After Escaping From Death, He Went Even Crazier By Criticizing Black Lotus Chapter 25

Su Huan followed Xiao Jianming to their seats. Xiao Jianming had already ordered their food: “I’ll take a serving of sweet and sour pork ribs, osmanthus lotus root with sticky rice, and Squirrel Fish. Oh, and add a Clear Heart Lotus Seed Chicken.”

The waiter acknowledged the order and went downstairs. Su Huan noticed that the dishes the Black Lotus ordered were almost entirely sweet.

He suddenly recalled the description of Xiao Jianming’s background in the novel, remembering how someone once said that people who have lived a bitter life often crave sweets.

When Xiao Jianming was eight, his human cultivator father colluded with the demon race, leading to the annihilation of the entire Lingxi clan. Only he, a child, was desperately sent out of the Sea of No Delusion Purgatory by his mother. Alone, clutching his mother’s relic, he crossed the vast, snowy mountains. Starving and freezing, he was picked up by a demon cultivator who discovered that his flesh and blood could be made into a miraculous healing panacea. Thus, the demon cultivator imprisoned him in a sunless secret chamber, taking his blood and carving his flesh daily to sell as elixirs. It wasn’t until he was thirteen that he was discovered and rescued by an elder of the Changqing Sect, only to fall into another purgatory.

The Changqing Sect elder had mediocre cultivation talent. On the surface, he appeared to be a benevolent and kind elder of a prestigious sect, but secretly, he was a hypocritical pedophile. He immediately fixated on Xiao Jianming’s appearance, feigning pity for his tragic past and taking him in as an outer disciple. In reality, he locked the boy in an underground dungeon specifically for training forbidden playthings. Xiao Jianming resisted fiercely. If the old Daoist hadn’t discovered Xiao Jianming’s innate Sword Bone and exceptional aptitude, sparking a desire for body snatching, the boy might have been beaten to death in the black cell.

As the saying goes, a hateful person must have a pitiable past. The reason the Black Lotus became the Black Lotus was inextricably linked to these childhood experiences.

When Su Huan read the novel, he often lamented that if the Black Lotus had met someone who genuinely cared for him and planted a seed of kindness in his heart, he wouldn’t have stood by and watched the entire cultivation world be burned to ashes by the demon race after achieving godhood.

Now that he, the cannon fodder villain who should have died long ago, was still alive, he hoped this change might butterfly into a better ending.

However, he wasn’t foolish enough to try and reform the Black Lotus. As soon as he formed his perfect Golden Core, he would get far away from this lunatic. It would be best if they never met again in this lifetime.

When the waiter brought the dishes, he handed the two a small booklet: “By the way, esteemed guests, the largest auction house in our City of Ultimate Bliss—the Jinrui Auction House—will be holding a grand auction soon. If the guests are interested, you might want to take a look.”

Su Huan was happily holding his bowl and chopsticks, eating with gusto. Hearing this, he put down his chopsticks, took the booklet, and casually flipped through it. After being impressed by the advertised auction items, he placed it on the table.

The Jinrui Auction House certainly lived up to its reputation as a frequently mentioned location in the novel and the protagonist’s exclusive spot for finding hidden gems. He scanned it quickly but couldn’t spot anything that looked like a hidden gem. He figured he should stick to his plan of finding the Spirit Nurturing Grass in the Moon Cinder Secret Realm.

Xiao Jianming picked up the booklet and casually opened a page. His eyes suddenly narrowed.

Su Huan’s chopsticks were just picking up a fragrant piece of pork rib when he heard Xiao Jianming say, “I need to attend the auction.”

Su Huan’s eyes immediately lit up: “Great! Sounds good!”

Who could understand his excitement? He was about to witness the famous scene where the protagonist finds a hidden gem and stuns the entire audience!

Xiao Jianming lowered his gaze, staring at the auction item in the booklet. His fingertips involuntarily tightened.

On the snow-white front page, a pair of crystalline, azure blue antlers was drawn vividly. The intricate patterns emerging on the spiritual antlers seemed to shimmer with flowing light, breathtakingly beautiful.

Within the Lingxi clan, only those who inherited the position of clan leader would develop this unique inherited pattern—

These were his mother’s antlers.

Xiao Jianming’s eyes darkened. No matter what, he had to retrieve them.

*

On the day of the auction, Xiao Jianming put on a mask and a cloak before entering the auction house.

Su Huan followed suit, wrapping himself up tightly before trailing after him.

Yes, he understood. Finding hidden gems easily attracted envy, jealousy, and hatred. It was better to keep a low profile.

As soon as they entered, an attendant from the auction house immediately greeted them, smiling as he led the two to an empty table. After they were seated, he cleverly served tea and asked no further questions.

Su Huan thanked him with reserved politeness, but his peripheral vision was curiously scanning the surroundings.

The entire venue resembled a giant funnel, spanning ten floors. The floors descended in layers, each furnished with several sets of tables and chairs, arranged in a circle around the circular platform at the very bottom. Orchid screens were placed in the middle as dividers, separating the space into small sections with floral curtains, making it both interesting and elegant.

The topmost floor consisted of actual private rooms, divided into the Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow boxes. Each was separated by curtains depicting plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. Perhaps due to a spell, outsiders could only make out the silhouettes of the people inside the boxes but couldn’t discern details like their faces or clothing.

At this moment, the Earth, Black, and Yellow boxes were lit, leaving only the Heaven box vacant.

Su Huan also noticed that one of the floral partitions clearly had people seated inside, yet an attendant was leading another group of cultivators toward it. As soon as they stepped past the floral curtain, the people vanished without a trace.

Xiao Jianming noticed his gaze and explained, “It’s a spatial folding array.”

Su Huan was surprised. No wonder there were only ten seats on one floor. He couldn’t help but think that the Jinrui Auction House was using high-level arrays for environmental maintenance—what a waste of heavenly resources.

Suddenly, a bell chimed, and the auction host materialized on the circular platform at the bottom. Suspended beside him was a box containing today’s auction items. The dark, heavy box moved violently, as if containing something alive, ready to leap out the next second.

The beautiful young man gently stroked the box with his fingertips, and the box immediately ceased moving.

A pair of fox eyes, adorned with a tear mole, smiled seductively, and his voice was captivating: “Welcome, esteemed sirs, for gracing the auction hosted by Lu Wu.” The youth chuckled. “It seems we have many guests tonight. It looks like Lu Wu is becoming more popular… Since that is the case, Lu Wu wishes all esteemed sirs a successful night, where all your wishes are fulfilled, making this trip worthwhile.”

“I believe the sirs are very much looking forward to tonight’s various auction items. So, I won’t waste any more time. Please look at the first item tonight—”

Lu Wu opened the box. “A merman from the Boundless Sea.”

As the lid hit the ground, a flash of white light burst from the opening, and a figure suddenly appeared on the circular platform.

The figure, with a human body and a fish tail, flew out of the box and landed on the ground. It possessed an androgynous appearance. Its translucent, misty, dreamlike fins fluttered with fear. A thin, sheer garment partially covered its body. Tears of terror streamed down its exquisitely beautiful, androgynous face, but it was trapped on the ground by a chain, unable to escape, only able to emit a futile, ethereal wail.

When Su Huan saw the merman, his mouth dropped open in surprise. This was truly the cultivation world—such blatant human trafficking!

“Starting bid, one hundred thousand spirit stones.” Lu Wu smiled sweetly, yet his words were ruthless.

Su Huan, who had initially felt pity and the urge to play the hero, felt his boiling blood instantly turn cold when he heard the price.

All the spirit stones he possessed totaled only about fifty thousand.

He couldn’t afford to save them. Truly, he couldn’t afford it.