What if I buy her to be your maid?! The Law of True Fragrance! Ghost Market!

As soon as they stepped out, Ling Xiao noticed her repeatedly sneaking glances at the Candied Hawthorn and swallowing her saliva.

Seeing she was in a bad mood, he had only bought it to coax her.

Sure enough, she took the bait!

Qian Renxue carefully bit into a hawthorn coated in sugar, the sweet and sour flavor melting in her mouth.

In an instant, she felt as if all her previous unhappiness had been healed.

So this is the taste of Candied Hawthorn...

It really is much better than abalone and seafood!

"You've been competing all day, you must be hungry, right? There seems to be a grilled fish stall over there. Come on, Master will take you to eat something delicious."

"Grilled fish? That fish doesn't look fresh, does it? And that cook looks so unkempt... forget it, forget it."

Qian Renxue did indeed smell a particularly fragrant aroma, but upon seeing the smoke-filled roadside stall, she immediately lost interest.

"Don't you know that 'the best food is found among the common folk'? Listen to me, this is definitely better than anything you've ever eaten." Ling Xiao glanced at the golden, enticing grilled fish and the packed food stall, speaking with certainty.

"Mmm, delicious, delicious... so delicious!"

After a while, Qian Renxue's ten fingers were covered in oil, her mouth stuffed full, and she couldn't even spare the time to speak.

Since she wasn't wearing her own face anyway, she simply let herself go completely.

Whatever noble etiquette or the dignity of a Crown Prince she had, it was all tossed aside onto the sizzling grilled fish rack.

After finishing the grilled fish, Ling Xiao dragged her along to try stinky tofu, which smelled foul but tasted fragrant, and deep-fried centipedes that made one's scalp tingle just looking at them, yet crunched satisfyingly with every bite.

Qian Renxue frowned and said she didn't want any, yet she couldn't help but sneak a bite while still frowning.

Watching her look of pained enjoyment, Ling Xiao smiled.

He hadn't expected this girl to be a hidden little foodie.

"Master, where are we going next?" Having never enjoyed this kind of reckless, unrestrained feeling before, Qian Renxue was getting a bit carried away.

"As for next—" Ling Xiao pointed toward a building that shone with five-colored lights, looking like a treasure pavilion. "We're going to the auction house to have some fun."

He had yet to see what kind of strange and exotic items the auction houses of the Douluo World might have.

"An auction house... alright, let's go take a look." Qian Renxue was a bit uninterested. She had been there many times before. However, since Master wanted to go, she would just accompany him to take a look.

Qian Renxue led Ling Xiao into the Tiandou Auction House with practiced ease and sat down in a private room on the second floor. A maid brought tea and pastries, introducing the auction rules to them.

The Tiandou Auction House operated twenty-four hours a day, with featured auctions at every time slot, attracting numerous guests.

The auction happening now, as dawn approached, was known as the "Ghost Market."

Unlike a normal auction, it only displayed partial information, had no reserve price, and relied entirely on the buyer's eye and luck.

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests—" the host introduced with great passion, "The next item up for auction is an incredibly precious spatial storage ring, with a storage capacity of over one hundred square meters!"

"Extremely rare and precious!"

"Interested guests, you may now begin the bidding!"

The attendant beside the stage held a delicately decorated, palm-sized box, yet she showed no intention of opening it for display.

"Ten thousand!"

"Twenty thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"

Even so, the moment the host finished speaking, bids began to ring out one after another in rapid succession.

"The origins of these auction items are more or less problematic. The auction house is unwilling to take responsibility, yet they don't want to forfeit the profits, so they've come up with this ingenious bidding format."

Qian Renxue explained to Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao nodded, finding this method rather interesting.

The next item to be presented, however, truly opened his eyes.

"Coming up next is—"

"The legendary Mermaid race!"

"It is said they possess peerless beauty and voices like heavenly music, existing only in the deepest parts of the ocean."

"Yet today, they make a grand appearance at our auction house!"

As the host's voice faded, a transparent glass tank was wheeled onto the stage.

The upper half was covered by a black cloth, revealing only the mermaid's lower body: a jade-blue fish tail and a sliver of snow-white waist.

Just one look, combined with the host's introduction, was enough to set imaginations running wild.

Many of the lecherous old men in the hall had their eyes glued to the stage, their breathing growing noticeably heavier.

"Twenty thousand!"

"Thirty thousand!"

"Fifty thousand!"

The bidding prices soared like madness!

Qian Renxue shook her head helplessly, truly unable to understand these creatures governed by their lower halves.

She turned her head to make a snide remark to Ling Xiao, only to see him squinting at the stage, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on his lips.

"How about this—Teacher, shall I buy her for you to serve as a maid?"

Qian Renxue said in a lingering, melancholy tone.

"Heh, in your eyes, am I also such a vulgar person?"

Ling Xiao's expression turned stern at once.

"No, no, of course not!"

"This disciple merely felt that since the mermaid was forcibly captured and brought here for auction, she is truly pitiful."

Qian Renxue hurriedly waved her hands in denial.

Although she had been rebuked for no reason, a surge of inexplicable joy welled up in her heart.

As expected, Teacher is different from them!

But that mysterious smile Teacher had just now... what exactly was that about?

Ling Xiao's expression softened, and he withdrew his gaze from the stage as if nothing had happened.

If it were a mermaid, he might have been able to accept it.

A merman?

Better to just forget it...

One could only say that this auction house... really knows how to play.

He just wondered what kind of expressions these guys would have once they received their goods and lifted the black cloth.

After the mermaid, all sorts of items were brought out, and there was even a seal belonging to some king, though whether it was genuine or not remained unknown.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next item to be unveiled is a gown!"

"A gown woven from golden silk and fish scales, crafted exclusively for the royal families of the two great empires!"

"Created by the most distinguished master craftsman in Heaven Dou, it is truly a perfect work of art!"

The host yanked away the white curtain, and the lights converged in unison upon the center of the stage.

A long dress hung silently suspended within the beam of light.

It featured a deep V-neckline, with the waistline accented by flowing lines of finely set diamonds, while the body of the dress was adorned with golden fish scales.

The surface of the scales bore natural, mysterious patterns, and their edges were translucent like thin ice.

Each piece shimmered with a rippling, faint glow under the lights, exuding nobility and magnificence!

"Hubby, I want it, I want it—!"

"Darling, if you don't bid on this for me, don't even think about getting into my bed tonight!"

"Ahhh—whoever can win this for me, I'll marry him!"

As soon as the gown appeared, a wave of shrieks erupted from the female guests in the hall.

The auction price soared upward just as sharply as their voices!

"Thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

"Fifty thousand!"

"One hundred thousand!"

"One hundred and fifty thousand!"

"..."

Even Qian Renxue, who had shown little interest in the auction until now, cast her gaze toward the golden silk fish-scale gown from time to time.

Yet, whether it was because Ling Xiao was present and she feared leaving him with the impression that she was a spendthrift who threw money around, or because of some other concern, she never once participated in the bidding.