"Wanjing, you mentioned that people hide their identities from each other when attending the auction, right? What specifically do they do?" I ask.
"It depends on the person. For example, I just put on a simple mask and a large dark cloak to cover my body. There's this one person who uses a technique to obscure the perception others have of them, making it impossible to clearly see their face or identify their voice. There are also a few who don't take any measures to hide themselves, but they're the minority. It's mostly the non-humans who tend to avoid taking measures to hide their identity since they seem to find hiding their non-human features to be troublesome. Anyways, we've arrived."
The location is pretty convenient as the walk was only a few minutes from the Shang Yueting. But this place is basically the black market, so why is it so close to the city centre? Situated right on the border of the commercial district and the centre is a lavish and bright building with a large flow of people moving in and out.
Despite the many people moving around here, it doesn't take us more than a minute to enter the Treasury. In the far back in a large closed golden door with a couple of guards standing beside it, most likely the entrance to the auction hall. Off to the side, there are a few different flights of stairs but I can figure out where they lead from our current position.
"Follow me," Wanjing says, taking us towards one of the sets of stairs.
A guard moves forward to try and stop us from proceeding up the stairs, but before he can say anything, Wanjing flashes a black card causing the guard to back away and return to his previous post.
Wanjing leads us to a long hallway with several rooms splitting off from the hall on either side. As we pass by, many of the doors have a sign that read 'in use', but around halfway through the hall, we stopped at a door that doesn't have a sign.
As Wanjing begins to knock on the door, a light voice calls out, "come in."
Entering the room, we find a beautiful woman sitting behind a desk dealing with some paperwork. She is wearing thin-rimmed glasses and has long silky hair, but the most standout thing about her is the two furry ears on her head and the six tails she has. She just barely acknowledges our existence as she says, "make sure to put the sign on the door and wait until I finish this paper," without even looking up to speak with us.
After a few minutes, she eventually puts her pen down and looks up, "so it was you, a pleasure to see the renowned smuggler again, are you here to peddle some more illegal goods? And I see you brought some company this time."
"I'm not here on official business this time."
"In that case couldn't you have waited until I was done with work for the day if you wanted to catch up? And since when did you get all chummy with the imperial family?"
"I'll introduce you all, this is one of my friends, Dai Jiang, I've known her since I was young. In Shenzhou, she is what's called a Huli Jing, although they have a different name in Samhan and Yamato they are all referring to the same race of shapeshifting foxes. Aunt Jiang, these are the people I have been travelling with, Aurelia, Lia, and my Teacher, Cordelia."
"So, you lot imperials or what? I'm sorry if that came off as a bit rude, but your clothing doesn't seem like something they would wear, but in the whole 600 years I've been alive I've never seen a Dragonoid up close like this before," Dai Jiang
"We're outsiders," I say.
"Oh, so you're the famous outsider I've heard about. People on the streets have been gossiping about what kind of people you are, didn't expect two of you to be imperial lookalikes. Since she is with you lot I'll take a gander and say that she ran from home at long last, so thanks for taking care of little Wan. But if Little Wan isn't here for herself then it's you three who have business here, so what can I do for you?"
Getting straight to the point, I ask, "do you know anything about the ruins in this province or the people I can ask about them?
"If you're asking about it here then I would think you mean the one that's restricted and protected. I don't personally know much about it, but there is one guy who does. Normally I shouldn't do this since it is a breach of privacy of our clients, but since pretty much everyone around here knows them it shouldn't be too much of a problem. His regular attire is that of a shinobi from Yamato and is only known as the Grave Robber since that's his main profession, but he also extends his reach to running around restricted ruins. He is selling some things at the upcoming auction tomorrow, so you may be able to speak with him then."
"Aunt Jiang, I need you to reserve one of the private rooms for me, there is something I need at the auction tomorrow," Wanjing says while looks through a catalogue of goods for tomorrows auction.
"Oh, something caught your eye? That's rare, you don't usually attend the auctions and just wait for the money to roll in."
"There is something I absolutely need to get my hands on that I saw was being sold tomorrow, even if it means I need to partake in the bloodbath afterwards."
"Wait, hold on, bloodbath?" Aurelia asks.
"I'll explain," Dai Jiang says, " this isn't something that is usually seen for the proper auctions we hold, but for those who participate in the other auctions, it isn't always safe. If you buy something, then you better be a strong fighter and have good trustworthy bodyguards, or someone might just be waiting for you on the outside ready to rob you. But even if you three are proficient fighters, I'm not sure how I feel about you personally participating, just what is it you want?"
"The Taotie bones," Wanjing says.
Upon hearing what Wanjing wants, Dai Jiang's face freezes and her voice trembled slightly as she asks, "j-just why do you want those? It's not like your an alchemist or blacksmith that can make use of them."
"I recently found out I had the bloodline of a Taotie and I need the bones as one of the requirements to fully awaken my bloodline, the remnant essence left on the bones I mean."
"Can we not talk about this, you're bringing up some bad memories..."
"Wait, did you already know about this and you chose not to tell me?"
"I won't go into detail, I really don't want to talk about it while I'm sober, but on your mother's side, it was your grandfather's grandmother. She was a friend of mine and lets just say I was looking for her and came across something I shouldn't have."
Seeing the sullen look on her face that's now devoid of any colour, we all silently agree to move on from the topic as we can generally get what she's trying to say.
"A-anyways, since this is it for your business here, why don't you go show your friends around the city. I'll make reservations at the Shiping Pavilion for dinner, we can talk more then, how does that sound?" Dai Jiang says as she regains her composure.
"I'm fine with it, how about you all?" Wanjing asks.
"Fine with me," Aurelia says.
"If Cory's ok with it then I'm ok with it."
"As long as the foods good, I'm in," I say
"Great, let's meet up at the entrance at eight," Dai Jiang says as she returns to her paperwork.
As we leave the Treasury, Wanjing says, "Since we more or less have a plan for the next day, shall I follow Aunt Jiang's suggestion and show you around the city?"
"Sounds like a good idea, we've got plenty of time to kill and since we'll be here for at least a few days it will probably be good to learn the lay of the land," Aurelia says.
"Make sure to show us the best ways to lose pursuers, you never know when we might be chased around by the city guards or anyone else with ill intentions," I say.