After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 18

“Are the three of you perhaps from the Shangyun Sect?”

A moment of silence fell.

[I—I’m a social phobic! Ahh, why aren’t either of you talking?]

Ning Songwu held her breath, subtly glancing at the two people beside her. They were also sneaking glances at her. The three of them were stuck in this awkward pause.

Well, it looks like a social phobics’ gathering now.

It’s always the ‘I’ (Introverted) types who are forced to become ‘E’ (Extroverted) types. She was used to it.

She had no choice but to take a deep breath and put on a bright smile. “Yes, we are from the mountain. May I ask why there is such a long queue?”

“Ah, that’s how it is. Our auction house requires a minimum entry deposit of fifty taels. After paying, you need to queue here to enter. You can also pay a deposit of one hundred and fifty taels, which allows you to enter directly.”

As the young attendant spoke, his not-very-large eyes were glinting. Ning Songwu was all too familiar with that glint; it was clearly screaming, “Hand over the money!”

On one side, the line stretched as far as the eye could see; in front of her was the sharp-eyed attendant. Ning Songwu, with an expression of great heartache, struggled to take out a few silver notes, intending to hand them over. Liu Ruoying raised a hand to stop her and asked gently and politely, “Is this one hundred and fifty taels entirely refundable as a deposit, just like the fifty taels?”

“Ah, no. Fifty taels of it is non-refundable, but upon entering, we will prepare an excellent spot for you, which will…”

Liu Ruoying slightly raised her hand, interrupting him. She bowed, pulled the other two around, and walked away. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll just queue.”

[The most painful things in life are wasting money and queuing. If I have to queue, I’d rather not come.]

[But spending fifty taels to buy an express pass… I’d still rather queue.]

Ning Songwu sighed resignedly. Beside her, Liu Ruoying was explaining to Luo Sheng why they couldn’t pay the one hundred and fifty taels.

“Because we are very poor,” Little Liu said with a serious expression.

“But, doesn’t Ning Songwu have several…”

The two of them simultaneously clapped their hands over the mouth of the exceptionally simple and honest young woman.

Silly child! Never show off your wealth!

The queue moved at a frustratingly slow, snail-like pace. Both in front and behind them were fellow Daoists who had heard the news and ordinary people from the mortal realm coming to join the excitement. Since the fifty taels would be returned later anyway, they figured they might as well treat it as entertainment.

And there was entertainment to be found even while queuing.

Cultivators have sharp ears and eyes. Even without concentrating, the casual chatter of the people close by could be heard clearly.

The trio listened as the elderly woman in front of them rambled on about everything from her family’s daily matters to the neighborhood gossip. Soon enough, the topic shifted to them.

What else could it be? It was nothing more than mockery, laughing at their poverty—that people from the immortal mountains had to stand in this line just like them.

Once the petty chatter started, it wouldn’t stop. It gradually spread from a few individuals, covering what kind of people the Outer Sect had recently accepted and what new jokes were going around.

But there was always one person who controlled the conversation, relentlessly circling back to them. Every word was a sneer, mocking these few ‘immortal Daoist friends’ for having to queue with ordinary folk.

Ning Songwu’s face flushed red and then pale, but she wasn’t good at arguing with people. In modern times, she was a ‘cotton person’—soft and conflict-averse—so she could only repeat in her mind:

[It’s fine. It’s not like they’ll seat me next to this gossipy old woman later. No problem, no problem.]

[Heh heh. If you mess with me, you’ve kicked a block of cotton!]

Luo Sheng tightly clenched her fists. After nearly half a year of cultivation on the mountain, she was no longer the frail girl they had first met. She had gained a few circles of girth and grown quite a bit taller, almost catching up to Ning Songwu. Her hair was still pulled back into a high ponytail. Now, in her anger, a hint of suppressive aura subtly seeped out.

After listening for a long time, she asked in a low voice, “We clearly have the money, so why must we endure this?”

Ning Songwu comforted her, “We won’t spend unnecessary money. It’s better to avoid trouble. Just listen and let it pass.”

The elderly woman, embracing the mentality of a spectator who enjoys trouble, loudly jeered, “Three poor little dolls! Claiming to be from an immortal mountain—you must be from the Outer Sect, right? Why are you wearing your own clothes? Isn’t that against your sect’s rules?”

[A dog is farting, a dog is farting, a dog is farting…]

“I thought these immortal disciples were so great. They even rejected my youngest son, but they’re nothing special after all.”

[A dog is farting, a dog is farting, a dog is farting…]

[If the Outer Sect didn’t even accept him, how useless is your son? Ignore, ignore, ignore…]

Liu Ruoying painstakingly separated the fingers Luo Sheng had nearly dug into her own palm. Before she could even feel concern over the blood marks on Luo Sheng’s hand, the white-robed girl beside her lowered her head and walked out.

“Hey, Senior Sister, what are you doing?”

Ning Songwu walked straight toward the attendant as if she had sealed off her hearing. Before long, she returned, clutching three slips of paper.

“No more queuing. I won’t be subjected to this anger anymore,” she said coldly. She handed out one contract slip to each of them. “I asked. There’s a two-hundred-tael option above the one hundred and fifty, which gets us a second-floor location. We’re going straight up to the second floor.”

Liu Ruoying asked, “How much is refunded?”

The young woman bit down hard on her lip, her expression one of profound grief, her voice trembling. “One hundred taels are refunded.”

[It’s okay. Just treat it as paying money to ward off disaster. Just treat it as paying money to ward off disaster.]

[Wuwuwu, my money, my heart, my liver!]

The other two younger girls silently took out a silver note each and tucked them into her hands. “It’s okay. We’ll share the cost.”

Not long after the three of them left, a servant girl, dressed in a maid’s uniform, scanned the queue for a long time until she found the gossipy woman from before. She curtsied, her voice exceptionally cold. “Our establishment does not welcome the Madam today. Here is the Madam’s silver note. Please leave.”

The servant gave the woman no chance to argue. Two other maidservants immediately followed, gripped the woman one on each side, and dragged her directly away from the queue, leaving her no opportunity to even make a sound.

After entering the building, there wasn’t much to see on the first floor. Following the attendant upstairs to the second floor, the sheer smell of money in the room nearly blinded Ning Songwu.

It wasn’t an overtly flashy style. On the contrary, if an uninitiated person were to enter, they might not recognize the value of the various objects here. But Ning Songwu recognized it because Chaomu Peak had this exact style.

Even though she recognized the style, she didn’t have much knowledge of the specific items. It wasn’t until the three of them were seated and Liu Ruoying began explaining the value of these objects to the other two that Ning Songwu clutched her heart and shed silent tears, wailing in her mind:

[Wealthy people are low-key, luxurious, and refined. There are so many rich people in the world; why couldn’t there be one more—me?]

Before long, a maidservant carrying a wooden tray more than a foot long knocked on the door of their small room. Dressed in soft pink, her voice was gentle. “Excuse me, is this the small room registered under Junior Cultivator Ning’s name?”

The person suddenly called out was startled. She pointed at herself and stammered, “Are you looking for me?”

The maidservant suppressed a smile. “This small room is registered under the Junior Cultivator’s name, so naturally, I am looking for the Junior Cultivator.”

She presented the square-foot wooden tray. On it lay a very exquisite booklet. She thoughtfully explained, “These are all the items in this auction. Every small room will have one.”

“In addition,” the maidservant paused, took out a silver note from her sleeve, and whispered, “Daoist friend, you are truly lucky. This is the last auction of our establishment before the New Year, and one small room is complimentary. All the fees you paid earlier are right here.”

“This is your number three small room. The bidding will commence shortly, using your room number. If you need anything else, you can ring the bell at any time…”

The maidservant expertly ran through the various details. Without waiting for the young woman to say anything more, the maidservant gracefully curtsied and carried the wooden tray out of the small room, leaving the three of them to stare at each other.

“Is this… for us…?” Ning Songwu held the silver note. The other two, without question, each pulled one out and tucked it into their own robes.

Luo Sheng said, “This is the refund for us.”

Ning Songwu lamented, “But I hadn’t even warmed it up yet, wuwuwu…”

The young woman feigned wiping away tears and put the remaining silver notes back into her spatial ring, but a sense of caution rose in her heart.

[Could there really be such a good thing? Is this shop looking at the clothes we’re wearing and preparing to rob us?]

In the room above theirs, a woman who was taking a sip of warm tea suddenly choked on two mouthfuls. Qin Siyue, whom she had rarely managed to drag down the mountain, glanced at her indifferently and gave a cool smile. “Don’t think of messy things when drinking water. It might cost you your life.”

“…” Ran Fanyin glared at her and snorted back, “All I did was drag you out to have a little fun. Is it necessary to mock this Seat like this?”

” ‘Just’? ‘Fun’? This Seat’s peak is overflowing with people. It takes a while just to check their homework every day, unlike you, who only needs to keep one little creature wandering around the mountains. It must be easy,” the woman said nonchalantly, lowering her head to look at the document in her hand, her expression neutral, completely ignoring the reaction of the person next to her.

Ran Fanyin gave a cold laugh and simply leaned the other way, distancing herself from the heartless woman.

If the auction lot today hadn’t contained the immortal herb this woman needed, she wouldn’t have been crazy enough to drag her down from Qingye Peak, only to be lectured.

Qin Siyue questioned softly, pointing at an item in the booklet. “Why didn’t you mention this item before? It would be extremely beneficial to you. Can’t we just take it without bidding?”

“Allow this Seat to take a look first.”

Since her Senior Sister mentioned it would be beneficial to her, it must indeed be quite advantageous; otherwise, this person would never waste her breath.

Qin Siyue was referring to a profound black gown made by several Talisman Masters who had drawn formations onto it. It possessed an extremely strong effect of warmth and wind resistance…

What use is that?

Although she hadn’t seen the physical item, the thought of a profound black gown… Elder Ran intensely disliked gowns that looked so lifeless. She didn’t like it. She absolutely didn’t like it.

She unhappily pushed the booklet away and pouted, “Senior Sister, this Seat possesses a Fire Spiritual Root. Where would the effect of warmth be useful?”

“Not entirely. Given your physical condition, one more layer of protection means one less wear-and-tear incident. Being impervious to the cold wind would be excellent,” Qin Siyue said, her eyes lowered in thought for a moment. “In any case, you absolutely must secure this last-item lot.”

“Another day, I’ll teach Mianmian to study the formations left by these Talisman Masters and have her draw them onto your other clothes as well.” Qin Siyue started to plot in her heart. For the moment, she paid no mind to the affairs of her peak; the most important task was figuring out how to manage this sickly person, who was not in good health to begin with.

Ran Fanyin thought of the marks left by the Talisman Masters every time they drew a talisman and felt a slight distaste. With Qin Siyue beside her, she couldn’t show it, or she would be nagged for a long time again.

She sighed silently, but a feeling of awe was transmitted to her ears. It turned out that Ning Songwu had also flipped to this auction item.