Nie Yu (First Update)

"Haha, Nie Yun, that move of yours was incredible! The four carriages were all loaded with stones and weighed about the same, and they looked identical too. They fled in four different directions, but there wasn't any gold in them at all. You mixed fish eyes in with pearls—so even if Li Fu caught up, it would've been useless. He probably feels like dying right now!"

In a private room at a restaurant, Yang Yan watched the people from Fuyun Money House scurrying about in every direction as though searching for someone. He lowered his voice excitedly and laughed at the youth before him.

Yang Yan had already washed off his disguise and changed back into his own clothes. Judging by his appearance, no one would have guessed that this young man was the fierce-looking yet somewhat "honest" boy from earlier.

Nie Yun sat across from him, his original appearance restored as well. He was neither handsome nor eye-catching, the sort who would vanish without a trace in a crowd.

"Heh, that kind of Human Traitor got what he deserved! It was already merciful enough that I didn't kill him!" Nie Yun chuckled as he gently spun the wine cup in his palm.

"'Human Traitor'? What's that? Ah, right, I really am curious. You didn't use a carriage, and you weren't carrying anything either—where did all that gold go? There were more than eight thousand jin of gold in total!"

Yang Yan looked Nie Yun over several times, yet still could not tell where he had hidden the gold. Unable to hold back, he voiced the doubt in his heart.

Back in the courtyard of Fuyun Money House, he had thought Nie Yun had brought in the carriages to haul away the gold. Now it seemed that had never been the case—it had merely been a smokescreen. By the time he returned to the courtyard, all eight thousand-plus jin of gold had vanished without a trace, with no idea where it had gone!

"I'll tell you about that later. We've been at this all afternoon, and it's almost dark. Let's grab something to eat and head to the auction house. Otherwise, even if we have money, we still won't be able to buy that battle axe!" Nie Yun said with a smile, offering no further explanation.

"Fine!" Since Nie Yun would not say, Yang Yan did not press him further and simply began wolfing down the food before him.

The truth was, it was not that Nie Yun refused to tell Yang Yan how he had hidden so much gold without leaving a trace. He simply had no idea how to explain it, because he had put all the gold inside his dantian!

"Dantian Storage" was a Special Talent. As the name implied, it opened one's dantian into a space capable of holding all things, allowing objects to be stored within it!

His dantian in his previous life had possessed this special ability. Thus, when his Bloodline Factor developed yesterday and opened the Pill Fire Dantian, it had also opened his Storage Dantian!

Some people were born utterly ordinary, while others were born with Special Talents. For instance, some people were exceptionally gifted at singing from birth, while others were born with damaged voices. Some excelled at business and management, while others developed a headache at the mere sight of such things.

There were many kinds of Special Talents on the continent. People with such talents were generally given titles ending in "Master." For example, a Sky Eye Master possessed the Sky Eye Talent, allowing them to see through things, see into the distance, and see what ordinary people could not; a Tracking Master excelled at tracking and possessed a Tracking Talent—once anyone was seen by one, they could never escape; an Earth Walker Master possessed the Earthwalking Talent and could move freely underground...

Thousand Illusions the Divine Thief of those years possessed the Divine Thief Talent. When he stole things, it happened without gods or ghosts ever knowing!

The Storage Dantian was precisely one such Special Talent. Only those who possessed this talent could open a Storage Dantian and become a so-called Storage Master. Otherwise, no matter how strong one was, it could not be done.

This involved far too much. Even if he explained it in detail, Yang Yan probably would not understand, so Nie Yun said nothing more.

After finishing their meal, the two did not linger and soon headed toward the Luoshui Auction House.

The Luoshui Auction House stood at the very center of Luoshui City, a majestic building seventy or eighty meters tall. Before they even reached it, they saw dozens of armored soldiers standing at the entrance, inspecting something.

"Looks like we'll still need to disguise ourselves and get new identities before we go over," Nie Yun said, frowning at the sight ahead.

In his previous life, Yang Yan and he had sneaked in through the back entrance. Sneaking in to watch the excitement was one thing, but they could not participate in the auction that way. Now that they had eight hundred thousand taels of silver, they naturally had to enter openly if they wanted to bid!

But if they entered and took part in the auction with their current identities, where would all that money have come from? Wouldn't that be the same as confessing without being accused?

Change identities? But whose identities could they use?

Nie Yun was feeling troubled.

"Well, if it isn't Cousin Nie Yun? What, you want to attend the auction too? Heh, you can attend, sure—but you need money. After your branch paid ten thousand taels of silver in compensation, I doubt you could scrape together any money even if you wanted to!"

A strange, mocking voice suddenly rang out behind him. When Nie Yun turned around, delight immediately bloomed in his heart. He had been worrying about how to get an identity, but now someone had conveniently come to help him!

The person behind him was none other than Nie Chao's older brother, Nie Yu!

As an Inner Disciple of the family, Nie Yu was born with a sense of superiority. When his younger brother had bullied Nie Yun and beaten him half to death, this fellow had not only failed to stop it, but had even reveled in his misfortune and cheered loudly. In Nie Yun's eyes, this man had long since been placed in the category of cripples.

"Cousin Nie Yu, I don't believe I've offended you. If such mockery reaches the family, it does not seem as though it will do you any good either!"

Though he was secretly overjoyed, he spoke with righteous indignation.

"Do me no good? You think far too highly of yourself. What are you worth? How could you possibly bring me any trouble? Hmph, you're nothing but trash from a fallen branch! Let me tell you: if I find out that my brother Nie Chao's injuries have anything to do with your branch, just see how I deal with you!"

Nie Yu snorted, his face full of disdain as he looked at Nie Yun.

"Nie Chao was injured? What do you mean? Cousin Nie Yu, are you mocking me for being too useless to avoid getting beaten up?" Although Nie Yun knew full well that he himself had beaten Nie Chao, how could he admit it? His expression changed, as though anger had risen within him.

"Hmph, it'd better not have been you!" Seeing that the youth before him did not appear to be faking it, Nie Yu's expression improved somewhat, though doubts remained in his heart.

His younger brother had gone to the Nie Tian Branch to collect the fine. Yet instead of bringing back the penalty money, he had been sent back as a "vegetable," unable to speak. Nie Chaoxing, who had gone with him, had confessed everything without reserve, admitting that he had beaten Nie Chao because they had fought over money!

A law-enforcement disciple beating an Inner Disciple into a "vegetable" had caused no small commotion among the family's Inner Disciples yesterday. However, Nie Chaoxing had confessed thoroughly and willingly accepted punishment, which was why the matter had been suppressed without causing too great a stir.

Nie Chaoxing's confession had quickly settled the matter, but as Nie Chao's older brother, Nie Yu had always found it suspicious. Nie Chaoxing and his brother Nie Chao had gotten along rather well normally, so how could he have struck so ruthlessly over a mere ten thousand taels of silver? Could this matter have something to do with the people of the Nie Tian Branch?

It was this string of doubts that had prompted him to deliberately provoke Nie Yun with his words when he saw him.

But judging from Nie Yun's current reaction, he seemed not to know that Nie Chao had already become a "vegetable"!

Had he been overthinking things? Forget it. Now was not the time to investigate this. The main reason he had come today was because he had heard that a sacred medicine for treating injuries would be auctioned off. His branch had brought all its savings and ordered him to obtain it at all costs to treat Nie Chao's injuries.

This was not because Nie Chao was so important to the branch. Rather, the branch's higher-ups also felt that there was something strange about this matter and insisted that Nie Chao be awakened so they could uncover the truth! Otherwise, where would the dignity of an Inner Disciple branch be?

"What nonsense!"

Since Nie Yun himself had dealt the blow, he naturally knew Nie Chao's condition. Unless something unexpected happened, the chance of Nie Chao waking up was very small. Seeing that Nie Yu's suspicions toward him had lessened, he deliberately snorted.

"Whether it's nonsense or not, you'd better pray I don't find anything. Otherwise, your entire branch will face the family's punishment. Hmph, get lost! If you don't have money, stop putting on airs here and disgracing the family!"

With a cold snort, Nie Yu cast Nie Yun another contemptuous glance and strode toward the auction house. When he reached the soldiers guarding the entrance, he deliberately flicked his hand with swagger and produced an invitation. "Second row, private room number seventeen!"

After saying that, he gave Nie Yun another demonstrative glance, raised his head high, and entered the auction house.

The Luoshui Auction House was the largest auction house in Luoshui City. Whenever it acquired a fine item, it would send special invitations to the Four Great Families and arrange designated private rooms for them. Having an invitation and a private room was a symbol of status. Nie Yu had deliberately displayed his invitation to show off before Nie Yun—did his branch have such a thing...

"Damn it, Nie Yun, why didn't you let me beat that brat up just now?" The moment Nie Yu entered, Yang Yan could no longer hold back, his anger blazing.

When he had seen how arrogant Nie Yu was, he had wanted to rush over and attack him. Yet before he could move, Nie Yun had stopped him. He truly could not understand how his friend could be so clever when dealing with Li Fu earlier, yet now willingly suffer such humiliation!

"Heh, don't rush. You'll get your chance!" Seeing how furious he was, Nie Yun chuckled. "Come on, follow me. Let's disguise ourselves again!"

With that, he took the lead and headed into a secluded alley.