3 The Imperial City
She passed the three sections of the state and reached the entrance gate; she went out through the servants' door. There weren't buildings outside the residence but a path full of trees. The Liu Dynasty was built after the alliance of some powerful clans. All of them lived in the Imperial City and now were known as Ancient Clans; these families, even if some were small now, had green foliage and an activated formation surrounding them.
Before getting out of the formation, she bound her chest and wore the black robe; she took out a bronze mirror and smeared some white plaster and washed away her ugly look. She now mixed the black plaster with a red plaster and put some freckles on her rosy cheeks and also made her beauty mole bigger, making the sight unsightly; but her eyes radiated smart light and smiles, it seemed as she was enjoying this.
"If he were to see me like this, would he have praised me?" She jested but soon she bitterly smiled as she suppressed her feelings and strode out.
With the passing time, the Imperial City was divided into five sections: the heart was where the Imperial Palace was located with the Imperial Guards' Tower at its side; the north was where part of the Royal Family and powerful old monsters resided; the nobles took the east; while the west and south were where commoners' residences, and shopping and recreational stores were placed. Ancient Families didn't move their states through the years even if they were more powerful or were decaying now; thus, An Family resided at the southeast part, near the city's wall.
She took almost three hours to reach the biggest bookstore, Miscellaneous Knowledge Tower, as she was just a three-gate Mundane Immortal Cultivator; coming from a Cultivator Family, her cultivation was laughable at her age.
This bookstore was a place where you can buy knowledge without the need to join. There was a vast collection of tomes with different kinds of topics but almost all of the books here had low-level knowledge; hence, only mortals with high status and some curious cultivators stepped there. The later people visited this place mainly because there were some odd old books which were impossible to read, making them inquisitive at the strange languages.
People thought that this tower would decay quickly but it had already been centuries since it was built, making the great powers inside the city became curious about its background; but no one stepped forward, such a tower wasn't of their interest at all.
The Miscellaneous Knowledge Tower had ten floors: the first three had geographical and nature-related books; the fourth and fifth floors had the recorded adventures and information about renowned cultivators; the sixth floor had low level immortal and martial cultivation techniques and skills; and the seventh floor was her goal as it had medical books.
As she went upstairs, she thought with an indifferent face, 'Winter will come in three months as well as my fifteenth birthday. That day was when my father brought home all those books as I was already immersed myself in the medical field. That old book with weird words should still be there, the medical knowledge it has is superb; though I have already memorized all the information it showed me in my past life'. As she climbed, the people became less and less.
The seventh floor was big and there was only an old man sleeping behind the counter. She shook her head and gave a glimpse to the books inside, there weren't many, just around a thousand and most of them looked knew; they were copies. She wasn't interested in them and focused her gaze on the old looking books as she approached the bookcases.
'Where is it? Where is the book with black leather cover with different herbs carved on it?'
She began to lose her patience as she rummaged through the sea of books; she held some of the old looking books as to not be suspicious.
'Here it is!' She thought excitedly in her heart. She had already placed the four books within her arms on the floor; the familiar dusty smell she breathed while holding the black book was so nostalgic. If it weren't for this old book, her past self would have been even more laughable. She suppressed her joy and picked three more books before heading to the counter.
She made a loud noise as she let fall the eight books on the table.
"What, what is it?!" The old man behind the counter jumped to his feet at the sudden noise.
"His elderly, please check", she said indifferent and with a slight coldness that she was unaware of. In the past, she had been naive and respectful before marriage but with the constant tragedies, she had become indifferent and icy towards most of people, leaving her gentleness to selected people.
The old man sized her up, he saw an ugly man with apathetic eyes; the man wasn't strong at all and he was sure of being able to defeat him with one move but the man's air made his hands cold and unable to refute.
"Cough! Sure. Ah! Right... this..." He caught a glimpse of a basket with carved toys, drifting his attention; when he wanted to open his mouth, he didn't know what to say at the sight of the grown-up man.
She was impatient now and said, "What?"
"Cough, cough. The seventh floor is the poorest one so the Tower's Lord said to sell these little carvings. These pieces had been collected through the years and lands; and this old man can guarantee their authenticity and..." He didn't continue when he spotted the man's still indifferent gaze; then, he added, "Cough, never mind. This old man will quickly make the bill", and he put his focus on the books.
As a woman, her curiosity was hooked, although she lived past thirty in her previous life and could be considered an adult, she had always liked pretty things.
Her gaze shifted to the basket. There were palm-sized carvings with different forms made of wood, jade and other precious materials; they were truly beautiful. She decided to buy some. When she was picking the fifth which was going to be hers, she almost let it fall, 'Agh! How can this thing be so heavy? Isn't this sphere made of black glass?' Glass was an uncommon material but she knew it was weightless.
Before she could ponder more, she heard a husky old voice, "It is 2,350 gold coins".
She placed the black sphere along the four carvings. "These five too".
The old man smiled and said, "They are already included".
Her mouth almost twitched, "Oh! That was quick". She took the gold coins out. This was clearly a robbery but his father had given her ten thousand gold coins along some three-earth earthly jade which was considered middle grade and was used to cultivate; she wasn't good at bargaining as she thought it was a waste of saliva, as long as she had enough money, she didn't mind being a spendthrift.
With a sweep of her white hand, the books and carvings entered her green qiankun bag. "You won't see me here again". She turned around and left.
The old man was flabbergasted and moments later, he smiled wryly; he knew the man was displeased even though his voice was indifferent. Then, he stroked his white beard and went back to sleep.
