Chapter 2508 — Yang Qiqi's Disappointment

"Hm... you've got consignment items and auction items both. Settle them together?" Lu Xiansheng glanced at Wei Zhao's number plaque and asked.

"Together, please," Wei Zhao said.

"Very well." Lu Xiansheng nodded and began to calculate. He spoke vaguely, mentioning only "consignment items" without saying what Wei Zhao had consigned, so no one would grow suspicious—after all, so many things went under the hammer at a single auction. Who could tell which lot Wei Zhao had consigned?

Lu Xiansheng ran through Wei Zhao's bill and found that he still owed Wei Zhao nearly forty million, the equivalent of over six million Swiss francs. So he asked directly, "Will you take a transfer or cash?"

"Cash," Wei Zhao said. For the time being he did not want to expose his true identity. The matter of the pills—the later it was known, the better. Given the relationship between the You family and the ** Traders' Association, it would probably be no trouble at all to dig up information on Wei Zhao. So Wei Zhao tried to leave behind nothing that could be traced to him—a bank card number, for instance.

True, Wei Zhao held an anonymous account abroad, but he had used that account many times and told a number of people about it. Anyone with the will to inquire would have no difficulty tracing it back to Wei Zhao.

"Very well." Lu Xiansheng handed Wei Zhao a slip of paper, along with the pure yellow jade Wei Zhao had won at auction, and said, "Just go to that window over there to collect your cash."

"Many thanks!" Wei Zhao took the slip, carefully stowed the pure yellow jade, and went to another window, where he handed over the paper. The ** glanced at it, turned, and went into the back room to prepare. Before long he emerged lugging a leather case, which he handed to Wei Zhao. "Sir, your money is here. You may count it if you like."

"That won't be necessary." Taking the case, Wei Zhao headed straight for the door. The cases were all a fixed size; even for a mere ten thousand Swiss francs, the ** Traders' Association would still use a large leather case. This too was for the sake of secrecy—so that others could not judge from the case's bulk how much money was inside, nor guess what the consignor had actually put up for auction.

Naturally Wei Zhao was not fool enough to count the money on the spot—that would have been as good as a confession. If anyone added the sum to the earlier price of the pure yellow jade, it would not be hard to work out the total that the pills had fetched. Besides, Wei Zhao did not believe the ** Traders' Association would cheat him on such a matter.

Lu Xiansheng, for his part, showed nothing. But after Wei Zhao left, a sharp gleam flashed in the eyes of the Heaven Rank vice president. He had not told Lu Xiansheng of his plans—after all, powerful as the ** Traders' Association was, it was on the whole an organization that prized fairness and justice, and Lu Xiansheng was a rather upright man. His position might not rank as high as vice president, but as the chief auctioneer and appraiser of the market, his standing within the ** Traders' Association was extraordinary. He might even refuse to defer to a Heaven Rank vice president—and there would be nothing the vice president could do about it.

This was, after all, a man of special talent within the ** Traders' Association—even the president treated him with courtesy.

What the Heaven Rank vice president meant to do, however, ran counter to the Association's own code of honor. His ** had tried to extort bribes and been killed; for him to go seeking revenge made no sense at all. If the president ever learned of it, he would certainly not let the matter pass lightly—and if one of the rival vice presidents got wind of it, it would cost him a layer of skin. So the Heaven Rank vice president had no intention whatsoever of telling Lu Xiansheng.

Once Wei Zhao had gone, the Heaven Rank vice president made some excuse and left the office as well. He needed to plan how he would waylay Wei Zhao at the foot of the mountain in a little while...

……………………

After Wei Zhao rose from his seat, many others also made ready to leave. Yang Qiqi saw that Heaven Rank ** rise to depart, hesitated a moment, then hurried after him and called out, "Senior, please wait!"

"Oh? It's you!" The Heaven Rank ** turned his head and saw Yang Qiqi. He remembered her—the slip of a girl who the day before had wanted to trade blue crystal for the blood of an earth-attribute Heaven Rank spirit beast.

"Senior, my blue crystal... I don't have it on me at the moment, but rest assured, as soon as I get home I'll fetch it at once and trade with you. Please, please don't trade the earth-attribute Heaven Rank spirit beast's blood to anyone else—I beg you!" Yang Qiqi said earnestly to the Heaven Rank **.

Although the blue crystal had been taken by Wei Zhao, Yang Qiqi knew that an auction abroad would soon offer another blue crystal for sale. When the time came, she would do everything in her power to win one, and then bring it back to trade with the Heaven Rank **.

"Ha ha, little girl, I'm afraid not. That earth-attribute Heaven Rank spirit beast blood—I've already traded it away," the Heaven Rank ** said to Yang Qiqi. "So I can't trade with you anymore."

"What? What!" Yang Qiqi's face fell at once in dismay. "Already traded away? How could that be? How could it have come to this..."

"Just last night, someone came with the very thing I needed and traded for it. I couldn't refuse," the Heaven Rank ** said. "So, little girl, there's nothing I can do."

"What? What did he trade you?" Yang Qiqi asked quickly.

"Exactly what I needed—something from a water-attribute Heaven Rank spirit beast," the Heaven Rank ** said.

"Then... could you tell me who traded for that earth-attribute Heaven Rank spirit beast blood?" Yang Qiqi had no choice but to settle for second best and ask.

"That I can't do. It involves a person's privacy. Until that person agrees, I can't casually reveal his identity." The Heaven Rank ** shook his head, thinking to himself: who else but the man sitting right beside you, the one who fought You Pangao for the pure yellow jade?

But that he could not say. Though Wei Zhao and Yang Qiqi seemed to know each other and had sat together, the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. The two of them sitting side by side, and Wei Zhao never telling Yang Qiqi **—surely that meant he wished to keep it hidden? So the Heaven Rank ** would not play the villain and give such things away.

On the contrary, he was rather grateful to Wei Zhao, who had traded him the thing he needed and, in the contest over the pure yellow jade, had also got the better of You Pangao, giving him a breath of satisfaction. Since Wei Zhao had joined the bidding late, after the Heaven Rank ** had already given up, he bore Wei Zhao no ill will at all.

"I see..." Yang Qiqi knew she was asking too much.

"Well then, little girl, I must be going." The Heaven Rank ** turned and strode quickly out of the auction hall.