Chapter 622 - A Wonderful Surprise
Chapter 622 A Wonderful Surprise
Daniel said, “I’m sure everyone here must be familiar with this sculpted head from the 12 Zodiac signs. These treasures had been kept in the Summer Palace, but were then taken away by foreign invaders of Huaxia.
“But now Huaxia has regained its power and wealth. I hope that someone here can buy the snake head sculpture and bring it back to your country. Of course, you have to be rich enough to afford the final price.
“I’m not from Huaxia, but I know that this treasure belongs to your country.”
Daniel was really good at firing up the audiences’ enthusiasm. Hearing her words, many rich businessmen from Huaxia were excited and were eager to buy the snake head sculpture and bring it back to their motherland.
She continued, “Now let’s start the bidding. This is the most valuable treasure in today’s auction. The asking price is 5 million yuan and will be increased by 1 million each time. Please start your bids.”
Generally speaking, the snake-head sculpture was definitely worth more than 5 million yuan. But the asking price of such an item was usually lower than its value and Qin Haodong was sure that its price would skyrocket once the auction started.
Someone had even predicted that the snake head sculpture would be sold for at least 30 million yuan, or even more than 50 million yuan.
“I’ll offer 5 million yuan!” Someone shouted as soon as Daniel stopped speaking.
It was Yi Chenzi, who was sitting in the front row. It was the first time he offered a price for an item and he was obviously here solely for it.
To everyone’s surprise, he suddenly stood up, turned around and said to everyone behind him, “This snake head sculpture is what my master wants.”
This old man looked very arrogant. After speaking, he sat back down directly without even looking at them. Obviously, he was sure that no one in Hong Kong would dare to compete with Mei Zhanlong for the treasure.
Everyone present fell silent. Many of them who were waiting to offer a higher price were dumbfounded and some who were about to raise their bidding cards also gave up after hearing what he said.
No one dared to challenge Mei Zhanlong and his disciples. They were the best practitioners in Hong Kong and could totally destroy your life by simply putting a talisman in your house. You may soon be bankrupt, or worse, watch your family break up and decimated.
Qin Haodong’s eyes popped with astonishment. How dare he threaten others in his master’s name! It was no different from being a robber.
Such behavior was absolutely forbidden in an auction. If someone else threatened the others and stopped them from offering a higher price, he would immediately be driven out of this place by the host.
However, it was Yi Chenzi and he also mentioned that his master Mei Zhanlong wanted the snakehead sculpture. Both the Li family who hosted the auction and Sir Owen who provided the auction items did not want to offend master Mei Zhanlong.
Therefore, the auction now came to a standstill. Daniel, Tian Ye and even Sir Owen’s representative, fell silent.
A smug sneer flickered across Yi Chenzi’s face. He had already expected that no one would dare to compete with them for the snake head sculpture.
The others also felt the same way. If Yi Chenzi was not present, there would definitely be some fierce competition for the snake head sculpture and it would be sold at a sky high price in the end. But now everything was different. No one dared to offend Yi Chenzi and his master Mei Zhanlong, in their bid for the auction item.
Daniel sighed silently and shook her head discreetly. As an auctioneer, she did not want this to happen. The higher the final price was, the more commission she would get. If the auction item was sold at a low price, she would get nothing.
However, she had also heard of Yi Chenzi and his master. Even the super-rich were afraid of offending them, so she could do nothing but accept the result. After all, she was just an auctioneer.
Everyone present remained silent and she picked up the mallet and announced, “Master Yi Chenzi wants to buy this snake head sculpture. Is there anyone else who can offer a higher price? OK, 5 million once… 5 million twice…”
Just as she raised the mallet and was about to confirm the winner, someone suddenly shouted, “I’ll pay 6 million yuan!”
Daniel was startled and the mallet nearly dropped from her hand. She immediately caught the mallet and looked in the direction of the sound.
Everyone present was looking at the person who had offered a higher price. It was the young man who had just competed with Bao Mingyu for the Butterfly Sword. He was still holding his card.
Daniel was stunned and did not know what to say. Qin Haodong smiled at her and said, “Miss Daniel, I am offering 6 million yuan.”
“Uh…”
Daniel gathered her wits together and looked worriedly at Qin Haodong. But soon she regained her professionalism and said, “Mr. Qin is offering 6 million yuan! Is there anyone who wants to offer a higher price?”
She also realized that something might happen soon, so she just repeated the price and was careful not to stir up the situation. No one knew how Yi Chenzi might respond now.
Now everyone’s eyes were fixed on Yi Chenzi. They believed that Qin Haodong was challenging the authority of Yi Chenzi or even Mei Zhanlong, who was the best practitioner in Hong Kong.
“Who is this young man? How dare he compete with Master Yi Chenzi? He will definitely be killed!”
“I’m not sure. But he must be someone important if he is seated at the supreme VIP seat. But no matter how rich he is, he is no match for Master Yi Chenzi…”
“He’s seriously mad now. How dare he compete with Master Yi Chenzi? Bao Mingyu is just a good-for-nothing rich kid, but Master Yi is totally different. He’s a dead man now.”
“I guess he hasn’t even heard of Master Yi Chenzi, otherwise, he would not have dared to challenge him. But even so, he will be killed soon…”
Everyone present was talking about him now. They were looking at him with pity, excitement and some were even openly gloating.
But Bao Mingyu was the happiest among them. He had been thinking about how to sort this ignorant guy out, but now Master Yi Chenzi would do it for him. This guy would be killed even before he realized what had happened.
A hint of fear flashed across Tian Ye’s face and he rushed toward Qin Haodong. Qin Haodong, who seemed to know what he wanted to say, waved his hand and asked him not to say anything.
“What…”
Qin Haodong was a special guest of the Li family, while Master Yi Chenzi was a well-known and powerful practitioner. The situation was beyond his control now and he could do nothing but stand aside silently and stay resigned.
Yi Chenzi’s face immediately clouded over. He had never expected that this young man who was in his twenties, would dare to challenge him.
He looked at Qin Haodong coldly and almost wanted to kill this guy. But Qin Haodong was still smiling calmly as if he was not aware of Yi Chenzi’s stare.
“Kid, do you know who I am? I’m Yi Chenzi.”
Yi Chenzi finally revealed his identity. In his opinion, the reason why this young man dared to be so arrogant was because he did not know his identity.
But something unexpected happened again. Qin Haodong just gave him a faint smile and said, “I just want this snake-head sculpture, so why do I have to know who you are? Do I have to give up bidding after hearing your name?”
“Haha! Great!” Yi Chenzi finally realized that this young man did not even take him seriously. He said in a cold voice, “I hope you can bring the snake-head sculpture back home successfully.”
By now he was determined to get the snake-head sculpture and kill this young man. But they were at the auction house and it was not convenient to kill him here. He had to wait until the end of the auction.
Qin Haodong smiled and did not even seem to care about Yi Chenzi’s threat. He turned around and said, “Miss Daniel, let’s continue with the bidding.”
Daniel gathered her wits together and continued, “Mr. Qin has offered 6 million yuan. Is there anyone who wants to offer a higher price? Well, 6 million once… 6 million twice…”
Everyone understood that the snake-head sculpture, which was bought by Qin Haodong now, would belong to Master Yi Chenzi in the end. Therefore, no one dared to offer a higher price. The snake-head was a precious antique, but it might cost them their lives.
Daniel repeated the amount a few times but no one raised their cards to offer a higher price. So she put down the mallet and proclaimed that the snake-head sculpture was sold to Qin Haodong at the price of 6 million yuan.
Qin Haodong was surprised to hear that. He did not expect that he could get the snake head sculpture at such a low price. It was all thanks to the old faker for stopping the others from getting involved.
He had just googled the price of other animal head sculptures and it turned out that the latest one had been sold for more than 20 million yuan, which happened about a decade ago.
In recent years, the price of antiques in Huaxia had risen rapidly and national treasures like the sculptures of the 12 zodiac signs might even be sold for 60 million yuan.
He managed to buy the precious antique at such a low price, which was a wonderful surprise. Thanks to Yi Chenzi for stopping the others from offering a higher price.
The auction continued and the last item appeared. To everyone’s astonishment, it was a monk’s staff.
The monk’s staff was about 1.5 meters in length and Qin Haodong could not tell what material it was made of. It was a metallic color, with 12 golden rings hanging on its top. If someone shook it, it gave off a melodious sound, which moved the audiences’ hearts greatly.
Qin Haodong nearly jumped from his seat at the sight of the monk’s staff. The Buddha’s aura emanating from it was so strong that he was sure that it was almost a Divine weapon.
He never expected that there would be a rare Buddhist treasure in addition to the snake-head sculpture.
The moment he saw the monk’s staff, he was determined to get it.