Chapter 12 - Admission Ticket
Antiquity Town, Great Sea Restaurant!
The name Great Sea was taken for keeping in mind that "all rivers run into the sea". In other words, the owner hoped that guests from everywhere would tend to come here. Although it had some exaggerated meaning, the Great Sea Restaurant was indeed the largest restaurant in Antiquity Town. Every day it was completely packed, whether it was the town folks of Antiquity Town or business travelers, they were all willing to come here to enjoy the fine food and good wine!
Next day, around noon, the Great Sea Restaurant was, as usual, almost filled with guests. The guests at every table were discussing their own things, so the restaurant was a little noisy.
However, two middle-aged men sat at a table that was at the center of the restaurant. There was nothing strange about it, but they happened to be talking a bit louder than the others.
In a restaurant like place, although everyone would not discuss any private matter, they would still not particularly talk loudly. However, it seemed that these two were keeping their voice loud to intentionally let others know. And apparently, they seemed to be successful in their endeavor; now, everyone's attention was on them!
"Brother Chen, do you know that the Antiquity Town had a major event recently?" A middle-aged man loudly said.
"Major event? Brother Zhang, you must be joking! Recently the Antiquity Town is all calm and tranquil, how can we have a major event here?" The middle-aged addressed as 'Brother Chen' had a look of suspicion.
"Ha ha, then you must be unaware of it! I, too, inquired about it with great difficulty." The man surnamed Zhang laughed and said, "Have you heard of the Autumn Leaf Caravan?"
"Autumn Leaf Caravan? Isn't that the small caravan which sells some herbs? Although they have some reputation, there is nothing great about them. I didn't hear anything about them creating some big trouble." The man surnamed Chen doubtfully said.
"Yes, the Autumn Leaf Caravan, in the past, was just a small herb selling caravan. However, they have struck a great fortune recently. You must know of Clear River Sect. At present, the Autumn Leaf Caravan seemed to have some obscure relation with an immortal from Clear River Sect!" An excited look was revealed on man surnamed Zhang's face.
"Clear River Sect's Immortal?"
After hearing these words, the always noisy restaurant suddenly turned quiet. Obviously, the significance of these words was by no means ordinary.
"Brother Zhang, please do tell!" The man surnamed Chen said.
"Right right... brother, please elaborate!" A person dining nearby also curiously shouted.
"Alright, since everyone is so interested, I'll also not keep everyone guessing!" The man surnamed Zhang stood up, then loudly started narrating, "Although the Autumn Leaf Caravan is small in size, they might have the support of a Xiantian expert from the Clear River Sect! This Xiantian expert had beheaded a Seven-Colored Snake King who was close to being a spirit beast, whereas, the Autumn Leaf Caravan was commissioned to sell its corpse. Tonight, at the Autumn Leaf Manor, an auction of Seven-Colored Snake King will take place. The Autumn Leaf Caravan had already sent an invitation to every trading guild in the Antiquity Town. Say, everyone, is it not considered a big event?"
"Seven-Colored Snake King? Also beheaded by the Clear River Sect's immortal, the Autumn Leaf Caravan had a great haul."
"Auction of Seven-Colored Snake King, for sure this is a big deal. It won't do, I must go to the Autumn Leaf Manor today, how can I miss such a great event?"
"Old Wu, forget it! Do you even have the qualification to participate just an auction? I think you can't even afford even a scale of Seven-Colored Snake King!"
"Can not afford doesn't mean I can't take a look! I've never seen a Seven-Colored Snake King before!"
"Everybody, please listen to this few words of mine." the man surnamed Zhang loudly said, interrupting everyone's discussion, "According to what I know, as long as the amount on your hands reaches the Autumn Leaf Caravan's request, anyone can participate in tonight's auction. Now everyone can visit the Autumn Leaf Manor to observe the Seven Color Spirit King. Also, rumor has it that they are selling many Seven-Colored Snakes too. As everyone might know, the Seven-Colored Snake similarly have extraordinary uses."
The restaurant turned silence for a moment…
"Bill please, quickly, bring me the bill, I must go to the Autumn Leaf Manor!"
"Go to hell, I don't need any bill, money is on the table. Keep the change, I'm now going to the Autumn Leaf Manor!"
The guests from the restaurant continue to run out; they all ran towards the Autumn Leaf Manor. There were some who didn't even stop to take the change and directly ran out. After a short while, only a few guests were left inside the restaurant, including Zhang surnamed and Chen surnamed man.
"Ha ha, Mister Gu's method is really useful. Presumably, the entire town has been attracted by us. Now it is beyond the control of those bigwigs, even if they don't want to come they will have to come. And if they didn't come, then the Seven-Colored Snake King will be dissected and sold to the people of Antiquity Town, in any case, we will not suffer a loss!"
"Mister Gu's place is truly out of the ordinary. If we follow Mister Gu, we will absolutely make a lot of money."
"You're right. We should leave the restaurant and continue our part in someplace else!"
The two, while laughing, left the Great Sea Restaurant, heading for their next destination. Both of them were in fact members of the Autumn Leaf Caravan. However, it was all on Gu Hai's request that they had appeared in the restaurant and acted like this. Gu Hai wanted this auction to be the focus of the entire Antiquity Town.
Today's Autumn Leaf Manor's gate and courtyard were like that of a city. The people of Antiquity Town continued to pour into the Autumn Leaf Manor. A Seven Color Spirit Beast who was close to being a spirit beast was an extremely rare beast; very rarely one would get a chance to see it. Rumor has it that this kind of Seven-Colored Snake King's entire body was a treasure; it was absolutely worth a lot!
However, the Autumn Leaf Manor could not be considered as too big. It would be impossible for the manor to accommodate so many people; so there was long queue present just outside the Autumn Leaf Manor. However, these people did not complain, just by standing there they might have the chance to catch a sight of Seven-Colored Snake King; why should they not be happy to do it!
Tonight, the Autumn Leaf Manor was not free to enter. Whoever wanted to see the Seven-Colored Snake King would have to pay a certain price for it. One or two silver and they could stay inside the Autumn Leaf Manor for a quarter of an hour, and if they wanted to stay for longer, they were politely asked to leave and queue again!
One or two silver for the residents of the Antiquity Town was simply nothing. In the Antiquity Town, the poor folks were almost close to none. Everyone was more than happy to take out one or two silver. They could act as they pleased because they were rich.
Inside the Autumn Leaf Manor, the tables were completely full. A day ago, everyone was eating dinner on these very tables. However, now, the tables no longer had food, but a variety of herbs and Seven-Colored Snake corpses, however, not the entire snake. The snakes were dissected into various parts, such as snake meat, snake skin, snake teeth, poison sac, and these parts were not for the auction, they would be sold directly to the townsfolk of Antiquity Town.
Inside the Autumn Leaf Manor's main hall, a huge rectangular box of glass was placed at the center, placed inside which was the Seven-Colored Snake King's body that had been cut into two. Around the glass box, a huge crowd kept on looking at the Seven-Colored Snake King. Occasionally, a sigh would also come from among the crowd!
However, outside the main hall, a couple of trained middle-aged men stood with blades in their hands. This was a kind of deterrent, warning everyone that here they should not do anything inappropriate!
Amidst the crowd, a young member of the Autumn Leaf Caravan was talking gracefully. From time to time, he would describe how the Clear River Sect's Xiantian expert beheaded the Seven-Colored Snake King. Everyone listening to him was all extremely excited, they very much wished to see this wonderful scene with their own eyes.
This youth too had been arranged by Gu Hai. He was equivalent to a guide on earth; it was all in order to raise the excitement of every guest.
Amidst the crowd, a few people's gaze flickered. They were sent by a few big trading guilds of Antiquity Town. Although these big trading guilds were unhappy with the conduct of the Autumn Leaf Caravan, it was nothing they could control. They have first sent their people to the Autumn Leaf Manor to inquire about the situation.
However, looking at the Seven-Colored Snake King, these people suddenly came to a decision. The Seven-Colored Snake King was worth a lot, if their respective trading guild got hold of the Seven-Colored Snake King, they would absolutely make a killing!
Very soon, a quarter of an hour had passed. Even if some people did not want to, they were still asked to leave. However, before leaving, some of these guests bought a few Seven-Colored Snake parts at the shop outside. Even though these small snakes could not be compared with the Snake King, they still had their advantages. Snake gall and snake meat were a little helpful in raising the cultivation, as for the poison sac, its applications were too many…
A batch of guests went out and another batch came in. Moreover, most of these guests didn't leave empty handed. The Seven-Colored Snake corpse was a precious commodity in Antiquity Town, even if it was high-priced, they were absolutely not in any loss. These Seven-Colored Snakes were also not disposed at a high rate, on contrary just at the market price!
Although the Autumn Leaf Caravan had a lot of Seven-Colored Snakes, they were not enough to sustain the huge demand. In just a short span of few hours, all the Seven-Colored Snakes had been sold out. Those who came late could only return with some regret!