Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 256 The Third Day Auction

By midnight, the fire in the brazier had long since gone out.

The girl had been taken back to her room to rest by Ji Shaofu, while Pei Xia sat in the courtyard in silence for a long time before taking off the wine gourd from his waist.

He had just taken a couple of sips when Ji Shaofu's door was gently pushed open again. His martial uncle, having removed his sword and dressed in a blue robe, stood there gazing at him.

"You've worked hard these past two days," she said.

Pei Xia smiled, raised her wine gourd, and waved it at her, which was her way of agreeing.

Ji Shaofu hesitated for a moment, then walked over to his side and sat down in the courtyard.

As the moon slants lower into the night, without lighting any lamps, Ji Shaofu sits, her gaze occasionally sweeping towards the corner of the courtyard. Her eyebrows twitch slightly, and her lips open several times, yet she doesn't know how to speak.

For many years, she had been cultivating in seclusion at Whale Gate. She did possess some of the natural sensitivity of a young woman, but now that she was close to Pei Xia, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to grasp Pei Xia's thoughts.

“If you have any questions, please feel free to ask,” Pei Xia noticed her embarrassment. “You don’t need to worry about my feelings.”

That would be best.

Ji Shaofu let out a soft breath: "You were introduced by Tian Shi and you concealed some of your cultivation techniques, so I won't ask too much. But this time, you were deeply involved in both Song Huan's death and the theft of the Siku Quanshu at Su Bao Zhai. As the person in charge of this trip out of seclusion, I still have to ask you about the details."

Pei Xia raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

He had thought that Ji Shaofu would take this opportunity to test his background and cultivation level—she should have been suspicious when the sword light suddenly appeared in the forest the day before yesterday.

Perhaps Huang Bing had given her some pointers, so she was at a good point.

Pei Xia considered it for a moment, then concealed the matter of Duan Junhai's jade pendant, only saying that it was "some kind of magical artifact," and then recounted the whole story to her.

The investigation into Song Huan's death was meticulous and required considerable effort to uncover the details, but in retrospect, it wasn't particularly complicated.

It was nothing more than Duan Junhai using magic to steal for many years, and now that he wanted to leave the sect safely, he colluded with Yuan Kui to find a scapegoat. As for the methods used, Ji Shaofu occasionally raised questions, and Pei Xia would then provide some explanations.

However, when the female elder asked why it was Song Huan, Pei Xia's answer made Ji Shaofu fall silent.

She shook her head: "I thought that Miss Yuan was so pitiful and destitute, she probably wouldn't..."

"Since ancient times, there has been no necessary connection between being pitiful and being good or evil."

Pei Xia shook the wine gourd, her eyes mocking: "Besides, is Yuan Kui really pitiful?"

Ji Shaofu looked up: "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything, it's just some of my speculations, or maybe it's just my own dark side."

Upon closer examination of Yuan Kui's life, her character and personality are actually quite questionable.

However, Pei Xia would only think these words in her heart.

There's no need to bring it up when you've already killed them; it would be like you're just making excuses for yourself.

Ji Shaofu pondered for a moment, then asked another question: "Then why did Duan Junhai want to leave Su Baozhai in these past few days?"

Pei Xia lowered her eyelids slightly: "I don't know either."

he knows.

Yuan Kui's dying plea filled in the last piece.

From her fragmented words, one could glean that the most precious treasure of this Divine Treasures Celebration, the Netherworld Flower, was originally meant to be obtained by Duan Junhai from the Jade Palace of the Celestial Empire to heal Yuan Kui.

However, Yuan Kui was alone on the right mountain, holding the treasure, without anyone to protect her. It is possible that by chance someone saw her and took it away.

The value of the Ghostly Flower lies in its ability to revive flesh and blood and reshape the spiritual realm, making it a top-tier healing substance. However, it does not offer much benefit to cultivation.

Imagine if a disciple obtained this item; rather than keeping it for himself, he would naturally hand it over to the sect in exchange for a huge reward.

As for its origin, no one would say that they stole it from a fellow disciple; they would make up any excuse, claiming it was just a coincidence.

However, Duan Junhai was greatly shocked when he learned of this, and he was convinced that Su Baozhai could not be kept. Even if he could get another Youshen Flower, it was hard to say whether it would be snatched away again.

This is why he never considered leaving the sect to escape punishment, but it was only during the Divine Treasure Celebration that a large number of cultivators from other sects came to the mountain, and that he began his plan.

But considering that Ji Shaofu came here specifically for this Netherworld Flower, telling her the whole story would only add to her sorrow, so be it.

She asked a few more questions about the details, and Pei Xia explained everything she could to Ji Shaofu.

The female elder nodded repeatedly, and in the end only gave him a few words of advice regarding his rash interference in Su Baozhai's internal affairs, reminding him to control his emotions, and then said nothing more.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the auction. We'll be bidding for the Ghost God Flower. Let's go together and get up early so we don't miss the appointed time."

After Ji Shaofu finished speaking, she also got up and went back to her room.

Although Pei Xia now has the help of the Heart Fire and the Divine Treasure Celebration is in full swing, making the Right Mountain quite popular, if he really wants to sleep, he can only doze off for a short while, so there's no rush.

He reached into his belt, hooked a section of red rope, and pulled out a whole string of jade pendants.

This string contains eighteen pieces. Two of them belong to Qiu Sheng, two were taken from Yuan Kui yesterday, and the rest belong to Duan Junhai.

He had no idea where this kid, who had been hiding in the left mountain of Su Baozhai for many years and whose combat strength was so poor, had gotten so many jade pendants.

Jade is made of a special material and does not emit light itself, but when you look at it, it seems to have a myriad of inner radiance.

The eighteen jade pendants were dazzling.

Yesterday was rushed, and only one search was conducted in Duan Junhai's jade pendant, taking out all of Su Baozhai's stolen goods. As for what else was inside, Pei Xia only remembered that there were quite a few abacus cores piled up.

The more cores there are, the fewer other items will be in the jade pendant.

Pei Xia checked the inventory; there was still a stack of talismans, their effects unknown. There were three magical artifacts remaining: a set of flying needles, a small fan, and a lampstand, but it wasn't convenient to take them out to examine their effectiveness at this time.

There were some loose pills left, and various materials piled up together.

Believe it or not, some of these items are quite high-end. For example, that piece of Blazing Sun Black Gold would require a lot of computing power to buy even in the Jade Palace of the Celestial Empire.

Pei Xia's gaze, however, lingered more on the dark purple flower in the corner.

The spiritual energy was thick and profound, and the black and purple light circulated repeatedly. Although Pei Xia did not recognize this thing, judging from Yuan Kui's previous words, this should be the second Netherworld Flower left by Duan Junhai.

He didn't know where Duan Junhai's luck came from. This was a spiritual seed from the Nine Provinces. Finding even one was considered a stroke of good fortune, yet Duan Junhai had managed to get two.
Pei Xia doesn't need such a top-tier healing treasure right now; it's better to be prepared than not.

Aside from these, the most valuable items are the eighteen jade pendants themselves.

Not only has his personal storage space increased several times, but the number of computing cores he can carry with him will also increase.

If you're lucky, you might even get a peek inside that so-called Jade Palace Tower.

But then I realized that the reason these things ended up in my hands was all because of Song Huan's death.

Pei Xia sighed, unable to feel happy either.

The next day, as dawn broke, Pei Xia had been asleep for about half an hour. Just as she opened her eyes, she heard footsteps coming from afar outside.

Ji Shaofu indeed got up very early. She had already tidied herself up and walked to Pei Xia's room, knocking on his door: "Elder Pei?"

Pei Xia replied, "Yes."

After a quick wash, I pushed open the door and followed Ji Shaofu toward the venue.

Because they got up early, the entire sect was still somewhat deserted, with few people to be seen, except for a few disciples cleaning and tidying up.

The death of Song Huan brought an end to the tragedy, and the two people who deserved to die have been executed.

But for Su Baozhai, this seemed to be just a trivial matter.

The auction hadn't started yet. When Pei Xia and Ji Shaofu arrived, they only saw some disciples and stewards from Su Baozhai making preparations.

Ji Shaofu, carrying a sword on her back, stood to the side with Pei Xia, her expression aloof, without uttering a word.

Pei Xia peeked out and asked, "Are we too early?"

Ji Shaofu seemed to sway slightly, but without turning around, she said, "Come early, early, to show your seriousness."

Oh, oh, yes, that's true.

Knowing that the matter was important, but lacking experience, they prepared excessively in every aspect, such as arriving very early and waiting at the door for someone to open it.

Pei Xia glanced at her slightly swaying shoulders, as if her question had made her nervous.

Fortunately, not long after, a perceptive steward from Su Baozhai jogged over and asked with a smile, "Gentlemen, are you distinguished guests from the outer sect?"

Ji Shaofu kept a straight face and nodded slightly: "We are two cultivators from the Changjing Sect, here to participate in today's auction."

“Uh,” the steward glanced at the sky, then smiled awkwardly but politely, “why don’t I invite you two to the venue to rest and prepare some fruits and snacks? We can’t be rude to our guests.”

Ji Shaofu blushed slightly, but fortunately, she had her back to Pei Xia and was not seen.

She nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."

The steward led the two through the entrance prepared for the sect disciples, turned several corners, and brought them to the auction venue that Pei Xia had passed by yesterday.

The lobby was predominantly dark with a hint of red, and LED strip lights wrapped around the inverted cone-shaped dome, though they were not yet lit.

The seats at Changjingmen were in the third row, and the view was pretty good.

After they were seated, the steward quickly brought over more pastries, and Ji Shaofu thanked him softly.

Not long after, the man came back with a kettle to pour tea, and Ji Shaofu thanked him again.

To the female elder's surprise, the man returned soon after, saying he had brought some specialty snacks from Su Bao Zhai and invited the two of them to try them.

Ji Shaofu looked at Pei Xia with a puzzled expression: "Why is this person being so attentive?"

Pei Xia didn't think much of it at first, but after seeing him come three times, she realized what was going on.

He smiled at Ji Shaofu: "You'll have to come again."

Sure enough, the man returned shortly afterward, saying he wanted to serve tea to the two distinguished guests.

Before Ji Shaofu could even say thank you, Pei Xia asked first, "What's your name?"

The steward immediately replied, "Zhou Yuan."

Pei Xia nodded to him: "Okay, I'll remember."

Deacon Zhou chuckled, took the teapot and left, and indeed never returned.

Ji Shaofu frowned slightly: "Why is that?"

Pei Xia sighed with amusement: "If you don't know his name, and you later chat with the elders of Su Baozhai about meeting an exceptionally sensible disciple today, but you can't even remember his name, then all his enthusiasm will have been for nothing."

Ji Shaofu parted her red lips slightly, and after a moment, shook her head with a complicated expression.

It's normal that Ji Shaofu doesn't understand; cultivators shouldn't know these things in the first place. As Su Baozhai's disciple, she seems to know too much.

(End of this chapter)