Hong Bo threw the faucet stick on the tea table with a clang.
"What?"
"Fake?"
Everyone exclaimed together.
This faucet stick was a Hongmen treasure. Everyone thought it was lost and recovered. Only Niu Ben suspected that it was a fake. Unexpectedly, after Hong Bo's appraisal, it turned out to be a fake.
"Uncle Hong, can you take a closer look? I just saw that this wood seems to be quite old. It must be a few years old, right?" Niu Ben reluctantly picked up the faucet stick on the tea table.
"The wood is indeed ebony from hundreds of years ago, but the thing is newly made. Although the old-fashioned technique is very clever, I can tell that this thing is fake just from the old-fashioned technique!" said Hong Bo.
"oh..."
Niu Ben nodded thoughtfully.
Jiang Zhonglou is a master of counterfeiting antiques. When he saw the faucet stick just now, he noticed from the material that it was very old, so he did not doubt that the faucet stick was fake...
Unexpectedly, Hong Bo discovered a problem with the faucet stick's counterfeiting method...
"Brother Ben, you lost the faucet stick, so you don't have to make up a fake story to deceive Uncle Hong, right?"
Beng Yakui suddenly sarcastically said: "Do you think Uncle Hong is easy to fool because he is old and dim? I'm afraid you are self-defeating and shooting yourself in the foot?"
"I originally found the leading stick. Even if I lost it, there was no need to get a fake one to deceive Uncle Hong..."
Niu Ben smiled calmly and said: "Besides, it is not a glorious thing for one of my subordinates to rebel. I don't need to make up such a story."
"This... hmph! No matter what, you always mess up things!" Beng Yakui was stunned for a moment, then snorted coldly, "The dragon-head stick is a sacred object of Hongmen. If Hong Shenghe and we get it, we can Command the heroes and unify the world...
Although you were the one who found the faucet stick, you mismanaged it and lost it, so you are also responsible!"
"Yes, in the past few years, the bastards of the Sanhaihui and Yixing Gang have become more and more arrogant. Our Hong Sheng and Jianghe are in decline. As the leader, you can't escape the blame!"
Hong Bo looked at Niu Ben and said, "I had hoped that you could revive Hong Shenghe's glory with the dragon-headed stick, but I didn't expect that you actually lost it again..."
"Uncle Hong, I'm sorry, it was my mistake in employing people... I will definitely find the leading stick, make up for my mistakes, and revive Hong Sheng and Xiongfeng!" Niu Ben sighed.
"Uncle Hong, is it possible...this faucet stick is originally fake?" Niu Qianqian suddenly said.
"What? It was originally fake? What do you mean?" Beng Yakui asked, glaring at Niu Xixi.
"As far as we know, after Tian Qi arrived at Hong Kong Island with the dragon-headed stick, he probably only had contact with Uncle Quan and A Feng. This dragon-headed stick should have been given to Uncle Quan by Tian Qi..."
Niu Qianqian frowned and analyzed: "So I suspect that the leading stick that Tian Qi brought to Hong Kong Island is completely fake!
Or, after Tian Qi brought the real dragon-head stick back to Hong Kong Island, he found someone to make a fake one and gave it to Uncle Quan, and he really hid it somewhere else."
"this..."
Everyone was stunned.
"Xiao Qian analyzed that it is very possible..." Niu Ben nodded and thought.
"Then tell me, where is the real dragon-headed stick?" Beng Yakui stared at Niuben again.
"It's hard to say. It might be on the mainland, or it might be on Hong Kong Island..." Niu Ben paused and said.
"Then what should we do now? Where can we find the real leading stick? If we let Sanhaihui and Yixing help those bastards find the leading stick, we, Hong Shenghe, will probably be annexed by them!" Beng Yakui was angry. said.
"Don't worry, we will first send people to the underground antique counterfeiting market on Hong Kong Island to see if anyone has made this dragon-head stick. If someone has made it, it means that the real dragon-head stick is still on Hong Kong Island..."
Niu Ben muttered: "If we find the person who made this fake faucet stick, we can follow the clues and find the real faucet stick...
If no one in the underground antique counterfeiting market on Hong Kong Island has made this dragon-headed stick, it means that it was made in the mainland, and the real dragon-headed stick must have been made in the mainland...
At that time, we will send a few people to the high stream in the sky on the mainland to investigate secretly, and we will definitely find the real dragon head stick!"
"Hmm...not bad!"
Everyone nodded together and agreed with Niu Ben's idea.
"Okay, let's do as you say. Check the craftsmen who make fake antiques in Hong Kong Island to see if anyone has made this faucet stick. If not, send someone to Gaoxi immediately..."
Hong Bo sighed thoughtfully: "This Gaoxi... is the holy land where our Hongmen originated. The situation there may be weird. You have to send some capable and reliable people there!"
"Yes! I'll let Xiaoqian and Xiaoshuang take the people there when I'm done. The two sisters, one is careful and steady, the other has outstanding ability, they will definitely find the leading stick!" Niu Ben said.
"Okay, Xiaoqian and Xiaoshuang are both going, so I'll feel relieved."
Hong Bo looked up at Xiao Qian and Xiao Shuang, nodded and smiled.
He is fierce towards Niu Ben, but seems to like Niu Xixi and Niu Shuangshuang more.
Niu Shuangshuang took the opportunity to walk over and smiled at Uncle Hong: "Uncle Hong, you just said that Gaoxi is the birthplace of our Hongmen. What's going on?"
"What? Didn't your father tell you the story of our five Hongmen ancestors becoming sworn brothers at Honghua Pavilion in Gaoxi and establishing Hongmen?" Hong Bo asked.
"My dad said it once...but it took so long and he didn't say it brilliantly. I've forgotten it a long time ago. You'd better tell us about it again!"
Niu Shuangshuang said coquettishly.
She is usually cool, ruthless, cunning and domineering, but in front of Niu Ben and Hong Bo, sometimes she pretends to be cute and cute to please Niu Ben and Hong Bo...
Sure enough, Hong Bo was coaxed by Niu Shuangshuang, then he looked at Niu Shuangshuang and nodded and said: "Your dad knows how to lecture people with a straight face all day long. It is not fun at all. The stories he tells are certainly not pleasant, so I will tell you carefully. Let’s tell the story of Hongmen and Gaoxi!”
"Okay! Speak quickly and I'll pour you some tea!"
Niu Shuangshuang took the teapot on the side, poured a cup and handed it to Hong Bo, pretending to be very interested...
Everyone knew that Niu Shuangshuang was acting, but no one dared to show anything. Only Niu Xixi frowned slightly...
Hong Bo took a sip of tea, stroking his snow-white beard and said: "During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a group of mysterious thugs near the Tengger Desert in the northwest. They established some kind of Xilu Kingdom and haunted the Xiliang area, burning, killing, and looting. He did all kinds of evil and gave Kangxi a headache...
This group of people usually hides in the desert. No one knows where their lair is, and no one knows their origins...
They always appear suddenly out of thin air, riding horses as fast as the wind, wielding full-moon scimitars, killing like wolves, and they are unstoppable...
They broke into the city, burned, killed and looted, then roared away with their property, women and other trophies, and disappeared without a trace in the vast Gobi Desert...
When the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty organized people and horses to track them, the hoof prints of the Xilu murderers had long been buried by the wind and sand, and no trace could be found...
The Tengger Desert is thousands of miles in radius and vast. It is a barren Gobi desert. It has been the sea of death since ancient times and cannot be investigated at all...
Officers and soldiers once organized tens of thousands of troops to cross the Tengger Desert to search for the Xilu murderers. They launched a blanket search, but found nothing...
However, they encountered many mirages in the desert. There were many horsemen holding full-moon scimitars on them, exactly like the people of Xilu...
The herdsmen grazing on the edge of the Tengger Desert say that the people of Xilu live in an illusory mirage, in a place called Leitai Mirage Palace!"
"Leitai Mirage Palace?"
“How can one live in a mirage?”
"Is it the myths and legends of those herdsmen?"
Everyone listened to Hong Bo's magical story and talked a lot.
"Hongbo, what does the Xilu Kingdom in Xiliang... have to do with our Gaoxi Hongmen in the southeast?" Niu Qianqian asked curiously.