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Chapter 22: The Connoisseur's Seal
🕑 Added 2025-07-11 02:19:38 +0000 UTCThe backroom door closed with a soft click, plunging the room into a tense silence, broken only by the crackle of an oil lamp. The atmosphere was completely different from the boisterous auction hall. Here, power wasn't displayed with shouts and bids, but rather resided in the silence that enveloped the dark wooden table.
Wei Feng and a masked Wei Yao sat on one side. On the other was Fatty Meng, whose sweaty face now showed a mixture of astonishment and relief. Presiding over the table was the figure who had accepted the deal, now without his hood, revealing an unexpectedly scholarly-looking, middle-aged man with small, crystal-framed glasses and a calm but inscrutable smile. On the table between them rested the prize: a smoky quartz sphere containing the ancient Decree.
"A... bold maneuver, Lord Feng," the man said, his voice smooth and cultured, with no trace of the artificial distortion. "My name is Xie Yi. My associates appreciate boldness, especially when it results in such an unexpected and... elegant profit."
Wei Feng shrugged, pouring himself some of the tea on the table with an exasperating calm. "Boldness is for those with no other options, Mister Xie. I am simply... impatient. Preliminaries bore me." He took a sip of tea and frowned. "A bit bitter. The leaves were scorched during drying."
Xie Yi chuckled softly. "A man of precise tastes. I'll keep that in mind. Now, if we're done with the pleasantries, the price, I believe, was seven million, three hundred thousand... and one gold coin."
Wei Yao, sitting silently beside her uncle, felt a pang of cold anxiety in her stomach. Seven million, three hundred thousand. The figure was insane. She knew her uncle lived on a generous but limited imperial stipend. It was a fortune that most minor sects would take centuries to accumulate. Had he gotten himself into a mess he couldn't get out of? Was this all a farce, a joke that was about to blow up in their faces?
Wei Feng, noticing her sudden stiffness, turned to look at her. He gave her a lazy smile, a gesture that said, "Relax, my worried little Yue'er. The show isn't over yet."
Then, turning back to Xie Yi, he nodded. "Yes, that was the price."
With a calm that bordered on boredom, he waved his hand over the table. A cascade of pure light erupted from his storage ring. It wasn't a trickle; it was a flood. A dazzling mountain of high-grade spirit stones, each the size of a fist and pulsing with dense energy, piled up in the center of the table. Thousands of ancient spiritual gold coins, bearing the effigies of forgotten emperors, rained down upon them. The mountain of wealth grew until it covered the entire surface, spilling over the sides and falling to the floor with a musical tinkling that was both obscene and beautiful. The amount was enough not only to fund a small war but to buy the kingdom where it would be fought.
The silence in the room was absolute. Wei Yao gaped, her golden eyes fixed on the fortune that had just materialized out of thin air.
Fatty Meng was the first to break the spell. He burst into a laugh so thunderous, so full of pure joy and astonishment, that it made the teacups vibrate.
"HA HA HA HA!" he roared, slapping his own thigh. "And here I thought you were as poor as a dock rat! Living off of selling trinkets! Friend Feng, you're full of more surprises than a wandering god's bottomless bag!"
Xie Yi did not laugh. He simply raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed. His scholarly eyes scanned the pile, not with a merchant's greed, but with a connoisseur's appreciation. "Indeed," he said, his quiet voice holding a new undertone of deep respect. "The payment is more than adequate. And the quality of these stones... many are from mines thought to be depleted centuries ago. It is a true pleasure, really, to do business with you, Prince Feng."
The deal was done. Power and wealth had been demonstrated. The atmosphere shifted from a tense negotiation to something more... relaxed. Xie Yi, with a gesture of his slender fingers, pushed the smoky quartz sphere across the table.
"Here you are," he said. "The 'Decree of Twin Soul Fusion.' As promised. The protective sphere is an artifact from the Twilight Dynasty. Its runes will only dissolve for the spiritual signature that sealed this deal with payment. It is bound to you."
Wei Feng nodded but didn't touch the sphere. His eyes were fixed on Xie Yi. "You have gravely offended the Red Lotus Sect, Prince Feng," Xie Yi warned, his tone growing serious again. "They are... persistent people. And not very subtle. Their pride has been wounded, and wounded pride often bleeds onto the innocent. Allow me to offer you an escort from the Caravan to ensure your safety and that of your companion until you are safely within the palace walls."
Wei Yao felt a wave of relief at the offer. The thought of walking back through those dark alleys suddenly seemed much more dangerous.
But Wei Feng laughed softly. "I appreciate the offer, Mister Xie, I truly do. But I still have a few errands to run tonight. I wouldn't want to delay your men. Besides," he added, a dangerous glint in his eyes, "I pray they try something. It's been a long time since I've had a good reason to... prune someone else's garden."
Fatty Meng, who had been admiring the mountain of gold, chimed in. "Aren't you staying for the rest of the treasures, friend Feng? The beast egg is still left! They say it might be a Storm Griffin!"
Wei Feng laughed again, this time with genuine amusement. He turned to his two new partners. "My dear Meng, my esteemed Mister Xie, I will be completely honest with you. I did not come here tonight for dual cultivation Decrees, nor for weeping swords, nor for pet eggs that would likely just soil my rugs."
He looked directly at Meng, his expression now that of a man confessing his one true vice. "My goal was much simpler. Much purer. I came for the thousand-year-old wine."
Fatty Meng's eyes lit up with the immense joy of understanding. He slapped his palm against his forehead. "Of course! I knew it! A true connoisseur! I knew you didn't care about all that noisy junk! The wine! It was always about the wine!"
Wei Feng nodded solemnly, as if they were discussing the most important matter in the world. "And such a treasure, a nectar that has slept for a millennium, should not be drunk alone. It would be an act of barbarism. Therefore, I would like to invite you both, when I find the right time and place, to a private tasting. A wine like this deserves to be shared with men who can truly appreciate it. Men of culture. Connoisseurs."
The invitation hung in the air, an offer of camaraderie that transcended business. Fatty Meng was about to accept with gusto when Xie Yi, to everyone's surprise, began to laugh. A genuine, amused, and intelligent laugh.
"Meng, always so transparent," Xie Yi said, shaking his head. Then he looked at Wei Feng. "You need not worry about my appreciation, Prince Feng. This fat man here only sees pleasure in volume. But some of us," he said, his eyes twinkling, "are more... selective. My private collection of liquors from the Sunset Dynasty would make the Emperor himself weep with envy."
Now it was Wei Feng's eyes that lit up with sincere and passionate enthusiasm. The connection between them was instant, that of two scholars discovering they have been secretly studying the same sacred text for years.
"Excellent!" Wei Feng exclaimed, his joy completely genuine. "Fate is truly generous! Not only have I secured my wine, but I have found two worthy drinking companions in the same night!" He stood up. "Then it is settled. I will send a messenger next week to arrange our first meeting of the 'Society of Forgotten Nectar.' We will find a quiet place and discuss the philosophy of the Dao over the bottom of a cup."
The atmosphere in the room had shifted from tension to the warm camaraderie of conspirators with a shared taste. Fatty Meng stood up and gave Wei Feng a bear hug that nearly cracked his ribs. "Count me in, brother Feng! I'll bring the roasted piglet!"
He then bowed respectfully to the masked Wei Yao. "Miss Yue'er, it has been a true pleasure. Take good care of this lucky drunkard. He's more valuable than he looks."
She responded with an elegant nod, her heart still racing from the mountain of gold and the revelation of her uncle's wealth. Xie Yi also bid them farewell with a gesture of mutual respect. "Prince Feng. Miss Yue'er. I look forward to our... philosophical discussion."
After saying their goodbyes, Wei Feng and Wei Yao departed. Once in the dark and lonely alley, the tension of the auction faded, replaced by a sparkling intimacy. He slipped an arm around her waist, drawing her close as they walked through the silent streets. Their "date" was continuing. The mask of the drunken prince and the astute negotiator had fallen, and now he was just a man with his girl and his new treasures.
They stopped in a dark corner, away from prying eyes. He handed her the smoky quartz sphere. "Here," he said, his voice an intimate whisper. "Hold our new... textbook."
The sphere was cool to the touch and vibrated in her hand with a seductive power. As her fingers wrapped around it, he placed his hand over hers, covering it completely. "Close your eyes," he ordered softly.
She obeyed. She felt a wisp of his Qi—golden and lazy—flow from his hand, through hers, and into the sphere. It wasn't a surge of power, but a caress, a signature.
The complex ancient runes covering the quartz's surface glowed brightly with a golden light. Then, like ink being absorbed by the finest paper, they vanished completely, leaving the sphere perfectly transparent. Inside, the ancient bamboo scroll, previously opaque, now pulsed with a warm, golden light, beckoning them. The seal was broken. The artifact was now bound to his signature and, by extension, to her.
Wei Yao opened her eyes, gazing in astonishment at the powerful artifact now accessible in her hands. She then looked up at the enigmatic, smiling face of the man beside her, illuminated by the Decree's soft light. The night hadn't just brought her a forbidden adventure; it had revealed the unfathomable depth of power, wealth, and secrets that her exasperating and fascinating uncle hid from the world.
Their "date" had been far more than she could have ever imagined. And the promise of "studying" that new Decree together hung in the cool night air between them, charged with a tension so electrifying it made the very air crackle.
