When they had first come out.
Ling Xiao had noticed her sneaking glances at the candied hawthorns and swallowing again and again.
Seeing that she was in a bad mood, he'd brought them out to tempt her.
And she'd fallen for it!
Qian Renxue carefully bit into a hawthorn coated in sugar,
and the sweet-and-sour taste spread across her tongue.
In an instant, she felt as if all the unhappiness from before had been healed.
So this was the taste of candied hawthorns...
They really were much better than abalone and seafood!
"We've been competing all day. You must be hungry, right?
There seems to be a grilled fish stall over there. Come on, your teacher will take you to get something delicious."
"Grilled fish? The fish can't be fresh, can it?
And that cook looks so sloppy... Forget it, forget it."
Qian Renxue had indeed caught a whiff of something incredibly fragrant, but when she saw the roadside stall wreathed in thick smoke,
she immediately lost interest.
"Have you ever heard of 'the best food is found among the common folk'? Trust me, this is definitely better than anything you've ever eaten."
Ling Xiao glanced at the golden, tempting grilled fish and the packed food stall, speaking with conviction.
"Mmm, so good, so good... It's delicious!"
A while later,
Qian Renxue had oil all over her fingers, her cheeks bulging with food. She couldn't even spare a moment to speak.
She wasn't wearing her own face right now anyway, so she simply let herself go.
Noble etiquette, the dignity of the crown prince—
she tossed it all onto the sizzling, smoky grill.
After the grilled fish, Ling Xiao dragged her off to try stinky tofu, which smelled foul but tasted delicious,
and deep-fried centipedes, which looked enough to make your scalp crawl but crunched loudly between your teeth.
Qian Renxue frowned and said no, then couldn't help sneaking a bite despite her furrowed brow.
Watching her look both pained and delighted,
Ling Xiao laughed.
He hadn't expected she was a secret little foodie.
"Teacher, where are we going next?"
She had never enjoyed such unrestrained freedom before, and Qian Renxue was having so much fun that she'd almost forgotten herself.
"Next..."
Ling Xiao pointed toward a building glowing with brilliant colors, like a treasure pavilion.
"We're going to the auction house for a look around."
He'd never seen what kinds of strange and unusual things an auction house in the Douluo World might have.
"The auction house... All right, let's go take a look."
Qian Renxue was a little unenthusiastic.
She'd been there plenty of times.
But since her teacher wanted to go, she'd keep him company.
Qian Renxue led Ling Xiao into the auction house with practiced ease, and they took a private room on the second floor.
A maid brought them tea and pastries, then explained the auction rules.
The Heaven Dou Auction House was open twenty-four hours a day, with special auctions at different times,
drawing in countless guests.
The auction taking place now, close to dawn, was known as the "Ghost Market."
Unlike ordinary auctions,
it revealed only some of the available information, with no starting price. Buyers had to rely entirely on their own judgment and luck.
"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests—"
the host announced with great enthusiasm,
"the next item up for auction is an incredibly precious spatial storage ring with a capacity of more than one hundred square meters!"
"An exceptionally rare treasure!
"Guests who are interested may begin bidding now!"
Beside him, a maid held a beautifully decorated, palm-sized box, but made no move to open it for display.
"Ten thousand!"
"Twenty thousand!"
"Thirty thousand!"
Even so, the moment the host finished speaking, bids rang out one after another.
"The origins of these auction items are often a little questionable,
and the auction house doesn't want to take responsibility,
but it also doesn't want to give up the profits. So they came up with this rather unusual bidding format!"
Qian Renxue explained to Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao nodded. He thought this approach was rather interesting.
The next item up for auction opened his eyes even wider.
"Up next—"
"the legendary Mermaid Clan!"
"It is said they possess peerless beauty and voices like celestial music, and that they exist only in the depths of the ocean."
"And today, they're making a grand appearance at the auction house!"
As the host's voice rang out, a transparent glass tank was pushed onto the stage.
The upper half was covered by a black cloth,
revealing only the mermaid's lower body—
a jade-blue tail and a slim stretch of snow-white waist.
Just one look,
combined with the host's introduction, was enough to set imaginations running wild.
Quite a few old lechers in the hall stared, their eyes nearly popping out and their breathing growing ragged.
Twenty thousand!
Thirty thousand!
Fifty thousand!
The bids shot up like mad!
Qian Renxue shook her head helplessly. She couldn't understand these creatures ruled by their lower halves.
She turned to make a few snarky remarks to Ling Xiao,
only to see him gazing at the stage with narrowed eyes, the very same half-smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"How about it, Teacher? Should I buy her for you as a maid?"
Qian Renxue asked in a faint, teasing voice.
"Heh. Do you think your teacher is that vulgar?"
Ling Xiao's expression instantly turned serious.
"No, no, of course not!"
"Your disciple just thinks it's rather pitiful that the mermaid was captured by force and dragged here to be auctioned."
Qian Renxue hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
Although she'd just been scolded for no reason, a strange happiness welled up inside her.
As expected, her teacher was different from those people!
But what was with that inscrutable smile just now?
Only then did Ling Xiao relax his expression, calmly drawing his gaze back from the stage.
If it were a mermaid, he could accept that.
A merman?
Better not, better not...
All he could say was, this auction... really knew how to have fun!
He just wondered what kind of expressions those people would have when they got their purchase and lifted the black cloth.
After the mermaid, all sorts of items came up for auction. They even brought out a king's seal,
though there was no way to know if it was genuine.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next item to make its appearance is a gown!"
"A gown woven from golden fish scales, made exclusively for the royal families of the two great empires!"
"Crafted by Heaven Dou's most outstanding master artisan, it can be called a perfect work of art!"
The host yanked away the white curtain, and the lights all converged on the center of the stage.
A long dress floated quietly beneath the spotlight.
It had a deep V neckline, with several flowing lines of tiny diamonds set around the waist. Golden fish scales covered the skirt,
and each scale bore naturally formed, mysterious patterns. The edges were translucent as thin ice,
every scale shimmering with rippling light beneath the lamps,
exuding elegance and splendor!
"Honey, I want it, I want it—!"
"Darling, if you don't win that for me, don't even think about getting into my bed tonight!"
"Aaaah—whoever buys it for me, I'll marry him!"
The moment the gown appeared, the women in the hall erupted in shrieks.
The bids soared as sharply as their voices!
"Thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
"Fifty thousand!"
"One hundred thousand!"
"One hundred and fifty thousand!"
"..."
Even Qian Renxue, who hadn't been very interested in the auction, kept stealing glances at the golden fish-scale gown.
But perhaps because Ling Xiao was there and she didn't want him to think she was extravagant and reckless with money,
or perhaps she had other concerns, she never joined the bidding.
Before you continue