Chapter 213: Traveling Companions

Fortunately, when Lumine raised the bid to 1.4 million, Xingqiu, the second young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, didn't continue to bid. This made Nolan breathe a sigh of relief.

However, the price for these six "Brilliant Diamond Gemstone's Fragments" had already inflated by at least 20%, making it a bit of a loss.

"Darn it, it's all because of that guy at the back! If it weren't for his random bidding, we wouldn't have had to spend so much Mora! Hmph!" Paimon stomped her foot furiously in mid-air, as if she were stepping on the young man's face.

"Don't be angry, Paimon. It's just normal bidding. After all, we need it, and so do others," Nolan comforted her with a smile.

"Hmph." Paimon crossed her arms and huffed. Knowing her well, Nolan figured she thought the extra Mora spent could have been used to buy more delicious food.

"At least with these breakthrough materials, there shouldn't be any problems when it's time to surpass our limits," Lumine said, not feeling too bad about the cost.

Since the auction hadn't ended yet, they couldn't collect their items immediately. They had to wait until the end to exchange their Mora with the innkeeper.

The next item in the auction was a three-star longbow. Nolan was somewhat interested, but unfortunately, they didn't have much Mora left.

Then an "Empty Vision" appeared in the auction. This item is left behind after a Vision holder dies. Holding it gives one a chance to awaken it, making it their own Vision. Despite the low probability, it garnered a lot of attention from those without Visions.

The final bid for it reached a staggering 10 million Mora, astonishing Nolan and the others.

Thinking about it, Nolan mused that if he didn't have his character panel, even knowing he came from another world without a chance of obtaining a Vision, he might still hold out hope of being an "exception" and try to earn enough Mora to buy one.

High-star weapons, artifacts, and high-quality elemental materials appeared one after another, but unfortunately, Nolan and Lumine couldn't afford any of them as their wallets were nearly empty.

The auction finally ended at 10 PM.

Nolan experienced this bustling atmosphere for the first time. As people started to leave, Lumine dragged Nolan to the innkeeper to exchange the 1.4 million Mora for the six "Brilliant Diamond Gemstone's Fragments" she had won.

Lumine had borrowed 400,000 Mora from him, but she quickly repaid it, with Nolan even giving her an additional 100,000. This was because she gave him the Thunder Jade they received from the Five-Blade Sect leader Zhao Kuo as thanks for their help.

The Thunder Jade was a four-star quality electro elemental material worth about a million Mora. As it was shared between the two of them, each received 500,000 Mora.

Now, they handed the entire amount to Nolan, and he added 100,000, making it fair.

In summary, both their wallets were nearly empty now.

Nolan had only 200,000 Mora left, and Lumine had only 100,000, barely enough to pay the rent to Eula.

The trio, especially Paimon, suddenly felt the urgency of needing Mora. Would she starve at this rate? No, that was absolutely unacceptable!

Paimon urged the two to quickly think of a plan.

Reluctantly, Nolan and Lumine decided to temporarily postpone their swordsmanship practice and return to their room to immediately start discussing the design of the bicycle. The sooner they finished it, the sooner they could sell it at a high price in Liyue Harbor and recoup some of their losses.

As they were about to head back, the young man who had bid against them walked over, accompanied by two attendants who seemed to be from the Feiyun Commerce Guild.

"Good evening, everyone," Xingqiu greeted them with a polite smile, waving his hand.

"What do you want? If you're looking for a fight, we're not afraid of you!" Paimon, seeing them approach, assumed they were here to cause trouble for not winning the bidding. She retreated behind Lumine, hands on her hips, and spoke unceremoniously.

Nolan and Lumine also looked at them curiously.

"Oh, you misunderstand. I am Xingqiu. I noticed you all have a chivalrous demeanor, and I simply wanted to make your acquaintance," Xingqiu explained after a brief moment of surprise at Paimon's reaction.

"Xingqiu? That name sounds familiar..." Paimon pondered, feeling it was familiar but unable to place it.

"Are you Sun Yu's junior disciple?" Lumine asked, crossing her arms and raising her pale right hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"Oh? You know my senior brother?" Xingqiu was slightly surprised.

"We met him a few days ago. He mentioned you briefly, saying you are the most outstanding disciple of the Guhua Clan," Lumine explained.

Nolan didn't mention the letter, thinking it was unnecessary now that they had met Xingqiu in person. It was better not to risk any misunderstanding by bringing it up.

"You're too kind. Being called the most outstanding disciple is a bit much," Xingqiu replied modestly, despite the title being true.

"If I had known you were friends of my senior brother, I wouldn't have bid against you for those materials. My apologies." Xingqiu lowered his hands hidden in his flared sleeves, looking a bit embarrassed.

"It's no problem. In fact, it's better this way. It would have been more complicated if we had to show leniency because of our acquaintance," Nolan said with a smile. He then introduced himself, "I'm Nolan, and these are Lumine and Paimon."

"It's an honor to meet you all," Xingqiu nodded and smiled. "You're heading to Liyue Harbor as well, right? Why not join our caravan tomorrow morning?"

"Really? You're offering us a ride?" Paimon asked, eyes wide, her impression of Xingqiu improving.

"Yes, our Feiyun Commerce Guild is transporting goods back to Liyue Harbor from Mondstadt. Since we're going the same way, we might as well travel together. It'll be nice to have some company for conversation," Xingqiu said with a smile, spreading his hands.

"Of course, we'd be happy to," Nolan agreed readily.

"Great, we'll be leaving at 6 AM sharp. Please be ready by then," Xingqiu said, then bid them farewell, agreeing to continue their chat the next day.

"He seems like a chatterbox," Paimon said as she watched them disappear from sight, spreading her hands.

"Paimon, that's not the right term. He probably just enjoys making friends. Come on, let's get back and work on the bicycle design," Nolan said with a smile.

"Yes, but first, let's activate the teleport waypoint in the inn's reception hall while there are fewer people around. It'll make coming back here much more convenient," Lumine suggested, swinging her legs encased in over-the-knee white high-heeled boots as she walked.

"Good idea," Nolan and Paimon agreed.

As they walked up the stairs of Wangshu Inn, they spotted the teleport waypoint on the platform outside the reception hall. Due to the crowd earlier, they hadn't activated it to avoid drawing attention.

(End of Chapter)

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