“Oh, him!” Yun Ruoyan scrutinized the man carefully after hearing Lin Qingchen’s words. He looked elegant and scholarly, and it was hard for her to associate him with the drunken gambler she’d seen before. 

“Scholar Che!” Lin Qingchen called out. Ling Lan’s brother had passed the imperial exam, so he was worthy of the title.

The man raised his head and smiled when he saw Lin Qingchen. “Young Miss Lin.”

She pulled Yun Ruoyan to the counter as Che Mingchen tied the waxed bundles together and handed them to the patient. After motioning for a young boy by his side to take over his duties, he stepped out from behind the counter.

“What can I do for you, Miss Lin?” Che Mingchen walked up to the girls and bowed.

“This is my cousin, Yun Ruoyan.”

Che Mingchen’s eyes widened. “My sister heaps great praise on you, Miss Yun. I’ve always wanted to meet you and express my gratitude for your assistance.”

He bowed deeply to Yun Ruoyan. If not for her timely assistance, he would likely have been crippled by the thugs from the gambling den, and his father would have died of an untreated illness. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he owed his life to her. “Miss Yun, I am truly grateful. You’ve saved me from a life of destitution and ruin and prevented my family from being implicated by my thoughtless actions.”

“Your sister has also been a great help to me.” Yun Ruoyan accepted his thanks with a faint smile. “You don’t look as though this is new to you.”

“You indulge me, Miss Yun. My memory has been refined by long years of studying. In my youth, I had the opportunity to peruse a few medical tomes, giving me some familiarity with these medicinal and spiritual herbs.”

Even his words and manner of speech sounded erudite. Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but think of him gambling with this demeanor and style of speaking amidst a den of wolves, and had to cover her mouth to hide her laughter.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Che Mingchen, Lin Qingchen brought Yun Ruoyan and Yun Moxiao to the back of the apothecary.

The front of the apothecary was where ordinary civilians could get medicine to treat simple illnesses, whereas the more expensive spiritual herbs and grasses were stored at the back to be sold to cultivators and pillmasters.

Yun Ruoyan took a look at the wares on offer and noted that there were quite a few that were on Qiuqiu’s list. She asked about their prices and planned to purchase them from another apothecary in the capital.

The reason she was unwilling to get the herbs from the Lin family apothecary was because of how scrupulous Lin Qingchen was. She might not interrogate Yun Ruoyan as to what she was doing with those herbs, but her curious, doubtful glances would undoubtedly compel Yun Ruoyan to divulge the truth. It would be best to avoid the trouble if she could.

“Qingchen, I made a few low-grade spiritual pills in my spare time. I’d like to sell them, so could you give me an idea of the current market price?”

“Sister Ruoyan, do you need money?”

“Ruoyan, do you want some money?”

Lin Qingchen and Yun Moxiao opened their mouths at the same time. In general, unless they were severely lacking money or specialized in buying and selling pills, no one would offer spiritual pills up for sale.

Yes, I do!

“No, of course not.” Yun Ruoyan waved her hands as if to dispel their notions. “I’m just unfamiliar with the price of these pills, so I wanted to understand how much they’re really worth.”

“Usually, you won’t be able to find them on the market at all, but there’s one place that specializes in the sale of such rare goods. Not only do they have low- and mid-grade pills, they even have a select few high-grade spiritual pills.”

“Where?” Yun Ruoyan’s eyes sparkled.

“The Chenyuan Auction Hall, right by the foot of the Kongming Mountains. It’s been so long since I last visited the place with Grandfather!”

“Oh? I heard of that place while in the army, but I haven’t yet had a chance to go. Shall we go together?” Yun Moxiao suggested.

After settling a few additional matters, the three of them headed to the Chenyuan Auction Hall that same day.

By the foot of the Kongming Mountains was the Yuelu Villa, in which the Chenyuan Auction Hall was situated. By the time the three of them arrived at the auction hall, it was already evening.

The Yuelu Villa appeared larger than life amidst the dusky sky and mountainous backdrop. In front of the villa were all sorts of lavish carriages, and the villa was awash with nobles and merchants from all kingdoms.

Lin Qingchen hopped out of the carriage and guided Yun Ruoyan and Yun Moxiao into the villa.  A manager immediately stepped up to inquire as to their business at the Yuelu Villa, and Lin Qingchen passed him a jade tablet.

As soon as the manager saw the tablet, he bowed deferentially to Lin Qingchen before leading the party into the rear.

“Where are they heading?” Yun Ruoyan whispered to Lin Qingchen, seeing that other parties were being led in different directions by different managers. 

“The Yuelu Villa hosts quite a number of other attractions beyond the Chenyuan Auction Hall. They’re headed somewhere else.”

Despite having led two lives, Yun Ruoyan had been cooped up at home for the majority of her existence. Before marrying Pei Ziao, she would at least go visit the Lins from time to time, but she had gradually severed her relationship with the Lin family after her marriage.  As a result, Yun Ruoyan was almost as unfamiliar with the capital as Yun Moxiao.

“I heard my comrade in the army mention that there’s a duelling arena here. Is that true?” Yun Moxiao also whispered.

Yun Moxiao’s comrade was a vice-general from some noble family or another. According to him, the duelling arena involved duels to the death between slaves and magical beasts. Not only did the arena serve to slake the crowd’s bloodthirst, gamblers could even place bets on the results of the deathmatches. 

Yun Moxiao was very interested.

“I’m not so sure about that, Cousin,” Lin Qingchen replied. “When I came here with Grandfather, it was only ever to visit the auction hall. Grandfather did say that there were quite a number of hidden venues in the Yuelu Villa not accessible to the public, however.”

As the three of them chatted, they were brought to a lavish, glamorous building. As they walked into it, they found themselves in a resplendent, high-vaulted hall, with a stage at the very center.

To their left and right were stairs that led to private rooms on either side of the stage. Most of the crowd was situated in rooms on the second floor; there were few people on the first floor, and even less on the third. Only three of the numerous silk-curtained rooms on the third floor were lit up, and the rest seemed empty.

When the manager asked if they would be participating in the auction as seller or bidder, Lin Qingchen answered the former. The manager led them onwards to the farthest room on the first floor, where a few staff were cataloguing the goods to be auctioned.

Asked about the identity of the party, Lin Qingchen responded, “The Lin family.”

Yun Ruoyan found, with some surprise, that the base price of spiritual pills were dependent on the pillmaster’s prestige. The Lin family’s name alone elevated the price of a low-grade pill to at least double that of a pill made by an obscure pillmaster. 

Yun Ruoyan had three darkened heavens pills on her hands, two regular and one superior. Because she’d used the Lin family name, she handed over the superior-grade pill.

“A superior low-grade darkened heavens pill,” the female clerk declared. “Starting bid: ten gold.”

She handed Lin Qingchen a pile of papers.

Ten gold! 

Yun Ruoyan’s heart thumped. Although her monthly stipend had increased by a few times, it was only ten silver! This single superior low-grade pill was worth a hundred times her monthly stipend! No wonder pillmasters were the wealthiest profession on the Chenyuan continent; at this rate, even Yun Ruoyan would be drowning in money in no time.

Lin Qingchen stamped a red seal on the documents before passing them back to the clerk, who informed them that their item would be third on today’s auction.

The manager then brought them to one of the suites on the first floor. “Honored guests, the auction will begin once all the guests who have made reservations have arrived.”

After the manager left, Yun Ruoyan, Yun Moxiao, and Lin Qingchen sat quietly in the suite as they waited for the auction to begin.

“Qingchen, do you come here frequently with Grandfather?” Yun Ruoyan could tell that she was practiced with submitting goods for auction.

“When I was seven or eight, Grandfather would bring me here frequently to sell our supply of pills. At that time, Grandfather still hadn’t given up on searching for my parents or my second uncle, so he spent a lot of money to fund search teams. In the end, when no news emerged despite the harrowing expense, he finally gave up.”

By then, Lin Zainan had spent more than half the family’s fortunes, and the Lin family had headed toward its slow downfall.

The Yun siblings were silent for a moment after hearing Lin Qingchen’s words.

In that silence, Yun Ruoyan suddenly noticed that there was a gaze directed at her. She raised her head and sought it out, but to no avail. In her search, however, she found that the dim third-floor suites had begun lighting up.

A few more guests proceeded to show up, most of whom climbed to the second floor. There were only a few on the first floor, and even less on the third. Lin Qingchen informed them that those on the first floor were sellers, those on the second bidders, and those on the third a few special guests from all over the Chenyuan continent. Regardless of whether they were sellers or bidders, they could partake in the luxury of the third floor.

Ding!

Just then, on center stage, a handsome man in blue rang a little copper bell on stage. Despite its small size, the clear, bright sound reverberated throughout the entire hall. 

“Silence, please,” the blue man began. “I hereby announce the start of tonight’s auction.”

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