Volume Six: To Steal Is to Rob - Chapter Seven: Rare Beasts and Curious Objects (Part Two)

The other party’s expression shifted. After a long silence, she said with great difficulty, "Young Master Kuang, I am truly sorry. It is our auction house’s rule that all invitations are issued in advance. No one is permitted entry without an invitation."

Kuang Chi frowned, a smile appearing on his face that others found rather terrifying. He looked directly at her and said, "Is that so? But I have my eye on an item that is very important to me this time. Can you really not let me in?"

Left with no other choice, she apologized to Kuang Chi, "Young Master Kuang, please wait here for a moment while I go and request permission from the Venerables."

Before long, she returned with red-rimmed, puffy eyes. Between her look of grievance and those teary eyes, even a fool could tell the young girl had been reprimanded and had likely had a good cry. This gave Kuang Chi the realization that he was the villain of the piece.

Once she reached him, she seemed to steady her emotions. She offered a smile that looked more painful than crying, bowed to Kuang Chi, and said, "The Venerables have agreed to arrange a seat for the three of you. Please follow me."

Kuang Chi kept a stony face as he followed her into a spacious corridor at the end of the hall. The corridor was covered in a fiery red carpet; it felt soft underfoot, and a warmth radiated directly through the soles of his shoes into his body.

Before Kuang Chi could ask what was going on, Duke Yelu whispered in amazement beside him, "My heavens, they are actually using Cloud-Floating Carpet as a floor runner here."

Realizing what the red carpet was, Kuang Chi swallowed his question. Jing'er, standing nearby, stepped on it curiously a few times but said nothing more.

In the corridor, which was nearly a hundred meters high, a person sat cross-legged every ten meters or so on what appeared to be custom-made, half-human-height wooden pedestals. These were clearly the guards of the auction house, and to Kuang Chi, they all felt like top-tier powerhouses. The walls of the corridor were lined with antique paintings that appeared to be from a very distant era.

At the end of the corridor stood a luxurious, exquisitely carved purple wooden door. Upon opening it, Kuang Chi and the others discovered that it led to a deep, dark shaft about ten meters in diameter, stretching down into an unknown depth.

Seeing this, Kuang Chi almost lost his temper, thinking someone was playing a trick on them. To his surprise, the young girl made a gesture of invitation and jumped down first.

After a moment of hesitation, Jing'er asked, "What is this? Is this really the entrance to the auction house?"

Duke Yelu didn't even think about it; he nodded and said, "It seems so. Although I have never heard anyone who has been here talk about this place, it is said that many people who visit describe it as rather strange." With that, he ignored the other two and leaped down himself.

Jing'er frowned and looked at her attire. She then turned to Kuang Chi and said, "Fatty, I'm wearing a skirt today."

Kuang Chi realized she had a point; if she jumped, her skirt would turn into a parachute. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Then what should we do?"

Jing'er’s eyes darted around, and finally, with a blushing face, she said, "Just hold me and jump down, won't that work?"

Kuang Chi sighed inwardly. Even a fool could see Jing'er’s feelings for him, but the more obvious it became, the less he dared to acknowledge it. Even if everyone understood, and he understood too, he could never say that final word.

Without putting on airs, Kuang Chi nodded. Before the shy Jing'er could recover, he swept her up—one arm around her waist, the other under her knees—and jumped into the deep shaft.

This way, she couldn't see what was below, but Kuang Chi didn't care. His physical strength was such that even a fall from a hundred meters wouldn't break a single bone, and he was currently channeling his internal energy to use a light-body technique to slow their descent.

The shaft was several dozen meters deep, and with Kuang Chi’s technique, it took only a few seconds to reach the bottom. He felt his feet land on something soft that absorbed the force of his descent instantly. Before he could react, he was standing firmly on the ground, leaving Kuang Chi, who had braced himself for impact, feeling quite unsettled.

Once he regained his composure, he quickly set down Jing'er, who had been huddled in his arms with a flushed face and glowing eyes for those few seconds. He didn't even dare to look at her, immediately turning his attention to finding Duke Yelu and the young woman who had guided them.

He quickly spotted them standing to the side, watching him and Jing'er. However, the expression on Duke Yelu’s face made Kuang Chi feel extremely annoyed. Deciding to ignore it, he turned his gaze to the ground, which took him by surprise.

He gasped in shock; the floor beneath them was a transparent, membrane-like object.

Just as Kuang Chi was wondering about it, the young woman who had led them urged, "The two of you, the auction is about to begin. If you don't want to miss the items you desire, I suggest you hurry."

Kuang Chi and Jing'er nodded. Although both were curious about what they were standing on, neither asked.

The underground auction house was indeed underground—nearly a thousand meters below the surface. Along the way, they saw no technological equipment; everything was strictly in the ancient style: wooden doors, wooden floors, and even the carpets were made of strange, natural materials. This included the immense pressure from the core of the Green Leaf Planet that permeated the depths.

After passing through five more shafts, the three finally began to hear the sound of human voices—a clamorous, deafening roar.

Soon, the guide brought them to a fire-red wooden door nearly twenty meters high. Standing in front of it were ten guards in full ancient-style armor. Had Kuang Chi not sensed the life force emanating from within the suits, he would have mistaken them for decorations. He couldn't help but think that the designer of this place must be a eccentric, as must the current manager.

Of course, he didn't ponder when this auction house was built. He certainly didn't know that this was the "tradition" everyone loved most nowadays. Traditions were good; creating trouble for oneself was just another form of affection from the predecessors. That was exactly what Jing'er and Duke Yelu were thinking.

After the guide negotiated with the lead guard, the guard waved his hand. The fire-red wooden door behind them opened by about two meters using an unknown mechanism.

The guide turned to the three and said, "I cannot enter from here. Please proceed on your own. Your assigned seat is number 333. You should be able to find it easily once you are inside."

Duke Yelu bowed to the guide and rushed through the door. Kuang Chi and Jing'er had no choice but to follow. As they passed, the wooden door slowly creaked shut behind them.

After walking through a short passageway, they finally understood the source of the clamor. Before them lay a circular hall larger than the main lobby of the building above. Inside, rows upon rows of plush wooden sofas were arranged in concentric circles. Each circle of sofas featured a small wooden tea table. Four mysterious, massive luminous spheres hung above the hall, bathing it in a brilliant, flickering light so intense that one could barely make out the faces of people nearby.

It was clear that these luminous spheres did not run on electricity.

Beside each circle of sofas stood a conspicuous wooden sign, with a number written in an unknown pigment that glowed with a dazzling red light. Nothing in the hall was more eye-catching than those numbers. The chaos was due to the sheer number of people; not only were the sofas filled, but people were also gathered in groups in the aisles, chatting and laughing.

Everyone ignored the arrival of Kuang Chi and his party, each absorbed in their own conversations.

Duke Yelu, however, clearly felt differently. After a long sigh, he pointed to the hall and said to Jing'er, "Jing'er, look at these people. Behind each of them represent the most powerful factions and families of our Piaofeng Empire and the Cosmic Federation. For us, if we could gain the support of even one-tenth—no, one-hundredth—of the influence present here, the reforms we hope to see in the Empire would be easily accomplished."

Politics again. Kuang Chi hated politics most of all. Before Jing'er could respond, he interjected, "We've walked for so long, I'm exhausted. Let's find our seat, number 333."

Seat 333 was easy to find, as the numbering was arranged radially; even a fool could locate it. It was on the outermost edge of the hall, the very last seat in the row. It was the furthest from the high platform in the center, and while the distance was no obstacle for their cultivation levels, it made Kuang Chi very unhappy. To be placed at the very back—wasn't that a sign of disrespect?

Kuang Chi never considered others, nor did he think about how sudden their arrival was or how difficult it must have been to secure a seat for them. Fortunately, the other two understood.

After sitting down, Duke Yelu smiled and said, "I must thank Young Master Kuang for the chance to see this today. Otherwise, I fear I would never have been qualified to enter this place in my entire life."