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 continued 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, while he was in the Nine Desires Pavilion, 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 between the Outer Circle and the Inner Circle.
From the mode 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.
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 work a job in 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 from the corner of his lips before closing his eyes to doze off once again.
However, after giving the interior of 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, Young Friend?"
Smiling in return, Ah Mieu responded.
"I just need to buy some information on the Han Clan."
The old man 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 for 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 a 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 relevant information tracing back to those hundred years, along with the sealed information, 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 sucked 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 contentedly."
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 Mortal Coins is a bit muddled, but it's without a doubt a lot more than ten thousand gold coins."
Ah Mieu waved his hand and said regretfully.
"I was unaware how ignorant the Outer Circle is of 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 that time, the inconspicuous ring on his finger lit up with tiny magical symbols, and five stacks of documents reaching halfway up to a person's knee appeared on the counter.
Nodding, Ah Mieu said.
"Maybe you're right."
He then glanced at the stack of documents, paused, and asked with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"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.