Chapter 39 Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Dark Wood, a Thousand-Year-Old Shroud

This car is the kind of muscle car that often appears in Hollywood movies.

The car driven by Dom Toretto, the protagonist of "Fast & Furious," is this one.

These muscle cars, while good-looking and powerful, are rather poorly made.

Moreover, the interior space is extremely small, making it very inconvenient to get in and out of the back seats.

If you try to do any kind of exercise inside, you won't be able to move around freely.

Fortunately, Cao Kun was alone, so he didn't care about these things.

This is a well-preserved used car with only a little over a thousand kilometers on the odometer. Cao Kun bought it for over $50,000.

This is more expensive than a brand new, second-generation Dodge Challenger.

But if we wait another 20 years, the price of this car will increase at least several times.

Buzz...

Amidst a deafening roar and the sidelong glances of passersby, the muscle car departed the car city and headed towards Chinatown.

About half an hour later, Cao Kun appeared in a grocery store in Chinatown.

He had bought many materials here on previous occasions.

What would you like to order this time?

Upon seeing Cao Kun, the grocery store owner walked over with a smile.

This man was in his fifties, with half-gray hair, of medium build and slightly overweight. When he smiled, his eyes would squint into slits, giving him a somewhat festive appearance.

He is also of Chinese descent and speaks Mandarin.

His previous business dealings with Cao Kun had brought him a large sum of money, and he was in a very good mood after seeing Cao Kun.

Cao Kun took out the list he had written beforehand and handed it over.

The shopkeeper took a look and immediately frowned: "Ten thousand years of ebony wood, preferably locust wood."

"Wait, buddy, is it really that hard to fix? Does it have to be for ten thousand years?"

Cao Kun: "At least ten thousand years."

The boss shook his head and continued reading.

His expression changed again quickly: "A thousand-year-old shroud? Where am I supposed to find that?"

A thousand-year-old shroud, how could it possibly survive? It would crumble at the slightest touch.

"You'd be more suited to stripping something off a mummy."

Cao Kun: "If you can take it off, I'll pay you right away."

"You really think highly of me," the boss muttered, then continued reading.

Seeing what lay behind him, his brow relaxed a little: "These things are rare, but I can still get them, though they're not cheap."

"Money is not a problem, just prepare it for me."

After dealing with him a few times, Cao Kun knew that this person seemed harmless and was just an ordinary grocery store owner.

But in reality, this guy has a wide network of connections.

They have deep ties with smuggling rings; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get those things.

However, just as he said, those things became ridiculously expensive after he resold them.

That's how Cao Kun spent those hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"Same as always, 20% deposit, pick up the goods in three days. Wait, let me calculate the total."

The boss picked up a calculator and started clicking away on it.

Finally, a six-digit number appeared on top, which he then divided by 5.

He held up the calculator in front of Cao Kun: "See? It's US dollars. I'll round it down to 69,000 for you."

Cao Kun's eyelids twitched; a 20% deposit would cost $70,000.

The total cost was close to 350,000.

This is just the auxiliary material; we haven't even bought the ancient submerged wood and the thousand-year-old shroud yet.

Cao Kun wrote out the check, and after the man checked it, he put it away with satisfaction, his eyes almost closing as he smiled.

“Brother, won’t ordinary petrified wood work? I have a source for that,” he asked again.

Cao Kun decisively refused: "No way."

The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Considering how much business you've done for me, I'll tell you about someone. That person has some ancient, submerged wood, but whether it's locust wood, I don't know."

Cao Kun: "Who?"

The boss lowered his voice and said a name.

Cao Kun asked suspiciously, "Since you know he has ancient ebony wood, why don't you buy it and sell it to me?"

The boss clicked his tongue: "This person has a complicated background and is not easy to deal with. I've visited him a few times, but he completely ignored me and I was turned away several times."

Cao Kun thought to himself, "No wonder." He then said, "You're the kind of guy who won't do anything without a reason. You've visited him so many times; he must have quite a few good things on him."

Boss: "Let me put it this way, he might have the shroud you want."

Cao Kun's face lit up with joy: "Quickly tell me the address."

The boss told the truth: "Don't be too happy yet. Maybe you'll end up like me, unable to even get through the door."

"Prepare the things for me, I'll come back in three days to pick them up."

Before he finished speaking, Cao Kun had already left the general store.

The shopkeeper peeked out the door and muttered, "I wonder who this guy is. He wants all these weird and superstitious things, and he's so generous with his money."

He shook his head and said, "Forget it, curiosity killed the cat. I'd better not pry and just focus on making my money."

Chinatown is not actually just one street, but an area where Chinese people live, which is usually referred to as Chinatown.

For example, Flushing in New York, Chinatown in San Francisco, and Chinatown in Honolulu.

Los Angeles' Chinatown, while not as large as these other Chinatowns, is still quite big.

The person the grocery store owner mentioned also lived in Chinatown.

Cao Kun went to the address and found that it was a restaurant.

The restaurant is an antique-style building, and the interior decoration is also in a Chinese style.

After Cao Kun went inside, he was led by a waiter to a small table to sit down.

Cao Kun picked up the menu and randomly ordered a few dishes.

After the waiter left, Cao Kun looked around.

It's already past five o'clock, and people are starting to arrive.

Most of the people who come here to eat are Chinese, and there are occasionally foreigners, but not many.

Cao Kun's gaze fell on a large table.

There were five people sitting at that table, all of them Chinese. They were talking quietly, their voices not loud, and they seemed quite well-mannered.

However, when Cao Kun listened closely and overheard their conversation, he realized what utterly awful their manners were.

These guys were talking about the revenue they made from selling medicine at various venues.

Cao Kun said that these guys had a faint aura of malevolence on them, which was a special product of those who had killed people.

Since they sell medicine, that makes sense.

These guys might be from a gang in Los Angeles' Chinatown, and they probably hold high-ranking positions.

But how could such a dangerous conversation take place in a restaurant?

There's only one answer: these people feel safe here.

Cao Kun laughed. Could it be that the person he was looking for was actually a gang leader?

This seems possible.

It is somewhat plausible that such a person would possess ancient, submerged wood and a thousand-year-old shroud.

When the food was served, Cao Kun tasted it and found it surprisingly delicious.

Moreover, it's authentic Chinese food, not the kind of mutated version that caters to Americans.

After finishing his meal, Cao Kun asked the waiter to settle the bill.

When the waiter brought the bill, Cao Kun immediately took out a stack of green hundred-yuan bills and placed them on the table: "I need to see your boss. If you can help me do that, the rest of the money is your tip."

The waiter's eyes lit up: "Brother, I'll go get our boss right away."

She took the money and happily ran into the kitchen.

Soon, the waiter returned and said to Cao Kun, "Brother, the boss said he'll be here to see you soon."

After saying that, she turned around and went about her business.

Cao Kun has always been very patient.

He waited for more than two hours, and it was past 7 o'clock, but the restaurant owner still hadn't shown up.

Cao Kun gradually lost his patience and called over the waiter who had accepted his tip: "Where is your boss?"

Waiter: "The boss is cooking, and the customers haven't all left yet. Please wait a little longer, sir."