Five Elements Card Game (Card and Chess Player) - Chapter 163: The Auction

"What are you trying to buy? I remember you still have over two thousand points left. You can't even afford that?" Wu Hui frowned, "What Transcendence-tier prop have you set your sights on?"

Wang Xiaodie actually had quite a few good things on her. There was an Illustrated Manual of a Hundred Insects, and its specific grade was too high for their current strength to discern, but it was at least at the peak of Transcendence or even Legendary.

There was also a Transcendence-tier blade, alongside the Transcendence-tier maid outfit she wore. Considering she had obtained all of these while she was a Level 3 player, one could only say her luck was genuinely astonishing—so astonishing that Wu Hui suspected someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.

"Ah, just something that seems really useful to me. It can strengthen arthropod-type seal beasts." Wang Xiaodie draped herself over Wu Hui's lap, acting spoiled. "Please, big boss, lend me some points. I'll pay you back as soon as I have enough. If I can't pay you back, I'll use myself as collateral."

Wu Hui felt that he was treating Wang Xiaodie far too well; she couldn't even grasp the misery of being a slave. Now she was casually offering herself as collateral. Perhaps he should take a page out of Ren Yin's book and make her do some more humiliating or grueling labor.

Wang Xiaodie: "?!"

Frankly speaking, though, Wang Xiaodie's adaptability was quite strong. While she had felt embarrassed about wearing the maid outfit at first, she now wore it every day and could even swagger down the street in it without a care in the world.

The only problem was that whenever she was away from Wu Hui, she acted like a hoodlum, walking with a swagger and devoid of any maid-like grace.

After being trained by Ren Yin, she only put on an obedient act in front of Wu Hui and Ren Yin themselves. If the two of them were out, Wang Xiaodie would immediately cross her legs and sprawl out on the sofa.

After all, she wasn't a real maid. At her core, Wang Xiaodie was simply an idle female street urchin.

The moment she managed to break free from her contract, she would probably dare to ride roughshod over Wu Hui and Ren Yin. Well, she probably wouldn't dare—both of those pairs of glasses were quite terrifying.

Wang Xiaodie estimated that the moment she acquired the prop she wanted, she would be able to unleash power comparable to Level 5.

Wu Hui had previously reminded Wang Xiaodie that there might be a conspiracy behind that Illustrated Manual of a Hundred Insects. But looking at her now, classmate Wang Xiaodie clearly hadn't listened—or rather, she hadn't taken her master's words seriously.

Understandable. After all, if a compulsive gambler knew how to take advice, they wouldn't be a compulsive gambler.

Her coquettish pleading prompted Wu Hui to say they should go take a look together. Between Wang Xiaodie's remaining points and his own, it should be enough by any measure. However, Wang Xiaodie pointed out that it was an auction, so the price would likely be driven up.

How was this girl better informed than he was, especially when she barely left the house? Wu Hui frowned, catching the familiar scent of a conspiracy once again.

The Cocoon Company, operating under the Butterfly Organization, was planning to hold an auction in Dayun City, primarily targeting mid-to-low-tier players—after all, there was only one high-tier player in the entire city.

It was said that the newly appointed supervisor was hosting it to revitalize the recently sluggish local market. However, Wu Hui suspected there was a hidden agenda. When he asked his elder sister's contacts to look into it, they came up empty.

Even so, the auction was certainly worth checking out. It would be even better if Ren Yin came out of her game sooner.

Their small group was relatively wealthy among low-tier players. If they really fancied something too expensive, they could always borrow some points from Wu Tong, who was a high-tier player. It was just that Wu Hui wasn't very keen on doing that.

Living off others all the time didn't feel right... Well, for a high-tier prop, that would be one thing, but to bother his sister over such a minor matter would be far too shameful.

An auction of this scale would naturally be publicized in advance to give everyone time to gather funds.

The way Wu Hui accumulated funds was by taking Wang Xiaodie and Li Xiaojing out to hunt down wanted criminals. These people were practically his reserve rations; whenever he needed funds, he would go bag a couple.

Given his efficiency, it was no wonder the Tribunal wanted to recruit him. But Wu Hui knew his capture skills weren't on par with the Tribunal's professionals; he simply had the advantage of having laid down contingencies in the city beforehand.

At present, after casually selling off some useless props, Wu Hui's point balance had reached five thousand. Along the way, he had also acquired five or six Black Knight and Peasant chess pieces. Paired with the insect-type seal beasts he had freeloaded from Wang Xiaodie, his legion-style build was beginning to take shape.

Over the past two days, Wang Xiaodie had also earned over seven hundred points and borrowed a thousand from Wu Hui. She felt confident she could secure the prop she wanted now.

To thank Wu Hui, she threw her arms around him and planted several fierce kisses on his face. She was then grabbed by the collar and tossed aside because she left behind a bit too much saliva.

The twin sisters looked at this shameless wretch with utter contempt. Wang Xiaodie, who had been hugging Wu Hui's thigh and shouting "Daddy," certainly deserved that contempt.

"..." Wu Hui hauled her up. "I permit you to call me Master."

"Cough, cough. Then what do you want me to call you?"

Ren Yin reappeared in the room, still wearing a wooden crown atop her head.

Her aura carried a hint of majesty, and without her glasses, she looked remarkably like a queen straight out of a storybook. Although she wore no expression, she didn't possess Wu Hui's pure indifference; instead, her seriousness concealed her emotions.

In the story, Ren Yin had united five nations to jointly resist foreign invaders—a horde of monsters manipulated by the Black Death.

There was no victory; perhaps victory was never possible from the very beginning. Though she had anticipated this ending long ago, she still felt a lingering disappointment. Even after leaving the game and reuniting with Wu Hui and the others, she couldn't shake that sense of deflation.

Skies filled with endless darkness, and monsters without end.

Even under such perilous circumstances, humans were still utterly incapable of truly uniting.

They were no match for the enemy; they could only flee.

The alliance of the five nations had forged a sanctuary, leaving the remnant populations within its walls. In the end, Ren Yin had still stood alone in the royal capital, expecting to die, only for the game to suddenly end and display a failure screen.

Her evaluation hadn't been very high, but upon reviewing the playthrough, Ren Yin still couldn't pinpoint where she had gone wrong.

What on earth was the playwright trying to express? Was it the cruelty of the Black Death, or a message that they should have fled much sooner? Or perhaps...

No, she needed to look at it from another angle and figure out what kind of development would have pleased the system the most.

"Stop dwelling on those things. Dwelling on them does you no good." Wu Hui patted Ren Yin's shoulder. The two of them exchanged a silent look across their lenses.

"Is that so?" Ren Yin indicated that she understood. "Then... let's go. Didn't you say there's an auction? Where is it?"

She adjusted her mindset quickly, seemingly shaking off the defeat from her previous game. In reality, however, Ren Yin's mind was still tangled in the disputes and narratives among the five elemental kingdoms.

This was her way of summarizing her shortcomings. Wu Hui had told her to think less about it, but a clever person could never simply stop thinking. So, she could only force herself to focus on something else.

Wang Xiaodie walked at the very front, hands on her hips, swaggering along, only reigning it in when Ren Yin let out a couple of dry coughs.

*Good grief, why is she acting just like my mom?* Wang Xiaodie suddenly recalled the days when her parents were still alive.

Her memories of that time had grown somewhat hazy, yet when confronted with a similar situation, they flooded back into her mind instantly.

Glancing back at Ren Yin and Wu Hui, who were staring right at her, Wang Xiaodie fell into a prolonged silence.