Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 92: Tang Sword? No Way!

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Tang Sword? No Way!

The destination was a small farm.

The courtyard was quite spacious, without a fence, a single-story house, a garage, and a warehouse.

Upon hearing the car, two dogs barked and ran out, barking at the pickup truck. An old, somewhat fragile, white-haired man came out from the courtyard.

Sean got out of the car, and a dog lunged to bite him. Sean instinctively raised his foot to kick, but the old man yelled out:

"Max, come back!"

The dog, still unwilling, barked at Sean once more before running back.

Sean approached and stretched out his hand with a smile:

"Mr. Downer? I was introduced by Mr. John, my name is Sean Knight."

"Hello, young man," Mr. Downer replied, petting the dog, "You’re here to see my treasures, right?"

"Yes."

"Come, follow me." Mr. Downer, who must have seen many collectors, didn’t say much. He led Sean to a warehouse next to the courtyard.

The warehouse appeared to be a converted garage with only a large iron door, a big padlock was hanging on it.

Mr. Downer took out a large bunch of keys from his belt, found a big one, unlocked the door and said while pulling open the door:

"I’ve been collecting these treasures for decades. It’s a bit hard to sell them now, but my son doesn’t like them, and he’s not here. It’s a waste to throw them away... Well, you can choose!"

Sean helped Mr. Downer open the iron door, and then he saw piles of items!

The warehouse was about twenty square meters, shelves were placed against the walls on three sides, all filled with items.

In the middle of the floor, there were also quite a few "collectibles" or, miscellaneous items.

A veritable warehouse!

Sean scanned the variety of items in a glance. For example, there was an old-fashioned motorcycle from the 1960s and 1970s in the middle; next to the motorcycle was a wooden table with an ancient saddle. Beside the saddle was a rolled-up carpet.

On the left shelf were wooden carvings, old plates, record players, etc. On the right... Huh?

Sean immediately spotted a bundle of katanas at first sight!

He picked up the bundle of katanas and placed them on a small table next to the saddle.

There were eight katanas in total. Seven of them were roughly the same length of about one meter; the other one was relatively short, about fifty centimeters including the handle.

Using his "Sky Eye" out of habit, Sean was stupefied on the spot!

Among the seven katanas, six were quite ordinary with nothing special.

However, one of them had the characters "柳生風作" (made in the style of the Liusheng School) carved on its handle.

Is this a work from a famous artisan?

At least it was personally customized, not mass-produced, right?

This one should be worth a lot of money!

Of course, that’s not the main point!

The focus was on the short one. Its blade was rusty and had apparently not been taken care of for a long time. But, within the wooden handle, there were six faint gold seal characters: "天寶八載錢文" (Tianbao, eighth year, Qianwen)!

Tianbao, wasn’t that the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang?

Could this be a Tang Sword?

Sean felt his heart pounding like it was about to leap out!

Calm down!

Regardless of whether it was or not, the rust spots on this sword alone indicated it had been around for quite some time!

Those professionals who artificially rust things in his country probably wouldn’t have come all the way to Mr. Downer’s place, would they?

However, to be on the safe side, Sean casually picked up a katana and drew it out. While examining it, he asked:

"Mr. Downer, where did you get these swords, and how much do you want for them?"

"I was once a World War II veteran." Mr. Downer glanced at the katanas with a nostalgic expression and said:

"At that time, we captured several Japanese officers in the Ryukyu Islands. These were either found in their quarters or picked up on the battlefield."

Sean understood with a high probability that these items were authentic.

He could tell that Mr. Downer wasn’t lying, and there was no need for him to lie.

"So, the price..."

"One hundred dollars per sword." Mr. Downer looked at the rust-covered swords and said, "Actually, I quite like these swords, but they’re not of much use anymore."

"Deal!"

Sean Knight was ecstatic but didn’t show it. He took out a wad of bills and handed over eight hundred dollars.

Then he carried the swords out and put them in the back seat of the pickup truck.

Mr. Downer followed him out, but Sean turned back around:

"Mr. Downer, I’d like to have another look."

"Sure, sure!" Mr. Downer thought that Sean was only interested in the swords and was slightly disappointed. Although eight hundred dollars wasn’t a small amount, his "collection" had so many items, and the people who had come to see them in the past two days weren’t very interested.

When would they be sold?

Would he really have to treat them as scrap?

It would also be a good thing for him if Sean bought more items.

Sean entered the warehouse and looked at the saddle.

The craftsmanship of the saddle wasn’t very delicate, but it had a primitive beauty to it. It must have lacked maintenance, as the edges of the cowhide were starting to curl.

He picked it up and noticed that the saddle had been used quite a bit, as it was very smooth from wear.

The entire saddle was made of wood, cowhide, and copper fittings.

Upon scanning it with Sky Eye, Sean discovered beautiful patterns and unfamiliar characters carved into the wood frame inside the saddle.

"How much for this saddle?" Sean asked.

"Two hundred dollars." Mr. Downer replied.

"I’ll take it." Sean thought that after some maintenance, he should be able to sell it for over a thousand dollars.

Sean then turned his attention to the old motorcycle.

From the recent Container Auctions, he knew that many second-hand items, especially motorcycles, had a greater market value the older they were.

Although the motorcycle couldn’t be ridden, as long as it was fixed, someone would definitely want it.

"How much for this?" Sean asked again.

Mr. Downer didn’t expect Sean to buy so much today.

"One hundred and fifty dollars." Mr. Downer even voluntarily lowered the price. After all, Sean had bought quite a few items and hadn’t haggled. Mr. Downer felt a bit awkward since he had left room for bargaining when he originally quoted the prices.

"Ok, I’ll take it!"

After looking around and not finding any other particularly eye-catching and appealing items, Sean decided to stop buying.

After paying, he put the saddle and motorcycle into the compartment of the pickup truck, secured them tightly, and said goodbye to Mr. Downer.

"Young man, have some tea before you leave!" Mr. Downer enthusiastically invited Sean.

Sean didn’t hesitate, and followed Mr. Downer into the courtyard.

Various furniture, tools, and wooden shelves were scattered around the courtyard.

As they walked, Mr. Downer explained:

"I plan to clear this out and sell it, so it’s a bit messy."

Sean nodded, understanding.

In Mr. Downer’s courtyard, they drank tea for a while, as he reminisced about his glorious days on the battlefield; then Sean got up to leave.

As he left, both Max and another dog were already wagging their tails at him.

As the car drove far away, Sean could still see Mr. Downer’s figure, along with the two dogs running around him.

Could it be considered loneliness?

It doesn’t matter anymore.

Now the important thing is that sword!