Old Mr. Tang saw Zhu Yang and Old Jiang come in, and beckoned to them. Noticing their pale faces, he asked, "What's wrong with you two? You don't look so good."
"Didn't sleep well," Old Jiang said, not wanting to elaborate on the previous night's events.
Zhu Yang sat down and silently ate his breakfast, his mind unsettled.
Ling Yue could tell at a glance that they had been invaded by the malicious energy of vengeful spirits.
"Old Zhu, are you not feeling well? Why don't you go to the hospital?" Old Mr. Tang asked with concern.
Zhu Yang seemed not to have heard Old Mr. Tang, keeping his head down as he ate.
"What's wrong with him?" Old Mr. Tang asked Old Jiang.
Old Jiang hesitated, then said, "The room we stayed in wasn't very clean, so we didn't sleep well last night."
Old Mr. Tang looked incredulous. "You two must have just been too tired." He didn't believe in ghosts or spirits at all.
"It's true. Zhu Yang and I both saw a bloody figure who even slept on our bed," Old Jiang said, trembling at the memory and his eyes filled with fear.
Zhu Yang's reaction was even more extreme, his face pale as a sheet and sweating profusely.
Seeing them so terrified, Old Mr. Tang pondered for a moment, then turned to Lan Ji. "Lan Ji, why don't we switch rooms with them? It'll be more convenient since we're just next door."
"Sure, no problem," Lan Ji agreed, indifferent to which room they stayed in.
"You're really willing to switch rooms with us?" Old Jiang asked excitedly. They had inquired at the front desk before coming to the restaurant, and all the rooms were fully booked, so switching wasn't possible.
"It's no big deal, just switching rooms. We'll do it when we get back," Old Mr. Tang said with a casual smile. He had seen it all in his travels, except for ghosts and spirits. If they did exist, it would be an eye-opener for him.
"Thank you so much!" Old Jiang expressed his gratitude profusely to Old Mr. Tang and Lan Ji, who looked rested and energetic, clearly having had a good night's sleep.
After breakfast, Ma La Nian's van arrived to pick them up, the same one from the previous day.
The group boarded the van and endured a bumpy ride on the uneven roads for a while before reaching the venue.
This jade gambling exchange event was being held on a grand scale, with two rows of armed guards standing at the entrance to protect the safety of the attendees.
No place in Myanmar was truly safe, with the potential for violence at any moment.
Especially at gatherings of wealthy individuals like this, danger could strike at any time. Even with government intervention, some forces would take the risk for money.
"Please show your invitation," the guard at the entrance said to Ling Yue.
Ling Yue presented her invitation, which the guard examined carefully before handing it back. "You may enter."
Inside the venue, the expansive plaza was filled with boulders of raw jade, each one marked with a number. Next to each boulder was a bidding box for the jade gamblers to submit their bids.
The raw jade was divided into sealed bids and open bids. For sealed bids, the gamblers would write their ID numbers provided by the organizers, their names, the boulder number, and their bid price on a form and deposit it in the corresponding bidding box. Since the gamblers didn't know each other's bids or prices, this was called "sealed bidding." When unsealed, the winning bidder and price would be announced for each boulder.
Open bidding was less common, typically in the form of auctions for boulders with openings showing the jade inside.
Around four-fifths of the jade at each event was sold through sealed bidding.
Standing amidst the jade, Ling Yue could feel the spiritual energy converging from all directions, flowing into her body in strands, making her feel refreshed. Now that she had her Small World, the spiritual energy there was sufficient for her to cultivate.
"Yue Yue, look at that boulder," Lan Ji said in amazement, pointing to a massive, jet-black boulder weighing several tons. It was the first time he had seen such a huge piece of raw jade - if there was jade inside, it must be enormous.
Ling Yue followed Lan Ji's gaze. "Let's go take a look."
As they approached the boulder, several people were already examining it. Such a massive raw jade boulder was a rare sight at the venue.
"That boulder is too big, even if there's jade inside, it'd be inedible," one person remarked.
"I saw this boulder last year too, but no one dared to bid on it," said another.
"Who would dare? If there's nothing inside, that money would be wasted," a third person chimed in.
"Based on the appearance of this boulder, the chances of it producing high-quality jade are very high. It might even yield an exceptional piece," someone else opined.
"Old Gao, why don't you bid on it so we can satisfy our curiosity?" another suggested.
Ling Yue placed her hand on the boulder, sensing a pure stream of spiritual energy emanating from within. She raised an eyebrow slightly, picked up a bidding form from the box, and began filling it out.
All eyes turned to Ling Yue. Surely she wasn't really going to bid on this boulder? It would cost at least three hundred million at the minimum.
