I found a good inn on the west side of the city. It wasn’t too bad looking, but when I gave them the paper money, the person behind the counter began to look very nervous.

"Sir, that is a lot of money you're holding. Also are you wearing a woman’s robes?"

I pursed my lips. It was just like Wu to not think about the ramifications of his decision.

The bellhop of the discount Green Air Inn perked up. I had apparently been holding the equivalent of a $1,000 bill and the place only cost $50 a night.

I was going to ignore his comment about my stolen robes.

The bill itself marked one thousand Waan.

"Pardon me but how much does the average man or woman earn in a day? I'm a bit new here, and I would like to figure out what everything is worth. Oh and how much is a peasants breakfast? Sorry for all the questions."

"Average workers earn ten Waan in a day. Lunch or breakfast would cost someone ten Lengs or at most a Waan. Usually it's a package deal and you pay for both at once."

"It's twenty Lengs to the Waan?"

"That is the standard conversion rate, yes sir."

I smiled, finally getting a sense of the worth of things.

"And if I wanted to rent an apartment for a month?"

The bellhop's eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms.

"Just curious. I'll be here for some time.”

"As an outsider? Probably four hundred Waan per month, maybe five hundred for a nice place. Not that there are that many such places here."

“Thank you.”

I changed my thousand mark Waan bill into a lot of smaller ones. The bellhop took me up to the second floor and accepted a generous tip to forget I showed up.

I strategically placed my notes around my robe and collapsed into a state of dissociation, my mind racing. I didn't want to think about anything much less math at this time.

The room had nothing but a basin for washing,a few windows, and several mats and blankets, so I did what every adult male would do in this situation. I made a large soft pile of clothes.

Then, I jumped onto it.

It.

Was.

Nice.

Thankfully, sleep got me, and I fell into the most restful sleep that I'd ever had.

I woke up like a kitten and stretched. This wasn't home. The blankets had surrounded me.

I looked to the door and saw a little note laying an entire inch away from the door. It, of course, was something like a bid for me to rush a house.

The Red Fang sect had left me a note. I wasn’t ready to start up some new dating excursions so I tucked it into a pouch that bore the mark of the inn. I expected them to want to try to recruit me, if they deemed it appropriate, but first I needed to get myself situated.

I wasn’t home, that was certain. My patients… my girls, I couldn't worry about those right now. My survival wasn't guaranteed in any way and I had no read of the current situation.

And Lauren? We hadn’t ended things on the right foot. There had been some words said that I wouldn’t be able to take back. Something about how I’d wanted to live a kid free life and her son… he was nice but he was a lot younger.

Now I was here, entirely kid free. Someone might have seen this as poetic justice for the short sighted comments that ended my relationship, but really I was just worried about them being taken care of.

A knock on the door got me out of my spiraling. I opened the door to accept the dumplings and rice meal. It smelled heavenly and I wondered how much work had gone into it.

The bellhop held the plate out.

“Will there be anything else, sir?”

I was gobsmacked by the amount, smell and genuine aesthetic of the food. It was like being handed the most attractive meal I’d ever seen.

In that moment, caught between breakfast and the simple question, I blanched. It takes a certain kind of person to throw me. That might be wrong, maybe it’s just a certain situation. It might be more apt to put it that way in the long run. Overall, I’m not having a psychotic break, but damn I’m not on earth and oh there’s a damn system governing this world, yeah it threw me a bit.

“Actually yes, if you have got a few minutes.”

Doubtlessly, he knew an easy mark when he saw one. I always tipped well when I went out. It made me feel a bit better to know that I was helping someone else out. Plus in this instance, I was looking for information. I could afford some quid pro quo, especially if he was a mensch.

“What’s your name?”

“This one is pleased to be called Moon Fei, of the Moon Clan.”

Last name first, huh? Alright, that is an easy fix. I made a mental note to myself.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

His odd speech pattern, the third person talking made me do a double take. He sounded like a servant, but it might have been a mask. Or it could have just been his version of the customer service voice.

“Moon Fei, if I wanted to read about this town, would there be some sort of… library? Someplace with books or scrolls I could read?”

He paused, placing both arms inside his stark white robes. It looked practiced, with the ease he slipped into it. That more than anything spoke to being the real him behind the mask.

"There is one library that the Moon clan allows non-initiates and families to use, but... Perhaps there is a way to get what you want without that?"

“I will need to visit one but if you have another idea, I am open to it. As you can see I am not a local here, so if you help me, I can only try my best to reward your efforts."

I took pains to emphasize the word reward for his benefit.

"What this one suggests is to speak to... Well this is perhaps a bit unorthodox, but the mundane people who know the most here are the tea sellers."

"Oh?" I said, intrigued.

"The good ones? They sell their tea by the kilogram. The best ones? They sell it by the gram."

"Is that right? Do you know anyone?"

"I know a guy..." He looked to me for approval.

I nodded.

"I can take you to him, if you want."

"Lead on, Fei," I said.

We left the Green Air Inn.

Moon Fei took me to a bustling part of the city that I had overlooked before. Not that I had a lot of time to review everything since my time before was ninety percent tourism, and ten percent sheer terror.

It was a mash up between lowbrow and well dressed, as every man, woman and child looked like they were on their way to a very important business meeting. The fact that most of them were wearing what looked like a soft jiu jitsu gi had no bearing on anything. Nope, I definitely didn't imagine them all selling real estate in those outfits, yelling 'ABC- Always Be Cultivating!' to each other and other improvised slogans.

The one thing that was immediately apparent though was the lack of horses and cows. I had expected to see a horse drawn carriage or buggy, but no such luck. Instead strong muscled men and women pushed and pulled carts down the street delivering things from door to door.

I guess that was what happened when the average man or woman was stronger than Earth's strongest man. Who needs horses when they won't necessarily listen to you and the cart weights are negligible? Not these people. And horses are expensive.

Fei had begun to slow around an area which smelled like bad oolong. Or it could just be some of the smoke from the fires.

"This one wants to make certain that you give a good impression," he said.

"I'm certain to try."

"Then this one will open negotiations."

The man behind the world's most unassuming shack wore a gray beard like he had been born with it. He sat-no lay upon a mound of leaves, like a dragon guarding his hoard with one eye open. His calculated indifference made me immediately interested in what he was doing and what he had to sell. At second glance, the leaves were contained in many small, nearly clear translucent bags. He was laying over the pile but it had been set up so it looked like he was on it.

"Moon Fei, what brings you to this part of the city?"

"Ah, brother Moon Xiru, nothing but someone looking for information and possibly some of the finest teas this side of the Western sea."

I strongly suspected that they weren't brothers. Probably closer to an uncle and nephew relationship, one where the uncle was a bit too involved in the nephews business. One did have a massive gray beard after all.

The two men paused, as if their dance number required it. Indeed I could see the calculated steps. I wondered if Moon Fei would be getting a kickback from any tea sold. With his ease around the other man, it was almost a guarantee.

Almost.

It wasn't worth my time right now to figure out how he was making his fortune.

"You have brought me a strong cultivator, someone that this one would be proud to sell tea," his voice dropped, "or information for a price."

I returned his smile.

"The things I want to know are very basic, but suppose that along with some of your best tea, it would suffice for me to get some of my questions answered."

Xiru stroked his luxurious black beard. His accompanying gray top knot made me envious of whoever was his barber. That man must have been making a real fortune.

"Sit, sit, let us get to know each other a bit. I don't sell my *wares* to just anyone."

Two chairs arrived as if sitting in wait to pounce. There I was in the heart of a bustling market, watching a man light a flame under the most average looking kettle I had ever seen. Seriously, it wasn't any different, like it was calculated to be the most average one on the block. Of the handful of merchants I saw on the street, half of them had gaudy tea kettles that would make any queen proud. The other half had less flashy kettles.

Even in this small bit, I was surprised by the variety.

"This is the best part," Fei said, breathing in deeply.

"Breathe in deeply. This is the best Oolong tea that the Western Cloud sect has ever produced. Legend says that it's not even grown with dirt, and that a core elder picks the leaves himself."

The smell of the tea took me back to Earth. There I was drinking in the sweet aroma of nostalgia, getting lost in my thoughts before I realized that it was a side effect of just smelling tea.

"This... Just breathing in this tea, it's exceptional."

"This one is pleased to be the top tea seller in this district, and hopefully soon, many others. We’re expanding."

"Fei was, let's say, a bit reluctant to take me to a library. "

The two men looked at each other for a long second. I suspected that I was missing some hand code. Also their hands didn't move so it was probably their familiarity that led me to believe that.

“He was wise to say so. The sects who operate in the open, and some of the gangs here that don't, will take note of notable new people. The less reputable ones will come obliquely. This one believes that you are a man who values... Shall we say a bit of privacy?"

His voice brought me back to all the times I had to explain therapist confidentiality to someone. No, I was duty bound to not reveal your crush on your sister or God forbid your mother to just anyone, not that I would unless it was one of a few special cases where I was a mandated reporter, what was told to me was confidential. The only time I would speak of such things were with other privileged providers in my group if I had a tough case.

"I am someone who appreciates a bit of privacy. I expect that would be a small part of whatever fee I pay you."

"To be certain, that is the way. This one requires a certain level of discretion in his actions, and thus understanding so, he picks his clientele with an eye to that."

I nodded. Trust was something that he would have to earn from me, but I felt safe here so far. At the very least, he wasn't physically intimidating to me.

"That first piece of information, that was the free one. The rest will cost you."

I smiled. Ever since I had two girls, I appreciated more and more when people were straightforward with me. You wouldn't believe the convoluted stories that they tried to make me believe just to get me to go along with their plots. It was like raising two Slytherins, honestly.

"Are there many gangs and Sects here? More importantly where is here and…” I trailed off.

"Would the young master care to buy some tea?"

"Of course, but..." I said.

"The tea is not for sale."