Chapter 575: Spiteful Bidding

"It's just luck; Commander Fan isn't very good in the water." He He Lingchuan could tell from his expression that he was half-doubting. After all, Fan Sheng had been famous for a long time and had a heavy fist; the possibility of him losing to a seventeen or eighteen-year-old greenhorn was truly slim. The atmosphere in Lingxu City was pretentious, and everyone was a master of bragging; those with only a little skill often boasted as if they had ten times that. Even in the cheap little fly-by-night eateries by the market, the scruffy people drinking inside would dare to claim they were about to pull off a business deal worth tens of thousands of silver taels. Was it any wonder Nian Nian Zanli didn't believe it? He He Lingchuan didn't offer much explanation, instead changing the subject to ask Fu Fu Shanyue: "What did you find?"

Fu Fu Shanyue shook his head.

"Tianyu Tower is about to auction off aged Blood-Irrigation Vines," He He Lingchuan said immediately. "Want to go take a look?"

"What's there to see?" He wasn't a rabbit; he had no interest in herbs.

"The scale-shedding disease of the aquatic tribes requires medicine made from the fruit of aged Blood-Irrigation Vines." He He Lingchuan occasionally helped A Luo collect materials back in Panlongcheng, so he was no stranger to Blood-Irrigation Vines. Interestingly, this vine was common on the Chipa Plateau but couldn't grow in the Between Beijia Kingdom; even artificial transplantation was impossible. "Our acquaintance really needs this, right?"

"Lord Zhongsun?" Fu Fu Shanyue bared a mouthful of white teeth. "Interesting, let's go take a look."

He He Lingchuan smiled at Nian Nian Zanli, bid him farewell, and left the private room in the company of Fu Fu Shanyue.

It wasn't until they walked out of the corridor that Fu Fu Shanyue asked him: "How did you end up chatting with a surrendered general?"

He hadn't realized it when they first met, but he had figured it out later.

He He Lingchuan was startled: "Surrendered general? Surrendered from where?"

Fu Fu Shanyue remembered he was a foreigner and didn't understand the ins and outs: "He was originally a general of the Yuan Kingdom who started a rebellion last year and then defected to our Between Beijia. But that battle within the Yuan Kingdom last summer didn't go well; although he reported his merits, he lost many of his men. I heard he has always wanted to borrow troops from Between Beijia to go back and take revenge."

He He Lingchuan found it amusing: "He lost even when using his own troops; can he win just by borrowing more?"

"Isn't that the truth?" Fu Fu Shanyue said with disdain. "Between Beijia has no shortage of surrendered generals. If he can actually borrow troops, I'll admire him."

"Why is there such a deep obsession to fight against his own homeland?"

Fu Fu Shanyue laughed: "A surrendered general must have military achievements for us to look up to him. Didn't I say? Between Beijia has never been short of surrendered generals."

While talking, the two had already walked along the winding stone path and arrived at Tianyu Tower.

Although this building was in the highest position, it was located directly beneath a massive stone cliff. Water accumulated above and fell almost every moment, like rain, pattering against the roof tiles and splashing with a tinkling, delicate sound that was pleasant and refreshing.

Tianyu Tower was also three stories high. Because the moisture was heavy, the building was covered in vines of all sizes, a scene that reminded He He Lingchuan of the South Gate of Panlongcheng. However, the vines crawling on the outer walls of Tianyu Tower were certainly not something as ominous as man-eating vines; the flowers they bloomed were also very beautiful—red, purple, pink, and yellow—adding a touch of vibrant color to the late autumn.

The auction inside was in full swing.

When the servants led the two into the small hall on the second floor, the auction of the Blood-Irrigation Vines had already begun.

At first glance, this thing looked like a close relative of the man-eating vine, with a ferocious appearance and sharp thorns on its body, but in reality, it did not feed on humans or animals. The red liquid flowing from the wounds on the vine was not blood, but vine sap. This type of vine had strong vitality but grew very slowly; it only bloomed and bore fruit once every thirty years, and the next time would require another thirty-year wait.

The Blood-Irrigation Vines placed on the display stand had already borne light red berries. Only when the fruit turned deep purple was it considered fully mature and ready for medicinal use.

He He Lingchuan had read the auction item description. This item was originally most abundant on the Chipa Plateau of the Panlong Wasteland, but over a hundred years ago, the wasteland turned into a desert, and this plant vanished along with it, becoming extremely precious.

This auction item had been transported from the eastern continent, and the timing of the harvest had been calculated perfectly; it was no easy feat.

He He Lingchuan's understanding of the phrase "no easy feat" was that the asking price would be exorbitant.

It was strange to say, but although the Blood-Irrigation Vine grew on land and didn't need much watering all year round, its fruit could treat the scale-shedding disease of the aquatic tribes.

For a sickly aquatic person, once the scales on their body fell off, they wouldn't grow back, and the skin, exposed to air or water for long periods, easily became diseased. Even if a merman could go ashore, the scale-less skin would often crack and bleed, and even water-retention formations wouldn't be effective, causing great pain.

Therefore, the aquatic people, or their agents, sitting in this hall were the most numerous—after all, not all aquatic people could walk on land.

Fu Fu Shanyue walked into the hall, his eyes lighting up as he scanned the room, and he pointed to someone in the front row: "The main character is right here."

He He Lingchuan looked over and saw it was also a blue-skinned merman, whose side profile was two parts similar to Lord Zhongsun Mou.

"Also from the Lord Zhongsun family?" What good luck.

Fu Fu Shanyue sneered: "He is Lord Zhongsun Mou's eldest brother, Lord Zhongsun Ce. Of the Lord Zhongsun family's generation, only he is left."

Lord Zhongsun Ce's third brother died at Fu Fu Shanyue's hands, and his second brother died due to He He Lingchuan's schemes—what kind of twisted fate was this? Right now, seven or eight parties in the hall were raising their paddles to bid for the ownership of the Blood-Irrigation Vines, and it looked quite intense.

Lord Zhongsun Ce was also one of the bidders.

He was still young and didn't need the Blood-Irrigation Vines; He He Lingchuan speculated he was bidding for his great-grandfather, Lord Zhongsun Chi. After all, that fish-man was already so old he used longevity pills to extend his life, and the scales on his body were probably like the teeth of a centenarian—whether they fell out or not depended entirely on their own mood.

This was official business for the Lord Zhongsun family, and Lord Zhongsun Ce had to come and handle it despite the pain of losing his brother.

After a few rounds, only three bidders remained.

The losers left the venue one after another, and the seat next to Lord Zhongsun Ce became empty.

He He Lingchuan gestured with his chin, and Fu Fu Shanyue understood, sauntering over and plopping down into the seat.

The moment Lord Zhongsun Ce saw him, his face changed color: "What are you here for?"

"Walked until I was tired, came to watch the excitement." Fu Fu Shanyue waved a hand, and a servant came over to serve tea. "Is Old Master Lord Zhongsun well?"

Lord Zhongsun Ce didn't make a sound.

The death of Lord Zhongsun Mou had caused a huge uproar in the family, and subsequently, the Doyun Envoy had come to investigate the longevity pill case.

Neither of these matters could be hidden; now, the upper-class circles of Lingxu City were all whispering that the Lord Zhongsun family was about to suffer a great disaster.

Old Master Lord Zhongsun hadn't been able to eat or sleep well for days, and his scale-shedding disease had flared up even more severely, his whole body itching and aching, almost never stopping for a moment.

The family physician said that drugs to stop the numbness and itching could not be taken long-term, which was why the Lord Zhongsun family had set their sights on the Blood-Irrigation Vines auctioned at Dun Garden.

Their family had fallen into such a predicament mostly because of the Crown Prince of Chiyan before him, and yet this scoundrel had actually sat down beside him to disgust him. Lord Zhongsun Ce felt that not jumping up to attack him was already a sign of his greatly increased self-restraint in recent years.

Fu Fu Shanyue glanced at him without minding his rudeness.

If he hadn't been promoted to Crown Prince of Chiyan, Lord Zhongsun Ce would probably have already started cursing.

He used to be just an unsuccessful prince in Lingxu City; everyone knew the throne of the Chiyan Demon King couldn't be his, and these young men of the Lord Zhongsun family hadn't spared him their mockery. This time, he had returned to Lingxu City with the title of Crown Prince, just to experience the thrill of returning home in glory.

Over the past few days, the powerful and influential in Lingxu City had to greet him with a smile. In today's Dun Garden, everyone who saw him had to come up and respectfully call him "Your Highness."

That feeling of holding one's head high—tsk!

It was truly as satisfying now as it had been stifling back then.

During this time, two more rounds of bidding had passed, and now only two parties remained in the competition.

Of course, Lord Zhongsun Ce was one of them.

After three more rounds, the other party also gave up. After all, bidding eight thousand silver taels for ten Blood-Irrigation Vines was already an absurd price. Although the scale-shedding disease was painful, its direct mortality rate wasn't high. Compared to eight million coins, most aquatic people felt they could endure it a little longer.

With such a high price, the auctioneer's voice even carried a magnetic quality: "Eight thousand taels for ten sixty-year-old Blood-Irrigation Vines, is there any higher?"

"Going once."

"Going twice... oh, it appeared, eight thousand five hundred taels!"

Someone actually bid again? Lord Zhongsun Ce turned his head and was surprised to find the bidder was actually Fu Fu Shanyue! He said sharply: "Fu Fu Shanyue, what are you doing!"

"Buying things." Fu Fu Shanyue picked his ear. "Keep your voice down."

The auctioneer kept counting down the price, and Lord Zhongsun Ce had no choice but to raise his paddle; the price now reached nine thousand taels.

After the bid exceeded five thousand taels, it was five hundred taels per increment to avoid wasting everyone's time with hesitation.

Fu Fu Shanyue raised his paddle without hesitation: "Ten thousand taels."

A small commotion broke out at the scene.

Everyone knew that buying these ten Blood-Irrigation Vines for five thousand taels was already an overpayment; they hadn't expected it to double.

"What do you need Blood-Irrigation Vines for?" Lord Zhongsun Ce suppressed his anger. "You don't have scales on your body!"

"I recently took in a few fish demons as pets, and I keep them in the large lake in the palace." Fu Fu Shanyue said with a smile. "The biggest old thing among them has been shedding scales quite badly lately, rubbing against the lake rocks all day long, just like a dog rubbing against a tree root. I have to give it a supplement."

"You!" Being insulted by him like this, Lord Zhongsun Ce was overcome with rage and punched him in the bridge of the nose.

Fu Fu Shanyue grabbed his wrist with a *snap*, smiling with a sinister and cold expression, his four fangs gleaming with a cold light: "You're fighting me on the ground?"

His five sharp claws lengthened and pierced into Lord Zhongsun Ce's wrist, and fresh blood immediately gushed out.

Lord Zhongsun Ce formed a seal with his left hand, about to slam ice into his face. Fortunately, several guards nearby rushed forward immediately, shouting loudly:

"Fighting is strictly prohibited in Dun Garden, both of you let go!"

This was the City of Monsters, after all; fighting incidents were common, and they were particularly experienced in handling them.

Fu Fu Shanyue threw off Lord Zhongsun Ce's arm and licked the blood on his claws, only to spit: "Stinky, it reeks of fish."

Lord Zhongsun Ce pressed his wrist, his cheeks taut, clearly gritting his teeth hard.

As the guards treated his wound, he stared at Fu Fu Shanyue without blinking and said coldly: "Are you determined to go against me today?"

"I also need this thing, so how can you say I'm going against you?" Fu Fu Shanyue said leisurely. "If you beat me, the Blood-Irrigation Vines will naturally be yours."

Lord Zhongsun Ce, with a livid face, raised his paddle again.

The auction, which had been interrupted by the sudden incident, was finally able to continue.

After several rounds of this back-and-forth, the price had already been raised to fifteen thousand taels. Guests from the surrounding halls heard the news and came over one after another to watch the excitement.

Bidding out of spite had always been the best highlight of any auction.

(End of chapter)