IRCFCN 17

Chapter 17:

 Fierce Bidding

“Master Jia, please wait here for a moment. I’ll go and invite Master Yang over right away.”

With an ugly expression on his face, Liu Xuan hurried out of the room and rushed toward Master Yang’s office.

“Master, are these antiques really fake? Why can’t I tell?”

The young man walked over to the display counter and picked up several of the antiques, examining them from every angle. After a while, he couldn’t help but frown.

The young woman beside him also stepped forward to inspect them. A few moments later, she shook her head as well.

She couldn’t see anything wrong either.

“If you two take a closer look at the marks on the bottom, you’ll understand.”

Jia Lianshan said calmly.

“Oh?”

The two of them immediately turned the antiques over and examined their bases.

A moment later, both of them were startled.

“Master, you’re right! These really are fakes! Looking closely, it’s obvious they’re made with modern craftsmanship!”

The young man’s name was Yan Yang.

At only twenty-five years old, he had already become a First-Class Appraiser.

The young woman beside him was his younger sister, one year younger than he was.

Like her brother, she had been exposed to antique appraisal from childhood, had formally studied the field, and had also received Jia Lianshan’s careful personal instruction. Because of that, she had also entered the ranks of First-Class Appraisers at a very young age.

As far as Jia Lianshan was concerned, he was extremely satisfied with these two disciples.

He even believed they had the potential to inherit everything he knew.

Thus, he had been training them as his successors and had taught them every skill he could.

Without wasting a second, Liu Xuan arrived outside Master Yang’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

At that moment, Yang Miao was leisurely drinking tea on the sofa inside his office.

Hearing the knock, he called out calmly.

“Master Yang, something terrible has happened! The batch of Yuan Dynasty antiques you authenticated yesterday… they’re fake!”

The moment he entered, Liu Xuan anxiously blurted it out.

His voice was filled with urgency.

He understood just how serious this matter was.

If a renowned antique master made such a fundamental mistake in authentication, his reputation would be utterly destroyed once word got out.

“Ah, Xuan.”

Yang Miao showed no sign of panic. Instead, he smiled and asked,

“And who told you those antiques were fake?”

He had absolute confidence in his appraisal skills.

There was no way he could make such a rookie mistake.

Unless someone was deliberately trying to frame him.

Or spread malicious rumors to ruin his name.

But he wasn’t particularly worried about that.

As long as there was no irrefutable evidence placed before him, such rumors would have no real effect.

Seeing that Master Yang didn’t believe him, Liu Xuan felt rather helpless.

After all, people had indeed slandered Master Yang before.

But this time was different.

The person making the accusation was Master Jia—a highly respected authority whose status was equal to Master Yang’s.

There was a very high chance that what he said was true.

“Master Yang, I think something may really have gone wrong this time.”

Liu Xuan spoke with a grave expression.

“Because… Master Jia personally came here to verify it.”

“What?”

“Jia Lianshan is here?”

For the first time, a ripple of emotion appeared on Yang Miao’s otherwise calm face.

If it was truly Jia Lianshan questioning the authenticity of the antiques he had authenticated, then no matter how confident he was, he suddenly felt uncertain.

He understood Jia Lianshan’s personality.

Although the two of them were bitter rivals…

He would never joke about something like this.

A trace of uneasiness finally arose in his heart.

He even began to doubt himself.

Could there really have been a problem with yesterday’s batch?

“Let’s go.”

“Whether those antiques are fake or not, I have to deal with this personally.”

With a solemn expression, Yang Miao stood up from the sofa, opened the door, and walked out first.

Liu Xuan quickly followed behind him.

Meanwhile,

Ye Feng and Lin Wan’er had already arrived at the auction hall.

The auction was already underway.

There were quite a lot of people present, yet the atmosphere was remarkably quiet, without the usual noisy chatter.

Not all of the seats were occupied.

There were still more than a dozen empty seats near the back, so Ye Feng led Lin Wan’er to two vacant spots in the second-to-last row.

After sitting down, Lin Wan’er looked at Ye Feng with a complicated expression.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked,

“Ah Feng… are you hiding something from me?”

Ye Feng thought silently for a while.

In the end, he decided not to reveal that he had become a cultivator.

After all, such a thing would be difficult for an ordinary person to accept all at once.

It would be better to explain it when the time was right.

“Of course not.”

“Why would you think that?”

Ye Feng simply smiled gently.

Seeing his expression, Lin Wan’er said nothing more.

No matter what had happened, she still chose to trust him without hesitation.

Just then,

Ye Feng suddenly noticed a familiar figure sitting in the very front row.

It was Tang Yingying.

Beside her sat an elderly man dressed in a traditional Chinese robe, carrying himself with extraordinary dignity.

That was probably her grandfather.

Time passed little by little.

Finally, the auction reached its last few items.

The host accepted a small box from one of the attendants.

As he opened it, a mysterious purple glow suddenly shone from within.

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise.

What was that?

It could actually emit light?

After all,

they had never heard of an antique that could glow on its own.

Seeing the crowd’s reaction, the host smiled.

“Everyone has seen it, haven’t you?”

“The fact that this object emits light proves that it is no ordinary item, but a priceless treasure—something that appears perhaps once in a thousand years.”

“This item is called the Dharma Compass.”

“Not only does it possess tremendous collectible value, but when kept inside a room, it can refresh the mind, sharpen one’s senses, and even prolong one’s lifespan.”

“The starting bid is ten million yuan.”

“Each raise must be no less than one million.”

“The bidding begins now!”

“Twelve million!”

“Thirteen million!”

“Fifteen million!”

“Eighteen million!”

“…”

The moment the host finished speaking, bids erupted throughout the hall one after another.

The vast majority of those present were deeply tempted by the item.

The mind-refreshing effect wasn’t particularly impressive.

But the words “prolong one’s lifespan” completely captivated them.

And more importantly…

The thing actually glowed.

At first glance, it looked like an extraordinary treasure.

Wouldn’t displaying something like that bring tremendous prestige?

Missing out on such a rare treasure would simply be too regrettable.

Ye Feng, however, merely shook his head.

He had absolutely no interest in it.

Because with a single glance, he could tell that it was not a treasure at all.

Rather, it was an evil object.

A trace of resentment was sealed within it, causing it to emit that faint and eerie purple light.

If an ordinary person came into prolonged contact with it, their mind would gradually become clouded.

The lingering resentment would slowly erode their sanity.

Over time, they might even become mentally incapacitated.

Whoever actually bought that thing would be incredibly unlucky.

But what did that have to do with him?

Not only did he have no intention of interfering, but he had also completely lost interest in the auction.

After waiting so long without seeing the kind of magical artifact he wanted, he was just about to leave with Lin Wan’er.

However, at that very moment,

a familiar voice caused him to freeze.

“Thirty million!”

Just as the bidding had stalled around twenty-four million, Tang Yingying suddenly made her offer.

She was bidding on behalf of her grandfather.

The moment everyone realized it was the Tang family making the bid, the entire auction hall fell silent.

No one dared to continue competing.

In Jianghai City, everyone knew there were four families that absolutely could not be provoked.

The foremost among them was the Lu Family of Jianghai.

Their strength was unquestionable.

They stood above the other three great families of the city, with a reputation that spread throughout the entire province.

Their influence was so immense that even the powerful families of Shanghai treated them with great respect.

Next came the three great families of Jianghai:

the Duan Family,

the Ye Family,

and the Tang Family.

Although each of these three families was individually weaker than the Lu Family, none of them could be underestimated.

If the three were ever to unite, even the mighty Lu Family would have to give them considerable respect.

This alone demonstrated the overwhelming influence of the Tang Family.

After all, the head of the Tang Family was personally sitting here.

Given the Tang Family’s wealth and power, who in the room could outbid them?

And even if someone possessed enough money to compete…

Who would actually dare?

Offending the Tang Family and earning their displeasure would only make the road ahead difficult and full of obstacles.