Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 396 The Rules for Ranking in Box 395

The quiet atmosphere in the private room was broken by the cheers from the audience.

The two people, who were staring at each other, turned their heads at the right moment and looked out of the beaded curtain.

The previous round of auction had just ended in the hall, and the customers who won the bids stood up and were bowing to those around them.

The next item was brought out for auction.

"This is the grand finale for tonight."

The auctioneer spoke solemnly.

"As you all have probably heard, a few days ago, the evil god of Sail City stirred up trouble. Fortunately, the Goddess of Wind and Rain displayed her divine power and joined forces with the God of Mist to defeat the evil god in the sea."

Feng Xiuhu was taken aback: "What do you mean by joining forces with the God of Mist? Who spread this message?"

Xu Liansheng asked curiously, "Second Master, what's wrong?"

"This is really not right!"

Feng Xiuhu said with dissatisfaction, "It was clearly Her Majesty who single-handedly dealt with both the God of Mist and the Evil God."

Xu Liansheng was also stunned: "This...is that so? Who told you this, Second Master? You must have misheard."

Her behavior also puzzled Feng Xiuhu: "What do you mean, 'heard'? I saw it with my own eyes! Qianyu City and Fan City aren't that far apart, how come they couldn't even get a single sentence across?"

Xu Liansheng's eyes flickered slightly under the lamplight. She stared at Feng Xiuhu for a moment: "There may be more to this matter than meets the eye. Second Master, you may not know this, but the matter of the evil god of Fancheng invading our territory was published in the newspaper—and it was the Great Xuan Gazette, printed by the Taijing Radio Control Headquarters. Every word in it represents the official Great Xuan government. How could it be false?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiuhu also sensed something unusual, so he frowned and asked, "Is that what the newspaper said?"

Xu Liansheng nodded: "With the combined efforts of wind, rain, mist, and fog, we can join forces to defeat the evil god."

Feng Xiuhu's expression darkened slightly.

With just one lie, the God of Mist was absolved, and the mistakes of the Church of Mist were wiped clean. Does the Great Xuan Gazette have such audacity?

But then Feng Xiuhu realized—the Da Xuan Gazette didn't have the guts. What should be written in the newspaper was decided by the government, but who in the government had the guts to do that? After all, doing so would offend the Fengyu Temple.

Grand Duke?
Feng Xiuhu's first thought was him.

Upon further reflection, however, he still felt something was amiss—the fall of the God of Mist was a fact, and in Sail City's small territory, the Church of Mist could no longer contend with the Temple of Wind and Rain. As the hometown of the Duke of Da Guo, Sail City was currently too busy avoiding the Temple of Wind and Rain to even think about actively provoking Wan Lai Qiu.

But if one isn't even a Grand Duke...

A name popped into Feng Xiuhu's mind.

He asked Xu Liansheng, "Liansheng, you're well-informed, you should know that the Great Xuan Army went to Fancheng a few days ago, right?"

Xu Liansheng nodded and replied, "Of course I know. It is said that the Mist Church suffered heavy losses in this battle, and even the Zhenshui Division's garrison in Fancheng was wiped out. That's why the President sent the Daxuan Army to assist in the defense."

Was the Great Xuan Army sent to assist in garrisoning? Shouldn't they be taking over the "war criminals" of the Misty Church?

If what happened before was just a guess, now Feng Xiuhu has basically confirmed the answer in his mind.

What he couldn't understand was why the President wanted to preserve the reputation of the Mist Church.
Could it be that he didn't want to see the Church of the Mist collapse?

Feng Xiuhu muttered to himself, "Damn it, how can the President do this? Where does that leave the reputation of the Fengyu Temple? Even if he is the President, isn't he afraid that the Empress will come after him..."

He didn't continue, because he suddenly realized that the Empress really couldn't hold the President accountable right now.

No wonder the Fengyu Temple tolerated this, and no wonder the President had the audacity to do so.

But all of this is just speculation. It's just that Feng Xiuhu's perspective is too limited and his vision too narrow to see through the layers of mystery. The auction continues below.

After the auctioneer had built up the anticipation of the guests, he finally lifted the red cloth, revealing the glass cover underneath.

Inside the square glass case, only one object is supported by velvet.

The object was about the size of a noodle, with a restrained gray sheen, flat and smooth surface, and irregularly shaped edges. Feng Xiuhu couldn't see anything special about it at first glance.

But the auctioneer excitedly introduced, "This is a fragment of a scale from the body of an evil god! Not only is it indestructible, but it also contains divinity. If it hadn't been personally struck off by the Goddess of Wind and Rain, we mortals would never have seen it in our entire lives!"

"Ok?"

Feng Xiuhu sat up straight and stared intently at the object.

This time, after a closer look, Feng Xiuhu noticed something amiss—it was indeed something that had fallen from the Seven-Colored Scale, but because it was damaged, there was no divine power left behind. If it weren't for the slight, barely perceptible lingering influence of the rules, Feng Xiuhu would have almost thought it was a "fake."

The auctioneer continued to boast: "Gentlemen, you can rest assured that our business has spent a lot of money to hire a highly skilled cultivator to remove the evil from this item, ensuring its complete safety."

He patted his chest: "Take this piece of scale back with you. It can be used to protect the house and ward off evil spirits and villains. It can also be sewn into your clothes as a breastplate. If there's really no other use for it, it can be used as a mirror for the ladies in the family to do their makeup."

The last sentence was just a joke, which made everyone laugh.

Once it's associated with a true god, whether it has any practical value becomes irrelevant.

As soon as the auctioneer announced the starting price of five hundred crab legs, cheers erupted throughout the hall.

Feng Xiuhu couldn't help but swallow, muttering to himself, "If I had known it was this valuable, I should have broken off a few pieces back then."

His voice was so soft that Xu Liansheng couldn't hear him clearly, which showed that Feng Xiuhu was distracted and mistakenly thought that he had taken a fancy to this item.

So she said, "If you like it, Second Master, I can take a picture and give it to you as a gift."

Feng Xiuhu waved his hand: "What would I do with it? This piece of junk is not even as good as that roll of blueprints from before—at least it can be used to wipe your butt."

Xu Liansheng chuckled twice: "What Second Master said makes sense."

As the conversation progressed, Feng Xiuhu's eyes darted around, and he asked, "Lian Sheng, do you know who was in the next private room just now?"

He was referring to the buyer who purchased the blueprints.

Xu Liansheng shook her head: "If you ask who it is specifically, I really don't know. But let me tell you this, Second Master: there are rules for the VIP boxes at the Wuchang Bidding Hall."

Feng Xiuhu perked up: "Tell me about it."

Xu Liansheng held up her fingers one by one: "Box No. 1 is reserved for the monks of the temple; Box No. 2 is reserved for the priests of the church; Box No. 3 is reserved for high-ranking officials of the government. These three rooms are never used by outsiders. Box No. 4, where we are now, is reserved for business people like me who have considerable wealth."

Feng Xiuhu suddenly realized that this meant the government office that had just bought the design drawings.

Upon learning this answer, Feng Xiuhu felt that the matter was even more suspicious.

The reason is very simple.

So, who would most want the blueprints for the iron boat?

Of course, it's the government office.

The coincidence is that the government office happened to be the one that bought the blueprints.

It was as if this round of auctions had been deliberately designed.

(End of this chapter)