Chapter 408 - Chapter 408: Chapter 108: The Plan

Chapter 408: Chapter 108: The Plan

“`

Seeing this, Lin Jing smiled lightly before asking in a soft voice:

“Little Sparrow, do you still remember me?”

This time, Lin Jing didn’t disguise his voice; he used his own.

Hearing Lin Jing’s words, Little Sparrow cocked its head and looked at him as if pondering.

Then, Lin Jing took a jade bottle out of the Storage Bag and poured out an Elixir Medicine, tossing it to Little Sparrow…

Little Sparrow’s eyes sparkled, and with a “swoosh,” it flew up, caught the Elixir Medicine with its beak, and swallowed it.

Following that,

Little Sparrow’s eyes shone as it fixated on Lin Jing.

It flapped its wings ceaselessly, circling around Lin Jing without stopping.

“Jing…”

“It’s you!”

As it spoke, Little Sparrow landed on Lin Jing’s shoulder and then looked up at him with an excitement in its eyes that it couldn’t hide as it said:

“Qing… Ling…”

“Master… where…”

Little Sparrow’s speech was still choppy as before.

But Lin Jing understood perfectly what it meant.

Little Sparrow was asking where Huang Qingling was right now.

Lin Jing glanced around and then said to Little Sparrow:

“Follow me for now; it’s not safe here.”

After that, Lin Jing prepared to take Little Sparrow and leave.

However, Little Sparrow didn’t move and grabbed hold of Lin Jing, not letting him go.

Then, Little Sparrow gestured continuously toward the auction house and said to Lin Jing:

“Qing Qing…”

“Captured…”

Lin Jing then reached out and soothed Little Sparrow before saying:

“I know…”

“We need to leave for now, and tomorrow, I’ll take you to rescue Qing Qing.”

After hearing this, Little Sparrow cocked its head thoughtfully and then nodded.

Following this, Lin Jing continued in a low voice:

“Follow me and leave this place first.”

Little Sparrow nodded its head.

Afterward, Lin Jing did his best to conceal his presence as he walked out of the alley, leaving the area.

And Little Sparrow obediently stayed on Lin Jing’s shoulder.

Fortunately, it was late at night, and the streets were empty. Lin Jing’s journey was uneventful for now…

……

Not long after Lin Jing left, the middle-aged man who had been meditating in the secret chamber of the Black Shark auction house suddenly opened his eyes.

He stood up, left the chamber promptly, and flew above the auction house.

Once above the auction house, the middle-aged man scanned his surroundings and, seeing no activity, spread out his Divine Sense to search the area.

As the middle-aged man was using his Divine Sense to investigate, another Cultivator also emerged from the chamber and flew up to the man’s side.

“Brother Yin…”

“What’s happened?”

“Could it be that you’ve discovered something?”

The middle-aged man shook his head and said:

“Nothing…”

“It just feels odd. Normally at this time, the Black Kite would have attacked under the cover of night.”

“But today, for some reason, it hasn’t shown up.”

The other Cultivator spoke up and said:

“Perhaps it’s afraid after nearly getting hurt yesterday?”

The middle-aged man furrowed his brow and replied:

“I don’t think it’s fear…”

“Considering its Phoenix Clan bloodline, its intelligence far surpasses that of other Demonic Beasts; it’s probably smarter than we think.”

“And, it is utterly loyal to its master. It’s not likely to give up on a rescue mission over a minor incident like this.”

The other Cultivator nodded and said:

“Could it be because it exhausted itself yesterday and is taking today to rest and recover, so it didn’t come?”

“After all, the Black Kite, no matter how smart, couldn’t possibly know that the auction is tomorrow and that after tomorrow, its master will no longer be here.”

After hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded slightly and said:

“Perhaps…”

“Tonight, that Black Kite probably won’t come again; let’s go back.”

“After the auction tomorrow, we won’t have to stay on guard like this all day long.”

The other Cultivator said:

“Right…”

“After that, we’ll leave everything to the Young Gang Leader.”

The middle-aged man nodded and said:

“Alright, let’s go back.”

Having said that, the two of them returned to the secret chamber together.

……

Meanwhile, Lin Jing, with Little Sparrow in tow, returned to the inn called “Guest’s Arrival.”

Even on entering, Lin Jing made sure to tuck Little Sparrow into his embrace to hide it.

Only after entering the room did Lin Jing let Little Sparrow out.

This room had been prepared by Lin Jing before he had left—it was located right next to Ye Yun’s room.

Upon entering the room, Lin Jing used his Spiritual Power to envelop the entire room in a protective barrier.

Then, Lin Jing dropped his disguise and reverted to his original appearance.

Seeing this, Little Sparrow’s eyes glittered as it fluttered its wings and landed on Lin Jing’s head, using its claws to mess up his hair into a bird’s nest—its way of expressing excitement.

Lin Jing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry and quickly said:

“Little Sparrow, calm down a bit…”

Upon hearing Lin Jing’s words, Little Sparrow settled down.

Afterward, Little Sparrow perched on Lin Jing’s shoulder,

and then, tilting its head while looking at him, asked:

“`

“Master… where?”

“Where…?”

Lin Jing’s thoughts immediately turned to Huang Qingling; she should still be in Qinghuang Palace now.

He just didn’t know if she was still asleep…

Lin Jing reached out his hand, stroked Little Sparrow’s head, and then spoke:

“Qing Ling, she’s not here…”

“Right now, she should still be in the Demon Race Secret Realm.”

After hearing this, Little Sparrow cocked its head, seemingly not understanding.

Seeing Little Sparrow’s confusion, Lin Jing continued:

“It’s the place where you absorbed the demonic energy just before.”

Little Sparrow obediently seemed to understand, and immediately hung its head, looking disheartened.

Lin Jing quickly consoled it:

“Don’t lose heart, you will see each other again one day.”

Little Sparrow looked up at Lin Jing and, after a moment, nodded its head.

After this exchange, Lin Jing also understood.

Little Sparrow’s intelligence had indeed become much stronger than before.

The Little Sparrow of now had already grasped most of what Lin Jing meant in his words.

Even more, it could express its own emotions.

Lin Jing had every reason to suspect that Huang Qingling might have used some special method to train Little Sparrow.

After all, a normal Demonic Beast at this stage, though it might develop some intelligence, would definitely not be as advanced as Little Sparrow was now.

Then, Lin Jing said to Little Sparrow:

“Little Sparrow, I want to rescue Li Qingqing, and I need your help…”

After hearing this, Little Sparrow fluttered its wings in a hurry and said with its beak:

“Rescue Qing Qing…”

“I go…”

Lin Jing then began to explain his plan to Little Sparrow.

…

…

According to Lin Jing’s plan, they would participate in the auction, win Lin Jue, and after securing Lin Jue, Lin Jing would immediately leave with Lin Jue and Ye Yun.

Little Sparrow, left behind, would continue to monitor the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang.

Lin Jing had already seen Little Sparrow’s surveillance capabilities.

Plus, with its current improvements in strength, if it was just responsible for monitoring, there shouldn’t be any unexpected incidents.

After sending Lin Jue and Ye Yun away, Lin Jing would need to quickly find an island to secure them, then pilot the Flying Boat back to reconvene with Little Sparrow.

After reuniting, Lin Jing and Little Sparrow would secretly follow the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang and find a way to rescue Li Qingqing.

In this process, Little Sparrow would play a very significant role.

Lin Jing needed Little Sparrow to lure away the two Hall Masters from the Black Shark Gang.

With those two out of the way, the rest would be easy.

Lin Jing could directly intervene and snatch Li Qingqing from their custody.

Even, killing the two of them was not out of the question.

However, although Little Sparrow was extraordinarily intelligent, this matter was quite complex.

Lin Jing took quite a while to explain it to Little Sparrow to make sure it understood clearly.

After explaining everything to Little Sparrow, dawn had already broken.

Then, Lin Jing gave some further instructions to Little Sparrow and, seeing that it was about time, he left the Ke’lai Inn.

And Little Sparrow had already left through the window before Lin Jing departed.

After leaving the Ke’lai Inn, Lin Jing made his way straight to the Black Shark Auction House.

By the time he arrived at the Black Shark Auction House, many people had already begun to gradually show up at the auction house.

Before entering, Lin Jing saw the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang standing at the entrance of the auction house.

At that moment, he was walking toward the auction house with the middle-aged man ‘Uncle Yin’ and that cold-faced burly man in black still following closely beside him.

After the Young Gang Leader of the Black Shark Gang entered the auction house, Lin Jing followed and entered as well.

The rules of the Black Shark Auction House were different from other auction houses.

To enter the Black Shark Auction House, one needed to pay with Spirit Stones.

And it wasn’t cheap, costing ten Spirit Stones per person.

Moreover, there were luxury private rooms that one could use to participate in the auction with the payment of more Spirit Stones.

Of course.

Lin Jing only needed to win Lin Jue, so naturally, he had no need for a private room.

Though a private room had the feature of concealment, Lin Jing did not plan to bid for Li Qingqing and thus didn’t need to stand out or have concealment.

After paying the Spirit Stones, Lin Jing went directly into the lobby.

There was something different about the lobby of the Black Shark Auction House.

The whole lobby was slightly dim, with the only brightness focusing on the auction platform.

Besides that, dozens of scantily clad maidservants were shuttling through the hall, serving all the people present…

Lin Jing found a seat inside the hall, and immediately a maidservant brought up an auction list for him.

This list was somewhat different from the one Lin Jing had gotten before.

This list included a starting price for each item.

Lin Jing then opened the auction list and began to read.

Soon, he found the page for Lin Jue.

The listed starting price for Lin Jue was ten thousand Medium Grade Spirit Stones.

The price was standard.

During the actual auction, the price was sure to be higher. Lin Jing estimated it would reach between twenty to thirty thousand and above.

The probability of it going above forty thousand wasn’t very high.

After checking Lin Jue’s price, Lin Jing continued to look further.

On the last page, Lin Jing finally saw the price for Li Qingqing.

The price for Li Qingqing was much more expensive than for Lin Jue.

The listed price for Li Qingqing was a whopping one million Spirit Stones.

A hundred times that of Lin Jue.

Actually, this price made sense.

Most of those interested in Li Qingqing were mainly due to Little Sparrow.

After all, a beast companion with Phoenix Clan blood was not something one could come across every day.