"Strange treasure?" Chu Ge was stunned for a moment. What was Huo Tianqian up to now?
Ah Hu quickly brought Chu Ge to the so-called underground auction house, which was quite some distance away from the city center.
Specifically, it was a shopfront that didn’t look very big.
Chu Ge asked suspiciously, "Is this the place?"
Ah Hu nodded and explained with a smile, "Don’t judge by its shabby exterior, but inside there is a hidden wonder. Mr. Chu, once you enter, you’ll understand."
Chu Ge followed Ah Hu inside. The shopfront only had a few simple pieces of furniture and nothing special to note; it even looked somewhat deserted.
A person sitting inside saw Ah Hu and Chu Ge come in and immediately fixed his gaze on Chu Ge. Ah Hu was a regular here and naturally recognized, but this was the first time he had seen Chu Ge standing behind Ah Hu.
The people in this line of work were most afraid of encountering police, so when he saw Chu Ge coming in, he was particularly cautious.
Ah Hu moved forward without even greeting him, and Chu Ge followed.
But just after taking a few steps, Chu Ge was stopped by that person who sized him up and asked, "What do you do?"
Chu Ge stopped, looking emotionless at him. At that moment, Ah Hu turned back, saw that the man had stopped Chu Ge, and hurriedly stepped forward to explain, "Ah Mu, don’t be rude. This is Mr. Chu, Master Huo’s honored guest."
Hearing the name Ah Mu, the man immediately stepped aside, bowed his head, and said apologetically, "Mr. Chu, I meant no offense."
Ah Hu explained, "Ah Mu looks after the shop here. He has a photographic memory, so he generally remembers anyone who’s been to this shop. This underground auction place, in another word, is a black market, and the thing they fear the most is the police. That’s why he’s particularly inspecting anyone he hasn’t seen before, Mr. Chu, please don’t mind it."
Chu Ge nodded, understanding it was part of his responsibility, so he didn’t take it to heart.
Ah Hu then asked Ah Mu, "Is Master Huo here? Has he arrived?"
Ah Mu nodded, "He’s already here, downstairs."
Ah Hu led Chu Ge through a corridor to a door. He entered a password, and the door naturally opened, revealing a staircase leading downstairs.
Chu Ge followed Ah Hu down the stairs, and the scene before his eyes gradually became visible.
This place was about the size of two basketball courts. Inside glass cabinets were various items, all strategically placed.
Chu Ge instantly noticed that the glass cabinets were arranged according to feng shui principles, with detailed descriptions and bidding increments for each item in front of the cabinet.
There were many glass cabinets, but not many people at the auction.
Carefully counting, there were at most about twenty people.
Ah Hu made a gesture of invitation to Chu Ge and said, "Mr. Chu, this way please, Master Huo is inside waiting for you."
The underground auction was divided into two areas; one was the glass cabinet displays they just saw, and the other was like a normal auction, where people bid.
When Chu Ge and Ah Hu entered another hall, this hall could accommodate a hundred people, and at that moment, a dense crowd filled it, more than double the people outside.
Huo Tianqian was sitting among these people. Ah Hu led Chu Ge over. Chu Ge walked over, tapped Huo Tianqian’s shoulder, sat next to him, and asked, "Is there a strange treasure?"
Master Huo respectfully called out, "Mr. Chu."
"I heard that an Ancient Martial Secret Manual is going to be auctioned here," Huo Tianqian said in a lowered voice.
The surrounding noise was not small, and Huo Tianqian’s voice was almost drowned out.
But Chu Ge still heard him clearly and looked at him curiously, "Ancient Martial Secret Manual? Which manual?"
Huo Tianqian shook his head, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Chu Ge, saying, "I only knew about the secret manual here because of the information on this paper."
Chu Ge took it with suspicion, recognizing instantly whose handwriting it was.
"Elder Jian came to Shanghai?" Chu Ge asked.
Huo Tianqian shook his head, puzzled, "I have never met Elder Jian, is this paper written by him?"
Chu Ge affirmed, the handwriting was definitely Jian Chunqiu’s, this old fellow, having such matters but not informing him, only telling Huo Tianqian.
However, Chu Ge soon realized why Elder Jian only informed Huo Tianqian.
Perhaps it’s because Elder Jian knew the content of the manual and felt it wouldn’t be of any help to his own studies, but for Huo Tianqian it was different. Although Huo Tianqian was Postnatal, his current level was already completely on par with Middle-stage Innate, and he had a lot of potential for further development.
Chu Ge handed the paper back to Huo Tianqian and said, "This manual is of no use to me, so he specifically notified you."
Upon hearing this, Huo Tianqian felt a warmth in his heart, he and Jian Chunqiu didn’t have much interaction, having only met a few times in Su City previously, he didn’t expect that Jian Chunqiu would remember him.
This indeed made him feel surprisingly honored.
A smile couldn’t be hidden on Huo Tianqian’s face, he looked gratefully at Chu Ge, if it wasn’t for Mr. Chu, he wouldn’t have met Jian Chunqiu.
Yet, he felt a bit guilty at the same time, if this manual was of no help to Chu Ge, then inviting Chu Ge here meant making him take the trip for nothing?
Just as Huo Tianqian wanted to say something to Chu Ge, suddenly Chu Ge’s gaze sharpened.
He stared intently at someone not far ahead.
Huo Tianqian curiously asked, "Mr. Chu, what’s wrong?"
"We’ve encountered Ge Fan."
"Ge Fan?" Huo Tianqian scratched his head, the name sounded so familiar, soon he remembered, "Is that the Ge Fan who tricked us at the previous auction?"
Chu Ge nodded, "The same Ge Fan who, after we recovered our martial arts, sent a few ordinary people to provoke us."
Upon hearing this, Huo Tianqian immediately got angry, "Damn! Was it this fool who sent ordinary people to deal with us last time? What is he doing here today?"
Huo Tianqian’s searching gaze spotted a familiar figure seated diagonally in front of them, his back to them, talking happily with someone beside him, laughing uproariously.
Huo Tianqian’s hand on his thigh tightened, he narrowed his eyes slightly, sending a sharp glare directly.
He really wanted to step forward and teach him a lesson.
Ge Fan always felt two piercing gazes on his back, these gazes were so sharp that it felt like blades on his back.
Suspicious, Ge Fan turned to look back, and with one glance, he accurately locked onto Chu Ge and Huo Tianqian.