The Master of the Strange Realm

The lawyer had an auction list in his hand. Mr. Augustus's ring would be the finale of the auction, appearing in the third to last position.

"What if no one bids and it fails to sell?"

Jenkins asked in a low voice, while secretly glancing at Miss Silver Flute, Mrs. Forrant, who was sitting at the other end of the same row. She looked like an ordinary person attending the auction, and did not behave unusually.

"Wait for another time to arrange the auction. The viscount's ring is very valuable, and the auction house will definitely make money. But if we arrange the time again, it will probably be the big auction at the end of the month..."

The lawyer explained to Jenkins patiently, and pointed out on the list with his fingers which items were worth buying at this auction.

He seemed to think that Jenkins's unusual arrival was actually to buy something. Unfortunately, Jenkins didn't have it... He did have 8,000 pounds in cash, but he didn't plan to use it to buy antiques.

A scan with the Eye of Truth showed that the items in the auction house were all ordinary goods. This made Jenkins even more puzzled about why Miss Silver Flute was desperately trying to raise money, not only to cheat with him, but even to sell her own house.

He would not deliberately compete with women for auction items, and he came here only to verify the information of the female hunter. But curiosity is like chocolate's appetite, which is endless.

Before the auction officially started, Jenkins also talked with lawyer Onis about the banking industry and the impact of the Fabry scam on the future banking industry. The lawyer was also very interested in this topic. He was knowledgeable and had been in the lawyer industry for many years. He could raise many issues that Jenkins could not see when looking at banking issues.

Of course, Jenkins was most interested in the issue of pet insurance. Although he would do his best to ensure the safety of Chocolate, it was also very important to buy an insurance policy.

Chocolate listened with his ears propped up on Jenkins' legs. When he heard the amount of ordinary pet insurance, he felt that it would be more cost-effective to use the money to buy desserts.

The auction was far more boring than Jenkins had imagined. There were no jealous nobles, no ulterior motives, and no unknown treasures. The only people in the small hall were the bidders who were still asleep and the auctioneer who was trying to liven up the atmosphere. The most active creature should be Chocolate, who had eaten too much in the morning, so he had to move around on Jenkins' knees.

There would be no treasures in the small auction hall. Most of the auction items were similar to the goods in the warehouse in the backyard of Dad's antique shop, but they were more expensive. Amid the auctioneer's hard shouting, a few people raised their signs, and everything was in order.

"It's not as lively as I imagined."

Jenkins relaxed his body and leaned back a little, and his right hand kept playing a slapping game with Chocolate.

It's not that he didn't like anything. He first became interested in auction item No. 3, a 300-year-old cat food bowl, but immediately remembered that Chocolate never ate from the cat food bowl. Jenkins bought it when he first adopted Chocolate last fall. The price of that thing is not cheap, which is probably related to the complex decorative patterns on the outer surface of the vessel.

And now it is placed under the drain outside the house to drain rainwater and melted snow water, otherwise it can only be put in the basement to accumulate dust.

"Speaking of which, before the rainy season comes, I have to find someone to modify the drainage pipe. Last autumn, when it rained, the sound of the water flow was so loud that I couldn't sleep."

Thinking aimlessly, he became interested in auction item No. 10, a pair of bone rings. Although it was an ordinary item and had no historical significance, the unique shape was in line with Jenkins' aesthetics. It was just that the price was a little expensive, and Jenkins was unwilling to wear human bone ornaments on his hands, so he had to give up in the end.

This auction cannot be considered a success. Before the appearance of the ring of Viscount Augustus, auction item No. 32, more than half of the 31 items were unsold. During this period, Miss Silver Flute did not raise her card once, and kept looking down at the list of auction items in her hand, so her target should be the last few truly valuable antiques.

Chapter 850 Chapter 833 Antique Crown

Fortunately, the ring among Viscount Augustus's relics was finally sold at a very high price. The two middle-aged businessmen who bid seemed to have a grudge against each other and competed to raise the price of the ring. In the end, both the winner and the loser looked very proud. I think these two are rich people who only regard gold pounds as numbers.

There were 34 items for sale in the auction. After the ring was a pure gold wine cup, and the cup body was inlaid with five or six gems of different colors. According to the auctioneer, this was the wine cup that Slok II of the ancient Hikari Empire used to commit suicide by taking poison about 500 years ago.

But obviously no one was interested in this kind of thing. The auctioneer shouted three times at the top of his voice, but still no one was willing to bid. He could only regretfully announce that it failed to sell.

"Oh, God!"

When the last item was displayed in a glass box, the stagnant Hall 1 finally had a ripple. Exclamations were made one after another, and even Jenkins subconsciously leaned forward to see the treasures in the glass box clearly.

What was displayed was a luxurious crown. A ruby ​​the size of a pigeon egg was inlaid on the top of the front of the crown. In addition, the metal was dotted with an astonishing number of gems.

It looks beautiful, reflecting dazzling light under the soft light above. Just placing it there makes people sigh. The simplicity and nobility it contains are unmatched by any jewelry.

"This is it, the crown of the lost ancient country - the Kingdom of Desman."

Mr. Onis said to Jenkins very excitedly. Even if this crown has nothing to do with the two of them, and the two of them can't afford to buy it, it is still worth getting excited about.

"It's really beautiful."

"Yes, I think among all the crowns in the world, only the crowns of the three major kingdoms can compare with this. Oh, this is a work of art..."

The Kingdom of Desman is a small country that existed in the 3rd to 7th centuries of this era. There are countless mysterious and strange legends surrounding this country. For people of this era, those legends are no different from myths, and archaeologists are not even sure that this country really exists.

Therefore, the "Kingdom of Desman" cannot add a huge and amazing value to the crown in front of it. Its starting price is just based on the price of general antiques multiplied by 1.5.

But when the price was announced, the stranger who had never seen the market couldn't help but take a breath. It was a very large number, so large that he didn't want to recall it for the second time, because he definitely couldn't afford it.

When the bidding for the crown began, Jenkins realized that most of the people here came for this thing.

Even Miss Silver Flute raised the number plate for the auction. This can explain why she was frantically raising money. This is really a very large number.

If Jenkins said that he was not interested in the crown, it would definitely be a lie. But now at this sensitive time, he didn't want to get into other troubles.

Quietly watching the number being raised again and again, hesitating, flustered, determined, confused, different moods were displayed in the small auction hall.

In the end, it was Miss Silver Flute who won it. The woman had been bidding since the beginning of the auction, fully demonstrating her determination to win the crown. Although there were other competitors, as the price was raised again and again, Miss Silver Flute still bought it at a price almost twice the market price.

The market price was told to Jenkins by the lawyer. Although he had no money to buy it, he was also very interested in the crown and even knew some of its history.

But anyway, this is an ordinary item. Before the incident of the dead was over, Jenkins didn't want to explore what kind of charm it had.

The end of the crown auction meant that the auction had come to an end. Jenkins was considered to have watched the excitement, but at least when he and the lawyer left, he no longer felt sleepy.

It was only ten o'clock in the morning, but the weather was still very bad. The temperature could barely be felt to be warming up, and winter was really coming to an end.

Jenkins had nothing to do today. Although he wanted to go to the abandoned cemetery to look for the [Shrouded Nun's Clothes], his father was right. If he left the city now, he might encounter some big trouble.

He wanted to go home, but he remembered the clues of Mu Xin that he bought at Mr. Corpse's party last time. The address was not far from the auction house. Jenkins hesitated for a while, but still walked to the left at the street corner.

Away from the city center, the originally neat streets and well-arranged houses immediately lost their appearance. Only the steam pipes on the wall are of a unified shape throughout the city, which is one of the symbols of Nolan.

Jenkins's target is Bode Street, which specializes in selling flowers, birds, fish or small pets on the east side of Nolan. Jenkins heard about this place from Finnie. When she was a flower girl, she would wait for the trucks from the countryside to bring cheap and fresh flowers at the intersection every morning.

It was almost noon now, and Jenkins certainly couldn't see the little girl selling flowers here. But after turning into the street, a fresh smell of plant fragrance and animal odor immediately made him cover his nose.

It is late winter now, and fresh flowers are expensive and scarce, so this street now mainly sells small animals.

In the iron cages placed at the door of the store, cats and dogs roared loudly; shrewd businessmen rubbed their hands and talked about prices with small shop owners; well-dressed housekeepers looked at the ears of purebred Scottish Fold cats with inquiring eyes; densely packed pet mice were crowded in the box in front of the sign waiting for their owners...

Somehow, when I just walked into the street with Chocolate, I could still hear noisy animal calls. But after walking for a while, these sounds inexplicably became a little weak.

Jenkins thought this was related to Chocolate's strong aura, so he stroked the cat who had become more and more well-behaved recently. Chocolate immediately meowed softly, and Jenkins did not notice that in the cage behind him, several orange kittens were huddled together and shivering.

There was plenty of time today, and he didn't need to go straight to the target to arouse suspicion. So he took Chocolate to stroll around the nearby stores casually, but it seemed that Jenkins paid attention to the behavior of other pet cats, which made Chocolate a little angry. It always had bad intentions towards cats lying in cages or basking in the sun.

After adopting Chocolate, the cat has remained healthy, so Jenkins has no chance to take it to see a doctor. 21 Bird Street happened to have a sign for Mr. Spencer's Pet Clinic, so he pushed the door open and walked in despite Chocolate's objection, wanting the doctor to diagnose whether the cat was overweight.

PS: Only when someone asks me to recommend a book in the background, can I feel that I have been writing books for a year and a half (covering my face).

Recommended book: "Horror Paradise Full of Two-Dimensional Heroines", author: August Wind

Sato Asahara, a low-end player of "Horror Paradise", an accident made him a member of the time-traveling army, carrying the player's panel to become an NPC, and returned to the time before the public beta of "Horror Paradise".

Facing the overwhelming evil spirits, demons, and ghosts, Sato Asahara resolutely embarked on the path of the Chosen One. If it weren't for the players, this book would be a serious and serious theme of crossing into another world...

As an NPC, normal NPCs have all the functions for players... Issue task commissions? Adjust favorability? Teach skills?

Hey, wait, Kasumigaoka Utaha, a ghost girlfriend who fell in love with him?

What's going on?

Facing the hellish start, he began to panic!

Chapter 851 Chapter 834 Elderberry Heart

The streets were filled with strange smells, but the air in the clinic was very normal. There were just a lot of people queuing up, and the kind middle-aged woman who greeted Jenkins at the door told him that it would be best to send a letter to make an appointment before coming, and he might have to wait until the afternoon today.

Jenkins didn't have that much time, so he could only turn around and leave. In fact, the receptionist at the clinic was very interested in Chocolate, and praised it as a rare small cat.

But Chocolate still didn't let anyone touch it except Jenkins, and it was very persistent about this.

Back to the busy street again, after hesitating for a while, he went into the alley to change his image before continuing to his goal. It was a store specializing in potted plants. Judging from the sign at the door, the owner should also be able to maintain and maintain the garden.

There was no smell of pet feces in the store, but it felt a bit like a forest. The owner decorated the store carefully, integrating the plants to be sold with the decorations, and the overall style was like a cabin in the forest.

Thanks to the developed steam industry in this era, it is much easier to create a greenhouse environment than hundreds of years ago, otherwise there would not be so many potted plants and vegetation in late winter.

When the door was opened, there were three people in the store, two of whom were bending over to loosen the soil, and the slightly older middle-aged man was reading a book at the counter with his head down.

Jenkins thought this was probably the boss, so he stepped forward and said:

"Hello, I want to buy something."

"Oh, hello, guest, welcome, what do you need?"

The owner was very polite, and Jenkins took the opportunity to greet him and saw that the book he was reading was about winter plant cultivation.

"Purple golden rowan grass."

This is a real plant, with beautiful leaves like purple gold foil and a pleasant fragrance. Because it is very rare, it is deeply loved by noble ladies. When women hold salons or dances, if they can get purple golden rowan grass for decoration, they will definitely become the object of envy of their friends in the near future.

So far, Jenkins has only seen this plant in Miss Stuart's study.

"How much do you want?"

The owner asked nervously.

Jenkins did not speak, but stretched out his hand and made a strange gesture that did not indicate any number.

The shopkeeper immediately looked at his face suspiciously, then nodded in understanding, took two steps to the left to open the baffle of the counter, let Jenkins in, and then opened the door on the wall behind him.

This shopkeeper is just an ordinary person, and the clerk he hired is also an ordinary person. But because he controls the purchase channels of some rare plants, the benefactors of Nolan City often visit here.

The shopkeeper can get these things, of course, he also knows these people with supernatural powers. Anyway, there is money to be made, and he doesn't mind who buys his goods. It's just that when buying sensitive goods, you need to make a secret signal first. After all, there are many strange plants that are not suitable for selling to ordinary people.

The door behind the counter is a small dark room. When Jenkins followed the shopkeeper in, he was bending down to light the candle on the small round table.

The two sat down together, and Jenkins took the cat off his shoulder and put it on the table. He was not worried that the cat would play with fire because of excessive curiosity. After all, when he was at home, it had never shown curiosity about the fireplace.

"What do you need? Oh, since you are a first-time customer, I must remind you that I do not sell illegal items prohibited by the church."

"I know."

In fact, as long as the money is enough, this shopkeeper can even get [Plague Seeds].

"I need a thousand-year-old wood heart."

"Oh, this is really a rare thing."

The shopkeeper frowned, but did not show any embarrassment.

"What kind do you want?"

"It's all right, but the wood heart must be complete. Don't cut a whole piece in two and sell it to me, I can tell the difference."

"Of course, customer, you don't have to worry..."

The shopkeeper stood up and took out a thin booklet from the upper shelf at the edge of the candlelight, and then flipped through a page a little further back in the dim light.

"Indeed, there is stock, but it may be a little troublesome..."

"You say."

"That wood heart is the wood heart of the elderberry."

The rituals held by the gifters using wood hearts are mostly rituals related to [life]. Although elderberry is also a plant, due to its own nature, it often displays some characteristics related to [Curse] and [Death] when participating in rituals.

That's why the shop owner was so hesitant, but what Jenkins immediately thought of was not the legend about elder trees, but Miss Audrey's divination about [Cemetery] [Black Cat] and [Elder Tree].

The divination she mentioned involved a major event that threatened the safety of the city, and obviously had nothing to do with the potion that Jenkins wanted to prepare. But the word "elder" has taken root in Jenkins's heart, and the note from the elf Mr. Salaimanda did not stipulate the type of tree heart.

"I want it, how many gold pounds?"

"Are you sure? Once the products in our store are sold, they will not be returned."

"I know."

"......Well."

The shopkeeper said, handing Jenkins the photo in the thin book in his hand. The black and white photo showed a small tree that seemed to have withered.

"Elderwood hearts are not easy to sell, so I can give you a discount. But after all, it is a thousand years old, so even after the discount, it still has..."

"Wait, this tree isn't dead, is it?"

Jenkins was a little worried about the impact the dead trees would have on Mu Xin.

"No, it's dying, but at least not yet."

The shopkeeper said, without giving Jenkins a chance to ask again, and directly gave the number:

"8,000 pounds, this is the best price. Guest, since you want to buy it, you should also know that the lowest price of this material is at least three times this. 8,000 pounds, one hand to pay, one hand to deliver, not even a copper penny can be added not enough!"

This was indeed an extremely favorable price, and Jenkins had no reason to refuse. But now the dying elder tree is not in Norland, or even in the Kingdom of Fidictry. Jenkins won't be able to get his goods until at least next week, so he can only pay a deposit and wait for a letter from the store owner.

Of course, the mailing address was still the tavern at the entrance to the black market, so it was impossible for Jenkins to leave his real address.

After buying the last wooden heart, Jenkins settled a big matter. As time went by, he became more and more curious about the potion, especially after discovering the elven secret language in it, and he couldn't wait to know the true effect of the potion.