“Mum, what happened to Luo Hua? What exactly happened?” At this moment, Luo Feng was even more distressed and panicked than when he had killed Li Wei.
“Xiaofeng, don’t panic too much.” His mother Gong Xinlan continued in a tearful voice. “Earlier, your brother nearly drowned, but he was rescued and is alright now.”
“Drowned? Mum, what exactly happened?”
Luo Feng could not understand it. How could his brother have gotten into trouble inside the base city? Wasn’t the nanny always with him?
“Xiaofeng, this is what happened. This afternoon, the nanny took your brother Xiaohua to the nearby park. You know he goes there often. This time, while in the park, he ran into Xiaonan’s parents. They invited your brother to have a private chat nearby.”
Luo Feng frowned.
Luo Hua and his girlfriend had never told her parents about their relationship. For her parents to seek him out now, they clearly had a purpose.
“At the time, your brother asked the nanny to step aside. He spoke with Xiaonan’s parents alone for nearly an hour. Afterwards, her parents left.”
His mother’s voice over the phone was hoarse, evidently from crying.
“Then your brother said he wanted to walk around the park by himself and asked the nanny to wait for him at the park entrance.”
“The nanny, Aunt Qin, thought there was no danger in the park. It was just a scenic area, so she did not think much of it and waited at the entrance.”
“But no one could have imagined that your brother would wheel himself over to the viewing lake. The lake had long since frozen over. Only a few spots had holes in the ice where children playing around had broken it. Your brother actually threw himself into the lake and fell into one of those holes.”
Luo Feng’s face turned pale.
Although he knew his brother had survived, falling into an icy lake through a hole in the frozen surface, especially for someone with crippled legs and suicidal intentions, was practically a death sentence.
“Fortunately, a young martial artist from our neighbourhood named Qiu Yi happened to be there. He jumped into the lake, smashed through the ice, swam beneath it searching for your brother, and finally found him. By the time he brought him up, your brother had already stopped breathing. Luckily, Qiu Yi knew some first aid and managed to save his life. Later, the doctors in our neighbourhood said that if he had remained underwater even a little longer, he definitely would have died.”
“I don’t know what those two, Xiaonan’s parents, said to him. How could they force my son to seek death? Don’t they have children of their own?”
His mother’s voice broke into sobs that she could no longer suppress.
Luo Feng clenched his fists tightly.
Because of his disability, Luo Hua had spent much of his childhood alone at home. Even his schooling had been conducted through online distance learning. Years of isolation had made him extremely introverted and insecure. He only appeared cheerful in front of his family.
In truth, his mental resilience was quite fragile.
“Xiaonan’s parents probably only cared about their daughter. They likely said the harshest things possible to force my brother away from her. Why would they care whether he could bear it?”
In reality, everyone was the same.
To Luo Feng, his parents and younger brother were the most important people in the world.
To Xiaonan’s parents, their daughter was naturally the most important person in theirs.
“Mum, how is my brother now?” Luo Feng asked urgently.
“The doctors in the neighbourhood say he is physically fine now. However, his emotions are unstable. Your father and I are taking turns watching him. We are afraid he might do something foolish.” Gong Xinlan sighed. “Xiaofeng, come home as soon as you can. Xiaohua gets along with you best. There are many things he refuses to tell us.”
After all, Luo Feng and Luo Hua were of the same generation. Naturally, Luo Hua was more willing to confide in him.
“Alright. I can be home tomorrow morning.”
Once he sold the dragon egg, combat suit, and the rest, he would take the overnight train back.
…
After ending the call, Luo Feng sat on the sofa feeling depressed.
Over the years, his brother had actually lived quite happily. Especially after moving into Mingyue Community and meeting Xiaonan, Luo Hua had become happier than ever before.
Yet he had never expected that first love, which had brought his brother so much happiness, could also drive him to attempt suicide.
“A failed first love hits my brother far harder than it would an ordinary person.”
“Xiaonan’s parents probably opposed the relationship because my brother is disabled.”
Luo Feng took a deep breath.
“Soon. If my luck is good enough, the 30 billion Chinese dollars needed for the Water of Life might all be earned from this deal alone.”
30 billion!
The dragon egg alone was nowhere near that valuable.
The true treasures were the combat suit and sword.
“I hope they are SS grade. If they really are, I will strike it rich.”
Luo Feng himself had no way of determining their exact grade. That required specialised equipment, which he did not possess. Nor did he want the HR Alliance or Extreme Dojo examining the items.
Time passed second by second.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A knock sounded at the door.
Luo Feng walked over and opened it.
Standing outside was a middle aged man with a thin moustache, dressed in a leather jacket and carrying a large backpack.
The moment he saw Luo Feng, he sensed the sharp aura common among martial artists from his eyes.
“You must be Mr Wei?” he asked with a smile.
“Wang Hou?”
Luo Feng raised an eyebrow. The advertisement post on the martial artist forum had included a photograph.
“Indeed.” Wang Hou smiled.
“Come in.”
After letting him inside, Luo Feng immediately closed the door.
The two sat down on the sofa.
“I hear you have some valuable items to sell, Mr Wei?” Wang Hou smiled brightly, though his gaze resembled that of a hunter spotting prey.
Luo Feng smiled faintly and opened his oversized backpack.
The largest item inside was the enormous cyan dragon egg.
He lifted it out and placed it on the sofa.
“Wang Hou, this is a dragon egg. I assume you can identify what kind it is.”
“A dragon egg? A dragon egg worth over ten billion? Could it be an Eastern Sea Azure Dragon egg?”
Wang Hou nearly jumped out of his seat.
Luo Feng froze.
Eastern Sea Azure Dragon?
That was a king level monster, far stronger than a lord level one.
Over all these years, only a single Azure Dragon egg had ever appeared publicly. According to rumours on the martial artist network, it had sold for more than 50 billion.
“What kind of eyesight does this guy have? After doing business for so long, I thought he would recognise it immediately.”
Luo Feng shook his head silently.
What Luo Feng did not realise was how few dragon eggs had ever been discovered worldwide.
Even Wang Hou had only personally seen two of them. How could he possibly identify one at a glance?
“No, that’s not right. Azure Dragon eggs are larger than this.”
Wang Hou shook his head.
“I never said it was an Azure Dragon egg. Hurry up and examine it.”
Luo Feng could not help saying it.
He had said his goods were worth over ten billion in total, not that this single item was.
“This is the first dragon egg I have ever purchased. Incredible.”
Wang Hou’s eyes shone.
“A dragon egg.”
He quickly opened his backpack and removed one of three locked cases.
Inside was a set of instruments.
He took out a spider shaped device and pressed its many probes against the egg’s surface.
Instantly, streams of data appeared on the screen.
While examining the information, Wang Hou laughed.
“Mr Wei, you are truly impressive. You even managed to obtain a dragon egg. Nowadays, any creature worthy of being called a dragon is extremely dangerous.”
“Have you got the result?” Luo Feng looked at the screen.
“Almost.”
Wang Hou smiled, completely unhurried.
“Oh.”
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
Staring at the screen, he smiled at Luo Feng.
“According to the database comparison, this is an Ironclad Dragon egg. Among dragon type monsters worldwide, the Ironclad Dragon ranks above average. Based on current market prices, I’ll make it simple. Fifty billion Chinese dollars.”
Before coming here, Luo Feng had researched the market.
Fifty billion was indeed a very fair price.
Even selling it through the HR Alliance would fetch roughly the same amount.
“Straightforward enough.”
Luo Feng smiled.
“Deal.”
“My business reputation speaks for itself.” Wang Hou smiled. “Good business is about long term relationships. If I cheated you today, you would certainly expose me on the forums. Once my reputation drops, I would lose future business. That is why everyone who deals with me knows exactly what sort of person Wang Hou is.”
Luo Feng merely smiled.
“Mr Wei.”
Wang Hou could not help asking.
“You should have other items as well, shouldn’t you?”
“I do.”
Luo Feng nodded and removed the sheathed sword from his backpack.
“Oh?”
The moment Wang Hou saw the scabbard, his eyes brightened.
He looked at Luo Feng in surprise.
“This is a truly fine sword. The scabbard alone is worth an astonishing amount. May I take a look?”
“Please.”
Luo Feng felt a surge of anticipation.
He had no idea what grade the sword was.
At the very least, it should be S grade.
Shing.
Drawing the blade, Wang Hou examined it carefully.
“Excellent sword. Excellent sword indeed. There is a very high chance it belonged to a War God. If my judgement is correct, it should be an SS grade sword. This weapon is definitely extremely valuable.”
Luo Feng was overjoyed.
He had not expected the sword to actually be SS grade.
“The value of a sword also depends on its condition.” Wang Hou smiled.
“A newly forged sword has a condition rating of one hundred percent. However, after countless battles against monsters, even the finest weapons accumulate tiny amounts of damage invisible to the naked eye. Over time, that damage worsens until one day the weapon snaps in combat.”
Luo Feng nodded.
For example, S grade weapons were described as being capable of battling nearly all S grade monsters head on without suffering damage.
That implied there was still a possibility of breakage.
“The higher the condition rating, the higher the price. The lower the condition rating, the lower the value.”
“I’ll examine it.”
Wang Hou opened another case and removed a different instrument.
Dreamlike beams of light projected from the device, enveloping the sword.
The instrument immediately gathered large quantities of data.
After processing everything through its software and databases, the result appeared.
“Condition rating, one hundred percent?”
Wang Hou cried out in shock.