I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

Chapter 297: Freshening Up

"So Young Master Chen is from where?" Wei Ru asked as the two of them were making their way through a corridor.

"I’m from the White Jade Kingdom." Yi Chen answered with a smile while looking around at the series of doors on both sides of the corridor.

"Madam Wei’s Inn is pretty big. There are so many rooms." Yi Chen praised.

"When I made it, I did so with the future in mind." Wei Ru softly chuckled at those words and continued, "Unfortunately, I was too young to make a sound judgement at that time."

’Hm?’ Yi Chen couldn’t help but frown when he heard the last sentence. However, he didn’t need to ask about it as Wei Ru naturally explained.

Letting out a sigh, she explained, "Naturally, I’m not the only one who runs an Inn in the Lava City. However, when it comes to expensive ones, there are only two; one is mine, and the other is Violet Leisure Inn."

"Violet Leisure Inn..." Yi Chen muttered and immediately linked it to the Violet Heaven House.

"As Young Master Chen might have realised by now, the Violet Heaven House holds a very respectable position in everyone’s eyes...so naturally the guests who are looking for an Inn are pulled more towards the Violet Leisure Inn compared to mine because of the reputation they have built.

It’s mostly customers who don’t know about it or people like Lady Du who, like me, are competing against them in the market that come to my Inn."

"So that’s how it is..." Yi Chen nodded with an uncomfortable smile.

’I just said a line and was bombarded with so many words...’ he thought to himself. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the end of it.

"Like right now, only two-fifths of the rooms have people staying in them..." as she said that, she glanced toward Yi Chen with a smile.

Although he wanted to nod yet again and be done with this, seeing her gaze, he was forced to ask the question she wanted to hear, "...then aren’t you at a loss?"

"I would be if I didn’t know how to create Talismans," Wei Ru smiled brightly and continued, "Thanks to that, this little loss isn’t much, and it has become more like a hobby for me to keep my mind busy...as one grows old, it’s only right for one to find such things, don’t you think Young Master Chen?"

"Yes, Madam Wei is completely right." Yi Chen said while giving a short nod as they took a turn and arrived in front of the door, right at the end of the corridor.

"That’s our best room, The Mesmerising Droplet." Wei Ru immediately gestured towards the black double door in front of them.

The walls of the corridor around them were painted in white and had several twirling green stems painted on them, which stretched themselves towards the door from both sides and finally blossomed into striking white jasmines over the black background of the door.

On top of the delicate petals, beads of droplets that looked as real as they could be were painted in a manner to provide a drizzling effect to that black background.

"It took three months for the artists to complete this picturesque scene. Doesn’t it look amazing?" Wei Ru asked, seeing Yi Chen’s widened eyes.

"It looks gorgeous..." he muttered with admiration evident in his eyes. Just the door had raised the bar by so much that his desire to look inside it increased by several degrees.

"I’m glad it’s to Young Master Chen’s liking. Lady Du personally asked me to book this room specifically for you. Let me guide you inside." Wei Ru said with a smile, hearing his response, and soon showed him inside.

An impeccable hall, floored with grey jade and furnished with elegant furniture that stood on a brown rug and greeted his eyes.

The ceiling was engraved with wave-like lines from one end to the other, and dim orange light flowed from these engravings like rays of the setting sun.

Seeing the Qi lamps illuminate through these narrow engravings and brighten the whole room, Yi Chen felt his mood lighten considerably as his mind began to relax.

"Over there is the bedroom, there’s a washroom, and that’s a balcony if Young Master Chen wishes to enjoy the view of our city...though I would recommend that you not do that in the early mornings or late evenings."

Wei Ru informed with a pursed smile.

"Hm? Why is that?" Yi Chen asked curiously.

"Because the moment the air turns cold, smoky fog envelops the entire city, making it a little difficult for one to breathe." She answered the next moment.

"I see...I’ll keep that in mind, Madam Wei. Thank you for your reminder." Yi Chen said with a smile and bowed towards her.

"You’re welcome. If there’s anything you need, you can call the reception through the sound transmission stone placed there on the table."

Yi Chen nodded, and seeing this, Wei Ru finally took her leave.

The moment that door closed, Yi Chen finally let out a sigh and collapsed straight on the sofa behind him.

A feeling of being engulfed by soft fluffy clouds took over him as he couldn’t help but snort in amusement.

"I might actually fall asleep if I stay like this for a couple of minutes..." he muttered and pushed himself up.

"Let’s freshen up then."

Too much was going on in his head right now, and it was also the reason why he felt a little lazy. Therefore, he did the best thing he could right now: take a bath.

"Now that I think of it...hasn’t it been more than three days since I last took a bath?" he thought with a bitter smile and entered the bathroom.

Half an hour later, he came out feeling completely refreshed.

"Even though it’s almost three in the afternoon, I don’t feel hungry..." he muttered while coming out of his room.

’I was planning to check out the city anyhow, so maybe after I’m done with it, I’ll feel a little hungry...’ Yi Chen thought while making his way down the stairs.

When he was on the ground floor, he nodded at the male receptionist before making his way out of the Inn.

’Which way now...left or right? Hmmm, let’s go with left.’ He debated in his mind before walking in a particular direction.

His aim for going out was solely to explore the city since he really had nothing else to do right now. The alternative was to sleep in his room, which, although enticing, was something he wanted to avoid.

If he were to sleep now, he was sure he would need to say goodbye to the late night’s sleep.

Looking around, he started seeing more and more people walking on the road compared to before, as the sun’s intensity had begun to come down.

His eyes hovered from one person to the other as he kept glancing at their status panels to learn not only about them but also to gather information about the city.

While at it, he of course kept an eye on the shops he was passing by as well.

’Oh?’

A particular shop immediately caught his attention.

’Violet Pill Pavilion...I’m out of Qi Nourishing Pills so I might as well check it out.’

Thinking this to himself, he soon entered the shop and was greeted by a man a decade older than him who was dressed in violet and white robes.

"Greetings, Esteemed Customer, how can I help you?" the man asked with a customary smile.

Seeing no signs of discolouration on his face, Yi Chen immediately opened his status panel and got to know that he was at the Sixth Meridian Refinement Stage.

’So, he’s a foreign worker...’ Yi Chen concluded and greeted the man back with a smile before saying, "I’m looking for some Qi Nourishing Pills, can I get some?"

"Absolutely, Sir! In fact, we just got our stock replenished last week." The man said in an enthusiastic manner while walking out of the counter towards the shelves before taking out a specific bottle.

"Here it is; one bottle contains ten of them and will cost you six hundred low-grade spirit stones. May I know how many you are looking for, sir?" the man asked with a polite smile.

"...Wait, 600 low-grade spirit stones?! I got these for just 150 spirit stones when I was at the Jade City? Are you trying to rob me or what?" Yi Chen asked with a frown.

"Ah, so Sir is from the White Jade Kingdom," the man nodded in understanding, already knowing that Yi Chen was an outsider just like himself and said, "Sir, you’re correct. In your Kingdom, you would indeed be able to get these pills at that price.

However, as you must have realised right now, there is only one variety of plant that grows in this entire Kingdom."

A bitter smile formed on the man’s face as he continued, "Therefore, all the ingredients required are imported from outside, thus resulting in the extra cost."

"This..." Yi Chen fully knew that the other party was telling the truth but, in his heart, still couldn’t help but feel that he was being taken advantage of.

’Even so...is the cost incurred by them so much for them to raise the price by four times...’

Seeing the hesitation in his face, the man exclaimed confidently, "I promise you, Sir, in the entire Lava City or the entire Black Rock Kingdom for that matter, you’ll not find any Qi Nourishing Pills cheaper than what we are charging at the Violet Pill Pavilion!"