Chapter 150 - 127: Tower Ship
Soon, the musical piece ended, and the auction resumed.
"This staff was acquired from the Mo Mountain Tribe. It is said to have been the personal weapon of their Grand Elder. It’s made from an unknown type of wood, and we’ve tested it. Even an ordinary Marrow Transformer Martial Artist using a Thousand-Forged Steel Blade can only leave a scratch on its surface; they cannot cut it in two."
The red-robed woman held a gnarled, twisted wooden staff that had largely retained its natural shape as she introduced it to the guests on the surrounding pleasure boats.
"Heh heh, that thing has failed to sell twice already," Chubby said. "Look at that shape. Who could possibly use it as a weapon? Besides, it’s not like it’s metal that you can melt down and reforge. It’s just a piece of junk."
He had clearly been here more than once.
Fang Yue listened and nodded. ’The thing really doesn’t look like much. It’s bizarrely shaped, all gnarled and twisted. It would definitely be difficult to use as a weapon.’
Plus, it was made of wood, so it couldn’t be broken down or smelted. If you bought it, it would be nothing more than a curiosity.
Furthermore, the staff was likely a symbol of the Mo Mountain Tribe. Bringing it home might invite retaliation from the tribe’s surviving members.
The imperial court had conquered the Mo Mountain Tribe, but that didn’t mean all the mountain people had been wiped out.
The starting bid was five thousand taels. Even rich people weren’t suckers; they wouldn’t buy something so flashy yet impractical, especially when it came with risks.
That was probably why the item had failed to sell before.
"Six thousand taels!"
However, just as Bai Xingqiu finished his confident explanation to Fang Yue, certain that the staff would fail to sell again, someone made a bid in the very next moment.
And they had added one thousand taels directly to the starting price, looking every bit the part of a profligate son with an over-the-top, heroic air, dead set on acquiring the item.
From the sound of it, the voice came from the very same pleasure boat he was on.
As soon as Chubby heard it, he had the attendant beside him make a bid, raising the price by fifty taels as usual.
"Six thousand and fifty taels."
"Bai, didn’t you say this item would fail to sell? Why are you bidding on it?" Fang Yue asked, confused.
After all, Chubby had made many bids in the first half of the auction but had won very few items, making him seem exactly like a shill.
There was no guarantee he hadn’t been targeted. Perhaps someone was setting a trap for him this time.
"Heh heh, don’t worry. I know the guy who just bid. I saw him when he entered his room earlier. He definitely won’t give up. He just loves to oppose me," Bai Xingqiu explained.
Fang Yue immediately nodded, indicating he understood.
There was always competition among the Noble Families, which was passed down to the next generation. It was common for them to vie with each other in their daily lives.
In Fang Yue’s memory, even in his previous life, rich young masters would compete over wealth and act ruthlessly, let alone in this world.
Instantly, Chubby’s image became all the more vivid in Fang Yue’s mind.
"Six thousand and fifty taels, going once... Any other bids? If not... going twice... sold..."
"Congratulations to this buyer... for winning the staff..."
Just then, the voice of the red-robed auctioneer rang out.
Chubby froze on the spot, seemingly in disbelief. He quickly turned his head to Fang Yue and asked, "Did that woman just say my name? I bought this useless wooden staff?"
Seeing Fang Yue nod, Chubby couldn’t help but press a hand to his forehead, a pained expression on his face. "This shouldn’t be happening! How did he get smarter? He should have at least raised the bid a couple more times."
The following items were brought up one after another, but this time, Chubby didn’t make a single bid.
As for Fang Yue, he simply watched and listened to the red-robed woman’s explanations, broadening his horizons in the process.
Before long, the auction was over.
Then, the auction house staff came over to handle the exchange of goods. With a miserable expression, Chubby could only pay for and accept the wooden staff.
Of course, he could have backed out of the deal.
All he had to do was lose a little face and pay a penalty of twenty percent of the item’s price.
But who was Chubby? He certainly couldn’t afford to lose face like that.
"Here, it’s yours. If I take this thing home, my mother will definitely break my legs," Chubby said, tossing the wooden staff in his hands to Fang Yue with a look of disgust.
Then he added in a hushed voice, "If anyone asks, you’re the one who bought it, not me. Got it?"
Although Fang Yue didn’t understand what Chubby was up to, he still nodded. "But this wooden staff is too valuable. I can’t accept it."
"Take it! You have to take it! If you don’t, you’re not treating me like a brother!" Chubby said, growing anxious.
Seeing this, Fang Yue felt he had no choice. He could only accept it for now and wait for a chance to return it to Chubby in the future.
Soon, the pleasure boat started moving, presumably beginning its return trip.
Before long, they were back in the city.
Just as they left their private room, a few richly dressed young masters walked toward them.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Eldest Young Master Bai. I hear you’ve been having some trouble with your legs recently," the young man in the lead said with a smirk.
At this, he seemed to remember something and looked mockingly at Eldest Young Master Bai. "Oh, I almost forgot! Eldest Young Master Bai just bought a walking stick. Hey, where’s that cane you bought? Why aren’t you using it? And you, his servant, what are you doing? Hurry up and give your young master his cane."
Obviously, the latter half of his sentence was directed at Fang Yue.
His tone was filled with mockery and hostility. This was clearly the person Chubby had mentioned earlier—the one who was always at odds with him.
"Xue Bing. This is my brother. My brother thought the cane looked nice, so he bought it on a whim." Chubby’s explanation was a bit feeble, but it was an explanation nonetheless.
"Brother, you must be new to Shanyang Prefecture, right? Don’t let this fatty fool you. He may look simple and honest, but he’s actually full of wicked schemes."
Xue Bing let out a loud laugh, then left with his group, still laughing, without waiting for Chubby to retort.
~~~~~~
By the time they returned to the inn, it was late at night.
Fang Yue picked up the cane-like wooden staff and examined it closely.
’Since this wooden staff belonged to the Grand Elder of the Mo Mountain Tribe, it must have something extraordinary about it.’
’It can’t really just be a walking stick, can it?’
This was a case of survivorship bias. People always think they are special, believing they can see things that others miss.
However, Fang Yue inspected it for a long time.
But all he discovered was that the wooden staff was indeed just made of a very hard material, with nothing else special about it.
’This makes sense. If it really had some miraculous properties, it wouldn’t have ended up at an auction. The imperial court would have taken it long ago.’
Fang Yue couldn’t help but shake his head. As expected, he hadn’t stumbled upon a hidden treasure.
With that, Fang Yue set the wooden staff aside.
After washing up, he went to bed. When he woke up again, it was already 7:00 AM.
Fang Yue had just stepped out of the inn, planning to find some local breakfast specialties in Shanyang Prefecture.
But as soon as he was out the door, several men who looked like wealthy merchants stepped down from a carriage parked beside the inn’s entrance.
The moment they got out of the carriage, they hurried over to Fang Yue.
"Sir, this humble one was blind yesterday and offended you. This is just a small token of our sincerity. We hope you can forgive us."
The man in the lead came before Fang Yue and gave him a deep bow, while someone beside him presented a brocade box.
The brocade box looked heavy; it clearly had some weight to it.
"Gentlemen, have you mistaken me for someone else?"
Fang Yue was sure he had never met these people before. He was completely baffled by them showing up first thing in the morning to apologize and offer gifts.
’Is this some new kind of scam they run in these ancient big cities?’
"Not at all, not at all. Yesterday, our caravan’s Steward was ignorant and offended you. As soon as we found out, we immediately fired him and came to offer our apologies," the leader said with a smile, recounting the incident at the city gate from the previous day.
It turned out these men were from the family behind the merchant caravan that had tried to forcibly switch places with Fang Yue.
They had spent all of yesterday searching for the person they had offended, only to find out it was someone from the Bai Family.
To this day, their goods were still being held by the City Guard Army. The profit from a single trip was substantial; anyone would feel the sting of losing so many goods for nothing.
So, as soon as they found out who they had wronged, they immediately came to back down and apologize.
Of course, the real reason was that they couldn’t get in touch with Bai Xingqiu, so they hoped to make a breakthrough with Fang Yue.
If they could get on his good side and have him put in a good word with the Bai Family, they might be able to get their goods back.