Xiaoqin found it amusing and laughed, ”Looking at the material of this bead, it doesn’t seem like jadeite or jade, but it’s really fun, holding it feels like holding an ice ball.”

Jiang Xiaoqin was having a good time, and Huo Sining shook her head helplessly.

No matter how decisive and mature Jiang Xiaoqin usually acted, she was still a little more than ten years old, and that hint of childhood innocence was inevitable.

Huo Sining didn’t bother with her, intending to ask the Old Granny if she planned to sell the bead as well. But as she turned her head, she saw a layer of thin gauze pressed at the bottom of the ebony box.

Previously, their attention was all on the glowing bead, so no one noticed there was anything else in the box.

Now taking another look, she found that at the bottom of the box, under the layer of transparent gauze, there was something else.

The blue-and-white cover was somewhat yellowed but well-preserved. This was a thread-bound ancient book that seemed to have been stored for many years. Since it was kept in the ebony box, it appeared not to be affected by time.

”Lady Yan, this book...” Huo Sining felt strange. If the box was meant to store the cold light source bead, why was there a book at the bottom as well? She instinctively wanted to ask.

Upon hearing Huo Sining’s question, Li Quan and Qiao Zhenhuan also turned their heads, and both saw the thread-bound book pressed at the bottom of the box.

Lady Yan smiled, ”Finally noticed? Actually, what I wanted to show you was not the bead just now, but this book.”

As she spoke, the Old Granny brushed away the thin gauze and carefully took out the blue-covered book.

As soon as she took out the book, Huo Sining noticed the three traditional characters on the cover: Classic of Mountains and Seas.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas is an ancient Chinese text of myth and geography. It was written by people of the Chu state or Bashu region from the late Warring States period to the early Han dynasty, making it a significant pre-Qin ancient text and one of the oldest mythological books rich in legends.

However, there are countless circulated versions of this book, and even if it were a hand-copied version, it would not be worth such painstaking efforts to preserve it.

Huo Sining felt odd but did not ask more, waiting for Madam Yan to explain.

”You all deal with antiques, so you must be familiar with the Classic of Mountains and Seas. As I said before, my father-in-law collected this book from somewhere, but we didn’t pay much attention at the time. Later, when my husband discovered this book, my father-in-law had already passed away, and we couldn’t find out its origins.”

”Now my husband has also passed away. This book is left in my hands, and I don’t know what will happen if it is passed to my grandchildren. If it falls into the hands of someone ignorant, the book might be destroyed.”

”So, I am not looking to sell this book to you but to entrust it to your shop. If someone who appreciates it comes along and can understand the content of the book, I will give the book to them. If I am still living by then, I hope to meet this destined person, to fulfill the last wish of my husband and me.”

Madam Yan’s words were cryptic, and Li Quan could not help but take the thread-bound book and opened it.

At the sight of the characters in the book, Li Quan was stunned, and Qiao Zhenhuan was dumbfounded as well. Sitting beside them, Huo Sining suddenly trembled, her pupils contracting, and instinctively tried to stand up from the sofa.