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Such a change indeed caught Qin Fang by surprise, but things had already developed to this point, and even if he wanted to regret it, it was no longer possible.

"Cai Xiang, one of the Four Great Families of the Song Dynasty?"

In Qin Fang's hand, he still held the Song Dynasty Calligraphy Manuscript, gazing at the seal on it with a disbelief that was hard to conceal.

He had originally thought that this manuscript might have been written by a master, but had not expected the master to be so famous—even though he was really quite unfamiliar with the name Cai Xiang.

Qiao Zhenfei's favorite was porcelain, followed by calligraphy and paintings, but Qin Fang had not anticipated that a piece by Cai Xiang would provoke such a fevered response from him, which was utterly beyond his expectations. He figured that sort of thing really shouldn't have happened.

But the fact of the matter was that it had happened, and the only explanation was...

Qin Fang immediately took great care to secure the manuscript, and then he examined the painting closely for any changes, and indeed, he managed to spot some unusual details.

This Song Dynasty Calligraphy Manuscript was made by stacking three pieces of paper, with three sets of characters perfectly blended together—the top layer of characters successfully obscured the two beneath.

Qin Fang removed the prescription, and one layer of characters was missing, but the remaining two layers were still perfectly integrated, as if the middle layer didn't exist at all.

To Qin Fang's surprise, when he placed the manuscript under a light, he could clearly see a layer of substance similar to grease on the surface of the characters, a very thin layer that was colorless and transparent, only visible under such light—otherwise invisible to the naked eye.

Yet, that wasn't the only surprising thing. When Qin Fang tilted the whole manuscript under the light to observe the characters, the characters on the remaining two layers of paper seemed to move, shifting bit by bit until the two sets of characters merged once more, altering the content of the manuscript again, different from either of the two original sets, revealing a new set of characters...

"It's... it's... it's incredible!"

This was about the only coherent comment Qin Fang could muster after a long struggle, and it wasn't even a proper assessment.

That was just the transformation with two layers of the manuscript. Qin Fang pondered that if he hadn't taken the prescription, the change might have been even more bizarre and unpredictable.

A pity it was, but it was simply a magical scene he had no chance to witness.

On the other hand, if Qin Fang hadn't taken the prescription, this manuscript would have seemed to have no change at all, merely a passable Song Dynasty Calligraphy Manuscript without any particular value, certainly not a treasure worth a fortune. Now... calling it a national treasure might be an exaggeration, but its value was definitely no less than those of national treasure-level artifacts.

It was hard to imagine how our ancestors, in an ancient era where technology levels were nothing to boast about, managed to produce such mysterious and unpredictable craftsmanship.

Even with today's level of technology, it was definitely impossible to replicate such a masterpiece unless it was produced with special effects, but that would be meaningless.

Knock knock knock~~~

Qin Fang wondered whether Qiao Zhenfei was really that anxious, for while he was contemplating the manuscript, a series of loud knocks resounded from the door.

It was more appropriate to call it pounding on the door than knocking.

Sweat broke out on Qin Fang's forehead; in his memory, Qiao Zhenfei wasn't like this, but now he seemed to be in such a hurry that it appeared this manuscript might indeed have some history to it.

With that thought, Qin Fang quickly stood up, planning to open the door to avoid frightening anyone in the middle of the night—his room wasn't just occupied by him, a man, but also by two women with rather unfriendly temperaments. If he upset them, even Qin Fang wouldn't be able to calm them down.

"Who is it? Who's not sleeping in the middle of the night and making this racket..."

Somehow, what shouldn't work does, and before Qin Fang could reach the door, he saw Luo Xi, clothed in a silver silk nightgown, opening the door of her room, visibly groggy and indignantly complaining.

Most women don't like to sleep with their bras on—it's uncomfortable. Luo Xi was no exception. Her graceful figure was veiled under the thin nightgown, with two points prominently visible at her chest.

But Qin Fang was too embarrassed to look any longer, fearful that the beauty would notice his inquiring gaze and lash out suddenly—it was definitely something Luo Xi was capable of.

"That... my friend! The one I met at dinner tonight..."

Qin Fang's face turned somewhat red as he saw through the peephole that the person outside was indeed Qiao Zhenfei, and he somewhat guiltily said so, for their actions had disturbed the lady's rest.

"What time is it, and he's come to our rooms? Never mind, never mind, just make sure you both behave. No funny business, or else... snip!"

Luo Xi didn't seem too judgmental, apparently not realizing that her clothing was somewhat revealing at the moment. She playfully looked over Qin Fang, whose clothes were in order, gave him a warning, and then closed the door to her room.

Then Qin Fang was able to finally open the door, and with a wry smile, he opened it to find Qiao Zhenfei standing outside. As for his bodyguard, he stayed a short distance away, not coming over, evidently following Qiao Zhenfei's instructions.

"Brother, sorry about this, I just got a bit too excited, and I disturbed your rest…"

Qiao Zhenfei said apologetically. However, when he heard what Qin Fang had said, he couldn't help but rush over immediately, which seemed a bit too eager.

"It's no issue…"

Qin Fang gestured to his fully clothed self to show he hadn't been resting yet, and just as they were talking, they saw Cai Qing and Luo Xi's door open, with the two beauties, dressed in somewhat thicker loungewear, leaning in the doorway and looking at them.

"Er… this, sorry… Should I come back tomorrow?"

Qiao Zhenfei hadn't expected that Cai Qing and Luo Xi were actually living with Qin Fang. He had been too hasty in coming over and had completely forgotten about this. The knock had been so loud that it had woken the two beauties, and he immediately felt quite embarrassed.

Qin Fang couldn't help but roll his eyes. Saying this now, wasn't it a little too late?

"Come in… It's not what you think!"

But the man was already here, and it wasn't like he could actually send Qiao Zhenfei back now, so he immediately let Qiao Zhenfei in.

Of course, if it wasn't for the beauties' prior permission, he really wouldn't have been comfortable making this decision.

With Qin Fang's words, Qiao Zhenfei, though still a bit embarrassed, gave a nod to the beauties and then followed Qin Fang inside.

"Where's the thing, let me have a look quickly…"

As soon as he entered, he immediately remembered the real purpose of his visit and asked anxiously.

"In the living room… I just made a bit of a different discovery!"

Qin Fang pointed to the living room inside and mentioned his recent discovery.

"Quick, show me…"

Qiao Zhenfei seemed a bit impatient and rushed into the living room, where he noticed the manuscript placed on the table and immediately went over.

He didn't touch it with his hands, but observed it very carefully.

"It's really changed a lot from before, almost completely…"

He muttered as he looked. He had appraised the Song Dynasty Calligraphy Manuscript for Qin Fang before, and although he couldn't remember the content very clearly, he vaguely remembered some, as it hadn't been that long ago.

But now, the content on the manuscript had undergone a radical change. If it hadn't been for Qin Fang's prior words, he would have never believed that this was the same manuscript they had purchased together.

"Brother Fei, if you hold the manuscript up to the light, the content changes significantly…"

Qin Fang didn't approach but, upon seeing Qiao Zhenfei's enraptured look, he immediately reminded him. He had just discovered this, and it could also explain how he had found the anomalies in the manuscript.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhenfei paused for a moment, then took out a pair of rubber gloves from his bag and carefully picked up the manuscript to admire its magical properties under the light.

"Optical Concealment Technique, it must be the Optical Concealment Technique…"

Seeing such changes, Qiao Zhenfei became even more excited, then continued to change the angle of the manuscript, letting the light fall on it from different directions, revealing slight variations in its content, albeit not dramatically. Yet, the changes managed to be fairly clear even when they were subtle and elusive.

Especially from an almost twisted angle, Qin Fang saw all the tiny characters on the manuscript disappear, replaced by four large characters—"Ci Zhen Ji An."

With each change, the only constant was the seal at the lower left corner, which never varied in the slightest, though the overall transformation of the manuscript was significant. Qin Fang didn't understand calligraphy, but Qiao Zhenfei did. He saw that each style of the characters was completely different—regular, cursive, running, and even Cai Xiang's preferred styles—they were all there.

"What's going on?"

The two beauties were left utterly confused by the baffling actions of Qin Fang and Qiao Zhenfei, and while Cai Qing ignored Qin Fang, Luo Xi had no such reservations.

"It's about what happened tonight. I went with Brother Fei to…"

Qin Fang briefly explained their trip to the black market that evening. He didn't mean to show off, but he really had stumbled upon a jackpot, and it was no small one either.

Besides a highly valuable prescription, this manuscript had also turned out to be a rare treasure, a find that was nothing less than the previous time he had been an unsung hero.

Last time, he had discovered a national treasure along with Tang Cheng, and unfortunately, they had been forced to hand it over, but this time it was genuinely Qin Fang's own find. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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