"How many beds?" I frowned, not just because of the answer but also because of a disturbing noise coming from behind.
"One."
"And how many blankets?" Not faltering this time, I asked quickly.
Yet, the answer was the same, "One."
Alright, that does it.
"What? Why? I can understand all rooms being occupied this late at night, but how come there is only a single bed in a room?" my loud voice turned a few heads towards my direction, causing those eating silently a few moments ago to look at us in amusement.
The attendant was only at 1st rank. Due to my sudden outburst, she moved back a few steps but quickly composed herself.
"Sir, please lower your voice. The inkeeper will be angry if any guests were to be disturbed," she said professionally, trying to cover her bosom with the upper edges of her robe.
'I think I saw something there miss. It was definitely THAT, right? RIGHT?'
"The innkeeper is at the 5th rank of body tempering," she added. I could vaguely notice the threat hidden within that sentence. She must've felt my gaze.
At this moment, Chunu came to my side and asked in confusion.
"What happened, brother?"
At her inquiry, I just continued gazing at the attendant. She still hadn't answered my previous question.
As if she understood what my gaze meant, the attendant started speaking in a soft voice. "You should've known about the 11 merchant groups that entered the town this morning."
"No," I flatly said, "We just came here an hour ago."
"Well, here is the thing. Due to the upcoming Southern Shang Fair, lots of merchant groups have been flocking to our town since the start of this month. It seems you siblings are new to Pinchu town. Actually, it's common for inns to be full at this time of the year," she was a fast speaker.
"The room I mentioned earlier was a storeroom that was cleaned a few days ago to accommodate more customers. Due to the limited time, we weren't able to put another bed in there. You'll be charged 20% less than the usual."
"I understand. I'll manage for tonight," I sighed. I had yet to know so many things about this location and this demon world in general.
Saying that she will tell the cook to prepare two bowls of fresh noodles, the attendant hurried upstairs. I wondered why she was in such a hurry...
"Brother, let's sit there." Little Nu had already found a suitable table for us.
Dragged by her hand, I was brought to the table covered by a light green cloth, which had more than one blotches of spilled food on it.
It was the cleanest table she'd found, so I couldn't complain. However, what caused my eyebrows to twitch was the arrangement of these wooden chairs.
Instead of normally being placed on opposite sides, the chairs were placed side by side.
I looked at her suspiciously, but she just innocently sat on the inner chair. Though, I could see her hands nervously moving.
'So this was what caused the background noise earlier...'
I gave her a piercing stare which she avoided by gazing towards the men in straw hats, eating silently at the last table.
I sat on the chair provided to me and waited for the food to be served. In the meantime, I began seriously thinking about the options available to me.
This 'Southern Shang Fair' that the attendant mentioned was a great opportunity to fish for information and resources. With such an obvious name, it wasn't too hard to guess that this town was located at the south of Shang desert.
It also gave way for the possibility that there might be three more such fairs held at other oasis towns. Now, given the fact that 11- let's say 10 merchant groups arrived daily in this town for two to three weeks, I could easily imagine that this was not your usual oasis town.
'Pinchu town is most likely a major trade center in all of southern Shang,' I concluded.
'My major focus in this low mortal world should be to build a solid foundation in cultivation. But to build a such a foundation in a demon world is multiple times difficult for a righteous path cultivator such as me.' [1]
If possible, I would've chosen the demonic path but I was a divine prince. I was not stripped of my cultivation. No, it was merely sealed within me. As soon as I went to the heavens, I'd get my cultivation back but doing so would be equivalent to forfeiting the competition.
If I cultivated another path, then my very essence would be ruined and then, even with the help of heaven's deputies, I wouldn't be able to ascend to Celestial Supreme stage at all.
I sighed again. Such was the demerit of being born in a divine or any prominent family. You wouldn't be able to chose your own path at all.
However, righteous path wasn't that bad. All those demons and devils who regarded righteous path cultivators as weak individually couldn't be any more wrong. With my own wits and careful planning, I vowed to prove to all that I, an orthodox cultivator, could also 'go solo.'
Now, to truly cultivate, I first had to open my meridians. But my body hadn't been tempered to do that yet. For now, I just had to steadily refine my body with 'Copper Pagoda Body' technique and reach Viscera Purifying stage.
At this moment, a different attendant came towards us, holding two steaming red bowls which had yellow snake patterns on their surfaces.
Placing them before us with a 'tak' 'tak', he dipped a fork in each of our bowls. Unexpectedly, these were soup noodles.
'Huh? Wait just a second... forks? Why not chopsticks? Hmm... whatever, it will end up in my stomach anyway.'
Picking up the steel fork which had four long teeth, I poked the hot noodles, rolled and brought them out from the soup's embrace. Their white color was spotted red by the chilly powder and a little yellow by the turmeric powder. I looked at the soup itself and found slices of onions, strips of cinnamon, some pieces of meat and... carrots?
Nevermind. the food smelled good, so I didn't complain. Under the gaze of the smiling attendant, I slurped the noodles and started chewing. Little Nu was still blowing her share, so I was the first one experience the spicy taste that I, oh so clearly, remember even now.
The noodles were different from what I ate on earth, they had a meaty texture and tasted a little fishy. When chewed, you wouldn't even know it was made of wheat dough. The oil was also just the right amount.
'This must be the secret recipe of this inn,' I nodded my head ever so slightly in approval.
"Hey attendant, which meat was used in these noodles?" I asked. It wasn't chicken for sure.
The short haired attendant energetically replied, maintaining the same smile. "Sir, this is a local three-faced lizard meat that is commonly found in Shang desert."
The fork held by my little sister fell on her bowl, splashing the uh... lizard soup, and producing a small pop. Poor girl actually wanted to taste the meat first.
Well, I didn't mind eating lizards. Bear Grylls could even eat insects, a mere lizard was nothing.
I was just about to slurp the noodles the second time when the attendant spoke again, his smile even wider this time.
"As for the noodles, they are thin long slices of Kepa water snakes found in Pinchu Lake. It is our inn's specialty dish."
'What did he say? Snakes?' My spoon also fell as I looked at him before turning my head towards my sister. She was hesitatingly hovering her hands over the bowl, thinking whether to pick up the spoon or not.
'Say no more attendant, say no more. Sometimes, too much information is toxic,' I sighed for the third time.