Chapter 139: Chapter 138 Auction House Front
The long black night finally passed, and day arrived.
Daytime, early morning.
Almost as soon as it got light, Richard heard a knocking at the courtyard gate—a very cautious knocking.
After two “bang, bang” sounds, there was a long pause before another two “bang, bang” sounds.
“Lord Richard?” Gro’s voice came through, sounding as if someone was strangling him.
“Um?” Richard walked out the door and went to the courtyard gate, which he opened.
With a “creak,” Gro instinctively shrank to the side, and upon seeing Richard, he looked somewhat uneasy again toward the courtyard gate, and with what seemed like a psychological shadow, he asked in a low voice, “Lord Richard, where is… Pandora?”
“Asleep,” Richard said.
“Phew, that’s good,” Gro breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is there something you need?” Richard asked, throwing the gate wide open and inviting, “Come inside and talk.”
“Um, no, no, it’s fine to talk here,” Gro waved his hands repeatedly.
“That’s fine too,” Richard said with a slight sense of helplessness, and asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’ll make it short,” Gro said. “I came to see you mainly for two things. First, the wizard from the White Stone Tower arrived last night—yes, really arrived. The other thing is, the ‘rumor’ about the Examination Exemption Certificate has been confirmed—it’s real.
Last night, three ‘Examination Exemption Certificates’ were transported by an unlucky merchant group from ‘Newcastle’ to Cuijin City. The wizard from the White Stone Tower has confirmed it. With an ‘Examination Exemption Certificate,’ no matter if one has the wizard Talent or not, even if a fool or disabled, one can pass the test and board the ship to the continent.”
“So?” Richard’s eyes flickered.
“So…” Gro spoke, “the ‘Examination Exemption Certificate’ will be auctioned at the auction this morning, and I thought you might want to attend?”
“Um…” Richard responded, his expression not too enthusiastic, and with a slight arch of his brows, he said, “Rather than the auction, I’m more interested to know, after the wizards from the White Stone Tower arrived, if there was any reaction to their people’s deaths? Also… what exactly is going on with the Examination Exemption Certificate? Why did it appear as soon as the people from White Stone Tower arrived? Where exactly did the Examination Exemption Certificate originate, and how did it get transported here from ‘Newcastle’?”
“Um, that…” Gro was taken aback and shook his head, “that… I really don’t know.”
“Not at all,” Gro admitted honestly. “All these questions you asked have nothing to do with boarding the ship and heading to the continent, so I never pay attention to them.”
“Speaking of which…” Gro looked at Richard and couldn’t help asking again, “Speaking of which, Lord Richard, are you actually going to attend the auction? Because they’re auctioning the ‘Examination Exemption Certificate,’ the auction will definitely be bustling, and there should be many other valuable items being auctioned. Of course, the most important thing is the Examination Exemption Certificate. Aren’t you planning to board the ship to the continent? This is a rare opportunity…”
“Um…” Richard thought for a moment and finally nodded, “Then I’ll attend.”
“Alright, I’ll arrange for you to go,” Gro said and turned to leave.
Under the protection of the guards, Gro got into the carriage, his brows slightly furrowed. He couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but he always felt that Richard seemed somewhat uninterested in the so-called “Examination Exemption Certificate.”
“Squeak twist”, under the protection of numerous guards, a luxurious carriage drove through the streets, finally stopping in front of a tall building.
Richard and Gro got off the carriage.
After waiting for a moment, the carriage shook slightly, and Pandora, rubbing her eyes and yawning, jumped down from the carriage, took Richard’s hand, and sleepily followed him into the building.
Lately, Pandora had been sleeping more and more.
Initially, Richard had just thought it was Pandora’s way of killing time out of boredom. But gradually, he realized that this might be due to some changes in Pandora’s body.
Could it be her sleepiness signaling growth and development?
Richard thought to himself, looking up at the building in front of him, noticing that it was three stories tall with many decorative reliefs on its outer walls, making it look quite lavish. The twelve marble columns in front of the door were especially majestic. Above the main entrance was a gilded sign that read “Sofu Auction House.”
Squinting slightly, Richard took Pandora and Gro inside.
Upon reaching the entrance, Richard frowned slightly when he saw a large pool of blood on the ground. Although the blood had already congealed, its dry and dark appearance was somewhat frightening. Particularly since it almost covered the entire entrance, vividly depicting the events that had taken place.
Seeing Richard’s expression, Gro quickly explained, “This is from last night, caused by several noble families.”
Gro elaborated, “You don’t know, last night many families in Cuijin City went mad for those ‘Examination Exemption Certificates.’ They unleashed armed forces to snatch them. All night long, the area outside the city was a battlefield. The wooden box containing three ‘Examination Exemption Certificates’ changed owners more than ten times. In the end, they even stormed into Cuijin City and the blood in front of this door was left by them.
Later, my elder brother found their behavior too disgraceful. He used quite a number of people to maintain order and sternly warned all the families, barely managing to calm things down. The items were then delivered to the auction house, ready for auction.”
“Is that so…” Richard’s eyes flickered, stepping towards the entrance of the auction house, but suddenly, he heard a faint murmur.
“Everyone died…” someone said.
Richard turned his head and saw a young man with tattered clothes curled up in a corner not far from the entrance of the auction house. His eyes were lifeless and vacant, occasionally glancing at the air, and he kept muttering to himself, “Everyone died… everyone died… everyone died…”
Gro glanced over and with a smirk said to Richard, “He’s just an unlucky fellow, part of the Merchant Group tasked with transporting the ‘Examination Exemption Certificates’ to Cuijin City. They took the job thinking it would be a big score, but didn’t anticipate so many people targeting the ‘Examination Exemption Certificates.’ They were continuously attacked along the way and almost wiped out in an ambush.
This guy is the only one who managed to escape with the box containing the ‘Examination Exemption Certificates.’ He tried to seek help, but could only find those with ulterior motives, which led to his mental breakdown and this state. The auction house people didn’t know how to deal with him and simply abandoned him here to fend for himself. I think he’s destined to become a beggar. Poor guy!”
Gro mentioned pity, but his expression didn’t show much sympathy.
Richard glanced at the man but didn’t say much.
But just then, Pandora, who was half asleep and holding Richard’s hand, widened her eyes and looked towards the man.