Reincarnated As God - Chapter 43 Information Merchan
Meng Li looked at the surroundings while standing behind Ye Jian. Even though with his Spiritual Sense, he had seen things like the city or even bigger than it, seeing it in person was still an interesting experience. The walls were about ten metres tall, with guards in small towers spaced about hundred metres away from each other. The gate they were near was big, too – ten metres wide, yet closely guarded. There wasn’t any entry fee, fortunately, but visitors were asked to show their luggage and state their reason for coming in. The guards didn’t make much trouble for their small group, fortunately – Meng Li listened to Ye Jian converse with one ear and it seemed like he lied about their reason, explaining their lack of any bags as… Something. Meng Li didn’t really care, and even though he was supposed to learn, it wasn’t interesting to him.
When they passed the check, Meng Li asked Ye Jian.
“So, what now?”
“We should find an inn to sleep for the night, and I’ll go look for some info.” Ye Jian answered. Meng Li was okay with the plan, but he wanted to go to find info with Ye Jian. That was the interesting part, after all.
Finding an inn proved to be quite easy – Ye Jian asked a random passerby who pointed them to the nearest inn. Meng Li heard the person warn them that it was expensive, but what was money to Meng Li other than just a number? Even before starting the trip, he gave Ye Jian a whole lot of coins. He didn’t even count them, he simply gave him a few piles of coins based on weight. As such, they had no problems with money. The bag of holding looked like a coin purse, too, making it easy to hide its’ existence.
Meng Li had to admit that the inn looked comfortable. He received a key for his own room from Ye Jian, who handled the transaction, and took a glance at it. It seemed to be one of the premium rooms, as it was on the top floor. It had a giant bed, a personal bathroom, and even a fully furnished table. It was still a bit small, but it wasn’t a problem for Meng Li – he wouldn’t be staying there long anyways.
After a few minutes when Ye Jian explained everything to his parents, he came downstairs. Meng Li was waiting for him by the door – his white robes and long hair attracted a bit of attention, but he didn’t notice. Ye Jian seemed much more normal in comparison – although his robes were clean and tidy, they were much less eye catching than Meng Li’s. His hair, although long, was tied behind his back, too, while Meng Li let it drape over his shoulders like a black waterfall.
Ye Jian couldn’t help but notice all of these details with his experience, and gave some advice to Meng Li.
“With how you look right now, there is no way for you to stay unnoticed in a crowd. You should tie your hair a bit and act… Normal.” Ye Jian pointed out a few flaws in Meng Li’s ‘disguise’. He couldn’t quite point out what was the part of Meng Li’s bearing which made him stand out so much, it was just… Instinctual.
“Can’t I simply retract all of my aura?” Meng Li asked, confused, as he demonstrated the effect. With the disappearance of his aura, the people walking past him seemed unaware of his existence, and even those who took notice of him previously seemed to gradually lose interest. In merely a few seconds, practically no one was paying attention to him.
“This… Sigh… This works for you, since you’re the strongest person in the entire world, after all, but normally, anyone with a higher cultivation would notice you. It’s best to restrain your aura to a certain level, or the amount of aura you’re withholding is a dead giveaway to your level of cultivation for anyone who happens to be stronger.” Ye Jian explained. Meng Li understood what he meant in no time, and quickly adjusted his aura. At first, he thought to reduce it to a level of a normal person, but after a bit of thought, he reduced it just a little. It was at a level where normal people wouldn’t easily notice him, but if they were careful, they would be able to do so easily.
Ye Jian did the same, and they both exited the building. They were moving through the crowd like normal people would – finding a way to pass, or asking people to move if they didn’t. Ye Jian didn’t seem to have a clear goal, but Meng Li tried to understand what he was doing.
After a couple of minutes of weaving through the crowd, Meng Li sensed something approaching his hip. After the month of training with Ye Jian, his first thought was to defend himself using his sword, but his quick thinking saved him, or rather the small child reaching for his bag of holding, from losing their hand.
Meng Li instead easily caught the small hand with a vice-like grip and turned to face the delinquent. He was a small, scrawny kid, no older than twelve. His body was dirty, and his smell… Meng Li felt like puking after catching a whiff. He quickly made a small filter using Qi around his face to avoid the fumes. It smelled like sewage.
Ye Jian noticed Meng Li’s unusual movement and quickly turned around. He couldn’t help but smile seeing the situation, and subtly motioned Meng Li to follow him. Meng Li, confused, started walking behind him while still holding the street urchin. The child couldn’t help but reveal an expression of fear and started trying to break free of Meng Li’s grasp, to no avail. At some point close to the entrance of the alley, he opened his mouth to scream, but Ye Jian reacted quickly by putting a hand over his mouth. He still didn’t say a word and instead pulled him into the alley. Meng Li, confused, followed him.
Ye Jian released the boy’s face when they were in the alley. However, before the child had a chance to scream, he started talking.
“You just tried, to steal my friend’s purse, so now listen up. You have two choices – either be quiet and answer my questions, or I’ll haul you to city guard and throw you behind bars.” Ye Jian furrowed his brows and made an ‘angry’ face to scare the small kid. Meng Li now had an idea of what he was trying to do, and so he stayed quiet, silently blocking the way out.
“Sire, I… I just bumped into you, w-what are you talking about?” the boy whimpered. His voice confirmed his age – he sounded young, and scared.
“Whatever. Now, answer my questions. Who is your boss?” Ye Jian started his interrogation. The boy looked scared, but at some point, a bit of anger appeared on his small face. It disappeared quickly, but both Ye Jian and Meng Li noticed it. The boy replied a few seconds later.
“He’s called Big Feng.” he replied.
“Alright. What gangs are here?” Ye Jian asked.
“There are three gangs, the Blood Angels, the Underground Shuras, and the Dark Devils.” the boy replied without hesitation.
“What gang are you a part of?” Ye Jian asked, continuing.
“The Dark Devils, but I’m not officially a part.” the boy replied.
“Do you know a place that sells information?” Ye Jian went to the most important question. The boy’s face quickly displayed confusion, and he quickly denied. Ye Jian continued.
“No, I don’t.”
“Alright, since you don’t know, take me to your boss.” Ye Jian commanded, releasing the small boy. However, before the urchin had a chance to take a step, he quickly warned him.
“Don’t escape, I can run much faster than you, and even then, I can throw knives.” Ye Jian threatened while patting a small bump on his hip. It was vaguely knife-shaped, but Meng Li saw that it was simply a stick he had put there god knows when. Fortunately, the boy seemed to believe him, and didn’t try to escape.
The boy led Ye Jian and Meng Li through a labyrinth of small alleys and abandoned streets, before finally reaching a run down shack. There, he quietly told them that this was the place and scuttled off into one of the many alleys in the surroundings. Ye Jian didn’t stop him, to Meng Li’s surprise. Meng Li couldn’t help himself and ask.
“Is this the place?” he asked Ye Jian, wondering. It was simply too run down, why would anyone willingly stay in such a place?
“Has to be. Saw several giveaways, and if the guy didn’t bring us to his boss, he still brought us somewhere where we can get more information.” Ye Jian calmly replied. Without saying more, he walked up to the door and simply opened it. He wasn’t subtle about it, even though he didn’t crash it open. Meng Li followed, his feet seemingly flowing above the dirty ground.
“Who goes there?!” sounded an extremely annoyed voice from the inside. It was rough and low, though interrupted by heavy breathing. Meng Li had an idea of what the person looked like even before seeing him – a dirt, obese and uncultured man. His intuition turned out to be correct, when a pig who seemed to be walking on its’ hind legs walked into their view. Upon further examination, the pig turned out to be an obese man, but his similarity to a pig couldn’t be denied. His nose even seemed to resemble a pig’s snout, with his nasal cavities being clear to anyone standing eye to eye with the man. His nose was curved upwards to such a degree.
“Are you ‘Big Feng’?” Ye Jian asked with a small frown. Meng Li had long created the Qi filter, but he guessed that the location couldn’t smell very good.
“Yes, that’s me. And who are you?!” the man aggressively asked.
“That’s none of your business. Where can I buy information in this city?” Ye Jian couldn’t be bothered to show any semblance of respect to the man since he didn’t show them any respect either. With the small boy, he was nice not to scare him, but with this pig-like ruffian, it was simply unnecessary.
The man furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes, practically making them into slits. He seemed eager to leash out, but fortunately for both him and Ye Jian, he didn’t.
“Go to the Golden Clock street and ask for Old Ji. Anyone could tell you this. Now get out!” he answered, still rudely. Ye Jian didn’t need any more reminders, and he quickly evacuated from the literal dumpster the shack was.
Ye Jian somehow managed to find a way back to the main street, to Meng Li’s utter surprise. Due to his sealed cultivation, he couldn’t use Spiritual Sense and was utterly and completely lost in the labyrinth of alleyways.
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Ye Jian asked a passerby for directions to the Golden Clock street and received them. It wasn’t far, and it was merely a few minutes walk from their inn. Unfortunately, they headed in the opposite direction of the street when walking randomly, so it would take them about ten minutes.
After the ten minutes, they reached the Golden Clock street. It seemed to be a business street, with many shops being located there, selling more high-end goods than on the main street. Ye Jian chose a random shop to ask for Old Ji while Meng Li simply admired the scenery. Ye Jian headed to where he was pointed, and Meng Li followed him closely. It was his first time visiting an information merchant, and it was quite exciting for him.
The location they ended up at was an unassuming, small alleyway between two medium sized shop. However, it was weirdly clean and tidy, and had what seemed to be a dead end – a wall of bricks was blocking the way forward. However, before they reached it, someone popped out seemingly from nowhere.