Minutes before, as ManQi had been instructed to investigate the ship. He went out of the central room of the ship and then stroke around. He figured out numbers of guards in several areas of the ship, especially at the door of the bottom deck of the ship. ManQi tried not to pay attention but his instinct told him, that someone was behind him. So in reflex, he turned and attacked but surprisedly the one who behind him was QingQing. Luckily QingQing could defend herself from ManQi's attack.
"Don't attack...It's me...!"
Although for a second, ManQi almost doesn't recognize ManQi in a man cloth, but then her voice gives him the clue,
"Ms. QingQing!! What are you doing here???!!!" ManQi shouts in his whisper.
"Same question to you, Mister...Now I see...This is your secret duty tonight, isn't it?" QingQing looks calmer than ManQi.
ManQi stares at QingQing suspiciously,
"...Do you come alone...?"
QingQing smirks,
"Not alone, I come with my young master..."
"A young master?"
ManQi squints his eyes, he is somehow has a feeling that he can guess about who is this young master...
But then they hear some noises come from the entrance of the bottom deck,
"Sssttt...!!!" QingQing gives a silent sign and they hide.
"Move...!! Quickly...!!" A guard screams fiercely and pushes several captivated women out of the deck,
"Hey, be gentle to them... they can't have any wound or we will be troubled..." Another guard reminds.
QingQing observes those captivated women. From the clothes they wear, ManQi and QingQing guess that they are the Han women who are caught from the war. Although they are tidy and clean, they all look so terrified.
"Too bad, I am not rich...otherwise I'll buy one or two for me...Hahaha" mocked the fiercer guard, willing to touch one of the women.
"Hey, stop playing...come on, we need to deliver them quickly..the guests are waiting..." said the other guard.
Some of those women, begging with their weak voices, begging to be released but those guards even look enjoying their misery looks.
"It's useless to begging us, sweetheart.. beside don't worry...you may be spoiled by your buyer later..hahaha" mocked the fierce guard, touching the chin of one of the women while he is taking out his tongue, wetting his mouth, like a perverted dog.
The view is enraging QingQing. Unstoppable by ManQi, QingQing throws a small rock from her pocket, it hits the hand of the fierce guard painfully. And the hit like announcing the presence of QingQing and ManQi to those guards. ManQi gazes angrily to QingQing, she acts impulsively and shows their hiding, but QingQing seems doesn't care about it, she comes out bravely, dare those guards fiercely,
"Keep your filthy hand for yourself, scumbag!!!"
"YOU...!!!" The fierce guard successfully angry coz be provoked by QingQing, he and his friend don't take time to think but to attack QingQing and ManQi directly.
Seeing only 2 guards so far, ManQi feels he still can handle them. At first ManQi and QingQing can deal with them easily but unfortunately, the noise invites more guards to come helping their colleagues.
"O Great...it will take longer than I thought..."
While QingQing and ManQi are busy fightings. In the room, Masked-Prince Li still glances to the masked-TanTan for many times and TanTan notices it, she feels uncomfortable with the glances from the man beside her who oddly giving her a familiar feeling,
"Ehm..., brother..don't you want to start your bid? Doesn't you want something in this auction?"
Prince Li smirks, "No...not really, nothing attracts me so far...instead, you are more attracting me than them..."
TanTan surprises, don't expect that kind of answer,
'What is this man want from me?!' TanTan makes her own conclusion in her mind, all guests in the ship seems abnormal, maybe including this man too, does he attract to a man? Having goosebumps, TanTan suddenly feels endanger for her fake identity. She then just giving a forced smile to the man beside her.
The Prince Li smiles, he doesn't know why he feels want to tease her more, but the next announcement from the presenter makes him back to his purpose.
As the presenter announces now that the main items will be presented, all guests look so frenzy except of course TanTan and Prince Li.
"Gentlemen, now let me present the qualified goods..." the words are interrupted by one of the guards who whispers something into the presenter's ears. The presenter looks surprised but he manages to settle calm. From the cabin, the masked Crown Prince is also indicating something not right, another guard enters his room and reporting,
"Two guests have interrupted the delivery of the goods...!!"
The news is enraging the masked Crown Prince,
"So...some rats dear to interrupt my event..!!!". Sent men to get them immediately...BRING THEM TO ME!!"
"..y..yes, My Lord...but...how about the auction?" shivering, the guard asks
The masked man in the shadow advice,
"Don't you still have her?"
"Damn, I actually want to show it last, but now...tells the presenter to show 'that one' first...!" as the masked Crown Prince commands, the guard immediately deliver it to the presenter below.
So as the order, The Han woman who just now tried to escape, be brought onto the stage. Some lusting stares come from the other guests when the presenter describes the goods,
"She is around 15 years, very young and fresh and....so virgin...this is very rare good...Let's start from 10 golds..."
TanTan is shocked with the following event, 'They are selling girls? This is clearly human trafficking!!!'. TanTan observes the captivated woman. Surely she has an eccentric beauty which makes other guests immediately racing to bid on her.
"50 golds.."
"100 golds.."
Both TanTan and Prince Li are surely unpleasing with the event. Especially when TanTan is seeing a bruise on the captivated girl's face, it furies TanTan.
"...150"
"200..." And as the price keeps rising,
"500 golds!" The last voice seems shocking other guests, it gives a pause in the room. Everyone looks to the source of that voice. It is a fat masked man with an eel-shaped mustache, covered with all golden clothes, he clearly is a fat perverted old man, for he keeps molesting one of the dancers as his bid is spoken by his man who stands behind him.
TanTan feels disgusting when she sees that fat masked man, and she feels so empathy to the girl, especially after she hears the whispers. It starts spreading from seat to seat, until to TanTan and Prince Li's seat,
"It's him..."
"What a pity...fall into his hands"
TanTan and Prince Li can hear some of the whispers, it seems that the fat masked man has been famed for his cruel and disgusting hobby, and one thing for sure no woman survived after be brought by him. And the price he bid is so high, makes no one dares to bid for the girl anymore.
The presenter continues,
"What a generous man we have here, I see who want to offer more? 500..one, 500...two...500..."
"501" TanTan opens her mouth, makes all other guests look at her oddly, who is this little guy dare to bid higher than the fat masked man?!
The fat masked man glances to TanTan fiercely, he smirks
"Do you think you can win against me, little brother...hahaha...600golds"
Before TanTan response to the bid, The masked Crown Prince holds her hand and whispers sharply,
"What are you doing? You can't bid!!"
"Yes, I can...I won't give that poor girl to the perverts like him!!!" She pulls her hand and bid again,
"601...!"
The fat-masked man doesn't want to lose either, he gestures his man to keep bidding,
"700...!"
"701...!"
"800...!"
"801...!" it's getting more intense and masked Prince Li decides not to stop her anymore for he thinks he can get benefit from this situation.
So every time the fat-masked bids a price, TanTan purposely add 1 gold, even the presenter doesn't have time to intercede them...It pisses the fat masked-man a lot, till he finally speaks for himself,
"How dare you little wreck...to make that ridiculous bid...!!! You purposely want to fight with me, don't you! WHO ARE YOU HUH?!!"
The other guests watch them intensely, the masked Crown Prince observes from above and so the Silver-masked man. It scares TanTan a little bit, but unexpected the man beside her move forward covering her and angry back,
but then TanTan is thinking fast and response back fiercely and complaining,
"And how dare you ask us to reveal our identities...Doesn't this place guarantee the secrecy and the right to bid freely" asks TanTan boldly?
"Hah!! Who do think you are!!! Take off his mask...I want to see your face!!"
The fat masked man orders his man to come attacking TanTan but Prince Li moves forward and easily defeats them. And TanTan move forward to complain,
"Mr presenter, don't you need to cast away the unruled guest like him? trying to reveal another identity is crossing the law of this ship, right?" Aren't we be in danger if our identities are covered easily here???!!! Isn't it everyone?"
The noisy whispers come as the respond of that question, TanTan sees that many if guests agree with her. More of all, this is an illegal auction, surely none of them want to reveal their identities.
"This...Please calm, everyone...." The presenter seems unsure to do, as the fat masked man is the regular guest and loyal customer but the other hand, other guests seem too worried about what TanTan's just said. So he glances to the balcony, waiting for the next instruction. His gesture is noticed by masked Prince Li, he also observes the way that presenter looks up. The masked Crown Prince who observes from above finally shows himself for a while after noticing the noises, to see who are the troublemaker in his event.
"Another two mysterious guests make a scene in my event...They really need to get a hard lesson..." The masked crown Prince almost gives a signal to the next action but the shadow masked man stops him,
"Wait..." he observes carefully to those two mysterious guests that be mentioned. "They won't go anywhere in this ship, why don't we see longer...what do they aim for?"
After seeing two masked men on the balcony, unexpected masked Prince Li speaks out, more to the presenter and to the masked Crown Prince on the balcony.
"You right, little brother, I think that this place is so bad, but let us give a chance for the owner of this place to give their responsibility...I believe they won't just silent, right?"
TanTan doesn't expect that the masked man beside her will help her to speak, she doesn't care actually about the place...all she wants is to save that poor girl on the stage.
"Stop this nonsense..." TanTan moves forward to the stage, ignoring the protest from the presenter, she releases the chain which held the girl's hands and legs. TanTan looks to the girl who reacts scared to TanTan, so TanTan calms her in a whisper...
"Don't worry, you'll save with me..."
When the presenter asks the guard to get rid of TanTan from the stage, the masked Prince Li immediately flies toward TanTan's place. At the same time, a dagger comes flying from the balcony and hits a guard who almost attacking TanTan. At that moment, TanTan spontaneously looks to the direction of where the dagger came from, a shadow of man looks avoiding to be seen, but TanTan recognizes the dagger as the same dagger of the silver-masked man.
But before TanTan can observe furthermore, the fat-masked man, on another hand, of course, doesn't accept her action,
"Hey, that girl suppose to be mine...!!!"
TanTan looks to him fiercely,
"I have bid highest so she is mine, right?!" and she threatens the presenter,
"Announce the result immediately..!"