Early the next morning, Su Jiu and Chu Luohen prepared to leave Huayin City.
But as they passed the stall where they had stopped upon arriving, they discovered a crowd of humans and ghosts gathered around it.
The stallholder no longer wore his earlier woeful expression. Instead, his face was full of smiles and smug satisfaction.
Su Jiu glanced over his stall and discovered that only four of the invitation letters no one had wanted yesterday remained.
The stallholder pinned the four beneath his hand and said somewhat apologetically, "My apologies, everyone. My humble stall has only these four invitation letters left, but there are simply too many people who want to buy them. So these last four will go to the highest bidders."
Someone protested, "Yesterday, no one wanted these things even for a thousand spirit stones. Today, you charged ten thousand, and now that you're running out, you want to auction them off! You profiteer!"
Others had money and did not care about such things. One even snapped back, "If you can't afford one, leave. We don't need you here."
Though dissatisfied, the man still slunk away. A few other humans and ghosts with thin purses left along with him.
Even after some had left, however, plenty of people remained around the stall. Some intended to bid seriously, while others were merely there to watch the excitement.
Two spectators not far from Su Jiu chatted. "Who knows where the City Lord found so many fine things? I heard this auction even has soul artifacts."
"Tsk, never mind soul artifacts. There are plenty of rare flowers and exotic herbs from Thousand Fox Mountain and Netherworld Mountain, too."
"You saw the auction list as well?"
"When I passed the auction house today, I took a look at the entrance and