45 The whole auction house

Exiting the Pagoda, Xuanmei opened her eyes, only to find herself back in the inn.

Sitting up quickly, she had a bath and got dressed in male clothes as she immediately headed out from the inn.

Opening the doors to the auction house, she was immediately bombarded with questions, causing her a terrible headache. The sheer amount of people there weren't helping either.

"Ah, esteemed guest! Do you need anything?"

"Dear guest, are you interested in any of our wares?"

"Sir, how may we help you?"

"I need to see your manager." Xuanmei's clear, masculine voice rang out as everyone was immediately silenced.

"Ah? But it is not advisable nor convenient for he is still at work right now-"

"My God, just shut up and bring me to him or inform him of my arrival or something!"

"A-Ah, yes. Someone, please come and inform the manager!"

The attendants ran to their manager, scuttling away with their tails tucked between their legs, beads of sweat dripping down from their heads as, like rodents, they scurried around like mindless cowards.

The attendee burst into the manager's room, slightly afraid of the customer's wrath.

"A- A customer..."

"Tell him I'll be there right away! Prepare some tea!"

"Forget about the tea." Xuanmei appeared in the doorway in her male outfit and mask.

"Now, let's talk business. How much were the real gems worth?"

"H-Half a million?"

"Alright. I'll pay you half a million, and you give me this auction house."

"W-Wait, but..."

"Call over the other auction house's manager; The one that broke into the room with the accusations that day."

"A-Ah, yes, of course."

"I'll call a friend over. That manager owes my friend quite some money."

Blue Pheonix landed outside the window, walking to a dark, shady place, walking out as 'A Xue,' the boy that the first manager tried to repay with the real gems.

Going into the auction house and sitting in the plush guest seats in the manager's office, A Xue gave the man a hard stare, intimidating the manager.

"Ah, this esteemed guest, how much does my fellow manager owe you?"

Blue Pheonix glanced sideways at the manager, raising an eyebrow.

"One million."

"E-Excuse me, dear guest, did I hear correctly? Manager Yu... O-O-One million? He owes you one million?" The manager stuttered.

"Yes," Blue Pheonix confirmed, "One million."

"My God... We're surely going to die... The debt... One million itself from Yu manager, and half a million, from my auction house?"

Zi manager fell into his chair, shakily addressing his problems as he thought of the matters at hand.

"H-How do we repay you?" Scared to even ask, Zi Manager already knew the answer.

"It's easy. We'll spare your auction house for a while longer. Just give us the main auction house."

"That... I'll have to ask the main manager."

"I've already got the cheapest auction house's deed. You better hurry up and ask them to repay their debts," Blue pheonix reminded, his smile acting as a minor warning.