Chương 102: Buying information

After traveling for five days, Shu Yang finally arrived at Chenqi Immortal City once more.

'Traveling by foot will take too long. I need to find out if there is a flying ship leaving for Shenchu Immortal City or something.'

'Otherwise, I'll probably be hunted down before I can make it there.' Shu Yang entered the city through the same gates he had left from and started rushing toward the Yide Pavilion.

'The Yide Pavilion should know if there are any flying ships leaving. I'll just ask everything I want to know.' Luckily, he was a very wealthy man now. Not only did the inheritance ring contain spiritual plants he could sell, it also had hundreds of middle-grade spirit stones, and even a few high-grade ones. Unfortunately, all the low-grade spirit stones had lost their spiritual qi over the years.

'Maybe I can exchange a few middle-grade ones for low-grade ones. That should be a fairly easy trade.' He wouldn't need so many spirit stones once he returned. It was much better to use them to buy pills, weapons, spells, and cultivation techniques that he and his family could use. Shu Yang reached the Yide Pavilion and entered the building straight away, feeling a bit nervous. If they didn't have any information about his daughter, things would look dire.

'Please, let me just get away with my daughter safely.'

"Greetings, Immortal Master. How may I assist you?" A beautiful young woman stepped forward and asked as soon as he entered. Shu Yang paused for a moment before answering, "I need information about a specific person."

"Does the person have a name?" The woman asked with a friendly smile.

"Shu Tianyi," Shu Yang answered. The woman paused for a second before nodding, "Alright, do you have any more specifics? It will allow us to provide you with assistance sooner."

"She is 18 years old and recently advanced to the 3rd stage of Qi Refining. She was brought here from south of the Desolate Mountains by the Qing Family ten years ago. Do you have any information about her whereabouts?" Shu Yang clarified.

"Alright, that's more than enough. I will be right back with her information," The woman said before leaving. Shu Yang was left waiting, nervous and excited to finally receive news of his daughter. While he waited, other people entered the building to have their questions answered, but just like last time, Shu Yang couldn't overhear anything. One man, seemingly of some status, was led into a side room as soon as he entered.

Shu Yang thought about asking a few more questions about the world at large, but soon changed his mind. His priority was getting his daughter back home; everything else could wait until another day. About 20 minutes later, the woman who attended Shu Yang returned. This time, she just had an ordinary paper with her, though.

"This is what we know about Shu Tianyi," The woman said.

"You will have to read through the information here, I'm afraid."

"That's fine," Shu Yang said, reaching for the paper eagerly.

"That will be 75 spirit stones," The woman said, pulling the paper away.

"Oh, right. Of course," Shu Yang said, reaching for his storage ring.

"Wait? Low-grade spirit stones?" Shu Yang asked.

"Yes," The woman answered with a smile.

'That's…so cheap? I could have just asked about her from the beginning then! Why waste my time with the inheritance?' Shu Yang wanted to punch himself in the face.

'I guess the inheritance was a good use of time considering what I got from it. But if I don't manage to get Tianyi away because I got delayed…' If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Shu Yang gave the woman a middle-grade spirit stone and took the paper away. Shu Tianyi. Female, 18 years old. 3rd-stage Qi Refining, suspected body cultivator in the middle or high Qi Refining stage.

Servant girl of the Qing Family at 8 years old, and then given to the Song Family, where she has been learning formations from Elder Song Nua.

'The Song Family? As in Song Hongchi's Song family?' Shu Yang felt a shiver run down his spine.

'She knows my true name is Shu Yang. What if she also knows Tianyi? If she connects the dots, it could spell trouble for me.'

'Then again, if she knows Tianyi is my family, she can't harm her, or she would break her oath.' Still, Shu Yang felt a little uneasy.

"Is this all there is?" Shu Yang asked.

"A few more details can be added, but that would require us to reveal some secrets of the Song and Qing Families, and the price will be considerable."

"How much?" Shu Yang asked.

"65 middle-grade spirit stones," The woman answered.

'That's quite the price increase.' But since it was concerning his daughter, Shu Yang didn't have much of a choice.

"It's fine, I'll take it," Shu Yang said.

"Before you go back there, I would also like to know if you have any information about the inheritance cave in the Jin Mountains? How much would that cost?"

"We only have some of the more common knowledge about the inheritance for sale," The woman answered.

"Since it involves Golden Core cultivators, we won't give any sensitive information."

'Oh? That's a rule?' Shu Yang had just asked to make sure his own identity wasn't discovered.

"You don't sell information about anything concerning Golden Core cultivators?" Shu Yang clarified.

"In general, no," The woman answered, "At least, this branch of our Yide Pavilion only deals in information below the Golden Core level."

"Alright," Shu Yang said, somewhat relieved.

"What about flying ships heading to Shenchu Immortal City?"

"We know all about that, of course," The woman said with a smile.

"Then please get that for me as well," Shu Yang said. As the woman left once again, Shu Yang felt that this way of doing business was a bit inefficient.

"I'm sorry for the wait, Immortal Master," the woman said when she returned, presenting a jade slip for Shu Yang to read. Shu Yang didn't need any instructions. He paid the spirit stones and read through the information in the jade slip. As the jade slip crumbled to dust in his hands, Shu Yang frowned slightly as he went through the information that had appeared in his head.

'That's it?' The information that was 'secret' about the Qing family was something he already knew: Shu Tianyi had been kidnapped from south of the Desolate Mountains along with many others. As for the Song family, Shu Yang had just learned a few details of Tianyi's life there, which inevitably revealed some of the inner workings of the Song Family. He also learned where she lived.

'Forget it. If I got scammed, so be it. At least she appears to be safe. And getting her away from the Song Family should be a lot easier than the Qing Family.'

"Here are the departures scheduled for Schenchu Immortal City," The woman said, handing over a piece of paper.

'The soonest one leaves in three days?' Shu Yang frowned slightly.

'That's far from optimal. But I guess it will be faster than going there on my own.'

"Thank you," Shu Yang said, leaving the Yide Pavilion behind.

'At least this gives me some time to prepare.'

'I'll buy all the pills, spells, and resources I might need here and then head straight back home after I get Tianyi.'

'But first, I should get something good for Xiaorong and make sure she fully recovers. I'll need her help when we get out of here.'

'Now, all I can do is pray that the Golden Core cultivators don't discover anything amiss before I can run away.'

"Is there still no news about Zhuo Zhangye?" Sumei asked Elder Weng.

"Er, no, I haven't heard anything," Elder Weng answered.

"Have you even looked?" Sumei questioned.

"I…I ordered the disciples," Elder Weng answered.

"Should I go myself, or…?"

"Forget it," Sumei said, frowning.

'How come no one sees how suspicious that man is?' Sumei had heard that Zhangye was a body cultivator, probably at the Foundation stage. And yet, his 'body' had been crushed by a pile of rocks. Obviously, something was amiss. But her Fellow Daoist Yasui was completely unconcerned, with all his focus on looking through the inheritance site.

"Bring me Song Hongchi," Sumei ordered. She should know more and might be able to help track down this missing participant.

"Er," Elder Weng hesitated.

"What is it?" Sumei asked with a sigh.

"Song Hongchi just left with a flying ship headed to Shenchu Immortal City," Elder Weng answered.