Stranger Danger

Chapter 368: The Ghost Tower’s Scheme

“Yeah! Also, the actual founder of your Li Hentian Palace is a woman, right? Since when was the Dark Overlord a woman?”

“Li Hentian Palace may be yours, but the Dark Overlord is his own man. More importantly, his inheritance belongs to everyone. Surely you bitches can understand such simple logic?”

Countless ridicule broke out from all over the place. Mistress Qu abruptly shot to her feet and raised her voice, “You dare shame Lord Li and Li Hentian Palace with your words? Are you courting death?”

“Shame the Dark Overlord? Not at all. The only ones we’re shaming are your Li Hentian Palace.”

An impudent, arrogant voice said unhurriedly, “You’re just a bunch of thots who climbed to your current position with your tits and ass. If not for the Dark Overlord’s legend and the fact that you’re all women, did you seriously think that Li Hentian Palace could’ve made it as one of the Nine Demonic Ways? Someone would’ve finished you off a long time ago.”

“How dare you!” Mistress Qu’s face was flushed from how angry she was, but thankfully, she hadn’t completely lost her wits. She knew it would be a bad idea to attack her detractors in the Ghost Tower.

“Come at me, bitch! I swear on my mother’s grave I won’t lift a finger to protect myself. If you couldn’t kill me, then you’re my grands—excuse me, I mean granddaugh—hmm, that’s not right either. Why in the world would I want an expired thot to be my granddaughter? That would shame me more than it shames you!”

The guy muttered under his breath for a bit before yelling, “Oh, screw it! Just come and kill me already!”

“You... You...!” Mistress Qi felt like she was this close from blowing her top, literally. If it wasn’t for the Ghost Tower’s rules, she would’ve ripped the speaker to pieces already.

“Hehehe, I knew you wouldn’t dare to do anything.” The man grew increasingly disdainful when he saw that Mistress Qu didn’t dare to attack him. “You bitches don’t know shit besides fucking men on the bed.”

“Is that so? Dare you tell me your name so I may pay you a visit in the future, or are you all bark and no bite?” Mistress Qu uttered hatefully.

“Hahaha! I am Madman Chu. Feel free to come after me after the auction if you dare. Oh wait, you wouldn’t dare because you’re too weak and cowardly. Your Headmistress is the only one who might have a chance at laying her finger against me.”

Madman Chu continued to taunt Mistress Qu with zero restraint, “You know what? I give you permission to rally your whole sect and your lovers to attack me. If I take even a step backward, then you have full permission to call me your son.”

“Hahaha, well said, Brother Chu!”

“I’ve loathed these bitches for a long time.”

“Heaven knows where these heretics find the gall to put themselves out in the open!”

......

“What the hell is Ghost Tower thinking?” Ye Qing tilted his head in Greenlake’s direction and asked.

This was the Dark Overlord Li Hentian’s inheritance they were talking about. Forget them, even a Sage or the Buddha himself would be tempted to get their hands on it.

The problem was that the Ghost Tower only had one Dark Overlord Token. It was one thing if they sold it to a single bidder in secret, but instead they chose to tell everyone about it.

It was guaranteed everyone would fight over the Dark Overlord Token to the death, but the matter wasn’t done even after the auction was over. The winner of the token would have a target painted on their backs, and they would have to worry about the participants leaking the fact that they possessed the token to others.

In this scenario, the winner must kill everyone present in order to hide the fact that they possessed the Dark Overlord Token. Otherwise, they would be chased and hunted to the ends of the earth. Not even the Li Hentian Palace, one of the Nine Demonic Ways, could possibly the entire jianghu attacking them for the Dark Overlord Token.

Best case scenario, the winner and whatever sect they belonged to would be no more. Worst case scenario, a sea of blood involving the entire jianghu would be shed due to the conflicts that resulted from this.

But of course, there was no one present who possessed the power to kill everyone on the floor singlehandedly. Even if there was, there was still the Ghost Tower. Who could claim that the Ghost Tower wouldn’t leak the news to others? Humans were untrustworthy enough, much less ghosts, so they would have to wipe out the Ghost Tower as well. Was that doable? Of course not.

The point was, Ye Qing couldn’t see how the Ghost Tower might benefit from this. Sure, they might make more money as a result of their machinations, but they could just as easily lose control and offend everyone present. No one who possessed the qualifications to enter the inner market was simple. They were either people with big bosses to back them up or the big bosses themselves, and it was absolutely not worth it to offend them over some extra yin gold.

Of course, there was the possibility that the Ghost Tower was aiming to turn the jianghu upside down through them and profit from the fallout, but if he could figure out the scheme, then surely the rest of the audience could figure it out as well. He didn’t think he was that smart.

Seriously, what the hell is the Ghost Tower thinking?

Greenlake knew what he was thinking and whispered, “I don’t think the Ghost Tower would be this stupid. This must be some sort of setup for their real ploy.”

Ye Qing neither agreed nor disagreed with her statement. He waited to see how the Ghost Tower was going to handle this.

“Enough, Madman Chu. I don’t care how you behave, but do it after this auction is over.” The warrior who suppressed the Ghost Tower’s restrictions and Fire Skull earlier finally spoke up. “

“Hehehe...” Madman Chu chuckled and shrugged.

Mistress Qu was still furious, but she stopped talking as well. Clearly, she was wary of the warrior.

Besides, she heard that Madman Chu was a Grandmaster. He said whatever he wanted and did as he pleased. To provoke him was to make life difficult for oneself.

“What about the Dark Overlord Token, Sun Sovereign?” Mistress Qu asked.

The warrior, Sun Sovereign replied, “There is no way you can monopolize the Dark Overlord Token, and neither can your Li Hentian Palace.”

Mistress Qu thought the Sun Sovereign wished to monopolize the Dark Overlord Token for himself and fell silent for a moment. Then, she said sarcastically, “This junior wouldn’t dare to stop you if you wish to take the Dark Overlord Token, senior. Please, have at it.”

“No need to be sarcastic with me, girl. I can’t monopolize it either. No one on this floor can.”

Sun Sovereign turned to Fire Skull and ordered, “Speak, Fire Skull. What is your goal here? Please don’t tell me you wish to use the Dark Overlord Token to turn the world upside down. Forget the Ghost Tower, not even the Great Emperor of Fengdu would dare to do such a thing. You haven’t forgotten what befell Fengdu several centuries ago, have you?”

The Sun Sovereign was referring to that time the Nether was breached, and Fengdu was destroyed, of course. Back then, Fengdu had opened the gates of hell and attempted to invade the yang world. As a result, Yan, Chu, Qi and Wei came together to launch a counterattack against Fengdu. As a result, the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the Six Ghosts and Gods were slain.

“Hahaha... You flatter us, customer. How would we even do such a thing?” Fire Skull let out a bitter chuckle. “The truth is quite simple: there are more than one Dark Overlord Token.”

“After we found the first Dark Overlord Token, we suspected that there were more and began searching everywhere for it. As expected, there were more Dark Overlord Tokens out there. In total, we have thirty Dark Overlord Tokens.”

“So, you’re auctioning not one, but thirty Dark Overlord Tokens?” Madman Chu was the first to protest, “You should’ve said it sooner, you sonuvabitch? Do you think we’re circus monkeys or something?”

Fire Skull complained, “I wouldn’t dare! There was just no room for me to interrupt just now!”

Bull-fucking-shit! You think we didn’t see you snickering away while Mistress Qu and Madman Chu were arguing with each other? Everyone thought while rolling their eyes. Thankfully, the knowledge that there were thirty Dark Overlord Tokens significantly improved the mood and loosened the tension—for now.

Fire Skull continued, “In fact, my master had prepared for everything. If the number of bidders present at the auction exceeds our expectations, then we would sell the Dark Overlord Tokens covertly. It would be an invitation for disaster otherwise. However, the number of people we have right now is just right. Assuming you can afford it, everyone present can obtain at least one Dark Overlord Token. This will incentivize you not to leak the news and throw the jianghu upside down.”

“Hmph! At least you’re aware of the consequences!” The Sun Sovereign grunted. “Speak. How are you planning to auction the Dark Overlord Tokens?”

Fire Skull answered, “First, in order to ensure that everyone present can obtain at least one Dark Overlord Token, we will not be auctioning it right away. Instead, you can pay fifty thousand yin gold right now to obtain one. However, you can only buy one.”

“Once everyone who can afford it had bought a Dark Overlord Token, the rest of you will bid for the remaining tokens with a starting bid of fifty thousand yin gold.”

“Finally, everyone in possession of a Dark Overlord Token including my Ghost Tower must swear an Oath of Burden to not leak the news of the Dark Overlord’s inheritance to others or steal another person’s token in any way.”

“So, do you approve of our arrangements?”

“The Ghost Tower sure knows how to conduct business. Very well!” The Sun Sovereign agreed.

Over half of the audience had already left the auction for one reason or another. Cang Jun, the great elder of the Mountain of Mind and Heart was one such example. Fifty thousand yin gold per token sounded like a hefty price, but it really wasn’t considering what was on the line. Besides that, everyone who stayed behind were basically wealthy people. Even if they weren’t, they would pawn off everything to make up fifty thousand yin gold. No one would or could resist the Dark Overlord’s inheritance.

By doing it this way, the Ghost Tower could make a huge profit and still ensure that no one would leak the news of the inheritance. After all, everyone who possessed a Dark Overlord Token would be in grave danger once the news were spread. No one was stupid enough to pay fifty thousand yin gold just to put themselves in mortal danger. But just in case stupidity or greed overtook common sense, the Oath of Burden guaranteed that the secret would remain a secret.

The rest of the Dark Overlord Tokens were auctioned because the Ghost Tower knew that most of them wouldn’t be satisfied with just one. After all, owning more than one token meant they could bring one or multiple helpers with them on their journey. For obvious reasons, a party of warriors stood a much greater chance of obtaining the Dark Overlord’s inheritance than just one.

At the same time, the Ghost Tower could earn an even bigger profit and kill multiple birds with one stone. So far, the Ghost Tower seemed to have considered everything and made the best out of it.

“The master of the Ghost Tower is a smart man,” Ye Qing commented smilingly.

“They wouldn’t dare to sell the Dark Overlord Tokens otherwise,” Greenlake replied gently.

“Say, do you think that thirty Dark Overlord Tokens is all they have?” An interesting question suddenly occurred to Ye Qing.

“What kind of question is that? You just said that the master of the Ghost Tower is a smart person,” Greenlake countered.

“You’re right,” Ye Qing conceded.

Suddenly, a far more urgent question occurred to Ye Qing. I don’t have enough money! I only stayed because I wanted to enjoy the show!

He literally couldn’t not buy the Dark Overlord Token because he was already made aware of the Dark Overlord’s inheritance. If he refused, he didn’t doubt that the people present would silence him in a heartbeat. Plus, he did want the Dark Overlord Token.

What do I do, Google?

“Er, Miss Bai...” In the end, Ye Qing had no choice but to ask Greenlake for help. If she could lend him some money, then all was well. If not, then he would have to pawn off some stuff.

Be it Strange Artifacts or martial arts, he carried a lot of good stuff with him. He had more than enough to gather fifty thousand yin gold. But of course, he didn’t want to do that if possible.

“Don’t worry, husband. I understand.”

Greenlake smiled as if she knew he was going to ask her for help. “It’s just a hundred thousand yin gold. I can afford it.”

“Thank you, Miss Bai. When we’re back in the yang world, I promise to pay back what I owe immediately,” Ye Qing solemnly promised.

“What are you saying, husband? You and I are one in mind and body. What’s mine is yours, isn’t it?” Greenlake beamed.

You’re not serious, are you? Ye Qing blinked. I’m not gonna stop you if you insist on screwing yourself over!