210 The Intelligencer (2/2)
Xue Wei was not completely sure about the procedures to follow when one wished to get information from this place. He just knew it was the go-to location.
Was he supposed to wait at the ground floor? But there were no people. After waiting for half an hour with nothing happening, Xue Wei decided against standing still and went towards the crooked stairs leading to the upper floors.
He had to watch his step. Every single one of the steps on the stairs was so old that they creaked violently, and some of them even sank when he put his weight on them. It was clear that he would fall through at any moment if he was not careful. He would rather not have that happen.
When Xue Wei finally reached the second floor, his eyes landed on a person. This person, he could not sense in any way. Had he not been looking straight at her with his own eyes, he would never have guessed she was there.
It was a woman. Her hair ran long and hung down casually. She had a pretty face, but she was not the kind of beauty that could cause the downfall of a city. Even so, there was a gracefulness to her, a confident air about her that he had never sensed from another woman—not even Wang Xiaoyun.
The woman was dressed in a red dress. It did not seem luxurious, but neither did it seem plain. It had golden lining and seemed to be of acceptable quality.
When Xue Wei stepped onto the floor, her head snapped up from a mountain of scrolls that were placed on a table in front of her. Her eyes were incredibly sharp and penetrating. She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw him there.
”What can I do for you?” she asked. Her voice was gentle, like flowing water, her tone soft and inviting.
”I heard about the Intelligencer in town,” Xue Wei began saying. ”I have precisely a need for information, and I believe that this would be my best option.”
The woman's eyes narrowed and she cocked her head ever so slightly as she observed Xue Wei, clearly trying to calculate whether it was worth working with him.
”So, what kind of information are you looking for?” the woman asked after a slight pause. She had apparently evaluated him as a customer.
”Sovereign Beasts,” Xue Wei said. ”I want any information available on Sovereign Beasts. It doesn't matter—their variations, their behavior, their history or even just their legends, I want everything.”
The woman was stumped when she heard this. She had expected something completely different and could not help but frown.
”Sovereign Beasts... It's not that we don't have information on them,” she stated slowly. ”It's just that they are the stuff legends are made of. It will be hard to say what is false and what is true. Although we are an information hub, those legends and records are kept by the strongest factions in the continent. Getting them will require some skill.”
The woman knew that although it sounded very easy to get the legends about the Sovereign Beasts, this customer wanted to have records and real information as well, something that would need time to gather.
”Can you help me?” Xue Wei asked anxiously. The woman, who had been pondering deeply with a frown on her face, looked at him and nodded her head.
”It is not that we cannot help you,” she said seriously. ”It is just that this is going to be a very costly affair and it will take me a few months to gather all the information you might want. Also since it is so time-consuming and that it is likely to expose some of our moles in the main families, we cannot accept low-grade essence stones or gold coins as an exchange.”
Xue Wei had thought he could pay with low-grade essence stones so he was quite surprised, but it made perfect sense to him after thinking it through.
He, however, would prefer not using his formations as currency, as it would instantly compromise his identity. Instead, he searched his storage ring and found the essence stones that he had gotten from the Moon Prince. He withdrew one and handed it to the woman.
”How many of these essence stones will this cost?” he asked in a seemingly calm way, but deep within his heart an almost unbearable ache had started spreading. Although he was rather liberal with money and wealth, these essence stones were truly valuable. From what he could see, they were top-grade essence stones.
Essence stones were ranked from low, middle, high, to top grade. Top-grade essence stones were almost nonexistent in the modern day, as the resources on the planet had been excavated excessively to a point where even high-grade essence stones were hard to come by.
Having to take out some of his limited supply of top-grade essence stones was enough to make his heart bleed, but he truly needed information about the Sovereign Beasts so he did not have much of a choice. He could not offer formations lest he blow his cover or reveal what the 'real' him was actually looking for.
”Ten top-grade essence stones,” the woman said with a stern voice that conveyed that it was not up for discussion and brought Xue Wei back from his pain and suffering to reality.
”We cannot do it for less than ten,” she repeated, thinking that Xue Wei was unhappy with the price.
In fact, Xue Wei was slightly unhappy with the price. It was a lot of essence stones, especially top-grade ones, but he knew better than to argue with this woman. She was frightening, and if he declined, who knows whether or not she would just straight up kill him and take his storage ring. Flaunting one's wealth was already a crime.
”I can accept it,” Xue Wei said hesitatingly, though with pain clearly evident on his face, ”but I will need the news within three months. I intend to leave the city after three months.”