After Ah Mieu left the alleyway, he turned a few more corners and appeared on a main road. This main road was filled with people entering and exiting the many shops that lined the street.
Ah Mieu maneuvered through the bustling crowd without drawing much attention due to his plain clothes resembling those around him. They might even look shabbier.
This main road seemed to be a designated business street for the surrounding neighborhoods since Ah Mieu walked for several minutes, and even after reaching his destination, he saw that the line of shops counited further down the road.
"The Outer Circle does have some similarities with the Inner Circle."
Ah Mieu couldn't help but mutter under his breath. Even though three days ago was his first time leaving the Nine Desires Pavilion, having come to the Outer Circle straight from the Inner Circle, when he was in the Nine Desires Pavilions his older sisters had told him stories about the Inner Circle and what it was like.
Now that he had traveled throughout a small part of the Outer Circle for the past three days, he realized there was hardly any difference. From the mood of transportation to everyone's way of life, all were the same. But if one were to point out an almost glaring difference, then that would be the stark contrast of the lower quality of everything in the Outer Circle as compared to the Inner Circle.
Ah Mieu came out of his thoughts and turned to the store in front of him. He walked up the steps at the front and entered the store.
A front counter was to the left of the entrance while around the store, hanging shelves lined the walls, along with some standing shelves standing upright in the middle of the store, dividing the room.
The layout was no different from the others, but unlike the other stores, this one hardly had any customers coming and going.
Ah Mieu glanced around at the shelves and deduced that the lack of customers was because the store only sold second-hand miscellaneous items; a broken lamp here, a few dusty books there.
For someone in the Outer Circle to go out of their way to purchase something from a store like this, they either had to be from a well-off family that has a booming business or worked a job at the government that pays well. But that in itself was contradictory since if they had money to spare, they surely wouldn't spend it on these useless items.
At the front counter, an old man who looked to be in his sixties was resting his chin on his hand while dozing off. Having sensed that someone entered the store, his eyes cracked open to observe Ah Mieu. Seeing that it was just a kid, the old man wiped the drool at the corner of his lips before closing his eyes to doze off once again.
However, after giving the store a cursory glance, Ah Mieu walked over to the front counter and knocked on it slightly.
"Hello, I want to buy something."
Startled by the knock, the old man jolted awake. However, he wasn't annoyed. He looked at Ah Mieu and asked with a smile.
"Huh? What are you looking to buy my Young Friend?"
Smiling in return, Ah Mieu responded.
"I just need to buy some information on the Han Clan."
The man old paused for a moment-- looked Ah Mieu up and down with a bit of surprise-- then carefully asked.
"Which one of the Han Clans? There are three of them in this District. Also, what kind of information do you want on them?"
Ah Mieu shook his head.
"I'm not referring to any of the Han Clans in the Northern District, but the one that's a part of the Eastern District's Three Major Families. As for the information I want on them, give me everything."
The old man frowned slightly before saying.
"You didn't go to our Eastern Branch to buy this information but came to our Northern Branch instead. Why?"
Ah Mieu tapped the counter rhythmically with his index finger as he replied.
"I know that your organization makes deals to seal information on certain individuals for a fee. I also know that the restriction can be bypassed if I pay double the price of the restriction fee, but that would trigger a clause that states your organization has to inform the party who applied the restriction that I paid to have it unsealed. However, different Districts have different rules, and Birdy told me your Northern District has a twenty-four-hour delay clause before reporting that the information was unsealed."
Ah Mieu's finger tapping the counter stopped, and he smiled at the old man while asking.
"So, does that answer your question?"
The old man froze, and a cold chill traveled down his back as he realized he had slipped up. The first rule that was drilled into him when he joined his organization was that he should never question a customer about the information they requested. His only job was to act as a middleman between the customer and the organization.
It's just that Ah Mieu's seemingly young age and plain attire had thrown him off.
"This old man must still be sleepy, I apologize."
The old man quickly apologized, but Ah Mieu politely dismissed it.
"No harm done."
He then took out a familiar gold coin from his sleeve and placed it on the counter.
The old man hesitated upon seeing the gold coin but soon clarified.
"Young friend, the Han Clan has a hundred years of history. If you want all the relative information tracing back those hundred years, then you'll need at least ten thousand Mortal Coins."
Ah Mieu didn't say anything and simply removed his finger that was on top of the coin to reveal a small dragon design in the middle.
The old man's eyes were sharp, and he immediately spotted this dragon design. Immediately, his pupils constricted, and he instinctively drew in a cold breath of air. Then, he tentatively reached out and picked up the coin. After examining it carefully he muttered in astonishment.
"It's a real Imperial Coin from the Main Circle. To think this old man would be able to hold one in this lifetime. I can now die contently."
The old man let out a heavy breath before he looked at Ah Mieu with more respect in his eyes and said.
"Young Friend, the exchange rate for Imperial Coins to Motal Coins is a bit muddled, but it's without a doubt more than ten thousand gold coins."
Ah Mieu waved his hand and said regretfully.
"I was unaware how ignorant the Outer Circle is to the value of the Main Circle's Imperial Coins and came here without exchanging any for White Coins used in the Inner Circle. So, you can just keep what's left."
The old man examined Ah Mieu's plain clothes once again and realized the predicament he was in. Laughing, he said.
"So Young Friend is visiting from the Upper Circles. Perhaps your situation is a blessing in disguise as you're able to blend in with us from the Outer Circle. It would have been bad if you came here in fancy attire without any protection."
While saying this, the old man pocketed the Imperial Coin and then waved his hand over the desk. At the same time, the inconspicuous ring on his finger lit up with tiny magical symbols, and five stacks of documents reaching up to a person's knee appeared on the counter.
Nodding, Ah Mieu said.
"Maybe you're right."
Then, after glancing at the stack of documents, he paused, before asking slightly embarrassed.
"Can I go over these papers here? I don't have an Inn booked."
"Sure, that won't be a problem."
The old man said with a light chuckle.
Having gotten permission, Ah Mieu looked around and found no chairs in the store. Unwilling to sit on the ground, he pulled himself up onto the counter and sat next to the stack of documents. After kicking off his shoes, he crossed his legs before picking up the first piece of document and flipping through it.
The old man didn't seem to mind Ah Mieu taking over his shop's counter. Instead, he left through a door at the back of the counter and then returned sometime later with two cups of tea before handing Ah Mieu one.
Ah Mieu thanked the old man as he took the cup of tea, and with his eyes remaining fixated on the document in his lap, he took a sip from the cup before placing it off to the side.
Now the scene in the store was of a young boy sitting cross-legged on the store's front desk, reading a stack of documents with complete focus while occasionally taking sips from the cup next to him. At the same time, the store owner, an old man, was sitting on a chair behind the desk, sipping his own tea while occasionally glancing at the youth with an apprehensive look in his eyes.
On the floor in front of the doorway, the evening sun spilled into the store while taking the shape of the rectangular doorway. That shape distorted and stretched further into the store as the sun slowly set.
A few potential customers entered the store during this time. Some were adults while a few were children around Ah Mieu's age. However, no matter the age, upon entering, each person never failed to glance at Ah Mieu curiously as they walked past the front counter.
These potential customers only look at the nicknacks on the shelves before leaving. The old man seemed used to their actions as he greeted them familiarly upon entering, and when they were leaving.
Just as the sun was setting on the horizon, a girl who looked to be around eleven or twelve entered the store with an excited expression on her face. This excited expression of her's faltered briefly when she spotted Ah Mieu sitting cross-legged on the counter with the pile of papers next to him, however, she soon looked away and beelined towards a particular shelf at the back of the store.
The little girl then returned to the front counter with a green hairpin that had a flower design on it. Even though it was covered in dust, one could tell from how it glistened when the sun hit it at certain angles that it was a hidden Jem among the junk sold in this store.
"Mister, my father said I could buy this hairpin."
The girl said as she approached the front counter and took out a silver coin that had several nicks at the corner.
The girl wanted to hand the silver coin to the old man behind the counter, but the pile of documents blocked her.
Just as the old man was about to get up and reach over the documents to collect the silver coin, Ah Mieu looked up from the document in his lap and reached out to take the silver coin from the girl.
The little girl only hesitated briefly due to Ah Mieu's before handing over the silver coin.
Ah Mieu took the coin and then passed it to the old man.
After collecting the coin, the old man counted out a few bronze coins in change from behind the counter before handing it to Ah Mieu, who then passed it to the little girl.
The little girl accepted her change from Ah Mieu but then sneaked a glance at his face as he went back to reading the document in his lap. She wasn't able to see his eyes clearly, but his cheeks became more visible after his hair shifted when he lowered his head.
Immediately, the girl's cheek turned slightly red.
Ah Mieu was somewhat of an enigma. Due to his face being covered, one could only determine his age from his appearance and height. However, his appearance was covered by his baggy clothes, and his height was in a state of limbo where one could not tell if he was an older teen who was short for his age or a younger boy who was tall for his age.
However, with that glimpse, the girl was able to determine that this boy was closer to her age. Adding to the fact that he didn't seem like a bad person, she let her curiosity get the better of her as she asked.
"Big Brother, are you planning to read all of this?"
Ah Mieu's focus while reading the document was broken, but he wasn't annoyed. Looking up at the girl, he smiled and responded.
"I am, and I'm almost finished."
"Really?"
The little girl's eyes widened in surprise.
"Big Brother is amazing! Even if Ling'er were to try reading so many papers I wouldn't be able to finish them because I have trouble recognizing characters. Big Brother, how many characters can you recognize?"
The little girl, who called herself Ling'er, said as she gazed up at Ah Mieu with her bright clear eyes.
Still smiling, Ah Mieu placed the document on his lap on the finished pile of documents as he responded.
"I've alone started learning characters two years ago, so I only know a few. But I can piece together the ones I've learned so far to vaguely understand these papers."
"Big Brother, you're that's even more amazing! Even though Ling'er knows dozens of characters, I can't do that. But does this mean Big Brother can't fully understand these papers?"
Ah Mieu let out a light chuckle as he reached out to pat the little girl's head while saying.
"That's right, I can't understand them fully. However, that's not because I can't recognize the characters, but because a few things are missing."
The little girl seemed confused when she heard that, but when the old man heard Ah Mieu's words, he felt a cold wave wash over his body, chilling him to the bone.
"Ling'er!"
Suddenly, a man's voice was heard calling from outside the store. The little girl turned to the door and responded.
"I'm coming, Dad!"
Afterward, she turned back to Ah Mieu and said.
"Big Brother, I have to go now, my dad is calling for me."
The girl then turned to leave; however, she stopped after only taking two steps. She suddenly turned back to look at Ah Mieu and with red cheeks, softly said.
"Big Brother, you look really handsome. You shouldn't hide your face with your bangs."
After saying that, the little girl turned and swiftly darted out the door like a shy rabbit.
Ah Mieu let out an amused laugh. He then positioned his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his hand. His gaze lingered on the dimming sunset outside the door with a slight smile at the corner of his lips.
Silence descended in the store, and the old man felt a stifled pressure settle on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. Not that he dared to.
After what felt like forever, Ah Mieu's calm voice broke the silence.
"I feel like you're hiding some details about the Han Clan from me, no, you're definitely hiding something from me."
Ah Mieu turned and looked at the old man.
Even though Ah Mieu's bangs were covering his eyes, the old man could feel his dissatisfied gaze boring into him, causing the pressure on his psyche to increase to the point that he started to tremble uncontrollably.
If the identity of this child was who the old man suspected it was, then having such a person dissatisfied with him was akin to having taken half a step into the grave.