“Nine coppers to enter.”
The bored guard stated while holding out his hand. Wen Zixin pulled the nine coins out of his backpack, handed them over, and walked into Bai City. Getting past the walls he could see why he thought it was a village when he first saw it. He could only see the top of the hill he started on. Though from this distance it looked more like a mountain and the glad was somewhere below the top of the wall. With the towering pagodas around him being connected by sky bridges from where Wen Zixin began, they would have looked like some large buildings and roads. The street he was standing on and anything below those bridges wouldn’t have been visible. Looking around he saw the street at ground level passed tight. The cultivators passing through the main gate either simply jumped up to the sky bridges or hopped on a series of ledges located on the inside side of pillars separating the mortal gates from the main gate. Not knowing where to go Wen Zixin decided to head in a random direction and try to figure out what to do next.
As he wandered the city, he stopped on occasion to listen to any conversations he could to learn more about his location and situation. He confirmed that cultivators use the sky bridges and he wouldn’t have to worry about dying by bumping into one. There was a martial tournament that only takes place once every ten years taking place in a couple of hours. The main contenders for first place were the Bai Clan young master that Wen Zixin saw earlier and Cao Clan, though no one knew who the Cao’s had brought to the city. The Cao Clan was located far enough away that they didn’t usually bother with coming leaving the tournament to mostly be a chance for independent cultivators to try and earn a place with the Bai Clan. This year was different because of an Elder of the Five Mountain Sword Sect coming here to scout for a possible disciple. The Five Mountain Sword Sect was big and powerful enough to have influence in both Bai and Cao Clan territories and the Elder only wanted one disciple.
More importantly Wen Zixin figured out the pricing for a place to stay. He had just enough coin left for a night at a decent inn with a few coppers left. He needed a job if he didn’t want to end up sleeping on the street. The guards would occasionally round up the homeless and take them elsewhere. Given that that was a semi-regular thing and that nobody seemed to give a crap, the sooner Wen Zixin had a job the better. At a random crossroad hidden in shadow from the sky bridges and the sun starting to set he found an inn with a sign calling it “The Herb Garden” Inn.
Heading inside Wen Zixin saw it wasn’t too crowded and took a look around. There were some stairs in the back leading to a second floor and most of this floor was taken up by old wooden tables and chairs. The tables seemed big enough for three or four people with the chairs looking pretty mismatched and prone to being dragged from one table to another if the scuff marks on the floor were any indication. In the corner, next to a door, where you could keep an eye on both the tables and stairs was a counter was a heavyset man leaning on it. Walking up to the man Wen Zixin addressed him.
“Hello, who do I talk to about getting a room and maybe some information?”
The man took a look at Wen Zixin, thought for a moment before going to the door and sticking his head in called out.
“Granny Chen! You someone wants to talk to you!”
Then the man went back to his counter and resumed his original position. A middle-aged woman with black hair tied in a bun came through the door, smiled at Wen Zixin, and went and smacked the heavyset man on the side of the head.
“Who’s Granny Chen! You brat, just wait until mother hears of this. This is the third time you’ve tried to embarrass me. I’ll make sure mother doesn’t make you any dumplings next time we visit!”
Rubbing his head and looking like he had been wronged the heavyset man replied.
“Don’t be like that sis. You know how boring this is just let me have some fun since you make me work this job.”
“I don’t make you do anything! If you want a different job then go get one. At least then I wouldn’t lose money feeding your lazy ass.”
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Having the last word, the woman turns back to Wen Zixin and puts on a more professional air.
“Dear customer how can I assist you?”
Taking a moment to process the situation Wen Zixin decides to ignore what happened and asks his questions.
“Madam Chen, I would like a room for the night and possible some information if I could.”
“Of course dear customer. The room will be ten coppers but comes with dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. As for information, I’ll answer what questions I can. What may I call you?”
Rummaging through his backpack Wen Zixin came up with the last of his money and handed over the coppers leaving him with a single copper left.
“My name is Wen Zixin, Madam Chen. As for information, I was hoping to find out if you knew anyone in need of a worker. Also, if you could satisfy my curiosity about where the name of the inn came from.”
“Oh my, you must be new to the city Mr. Wen. This is “The Herb Garden” because we are at the beginning of the street most famous for its’ herb shops, dispensaries, and medical practices. As for a job... hm let me think.”
With a slight gleam in her eye Madam Chen turned on her brother and with practiced movements swiftly grabbed his ear.
“Since your so bored you can go down the street and see if anyone needs a worker and get the details for our customer.”
Ignoring her brothers yells of protest she dragged him to the front door and shoved him out.
“And don’t come back until you find something!”
With a look of satisfaction that quickly transformed into a professional smile she turned back to Wen Zixin.
“Mr. Wen if you would like to take a seat, I’ll bring out your dinner while we wait.”
Then with a nod she turned back towards the door and left. Wen Zixin found an unoccupied table and sat down taking off his backpack and placing it between his feet. If the brother finds me a job it will probably have to do with herbs or medicine so I better check what skills are available.
Skills
Mortal Skills(10xp):
Butchering
Sneaking
Tracking
Archery
Swordsmanship
First-Aid
Blacksmithing
Pickpocketing
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Scrolling through the Mortal Skills Wen Zixin found a couple of good choices. Pulling up the description of them he also checked how much xp he had left.
User has 50xp
Herbology:
You are able to identify and harvest plants that can be used in creating salves, tonics, and medicine that can be used on mortals.
Medicine:
You are able to identify what ails a mortal and can create salves, tonics, and medicine to treat said ailments.
Okay, so both of those would cost me 20xp and if I needed to, I could still grab three other skills before I run out of xp. It’s a little risky though, I better just wait till I know what jobs there are and then grab the skills I need. As he sat thinking a young girl in her late teens came out of the back door with a tray of food and brought it to him. After placing the tray in front of him she bowed and left. Looking at the meal Wen Zixin found a bowl of noodles garnished with a little bit of pork and a cup of tea. He took his time with the meal not because it was good (it was decent enough to fill him), but because he wasn’t sure if he would be getting any more food anytime soon after breakfast tomorrow. After the meal with the brother still not back from his assignment Wen Zixin asked the waitress, who came back for the empty tray, to be directed to his room.
“One moment Mr. Wen. Let me return the tray and I can then guide you to your room.”
After the waitress came back, she led Wen Zixin up the stairs and to one of the rooms left him to rest. Wen Zixin thought he might toss and turn trying to process all the information and trying to plan for tomorrow. However, he found himself slipping off to sleep rather easily utterly exhausted from the day’s events.