“Seven million top-grade spirit stones,” Lu Yaoyao pressed the button and stated her bid. Unfortunately, the allure of the high-level devil was certainly different from that of regular slaves featured in previous lots. Even though Lu Yaoyao had bid a significantly higher amount, quite a lot of guests did not lack this spirit stone and quickly outbid her.
Lu Yaoyao touched her little pouch. After buying so many demon slaves, devil slaves, and other miscellaneous items, her money was nearly at its bottom. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to keep up!
She had no choice but to take out some artifacts, talismans, and pills that she didn’t need and that weren’t gifts from her Father or Daddy, adding them to her bids.
Wen Zixing and the others wanted to help Lu Yaoyao by pooling together spirit stones, but they had already spent all they had, leaving them helpless.
“Yaoyao, didn’t you get a lot of fire crystals from Yanhuo Mountain? You could use those too, right?” Chao Muxue suggested.
Lu Yaoyao’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I have fire crystals!” Fire crystals were much more valuable than spirit stones. She quickly raised her bid, “One million top-grade fire crystals.” Each top-grade fire crystal was worth at least ten top-grade spirit stones.
“One medium-grade spiritual vein, two-thousand-year-old ice silkworms, one million top-grade spirit stones…”
Lu Yaoyao countered, “One million top-grade fire crystals, two top-grade beauty pills, and one medium-grade spiritual vein.”
The bid was so high that many withdrew from the bidding war, leaving only the two neighboring private rooms competing with each other.
Lu Yaoyao noticed that whoever was in the neighboring box seemed to be targeting her specifically. There were many items she wouldn’t have had to pay such a high price for, but because of the competition from next door, she kept raising her bid.
However, there were few in the world who could outspend Lu Yaoyao—essentially none, in fact. In the end, she won, but her pouch was now completely empty. Thankfully, she still had a small treasure trove set aside in East Ninth Peak, so this had only taken a small portion of her wealth.
The final lot was settled, and the auction officially came to an end. The door to their room was knocked on, and two attendants respectfully entered, “Excuse us, esteemed guests. Please follow us to verify the special lots you’ve won.”
Turns out, the special lots were not brought directly to the winners. Instead, they had to go to another location to receive the ‘items.’ As Lu Yaoyao and her group exited, the door of the neighboring private room opened, and a strong, fragrant scent wafted out.
The sound of the door opening caught Lu Yaoyao’s attention, and she turned her head, curious to see who had been competing against her during the bidding.
“Huh?” Lu Yaoyao was puzzled. She hadn’t expected to see the person’s face clearly, as the guests here were generally well-covered. But when she looked up, she found that the other person wasn’t wearing a mask, leaving her stunning face clearly visible.
Yan Zihui and the others turned to look at Lu Yaoyao when they heard her voice. “What’s wron—…eh?”
In the next moment, they also saw a stunning woman who wasn’t wearing a mask.
Yan Zihui discreetly furrowed his brow. He recognized her immediately, but he never expected to run into City Lord Hua here.
Baitong also recognized the woman, but in the places where everyone was wearing masks and didn’t want to reveal their identities, no exchange of greetings occurred.
Lu Yaoyao and her three friends had never met City Lord Hua and certainly had no idea of her identity. Hua Bailing’s gaze lowered, settling on the small figure in front of her with cold scrutiny.
Yan Zihui stepped forward and subtly shielded Lu Yaoyao behind him, giving a polite nod as a greeting before leading the girl away.
Hua Bailing simply watched without saying a word. It wasn’t until they were out of her sight that Yan Zihui finally relaxed his stiff posture and let out a breath of relief—thankfully, there had been no unexpected problems.
Lu Yaoyao was puzzled. It seemed her senior brother was very wary of that female cultivator. Could they know each other?
Nevertheless, since they were in a public area, Lu Yaoyao refrained from asking any questions and silently wondered why the woman wasn’t wearing a mask.
Led by the two attendants, the group soon arrived at a courtyard. On the flat ground, the demons and devils Lu Yaoyao had won in the auction were brought out one by one. Someone who looked like a supervisor greeted them with a warm smile and started talking to Yan Zihui.
Yan Zihui didn’t speak much, merely nodding occasionally, maintaining the cold and mysterious demeanor of a high-ranking cultivator.
Suddenly, a flustered attendant came running over. “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong!”
The supervisor immediately scowled and scolded him, “How dare you act so rudely in front of the guests?”
He then turned to Yan Zihui’s group, apologizing, “Please forgive him, esteemed guests. My subordinate is inexperienced.”
Yan Zihui, emotionless, replied, “Perhaps you should ask what happened first.”
The supervisor smiled and nodded in response. Turning to the attendant, he sternly asked, “What happened?”
The attendant, trembling and hesitant, glanced over at Yan Zihui’s group.
The supervisor’s eyes narrowed as he took a few steps closer.
The attendant finally whispered, “One of the items is missing.”
“What?!” The supervisor was on the verge of swearing, but he quickly remembered the presence of guests, so he swallowed his words and approached Yan Zihui. “Please forgive me, esteemed guests,” he bowed with a forced smile. “There’s an urgent matter that requires my attention. May I trouble you to wait a moment?”
Yan Zihui frowned for a moment before replying impatiently, “Hurry up. We need to leave soon.”
“Yes, yes!” The supervisor quickly excused himself, taking the attendant with him in a hurry.
After they were out of sight, Wen Zixing muttered, “What could be so urgent that they didn’t even have time to finish the transactions?”
Lu Yaoyao had tried to eavesdrop on their conversation but found that something seemed to be blocking her from hearing clearly. She only caught the word ‘missing,’ but what could it mean?
She tilted her head, trying to catch more conversations, only for her spiritual senses to be blocked by a mysterious force. But she soon guessed the reason, causing a subtle smile to on her lips.
“One is missing.”
“What’s missing?” Wen Zixing asked back.
“The high-level devil,” Lu Yaoyao’s smile deepened.
“What?” Wen Zixing looked around and started counting the cages. Sure enough, the high-level devil, the one who was slightly less handsome than him, was gone!
Wen Zixing’s eyes darted around as he quietly asked Lu Yaoyao, “Did he escape?” Is that guy that powerful? Able to escape in that condition? He still remembers how badly injured he was!
Lu Yaoyao didn’t confirm or deny it.
Wen Zixing nodded knowingly—that explained it! No wonder the staff didn’t even have time to settle accounts before rushing off. If one was missing, it makes sense.
“Yaoyao, if they don’t find him, just let it go. This place isn’t safe to stay in for too long,” Yan Zihui said. Running into City Lord Hua earlier had made him very uneasy. He even suspected that the woman had already figured out their identities and was targeting Lu Yaoyao.
“That won’t do,” Wen Zixing interjected before Lu Yaoyao could respond. “We exchanged so many fire crystals and other valuable things. If we just let it go, we’ll suffer a loss. This is clearly their fault, so they should compensate us for our losses, right?”
Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan nodded in agreement. “That’s right. At the very least, they should return Yaoyao’s things. Oh, wait, Yaoyao hasn’t paid yet. If the auction house can’t deliver, they should at least compensate us for the loss.”
Yan Zihui’s expression grew more serious. If they hadn’t encountered City Lord Hua, he would certainly have demanded compensation from the auction house. But staying here even a moment longer increased the risk. Unfortunately, his junior brothers and sisters didn’t understand his concerns.
Yan Zihui considered telling them the truth about the female cultivator being City Lord Hua, but before he could, Lu Yaoyao’s eyes twinkled with an idea. She suddenly clutched her stomach and said, “Senior Brother, my stomach hurts. I need to use the restroom.”
“…” Yan Zihui was speechless. A cultivator at the Golden Core stage was having a stomachache and needing to use the restroom? He wasn’t buying it!
But before he could say anything, Lu Yaoyao turned and dashed off at such speed that even Yan Zihui couldn’t grab her in time. In the blink of an eye, she was gone from sight.
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I wonder how the high-ranking demon escaped when he was clearly imprisoned securely and covered in serious injuries. Also, hopefully Yan Zihui is able to tell the others that the woman they encountered was City Lord Hua because leaving safely from the city with all the “merchandise” they purchased will become incredibly more difficult with her vengeful nature.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀