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

As she spoke, the woman paused deliberately, as if waiting for someone to call out a price.

However, many people were wary of the Xie family's power, so they neither stirred up trouble nor inflated the price of Qilin Blood, and the scene became unusually quiet.

The female auctioneer asked, "Has no one placed a bid?"

Seeing this, the fat man panicked, walked to the window, pointed at the female auctioneer, and said, "Alright. Nobody's calling anymore, you'd better hurry up and strike the gavel!"

The female auctioneer paused for a moment, then brought down the gavel, "Qilin Blood, twenty-five million, sold!"

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth breathed a sigh of relief. Twenty-five million was still an astronomical sum, but fortunately, they had abundant assets and could withstand it.

"Please welcome the third treasure..."

The next few items caught Su Mo's eye, but he did not bid on them again.

Su Mo remained an observer until the last treasure was auctioned off.

After the auction ended, Su Mo stood at the entrance and asked Big Gold Tooth, "Are you still in contact with Master Xie? I happen to have some time and would like to pay him a visit in person to thank him..."

Big Gold Tooth whispered, "Master Xie's health is very poor; I'm afraid you won't be able to see him this time..."

Su Mo sighed.

"Woooo..."

Just then, an elderly man in a gray robe, carrying a mangy old dog, walked past Su Mo, clicking his tongue in amazement, "Not bad, young man..."

Su Mo glanced at the old man and the two young men behind him, "You are...?"

Those who can appear at the Crescent Hotel are either rich or noble, and many are prominent figures.

The old man pulled a business card from his pocket. "If you ever go to Hangzhou, you can look for us at this address. Our family has some influence in Hangzhou!"

After saying that, the old man led the two young men behind him into a car.

Su Mo took the business card, glanced at it, and read: HZ City, Wu Shan Ju.

Wushan Residence?

Su Mo suddenly looked up and instinctively called out, "Wu Sansheng?"

At this moment, the three members of the Wu family had already gotten into the car. Hearing Su Mo's voice, one of the young men leaned out and asked, "Do you know my third brother?"

Su Mo's pupils contracted. "Who are you?"

"I am Wu Erbai!"

"..."

Seeing that Su Mo remained silent, the young man with glasses waved his hand at Su Mo, "Let's go, you can come to Hangzhou to play sometime!"

The three members of the Wu family got into the car and drove away.

Seeing this, the fat man couldn't help but say, "These people are so rude..."

Su Mo disagreed, "Compared to the Nine Gates, we are still relatively weak..."

The Tomb Raiders and the Grave Robbers, these sects have been passed down for thousands of years, and the Unloading Ridge Warriors were once glorious, but now they have indeed fallen into decline.

The nine men have gone into politics and business, and they've been making a name for themselves in recent years.

Compared to them, the entire Panjiayuan and Liulichang markets are just a bunch of street vendors.

"but…"

Su Mo changed the subject, "It's not that we can't surpass them..."

【Ding! 】

A system voice announced, "[Congratulations, host, you have triggered a special choice...]"

Special option?

Su Mo was somewhat surprised.

[Today, the host has officially come into contact with the Nine Gates. Based on the host's temperament, the system has carefully planned three paths for the host...]

[Option 1: Develop your own power, explore the ultimate truth of this world, and you may one day uncover the mystery of immortality...]

[Option Two: Join the Nine Gates, become a member, eliminate the Wang family, and you will have the opportunity to become a business tycoon in China!]

[Option 3: Join the Wang family, become its leader, and after eliminating the Nine Gates, you will have the opportunity to control the Chinese underworld...]

The three options ultimately lead to longevity, wealth, and power!

Su Mo didn't think much of it and directly selected the first option.

Living in a subordinate position for too long is not in Su Mo's nature. Moreover, compared to power and wealth, Su Mo, who possesses the bloodline of the Azure Dragon, prefers longevity.

Even if one cannot truly achieve immortality, being an anomaly like Deputy Zhang, possessing a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people, would be excellent.

"Master Su..."

Big Gold Tooth said, "I'll go get the car, let's go back to Panjiayuan!"

Su Mo shook his head, looking at the modern buildings rising around him, sensing the dawn of a new era. "Everyone, walk with me for a while, just like a stroll..."

Big Gold Tooth, Old Hu, Blind Chen, and Yingzi—these were almost all people Su Mo could talk to, and they were his closest confidants.

"Officer Yang, about the Muchen Pearl..."

Sherry Yang said, "I've already submitted it to the research institute; we should get a response from them soon..."

"Okay..."

Su Mo nodded, then looked at Big Gold Tooth, "Old Gold, how's our own auction house coming along?"

Big Gold Tooth said respectfully, "It's almost finished, just the finishing touches..."

"it is good!"

Su Mo was very satisfied. "Once the auction house is built, based on our auction house, the surrounding area will also become an antique street like Liulichang..."

"Oh, right, Lao Jin, I'll give you some more funding. You need to buy a piece of land in the suburbs; I want to set up a security company there..."

Security company?

Big Gold Tooth looked bewildered, somewhat confused by Su Mo's actions.

Su Mo said, "The security personnel at the Crescent Moon Hotel are all specially trained; we can't be careless about that..."

Even Jude Kao has his own international salvage company. If Su Mo wants to build a force no weaker than the Nine Gates, he won't be able to do it without a few hundred or a thousand people under his command.

Big Gold Tooth seemed to understand but not quite.

Su Mo continued, "The first batch of security personnel... will be in charge of Ada. Let him go back to Zhelong Village to find people. Those villagers are born hunters; with some training, they'll all be excellent..."

"As long as they're willing to come and work for me, I'll pay each of them ten thousand yuan..."

"A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men. We'll use money to build me a security team of my own!"

"Don't worry about money right now. Sell all the antiques in the Su family shop that you can. If that's not enough, I still have a few treasures to keep you on the back!"

Sensing Su Mo's swift and decisive methods, even the fat man could tell that Su Mo was cultivating his own power.

"Brother Su, why don't you open an orphanage and raise these children from a young age..."

"When they grow up, if they want to stay, let them stay; if they don't want to stay, give them some money and let them leave..."

The fat man looked at Su Mo and said.

"That's a good idea!"

Su Mo smiled, "The fat man's method works..."

What will be the most valuable thing in the 21st century?

"Talented, of course he's talented!"

Su Mo paused for a moment, then, speaking of talent, this reminded him of someone.

If I could recruit that person, I would be even more powerful.

Chapter 100: Master Ma, Zhang Yingchuan

As soon as it was light, Su Mo got up early.

Yingzi, still half-asleep, saw Su Mo getting dressed. She rubbed her eyes and said, "Why are you up so early?"

Su Mo changed into a new outfit. "Oh... I'm going out to run some errands. Hey girl, where's the shirt you bought me a while ago?"

"It's in the closet, I'll get it for you..."

Yingzi instinctively tried to get up, but her legs felt weak and a dull ache spread through her.

Su Mo immediately understood, "Don't get up, I can get it myself..."

With a beautiful woman by his side, and Su Mo at the prime of his life, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Su Mo was up until midnight last night.

Remembering how Su Mo acted like a wild beast yesterday, Yingzi felt both ashamed and angry: "I was originally going to go back to Yenching University..."

"what…"

Su Mo smiled and said, "Get some rest, your health is the most important thing..."

"Oh, right..."

Yingzi suddenly remembered something, "It seems an unidentified ancient tomb has been discovered near the seabed of the Xisha Islands. The school is asking us archaeology students if we want to go and investigate it on-site..."

Without a second thought, Su Mo shook his head. "No, no, I'll send you to Yanjing because I don't want you to go into tombs again..."

Tomb raiding is extremely dangerous. These college students don't even know basic first aid. Sending them into tombs is tantamount to suicide.

"All right…"

Yingzi smiled gently and said, "I'll listen to you..."

"Ok!"

Su Mo nodded, tidied his clothes, and turned to go downstairs. "Fatty, Lao Hu... you two come with me..."

.........

Su Mo drove to the outskirts of the city with Lao Hu and Da Jinya.