A Journey Back to the Clan
“40,000 monster crystal coins!”
“That’s crazy! 40,000 monster crystal coins. Where are these millionaires from?”
The bidding continued onwards in a fierce fashion. It looked like it would never end too. Xiao-Jiang herself was surprised by the price that had been increased crazily. But she was aware of the real price of this kind of third-rank pill. She was kind of confused when the association told her to start the price at 10,000 monster crystal coins because the real starting price should be 50,000 monster crystal coins per pill. The better the quality of the pill, the higher the price…
“45,000 monster crystal coins!”
“47,000 monster crystal coins!”
“50,000 monster crystal coins!”
“Whoa! I can faint right now!”
The price that had been increased constantly within a short time made some people gasp. As far as they knew, the highest price that they ever heard people bid in this auction house was a little lower than 20,000 monster crystal coins. But the price that they all heard now was about twice higher…
*It’s unbelievable. The pill that I produced can be this expensive. What if I produce more of them and sell them myself? Great! Then I’m not going to give the formula to the Association of the Alchemists. They shouldn’t have done this to me. I’ll produce them and sell them myself.*
“55,000 monster crystal coins!”
“57,000 monster crystal coins!”
“59,999 monster crystal coins!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
The bid finally came to an end. No one was willing to bid higher than 59,999 monster crystal coins, which was an incredibly high price. Even though Xiao-Jiang could speculate the highest bidding price in advance, this price was more than she expected…
“The auction came to an end today, ladies and gentlemen! I’d like to congratulate the one who bid for this third-rank pill successfully with the price of 59,999 monster crystal coins. The auction is now closed. Thank you very much.” Everyone started to walk out of the auction room when the auction finally ended. The people who won the bids walked to claim and pay for their items…
“Let’s go, little Zheng-Fu.” As soon as everything was done, Kong-Chang asked Zheng-Fu to leave the place instantly because he noticed that Zheng-Fu did not want to stay there any further…
“Yes, brother!”
Squeak!
“Ouch!”
“Have you been waiting for me? This big sister missed you very much.” The minute Zheng-Fu walked out of that auction room to wait for Xiao-Jiang in the other room to receive his money, Xiao-Jiang showed up in front of him while trying to hug him again…
“I…I…I can’t breathe!”
*Push her by her breasts*
“Oww!”
*Taking in a deep breath!*
“I’m sorry, sister Xiao-Jiang. I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t breathe, so I had to do that. I’m very sorry.”
Xiao-Jiang’s face got red instantly. She never thought that Zheng-Fu would do that to her. Then she could get it together because she thought that he did not mean it. Kong-Chang was stunned by the whole thing. He could see that Zheng-Fu’s face was in between Xiao-Jiang’s huge bosoms and he even got to squeeze them. He could only look at Zheng-Fu and felt jealous because he would like to be hugged like that too…
“Yeah! I completely forgot. Here’s your money from the auction. I already deducted the tax.” Xiao-Jiang said and handed Zheng-Fu a money bag while smiling at him…
Grab!
Zheng-Fu opened the bag as soon as he took it. He found 2,400 monster crystal coins in there, which was the amount that he expected. It made his eyes twinkle with joy because it was a lot of money for him. Putting this money together with the money in his spatial ring, he would have more than 3,000 monster crystal coins…
“I would like to thank you very much, sister Xiao-Jiang. If I didn’t have you to help me, I wouldn’t know where I could sell those pills. Even though I could find the place, the price wouldn’t be this good.” Zheng-Fu thanked Xiao-Jiang with an innocent face again…
“Don’t act like a stranger, my cute little brother. This sister would always be willing to help you. Just tell me what you need and I’ll be there.” Xiao-Jiang said and tilted herself towards Zheng-Fu, which made Zheng-Fu see her at an intimate range…
Getting up close to Xiao-Jiang that way did not make Zheng-Fu falter because he wanted to retain his look as an innocent boy. At that moment, the yellow pill’s auction popped up on Zheng-Fu’s mind, so he decided to ask Xiao-Jiang about it…
“Sister! May I ask you something?”
“Of course. Fire away!”
“I’d like to know who gave you the ‘Strengthening Amber’ for the auction?”
“Ugh…!”
When Xiao-Jiang heard the question from Zheng-Fu, her smiling face changed to something different. Zheng-Fu noticed the change, so he realized that Xiao-Jiang could not answer his question. He knew that there were certain rules about this matter that the auction house must hold. They could not tell any information about the sellers and the bidders…
“About that…”
“It’s alright, sister. Please don’t worry about it. Thank you for this money. I’ll have to go now. I’ll see you at the auction next time.” Zheng-Fu did not want to force Xiao-Jiang to do what she could not do, so he changed the subject…
“Well!”
Xiao-Jiang could only give a dry smile. Sometimes she had a feeling that Zheng-Fu was not like a regular kid. He seemed to be completely mature, but his body looked so young and innocent. Kong-Chang was the one who had to stay silent. The whole conversation proved that he did not seem to exist there. The way that Zheng-Fu asked Xiao-Jiang that question made him realize that he was not needed there. However, Kong-Chang understood Zheng-Fu well that he needed to know who gave Xiao-Jiang the Strengthening Amber for auction…
Kong-Chang himself intended to get the answer too when he went back to the association. Even though he was only a beginner alchemist, he was still somebody in the Association of the Alchemists in In-See City…
“We have to go in a separate way now, little Zheng-Fu. Would you like me to take you anywhere else?” Kong-Chang said and smiled at Zheng-Fu…
“Thank you very much, brother Kong-Chang. I think I can take it from here. Besides, I still have my bodyguard with me. Please don’t worry.”
“Alright, see you then!”
After coming out of the auction house, Zheng-Fu and Kong-Chang separated their way instantly. Zheng-Fu thought that he still had some more time left, so he decided to visit an herbs shop to buy some more ingredients for medicine production…
“Please take this, brother bodyguard, for wasting your time waiting for me.” Zheng-Fu gave a money bag to his bodyguard who had been waiting for him outside the auction house. The bodyguard was a big middle-aged man. Despite having been waiting for Zheng-Fu for a long time, he did not get upset at all. He was still attentive to Zheng-Fu with extreme respect, so Zheng-Fu decided to give him something…
Bodyguard: “What is this, young master?”
“Just open it. You’ll see.” Zheng-Fu said while smiling
Rustle!
“Wow!”
“I can’t take it, young master.” The bodyguard rushed to refuse to take what Zheng-Fu gave him. After he opened the cloth bag, the bodyguard found 100 monster crystal coins in there…
“Please take it!” Zheng-Fu pushed the cloth bag back to the bodyguard. Then he said, “We have to get going. I want to buy some herbal plants. Would you like to come with me? If you’re bored, you can head back to the tavern first.”
Bodyguard: “Thank you very much, little master. I’m not bored. I’ll come with you. I’ll give you my protection.”
“Thank you very much!”
The bodyguard looked at Zheng-Fu with a respectful eye before walking after Zheng-Fu. He never expected that Zheng-Fu would give him the money. This amount of money equaled his whole monthly salary. He knew well that he did not belong to Tian-Tang Clan because he was merely a mercenary. Not a lot of people in the clan treated him as a family. Zheng-Fu, on the other hand, treated him pretty well with respect and warmth. The boy did not act in a snobby way to him at all. Others only took him as a servant…
Not long after, both Zheng-Fu and his bodyguard arrived at an herb shop. The place was further away from the center of the city. It was surrounded by a fence with a lot of people who wore alchemist assistant robes in it. There were some beginner alchemists in the shop area too…
“Wait for me here. I’ll be back.”
“Yes, sir!”
Zheng-Fu walked into the herb shop right after he spoke to his bodyguard. When he entered the shop, he could sense the herbal smells instantaneously…
“There are a lot of herbs here. But they mostly are first and second-rank herbs.”
It took about two pings (1 ping = 3.3 meters) for Zheng-Fu to walk from the door to the shop counter. He saw a lot of people walking around the counter. Everybody turned to stare at him and gave a suspicious look before turning right back to their business. It was a pretty hectic scene at the counter…
“Can I have 10 Blue Grass please!?”
“Yo! I’m here first. I’d like three Wilted Plants!”
“Mine is 10 Eternal Plants!”
After staring at Zheng-Fu for a second, everyone turned back to order their herbs with all their hearts. No one paid attention to Zheng-Fu again because their business at the shop was to acquire herbal plants. Finally, the hectic died down and it was Zheng-Fu’s turn. The boy walked towards the counter where an old man was sitting. The old man asked…
“What do you need, boy?”
“I would like these, please!”
Zheng-Fu handed a list of the herbal plants that he came for to the old man. He put everything down on a piece of paper. He did not want to say the herbal plants’ names out loud. After all, he wanted others to believe that he came to the shop because he was asked to…
“Alright. Wait a moment. I’ll back with these.” As Zheng-Fu expected it to be, the old man did not suspect him even though it was strange that someone asked a kid to buy herbal plants. The old man also did not ask anything even though he saw that the herbs that Zheng-Fu came for were not cheap at all. A while later, the old man walked back to the counter with a package in his hands…
“Here you go! The herbs that you need. It’s 1,000 monster crystal coins!”
“Here’s 1,000 monster crystal coins for you, sir.” Zheng-Fu received that package and paid the old man before heading out of the shop. He left right away because he did not want to spend a long time in the shop…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
“Let’s go! I’ve got what I came for.”
“Yes, young master!”
Zheng-Fu and the bodyguard walked back to the meeting point instantly. The middle-aged bodyguard tried to check what Zheng-Fu bought, but he did not see Zheng-Fu carry anything at all since he walked out of that shop. Zheng-Fu did not carry anything because he put that package in his spatial ring. He did not want anyone to know what he bought. Even Sue-Wu could not know about it…
“There you are! Let’s get back to the clan!” Sue-Wu had already been waiting for Zheng-Fu at the meeting point. He greeted Zheng-Fu and told him to prepare to travel back to their clan…
“Yes, Master!”
The group started their journey back instantly as Zheng-Fu got back from the market. The distance from In-See City to the clan was about two days. Zheng-Fu spent the whole way back thinking of medicine formulas. He tried to modify the formulas that required regular first-rank herbs. He aimed to adjust some processes and ingredients to heighten the efficiencies of the medicines. Finally, the group arrived back safely to the clan. Zheng-Fu excused himself home right away. He told Sue-Wu that he would go meet him at the Medicine Tower the next day…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
“What’s your name, sir?” Zheng-Fu approached the bodyguard who protected him in In-See city and asked for his name…
Bodyguard: “My name is Tong-Kuang, young master! You don’t have to be polite to me…”
“But I want to. I have a motto to be polite to anyone good to me. You were good to me when you kept me safe in that city.”
Tong-Kuang: “That’s because it’s my job, sir!”
“Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter however you want to see it. Well, I hope you don’t tell anyone about our day.”
“Of course, sir!”
Zheng-Fu went back home right after he talked to Tong-Kuang. Everyone including Tong-Kuang also went to their places to rest. They all got exhausted from the long journey…
Squeak!
“Mother! I’m home!”
“Zheng-Fu, my dear son!”
Tang-Ling ran to greet Zheng-Fu with a warm hug and tears on her face because she was worried about her son being away from her…
“Why are you crying, mother?”
Tang-Ling: “Nothing, dear. I just…”
“Your mother just missed you. That’s all!” Kong-Shi joined the group and explained why his wife was crying…
“Father!”
Zheng-Fu was startled to see his father because he still had that vivid memory about his father in the auction house, those things about the bidding of the sword and his father’s nickname…
Kong-Shi: “What’s wrong, Zheng-Fu? You look pale.”
“N…n…no, father. I’m just a little exhausted. May I excuse myself to my room, please?” Zheng-Fu ran off right after he finished the sentence without waiting to hear his father’s reply…
Tan-Ling: “Wait! Don’t you want to have something to eat first?”
“I already ate, mother!”