The old woman who was reading a black-covered book saw the young man staring at her he had an obscene smile on his face. " Why is he staring at me is he a buyer " mumbled the old lady. she saw the young man coming her way.
" h.e.l.lo young lad what book would you like to read. " said the old woman she got up from her seat. There were many bookshelves which had different kinds of books.
" I have all kinds of books like history, food recipe, medicine, herbs, beasts which one would you like. " asked the old woman politely.
she saw the young man"s cheeks were red.
" I need each one of them haha " replied the young man.
The old lady was felt it was ridiculous. she was just a simple book store owner she sold these books for the kids in her orphanage. she didn"t have any skills but she had learned to write and read. Her husband died in the beast tide. So she had opened an orphanage many people bought the books from her store to help the children.
" good samaritan please don"t joke with this old woman there are at least 100 of them even if I sold every book to you for a cheap price of 5 copper it would be 5 silver " replied the old woman.
" I want them all of them but I also have a request hehe," said the young man with a contorted laugh. It heard like m.u.f.fled laughter.
" please go away I don"t want to sell any books " replied old lady. she felt that the young man was too obscene he was making a joke with her. Some people like to make fun of her she now felt even more disgusted to talk to this lad.
" Miss don"t miss understand I have eaten something which forces me to laugh even if I don"t want to. " replied the young man hurriedly.
The old lady looked at the young man she remembered that his steps were unsteady. his facial muscles were also twitching. " ahh I see wait a moment here " said the old woman in a sudden realization.
The young man saw the old woman picked up a bottle of water there was a bag near her seat she opened it up there were few plants inside with yellow fruit. The old lady meshed these fruits together in the water and came back his way.
" here drink it " said the old woman.
The young man grasped the bottle he took a sip the solution tasted bittersweet but it made his mind stable. The young man was Bai jie.
Bai jie was suffering from the side effect of Truth pills not only these pills suppressed his fears but his logical thinking as well.
He was like an alcoholic couldn"t think with a straight mind he also discovered the more he ate these pills the more severe the side-effects he thought his body would adapt to it and there won"t be side effects. but not only side effects grew stronger than the last time he even wasted his precious time in front of a brothel. even though he knew what was happening he was being dragged by his emotions. It was a good thing he saw these books or he would have been still wandering around like an idiot.
" These pills are too dangerous unless absolutely necessary I won"t eat them." thought bai jie.
His mind was very calm now after he drank the solution the old lady gave him.
" It must be your first time drinking you shouldn"t drink its harmful," said the old lady when she saw the young man calmed down. The young man"s presence was completely different this time. he felt much more mature for his age now. " Am I thinking too much. " thought the old lady.
" Thank you for helping me I feel much better now," said bai jie. Even though his fears had returned from the surroundings it was still better than drifting with emotions.
" ahh it"s nothing much it was just a homemade recipe I made it for my husband when he was alive he would also come drank. " replied old lady she had a reminiscent look in her eyes.
" what happend to him, " asked bai jie.
" he was sent to fight in the beast forest and he died there. " replied the woman with watery eyes.
" Beast forest isn"t it near the mortal village," asked bai jie confused. isn"t that should be a secure place.
" Yes Mortal village is situated near the border of the barbarian lands and beast continent, Mortal village is mankind"s defense line from those beasts " said the old lady with hints of anger in her voice.
" aren"t beasts are the same as animals," asked bai jie again.
" where the h.e.l.l did you hear it from it"s completely wrong. " the old lady shook her head. " Animals you see in the village are not beasts. Beast is the ferocious animal they eat humans as there food. "
" you mean there are beasts who are the same strength as the cultivators," said bai jie. he had a.s.sumed that humans must be on the top of the food chain with this fabled spirit energy. he didn"t think that there were ever stronger beings. so bai jie went straight to the point.
" Information I need information " thought bai jie.
" Madam I have a very urgent request I want to buy all the books here and I want you to teach me how to read can you help me," said bai jie straightforwardly. Bai jie had already confirmed that she was just a mortal so he thought he can deal with her. he acted like grabbing 5 silver coins from his pouch and put it in her hand.
The old lady looked at bai jie he looked genuine. " fine but it will cost extra teaching you how to read. " she said she needed money for the food for the children she had never thought that bai jie would be so rich. An average citizen only earned 10-20 copper a day and he just gave 5 silver coins without even batting an eye.
" no problem. " for bai jie money was not of much importance he didn"t need food like other even though he would feel hungry but as long as he had required life force it won"t be a problem.
" How would you take all these books," said the old lady confused.
bai jie waved his hand on every book present and it disappeared one by one. stacks of books disappeared.
" you have a storage ring " the old lady was shocked. only very wealthy people possess this kind of treasure it was common in the city but in a middle-tier village it"s a luxury item.
" yes it"s an heirloom of my family," replied bai jie. he knew it was a valuable item in this village so he kept it hidden in his pouch.
" I see " said the old lady. she closed the shop it was just a simple shuttering mechanism made using black iron bai jie had seen.
" Follow me I will take you to the orphanage. it"s already night time. " said the old lady. the money she got from him would be very useful for the food.
" Madam I want to know how are these beasts different from animals. " bai jie asked his previous question.
" well they are more ferocious than animals they eat human meat because it is much easier to hunt. " said the old lady after thinking. " From the books I have gathered there are even beasts so strong that even powerful village chief would be killed in a second. "
" If those beasts are so strong why haven"t they captured the mortal village yet," asked bai jie. he was almost ready to go there.
" yes because of the sect would send their disciples to stop them from time to time to stop their advance. " replied the old lady. " they will lead the mortal armies to fight against the beasts. "
" so most of the able men would leave to fight against the beast tides," said bai jie realization. he was very confused as to why there was such a low number of the male present. But if sect sent disciples there it also explains why ji lan acquired much influence there. he sighed in relief his greatest threat was currently ji lan.
" yes to earn to feed your family becoming a soldier is a good option because the more beasts you kill higher your reward will be, my husband also tried his best. " said the old lady with her watery eyes. bai asked her more questions along the way and he got very specific answers.
bai had completely understood many things, for example, he had discovered once the village chief becomes a qi gathering expert the village will be nominated to be a high tier village. Above the villages, there are cities they are also divided into three ranks low tier city they would have the fixed number of high tier villages while those high tier villages controlled middle tier, and so on.
it also helped bai jie understanding the power structure of this civilization.
" How big is this barbarian land " thought bai jie. Bai jie felt very grateful to this old lady. Only people who had chosen the path of knowledge would possess such keen insight into the matter. All this came from her years of life experiences and reading books. Bai jie followed the old lady to run down place which looked like a set of two houses combined it also seemed unsteady and a tree growing in the center tearing the roof.
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Author note.
Thank you readers for your support.