Start from Wusheng

Chapter 434 Underground Auction House

"Go slowly, dear guest!"

In front of the Qizhen Pavilion, the attentive receptionist saw us off again and again, looking reluctant to leave.

If Zhou You were him, he would also be reluctant to let go of an important customer.

The commission from every transaction that Zhou You completed in Qizhen Pavilion added up to allow him to work 30 years less.

Zhou You walked down the stairs, feeling the soft and thin stack of gold bills on his chest.

All the stolen goods from Moyun Village were taken out, as were all the wealth looted from the Witch Clan during the trip to the northern border. After the fall of Gongliang City, he sneaked into the city and looted all the wealth from the Five Animals Palace.

Qizhen Pavilion is worthy of its wealth and power. It buys all the things from Zhou You and the prices are very reasonable.

The total amount was equivalent to 358 million taels of silver.

The gold notes issued are from money houses all over the world. They only recognize the notes but not the people. You can find any money house in the world and exchange them for designated common currencies such as silver and gold.

When you have money, you should spend it and contribute to the orderly and healthy circulation of the economy.

I bought a snake fang that was half a person's height, and used it to practice my palm skills after I got home, in order to improve the circulation and penetration of the palm poison.

All kinds of snake venom seen and not seen in the market are collected to complete the "Hundred Poisons" and increase the direction of change of the poison.

Zhou You's lavish shopping behavior attracted the attention of some people. He never stopped buying and was confirmed to be a wealthy customer.

"This old snake skin of mine is two fingers thick, two steps long and wide. Sparks fly when you chop it with a knife. It's perfect for making a leather robe."

The stall owner was talking with spit flying, and his hands were shaking a colorful snake skin.

Zhou You shook his head. "Your snake skin is pieced together. I don't want it even if you give it to me for free."

The spectators all around burst into laughter. "Swindler, you must have made a mistake!"

A man squeezed out of the crowd and grabbed Zhou You who was about to leave, "Sir, please stop. Do you want the real good stuff?"

"Um?

A moment later, in a natural cave.

The cave walls above and the ground around are covered with stalagmites of various sizes and thicknesses, which emit fluorescent light in the dark.

The pools of water stored in low-lying areas reflected the ripples of light, making the cave look like a dream.

This cave is one of the temporary auction venues in the underground ghost market.

The auction venue operates on an invitation basis and is not open to the public. Guides are sent out to observe and invite attendees.

Each guide's share of the sales depends entirely on the transaction volume of the guests he invites.

The person who had grabbed Zhou You in the market and brought him here was a guide.

"Please wait a moment. Have some tea, read a book, or play chess. Just tell me."

After the usher quietly introduced a few rules of the auction, he bowed and left, as he had completed his historical mission.

Zhou You looked around and found that many people had come into the cave and ordered service.

The closest person to him was a handsome middle-aged man with a long beard, who was playing chess with a beautiful woman. The two of them were very quiet.

The one who was far away was having a very extravagant time. A flower tent was hanging from a stalagmite, and inside it lay a fat man, surrounded by seven or eight stunning women who were playing around and feeding him wine and grapes with their mouths.

There were also people who were alone, ordered nothing, and just sat there with their eyes closed to rest.

The invited guests present had an invisible tacit understanding with each other. They did not ask about each other's affairs, nor did they get too close to each other. Everyone had an independent space and did what he or she wanted.

Zhou You closed his eyes and rested, thinking that this auction would be quite interesting.

He deliberately spent a lot of money in the market in order to attract the attention of high-end bureaus. As expected, he got what he wanted and was invited to join.

After a while, the water in the cave pool splashed, and a high platform suddenly rose up, with a person standing on the platform.

The show begins!

The guests dismissed their companions one after another.

What surprised Zhou You was that the man and woman playing chess next to him, the one who left was actually the handsome man with a long beard. It turned out that the beautiful woman he treated as a plaything was the real guest. Zhou You couldn't help but look at the beautiful woman twice more, and she didn't get angry, but smiled and nodded at him.

"Dear guests, welcome to this auction."

On the high platform, a ruddy dwarf introduced loudly, his voice was loud and clear, echoing in every corner of the cave.

He clapped his hands and said, "Today, there are familiar guests and new friends."

"I bow my head to all of you who feed me and clothe me, and thank you for giving me the food I want to eat."

As he spoke, the dwarf knelt on the platform and kowtowed three times.

A voice came from the crowd, "Stop talking nonsense and show us your good stuff!"

The dwarf stood up with a smile and clapped his hands. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. The first treasure today is the treasure of the North, the rhinoceros bead."

"As we all know, aquatic species produce fewer pearls than terrestrial species, and among them, rhinoceros pearls are the most valuable and rare."

"Outside the fifty states of the world, there is a kind of blood-marrow rhinoceros native to the barbaric land of the northern border. The rhinoceros beads dug out of its body are the most precious."

"The blood-marrow rhino is a natural spiritual species. It does not eat rotten meat or weeds. It drinks snow water when thirsty and eats medicinal herbs when hungry. It usually uses its rhino horn to dig up the soil and break rocks to find precious wild herbs to eat."

"After living for a hundred years, the skin of this kind of rhinoceros will turn completely white. After another two hundred years, the horn on its head will be filled with the essence of herbs and produce a bright pearl, which is the blood marrow rhinoceros pearl."

"When the blood marrow rhinoceros bead was first born, it was only the size of a grain of rice. As time went by, it grew larger, one circle every ten years."

"It will take at least two hundred years to grow a rhinoceros bead the size of a thumb."

"That is to say, if you want a good rhino bead, you must have a snow-white rhino that has lived for more than 500 years."

The dwarf spoke like a master of his trade on the stage, and the guests were mesmerized.

Two tall women walked out from behind him, wearing tight, thin clothes that outlined their figures to near perfection.

They held jade plates in their hands, and on each plate was a gray round bead.

"Among all pearls, only one is round. In other words, out of a bushel of pearls, only one or two can be picked out that are perfectly round and flawless."

"I have two perfect blood-marrow rhinoceros pearls here, 200 years old, with a starting price of 10 taels."

"You have a quarter of an hour to make your bids."

There was a commotion in the audience. The northern border was in chaos right now, with the witch tribe invading. It was not easy to get rhinoceros beads of this quality.

The price of this kind of extremely rare pearl is several times higher than usual.

The base price of 1 taels per pearl is considered a fair price, and this is absolutely impossible to find outside.

Zhou You had no intention of making any bids in the first few auctions, unless he encountered something great that he simply couldn’t miss. He just wanted to familiarize himself with the environment and auction rules first.

“11 taels.”

A quarter of an hour later...

The first person to make a bid was the beautiful girl next door. She raised her hand and raised the price by 1 taels.

Zhou You looked at her a few more times just now. The most eye-catching thing about this beauty is her long legs.

“I’ll give you 11.”

Bids came from all directions, and soon the price of the two rhinoceros beads rose to 18 taels.

When the price rose to 18, the quotations started to become sparse, and it was obvious that the bottleneck had been reached.

“I’ll give you 20.”

A young voice rang out, coming from a fair-faced young man wearing a golden crown. He smiled at the beauty who was traveling next door, and said, "I give these two beads to you, my dear, to show my appreciation."

People around looked over and thought, wow, someone is spending a lot of money to please women at the auction.

That’s 20 taels of real gold and silver.

(End of this chapter)