226: Chapter 221 Something Strange About the Pearl

For the next half hour, Cao Xiao didn't stop for a moment. Large crabs, mandarin fish, whitebait, and eels all fell prey to his hands. Within a twenty-kilometer radius, he took whatever he wanted from the waters, specifically targeting the largest ones. Even old mussels weren't spared. The bodyguards were used to this and looked away, but Boss Hu and his family were left slack-jawed in disbelief.

While gutting the fish, Boss Hu asked Cao Xiao in pleasant surprise, "Crabs this big aren't easy to find, yet you caught over a dozen in just a short while. That mandarin fish is nearly half a meter long and must weigh over ten pounds! I've lived by Liang Lake since I was a kid and never heard of it producing anything this big. And is this even a yellow eel? It's almost as long as I am tall! You can even catch old mussels? Boss, do you have some kind of secret recipe?"

Cao Xiao remained motionless, holding his fishing rod. His eyes were vacant, his expression dull, and he said seriously in a muffled, resonant voice, "The Father of Chinese Angling!"

"Uh!" This answer was too profound. Boss Hu felt his brain's circuits short-circuit instantly. In his daze, the small knife in his hand nicked his palm, leaving him speechless for a moment.

"Pfft!" The twin sisters burst into laughter, their previous composure vanishing.

"Hahaha! Boss, your skills are becoming more and more refined. You can pull off a masterstroke with a flick of your wrist; it's invincible. You've truly mastered eighty percent of the Great Sledgehammer God's essence. I think these fish were all stunned by the Boss's power—the bigger and older they are, the less they can resist it! Hahaha! You're killing me!" Li Quanshuo laughed until his strength failed him, and he plopped down onto the ground.

Coming back to his senses, Boss Hu looked at Cao Xiao with a hint of resentment and said aggrievedly, "Boss Cao, Great Immortal Cao, it was just a casual question! My blood pressure is a bit high; could you please give me a sign the next time you use your powers?"

Cao Xiao seemed completely oblivious to their words. He hauled up another old mussel the size of a small basin before reeling in his rod. "Mhm, that's about enough for us to eat. Boss Hu, you'd better bring out your best skills. I've saved you a fortune; these items would cost over ten thousand yuan at a big restaurant, and even then, you'd be lucky to taste them. These are rare, top-tier lake delicacies; you're in for a treat. Uh, Xiao Zhen, I wasn't talking about you. I mean, your dad has a high school education, so how could he give you two names like that? He's either too lazy or just has his head buried in money. Oh, right, hurry up and find me a small knife to open these mussels. Liang Lake has been famous for producing freshwater pearls since ancient times—uh, I really wasn't talking about you! Xiao Zhu, stop staring at me. These old mussels must have lived for many years to get this big. If there are pearls inside, the quality will definitely be excellent. Uh, alright, stop glaring; I'll pick out two identical ones for you later."

It was as if the word 'pearl' was a taboo for the two sisters. Cao Xiao felt uncomfortable under their gaze and maliciously wondered to himself: if the two sisters had been boys, given Boss Hu's bizarre naming logic, would he have named them Heaven and Earth?

Taking the knife from Hu Zhen, Cao Xiao didn't squat down to open the mussels. Instead, his eyes darted around, and he suddenly said, "It's boring just sitting around, so why don't we have a wager? We'll bet on these mussels. There are dozens here, and the chance of finding pearls is high. I'll sell them to you for a thousand yuan each. Everyone can participate, but you're limited to two. Any pearls you find belong to you. In the end, whoever finds the largest pearl gets a personal reward from me of one hundred thousand yuan. The one with the highest value also gets one hundred thousand. If you don't find a pearl, or if the pearl's value is less than one hundred yuan, you owe me ten thousand. You can also bet against each other. What do you think?"

The bodyguards were all well-off; Cao Xiao never mistreated them and never forgot to share the benefits, no matter the occasion. In just over a month, not counting the real estate Cao Xiao had given them, each person's net worth was no less than three million yuan. Last night, they had even been given one million in cash. Besides, following Cao Xiao meant they never had to worry about money again; ten thousand yuan was a trifle to them. However, the reality was that after exchanging glances, they acted as if they hadn't heard him. Their faces were twisted as if they were constipated, and not a single person spoke up.

"This actually sounds quite interesting. There are people who bet on mussels at the pearl farms around here too, but the quality of cultured pearls is poor and their value is low, so it's just small-time stuff—no fun. These wild old mussels either have nothing, or if they do, the quality won't be bad. The price is several times higher than cultured ones, which makes it much more exciting. It's only ten thousand yuan or so. As long as you find one large 'Rolling Pearl,' it'll be worth more than a hundred thousand. How about this: the four of us in my family will each buy two. That's eight thousand yuan; I'll transfer it to you right now."

Boss Hu was quite excited. Cao Xiao wouldn't swindle him for such a small amount of money. Even without the rewards, if they didn't find a single pearl, they'd only lose less than sixty thousand yuan, which they could earn back in their sleep. He still had the five hundred thousand yuan advance payment from Cao Xiao in his account, so he spoke with confidence and immediately transferred the money.

"I'm saying, it's just for fun. Is this really necessary? Are you grown men all so fragile? Fine, I give up. Let's add another rule: if the pearls I find aren't as good as yours, I'll give every single one of you one hundred thousand yuan. If yours are worse than mine, you don't have to pay me anything. You can't cheat at this anyway, and I'm letting you pick first, so what are you hesitating for? Pay up and stop dawdling!"

Seeing the bodyguards' reaction, how could Cao Xiao not know they didn't want to bet with him? It wasn't that they were afraid of losing money, but rather they were afraid of being demoralized. After all, they had watched the casino surveillance through Li Quanshuo last night and seen him show off his overwhelming power to bully others. Betting against him was just asking for punishment, wasn't it? But he didn't plan to cheat; when he caught the mussels, he just picked the big ones. Even he didn't know if there were pearls inside. It was purely for entertainment and he wasn't trying to trick them, so what was there to be afraid of?

"Hahaha!" Cheng Xiaodao burst into laughter, his previous hesitation gone. Instead, he said smugly, "Now that's fair! Otherwise, we wouldn't dare bet with you. Losing money is a small matter, but having our spirits crushed is a big deal. I forgot to tell you, my family is from Ji City in Zhejiang Province—the hometown of Chinese pearls. I spent plenty of time helping people dive into ponds to find mussels and harvest pearls when I was a kid. Just wait to hand over your money! Hahaha!"

As Boss Hu watched Cao Xiao and the others talk, a trace of gloom suddenly appeared on his face. Previously, he had thought these people were soldiers and that Cao Xiao was just some second-generation heir who had joined the army to boost his credentials; it made sense that he was rich. But now it seemed Cao Xiao was far wealthier than he had imagined, throwing money around while joking. Moreover, from their conversation, the others were also quite wealthy, not caring about tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan. One wouldn't have that kind of aura without a net worth of millions. If soldiers were this rich, everyone would join the army. But if they weren't soldiers, it didn't make sense. No private individual, regardless of their wealth or influence, could openly travel with high-powered heavy weapons within the country. Not even high-ranking government officials or provincial governors had such treatment—only national leaders might. Cao Xiao and the others were thirty years old at most, so that was clearly impossible.

He racked his brain but couldn't figure out what Cao Xiao and the others' identities were, or what they were doing here fully armed. But he knew they must be planning something big. Whether it was good or bad, it wasn't something a small fry like him could get involved in. But it was too late to back out now; his family of four was already entangled. If there was danger, they would definitely be the first to suffer. At this thought, he suddenly remembered some strange rumors that had been circulating in the lake area recently. He hadn't really believed them before, but now that he connected the dots, certain unpleasant suspicions seemed to have the possibility of being true. In a flash, he began to regret it; he shouldn't have put himself and his family in such a dangerous, out-of-control situation for the sake of money.

"Dad, we'll use our own money. No need for yours."

To his surprise, the Hu sisters refused Boss Hu. Without waiting for him to pull out his wallet, they each counted out a thousand yuan and handed it to Cao Xiao, then squatted down to start picking mussels on their own.

Boss Hu sighed and said nothing, waiting for the sisters to finish before making his own selection. Once he was done, the bodyguards rushed forward to pick theirs. Finally, Cao Xiao randomly chose two from the remaining dozen or so.

"Haha! Good luck! All four had something. Although we only got 22 pearls, 6 of them are jewelry-grade. The largest one has a diameter of 11mm, and not a single one is smaller than 7mm. There are even 11 craft-grade ones. These are natural freshwater pearls that have grown for many years to full maturity! The nacre thickness will definitely exceed 3mm; they might even be non-nucleated. Selling just those 11 craft-grade ones would bring in more than a hundred thousand. Those 6 jewelry-grade ones are hard to price; they could even be sent to an auction."

Generally, a seawater pearl oyster can only produce one pearl, while a freshwater pearl mussel can produce as many as 13. Cultured ones produce even more. Finding 22 pearls in four old mussels was considered a low count, but value isn't measured by quantity. A single craft-grade natural freshwater pearl was enough to break even, so it was no wonder he was so happy.

When everyone had finished harvesting, even Cao Xiao was somewhat surprised. The quantity wasn't high, and he had expected good quality, but the fact that jewelry-grade pearls accounted for forty percent was a bit strange. If jewelry-grade pearls were that easy to find, they wouldn't be so valuable. Even in famous pearl-producing areas in ancient times, it wasn't easy to find one in ten mussels; the yield rate didn't even reach one percent.

The value of a pearl is estimated based on six quality factors: color, size, shape, luster, surface quality, and nacre thickness. They can be roughly divided into three major grades: jewelry-grade, craft-grade, and medicinal pearls. Jewelry-grade pearls must meet a high standard in all six categories; if even one condition isn't met, it drops a grade, and the value becomes worlds apart. If they are truly poor, they are relegated to the least valuable medicinal pearls.

What surprised him most was that while these pearls looked beautiful, they gave him a very uncomfortable feeling. This feeling was even more pronounced when he held them. He hadn't felt it at all while they were sealed inside the shells, likely because they were shielded and absorbed by the mussel's thick flesh and outer shell. He suspected there might be radioactive material in these pearls. Consequently, he used his Detection Function to check them, but the results were completely different from what he had imagined. No radioactive elements or harmful substances were detected in any of the pearls, yet they contained an unknown negative energy that he couldn't specifically define. As the pearls were harvested and exposed to the air, this negative energy was continuously dissipating. It wasn't very physically harmful, but it had a significant impact on one's mental state, causing feelings of trance and dizziness. Prolonged contact would lead to nausea, vomiting, or even fainting.

This negative energy was also present in the mussel meat and shells, but it was almost negligible and decreased from the inside out, slowly transferring inward. This negative energy couldn't be inherent to minerals, nor could it be naturally produced by the mussels. It must have been absorbed by the mussels from the external environment over many years. The mussels instinctively used their flesh to transfer and continuously compress and store it within the pearls. Now that the flesh no longer contained it, it began to dissipate.

A flash of inspiration suddenly hit Cao Xiao as if he had thought of something. He felt this likely had to do with the purpose of his trip, but he couldn't quite untangle the threads; it was just a guess without any evidence. He had already finished exploring the entire center of the lake—the air, the water, the bottom, and even underground—but aside from a pile of antique ceramics, gold and silver treasures, and aquatic products, he had found nothing unusual! He had scoured the lakebed and found no traces left by the missing persons. That was why he was using the simplest method: anchoring in the center of the lake and waiting for the next disappearance to occur, acting as bait. He believed that within a ten-kilometer radius, any anomaly would not escape his notice. However, it now seemed the situation was far more complex than he had imagined. This negative energy with no identifiable source was already beyond his control. Fortunately, he had discovered the clues early and had time to prepare a response.

With this discovery, Cao Xiao didn't dare let anyone else touch the pearls and had no desire to continue the game. His priority was to find a way to handle this negative energy. While he was lost in thought, the group had finished their comparison. They were all holding pearls and admiring them, their eyes occasionally falling on him. He looked at the pearls he had harvested, compared them with the others, and after organizing his words, said, "It seems everyone's luck is better than mine. A bet is a bet; let me calculate how much I owe you. Hmm? This is too coincidental. Boss Hu, you picked good names—very fitting! Xiao Zhen's pearl is irregular but the largest. Xiao Zhu's is 16mm, pure white, with an A1 shape. The surface is smooth and delicate, the clarity is flawless, and the luster is bright, even, and sharp with a clear reflection. It's perfect and can be called a treasure pearl. Its value is the highest among all of them."