"It was just luck. Commander Fan isn't great in the water." One look at his expression told He Lingchuan that he was half-skeptical. After all, Fan Sheng had long been renowned and possessed iron fists; the odds of him losing to a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old greenhorn were minuscule indeed.
The prevailing atmosphere in Lingxu City was ostentatious and boastful. Everyone was a master braggart, and those with a fraction of genuine skill could puff it up fivefold. Even in the dingiest dive bars beside the vegetable markets, destitute drunkards nursing their wine would boldly claim they were about to close deals worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. What was strange about Nian Zanli's disbelief?
He Lingchuan did not bother explaining further. Changing the subject, he asked Fu Shanyue, "Did you find anything?"
Fu Shanyue shook his head.
"Tianyu Tower will be auctioning aged blood-engorged vine shortly," He Lingchuan said at once. "Shall we head over and take a look?"
"What's so interesting about that?" Fu Shanyue was no rabbit; he had no interest in herbs.
"The aquatic folk suffer from scale-shedding disease, which requires medicine compounded from the fruit of aged blood-engorged vine to treat." Back in Panlong City, He Lingchuan had occasionally assisted A'luo in gathering ingredients, so he was quite familiar with the vine. Curiously enough, while the vine was not uncommon on the Chipa Plateau, it could not grow in Beijia Kingdom; even artificial transplantation was impossible. "An acquaintance of ours should be in dire need of it, don't you think?"
"The Zhongsuns?" Fu Shanyue bared a row of white teeth in a grin. "Interesting. Let's go see."
He Lingchuan smiled at Nian Zanli, bade him farewell, and left the private chamber side by side with Fu Shanyue.
Not until they stepped out of the covered walkway did Fu Shanyue ask, "How did you end up chatting with a surrendered general?"
He had not recalled who he was at first glance, but it had clicked shortly afterward.
He Lingchuan gave a start. "A surrendered general? Surrendered from where?"
Fu Shanyue remembered that He Lingchuan was a foreigner who did not know the ins and outs. "He was originally a general of the Yuan Kingdom. Last year he rebelled and defected to Beijia. But he fought poorly in Yuan territory last summer; though he claimed merit, he lost a vast number of his men. I've heard he's been trying to borrow troops from Beijia all along to go back and take his revenge."
He Lingchuan found that amusing. "If he lost while leading his own troops, would borrowing troops let him win?"
"Exactly!" Fu Shanyue scoffed. "The one thing Beijia never lacks is surrendered generals. If he can actually borrow an army, I'll take my hat off to him."
"Why such a deep obsession with waging war against his former homeland?"
Fu Shanyue chuckled. "A surrendered general needs military achievements for us to look up to him. Didn't I just say? Beijia never lacks surrendered generals."
As they talked, the two navigated the winding stone paths and ascended all the way to Tianyu Tower.
Although this tower occupied the highest elevation, it sat directly beneath a colossal rock cliff. Accumulated water cascaded down almost unceasingly, like heavenly rain, pattering rhythmically against the roof tiles and splashing into crisp, delicate chimes that were pleasant and soothing to the mind.
Tianyu Tower stood three stories tall as well. Due to the heavy moisture, vines large and small covered its exterior, a sight that reminded He Lingchuan of the south gate of Panlong City. Naturally, what clung to the outer walls of Tianyu Tower were not killjoys like man-eating vines; the flowers blossoming on these vines were quite lovely—red, purple, pink, and yellow, lending a splash of vibrant color to the late autumn.
The auction inside was in full swing.
When an attendant led the pair into a small hall on the second floor, the auction for the blood-engorged vines had already begun.
At first glance, this plant seemed like a close relative of the man-eating vine: ferocious in appearance and covered in sharp thorns. In reality, it did not prey on humans or beasts, and the red liquid oozing from cuts along its stem was not blood, but sap. These vines possessed tenacious vitality yet grew exceptionally slowly, flowering and bearing fruit only once every thirty years, after which one had to wait another thirty years for the next harvest.
The blood-engorged vines displayed on the stage had already borne light red berries. Only when the fruit darkened to deep purple would it be fully ripe and ready for medicinal use.
He Lingchuan had read the auction catalogue description. Originally, this plant was most abundant on the Chipa Plateau of the Panlong Wasteland, but after the wasteland turned to desert over a century ago, the plant had vanished along with it, becoming exceedingly rare and precious.
This lot had been transported all the way from the eastern continent, timed precisely with its fruiting cycle—no easy feat.
He Lingchuan's interpretation of "no easy feat" was that the asking price would be exorbitant.
Strangely enough, even though the blood-engorged vine grew on land and barely required watering a few times all year, its fruit specifically treated scale-shedding disease in aquatic creatures.
When sickly aquatic folk shed their scales, the lost scales never regrew. Prolonged exposure to air or water left their skin susceptible to disease. Even if jiaoren could walk on land, their descaled skin frequently cracked and bled, rendering even water-retaining formations ineffective and causing immense agony.
Consequently, the hall was filled with aquatic folk or their agents—after all, not all aquatic creatures could walk on land.
Fu Shanyue stepped into the hall. His eyes swept across the room and lit up, and he pointed at someone in the front row. "There's our main man."
He Lingchuan looked over and saw a blue-skinned jiaoren whose profile bore a passing resemblance to Zhongsun Mou.
"Another Zhongsun?" What luck.
Fu Shanyue scoffed. "He's Zhongsun Mou's eldest brother, Zhongsun Ce. In their generation, he's all that's left of the Zhongsun family."
Zhongsun Ce's third brother had died at Fu Shanyue's hands, and his second brother had perished by He Lingchuan's machinations. What kind of twisted karma was this?
Seven or eight parties were currently raising their paddles, bidding fiercely for the blood-engorged vines.
Zhongsun Ce was among the bidders.
He was still young and had no need for the vine. He Lingchuan surmised he was bidding on behalf of his great-grandfather, Zhongsun Chi. After all, that merman was old enough to rely on the elixir of immortality to extend his life, and the scales on his body were likely like a centenarian's teeth—falling out or staying put entirely at their own whim.
This was critical business for the Zhongsun family, something Zhongsun Ce had to see through even while mourning the loss of his brothers.
After a few rounds, only three bidders remained.
The eliminated bidders withdrew one after another, leaving the seat beside Zhongsun Ce empty.
He Lingchuan jutted his chin toward it. Fu Shanyue caught the hint, strolled over nonchalantly, and plopped himself down.
The moment Zhongsun Ce saw him, his face darkened. "What are you doing here?"
"Got tired of walking, so I dropped in to watch the excitement." Fu Shanyue waved his hand, and an attendant immediately brought over tea. "How is Old Master Zhongsun doing?"
Zhongsun Ce did not utter a word.
Zhongsun Mou's death had caused an uproar within the clan, and soon after, the Duyun Emissary had come to investigate the elixir of immortality case.
Neither matter could be concealed. Rumors were currently swirling through Lingxu City's high society that the Zhongsun family was headed for great misfortune.
The old master had been unable to eat or sleep properly for days, causing his scale-shedding disease to flare up violently, racking him with relentless itching and pain virtually without a moment's respite.
The clan's physicians had warned that numbing and anti-itch medications could not be taken long-term, which was why the Zhongsun family had set their sights on the blood-engorged vines at the Dun Garden auction.
His family had fallen into their current predicament largely thanks to the Chiyan Crown Prince sitting right before him, yet the fellow had the audacity to sit beside him just to rub salt in the wound. Zhongsun Ce felt that not leaping up to strike him was proof enough of how much his self-restraint had improved over recent years.
Fu Shanyue glanced at him, unbothered by his lack of courtesy.
Had he not risen to the position of Chiyan Crown Prince, Zhongsun Ce would probably have cursed him out already.
In the past, he had merely been a frustrated prince in Lingxu City; everyone knew the Chiyan Demon King's throne was not meant for him, and these Zhongsun boys had subjected him to plenty of sneers and mockery. Returning to Lingxu City this time bearing the title of Crown Prince, he was here precisely to savor the thrill of returning home in glory.
Over the past few days, the dignitaries of Lingxu City had to greet him with beaming smiles. In Dun Garden today, anyone who caught sight of him hurried over to respectfully address him as "Your Highness."
That feeling of holding his head high—ah!
However stifled he had felt back then, that was how thoroughly satisfying it was now.
Two more rounds of bidding took place, leaving only two competitors on the floor.
Naturally, Zhongsun Ce was one of them.
After another three rounds, the other party gave up as well. After all, eight thousand taels of silver for ten blood-engorged vines was already an absurd price. Though scale-shedding disease was agonizing, its mortality rate was not immediately high. Compared to eight million copper coins, most aquatic folk felt they could endure the pain a little longer.
Having driven the bidding so high, the auctioneer's voice took on a rich resonance. "Eight thousand taels for ten sixty-year-old blood-engorged vines! Are there any higher bids?"
"Going once."
"Going twice... Oh, we have a bid—eight thousand five hundred taels!"
Someone else was bidding?
Zhongsun Ce turned his head and was stunned to see that the bidder was Fu Shanyue!
He snapped furiously, "Fu Shanyue, what are you doing?!"
"Buying things," Fu Shanyue said, picking at his ear. "Keep your voice down."
With the auctioneer steadily calling out the price and counting down, Zhongsun Ce had no choice but to raise his paddle, bringing the price to nine thousand taels.
Once bidding exceeded five thousand taels, increments were five hundred taels at a time to avoid dragging things out and wasting everyone's time.
Fu Shanyue raised his paddle without hesitation. "Ten thousand taels."
A minor stir swept through the hall.
Everyone knew paying five thousand taels for these ten vines was already paying a premium; no one expected the price to double.
"What do you even want blood-engorged vines for?" Zhongsun Ce suppressed his fury. "You don't even have scales!"
"I recently acquired a few fish demons as pets and keep them in the palace's great lake," Fu Shanyue said with a beaming smile. "The biggest old thing has been shedding scales terribly lately, rubbing itself against the lake stones all day like a dog rubbing against a tree trunk. I need to nurse it back up."
"You!" Blood rushed to Zhongsun Ce's head at this thinly veiled insult, and he threw a punch straight for Fu Shanyue's nose.
With a sharp crack, Fu Shanyue caught his wrist. His smile turned sinister and cold, four fangs glinting chillingly. "You want to fight me on dry land?"
His five sharp claws lengthened and sank into Zhongsun Ce's wrist, drawing an instant spurt of blood.
Zhongsun Ce formed an incantation gesture with his left hand, ready to blast frost right into his face. Fortunately, several guards rushed forward immediately, shouting:
"Brawling is strictly forbidden in Dun Garden! Both of you, let go!"
This was the capital of demons, where brawls were a common occurrence, so the guards were exceedingly well-practiced in handling them.
Fu Shanyue flung Zhongsun Ce's arm away, licked the blood from his claws, and spat in disgust. "Foul. Stinks of raw fish."
Clutching his wrist, Zhongsun Ce's jaws clenched tight.
As the guards treated his wound, he glared fixedly at Fu Shanyue and said coldly, "Are you determined to oppose me today?"
"I need it too. How can you say I'm opposing you?" Fu Shanyue replied leisurely. "If you outbid me, the blood-engorged vines are naturally yours."
With an ashen face, Zhongsun Ce raised his paddle once more.
Only then could the auction, interrupted by the sudden altercation, resume.
After a few rounds of back-and-forth bidding, the price climbed all the way to fifteen thousand taels. Guests in the neighboring halls, hearing word of the spectacle, began flocking over to watch.
Bidding wars fueled by spite had always been the greatest spectacle at any auction.
Chapter 561