The Mysterious Man in Black!

Early the next morning, Fu Wen did not go to training, but instead followed Oscar to the auction house.

This was something he had discussed with Flender.

The reputation of the Flying Sausage had already spread, and more and more people would only be eyeing it.

Rather than hiding in the shadows, it was better to step out proactively.

Let those people see that Shrek Academy was not some soft persimmon to be squeezed.

"Brother Wen, do you think anyone will come to cause trouble today?"

Oscar walked along the road, looking back from time to time like a thief with a guilty conscience.

"I don't know."

Fu Wen's expression was calm. "Even if they do, I'm not afraid."

"Of course you're not afraid."

Oscar muttered, "With that martial soul of yours, even Teacher Li was almost bitten by you; who could possibly beat you?"

"I am only a one-ring; there are plenty of people who can beat me."

Fu Wen said indifferently, "But this is Suotuo City, not the Star Dou Great Forest."

"Who would dare to make a move here?"

Oscar thought about it and felt it made sense.

The seven-ring Soul Saint Flender was holding down the fort, and Zhao Wuji was also a seven-ring.

Two Soul Saints were essentially local emperors in Suotuo City.

Who would dare to touch their people?

In the backstage of the auction house.

Manager Gu was already waiting, and he was stunned to see Fu Wen had come along as well.

"Little Brother Fu Wen is here too? No training today?"

"Just came to take a look."

Fu Wen found a chair and sat down. "Manager Gu, you mentioned yesterday that someone was inquiring about the source of the Flying Sausage. Could you elaborate?"

The smile on Manager Gu's face stiffened for a moment.

He looked at Fu Wen, then at Oscar, and after a moment of hesitation, he spoke.

"It was a middle-aged man, about forty years old, dressed in black and wearing a bamboo hat."

"As soon as he came in, he asked who made the Flying Sausage. I told him it was provided by the academy, but he didn't believe me."

"He left later, but I had someone follow him and discovered he went to an inn in the south of the city."

"The south of the city?"

Fu Wen raised an eyebrow. "The inns on that street are all for outsiders."

"Outsiders."

Manager Gu nodded. "Judging by his accent, he wasn't a local; he sounded more like..."

He lowered his voice. "Like someone from Heaven Dou City."

Heaven Dou City.

Fu Wen narrowed his eyes.

Someone from Heaven Dou City, inquiring about the source of the Flying Sausage.

Was it someone from Martial Soul Hall?

Or a scout from some major family?

Or perhaps... just a merchant who simply wanted to buy sausages?

All were possible.

But regardless of who it was, they could not afford to let their guard down.

"Manager Gu, thank you."

Fu Wen stood up. "The auction will proceed as usual today; we will not stop."

Manager Gu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but upon seeing Fu Wen's calm eyes, he swallowed his words back down.

This child was not simple.

For today's auction, even more people came than in the previous few days.

The fame of the Flying Sausage had spread throughout Suotuo City, and people from several surrounding cities had even rushed over.

The price of fifty Gold Soul Coin per piece was an astronomical figure in the eyes of ordinary people.

But in the eyes of those wealthy merchants and nobles, it was merely the price of a meal.

To trade a meal for a life was well worth it.

"Distinguished guests, today we follow the usual rules."

Manager Gu stood on the stage, beaming: "Flying Sausage, five pieces, starting bid at two Gold Soul Coin."

"The first one, starting now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the audience raised a paddle.

"Twenty!"

"Thirty!"

"Forty!"

The price soared, quickly breaking through sixty.

In the end, the first Flying Sausage was sold for sixty-five Gold Soul Coin.

Five more than yesterday.

Fu Wen stood backstage, watching the bidding crowd, his gaze sweeping across them.

He was looking for someone.

That middle-aged man in the black cloak and bamboo hat.

If the other party had come today, he would certainly appear among the bidders.

Sure enough, as the second Flying Sausage went up for auction, Fu Wen spotted a black figure.

He was sitting in the corner, his bamboo hat pulled low, obscuring his face.

But he didn't raise his paddle, just sat there quietly, as if observing something.

Fu Wen didn't make a scene, continuing to watch.

The second, third, and fourth were auctioned off one after another.

The prices all hovered around sixty Gold Soul Coin.

The man in black never raised his paddle.

Until the fifth, and final one.

The man in black raised his paddle.

"Seventy."

His voice was low, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire auction house.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Seventy Gold Soul Coin—this was the highest price since the Flying Sausage auctions began.

No one countered.

Not because they couldn't afford it, but because it wasn't necessary.

Seventy coins was already far too much of a premium.

"Seventy coins! Sold!"

Manager Gu brought the gavel down.

The man in black stood up and walked toward the backstage area to pay and collect his goods.

Backstage.

The man in black removed his bamboo hat, revealing a face as ordinary as they come.

Around forty years old, square-jawed, thick eyebrows, and dark skin.

He looked like a farmhand.

But those eyes did not.

A farmhand's eyes would not possess such a sharp glint.

"Sir, here is your Flying Sausage."

Oscar handed over a sausage that radiated a blue light.

The man in black took the sausage, but instead of eating it, he held it under his nose and sniffed.

"This is the scent."

He muttered to himself, then looked up at Oscar.

"Little brother, did you make this sausage?"

Oscar glanced at Fu Wen.

Fu Wen nodded slightly.

"Yes."

Oscar said, "My Martial Soul is a sausage, and this is my second soul skill."

"I see."

The man in black nodded. "Then what is your first soul skill?"

"Big Sausage, it restores physical strength and soul power when eaten."

Oscar answered truthfully.

The man in black was silent for a moment, then pulled a money pouch from his bosom and placed it on the table.

"This is seventy Gold Soul Coin, count it."

"No need."

Oscar waved his hand. "The rules of the auction house: money and goods are cleared upon delivery."

The man in black looked at Oscar, then at Fu Wen standing to the side.

"Are you two students of Shrek Academy?"

"Yes."

Fu Wen spoke, his voice calm. "Is there something you need?"

The man in black was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Nothing, just asking."

He put on his bamboo hat, turned, and walked away.

Fu Wen stared at his back until he disappeared through the doorway.

"Brother Wen, this guy... is there something wrong with him?"

Oscar leaned in and asked in a low voice.

"There is."

Fu Wen nodded. "But he won't make a move here."

"Why?"

"Because he has already obtained what he wanted."

Fu Wen glanced in the direction where the man in black had disappeared and said indifferently.

"A Flying Sausage."

Returning to the academy, Fu Wen told Flender about today's situation.

"A man in black? From Heaven Dou City? Spent seventy Gold Soul Coin to buy a sausage?"

Flender frowned, pacing back and forth in the room.

"He didn't buy the sausage to eat; he bought it to study."

Fu Wen said, "He wants to figure out the principle behind the Flying Sausage."

"Study? How would he study it?"

"Find a food-type soul master to analyze it, or... find an alchemist to break it down."

Flender was puzzled.