As the autumn sun slanted across Suzaku Avenue, the gilded plaque of the "Hongxiu Autumn Auction" fluttered in the breeze. Xiao Moli's hands were slightly damp as she gripped the draft of the Autumn Mountain Painting, while Huwa crouched in the corner of the auction stage, carving an "auction-guarding grimace" onto every bolt of brocade, his abacus-bead eyes fixed on the foreign merchants below.
"Don't be afraid," Zhang Yifan said, shaking his indigo abacus beads, the cord glittering like a string of sapphires in the sunlight. "Boss Pei's loom is a spear, your painting is a shield, and my abacus beads..." He chuckled softly, his warm breath brushing against the tip of her ear, "...are gunpowder." Instantly, Huwa carved a tiny figure holding an abacus bead on Zhang Yifan's sleeve, the bead's tongue licking the words "gunpowder."
As the auction began, Pei Hongxiu stepped onto the stage in an indigo brocade robe, her golden hairpins catching the golden threads of the sunrise woven into the fabric: "Esteemed patrons! Today's opening lot—the 'Sunrise Over the Sea of Clouds' Shu Brocade!" She pointed her ivory comb toward the brocade on the display stand. The tiny figure of Huwa nestled among the mountain mists seemed to blink (though it was merely a trick of the light), drawing gasps of admiration from the aristocratic ladies.
Chapter 99