8 Auction house

"Now aren't you sly, stole my things and yet you ask me what I want?"

Smirking, Xuanmei pulled down her hood.

"Ah, you caught me. Oh well, it's not like you want it back anyway, so how about considering letting me keep it?"

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes, a faint hint of a smile hanging on his lips.

"Woah there, if you wanted to rob me, you could've just asked."

"If I asked, you would give me your valuables? If that's the case, hand it over!"

The dashing shopkeeper smiled, a glint of surprise passed through his eyes as his black hair swished around, his eyes brimming with laughter as he raised his hands in a surrender.

"You got me. Name's Huo Mingxuan. I hope you don't need an invitation from me to tell me your name?"

Xuanmei thought for a while, putting her hands on her chin as she pretended to think.

"Hm, asking this great lord for a name, that costs a hundred silver taels. Are you willing to buy?"

The black pheonix eyes of the shopkeeper glimmered as he cursed, "If I knew you were going to say that, I would've charged you for my name too! How stupid of me! However, I see your stealth skills are not bad, how about I hire you to do a job?"

"Spying, stealing? Not a chance. Well, I'll give you a discount. I'll tell you my name if you show me the way to the Elves' Auction House and give me fifty taels."

"Deal," Huo Mingxuan said with a fox like smile while crying on the inside;

If that was your intention all along, you didn't have to say that I owe you fifty taels! You even profited from doing nothing! If I wasn't so hell-bent on hiring a thief who could spy on the opposition, I wouldn't have to spend so much on a name! Who cares about your name? I just want the thieving job done!

Sighing, Mingxuan decided to just give up on the idea of hiring her. Being friends with someone useful was good too. Mingxuan gestured for Xuanmei to follow, and she did. Along the way, they made some idle chatter.

"Are you in any thief guilds by any chance? If no, maybe you want to join me in a school, so you can learn more about what path in Magic or Martial arts you want to take. I'm a magician."

Xuanmei shook her head, and entered the Elves' town alone, as Mingxuan sighed and followed close.

"Halt! Do you have any invitation to this area? Stinky human, do you want to die, trespassing our elf territory?"

"Well, someone in your village called Lan Helian, wrote a letter to us, calling us to the Elves' Auction house."

Gesturing to the cat and herself, Xuanmei smilingly told the guard about her situation, and showed him the letter.

"Lan Helian? What do you have to do with the trash of our race?"

"Are we going to have a problem? I don't remember you all calling me trash in front of me. Was it because you were all too cowardly? If so, get lost, because if you only have the guts to insult and not face people head on, you're not worth looking at."