The reason was that Gu Youlan knew she would spare no expense for this sword, even if it meant selling off the entirety of the Snow-hidden Group.
Therefore, Gu Youlan had put up the Blood-Drinking Sword she stole all those years ago for auction, luring her here so she could comfortably act as a shill, fiercely driving up the price of the Blood-Drinking Sword she had provided, forcing her to bleed cash!
This wasn't merely unfounded speculation on Mei Yinxue's part; there was a precedent.
The underground casino incident with Card Shark had unfolded in exactly this way, hadn't it?
"Three billion, five hundred million!"
Mu Jinyu's expression darkened slightly before he firmly stated his bid.
"Four billion!"
As soon as Mu Jinyu had made his bid, Gu Youlan immediately followed, abruptly raising the stakes by ten billion!
"Four..."
Mu Jinyu was about to place another bid when Mei Yinxue stopped him, shaking her head and advising, "Don't follow it anymore, I don't want this sword anymore; she's intentionally deceiving us."
With that, Mei Yinxue shared her conjecture that Gu Youlan had stolen her Blood-Drinking Sword, then brought it here to auction to lure her, playing the auction's shill to make her spend tens of billions, otherwise she could forget about getting it back...
After hearing this, Mu Jinyu's face also turned ugly.
He hadn't expected Gu Youlan to be so malicious, to steal the sword their foster father had gifted to Mei Yinxue, and now, for whatever reason—whether she was short on cash or something else—she brought forth the sword to attract Mei Yinxue, forcing her to spend tens of billions to take it back, or else...
"Forget it, consider it a gift to a dog."
Mu Jinyu took a deep breath, suppressing his disgust and anger, and bid again, "Four billion, five hundred million."
"There's no need for this... sigh..." Mei Yinxue sighed deeply, her emotions complex, feeling moved, guilty, and somewhat resentful towards Gu Youlan.
Mu Jinyu said, "No worries, if she doesn't know her limits and dares to continue inflating the price, I won't bid anymore. I want to see how she ends this!"
Speaking, a cold gleam flashed in Mu Jinyu's eyes.
Following Mu Jinyu's bid, Gu Youlan was right behind him, directly shouting, "Fifty billion!"
At that bid,
suddenly, the auction house began to resemble a boiling cauldron.
Although this auction was limited to Jinling's high society,
to escalate an auction item's price to fifty billion was extremely rare, only one or two instances having occurred, and those few auctioned items were of national treasure calibre.
And the Peerless Divine Weapon that Mu Jinyu and the others had pushed to fifty billion, while certainly impressive, they didn't feel it was worth fifty billion.
They were truly fired up!
And whether this Peerless Divine Weapon would reach a sky-high price of one hundred billion was anyone's guess.
Of course, there were speculations whether Gu Youlan could actually fork out this much cash.
Whether Mu Jinyu could produce fifty billion wasn't the issue for now, considering he was a reputed powerhouse, and no one knew the extent of his resources.
But Gu Youlan, being from Jinling as well, was an open book to them.
They felt that fifty billion, even for the Young Master of the Su Family, couldn't easily be produced in cash all at once.
But could Gu Youlan really produce it?
Probably, she was truly incensed against Mu Jinyu; even if she couldn't get her hands on the Peerless Divine Weapon, she'd make sure the other party paid dearly!
In room number seven.
When Mu Jinyu heard Gu Youlan's bid of fifty billion, the corners of his mouth turned up in a sneer.
He had already asked Mu Hongchen to check on Jinling's Su Family and Gu Youlan's financial foundations.
Mu Hongchen had just sent him the information.
Jinling's Su Family was indeed a giant, with assets nearing a hundred billion, and the Young Master, Su Xuezhen, personally held assets amounting to tens of billions.
However, the cash he could produce did not exceed twenty billion.
And Gu Youlan, greatly favored by Su Xuezhen and with her own investments, could actually produce no more than ten billion in cash.
One billion!
Although it was a colossal figure for the people below, what right did Gu Youlan have to shout 'Fifty Billion'?!
Moreover, she had just purchased the Old Buddha's jade bracelet—her actual cash flow was only three billion!
Was she acting as a shill, trying to artificially hike up the prices or what?!
In Box Number Three.
Dressed in an elegant gown, Gu Youlan crossed her legs delicately, her flawless, ivory-like legs dazzling under the lights, radiating a mesmerizing sheen.
She took a sip of the red wine in her glass and sneered to herself, "If I don't make you cough up a hundred billion today, I'd be failing to repay Mei Yinxue for driving me out of River City all those years ago!"
Meanwhile, on stage, the host, seeing Gu Youlan bid fifty billion, and Mu Jinyu not immediately following, gripped the microphone tighter, his expression excited and spirited as he shouted:
"Women are no less courageous than men, their boldness never questioned by the heavens. The lady in Box Number Three has bid Fifty Billion, does anyone bid higher?"
While speaking, he cast hopeful looks toward the doorway of Box Number Seven, waiting for Mu Jinyu's bid.
Gu Youlan too was waiting, guessing that Mu Jinyu was hesitating because of the high bid of fifty billion.
However, she thought that the Blood-Drinking Sword held significant meaning for Mei Yinxue and considering Mu Jinyu's net worth was well over a hundred billion, wouldn't Mei Yinxue just need to whisper in his ear for him to buy it for her?
Just like with herself and Su Xuezhen.
Thus, she was not panicking at all.
However, what Gu Youlan truly hadn't expected was...
Just as the host finished speaking, Mu Jinyu followed with, "Then congratulations to the generous and bold miss in Box Number Three."
Gu Youlan: "????"
What did he mean by that? Was he no longer contesting? Had he chickened out?
Gu Youlan was instantly filled with rage, thinking, what does this mean? A man worth over a hundred billion, and he's unwilling to buy a meaningful divine weapon for his woman?!
And Mei Yinxue, that guy is useless, can't even handle his own man!
Unlike herself, she had Su Xuezhen well-trained, compliant to whatever she desired, daring not to defy her even in public!
'Not interested anymore?'
The host, still on stage waiting for Mu Jinyu to bid, was taken aback upon hearing his words.
He knew the Peerless Divine Weapon was consigned by Gu Youlan, Madam Su of the Su Family.
Initially, seeing Gu Youlan and Mu Jinyu aggressively bidding against each other, raising the price to fifty billion, he thought the final transaction price would be around seventy billion.
Who had known Mu Jinyu would suddenly lose interest!
What to do now?
Gu Youlan ended up winning her own item; the auction house, because of the Su Family's influence, could only earn a small commission, unlike what it would have earned from Mu Jinyu through a hefty fee.
The host had no choice but to employ all his vocal skills, hoping to ignite Mu Jinyu's competitive bidding desire.
But after speaking for three minutes, Mu Jinyu still showed no intention of bidding, making the audience below somewhat impatient.
Seeing this, the host could no longer delay, secretly blaming Gu Youlan, 'Why did you suddenly raise the price by ten billion? Happy now? You've scared them off, and now the item is a hot potato in your hands!'
"If no one else wishes to participate in the bidding, then... this Peerless Divine Weapon will be sold for Fifty Billion to the lady in Box Number Three!"
"Fifty Billion once!"
"Fifty Billion twice!"
"Fifty Billion... three times!"
"Bang!"
The host banged the gavel, managing a strained smile as he said, "Congratulations to the lady in Box Number Three for successfully bidding on this Peerless Divine Weapon at the price of Fifty Billion."
"Clap Clap Clap!"
The audience applauded for Gu Youlan, whose face had turned a stony shade of blue in the box.