“Get back here!” Yan Zihui shouted in a low voice. What a lousy excuse! She doesn’t even know where the restroom is, yet she ran off so quickly. What about her promise to behave and not cause any trouble, huh?!
He was about to chase after Lu Yaoyao but was suddenly blocked by three pouncing people.
Wen Zixing and Du Qianshan each grabbed one of Yan Zihui’s arms, looking up at him with exaggerated pained expressions. “Senior Brother, we need to use the restroom too.”
Chao Muxue, although too embarrassed to say the same, stood firmly in front of Yan Zihui, blocking his path.
Yan Zihui: “…” You really are good friends!
“Hold it!” His expression was dark.
“Fine…” Wen Zixing reluctantly agreed, “Then let Yaoyao go for us.”
Yan Zihui: “…”
Baitong, standing nearby, could no longer contain his laughter. He clutched his stomach, stifling his chuckles. Yan Zihui’s little junior brothers and sisters were just too amusing!
Meanwhile, after dashing off, Lu Yaoyao immediately took out the concealing pendant she had obtained in the Devil Realm market and put it on to conceal her aura and presence. This pendant had once almost caused a misunderstanding with Daddy, so Lu Yaoyao didn’t particularly like it. However, since Daddy said it was a useful item, she hadn’t thrown it away. She had intended to give it to Yaqing when she first arrived in the Cultivation Realm, but he didn’t accept it because his cultivation technique already had a concealment function. So, she kept it in her small pouch.
Lu Yaoyao carefully made her way out, remembering the route as she went. The entire auction house was busy searching for the escaped ‘item,’ so she had to be careful to avoid the search teams. At the same time, she grew increasingly frustrated. This underground auction house openly trafficked living beings—to her, anyone who worked here was a criminal. If she had the strength, she would have shut down their illegal operations by force. And if they refused to repent, she would bring this place to ruin.
Her initial plan was to find the high-level devil, but she knew she couldn’t stay missing for too long. After searching for a while without success, Lu Yaoyao then decided to toss a few Thundercrashes into hidden corners. Each time before leaving, she activated the delay mechanism on the explosives. These Thundercrashes could only be triggered by a devil using a specific spell and had two detonation modes: delayed and immediate. This time, she used the delayed detonation mode.
After tossing about ten Thundercrashes in different directions, Lu Yaoyao quickly made her way back to the courtyard. All in all, it took her less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
When she returned, she saw Yan Zihui engaged in a tense staring contest with her three friends.
“What’s going on?”
It was only then that they noticed her.
Yan Zihui looked at Lu Yaoyao, who quickly gave him a sweet, well-behaved smile. Knowing this wasn’t the time for questions, he didn’t press her about what she had been doing and was simply relieved that she hadn’t been discovered.
“No one’s here yet?” Lu Yaoyao glanced around. She could sense someone hiding nearby, but since they hadn’t noticed her sneaking in and out, they remained hidden and didn’t move.
Wen Zixing responded, “Nope, everyone’s busy looking for that devil and doesn’t have time for us.”
Yan Zihui urged again, “Let’s not wait any longer. We should head back.”
Lu Yaoyao shook her head, then placed her hands on her hips and shouted angrily, “Hello, are you all dead?! Where is the staff?!”
Wen Zixing and Du Qianshan quickly caught on and joined in the shouting. “Get us the staff!! How rude, leaving us here like this! Get out here now!”
“Get us the staff!!”
Yan Zihui: “…”
…
In a dim and spacious storage room, a half-open iron cage sat in the center. The cage was empty, and beside it, three lifeless bodies lay on the ground, either face-up or face-down, motionless. Blood pooled around them, filling the air with a strong, lingering smell of iron.
One of the bodies was clearly a supervisor, lying on his back with a gaping wound in his chest. Blood flowed continuously from the wound, and his eyes were bulging, wide open in disbelief as if he hadn’t even had time to react before his life was taken.
Just inches from his lifeless reach, a golden-red talisman with hints of black lay on the ground, caught by a stray gust of wind that carried it further until it collided with the courtyard wall and fell to the ground.
It was evident that this supervisor had torn the talisman to open the cage, allowing the ‘item’ inside to seize the opportunity to escape, killing the three victims in the process. Judging by the wounds, they had all been killed with a single strike.
The second-ranked supervisor, along with a few guards, rushed into the room—it was the same person who had welcomed Lu Yaoyao’s group before. Seeing the empty cage, he immediately scolded, “Who gave you permission to open the door?”
In a trembling voice, a kneeling servant responded, “Sir, the item had just been brought down and was barely breathing. The seventh supervisor, worried that it might die before the transaction settled, opened the cage to check, and then…”
The ‘item’ took advantage of the situation, killed the supervisor and the two servants in charge, and successfully escaped.
“Fools!”
The second supervisor’s face turned ashen with rage. He glared fiercely at the body of the seventh supervisor on the ground, cursing him for being useless. If the man weren’t already dead, he would have personally dealt with him! The seventh supervisor had used underhanded methods to climb into his position, but after only a few days on the job, he had already caused such a massive blunder.
A nearby guard asked, “Sir, what should we do?”
“Hurry up and search! Spread my orders—seal off every exit. He can’t have gone far. Search every inch carefully!” Due to the nature of their business, the auction house was heavily fortified from the inside out. If they allowed an ‘item’ to escape under such circumstances, the higher-up would certainly make them pay with their lives!
The second supervisor’s orders were quickly carried out. Under normal circumstances, it was a tad impossible for auction items to escape, but with an auction just finished and guests starting to leave, it would be difficult to find him once he managed to blend in with the crowd. Especially since the guests were concealing their identities and would not cooperate with any checks that might expose them.
The second supervisor was aware of this and kept his cool, avoiding any orders that might disturb the guests, especially since many important figures were present today. The auction house could not afford to offend them.
Nonetheless, it was concerning that the ‘item’ had caused such a disturbance. That must be the resilience of a high-level devil at work—even with so many security measures placed inside and outside the cage, he was still able to escape.
While the auction house was conducting a thorough search, with no news yet of the escapee, a guard entered and reported, “Sir, the guests are asking for you.”
The second supervisor frowned. “I understand. Add more men to the search.”
“Yes, sir!” The guard saluted and left.
The second supervisor then made his way outside and was soon back in the courtyard.
“Is this how your auction house treats its guests? We’ve spent so many spirit stones and precious materials here! Even if I’m not considered an esteemed guest, you should at least treat your customers with some respect, right?”
“Exactly! Leaving us here in the cold like this, what kind of service is that?”
“You’re right, sirs and madams. We indeed apologize,” an attendant said with a forced smile.
The second supervisor quickly put on a smile and rushed over. “I’m terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. It was our fault entirely. Please forgive us.”
Lu Yaoyao and her group had been making a scene in the courtyard for quite some time before the supervisor finally returned.
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With all those Thundercrashes placed everywhere, the high-level devil is sure to find Lu Yaoyao because only devils can activate them. If so, I wonder if he’ll willingly be taken back as an “item” for Lu Yaoyao since she’s a “devil” like him and because he’s most likely the one she saved back in the Devil Realm, so he knows she’s trustworthy.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀