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“Well, I didn’t even care about that matter at all, so you don’t have to worry about it either.”
Mu’en pulled the alluring woman up and, while doing so, gently tucked her somewhat disheveled hair behind her ear.
Even with the heavy makeup, Mu’en could still tell that the woman wasn’t very old, probably just over twenty years of age, right in the prime of her youth.
“While traveling about, don’t degrade yourself like this.”
“But…”
The alluring woman remained hesitant.
In the black market hidden from the empire’s radiant influence, the survival method for someone as weak as her was precisely this.
Expecting unwarranted kindness from others never led to good outcomes, just like her “seniors” who suddenly disappeared.
“Does Master feel this isn’t enough? I… I’m quite open-minded, if Master has other requests or preferences, I can accommodate them.”
“Even, I could—”
“Enough!”
Mu’en frowned, sternly interrupting the woman’s self-promotion.
“I don’t need it.”
“Then…”
The woman’s face turned pale; she assumed Mu’en wasn’t willing to forgive her. Her hands gripped the hem of her skirt as she looked lost and unsure.
“Alas.”
Looking at her like this, Mu’en realized that simply rejecting her would backfire, so he sighed and said,
“Well, if you insist on doing something, I can only…”
…
“Master, are you comfortable?”
“Ah, yes, just there…”
Under the service of the alluring woman, Mu’en couldn’t help but let out pleasant moans.
“Yes, yes, come closer, be more forceful. That’s right, it feels amazing, your skills are really excellent.”
“Master flatters me. After all, I frequently do these kinds of things.”
The alluring woman smiled enchantingly and then could not help but feel dazed.
She hadn’t expected that the thing the man had asked her to do would be… just massaging his shoulders and back.
“Master, is this really fine? After all, these are already included in the original services.” Still somewhat uneasy, the alluring woman said as she rubbed seriously, not daring to slack off even though her hands had already started to ache.
“Enough, I had too much fun last night; my waist and back are sore. It’s so fortunate that you’re good at this.”
Mu’en got up, indicating that the woman didn’t need to continue. He stretched lazily, indeed feeling that his body was much more relaxed.
“Well, you should go out first, the auction is starting soon.”
“Yes.”
The alluring woman nodded obediently.
She knew during the auction process, a lot of personal privacy might be involved, so most guests wouldn’t allow outsiders to stay by their side.
The purpose of their existence was merely to help guests pass the boring time before the auction began.
“Call me if you need anything.”
The alluring woman respectfully left, but just as she was about to turn and leave, Mu’en suddenly called her back.
“Wait, this is for you.”
“What is this…”
Looking at the heavy envelope Mu’en threw her, the alluring woman looked amazed.
“This is a tip.”
“Tip? So much?”
Mu’en didn’t turn back; he propped his cheek on his hand and looked out the window.
At the moment, the entire hall darkened, and then a spotlight lit up, illuminating the central position.
The curtain was drawn.
Everything became quiet, and that little display stage seemed to become the center of the world.
This accentuated the profundity of the darkness even more.
As if surrounded by thick fog-like darkness, Mu’en stared at the spotlights, softly muttering to himself,
“Beautiful girls’ skin might get tanned if they stay in such a dark place for too long. But I prefer lighter ones.”
“… Master.”
The alluring woman looked dazed at Mu’en’s back, suddenly feeling moisture well up in the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath and bowed deeply,
“… Thank you, Master. I will try my best.”
She tightly gripped the heavy envelope, as if holding onto a lifeline.
…
…
“Gentlemen and Ladies, welcome to today’s secret auction. I am the auction host, and you may call me… Fairy Miss.”
Under the spotlight, the sensuously clad woman in a fleshy, gem-studded evening gown rose slowly from the platform. Her figure was devilishly alluring, and the tight gown accentuated arcs that made one’s blood race. With its low V-cut neckline, it revealed almost half a sphere.
Accompanied by a sultry voice with irresistible allure, the woman casually touched her chest with her fingers, instantly igniting the atmosphere of the auction hall.
“Heh, the usual auction tricks, huh?”
Mu’en found a comfortable position reclining on the sofa, his eyes pure as if appreciating a piece of art. He remained utterly unmoved, the aftereffects of the previous night’s frenzied activities not having dissipated yet. He was still in the mode of a sage; even the most beautiful woman couldn’t stir a speck of excitement in him.
Fairy Miss naturally couldn’t compare with a real fairy.
At this moment, he was just a dispassionate auction machine, unable to be tempted by anything other than Dragon’s Blood.
“Enough chit-chat, let’s take a look at today’s first auction.”
After cracking a few dirty jokes and showing off her seductive posture, which made countless virgins bleed from the nose, Fairy Miss finally got down to business.
With a flick of her delicate hand, a similarly dressed girl holding a tray covered with a red cloth stepped forward.
For just the first item, she didn’t prolong the suspense. After giving a few winks at the audience, she unveiled the red cloth.
A pink teardrop-shaped gem appeared in everyone’s sight.
“Gem, Tears of True Love!”
As the bewitched voice spread, Fairy Miss lifted the gold-encrusted gem box with her delicate hand and walked around the entire display platform. The light gathered, illuminating the pink teardrop-shaped gem, making it extremely radiant.
Special image magic projected the gem’s appearance onto a giant screen, allowing all spectators to clearly view every detail from various angles.
Tears of True Love?
Mu’en jumped up from the sofa and stared, somewhat astonished, at the pink gem.
How coincidental? Not long ago, he had been swindled by a fake one; now the real deal was here?
“Tears of True Love, symbolizing the purest form of romantic love. It’s said that if you give this gem to the person you love, you’ll win their heart…”
“Besides the symbolic meaning of the gem, the material itself is of the highest grade. The entire teardrop shape has no traces of artificial carving; it’s as if formed naturally…”
After an eloquent five-minute introduction of the gem by Fairy Miss, the starting bid was announced.
“Starting bid, one hundred thousand!”
One hundred thousand?
Hearing this price, Mu’en was once again somewhat astonished.
This is cheaper than anything should be. After all, during the peak craze among the nobility, there was a noble lord who once spent ten million Emel on this gem for his mistress.
Could it be a special promotional tactic?
Mu’en scanned his surroundings but noticed that the atmosphere in the venue was not as lively as he had imagined.
Only a few voices lazily bid, taking their sweet time to push the price up to three hundred thousand.
“Why is it like this…”
Mu’en stroked his chin and suddenly realized.
This wasn’t a proper auction; it was a black market auction.
The majority of the people who came here were those wandering the lower district, living day-to-day on the edge, ready to take on life or death for a moment’s gain.
For these people, magic scrolls capable of destroying an enemy’s entire family, or alchemical weapons that could slice through opponents like chopping vegetables, were far more valuable than this gem, which was beautiful but ultimately useless and absurdly expensive.
After all, this is a magical world. In a world without lasers, ordinary gems like these would only attract those foolish nobles who would splurge extravagantly to make women happy.
Mu’en would naturally not be that dupe. He had all kinds of gems at home; why should he buy this plain thing? Forget a pigeon egg, he could even produce a goose egg-sized gem that can transform.
“Hmm, wait.”
Just as Mu’en was about to lie down and wait for the Dragon’s Blood, a sudden light bulb went off in his mind as he remembered something.
“I seem to recall… Senior probably really likes this Tears of True Love.”
During a previous date, she clearly knew that it was fake nine times out of ten yet was still unwilling to abandon the minute possibility of it being real, attracted by that old lecher’s marketing.
That was one of the rare moments Senior showed interest in something in front of him!
“So if I give this to Senior, she will definitely be pleased!”
Mu’en’s eyes lit up, and all thoughts of being a fool, only knowing how to win a woman’s heart, and overspending, were instantly thrown out the window.
He decided he would acquire this Tears of True Love no matter what!
…
…
“Listen, Ariel.”
“The key to dominating auctions and achieving victory in every battle is to be low-key.”
“Each bid should not be too far above the previous one, but not too minimal either, lest it raises questions.”
“The price announced should reflect interest in the item without exposing its true value.”
“Remember, the one who speaks least reaps the greatest profits.”
In the common seating area, Ariel was completely wrapped in a dark robe concealing her presence, her eyes closed, intently listening to her Master’s teachings in her mind.
Like absorbing all the wisdom from her predecessors and making it her own, Ariel suddenly opened her eyes, her crystal-clear gaze sparking with fierce determination.
She raised her number plate and immediately placed her bid when the previous one had just reached exactly three hundred thousand.
“Three hundred thousand… and one thousand!”
“Damn.”
After Ariel placed her bid, the person nearby who bid three hundred thousand clicked their tongue and gave up the idea of continuing.
Seeing this, a smirk habitually formed on Ariel’s lips.
“Don’t let your guard down, it’s not over yet.”
“Three hundred thousand… and two thousand!”
As Master’s warning rang in her ears, on the other corner of the seats, someone raised the No. 50 number plate, adding another modest thousand to the bid.
Ariel stared, narrowing her eyes, observing.
The person in the corner was also hidden in a dark robe, yet one could still peek through the loose robe to glimpse the breathtaking curve at the chest.
Seeing this, Ariel immediately proudly puffed out her chest.
“Hmph, unprofessional.”
With such a large chest, wasn’t it obvious to everyone that she was a woman?
Look at me — a black robe hides everything; who can tell if I’m male or female?
In a place like the black market, you can’t expose even the slightest weakness. Sometimes such trivial things could cost a great price.
These are all lessons paid in blood.
However, at that moment, Ariel did not thus look down on the woman who bid.
Because her bidding method also clearly showed her understanding of the intricacies of an auction.
More importantly, she might have also, like Master, discovered that this gemstone actually wasn’t as simple as it seemed!
“This is something you don’t have to be overly concerned about.”
Master’s voice rang in Ariel’s mind again.
“That gemstone might have some sort of special ability. I merely suspect it slightly, I cannot be completely sure. I think with the level of the people present here, it would be a hundred or eighty years too soon for them to discover any clues, and they wouldn’t even place such an item in this auction for you to snatch a bargain.
That person probably just plans to buy it and then resell it to the nobles for a high price.”
“Then I can relax!”
Ariel nodded and raised her number plate again.
“Three hundred thousand…and three thousand.”
“Three hundred thousand…and four thousand.”
“Three hundred thousand…and five thousand.”
“Three hundred thousand…”
In the room, only the number 38 belonging to Ariel and the mysterious woman’s number 50 were taking turns to bid, as if competing.
But after bidding for a long time, the price was still slowly rising like a snail.
Fairies had no choice but to sigh. After hosting so many auctions, she hadn’t seen anyone who bid like elderly people haggling in the market, and others, becoming impatient, also began to hiss loudly.
But Ariel wasn’t in the least affected.
Because the number 50 was obviously starting to hesitate, as long as she persisted, the victory would definitely be hers!
For a gemstone that contained some kind of special magical essence, being able to acquire it in the hundreds of thousands was not simply a good deal; it was a killing bargain!
Thinking of this, Ariel couldn’t help welling up with tears.
What days has she been through recently?
The black market is closed, and learning ancient magic requires a lot of money, causing her to have to tighten her belt daily. Her weekly food expenses were only two hundred Emile!
Two hundred! Once, if it fell, she wouldn’t even bother picking it up!
Not only that, she lost this two hundred food allowance twice in a row.
All because of that detestable Mu’en Campbell!
Making her eat black bread for almost ten days, her chest almost starved smaller.
But fortunately, the black market reopened in time.
The stockpile of ancient magic scrolls accumulated over nearly two months and the alchemical tools crafted by the Master were sold out quickly through the black market channels.
After all, such items will always be in high demand. And since they were ancient magic, their quality was far better than what was commonly available on the market, so she naturally made a huge profit on this occasion.
With money now, of course, she had to check out the auction for any good items.
Although she was tricked out of some petty cash by the woman at a black store with a pamphlet before she came, it wasn’t a big deal. As long as she could get this Tears of True Love, every humiliation was bearable!
“Three hundred fifty thousand and two thousand!”
“…”
After much hard effort, when Ariel shouted this number with determination, the mysterious number 50 seemed to give up at last and stop bidding.
It seemed everything was settled.
“Three hundred fifty thousand and two thousand, first call.”
“Three hundred fifty thousand and two thousand, second call.”
Fairies’ auction hammer struck quickly; she didn’t care about selling a few more ten thousand anymore. She just hoped to end quickly, otherwise, the painstakingly created atmosphere would fade completely.
In Fairies’ consecutive hammer strikes, Ariel clenched both fists and held her breath involuntarily, her eyes revealing eager anticipation.
As long as this deal was finished, eating chicken legs every meal would be a piece of cake, eating whole roasted chickens every meal would be completely doable!
Hmph humph, you damned Mu’en Campbell, you can’t possibly disturb my affairs again now!
“Three hundred fifty thousand two thousand, third…”
“Eighty-eight, five hundred thousand.”
Just as the auction hammer was about to fall for the third time, a cold, stern announcement resounded through the auction hall via the specially designed magic loudspeaker in the private booth.
The voice was low and gravelly, clearly specially processed, but it was filled with aristocratic arrogance and the swagger of a tycoon, making Ariel feel as if she’d been struck by a hammer, leaving her vision momentarily dark.
“Five… hundred thousand?”
Ariel nearly suffocated,
“Is this number eighty-eight crazy? Up fifteen thousand in one go?”
“Five hundred thousand! Number eighty-eight bids five hundred thousand!”
Fairies also paused after hearing this, her face lighting up immediately.
She looked toward the private booth of eighty-eight, her beautiful eyes shimmering with special brilliance.
That’s more like it. This is what an auction should look like.
Adding a thousand at a time, what are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to go to the vegetable market to bargain with the elders, running here to my auction for what?
“Five hundred thousand! Anyone else want to increase?”
“I… five hundred thousand… one thousand!”
Ariel’s eyes were blood red, gritting her teeth painfully as she shouted this number.
Nevermind, still quite profitable even at five hundred thousand, just turning from a windfall to a big profit.
“Six hundred thousand.”
That voice sounded again, so casually, as if throwing not six hundred thousand but sixty pieces of toilet paper.
“Six hundred thousand… one thousand.” Ariel’s face contorted.
“Seven hundred thousand.”
“Seven hundred thousand… one thousand.” Ariel’s face turned ferocious.
“Eight hundred thousand.”
“Eight hundred thousand! One thousand!”
Ariel went insane!
I don’t believe you can keep increasing like this!
Come on!
Come on again!
To you, Tears of True Love is just an ordinary gemstone. I don’t believe you can be this extravagant, spending nearly a million on a piece of rock!
“Haa, what a hassle.”
Just as this, in the secluded booth, came the sigh of eighty-eight:
“Then make it a million immediately!”
A million!
The entire auction hall erupted in noise.
Even Fairies, who had experienced countless auctions, was somewhat taken aback.
This place isn’t some noble auction house to auction art pieces that could easily sell for hundreds of millions.
For a lot of people here, a million could be their entire life savings.
But now someone was spending a million just to buy an ordinary gemstone?
Of course, some people here had heard of the previous rumors about Tears of True Love, but could an ordinary gemstone with no special effects really be worth that much? If you tried to sell it to those nobles now, they would only elegantly spit on you and curse you!
“One… million? How… is that possible…”
Ariel lay back on her chair, clutching her chest, panting heavily.
“Ha.
“Haha.
“Just one million… Help me up, I can still…”
“Not possible, Ariel!”
This time, even Master couldn’t sit still.
“Give up, we don’t have that much money! There will surely be other good things later; no need to hang onto one tree.”
“Sell, let’s sell more and get money!”
“We have nothing left to sell. If we sell more, we can only sell…”
Master paused, saying,
“We can only sell your Heaven Fire Sword. Are you willing?”
“But…”
Ariel looked at that gemstone, possibly hiding secrets, showing immense reluctance on her face.
An opportunity to make substantial profits, with roasted chickens for every meal right in front of her, but she can only miss it. How could she be content with that?
“Damn!”
But no matter how reluctant, if there’s no money, there’s no money. Finally, when Fairies’ hammer struck for the third time, Ariel could only look at the secret booth where that mysterious number eighty-eight was, with a face full of anger.
The dark one-way glass blocked everything inside. But just looking at it, Ariel felt a fiery flame rising fiercely in her heart.
“Who are you?
“Why does this annoying feeling seem so familiar?”
…
…
“Isn’t this a bit extravagant?”
In the private room, Mu’en who just spent a million yuan in one stroke immediately fell into a deep sense of guilt.
Although a million yuan was nothing for the Duke’s Mansion, spending a million to buy a gift for a girl made him feel like those playboy aristocrats who only think with their lower halves.
“No, I’m different. I don’t want to hit on the senior; I just want to repay their kindness.
“After all, for me, the value of a month of patient teaching by the senior has long surpassed a mere million yuan. It’s worthless!”
Mu’en consoled himself, quickly getting out of the feelings of guilt.
Look at what those snake spirits, bird spirits, fox spirits, and others do. The reason of gratitude is universal!
…
The auction continued.
However, the exhibits that followed did not really stimulate Mu’en’s interest.
Because most of the auctioned items were prohibited goods that were not easy to circulate on the general market.
For instance, banned drugs that could temporarily enhance combat power by 50%, but had the side effect of impotence.
Or magic scrolls so powerful that they could blow up an entire square, however, they could only be manually detonated.
Although they seemed strange, these things were actually in great demand, with prices skyrocketing, and there was almost an incident of a fight breaking out right there.
The only thing that surprised Mu’en was that in the auctioned items, there were even fifteen military magic crossbows and ten sets of third-generation military magic armors.
“These things can be considered dangerous if found in a noble’s house; they would be seen as rebellion. Yet, they somehow flowed in the black market. Could it be that the people behind the black market have ties with the military?”
Thinking more about it, the identity of the so-called black market boss was not as simple.
Mu’en touched his chin and continued to observe the movements below.
At this time, he suddenly noticed that the people who had previously bought the crossbows and magic armors quietly left the auction hall. After they left, some other people stealthily followed them, judging from their attire, they obviously were not from the same group.
“Is this…”
Mu’en slightly raised his eyebrows, as if recalling something, then he picked up the bronze bell specially placed at the corner of the table and shook it.
The heavily made-up charming woman pushed the door and entered respectfully,
“Master, did you need me?”
“Does your auction house guarantee the personal safety of the guests?” Mu’en asked.
“Of course, as long as they are within the venue, we will resolutely protect them.”
“Within the venue, huh?”
Mu’en understood, then smiled lightly,
“Can you help me with something?”
“Help?”
The woman was surprised for a moment, then nodded vigorously,
“Please say.”
“Go to the entrance of the auction house.”
“The entrance… and then?”
“And then just stay there.”
Mu’en said,
“Whatever you usually do there, continue doing it. Just help me memorize the direction the people who leave early take, don’t do anything else.”
