A few days passed without anything unusual happening. Michael bought a dictionary and kept his usual routine. Learning words with Kaishi, hunting animals, selling animal parts, cooking with Tianfu, and enjoying meat and the happy faces of the kids.
Kaishi and Tianfu, although still suspicious, just accepted the happiness that came with everything Michael provided and lived maybe their first carefree days in their entire lifetime.
Surprisingly, even though Michael still lived with them, he never heard from or saw Lan Rudong during the past few days. Given his previous behavior, Lan Rudong seemed way too quiet. Thinking back on how irrational he behaved in their first meeting, Michael thought that he wouldn't stop showing up until he moved away. Hopefully, Lan Rudong would just let them be.
"It's finally time. Right, Michael?"
"Yes, Iris I just need to buy some new clothes, and then we will head to the inner city."
By now Michael had learned every word in the dictionary and enough money to sustain more than a few lifetimes in the outskirts. Since hunting became rare due to the steady increase of danger within the forest, the meat, skin, and other animal parts became more sought after and therefore more expensive.
Michael walked through the muddy dirt of the busy streets in the outskirts. Poverty was still present at every street and corner, yet getting less and less prominent with every step Michael took towards the wall dividing the outskirts from the inner city. It seemed like the closer one was to the forest, the poorer they were.
After moving for a while, he arrived at various food stalls where he would normally sell his meat. With the intention of passing by and heading to the clothing shop that came just after them, he tried to walk by unnoticed. Unfortunately, while passing by the familiar faces of various shop owners selling meat that was mostly hunted by himself, the shop owners recognized him without any problems and happily called him over.
"Hey! Caveman! Got any meat for me?" a shop owner asked with excitement.
"Caveman! Your meat saved my shop!" another one shouted.
Yes, "Caveman," that was the nickname given to him by the shop owners.
Michael just kept walking and answered, "Not today, and can you stop calling me Caveman?"
"Oh well, good luck next time. And I can't stop calling you Caveman. Everyone around here already knows you by that name. Caveman, the one who is strong enough to provide yet wears no robes," the shop owner said with a serious face, while the rest nodded.
"Hahahaha, good one!" Iris laughed.
Michael just shook his head and kept going. After being called Caveman, he was secretly pleased that Iris wasn't around; after all, what would be his nickname then? Beauty and the Beast? A caveman was at least human, albeit a lesser form.
Thinking about how to lose his new nickname, Michael finally arrived at the clothing store he spotted while selling his meat in the last few days.
Master S Clothing: Clothing for Everyone, Especially the Rich
A weird name, but after walking around in leafs for days, Michael wanted to look presentable for the inner city without any new nicknames. After walking through the outskirts the last few days, this seemed to be the only clothing shop for wealthy people within the city.
The building itself even looked different compared to the usual wooden stalls of the vendors. This clothing store was built with smooth stone and exuded luxury from the outside, highlighted by several colorful decorations in contrast to the cold beige stone. Fitting for a store intended for the rich, Michael thought and headed inside.
Opening the door of the shop, Michael looked at an equally impressive interior. Well, impressive for the standards of what Michael had seen so far within this world.
Many rows of clean and smooth fabric in different sizes and forms were lined up in an orderly manner. What stood out the most, though, was that every single article seemed to have a certain symbol on it. A red circle with a golden square facing upwards, therefore looking like a gem. Inside the gem were crossed lines to form a pattern that looked like a net.
Some clothes had multiple, some had only one. It added a special charm to the already well-made clothes. Michael could understand the charm that came from wearing a clothing brand, although growing up he wasn't the type to normally wear it.
Michael was still curious as to how people of this world, or rather this city, valued branding, so he walked up to one of the employees. "Hello mister, I see this symbol on all of your clothing. Why is it there?"
The employee glanced at Michael and saw the grotesque look of his clothes. Although he was tempted to throw out the trash, he thought it might be wise to share the greatness of Master S even with a lowlife like Michael.
"Sir, this is the famous symbol of Master S clothing. It is said that Master S himself came from the inner city to bring luxury to the people of the outskirts. The knit-in pattern is always made out of a special fabric that is exclusive to Master S clothing and elevates it from the rest of the robe. The symbol itself stands for the beauty of clothing. The red circle represents the bloody and dangerous world we all live in, while the lines inside the gem represent the clothes. So the gem, of course, represents oneself while wearing the fabric made by Master S. A polished golden gem that shines bright within the bloody and dangerous world," the clerk explained with stars in his eyes. It seemed like he really admired Master S.
Is the meaning really that deep? Michael thought it but didn't say it out loud, looking at the excited clerk recounting the greatness of Master S in the background. Michael thought the pattern looked cool but didn't see the meaning the clerk was eluding to.
"I finally understand," Iris said with a somewhat exhausted voice.
"What do you understand?"
"I finally understand why you talked so much about hating interpretation! If even a symbol should have this kind of meaning, what would these insane people interpret into words? This is truly a horror," she said.
"I told you, well, myself, back then. Interpreting poems is one of the three true horrors of life. Even though I'm good at it, it is still a headache just to think about it. If you want to say something, just say it and don't let other people decipher it. It's just like this stupid cultivation technique I chose for the trial..."
"Yeah, whoever wrote it should not be allowed to ever write again. Although I was surprised you understood it so fast back then," Iris confirmed.
"Well, I understood it, but why didn't the author just write what I had to do? Hopefully not all cultivation techniques are like this."
While Iris and Michael shared a moment of agreement, the clerk looked at Michael with a displeased look. Someone from the streets does not appreciate the greatness of Master S? Well, he might just not have the brain capacity to fathom his greatness. It's time to kick him out.
"Mister, will you buy something, or are you just here to waste time? I advise you to leave if you don't buy anything."
"Oh, sorry." Michael, who was still talking about the idiocy of poems and cultivation techniques, was brought back to the real world. "Of course I will buy something. Give me the most expensive robe in my size, and I will buy it."
The clerk was shocked yet kept his composure. Can this caveman really afford Master S's most expensive creations? "Sir, please take out some silver coins to verify your claim that you truly want to buy the clothes."
Without hesitation, Michael took out about 30 of his 700 silver coins. One silver coin equaled 1000 copper coins, and one gold coin equaled 100 silver coins. A family in the outskirts needed around 100 copper coins to sustain themselves for a month, so Michael was very wealthy within the outer city.
The clerk was surprised yet kept his composure and shortly brought everything Michael needed. Two robes and a pair of boots, with the logo of Mister S on the chest area of the robes.
He paid 10 silver coins in total and headed to the exit with an entirely new look. The elegant white robes, with the intricate red and golden pattern combined with his already somewhat otherworldly-looking appearance, made him look like a noble.
"Well, Iris, what do you think?" he flaunted, hoping for a compliment.
"With this logo, I don't even want to look at you. It gives me PTSD."
"How can you even have PTSD from stuff I experienced, and how do you even know what PTSD is?"
"I just use the words you used back then, and trust me, after that clerk's speech, I feel your PTSD as well."
While arguing for some time, Michael got closer and closer to the walls of the inner city. The closer he got, the more people wore Mister S clothing with different sizes of the logo. As the people saw Michael with his huge symbol, they looked at him with respect.
"Yes, that is how it should be," Michael said happily.
"I thought it was funnier before," Iris answered.
"For you, not for me."
As he walked through the "rich" neighborhood of the outskirts, searching for the entrance to the inner city, Michael suddenly saw a familiar figure in the distance.
It was Lan Rudong. Dressed in his normal attire, the old man slowly walked in the direction of the wall with flowers in his hands.
It seems like he heads to the grave of his deceased wife, Michael thought. He decided to follow him in hopes of finally finding the entrance to the inner city.
Michael walked behind him with enough distance to not get noticed until Lan Rudong finally arrived at a small opening guarded by two guards without any special equipment. The guards seemed to recognize Lan Rudong and greeted him while he passed through to the inner city.
Michael, excited that he finally found the entrance to the inner city, walked up to the guards guarding the small gate in between the wall. Michael greeted them and was about to pass through until the guards swiftly moved in front of him to stop him.
"Must be your first time, outsider." One of the guards said. "You have to pay the entry fee," the other guard said.
"Entry fee? How much is it?"
"Exactly 1 gold or 200 silver for one week," one of the guards replied with a smirk on his face.
"For a week? How about for a day?" Asked politely, ignoring the mocking looks on the guards faces.
"There is nothing like that. Pay up, and we will hand you a token that we can verify for one week or return to the mud you came from."
"Ok then," Michael continued to ignore the unfriendly guards and reached into his spacey pocket to pull out 200 silver coins before he realized. "Wait, isn't 1 gold equal to 100 silver coins?"
"You are right," one of the guards said with a widening smirk and an aura of superiority. "100 silver is worth one gold, but to be able to enter without any gold coins, you need to pay double in silver. It's mainly to keep dirty rats away from the city."
Michael was stunned. No wonder nobody ever talked about entering the inner city. In the past few days, Michael caught and sold a lot of animal meat and parts. So many, in fact, that a lot of merchants couldn't even pay him, so he had to switch in between different ones. That was how he got so many silver coins.
Interesting enough, though, nobody was in the possession of gold coins. They didn't seem to exist in the outer city, yet they were a requirement to enter the inner city if you didn't want to pay double.
In the end, Michael just sighed and handed over the 200 silver coins. There was no use in arguing, and Michael needed to head to the inner city to buy herbs for alchemy. Then he could earn enough money to let the children live safe and sound in the inner city.
The guards accepted the coins with mocking smiles and handed him a wooden token. "Remember not to lose it. If anyone of authority wants to see your token, you have to have it on you. And don't even think about staying any longer than a week. The token was made by a formation master, so it will detect someone who overstays his welcome, and you don't want to find out what happens if you get caught."
"I understand." Michael walked past the guards without looking back.
He finally entered the inner city and was welcomed by the sight of bigger houses and healthier people. A bustling city with kids playing around and adults walking around busily. It seemed like a whole different world compared to the poor circumstances of the outer city, with a smell of freshness in the air instead of the smell of dirty people and blood.
Although he saw a clear difference, there still seemed to be no technology at all. Candles and oil lamps for lighting were just one of the many signs of the absence of any modern technology like on Earth.
"It seems like this world is not very developed technologically."
He thought in his head, yet Iris wasn't answering. This happened multiple times in the last few days, as Iris was still in the midst of figuring out the various formations dividing his brain from the Immortal Spirit Farm.
"Hey, Iris!"
"What is it? Don't you know I am busy with the formations?"
"We just entered the inner city. Didn't you want to see it?"
"Oh, you are there already," Iris said, somewhat surprised how much time had passed. "Well, it looks better, yet not even as good and imposing as the buildings you built in the end."
"Well, that was the construction experience of countless years coupled with the creativity of countless years of drug abuse," Michael said with a proud smile.
"Are you seriously trying to flex with taking drugs? Well, the creativity was certainly there, but thinking of that one time you went to an amusement park and your self-built roller coaster broke, yet you wanted to sue the theme park because your wooden friend "died," I think your "creativity" went just a little bit too far," Iris said while laughing.
"That..." Michael had no answer. In the end, Iris had too much evidence on him. It's a lost cause to argue with her.
In the end, Michael just kept walking in the search for a shop selling various herbs he could concoct potions with and even grow himself.
The inner city seemed to be a lot bigger than the outskirts and was a lot less packed with people. Tidy houses built and shops filled the sides of the roads, while a few carriages could be seen on the streets.
Since Michael didn't know where to look for a herb shop, he walked around aimlessly while soaking in the more positive atmosphere of the city and people who were talking about various topics concerning daily life.
While listening to people talking about their daily concerns, he managed to spot a certain pattern regarding the various buildings in the streets. While most of them were just normal courtyards and living quarters, there was a lot of a certain type of building.
Martial Arts Schools? What are those? Michael asked himself while taking a look at some of the weird names they had.
"Martial Arts: Key to Strength" "Ravaging Bull Martial Arts" "Inner Strength Martial Arts"
Martial Arts? I wonder what kind of relation they have to cultivation.
Although he was tempted to try out some martial arts, Michael ignored the stores in the end. He wanted to get his business done first.
Another thing Michael noticed was that for some odd reason people seemed to avoid him. He had tried to listen in to different people he came across, yet most of the time people who saw him switched sides and avoided walking past him. It seemed like he was not welcome.
Some people even pointed at him and laughed or looked like they saw a ghost and quickly turned away.
"How is it going, Mr. Popular?" Iris was in his ears again.
"Shut up! What is even going on here?"
"I guess they just don't like ugly people? Or maybe you smell bad?"
"Like I said, just shut up!"
"Sure, sure, Caveman."
At this point Michael wasn't even angry; he was just confused. Well, he was angry at Iris but not at the people. Why do they avoid me? I don't smell bad and wear the best clothing available. And looking ugly? There is no way! Even if I was ugly, which I think I'm not, people wouldn't react so strongly. For now just buy herbs and head back, he thought, until he listened to the conversations of the people once more.
A few people gathered in a circle spoke in shocked voices.
"Have you heard? The genius that recently came into our city? The young master from the Hai family, Hai Yan. He went missing while his entire entourage died. Their bodies were just found in "that" forest. Yet there is no sign of the young master."
"How is that possible? Wasn't he a cultivator?"
"A cultivator trained by the Hai family! Do you know how big the Hai family is? They even hold some weight in the Yun prefecture, not to mention this city. If it comes out that the city lord had something to do with their deaths, the whole city is doomed."
"What are you talking about? Why would Yungyue City be at fault?"
"I don't know, but I heard that someone from the adult generation was sent to uncover what happened and find the young master!"
Michael, who listened to the entire conversation, thought back to a certain young master he met on his way to the city, and all he could think about was: Shit! I need to not let them find out, while Iris just laughed in the background.