After declining Cheng Xuan's invitation to have dinner together, Fu Qingyu took Fu Yu to the busiest street in the city.
There are various restaurants on both sides of the road. Night is approaching, which is when this street is most lively.
Walking into a restaurant on the street that specializes in yokan, I heard some diners discussing the Bodhi fruit being auctioned today.
"The price of Bodhi fruit is getting more and more expensive every time. Three years ago, the Bodhi fruit in Fayan Temple was worth 30,000 to 40,000 spiritual stones, right?"
"Before, the Bodhi Fruit of Foguang Sect was less than 30,000 spiritual stones..."
"Why didn't you talk about earlier? More than ten years ago, we had more than just these three bodhi trees in Dongzhou."
Fu Qingyu calmly sat down at the empty table by the window, "Two bowls of yokan and four pieces of sesame cake."
"Okay." The waiter took the spirit stone and walked away.
The diners in the store were still discussing the Bodhi fruit, but no one mentioned the fourth Bodhi tree more than ten years ago.
The disappeared Bodhi tree and the disappeared family seemed to have long been a "forbidden word" in the land of Dongzhou.
Fu Qingyu frowned slightly.
She had already learned from Jiang Jinzheng that not long after the accident happened to the Fu family, a rumor spread in Dongzhou that the fire that could not be extinguished on the Fu family's land was caused by divine punishment. The Fu family ended up being exterminated just because they angered Heaven.
For a time, the Fu family was known as unknown.
After the burning, not a single blade of grass grew, and the Fu family land turned into a place of extraordinary spirits, also known as an ominous place.
The once prosperous Fuguang City area had turned into a desolate place inaccessible in just one year.
In just fifteen years, the Fu family, once famous throughout Dongzhou, has been gradually forgotten.
Fu Qingyu didn't think the original rumors were accidental...
Those so-called remarks about “provoking the will of heaven” and “sending down divine punishment” are probably all artificially fabricated and deliberately spread.
There were many customers in the restaurant, and almost every table was occupied.
A few tables away from Fu Qingyu and the others, at the slightly smaller square table in the corner, the white-bearded old man who was drinking yokan heard the discussion of the diners just now. He paused slightly while drinking the soup and looked back at the people who were talking. He glanced at it, then looked away, and continued to sip the yokan on the table.
The moment he turned around, Fu Qingyu recognized him.
Isn't this the old man sitting to his left when he was bidding for the Bodhi Fruit not long ago?
"What a coincidence." Fu Qingyu murmured softly.
Fu Yu followed her line of sight and noticed the old man.
The old man's perception seemed to be particularly keen. The moment Fu Yu looked over, he noticed it and raised his head to look at their table.
His eyes paused on Fu Yu for a moment, and then he looked at Fu Qingyu next to him. After meeting their eyes, he nodded slightly.
"The yokan and sesame cakes you two taste best when they are hot!" The waiter came over with a tray, just blocking their view.
When the waiter turned around and left, the old man at the corner table had already turned around, and only half of his face could be seen.
Fu Yu sent a message and asked, "Do you know that senior?"
Fu Qingyu shook her head.
There was no similar figure in her memory, and she was very sure that today was the first time she saw this old man.
But the feeling the old man gave her was very unusual...
It was obvious that the exposed cultivation level was only at the early stage of Jindan, which was slightly inferior to that of Cheng Xuan before. However, Fu Qingyu felt that the old man seemed to be able to see through them and even heard their transmissions at that time.
It is very possible that the old man's cultivation is far from simple as it seems on the surface. It is just unknown what state he is in and what identity he hides.
But none of this has anything to do with her.
Decades of experience tell Fu Qingyu not to be too curious about other people's affairs.
After leaving the restaurant, the mother and son found a larger inn in the city. Fu Yu took the elixir and concentrated on practicing, while Fu Qingyu started preparing the medicinal materials for refining the heart-nourishing elixir in the next room.
…
"Fellow Daoist Yu, this way!"
In front of Bailing Pavilion, Cheng Xuan waved to Fu Qingyu and Fu Qingyu who were walking over.
"Fellow Daoist Cheng."
The two of them didn't exchange much greetings. Cheng Xuan led the way inside, "It's about to start inside, let's go in quickly."
Compared with yesterday's Xuantianmen bidding for Bodhi fruits, the number of people at Bailing Pavilion's auction was much smaller, less than a hundred people in total.
All the lots have been displayed on the stage one by one, with a wooden box placed in front of each lot.
There was a layer of golden powder smeared on the box, and Fu Qingyu recognized it as medicinal powder ground from the roots of the Cloud-Breaking Vine, which was used to isolate spiritual consciousness.
Cheng Xuan introduced her: "The format of Bailing Pavilion's auction is different from the past. If you like something, you only need to engrave the price you want on the jade plaque and put it into the box. The one with the highest price will get it."
Fu Qingyu was stunned when she heard this.
No wonder the outside of the wooden box is smeared with medicinal powder that blocks spiritual consciousness.
There are a total of thirty-five items on display in Bailing Pavilion. The highest grade is a third-grade fire cloud ginseng, and the rest are mostly fifth-grade and sixth-grade spiritual plants.
The cold mountain grass that Fu Qingyu and the others are interested in is placed in an inconspicuous position next to it. It can be imagined that if it is not a kind of elixir that can be used with Bodhi fruit, but with its seventh-grade grade, it should not be qualified to be promoted to Bailing. Court this auction.
Seeing Fu Qingyu and Cheng Xuan walking up to Hanshancao, the steward of Bailing Pavilion introduced them to them: "We have prepared a total of thirty Hanshancao, divided into groups of ten. Those who place bids in the box will take the top three. Good shot."
Cheng Xuan and Fu Qingyu sent a message to discuss, "Among the people who came today, some of them also bought bodhi fruits yesterday. Although the grade of Hanshan grass is low, the competition is not small. According to Taoist friends, what price should we pay?" "
Fu Qingyu pondered for a moment, "To be on the safe side, it's a little higher than usual. How about 40,000 spirit stones?"
Cheng Xuan had no objection.
After all, I have bought hundreds of thousands of Bodhi fruits, and I am not short of tens of thousands of spiritual stones.
He carved the negotiated price into the jade plaque with the power of his spiritual consciousness and put it into the wooden box in front of Hanshancao.
"Does Fellow Daoist Yu have anything else he likes?" Cheng Xuan asked.
Fu Qingyu nodded.
In addition to the spiritual plants, there are two alchemy furnaces in Bailing Pavilion's auction. The quality is not inferior to Jin Yi's golden wire furnace. She plans to buy one and give it to Yu Zhu.
However, there was no need to tell Cheng Xuanming about this. Cheng Xuan was also very measured and did not inquire about the items and prices that he was interested in.
After saying hello, they split into two groups and went to see other interesting lots.
After carving the appropriate price into the jade token and putting it into the wooden box in front of the alchemy furnace, Fu Qingyu caught a glimpse of Fu Yu's somewhat envious look and realized that the child was jealous of his little cousin.
He smiled and said, "Yu'er, just tell me what you like and I'll buy it for you."
Fu Yu twitched the corner of his mouth shyly after thinking. In fact, what he wanted was not something, just these words from his mother.
Although Fu Yu had already said that he had nothing he wanted, Fu Qingyu still stopped in front of a unique defensive weapon and paid a suitable price.
Turning around, just as he was about to look at other items, he saw the old man he had seen yesterday walking in from outside.
