Chương 23: The Lothesby Auction House

Rowan In the late afternoon, Rowan and Lee left the sect for the city. They weren't the only ones. Like a flock of migrating canaries, it seemed like half of Righteous Mountain Sect descended the mountain in their yellow robes, making their way to the Lothesby Auction House. Lee huffed and puffed, his round physique especially weighed down by the hot sun. Sweat dripped down his face.

"I received word from my dad. About that matter of the starving villagers." The reply had come faster than Rowan expected. It had only been two days since the party.

"What did he say?" Lee appeared torn - like he was eager to share his findings with Rowan, but something was holding him back.

"Apparently, many years ago, the Alliance of Earthly Harmony set up huge fish-attracting formations in the major cities of the peninsula. It's considered one of their greatest accomplishments. The only downside is that…" He trailed off. Rowan nodded with a thin frown, understanding.

"The formations likely were set-up to attract a certain volume of fish, and powering down when that threshold is met. Most times, there's a lot of fish in the rivers, so the small villages don't even notice what the cities are doing. But when supply starts to dry out, the formation still demands that same volume, there's nothing left for the villagers."

"That's exactly what my dad said," replied Lee.

"There's another matter too, with the formations. Water-dwelling qi beasts get more desperate too from the lack of fish. Going out in a fishing boat as a mortal can be a death sentence." So, the villagers starving wasn't an accident. It was an evil that the Alliance of Earthly Harmony had accepted in exchange for stability in the cities. Rowan found it hard to believe that it was worth the kind of suffering he'd seen on his trip. There must be a better way.

At the foot of the mountain, a crowd of vendors were going crazy, hawking their wares and shoving food into the cultivators' faces. As they passed the larger crowd of vendors, Rowan and Lee passed by a spot of teal in the sea of yellow. It was Senior Sister Verrine. She was heading back towards the mountain at a leisurely pace.

"Senior Sister," Rowan called out, leaving Lee's side. He broke off in a short run to catch her.

"Hello, Rowan," she said. She swayed slightly. There wasn't the smell of alcohol on her - no, instead, there were dark rings under her eyes. She hadn't slept.

"Senior Sister," Rowan said, skidding to a stop.

"There's something strange going on."

"Yes, I believe so as well," she said.

"All of these people are off to the Auction House to buy things, but they have no money." Rowan thought about it for a moment. She was right.

"No, that's not it," he protested. He lowered his voice, leaning forward slightly.

"Mortal girls are going missing around the city. I happened to run into the mother of one. She's completely distraught. I promised her I'd make inquiries in the sect about the matter."

"Kidnappings of mortal women? Mostly young?" Verrine sounded more serious now. She'd drawn herself up to full height.

"Old Hesser believes it could be the work of a demonic cultivator," said Rowan, thinking of the many names in the Tally Book. He was on the verge of telling her the names of the cultivators, but bit his tongue. He didn't have a way to explain how he knew them. He worried they would think he was a demonic cultivator, just as they thought his father had been. There were a lot of scrutinizing eyes on him unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. Verrine nodded.

"It is often the case that the suffering falls back on the mortal population of the city. I'll look into it," she promised.

"Have fun at the auction," she said, turning to go. She waved at him without turning around, and disappeared into the crowd. Lee gave Rowan an appraising look.

"Are you looking for a position in the Dao Court? You seem to be really invested in the lives of mortals."

"It's our responsibility as righteous cultivators. Lee," said Rowan.

"Besides, the Dao Court is useless. The exchequer doesn't care about anything but the exchange rates of taels and spirit stones. The magistrate has thousands of petitions in his backlog, and some of the mortals die of old age before getting their complaint reviewed. Even if he didn't spend most of his nights at the brothel, he's just one man, for the entirety of Righteous Mountain City." Lee mulled over Rowan's words for a moment before nodding.

"You're right. It has always been down to the sect or the more well-connected families to do something about the problems out here." The Lothesby Auction House came into view. It was a massive, three-tiered pavilion building with strings of lanterns glowing on the curved eaves. The walls were made of lacquered black stone, reflecting the morning light. Dark red banners stitched with the Lothesby Family's crest - a white lion - curled in the light breeze.

A few mortal guards hassled the crowd, but let in anyone wearing sect robes without a word.

"Young Master Lee," a young guard cried out, saluting him.

"Shall I escort you to your family's private box?" Lee's face reddened slightly.

"Don't call me that, Matas. We're the same age." He coughed.

"And no, we'll be on the second floor today."

"Gotta make connections for the family," said Matas brightly.

"Right this way, Young Master." The aforementioned Matas examined Rowan.

"And friend from the sect." Rowan gave the guard a polite smile.

"Rowan." Lee nodded emphatically." Helsing." Matas gave Rowan a deep bow before escorting them inside. The interior of the auction house was slightly too warm with the press of so many bodies.

"Remind me again why we're not using the private box?" asked Rowan.

"It's more fun on the second floor, trust me. You can see all the items close up." As they ascended the stairs, Rowan touched the bannister and instinctively jerked his hand back when he felt wetness.

"What's on the railings?"

"Young Master is used to more luxury, I suppose," said Matas, who led them.

"The cooling talismans have to deposit heat somewhere, so the air outside the second floor is often a little damp. We apologize sincerely." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Rowan said nothing. He didn't want to admit that the Helsing compound didn't even have these temperature-regulating talismans. Outsiders seemed to believe his family was much more well-off than they actually were.

Matas led Lee and Rowan to where the representatives of the more important families in the town were, gave them another quick salute, and vanished down the stairs.

"Lee, just the man I wanted to see," tittered an older woman who was getting fanned by a servant. She was dressed in a long coat of some unidentifiable fur, even though it was nearly summer.

"Good day to you, Lady Hema," said Lee.

"And you're here with the heir to House Helsing!" she said. Rowan realized belatedly that he should have recognized her. She was one of his uncle's business partners.

"Hello," said Rowan, cupping his fist in a greeting.

"I hope business is good."

"Business is booming!" she cried out, taking the fan from her servant's grasp and sweeping her hand through the air. Rowan hadn't really noticed the servant before, clinging to Lady Hema's shadow like a fungus. He was very thin, and pale like bleached paper. Something about him was unsettling. As Rowan continued to steal glances at the strange character, the servant caught his gaze and smiled too-wide, revealing a maw of sharp, iron teeth.

"Lee!" he hissed.

"Look at that guy!" Lee elbowed him.

"Shh! Don't be rude. It's just the Iron Teeth Sutra." Of course Rowan had heard of the Iron Teeth Sutra - it was one of the most common scriptures in Righteous Mountain City, along with the Water Dream Scripture, and the Breath in Five Elements Scripture. But he was fairly certain this wasn't the Iron Teeth Sutra. Maybe a variant? The more he thought about it, the more he admonished himself for overreacting. Lady Hema had a good reputation. Surely she wouldn't employ anyone with sketchy cultivation techniques.

Lee gave a few smiles and excused himself to rub shoulders with others on the second floor. He had an extroverted and magnetic personality, greeting others and exchanging pleasantries without getting caught in long-winded conversation.

"Rowan Helsing?" Rowan turned to a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, wearing golden robes with dagged black sleeves. There was a thick discolored scar arcing across her face, but it didn't necessarily detract from how pretty she was. She was still a cultivator, after all.

"Senior Sister Nila," Rowan greeted, bowing. Lee bowed as well. Core disciples weren't commonly seen off the higher pavilions of Righteous Mountain. There were only a handful of them, and each one deserved respect. Most of them would be sect elders one day, when they broke through into Qi Refinement.

"So you've finally come to represent your family," she said.

"Usually it's just your uncle, but he's barely shown up as of late."

"My house has had some concerns come up recently," said Rowan.

"My condolences for your mother," said Nila.

"I met her once when I was a young disciple. She was a lovely person."

"Senior Sister, was the private box not to your liking?" asked Lee, the picture of hostly concern. She smiled at him.

"Why aren't you in the private box yourself, Young Master?" she teased, absentmindedly rubbing a finger over the top of her scar.

"Are you admitting that all those old foggies up there are way too serious?" Lee shook his head frantically.

"Senior Sister, please don't joke like that!" Suddenly the chatter died down slightly as the light of the large chandelier brightened.

"Hear ye, hear ye!" shouted a pretty voice from the first floor.

"The auction begins now with not one, not two, but three Seven Colored Coral Snake skins! The starting price is fourteen silver taels!" The auctioneer was wearing a dark red form-fitting dress with billowing sleeves that showed the white silk lining as she moved. Her hair was coiled back with a net of red spider lilies and rubies. Rowan was impressed.

Lavinia's mother looked more the age of someone who would be his sectmate's older sister - proof that the pills sold at the auction house for longevity were quite powerful, even for mortals. Immediately, bids rang out from the crowd.

"15 taels for the lot!"

"Do you think you're in some mortal market? A fifth of a spirit stone!" Already the bidding had moved to spirit stones. The exchange rate fluctuated slightly depending on the Dao Court, but typically one spirit stone was equivalent to 100 taels.

"Half a spirit stone!" Nila nudged Rowan.

"The older a Coral Snake, the more colors it gets. One with seven colors is at least three-hundred years old. The skins aren't very useful for cultivation, but you can turn them into stylish bags." To a core disciple of the sect, something being 'not very useful for cultivation' was still probably above average. Rowan tried not to think about the spatial pouch from the Flood Dragon, which still resisted any cursory attempts he made to open it. On the third floor, a lantern hanging from a private box lit.

The silhouette inside had made an offer, called out by the auctioneer.

"Two spirit stones!" cried out the woman.

"Going once, going twice… sold to the gentleman in Box Six." A few displeased mutters swept through the room, but everyone's collective attention was caught by the next item up for bidding.

"Hmph that Lydia Bruschard's outfits get more and more scandalous with every auction," said Lady Hema.

"I wonder if half the men here just came to see her? She'd make more money on Silk Street." To Rowan, the auctioneer's outfit looked acceptable, but he admittedly didn't know much about women's fashion. No one responded to Lady Hema, who just kept muttering darkly.

"I grew up with Yonas Bruschard, you know. A fine, industrious gentleman. Why he would take a tramp like her to wife is beyond me…" Finally, Lee reappeared, glaring at the woman.

"Please, Lady Hema, our family values Lady Bruschard highly." Hema pretended she didn't hear him. Senior Sister Nila smiled kindly at Rowan.

"Are you here for something specific, or just looking around?"

"I need a portion of Wood qi and a portion of Water qi, if I can find it." Rowan looked excitedly over the railing.

"Hopefully something good comes up." She hid her mouth with her hand, smiling even wider. Her teeth were slightly crooked, he'd noticed.

"You might be bidding against me. I've heard that some Long Life Figs were on sale today, and I've been searching for them for a few years." Just then, the auctioneer announced the shell of an Iridescent Waves Tortoise. It was brought out to the stage on a worn metal tray by a girl Rowan's age. Lydia Bruschard moved it carefully from the tray to a podium draped with a bright red cloth. The shell was beautiful, sparkling with many different colors, but not perfect.

From his angle on the balcony, he could see a large crack running down the side of the shell that wasn't facing the auction's general audience.

"As everyone knows, it is difficult to find more than a few fragments of an Iridescent Waves Tortoise's shell, which swims into the deep ocean at an early age. This particular specimen is a one-of-a-kind find off the southern coast." When Auctioneer Brushard had held the tortoise shell aloft to display it, her palm had carefully been placed over the crack.

"The starting bid is 50 taels," she finished, setting it back down gently. Rowan could sense the Water qi from it. He wasn't sure what other Water qi items would be coming next - or if there would be any at all. This could be his only chance!

"Seventy taels!"

"Fine. Forget taels. One spirit stone!" Rowan raised his hand.

"Two spirit stones!" The auction house went quiet, heads swiveling towards him. Then gossip and chatter erupted from the patrons.

"Isn't that Rowan Helsing? I guess the rumors are true, his Foundation Establishment immortal Great-Aunt really came through for him…"

"The Helsings must have had a windfall! Bidding two spirit stones already!"

"I wonder if this young master is trying to cultivate the Water Dream Scripture. I know some of the other Helsings from this newest generation are doing it." Just then a familiar, smarmy voice piped up.

"Three spirit stones!" Rowan was surprised. He had bid twice the previous amount, more than the item was worth. His eyes locked on the person who had just outbid him. The man had long, stringy black hair, and an icy gleam flitted in his eyes. He was staring straight at Rowan with a vicious sneer. Barrett Fross!