New Clothes
Raizel resisted the urge to rub his brows. It was these new names again. Raizel could not wait to head to the library in the town and read up on everything that had happened since the war with the Devils.
He looked at the man before him, Paul Iyke, he had a lot of questions but he had to be a bit cautious.
"I will come back when I need the answers to the remaining questions." He said.
Paul shook his head, his glasses moving with him. "You don't need to waste your time. You can just text me on T-chat. I am online." He said a flattering smile on his face. He had finally agreed to his son's urges to leave the unmentionable part of his work.
His eldest daughter-in-law, Maria had a baby girl last year. The attitude of his son when he said he was coming over to visit was nothing if not horrible. He had warned him not to tell any of his friends the news and to cover himself up before coming.
It was as if he was a fugitive. Although he understood his son's fears, they still hurt all the same. For his cute granddaughter, he had cleaned himself up.
He had subtly rejected all the customers that ask for his other services, he won't be daunted no matter the rank of the cultivator before him.
He brought out his new phone with the hopes of getting the customer's number. Raizel looked at the glass phone and the image of his long black hair. He had forgotten he was in disguise. Perhaps because this store was in a lonely alleyway. In that case, he had no scruples.
"I have been in isolation for a while so I have missed out on a lot of things. What is the device in your hand and where can I get one of them?"
Paul raised his eyebrows before lowering them. It was really as he heard, old cultivators in young people's bodies. Besides not knowing about the phone, was he in isolation for fifty years? He did not know about mobile phones and God forbid the Internet?
He felt a sense of pride, he had always been called 'analogue' by his family members but here is the real analogue. He smiled and launched into the wonders of the mobile phone making Raizel feel more dazed with each growing minute.
Raizel held the little device as he walked out of the man's store. Paul had sold it for 2000 credits.
A device that can communicate with anyone anywhere in an instant, of course, you must have the person contact and there must be served but it still felt miraculous to Raizel. The longer the distance, the higher the price you need to pay for a communication array.
You can also play music with the same device and most importantly you can search for any information and it would be delivered to you, for free. Raizel remembered his 6 months journey to the City of Moat when he was younger to use their library and his heart raced a bit.
There were no inscriptions, no arrays. Have the mundanes really grown so powerful to create something like this?
As he walked around, people looked at him unabashedly, they pointed and raised the mobile phone. Raizel knew they were taking pictures for social media. Paul did not explain that part very well. But the pictures were identical to one a high-level memory talisman would capture.
One mother did not care for his face as she lectured her little child not to be like him. Raizel looked at her but she did not flinch, staring back at him. She looked like if given a chance, she would also go up to scold him as well. Raizel sighed. This world felt a little unfamiliar.
His next stop was the clothing store. He didn't wander around, simple picking some outfits similar to those outside. His eyes also caught sight of the glasses Paul was wearing, he smiled and picked a few before heading to the counter.
Regina smiled warmly at the young man who has just been picking clothes without looking at the price tags. This was her favourite type of customer, he was the best.
"Hello, Sir. Are you done shopping? We stocked in Alexander's Sweet Nothings today, would you like to take a look." She asked. A batch of high-end products had come in yesterday. This backend town did not know how to appreciate good things so few people bought such kinds of stuff. Their sales output was the worst of the Raid stores in Terra.
Her brain was in a soft puddle, her eyes were filled with dollar signs. Regina had worked in this store for a while plus she also studied textile and design at the university.
The texture and ornaments on his clothing were on a level so exquisite that it was visible to a layman. How much would this costume cost, she could not even imagine? She had to make him also spend his money here.
Raizel looked at the packets of clothes on the counter. He didn't think he needed another.
"Do you have any shoes?" Raizel asked, he had not bought any. His voice was a little deep and his tone was calm, making it seem a little cold and detached. Her eyes sparkled "Of course, what size do you wear Sir?"
"Size?"
Regina nodded solemnly, probably a young master that have never shopped before. She looked at his feet. "Please wait a minute, Sir"
She went straight to the case, she wore white gloves as she gingerly took out the case. Her fingers slightly ghosted above the brown shoes. She happily admired the vintage style and craftsmanship of the shoes, the waxed alligator skin along with the complex stitch pattern of the shoes made it beautiful.
She returned and handed the box case to Raizel with both hands. Raizel opened the box case, the shoes though odd looked like they would fit him. He threw the case into the pile of clothes.
Regina's heart thumped and a familiar feeling of hating the rich burned in her chest. She calculated the entire amount.
"Sir, that would be a hundred and twenty thousand credits."
Raizel nodded as he brought out the required cash from his space ring. The girl did not move to collect the money only staring blankly at him.
"Is there anything wrong with the money?" Raizel asked.
Regina shook her head with all her strength. How unprofessional. It was just that it has been quite some time since she last saw someone carrying this amount of money in cash.
As an avid web novel reader, her mind starting making up stories. A rich naïve young master who ran away from home and the gentle landlady that sheltered him.
Raizel did not think much about what was wrong with the lady neither did he remember he was no longer the legacy disciple of the White Peak Sect who spent money like water as he took his clothes and three into his space ring.
Years ago, at the end of this brook was a deep lake. On the path to the lake, there grew large patches of white magnolias, and their petals scattered on the ground, they have no spiritual energy so people trode on them without thought. He had always taken the longer route.
Raizel had spent the first thirteen years of his life on the run with an old abbot. That old man had religiously followed the five Buddhist laws of which the first is no killing, respect all life.
Raizel had been subjected to so many terrible concoctions the man had the mind to call 'healthy meals'. Raizel can not forget the first time he ate meat, he had felt the desire of taste and the emotion of joy. Even if his master, Ten Dao Seals had wanted a servant, not a disciple, he would still have followed him.
This pitch-black dry land was all that remained from the flourishing thousand herbs forest that was filled with spirit beast and spiritual energy. He had really done this place a great disservice.
As he stood, the surrounding space around him shimmered and distorted. No one could see in. Raizel quickly dressed. He condensed water to form a mirror the image of a young man with short white hair and brown eyes. At the last moment, he put the frame on his face and it was as if his whole aura had changed. A smile danced on his lips.
Reversing the space, Raizel was amazed to find beads of sweat on his forehead. A simple spatial shroud art had worn him out.
Even though his cultivation realm was restricted to Dao Flowering Stage now, casting a spatial shroud art should not be a problem at all. He needed to cultivate and restore his spiritual sea. He would first rest in an inn no, hotel and then figure the rest tomorrow.