Yanwei arrived at the tower, a large crowd having gathered drawn by the flashy announcement of the auction
This is.. Pretty strange. These all are pretty normal looking people...
He scanned the crowd, eyes narrowing. Mostly no one wore anything remotely prestigious. No sect robes, no polished weapons, no arrogant crests. Just plain, almost peasant-like clothing.
He let out a small hum of confusion.
His group was no where to be seen.
Their probably gone off to do something... I should just sit here and watch. That Wanmei guy is also going to come.
Almost as if on cue Wanmei floated down from the tower—like a divine being descending from heaven. His eyes were glowing blue and his long black hair on display, his cloak bellowed in the wind.
"Hello everyone." He began, his voice unhurried and calm "The auction shall start now."
He floated above the people, the undersole of his boots were glowing with a strange Qi—foreign, unnatural and one that had no right to exist in the Jianghu.
Yanwei's eyes widened, he looked at Wanmei.
That Qi... No, that belongs to... Jinshen!
Yanwei desperately tried to push through the sea of people but the amount of people was just too great for him.
He looked down at Yanwei, his eyes narrowing at the edges before going back to their calm and controlled self.
"The first item shall be brought out!"
The ground started shaking as the people jumped away. A small crevice appearing in the ground as a large, glowing white spear flew out of it.
The head of the spear resembled a bolt of lightning, its handle black and long.
"The first item is the Blackened Spear of Thunder."
He paused, letting everyone look at the magnificent weapon that had just sprouted up from the ground like Wanmei had just willed it into existence.
"This weapon is legendary and used to belong to the Heavenly Demon Sect before its eventual fall. It can create bursts of thunder and lightning. Not only that, unlike other demonic weapons, it does not require Demonic Qi to use."
He saw the reactions of the people below—Some were surprised, some were excited. Most were already gathering their money.
"The bid starts at three hundred thousand yuan. Begin!"
Yanwei took a deep breath, calming himself down. He looked at the people bidding, they were steadily increasing the price.
"four hundred thousand!" Yelled out an old man with a cane, his hand raised high into the air.
A young, very bulky and tough looking man raised his hand his voice cutting through the chitter chatter.
"Six hundred thousand."
Wanmei's eyes gleamed in satisfaction—He raised a finger.
"Six hundred thousand going once. Twice."
He paused, letting the last second go for a bit longer before putting his hands on his back.
"Sold to the warrior."
The spear floated towards the man, its handle facing towards his hand—As soon as he took the spear a small, lightning like pattern spread across his hand.
He grinned in happiness, giving a small smug look to the old man that bid before him.
"Boo hoo. Peasant.." He put a golden tablet forward which floated up to Wanmei on its own.
Wanmei took the tablet, nodding in approval before pocketing it.
He looked around, noticing that basically everyone was glaring at his newly acquired weapon and so. He left after paying, not wanting to get the spear stolen off of him.
The crevice in the ground grew larger.
An armor rose out of it—The thick golden and white plates clinking as the stand that carried it was set on the ground.
A cloaked man from the crowd looked around nervously, taking a deep breath before lunging at the armor.
"Damn idiot! You arranged no security at all!"
Before the man's hand could even touch the armor, Wanmei was already behind him, standing on the ground. His eyes glowing in anger and disappointment before-
Boom.
The man's head exploded, the insides of his skull that had came out were concealed by the cloak he was wearing and his body? It disappeared before it even fell to the ground.
"I will not tolerate anyone trying to ruin the integrity of the auction. And the punishment for that crime is nothing less then death."
Yanwei looked at Wanmei with wide eyes filled with realization as he instantly lunged forward, pushing away the people that were frozen in fear from Wanmei's show of immense violence.
Jinshen. Only a bastard like you could do something like that without a problem..
He thought to himself before stopping in front of who he thought was Jinshen.
Wanmei remained stoic but his eyes were undoubtedly wider and a bit more surprised then they were before.
"Yanwei?"
Yanwei nodded with fervor, his eyes wide and filled with joy—he hugged Wanmei tightly.
"You're.. Alive.."
Wanmei remained silent, not reciprocating the hug—instead, he looked deep into Yanwei's eyes.
"Listen, Yanwei, no one, and I mean no one except you can know about me alright?"
Yanwei nodded immediately—stepping away from Wanmei before taking a deep, shaky breath.
"Alright well.. I uh.."
He trailed off, unable to speak. His friend had just seemingly resurrected from the dead.
Wanmei looked at Yanwei with dry yet still friendly eyes. Reminiscent of Jinshen's own, dry teasing gaze that Yanwei was too familiar with.
"You can go ahead and rest up in the tower. I'll have your group members inside with you after the auction."
Yanwei almost walked past Wanmei but his eyes narrowed softly while he looked at his friend's back.
"How do you... How do you know about my sect. Its not even that famous."
Wanmei remained calm, putting his index finger on his mask—where the mouth should be underneath it.
"I'll tell you later."
Yanwei narrowed his eyes for a moment before relaxing and nodding.
"Alright.."
He muttered under his breath before walking into the tower.
Wanmei turned back to the crowd of people that were anticipating the price of the armor impatiently.
"The bid starts at five hundred thousand yuan!"
A small child, a boy wearing a short black tunic was standing besides a well dressed merchant wearing a bright red robe.
He looked at Wanmei curiously, his eyes landing behind the masked man.
"Father.. That man does not have a shadow."
The father turned his gaze to Wanmei in confusion. Not believing his son.
"Son, do not say that-"
He cut himself off, Wanmei, truly had no shadow.
The merchant took a shaky step back, his heart beating rapidly.
Wanmei tilted his head slightly—just slightly—toward the child who could swear that Wanmei's mask was smiling.
Suddenly, both the father and the child were inside a maze of mirrors, they felt like there were hundreds, if not thousands of Wanmei's staring at them from a mirror before.
Crack.
The mirrors exploded, the father falling to the ground and the child screaming in horror.
In the real world, Wanmei turned his attention back to the people who had already started their bidding, completely unaware.
Worms who can not handle their own reflection.
That was Wanmei's only thought as his mask shifted, a small red slit appearing on the area of his mouth, upturned like a smile— No, more like a wound.