WBICDPH Chapter 51

Chapter 51 – Trouble Arrives

There were nineteen items up for auction at the Treasure Fair, but after looking through them one by one, Lin Jin didn’t find anything that interested him.

Hua Nanzhi, however, picked up a small trinket—a golden bell tied with a red ribbon. According to the auctioneer, it had been crafted thousands of years ago by a legendary artifact master and was supposedly a powerful magical item. Lin Jin didn’t really understand the explanation, and Hua Nanzhi probably didn’t either. But the young lady thought the bell looked pretty, so she waved her hand and bought it, planning to hang it from her sword hilt as a charm.

Soon, the auction reached the eighteenth item.

To highlight the grand finale, the second-to-last item was usually something less impressive—just like the rusty black iron piece at the beginning, meant to build anticipation for the real treasures to come.

Sure enough, the formation beside the auctioneer displayed the image of a small red bead.

The bead wasn’t large—Lin Jin thought it was only slightly bigger than a quail egg.

It didn’t look like a rare gemstone or a magical artifact. As Lin Jin wondered about it, the auctioneer began speaking:

“The next item is rather special. It has no official name—we call it ‘The Ghost Bride’s Red Coral Bead.’

“It once belonged to a powerful, vengeful spirit dressed in red and was soaked in her blood and obsession, carrying heavy yin energy and resentment.

“While the red coral itself is not especially valuable, the pure and intense lingering obsession attached to it makes it an excellent catalyst for crafting certain artifacts. Anyone here who wishes to create items related to cold energy, spirits, or the undead may find this extremely useful.

“The starting bid is one hundred fifty top-grade spirit stones. Please consider carefully and bid responsibly.”

The moment he finished speaking, the auctioneer brightened.

“Song Pavilion has bid three hundred spirit stones!”

Hua Nanzhi frowned and curled her lips. “The people across from us are weird. If they’re rich, why haven’t they bought anything all night? But they keep bidding on useless junk—first scrap metal, now a broken coral bead. Strange.”

Lin Jin didn’t respond.

He stared at the red coral bead and frowned slightly.

Just as Hua Nanzhi had said, it didn’t look special. But he had a nagging feeling that it wasn’t simple—and that it would have some unique use.

Lin Jin trusted his instincts, but he didn’t have nearly enough spirit stones to compete with the other bidder. That left him with only one option—relying on Miss Hua’s money.

He immediately pointed toward the auction floor. “Miss Hua, I want that one!”

“What?!” Hua Nanzhi looked shocked again. “What is it with you two brothers? You always pick the most unimpressive items in the entire auction!”

Still, even if she didn’t care for it herself, she raised her token and began bidding. “Ya Pavilion bids five hundred spirit stones!”

The two pavilions clashed again, but this time the opposing side wasn’t backing down easily.

“Song Pavilion bids six hundred spirit stones!”

“Ya Pavilion bids one thousand spirit stones!”

Hua Nanzhi raised the price with reckless confidence. Before long, she had pushed the red coral bead up to a sky-high price of fifteen hundred.

After that, the other side fell silent—for a moment. Soon, a maid from the auction house knocked on their door.

She bowed politely and said softly, “A guest from Song Pavilion asked me to pass along a message. They said: ‘We did not intend to disturb Miss Hua’s enjoyment. We already yielded the black iron from the secret realm earlier. This time, we hope Miss Hua might show some kindness and give us this item.’”

Hua Nanzhi didn’t know who was on the other side—but Lin Jin did.

After thinking it over, Lin Jin tugged at her sleeve. “Forget it, Miss Hua. Let them have it.”

“Let them have it?!” Hua Nanzhi snapped. “Didn’t you say you wanted it? And now you want to give up? Have some backbone!” She waved the maid away. “Tell them this item is mine. If they want it, they can keep bidding. If not, they can leave. This is an auction—win it openly. I don’t play games like this.”

Lin Jin nearly choked on his breath.

He tried to persuade her again, but Hua Nanzhi was already fired up. After the maid left, she raised her token once more.

“Ya Pavilion bids two thousand spirit stones!”

Her fearless spending finally silenced the opposing bidder. Soon, the auctioneer struck the gavel.

“Two thousand spirit stones from Ya Pavilion—sold!”

A maid soon delivered the red coral bead on a tray. Hua Nanzhi paid and picked it up for a closer look.

At first, she was just glancing at it casually, but suddenly, she raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” Lin Jin asked.

“Nothing.” She sighed and tossed the bead to him. “I can’t believe I spent two thousand spirit stones on this.”

“What’s the problem?” Lin Jin examined it but saw nothing unusual besides its excellent quality.

“The problem is that this batch of coral beads originally came from my father,” she said. “Their color and quality are extremely rare, so I remember them clearly. About six or seven years ago, my father brought back several boxes from the East Sea. The best seven were made into a set of jewelry and presented to the emperor.”

“Six or seven years ago?” Lin Jin asked.

“No idea which emperor,” she shrugged. “My father just said he was a terrible ruler.”

After a few more moments, Hua Nanzhi stood up. “Let’s go. The final item isn’t interesting anyway. This auction was disappointing.”

The three of them left the auction house together.

But shortly after stepping outside, Hua Nanzhi noticed Han Ao seemed unusually tense.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “Are you cold?”

“It’s nothing. I have something to take care of. You and Lin Jin head back first—I’ll catch up later,” Han Ao said nervously.

As they continued walking, Lin Jin suddenly sensed an unusual presence nearby. After a moment of careful observation, he realized it was demonic energy lurking in the shadows.

He frowned.

Things were not going as expected.

He turned to Hua Nanzhi and spoke quietly. “Miss Hua… there are demons nearby.”

“So what?” she replied. “That’s normal in a place like this.”

“They might be here for us.”

She looked confused.

“Listen to me,” Lin Jin said. “When I count to three, you run.”

Before she could argue further, he activated a talisman, sending her rushing away on a strong gust of wind.

Once she was gone, Lin Jin let out a quiet breath.

Standing alone in the road, he called out, “No need to hide. Why not come out and talk?”

A man soon emerged from the shadows.

Lin Jin greeted him politely and quickly produced the red coral bead. “Are you here for this? Miss Hua didn’t know who you were. She meant no offense.”

The man narrowed his eyes.

Then he spoke coldly, “A single coral bead isn’t worth my time. That’s not what I want.”

Lin Jin was surprised.

The man’s next words made his heart jolt.

“What I want,” the demon cultivator said slowly, “is the dog you’ve been traveling with.”