Do You Fear... Death?

When that man left with his 'friends', Ye Qing fell silent as his mind raced. If the Al-Father truly showed up to decide whether or not the Antique Night Auction House is worthy of occupying South Side territory, it could only mean that tonight's auction might very well be a trap for Madam Ye.

Zi Rumeng noticed that Ye Qing wasn't saying anything at all, and guilt further ate away at her heart. If Ye Qing had not acted, she would have… The mere thought gave her heart the quivers, not knowing how to look Ye Qing in the face.

As Ye Qing turned over, Zi Rumeng lowered her head, her body quivering ever-so-slightly. Neither Ye Qing nor Madam Ye reacted much to the exposed handgun, would that mean they were involved in such dangerous operations too frequently, to the point where they grew numb to it? What now? Would they silence her since she obviously can't keep her mouth shut under pressure?

She observed the obscure shadow of Ye Qing raising a hand, and instinctively, Zi Rumeng covered her head and bit down on her teeth, awaiting the slap or whatever. Ye Qing paused for a moment upon noticing her reaction, at a loss for words. Thus, he slowly moved his hands, removed his black jacket, and carefully wrapped it over Zi Rumeng's shoulders.

Ye Qing bound the jacket tightly around her quivering body. "I'm sorry you had to experience that, it's not a healthy encounter for a diligent young girl. You can probably make an educated guess by now; Madam Ye and I are dangerous people living in a dangerous world, likewise surrounded by people who share our mindsets."

Ye Qing's voice was gentle, tone soothing, and lacking all intents of reproach. For a moment, Zi Rumeng was nothing but dazed, at a loss for words. Even her body, weak as it was, stopped trembling. Looking up from close proximity, she could spot two sky-blue gems glistening in the darkness of Ye Qing's thick hair. They were serene and beautiful to look at.

Ye Qing's mind was mostly occupied with the auction that was about to start. Thus, after making sure all the feminine parts exposed on Zi Rumeng's body were concealed by his jacket, he took a step back and tugged lightly at the collar of his white shirt.

With a sigh, Ye Qing turned his back to Zi Rumeng and started walking in the direction of the auction venue. "No one should come at you for trouble as they'd be too focused on the auction right now. If you feel insecure, you can leave the building and go home."

Zi Rumeng stood stupefied for a split second, everything from whence she left the elevator to this point replaying in her mind. Suddenly, her face twitched, various expressions flickering over, all the while as her nose slowly turned red, much like her eyes.

Zi Rumeng took a deep breath, a deeper sniff, and closed her eyes tightly as though to cage down the tears from escaping her control. Then, with a resplendent smile, she hopped on her feet so quickly, she arrived next to Ye Qing in a matter of seconds.

Ye Qing was walking ahead with the notes and books under his left elbow, his right hand lodged in the pocket of his pants. "Why are you following me? Aren't you scared?"

Zi Rumeng looked over. "You invited me already, it's your responsibility to protect and look after me."

Even as she spoke, she stuck out her tongue. Apparently, her lively and vivacious air somehow got to her head again. Ye Qing was stumped. "Class President Zi, you can only be so shameless; this isn't a game. Someone like me… picked up from the roadside, had already experienced hell on earth, and brushed with death."

Since Ye Qing was supposed to die once, he thought of these moments as an extra chapter in life. The choices he makes now and will make in the future would simply draw death ever so closer to him. Then, if they really found out about his connection with Madam Ye in the future, then Zi Rumeng would be caught in this mess by proximity.

Ye Qing's words seemed to go one ear and out the other as Zi Rumeng looked ahead with an unnatural expression. She murmured, "Calling me just Rumeng is fine too…"

Ye Qing stopped in his tracks, finally tossing the matters with Al-Father to the back of his head as he looked over. "This decision might hunt you down later in life; it might even be the cause of premature death and I'm not kidding. Do you still want to go in?"

Zi Rumeng thinned her lips. Then, she snatched the study materials from Ye Qing's hands and continued walking into the auction hall, seemingly ignoring him, even though her pace was considerably slow when compared with earlier.

Ye Qing shook his head, sighed, and followed.

Already, he began to worry and feel responsible for Zi Rumeng's safety since he was the one to bring her over. Zi Rumeng wanted to ask why hadn't Ye Qing had been angry or disappointed with her reactions a moment earlier, but she felt rather apprehensive about bringing up the topic once again. Thus, she decided to bury it in her heart for now.

…

By the time Ye Qing and Zi Rumeng made it into the auction hall, it was almost full of guests. Of course, the size of the weekly auction hall wasn't that large, it could accommodate about two hundred guests, and things feel a bit crowded with two hundred and fifty guests cramped together in the hall.

Plenty of tables were sporadically arranged in the hall, a few long leather sofas stretched along the sidelines, practically glued to the sidewalls. People who didn't enjoy socializing and preferred to sit down and watch the auction play out usually sat there.

Flanking the left and right sides of the entrance, one would spot lucrative compartments filled with small devices resembling a classic 3DS, but these were the keys to joining the open auction in a bit. When the bidding starts, the auctioned items would be viewed on the electronic screens, and people can raise bids as they see fit.

No yelling, no quarreling, and definitely no chaotic scenes of hands and signs tossing up in the air. Ye Qing also got himself one of these devices, as he was interested to find out how much would his Lesser Binding Contract talisman would sell for.

After chatting with Anna and Luke for a while, Ye Qing realized how valuable this talisman was in-game. 2 gold coins per talisman, that's 2,000 Holia. The reward for an uncommon quest is generally around 12 Holia, and even the rare quests often come with a reward of 300 Holia.

In a sense, a new player would have to grind for weeks or months to accumulate enough wealth to afford one Lesser Binding Contract talisman. Ye Qing didn't have the time to surf the forums recently, else he would have a clear understanding of how much ruckus the auctioning of not one, but two Lesser Binding Contract talismans had caused.

There is almost no way to obtain gold coins this early in the game unless you're one of the rich players who bought the starter pack edition with starting funds of 10 gold coins. Even then, those players would cling tight to those coins and wouldn't waste them on talismans this early in the game.

The hall suddenly went quiet, attracting Ye Qing's attention from the device as he looked up.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Zi Rumeng. "Is there anything on my face?" Asked Ye Qing, a bit puzzled by the open stare.

Zi Rumeng had thought Ye Qing was immersed in another episode of his focus and thus, she watched him closely, albeit subconsciously. She didn't know what had gotten into her head exactly as the recent interactions over one day with Ye Qing were like a rollercoaster.

She was by no means an easy girl. Then, what the heck? With a flushed face, she stammered out a response, "I was worried you'd enter that weird state again, so I was prepared to wake you up in anything happened!"

Ye Qing overlooked the heavy flush and panic in her eyes, taking these words at face value even as he turned around to see the doors to the hall part open, gradually revealing a procession of men in black surrounding a tall man in his late forties. He had a very lean build and a pair of rimmed black glasses on the high bridge of his nose. In his right hand was a flexible military knife that tossed about like a fish out of water or a slippery snake, the motion was both enthralling and scary.

His lips were thin, eyes long and narrow, immediately scanning the hall almost intuitively.

His first pause was on Madam Ye who stood coldly on the stage, while his second pause was on the bodies of Zi Rumeng and Ye Qing. The former flinched, instinctively sneaking her arms around Ye Qing's left arm. As for Ye Qing, he shared a brief eye contact with the man before he lost interest— his attention returning to the device instead.

"That high school brat is weird, Al-Father…" whispered the fierce man from earlier. "Though I can't put my finger on why I get this feeling."

"Death," said Al-Father after pausing for a bit. "He who doesn't fear death."