Chapter 183 Auction (Part IV)
One day before the auction, in the underground room.
Ferdinand said, “Although this Bruno is a profligate son, he isn’t an idiot. He might come up with all sorts of ridiculous requests. Therefore, I have thought of a way out.”
Fang Xingjian had his eyes closed, cultivating. A gleam of white light shot out from his fingertip.
Ferdinand did not pay it much heed. He had long gotten used to Fang Xingjian maintaining this state of cultivation for almost twenty-four hours a day, so he just went on, “Xingjian, with your ability, you should be able to pass off as someone.”
“It’s just nice that these parietal bones came from the Northern Ice Region, and in that academy, there’s a Headmaster known for his formless sword Qis.
“However, what he’s even more known for is actually his pettiness and violent temperament.”
Ferdinand smiled, “Hehe, none of the people who’ve offended him have escaped from his revenge. If you can pass off as him, you should be able to suppress Bruno.”
Of course, this act of passing off as someone else must not be done openly.
When facing someone like Bruno, sometimes, it would be more effective to drop him some seemingly unintentional hints, and let him guess for himself.
This resulted in the current situation. Bruno knew in advance that this person came from the Northern Ice Region. He would then see him displaying Ether Sword Ripples to suppress four Knights, and would be able to tell from vague hints that this person was very petty.
‘Hans Wilson.’ This name appeared in Bruno’s mind.
‘So this person is Hans Wilson? Coming from an academy in Northern Ice Region, with formless slashes which can instantly kill a first transition Knight of the Academy, and with a bad temper, calculative regarding every single detail.’
Bruno’s expression under the gold mask was now one of great confidence.
A person like him tended to be extremely confident about their own conjectures.
Since he had ‘confirmed’ that the other party was Hans Wilson, he was obviously not worried about being deceived. A Conferred Knight, the Headmaster of an academy… How could he possibly employ such underhanded means?
Therefore, he got his subordinates to step back and he said, “Haha, Headmaster still has that bad temper. I wonder if Brother Colin is doing well in Northern Ice Region?”
Colin was a genius who had left Kirst for Northern Ice Region five years before, and had entered the Wilson Regional Academy.
Hearing Bruno’s words, Fang Xingjian turned silent as if he was surprised. Only after a short while did he speak a bit impatiently, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Do you want to go ahead with the deal or not?”
With Fang Xingjian acting so conspicuously, Bruno was even more confident in his conjecture. He shook his head and said, “Of course, I believe what you say. Since that’s the case, I’ll just use the parietal bones directly. Six hours later, the thirty thousand gold will be sent here.”
Although he was sure, since the other party had said that he could pay the thirty thousand in one go after the six hours, Bruno would not pretend to be generous and insist on paying the fifteen thousand gold right now.
The attendant at the side let out a sigh of relief and said, “Could the two of you kindly follow me to the meditation room.”
One of Bruno’s subordinates asked, “Young Master, do you need us to accompany you?”
Bruno waved his hand and pretended to be generous, “It’s fine. Appreciating Heaven’s Perception must be done in absolute silence. It’s disadvantageous if there’s too many people around. Moreover, with this lord with me, what could possibly go wrong?”
With that, he smiled and left with Fang Xingjian.
…
On the first storey, when the black-robed man mentioned that the person using the parietal bones cannot leave his sight during the six hours, the place turned silent.
After very long, the (fake) man with the gold mask let out a bitter laugh, “To tell you the truth, I’m actually just a representative. The real person who had bought the parietal bones isn’t me.
“However, my master does not wish to divulge his identity and has asked me to bring it to him.
“As you know well, if there’s no progress after using it…”
A hint of understanding flashed past the black-robed man’s eyes. There was nothing he could say to rebut. After all, whether or not one could attain the level of Heaven’s Perception was largely related to one’s talent and temperament.
If one did not progress significantly after coming into contact with the parietal bones, it would naturally be a very disgraceful thing. The person might also end up being labelled as someone without talent.
It was especially so for larger clans. Once they were given such a label by their competitors, it would be very troublesome, and one could even be looked down on by their clan head and Elders.
The black-robed man had seen too many similar people who shamelessly curried favors for personal gains. Therefore, he did not pay too much heed to the other party’s attempt to remain secretive.
He merely shook his head and said, “Don’t worry. Go tell your master that it’ll be fine if he puts on a mask. I have no intention of checking out his identity. If he’s not even able to face something like this, then he can just give up on this deal.”
Then, he solemnly repeated, “But no matter what, the parietal bones must remain within my sight.”
The (fake) man with the gold mask sighed and said, “Then please come with me to meet my master.”
…
On the other end, Bruno followed Fang Xingjian to a quiet meditation room and sat down.
Fang Xingjian turned toward him and slowly took out a small box. Bruno looked at the box, his eyes shining with excitement and greed.
However, with a ‘Conferred Knight’ before him, he did not dare to be impetuous.
Fang Xingjian opened the box, revealing a piece of parietal bone. Seeing that Bruno was about to reach out for it, he blocked him with his hand. He then calmly told the anxious Bruno, “Have a glass of water first. For the next six hours, it’ll be all yours. But I’m sure that you would not wish to, in the midst of appreciating the feeling, break off your concentration from shock due to a parched throat, right?”
Bruno smiled, “Thank you for your reminder.” He was treating the other party as a Conferred Knight.
Bruno casually received the tea from Fang Xingjian and drank a sip.
Fang Xingjian then said, “Alright, just moisturizing your throat will do. Don’t drink too much, if not you’d have the urge to pee later.”
Bruno put down the drink, as suggested, and asked the black-robed Fang Xingjian, “It should be fine now, right?”
Fang Xingjian then slowly pushed the small box over to him. He had enquired on the usage of parietal bones long ago. He then said, “Put your hand on it and focus all your attention on it, slowly feeling the fluctuations.”
Naturally, Bruno had also enquired about the use of parietal bones before this. He tried to calm down as he reached out his hand and placed it on top of the bone, gradually placing his full attention on it.
Although he did so, this was merely an ordinary bone. How could Bruno have sensed anything?
A minute passed by with Bruno focusing his full attention on the bone like never before. It seemed as if he had sensed something, but at the same time, it felt as if he had sensed nothing at all.
Of course, the feeling of sensing something was merely his illusion. Any person who calmed down and focused all their attention on a certain part of their body would have the misconception that they felt something.
He could not help but ask, “Sir, I think…”
“Don’t speak.” Fang Xingjian said, “Just use your heart to sense it.”
Bruno held back his words and gradually, he felt as if something was gradually burning up in his brain. It was as if countless spots of light had started to flash before his eyes.
“S… sir, I think…”
“I think I am sensing it…”