I had saved them from such a terrible situation before but this was a whole other level. I was the one going on the offensive. Moreover it is inside of the bandits own territory. Further it would likely be an underground battle in an enclosed space. I am far more suited towards large battlefields and open areas, so I can use my dragon form if I find myself in a tight spot.
"Senior Huo Dai, do you think the young master knows the real reason why we started practicing?" A woman asked. Everyone's faces filled with a look of worry.
"The young master? Of Course he knows the reason. He was excited that everyone had taken the initiative. So there is no need to worry. For now let us practice and make sure everything is prepared for him when he returns." Huo Dai said, dropping a Childs nose to get their attention, as Huo Dai smiled.
~~A City In Void World~~
I arrived in a flash to the outskirts of the city that contains the place I am searching for. I didn't want to cause a fuss as soon as I arrived so I walked the rest of the way.
"State your business in Night-less City." A Guard asked me.
"I'm here for a little sightseeing, food tasting and shopping. Is there a place that, sir guard would recommend trying first?" I asked, completely unfazed by the question.
"Ahahaha, little friend, there is a good place to buy buns. Tell em I Guard Hu sent you and they might give you a discount." The Guard laughed then motioned me through the gate.
~~Inside Night-less City~~
I walked around the city looking at all of the stalls and stores. The price of these things was absolutely outrageous. This was no city, it was nothing short of a sham operation here. "Perhaps trying out the one food stall will give me some information." I sighed in my heart.
I arrived and noticed it said Hu's Buns. No wonder why the guy said that before. His family name was Hu and this was probably their family shop or something. That or it's a setup for a trap of some kind. Either way I have to try it out so long as it isn't expensive.
~~Inside the shop~~
It was old and run down, a perfect place for information to be gathered in secret. My first thought now was how expensive their buns would be. My second thought was I hope the food isn't terrible and my final thought before reaching the counter was, I hope they have information.
"Did that guard tell you to come here?" The baker asked, in a depressed mood.
"Yes he said this was a place with good food." I said, ignoring the part of the discount since the baker should already know of it by now.
"I see, while I thank you for sparing my feelings, young man. However, I already know that fart. He said you could get a discount didn't he?" The baker sighed with annoyance.
"He… yes… he did. I was not going to pay attention to it. But the prices of everything here are outrageous. The cost of a flimsy 2 time use saint grade weapon is hundreds of thousands of high rank saint crystals." I said, hinting at the pain of my finances.
"Here is the bun you ordered, young man. I hope you enjoy the filling." The baker said, quickly and handed the bun to me.
I took it after I noticed the baker didn't ask for payment. Which I thought was odd. Either way I found a chair that wasn't completely broken to sit down on. I started eating the bun and found out that this bun actually contained a secret.
~~Inside My Knowledge Sea~~
Information flowed into a portion of my Knowledge Sea. This was the portion I had already designated in the event someone tried this very thing. It was an idea I had to help protect me from outside influence. I had several of these around my Knowledge Sea. So there would always be a buffer space. It turned out to be incredibly helpful for me.
I sorted through the information. It was an explanation of the reason why that guard sends people to this store. Apparently the guards in the city are in on the evil plots but the ones at the gate are not. So when they see a practitioner one of the guards will send them to a place related to their family. In this way it takes the threat off of any one family or guard.
"These people seem to be quite organized. This information is indeed valuable and must be protected at all costs. Any small leak and then there will be problems." Fang Qing said as she monitored the information.
"It's risky indeed but there is a method they use to determine if the cultivator they chose is reliable or not. So it may be risky. This limits that risk. Then they speak with the person to determine any further information they would need. So since I passed their first test, I seemed to be hiding something. That something must have been good intentions. Ha, they knew I was being careful." I replied, annoyed I had been seen through like that.
"That's to be expected, Young master. These people have a method that can see through Dao Source Realms with relative ease. There is no way for you to completely hide yourself from it yet. Anyways, it seems like they have people who rotate between the different places to connect the network." Fang Qing said, swimming through the information.
"Good, I'll use this to help my investigation. These people have made it far easier for me to act. Perhaps I should use my Identity to help the situation? No, that would be too much. With that one person taking the chair of the City Lord it is going to be difficult to deal with. That's the reason the other guards don't dare to act so recklessly." I said, thinking about it.
"You should go heal the real City Lord and the other Vice City Lord. With those two back up things will be much smoother. And you can use this time to increase your own strength." Fang Qing suggested.
"I'll do that." I replied.
~~In the small shop~~
"That was delicious. I'll be going now so take care of yourself." I said standing up and making my way out, not leaving any time for the baker to say anything back.