The person standing in for Jie bid on the cultivation resources Jie had said she wanted before. It caused a bit of a stir for a supposedly high-ranking cultivator to bid on such low-ranked resources. But there were more than enough low-ranked resources to meet her needs and still have enough left over for others to bid on, so people seemed to largely shrug it off.

Jie bid on them as herself a few times as well. Just to make sure her friends didn't get too suspicious.

"Why do you think that cultivator wants such low-end cultivation resources?" Pan Zhanshi asked. That same question was repeated among the crowd, and Jie paid it little heed.

Jie shrugged. "Who knows," she said.

"I bet they have a disciple or something. Ooh is it Jie's mysterious master maybe?" Pan Tian asked.

Jie laughed, but fear ran down her spine. Would it truly be so easy for them all to figure out it was linked to her? Even if their thinking was mistaken...

"Nah, Jie could just buy it all herself. It'd be a waste of their time. They must be someone else," Pan Zhanshi said.

Jie smiled and hoped others would follow that same line of thought.

"And now, before we get into our special, high-end pills that I know you've all been dying to see... The Onyx Pavilion has something truly special in store for you," Jiang Feng said.

As he spoke, a new cart was wheeled across the stage, though this one didn't have any items displayed on elegant pillows. Instead, it carried a cage and a sad-looking cat. The same spirit tiger cub that Jiang Feng had shown her before.

Jie clenched her teeth and an amazed murmur went through the crowd.

"Tonight, we have a--" Jiang Feng said, but his words faded into nothingness for Jie as she watched the cat.

It looked up and their eyes met. Although, she was sure it couldn't see her due to the curtain. Her heart squeezed in her chest.

Jie was dimly aware that her friends were talking and the bidding had begun. But she couldn't bring herself to focus on anything that was said as rage, hurt, and liquid sadness screamed through her veins. She stood robotically.

"I need a break," Jie said, "I'll be back in a bit." Each word was harder to say than the last and she didn't truly hear her friends' responses as she strode out of their room and into the hallway beyond, holding back tears the whole way.

She closed the doors behind her without looking, afraid to show the tears welling up in her eyes. Afraid that someone might ask why she was acting this way when even she wasn't sure. She just knew it hurt. Deep down. A sadness and anger that burrowed through her bones like a thousand maggots.

She looked up at the ceiling and blinked carefully so that not a single tear escaped and betrayed her emotions. She took deep, slow breaths. Her chest felt heavy like some great weight was resting on it, but she refused to give in and start to sob. If she did, she knew the tears would fall.

How could they just sell off a cub like that? How could they murder its parents and then stuff it in a cage? Why were people so cruel? For money?

She tried not to think about it. Not even allowing herself to wonder why it bothered her so much.

I can't let myself cry over a cat. This world is harsh. I have to be strong. Jie thought.

A familiar aura neared Jie, making Jie wish that she'd hidden somewhere further away.

"Jie...? Are you okay?" Pan Tian asked as she approached, the concern in her voice made it all the harder for Jie to keep her emotions in check.

Jie blinked carefully. She'd managed to fight back the tears and they weren't welling up as much as before, but blinking too hard would still cause a few to fall.

"I'm fine," Jie said, "I just needed a moment to myself. That's all."

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Pan Tian looked doubtful. "Are you ready to come back or do you need something? It's not anything I did is it?" she asked.

"I'm fine, we can go back," Jie said, "and of course it's nothing you did. I just needed some air."

Pan Tian looked along the enclosed, windowless hallway. "Right..." she said, "well, you missed a lot of excitement."

Oh god, I don't want to know! Jie thought. "Really?" she said with as neutral a tone of voice as she could manufacture.

"Yes... it rather strange. The auction master outbid everyone on the spirit tiger," Pan Tian said.

"Really? I guess he wanted it pretty badly to do that," Jie said.

Pan Tian paused outside the door to their balcony. "I suppose so... it went for an incredibly high price too. But, that's to be expected, I think. Are you sure you're okay?" Pan Tian asked, "It's not about the gifts you bought us is it? You know we can always--"

"No. It's nothing to do with that. Really. I'm fine. I promise," Jie said.

Pan Tian still looked dubious.

Jie rolled her eyes. "Do I have to punch it into your head?" she said.

Pan Tian's lips quirked into a smile. "I'd rather you didn't," she said. She opened the doors and the two strode back into their balcony.

"See? I told you she was fine," Pan Zhanshi said.

"Yeah, yeah. At least I care," Pan Tian said as she plopped down among the pillows.

"Hey, I care too," Pan Zhanshi said.

Jie settled down on the couch while Pan Tian and Pan Zhanshi continued their bickering. She smiled softly and the weight on her chest eased.

"Now that that's done, our next item... something I know you've all been waiting for... a nine cloud's healing pill!" Jiang Feng said, "Made by the most skilled of alchemists among the Saint rank with tender care and devoted attention using only the finest ingredients.

"They heal any wound on a cultivator of the Saint rank or lower in mere moments and can even help to heal the wounds of higher-ranked cultivators. Saint ranked alchemists are exceedingly rare! This is your chance to get a life-saving treasure! A chance to recover from even mortal wounds and live where you would otherwise perish! We'll be selling five of these items tonight! Bidding starts at one spirit coin! And increases will be in minimum increments of twenty-five qi coins."

A light came on in the highest balcony. "One spirit coin," said a bored, arrogant voice.

Jie suppressed a smile. Whoever they were using as her proxy even sounded like an esteemed expert.

"One and a half spirit coins!" said a haughty male voice from the Chen family.

"Two," said Jie's proxy.

"Four spirit coins!" said a voice from a booth Jie didn't recognize.

"Five," said Jie's proxy, sounding as though they were inspecting dirt beneath their fingernails for all the price concerned them. It bothered Jie somewhat how they weren't bidding by the minimum increment. She decided she might need to speak with Jiang Feng about that later...

"Six spirit coins," said the Chen family though the person speaking sounded irritated.

"Seven," said Jie's proxy without hesitation.

"Eight spirit coins..." said the Chen family. His voice was a bit strained however and the eyes of everyone in the audience looked back and forth between the balconies, their eyes wide.

"Nine," said Jie's proxy, once again without hesitation.

Silence reigned.

"We have nine spirit coins for the Nine Cloud's Healing Pill! Do I hear ten?" Jiang Feng said.

The hall remained silent.

"The Nine Cloud's Healing Pill going once! Going twice! And sold for nine spirit coins!" Jiang Feng said.

The hall gave a collective sigh.

"Heavens... that expert must be exceedingly rich," Pan Tian said.

"What I want to know is how the Chen family could afford to go as high as eight... normally we all have to scrounge for four. Auntie? Will we be bidding?" Pan Zhanshi asked.

"If we can get it for four or less, yes," Pan Keai said, "but I have a feeling that won't happen tonight."

The process repeated again and again. Jie was slightly annoyed she kept having to go so close to the limit she'd set and decided she definitely needed to talk to Jiang Feng before they left.

"I can't believe it... they bought all of them," Pan Tian said, "what do you think they need them for?"

Pan Zhanshi chuckled. "If they can spend that much, maybe they just eat them like candy. I've never had one. Do they taste good?" he asked.

"Don't even joke about that," Pan Tian said.

"I bet they have a bowl of them. Like little lozenges," Pan Zhanshi said with a laugh, "they're probably just mad they can't buy them in bulk."

Jie tried to hide the smile threatening to form on her lips given that she was actually rather annoyed at not being able to purchase more at a time.

"Do you think they'll get angry at the Chen family for making them bid more?" Pan Tian asked with a ruthless grin.

"If only," Pan Zhanshi said.

They chatted for hours as the auction continued. Pan Keai bid on a few items including some middle dantian cultivation resources and so did Jie's proxy. It would take some time before she reached the middle dantian, Jie knew. But the last thing she wanted was to break through only to have a shortage of resources or for the price to have massively inflated for whatever reason. It seemed wise to be prepared to at least some degree.

They lingered after the auction and Jie was able to increase the threshold for the healing pills in future and requested bids be raised by the minimum amount. As well as setting up a contingency so if the Chen family, or anyone for that matter, repeatedly pushed the price too high they would be left to purchase it themselves at an inflated price.

She hoped that catching them out occasionally would encourage them not to push the price too high all the time. After that, they returned to the Pan family mansion.

Jie sat in the room she'd been given and cultivated with a smile on her lips. It felt good to have friends.