Chapter 631 - The Underground Treasure Vault
Chapter 631 The Underground Treasure Vault
“Well, if I’m satisfied with your Picasso paintings, the sculpted heads of the 12 zodiacs will be yours.”
Sir Owen agreed after hesitating for a moment. He had many Huaxia antiques like this, so he didn’t take them very seriously. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sold the snake head at the auction.
However, Picasso’s painting was unique. He had been looking for the painting in the world for such a long time but had gotten nothing. Finally, someone who had the painting came to him, and he would definitely get it.
Qin Haodong was excited and said, “Great! Dear Sir Owen, you won’t regret your choice.”
Sir Owen asked with great eagerness, “Qin, where’s the painting? I want to see it right now.”
Qin Haodong took the canvas bag from Nalan Wushaung and unzipped it. He took out all the 9 drafts and put them on the table casually.
“Sir Owen, there are a total of 9 paintings here and all of them were created by Master Picasso. You can have two of them.”
Everyone was shocked, and the eyes of Sir Owen, Fred, and Jared nearly popped out in surprise. They had never seen 9 paintings of Picasso appear at the same time.
Upon seeing that Qin Haodong was about to take these paintings with his bare hands, Fred was astonished and shouted, “Mr. Qin, please don’t! These are rare works of art and you can’t touch them without wearing white gloves! Otherwise, irreparable damage will be done to them…“
Nalan Wushaung was amused by Fred’s eagerness and careful movements. What would he think if he learned that Qin Haodong could make one of these in a second?
Qin Haodong, who suddenly remembered his identity, apologized, “I’m sorry, Mr. Fred. I was so excited that neglected this detail when I realized that I’ll be able to bring the sculpted head back to Huaxia. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Fred didn’t say anything else because he was too busy to notice Qin’s words. Fred, Sir Owen, and Jared were staring at the 9 sketches.
These paintings, which were black and white, were rich in shades and well-arranged. The painter had created fascinating scenes with simple strokes.
The three of them finally examined all the 9 paintings after about ten minutes and Sir Own said excitedly, “Oh my God! Thank God! I’m so lucky to enjoy ten works of Picasso at one stroke!”
Jared added, “That’s right. I felt quite strange when Mr. Qin took out one of them. You know, Picasso’s paintings always appear in groups.”
Qin Haodong asked, “Sir Owen, have you decided? Which do you want?”
Sir Owen said, “Dear Qin, to be honest, I love every one of them and can’t make a decision. Could you please give all of them to me?”
Qin Haodong pretended to be hesitant and said, “But I also love Picasso’s works and want to have some for collection.”
Upon hearing his words, Sir Owen immediately said with eagerness, “No, please! Dear Qin, please don’t do that. These ten pictures are in one group and they look perfect together. If you separate them, their artistic value will definitely be damaged.”
Qin Haodong thought for a moment and finally said with regret, “Well then, I will not tear them apart. But Sir Owen, what would you trade for them?”
Upon hearing that Qin Haodong was willing to exchange with him, Sir Owen immediately replied with a big smile, “Dear Qin, you’re my true friend. You can choose another three treasures you like. What do you think?”
Qin Haodong shook his head and said, “Sir Owen, this is a set of ten pictures of Picasso instead of a pile of papers. Their artistic and economic value will be increased several times when being together. Thus, I don’t think your proposal is satisfying.”
Sir Owen was clear that Qin Haodong was right. If a painting of Picasso could be sold for 10,000,000 yuan, then ten of them could be sold for 200,000,000 or even more.
He thought for a moment and said, “Qin, what do you want?”
Qin Haodong said, “I want 7 treasures. Except for the 3 pictures which I used to exchange with you for the sculpted head, I still have 7 pictures. I want 1 treasure for each of these paintings.”
“What…”
Sir Owen said, “Dear Qin, I don’t think your offer is reasonable enough. In your terms, you want to get the lion’s share.
Each of my treasures is valuable and is of high-quality. For example, I devoted many resources to obtaining the painting of Van Gogh…”
Qin Haodong said, “Don’t worry, Sir Owen. I’m not interested in your western works of art. I promise I’ll only choose treasures that belong to our east, or to be more specific, the treasures of Huaxia. I believe that you have many of them in your vault and don’t mind giving some of them to me.”
Sir Owen was relieved to hear that Qin Haodong would only choose the treasures of Huaxia. Thus, he said with satisfaction, “Well, as you’ve said, except for the sculpted head, you can choose another 7 works of Huaxia for exchange.”
Qin Haodong said, “Well, that’s deal. But I still have a condition.”
Sir Owen was excited at the thought of the 7 paintings, so he replied with a big smile on his face, “Dear Qin, please tell me. I will meet your needs if I can.”
“I want to have a look at your treasure vault. I always trust my instincts when I choose the treasure, so I can’t make a wise decision by merely looking at their names on this list.”
After hesitating for a moment, Sir Owen agreed and said, “Well then, welcome to my treasure vault.”
If Qin Haodong only had one sketch of Picasso, he would not have let him to enter his treasure vault. But this young man had just given him a group of ten works of Picasso, that was the reason why he treated him differently.
Sir Owen asked Fred, his steward to take a bunch of keys and lead Qin Haodong and Nalan Wushuang to his treasure vault.
They went out of the living room and opened a heavy security door not far away. There was nothing behind but a wooden stairs leading to the underground.
Qin Haodong followed Sir Owen and walked down to the basement. The walls on both sides of the stairs were decorated as the living room. It looked magnificent, luxurious, and elegant. There were many murals hanging on the walls.
Qin Haodong could sense some Spiritual Qi around the murals, which indicated that they must be valuable antiques.
They went downstairs and finally walked in the underground treasure vault of Sir Owen. They could see everything here clearly with the bright light.
Sir Owen didn’t stop here. He led Qin Haodong through a long corridor and came to a security door made of pure steel.
Fred took out the key and opened the security door. A hot and dry whif wafted by as if they were in the desert.
Sir Owen said, “My dear Qin, this is my treasure vault and all the treaures I’ve collected over the years are here. Now please have a look.”
After speaking, he took the lead and turned on the light on the wall. The dim room suddenly turned bright and Qin Haodong was surprised by what he saw.
The underground treasure vault was so spacious that Qin couldn’t even see its border. He even wondered if Sir Owen had emptied the entire space under the villa to store his numerous treasures.
He was about to walk inside, but Sir Owen stopped him and said, “Qin, please wait a moment. I have to close the anti-theft system first.”
Then he was busy pushing the various buttons on a monitor panel at the door for a long time. After hearing a beep sound, he nodded to let them enter the room.
Sir Owen had spent much money on the security system of this underground treasure vault. There were infrared rays everywhere and they were as thick as a spider web. Even a fly would trigger off the alarm bell.
After getting permission, Qin Haodong and Nalan Wushuang stepped into the room together. The treasure room was so spacious that they couldn’t even see its border. There were treasures everywhere and even an ordinary museum didn’t have so many items.
Moreover, Qin Haodong felt that most of these items had Spiritual Qi and only a small part of them was fake.
Even these fake items were exquisitely forged, so ordinary people couldn’t see the difference. No wonder Sir Owen enjoyed a good reputation in the auction house.
Li Dongguo had once mentioned that Sir Owen’s wealth was immeasurable and Qin Haodong believed him now. He didn’t know how much money these treasures would sell for.
Qin Haodong took a few steps forward and heard a slight motor sound. He looked in the direction of the sound and found an air drier in the corner. No wonder it was so dry here. They could see such a machine working every 30 or 40 meters.
Sir Owen followed Qin Haodong and said, “Qin, we must hurry up. There are too many treasures here.”
Qin Haodong nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Sir Owen. I trust my instinct when I choose items. It won’t take much time.”
Then he strode across the treasure room and felt the collections on both sides with his Spirit. He could learn the quality without even looking at these items.
There were too many treasures here, such as the brush washer of the Northern Song Dynasty, the vase made by the Northern Song’s Ding Kiln, the five-colored vase of the Qing Dynasty, and the blue and white porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty…
If Liu Qigong were here, he would have gone crazy. However, Qin Haodong was not interested in these precious items and what he wanted was something like the Demon-Vanquishing Wand.
He was examining the treasures quickly, but suddenly he stopped and looked at the storage shelf on one side.