Calamity Messenger

Chapter 182 - 143: Auction

They came to a shop with the character ’Book’ hanging outside, guarded by two messengers at the door, and even a Red Name Messenger inside as a bodyguard.

But once inside, they understood why the security was so tight: the shopkeeper had an entire wall filled with secret manuals behind him. Although upon closer inspection there were only thirty or forty volumes, secret manuals were consumables that disappeared upon use and were in short supply. Even a military town couldn’t have so many manuals in storage.

"What book would you like to buy, guest?" the shopkeeper asked, stroking his whiskers. "If it’s not here, it’s unlikely to be found anywhere in Changle City."

"Do you have advanced secret manuals here?" Pharmacist’s Wish sneered.

"Well..." the shopkeeper said awkwardly, "it’s not that we don’t have them, they just need to be ordered."

"If you don’t have advanced secret manuals, you must at least have two Basic Saber Technique Secret Manuals and a Basic Footwork Secret Manual, right?"

Unexpectedly, the prices of the secret manuals here were not expensive, even cheaper than Yan Qing’s listing on the trading board. He thought it through and understood why: the secret manuals here must be embezzled state supplies sold off by corrupt officials, with almost zero cost. Customers who came to Changle City to purchase them had already paid a huge price. If they were sold expensively, why wouldn’t they just buy through official channels? Basic manuals can’t be monopolized.

No wonder the saber manuals are so cheap; after all, if customers are willing to pay a bit more, they could buy manuals from safer trading boards in the main city. It would be strange if black market manuals weren’t cheap.

Seeing Pharmacist’s Wish buying these manuals, Wuqiu and Shidong seemed to foresee something.

Sure enough, after they left the shop, Pharmacist’s Wish handed the manuals to them: "Take these and transfer to become Martial Arts Messengers."

Wuqiu accepted the manuals in silence, but Shidong timidly said, "Miss, I... I don’t have the talent, and I’m afraid to fight with people..."

"If you don’t have the talent, I’ll feed you. If you’re afraid, get used to it." Pharmacist’s Wish appeared cold and ruthless. "You need to learn to protect yourselves."

"Shidong, aren’t you afraid of being captured?" Wuqiu whispered in Shidong’s ear. "The Miss will protect us, but what if something happens? If it weren’t for Rabbit Heroine, we might be dead now. The Duke Jin’s Mansion is gone, and we can’t just be her maids. The Miss needs more than maids... If you keep being so unambitious, you’ll be left behind."

Faced with the pressure from Pharmacist’s Wish and Wuqiu, Shidong nodded vigorously, using both manuals with a snap: "I’ll do my best!"

"You... ah..."

Pharmacist’s Wish and the others didn’t expect Shidong to use the manuals on the spot. Turning into a messenger with visible Qi Blood immediately drew everyone’s attention on the street. It’s known that there are far more messengers than ordinary people in Changle City, so someone coming here to transfer jobs is like shouting to the entire city: I’m weak, and I’m rich!

"What are you looking at?" exclaimed Rabbit Heroine, munching on candied hawthorn, raising her eyebrows. "Yes, you, Separation Hook Deng Xiao, want to step outside for a solo duel?"

The masked man pointed out by Rabbit Heroine’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately turned and left, drawing everyone’s attention as they watched his departure:

"Separation Hook? He dares to come to Changle City?"

"This should be interesting; he robbed Fire Cloud Hand’s goods, and the four Fire Cloud Hand brothers are looking for him everywhere."

"It’s really Separation Hook, the more you look, the more it seems like him!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Pharmacist’s Wish and the group quickly moved to another street, Wuqiu asked in surprise, "Do you know him, heroine?"

"I don’t know him." Rabbit Heroine shook her head. "I’ve already told you, I can see the names of bad people, and he’s wearing a mask. Normal people wear masks here to avoid being noticed by bad people; bad people wear masks because they’ve offended someone by doing bad things. It doesn’t hurt to call them out, at most engage in a duel."

Realizing her mistake, Shidong shrank her head like a quail.

Pharmacist’s Wish stroked her hair and sighed, "Don’t be so reckless next time."

Pharmacist’s Wish understood that Shidong wasn’t suited for the world of messengers at all. If Wuqiu were a winter plum capable of surviving independently, Shidong was like a parasitic vine that could only live in affluence. She had always been learning how to serve others—from serving the lady to the future son-in-law. Resigned to submission, she worked tirelessly... she was good, but only as a good weak person.

But from now on, they had to survive in the Demon Path Evil Land, in the law of the jungle where the weak are prey to the strong. They couldn’t survive as weak people any longer.

Passing by a shop, the shopkeeper suddenly called out, "I have top-quality Pharmacist Glue, interested in taking a look?"

Yan Qing’s interest piqued immediately, and he decisively went in to purchase a large batch of Pharmacist Glue.

He examined the effects. Indeed, it could be effective on all tokens, but only on Third-Turn or below, and at most restore durability to 70% of the max value. The price wasn’t high, with five hundred Spiritual Jade for a large bottle. Already possessing the self-awareness of a wealthy person, Yan Qing bought ten bottles.

Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t have as much demand, since she already had stock. She only spent a hundred Spiritual Jade to buy a small bottle to replenish what she used last night.

During the transaction, the shopkeeper suddenly lowered his voice and said, "There were people from the Zhou Kingdom going up Shu Dao Mountain yesterday; they were Wudang Royal Guards."

She raised her head in surprise, but the shopkeeper had already resumed his previous demeanor, as if nothing had been said.

After leaving the shop, Pharmacist’s Wish glanced at Rabbit Heroine, still eating candied hawthorn, and fell into contemplation.

As for why the shopkeeper reminded her, Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t know. Perhaps it was her father’s remaining influence, or maybe other forces didn’t want her to enter a trap—Qi Liang would surely be delighted to foster a royal filled with hatred for the Zhou Kingdom.

The Wudang Royal Guards belong to the Chang’an Prefecture Soldiers, always serving as the Celestial Monarch’s private army.

If the shopkeeper’s words were true, the presence of Wudang Royal Guards on Shu Dao Mountain suggested cooperation between the Court and Demonic Forces. The Demonic Forces could act on Pharmacist’s Wish at the command—or trade—of the Court.

And the largest demonic force on Shu Dao Mountain was the Third Great Guardians that held the Secret Realm.

Each Guardian was a time-honored Third-Turn, leading countless Demonic Messengers, having turned Shu Dao Mountain into a den of dragons and tigers. If Pharmacist’s Wish dared to set foot on Shu Dao Mountain, it was akin to stepping halfway through the Ghost Gate.

But if Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t go to Shu Dao Mountain, where could she go? Flee to another country, leaving aside whether Qi Liang would accept her; even if they did, they wouldn’t let her access the Third-Turn Secret Realm. At most, they’d send her to a quiet place, and without the Secret Realm trials, her path to Foundation Establishment would only become more distant.

Messengers undertaking Foundation Establishment either squeeze through a single-log bridge to snatch a Foundation Establishment Pill, or they transform themselves forcibly during mortal combat!

Now, as long as she heads to Shu Dao Mountain, there seems to be a chance to pursue either of these paths.

If it is a Dragon’s Pool, then slay the dragons; if it is a Tiger’s Den, then kill the tigers!

Have I, Pharmacist’s Wish, come to Shu Dao Mountain to peacefully make riches with the Demonic Messenger? Let’s see whether the Demon Dao is evil or if I’m more fearsome!

Just, it’s not necessary to involve others in my affairs.

Pharmacist’s Wish made up her mind: after today, she would bid farewell to the Rabbit Heroine. As long as she doesn’t go up the mountain with the Rabbit Heroine, the Demonic Forces collaborating with the Court won’t implicate the Rabbit Heroine... But parting before clearing off the debt might make my sister think I’m shirking.

To speak of it, before I succeed in Foundation Establishment and revenge, how would I have the ability to repay such kindness? Should I involve her, it would be a debt never cleared even in a lifetime.

I cannot cause her any trouble.

Before long, Pharmacist’s Wish and her group arrived at the busiest and most crowded shop in Changle City. Upon seeing, everyone realized it was actually an auction house, more accurately, a stolen goods auction house, held every seven days. Today, by chance, they encountered it. However, most of the auction was already over, and they missed a lot.

It was everyone’s first time seeing a real auction, so they couldn’t help but go in to watch the excitement. After watching for a while, both Pharmacist’s Wish inside and Yan Qing outside the screen expressed disappointment: too low-end.

Two-turn ordinary tokens can actually be auctioned?

Two-turn rare defensive token... passable.

Three-turn ordinary boots... Still using such rubbish after reaching three-turn, aren’t you afraid of foot disease?

But even these things, which didn’t catch their eye, were highly sought after by numerous Demonic Messengers here.

Yan Qing once again refreshed his understanding of the Demon Dao: a bunch of strong combatants who are poor. This poverty doesn’t mean they lack money, but they lack channels to acquire truly precious resources. Rare tokens and rare treasure tokens are heirlooms all heavily guarded by major families, scarce to the point that even Shang Xuanwen isn’t qualified to possess them after retirement, all locked away in military towns. Could they possibly rush in and snatch them?

They genuinely want to.

The most fiercely contested auction item turned out to be detailed information on the Sound Nest Military Town, including and not limited to intelligence on command tokens, messenger numbers, defense plans, and changing guard times; only the most insider of insiders could sell such information.

The Red Name Messenger purchased this information, naturally not for innocent purposes.

The information was ultimately acquired by the Red Name Messenger in the center of the venue, previously having already bought several items; each time he bid, it was decisive, and no one dared to compete with him.

"It is Blood Steward Zhong Ji, a Third-Turn Demon Messenger." Pharmacist’s Wish suddenly said, "His elder brother is one of the three Great Guardians of Shu Dao Mountain, Blood Phase. These brothers once massacred a county in Liangzhou, killed a Third-Turn from the Yuwen Family, and rank in the top ten on Zhou Kingdom’s wanted list."

Both brothers are Third-Turn Messengers, and moreover are one of the three major forces of Shu Dao Mountain, no wonder no one dares to provoke them.

At this time, the auction host took out a box and announced loudly, "Today’s climax piece is an extraordinary item that our esteemed guests have never seen before. Even I, well-experienced, am seeing such a curious treasure for the first time in this world."

Upon these words, those who were prepared to leave the venue sat back down.

"This treasure is an Advanced Secret Manual."

As soon as this was said, someone mocked, "Just an Advanced Secret Manual, what’s so impressive? These days, even Advanced Secret Manuals can be auction highlights?"

The host smiled, "If it were an ordinary Advanced Secret Manual, I wouldn’t dare show off, but this one is definitely a treasure that you’ve never seen because it combines Swordsmanship and Saber Techniques into one!"

He just opened the box, revealing the title of the manual inside the box:

"Advanced Sword and Saber Mastery Secret Manual"

"Requires mastery of Basic Saber Technique, Basic Dual Saber Technique or Basic Swordsmanship, Basic Double Sword Skill to use. After use, the messenger’s Blade and Sword Technique will merge into one, no longer distinguishing between single saber and dual saber, single sword and dual sword, only the path of sword and saber. It is rumored to possibly change to an extremely rare profession!" the host loudly stated, "It is said mastering the path of sword and saber can lead to an even more powerful profession. Starting bid at ten thousand Spiritual Jade, no trades accepted, please bid!"

"Twenty thousand!"

"Thirty-five thousand!"

"Fifty thousand Spiritual Jade!"

"Sixty thousand!"

Just like a stone dropped in the water creating waves, everyone in the auction venue started bidding one after another, the price quickly rising to one hundred thousand.

"One hundred thirty thousand Spiritual Jade!" Blood Steward Zhong Ji stood up and glanced around: "I want to gift this manual to my nephew, let’s see who dares to compete with me!"

Upon these words, the venue suddenly went silent, and the host’s face didn’t look good either as, due to Zhong Ji, several auction items had already sold unsatisfactorily.

Even though the backer behind him is also a major clan of Liang Kingdom, not afraid of Zhong Ji, there’s nothing the host can do about others fearing Zhong Ji; on top of that, no other Great Guardian’s Third-Turn came to attend today, so there isn’t even anyone to compete with Zhong Ji. Isn’t what Zhong Ji says how it is?

He sighed, intending to quickly run through the process and wrap things up.

"One hundred fifty thousand Spiritual Jade."

Just then, a gentle innocent voice rang out from a corner of the venue.