Welcome to the Bizarre Games

Chapter 417 Auction
Beneath the surface, however, lies a completely different world.

Following the path pointed out by the vendor, we arrived at a place that looked like an auction house.

The place wasn't big, but it was almost full. Cang Le looked around and led Zhou You to a seat at the back, then whispered something to him.

"As far as I know, Li Zhangfan has been in this market for the past few days. Although he's hard to spot among so many people, he's definitely among those bidding when it comes to the materials for the Soul-Summoning Pill."

Zhou You nodded, but then suddenly remembered something and asked again.

“My master is usually dirt poor, and he has to cheat and swindle to get food. Where would he get the money to hold an auction?”

Cang Le looked somewhat embarrassed.

"I heard that a beautiful young woman next to the flag bearer paid the bill."

—So that's how it is. You're really something, living off a woman.

Zhou You kept quiet and remained seated.

At that moment, something was being sold enthusiastically on the platform directly below, and no one noticed the two people who suddenly entered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is mystical iron from the South China Sea. A single piece is worth a hundred gold coins, and there are three pieces here. This is excellent material for forging weapons and refining magical artifacts. Starting bid..."

Zhou You lost interest after just one glance. Although he still had some money left, the script wasn't finished, and he didn't want to just leave it lying around in a place like this.

As for Cang Le
This guy was so poor he was practically banging on his head; he was just there to make up the numbers.

So, out of sheer boredom, the two of them started chatting casually.

However, they hadn't met many times, so they chatted about all sorts of things—basically just passing the time—and Cang Le only responded half-heartedly until Zhou You asked a question, at which point he suddenly paused.

"Mr. Zhou, what did you just say?"

"I mean, this ghost market is different from what I knew. I heard it was just an ordinary place to sell stolen goods, where the eight major families would sell things that couldn't be traded openly. But now it seems like it's becoming the main gathering place for the black market in the North?"

Cang Le stared at Zhou You with his mouth agape, as if he were looking at some kind of oddball. After a while, he finally spoke.

"If I hadn't just been beaten up by you not long ago, I would have doubted whether you were a disciple of the White Clan. This is a major market held once every ten years; besides being a trading venue, it also serves other purposes."

However, at that moment, a loud voice suddenly came from below the stage.

"One black jade bead, taken from the mountains of Cangzhou, has been appraised by Master Jing of Qingfangzhai as being of medium to high quality. The starting price is one hundred taels of silver, with a minimum increment of thirty taels!"

Zhou You's expression suddenly changed, and then he abruptly revealed a look of surprise and delight.

Is there such a coincidence?

Previously, Sect Leader He had given him some materials to repair the magic sword, and Feng Qianlin had hastily obtained a few of them for him. However, due to insufficient time, they were not very complete, and at most, they could only repair Duanxie to the point where he could use his evil energy.

But what if we had this thing now?
Maybe he can fix it in this script?
Zhou You lowered his head and suddenly counted the silver notes in his pocket.

As mentioned before, Feng Qianlin rewarded him handsomely, and even though the Five Deficiencies and Three Shortcomings were still in effect, he still had about eight hundred taels of silver in his possession.

Moreover, today's event is relatively small, and based on previous experience, the final bids are unlikely to be too high.

That is
Should we take a gamble?
Thinking of this, Zhou You turned and greeted Cang Le.

"Brother Cang, how should we bid in this auction?"

“Mr. Zhou is interested in this thing? This is something for raising evil spirits, it should have nothing to do with your White Gate.” Cang Le scratched his head, but didn’t think too much about it. Instead, he bent down and rummaged around, pulling out a folding fan from under the chair. “Here, write the price on this fan with your finger, then hold it up. When you want to renegotiate the price, just wipe it with your palm and you can raise the price again.”

Zhou You took the fan, played with it for a while, and found that apart from a few spells attached to it, there was nothing special about it. So he stretched out his finger and slowly wrote a number on it.

The old man on the stage waited for a long time but no one made a bid. Just when he thought the item would go unsold, he suddenly looked at the table and his eyes lit up.

"Ding Shenwei, someone has offered 150 taels of silver, 150 taels! Anyone else bidding?"

After a long while, no one answered.

However, just as the old man was about to strike the bell to set the tone, the number plate in front of him suddenly moved again.

"Someone has bid 200 for the Yiwu position. Is anyone else going to follow suit?"

Something that seemed certain to be won was snatched away by someone else?
Zhou You craned his neck and looked in that direction.

As luck would have it, the other person was also looking up at him.

He was naturally wearing a mask, but the other party also had a spell concealing their face, making it seem as if they were shrouded in mist, indistinct and unclear.

Zhou You remained silent for a long time, then erased the words on the fan and wrote a few more strokes.

At the same time, the elderly man who was presiding over the event also spoke loudly.

"The customer in Ding Shen's seat quoted 230, and there are still people waiting."

Before he could finish speaking, the other person in the bidding also wrote down a new number.

"The price quoted at position B is 300."

Wow, they always raise prices by a huge amount; they seem to have ill intentions.

Zhou You thought for a moment and then rewrote the inscription on the fan.

"Ding Shenwei's customer quoted three hundred and thirty taels!"

The other party immediately followed without hesitation.

"The price for the Yiwu position is three hundred and eighty taels!"

"Ding Shenwei's customer quoted four hundred and ten taels!"

"B-position price"

The old man became more and more excited as he spoke—after all, this thing had long exceeded its premium, and the more he sold, the more he would earn—but after a certain number was revealed, the bidding stopped abruptly.

"Seven hundred and thirty taels, seven hundred and thirty taels, is anyone else following?"

Zhou You counted his silver notes, then finally sighed and shook his head.

The other party seemed determined to win, and even if I gave away all my savings, I probably wouldn't be able to buy it—of course, according to Cang Le, this place accepts pawned items, and I could sell either the Broken Moon Bow or the Ten Thousand Blades to make up the required amount, but...

The former is one of his few ranged abilities that consume no resources, while the latter...
—After all, those were the last relics left behind by Feng Qianlin.

Seeing that Zhou You was no longer bidding, the old man at the auction also looked disappointed. As usual, he called out three times before finally striking the wooden clapper.

"Then congratulations to the guest in seat number Yiwu, this item..."

But at the same time, a calm voice rang out.

"One thousand five hundred taels."

What?
The old man paused for a full four or five seconds before raising his head and looking in the direction from which the sound came.

It was a swirling shadow, from which only the face of a man could be vaguely discerned.

After a long while, the old man finally spoke haltingly.

"Friend, are you sure you're not mistaken? Also, we don't accept verbal quotes here. If you want to bid on something, you need to write it down on the fan."

"is it?"

The man in the shadows said casually, and then the person standing next to him picked up a fan and added a few strokes to it. "Then it's as you said, my price is still 1,500 taels, you can continue."

The old man looked at the flashing lights on the stage, wondering if this person was deliberately causing trouble—but after gritting his teeth and making a bid, he glanced at the seat the man was sitting in.

"The customer in the Jia Yin position is offering 1,500 taels. Anyone else bidding?"

This time, the competitor also fell silent, and after a long while, he slowly wrote down a number.

"The price for the Yiwu position is 1,550 taels!"

However, the person who cut in waved his hand casually.

"The customer in the Jia-Yin position is asking for three thousand taels!!"

This time, the arena fell into complete silence.

Not only the auctioneer, but everyone turned their attention in that direction, wanting to see who this person was—whether so wealthy or so reckless. However, the shadow was so deep that even with magic, they still couldn't discern the person's appearance.

The person in the Yiwu position fell silent again, as if struggling with something. After hesitating for a long time, he finally made his bid.

"The bid for the Yiwu position is three thousand two hundred taels!"

Honestly, by this point, the price had far exceeded the value of the bead—even if it wasn't a mid-to-high grade bead, it wouldn't be worth it even if it were top grade—yet the person in the shadows still nonchalantly accepted the bid.

"The customer in the Jia Yin position is asking for four thousand taels!"

This time, the person in the Yiwu position finally put down his fan, but soon, a reluctant and extremely indistinct voice rang out.

"Old Kang."

The old man on the stage wiped away a cold sweat and then responded.

"No, no, I was just pulled in here at the last minute, so please just tell me what's on your mind."

"How do you eight major families handle cases of falsely reporting prices or maliciously raising prices?"

"The filming will restart, and the offender will be thrown into the abyss, never to be reincarnated."

"That's good."

After saying that, the man sat back down and didn't say anything more.

Then he instructed a servant to jog to the shadowy spot, bow, and whisper a few words.

But soon, his expression suddenly froze.

—At the same time, the old man's hands clenched tightly.

The waiter, however, took something from the man's hand and carefully carried it back to the stands.

The old man's expression froze after just one glance.

Then, refusing to believe it, he looked at it several more times before taking a deep breath and shouting.

"A tribute to the imperial court, a piece of Chenguang Jade, in perfect condition, valued at four thousand five hundred taels of silver!"

After shouting, he leaned against a pillar as if all his strength had been drained. The servant next to him tried to help him up, but he waved his hand and said in a low voice.

"I don't need it, I was just a little surprised. What are you still looking at? Hurry up and take the things and the change to them."

The attendant agreed. However, when the man brought the black jade bead and silver note to the seat, he waved his hand and then whispered a few words.

The servant was initially incredulous, then suddenly showed a look of ecstatic joy, and then, holding the plate, he actually ran to Zhou You.

“Sir, that gentleman said that the five hundred taels were for me as a reward, and this is a gift for you.”

"give me?"

Even Zhou You, who had been watching the show the whole time, was taken aback.

However, the servant did not say anything, but simply put the plate down and then quickly retreated as if afraid that Zhou You would change his mind.

Cang Le, who was standing next to him, was also stunned. After a while, he murmured something.

"Good heavens, four thousand five hundred taels. In peaceful times, that's enough for a family of five to live on for over a hundred years. Brother, wait, Mr. Zhou, where did you get to know such a person?"

Zhou You stared intently at the shadow, but ultimately just shook his head.

"I don't know him. The only person I'm familiar with around here is my master, but even if he sold his ditches, he couldn't make that much money. Even if he hooked up with a rich woman, it's impossible."

Despite his words, he still picked up the black jade bead, then bowed towards the shadows before sitting back down.

After this incident, the auction became rather dull. Several people tried to get closer to Jia Yin, but the guard seemed to be a master, and often retreated with screams before they could even get close.

Although there were no physical injuries, after two or three incidents, no one dared to offend them again.

As for Zhou You's side
Duan Xie could easily shed a little blood essence, enough to block all prying eyes.

Another half hour passed.

With the final strike of the bell, the old man on the platform exhaled a breath of stale air.

"That concludes today's session. The next session will be in two days, and that will also be the last one. If anyone is interested, you can find out how to re-enter using the original method."

It's gone just like that? What happened to the materials for the Soul-Summoning Coil?

Zhou You frowned, but before he could speak, someone in the audience suddenly stood up and said angrily.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Kang, I remember we were supposed to sell a bundle of ice cicada silk today. How come it's already sold out before we even put it on display?"

The old man spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"So that our customers know that this item is indeed available at the event, but someone offered a high price before the event started, and the buyer agreed. Since it was a mutually agreeable arrangement, we shipped it directly. We hope you understand."

However, the person remained relentless.

"Grandpa, I've waited so long, and you're telling me it's gone? You—"

Before he could even utter a curse, the old man glanced at him.

Unlike his previous timid demeanor, his gaze was as cold as ice—silencing all words.

"I'm sorry, this interception was in accordance with the regulations of the Eight Great Families. If you have any questions, you can report them to the manager. I'm just an intermediary, and I really can't give you much explanation."

After saying this, the old man bowed to the shadowy area again, and then turned and left without hesitation.

Zhou You watched for a while, but didn't go over. Instead, he pulled Cang Le along, intending to leave as well.

But just as he took a step, the guard in the shadows suddenly stepped out. Without any visible movement, he covered a distance of about a hundred meters and appeared behind Zhou You in an instant.

Cang Le jolted awake and made as if to sing the lyrics—in his fright, he forgot that all his shadow puppets had already been destroyed. However, Zhou You reached out and stopped him.

"May I ask what brings you here?"

The man was silent for a few seconds, then spoke slowly in a voice that sounded like a gear.

"Please wait, sir. I am a former benefactor of yours. I would like to invite you over for a chat."

(End of this chapter)