Chapter 22
Gao Feihu had to admit that although the words on the poster were crude and shallow, they had an incredibly strong appeal, even making his own heart flutter a bit.
And the crude fellows in Flying Tiger Village were enthusiastic about tearing down the notices from the trees.
"Old Eight, I saw it first, why are you trying to snatch it from me!"
"Who's snatching it from you? If you see it, it's yours! You clearly have a horse, why are you trying to grab it from me!"
"That horse of mine is old now, Old Eight, if you get into a fight again, don't blame me for being rude!"
Helplessly, Gao Feihu had to break up the two brothers who were about to fight, which was commonplace in the Mountain Fortress and didn't count for much. As he saw the craving in his brothers' eyes, he felt helpless.
"Well, let's go and see what kind of tricks they are playing."
At the same time, the mountain fortresses around Mount Qingniu were filled with notices, causing debates in the Dog Ridge, Bald Slope, Apricot Blossom Ridge, and other fortresses. Horses were strategic weapons in the age of cold weapons that could directly enhance a fortress's fighting power. Cheng Dalei's hand-written advertisements struck a chord in their hearts. Having a horse sometimes symbolized power, dignity, and status.
Mount Qingniu, Frog Fort.
Cheng Dalei and a few others stood guard at the gate of the fortress, looking towards the mountain trail in the distance.
"Chief, do you think anyone will come?" asked Xu Shenji.
"Wait and see, dissemination and realization always take some time."
"Even though I didn't understand what you said, it sounds reasonable," Xu Shenji responded.
Huang Sanyuan was startled. He felt a familiar unease. Was his new boss shooting to be another Han Xuanzhi? Why was he always doomed to dealt with people like this…
"Here they come!" Xu Ling'er suddenly pointed towards the foot of the mountain.
Everyone's eyes lit up as they saw seven or eight people walking towards them from the mountain trail. They were the brothers Gao Feihu and Gao Feibao from Flying Tiger Village. Not only they, but at this moment, many people appeared on the mountain trail. They were bandits from various mountains and fortresses, from two to three people to groups of over ten. Almost all the fortresses within the range of Mount Qingniu had sent representatives.
"Quick, quick, everyone get ready, and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Gao Feibao was still riding his one-eyed horse. The horse was blind in one eye and kept veering off track, running in circles along the way. It was nothing short of a miracle to have successfully ridden the horse all the way here.
"Hey, open the gate quickly. I've come to buy a horse."
"Qin Man, prepare your bow," Cheng Dalei said.
"Yes, sir!" Qin Man readied his bow and arrow, aiming at Gao Feibao.
Gao Feibao had a start, hurriedly dismounted his horse and stood in front of it, "What, you're not even going to leave me with an eye?"
Gao Feibao cleared his throat, saying: "My brother here is a bit impulsive, Chief Cheng, please don't be angry. We've come here in good faith to buy a horse. As you can see, we've brought our grains. Now, where's the horse? Can you let us have a look at it first?"
As he was talking, representatives from other fortresses had nearly arrived. They gathered at the entrance of Frog Fort, each looking fierce and brutal, swearing and carrying on.
Seeing this, Cheng Dalei frowned, then suddenly shouted: "I have the ability to call down Sky Thunder…"
In a moment, absolute silence fell. The old rough fellows all sensibly shut their mouths.
"That's right, that's being endearing. Steward Huang, explain the rules to everyone," Cheng Dalei put down his hands, aware that this ruse probably wouldn't last much longer. He needed to get the fort to develop faster.
Seeing that Cheng Dalei's words were so effective, Huang Sanyuan also gained some confidence. So, his boss had such prestige.
"This time, we will use a silent auction method."
"What is a silent auction?" asked Gao Feibao.
"A friend just asked what a silent auction is, and I was about to explain. Can everyone see the red cloth hanging on the door?"
Everyone looked in the direction Huang Sanyuan was pointing, seeing that a red cloth hanging on the wooden gate of Frog Fort, tightly covering the entrance.
"For each horse to be auctioned, we will lead the horse behind the door first, and everyone can bid. The highest bidder wins."
"Isn't this not allowing us to see the horse at all!"
"What if the horse behind there is blind or lame."
"What if you switch the horse we bought secretly."
The crowd of bandits was getting stirred up, and Huang Sanyuan couldn't quiet them down.
"Thunder..."
The bandits shut their mouths. Cheng Dalei casually gazed into the distance. He might as well take advantage of this trick while it still works.
"We are certainly not going to switch the horses. The red cloth is translucent, so you can see some movement behind it. However, the specific image of the horse is unclear. As for whether you end up with a good horse or a lame one, it really depends on your luck. You might spend a tiny amount and end up with a strong steed. Of course, the opposite can also happen. This is a gamble, after all."
Huang Sanyuan looked around, noting that no one was speaking, and nodded: "Since there are no other objections, the auction officially begins. Please bring forth the first horse."
Everyone peered through the red cloth, surprised to see a horse being led behind it, but they couldn't see what the horse looked like.
"The first horse, starting price is one unit of grain!" Huang Sanyuan clanged his copper gong to signify the start.
The bandits looked at each other. Some of them hadn't figured out what was going on. Everyone hesitated to bid as they couldn't see the horse. Cheng Dalei sat cross-legged on a large rock, seeing it all and feeling a bit nervous: they might have elevated the game too high and now it all may backfire.
"I bid one unit of beans."
A clear female voice sounded out, causing Cheng Dalei to startle - there was a bandit woman, too! He saw a woman dressed in cotton clothes, with a long black braid on her head. Her most notable feature though was her skin…so white it was as soft as June cotton, you could see the veins underneath.
"That's Little White Wolf from Apricot Blossom Ridge," Xu Shenji whispered.
Not just Cheng Dalei, the other bandits also couldn't take their eyes off her; some even swallowing hard.
"What are you looking at, go back and look at your mother, if you look again, your granny will cut your thing off and feed it to the dogs." Little White Wolf pulled out a shiny waist knife, making a flourish in the air.
Cheng Dalei also felt a chill in his crotch, quickly closing his eyes and pretended to be breathing console.
"We wish to congratulate Chief Bai for acquiring a good horse at such a low price. How envious we are," Gao Feibao covered his mouth and laughed. He thought: What kind of a good horse can you get for a unit of beans? You can't even exchange it for a pair of horse saddles.
The bandits whispered to each other; they were all thinking the same thing.
"Okay, the first horse is won by Chief Bai from Apricot Blossom Ridge. Young Hero Lin, bring out the horse!"
Although the bandits didn't hold out much hope, they couldn't help but look on curiously. They saw the wooden door slowly open, with a horse being led out.
Whoosh!
Indeed, everyone's eyes were wide open; some of them were even unable to stand upright after seeing the horse.