721 Chapter 721 - Hosting a Real Auction (1/2)
”You wish to go?” Gu Xiaoshang was a little surprised by this. The reason that Young Master Han had joined them in their operation this entire time had been to deal with the two city defenders, Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon. He did not really care for anything else happening with the City Wars event aside from this, so now that he suddenly offered his participation for this matter, Gu Xiaoshang could not help but wonder, ”Do you think there's something off with this?”
”I can't see if it's off just yet, but I do have my suspicions,” Young Master Han said.
”Are you suspecting that Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon are the ones who created this small guild?” Gu Xiaoshang had learned about Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon's intention to form a guild from Young Master Han.
”I cannot be sure, but I'm certain his guild has already been established,” Young Master Han said.
”How do you know this?” Gu Xiaoshang asked.
”By asking them directly,” Young Master Han said.
”Then why can't you ask them about this matter directly now?” Gu Xiaoshang asked.
”I've already asked them about it, but they are feigning ignorance,” Young Master Han replied.
”Feigning ignorance… It sounds like you're really skeptical about their participation, huh?” Gu Xiaoshang laughed.
”We already know that Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon are able to pick up assassination missions that target the guild leaders, and now there is this auction for a quest that had very fortuitously appeared with such a condition that only guild leaders to pick it up, which would, in turn, allow them to gather several guild leaders together and kill them all in one go to accomplish these missions. Give me a reason not to suspect that they have a hand in this.” Young Master Han said.
”So what do you think we should do now?” Gu Xiaoshang consulted.
”Well… If this turns out to be real, I believe they must be determined to successfully accomplish their mission, so I doubt we have a shot at being the oriole lying in wait. Just the men those three guilds had sent would be enough to drown them out… That is why it would only be effective if we can enact a plan that would put a complete stop to their assassination scheme, and that would require us to collaborate with the other three guilds a bit,” Young Master Han said.
”How are we collaborating on this?” Gu Xiaoshang asked.
”It's very simple. Since this is just an auction, there's no need for any of their guild leaders to turn up in person. Just send out any worthless random for this would do,” Young Master Han explained.
”Okay, we're sending you over,” Gu Xiaoshang huffed. This man really speaks without any filters; what worthless random! How could I conveniently send anyone over after you say something as insulting as that? Whomever she ended up sending for this would probably think they were nothing more than rabble in their guild leader's eyes.
”Of course I'm going, but you should at least send some helpers
Thus, Gu Xiaoshang began to pick out the players over the guild channel, at the same time sending a message to Oathless Sword, ”Oathless, I think you need to stay on your guard for this matter. This might be a ruse!”
”Oh?” What happened?” Oathless Sword took Gu Xiaoshang's words to heart with 120% certainty.
”This might be a scheme that Thousand Miles Drunk has concocted to accomplish his assassination mission,” Gu Xiaoshang warned.
”Why do you say that?” Oathless Sword asked. Even though he had unconditional obedience toward Gu Xiaoshang, he still had to give an account to everyone in his guild. Without any actual proof or evidence, simply saying ”Gu Xiaoshang said this auction is just a ruse, so we're not participating”. If that was what he told everyone as the reason, he would most likely lose his position as the guild leader of Traversing Four Seas. At the end of the day, Oathless Sword knew he had to take care of his outward appearance in the guild.
”I don't really have any proof beyond a sneaking suspicion, so I'm reminding everyone to be careful. I suggest that we guild leaders do not show up for this auction this time, sending just those we can trust in lieu of our presence. What do you think?” Gu Xiaoshang said.
”Yes, that's hardly a problem. I'll get Youthful Reflection to go as my representative,” Oathless Sword happily agreed. Actually, Oathless Sword had only been enthusiastic about turning up for the auction personally simply for the chance of bumping into Gu Xiaoshang there so he could have the opportunity to flirt and pay attention to the apple of his eye. But now that he learned that Gu Xiaoshang would most likely not turn up, Oathless Sword had of course lost his eagerness as well, immediately messaging Youthful Reflection, ”Youthful Reflection! I'm not going to this auction anymore. You shall lead some of our brothers over there instead.”
”Why?” Youthful Reflection was right beside Oathless Sword, yet he had opted to message him this set of instructions. It was very strange, but he did not voice out his concerns directly, simply replying to him back through message as well.
”After thinking about this at length, tell me; what should we do if this happens to be a trap set by Thousand Miles Drunk and the others, just so he could lure us guild leaders out into a secluded corner and assassinate all of us at once? That's why I think it is best if I do not personally attend the auction,” Oathless Sword gravely explained his reasoning.
”Is that so?” Youthful Reflection was skeptical. ”Is it because Gu Xiaoshang isn't going as well?”
”Hmph. I cannot deny that affected my decision as well,” Oathless Sword said.
”G*dd*mm*t,” Youthful Reflection replied, at the same time glancing over at Cirrus, who was standing right beside them. He turned his head to him and said, ”Brother Cirrus, I'll be the one following you to the auction.”
”Oh? What about guild leader Oathless?” Cirrus asked.
”He'll be coordinating with us from elsewhere,” Youthful Reflection replied.
Cirrus had already been briefed for this task, so he merely gave a non-committal ”oh” even as he hurriedly sent a message back to the others, ”There's a change in the situation. Oathless Sword has expressed his wish to not participate in the auction, and will send the core member Youthful Reflection go as his replacement instead.”
At that moment. Gu Xiaoshang had contacted Black Index Finger and Foe-herder about this as well. While the two did not really have any sort of absolute trust in Gu Xiaoshang, Gu Xiaoshang did have a very good reputation in Yunduan City when it came to her character. So even if she was interested in competing for the quest, it was more likely that she would set a date for a brawl with the relevant party than be the sort that would resort to plotting some backhanded scheme. As such, both men acknowledged Gu Xiaoshang's advice and made similar preparations as well, sending their trusted members out in their stead to participate in the auction.
”D*mm*t, this must be Young Master Han working behind the scenes!” Gu Fei spat after he saw the message.
”Yeah. None of these guild leaders had even made such preparations to begin with, only for them to react in such a manner as they made their way over. It appears like they must have been forewarned by something. However, I reckon that they lack any evidence and are merely taking the necessary safety measures to err on the side of caution. In other words… The two you have left an indelible impression on all these men,” Xi Xiaotian said to Gu Fei and Sword Demon. She was an Archer, and so her movement speed would, of course, be on the faster side. She had already made her way back to the sawmill by this time and met up with everyone after taking her leave from Brave Surge's site.
”Currently, if we were to continue our charade and carry on with the auction, we are still able to win an opportunity to assassinate a target. After all, there's surely a guild leader out there that would want to get a hold of this quest,” Gu Fei reasoned.
”But if either Oathless Sword or Gu Xiaoshang are the ones who end up winning the auction, wouldn't that mean that make everything we've done thus far meaningless?” Sword Demon said.
”At the current rate, there's a very good chance that those two will end up winning the auction. You guys know about the relationship between Oathless Sword and Gu Xiaoshang, right?” Xi Xiaotian said.
”The system is so baffling. Clearly, I was the one who died before, why must your mission for Oathless Sword's head fail as well!?” Gu Fei complained.
”How would I know?” Sword Demon sighed.
”Stop discussing that already. We'll have to do a real auction now, so let's make it a properly convincing one first,” Xi Xiaotian said.
”Guess that's all we can do for now,” everyone sighed.
”I'll be the one hosting this auction!” Xi Xiaotian said. ”Since Young Master Han already suspects us, there's no reason for me to keep hiding anymore. If I can find some way to dispel the other party's doubts, perhaps we might still have a chance to turn this thing around.”
”Up to you!” Gu Fei did not really have a lot of faith in Xi Xiaotian's plan, revealing a look of nonchalance to her.
”Best of luck!” Everyone else, however, gave her plenty of encouragement. Thus, Xi Xiaotian sent a message to Cirrus, informing him that she will be taking charge of the auction as they had previously planned.
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Back in Yunjiao Sawmill, the final pieces for the stage that they had originally set forth was very different from what they ended up having to deal with. Not a single guild leader they wanted showed up, while the unwanted Young Master Han and his entourage were the first to arrive on the scene. Gu Fei and everyone else were currently hiding behind cover in their respective positions, and when they saw the message from Xi Xiaotian informing everyone that Young Master Han was present, each of them were grinding their teeth when Royal God Call suddenly proposed, ”Forget it, let's deal with all the guild leader missions another time. Let's just jump Young Master Han and eliminate him right now! We'll see if he dares to be arrogant again.”
”Eliminate him? Isn't he a neutral third party player right now? What's the point of killing him for!?” Southern Lone Blade was the most pragmatic one out of them all.
”Stay calm, and look at the bigger picture,” Gu Fei coaxed.
Xi Xiaotian was standing right below the log pile where their ”quest giver” Walter was sitting. The moment she saw Young Master Han, she revealed a slightly astonished expression before quickly coming up to him, ”What? Didn't Guild leader Surge say he's not joining us for this auction?”
”I'm no longer with Carouse. I'm here to represent Colored Clouds,” Young Master Han chuckled. ”What, are you a part of this guild hosting the auction as well?”