Chapter 779: A Bespectacled Mongoose
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
When it was nearly evening, among the guests were three familiar faces, and they were none other than Miss Ellen and the two young men Xia Fei had once spotted out on the Ancient Battlefield. They were following two elderly individuals, one tall and one chubby.
Aside from Clean Knife, Xia Fei had Keenan’s nephew, Keeho, with him. Barely over his thirties, Keeho was a veteran of the underworld. Having debuted in the scene when he was just twelve, he had spent eighteen years since in the underworld. Unfortunately, his cultivation was nothing worth mentioning and he was just a level 2 Law Sovereign.
Jerking his head in the direction of the two old men, Xia Fei asked, “Who are those people? They look like fellow humans.”
Though Miss Ellen’s face was covered in a green shawl, Xia Fei was still able to recognize her at a single glance. There were some things that could not be hidden, such as their temperament or the way they walked, including the time between every step. Xia Fei had keen eyesight thanks to Ocular Cognition, which meant that he could very easily differentiate people.
Keeho shook his head.. “That’s where you’re wrong. Those two aren’t human. The Shas merely look like us, but their bodies are actually covered in gruesome scales! Rumor has it that it’s because their ancestors were aquatic creatures; they even have fins under their armpits.”
Xia Fei did not express too much of a surprise upon learning this. There were plenty of species, of different forms and types, all across the Law Realm. Some fishmen were nothing too shocking to speak of.
After a pause, Xia Fei continued to ask. “What kind of people are they? I see most in the crowd avoiding these Shas, unwilling to speak to them too much.”
Keeho stuck his tongue out. “Who wants to interact with people from the Old God Cult? If you ask me, nothing about the Old God Cult can be considered part of the underworld. Also, that tall individual with a hooked nose is the Old God Cult’s leader. No one knows his name; the only thing known about him is that he calls himself Xu Ming, while that fat man next to him goes by the name of Xu Yuan. Xu Ming has a Law Overlord cultivation, whereas Xu Yuan is a Great Law Emperor. Both cultivate the Law of Space.”
From Keeho’s words, Xia Fei finally understood that the Old God Cult was originally a small religious group among the Shas, but it had expanded its influence in recent years, recruitling plenty of young boys and girls.
Though the people of the underworld were full of themselves, they also knew their own limits when doing things. However, the Old God Cult did things unflinchingly, which was why the criminal organizations did not like them and only grudgingly bear with them. That was also why the appearance of these cultists caused the criminals from the underworld to knit their eyebrows.
In addition, Xia Fei learned from Keeho that there were several religions in the Law Realm, gathering disciples under all kinds of names. Most of their purpose was to gain wealth, but of course there were also those that focused on self-cultivation, similar to the Skywings’ Law Emperor Xia Tian, who was forced to pick up meditation because of his overly violent personality.
The longer Xia Fei spent in the Law Realm, the more he felt that it was no different from a normal society. Even things like an underworld, religion all existed here. The only difference being that the people’s cultivation here was higher, and they possessed greater strength.
As night descended, nearly four to five thousand people all gathered in the garden. Suddenly, the rumbling of the crowd quieted significantly as they all entered the venue for the trade fair. After all, the backyard of Galerain’s was limited in its capacity to hold people; there was just no way for people to fit comfortably in it all at once.
Xia Fei filed into a room with Keenan and the others, only to find people drifting toward a shrunken spatial gate inside.
Everyone was holding onto some pretty good stuff. In order to maintain secrecy, only the host would know the destination, and all we had to do was pass through the gate and we would arrive at the venue,” Keenan explained to Xia Fei somewhat excitedly. Because Xia Fei had disguised himself as an underling, their conversation would have to be done secretly so as to avoid arousing suspicion from others.
*Whoosh*
The world beyond the gate was wondrous; except for the huge crystal glass encasements, which were arranged in a circle, there was nothing inside.
Keenan led Xia Fei over to the periphery of these crystal encasements and pressed a finger on one to open it.
“Whatever is up for trade shall be placed inside, so anyone can view it. Write down clearly the pricing as well as the item expected for the exchange, and whoever likes what they see can leave their names down,” Keenan explained.
This was not really a new style of trading. Xia Fei had seen this done before, so right now, his thoughts were all centered on Miss Ellen and Xu Ming.
Very soon, more and more items for trade filled the crystal encasements around them, and due to this being a secret gathering, plenty of items, which would not normally see the light of day, appeared here. Items coming from the people of the underworld were mainly of dubious origins; they would most definitely cause a stir if they were put up for sale on the market, so it was a lot safer for them to trade these things among people of their kind.
Xia Fei wandered around the exhibition hall as if he had nothing to do. This hall on board a gigantic warship. It seemed that the Law Realm was really fond of large warships. From their outer appearances, this ship was no different from what the Yu Family owned. It had fake skies, with the only difference between the ships being that this one was several times smaller in size.
“This trade will last for three days. If there’s anything Young Master Fei takes a fancy to, my old self will do my best to help you procure it!” Keenan fawned. Xia Fei was glad to let Keenan break his bank, and he did not find it embarrassing at all. After all, the Grandcloud Association had once put a bounty on him and had him hunted down, since they were showing such sincerity, Xia Fei was of course more than happy to help them. It was just that nothing had been put up on offer, which he had his sight on.
Xia Fei’s present weapons were Blood Crystal and Peacock Blue, his armor was the Monohorn Fiend, and his exclusive pet was the Holy Beast Shatterstar. Most goods for sale hardly even registered in his eyes. As for the medicinal ingredients needed for pharmacology and the Solid Gold Flying Cicada Pupaes needed for the Celestial Zerohammer, Xia Fei had yet to see any such items, so he was feeling somewhat disappointed.
Xu Ming and his companions appeared very normal, while Miss Ellen seemed to be a little entranced, humming that strange tune of hers absentmindedly.
Xia Fei had very good foundation in the field of medicine; after several attempts to get close to Ellen on the sly, he noticed that the lady’s mental state was at an abnormal range. It was almost as if the girl was being suppressed to the fullest. She appeared to be under the influence of some sort of drug, causing her to be completely detached to the world around her and be fully immersed in tune that she was humming.
Xia Fei maintained his composure, wondering if this was one of the possible ways for the Old God Cult to control their followers. Any cult first needed to delude their followers before dominating their hearts and mind so that they could achieve the goal of instilling their will in them. In Xia Fei’s view, the Old God Cult’s method was not particularly erudite, and in fact, he came up with several ways to return Ellen’s rationality after a few minutes of thinking.
No one left in the middle of this three-day long underworld trade fair. After all, there were plenty of items to see that no one could view fast enough. It would spell trouble if information about the venue’s location leaked, for it would end up drawing vultures looking to profit off this convergence of criminals. Since no one was allowed to leave, Xia Fei decided to really carefully inspect all these items up for trade.
It was clear that Galerain’s backyard was not the only entrance to this venue, as there were people who came in via other spatial gates. The number of people aboard this warship broke the twenty-thousand mark, so it was as if every member of the Law Realm’s underworld was in attendance to this event.
There were also countless crystal encasements around. Xia Fei lit a cigarette and strolled along, browsing the items on display. Keenan very gingerly accompanied Xia Fei, hoping that he could gift Xia Fei something as soon as possible, allowing both parties to forge a better relationship that was based upon mutual courtesy, all to avoid the Skywings looking for payback at a later date. Alas, it was too bad that Xia Fei did not look like he was interested in any of the forsale items, so Keenan could only wait in anticipation.
“Hmm?” Xia Fei suddenly came to a halt and stared at a mask inside a crystal encasement.
Keenan froze as he followed Xia Fei’s gaze, only to find a mongoose mask. Made from bronze and looking rusty, it looked very old. Accompanying this item was a slip of paper, stating that it was an ancient mask called the Blindfolded Mongoose. There was no further description aside from that.
“Young Master Fei, do you like this mask?” Keenan very carefully asked. To him, there was nothing alluring about this lousy bronze mask aside from it being a little strange.
Xia Fei smiled but was actually absolutely astonished inside!
His keen senses were sending him an extremely dangerous message to get as far away from this mask as possible!
“Do you sense anything?” Xia Fei asked Oro.
“Sense anything?” Oro chuckled, unperturbed. “Nothing more than an icy chilliness from the mask. Actually, it’s very normal. Antique items like this often are often dug out from graves. Over time, a sinister aura will seep into such things, but nothing special beyond that.”
Awareness was a very strange thing. Xia Fei had been forewarned time and again, and it was through such instincts that he had kept himself safe until now. Xia Fei had always trusted this intuition of his, and though Oro said that there was nothing exceptional about this mask, Xia Fei still thought that it was a dangerous item! It gave him this inexplicably ominous feeling.
Shrugging, Xia Fei pointed at the mask and said, “Look here. This mask is called the Blindfolded Mongoose, and there are two strange things in lieu of its eyes. Its nose is upturned, full of wrinkles. Tell me: What do you make of this?”
Keenan, who had no idea what Xia Fei was insinuating, answered, “A bespectacled mongoose?”
Xia Fei chuckled. “I think that it looks like a detector. Most armor are equipped with eye protective capabilities; in situations with blinding lights or dim lighting, this will work to protect the user’s eyes. Meanwhile, this long snout looks like an oxygen mask, with a tube connected to an air-filtration device behind it.”
Keenan applauded as he happily praised him. “Young Master Fei truly has an amazing imagination! All I see is a mongoose that suffered from pinkeye, resulting in its eyes becoming bulging, needing to wear an eye mask when sleeping to avoid being disturbed.”
Xia Fei did not care to explain himself. “Since it’s just an ancient gadget, we can only guess just what sort of function it serves.”
After he said that, Xia Fei continued along his way without turning back once, leaving Keenan rooted to the spot. Since Xia Fei showed some interest in the mask, Keenan decided that he would buy it out and give it to Xia Fei as a gift.
He looked at the price tag and began shaking his head, however. The lousy mask actually cost a million grade 4 Origin Crystals to be bought; this was a price he simply could not accept. Besides, what if Xia Fei had flippantly mentioned the mask and was not really fond of it? Would he not have wasted a fortune for naught?
The reason why Keenan could become the third executive of Grandcloud Association was closely linked to his miserly ways. Though he very generously claimed that he intended to purchase Xia Fei an expensive gift, he was actually very stingy.
With that thought in mind, Keenan placed a bid that was 100,000 grade 4 Origin Crystals more than its initial bid and proceeded to sign his name on it.
The asking price for the mask was 100,000, and whoever was willing to part with one million crystals could immediately take it home with them. Meanwhile, Keenan’s 200,000 bid was just that, so if no one made a bid higher than his, he would have obtained the mask for just 200,000 grade 4 Origin Crystals.
Keenan was slightly pleased with himself after doing so. In his eyes, 200,000 was already high enough; no one ought to compete with him over the mask.
However, how was he to know that, the moment he left, the group from the Old God Cult would come over? This was intentional on Xia Fei’s part as well, making sure that as he strolled about, he would not be too far away from Ellen.
With a look at the mask, Cult Leader Xu Ming was promptly startled and then somberly stated with alarmed eyes, “I want this mask. Buy it out!”
