Setting aside the doubts of the others, upon seeing the imposing, large man emerge, Old Meng instantly broke into a smile, extending his hand and chuckling, "Mr. Xin, hello. Do you still remember me?"

"You are?" The large man extended his hand to shake Old Meng's, but his expression held a touch of hesitation and confusion; clearly, he did not remember Old Meng.

"I'm Old Meng," Old Meng quickly reminded him at this moment. "You forgot. Around May of last year, you asked me to help you acquire a Persian scimitar..."

"Ah, right, you are Mr. Meng. Look at my memory, it's not so good..." The large man suddenly realized, and while recalling Old Meng, he also glanced somewhat apprehensively at Wang Guan and the others, trying to gauge their purpose for visiting.

At this point, Old Meng smiled and said, "Mr. Xin, we have something we need to discuss with you. Could we go inside?"

"Uh..."

The large man hesitated slightly, then gestured them in, saying, "Please, everyone come in."

Following the large man's invitation, the group slowly walked into the residence. Inside, it seemed rather cramped; furniture and miscellaneous items were practically piled up, filling the space. It wasn't until they reached the small hall deeper inside that the situation improved slightly. However, with seven or eight people crowding in at once, the atmosphere became quite constrained; there wasn't even anywhere to sit.

Seeing this, the large man felt very embarrassed and quickly started tidying up the clutter, trying to clear some space.

"Mr. Xin, there's no need to go to this trouble."

At this moment, Old Meng chuckled lightly and proposed, "Perhaps we should discuss this in your armory."

"Hm?"

The large man was startled, yet he began to understand Old Meng's true intention. After a moment of consideration, however, he slowly nodded and continued leading them deeper into the passage, arriving at a room located at the very rear.

The large man then used three separate keys to finally unlock this room. The instant the door opened, as the man flipped the light switch, everyone understood what Old Meng meant by 'armory.'

At that moment, looking through the doorway, the group saw that the room was relatively spacious, but within this wide area were arranged row upon row of shelves. Displayed on these tiered shelves were all sorts of weapons.

Not only were there shelves on the floor, but even every available gap on the walls had been utilized, with countless swords and blades hung up—a veritable armory.

Sensing the surprise in the gazes of the visitors, the large man displayed a hint of pride and proceeded to usher everyone into the room.

Upon entering, under the illumination of the lights, Wang Guan observed that the weapons in the armory were not limited to just swords and blades; there were also various axes, forks, and similar implements. Of course, the differences weren't just in the type of weapon; even within the same category, there were numerous forms. Take the blades alone, for instance: they were categorized into long blades and short blades, cleavers and heavy-backed sabers, Chinese blades, foreign blades, and so on—a dazzling array that could not be described adequately in a few words.

At this juncture, Old Meng surveyed the scene and offered a compliment, "Mr. Xin, your collection has grown quite a bit since last year."

"Heh heh. I've only added a few things recently..." The large man smiled and then probed cautiously, "Mr. Meng, you didn't come all this way just to admire my weapons, did you?"

Before Old Meng could reply, Cai Peng blurted out first, "I want to buy a weapon—the very best weapon you have here."

"Oh?"

The large man raised an eyebrow, paid no attention to Cai Peng, and kept his gaze fixed on Old Meng.

"Mr. Xin,"

Old Meng said warmly with a smile, "As the saying goes, one doesn't visit the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. This Young Master Cai, for certain reasons, urgently requires a cold weapon of superior quality. After much thought, I figured that perhaps only Mr. Xin in all of Hong Kong could meet his requirement, which is why I took the liberty of bringing people here to pay our respects. Mr. Xin wouldn't mind, would you?"

"I do mind."

The large man casually picked up a nearby dagger, breathed lightly onto it, and then began meticulously wiping it with a rag, stating frankly, "Mr. Meng should know that these items are my treasures, collected painstakingly over more than a decade. I have no intention of transferring them to others."

"I can offer a high price—three or five million is no problem, name your price," Cai Peng yelled out again. This behavior was quite reminiscent of the useless, spoiled rich kids frequently seen on television. However, one must admit, while television exaggerates life, it is also drawn from reality. If such prototypes exist in real life, then it is hardly surprising.

Yet, upon hearing this, the large man merely sneered, completely ignoring Cai Peng's words, and continued polishing his weapon.

Cai Peng was about to speak again, but Wang Guan stopped him, whispering as a caution, "This is a professional matter; let the professionals handle it. Talk less, lest you make things worse."

Cai Peng moved his lips but ultimately remained silent, settling into a docile quiet. If others had said that, he might have gotten angry and turned hostile, but facing Wang Guan, he inexplicably felt guilty and lacked confidence.

Seeing this, Old Meng was secretly pleased; since Cai Peng hadn't interjected carelessly, it was much easier for him to speak.

"I can understand Mr. Xin's feelings," Old Meng said with a smile. "After all, these collections were not easily acquired, and no one would readily part with them. But Mr. Xin should also grasp the principle that running water never stagnates and a door hinge never decays. The collection of art is an interactive relationship; it must flow for the market to thrive."

"If you only bring things in without letting anything out, it's like a pool of stagnant water, which is even more detrimental to capital flow. This is not a sustainable path..."

Old Meng employed his silver tongue, eloquently lecturing the large man on the principles of sustainable development. However, to his great disappointment, the large man remained unmoved, his expression unchanged, as if Old Meng's advice was mere background noise that he hadn't taken to heart at all.

Seeing this, Old Meng frowned slightly and continued, "Mr. Xin, am I wrong?"

"What you said is very correct," the large man nodded. Just as Old Meng's face lit up with joy, he delivered a fatal blow: "However, I have no intention of selling right now."

Hearing this, Old Meng’s smile froze, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In truth, he had been mentally prepared for this possibility before coming; he knew it wouldn't be easy to persuade the large man, but he hadn't anticipated that his temperament would be even more stubborn than imagined.

At the same time, Cai Peng could no longer restrain himself, directly pulling out his checkbook: "I'm not wasting time with you. Bring out the best weapon here, and then write down a number that satisfies me. Everything okay?"

"Hmph!"

The large man scoffed, not even granting Cai Peng a direct look. He set down the dagger and moved on to admire other parts of his collection.

It might be difficult for people to comprehend the large man's way of thinking, but one must admit that this world is vast, and there will always be all sorts of 'eccentrics' existing within it. Their obsessions appear bizarre to ordinary people.

Take the large man as an example: he is obsessed with collecting cold weapons, and judging by the tone Old Meng used, he shouldn't lack money. The issue is that he'd rather spend money collecting weapons than improve his living environment. This clearly shows the depth of his obsession with cold weapons.

This personality trait of treating wealth like dirt naturally meant he was unconcerned with Cai Peng's checkbook, causing Cai Peng to experience severe frustration, even falling into bewilderment, wondering why his usually effective tactics weren't working.

After a long pause, Cai Peng finally snapped back to attention and appealed to the group for help: "What do we do?"

The group exchanged glances; none of them had any good ideas.

Normally, if the large man held a firm stance, they would yield for the time being and return to visit in a couple of days, persisting with a tenacity greater than Liu Bei’s three visits, wearing him down until he reconsidered.

However, this method of sincere effort moving even stones was not suitable for Cai Peng, because he was in a hurry and couldn't possibly possess that much patience to wear the large man down.

"Calm down,"

Just then, Wang Guan remained relatively composed, musing thoughtfully, "Since Mr. Xin hasn't directly kicked us out, it means this matter can still be negotiated. But we also need to figure out exactly what is wrong that makes him unwilling to budge..."

"Oh, that's true."

At Wang Guan's reminder, the others also began to realize. Just as Wang Guan had said, if the large man truly wasn't interested, even if he didn't lose his temper, he wouldn't welcome them staying; he probably would have just driven them out, instead of the current situation where he appears indifferent yet actually leaves room for discussion.

"Right."

At that moment, Sha Qingfeng suddenly spoke up, "Could it be that Young Master Cai insisted on buying the absolute best weapon, and Mr. Xin naturally couldn't bear to part with it, leading to this reaction?"

"That makes sense." The others, upon hearing this, wholeheartedly agreed. A collector's armory isn't a shop; the best items are surely the master's most cherished treasures, which he would never willingly transfer to someone else.

In an instant, the crux of the problem became clear, and the matter became much easier to handle.

"Mr. Xin, I think you might have a slight misunderstanding,"

Old Meng walked over and said with a smile, "Young Master Cai merely wants to buy a good weapon; he isn't trying to seize Mr. Xin's dearest favorite. If Mr. Xin is worried, perhaps you could recommend some weapons..."

At this, the expression on the large man's face indeed softened considerably, though he couldn't immediately swallow his pride and change his tune. Instead, he slightly pursed his lips and made a subtle gesture. Old Meng immediately understood, realizing that the items in that corner were the weapons the large man was willing to part with. On second thought, it made sense; how could the large man, who owned a room full of weapons, not understand the principle of flow? Perhaps he didn't understand initially, but once he ran out of money to buy better weapons, he would gradually realize that only through circulation and exchange could he acquire more...

"Are these them?"

Simultaneously, the group walked toward the corner where a row of weapons stood. At first glance, Cai Peng’s eyes widened: "What kind of junk are these?"

It was no wonder he complained, as the weapons on this particular rack looked quite poor; some were even rusty, utterly lacking the gleaming, bright appearance of the weapons on the shelves nearby. As a typical second-generation rich kid, Cai Peng had no appreciation for inner quality; he generally preferred things that were flashy and magnificent, which was why he was so easily persuaded into buying the Western Knight's Sword...(To be continued.)

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