And so, the second round of this beast auction ended. After two rounds, about two-thirds of the beasts in the hall had already been sold off.
It was customary to have rare beasts presented for auction in the last round. Since the best were mainly found in the third round, many buyers grew increasingly excited.
Zu Tianli and Master Liao intentionally made their way over to where Zu Can was standing. He had listened to Lin Jin and spent three thousand low-grade spirit stones to purchase a dying snake, so of course, they couldn’t miss this opportunity to mock the inexperienced, yet inexplicably cocky youngsters.
“Young man, you’re spending money like water. How extravagant of you. Maybe it’s me who’s the ignorant one for not recognizing what rare breed that snake beast belonged to that it made you cough up three thousand low-grade spirit stones to purchase it,” Master Liao remarked sarcastically.
Aware of his ill-intentions, Lin Jin responded with a smile. The old man was merely mocking him and was probably trying to make him squeal. But Lin Jin was long accustomed to such mockery, so he responded with a smug expression, “When it’s time for our competition, you’ll know.”
Master Liao smirked and said nothing else. He had already picked two pet beasts for Zu Tianli and both of them didn’t cost over a thousand low-grade spirit stones. He was confident that both these pet beasts would definitely win against that deformed snake.
However, there was still another round and the beasts that would be unveiled were exclusively premium grade ones. He only had to pick out one more in this round and victory would be his.
That was because his competitor had run out of spirit stones.
And Zu Tianli knew this better than anyone else.
“Zu Can, how could you fool around like this?” Zu Tianli began reprimanding his nephew.
Zu Can wore a look of unease. But since he had complete faith in Lin Jin, he didn’t ask any further questions. He merely answered his uncle, “Second Uncle, I know what I’m doing so you don’t have to be that concerned about me.”
And yet, Zu Tianli remained persistent, “Zu Can, you don’t know your place. Is this how you speak to your elders? As your second uncle and a member of the Zu family, how could I just watch as an ignorant child like you act stubbornly and harm our family by squandering the wealth that our family has accumulated through years of hardship?”
“Three thousand low-grade spirit stones! Do you know how much money that is, based on the current market rate of spirit stones? Let me tell you. It’s worth at least seven thousand taels. No matter how dignified our family background is, we can’t keep up with this extravagant spending habit of yours. Is this how your father teaches you?” Zu Tianli finally blurted out what he wanted to say all this while.
The blame was aimed straight at Zu Tianhong.
This was his true motive.
His plan was simple. He would provoke Zu Can a little, and since the latter is young and easily agitated, he would definitely get emotional about it. If the boy went against him, he would report this to the family at once, exacerbating the matter, which would turn into his perfect opportunity to topple Zu Tianhong from his position as the family patriarch.
In recent years, his power had been gradually increasing to the point where he could put up a fight against his eldest brother, Zu Tianhong. Zu Tianli’s pet beast, in particular, had evolved into Rank 2, making it a supporting pillar of the household, which was partly why Zu Tianli had the nerve to act so unscrupulously.
As frustrated as Zu Can was, his level of tolerance far exceeded what Zu Tianli anticipated.
Despite his uncle’s provocation, Zu Can took a deep breath before saying out loud, “Second Uncle, this has been happening for quite some time now, but Zu Xu is frequently visiting the east yard’s beast pen. Are you aware of this?”
Zu Xu was Zu Tianli’s son. The Zu family’s household was divided into three divisions with the east yard belonging to Zu Tianhong’s faction. This east yard’s beast pen was where Zu Can’s sapphire turtle had been staying all this while.
At this, Zu Tianli’s expression faltered immediately.
After all, Zu Can’s hints were too obvious. Even without stating exactly what he meant, Zu Tianli understood the message loud and clear.
Zu Can was referring to the incident where his sapphire turtle was poisoned by some unknown perpetrator.
“Zu Can, what do you mean by this?” Zu Tianli said through narrowed eyes, feeling slightly shaken,
Staring at the older man’s mug, Zu Can had the impulse to simply blurt out the dirty deeds that the bastard had done. However, Zu Tianhong had told him that they wouldn’t pursue this matter for now.
After all, they were still part of the same family. It was as the saying went, ‘one shouldn’t hang their dirty laundry out in the open’. They would give the other party one more chance this time.
But now that Zu Tianli was using his seniority to force him into a corner, Zu Can couldn’t just let him have his way.
“You should know what it means, Second Uncle. Just because my father doesn’t speak about something doesn’t mean he’s oblivious to it. Need I remind you that grandfather once said, although the Zu household is divided into three divisions, we’re still a family living under the same roof. And as family members, we shouldn’t step out of line.”
“Preposterous!” Zu Tianli flared up in anger.
Had it been Zu Tianhong who said this, Zu Tianli would endure it. After all, the man was his older brother. But Zu Can was his nephew, a pathetic, good-for-nothing junior. How dare the boy even think about threatening him?
This instantly incurred Zu Tianli’s wrath.
The older man flashed him an icy smile and said, “Zu Can, who do you think you are to lecture me? Hmph! You don’t have to make oblique accusations. Aren’t you referring to the incident where your pet beast mysteriously fell ill? I know that you and your father are suspicious about west yard. You’re suspicious of me and my son, Zu Xu. Fine, go ahead and indulge in your little conspiracy. If you’re capable enough, show us the evidence that this had something to do with us. If you can’t, stop trying to act all high and mighty here. On the other hand, you’ve willfully spent three thousand low-grade spirit stones just to buy back your inflated ego in a fit of pique. I’m telling you now that I will definitely report this to your father and have an open discussion about what happened today. Let’s see if he condones your actions. He must be ignorant to allow a brat like you to fool around at a place like this. I swear to God, our Zu family will someday crumble apart because of you, and your incompetent father .”
Zu Can’s eyes immediately went red and he was about to step forward to give his uncle a piece of his mind. Just then, someone commanded from beside him, “Can’er, mind your manners.”
Turning around, it was Zu Tianhong who showed up.
Upon seeing his father, Zu Can immediately put on his best behavior. Meanwhile, Zu Tianli’s eyelids twitched as he quickly thought about a new plan in silence.
As the head of the Zu household, it was only natural that Zu Tianhong would send someone to follow Zu Can discreetly after assigning him the task of purchasing pet beasts for the family. In fact, when Zu Can ran into Zu Tianli, this matter was instantly reported back. Anticipating some sort of conflict between them, Zu Tianhong rushed over just in time to watch this scene unfold.
Had he arrived a little later, Zu Can might already be duking it out with Zu Tianli.
“Father!” Zu Can and Zu Yingying went over and greeted him. A swift thought flashed through his mind and Zu Tianli quickly said, “Brother, you’ve come just in time. You’ve seen how your precious son disrespects his elders, didn’t you? As that isn’t enough, he was about to raise his fists against me! Is this what you’ve taught your child?”
Having constantly been disputing openly and covertly with Zu Tianhong, this was a good opportunity for Zu Tianli to launch his offensive against his brother.
‘After all, for your son to squander our family’s wealth for the sake of his pride is the greatest leverage I have against you. You can either punish Zu Can in accordance with our family’s rules, or you can take responsibility and step down from your position as family patriarch.’
Zu Can finally calmed himself down. He couldn’t hold himself back earlier but now that he thought twice, Zu Tianli was provoking him on purpose, hoping he would take the bait and attack him.
Zu Can was immediately hit by a wave of regret.
However, Zu Tianhong patted him on the shoulder and said, “Can’er, no matter what happens, he’s still your second uncle. You mustn’t forget your manners nor disrespect him!”
