Fang Yuan stopped at a place called Four Seasons Restaurant. He had been here during his past life, and the food was more than acceptable.
"Hello, sirs," the waiter said, bowing as he saw the number '5' on Fang Yuan's belt. "Please come this way."
The bottom floor was very crowded and noisy. However, the top floors were reserved for Gu Masters. They made their way up.
As they climbed the stairs, the waiter retreated and another girl came to approach them. "Please take them to the fifth floor," the waiter said.
She took a look at Fang Yuan, bowed deeply, and led them upstairs.
The first floor catered to mortals, the second floor to Rank 1 Gu Masters, the third floor to Rank 2 Gu Masters and there was a 20% discount, the fourth floor to Rank 3 Gu Masters and there was a 50% discount. Rank 4 Gu Masters could eat at the fifth floor free of charge. Rank 5 Gu Masters were rare enough that there was no separate floor reserved for them. If Fang Yuan demanded it though, they would've without a doubt created a separate space for him.
However, there was no need to. The topmost floor was practically empty, except for two people who were speaking to each other, looking like they were going over a business deal.
"All right then, all right then," one of the men said, handing over a bag of primeval stones. "Pleasure doing business with you."
The other man nodded, picking it up and weighing it in his hands before saying, "Same here."
"Thank you! So, what do you plan on doing after this business transaction?"
"Oh, I was thinking of visiting this new little place in the red light district called The Rose Garden. They say that it's a wonderful place with very nice and compliant young women. The girls have a particular charm there that I haven't seen in any other place."
"Hmm, The Rose Garden, you say? I think I've heard of that name before, but I can't place it."
"Oh, it's gotten famous recently. I think I'll definitely drop there - my first time visiting as a matter of fact. Nothing like getting some of that stuff out after you've had a nice meal, isn't it? There's this one over there giving me the side-eye when I passed by earlier - she's just my type!"
The two of them laughed heartedly before getting up to leave.
However, as one of them went down the stairs, the other person suddenly seemed to remember something and then ran after the other person. "Wait, wait! I remember where I had heard the name before! The Rose Garden is run by the Sunflower Sect!"
Bai Ning Bing and Fang Yuan ignored the commotion as they sat down.
They saw that the room was lavishly decorated in a way that could only be done so within Shang Clan City. On the walls were various art pieces depicting important moments in the clan's history. The food here was first class, as expected. They were prepared by experienced chefs who used not only exotic ingredients but also Food Path gu worms to assist them in their cooking.
It could still not compare to the tea that Paradise Earth had prepared for Fang Yuan on occasion, but that was an Immortal's preparation; it could not be compared with this.
Fang Yuan heard one of the waiters say, "Pull out all the stops - there is a Rank 5 Gu Master here."
There were numerous delicacies piled in front of the two of them - the ovaries of lioness's cooked and covered in honey, bear paw meat, exotic mushrooms, dragon meat, even some Rank One gu worms that had great nutritious value. They were going all-out to make Fang Yuan happy - even though he wasn't going to be paying a dime.
Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing both dug in greedily as one of the waiters passed by placing other things on their table.
"What is that?" Bai Ning Bing asked, pointing to something that vaguely looked like a fish tail, but it was shaped oddly and she hadn't seen anything like it before.
"Oh that? That is a mermaid tail," Fang Yuan said.
"Mermaid tail? Isn't that technically... cannibalism?" Bai Ning Bing asked. She did not have much experience with variant humans, but to her, it seemed much like eating a person's legs and feet.
"No, not at all," Fang Yuan said. "Those parts are considered to be just like fish since they are from the 'non-human' part of a variant human." He was a bit taken aback that they had prepared such a thing for them - ordinarily such items could only be found on the black market. As one might imagine, most people did not want to be associated with such a business and certain clans outright forbade the practice. Although variant humans were suppressed, it was still seen as a borderline demonic act to do something like this.
Where else could one find such a thing other than Shang Clan City, then?
"These belong to a merman," Fang Yuan said, pointing to one of the tails. "And this belongs to a mermaid." There were subtle differences in their tails based on gender that he was able to easily distinguish between them.
Bai Ning Bing still looked at it with an apprehensive expression on her face.
"Go ahead and try it," Fang Yuan said, while taking a large bite out of a mermaid tail. "Trust me when I tell you this - the taste of a mermaid isn't bad."
Bai Ning Bing watched Fang Yuan devour it, still feeling queasy about the prospect and avoiding it entirely.
With their meal over, the two of them made their way to the streets of Shang Clan City.
"Hey - didn't you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Shang Yan Fei was seen near the streets of the southern gate!"
"Why would he go out like that?"
"It's true, he appeared in a ball of flame!"
Fang Yuan smiled. It looked like his plan had worked and Zhang Xin Ci had been picked up already. However, that also meant that sooner or later, they would also be implicated. Best to get some of their work done before then.
Bai Ning Bing took no note of these rumors. Although they had dropped off the two woman near the Southern Gate, she would never make that kind of connection in her mind.
"Where do we go now?"
"The Inner City."
"Inner City?"
"Yes, only less valuable things are kept here, if you want something that is really worth your time, you'll have to go in there," Fang Yuan said.
She followed Fang Yuan to a cave guarded by a Shang Clan Gu Master.
"Entry fee is 100 primeval stones per person."
"100 stones!" Bai Ning Bing exclaimed. She had already been quite shocked by the prices she had seen in the city - half a stone to pay for a day's stay? On Qing Mao Mountain that could easily get you a room for a week with meals included!
"It is done in order to maintain order and to ensure that it is peaceful inside," the guard responded.
Fang Yuan showed him the White Token, which the guard glanced over, as well as Fang Yuan's Rank 5 Cultivation.
"That can excuse one person from the toll, not two."
Bai Ning Bing handed over 100 primeval stones as they walked down the cave.
The crowd here was naturally far less dense than outside - the toll took care of that. Gu Masters usually traveled with their servants, but few would pay the toll to bring them inside. The buildings were all one story here, with several pillars that functioned as staircases to either go up or down.
The Inner City was not flat like a pancake but instead carved deep into the mountain with many layers. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing walked towards one of them to go deeper.