When the woman stood up and prepared herself to exit the building, Xue Chang immediately gave Tian Hai a quick glance.
The guard gave a curt nod in return and silently left the booth with no explanation. Meanwhile Cue Chang was left to figure out how to get the jade from Lou Lan who had a lifeless expression about him right at this moment.
"Hey, cheer up, it can't be helped after all. Who would've known some guy like him would've brought out spirit stones."
Currently Xue Chang was patting the top of Lou Lan's head in a childish manner. He reallly didn't know how to deal with this situation at all. Luckily Lou Ning was there to help him.
She stepped forward and gently whispered to him, "Lou Lan, are you okay?"
"I don't know, it feels like the earth fire was just within my grasp... but now it's gone..."
Lou Ning nodded softly while continuing to whisper, "Oh well that's too bad, do you think you can cheer up now?"
"I don't think I'll be able to calm down anytime soon no."
"Okay then." And after giving this short response, she thrusted her fist into his stomach. Immediately knocking the air out of his lungs and causing him to pass out.
Picking him up onto her shoulder, she nodded to a stupefied Xue Chang.
"He's kind of a wimp so I tend to do this and let him sleep off his problems sometimes."
Xue Chang looked over to the peacefully resting Lou Lan and thought to himself, "Maybe I can use this one day..."
And as if reading his mind Tian Kai looked toward him and exclaimed, "Don't even think about it!"
Standing up calmly and stretching his back out, Xue Chang turned to the others and said that it was time for them to leave.
"We should go quickly, now that the auction is over the area will enter a period of unrest. No one is willing to give up that easily."
The others nodded as they made their way toward the building's exit.
As they were walking around, Xue Chang looked over at Lou Ning and asked, "Also, how much water essence does Lou Lan have?"
Lou Ning paused in her steps for a second before continuing to walk beside Xue Chang. She didn't respond or react for a while, lost in her thoughts.
It wasn't like he expected her to give him an outright answer. Stuff like that was something most people would refuse to even tell their friends, much less him who was virtually a stranger to her.
"Probably enough to get him to the third level with time if he really wanted to."
Her response was something unexpected. He was sure Lou Ning wouldn't have answered his question, but it seemed he was wrong.
"Why did you answer me?"
"I know it sounds silly, but after what you told me about the passive watchers, I was watching you during the auction. When Lou Lan brought out the statue and the vial, your breathing and posture did not change. You seemed more focus on something else and were completely uninterested, not only that but your membership to the auction house..." she gazed into the sky as if contemplating something to herself, Xue Chang stayed silent and patiently waited for her to continue.
"People say I'm an idiot, and they're right. I don't like having to think about the complicated things. I just want to live the way I want to live, but even someone like me can piece things together. Your background isn't so simple, and despite the condition of your house, I'm sure you won't have to worry too much when purchasing earth fire in the future, so why would you be interested in some water essence now?"
Xue Chang continued to walk in an even tempo while chuckling to himself.
Turning to face her, he stated in a cautious manner, "I don't know what type of life you've lived till now, but you should be more careful. Even if I have all the money in the world, it doesn't hurt to have a bit more, no? But in this situation, you're partially right. In reality I do have an interest in your items, but I plan to purchase them fairly. Anyway, we should talk about this later. We have a small problem right now."
Just as he said this, several figures stepped out of nowhere and stood before the group of four.
Lou Ning saw these random figures appear with sneers on their faces and realized that they had no good intentions. She reached to her waist for her blade while staring at them menacingly.
Meanwhile Xue Chang just casually turned to face Tian Kai, who nodded his head calmly.
Taking a step forward, he asked behind the veil, "Hello there friend, what business might you have with us?"
The strange figures turned to each other and chuckled while one of them, who seemed to be the leader, walked toward Xue Chang and pulling out a small dagger.
Pointing the blade toward him, he smiled as he said, "Why don't the four of you come with us for a bit, let's go to somewhere that's more... private."
While saying so, he gave a lecherous glance toward Lou Ning and licked his lips suggestively.
While she wasn't the most 'developed' person, she was quite beautiful in her own way.
The man and his comrades had talked before about stealing the treasure from the young lass and her companions. They were all quite young and didn't look very strong so they didn't think much about it and agreed.
And while Lou Ning's full appearance was covered with the mask on. But it only covered the upper half of her face so they could imagine the rest after viewing what was visible.
Lou Ning nervously began to unsheathe her blade carefully. She figured that some people might attempt to take the jade from them after they revealed it, but he didn't think they'd act within the building.
"Well as long as they don't actually attack us, the auction house won't do anything." Xue Chang looked toward Tian Kai and without even batting an eye said, "Deal with them, I need to return this veil."
Grabbing Lou Ning's sleeve, he led her away as Tian Kai stayed behind while cracking his knuckles.
"This is going to be fun."
________
"Aren't you worried that he will get hurt while dealing with them?" As she was being dragged away, Lou Ning took a quick glance behind them toward Tian Kai's direction.
She couldn't help but worry, especially after she discovered that within that group a couple of them were actually within the first level!
Although they started off on the wrong foot, she wasn't the type of person who would want others to get hurt just because of small arguments like that. Especially when it was their treasure that caused the skirmish in the first place.
Xue Chang just shrugged as he kept whispering something to himself, "...6...5...4...3...2... "
And just then Tian Kai suddenly appeared with a jovial laugh, "That was the most fun I had in a while!"
Lou Ning couldn't believe what she was seeing. It hadn't been long since they left, but here Tian Kai was without an injury on him.
She looked at Xue Chang, who had flipped his veil up, giving off an 'as expected' look while Tian Kai skipped toward them without a care in the world.
"How did you- but you just- what happened!?"
"I just had a small chat with them, after a bit of talking and trading they agreed to let us go. Simple as that." Tian Kai's response completely upended her expectations on what should've happened. She was completely befuddled by these turns of events.
"You did well Tian Kai, lets go back home now. I'm kind of hungry."
"Aye sir!"
________
Back in the corner of a dark alleyway between two buildings, Wang Dong stood before a sight to behold.
The group of men who bothered Xue Chang a few minutes ago now lied on the ground beaten to a bloody pulp. Their bones shattered and eyes blinded completely.
Some of them even had entire limbs missing.
Getting onto one knee and inspecting the injuries, Wang Dong couldn't help but wonder what could've caused this.
Snapping his fingers into the air, a man appeared from the shadows behind Wang Dong. And shockingly enough, he was within the second level of Qi refinement.
"Research into the background of those people who sat in the private booth, I want to know who they are!"
"understood young master." And with this single sentence, the mysterious man disappeared from sight.
Tutting to himself quietly, Wang Dong looked over to the group of people following behind him. "Clean up this area, and be sure to erase every last bit of that damn message, understand!"
"Yes young master!"
Immediately those men began to scrub away the bloody message painted on the back wall of the alley.
Turning around and covering his nose from the metallic scent, Wang Dong thought back to the words directed toward him.
"Don't let the Wang family fall because of you!"
With an expression of outrage, he gritted his teeth and whispered to himself, "No one threatens the Wang family, NO ONE!"