Chapter 493 — An Unexpected Turn at the Auction
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Wei Zhao had not expected three ordinary Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Refining Pills to fetch so much money either. This stuff — when he was a boy, Old Man Wei had fed it to him by the jarful as though it were candy...
"Ha... you won't be shortchanged!" Wei Zhao was now full of admiration for Fatty Lai's business acumen. Without Fatty Lai stirring the pot today, he reckoned these three Life-Extending Detox Pills would never have fetched such a price.
"Thank you, Boss!" Fatty Lai nodded cheerfully.
But just as the auctioneer was about to introduce the next lot, someone in the guest seats spoke up!
"Fine things ought to be brought out for everyone to share! Yu Haitian, ask the seller — are there any more of those Life-Extending Detox Pills? Before we even had a chance to bid, the things were gone. That hardly seems fair!" The one speaking now was Wu Gonggao, head of the Ironhand Wu family.
His name was most scholarly chosen: Wu Gonggao — naturally meaning "high martial skill." A trifle boastful, perhaps, yet wholly deserved! He was one of the few Mystic-rank masters remaining in the secular world! He alone dared speak to the Yu family in such a tone!
The Ironhand Wu family was an ancient clan. Though on the surface it appeared about as great as Liu Tianyi's Liu family, for such centuries-old houses, who did not hold a few hidden cards? Even just the martial prowess of Wu Gonggao, the Wu family head, was enough to shake the entire hall! Even the Yu family regarded him with a measure of caution.
It was fair to say that so long as Wu Gonggao held the fort for the Iron Hand Wu family, no one dared make light of them.
Wu Gonggao had rushed over after receiving a phone call from his grandson, Wu Chengtian. Though he too was in Yanjing and had come for the Yu family's auction, patriarchs like him seldom attended the auctions on the first and second days; for the first two sessions he had sent younger members of the family, and only for the final session would he appear in person.
But when Wu Gonggao heard that a Life-Extending Detox Pill had been bid up to two hundred and eighty million, and that the Yu family had entered the fray as well, he could no longer sit still. He hurried to the auction house, arriving just in time for the auctioneer's final hammer fall.
Meanwhile, Wu Chengtian had glanced at the catalogue's description of the Life-Extending Detox Pill and instantly felt it shared a subtle kinship with the long-lost Marrow-Washing Bone-Transforming Pill of the martial world. His interest flared at once, and, unwilling to let it go, he interrupted the auction.
Had it been an ordinary scion of some great house or a wealthy merchant who spoke up to inquire, Yu Haitian would naturally have had no shortage of excuses to turn him away. But the man asking was Wu Gonggao, patriarch of the Iron Hand Wu family and a Mystic-rank expert, and he dared not brush him off lightly. His gaze went to his second uncle at his side.
"Ask Mr. Lai Changshan's opinion," the middle-aged man said after a moment's hesitation, his tone mild. "If there are more, bringing out a few extra would do no harm. We won't take a commission."
"Yes!" Wu Haitian nodded, gestured to the auctioneer to pause the introduction of the next lot, and quickly put through a call to Lai Changshan.