Chapter 34. Auction [4]
"Welcome to Sunrise Hollow Town!"
The moment Yin Xie landed on this unassuming floating island, an old man stepped out from a quaint, cobblestone house surrounded by flowers in full bloom. His wispy white hair swayed in the gentle breeze as he approached us with a cautious yet curious expression.
"So there are people living on these floating islands," I muttered under my breath. "I thought they were just decorations."
Yin Xie gave me a pointed look. "Hand him one of those dragon hearts."
Confused but obedient, I reached into my storage, pulling out a dragon heart. The old man gasped audibly, stumbling back a few steps. "You possess a dragon heart? That's dangerous!"
"Careful, old man," I said, holding it out to him. His panic melted into calmness, his eyes narrowing as if scrutinizing it with decades of experience.
"Hmph," he grunted after a moment. "A replica. Almost had me worried there. Still… this level of craftsmanship must be hard to replicate, right?"
"Yeah," I replied, swallowing hard. My mind wandered back to Hansel's duel with Yin Xie, the one that left a lush green forest reduced to charred ruins and scorched earth. "It… it wasn't easy. I nearly died too. "
The old man nodded knowingly. "I thought as much. How many of these replicas do you have?"
"Uh… do you really need to know?"
"Not really. Just curious."
I nodded but stayed silent. The truth? My stash currently sat at 831,258 dragon hearts, and by tomorrow—thanks to my talent—it would breach the 1,000,000 mark. It was overkill, sure, but my life here was an overkill scenario on loop.
Still, I silently vowed to switch my focus to Phoenix blood tonight. With 232 vials already, I could hit a million of that in no time too.
As I calculated my rising wealth, a gust of wind interrupted my thoughts. Another group of dragons descended from the skies, shifting into their humanoid forms.
"Oh, hey, the poor silver dragon is here to watch the show again," one of them sneered.
I raised an eyebrow, turning to see a stunningly beautiful, mature woman with an air of superiority about her. Her voluptuous figure was impossible to ignore, and one word echoed in my mind like a neon sign: MILF.
Yin Xie, standing beside me, had a look that could rival the intensity of a thousand suns. Whatever their history, this dragon lady clearly wasn't on Yin Xie's Christmas card list.
"Oh, this looks like dragon business," I mumbled to myself, stepping back discreetly. "Humans shouldn't interfere."
Before I could get far, Yin Xie smirked, her expression unreadable. Then, in a flash, she appeared beside me, looping her arm through mine. Her touch sent a chill down my spine, but her soft, soothing whisper was far worse.
"Cooperate with me," she murmured, "or I'll decimate that city of yours."
Then she flashed a smile so dazzling it could have melted glaciers.
"Hey! You don't get to threaten me with such a beautiful smile!" I screamed internally. My lips twitched as I forced a weak grin, unable to decide whether I should laugh, cry, or jump off the floating island.
Yin Xie, looking far too pleased with herself, dragged me toward the dragon lady. "Meet my husband," she announced, her voice dripping with exaggerated fondness. "He'll make sure to clear out all the mythical and legendary items at the auction."
My brain short-circuited. What the hell is this girl thinking?! Husband?! I wanted to yell, Lady, I'm only here for a ring! A RING! You're ruining my life!
But I didn't yell. No, I just stood there, clutching my dignity and sanity like a man about to walk the plank.
"Well," I thought bitterly, "at least I have the Kitsune robe. If this is how I die, I'll revive… right? RIGHT?!"
The atmosphere was growing grim with each passing nanosecond—yes, nanosecond. My overactive imagination already had a highlight reel of various ways my head would go flying.
It wasn't just grim—it was dragon-level grim. Every look from the towering voluptuous lady or the petite, sharp-tongued dragon felt like another countdown tick to my doom.
Desperation kicked in, and my brain cooked up something reckless. "Dragon Lady," I began, turning to the voluptuous dragon , "I don't have a storage bag, but… would you like to have some of these?" I extended the dragon heart replica I was holding, praying to every deity that this gesture wouldn't result in my demise.
Her golden eyes sparkled with intrigue, and even the two other dragons flanking her leaned forward. The stern-faced dragon silently gestured for a turn to inspect the dragon heart, while the petite one snatched it outright.
For a brief moment, I felt relief. At least I've washed my neck, but so far, it hasn't been chopped. Progress!
Then the voluptuous turned to me, her tone laden with suspicion. "Human, where did you get this?"
Oh, hell. I froze for a split second before swiveling toward Yin Xie, channeling my best "devoted husband" energy. "My wife taught the alchemists in my land to craft them," I said, flashing the most dazzling smile I could muster under the circumstances.
Then reality hit me like a truck. Oh, snap. I'm wearing a mask. She can't see the smile.
Before I could save the situation, the tiny but terrifyingly blunt dragon, spoke up. "So, won't you take off your mask, human? You're already making bold claims."
"I'm sure you'd prefer I keep it on," I replied cautiously.
"It's okay," she said, smirking. "I don't judge."
Against my better judgment, I lifted the mask just a little. Her expression froze as if she'd just caught sight of a goblin in a tuxedo. She recoiled. "That's enough! You can keep it on!"
Critical hit. My self-esteem took another nosedive.
She then immediately turned to Yin Xie with wide, incredulous eyes. "Yin Xie nee-chan, how on Zhera did you even end up with him? Are you some kind of gold digger? We're dragons—we don't need to stoop to human standards desu!"
My pride had all but evaporated at this point, but Yin Xie seemed unbothered, casually introducing her charming companions.
"This is Brandi," she gestured toward the radiant, matured dragon woman who had a dangerous glint in her eye. "The rude one is Milim—extremely rude, as you've noticed."
"Extremely rude is an understatement," I muttered under my breath.
"And the silent one is Yu Zhong," she finished, motioning toward the stoic man who hadn't said a word but looked like he could crush me with a stare.
Brandi caught me looking at her—and winked.
"Like what you see?" she teased, her voice velvety and full of mischief.
I immediately turned away, cheeks aflame. Am I that desperate? Or am I just that thirsty? I couldn't decide, but the blush on my face wasn't helping my dignity.
Focusing back on survival, I quickly took out 9,999 dragon hearts and placed them on the floor. "Including the one I gave you earlier, here's 10,000 dragon hearts. A gift from me."
The room fell into silence. Tense, suffocating silence. Yin Xie facepalmed so hard it echoed.
"What?" I whispered, glancing at her. "What did I do wrong aside from giving out gifts? I'm just trying to survive here!"
Yin Xie finally stepped in, her voice laced with exasperation. "He doesn't have any storage rings, and he's here to buy some at the auction. He didn't mean to offend anyone with his… generosity."
That's when it hit me like a thunderclap. Storage rings! If storage rings were so essential for trading large quantities of items like dragon hearts, then… wouldn't they have to be common here?
I blurted out without thinking, "Wait. If items are regularly traded with storage rings, doesn't that mean they're as common as plastic bags in my world? They're not that rare at all, right?!"
Yin Xie's expression darkened. "Human…"
Oh, no. I realized too late. "Yin Xie, you cheated me!"
The dragons looked at each other, then at me, then back to Yin Xie. Brandi smirked. Milim outright burst into laughter. Even Yu Zhong allowed a small chuckle.
And me? I just stood there, clutching what little pride I had left, praying the auction would come soon and get me out of this mess.