The Heaven and Earth Society, as an underground association, is a secret organization advocating the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty.

Within the organization, there is a concept known as "Hong Money", primarily used for mutual identification.

"Five sets of long coins twenty-one, stay at the bridgehead to buy fruit. Gather inside Mud City, thousands come to share one bond."

This verse is the secret code of contact for the Heaven and Earth Society, indicating membership through twenty-one coins (according to the Society's secret language, the number three eight twenty-one implies the word "Hong").

According to old records passed down from the Heaven and Earth Society, there were three types of Tongbao before the Pangu Tongbao within the Society, used as proof of membership.

However, these three types of Tongbao only have suspected photographs and have never been confirmed by any real object.

Pangu Tongbao was a currency minted by the Heaven and Earth Society during the Qing Dynasty's Xianfeng era, primarily for internal circulation: one Pangu Tongbao was worth ten jin of brass.

Another purpose was mutual identification.

It is estimated that the Heaven and Earth Society produced quite a few Pangu Tongbao back then, but due to the Qing Dynasty's constant heavy suppression on the Society, currently, only one piece remains.

Chen Yiyang never expected that another piece of Pangu Tongbao was hidden in Ludao City.

After renting a presidential suite in Ludao City, Chen Yiyang briefly rested and then left the hotel under the guise of tourism to visit the Antique Market in Ludao City.

The Antique Market in Ludao City isn't very large, and most of the collectibles focus on the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In fact, it was during the Ming and Qing periods that Ludao City gradually developed.

Chen Yiyang found the location indicated by the intelligence report within a small shop.

"Friend, interested in playing with ancient coin blind boxes?" a middle-aged shopkeeper greeted Chen Yiyang with a smile.

"What are ancient coin blind boxes?"

"It's this." The shopkeeper took out a small jar and said, "This is a Qing Dynasty ancient coin blind box. After opening it, there are twenty ancient coins inside, some of which might be extremely rare and worth tens of thousands.

And buying one ancient coin blind box costs only a hundred bucks. As long as a few valuable coins appear, you've earned. Even if no rare coins come out, everything in this blind box is genuine ancient coins, so you won't lose."

What nonsense.

Chen Yiyang realized that the shopkeeper's pitch was designed to target newbies or outsiders.

After all, anyone unfamiliar with coin collection would think buying twenty Qing Dynasty coins for a hundred bucks sounds like a great deal.

But in reality, most Qing Dynasty coins had large circulation and surviving quantities.

Cheap ones cost only one or two bucks each.

The coin trading market typically deals with these types of coins by the pound.

However, these worthless coins aren't popular among insiders, so some merchants created a blind box gimmick to sell them to outsiders.

For buyers, blind boxes are mysterious; for sellers, they simply put the items in, ensuring they don't lose.

But based on the photograph from the intelligence report, the Pangu Tongbao that Chen Yiyang wanted happened to be in one of the blind box jars.

So Chen Yiyang took out two hundred bucks.

"Can I pick two jars myself?"

"Sure." The shopkeeper agreed with a grin, knowing all the jars were packed by him, and any choice would be the same for the guest.

Chen Yiyang picked the jar containing the Pangu Tongbao first, then casually chose another jar.

He handed the money to the shop owner and was about to leave with the jars.

"Hey, I've got tools here; how about opening them here?" The owner suggested to Chen Yiyang.

"No, I'll open them back home." Chen Yiyang knew that the shopkeeper might have unknowingly treated the rare Pangu Tongbao as an ordinary Qing Dynasty ancient coin in the blind box.

But if someone knowledgeable were to point it out while opening the box, things would become awkward for everyone, even if the owner was a good person and didn't regret it.

Better to take them home and open them privately.

So, Chen Yiyang brought the two blind box jars of ancient coins back to the hotel.

The accountant was nestled in the suite's sofa with a laptop and chips, handling official work.

Seeing Chen Yiyang enter with two jars didn't elicit a response. After all, she was accustomed to him buying random things from random places.

As Chen Yiyang walked halfway, he noticed a brush on the accountant's desk.

Thinking it would come in handy for opening the ancient coin blind boxes later, he quietly took it.

Back to his room, Chen Yiyang first opened the blind box jar not containing the Pangu Tongbao.

The jar contained some yellow earth from an unknown source and a stack of twenty coins stuck together.

Chen Yiyang carefully separated each coin and cleaned them with a brush and water.

Soon, the twenty Qing Dynasty coins, each priced slightly above one yuan, were processed.

Conservatively estimated, the shop owner earning seventy bucks per blind box.

After getting familiar with the process, Chen Yiyang continued with the other blind box.

Halfway through, he saw the Pangu Tongbao wedged between two Qing Dynasty copper coins.

Pangu Tongbao image.

Though Pangu Tongbao was rare and had significant historical value, it cannot be denied its somewhat crude production, like other ancient coins of its kind.

Its primary value lies in academic research, making it worth three to four thousand on the market.

But Chen Yiyang decided to keep it for his collection.

The villa that the accountant helped snag in Lin'an is still under renovation. Once finished, there'll be a small collectibles room where Chen Yiyang will move some of his collection.

After cleaning each ancient coin thoroughly, Chen Yiyang stored the Pangu Tongbao separately and packed the other coins in a small bag.

At that moment, the accountant entered.

"Boss, have you seen my makeup brush? I placed it on the table, and now it's gone."

"Oh, you mean this? I used it and am returning it." Chen Yiyang said as he handed the small brush back to the accountant.

"Ahhhh, boss, I'm going to kill you! What did you use my makeup brush for?"

The accountant nearly burst as she saw her makeup brush covered in yellow dirt.

"Why not buy a new one."

"Before buying a new one, let me use this brush on your face."

The accountant said, ready to pounce.

Chen Yiyang quickly changed the subject, "Want to go for bubble tea?"

"?" The accountant hesitated, eyeing Chen Yiyang suspiciously.

"I remember you're not a huge bubble tea fan."

"Occasional indulgence is fine. My treat." Chen Yiyang said, tossing the makeup brush into the trash.

He wanted to avoid the possibility of the accountant sneaking in at night to use it on his face.

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