119: Chapter 119 The Old Man in Tang Suit

Zhao Feiyu pressed both hands against the massive, transparent floor-to-ceiling window.

He looked toward the source of the commotion.

On the auction stage, atop a massive display stand, sat a white jade Guanyin Buddha head, roughly half a meter in diameter and one meter tall.

Under the illumination of the spotlights, the Buddha head shone brilliantly, radiating a pure and pious light.

Everyone below stood up to observe the massive Buddha head.

On the large screen behind it, the details of the Buddha head were clearly displayed for all to see.

At this moment, even Li Qingluo stared at the massive Buddha head with excitement, her eyes sparkling with fervor.

“Is this the Guanyin Jade Buddha that Empress Wu Zetian once worshiped in the Mingtang?”

...

“Everyone, this is our final auction item of the night, the mingtang jade buddha head.”

“Legend has it that during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, this Guanyin Jade Buddha was enshrined within the Mingtang.”

“It was later stolen by Japanese pirates and wasn't recovered until the Ming Dynasty.”

“Then, during the Qing Dynasty, it was enshrined within the Old Summer Palace.”

“When the imperialist invaders encroached upon our great Huaxia, it was decapitated and stolen once more!”

“Fortunately, as they were leaving, one of their transport ships was sunk within Huaxia's territorial waters.”

“Decades ago, Fish Shark, the chairman of Zhanlan Fishery, salvaged it from the sea and obtained this mingtang jade buddha head!”

...

Following the introduction...

Everyone was impatient to begin the bidding.

“The starting price for this mingtang jade buddha head is five hundred million! Each bid must be no less than ten million. The auction officially begins now!”

As soon as the words left the auctioneer's mouth...

Someone immediately raised their paddle.

“Five hundred and thirty million!”

“Eight hundred and fifty million!”

“One billion, two hundred and seventy million!”

...

In the blink of an eye, the price of the mingtang jade buddha head was called out at over two billion.

Meanwhile, in another room.

Young Master Yu watched all of this with satisfaction.

Just then, Li Desheng walked in with a joyful expression. “Young Master, the people have been arranged!”

“Mm! How many shills did you arrange?”

“I've arranged five. They will drop out of the bidding at fifty billion, eighty billion, one hundred billion, two hundred billion, and five hundred billion respectively!”

Li Desheng spoke with absolute confidence.

“The upper limit for this mingtang jade buddha head is estimated to be around one hundred billion. To prevent the item from accidentally ending up stuck in our own hands, our people will drop out at fifty billion!”

“No!”

Young Master Yu rejected the method immediately.

“Arrange a few more people to drop out at eighty billion and one hundred billion. Additionally, arrange for someone trustworthy to keep bidding against Zhao Feiyu!”

“This...”

Li Desheng said hesitantly.

“What if we end up stuck with it?”

“This thing is a fake anyway. There's no loss if it stays in our hands. What are you afraid of?”

Young Master Yu let out a crazed smile.

“If we're going to play, let's play big. I want Zhao Feiyu to spit back everything he took from me!”

...

At the same time, in the neighboring private box.

An Old Man in Tang Suit stared intently at the massive Buddha head on the stage.

Just then, a girl in a white training suit pushed the door open and entered, silently coming up behind the old man.

“Grandfather, the investigation is complete. The person in V18 is named Zhao Feiyu. He's with Zhang Baiyu of the Jiaxing Group and the Yuan siblings from Yunduan City!”

“Nobodies! Not worth mentioning!”

The Old Man in Tang Suit spoke indifferently, but his eyes never left the jade buddha head on the stage for a second.

“This mingtang jade buddha head must be mine. No one can compete with me for it; otherwise, I won't hesitate to use special means to eliminate them entirely!”

...

By now...

The price of the jade buddha head had already reached eight billion.

At that moment...

The old man in the Tang suit made his move.

“Ten billion!”

A sudden jump to ten billion.

It instantly drew everyone's attention.

Seeing this, the remaining 50% of the bidders chose to give up immediately.

They knew that once the big shots in the VIP boxes made their move...

They no longer had a chance.

There were many unspoken rules in the auction house.

Even if they had the financial resources to continue bidding...

Competing against these big shots would only result in angering them, even if they won the item.

It wasn't worth the cost.

Rather than that, it was better to give up early.

Meanwhile, Zhao Feiyu sat down calmly as he watched the still-intense bidding scene.

He sat down calmly.

After his brief nap and recovery just now...

The stinging pain in Zhao Feiyu's mind had disappeared.

It seemed he could use the Golden Pupils skill again.

However, the distance was currently too great; using the Golden Pupils now would only cause unnecessary exhaustion.

Zhao Feiyu had discovered that the distance also affected the consumption rate of the Golden Pupils.

“Let’s go! Let's go down and get a closer look at this jade buddha head!”

As Zhao Feiyu spoke, he took the lead and walked out.

“Is that really necessary? All the Buddha heads auctioned today have been tested by the Jiangbei City Ancient Artifact Research Center, and they even have corresponding certificates!”

Zhang Baiyu said this, but he followed Zhao Feiyu out quite obediently.

“Certificates can be forged, and experts can be mistaken. I can only bid with peace of mind after I've seen it for myself!”

...

As they spoke, the group arrived at the front of the stage.

They took seats in the first row.

Just then...

Zhao Feiyu keenly felt a sharp gaze land on him.

Almost instinctively, Zhao Feiyu followed the gaze to its source.

He saw the Old Man in Tang Suit, accompanied by a girl with a high ponytail in a white training suit, also arriving at the first row.

Seeing this...

Zhao Feiyu was secretly alarmed.

Because he had been very sensitive to that sharp gaze just now.

It was as if the other person's gaze was tangible, allowing him to trace it back to its origin.

“Is this also an effect of the Golden Pupils? Or is this person's gaze just naturally that sharp?”

Zhao Feiyu didn't know, but he became more cautious regarding this old man in the Tang suit.

Currently...

Zhao Feiyu was no more than five meters away from the mingtang jade buddha head.

At this distance, Zhao Feiyu could more clearly sense the historical depth and ancient aura contained within the Buddha head.

“Well? Can you see anything unusual?”

Zhao Feiyu turned his head to look at Li Qingluo.

“Looking at it like this, there really doesn't seem to be anything wrong. It would be better if I could observe it up close!”

Li Qingluo said, her eyes fixed intently on the Buddha head.

Meanwhile...

The bidding had already reached around fifty billion.

Zhao Feiyu suddenly noticed...

The Old Man in Tang Suit sitting not far from him had been consistently bidding.

It seemed he was determined to get this Buddha head.

“Do you know this old man in the Tang suit next to me?”

Zhao Feiyu asked Zhang Baiyu in a low voice.

Zhang Baiyu glanced over...

Then he gently shook his head. “I don't know him!”

Just then, the old man in the Tang suit looked at Zhao Feiyu with contempt and gave a slight smile.