162 Answers (1/2)
The trip back to the inn was short, and they had proceeded with much caution, but nothing happened.
Still, they did not relax even once up until they were in their room, heaving a sigh of relief once inside.
They checked the entire room over, the window and door included, for any unwanted presences a second time just to be sure. Afterwards, they sat down on the floor in the middle of the room and looked at one another. Grins could be seen on both faces.
Xue Wei quickly handed over the stuff he had salvaged in his fight to Hei Gou for safekeeping. Usually, Xue Wei would carry their valuables, but since he was participating in the tournament, it was not convenient to bring it with him, so giving it to Hei Gou was the best option.
Then he took out a few herbs that he had taken from the experts without storage treasures and placed them on the floor between them. He recognized three out of five herbs and was surprised.
He had read multiple books and studied herbs and plants for a large part of his childhood, but he had no memory of two of these herbs.
”It seems that my knowledge can only be considered outstanding in the outskirts of the continent,” he sighed to himself.
”Well, we will learn slowly,” Hei Gou said to reassure him. ”We can most likely buy a herb compendium at the stores here in the Black Iron Fortress.”
”Because you got a storage ring from that Crimson Sunshine Sect's disciple, we should be able to afford it.”
Xue Wei nodded his head and fished out the ring from his pocket. ”It looks quite ordinary,” Hei Gou added casually after looking at the ring in Xue Wei's hand.
It was a silver ring, very simple and plain with no attachments or any jewels attached to it.
Xue Wei looked at it from every angle, but there was nothing special about it. It did not seem to have any engravings, nor anything else that could give them a hint on how to take custody of the ring.
Xue Wei tried to probe it with his spiritual energy, but it bounced back.
Usually Xue Wei would have asked Tianyi about help, but currently the sword spirit was busy consuming the souls that had died that day at the tournament and was unavailable.
Frowning, Xue Wei was unsure of what to do. He had read multiple books, but none of these explained what to do to establish ownership over a storage treasure.
In fact, none of them had even mentioned storage treasures before. He had not known about them before he encountered the manager of the Golden Chambers in the capital of the Kingdom of Heping.
”What do you think I am supposed to do to make it work?” Xue Wei asked, puzzled.
”I don't know,” Hei Gou replied, also looking puzzled. Both stared thoughtfully at the ring in the middle between them, unable to determine their next action.
”This is troublesome,” Xue Wei finally said, sighing. ”I guess I have one thing I could do,” he continued, but he hesitated at the same time.
”I can ask them for help, but I will owe them a favor if I do,” he continued.
”You plan on asking the Cerulean Starlight Sect for assistance?” Hei Gou could easily guess Xue Wei's train of thought.
Currently, he was hostile towards both the Argent Moon Sect and the Crimson Sunshine Sect, meaning that the only one left was the Cerulean Starlight Sect.
Xue Wei nodded his head. He had a pretty good impression of Lin Yuelong.
Having reached a decision, neither Xue Wei nor Hei Gou hesitated. They rose from their seated position, and Xue Wei put the ring away into his robes.
Together, the two left the inn, but without any real destination in mind. How would they find the few people from the Cerulean Starlight Sect? It was like looking for a specific tree in the middle of a forest.
They started walking around aimlessly. Now and then they would ask the experts on the street if they had seen the Cerulean Starlight Sect's members, but the majority either snorted or outright ignored them.
The few who did answer were either clueless, or said that it had been some time since they had last seen them.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou were starting to feel rather let down when the thought that they had been going in the wrong direction from the start suddenly hit them.
The members of the Cerulean Starlight Sect were likely to either be in the middle of a meal outside or resting up at their inn.
Since this was the case, the duo started walking from inn to inn asking for the whereabouts of the Cerulean Starlight Sect's members.
The first couple of inns answered honestly, informing them that they were not housing said great sect's delegation, but after walking around for nearly an hour and reaching the largest inn in the fortress, things changed.
”Excuse us,” Xue Wei went to the counter as usual and started asking as he had done multiple times before, ”I was wondering if the Cerulean Starlight Sect's members are currently residing in your inn?”
The manager behind the counter narrowed his eyes and said indecisively, ”What if they do? What if they don't?”
His tone of voice was not hostile, but it was not friendly either. It was incredibly flat and casual. It was clear what he wanted.
Xue Wei sighed and took out fifty silver. This was two thirds of what he had looted from the other experts in the arena, but Xue Wei wanted the valuables within the ring, not these few silvers.
Seeing the fifty silver, the eyes of the manager instantly lit up. ”They do reside within our inn. In fact, they are currently present as well. Would you like me to bring them a message?”
”Tell Lin Yuelong that a friend and a rival has come to ask for a favor,” Xue Wei said.
At this point, he regretted not having given his fake name to Lin Yuelong when they were discussing earlier through compressed voice transmission, but he could only hope that his message piqued his interest and made him appear.
Xue Wei waited patiently for the manager to go and give the message to Lin Yuelong. Moments after, the young man walked down the staircase together with the manager.
A great smile was on his face, and he acted like he had been expecting Xue Wei's arrival.