Chapter 72 - The Mysterious Stone Orb (IV)
Chapter 72: The Mysterious Stone Orb (IV)
Translator: GravityTales Editor: GravityTales
Clearly, Hao Yue was at most a fourth ranked magical beast, and not even at the peak of the fourth rank, which was equivalent to a human fighter of the third step. And yet his [Identification Method] had failed. Furthermore, it was not the first time the skill had failed today. Why was he trying so hard to get close to Long Hao Chen? He had specifically used the [Identification Method] to investigate Long Hao Chen, but beyond his current strength and age, there wasn’t anything else he could find. It was the reason why he was so interested in Long Hao Chen.
How strange. What kind of magical beast could Hao Yue be? Lin Xin’s heart was full of doubts.
At this moment, outside the booth, the whole audience became silent. Ten thousand gold coins was not a small amount by any means. One must know that a single gold coin was enough to feed a family of three for a month, and ten gold coins was enough to buy ordinary armor. Ten thousand gold coins was sufficient to arm a regiment of a hundred knights down to the teeth.
Certainly, this stone orb had the possibility of containing a rare metal, but how many rare metals could have such a high value? Furthermore, heaven knows how big the piece of metal was. If it was only fist-sized, even if it was a magical metal like mithril, it still wouldn’t be worth much.
Xing Xuan had already asked for the third time: “Are there any distinguished customers who are interested in this item?”
As before, there were no responses. The people who normally attended the auction were rarely impetuous. If the price was one hundred gold coins, there might have been someone who would take the gamble and just buy it. However, for ten thousand gold coins, few would risk the purchase.
“Brother Lin.” Long Hao Chen suddenly called out. Seeing Hao Yue’s exceedingly hopeful look, he finally made a decision.
“Ah?” Lin Xin was still in the midst of pondering over Hao Yue’s origins, and he only reacted after being called.
“Brother Lin, if you are willing to lend me money to buy the item before our eyes, I will fulfill your request,” Long Hao Chen said in a voice like iron.
“You don’t need to borrow money from him, Big Sister will buy it for you.” Lin Jia Lu, who had been silent for quite some time suddenly spoke up. Furthermore, she hastily stepped forward and swiftly pressed the number, ten thousand, on the auction’s apparatus.
On the auctioneering platform.
Xing Xuan said a bit apologetically: “It seems that article number two will have to be put away. Ah! Wait a second, the VIP of booth number 6 has offered a price of ten thousand gold coins. Ten thousand gold coins going once.” Seeing that someone had put forth a price, she immediately became pleased. However, once she saw that it was booth number 6 that had given a price, she couldn’t help but knit her eyebrows together and shoot Lin Xin’s booth a reproachful glance.
The booth’s water crystal glass was a special kind of manufactured material. From the outside, one could not see inside. Only from the interior could one see outside.
Outside, there was a huge commotion in the auction area and no small amount of jeering could be heard. But what they didn’t know was that within booth number 6, there was a person presently shrieking. The person shrieking was exactly Lin Xin.
“This sister, you can’t do this! Brother Long already proposed to borrow money from me, how can you just snatch away this opportunity?” Lin Xin’s face was all gloomy.
Lin Jia Lu giggled sweetly and said: “Hao Chen is my little brother. Isn’t it normal for a big sister to buy things for his little brother?”
Long Hao Chen was scared out of his wits, “Big Sister Lin, how is this acceptable. The price is ten thousand gold coins!”
Lin Jia Lu stood up and walked towards Long Hao Chen’s side. Her expression was gentle as she said: “Hao Chen, if you were at least twenty years old, this big sister would have no qualms and would definitely snatch you up. Even if I would wrong Xin’er, it still wouldn’t be a bad choice. It’s a pity that the gap between our ages is far too wide, and I can only be your big sister. I will never forget the events of that day when twice, a whole two times, you saved my life. The second time especially; as I had already caught the scent of the Grim Reaper, it was you who pulled me from the brink of death. If you don’t give big sister a chance to repay you, then big sister’s heart will never be at peace.”
“Big Sister Lin, I……” Long Hao Chen still wanted to decline her offer, but Lin Jia Lu had already raised her hand to press over his mouth, “Don’t say anything more. Do you really think that Big Sister’s life is not even worth ten thousand gold coins? I’ve already consulted with your Big Sister Xin’er, and she also agreed. If you are unwilling to accept, then in the future, don’t even think about calling me big sister.”
Ever since the day when they finished their training mission, nearly every night, Lin Jia Lu had been awoken by nightmares. She could never forget the moment when the member of the Dyke Clan had pressed an icy, sharp blade against her throat. Her saving grace was Long Hao Chen! If Long Hao Chen hadn’t been there, she would have died without a doubt. She was a person who knew gratitude. These past few days, her relationship with Li Xin had also gotten a lot better. Originally, there hadn’t been the slightest hint of anything keeping them from singing the same tune. After opening up about their past incident, they had gone back to being old friends. She had the idea of going to Aimei City’s auction house to buy something for Long Hao Chen several days ago. It was a big auction house, and the amount of goods weren’t lacking. She believed that buying something useful for Long Hao Chen right before the Demon Hunt Selection would be the best way to pay him back.
Long Hao Chen took a deep breath, and finally nodded his head, saying: “Big Sister, thank you.”
Extremely pleased, Lin Jia Lu rubbed his head, saying: “This, is big sister’s good little brother.”
Li Xin said a bit jealously: “Hmph, I’m going to earn a lot of money in the future as well.”
“Third time, sold. This mysterious stone orb goes to the distinguished customer in booth number 6.” From outside, Xing Xuan’s voice floated through. With nobody making a sudden bid, it was finally sold for ten thousand gold coins.
Lin Xin said gloomily: “Brother Long, keep looking. If there is anything that catches your eyes, let me know. I’ll gift it to you as long as you agree to my request.”
Long Hao Chen laughed faintly and shook his head, saying, “I don’t have anything else I want. However, I will still consider your proposal. But remember, we have to enter the final rounds of the Demon Hunt Selection to make that possible, no?”
At this point in time, Hao Yue had finally calmed down. The thirst in his eyes, however, did not decrease, rather, it actually increased. Leaning on Long Hao Chen’s foot, Little Light and Little Flame rubbed unceasingly against his leg.
Lin Xin sat there as if pondering something. Right at that moment, there was a knock on the door. The door opened, and the young lady Xiao Nuo entered, pushing the golden cart that was previously on the auctioning platform. On top of it lay the mysterious stone orb.
Seeing the stone orb, Hao Yue almost directly threw himself at it. Only when Long Hao Chen gave him a look did he show some restraint, but his body was still slightly trembling.
Ever since they had left the Knight’s Sacred Mountain, it was the first time Long Hao Chen had seen him so excited. To Long Hao Chen, ten thousand gold coins was an astronomical sum. The money Lin Jia Lu had taken out was a favor he would firmly keep in mind, and one that he would definitely pay back to her in the future.
If it was someone else, they would definitely not be so willing to buy the stone orb. One’s money wasn’t something that ought to be wasted just because of a magical beast companion’s sudden costly urges.
But Long Hao Chen was different; Hao Yue was very dear to him. They shared a blood contract, and the blood of the other flowed in each of their own bodies. Long Hao Chen almost considered him as his own little brother. Seeing Hao Yue so eager, he decided to trust the intuition of this “little brother”, and had resolved to buy the stone orb. He was also firmly convinced that he would definitely be able to earn this amount of ten thousand gold coins in the future.
Lin Jia Lu advanced and took out her own magical card to wholly pay. After Xiao Nuo pushed the cart in, she had originally wanted to make some conversation with Lin Xin. However, upon seeing him seated and pondering deeply, she left completely baffled. Xiao Nuo had never seen Master Lin without a smile on his face.
Long Hao Chen didn’t directly hand the stone orb to Hao Yue. Instead, he stored it in his ring ‘forget-me-not’. Lin Xin was an outsider, after all. Regardless of whether or not this stone orb was a special item, this auction house clearly wasn’t a suitable place to display it.
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap