The Morality of Disguises

"Uh, what do you mean?" The woman froze, her expression stiff. She had a mature vibe, her eyes carrying a deep blue color, with little crow's feet showing at the corner. She had a mole underneath her lips, that one would almost deem as distinct if it weren't for Shou's next words.

He pointed at her, his expression scrutinous. "You are using an illusion that changes your appearance, right?"

The man's face immediately turned grave. He reached for the scabbard at his waist. It wasn't weird for people this age to carry around a weapon, but it was seldom drawn as doing so only ended with bloodshed. As such, one could discern the seriousness of this young man's attitude. "You, who are you?"

The woman appeared similarly shocked, her mouth opened wide. For a second, she wanted to deny it, but given the accuracy of the youth in front of her, it would only create more suspicion. "How did you know," the woman asked. She gently placed her hand on the scabbard tilt, stopped the man from unsheathing his blade.

"Mei Xue. . ." The green-haired man glanced at her.

Shou gestured vaguely around his own face. "To others, it may not appear as obvious, but I can see a hazy fog that indicates Spiritual Essence all around you."

The woman, Mei Xue, blinked twice. Afterward, she could not help but chuckle. "Hazy fog of Spiritual Essence? What does that even mean?" She sighed. "All this effort in getting a distinguished Disguiser to hide my face has gone to waste. Tianhe, what do we do now?"

The second royal prince, Zheng Tianhe, shrugged his shoulders and laughed dryly. He hadn't expected anything like this to happen either. "It was you that wished to visit this store, so it is up to you."

"If I may interject," Shou spoke, "No one in this shop is allowed to wear a disguise, whether it's through high-level effects, cultivation, or even magic. You can hide your face, make-up, and beauty-enhancing surgery is ok, but none that alters one's complete appearance, ok?"

"Why," Mei Xue tilted her head and asked.

"Yeah, what gives? [???] I never told you to make a rule like that," Si could not help wonder too. "To think you'd complain about my rules, yet make one so frivolous yourself [lol]."

Shous' brows knitted as he began to go on a rant. "You guys don't understand." A dark shadow cast over his eyes. "Do you know how many scams happen through this deceptive art? Imagine getting close to another person or even falling in love with a beautiful, only to find out they were a round-bellied, balding, middle-aged man! Do you know how I fe-, I mean, my friend felt? Not to mention, all the people that use your face to commit crimes. You know how long rumors stick when you live an eternity?" He shook his head, his tone louder. "You can go all your life saving the local town, and you will still go down in history as the man that slapped the mayor's daughters' butt."

Zheng Tianhe, Mei Xue and Si all let him speak. They wanted to interrupt but felt the passion exuded too overwhelming to do so. In the end, they listened attentively to Shous' diatribe.

". . . You seem strangely passionate about that," Mei Xue said innocently. Her eyes were wide open, as she was still a little bewildered.

The second prince began to laugh loudly. His carefree attitude surprised his partner. "Well, you do make some good points. Say, miss Mei, what do we do?"

"I wasn't planning on keeping this disguise up in the first place. Damn it, that old geezer told me that no one below the Longevity Realm will be able to see through this mask. I guess all Disguisers are scammers after all." Mei Xue placed her palm over her face and pulled. A satisfying pop resounded, akin to shoulder joint returning to its rightful place, and her 'face' came off like a mask, revealing a new one.

This time, it was Shou that got shocked. His eyes opened wide, as glanced at the woman, no, young lady, in front of him. The woman before was already strikingly beautiful, but her new appearance overshadowed it completely. Even in his long-lived life, he seldom had seen as aesthetic as her. Unlike the mask, the real her had a youthful face, with big eyes, turned upward like a cat (they were still a deep blue though). Her rose-tinted lips were plump and her nose small, giving her an almost immature vibe. For a second, he wondered if this was not another mask, created by someone much more superior.

"Don't fall in love with me," Mei Xue told him jokingly.

"I wouldn't do such an unprofessional thing." Shou shrugged his shoulder. He had never seen someone use a disguise like this. It turned out that she was too beautiful, not ugly. It was a rather interesting experience.

The woman looked at her surroundings. "Oh that's true, I almost forgot, this is a store."

The second prince also took in the scenery. He was admiring the craftsmanship of this store. He hadn't realized until now, but the moment he entered, the whole place had warmed him up. Though the night wasn't particularly cold, the low-height houses did make the streets breezy. The place also was a lot more spacious than it let out from the outside. The wooden floor and decorative plants gave it a vibrant feel and everything was clean. The lights seemed to be powered by unknown means, given that no candles were in sight, yet the whole place remained brightly lit as if it was daytime. Zheng Tianhe imagined. Even within the Imperial palace, such things were all hard to come by.

He glanced at the only painting hanging above the youth. "What exactly is that?"

"My wares."

"You sell paintings?"

Shou tilted his head. "Why does everybody think that?"

The second prince copied Shous' action. "Do you not?"

He shook his head. "I sell fate. Just like that store name implies." He pointed outside.

"I thought it was just a joke," Tianhe smiled wryly. Well, he could not expect a mere mortal to know the dealings of fate and destiny, as such he may only be exaggerating. It did not matter much to him. Though a cultivator would catch the ire of the heavens if they spoke this way, the deities care little about what a mortal did. "So what exactly is it? Some kind of divination? Will you tell me my future?" However, he did feel interested in this mysterious commoner that could see through disguises, create such elusive yet comforting store, and spoke so nonchalantly about fate. If it was all a marketing ploy, it sure worked well. "I wish to buy whatever you are selling."

Mei Xue glanced at the second prince. She hadn't expected that man to be so interested in this occult stuff. In the first place, she only came here because her foolish cousin Wang Jin had told her about the meeting of the three families here.

"Are you sure? It's expensive, you know?"

"Do not worry, I can afford it," the second prince told him with an enigmatic smile. He realized that the common mortal before him did not realize who he was. That wasn't necessarily out of place. Though everyone in the capital may know him, but here, in such a faraway city with many foreigners, though most will recognize the emperor or even the crown prince, not everyone had to remember who he was.

"It's 30 spirit crystals for the both of you then."

The second prince froze, his smile still intact. If his mouth had been opened, he would have spurted out a lot of blood. Did he hear wrong? He did not think his ears would fail him at such a young age. He gazed at the painting. Indeed, it said 15 spirit crystals there. how did he miss it? Wait, there were also 5 for re-entry. What did that mean? Questions popped up, one after another, with no answer in sight. "On second thought, miss Mei, do you wish to give it a try yourself? I only came to watch after all."

Mei Xue gasped, her long eyelashes fluttering gently. "Is that fine?"

"Don't worry," the prince said with a forced chuckle. ". . .I can afford it after all."

"Follow me," Shou told them, as he pointed with his finger at the cores. He eyed the green-haired young man. He was happy that someone would come to buy an instance at this late of an hour, but he also felt regretful that the only one of them seemed willing to try. After all, if it were both, he'd have finished the Quest of finding 10 individual customers after all!

Li Yinyi, Zhang Yong, Li Yangyi, An Bai, Ah Liang, their bodyguard, the two sisters from the store. Indeed, with the new addition of Mei Xue, he had reached nine people!

But of course, he could not force the man from handing over his money. 15 spirit crystals aren't cheap after all. Who knows, maybe he will be interested after seeing what exactly the product is they are selling.