Auctioning the Pills

"Third Prince! Why would I entertain him? If anything, I was chasing him away. Is there anything you need from us, your highness?"

Shopkeeper Sun quickly came bootlicking up to the prince. He watched the little beggar entered the Ruyi Trade House and thought nothing of it. Nevertheless, he still assigned someone to guard the entrance. Should the little beggar return, they would flog him to death.

"I'm here to ask if there's a Beautifying Pill in the upcoming auction. If you have one, reserve it for me..."

Feng Tianlan raised an eyebrow and wasted no more time in the store. She walked toward the Ruyi Trade House, diagonally opposite the Tianhai Trade House. The Ruyi Trade House was not in the same league as the Tianhai Trade House, so the items that they auctioned were limited. As a result, they had few customers, and their business seemed miserable when compared to the Tianhai Trade House.

Who would've thought that the Ruyi Trade House was once the largest trade house in South Winds Nation merely a few years ago? Somehow, Tianhai had managed to edge them out. Since then, the two houses had been fierce competitors. As a century-old trade house, the Ruyi Trade House had a reputation of absolute integrity. That was why she'd chosen to sell her pills there.

Meanwhile, at the Ruyi Trade House...

Feng Tianlan covered her whole body with a massive cloak and her face with a rabbit mask. She looked incredibly eccentric, like a mischievous child overly absorbed in her play.

"Is there anything that you need?" Shopkeeper Zhou flashed a standard, polite smile.

"I'm here to sell some Pill Medicines." Feng Tianlan kept her voice pressed down on purpose. It was a gender-neutral voice so that people couldn't easily distinguish if she was male or female.

With all sorts of businesses under its belt, the Ruyi Trade House bought and sold just about everything under the sun. They mainly dealt with returning customers, which pulled them back from the verge of closing down.

"I see. What Pill Medicines do you intend on selling?" Shopkeeper Zhou asked courteously. Seeing how petite the person standing in front of him was, he quickly shrugged him off. He must be a young kid pulling a prank. How could he have any Pill Medicines?

Feng Tianlan fished out a small parcel from beneath the cloak and laid it on the counter. "Please, take a look. How much would these sell for?"

The parcel was patched together with rags, which further confirmed Shopkeeper Zhou's notion that this was all a prank. However, he still adhered to the rules of the trade house. Politely and carefully, he began to unwrap the small parcel, as if afraid to damage the items within. Feng Tianlan watched how Shopkeeper Zhou handled her parcel with approval. His attitude was much, much better than the shopkeeper at the Tianhai Trade House. So long as the price he offered was reasonable, she did not mind working with him again in the future.

At first, the shopkeeper only opened the parcel in an attempt to mock the beggar. However, as he unwrapped it, layer by layer, whiff after whiff of medicinal fragrance wafted out. He had been a shopkeeper for many years and sold a fair share of Pill Medicines over his career. Therefore, he could roughly tell the quality of a pill just by its medicinal fragrance. With hands trembling uncontrollably from excitement, he took off the last layer...

With the last layer of cloth removed, Shopkeeper Zhou finally saw the plump, pearl-like Pill Medicines inside the parcel. His mouth opened and closed agitatedly, unable to form any coherent words. After a long while, he finally found his voice and stammered, "Spi...spirit Boosting Pill!"

Oh heavens! They were Spirit Boosting Pills.

Engulfed by overwhelming excitement, Shopkeeper Zhou picked up a corner of his sleeve and dried his palms, then tried to reach for the Spirit Boosting Pill. However, he quickly caught himself mid-stretch, afraid that he might contaminate the pills. He repeated the cycle of reaching out, retracting his hand, wiping his palms again, and reaching out again only to give up for the umpteenth time. He tried a dozen more times, but, in the end, he couldn't bring himself to touch the pills.

"Please wait for a moment. Allow me to invite our Alchemist to appraise the pills' grade," Shopkeeper Zhou said. He rubbed his hands together as his gaze lingered on the pills. Before he walked out, though, he quickly turned back to Feng Tianlan, worried that she might leave. "Please wait, you must! We will buy the pills. We will give you the best price that we can offer."

With this many Spirit Boosting Pills at stake, they needed to buy them all for sure, even if it meant breaking the bank.

Feng Tianlan nodded lightly, "Alright."