After Becoming the Villain’s Black Moonlight - Chapter 9

Yin Huizhi’s mind stirred with a sudden thought. Adopting the guise of a slighted lover throwing a tantrum, he tossed the ring back into Xie Ling’s hand. If it was a performance Xie Ling wanted, he would play along.

Xie Ling shook his head, looking utterly helpless, but Yin Huizhi caught the fleeting smile at the corner of his lips. What followed was a masterclass in what it truly meant to be a profligate dandy. Although Yin Huizhi had never been here before, he could guess from the auctioneer’s flowery descriptions that in such an event, finding one or two items worth a fortune was rare; the rest was mere rubbish.

Did anyone actually buy this trash? Apparently, yes.

“Do you like it?” Xie Ling’s ring glowed with a brilliant purple light once more, signaling that the item on stage had been won by him.

Yin Huizhi remained silent. Receiving no answer did not deter Xie Ling in the slightest. He seemed to take great pleasure in the process, picking out items with the most exaggerated descriptions and prettiest designs, refusing to stop until they were his.

The organizers of the auction were no fools, and they quickly caught on. Before long, several other “suckers” joined Xie Ling in bidding for the junk. Coincidentally, they all happened to drop out at the final moment with an air of reluctant defeat, allowing Xie Ling to walk away with the prize.

Had Yin Huizhi not witnessed Xie Ling’s true capabilities, he might have firmly believed the man was nothing more than a brainless, gold-plated waste of space with a pretty face.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Xie Ling turned toward him. Before the man could speak, Yin Huizhi mimicked Xie Ling’s own syrupy tone and drawled slowly, “As long as the Young Master likes it, that is all that matters.”

The implication was clear: stop asking such nonsense.

Xie Ling stared at the expressionless lower half of Yin Huizhi’s face for two seconds before suddenly laughing, his shoulders shaking slightly. Annoyed by the man’s presence, Yin Huizhi took a large step to the side, attempting to distance himself from this lunatic. He did not expect Xie Ling to actually let go, and he nearly tumbled into the neighboring seat.

Clatter! The person in the next seat nearly overturned the table in front of them.

The man in green robes within the booth tried his best to shrink into the corner, looking as though he wished to be ten miles away. The voice from beneath his mask was young and laced with obvious panic. “Xie, Xie Ling! I did not move!”

Yin Huizhi was speechless.

Xie Ling’s tone turned cold. “Is that so? To me, it looked as though he was falling right into your arms.”

Yin Huizhi felt a headache coming on. The green-robed man’s face turned even paler, almost taking on a sickly greenish tint. He leaned back, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Yin Huizhi as if he were a death-dealing ghost rather than a beauty. Unable to bear it any longer, Yin Huizhi moved back to Xie Ling’s side.

A faint scent of sandalwood drifted into his nostrils as Xie Ling leaned toward his face. His voice sounded almost directly against the curve of Yin Huizhi’s ear. “This time last year, he harassed a concubine by my side. In a fit of rage, I kicked him so hard he broke.”

During Xie Ling’s meaningful pause, the man in green trembled violently, seemingly haunted by a terrifying memory. He suddenly stood up and fled the venue. Xie Ling laughed again.

Once more, Yin Huizhi witnessed Xie Ling’s twisted sense of humor. He had no interest in Xie Ling’s past romantic exploits and remained unmoved as he straightened his mask, offering a reminder. “Young Master, a new item is up.”

This was one of the few items officially designated as a treasure for this auction.

“This Nirvana Bone-Forging Pill is the final masterpiece of the world’s greatest apothecary, Ji Wuque,” the auctioneer began. “It is well known that Ji Wuque’s Dao companion was a mere mortal without a spiritual root, while he himself possessed a rare single spiritual root, granting him a lifespan of nearly a thousand years. To stay with his companion forever, Ji Wuque scoured ancient texts and medical scrolls, intending to create a secret medicine that could allow a mortal to grow a spiritual root and cultivate a dantian.”

“He knew that even with the medicine, his companion’s aptitude would limit their progress. Thus, he intentionally stopped his own cultivation at the Golden Core stage to focus entirely on alchemy. After thirty years of painstaking effort, he finally perfected this Nirvana Bone-Forging Pill. But when he rushed out of seclusion to see his companion, he found that they had already passed away.”

“Ji Wuque had spent half his life on this pill, unaware that his companion had long been deathly ill, lacking even a normal mortal’s lifespan. Filled with regret, he self-immolated while holding his companion’s body three days later, leaving behind only this pill.”

Faint, half-real sobs echoed through the hall.

“The Nirvana Bone-Forging Pill. The starting bid is fifty thousand spirit stones. Everyone, please.” Having finished the moving tale, the auctioneer announced the price with a smile.

The moment the words left the auctioneer’s lips, dozens of lights lit up across the hall. The auctioneer tilted their head, reporting the bids in sequence through their earpiece.

“Fifty-one thousand.” “Fifty-three thousand.” “Sixty thousand.” “Sixty-five thousand.”

“Two hundred and fifty-eight thousand,” the auctioneer finally said as the earpiece fell silent. “Are there any higher bids?”

While the item was good, anything over two hundred thousand was not worth it, especially since the actual effectiveness of the pill remained a subject of doubt. Even if it worked, its effects would be limited. A person without a spiritual root could never leap to a high-tier aptitude using external items; if it were possible, Ji Wuque would not have given up on his own cultivation.

The auctioneer’s earring flickered weakly a few times, raising the price slightly to two hundred and fifty-nine thousand. This indicated that interest was waning.

“Is there any…” The auctioneer tried to offer more encouragement. Between the opening and closing of their lips, the earring flashed silently. The auctioneer paused, eyes filled with amusement. “Three hundred thousand!”

Xie Ling sat with his chin propped on his hand, looking every bit the wealthy tycoon. The shills hidden in the back of the hall exchanged hesitant glances before cautiously placing a bid: “Three hundred thousand and one hundred.”

Xie Ling tapped his ring. “Three hundred and fifty thousand.” “Three hundred and fifty-one thousand.”

Nearly everyone present could tell someone was intentionally driving up the price, yet Xie Ling seemed oblivious, pushing the bid all the way to seven hundred thousand. Good heavens! That was seven hundred thousand spirit stones, not copper coins! Had the young master of the Xie family finally lost his mind completely?

Demonic cultivators are truly wicked, greedy, and extravagant, thought the righteous cultivators hiding their identities.

While Yin Huizhi did not entirely believe Xie Ling’s claim about wanting to treat his dantian, he could not simply watch as Xie Ling seemingly spent a fortune on his behalf. As Xie Ling prepared to outbid the shill a second time, Yin Huizhi reached out and pressed down on the ring, blocking Xie Ling’s hand.

“I do not want it. Stop bidding.”

As their fingertips touched, Xie Ling looked at him with a flash of surprise and an odd expression. “Whatever gave you the idea that I was buying this for you?”

Yin Huizhi’s fingers stiffened before he coldly withdrew his hand. The price reached seven hundred and ninety thousand. The shills laughed internally and added another thousand. This would be their final bid; everything had to have a limit, and they could not push too far. They waited for Xie Ling to bid eight hundred thousand so they could strike the gavel.

However, the hall was silent. Xie Ling remained comfortably propped up on his hand, showing no intention of bidding again. The smile on the auctioneer’s face slowly froze.

Yin Huizhi was not surprised; in fact, he felt a sense of “I knew it.” Xie Ling loved to play with people; Yin Huizhi had known that since their first meeting. The auction organizers could not easily accept hundreds of thousands of spirit stones going down the drain, even if they had already fleeced Xie Ling for a significant amount earlier. The auctioneer’s gaze searched the area around Xie Ling, hope written clearly on their face.

Xie Ling let out a yawn. The gavel fell. This unprecedented divine pill ended up in the hands of the auction’s own people. Xie Ling lazily toyed with his ring and did not place another bid for the rest of the event, looking as though he had grown bored of the game.

After the auction ended, Yin Huizhi and Xie Ling went to the back hall guest rooms to collect the won items. Xie Ling wandered about with his arms crossed, while Yin Huizhi had somehow been relegated to the role of a porter, carrying a pile of ridiculous trinkets.

The auctioneer, now dressed in plain clothes, appeared at the door and called out respectfully, “Young Master Xie.”

Yin Huizhi thought the organizers were truly greedy, still trying to squeeze money out of Xie Ling even at this point. They were not afraid of bringing trouble upon themselves. Xie Ling might play the fool, but the Sect Master of the Xie family was no idiot.

Only after receiving Xie Ling’s permission did the auctioneer step inside.

“Young Master Xie, the bidder for the Nirvana Bone-Forging Pill cannot afford the price, so the item is stuck in our hands.” Every word out of the auctioneer’s mouth was as Yin Huizhi had predicted.

Xie Ling acted as though he did not catch the subtext. “And so?”

The auctioneer bowed with a hand over his heart. “My Master says that Young Master Xie has provided us with a great deal of business today. Since the item was sold, we will not put it up for sale again. This pill is a gift for Young Master Xie, as my Master wishes to befriend you.”

Yin Huizhi was slightly shocked and could not help but glance at Xie Ling. Xie Ling smirked, his arrogance reaching an extreme. “Your Master has quite the ego, thinking a single pill of unknown authenticity is enough to form a connection with the Heavenly Night Gate.”

This was not just Xie Ling being conceited. The Ghost Market’s auction was merely a venue; the organizers could be different every time. While some were powerful figures, most were traveling merchants or agents for major sects. Regardless of which category this host belonged to, Xie Ling had the status to back up his words.

The auctioneer seemed to expect this and quickly changed his tune. “I misspoke, Young Master Xie. My Master simply wishes to present this to you as a token of admiration. My Master seeks the opportunity to pay his respects to you.”

Perhaps it was the humble phrase “pay his respects” that struck a chord with Xie Ling’s unusual psychological preferences, for Yin Huizhi saw his smile widen. His lips moved, uttering a reluctant sentence: “In that case, very well.”

The mysterious host seemed to value Xie Ling’s presence highly. Before they even arrived, the banquet hall was filled with exquisite delicacies and fine wines. Usually, such a setting would be accompanied by a crowd of beauties, yet strangely, there were few servants in the hall, and no dancers or musicians in sight.

Yin Huizhi disliked crowds, so this was perfect. An unnamable cold fragrance lingered in the air, faint and inoffensive. In this silence, he actually felt a long-lost sense of relaxation. He expected Xie Ling to find it boring, but found the man with half-closed eyes, looking uncharacteristically peaceful.

They had removed their masks before the banquet. The glass lamps in the hall cast a warm glow on Xie Ling’s pale face, making the dangerous, unpredictable aura around him almost vanish.

“I have kept Young Master Xie waiting. It is my fault.”

The newcomer spoke with a smile that did not feel fawning. He was perfectly polite without being pretentious, much like the banquet itself. Before entering, Yin Huizhi had heard from a servant that the host shared his surname, with the given name “Hui.”

Yin Hui. Yin Huizhi turned the name over in his mind. It was an unfamiliar name, likely not a major figure, but today’s events showed the man had a very sharp eye.

As Yin Huizhi looked up to meet Yin Hui’s gaze, he froze slightly. He noticed that the way Yin Hui looked at him was entirely different from how he looked at Xie Ling. Those bright eyes were fixed on him, carrying a hint of suspicion and hostility.

But it lasted only a moment. When he looked again, the emotion was gone, as if it had been a hallucination. Yin Huizhi was certain he had never offended this Mr. Yin, and he was currently wearing the magical artifact Xie Ling had provided to alter his appearance. Even if this man had seen him before, he should not be able to recognize him.

He knit his brows slightly, feeling that something was odd.

Yin Hui exchanged a few concerned pleasantries with Xie Ling, though it was largely one-sided. He spoke a lot while Xie Ling responded sporadically, not exactly impatient, but clearly lacking interest. Realizing this, Yin Hui tactfully went silent and changed his approach, personally serving Xie Ling food and wine.

The moment a dish was placed on the table, Xie Ling pushed it in front of Yin Huizhi. Before Yin Hui could react to this act of borrowing a gift to offer another, Xie Ling spoke plainly.

“Zhihui, there is no one else here.”

Both Yin Huizhi and the host froze.

Zhihui? Wasn’t this merchant named Yin Hui? Was Zhihui his courtesy name?

Though Yin Huizhi remained silent, his sharp mind turned the information over instantly, capturing a name with much higher accuracy.

Shen Zhihui.

One of the illegitimate sons of the South Sea Palace Master.

Although the South Sea Palace Master was notoriously flirtatious, he was quite good to his sons. Regardless of the mother’s status, he would bring them into the palace once they were of age and announce their status to the world. Of course, this was only because the heir to the palace had long been decided; the power of the South Sea Palace had nothing to do with these sons brought in from the outside.

Shen Zhihui was a member of this unrelated army. Aside from Yin Huizhi, likely no one would be bored enough to memorize such an obscure name while reading through sect records.

Shen Zhihui’s smile faltered, and his warm, attentive demeanor vanished, replaced by a calm, moderate expression. “Fine.”

As the word fell, Yin Huizhi felt the man glance at him again. This brief exchange of looks and words was enough for Yin Huizhi to connect the dots and confirm his theory. Shen Zhihui looked at Xie Ling’s composed manner and simply said, “Let us eat first.”

Among the three, only Yin Huizhi was a mortal; the other two had long since achieved inedia. Shen Zhihui’s words were not out of consideration, but rather a desire to avoid speaking further in front of him.

What could the sons of two Ghost Realm elders have to talk about? Yin Huizhi did not want to know, so he simply lowered his head and ate in silence.

He took two bites and suddenly noticed a coincidence. The dishes Shen Zhihui had served happened to be exactly to his taste.