Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1945: Chapter 1848: Too Little, Too Late

Lu Huairu’s words left the other four people momentarily stunned.

”Mr. Lu, are you saying that the man who was bidding just now is merely a shill arranged by the auction house?”

Zhou Zhen subconsciously asked.

Lu Huairu nodded slightly: ”Otherwise? This is a default behavior in the circle. The auction house wants to make a profit, and this is the most common practice.”

”If there are many people bidding on an item, the likelihood of the auction house muddying the waters increases, and so does the frequency of price hikes. The more fierce the competition, the less likely the shill will be spotted.”

”However, for an item like the one we are bidding on this time, there’s no inherent competition, so the auction house can’t go too far. They’re afraid the item might end up unsold in their hands. So, they found someone to raise the price once, which won’t be too obvious or cause resentment among real bidders, allowing the item to be auctioned off smoothly.”

Hearing Lu Huairu’s words, Fujiwara Seiho agreed that his analysis made a lot of sense. He now regarded bidder number 88 as a shill invited by the auction house and, after frowning slightly, said nothing more.

These few people were already certain that the recent auction item was theirs. As soon as the auction ended, they would pay for it and take it home, thus achieving their goal for the trip.

Relaxed and delighted expressions appeared on their faces, and their demeanor naturally became more laid-back as they looked at the other items on display. They occasionally joked, exchanged opinions, and even occasionally raised their number plates to participate in the bidding. Even though they didn’t win any items, they showed no signs of sadness or frustration.

Huo Sining, hiding in the room without making an appearance, continued to quietly observe Fujiwara Seiho and the others sitting below. Seeing the situation, Huo Sining was even more shocked internally.

When Huo Sining entered the Black Market Building for the first time, she didn’t see the Classic of Mountains and Seas item in the building’s glass display cabinets—likely something added last minute.

She had no idea where Fujiwara Seiho and the others had learned that this black market auction would feature the box, but observing their series of actions after entering the auction venue, Huo Sining was already very certain that these people were here for that box.

Originally thinking they came to compete with her for the Beast Head, Huo Sining now felt relieved.

After some thought, she gestured to the attendant at the doorway, signaling for them to directly relay to Semiya that she had taken a liking to the golden Phoebe nanmu box.

The attendant understood and quickly ran off, returning not long after. To Huo Sining’s surprise, Semiya this time was generous, without any cunning tricks, directly instructing the attendant to fetch the box along with the Classic of Mountains and Seas within it.

By this point, other items had been placed on the platform, and the box in the attendant’s hand should be the one just taken off the stage. Semiya didn’t waste any time and brought it straight to Huo Sining.

Huo Sining didn’t hesitate, promptly drawing a one-million US dollar check from her purse—a token from a previous wager lost by Semiya and handed it to the attendant—signifying payment, item taken, a fair exchange, with neither party owing the other.

Once she had the item, Huo Sining examined it briefly. Though she didn’t pay much attention to the box, she directly took out the Classic of Mountains and Seas inside, opened the book, and sure enough, the text written in the thread-bound book was in a weird script she couldn’t recognize.

It seemed this book was part of a set with the one she had.

Narrowing her eyes, a smile naturally emerged at the corner of Huo Sining’s mouth, and she stuffed the book back into the box.

Beside her, Zhou Shitao and Xie Daoyuan also watched her; Huang Zhenlong was the most impatient, bluntly asking,

”Huo girl, you spent a million dollars on such a trinket. I see you’re usually savvy, so why are you clueless today? Could there be something about this item we’re not seeing clearly? Is it perhaps a major bargain?”

Hearing Huang Zhenlong’s words, Zhou Shitao and Xie Daoyuan’s gazes also focused on the box in Huo Sining’s hands. Huo Sining didn’t offer any explanation, merely smiling as she handed the box to Zhou Shitao and Xie Daoyuan.

The several elderly men passed the box amongst themselves, looking it over, yet still couldn’t see anything significant. After a few exchanged glances, they let it be.

Huo Sining certainly knew there must be some secret hidden within the box, but naturally, she wouldn’t reveal it to the elderly men, so she smiled and deflected,

”Actually, I can’t tell what’s special about it either. However, my Jubao Pavilion previously received a thread-bound book much like the one in this box, with peculiar text inside. I find it quite interesting and wanted to buy it for study.”

”What font?” hearing Huo Sining’s explanation, Huang Zhenlong and Xie Daoyuan were momentarily puzzled.

On the contrary, Zhou Shitao was taken aback, recalling the previous occasion when Huo Sining had asked for his help deciphering some peculiar characters: ”The characters you asked me to help you research last year—were they copied from this kind of book?”

Huo Sining nodded: ”Yes.”

Zhou Shitao’s eyes lit up and he quickly snatched the box from Huo Sining’s hands, flipping open the blue-covered thread-bound book inside. It was indeed filled with strange, scribbled characters that neither Huo Sining nor the professors Zhou Shitao, Huang Zhenlong could recognize.

”What kind of stuff is this? Isn’t this supposed to be the Classic of Mountains and Seas? Why doesn’t it look like it?”

Huo Sining shook her head: ”I suspect it’s not, which is why I wanted to buy this piece. I believe there might be another set of writings within, but to solve this puzzle, it seems the only way forward is translating the script within this book.”

Impatient with these matters, Huang Zhenlong waved his hand dismissively: ”So much effort involved in treasure hunting—you’re doing a lot of work here. If this turns out merely to be someone’s prank, a bunch of meaningless squiggles, then wasn’t your million wasted?”

Huo Sining waved her hand and laughed: ”It’s no big deal; this money was something I won anyway—no more than returning it to Semiya.”

Pretending not to care, Huo Sining tucked the box into her backpack, but her eyes lingered on Fujiwara Seiho and the others seated in the auction gallery below, and a slight, involuntary smile curled at her lips.

At this moment, Fujiwara Seiho and company probably still believed that what they desired was firmly within their grasp and control, not realizing that once the auction ended, the item they coveted had already changed hands, leaving them with nothing but metaphorical cold soup.