The Portal of Wonderland

Two rows of yellow-dressed guards were standing in front of the Welcoming Immortals Pavilion’s door. All of them were Hou Tian warriors.

They saw that Shi Mu, Zhong Xiu, and Zhou Rui were advancing towards them. So, one of the yellow-dressed guards walked over, and stopped the three people.

Both Zhong Xiu and Zhou Rui were in casual clothes at this moment. Moreover, neither of them was wearing an identity token, jade ornament, or other things that could display their identity.

Even the spiritual aura of these three people was in a restrained state at this time. So, they looked like three ordinary visitors.

“Stop! You need to have a written invitation from the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce to get in,” the yellow-dressed guard said with an unruly look on his face.

“This is Elder Zhong. She’s in-charge of all matters related to the Welcoming Immortals Pavilion from today onwards,” Zhou Rui took out his steward identity token, and said in a reprimanding tone.

The Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce maintained a strict hierarchy. Zhou Rui’s status as ‘Steward’ was equivalent to that of the Store Manager’s. It was second only to the Elders in the headquarters. Also, it couldn’t be said how many levels higher his status was in comparison to these yellow-dressed guards.

“This subordinate didn’t know about this. But, I still hope that Elder Zhong will accept my sincere apologies,” The yellow-dressed guard was alarmed by this. So, he immediately retreated. The other guards also moved aside and made way for them as they saw the situation.

Zhou Rui snorted, and didn’t pay attention to the opposite party. He walked into the pavilion with Zhong Xiu and Shi Mu.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu walked along a corridor for a while under Zhou Rui’s guidance. Then, everything before them suddenly turned bright as they turned a corner… And, a medium-sized venue appeared in front of them.

The venue was square in shape, and measured around 1000 feet in length. Flights of stairs descended from the periphery to the centre of the venue. More than 100 seats could be seen in each direction. In addition, there was a circular platform in the centre. These three people stood at the entrance, but they could clearly see the situation at one glance.

A small-scale trade-fair was in progress at this moment. And, more or less a hundred people were seated in the venue. The voices of customers calling out their bids were often ringing in the hall.

“This pavilion has five auction venues altogether. The first floor and the second floor have an auction venue each. The venues of the first two floors are usually used to hold ordinary auctions. As for the auction venue on the third floor… it’s the largest and the most luxurious one! It can’t be accessed by people on normal days. It is opened only on special occasions; such as this year’s auction. After all, this auction is going to take place after ten years,” Zhou Rui explained.

Zhong Xiu nodded. Then, she swept her gaze around the venue a few times. She then received her gaze.

“Take me to the second floor’s venue,” Zhong Xiu said.

Zhou Rui complied, and ushered them to the second floor.

There was no one in the second floor’s auction venue at this time. It appeared at a glance that the area of this venue was more-or-less the same as that of the first floor’s venue. However, the manner in which this venue had been decorated looked quite different… It had a distinct and luxurious ambience.

There were relatively fewer seats in this venue. But, all of them were made up of high-grade wood. These seats looked pretty spacious and comfortable. Each seat had a square table beside it, and some tea and fruits were laid out on those tables.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu didn’t stay on the second floor for long. Instead, they moved to the third floor.

The manager of this pavilion had also heard about Zhong Xiu’s arrival by this time. So, he came over along with a few people in order to accompany Zhong Xiu; he was an old man with white hair and beard.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu had just seen two venues back to back. But, the third floor’s auction venue still left their eyes to brighten up…

This venue’s decoration was very simple and unsophisticated with some carvings of dragons and drawings of phoenixes. It looked like a peaceful study room of a royal family. It didn’t look like a messy auction venue.

The arrangement of the seats looked quite exquisite… as if it had been done with great care and attention. Some seats were independent, while some were placed together. They weren’t laid out in a casual manner like in the previous venues.

Moreover, there were many independent rooms around this venue. They were regarded as VIP rooms. They were exclusively provided to people who had a special identity. These rooms would enable the visitor to enjoy a vast field of vision. In fact, the occupants would be able to see the entire audience right before their eyes.

Shi Mu had attended several auctions so far. So, he could say that this venue could be placed on a par with the grandeur of the Ascension to Immortality Auction in the Heavenly Yu City in terms of decoration, furnishings, and quality.

“Manager Ge, have the goods entrusted by the City Lord arrived?” Zhong Xiu looked at the manager, and asked.

“They have been sent as per the Headquarters’ request. They have been stacked up in the warehouse,” Manager Ge replied.

“Take us there so that I can take a look at them,” Zhong Xiu said.

Manager Ge looked at Shi Mu who stood beside Zhong Xiu, and hesitated a bit. Then, he said in a hesitating voice, “Elder Zhong, you and Steward Zhou are Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce’s members. So, there’s no problem in taking you two to the warehouse. But, Senior Shi doesn’t belong to the Chamber of Commerce…”

Shi Mu’s eyes moved a bit, and he was about to propose that he would wait outside. But then, Zhou Rui who stood next to Zhong Xiu spoke up, “Senior Shi Mu is an honored guest of the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce. He has helped the Chamber of Commerce at a time of emergency. Besides, the Vice President has issued an order that Senior Shi Mu can freely access all the places here.”

Zhou Rui stated. Simultaneously, he took out a letter, and handed it to Manager Ge.

Manager Ge’s was struck dumb for a moment. He took the letter, opened the envelope, and looked at it. Then, he quickly made a respectful gesture towards Shi Mu, and spoke-up in an apologetic manner, “Senior Shi, this Old Man was very disrespectful to you. I still request you to not be offended.”

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu glanced at each other, and noticed a surprised look in each other’s eyes.

“Manager Ge is very polite,” Shi Mu replied. However, myriads of thoughts were tumbling in his mind at this moment.

What could be Wang Rui Kun’s intention behind this move? Shi Mu had retrieved those goods for Zhong Xiu. But, Wang Rui Kun still didn’t have to act so friendly and politely towards Shi Mu.

“Could it be that Wang Rui Kun wants to pull me into the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce?”

The Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce had extremely strict rules. It would never allow an unrelated person to get in touch with the Chamber of Commerce’s matters. But, there was one scenario in which this could happen… The opposite party had already been taken in the scope of recruitment.

The Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce had a vast intelligence network. Therefore, Wang Rui Kun would be able to find out some of details related to Shi Mu if he wanted to investigate him. And, it wouldn’t be surprising that he would try to rope-in Shi Mu after his investigation.

Shi Mu threw a glance at Zhong Xiu as soon as this thought dawned upon him.

Simultaneously, he felt a kind of warmth in his palm… And, that’s because Zhong Xiu had held his palm.

“Big Brother Shi, you don’t have to worry about me. You just do what you want to do,” Zhong Xiu’s lips slightly moved, and her voice rang in Shi Mu’s ear.

Her words filled Shi Mu’s heart with a warm feeling. So, he tightly grasped Zhong Xiu’s hand, and flashed a smile in response.

“I know… Don’t worry,” Shi Mu whispered back since he had already made up his mind.

Manager Ge walked down the stairs with them. And, they arrived at the first floor soon after.

“This way please,” he ushered them to a certain room inside the venue.

This room’s arrangement looked ordinary. In fact, there was nothing special about it.

Manager Ge flipped his hand, and took out a green bead. Then, he mumbled something, and the bead gave off a burst of green light in response.

Ka ka!

The floor suddenly revealed a burst of tremor, and started to sink downward at a slow pace. It then stopped after exactly a-quarter-of-a-minute.

“The warehouse is built so deep under the ground.”

Shi Mu found himself awestruck to see this. He estimated that they should already be a thousand feet under the ground at this moment.

And, the warehouse was built here. This meant that the warehouse was absolutely safe.

Manager Ge waved his hand to shoot a beam of green light. The light-beam dashed and fell on the nearby wall.

Then, a “Ka Ka” sound echoed in response. And, the wall split towards either side to reveal an entrance.

“This is the warehouse of the auction. Everyone, please come with me,” Manager Ge said, and walked into the entrance.

An enormous stone-chamber appeared in front of them. Also, there were seven or eight cabins of different sizes in that chamber. A variety of things were stacked up in each of them.

Piles of ore, spirit stones, and demon beasts’ materials could be seen here. In fact, they were too many to count.

There were dozens of wooden racks in that chamber apart from these things. And, precious pills, magic tools, books, and other stuff were arranged on these racks.

Furthermore, there were many big boxes in the depths of the chamber. It couldn’t be said what was stored inside them. But, they ought to have some priceless and unique treasure in them since they had also been placed in this stone chamber.

The more Shi Mu saw these things, the more he found himself startled. The fact was that he had also seen a lot of spirit stones and other treasures in the storehouse of the Dark Moon Cult that was situated in the Hidden Wind Valley. However, the savings of the Dark Moon Cult present there seemed very insignificant in comparison with those inside this stone chamber.

But then, Shi Mu’s facial expression abruptly changed… He felt that a wisp of an enormous force was targeting his body. And, this force definitely belonged to an Earth-ranked expert.

“I’ve got permission to visit this place, but there ought to be some experts around to guard against any contingency,” Shi Mu said to himself inwardly, but he didn’t feel any pressure in his heart.

After all, Shi Mu didn’t have any craving for the treasures here.

Zhong Xiu also found herself gobsmacked for a moment when she saw the treasures here. But, she immediately regained her equanimity.

“Where are the goods that will be displayed at the auction?” Zhong Xiu asked while looking at the Manager.

The quantity of the goods stored here seemed excessively huge. But, it could be seen at a glance that there was no particularly precious thing here that could be used for the auction.

“They are inside. Please come with me.”

Manager Ge said, and walked towards the depths with the people. He then stopped by the side of dozens of small and large boxes, and indicated that the things were inside them.

Zhong Xiu reached out with her hand and opened a box. However, she only found a one-foot-long ore in it. It had pure white and sparkling texture, and was emitting a bright white brilliance like the glittering edge of a blade. It was so dazzling that some people couldn’t even open their eyes.

“A High-ranked Golden Iron!” Zhong Xiu blurted out.

Shi Mu’s eyes also brightened up. This ore was a top-notch metallic ore, and the best material for refining spirit tools. It was indeed an extremely rare treasure.

The price of such a big ore should be at least five-or-six-thousand spirit stones in the market.

Zhong Xiu covered the lid, and looked at the box that was placed beside it. Zhou Rui acted tactfully, and immediately stepped forward to open that box.

A long blade appeared before them as he opened the lid. It was an ancient-style blade, and was dark-green in color. It was sending out intense magic power waves. It was not only a high-quality blade but also a top-ranked magic tool. It could be said that it wasn’t inferior to any top-notch magic tools.

Zhong Xiu nodded, and opened a comparatively smaller box afterwards. There was a red jade bottle in that box.

“This bottle contains the Blood-Burning Pill. There are a total of fifteen of them,” Manager Ge said.

Shi Mu’s eyes moved as he heard blood-burning pill. He remembered that he had seen this kind of pill in the old records. It had the ability to burn Qi and blood in the body after it was consumed. In addition, it could boost the strength temporarily by over 30%.

However, this pill would render a lot of burden to the user’s body after its use. In fact, the efficacy of this pill would severely damage the strength of the user afterwards.

Even so, this blood-burning pill was regarded as a very precious pill that could play a crucial role in a life and death situation.

Zhong Xiu groaned, and covered the lid.

“Give me the detailed list of these goods. I think it’s too inconvenient to check all the goods one by one,” Zhong Xiu spoke to Manager Ge.

Manager Ge complied. He then took out a jade slip, and handed it to Zhong Xiu. She held it in her hand, and closed her eyes. Then, she used her spirit sense to explore that slip.

She opened her eyes after a little while. Her refined eyebrows had slightly creased. However, nobody could notice this.

“I’ve gotten a rough idea of the situation here. Let’s leave.” Zhong Xiu said.

Everyone soon returned to the ground floor.

“Manager Ge, the Welcoming Immortals Pavilion will be operated by you as usual for the time being. As for the matters concerned with the auction venue… I’ll give you the instructions in a couple of days.” Zhong Xiu didn’t stay there any longer. She walked out of the pavilion, and gave an order to Manager Ge at the pavilion’s door.

“Yes.” Manager Ge replied.