Scourge Messenger

Chapter 144 Bidding
They arrived at a shop with 'books' hanging outside. There were two messengers guarding the door, and even a red-named messenger acting as a bodyguard inside.

But once inside the shop, they could understand why the security was so tight: the shop owner had a whole wall of secret manuals behind him. Although there were only thirty or forty of them if you counted carefully, secret manuals are consumables that disappear after one use, and the supply is always less than the demand. Even a military town could not possibly have so many secret manuals.

"What kind of book would you like to buy, sir?" the shopkeeper asked, stroking his beard. "If I don't have it, then Chang Le City probably doesn't have it either."

"Do you have any advanced techniques here?" the pharmacist asked with a cold laugh.

"Well..." the shop owner said awkwardly, "It's not that we don't have any, but you need to make a reservation."

"You don't have the advanced manuals, but you must have the two basic swordsmanship manuals and the basic footwork manual, right?"

Surprisingly, the prices of the manuals here weren't high, even slightly lower than Yan Qing's asking price on the trading board. After a moment's thought, he understood the reason: the manuals here were undoubtedly embezzled and resold by officials, with virtually no cost. Customers had already incurred huge costs to buy them in Chang Le City, so if they were still expensive, why wouldn't they buy them through legitimate channels? Basic manuals couldn't be monopolized.

No wonder sword technique manuals are so cheap. After all, if customers are willing to pay a little more, they can buy the manuals on the safer main city trading board. It would be strange if the manuals on the black market weren't cheap.

Seeing that the pharmacist was willing to buy these secret manuals, Wu Qiu and Shi Dong both foresaw what was going on.

Sure enough, after they left the shop, the pharmacist handed them the manual: "Take this and change your job to Martial Arts Messenger."

Wu Qiu silently accepted the manual, while Shi Dong timidly said, "Miss, I... I have no talent, and I dare not fight..."

"If you lack talent, I'll feed you; if you're afraid, then get used to it." The pharmacist appeared cold and ruthless: "You must learn to protect yourselves."

"Shi Dong, aren't you afraid of being captured?" Wu Qiu whispered in Shi Dong's ear, "Miss will protect us, but what if something unexpected happens? If it weren't for the Bunny Girl Heroine, we might be dead by now. The Duke of Jin's mansion is gone. We can't just be Miss's maids. Miss needs more than just maids... If you continue to be so unambitious, you'll be abandoned by us sooner or later."

Faced with pressure from Pharmacist Yuan and Wu Qiu, Shi Dong nodded emphatically and used both secret manuals with a snap: "I will try my best!"

"You... sigh..."

The pharmacists and the others hadn't expected Shi Dong to use the secret technique on the spot. The obvious change in her aura and blood flow to become a messenger instantly attracted the attention of everyone on the street. Keep in mind that there are far more messengers than ordinary people in Chang Le City. For an ordinary person to come to Chang Le City to change jobs is equivalent to shouting to the entire city: "I'm weak, but I'm rich!"

"What are you looking at?" The bunny girl, munching on a candied hawthorn, suddenly raised her eyebrows and shouted, "I'm talking to you, Deng Xiao of Parting Hook! Come out and fight me one-on-one if you dare!"

The masked man pointed at by the bunny girl's expression changed drastically. He turned and left immediately, drawing everyone's attention.

"The Parting Hook? He actually dares to come to Chang Le City?"

"This is going to be interesting. He robbed Fire Cloud Hands of his goods, and the four Fire Cloud Hands brothers are searching for him all over the world."

"It really is a farewell hook; the more I look at it, the more it resembles one!"

Taking this opportunity, the four members of the Pharmacist's group immediately moved to other streets. Wu Qiu asked in surprise, "Heroine, do you know that person?"

"I don't know him." Bunny Girl shook her head. "I already said, I can see the bad guy's name, and I also saw that he's wearing a mask. Ordinary people wear masks here to avoid being noticed by bad guys, but bad guys must be wearing masks because they've done something bad and offended someone. Anyway, there's no harm in calling him out; at worst, I can fight him one-on-one."

Shi Dong knew he had done something wrong, and shrank back like a quail.

The pharmacist patted her hair and sighed, "Don't be so reckless next time."

The pharmacist knew perfectly well that Shi Dong was completely unsuitable for the world of messengers. If Wu Qiu was a plum blossom that could survive on its own without her, then Shi Dong was a parasitic vine that could only live in a wealthy family. From childhood to adulthood, she had been learning how to serve others. In the past, she served the young lady, and in the future, she would serve the young lady and her son-in-law. She was submissive and hardworking. She was good, but only as a weak person.

But from then on, they had to survive in the perilous land of demons, in the jungle where the strong prey on the weak. They could no longer live as the weak.

As we passed a shop, the shopkeeper suddenly called out, "We have top-quality medicine gelatin, would you like to take a look?"

Yan Qing immediately became interested and decisively went in to buy a large quantity of Pharmacist's Gel.

He checked the effect and found that it worked on all tokens, but only on tokens of level 3 or below. Moreover, it could only restore the durability to 70% of the maximum value. The price was also reasonable; a large bottle could be bought for 500 spirit jades. Yan Qing, who already had the self-awareness of a wealthy person, bought ten bottles directly.

The pharmacist didn't have that much demand. She already had some in stock, so she only spent 100 spirit jades to buy a small bottle to replenish what she had used up last night.

During the transaction, the shopkeeper suddenly lowered his voice and said to her, "Yesterday, some people from the Zhou Kingdom went up the Shu Road Mountain. They were the personal guards of Wudang."

She looked up in surprise, but the shopkeeper had already returned to his previous demeanor, as if he hadn't said anything at all.

After leaving the shop, the pharmacist glanced at the bunny girl who was still munching on candied hawthorns and fell into deep thought.

As for why the shopkeeper reminded her, the pharmacist was also unsure. Perhaps it was her father's legacy, or perhaps other forces did not want her to fall into the trap—Qi Liang should be very happy to cultivate a member of the royal family who was full of hatred for the Zhou Kingdom.

The Wudang Imperial Guards belonged to the Chang'an Prefecture Army and were always the emperor's private army.

If what the shopkeeper said is true, the fact that Wudang's personal guards went up Mount Shu indicates that the imperial court and the demonic forces are cooperating. The demonic forces could very well take action against the pharmacist because of the imperial court's orders—or deals.

The greatest demonic force in Shudao Mountain is none other than the three guardians who control the secret realm.

Each of the guardians had accumulated years of experience at the third level of cultivation, commanding countless demonic messengers, and had long since turned the Shu Dao Mountain into a den of dragons and tigers. If Yao Shiyuan dared to set foot on the Shu Dao Mountain, it would be tantamount to stepping into the gates of hell. But where else could Yao Shiyuan go if she didn't go to the Shu Dao Mountain? Fleeing to another country, let alone whether Qi Liang would accept her, even if they did, they wouldn't allow Yao Shiyuan to come into contact with the third-level secret realm. At most, they would send her to a quiet place, and without the experience of the third-level secret realm, Yao Shiyuan would only drift further and further away from the Foundation Establishment stage.

For messengers seeking Foundation Establishment, there are two options: either compete fiercely for Foundation Establishment Pills amidst a massive, narrow battle, or undergo a transformation in a life-or-death struggle to forcibly establish their Foundation!
Now, it seems that both routes are possible for her to travel up the Shu Road.

If it's a dragon's den, slay the dragon; if it's a tiger's lair, kill the tiger!
Am I, the Pharmacist, willing to come to Mount Shu Dao because I want to make money peacefully with the Demonic Path messenger? Let's see if the Demonic Path is more wicked, or if I am more ferocious!
My affairs shouldn't involve others.

The pharmacist was determined to part ways with the bunny girl after today. As long as he didn't go up the mountain with her, the demonic forces cooperating with the imperial court wouldn't implicate her... But if they parted ways before the debt was paid off, his sister might think he was reneging on his debt.

Having said that, before I successfully establish my foundation and take revenge, how could I possibly repay such a debt of gratitude? If I were to implicate her, I would never be able to repay it in this lifetime.

We can't cause her any more trouble.

Before long, the Pharmacist and his group arrived at the busiest and most crowded shop in Chang Le City. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that it was actually an auction house, or more accurately, a stolen goods auction house, held every seven days. They just happened to be there today, but the auction was already more than halfway over, and they had missed a lot.

It was the first time anyone had ever seen a real auction, so they couldn't resist going in to watch. But after a while, both the pharmacist inside and Yan Qing outside the screen showed disappointment: it was too low-end.

How can ordinary second-generation communication items be put up for auction?

Second-tier rare defensive token...not bad.

Three-times-level ordinary boots... You've already reached three-times-level and you're still using this kind of trash? Aren't you afraid of getting athlete's foot?

But even these things that they look down on are sought after by many demonic messengers here.

Yan Qing's understanding of the demonic path was refreshed once again: a group of poor ghosts with strong fighting power. This poverty does not mean that they are poor, but that they have no way to obtain truly precious resources. Rare and precious items are family heirlooms that major families keep hidden away. They are so rare that even Shang Xuanwen is not qualified to keep them after retirement. They are all hidden in the military town. Do you think they can rush into the military town and steal them?
They really do want to.

The most fiercely contested item at the auction was detailed intelligence about the NESTS military town, including but not limited to information on the commander's token, the number of messengers, the deployment map, and the rotation time. Only a mole among moles could sell such intelligence.

The red-named messenger's purpose in purchasing this intelligence was obviously not anything else.

Finally, this intelligence was obtained by the red-named messenger in the very center of the venue. He had already bought several items before, and each time his bid was decisive, with no one daring to compete with him.

"It's Xue Shilang Zhong Ji, a third-level demonic messenger," Yao Shiyuan suddenly said. "His elder brother is Xue Xiang, one of the three great protectors of Shudao Mountain. The brothers once slaughtered an entire prefecture in Liangzhou and killed a third-level member of the Yuwen family. They are ranked in the top ten on the Zhou Kingdom's wanted list."

Both brothers are third-tier messengers and belong to one of the three major powers in Shudao Mountain, no wonder no one dares to provoke them.

At this moment, the auctioneer took out a box and announced loudly, "Today's auction's grand finale is a treasure that none of you have ever seen before. Even though I am very knowledgeable, this is the first time I have ever seen such a unique treasure in the world."

Upon hearing this, those who were about to leave the room sat down.

"This treasure is an advanced skill manual."

Upon hearing this, someone immediately mocked, "It's just an advanced technique, what's so great about it? These days, even advanced techniques are the grand finale?"

The host laughed and said, "If it were just an ordinary advanced manual, I certainly wouldn't dare to embarrass myself by showing it off, but this one is definitely a rare treasure that no one has ever seen before, because it combines swordsmanship and saber techniques into one!"

He opened the box, revealing the name of the secret manual inside:
Advanced Sword and Blade Mastery Manual

"You need to master basic swordsmanship, basic dual swordsmanship, or basic saber and dual swordsmanship to use this. After use, the messenger's swordsmanship will be merged, and the distinction between single and dual swordsmanship, or single and dual swordsmanship, will be eliminated. There will only be one swordsmanship. It is said that it may even lead to an extremely rare profession!" the host announced loudly. "It is said that mastering swordsmanship can lead to an even more powerful profession. The starting bid is 10,000 spirit jades. Bartering is not accepted. Please place your bid!"

"Twenty thousand!"

"Thirty-five thousand!"

"Fifty thousand spirit jades!"

"Sixty thousand!"

Like a stone thrown into still water, the auction hall was filled with bids, and the price quickly rose to 100,000.

"130,000 spirit jades!" Blood Attendant Zhong Ji stood up and looked around. "I'm giving this manual to my nephew. Let's see who dares to compete with me!"

Upon hearing this, the hall fell silent. The host's expression also turned sour, because several of his items had not sold well due to Zhong Ji's influence.

Although his backer was also a powerful family in Liang Kingdom and he was not afraid of Zhong Ji, there was nothing he could do if others were afraid of Zhong Ji. Unfortunately, none of the other third-level protectors came to participate in the auction today, so there was no one to challenge Zhong Ji. It was all up to Zhong Ji to do whatever he said.

He sighed, deciding to just go through the motions and get it over with.

"150,000 spirit jades."

Just then, a sweet and innocent voice came from a corner of the venue.

(End of this chapter)