Gaowu Inn

One of Thiago's main objectives for the next period was to open a shop or a restaurant, one or the other or a combination of the two, for the reason that he had already thought of some time ago - to have a firm identity in this city, which could be of many uses, at least Thiago thought so, or maybe he had just watched too many gangster films growing up.

That was his goal, and he had already found a worker, Armelia, who would take care of everything, leaving him free to be a relaxed shopkeeper.

And if you were wondering what the hell Thiago was going to sell, the answer Thiago would give was obviously some food from Earth, which he would buy from the system shop for extremely low amounts of system points.

Thiago thought that even though the food did not contain any mana at all, it would still sell well because it was so exotic and would surely contain many spices and seasonings that the cultivators on Red Star were completely unaware of, as they cooked with very low amounts of spices and seasonings, as Thiago had already noticed when he had eaten in the tavern earlier.

Although the food itself was quite good, it tasted rather bland. This is where his confidence comes from and why he is sure that the food will sell quite well.

Well, obviously Thiago's goal is not really to become a successful businessman selling food, but as mentioned above, to have an identity and not have to lie whenever it is needed.

In order to open a shop, Thiago would first have to buy a place to sell things, and that too would have to be put on the agenda soon, Thiago mentally noted.

Coming out of his thoughts, Thiago mentioned to Li Wei to lead him to the inn as he had promised earlier: "Well, I think I'm pretty tired now, can you please show me the way to the inn?"

"Yes of course," Li Wei replied and turned questioningly to Armelia who was still standing next to them at that moment, seemingly asking her if she wanted to follow or if she had other plans: "Well, what about you Armelia?"

"Well, I won't be joining you two, I have to go home for now as I have some things to do, if that's alright." Armelia replied, seemingly afraid that the two of them would not accept her decision, especially Thiago, as she was a bit afraid of him after he had brutally slaughtered all the people in the inn earlier.

And even though Thiago had been quite friendly to her since then, she was still not completely sure of his temperament and personality, so she was rather cautious.

To her delight, Thiago replied without a hint of irritation or anger in his voice: "Well, that's OK, of course, then don't forget to wait for my signal through the communication talisman these days. Until then, goodbye."

"Goodbye," Li Wei also said at that moment, which made Armelia come to her senses, as she had been a little surprised by Thiago's response, which was somewhat unexpected for her, but made her happy and also improved her perception of Thiago in her mind by a few degrees, and she quickly bid them farewell before walking in the opposite direction and slowly disappearing into the crowd.

"All right, she's already gone, what are you standing there for?" Thiago said to Li Wei, who still seemed to be looking in the direction Armelia had just left.

"What are you talking about, I was just looking at the prices of the fried dough sticks at that stall over there," he said, pointing at a stall about thirty metres away from them that was actually selling fried dough sticks and other food.

"Hmm, well, if you say so," Thiago muttered as he was highly suspicious of that reasoning, but he had no proof if what Li Wei said was true or not, anyway, if it was false then he really had to commend Li Wei's lying skills to come up with a reason so quickly.

Not that he was condemning Li Wei, as Armelia was certainly a great beauty, so there was nothing wrong with admiring the said beauty a little, he was just joking with Li Wei.

"Well, let's find an inn for you to stay in, because I have some things to do at home as well," Li Wei said as he began to march forward through the crowded streets.

"Why does everyone have things to do at home?" muttered Thiago as he followed Li Wei.

Well, the reason why everyone but him had something to do was probably due to the fact that he was not originally from this world and therefore had no responsibilities or things he really had to do.

Basically, everything he does is of his own free will.

No one forced him to go into the city, he was the one who decided to go, so we can see from this example that Thiago really is a person who is freer than everyone else.

After about ten minutes of walking through the many side streets, which Li Wei called shortcuts, the streets cleared up again and Thiago could clearly see that they were back in the less affluent districts, as there were no more grand and majestic buildings, but rather simple one- or two-storey buildings with basically minuscule decorations.

And then with only a few hundred meters of walking they reached a slightly larger building which should be three storeys tall and had inscribed on the front 'Gauwu Inn'.

"Alright, we have arrived," Li Wei said, reaching into his pockets and pulling out five spirit gold coins, which he then gave to Thiago and explained: "Here, five coins, they should be enough to sleep there for two nights. This inn is quite cheap, otherwise the price would surely be many times higher".

"Thank you very much!" Thiago was not hypocritical and accepted the money without a shred of guilt, for it was with his help that Li Wei had been able to collect all the herbs so easily, so these small coins should be no problem for him.

"Well, goodbye then, and don't forget to contact me when you've thought about it, OK?" Thiago said goodbye to Li Wei and reminded him to think about his offer to work in his soon-to-be-opened shop.

"Yes, I will think about it. Goodbye." Li Wei said before turning around and walking down a side street, disappearing from Thiago's sight.

'Then let's get a room,' Thiago thought before pushing open the old, dilapidated door that made a screeching noise when it was moved.

Entering the Inn, he saw that he seemed to be in some sort of lobby, in relatively good condition, with a counter to one side where an old man with dark hair and grey temples, who Thiago's senses suggested should be somewhere around the eighth level of the novice realm, was sitting.

This old man did not even bother to look up from the book or whatever it was what he 3as currently reading when he clearly heard someone enter the lobby.

'What a good service, eh?' Thiago mocked inwardly, but he did not get the least bit angry, not wanting to cause any problems, so he walked forward and when he was in front of the counter he coughed lightly and when he saw that the old man still did not bother to look up, Thiago's lips twitched in anger, but he controlled himself.

"I want to book a room for two nights, is that possible?"

Only when Thiago mentioned that he wanted to book a room did the old man finally look up and then speak in a hoarse voice: "Of course it is possible, if you book a small room it will be five spirit gold coins for two nights, if you book a medium room it will be seven spirit gold coins for two nights and a large room will be ten spirit gold coins for two nights, do you have enough money?"

"Yes, I want the small room," Thiago said, already pushing five coins on the counter towards the man, who in turn spoke, while he also reached for something lying in a box and then gave it to Thiago: "Alright, here is the key, remember to give it back after two days".

Seeing that the old man did not explain anything further, Thiago also walked towards a door at the end of the lobby, where it was written in bold letters: 'Towards rooms', which was pretty self-explanatory where it led. Looking at the key, which bore no resemblance to the ones Thiago was used to, he saw the number eleven engraved on it.

What made the key look so different?

The key was a small crystal, the size of a fist, and had small engravings of symbols on it, suggesting that this crystal had been inlaid with a small array formation, which would then act as a key to open a corresponding door.

After a brief study of the crystal, Thiago had come to this conclusion based on his tiny amount of formation knowledge, which he only had because the knowledge of the Illusion Formation he had once purchased from the system was still present in his mind. And would probably never fade as long as he did not suffer a serious mental injury.

Clearing his thoughts, Thiago walked through the door and found himself in a corridor with rooms numbered from one to nineteen, which obviously included his room, so he walked to the middle of the corridor and found the room door with the number eleven engraved on it.

He took out his 'key' and somehow held it against the door where the lock would normally be, and now there was only the pawl, but nothing happened, so he tried again a few times - still no result.

Only after a few moments of thought did he come up with a possible solution, which he tried out the next moment.

He held the key with the number eleven engraved on the side against the same number on the door, and what a surprise - it actually worked.

'Hah, what a clever genius I am,' Thiago shamelessly praised himself after seeing that his idea had actually worked perfectly, and the door opened to reveal the room behind.

To get through the entrance, Thiago opened the door all the way and then closed it behind him.

The room was relatively simple and consisted of three main elements. In one corner of the room was a rather dilapidated bed that looked really old and uncomfortable, not that it mattered as Thiago had never planned to sleep in this room anyway and had planned from the start to sleep in his inner world, which was at least a million times more comfortable and also cleaner.

The second element of the room was a small, rickety wardrobe that looked as if it might collapse at any moment.

The third element of the room was a small wooden table with a single rickety chair. The table was chipped and scratched, and the chair had seen better days. It seems that this inn really lived up to what Li Wei had said, it was indeed a chap inn.

The room was small and cramped, with peeling wallpaper and a musty smell.

Nevertheless, Thiago did really not care about this due to the above-mentioned reason of him not having the least notion to sleep in this room.

When he had finished scanning the room, Thiago used his soul sense to make sure that no one was spying on him, and then he disappeared from the room as he had entered his inner world.

"Let's see how Faye is, it hasn't been long since we saw each other anyway," Thiago muttered as he appeared outside the mansion in his inner world.

But it was no coincidence that he appeared outside the mansion instead of inside, he had done it on purpose to see if Faye was training somewhere outside, as she would probably not be training inside the mansion, at least not if she was practising the latest technique, he had given her.

Just then Thiago heard someone yell: "This princess has already thought that you will not show up anymore, humph!"

It was obvious who said this, and Thiago chuckled before replying: "It has only been a few hours, no?"

"So? If I want you to appear, then you should appear!" Faye replied in her usual domineering and arrogant manner, which did not surprise Thiago in the least and he just laughed...