Chapter 24: The Auction 1

When all was said and done, Gu Lin Fang felt Li Cheng had enough preparation to finish the job.

"You know what to do?" He asked Li Cheng the third time as he was  afraid the boy would forget once again.

"Yes Lord Uncle, I'm to wait at the storyteller's shop opposite the auction house with the puppet placed in position as a beggar and watch for the Kong clan's young Master before initiating any attack..." Gu Li Cheng spoke while fidgeting slightly.

Hearing his words, Gu Lin Fang felt a vein threatening to pop as he glared at the fool, "who said anything about you being at the storyteller's shop?.

I said, the puppet should be the only one there acting as a beggar right in front of the shop, you shouldn't be seen at all until it's time to retrieve the corpse puppet into your spatial ring.

Definitely it will be chased but I'm sure you know what to do then".

Shocked for a second, Gu Li Cheng spoke with an awkward laugh, "yes I will remember now, I just wa..."

"Forget it" Gu Lin Fang cut him off as he suddenly felt thirsty.

Luckily for him, the sound of the mechanism being opened came from above the stairs.

"Lord father, it's done" Gu Yu Xing appeared with a bow and proceeded to tell Gu Lin Fang everything that happened.

The Broken Blade rice shop and it's members came as a surprise to the latter and he couldn't help but praise him inwardly without changing his expression, 'As expected of a mini Boss, but what is this Cruel Canyon?. A city made mainly for the Evil camp? Hmm should be a red name city.

It's even governed by the ten great villains?, Awesome!!.

It must be the top ten Evil camp NPC I saw on that system ranking list I was reading.

Those are world Boss level  NPCs!...

In due time!".

As Gu Lin Fang and Li Cheng listened, the same sound from up the stairs could be heard again and they all looked up.

"Eh? Father, you aren't even dressed yet? It's almost time!!"Gu Lin Ju's low-pitched voice was heard as she said lightly.

At some point she had returned and freshened up, Gu Lin Fang had given her about 50% of all the blue grade female clothes in his possession and was glad he did.

Though the girl was still dressed up in a black colored attire, it's style was also different from the one before as the 'Gu' was now written with gold just above the wide sleeves. Her belt was also a matching gold color, giving her a noble feeling.

"Cousin Ju'er's beauty is as unparalleled as ever!" Gu Li Cheng wasn't stingy with his praises.

Gu Lin Fang suddenly glared at him, "you are still here?!! Didn't you just hear Ju'er?.

She said it's almost time..."

"But Lord Uncle, you said I'm to only attack after the auction... so I don't think I have any problems" he tries to defend himself while looking at Gu Yu Xing for support, after all they had developed some kind of comrade in arms relationship after their ordeal earlier that day.

Seeing no movement from Gu Yu Xing and Gu Lin Fang's glare, he ran away with a fake sob saying, "it was all a lie!".

Upon his exit, Gu Lin Fang looked at his daughter who was now standing next to him,  "I could have sworn you would have worn your favorite Red color for the occasion but Black looks good on you as well".

Gu Linju smiled with a hum while thanking him for the praise, Gu Yu Xing watched them with interest.

Gu Linju's white skin and black hair styled with the silver hair pin which was rare this days,  blood-red eyes that flashed whenever she showed extreme emotions, whether happy or sad.

Seeing it all in a complete ensemble, Gu Yu Xing nodded in agreement.

"…don't just stand there!, Go! go! go!." Gu Linju suddenly says treating Yu Xing like air.

This made Gu Linfang even more confused, why does it seem like she's even more excited than he was.

"Young lady, Aren't you going to give me a report? What's the rush? We're the guest of honor, they're supposed to wait on us!!" He chided while clicking his tongue, wondering if he should give her a scare.

Gu Linju then proceeded to give her report while urging them subtly.

__________________

Gu Lin Fang quickly took his bath before dressing up, he lamented about not having enough servants or else he would have had someone to dress him up like the nobles in medieval movies.

He looked at the amount of money in his now returned spatial ring and couldn't help smiling.

"3.5 million silver teals!, Now I don't have to be cheated into paying with spirit stones.

Right, there's also that carriage driver.

I guess I'll have to take his tongue or something" Gu Lin Fang looked at the copper mirror in front of him as he adjusted his clothes.

'did I give Linju too much silver teals?.

Let's just use it as an opportunity to test her spending habits, not like it matters. It's just a 100 thousand' he thought about the money he gave out not to long ago as allowance.

Too bad he doesn't know that due to the present economy, no clan in the {Sun Desert faction} except the Chang, Zhou or the Tie can boldly bring out the amount he has in his hands presently.

Most had their wealth in the form of property and so on.

The black and white robe he had on was wide sleeved, so he performed a few moves to see if it'd get in the way of fighting.

When he was done, he brought out a pack of silver needles from his inventory and began counting how many were within it.

Gu Linju had helped him buy a few of them, 24 needles per pack.

It was Time he began using the the {Nether poison needle} technique, it's one of the Yin skills in his possession.

He then brought up two medical plants, a blood sealing flower and a three eyed mushroom.

When done he looked around him for somewhere to grind them but couldn't find any, so he waved his left hand over his right palm, dropping his cauldron onto it.

Gu Lin Fang walked towards the small wooden table in his room and used a pestle to start grinding the ingredients till they turned into paste.

While he was doing that, he could hear someone approaching his room which is a bit separated from the other parts of the mansion.

He picked all 24 needles and dropped them in the paste while checking the time on the system.

5:08 PM

The footsteps stopped further away from the door without saying a word. This let him know it wasn't ju'er, she would have boldly knocked.

But since he was able to feel someone with his bloodline close by, then it can only be one person.

"Yu Xing, is there a problem?"

"No Lord father, but the kill order starts at 5pm so I felt I should be close by" Gu Yu Xing's calm voice came from the other side but Gu Lin Fang said nothing in return.

'interesting' Lin Fang thought silently.

5:20 PM

He pulled out the needles and kept them in his inventory before covering the cauldron.

"So easy... well that's a Rank 5 poison maker for you" He muttered to himself before stepping out the door.

As soon as he came out, he could already see Gu Lin Ju walking over with her treasured plum blossom umbrella.

So he said loudly, "let's go".

______________

The carriage and horses were already on standby.

Gu Lin Fang noticed how lacking the number of people he had was and looked at Yu Xing in deliberations.

"is there anything?"

"nothing serious, we'll talk about it later." Gu Lin Fang responded lightly.

"Is that so…"

Gu Lin Fang and his daughter entered the carriage while Gu Yu Xing chose to mount a horse, obviously not feeling too close with them yet.

"You don't seem to like him" Gu Lin Fang says to no one in particular but Lin Ju just pouted without a word.

"That reminds me, study this quickly.

I'll give you a new skill when you're at least at the beginner level" Gu Lin Fang tossed a book towards her as he spoke.

He threw a sharp gaze at the part of her surprised face.

She read allowed with some excitement, "{Sixteen Queen kite steps}?".

"Don't act so excited, once I get something better than this low grade movement technique.

You will have to change it".

Gu Lin Ju looked speechless, "Father, do you know how many would kill for such 'low' grade technique?.

This can cause a small war between mid level clans at the very least... hehehe.

Martial arts are very scarce this days and even many clans share the same movement techniques through trade etc.

But I'm sure I've never heard of this one before!".

I sighed but her words gave me another idea for a dastardly plot as I patted my arms calmly.

'Hmm? I remember I haven't accepted the reward for the Pan mansion quest'.

While Gu Lin Fang busied himself with the system interface, Gu Lin ju nodded and promptly opened the carriage curtains after a few moments reading.

"there really a lot of people in the Inner city today...Father!, Is that an Air ship?!!".

__________________

'Are they messing with me…?

My auction has attracted some kind of big-shot noble clan, right?' Gu Lin Fang became suspicious of the situation.

"Yu Xing" he called out through the window.

"Yes Lord father"

"Which clans own airships in the {Sun Desert faction}?"

"There are only six, The main clans of the {Sun Desert faction} five righteous path clans which are known to all and the demon clan (Wei)" Yu Xing explained calmly as he believes that this things must be part of what Gu Lin Fang had forgotten.

"hooo?" Gu Lin Fang was surprised and also not surprised that there were things the previous owner didn't have complete information on.

"Yes. The official statement said that there are only five ruling clans. However, the Wei clan being one of the top Demon clans in the world has chosen to remain incognito, they're the real reason the {Sun Desert faction} remains standing and might be the reason for it's destruction.

They are the ones who held back the Long clan during the previous war, so they have strong influence in the factions territories."

"Interesting" Gu Lin Fang gives his daughter a side glance to see her lost in thought.

Yu Xing continued speaking after waiting for a while, "judging from the sign and the flag on that airship earlier, it should be someone from the Wei clan."

"Father, should we still go through with the plan?" Gu Lin Ju asked worriedly.

"It's too late to turn back now, if we lose this opportunity. We might not get one anytime soon."

"..."

Soon they arrived and noticed the auction was held in the Chang merchants public hall. It looked sort of like a concert hall.

"Don't get yourself lost, Ju'er." Gu Lin Fang says to his daughter who sticks her tongue out in return.

Three guards followed behind himself, Gu Lin Ju and Gu Yu Xing.

They were led by a staff right for one of the second-floor VIP booths. Right after they sat down, Gu Yu Xing started talking with the female attendant about their bidding plans.

"The Guixing can't be the main show."

"Indeed. In the end, it is but an enchanted musical instrument. Likely, it would not be all that expensive. I believe we should focus on getting the elixir instead." a small group of men passed by their entrance and Gu Lin Fang noticed the Ye on their clothes.

"lets just watch and see" the other responded.

The hall's lighting were off, perhaps to create atmosphere. The tables all had a heart cleansing candle instead that boosts mental clarity.

Gu Lin Fang laughs lightly and said, "leave it to the Chang's to be so flashy, I like this style though".

"…why not just turn on the light? They should have kept them on until the auction started. Are they skimping on spirit stones?" Gu Lin Ju complained.

"…I doubt it, perhaps it's a way to hide those who are attending the auction."

Gu Yu Xing then said with a nod, "you are indeed right Lord father".

Gu Lin Fang looked at the young man, 'perhaps he is indeed trying to really place me as his father'.

At that moment, a spotlight shone on the stage. And an announcement rang out to signify the beginning of the auction.

"This right here is an earth grade sword from the ruins of Cao Lee, has the potential of awakening it's awareness sometime in the future, the bid starts with the price of 500 silver taels."

"Such nonsense, if he really believed that the sword was capable of such things, would it be that cheap?" Gu Lin Ju asked.

Gu Yu Xing quickly retorted, "it's really not cheap, when you think about it from the perspective of the smaller clans or people."

But She scoffed at the thought, "why would I bother thinking from their..."

"Enough you two" Gu Lin Fang stopped it before it turned into something else but then he couldn't help 'turns out our concept of money was already flawed'.

There were a lot of people in the hall, but only around a few hundreds were participating.

Earlier bids were generally rather calm due to it being amongst commoners with a bit of wealth. The auction would only turn into a true arena for the rich as time goes on.

People in normal seats either ate in the open, so people rarely did so. However, apparently VIP booth seats like theirs can order food and drinks over.

Gu Linju ordered some sweets with her money of course and the three guards outside our door checked it before letting the attendant in once again.

This made Gu Lin Fang nod his head, perhaps he'll release them sooner than expected to buy their loyalty.

With that out of the way, the auction still went on and a few items were called out and competed for but the VIP booths remained silent.