This guy is actually afraid of sunlight, haha! Having narrowly escaped with his life, Emily Thompson ignored the throbbing pain in his left foot and dashed out of that “mansion” he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Hongda Real Estate’s broker, Charles, took the “mansion” key returned by Emily Thompson. Director squinted his eyes, sizing up Emily Thompson for quite a while before finally saying, “Little Emily, what happened to you…”

Emily Thompson naturally knew what Director wanted to ask. He looked down at his own mud-and-weed-covered outfit—he really was a mess. If he weren’t a long-time employee with a familiar face, he might have been thrown out by security at the building entrance.

“Oh, I just took a spill, nothing serious.” Feeling the coldness of that black jade ring through his pants pocket, Emily Thompson couldn’t care less about the mocking look Director gave him. Even if Miss World herself stared at his ragged appearance, Emily Thompson wouldn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed.

Director didn’t press further and got straight to the point. “That mansion was pretty nice, right? You’d better get moving. Our brokerage department has quotas to meet, and you have to sell it before the end of the month. You’re a senior employee—should be a piece of cake for you, right?”

Mentioning that “haunted house” snapped Emily Thompson back to his senses. Was that house even sellable? “Director, that house isn’t worth—”

“Little Emily! I personally inspected that mansion. 4.5 million is a very reasonable price. I only got it at that price after a lot of persuasion with the owner. Don’t let me down! Anyway, look at you, all dirty. It’s almost time to get off work, so just go home and get cleaned up.” With that, Director picked up his laptop and went straight into the meeting room.

Emily Thompson shivered and muttered under his breath, “A nest of snakes and rats.” Better go home first. Honestly, being covered in half-dried mud was really uncomfortable.

Where Emily Thompson lived wasn’t far from the company—just one bus stop away. It was a modern hotel-style apartment, also developed by Hongda Real Estate. When the building first opened, Emily Thompson was riding high at Hongda, earning a decent income, so he gritted his teeth and bought a unit with zero down payment (thanks to a backdoor deal from the company).

As soon as he entered his apartment, Emily Thompson carefully placed the black jade ring—practically won with his life—on the nightstand, let out a strange yell, and rushed into the bathroom.

After changing into a clean bathrobe, Emily Thompson eagerly picked up the black jade ring and sat down at his desk. He turned the desk lamp to its brightest setting, propped up a magnifying glass, and began to examine it. He flipped through antique books he’d bought, searched for information online, and after a long while, still couldn’t figure out what era this ancient-looking black jade ring was from.

By now, Emily Thompson had slipped the black jade ring onto his left index finger, stretched out his arm, and examined it closely. Under the strong light, the ring seemed to shimmer with flowing light, and the carved image of a green dragon swallowing clouds on its surface looked vivid and lifelike, as if the dragon had come alive. This must be a treasure. Too bad my knowledge of antiques is too shallow—after all this time, I still couldn’t figure out what dynasty this craftsmanship belonged to. Although Emily Thompson had no illusions about his own appraisal skills, he was certain this black jade ring was no ordinary item. Just the carving on its surface was enough to leave people in awe.

Should I take it to the antique market and have the old hands appraise it? As Emily Thompson was pondering this, he suddenly felt the black jade ring on his thumb come alive. It was a very subtle sensation, as if the ring could sense the thoughts deep in his mind.

Immediately, Emily Thompson thought of the “haunted house” and that strange snake, and a chill ran down his spine. Could this black jade ring be some kind of evil object? He stared at it for a long time, and seeing nothing unusual, Emily Thompson laughed at himself. Turns out he was just scaring himself!

Feeling a bit thirsty, he was about to grab a beer from the fridge when something unbelievable happened—a palm-sized emerald gourd suddenly appeared out of thin air in Emily Thompson’s hand, and a rich, fragrant aroma of wine instantly filled the small room.

What’s this? Gathering his courage, Emily Thompson brought the emerald gourd to his lips, and a stream of nectar flowed down his throat. It was real—not an illusion!

Emily Thompson was stunned. This was just too hard to accept. What on earth was going on? Emily Thompson stood there like a wooden statue for half a minute.

The ring—that was the first thing Emily Thompson thought of as he snapped out of his shock. Emily Thompson wasn’t an atheist, but that didn’t mean he could accept the existence of supernatural phenomena.

He took off the black jade ring and examined it closely, replaying the sudden event in his mind. First, he thought about grabbing a beer to quench his thirst, and then a gourd full of fine wine appeared in his hand. And… and in that instant, he felt the black jade ring was “alive.”

The more he thought about it, the more startled he became. In the end, Emily Thompson came to this conclusion: this black jade ring could sense what he was thinking and then produce the corresponding item according to his thoughts.