189 Golden Crow City (2/2)
”Excuse me, sirs and madam, what can we do for you?” A servant appeared the moment they entered the building.
”We have an item we would like to have evaluated. We intend to sell it at this years auction,” Xue Wei answered casually. He did not go into detail about what exactly he wanted to sell, which made the servant frown slightly.
”Come with me,” the servant said politely and gestured for them to follow him. He led them into a small chamber adorned with beautiful figures, statues, and paintings.
”Please take a seat,” the servant continued and pointed at some cushions on the floor with a table in the middle. ”I will return with our head appraiser,” he said after a bit of hesitation.
He had not wanted to pick this appraiser, but something about this group told him that it was worth it.
Xue Wei raised an eyebrow in surprise when he heard him. He had not mentioned what he wanted to auction off, but he had still been treated as one of the most important guests in the Golden Chambers. This showed that the servant had a good gut sense and was able to get a good first impression of them.
Bowing deeply, the man left the chamber, leaving Xue Wei and his friends alone for some time.
Not long after, a few knocks could be heard on the door and soon a senior man stepped inside.
”Good day, sirs, madam,” he said as he nodded to all of them. ”I am the head appraiser of the Golden Chambers branch within the Golden Crow City. Please show me your items.”
Xue Wei did not hesitate and pointed his finger at the table. Thirty Spiritual Energy Bombs appeared on it, alongside ten Paralyzing Formations and three very simple stone figures that had puppet formations on their chests.
The appraiser stood in shock when he saw these papers and the stone figures. At first glance, they were worth nothing, but when he saw the runes on them, his eyes widened, and his mouth went agape.
”These are... formations?” he asked. Xue Wei nodded his head.
”I am a formation master. I want to sell thirty Spiritual Energy Bombs, ten Paralyzing Formations, and these three simple formation puppets,” he stated while gesturing towards the items on the table.
”I know that it is hard to believe me, so please, take one of each and examine it. Even trying them out will be okay; we can waste one of each to ensure that you can trust me,” he said amiably.
Xue Wei had been worried that they would suspect trickery, but the appraiser shook his head with frenzied denial.
”How could we waste formations like that?” he asked, shocked and petrified. ”Sirs, madam, please wait a moment, I will go fetch our formation examination kit,” he said and dashed out.
Moments later, the man came back into the room with a large box in his hands. It contained some orbs, which he pulled out and promptly proceeded to use to examine the formations. Every time the orb shone with a blinding light, the senior appraiser smiled contentedly.
It took him an hour to go through every single one of the formations. When he finished, his face was plastered with a smile.
”These are all genuine formations!” He exclaimed with shock. ”We could never even hope to have one formation, but now we have forty-three! Sir, are you sure that you wish to sell them all at our auction?”
”I wish to sell them all at the auction. I need the gold coins to purchase the Rebirth Pill,” Xue Wei said seriously. The head appraiser was silent for some time.
”Sir, I might be able to help you out,” he said before he excused himself and left the room again.
Shortly after, the appraised returned. This time, he was not alone but came with a stoic-looking old man. He had a goatee and his eyes were stern.
He looked at Xue Wei with his stern eyes, but there was no hostility in his gaze. He held a snow jade box in his hand.
”Good day, I am the director of the Golden Chambers within Golden Crow City,” the stoic man said. ”I've been informed that you have brought out some valuable formations for us to auction off. Those formations will bring our branch incredible praise from the headquarters”
”The Rebirth Pill was sent to us from the headquarters to be the main attraction of this year's auction, but we would be very happy to trade the Rebirth Pill for some formations,” he said seriously, making Xue Wei open his eyes in surprise.
”We will need to charge a sky-high price,” the man continued, ”because we've already leaked word of the Rebirth Pill. Retracting it will do damage to us, so to make it worth it for us, I want fifteen of your Spiritual Energy Bombs, five of your Paralyzing Formations, and one of your formation puppets.”
”We are not able to bargain on this price. It is already the lowest price I can offer you,” the man said seriously. ”As a token of appreciation, I will, however, waiver the fees for selling the other formations at our auction house, and I will lend you the only first-class room during the auction.”