Chapter 3739 — Both Had Their Eyes on It

After all, artificing, like alchemy, was a trade that demanded earnest study; the more one could calm the mind and think deeply, the more likely one was to achieve a breakthrough. Scrap King's odd temperament might make him ill-suited to dealing with people, but for an artificer it was hardly a bad thing.

Wei Zhao smiled and paid him no further mind. Turning, he walked to a quiet, deserted corner, put the pouch of spirit jade and the forepaws and whip-tail of the Nine-Tailed Cloudpiercer into his jade pendant's space, and only then set off toward the inner street.

By then it was exactly the hour of Mao. When Wei Zhao reached the mouth of the inner street, the guards happened to be setting out the sign for the inner street's open day, gesturing for the crowd that had been waiting there since early to enter.

As the first wave of people poured into the inner street, Wei Zhao headed straight for the Hong Family Trading Company. He could hardly wait to learn whether that piece of Star Inkstone he had set his heart on was still there.

He entered the Hong Family Trading Company's pavilion by familiar paths, hurried up to the second floor, and made straight for the corner where he had found the Star Inkstone last time. But one glance was enough to sink his heart: the display case there stood empty and bare. The Star Inkstone was gone.

After all that rushing and hurrying, was he to miss it at the very end?

Wei Zhao gave a bitter smile. Unwilling as he was to accept it, there was nothing to be done now that matters stood as they did. He meant to wander about a little more and then head back; after all, gain was his fortune, loss his fate, and he had long since prepared himself for this.

Yet just as he was about to give up, he suddenly caught sight of an employee of the Hong Family Trading Company passing by, carrying a fine wooden box. The mysterious aura seeping from within the box made his heart lurch for no reason at all—exactly the same sensation as when he had first discovered the Star Inkstone!

Could it be that what lay inside this wooden box was the Star Inkstone?

A powerful intuition welled up in Wei Zhao at once. He hurried after the employee's steps and soon saw the box delivered into a private room nearby.

On his last visit, Wei Zhao had made a point of asking: this private room was the place on the second floor set aside for trading valuable goods. Wealth, after all, should not be flaunted; treasures worth several hundred or even a thousand spirit jade ought, by every consideration of sense and propriety, to be traded in a secluded setting.

Had such dealings been conducted in the crowded public bustle of the first-floor hall, they would easily draw the covetous eyes of the ill-intentioned. The Hong Family Trading Company, with its vast wealth and power, had little to fear—but the customer who had spent a great sum of spirit jade might not have the same confidence.

If such a customer were followed and ambushed after leaving the Hong Family Trading Company, then not only would the precious treasure be snatched away and a great sum of spirit jade wasted for nothing—in the worst case, it might even cost him his life. That was no idle talk.

So, out of consideration for protecting customers' privacy, the Hong Family Trading Company had specially set up this private room for the trade of valuable goods.

If a customer spotted some precious treasure out in the hall, he need only step inside and negotiate the deal with the manager. The company's staff would then pack it up for him, so that no outsider could tell what was inside and conceive wicked designs.

The door of the private room was not shut tight, only left slightly ajar. Merchants, after all, must keep their doors open to welcome guests from all quarters; it was impossible to close up shop and turn away all other business merely to protect a customer's privacy—that was simply not realistic.

That they could set aside a private room at all, sparing customers as much unnecessary trouble as possible, already showed how thoroughly the Hong Family Trading Company had thought things through.

Through the half-open door, Wei Zhao's gaze fell at once on a familiar figure from behind, and his heart gave a sudden leap.

That figure was none other than the inner sect disciple of the Skypiercer Pavilion he had seen here last time. Though the man had changed into ordinary clothes rather than the Skypiercer Pavilion's distinctive attire, Wei Zhao could still tell that he was the same person as before.

If he had only been guessing before that the wooden box might contain the Star Inkstone, now, having seen this rival, Wei Zhao could be entirely certain: the box held the Star Inkstone, beyond a doubt.

And then he heard the manager inside say to the man, "You may open it and check whether it is what you want, sir. If you are interested, then the price remains as before—one thousand spirit jade. As that is a considerable sum, our Hong Family Trading Company can send men to collect it from your residence."

One thousand spirit jade—so it really was the Star Inkstone!

Wei Zhao's heart stirred. Drawing a deep breath, and seizing the moment before the man finalized the deal with the manager, he stepped into the private room.

"How may I be of service, sir?" the manager said at once, turning to look at Wei Zhao with a smile.

Though he still had to attend to the other man's transaction, that did not keep him from receiving Wei Zhao. After all, anyone with the confidence to step into the private room was a wealthy patron with a fistful of spirit jade—precisely the sort of benefactor merchants like them needed to court with the utmost care.

Before Wei Zhao could answer, the Skypiercer Pavilion inner sect disciple had already cast him a wary glance. Wei Zhao's earlier recognition had been quite right: this was Yu Jiang, the very rival for the Star Inkstone he had seen here last time.

And after one look at Wei Zhao, Yu Jiang too quickly recognized him, and his heart gave a start.

He knew well that if Wei Zhao had appeared here at such a moment, his purpose was most likely the same as his own—he too had come for the Star Inkstone. Before Wei Zhao's gaze could fall on the wooden box, he hastily and without a trace of expression shut the lid again, not wanting Wei Zhao to see the Star Inkstone inside.

In his eyes, Wei Zhao was nothing but a penniless wandering cultivator, who in theory could not possibly have so much spirit jade to buy the Star Inkstone. But since Wei Zhao had dared to walk into this private room, it meant he likely had some means behind him; to guard against the worst, a little concealment was only prudent.

After all, if Wei Zhao truly did discover the Star Inkstone in the box and began bidding against him on the spot, that would be troublesome indeed.

What he did not know was that Wei Zhao had long since concluded that the box contained the Star Inkstone; any concealment now was futile.

Yet Wei Zhao's face showed nothing. He did not so much as glance in Yu Jiang's direction, but said directly to the manager, "Manager, I saw a piece of Star Inkstone here last time. Do you still have any in stock?"

At these words, Yu Jiang, already nervous, felt his heart lurch—it was just as the saying went, speak of the devil. With Wei Zhao asking such a question, how could the manager, an old fox who had spent years battling in the seas of commerce, fail to sniff out the opportunity?

Sure enough, the manager's eyes lit up at the words. After studying the expressions on both their faces with an amused glint, he answered at once, "We do—only our shop has but a single piece of Star Inkstone in all. If you truly want it, sir, then you will have to bid against this gentleman here. According to market rules, the highest bidder takes it."