But when Luo Qiu turned his head, the other person immediately hurried away.
Seeing this, You Ye frowned. She walked past Luo Qiu, intending to follow, but Luo Qiu reached out and caught her by the arm. "Forget it. He didn't mean any harm."
Perhaps even he found that explanation hard to accept, Luo Qiu thought for a moment before saying, "Lately, I've felt that my perception in this area has been growing sharper and sharper."
You Ye merely said softly, "As the club's owner, it wouldn't make sense if you couldn't see through people's hearts."
Luo Qiu instinctively froze. He knew this was probably another wondrous ability granted to him by the club.
Seeing through people's hearts wasn't something he considered bad, but he couldn't say what was good about it, either. Vaguely, Luo Qiu felt that this wasn't something worth celebrating.
Luo Qiu shook his head. "Let's take our seats... The catalog says the White Jade Token should be one of the last few items up for auction. But this is my first time in a place like this. It'll be good to broaden my horizons."
He turned to her with a curious smile. "I often hear about buyers throwing around millions at auctions and fighting one another over items. I wonder if I'll get to see it for myself today."
In truth, the two of them made a very strange pair.
The woman was as dreamlike as someone from a painting, as though she possessed a kind of magic that could ensnare the soul. The man, however, looked like an ordinary young man one could easily see anywhere. Though his features were fairly delicate, there were plenty of handsome young men around. Walking beside such a woman, he appeared especially ordinary.
Yet the man walked in front, while the beautiful, dreamlike woman followed at an unhurried pace. In the end, the pair found seats in a relatively secluded corner.
As if they didn't want to be disturbed.
Admiring beauty was human nature. Because You Ye's breathtaking beauty drew most people's gazes, hardly anyone noticed the old man with a childlike face and crane-white hair, or the young man beside him with sharp brows and bright eyes.
"Master, I never expected there to be such an otherworldly woman here." The young man gazed at her, somewhat entranced.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them. He quickly formed a hand seal before his chest, then swiftly tapped the young man between the brows and shouted, "Hah!"
"Master, I..." The young man's face suddenly filled with terror.
The old man frowned. "Don't speak. Recite the Heart Sutra silently, guard your Bright Platform, and clear away all distracting thoughts! Don't let this Pink Skull ruin your Dao heart."
The young man didn't dare delay and hurriedly shut his eyes.
The old man's gaze was as sharp as a torch. He looked past the young man toward that corner, his expression solemn. "What an Art of Charm... Just who is this woman? She has no Essence, Qi, or Spirit, like a wandering soul or wild ghost, yet she isn't a demon..."
Could she be from some unorthodox sect?
The old man thought of many things in an instant. He had come this time to obtain something. That item was said to have been lost for several centuries, but the old man had discovered it by chance this time. Even so, he couldn't be sure that no one else had come with the same purpose.
The old man took a deep breath and formed another hand seal. Then, with his fingers shaped into a sword formula, he swiftly wiped them across his eyes. He opened his eyes again and looked toward the corner.
This time, his gaze met the woman's.
Her sapphire-blue eyes were as deep as the sea. The instant their gazes met, the old man's spirit felt as though it had been swallowed by a whale and dragged into a colossal vortex. His face went pale and his expression turned horrified. He could only bite down hard on the tip of his tongue and barely pull himself free.
By then, he was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding and his breathing chaotic, as if he had just suffered a serious illness.
The old man quickly steadied himself. Muttering an incantation, he used advanced Daoist arts to transmit his voice. "I am Yang Taizi. May I ask who you are, fellow Daoist?"
"An eastern Daoist Cultivator? Put away your pitiful wariness. Don't spoil my master's mood, or I'll dig up your mountain stronghold. Hmph!"
The woman's snort rang out like a great bell struck in the highest heavens, shaking Yang Taizi's mind until he was barely able to hold steady. A mouthful of blood almost rose to his throat. If not for the deep foundation of the Pure Yang Skill he had cultivated painstakingly for sixty or seventy years, he might have suffered a deviation and gone berserk.
Yet that terrifying mental pressure vanished without a trace. Yang Taizi's expression grew even uglier. As he slowly regulated his breathing, he secretly wondered when such a powerful figure had appeared nearby.
More astonishingly, judging by her tone, she seemed to be merely a servant.
The old man took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, opened the Penguin app, and logged into his QQ account. His fingers flew as he used handwriting input to type: "Fellow Daoists, has anyone heard of a woman with beauty like an immortal, blue eyes, black hair, and an extraordinarily powerful spirit, whose Art of Charm is especially formidable? Urgent. Waiting online."
"I'll probably be back tonight... Don't cook..."
Luo Qiu replied to Ren Ziling's Nth text message, then looked up in confusion. "You Ye, did you just say something? I think I heard some strange noises, but I couldn't make them out."
"Mm, I didn't say anything." You Ye smiled faintly.
"Really?" Luo Qiu nodded.
The auctioneer had already taken the stage and begun speaking into the microphone. "Thank you all for coming. It's my great honor that this auction will be hosted by me..."
After the lengthy opening remarks, the first item up for bidding was immediately brought out. Luo Qiu glanced at the price. The starting bid was thirty thousand.
He couldn't help thinking self-deprecatingly: Looks like starting bids of several million or even tens of millions aren't easy to come across... I've heard that high-end auctions overseas often have transactions worth over a hundred million. Once my traveling ability grows stronger, I should take some time to see one for myself.
Luo Qiu was quite interested. He listened as the host explained every item in detail. A thought suddenly struck him: Looks like I should properly study this field too.
The club conveniently provided him with appraisal abilities, but judging from the White Jade Token, these appraisals weren't free. If he had to trade away his lifespan every time he wanted information, he would be getting cheated beyond belief.
"Should I ask Zhang Qingrui to recommend a few books suitable for beginners...? We're classmates, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
As he thought and watched, the purpose of his visit finally appeared.
The projection on the stage displayed photographs of the White Jade Token taken from several different angles. At the same time, the auctioneer began speaking enthusiastically. "Next is lot number twenty-seven, provided by Gu Yue Zhai! I believe those who have been following this have already learned some details about this jade token. Everyone, please look at the back. We can vaguely make out the two characters 'Zi Gang,' engraved in seal script!"
The atmosphere at the venue seemed to grow heated. Spotlights shone on the White Jade Token, and several guests began taking pictures without hesitation.
The auctioneer smiled. "I'm sure everyone is familiar with this signature! Now, I can say with certainty that the White Jade Token you're looking at truly came from that great jade craftsman of the Ming Dynasty! The origins of this White Jade Token can no longer be traced, but based on the dating of the attached impurities, we can guarantee that it is five hundred years old..."
After presenting the dating certificate and the appraisal certificate for the White Jade Token's material, the auctioneer immediately struck the gavel. "The starting bid for the White Jade Token is five hundred and fifty thousand, with increments of ten thousand... Five hundred and fifty thousand, first call! Someone has raised their paddle! It's the lady at A66!"
Watching You Ye elegantly raise her numbered paddle, Luo Qiu... simply watched in silence.
Almost all the money in his bank account consisted of the New Year's money, red packets, and pocket money he had accumulated over the years.
The club was extremely wealthy—so wealthy that when Luo Qiu had first come into contact with it, he had stared at the circles to the left of the decimal points in astonishment for quite some time. But that wealth couldn't be used, leaving him able only to sigh at the unreachable riches.
So he had only the money in his own bank account, a little over ten thousand at most.
"You Ye, don't tell me you're actually a rich heiress?"
You Ye still wore that inscrutable smile. "What belongs to You Ye naturally belongs to my master as well."
Luo Qiu froze, stunned. "Most men would probably love hearing that, wouldn't they? But..."
He shook his head and continued, "...Since you've already made a bid, then if possible, try to buy it back."
Luo Qiu wasn't indecisive. Since they were acquiring it through normal means, there was nothing wrong with simply buying it back.
He didn't feel there was anything wrong with using You Ye's money.
You Ye had lived for more than three hundred years, experiencing the constant changes of the times. With the club behind her, it wasn't difficult to imagine that she had accumulated some extraordinary wealth.
The same principle applied to him.
As long as he wanted to, he could accumulate an enormous fortune in the future as well.
So if the White Jade Token were bought by someone else merely because he was being coy, it would actually be even more troublesome. Luo Qiu was, at heart, afraid of trouble.
"Five hundred and sixty thousand! A45 has bid five hundred and sixty thousand! Is there anything higher? Five hundred and sixty thousand, first call!"
"Five hundred and seventy thousand! A66 has bid five hundred and seventy thousand! Anyone else? Anyone higher?!"
"Five hundred and eighty thousand! A51, five hundred and eighty thousand, first call!"
Watching the auctioneer shout himself hoarse, You Ye seemed to grow impatient. She actually stood up and announced clearly, "No need to trouble yourself. One million!"
In the eyes of truly wealthy people, this number was nothing special.
Yet at that moment, when this dreamlike woman stood up, she drew nearly every gaze in the venue. The men couldn't pull their eyes away from her beautiful figure and became utterly captivated. As for the women, for once, none of them felt disdain. Instead, they secretly thought that this was a beauty so overwhelming it made others feel ashamed of themselves.
In the corner on the other side, the old man tried several times to raise his numbered paddle, but it felt as though a mountain were pressing down on him. Cold sweat dripped from him again and again, while the shock in his heart deepened.
The old man knew that the charm radiating from this woman had bewitched everyone. The auctioneer alone had remained completely unaffected. Her control over this art had reached an utterly precise pinnacle. Not only that, but he was constantly enduring that immense mental pressure, with his Dao heart hovering on the verge of collapse.
"...One million, third call! Sold! This White Jade 'Zi Gang' Token belongs to the lady at A66!"
The gavel fell.
But at that very moment, a figure suddenly charged out from within the venue. He rushed onto the stage, snatched the White Jade Token into his hand, and sprinted toward a side emergency exit.
Only then did the security guards seem to come to their senses. Gripping their batons, they hurried after him.
Luo Qiu frowned slightly. He saw that You Ye was angry...
But the person who had stolen the jade token was none other than the man he had noticed twice before... the man wearing black-rimmed glasses!
Before you continue