Chapter 224

Captain Hu believed Fang Yue's explanation.

After all, Fang Yue was attending the Black Crow Auction for the first time, and from experience, he lacked the eye to identify valuable items.

But in reality, Fang Yue was not speaking without basis.

The claim that he was gambling was merely to deceive Captain Hu.

In fact, before Fang Yue bid "20g Black Ember," his Analysis Pupil had already completed its analysis of the Water Control Shoes.

"Name: Heavy Water Shoes."

"Rank: Mortal Grade Low."

"Effect: Shoes made of special material with water-absorbing properties."

"Description: Lightweight shoes in normal use; by absorbing large amounts of water they come into contact with, they increase in weight—like lead poured into the feet, aiding leg training for Lightness Skill and similar techniques. Additionally, their properties allow rapid sinking into lakes or other special environments; training in such conditions with the Heavy Water Shoes slightly improves cultivation efficiency for water-related methods."

"Note: Grandpa's shoes, a bit heavy, a bit heavy."

In short, these were shoes that absorbed water extremely well.

By absorbing water, they became heavier, adding weight to the legs to assist in training leg techniques like Lightness Skill.

As for the later mention of water-related methods, it referred to water-based Martial Techniques and water-related Heart Methods.

Fang Yue's Water Sky Blade Technique perfectly matched this requirement.

But according to the description, one needed to sink to the bottom of a lake, practice swordplay underwater, hold one's breath, and similar methods.

In short, inconvenient—what mattered most was the shoes' effect on leg cultivation.

Even if he didn't use them himself, he could gift them to Hua Wuye, who excelled in agility, as thanks for the Wu Mu Fruit.

After all, they were a lucky find; even if ultimately useless, he could resell them for far more than 20g Black Ember.

Indeed, Fang Yue's bottom line for this item was 20g Black Ember.

But Pangzi Luo had jumped out to snatch it, so Fang Yue naturally didn't hold back—he doubled the bid drastically and sent him packing.

These Heavy Water Shoes weren't worthless junk, but they were ordinary goods—absolutely not worth ten Black Stones. He wondered what expression Pangzi Luo, the self-important fool, would wear when he learned the truth.

But that was none of Fang Yue's concern.

At this moment, the next auction item had been brought out.

Yet few in the crowd paid attention.

After Pangzi Luo left, everyone seemed to be sneaking glances toward him.

Even the host blinked occasionally, his gaze sweeping over Fang Yue.

What… was going on?

Until Fang Yue put on a harmless expression and met their gazes.

They hastily and awkwardly looked away.

As long as he wasn't embarrassed, they would be!

After Fang Yue withdrew his gaze, very few dared to openly stare his way anymore.

The host now began introducing the auction item.

Again, it was an ordinary "Human Grade Upper" item—but after the description and announcement, the hall fell into an eerie silence.

They seemed to be waiting for something; no one bid, yet some kept glancing back at Fang Yue repeatedly.

Fang Yue:?

When I put up a question mark, it's not because I think there's something wrong with me—it's because I think there's something wrong with you.

"What's going on?" Captain Hu asked, puzzled.

"They all seem to be looking at me."

"Oh, they're probably waiting for you to bid."

Captain Hu had watched Fang Yue's every move—he'd guessed the others' thoughts.

Waiting for me to bid?

So they really see me as a quality checker?

Fang Yue raised his hand.

"Withdraw."

Host:??!

Everyone:!!!

Withdraw? No bid?

Everyone was stunned.

Some quickly caught on.

Does this mean the item on stage is fake?

People hesitated; after a long pause, someone finally ventured a tentative bid.

But few responded, leaving the host frantic.

Yet no one else bid, and the host couldn't force anyone to raise their hand—eventually, the item sold below its expected price.

The buyer, however, stared suspiciously at the host, as if he felt cheated.

Damn!

You sold it for barely enough to cover costs, and you still give me that look?!

The host grew angry inside, casting a covert glance toward Fang Yue.

But that was all.

Though annoyed by Fang Yue's refusal to cooperate, he wouldn't act against him over this—especially with Captain Hu sitting beside him.

The auction continued as usual; at first, people still hesitated to glance at Fang Yue, trying to read his reactions for clues.

But soon, they realized Fang Yue hardly ever bid at all.

When he did bid a few times, they immediately raised prices like they'd been injected with stimulants, and he never ended up buying anything.

After several more rounds, they grew increasingly confused.

Because they discovered Fang Yue seemed to have no special eye for items—he bought things just like everyone else, nothing like his earlier decisive bidding against Pangzi Luo.

"Could it be that the first auction item was just this kid blindly inflating prices out of ignorance? Or maybe that guy was actually a plant arranged by the Black Crow Auction today?"

It wasn't impossible, mainly because Fang Yue was unfamiliar and his background was unknown.

As for asking Captain Fire… not only would others probably not answer, but Captain Fire's temper—they couldn't handle it—the village-born Captain Fire hated merchants like them.

"Bell of Return Time, Human Grade Superior, Ancient…"

While everyone was forming various suspicions about Fang Yue, another auction item was brought onto the stage.

Human Grade Superior—those who know, know.

I wonder where the Black Crow Merchant Group even found so many junk items—they've actually built a whole supply chain?

This disguised lottery scheme has such a wide audience—it's truly beyond Fang Yue's understanding.

It seems far more likely you're just getting scammed.

Fang Yue stared hard for a while, then lost interest after his Analysis Pupil failed to produce any result.

Fang Yue had already figured out a few things by now.

When the Analysis Pupil couldn't produce a result, it was usually because he'd looked too briefly—he needed to stare for a long time to get a reading.

Many items were auctioned off before he could even finish analyzing them.

There was nothing to be done about that; other inferior items analyzed quickly, but they were fakes… truly uninteresting, better to save money for the final Heart Method.

According to Captain Fire, today was the Black Crow Auction's last day in Mo Cun, so today's auction was the grand finale.

Based on past experience, the finale items of the Black Crow Auction usually included one or two rare Heart Methods, so he absolutely had to save his money and not waste it.

Just as Fang Yue was thinking this, text suddenly appeared in his mind.

【!!!】

What? Even the parchment recognizes my theory?

【BUY IT!!!】

Right, if you're going to buy, buy an important Heart Method—everything else… wait!

Fang Yue suddenly snapped back to awareness.

"Buy it?!"

"Buy that broken clock-like thing up there?"

【BUY!!!】

Fang Yue's heart jolted—he was utterly stunned.

When the parchment speaks, you know it's serious!

The parchment isn't ordinary—it wouldn't recommend something unless it was truly extraordinary!

Fang Yue immediately snapped to attention, staring intently at the rusted, moss-covered, severely damaged broken clock.

The craftsmanship did look intricate, but it was in terrible condition; several marks looked deliberately aged—it didn't seem like anything valuable at all.

But this was the parchment's suggestion!

【Correct! The great and noble Parchment respectfully proposes: Buy this clock! Must buy! Even if you sell everything you own! If someone else buys it, follow them and kill them to steal it!】

【MUST OBTAIN IT!!】

Fang Yue:!!!

Holy shit, now they're talking about murder and robbery.

If it's this important, it must be genuine!

Fang Yue's heart raced—he'd never imagined this thing could be valuable, so he hadn't even listened to the host's item description.

But who cares! Buy it anyway!!

At this point, the auction price had only slowly climbed to 40g Black Ember.

Without Fang Yue's interference, the bidding had gradually returned to normal levels.

The buyers around him paid no attention to the broken clock.

It's like buying a lottery ticket—just for fun.

To bid your entire fortune? Only a fool would do that.

Even the host merely feigned excitement while pointing at bidders—he knew perfectly well this thing was just scrap metal.

If it were truly valuable, how could the Black Crow Merchant Group possibly sell it at such a low price?

They'd rather keep it as a treasure for themselves than sell it at a loss.

The only possibility was that their Black Crow Merchant Group's appraisal team had all confirmed the item was worthless—a fake, garbage—so they put it up for auction at low prices to these local rich folks as a form of waste reuse.

As for other merchant groups occasionally being outsmarted by buyers, that only happened when their own appraisal teams failed to recognize the item's true value—they'd made a mistake.

According to the host, those merchant groups whose items were later discovered to be valuable had fired entire teams of appraisers afterward—clearly how furious they were.

But unlike outside merchant groups, the Black Crow Merchant Group was backed by the Phoenix Organization and possessed a powerful professional appraisal team—the chance of them making a mistake was negligible.

The only anomaly today had been Fang Yue's strange behavior, suddenly driving the Water Control Shoes' price up to 10 Black Stones, making even the host doubt reality.

Now that Fang Yue was acting normally, they'd gradually relaxed—apparently, Pangzi Luo had just run into a naive fool and overthought the whole thing.

"45g Black Ember—is there a higher bid?"

The host's voice suddenly rose a notch.

This was like before—he sensed the price had reached its peak, matching his estimate.

So he pushed harder, trying to raise the ceiling just a bit more.

Just like before, although the host shouted with great enthusiasm, no one offered a higher bid for a long time.

Just as the host was about to bring the hammer down once and for all…

"46g of Black Ember."

That voice?!

The host immediately looked over toward Fang Yue.

Only he was no longer as worked up as before; his emotions were far steadier.

"46g of Black Ember — any higher bids?"

The people around them now noticed that it was Fang Yue bidding once again.

Only the last time he bid, more or less all of them had immediately followed his price and snapped up the item.

But what they snapped up was all just ordinary goods — nothing at all like what they'd had in mind.

So now that Fang Yue was bidding again, more or less all of them fell into hesitation, unsure whether they should follow the price up.

Just as someone finally gritted their teeth and decided to gamble one more time, to follow Fang Yue's price…

Whoosh!

The tightly closed curtain at the entrance was once again yanked open by someone, just as Fire Captain had done earlier.

The host's brows immediately furrowed. The Black Crow Merchant Group members beside him froze for a beat, then also headed toward the entrance.

In fact, it was precisely because the Black Crow Auction was doing business in Mo Cun that they hadn't activated the small formation built into the tent.

Otherwise, the tent's security would absolutely not be as simple as it looked on the outside.

But as things stood now, it really wasn't much different from an ordinary tent — any regular person could walk in if they wanted to.

Squinting against the blinding sunlight streaming in from the entrance, the host peered carefully at the person coming in and was instantly taken aback.

The fellow who had charged straight in through the entrance was none other than…

"Pangzi Luo?!"

"How did he get back?"

"Good grief, is that an axe in his hand?"

"Holy shit! Don't do anything rash!"

Pangzi Luo's behavior frightened quite a few people, their faces paling as they hurriedly stood up.

Seeing this, the surrounding Merchant Group members rushed to hurry over. But the host, snapping back to his senses, his thoughts flashing like lightning, immediately gave those members a subtle look.

Those Merchant Group members froze for a beat, then suddenly slowed down considerably.

And at this moment, Pangzi Luo, who had charged into the auction, was already rushing toward Fang Yue with bloodshot eyes, roaring like a madman.

"Niu Niu!!"

Only now did someone notice that in his left hand, the frenzied Pangzi Luo was holding the Water Control Shoes he had just won at auction, while in his right hand was the great axe everyone had first noticed.

Like a raging bull, after closing to a certain distance, Pangzi Luo suddenly leaped high, landed in front of Fang Yue, spun around, and flung the Water Control Shoes onto Fang Yue.

"Niu Niu! You liar! These shoes are fakes! I spent 10 black stones on counterfeit goods! I'll have you pay with your life!!"

He was panting hard, his whole body trembling, like a gambler who had just lost a fortune in a wild bet, his reason long since swept away by rage.

Even as he spoke, Pangzi Luo had already swung his axe down at Fang Yue's head.

But Fang Yue didn't dodge.

He just sat there calmly, not moving a muscle.

Because someone had acted faster than him.

It was a pair of exceedingly beautiful, slender hands.

Two fingers reached out lightly, firmly pinching the axe that came chopping down carrying endless fury, holding the axe completely motionless in midair, not budging an inch!

The next moment, fine, dense patterns gradually lit up along those two fingers…

"Pangzi Luo, who gave you the leopard's gall to dare hurt someone in front of me?"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The all-metal axe, pinched between those two fingers, melted into droplets of molten iron that dripped down onto the ground.

Something came up yesterday; once it's dealt with, I'll make up the update as soon as possible

(End of this chapter)