The fitted outfit was predominantly dark red, with an emblem embroidered on its chest: a black hawk spreading its wings, its talons clutching a blood-red magic core. This was the signature attire of the Ao Ba Family, one of Wutan City's three great families.
Unlike the Xiao Clan and the Jia Lie Family, which controlled the city's marketplaces and public security and chiefly dealt in resources such as medicinal herbs, pills, and magic beast materials, the Ao Ba Family had taken a different path. They controlled most of the city's gray-market businesses, including casinos and pleasure houses. Their strongest member was their patriarch, Oba Pa, a Three-Star Da Dou Shi.
In the original story, he had barely any presence. He was not mentioned until Xiao Yan returned after the Three-Year Agreement, and not long afterward, he met a gruesome end at Queen Medusa's hands.
But why would the Ao Ba Family send people to watch me?
Xia Kong carefully sifted through the memories of this body's original owner, but could not recall any bitter feud between him and the Ao Ba Family.
The original owner's father had been an ordinary mercenary, a Three-Star Dou Zhe. His mother had not even reached the Dou Zhe level. Aside from her outstanding beauty and gentle disposition, there had been nothing exceptional about her. By rights, neither should have become entangled with the Ao Ba Family.
Their only connection dated back a year. At the time, the original owner had already cultivated to eighth stage Dou Qi. An elder of the Ao Ba Family had sent servants to his door, hoping to recruit him as a live-in son-in-law. Yet, for reasons unknown, his parents had rejected the proposal outright.
Not long afterward, the original owner had successfully broken through to ninth stage Dou Qi. His father had then taken his mother out with him-an unusual occurrence-and neither had ever returned. Eager to break through to Dou Zhe, the original owner had exhausted himself in body and mind and fallen unconscious. When his eyes opened again, Xia Kong had taken over this body, bound himself to the farm space, and begun his rise against the odds.
Had he not run into the Ao Ba Family's men today, Xia Kong would almost have put that old incident out of his mind. He had never intended to dig to the roots of the original owner's parents' disappearance. Now, however, doubts began to cloud his heart.
What role did the Ao Ba Family play in all this? Could they have had something to do with my parents' disappearance? Or were they simply still intent on that old plan to recruit me as a live-in son-in-law?
Unfortunately, he had far too few clues. All manner of conjectures circled in his mind, and he could not untangle their twists and turns in so little time.
As Xia Kong pondered, he caught sight of a large group wearing Ao Ba Family attire converging on his position from the other end of the street. This was no place to linger, and he had no desire to stay and risk testing them. He casually picked up two candied hawthorn skewers from the vendor's rack, tossed down a gold coin, and turned to leave at a brisk pace.
He made his way to the vicinity of the Mittel Auction House and found a secluded corner that no one was watching. There, Xia Kong put his black robe back on, pulled the hood over his head, and displayed his gleaming gold VIP Card before entering the auction house through the VIP side entrance.
"Honored guest, please follow me."
A pretty maid dipped into a slight bow and stepped forward to lead Xia Kong to a VIP room. He had enjoyed no such treatment on his last visit through the main entrance.
Once they entered the room, the maid did not immediately withdraw. Instead, she stood to one side and spoke softly. "Senior, do you still remember me? I'm Xiao Qin."
"Mm."
Xia Kong nodded mildly. Of course he remembered her. Xiao Qin was the girl who had received him outside the Appraisal Room last time.
"Thank you for helping me, Senior. It was only because of you that I was promoted." Xiao Qin was rather nervous as she spoke, a blush rising over her youthful cheeks. Her words came hesitantly. "While you're waiting... if there's anything you need, Senior, I can..."
How could Xia Kong fail to hear the implication in her words? Because he had brought enormous profits to the Mittel Auction House, Xiao Qin, previously an ordinary reception maid in the main hall, had been promoted to attending high-ranking VIPs.
Xia Kong looked her over. Her face and figure were both quite good. On a scale of a hundred, she would score somewhere in the seventies overall. Ya Fei, on the other hand, would rate at least ninety.
Although he had the desires of an ordinary man, he was no lecher desperate for a woman. Naturally, he would not take the opportunity to put her in a difficult position. He merely asked her to brew a pot of clear tea.
Before long, the door to the VIP room was gently pushed open.
Ya Fei entered alone, wearing a red dress that trailed along the floor.
Looking up, she saw Xia Kong sitting alone over his tea, with Xiao Qin attending him from the side. Their conduct was proper, without the slightest hint of intimacy or sensuality. The corners of Ya Fei's lips lifted almost imperceptibly, lending still more charm to her already radiant face.
"Xiao Qin, you may leave. I wish to speak with this gentleman alone."
"Yes, miss."
A barely perceptible trace of disappointment flashed through Xiao Qin's eyes. She bowed and slowly left the VIP room. It was not that she was consumed by lust and could not wait for something to happen with Xia Kong. She simply understood all too well the fate that might await a maid like her. Rather than give her first time to some unfamiliar, wretched old man, she would prefer to give it to this young, honored guest, who had at least helped her indirectly.
"Hehe, little brother Xia Kong, you disappeared for half a month. Don't tell me you were hiding somewhere, preparing a grand surprise for your big sister?"
Ya Fei approached with graceful steps, bent slightly to smooth her skirt, and elegantly took the seat opposite Xia Kong.
Xia Kong did not answer. He simply watched her in silence, his gaze lingering on that face capable of bewitching hearts. Under his unwavering stare, an inexplicable unease stirred within Ya Fei, and she instinctively turned her head to avoid his eyes.
Only then did Xia Kong raise his hand and remove his hood.
"Sorry, Sister Ya Fei. Someone followed me on my way here."
"What? You were being followed?"
Ya Fei abruptly rose to her feet, the curves of her chest swaying gently with the movement.
"Do you know who it was, little brother?" Then her tone shifted, taking on a teasing, playful edge. "You weren't suspecting your big sister just now, were you?"
"Of course not. If I suspected you, Sister Ya Fei, I wouldn't have set foot here today." Xia Kong waved a hand, then changed the subject. "Let's put those troubles aside for now. Congratulations, sister. Your cultivation has advanced again."
After seeing that his pursuers belonged to the Ao Ba Family, Xia Kong had dismissed most of his suspicions about Ya Fei. His brief probe just now had shown that she knew nothing of his being followed, and neither her expressions nor her movements seemed feigned. Only then had he laid his doubts to rest completely.
At their last meeting, Ya Fei had still been a Two-Star Dou Zhe. Now she had already become a Three-Star Dou Zhe. That batch of potatoes and Spicy Jade must have benefited her greatly.
Xia Kong could see through Ya Fei's cultivation, and she could naturally sense the surging Dou Qi within him as well. Secretly, she was astonished. In just half a month, his aura had grown enormously. His cultivation speed was likely no slower than that of Xiao Yan, the Xiao Clan's former genius. Her beautiful eyes kept roaming over Xia Kong.
Seeing that Xia Kong did not wish to discuss being followed any further, Ya Fei smoothly picked up the new thread and said with a lilting laugh, "That's all thanks to the potatoes and Spicy Jade you brought me, little brother. Without your goods, advancing another step with my aptitude would be no easy feat. But you're the true prodigy, little brother Xia Kong. In just half a month, the pressure I feel from you has more than doubled."
"Haha, there's no need for such formalities between us, sister." Xia Kong smiled. "I came this time because I'd like to continue working with you."
As he finished speaking, he turned his wrist and neatly laid the twenty pieces of level-one Spicy Jade he had prepared on the table.
At the sight of that entire row of Spicy Jade, Ya Fei could scarcely conceal the delight in her eyes.
Over the past half month, the Mittel Auction House had deliberately built up publicity. Coupled with spreading rumors that many people had successfully broken through their cultivation bottlenecks after consuming Spicy Jade, its name had already swept across Wutan City. The few pieces remaining from the previous batch had even approached forty thousand gold coins apiece at auction. Countless factions and wealthy buyers had privately pulled strings, hoping to reserve some for purchase. The intangible benefits it had brought the auction house, such as increased traffic and prestige, were even harder to measure.
Ya Fei could already imagine how feverish the next auction would be when Spicy Jade appeared again, once they launched another round of publicity today.
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