Chapter 11 Auction 3
"Welcome everyone to the auction! There are only three items to be auctioned, and the highest bidder wins. Without further ado, let's begin!" The host, microphone in hand, pulled a remote control from his pocket.
A massive iron cage slowly rose from the center, inside which stood the orange-haired tsukumogami, its clothes tattered. Seeing the familiar swords, Yagen took a step forward in disbelief.
That's—Ran Toushirou!
Ran Toushirou, a rare individual known for his chaotic swordplay, bears a striking resemblance to a girl. This very resemblance has attracted many with malicious intent, resulting in Ran Toushirou being in extremely poor condition, his body covered in whip marks.
A black collar adorned its neck, its chains connected to an iron cage. Han Zhou noticed that it was protected by formations designed to counteract the spirits, preventing their escape.
“General…” Yagen looked at Kanju, her beautiful purple eyes filled with hope and pleading.
"Don't worry," Han Zhou stood up, looking down at Dao Jian, whose face was full of stubbornness even though he was in a cage. She admired such Dao Jian.
"Starting bid: 100,000 in Jiazhou gold, with each bid increment no less than 50,000!" The moment the host finished speaking, someone raised the bid.
"150,000!"
"200,000!"
"300,000!"
"Damn it, 500,000!!!"
The moment the price was announced, the room fell silent. 500,000 kyats of gold wasn't cheap; using it to buy a common short knife was definitely not a good deal. The host's eyes lit up at the price; the higher the price, the bigger his commission.
"500,000 for the first time, the second time..." Just as he was about to bring down the gavel, an unfamiliar mechanical voice echoed throughout the auction hall.
1 million
What...? 1 million? To buy a short knife? Who's that rich?
The mechanical voice is only available to guests in the private rooms, which is to prevent their identities from being revealed.
"Guests in box number 12, 1 million once, twice, and a third time!" With the fall of the auction hammer, the deal was finalized.
Inside the private room, Yagen was also shocked; he hadn't expected Hanzhou to raise the price like this.
"general......"
"Yagen," she interrupted him, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Your value cannot be measured in money. Money is the least valuable thing to me, but you are all priceless treasures."
So... don't worry, and don't feel pressured. This is my duty as a general.
Yagen clearly understood Hanshu's meaning, and he smiled.
"I see"
The second sword to be auctioned was another Toushirou sword. Toushirou possessed many swords, many of which were short swords in the form of children, so it's no wonder he met such a tragic end. But... this one being auctioned... Han Zhou had seen it before.
That was Mouri Toushirou, whom she had met at the general store before. This time, she didn't wait for the host to announce the starting price and directly used the machine at hand to place her bid.
1 million
Such an exorbitant price instantly calmed down those who were initially eager to participate. They also realized that they couldn't afford to offend the people in VIP room number 12.
Straight to the final strike
As expected of a rare sword, Tsurumaru Kuninaga attracted everyone's attention the moment he appeared. He seemed to be in good condition, without any injuries, and appeared unconcerned about his situation.
He continued to smile as he looked at everything outside the cage, his golden eyes filled with indifference.
"This sword is probably familiar to everyone here. The starting bid is 1 million! Each bid must be at least 200,000 higher."
The moment the sword appeared, the mechanical sounds intensified. The price skyrocketed to 3.25 million within a minute. The host, looking at box number 12 where no bids had yet been made, began to drawl out his voice.
"3.25 million, first time—3.25 million, second time"
Sure enough, in the next moment, the mechanical voice sounded again, offering an exorbitant price.
5 million
Upon hearing the price, Tsurumaru Kuninaga, sitting cross-legged in his cage, chuckled softly. He hadn't realized he was worth so much.
The fact that all three swords were taken away by one person sparked great curiosity among the auction participants about the owner of Box 12. A total of 7 million Koshu gold coins—that's a price not everyone can afford.
After the auction ended, the Saniwa left one after another. Han Zhou had already memorized the power fluctuations of everyone present; these people were definitely not benevolent individuals since they had participated in the auction.
Han Zhou's power has already enveloped the entire underground space; she can destroy it at any time if she wants.
The three swords were now all placed together; Ran Toushirou and Tsurumaru Kuninaga both came from the same citadel. The helpless little swordsman asked the imprisoned Tsurumaru...
"Lord Tsurumaru, do you think we'll ever find a worthy lord again...?"
Before Tsurumaru Kuninaga could answer, footsteps sounded outside the door, along with... the smell of blood?!
Higekiri pushed open the door, his golden cat-like eyes smiling as he looked at the somewhat stunned Sanjin swords. Yagen instantly stepped forward and walked to the edge of the cage.
"Yagen-ni?" Mori whispered in disbelief, fearing that the person before him was merely a hallucination before his death.
"It's me!" Yagen looked at the iron cage in front of him; it was not something that could be cut by swords or blades. He decisively turned around to seek help.
"general!"
Hanzuru, who was finishing off Hizamaru, heard the call and the golden vortex that formed in his hand annihilated everyone in the corridor into a cloud of blood mist.
Tsurumaru Kuninaga, seeing the person enter, incredulously rose from a seated position to stand. Two pairs of strikingly similar golden eyes met silently.
"This really... startled me... Lord Hanzhou"
The power emanating from Han Zhou's hand seeped into the three swords, repairing their wounds while simultaneously cleansing them of all their original spiritual energy. The clear, pure power made them feel as if they were bathed in warm sunshine.
At the same time, the golden orb floating in the air easily broke through the iron cage that bound the swords when it touched it. Not only the cage, but also the chains and collars binding the swords vanished without a trace.
Tsurumaru Kuninaga never imagined he would have the chance to see his former master again. But the reunion turned out this way, which made him anything but happy.
He felt a pang of shame that his former respected master had seen him in such an embarrassing state.
"Tsurumaru"
The cool, clear call brought Tsurumaru Kuninaga back to his senses. Then he heard unexpected words.
"Feel sorry"
"Lord Hanzhou...why?"
It wasn't just Tsurumaru Kuninaga who was shocked; all the other swords were astonished. Kanshu's expressionless face and flat tone initially seemed like a perfunctory apology.
But when you see those light golden eyes, you realize that the other person is serious.
They didn't understand why Hanzhou was apologizing, but Yagen keenly sensed someone approaching.
"general!"
Han Zhou nodded knowingly, then teleported away with his swords. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the auction stage, where the auctioneer, who had been trapped by Han Zhou's power, was still seated.
She kept this person around only to gather intelligence. She didn't believe there was only one such auction venue. The spirits saw golden light forcefully penetrate the host's brain.
Han Zhou was extracting his memories when she saw the filthy images. Her brow furrowed slightly, and golden energy condensed into a small insect, which burrowed into the host's brain through his ear.
The insects were gnawing at the host's brain; this intense pain was the way Han Zhou had killed him. His screams echoed through the empty auction hall, but no one paid any attention.
Her gaze shifted to the three swords being auctioned.
"Do you want to come back to the citadel with me?"
Higekiri stood behind Kanshu with Hizamaru, and so did Yagen. They were silently declaring their stance.
The swords up for auction were all on high alert. Tsurumaru Kuninaga pondered for a moment, then met Kanshu's gaze directly and uttered words that left everyone except Kanshu bewildered.
His face was beaming with a bright smile.
"The wind is quite noisy today."
Hanshu quickly picked up where Tsurumaru Kuninaga left off.
"The wind is formless, and free. You must think so too, Tsurumaru Kuninaga."
These are the words that Kanshu said to Tsurumaru Kuninaga when they parted a thousand years ago.
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