717: The Exchange

The Exchange

Ming Yue stayed at the Sunlight Palace until it was her time to obtain what she had won. She was prepared, having recounted her experiences with Xiu Luo Yang and his beloved wife. All of it was recorded in jade slip and safely stored in her spatial ring.  0

Getting on the lift with Hei Yue and Xiao Yin, she descended from the top floor. 

There was also another reason why she had been staying in. Instead of stopping at the lobby, the lift had stopped at the second floor. With all of the glass that made up the Sunlight Palace, the young woman quietly peeked over, looking down at the lobby floor. 

She carefully inspected it, looking at all of the people.

"Hmm, a few more seem to have given up", she muttered to herself, Still, that's still a little too many people... I suppose I'll sneak out."

Down below, the lobby seemed a bit more crowded than before. Aside from a few actual guests, there were several people standing around or taking any available seating, all waiting for her. 

But rather than go down and greet them, she took a quick look around before heading to the nearest window. 

Making sure to be quiet, she pushed it open just large enough for her to slip out. The two beasts went out first before she went through it, closing the window behind her. The young woman took one more glance at the lobby, seeing some patient and some impatient faces. 

"I wonder how determined they are."

No longer paying any attention to them, her body vanished into thin air, making herself scarce from the scene. 

Melding in with the crowds, she quickly made her way to the Chamber of Gold and quietly entered the auction hall with another large group of people as they entered too. Once inside, she joined the fast-moving lines, awaiting her turn with one of the receptionists. 

Funnily enough it was the same one from before, the older woman recognized her in an instant. 

"Welcome back, are you here for your bid?" she asked, putting on a respectful demeanor. 

Ming Yue nodded, to which the receptionist handed over a token. 

"This is the key to the room where the exchange will be made. Please take one of the lifts in your surroundings."

Grabbing the token, she thanked the receptionist before going on her way. 

"66-10, must be the 10th room on the 66th floor."

Looking at the token, she activated the lift and went up, reaching the 66th floor soon enough. 

"Room 10, there it is."

She brought the token out, waving it over the door and hearing a click. The door slid open, revealing a simple room with nothing but a table and two chairs. Aside from her and the two beasts, there was no one else. 

"I guess, I'm early."

She just shrugged, walked in, and took a seat, waiting for the Splendid Goose to come. 

"It shouldn't take that long", she thought. 

Ming Yue was patient, sitting there and playing with the owl and fox. However, no one came in after her, nearly an hour passed before the doors finally opened, and in came Steward Qu, whose breath was ragged as he had been rushing to find her. 

He coughed a few times, trying to catch his breath whilst looking at her. Furrowing her brows, Ming Yue felt that something had gone wrong. 

"What is it? What happened?" she asked. 

"Hah, hah, hah, someone... actually, a whole group had attacked the Splendid Goose on his way here!" he told her, "He managed to get out alive but someone managed to snag his spatial ring."

"What?! How can this be?!" 

"Don't worry, there were countermeasures in place if this were to happen. The Spatial Ring is locked and can only be opened by the Splendid Goose. Furthermore, he can track it so it's not as if it can't be recovered", he told her, "We also sent out a separate group of experts to search for it."

Ming Yue just sighed, looking at the steward, 

"How come none of the items were stored here?" she questioned, "Wouldn't it have been safer?"

He just sighed and shook his head. 

"Do you think the Splendid Goose would like that? He's an eccentric who likes his treasures more than anything. In his mind, they were safer in his hands which is a fair judgment. No one knows where he keeps his treasures and he comes and goes like the wind. For something like this to happen, the news had spread like wildfire."

The young woman considered it but even then, she felt frustrated. 

"Of all days to attack, it has to be the day that I'm supposed to make the exchange", she grumbled to herself. 

"Where is he now?" she asked the steward, "Where is the Splendid Goose?"

Seeing her hold Blood Moon Steward Qu led her to where the Splendid Goose was. Ascending to the higher floors, they stopped at the 80th floor and entered a large room where the man in question was lying in bed. 

Looking at him, Ming Yue noticed all of the wounds on his body.

"Vicious!" she noted. 

Seeing her come in, he tried o sit upright, forcing himself to move though he groaned in pain. 

"Agh, so you found out as well. I apologize for being late for the appointment. I know that you are in need of these berries but it seems like someone else got to them first", he said to her.

The young woman shook her head.

"No, it's fine. Obtaining what I needed was never going to be easy and this is no different. So tell me, what happened."

He chuckled at her words, adjusting himself into a more comfortable position. 

"Whoever those bastards were, they knew what they were doing. They struck while I was entering the city, and took me by surprise by trapping me within several formations. If it was just one, I would've broken out easily. And there was a decent number of them too, just waiting to pounce on me. I fought hard but they managed to take my rings, which is more than regrettable. I would've fought to the death but I'm no idiot."

He looked at her fishing something from his pockets and handing it over. 

"You are probably going to search on your own, right? This talisman will guide you to where my rings are. The others have them as well so it's right for me to give this to you."

Grabbing the talisman, she let it rest in the palm of her hands, watching it float and turn in one direction. 

"Thank you for giving this to me, I'll make sure to find them", she said.

The Splendid Goose grinned before leaning over. 

"I suppose, it wouldn't be too inappropriate for me to collect on that favor now is it?" he asked.

Ming Yue shook her head. 

"What would you want?" she asked.

"If and when you find them, see if you can find out whose behind this and tell me. Depending on who they are, I might have to get my hands dirty", he said.

She nodded, accepting this as his favor before going. Steward Qu and the two beasts followed her out and the steward walked to her side. 

"I know that you are going to search for the rings but you don't have to. We already dispatched others to search for them. They have the same talisman as you too."

He tried to reason with her as she headed towards the lift, taking it down. Despite his attempts, she seemed quite determined to go through with it. 

"The attackers are probably in hiding, they might be able to detect that group and avoid them but I don't think they'll be expecting me", she told him, "Besides, I'm not going to let a single one escape."

pqdm.com