Seeing the young man leave, Lu Heng carefully observed the furnishings in the private room. The room was not small, with some plants placed around the walls, giving it an elegant feel.
Facing the empty window of the high platform downstairs, a curtain hung down, effectively blocking the view from the outside. However, those inside the room could see the entire scene below clearly.
"Bang bang bang." With a knock on the door, a soft female voice followed, "Sir, I've come to deliver tea and snacks."
"Come in."
As he spoke, a woman entered carrying a tray.
Lu Heng glanced at the woman. The fact that the tray-bearer was a cultivator at the second level of Wu Dao indicated that this Ling Bao Pavilion had some capability.
The woman paused slightly upon seeing the masks on Lu Heng and the other person's faces. She then showed no other expression and proceeded to place the tea and pastries on the tray one by one onto the table by the window.
"Sir, do you require me to stay and serve you two?" the woman asked softly, looking at Lu Heng as she approached.
"Are all your private rooms priced the same?" Taking out a small bag from his spatial storage, which contained about two hundred crystal stones, Lu Heng, unsure of the local prices, wanted to inquire about the Ling Bao Pavilion from the maid.
The woman took the bag and squeezed it. Feeling the crystal stones inside, her smile immediately brightened.
She walked behind Lu Heng and began to knead his shoulders with her delicate hands.
"Hehehe, I can tell this is your first time here. The second and third floors of our Ling Bao Pavilion are all priced at ten thousand crystal stones per room. The fourth floor is slightly more, twenty thousand crystal stones per room, and the fifth floor is forty thousand crystal stones per room. As for the sixth floor, it is not for sale to the public."
The woman carefully massaged Lu Heng's shoulders, her touch perfectly calibrated.
Lu Bai looked out the window for a moment, then, finding it somewhat uninteresting, walked back to Lu Heng's side. He looked curiously at the woman massaging Lu Heng's shoulders, his brow furrowing unconsciously beneath his mask.
Lu Bai's gaze was fixed on the woman's hands, which caused the woman to smile brightly at him and say charmingly to Lu Heng and the others, "Perhaps I could call another sister to come and massage this gentleman as well."
"No, Master, don't," Lu Bai said to Lu Heng via telepathy, staring at the woman's hands moving back and forth on Lu Heng's shoulders.
"Alas, you may go now." Lu Heng sighed, brushing away the woman's hands. He felt that the two hundred crystal stones had been wasted, as he had just wanted to gather more information.
"Then if you need anything, please call the young attendant outside. If I am unavailable, other sisters will come to serve you two," the woman said. She withdrew her hands, put the crystal stones Lu Heng had given her into her embrace, bowed again, and retreated.
Seeing the woman leave, Lu Bai then walked to an empty seat nearby, removed his mask, and began to eat the pastries on the table with gusto.
Looking at Lu Bai with some helplessness, Lu Heng snatched a pastry from Lu Bai's hand. "Don't eat random things outside. What if this stuff is poisoned? Be careful not to be poisoned to death."
"It's not poisoned," Lu Bai pouted slightly. "I'm not afraid even if it is."
"You should eat this instead. Didn't you also buy a lot of food this afternoon?" He put the food delivered by Ling Bao Pavilion aside on the ground, then took out some pastries from his spatial storage.
The food purchased randomly from outside shops, and bought under the guise of ordinary people, was safer.
After a while, Lu Heng stood by the window and saw many people arriving downstairs one after another. Many were led to private rooms upstairs, but more sat in the main hall downstairs.
A little later, a song downstairs ended, and the singing stopped.
Lu Heng sat by the window and watched as a plump woman walked onto the high platform.
The woman was not dressed any more modestly than the maid who had entered earlier, but she was covered where it mattered, so it was acceptable.
"Esteemed sirs, young masters, please be quiet. The auction at our Ling Bao Pavilion is about to begin," the woman said with a smile, looking around at everyone in the hall. Her melodious voice was pleasing to the ear, and the hall immediately fell silent.
Although the woman's voice sounded gentle, the fact that she could instantly quiet the entire hall in such a noisy environment meant her abilities were not to be underestimated.
After all, there were no microphones or loudspeakers in ancient times.
Seeing that the hall had quieted down, the woman continued, "I will not elaborate further on the auction rules. Let the auction begin."
With the sound of a gong, someone walked up carrying a tray.
The tray was covered with a piece of brocade. As the brocade was lifted, a familiar item was placed on it.
"Oh, they're auctioning this thing right at the start," Lu Heng smiled, looking at the item on the tray.
"A crystal, which can allow those unable to cultivate to embark on the path of a cultivator. The starting bid is ten thousand crystal stones, with increments of one thousand each time," the woman announced.
"I bid eleven thousand." Soon, someone in the crowd below raised their hand to bid.
"Thirteen thousand."
"Fifteen thousand."
"Twenty thousand."
"..."
"Fifty thousand." A voice from behind a window on the second floor, belonging to an elderly person, called out.
In a short time, the price of a crystal had soared to fifty thousand crystal stones.
Lu Heng rubbed the cup in his hand, clicking his tongue in amazement.
He hadn't expected a crystal to fetch such a high price in the capital. Should he then bring crystals to the capital to sell them?
No, he didn't lack crystal stones; he wanted to boost the commercial capabilities of Jinyang City.
"If there are no further bids, this crystal will belong to the esteemed guest on the second floor," the woman announced loudly after waiting for a few seconds and seeing no one bid higher.
As the crystal was taken off the stage, two people then carried a pill-refining furnace onto the stage.
The furnace looked quite heavy, and the two strong men carrying it walked with heavy steps. The surface of the furnace was carved with runes, giving it an ancient and profound feeling.
"Zi Yang Furnace, capable of refining mid-grade or higher pills. The starting bid is fifty thousand spirit stones, with increments of five thousand each time."
"Fifty thousand."
"Eighty thousand."
"..."
Bids for this item also rose one after another, and as the price increased, it was mostly people from the upper floors who were bidding.
Lu Heng wondered if this furnace was any good. Last time, he had "borrowed" a furnace from Wu Chenzi for Lin Yu, and Lin Yu had managed to refine mid-grade pills with it.
Lu Heng didn't understand these things, but seeing the people upstairs bidding wildly, he also felt hesitant.
Wanting to buy everything he saw was not a good habit; it could easily attract attention from people in other rooms. It was better to keep a low profile. He could always "borrow" a free one from the Danyang Sect later.