448: Entering The Capital

Entering The Capital

He just wanted to delay it as long as he could so that his plan would progress without much obstruction.1

Lin Mu and little Shrubby traveled for about one hour before they were able to see the large city in the distance. Lin Mu halted there and looked for a suitable place where Little Shrubby could stay for the time being.

"Alright, I'll call for you if I need you. I don't know how long it is going to take me so be patient." Lin Mu said.

"Okay. But can I cook?" Little Shrubby asked.

Lin Mu had to think for a bit before he came upon an answer.

"Yes, you can. Just make sure to cover the fire after you are done, it will make it look like a human did it. There are a lot of people living nearby so they will just assume it was a person and not a beast." Lin Mu replied.

"I'll do that then." Little Shrubby replied.

Lin Mu nodded his head and headed towards one of the gates of the city, leaving little shrubby behind. His link with little Shrubby was now effective for quite a long distance and thus he knew he wouldn't really have much problem with calling him, should he need help.

While flying there, Lin Mu could see beyond the tall walls of the capital city. The walls were about ten meters tall and some guards could be seen patrolling it from time to time.

Just as he got near it, he once again felt a familiar feeling.

"It's that formation again… looks like I'll have to head through the gate." Lin Mu muttered with a sigh.

This was the same formation that detected when a person got near the city's area. It was just this one had a longer range, which Lin Mu had not expected. Even him being able to detect it was actually unusual, as normal cultivators wouldn't even know about it.

This made it easy for the authorities to tell when someone unknown entered the city or got near it. If they were found to be criminals and denied that they were in the city, this formation would help in confirming their location.

Lin Mu circled around the wall, and he eventually found a gate where a lot of people were standing.

"Mother, look it is a flying cultivator." A child who had snot running down his nose pointed to Lin Mu.

The guards spotted him too and were a bit surprised. Multiple spirit sense probes came towards Lin Mu and he allowed them near him. If Lin Mu wanted to, he could easily block them all but he knew this was to check him and would make it a bit easier to enter.

"Make way! Make way! All commoners move aside!" The guards shouted.

The guard who seemed to be the leader, came forward and cupped his hands.

"Senior, may I know your name and take your jade slip for verification." He asked.

Lin Mu descended onto the ground and flipped his palm, making a jade slip appeared in his hand. The guard noticed the ring on his hand and gulped.

"Thank you senior." The guard said respectfully and checked the jade slip before passing it back.

"Everything is an alright senior. Is there anywhere specific you want to go to? Most of the locations frequented by cultivators are far from this point? You should have gone through the main entrance perhaps, this entrance is usually used by peasants." The guard explained.

"Ah! I see. I just came from a different route and thus came to this gate as it was the closest for me." Lin Mu replied.

"Oh, that is fine, senior. People of your standing do not have restrictions on the gates that they can enter from, only commoners do." The guard spoke.

Lin Mu nodded his head and decided to ask the guard about some shops. This may even help him establish an alibi in case anything happened.

"Well, I have never been to the capital of this kingdom before and wanted to buy as well as sell some cultivation resources." Lin Mu stated.

"Senior is not from this region I see. Well that is fine, I have a guide here that you can read to find out more about the city. It has a catalog of all the popular shops that cultivators frequent." The guard replied.

"Oh, that will be very good." Lin Mu replied.

The guard asked one of the others to bring the guide, which he then passed onto Lin Mu. 

"Thank you for your assistance, here take this." Lin Mu said before handing a spirit stone to the guard.

The guard graciously accepted the spirit stone and spoke, "thank you for your generosity senior." 

Lin Mu nodded before entering the city. 

It was Xukong who had advised him to be a little generous to the guard as it would help in keeping a good image in their minds. If any trouble arose, and these guards were questioned, they would subconsciously assume that Lin Mu was not the one to do it.

Such was human psychology, and a little tip worked a long way. Lin Mu looked through the guide and quickly found a few places that aroused his interest. 

The first place was none other than the branch of the mercenary union, which was located in the south of the city. The second was a shop that specialized in spirit tools and both sold and bought them. Lin Mu was looking to see if they would also make some custom things that he wanted for little Shrubby.

The third place was another shop that specialized in the sale of alchemical pills. But the most special thing about this shop was that it was actually being run by the Tri cauldron peony sect itself.

Lin Mu didn't actually want to buy anything here, but wanted to visit for the disciples themselves. If anything, he would be able to spy on them and find out more about their workings here.

"Gu Yao is bound to have some people working here… after all, this is the capital."

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