"Shopkeeper Lu, I've consulted many appraisal experts about this item, but their answers were all rather vague. They didn't tell me exactly what it's for."
"Can Miss Xu Qingqing really identify it?"
Lu Qi was very confident in Xu Qingqing's skills and assured her solemnly.
"Mrs. Sun, don't worry. Qingqing is extremely erudite. I've never seen a cultural relic she couldn't identify."
Hearing this, Mrs. Sun let out a slight sigh of relief, but her knitted brows remained furrowed.
Xu Qingqing took off the scarf around her neck and hung it on the hanger. She smiled and asked, "What's up? What item do you want me to identify?"
Seeing Xu Qingqing arrive, Lu Qi pulled her in front of Mrs. Sun.
"This is Mrs. Sun. The treasure to be appraised was brought by her. Mrs. Sun, could you please show the gift you received to Xu Qingqing again?"
"Sure."
Mrs. Sun forced a smile and took out the cardboard box beside her. She opened the box on top, and inside was a toad entirely in orange-gold.
As the saying goes, toads symbolize good luck and wealth. Many shops would place toads with gold coins in their mouths to attract fortune.
However, the toad Mrs. Sun took out didn't have a gold coin in its mouth, and its eyes protruded too much.
Its legs, which should have been lying under its body, were stretched out and sweeping to both sides, giving an inexplicable sense of evil.
Mrs. Sun told Xu Qingqing the origin of this gift.
"This item was..."
"It was given to me by a relative. She said it could bring fortune and good luck. But I always feel scared when I look at it, so I wanted to find an expert to figure it out and put my mind at ease."
Xu Qingqing nodded. She had never seen such an unusual toad before. She immediately activated the scanning function of her system and scanned the long-legged toad.
The scanning process of the system took much longer than that of the previous cultural relics. It took a full five minutes, and the information presented was also scattered and scarce.
During the scanning process, Xu Qingqing stared at the long-legged toad thoughtfully, making Lu Qi and Mrs. Sun dare not disturb her.
Xu Qingqing looked at the conclusion drawn by the system: This toad was called the long-legged toad, a harmful tool used in a lost evil art.
The long-legged toad didn't have a gold coin in its mouth, which meant nothing could stop its mouth. It would suck away the owner's luck and bring continuous bad luck.
Its long legs, instead of lying under its body like an ordinary toad, were flailing to both sides, which also meant it wanted to jump up.
There was a saying that "a toad wants to eat swan meat." Here, the toad naturally referred to the toad, and the swan was in the sky while the toad was on the ground. These two animals would never have any intersection in their lives.
Legend had it that in order to eat swan meat, the toad would jump up into the sky every day, fantasizing about biting the swan down.
In witchcraft, this also represented an attempt to harm the owner's lifespan and kill the owner.
However, very few people knew about this secret method, and there were not many relevant historical records. Fortunately, the system covered all the cultural relics in the world, so Xu Qingqing could barely understand a thing or two.
Xu Qingqing let out a breath. Lu Qi and Mrs. Sun immediately fixed their eyes on her, hoping to get an answer from her.
Mrs. Sun asked in a trembling voice, "Master Xu, is this item a sign of good luck or a disaster?"
Hearing Mrs. Sun's question, Xu Qingqing's face turned solemn. She shook her head heavily.
"Mrs. Sun, I'll be honest with you. The person who gave you this item not only wants to suck away your luck but also harm your lifespan."
Hearing Xu Qingqing's words, Mrs. Sun was shocked. Her face instantly turned pale, her body stiffened, and she couldn't even maintain her smile. Her face was filled with panic and fear.
"How could this be? She really wants to harm me..."
Lu Qi on the side became interested and asked Xu Qingqing to explain in more detail.
"Qingqing, how did you come to these conclusions? I've flipped through many ancient books but couldn't find the meaning of this long-legged toad."
Xu Qingqing briefly told Xiaohong and Mrs. Sun the information from the system, and finally concluded seriously, "An uncovered mouth and leaping legs. Mrs. Sun, the person who gave you this gift probably hates you very much."
Although Xu Qingqing didn't want to interfere in other people's family affairs, seeing that Mrs. Sun was kind, she couldn't help but remind her.
Hearing that this was a tool for casting spells on people, Mrs. Sun became even more scared. She was so panicked that her hands and feet went numb. She was like a person suffering from an illness and seeking any remedy.
"Since this is a tool used in witchcraft, should I find a fortune-telling master to calculate for me or invite a shaman to perform a ritual at my home?"
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing couldn't help but laugh and cry. "Mrs. Sun, the witchcraft I mentioned is all superstition. I think you should pay more attention to the people and things around you."
If just giving a long-legged toad could make a family fall apart and die, then poisons and such would all be useless.
Hearing this, Mrs. Sun thanked Xu Qingqing repeatedly. She didn't even want to touch the long-legged toad again. Her tone was pleading.
"Master Xu, please help me throw this dirty thing away. I feel unlucky just looking at it for one more second."
"Mrs. Sun, you don't have to call me master all the time. Just call me Xu Qingqing."
Xu Qingqing felt a bit embarrassed when Mrs. Sun called her master.
Lu Qi thought the long-legged toad had a unique shape and took it in his hand to play with.
"Mrs. Sun, why don't you give this long-legged toad to me? I'll keep it to gain some knowledge."
"If you need it in the future, you can still take it back."
Hearing Lu Qi's words, Mrs. Sun then remembered that this was a gift from someone. If that person saw it missing later, there might be a big fuss.
Mrs. Sun nodded in agreement. "Putting this item with Shopkeeper Lu also relieves a burden on my mind."
Mrs. Sun paid the appraisal fee, her face pale. She supported her forehead and left.
Lu Qi played with the long-legged toad as if it were a living thing. He chatted with Xu Qingqing sitting beside him about gossip.
"I'm afraid this item wasn't given by Mrs. Sun's relative but by her husband's mistress."
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing turned her head and looked at Lu Qi. "How do you know?"
Lu Qi waved his hand gossiping and motioned for Xu Qingqing to come closer. His tone was a bit proud.
"I know all the things in this circle. Mrs. Sun's husband is a philanderer."
"He has such a virtuous wife like Mrs. Sun at home but is still not satisfied. He has a lot of mistresses outside."
Looking at Lu Qi's excited face when talking about gossip, Xu Qingqing shook her head. She took the long-legged toad from Lu Qi's arms and carefully examined its shape.
Although the long-legged toad had an inauspicious meaning, it had to be said that it was made vividly. The toad with its stretched-out legs seemed as if it was really about to jump up.
The more Xu Qingqing looked at the toad's shape, the more awkward she felt. The most strange part to her was the toad's tail.
"Strange. Just like frogs, toads only have tails when they are young and no tails when they are adults. Why does this toad have a tail?"