On seeing the suspect behavior from the person tailing them, Yang Qing decided to spread his monarch sense to the area the person was hiding in.
His conversation with the head of the black viper had all been heard by Yang Qing.
"It seems the city is not as peaceful as it seems," thought Yang Qing as he took a step to the Earthvine restaurant's doors.
It was a four-storey building made entirely of maroon cedar wood and a hip and gable roof. Although its design seemed simple, it was that elegant simplicity that felt inviting to all who placed their eyes on it.
"What an interesting design. Mmmh it's pretty well defended too," thought Yang Qing as he detected a dormant array formation surrounding the building that would defend against the attack of several late-stage core formation experts. If Yang Qing had to guess, he surmised the grade of the formation array was at the peak of orange grade tittering towards the blue grade. It only missed it by a small distance.
"Zhong Quan is either a pretty resourceful guy than he lets on or he is valued by the Golden bamboo pavilion. Though none of that matters. Time to see how the food is in this place. I hope it comes close to the Thousand flavors restaurant even better if it exceeds it," thought Yang Qing as a greedy glint flashed in his eyes.
"Is it always this empty?" Yang Qing suddenly asked when he noticed the crowd outside the restaurant was small which was strange, especially for a restaurant that was deemed one of the jewels of the Purple city.
"No, this is odd. There's usually a long line of people waiting for their turns. No matter the time, the line is always long. This is strange. The only times it's been like this is when the owner was hosting some special guests. From what I heard they're not from the Empire either and they seem to have some relations with the restaurant along with a few other top shops within the city.
Might be some big shot on the same level as the Emperor," Zhi Da said pensively as he whispered toward the end.
"Oh, then should we go in?" asked Yang Qing though even if it seemed like he was waiting for Zhi Da's input his hand was already on the door pulling it.
The two siblings followed behind with Zhi Luoran's nervousness showing with every step she took. While Zhi Da tried to seem okay he too had some anxiety showing in his darting eyes.
"Don't worry, they won't chase you out. The owner is a friend," Yang Qing softly said trying to ease their tension. He was tempted to pat them on the head but he didn't think it would be a good move, given how guarded the two were to strangers.
Zhi Dao didn't believe Yang Qing's statement about his friendship with the owner. In his mind how could a foundation establishment youth be friends with the unfathomable owner who even the princes of the Empire had to treat with respect?
He assumed Yang Qing made the statement to comfort them or seem like a big shot. There were many people who would lie they were friends with a big shot to increase their own prestige.
Creak.
The door opened as Yang Qing walked in with the two siblings in tow.
The crowded restaurant he expected to find was not there as the seats on the ground floor were all empty and from his senses, he detected the other floors were empty too. However, despite it being empty there were people rushing about carrying trays of food and wine with others carrying decorative materials hurrying to the upper floors. The staircase was even adorned with carpet made from silk gotten from the lunar silkworm. It had an ethereal white feel to it and even without touching it one could feel its delicate softness along with the cool refreshing sensation it added to the floor.
"Young sir, what are you doing here? We already gave out a notice an hour ago that we are not accepting any guests for today. Please leave, if you want to eat you can back tomorrow morning," said a middle-aged man in pristine white robes that were not even an inch out of place. He had a short mustache and black hair tied in a small bun.
Yang Qing assumed the middle-aged man was the supervisor. He had an air of superiority about him and his cultivation base was at the second stage of the core formation realm while the other workers shuffling about had cultivation bases that were at the late stages of the qi refinement realm and some were in the early and middle stages of the foundation establishment realm.
Though Yang Qing did detect three other core formation experts on the ground floor. They were in a room that Yang Qing assumed was the kitchen.
The middle-aged man was walking down the staircase from the first floor as he said this. He stopped when he was a few meters away from Yang Qing. He showed an imperceptible frown and a look of disgust when his gaze fell on Zhi Da and Zhi Luoran. Although it was only for a second the two siblings seemed to have noticed it as Zhi Luoran lowered her head in shame while Zhi Da gave a self-deprecating smile as he held his sister's hands.
That veiled look of contempt didn't only appear on the middle-aged man but on some of the workers too who didn't even bother hiding their unkind looks of disgust as though the presence of the two siblings was tainting the place. But there were others who had looks of pity and empathy when they saw the two sibling's sallow and malnourished looks.
Yang Qing wasn't surprised by this but rather he expected it. Despite the restaurant's all-welcome policy the people who could afford to come to this place were either rich with prominent backgrounds or had powerful cultivation bases. With the fame it had, with time, the staff would grow accustomed to serving a particular client base and would form a bias against those who didn't fit that criterion.
Most organizations with huge repute suffered from this flaw be they sects, clans, kingdoms and empires, or merchant organizations even the Order wasn't immune to this. They would occasionally get a few bad eggs but with time the Order has found means to tackle the issue and they keep adding to those means to avoid the danger such a habit could bring.
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