“Uh… sell myself?” Hearing this, Xiao Yan was taken aback, and then he shook his head with a bitter smile. Turning to Hai Bodong, he said, “You handle it yourself. I’m only responsible for refining the pills. The procurement of ingredients is something you should worry about.”
Seeing this, Hai Bodong helplessly shook his head, stood up, and took out an exquisitely crafted purple-gold card from his storage ring, casually tossing it on the table. “Little girl, go get the ingredients for me right away. With just a little over a million, you think you can keep Xiao Yan here? That’s underestimating his value.”
Staring at the purple-gold card on the table, which had seven silver waves drawn on its surface, Yaphira’s face flashed with shock. Often dealing with countless strong individuals, she was very aware that such a purple-gold card required at least the strength of a Dou Wang to use. Could this seemingly unremarkable old man be a Dou Wang?
Her smile gradually faded as Yaphira looked at Xiao Yan, who was idly picking at his nails. This young man seemed to have done well in the past three years, actually having ties with such a powerful figure. One must know that even in the Mittel family, a Dou Wang would be treated as an honored guest.
Carefully holding the purple-gold card, Yaphira’s jade-like hand slowly caressed it. The unique texture allowed her to quickly discern its authenticity. Clapping her hands, a graceful maid hurriedly entered the room.
“Go pack these four ingredients properly and bring them here, quickly.” Handing the paper to the maid, Yaphira instructed sternly.
“Yes,” the maid responded respectfully and quickly left.
“Old sir, please wait a moment. The ingredients will be brought over shortly,” Yaphira said respectfully to Hai Bodong as she watched the maid leave.
Nodding slightly, Hai Bodong sat back down, holding a teacup without speaking, silently waiting.
Suddenly realizing that this unassuming old man had such a powerful identity, Yaphira no longer dared to joke around with Xiao Yan, who seemed to have a close relationship with him. She sat quietly, not daring to speak, occasionally glancing at the bored youth.
As the three remained silent, the atmosphere in the room gradually became oppressive. Over time, Xiao Yan finally furrowed his brows, about to speak, but a maid rushed in, breaking the silence.
“Where are the ingredients?” Hearing the hurried footsteps, Yaphira raised her head, looking at the maid whose hands were empty. Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked sternly.
“Miss Yaphira, the ingredients… they were forcibly taken by Elder Leow. He said that these ingredients had been reserved long ago and couldn’t be transferred to others.”
The maid’s face showed some panic as she spoke timidly.
“Smack!” Yaphira’s face darkened, and she slammed her hand on the table, gritting her teeth. “That old man, these ingredients have been in the warehouse for months. I’ve never heard anything about them being reserved.”
“What’s going on?” Looking at this sudden change, Xiao Yan furrowed his brows and asked softly.
Taking a deep breath, Yaphira’s ample chest rose and fell slightly. Rubbing her temples, she said with a bitter smile, “That old man, Leow, is the grandfather of the Lele you injured earlier. He is also an elder of the Mittel family with considerable power.”
“Revenge?” Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed, and he smiled faintly.
Beside them, Hai Bodong, who was sipping tea, raised his graying eyebrows slightly, but did not speak. However, the tea in the cup between his hands froze into icy crystals in an instant.
“Ah, that old man has indeed gone too far this time, doing such a thing.” Standing up, Yaphira’s face grew slightly grim as she said to the maid, “Lead the way. I’ll go and reason with him myself.”
Hearing this, the maid nodded hesitantly and turned around. A cold snort came from outside the door, “Reason with me? Hmph, fine. I’d like to see who dared to injure my grandson here.”
Hearing the cold snort, Yaphira’s face grew colder. Supporting herself on the table, she stared coldly at the people pouring in from the doorway.
Leading the group was an elderly man in a luxurious robe with a slightly sinister expression. Behind him, a pale-faced young man and several guards followed. The young man was glaring viciously at Xiao Yan, who was sitting on the chair.
“Elder Leow, what do you mean by this? Even though you are an elder of the family, when did you gain the authority to interfere with the auction house? Moreover, you dared to intercept the ingredients ordered by our guests. Are you trying to ruin the reputation of the Mittel Auction House?”
Yaphira’s face was filled with coldness as she glared at the elder, placing a heavy accusation on him. Under the weight of this accusation, the old man, Leow, visibly flinched, but then sneered, “Heh, so high and mighty. Yaphira, don’t act as if you are a real elder. When you remove the ‘acting’ from your title as the supervisor elder, then you can talk to me like this.”
“But I doubt you will have that chance. As the supervisory elder of the Mittel Auction House, you privately brought outsiders into the family’s important areas and injured family members. These offenses will be raised in the next meeting of the council, and I will formally request your dismissal!”
Upon entering, Leow’s cold gaze swept over Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong. Though Xiao Yan was young, his attention was caught by the emblem of a second-rank alchemist on his chest. But it didn’t matter much. With his status, he had seen many second-rank alchemists. His gaze lingered on the expressionless Hai Bodong, but his limited insight couldn’t fathom the latter’s depth.
His ignorance turned into fearlessness, and he felt less apprehension. If the other person were a Dou Ling or Dou Wang, he would sense their energy fluctuations, but he sensed no energy around Hai Bodong. There were only two reasons: either Hai Bodong was a Battle Emperor, or he was too weak to sense any energy.
Leow had met the Battle Emperors in the empire, but none of them matched Hai Bodong. So, the only explanation left was…
“Elder Leow, you might have forgotten the hidden rules of the auction house. Certain VIPs have the right to enter here. As for Lele, he brought it upon himself. It’s not others’ fault for teaching him a lesson,” Yaphira said coldly.
“You sharp-tongued girl, VIPs? Heh, let me ask, what are the identities of these two? So I can judge if they meet the criteria for VIPs.”
Leow sneered, his connections in the city were quite good, and he knew many provincial lords, but he had never seen Xiao Yan or Hai Bodong before.
Hearing this, Yaphira faltered. She only knew Xiao Yan’s identity, but the Xiao family was not enough to make Leow, known for his arrogance in the family, feel intimidated. As for Hai Bodong, she had no idea about his background.
Seeing Yaphira speechless, Leow’s face showed a hint of satisfaction. “It seems my niece doesn’t know their identities. Yet, you dare bring strangers into the family’s important areas. You really aren’t fit for this role.”
Yaphira’s face turned pale. Gritting her teeth, she said, “I won’t argue with you. They prepaid for those ingredients, and now you’ve intercepted them halfway. This will damage the Mittel Auction House’s reputation. How will you explain this to the Grand Elder?”
Hearing the word “Grand Elder,” Leow’s face visibly changed. The name held great power over him. However, when he saw his pale grandson, his anger surged. “Those ingredients were already reserved. I just didn’t want any trouble later when they came to claim them.”
“You… you’re lying!” Yaphira’s face turned iron-blue. Enraged by his unreasonable words, she slammed her hand on the table and swore. “If someone reserved such a large order, how could I not know? Elder Leow, your actions are disgracing your position as an elder!”
“I will report this to the Grand Elder personally!” Yaphira said angrily, standing up.
Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yan, who had been silent, finally sighed and stood up. Walking to the table, he pulled Yaphira and gently pressed her back into the chair, patting her head with a smile. “Clearly, reasoning won’t work here. Let me handle it…”
“Don’t cause trouble. That old man is a Dou Ling. No matter how extraordinary you are, you can’t defeat him,” Yaphira blushed slightly at Xiao Yan’s intimate gesture, but she struggled. Staring at his smiling face, she said anxiously.
“I won’t take action…” Xiao Yan smiled, turning to Hai Bodong, and said, “Elder Hai, Miss Ya got into this situation because of you. Don’t just watch. Do what needs to be done…”
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