Chapter 130: Annoying Men
Chapter 130: Annoying Men
"Why do we have to wait for an entire week? Why can’t we go to the Underground Slave Market tonight and finish our business quickly?" Xiang Ling demanded the answer when she was stopped from leaving for the Underground Slave Market by two very annoying men who appeared in front of her door this late at night.
She purposely waited for this long so that she could easily slip out of the manor while everyone was fast asleep. Little did she know that some people were aware of her secret plans.
"Because tonight is not the right time." Dao Ming answered as he kept looking around the bedchamber, fondling with items that caught his attention. "There will be an auction on the first day of the coming week. That’s when we will go."
"An auction? For slaves?" Xiang Ling asked as she didn’t have much information about this Underground market.
"Kind of. But slaves will not be the only ones getting auctioned that night. Despite its name, the Underground Slave Market doesn’t only trade slaves, but a lot more other rare and precious things. You can find there almost everything - mortals, fairies, demons, spirit beasts and herbs, spiritual medicines and elixirs, spiritual weapons, forbidden records, and whatnot." Dao Ming answered as he picked up a golden hairpin from the dressing table and took a closer look at it as if to study its intricate yet simple design.
Xiang Ling remained silent as she watched him inspect her room and items. She had heard about such secret places but never thought there was one in the Mortal Realm as well. Suddenly, a thought appeared in her brain. "Wait! Doesn’t it mean that the slaves’ prices will skyrocket that night because of the auction? Do you want me to go broke even before I have earned anything?"
Her accusing words succeeded in bringing out a little scoff of humor from Xin Cheng who had been silently sitting near the huge circular window and enjoying the fresh tea that she offered him a couple of moments ago.
Dao Ming finally returned the hairpin to its place and made his way to Xiang Ling. Once he was standing right in front of her, he surprised her by lightly bopping his knuckle against her nose.
"Ow! What are you doing?" Xiang Ling glared at the man in shock all the while she rubbed her nose.
"Don’t you know that if they are auctioning those slaves, you will never be able to buy them otherwise? Those slaves are meant to be auctioned and can only be bought during an auction. So, no. I’m not trying to make you go broke." He explained.
"Then...?" Xiang Ling was still at a loss. They were going to buy slaves in an auction which would surely cost a lot of money and yet, the man said that he had no plans of emptying her pockets.
"Because of the sky-high prices of the slaves who will be auctioned, the prices of the other slaves will be lowered. Sometimes they lower it even more than half the original price. That will be the perfect time for you to buy as many slaves as possible... without going broke." Xin Cheng was the one who finally cleared the confusion, but not without adding the last part of the sentence on purpose just to tease her.
Xiang Ling ignored the teasing part and nodded her head in understanding. Even though she still had nearly half the amount of money left from what she earned the previous month from selling pills in the auction, she wasn’t eager to spend all her savings too quickly as the construction and completion of the Inn were going to cost a lot. The less she would spend at the moment, the more she would have in savings for future expenses.
"Alright. That sounds pretty good to me. I can wait for five more days. There are still many things that need to be taken care of." Her words were directed more toward herself than to the two men.
There was a short silence in the room as the discussion about the matter of buying slaves came to an end. Dao Ming and Xin Cheng quickly shared a look before the latter gave a swift nod of his head as if signaling something.
Taking a deep breath, Dao Ming turned his attention back to Xiang Ling and spoke, "We learned from Li Xian that it was some Demonic Poison that caused the plague in the Lin Family’s Village."
Xiang Ling slowly nodded her head before she spoke, "It was a really lethal poison made from the blood of the Shadowfire Serpent, and refined by a really powerful demon. Just by one look at the poison, you can sense the Demonic aura even from a distance."
The men once again shared a quick look between them before Dao Ming made an unexpected request. "Can you show me the poison? Just for a moment?"
Xiang Ling didn’t seem surprised by his request, nor did she ask him why he wanted to take a look at the poison. She just took out the vial from her space and sent it slowly flying toward Dao Ming. The two men looked completely surprised by how quickly she took out the vial without any questions.
While Dao Ming was busy inspecting the Demonic Poison, Xiang Ling took the chance to ask something she had wanted to ask for a while. However, instead of directing her question to Dao Ming, she directed her question toward Xin Cheng. "As the Demon Lord, do you really not know that someone from your realm is trying to create troubles right under your nose?"
Xin Cheng’s hand froze right before he could have taken a sip of tea from the cup. An unreadable expression was decorating his face as his intense gaze shifted toward her.
On the other hand, Dao Ming also turned his attention toward the woman who just took both of them by surprise with her question.
"You know?"