Catching Monsters

Chapter 309 The Meteorite is Lost

The atmosphere inside the auction house was incredibly lively.

The person bidding the most enthusiastically was a middle-aged man dressed in lavish clothes.

Jiang Yun looked over curiously. This person was sitting in the chair at the very front. No matter how much others offered, he always won 10,000 taels more than them.

They seemed to care about money in no way.

Soon, the price had reached 100,000 taels of silver.

Jiang Yun's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked in a low voice, "Who is this person? Why is he so arrogant?"

Xu Suwen's face also showed a strange expression. She lowered her voice and said to Jiang Yun, "It seems to be the Minister of Revenue, Zheng Chengze, Lord Zheng."

After Zheng Chengze, holding a cup of tea, announced the price of 100,000 taels of silver, the entire auction hall fell silent.

Clearly, this price has far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Jiang Yun frowned and said in a low voice, "That makes sense. He's the head of the Ministry of Revenue. No wonder he's so rich."

At this point, Jiang Yun shook his head again. That's not right. Logically speaking, it's not surprising that the Minister of Revenue could come up with 100,000 taels of silver.

They could openly and brazenly bid such a high price for the meteorite in front of all the powerful and influential people in the capital.

How is he going to explain this to Xiao Yuzheng?

There is only one possibility.

Xiao Yuzheng hinted that he should do so.

He must be the one who stood up for Xiao Yuzheng and bought the meteorite.

After seeing the room fall silent, Jung Sung-taek sat down in his chair with a smile on his face, looking relaxed, while glancing at a private room on the second floor from time to time.

Early this morning, Feng Yu paid a visit, bringing with him His Majesty's edict to continuously drive up prices.

As long as the price is within an acceptable range, the price will continue to increase.

Just increase it to the limit of Demon Emperor Ao Lie.

Thinking of this, Zheng Chengze took a sip of tea. Yuan Changyu, who was in charge of the auction on the stage, also lit up when he heard that the bid had reached 100,000 taels. He shouted, "Any more bids? 100,000 taels at a time!"

Just then, Ao Lie, who was in a private room on the second floor, stood at the window and said with a stern face, "One hundred and one thousand taels!"

At this moment, many dignitaries in the auction hall were discussing in hushed tones, curious about what exactly this meteorite was.

It's unbelievable that it could fetch such an astronomical price.

In a corner where no one paid attention, the young man who had gone to the outhouse returned. He was calm and sat back down next to Liu Boqing, casually handing Liu Boqing a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck.

"Successful."

Liu Boqing nodded slightly, then smiled and got up, walking towards Jiang Yun.

At this moment, Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen were sitting in the arena, eating melon seeds, drinking tea, and chatting.

The old man came to Jiang Yun's side again.

Liu Boqing smiled and then said in a low voice, "Young man, you and I have a deep connection."

"However, you are about to face a big problem. I will give you a brocade pouch. When you encounter trouble, open it and it will help you turn danger into safety."

Hearing the old man's words, Jiang Yun frowned. Soon, a delicate brocade pouch was handed to Jiang Yun.

"Remember, do not open it now." After saying this, Liu Boqing slowly got up and led Zhang Qingfeng, who was beside him, back to sit down.

Zhang Qingfeng looked puzzled and said in a low voice, "I went through all that trouble to steal and switch these things, and you just gave them to him like this?"

Liu Boqing remained calm as he looked at the stage and said in a deep voice, "We can't take this thing out of the house. If it's discovered, we might even face death."

"What if he gets discovered?" Zhang Qingfeng said in a low voice.

Liu Boqing: "That's because he himself wasn't lucky enough."

Touching the brocade pouch in his hand, Jiang Yun was curious about what the old man had given him.

Just as he was about to open it to take a look, Yuan Changyu, who was in charge of the auction on the stage, suddenly shouted loudly, "Fifty thousand!"

"The VIP in VIP room number three has offered 150,000."

Jiang Yun looked up and saw that in VIP room number three was none other than the Demon Emperor Ao Lie.

150,000 taels was all the money Ao Lie had brought. His eyes, filled with intense killing intent, swept over everyone in the room.

It carried a clear sense of threat.

At this moment, Zheng Chengze, the Minister of Revenue, also looked towards Xiao Yuzheng's private room, wanting to ask for instructions on whether to continue bidding.

But Xiao Yuzheng, who was by the window of the private room, shook his head slightly at him.

Seeing this, Zheng Chengze understood that this price was probably the limit.

On the stage, Yuan Changyu said in a deep voice, "150,000 per time."

"150,000 twice."

"150,003 times."

"make a deal!"

Ao Lie snorted coldly, waved his hand lightly, and walked directly out of the private room, striding towards the auction stage.

Zheng Chengze, holding the meteorite, smiled and handed it over, saying, "Sir, is this 150,000 in silver notes, or...?"

"Don't worry, I won't shortchange you." Ao Lie said coldly, then reached out and picked up the meteorite.

But as soon as he picked it up, Ao Lie frowned slightly, and then his eyes turned cold.

"fake?"

Ao Lie looked at Yuan Changyu and asked, "You dare to lie to me?"

That look alone sent a chill down Yuan Changyu's spine. He quickly smiled and said, "Sir, you're joking. How could it be fake..."

"Do you think I've never seen a meteorite before?" Ao Lie said, squeezing the meteorite in his hand hard.

In an instant, the 'meteorite' was crushed into powder.

You should know that in the Eastern Demon Kingdom, there is a meteorite.

Although this meteorite looked no different from an ordinary stone, it was incredibly hard, and no matter what method was used, it could not be destroyed in the slightest.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Changyu trembled slightly and hurriedly said, "This is the item we are auctioning. This is the meteorite. So, you want to renege on your debt?"

Do you know who owns our Yuanhu Auction House?

"you……"

Ao Lie exuded demonic energy, casually raised his hand and slapped it, creating a loud boom.

Yuan Changyu was instantly blasted into countless pieces of flesh and blood by the powerful demonic energy, which were scattered on the auction stage.

"How dare you lie to me." Ao Lie snorted coldly and turned to leave. Seeing this, Xiao Yuzheng, who was in the private room, couldn't help but look at Feng Yu beside him: "Fake?"

Feng Yu shook his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this Yuanhu Auction House is Prince Yi's business. Moreover, before this, a great scholar from the academy was specially invited to appraise it, and it is indeed genuine."

"In my humble opinion, the body has been switched."

"A switch?" Xiao Yuzheng couldn't help but laugh, and said in a deep voice, "Send the Imperial Guards over here. Investigate everyone in the auction house thoroughly."

"Yes."

Feng Yu nodded respectfully.

Xiao Yuzheng waved his hand and strode away.

Soon, everyone in the auction house was notified that they could not leave easily; if they wanted to leave, they had to undergo a rigorous body search by the Imperial Guards.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun and Xu Suwen exchanged a glance.

After thinking it over carefully, Jiang Yun suddenly looked at the brocade pouch in his arms. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he secretly opened the pouch and took a look.

A meteorite is lying inside.

He was stunned for a moment, then looked at the old man and the young man.

Did those two bastards do this?

And they even gave the things back to me?

At the same time, Zhang Qingfeng sat down next to Liu Boqing and whispered, "That Jiang Yun is watching us. Could he be going to report us?"

Liu Boqing sat in his chair, appearing calm and collected, and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, he won't do that."

"How do you know?"

“He’s a smart man.” Liu Boqing turned to Zhang Qingfeng and asked, “If you were in his position, what would you do?”

"Report us on, and then this meteorite goes back into the hands of Yuanhu Auction House? What benefit would he get? Would he be happy about that?"

"His Majesty the Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty is also interested in this item. He will definitely take it out secretly and present it to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Even if we don't give it to His Majesty the Emperor, wouldn't he want a treasure that all these forces covet?"

Just as Liu Boqing said.

Jiang Yun merely glanced at the two men before carefully hiding the brocade pouch again.

Regardless of where he got it, Jiang Yun had no intention of returning it to the old man.

You should know that you still owe two meteorites.

At this time, the auction house was in chaos. Many people wanted to leave, but they were told that they could only leave safely after being searched by the Imperial Guards.

Hearing this, Jiang Yun's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was completely relieved.

Soon, a large number of men from the Eastern Garrison arrived and surrounded the entire Yuanhu Auction House.

After all, it was Xiao Yuzheng who personally instructed them to come.

This is enough to show how much Xiao Yuzheng values ​​this matter.

Yang Liunian came in person.

After he led his men to surround the entire auction house, he said with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Yang Liunian from the Eastern Garrison Command. I have been ordered that everyone must be searched before leaving this place."

"Including me?"

From the crowd, a person slowly walked out—Prince Fu.

Prince Fu was of such high status that even Xiao Yuzheng had to address him as Imperial Uncle.

Upon seeing this, Yang Liunian looked inside and realized that most of the people there were prominent figures from the capital.

Not many people can afford to offend them.

Yang Liunian smiled and said, "Prince Fu, of course, includes you. This is an order personally issued by His Majesty, and I can only obey it."

“Of course, Prince Fu is of noble status, so I will search him myself. Please.” Yang Liunian said, leading Prince Fu out of the house and outside.

"Your Highness, please take your time. With so many people around, I could not disobey His Majesty's decree." Yang Liunian was a shrewd man. After leaving the house, he personally escorted Your Highness to the gate of Yuanhu Auction House.

Back in the house, looking at the room full of powerful and wealthy people, he was just about to order his men to search them.

Another person stepped forward.

Li Wangxin.

Yang Liunian looked miserable; why was his boss here too?

It would be more appropriate to let him search himself.

Yang Liunian forced a wry smile and said, "The Commander is here too."

"Yes, strictly follow His Majesty's orders. No one is allowed any special privileges. Search thoroughly and leave no stone unturned." Li Wangxin nodded as he instructed Yang Liunian on his work, and finally said, "Alright, it's getting late. I'm going back to rest. Tomorrow, compile the task report and send it to me."

Yang Liunian lowered his voice and asked softly, "Lord Li, why don't you take command of this mission? There are so many powerful and influential people; I'll search them all..."

"I can't afford to offend them either."

Li Wangxin glared at him with a hint of disappointment.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "You know this room is full of powerful and wealthy people. If I stay here and direct my men to search them, won't they hold a grudge against me?"
Watching Li Wangxin turn and leave, Yang Liunian sighed.

The eyes of all the powerful and influential people in the room were fixed on him.

Minister of Revenue, Minister of Rites, Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, High-ranking Buddhist monks...

Suddenly, Yang Liunian spotted a familiar figure in the crowd.

"Jiang Yun!"

"I'm here." Jiang Yun hurriedly ran forward, a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Yang Liunian asked in a low voice.

Jiang Yun chuckled awkwardly and said in a low voice, "I heard there were treasures up for auction, so I came to watch the excitement..."

"What happened?"

Jiang Yun said in a low voice, "It must be that meteorite that's gone..."

Jiang Yun briefly recounted the events to Yang Liunian.

After listening, Yang Liunian's face darkened. He patted Jiang Yun on the shoulder and said, "Since you're here, you're in charge. Search everyone thoroughly."

"I still have some official business to attend to, so I need to return to the Eastern Garrison Command first..."

Yang Liunian thought to himself, "Anyway, Jiang Yun has offended quite a few people in the capital, so one more time won't make a difference."

(End of this chapter)