Chapter 163: Picking up the Goods

With a smile in her eyes, Jiang Lan said, "Alright, congratulations to our friend in the upstairs private room for winning this raw stone. I hope you discover plenty of secrets within it."

Her words were clearly meant to be a blessing, but to Huang Fengnian's ears, they were as grating as mockery.

'They're clearly treating me like a sucker!'

'How outrageous! How outrageous!'

The onlookers were also completely baffled.

What on earth was Mu Lin trying to pull?

It left Huang Fengnian fuming with rage.

A devilishly charming young man reached out and patted Huang Fengnian's back, gently consoling him.

"Don't let this get to you, Mr. Huang. It's not worth it!"

Huang Fengnian was about to explode with rage. "I want that brat dead! I want that brat dead! The Zhao Family grandfather and granddaughter can be spared, but that bastard must die!"

The young man chuckled. "No problem. Don't you worry, I'll arrange it right away."

Inside another private room.

"I can't believe it. The description provided by the Manor Master of Hidden Sword Manor was so vague, yet people were still fighting over it…"

"It can't be helped. That price was far beyond what we could afford."

"If we had won that raw stone and forged a weapon from its materials, your power would have ascended to a whole new level."

"Timing, luck, fate… We have no control over any of it! So be it!"

That was what he said, but in his heart, the speaker already held a grudge against the people who had casually driven up the price.

Especially those people in the next room. If they hadn't jumped in, things wouldn't have gotten to this point.

Mu Lin looked reluctant, but his hands were tied.

"Brother Mu, were you deliberately driving up the price, or did you really want it? You could obviously afford it! Why didn't you get it?"

Mu Lin shook his head. "The item is good, but to make proper use of it, I'd probably have to invest an additional three or four hundred million. The returns would be limited, so I decided against it…"

Zhao Ling'Er thought for a moment. For her little high-school-graduate brain, this kind of thinking was a bit too advanced.

After a while, she still couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Zhao Yang, however, greatly admired Mu Lin's decisiveness. He was resolute and didn't hesitate in the slightest.

'With time, he'll definitely be an outstanding individual.'

After that, a few more Spirit Medicines were auctioned off. The competition was just as fierce, but no item sold for over a hundred million.

When the auction of the final item concluded, Jiang Lan smiled and waved to the audience.

"Alright, this auction has now concluded. Please proceed to the accounting office to settle your payments. Come one by one, and please don't rush!"

Mu Lin stood up. "I'm going to settle the bill."

Zhao Yang said, "Then we'll go with you. It'll save you a trip back."

Mu Lin went to the accounting office to pay. After 151 million was transferred, he received a voucher with his paddle number on it, which instructed him to go to the warehouse to pick up his goods.

The three of them went to the warehouse and found quite a few people picking up their items, forming several lines.

Mu Lin went to the line for Spirit Medicine; he was fairly near the front.

Just then, Huang Fengnian walked toward them. The moment he saw Mu Lin, he cursed.

"You just wait, you brat!"

Mu Lin thought, 'I've never even met you. What did I ever do to you?'

Then he realized the voice sounded a bit familiar. He thought back for a moment and remembered. Wasn't that Huang Fengnian?

'The guy who was fighting me for the raw stone in the private room!'

Behind him, someone was pushing a large box covered with a cloth. Presumably, the large stone was inside.

Mu Lin glanced over, his eyes still filled with a trace of longing. 'It would have been amazing to get my hands on something that good.'

'But, whatever… Even if I got it, I'd still have to spend a fortune to process it, with no guarantee of finding anything good inside. Why bother?'

The line moved quickly, and Mu Lin was soon at the desk. He placed his voucher on the table.

A manor employee glanced at it, snapped the numbered tag in half, and tossed it into a waste bin behind him before walking toward the back with the pickup order.

A moment later, he returned with a box made of cyan jade and handed it to Mu Lin.

Mu Lin stroked the surface of the cyan jade, nodded, then placed the box in a plastic bag and picked it up.

Zhao Ling'Er said urgently, "Brother Mu, aren't you going to check it?"

Mu Lin said, "No need. The jade box holding the medicine is worth a fortune on its own. If I open it rashly, it might affect the medicine's efficacy, which would be a shame."

Zhao Ling'Er's eyes widened in realization. Mu Lin had even considered that. She felt a genuine admiration for his intelligence.

Zhao Yang also said, "The main reason so many people come to Hidden Sword Manor's auctions is their stellar reputation. Otherwise, why would so many people patronize them?"

Half-convinced, Zhao Ling'Er accepted her grandfather's words.

"Let's go home!" Mu Lin checked the time. It was a little after eleven. They should be home before one in the afternoon.

The three of them retrieved their car and headed back.

After everything at the manor had quieted down, Jiang Lan returned to a hidden area of the estate and bowed to the person inside.

"Manor Master, the results are in. That raw stone ended up in Huang Fengnian's hands."

"Huang Fengnian…" The voice from within sounded weary. "A very unremarkable name. Why did he fight for the stone?"

"Who else wanted to buy this stone?"

"Pei Zhenjun and Wei Jianguo, both esteemed elders, bid quite aggressively, but they dropped out after just a few bids."

"There was also a young man sitting in the ordinary seats downstairs. He's likely Zhao Yang's grandson-in-law."

"Only those three parties?"

"A few others joined in the commotion but only bid once. Only these few bid repeatedly. I suspect the others didn't understand the raw stone's value and were just joining in for the excitement."

A gentle-voiced woman inside spoke. "But Huang Fengnian has no Martial Dao background. What does he want with this thing? Does he have the skill to break down the raw stone and smelt the minerals? Does he have the ability to refine a Magical Artifact?"

The string of questions made the answer self-evident.

"Elder Pei and Elder Wei have reached a high level of cultivation, so for them, the more treasures the better. But why was that young man so interested in it? Why did he bid so many times?"

Jiang Lan thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Forgive my ignorance, but I truly can't figure it out."

'Mu Lin is a complete unknown, as if he just popped out of a rock. His preferences, his personality—we know nothing. How can we possibly judge his motives? Perhaps he was just driving up the price on a whim?'

After a long silence, the Manor Master finally sighed.

"Go and retrieve the raw stone. If he's unwilling, break his leg."

Jiang Lan immediately went to ask about Huang Fengnian's whereabouts.

It turned out Huang Fengnian was right there in the courtyard, sighing at the box.

He had no choice. If he backed out of the auction purchase, not only would he lose his one-million-yuan deposit, but he would also be banned for life from Hidden Sword Manor.

Jiang Lan walked up and said in a crisp voice, "Mr. Huang."

When Huang Fengnian saw Jiang Lan, he said hurriedly:

"Miss Jiang Lan, you're here! Don't worry, I'll have this stone moved out right away, it won't take much time!"

Seeing Huang Fengnian's awkward expression, Jiang Lan knew exactly what his situation was. She said cheerfully:

"I'd like to buy this stone back from you at the price you paid. What do you think?"

Huang Fengnian was overjoyed. 'This is great! It would be amazing not to have to pay after all.'

But on second thought, he felt something was off.

'If I do that, won't it be an admission that I was bidding frivolously?'

He hesitated, caught in a dilemma.

"Mr. Huang, rest assured. The Manor Master said he'll make an exception this one time and won't hold you responsible!"

Huang Fengnian's eyes lit up. "That's great, that's great! I'll give the stone back to you! To be honest, I had no idea where I was going to put this thing!"

The matter was resolved smoothly, to the satisfaction of both parties.

On the way back, Zhao Ling'Er was driving again.

Mu Lin was resting with his eyes closed, while Zhao Yang carefully cradled the Cyan Jade Box that held the Vermilion Fruit.

The Cyan Jade Box felt pleasantly cool in his hands, exceptionally comfortable.

'This Cyan Jade Box must be a treasure in its own right!'

'It makes sense. Mu Lin spent several hundred million on the Vermilion Fruit; of course he'd need something valuable to store it in!'

Suddenly, a car shot out from a blind spot, blocking the road ahead.

Zhao Ling'Er screamed and slammed on the brakes.

Sensing trouble, Zhao Yang clutched the Cyan Jade Box tightly to his chest.

Mu Lin, who had been asleep, was jolted forward.

Luckily, Zhao Ling'Er had forced him to wear his seatbelt, or he would have been sent flying into the windshield.

"What's going on!" Mu Lin woke with a start.

On the verge of tears, Zhao Ling'Er said, "Brother Mu, look! It's Qi Shengyang! He's back again!"

Mu Lin focused his gaze. Qi Shengyang's face was contorted with venomous hatred. Behind him stood Shi Huiguang, and the last person to get out of the car was a burly old man with a grim expression.

'What is this guy's problem? I already taught him a brutal lesson, and he still came back for more?'