Chapter 1217 - 965: Don’t Argue with Me

At the auction, Ai Lin had been silently following the progress, and the massive buzz Long Yi generated had made the subsequent auctions seem somewhat quieter. However, as some excellent items appeared, the thrill of throwing money around once again dominated the people in front of her.

Most of these items were luxury goods with little practical use, but there were a few that Ai Lin liked, and she bid a few times and succeeded once. She had won an exquisitely crafted piece of jewelry — yes, just exquisitely crafted and no more.

After another auction of a precious item, the enthusiasm of the crowd was stirred again. An item suspected to be a relic of the Giants was sold for more than five hundred million. Ai Lin had acquired a lot of knowledge about Giant relics from Long Yi. She recognized that the item truly was a product of the Giants, but it was merely a part of a tool. If the person who obtained it was perceptive enough, they could indeed learn a lot from it and become a powerhouse.

Finally, the auction moved on to the item that Ai Lin was most interested in.

Tetrahedron.

"Haha, after a series of tense bids, I think everyone must be tired. Let’s change things up now!" the auctioneer said with a smile. The crowd nodded and smiled, some even took the opportunity to visit the restroom.

The black cloth was removed, and the auctioneer began, "This is a tetrahedron. Its surface appears to be some kind of metal and is extremely well-crafted. Our appraisers have thoroughly researched it and discovered that each edge of this tetrahedron is absolutely equal, and the patterns on each face are perfectly identical. The owner of the item mentioned that he has tried many methods to open this tetrahedron, all in vain, without knowing what exactly is inside."

"How do you know there’s something inside?" someone loudly asked.

"First, it’s very light, wholly unlike a solid metal structure. Second, because there have been brief energy fluctuations inside this thing, which are penetrating," the auctioneer explained.

"This isn’t a Giant relic?" another person asked.

"Obviously, neither the material, the pattern style, nor the craftsmanship match any characteristics of Giant relics," the auctioneer responded.

"Haha, I have actually seen this item before. A friend and I once bought it from an adventurer. He studied it for half a year and couldn’t figure it out; I’ve heard many others have this thing too. Perhaps it’s just mass-produced junk made by someone in the past!" a wealthy merchant loudly said.

"Without a provenance for this item, I dare not assume anything. Per the owner’s request, the starting bid for this tetrahedron is five hundred thousand, with each minimum bid increment of ten thousand. The bidding starts now."

Clearly, there was not much interest in this item. Fortunately, the starting price was also not high, so some began to raise the price. After some time, the price reached six hundred eighty thousand.

The wealthy merchant who had spoken earlier thought for a moment and then said, "I bid eight hundred thousand. My friend bought it for a million back then, and today I’ll also spend eight hundred thousand to buy another one, just to tease him about it. If you are not particularly fond of it, perhaps don’t compete with me?"

His words seemed reasonable and indeed no one else raised the bid.

"So, I must ask one last time..." the auctioneer was about to continue when Ai Lin raised her bidding sign.

"I bid one million. I am also very interested in this item," Ai Lin said.

Upon hearing this, everyone’s gaze turned to the wealthy merchant from earlier. Clearly, this merchant’s competitor had emerged.

"Come on, girl, can’t we not do this? I had just finished speaking, and here you go, opposing me?" The merchant’s face looked displeased.

"I am very sorry, but the fact is I really like this item too. Could you possibly let me have it?" Ai Lin asked politely.

"That’s unlikely! One million one hundred thousand!" the merchant raised the bid directly.

"Look, I just spoke, and why must you oppose me now? Two million," Ai Lin said softly, raising the stakes significantly.

"Heh, listen young lady, don’t play these games with me. Just now your man left, and your deposit of twenty million was already deducted; you don’t have much money left. If it exceeds the deposit..." The merchant sneered, "Three million!"

"You can rest assured about that. My husband and I are from a small place and have been saving money all our lives; we haven’t splurged much until now. Today we just wanted to indulge a bit, five million," Ai Lin said.

"Indulge? Then let me see your strength and will! Ten million!" the merchant shouted, his eyes bulging.

The whole venue then started to gasp. It wasn’t just because of ten million, but because it wasn’t worth it! It was like trading a house for an egg, which seemed downright foolish!

"Fifty million," Ai Lin stated plainly, raising the bid sharply.

The merchant’s eyes began to tremble; he knew he could not bid any higher. If he spent fifty million on such an item to take back, his friends would mock him to death. In fact, if he really wanted, his friend could even give it to him for free!

"Hmph!" The merchant snorted heavily, no longer continuing to bid. Ai Lin gave a slight smile, "Sorry, I wish you better luck finding something more suitable next time. I certainly won’t compete with you then."

The merchant remained silent while the auctioneer chuckled. Indeed, he loved these fervent bidders — an item barely worth a million suddenly escalated to fifty million, who wouldn’t love that?

"So, as usual, I..."

"Fifty million and ten thousand," someone interrupted the auctioneer again. It was the middle-aged man who had competed with Long Yi for the elf earlier.

"Are you kidding, you too?" Ai Lin was exasperated.

"What, I like it too, is that not allowed?" the middle-aged man said.

"Fine, of course, but you’re just a poor ghost, so why bother showing off?" Ai Lin directly taunted him.

"Hmph, you don’t need to worry about the money!" The middle-aged man’s expression was grim. He was indeed financially stretched at the moment, but he was convinced there was something wrong with the Tetrahedron, and he had to win it!

"You can only bid up to three hundred million at most right now, so why waste your time? I bid three hundred million." Ai Lin actually raised the bid to three hundred million!

Insane! Completely insane!

The wealthy in the room looked at Ai Lin as if she were beyond reason. Did she really, as she claimed, never spend money and just came today to squander it at will?

"Stop talking nonsense, do you even have enough for the deposit?" the middle-aged man sneered.

"That’s none of your concern; you just need to silently admit to yourself that you’re a poor ghost," Ai Lin said with a smile.

It wasn’t just Long Yi who had put down a deposit; Ai Lin had done so too, you know. She wasn’t poor at all! The private riches of the Neglecter she had killed had all fallen into Ai Lin’s hands in the end! The Neglecter’s Rejuvenation had amassed her a staggering amount of wealth over the years, even more than Long Yi’s!

Seeing that the auctioneer did not stop Ai Lin, the middle-aged man realized he had underestimated her. So, he coldly placed a bid, "Three hundred million and ten thousand!"

When he announced this price, everyone already started looking at him as if he were a fool, but he was completely unaware.

"Four hundred million," Ai Lin bid higher.

"Add ten thousand!"

"Five hundred million!" Ai Lin did not back down and astonishingly pushed the price of this item, worth only one million, to that of a precious auction piece!

Ai Lin stared at him, and by this time, even the hot-headed middle-aged man hesitated.

"Ha, in the end, you’re just a poor ghost after all, why waste time," Ai Lin said, shaking her head and sighing.

"I! Add ten thousand!" the middle-aged man shouted, veins popping on his forehead fiercely.

"Really, you still have money?" Ai Lin’s eyes widened.

A hint of triumph flashed in the middle-aged man’s eyes, but he saw a hint of amusement in Ai Lin’s eyes and immediately knew that things had gone badly.

"Well, congratulations then. Although I like this item, I can let it go," Ai Lin said.

Ai Lin suddenly stopped bidding, and almost inevitably, the item went to the middle-aged man for the price of five hundred million and ten thousand.

Only then did the middle-aged man realize the severity of the situation.

He had just spent five hundred million on something that was actually of no use at all! The Tetrahedron had been studied by countless people and none had succeeded, yet he had paid such a high price for it.

Isn’t this just stupid!

"You..." the middle-aged man pointed at Ai Lin, feeling a surge of blood rushing to his head, his vision even going dark for a moment!

"So, as per professional habit, I still have to ask... are there any more bidders?" The auctioneer almost wanted to burst into laughter; almost every auction, he encountered an idiot who got carried away in bidding against others only to be duped, and this time, he clearly lost to the maximum extent.

"Wait a minute!" the middle-aged man finally calmed down, he now had to make an extremely difficult decision. Making this decision would make him a laughing stock, damage his reputation, but at least he wouldn’t go bankrupt!

"I give up on this bid," the man said.

"Do you confirm that you give up this bid? If you give up, then the deposit you put here will be fully deducted, and you must leave immediately, and you will not be allowed to enter this auction house for half a year," the auctioneer meticulously performed his duty, and as he spoke, the middle-aged man’s face grew uglier. But he couldn’t afford to lose all five hundred million here!

"Yes, I confirm!"

The auctioneer sighed in relief and said, "Then, I confirm this bid is void, and the auction will start again."

"Fifty thousand," Ai Lin was the first to speak.

This time, the room was incredibly silent, no one said a word.

Everyone understood that this seemingly unfamiliar couple was not like they claimed to be just from the countryside, their cunning was appalling. But what was truly baffling was, why would the middle-aged man irrationally follow their lead in the bidding. Did he not know his own limitations?

By now, the middle-aged man had left the auction house, his gaze extremely gloomy. He lifted his wrist, and on his wrist was a delicate device. As he lifted his wrist, the image of an old man appeared.

"I am very sorry, great ancestor, I failed to fulfill your request," the man said in fear and trepidation. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote on Qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)