165: Unexpected

Early in the morning, Yan Ruyu sat in the hotel restaurant, enjoying breakfast.

After ten minutes or so, Xie Ning finally limped over, looking bruised and battered, covered in injuries.

"Is the compensation settled?" Yan Ruyu asked.

Xie Ning rolled his eyes at her. He wanted to lose his temper but couldn't win a fight against her, so he could only nod helplessly:

"Yeah, the roof collapsed, seven suites were destroyed, plus the walls of several surrounding buildings were cracked, and there's that five-meter crater on the road. It cost 1.5 million in compensation. Originally, two households wanted to claim compensation because they were scared witless, but after the friendly negotiations of White Fang, they decided to give up on the compensation. Now it seems they've gone to the hospital."

After Xie Ning finished speaking, he sat down and grabbed a steamed bun, biting it viciously as if the bun were his enemy.

Seeing this, a hint of a smile flashed in Yan Ruyu's eyes, and she said somewhat haughtily, "Don't blame me. Who told you to ask about a girl's age?"

"It's just age, what's the big deal? I'm only eight years younger than you..." Halfway through, Xie Ning felt a cold sensation on his neck and swallowed hard. "Eat the bun, eat the bun. I didn't say anything."

Truly, accompanying a Master is like accompanying a tiger.

Just then, Xie Ning's phone rang; it was a message from Mo Yu.

Mo Yu: "Good morning, Master~"

Xie Ning gave a simple reply.

Mo Yu: "The Breeding Friendship Competition starts today. Is Master really not coming? It seems the participants are all quite formidable; they even brought several Demon Tamers with them."

Xie Ning replied: "I won't be participating in the competition. Work hard and perform at your normal level; you'll have no problem winning against them."

Mo Yu first sent a laughing-crying emoji and then said: "Alright, that's such a pity. Master didn't see it, but when the members of the other academies for the friendship competition arrived yesterday, every single one of them was acting like a total jerk. It was infuriating. So I've decided that I must defeat them today and see if they still dare to be so smug!"

Xie Ning: "Keep it up."

Mo Yu: "Understood!"

After chatting, Xie Ning had just put down his phone when another message arrived; it was Instructor Ruan Qiong asking if he would participate.

After a simple reply, Xie Ning looked at Yan Ruyu: "Is this breeding competition special? From what Xiao Yu and Instructor Ruan Qiong said, it seems the other side has ill intentions this time."

"The person leading the team this time is named Duan Biqin, and she has a bit of a grudge against me." Yan Ruyu ate a slice of bread, her movements elegant. She spoke as if it were just a trivial matter.

Xie Ning asked curiously: "What grudge?"

"Her so-called 'god' that she had a crush on wanted to pursue me. I rejected him and even cut off a certain part, so she's held a grudge ever since."

"Hiss—"

Xie Ning sucked in a breath of cold air and squeezed his legs together: "If I may ask, what was cut off was..."

"It's not like I'm cutting yours, why are you guarding it so tightly?"

As soon as she spoke, without a word, Xie Ning moved his chair five meters away.

Seeing him so scared that he was breaking out in a cold sweat, Yan Ruyu laughed for some reason, but as she thought of her past experiences, her smile gradually faded... Afternoon, 4:30 PM.

There was still half an hour before the auction began.

A long line formed at the auction entrance. The venue was divided into three floors. The first floor was crowded with a sea of people; these were the seats for general bidders. The second floor consisted of private boxes, mostly occupied by dignitaries or members of various factions. Of course, the price of a private box was a hundred times that of a seat on the first floor.

Higher up was the third floor, where only a very few people were qualified to sit.

Xie Ning and his companion didn't reveal their identities and bought two seats on the first floor.

"It seems the true martial gold is very sought-after."

Xie Ning could tell at a glance that nearly half of the attendees had a foundation in Ancient Martial Arts. Gradually, he shifted his focus to the entrance of the internal passage of the auction, where an ancient lamp for atmosphere was flickering.

Yan Ruyu nodded.

"I'm going in to take a look."

After saying that, before Yan Ruyu could react, Xie Ning transformed into a flash of fire and vanished.

The next second, Xie Ning appeared at the location of the ancient lamp.

Seeing no one around, Xie Ning walked toward the auction's backstage.

Although there were guards along the way, Xie Ning easily sneaked in using the cover of the bright chandelier light and the ability of the Fire Shadow to move through flames, unknowingly arriving at a deserted hall.

Just then, the sound of stone slabs moving rang out. Xie Ning quickly moved to a high spot and hid behind a lamp.

He saw the originally flat wall in the corner suddenly recede, revealing a door, and two elderly men walked out.

"Old Liu, you'll have to put in some effort for the auction later. This final auction item... I believe it will definitely sell for a high price."

The speaker was a spirited old man dressed in a suit with his white hair combed back neatly. As he spoke, he closed the door and pulled the curtain hanging nearby to block the passage entrance, making it look like an ordinary corner decoration.

Beside the old man was another man in his sixties, slightly younger but still with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing white auctioneer's clothes. Hearing the suited old man's words, he said with a smile, "Naturally. Please rest assured, President. In the 50 years I, Liu One Hammer, have hosted auctions, there hasn't been a single loss."

The President laughed with satisfaction: "Of course I believe in you, Old Liu. In this city in a region, who can compare to you? Others say your disciples are extraordinary, but in my view, although they are good, they are still far behind you. You are the guiding light of auctions!"

"You flatter me. Actually, my disciples' skills aren't bad either, especially Lin Hai; his sense of rhythm is almost catching up to mine," the auctioneer said with a proud look while feigning humility.

"Look at you..."

"Not at all, not at all..."

The two old men, whose combined ages exceeded a hundred, spent several minutes in mutual business flattery before finishing.

The President left first. The auctioneer looked at the drawn curtain and was also about to leave when two figures suddenly jumped out from the darkness. A hand-chop knocked the auctioneer unconscious, and they quickly stripped him of his auctioneer's clothes.

"Hurry up, don't let anyone find us." One of them, masked with black cloth, dragged the auctioneer behind the curtain to hide him, while the other nodded and began buttoning up.

"Might as well just kill him, lest he wakes up halfway and the plan is ruined."

"Makes sense." As he spoke, the one dragging the auctioneer pulled out a dagger, ready to strike.

"Ahem."

A cough rang out, and the two were suddenly startled.

Before they could react, a longsword pierced the head of the one holding the dagger.

The other one reacted and was about to shout, but Xie Ning grabbed him by the throat. Fire invaded his body, and he died on the spot. Xie Ning then tore his sleeve, revealing the mark of a Fallen Demon Tamer.

"So that was their plan..." As he spoke, Xie Ning stripped the clothes off and then put the two into his storage stone.

After cleaning up the scene, he held the auctioneer's clothes and looked at the auctioneer sleeping soundly behind the curtain, and he couldn't help but feel a bit troubled.

"The auction is about to start; what should I do?"

Teng teng teng~

The sound of hurried footsteps approached. Xie Ning quickly lowered the curtain, hiding the auctioneer.

The newcomer was a young staff member from the backstage. He froze when he saw Xie Ning, then saw the auctioneer's clothes in his left hand and couldn't help but ask:

"Where's your Master?"

"Ah? Liu... Liu One Hammer isn't here." Xie Ning was stunned and answered blankly.

The staff member said with dissatisfaction: "Honestly, he's your Master, how can you call him by his full name? Forget it, there's no time. Hurry up and go on stage with me. No matter what, you have to stall until your Master arrives!"

"Huh?" Xie Ning was stunned.

"'Huh' what? Hurry up and come with me! If you dare refuse, your Master will scold you to death when he finds out!" After saying that, the staff member grabbed Xie Ning's hand and ran out.

"No, you've misunderstood, I'm not..."

"Hurry up and mentally prepare yourself. Even a novice shouldn't be nervous. Deep breaths. Yes, follow me. Inhale~ Exhale~ Inhale... that's it. This is the internal catalog of auction items. Familiarize yourself with it quickly. Later, these items, especially the true martial gold, will have to pass through your hands. Don't make any mistakes!"

The staff member finished his long-winded instructions, put a hidden earpiece on Xie Ning, and handed him a thicker catalog of auction items. Then he added, "By the way, what did you just say?"

"Uh... I said, I guarantee the mission will be completed," Xie Ning said with a serious face, tucking the small booklet into his left chest pocket.