Chapter 420 Tiger Peace
The two looked around and saw a few empty seats in the corner. Zhu Qingyan wanted to keep a low profile and was about to walk over there, but was gently pulled by Zhu Lan.
Zhu Lan brought Zhu Qingyan and sat down at a large table in the crowd. There were people wearing masks on both sides, making it seem a bit crowded.
Just as the two of them sat down, another man in ragged clothes squeezed past them from behind, and Zhu Lan couldn't help but frown.
Zhu Qingyan suddenly felt something strange around her waist. Her martial arts had greatly improved and her perception was much sharper than that of ordinary people. She immediately reached for the pouch around her waist.
Sure enough, the moment she touched her purse, her other skinny hand quickly withdrew.
Zhu Qingyan didn't want to cause trouble here, so he turned around and glared at the man in a warning tone.
The other party remained calm, wiped his nose with his sleeve, and walked forward as if nothing had happened.
The treasure being auctioned is an ancient painting, and the price has been called out to one thousand taels of silver.
"Is this a painting by Yu Ziping of the previous dynasty?" Zhu Qingyan was obviously surprised after seeing the painting clearly.
Yu Ziping was the most famous painter in the previous dynasty. When he was alive, his paintings were worth a fortune. Now that he has passed away, the paintings that have been passed down are even more priceless.
“But I heard that this painting seemed to be buried with a prince of the previous dynasty. Now it appears in this Jinlian Tower. Either the tomb of the unfortunate prince has been dug up, or it is a fake.” Zhu Qingyan whispered to Zhu Lan.
The two men lowered their voices, but their conversation still attracted the attention of those sitting at the same table.
A man wearing a tiger-head mask turned his head and glanced at the two of them. Although his expression could not be seen through the mask, one could still feel the sarcasm in his gaze.
Just as the man turned around, Zhu Qingyan noticed that the ragged guy had come back again and stole the purse of the man with the tiger head mask.
Seeing that Zhu Qingyan's gaze seemed to fall on him, the tiger-head masked man felt provoked. He deliberately looked at Zhu Qingyan and the other man, and said in a voice that everyone around could hear:
“What a fake… You don’t even know where the Golden Lotus Building is, and you come here to join in the fun?
Two women actually came to this kind of place, and their own men didn’t care…”
After saying this, he sneered.
Zhu Qingyan crossed his arms and replied with a gloating look:
"I really don't know what this Golden Lotus Building is. There is even a rule that requires people to rush to give money to petty thieves."
When everyone at the table heard this, they were all stunned for a moment before they reacted, and subconsciously reached for their pockets.
"Where's my purse? My purse is gone!"
"Mine is gone too!"
"Whoever did this, come out here!"
Three people at the same table lost their wallets, and the man in the tiger-head mask screamed the loudest among them.
Seeing that the three people were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, Zhu Qingyan stood up with a sneer and glanced at the people nearby.
Then he picked up the teacup of the man with the tiger-head mask and secretly used his internal energy. The teacup flew out at lightning speed and hit someone on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" The ragged little thief screamed in pain and fell to the ground, with many bulging purses falling out of his arms with a clinking sound.
"That's my purse!"
"And mine!"
Everyone rushed forward, picked up their purses and put them in their arms. While everyone was picking up their purses, the thief slipped away very skillfully.
Zhu Qingyan originally wanted to chase after her, but Zhu Lan shook her head gently at her. She thought that this was a ghost market after all, and they both had a mission to accomplish, so she had to give up.
Zhu Lan and the other person returned to their seats and were about to sit down again when a man appeared in front of them, blocking their way. It was the man with the tiger-head mask, but his expression could not be seen through the mask.
Zhu Qingyan frowned, "I helped you find your purse, but you don't know how to be grateful. What, do you want to do something?"
"Miss, you misunderstood!" The other party waved his hands repeatedly and spoke sincerely.
"There is something very important to me in this purse. If the girl hadn't reminded me just now, I would have almost lost it.
I am Hu Ping'an. I am really ashamed for my words that offended the two girls just now. I am sorry, sorry!"
Zhu Qingyan snorted and turned away.
Zhu Lan bowed to him and smiled, "Brother Hu, there is no need to be so polite."
"Sit down, sit down!" Hu Ping'an invited the two to sit down. "You two ladies are so generous. If you don't mind, I, Hu Ping'an, will pay for the tea in Jinlian Tower today!"
Zhu Lan did not refuse, so the three of them sat together.
"From what Brother Hu said earlier, it seems that this Golden Lotus Building has some special rules?" Zhu Lan took the opportunity to ask, and then smiled, "This is indeed the first time for the two of us to come to the Ghost Market. We are not very familiar with it. I hope Brother Hu can give us some advice."
Hu Pingan said: "Miss, you are too polite!"
"As for the rules... they are not really rules. It's just that the owner of the Golden Lotus Tower, who is also the manager of the Ghost Market, has no idea where he came from, but he has never failed in appraising treasures. All the items auctioned in the Golden Lotus Tower are genuine items that have been personally appraised by him.
In this ghost market, you can buy fake goods everywhere, but the goods auctioned in the Golden Lotus Building will never be fake!"
“So that’s how it is…” Zhu Lan nodded. Now he understood why he had lied to the stall owner about having the Nine-Curved Pearl but was seen through at a glance.
After Hu Ping'an finished speaking, his eyes suddenly fell on Zhu Lan's wrist.
"By the way, put that thing away quickly."
Zhu Lan looked down and saw a string of red agate beads on his wrist. He was puzzled. "What's wrong with this?"
Hu Ping'an explained: "Haven't you noticed? The color red is taboo in the Golden Lotus Tower."
Zhu Lan looked around and found that it was just as Hu Ping'an said. Not only was there not a single bit of red in the decorations inside the building, but even the clothes worn by the people around him were not red.
Zhu Lan asked curiously, "Aversion to red? Why is that?"
As she spoke, she still took the advice and took off the red agate bracelet and put it away.
Hu Ping'an shook his head. "This ghost market has so many strange rules. Who knows what they are saying... Anyway, everyone says so, so it's better to be cautious."
Zhu Lan nodded, "Thank you, Brother Hu, for the reminder."
After hearing Zhu Qingyan behind her remain silent for a long time, Zhu Lan turned around to look at her, only to find that Zhu Qingyan was tilting her head, as if looking somewhere in the crowd.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Lan asked.
Zhu Qingyan's voice was very uncertain, "Look at that person... Does he look like Ah Jing?"
The light around was dim and everyone was wearing masks, so Zhu Lan was not sure which direction Zhu Qingyan was looking at.
She took a quick glance but did not find Murong Jing.
"Where is it?"
Zhu Qingyan shook his head. "It was just a flash just now. Although he was wearing a mask, his figure was very similar."
Zhu Lan thought about it and felt that Zhu Qingyan must have seen it wrong.
"This is the capital, and I haven't heard of the little princess returning to the capital recently.
She should be in the Northern Frontier Camp right now, why is she here?"
Zhu Qingyan wanted to say something else, but he heard Hu Ping'an next to him suddenly get excited.
"Look, the next lot is coming out.
It's... it's a human skin mask!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
