Chapter 9 Recruiting Talents

  The next morning, as soon as the sun shone on the road, the spacious street was crowded with people, including little Sis holding horses and onlookers, while the real masters had already entered. It seems that the sword sent out still has a publicity effect, and Huang Chu's advertising is not bad.

  Meng Fan and Luo Zhen squeezed through the crowd to the gate, where a sturdy guard recognized them and let them in with a nod. Meng Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed, "It seems I'm still not good at picking fights everywhere."

  "Cut the crap, what's with that stance? One sword slash and it'll be blocked by their horizontal sword, clang! The sword will break, what a joke! I'm the real deal, go up and it's just fists and feet..."

  "What did you say!" Meng Fan's face turned dark and he said, "Do you want us fellow disciples to have a spar?"

  Ruo Jie hastily retreated to the side, repeatedly waving his hand and saying: "No need, no need, Master is formidable, you're formidable!" He had experienced being beaten up several times before, and his body was covered in bruises.

  Meng Fan still looked sulky and didn't say a word, he continued to flatter: "Oh, this crowded scene is all thanks to Master's great efforts, great efforts!"

  "Hmm..." Meng Fan nodded in satisfaction, "Indeed, a young one is teachable!" After speaking, he turned around and walked towards the front row with his head held high.

  Walking to the front row, Lei Meng stood up and laughed loudly at Meng Fan: "Haha, our great hero is back! He cut off many swords for others and did a lot of publicity for us!"

  Meng Fan's face turned bright red as he said, "No, no, it's just that the treasured sword is too powerful, taking advantage of its sharpness to bully people." He didn't think that the scene at the door would be seen by Lei Ming, who turned his head back and listened in, chuckling to himself at this moment. But it couldn't be denied that Meng Fan's publicity effect was quite good.

  Roger Cheng, who was following Meng Fan's back, heard Lei Meng's words and felt secretly pleased in his heart. His depression also disappeared, and he felt much clearer.

  "Clang!" Lin Chong emerged from behind the front door, wearing a neat hemp robe, and stood on the stage, striking the gong hanging at the edge of the stage with force. The whole audience immediately fell silent, and you could hear a pin drop.

  A scholar-like dressed Huang Chu walked slowly onto the stage, stood at the golden dot on the left side of the stage, bowed to all directions and said: "Welcome, esteemed guests, to the He Xi auction house! I am Huang Chu, honored to be your host for this auction." At first, he spoke a bit awkwardly, but later became more fluent.

  "What nonsense! Bring out the treasure sword quickly!" A loud shout came from the middle seat.

  Meng Fan heard the voice and felt it was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. It should be a defeated subordinate. He stood up, turned around and shouted: "Meng Fan is here! Do you want to come out and fight again?"

  That man saw Meng Fan get up and quickly shrank back without making a sound, causing the others to murmur in unison.

  "Hum! Who is Meng Fan? I've never heard of him!" A loud and powerful voice echoed throughout the scene, silencing everyone once again.

  Everyone thought the auction would end with a whimper, but another voice suddenly exploded in everyone's ears: "Haha ~, General Feng Feifan's skills are even more profound! Thunder rumbles and apologizes for not being able to keep up, please forgive me! But I still ask General Feng to give Thunder a chance!"

  Everyone's ears were buzzing, and they couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. They all looked around, wanting to catch a glimpse of this mysterious figure.

  Feng Feifan was shocked by the effect, and his heart was also thunderstruck. The power of Lei Meng's skill seemed to be even deeper than his own, but he didn't concede an inch, humming a sound, saying: "Good! I'm at ease with this auction!"

  The thunderous sound indicated that Huang Chu would continue. Huang Chu quietly wiped the virtual sweat, it was his first time hosting an auction, and he couldn't help but feel nervous when faced with such a scene. He shouted: "This auction will sell ten Taoyun Treasured Swords, one at a time! The Taoyun Treasured Sword is produced in Baishan, its surface has a cloud-like pattern of intertwined clouds, it can cut hair and break swords with just a blow! I believe many esteemed guests have already witnessed its might! There's no need for further demonstration. Now, please welcome the first sword!"

  After finishing, the curtain behind the stage opened, and Liao Yun, dressed neatly, held a sword in both hands, walked to the center of the stage, drew his treasured sword and danced a dazzling sword dance, which elicited a burst of applause from the audience.

  Liao Yun sheathed his sword and placed it on the horizontal sword rack on the black auction table in the center of the platform, then stood solemnly beside it. Huang Chu continued to shout: "Next, we will auction off the first Tianyun Treasure Sword, with a starting price of 100 gold, and each increase in price is 5 gold."

  In the midst of the chaotic and noisy bidding, the price of the Tuan Yun Sword had risen to 325 gold, and was still increasing by five gold at a time.

  "I'll give you 500!" The voice shook the entire hall, and Feng Fei Fan impatiently made his move. He had come here because he heard that this auction house was unusual, with a novel way of auctioning off treasures. If he really wanted this precious sword, he could have just called in an expert to get it for him. But instead, he found himself sitting here, enduring the noise and chaos of the crowd, so he shouted out a high price to drown out the din, and suddenly the atmosphere around him became quiet.

  Huang Chu heard the high price of 500 gold and was overjoyed in his heart. Seeing that no one else was bidding, he wanted to strike the gavel, but thinking of Lei Ming's entrustment, he patiently asked: "500 gold, is there a higher bid?"

  He swept his eyes across the room, and in the silence of the crowd, he asked twice more. Amidst Feng Feifan's growing impatience, "Ding!" The hammer fell, and he shouted: "Sold!"

  ……

  After the first auction demonstration, the subsequent auctions went smoothly. Some were sold for more than 500, some less than 500, and even less than 400, which made Feng Feifan feel both annoyed and very interested.

  The tense and intense auction ended with the last sword being sold at a high price of 780 gold. Huang Chu said with joy: "This auction was a complete success! Thank you to all the distinguished guests for your presence! The next auction will be held in three months' time! We welcome all the distinguished guests to come again!"

  This auction has broadened everyone's horizons, whether they made a purchase or not, all left with smiles and something to brag about.

  After counting, they received a total of 5,680 gold coins, which was enough for their expenses for half a year. It was indeed not bad.

  Lei Meng looked at the large pile of gold and smiled: "How's that? We're starting to make money now."

  "Haha, indeed made a profit, made a big profit." Mr. Wen stroked his beard and laughed loudly, then stopped and continued, "However, I think we can still raise the price! They will still come to buy it."

  Lin Chong felt a bit unbearable and said: "This, this won't be too black-hearted, will it? After all, that level of sword is about to become the weapon of our ordinary soldiers."

  "Ah! ~ It's just an ordinary soldier's sword!" Meng Fan exclaimed in surprise, staring at the "treasured sword" held in his left hand against his chest. This sword had helped him defeat many skilled opponents by quickly cutting off their swords during duels. Due to its frequent use, many notches had appeared on the blade, making it almost like a saw, but it could still easily cut through his opponents' swords without any trouble. He had always thought this was an excellent treasured sword and took great pride in it, never expecting that it was just an ordinary product.

  "Otherwise, how can we make money!" Yang Tian glanced at Lin Chong and handed his Tang knife to Meng Fan, saying, "Let you compare the good sword with the inferior one."

  Meng Fan took it over, drew out the Tang knife, and felt a chill as the gray light flashed on its surface. Upon closer inspection, he could see fine lines like cow hair woven across it, this was truly a precious sword. Meng Fan admired and praised it, reluctant to put it down.

  "Stop drooling! This is a special material I found elsewhere, and it's even one of Leiming's masterpieces!" Yang Tian looked at Meng Fan's pig-like appearance and quickly splashed cold water on him to sober him up.

  They also found that the sword forged was not as good as Tang Knife, and they didn't know if it was a problem with the structure, materials or forging technique that wasn't as good as Lei Meng's...

  Yang Tian snatched the Tang sword that Meng Fan was looking at and said, "Lei Ming, let the craftsmen forge more Tang swords. Now that the soldiers' strength has increased, their swords seem a bit light."

  "No problem, but a Tang knife is not a sword after all. You have to teach them how to use it properly." Lei Meng responded without hesitation.

  Yang Tian carelessly wielded his Tang knife and chuckled in response: "This is absolutely no problem!"

  "We'll still have a chance to use those minerals later." Lei Meng's eyes gazed deeply into the distance, he was somewhat worried about Yangjia Village, worried about Old Iron.

  As they walked out of the auction hall, Lei Meng and others saw many outsiders on the street stopping to look at the ground under the scorching sun, looking from afar at the auction hall, and occasionally nodding their heads in praise.

  Qin Hao began to be influenced by business ideas, and he walked up to Lei Meng's side, saying in a low voice: "General Lei, with so many people coming to watch, why don't we set up a toll point around here?"

  Lei Meng looked at Qin Hao in surprise, this kid actually came up with it, such a pioneering way of making money. Seeing Qin Hao shrink back, Lei Meng smiled and nodded: "This idea is not bad, it's quite profitable. But it's not good for our current development."

  Qin Hao was initially delighted, but then he lost his enthusiasm and retreated.

  Huang Chu looked at these people, his eyes shining with excitement: "Perhaps, perhaps we can take the opportunity of the auction to recruit some talent." These days he was busy with the auction and the political affairs of Hexi, and he had a deep understanding of the lack of talent.

  Mr. Wen also echoed: "Lei Meng, our manpower is indeed a bit insufficient, we need to consider recruiting some people."

  After a moment of consideration, he said, "Alright, let Mr. Wen and Mr. Huang handle the recruitment." He glanced at several burly men with shifty eyes, his lips moving slightly as he whispered to Yang Tian, "Get ready, those guys over there look like troublemakers, not good people."

  Yang Tian stared at those people, nodded and turned away.

  "This place is handed over to you. Lin Chong, Liao Yun, follow me back to White Mountain, lest the nest be overturned by others!" Lei Ming ordered and also took his men away.

  That night, the stars were dense and bright, and inside the city of River West, except for the lights on the city wall and the castle, everywhere else was pitch black. This is exactly the perfect opportunity to steal chickens and dogs. The four people who had been exploring the streets during the day also took advantage of this opportunity to sneak into the castle.

  They peeked over the wall into the city lord's mansion, quiet and still, with only a few lanterns lit inside the house, and a torch inserted at the corner of the corridor, as if the defense was very lax. They were overjoyed to jump into the courtyard, but just as they lightly landed on the ground, they felt a chill in their necks and their bodies stiffened, only to find that each of them had a sword placed at their necks.

  Among them was a big-mouthed man who shouted loudly twice: "Why arrest me!" The distant figures scattered and fled towards the city. The soldier was furious, and with a forceful slash of his sword, he kicked the man to the ground. The man fell to the ground, covering his bleeding neck, and struggled for two times before dying.

  He never expected that the ones who caught them were battle-hardened soldiers, and with just one shout, they were killed. The other three were so frightened that they trembled with fear, not daring to move.

  The three were soon tied up and left waiting for their fate to be decided.