In Panjiayuan, the first thing they did was trick Lao Hu into going tomb raiding.

In Zhang Rishan's office, a waiter from the Crescent Moon Hotel respectfully placed the herbal medicine on Zhang Rishan's desk.

Zhang Rishan rubbed his stomach, picked up the medicine and drank it down, cursing inwardly, "Where did this brat come from? He's so strong!"

"President!"

The waitress, who came from the Yin family, hesitated before saying, "Your distinguished guest has already been invited in. The sky lantern has already been lit!"

"puff!"

Zhang Rishan spat out the medicine he was drinking, his face turning ugly. "Tian Deng... how dare this kid!"

The last time we lit sky lanterns was decades ago. Back then, the Buddha lit three sky lanterns to save the Second Master's maid.

Even the Buddha only dared to light the sky lantern back then because he had the financial support of the entire Nine Gates.

Zhang Rishan cursed, "That kid... I told him not to cause me any trouble..."

The waitress asked timidly, "President... what should we do?"

Zhang Rishan's face turned pale, then red. "Does that kid have money?"

The waitress said, "He seems to have some money. He bought the last item for a whopping 150 million!"

Zhang Rishan was silent for a moment, then said, "Let him order. The Crescent Moon Hotel has its own rules..."

"Don't worry…"

"If he wants to dine and dash, someone will naturally step in!"

"You know, there are still a few old fogies living in this auction house right now!"

Although the Nine Gates have become history, some of those once powerful old men are still alive, and they are right here in the Crescent Hotel.

Thinking of these people, a slight ripple appeared in Zhang Rishan's usually calm eyes.

.........

"This kid actually lit a sky lantern..."

In another private room on the second floor, an elderly man with a full head of white hair clapped his hands and laughed, "This old man of mine finally made it all the way from Hangzhou to Yanjing, and I never expected to encounter such a scene..."

"Ugh..."

An old, balding dog lay cross-legged at the old man's feet. Sensing the old man's emotions, the dog whimpered softly.

Although it is old, this old dog is very intelligent.

"father…"

Two young men stood behind the old man. Seeing their father acting like a child, one of them said speechlessly, "We should go. We've already bought the tickets..."

"No, no, no..."

The old man shook his head, as if he had rediscovered the passion he had for tomb raiding in his youth. "Sansheng, name your price, and rip this kid off..."

"All right…"

The young man, who was referred to as the "Three Provinces," was speechless, but still nodded.

.........

"Buzz!"

Su Mo's private room welcomed another guest, the same elderly manager from before. He rushed over anxiously, "Young sir, are you sure you're not here to cause trouble at my Crescent Moon Hotel?"

"Ha ha…"

Su Mo laughed loudly, "Don't worry, old sir, I'm determined to use these three Qilin Exhaustion pills today!"

The elderly man in charge gave a wry smile, "You can just bid normally. Why did you have to light this sky lantern?"

Su Mo shook his head. "I have my own plans. Please help me, sir!"

The old man nodded. "Please speak?"

Su Mo said, "Please send someone to Panjiayuan immediately to find a man named Big Gold Tooth and have him raise 30 million in cash for me as quickly as possible, at all costs..."

The old man in charge was speechless. In the 1980s, the average monthly salary was only a few dollars. Even for the Nine Gates, 30 million was an astronomical sum.

"Ten million!"

At the auction house, the price of Qilin Blood has officially exceeded ten million.

"well…"

The elderly man in charge nodded repeatedly, "The old man personally drove to Panjiayuan to find this big gold tooth!"

After speaking, the elderly man in charge turned and left.

"Lighting sky lanterns..."

Yingzi asked timidly, "What is 'lighting a sky lantern'?"

Su Mo explained, "Simply put, it's like booking the whole place. No matter how much they offer, I, the one who lights the lamp, will pay for it!"

"Eleven million!"

Outside, the price of Qilin blood continues to climb.

Yingzi's heart trembled violently, her face turning deathly pale. "We...we have to run!"

"No rush, no rush..."

The Qilin below Su Mo said, "It's still under my control!"

The Qilin Blood is a treasure from the Tomb Raider Chronicles. Besides Zhang Qiling's constant protection, Wu Xie's greatest reliance when raiding tombs was that he consumed a thousand-year-old Qilin Blood in the Lu Palace.

However, the Qilin Blood at the Crescent Hotel is only 300 years old, so its effect may be far less than Wu Xie's.

However, such treasures are quite rare, and Su Mo would not let go of even a 300-year-old Qilin Blood.

A dozen minutes later, Big Gold Tooth and Lao Hu hurriedly entered the Crescent Hotel.

"I didn't expect you to come, sir..."

Su Mo was somewhat surprised to see Blind Chen.

"Master Su, how could you dare to light a sky lantern? This whole ordeal has wiped out all our savings..."

Big Gold Tooth was sweating profusely.

"Ding! Twenty-five million!"

Upon hearing the shouts outside, Big Gold Tooth's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys trembled violently, and his legs went weak, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Su Mo remained remarkably calm. "Did you bring the money...?"

Big Gold Tooth took a breath. "Because of the tight schedule, I only managed to raise 15 million in cash. However, we also accumulated quite a few treasures in Jingjue Ancient City, Dragon Ridge, and Insect Valley, so we have a total of 30 million in assets!"

"Oh!"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "I wonder if Mr. Gold Tooth is inside?"

Big Gold Tooth was taken aback and muttered to himself, "Crescent Hotel? I don't have any friends here?"

"Master Su, Master Hu, wait for me a moment, I'll go take a look..."

Big Gold Tooth wiped his sweat, turned around and walked out.

Blind Chen stroked his beard and said in a deep voice, "Although this Qilin Blood is a rare treasure for warding off evil, you dared to light a sky lantern here at the Crescent Moon Hotel, you're really bold!"

Su Mo was somewhat surprised, "Judging from the old man's tone, he seems quite familiar with the Crescent Moon Hotel?"

Blind Chen shook his head. "I'm not familiar with this Crescent Moon Hotel, but when I was young, I dealt in funerary artifacts with the Nine Gates behind it and had a few contacts with them!"

"However, I don't really like them. They're clearly just a bunch of bandits, but they insist on putting on an official's mask and forcibly putting a dog leash on themselves. They're neither officials nor merchants, nor bandits!"

Su Mo chuckled, surprised that Blind Chen had such a low opinion of the Nine Gates.

But it makes sense. At his peak, Chen Yulou controlled over 100,000 bandits and thieves across thirteen provinces, including the south, north, and south, and secretly supported several warlord factions in Hunan and Hubei. He was far more powerful than the Nine Gates.

"Good news..."

Big Gold Tooth walked in with a beaming smile, "Our benefactor has made a move again..."

As soon as Big Gold Tooth finished speaking, a young man came out of a private room on the second floor.

Su Mo raised his eyebrows and discovered that this person bore a striking resemblance to Xie Jinchuan.

"Gentlemen!"

The young man bowed to each of the private rooms on the second floor, saying, "The friend who lit the sky lanterns this time is a good friend of the Xie family. The old master asked me to say a few words and ask everyone to give the Xie family some face and bid rationally!"

"My Xie family will be eternally grateful!"

After saying that, the young man said no more and went back into the private room.

"Old Master Xie... isn't that...?"

"Hiss, it's Master Xie Jiu!"

"Ninth Master is a living fossil among the Nine Gates, a well-known figure in Changsha back in the day!"

Inside the Crescent Moon Hotel, all was quiet on the surface, but the low hissing sounds still clearly reached Su Mo's ears.

Chapter 99: Building Your Own Power

Master Jie Jiu?

Su Mo was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "It's him!"

Before they went to Yunnan, Master Xie Jiu gave them a batch of weapons.

At the time, Su Mo didn't think too much about it. He just regarded this Ninth Master as a highly respected senior in the antique business and never associated him with Master Jie of the Nine Gates.

"Ha ha…"

Su Mo laughed loudly, "So that's how it is! So that's how it is!"

If Master Xie Jiu were still alive at this time, then according to the timeline, several of the most prominent figures in the Nine Gates back then should still be around!

"Twenty-five million!"

"Twenty-five million!"

The female auctioneer looked around. "Has anyone else placed a bid?"