Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Waiting for the Rabbit
The appearance of Young Master Fan successfully eased the crowd’s anger toward Blackwater City Auction. After Young Master Fan swaggered away, the other people who had not managed to buy tickets quickly scattered as well.

Yu Zheng Mao jumped down from the table and was about to leave when he saw a young woman with a refined air walking toward him. His steps paused for a moment, and a polite smile appeared on his face. The young woman said: “Steward Yu, I want one high level ticket.” As she spoke, she laid ten mid grade spirit stones on the table.

Yu Zheng Mao was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. He had someone bring out a high level ticket, then handed it to Yu Zhao together with the ten mid grade spirit stones on the table.

Yu Zhao raised her brows, confused.

Smiling, Yu Zheng Mao said: “Miss helped me close a big deal just now. This is just a small token of my thanks. I hope Miss will not mind.”

As soon as Yu Zhao had spoken earlier, he had heard that she was the one who had first stirred up the crowd and forced Young Master Fan to buy three honored guest seats. Compared with the commission from selling three honored guest seats, the money from one high level ticket was nothing at all. Besides, seeing that the young woman in front of him was both young and capable, Yu Zheng Mao did not mind paying a small price to form a good connection.

Understanding dawned on Yu Zhao. She smiled, accepted both the ticket and the spirit stones from Yu Zheng Mao, and thanked him once more.

Yu Zheng Mao was very pleased. He and Yu Zhao exchanged their surnames, then stopped there, and he took the initiative to say goodbye.

After getting what she wanted, Yu Zhao did not linger in the city streets. She went straight back to the inn and quietly waited for the auction to begin.

At the same time, Fang Cheng Lang and his group also learned Yu Zhao’s whereabouts from Shadow Pavilion.

Inside their inn, Fang Cheng Lang and his three fellow disciples gathered together in one room.

Su Ming shouted impatiently: “I’ll go tell Junior Sister. Tomorrow we’ll set out for Blackwater City!” After speaking, he stood up and moved to knock on the door of the room next door.

“Stop.” The one who called out to him was Lan Zi Yu. His face did not look happy as he said: “Listen to First Senior Brother first.”

Su Ming slammed his hands on the table and looked around at the other three: “What’s there left to say! Yu Xiao Zhao is already on the way to Blackwater City. She might already be there by now. If we don’t go, we won’t make it in time!”

“It’s already too late,” Fang Cheng Lang said.

Su Ming froze.

Cui Jue explained: “Third Senior Brother, judging from the distance between us and Blackwater City, it will take us at least a month and a half to get there. By that time, Blackwater City’s auction will already be over. Little Zhao will have left, and we still won’t see her.”

“We can speed up our pace on the road…” Su Ming stopped halfway through his sentence.

He remembered that Ye Cong Xin was also part of their team, so the plan he suggested was impossible to carry out.

“Then what do we do? We can’t foresee the future and know in advance where Yu Xiao Zhao will go next. Are we supposed to do nothing and just sit in our rooms waiting like idiots?” Su Ming grabbed his hair in frustration.

“Who says we can’t foresee the future?” Fang Cheng Lang gave a small smile. His tone was full of steady confidence, as if everything was in his hands.

Lan Zi Yu and Su Ming both brightened.

Cui Jue looked thoughtful and asked: “First Senior Brother, are you saying that Little Zhao will go there next?”

Fang Cheng Lang nodded and said: “Yes.”

Cui Jue and Fang Cheng Lang looked at each other and understood one another at once.

“First Senior Brother, Fourth Brother, what kind of riddle are you two playing at?” Su Ming complained.

Lan Zi Yu also looked at the two of them with a confused face.

“Marsh Forest,” Fang Cheng Lang and Cui Jue said at the same time.

“Marsh Forest?”

“Yes, Marsh Forest.”

In order to find Yu Zhao’s trail as quickly as possible, Fang Cheng Lang had spent a huge sum to buy clues from Shadow Pavilion. Following its rule of putting the client first, Shadow Pavilion not only told him Yu Zhao’s detailed movements, but also told him about the news she had bought from them.

That was how Fang Cheng Lang learned that the focus of Yu Zhao’s training this time was to collect two kinds of artifact forging materials. The two places where she was most likely to get them were Blackwater City and Marsh Forest.

Now that Yu Zhao had already gone to Blackwater City, her next destination was very likely Marsh Forest. Instead of chasing after Yu Zhao’s tracks all over the place, it would be better to reach the place she wanted to go ahead of her.

Fang Cheng Lang explained the key points to Su Ming and Lan Zi Yu, and the two were quickly convinced.

After the four fellow disciples discussed it for a while, they decided to head to Marsh Forest and wait for the rabbit to come to the stump.

When Ye Cong Xin heard their plan from them the next day, she was completely falling apart inside.

Marsh Forest was located in the Southern West Region. It almost never saw sunlight. It was dark, damp, and full of miasma. Most of the poisonous snakes, insects, rats, and ants of the Cultivation World could be found there, and all of them carried deadly poison. It was said that every year, thousands of cultivators died under those poisonous insects.

For Ye Cong Xin, who had been raised in comfort and luxury since she was small, Marsh Forest was without a doubt even more terrifying than a forbidden land. However, she knew she could not change Fang Cheng Lang and the others’ minds. She could only pretend to agree on the surface while cursing up a storm in her heart.

…

Yu Zhao still had no idea that Fang Cheng Lang and his group were already planning to go to Marsh Forest ahead of her and lie in wait for her. She stayed in her room training for many days and only stepped out on the day the auction was to be held.

“Senior Yu.” Hearing movement, Chen Tian Dong immediately ran out from his room and bowed to Yu Zhao.

Before Yu Zhao could reply, Chen Tian Dong said excitedly: “Senior, are you going to attend the auction? May I have the honor of going with you?”

Chen Tian Dong was attending Blackwater City Auction on behalf of the Chen Clan, and the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill he carried with him was one of the items that would be auctioned.

Yu Zhao naturally did not refuse, so the two of them went to the auction house together.

Blackwater City Auction was held once every five years. Every time, more than a thousand items would be put up for bidding, and it had long been famous throughout the Southern Region. So whenever the auction was held, cultivators would travel from far away to attend, all just to see the grand event with their own eyes.

The streets were crowded with people. Everywhere, they could hear discussions about the auction.

Chen Tian Dong sighed and said: “In both popularity and reputation, Blackwater City Auction far surpasses other auctions. This is the reason the Old Patriarch chose it.”

Chen Tian Dong did not say it outright, but from his words and from his actions, Yu Zhao could tell that the Chen Clan seemed to be going downhill.

A Bottleneck-Breaking Pill that could help a Foundation Establishment cultivator break through to the Golden Core Stage was a huge temptation even to Golden Core cultivators like that black robed elder. The Chen Clan had not thought about giving the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill to one of their own Foundation Establishment clansmen. Instead, they had brought it all the way to the auction in Blackwater City to sell. The most likely reason was that the Chen Clan’s foundations were not rich and they were stretched thin, so they could only rely on selling the pill to keep the family clan running.

But the profit brought by the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill would only last for a while. If the Chen Clan could not find another way to break out of their crisis, they would in the end be beyond saving.

Yu Zhao understood this very well, and the people of the Chen Clan had surely thought of it long ago too. So she did not bring up the Chen Clan’s situation. She only chatted idly with Chen Tian Dong as they walked.

Following the flow of people, they kept moving forward. Before long, the two of them arrived at the auction house. By this time, several long lines had already formed outside, and many staff members of the auction were busy maintaining order.