The next day.
Maplecloud City.
Following the crowd entering the city, Ian Song and Chloe Snow walked into Maplecloud City together.
According to the Chu Family's ancient records, Maplecloud City was just a remote small city under the Mystic Sun Domain, one of the ten major human domains.
Even as a small city, its walls were over twenty zhang high; not even a peak Divine Sea expert could easily scale them.
"Wow, big brother, Maplecloud City is so bustling!"
Walking down the streets of Maplecloud City, Chloe stared wide-eyed at the exquisite buildings and the crowds everywhere. Her curious gaze darted here and there, her whole face lit up with excitement.
Suddenly.
Chloe pointed at two towering Minotaurs, each carrying a giant axe, their massive bodies over two meters tall with two curved horns on their heads. She exclaimed, "Big brother, look! What are those?"
"Those should be Minotaurs!" Ian explained.
Manggu Continent was teeming with countless races; humans were only one of the ten major races, and ranked eighth.
Minotaurs belonged to the Beastkin Race, famed for their great strength but dull minds, so their status was low even among Beastkin.
Still, the Beastkin Race was also one of the ten major races, ranked ninth.
Both Minotaurs were following a young man in blue, likely his bodyguards. Judging by his attire, the young man was probably a scion of one of Maplecloud City's martial families.
After wandering the streets with Chloe for nearly two hours, Ian brought her to a restaurant.
Ian had no leads regarding Thomas Chu, and so many years had passed that investigating was extremely difficult. Still, he guessed there must be organizations in Maplecloud City specializing in gathering intelligence. Since he was new here, he decided the restaurant was a good place to start asking around.
He booked a private room and ordered a table full of local specialties.
After they had eaten their fill, Ian called for the waiter outside the door, tossed him a five-tael silver ingot, and said, "Go fetch your keeper!"
"Right away, sir. Please wait a moment."
The waiter beamed as he pocketed the silver, bowed to Ian, and backed out of the private room.
Soon, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
A slightly plump old man pushed the door open and entered. His gaze swept the room and landed on Ian, and he cupped his fists politely: "May I ask what instructions you have for me, sir?"
"How should I address you, Keeper?" Ian asked with a smile.
"My surname is He," the old man replied.
Ian continued, "So you are Keeper He. I have something to ask: in Maplecloud City, which organization is best at gathering information?"
Keeper He smiled, "You've asked the right person. In Maplecloud City, the most well-informed group is the Dawnsky Pavilion. If it happens within a thousand li of the city, Dawnsky Pavilion can find out about it."
"You seem to know your stuff, Keeper. I'll get straight to the point: I want to know what Thomas Chu, the former patriarch of Gracefield Town, experienced after running away at sixteen. Here's a deposit!" As he spoke, Ian tossed over a silver note worth ten thousand taels. "If you succeed, I'll pay another fifty thousand, but you have half a month. Can you do it?"
Keeper He glanced at the silver note in his hand, his manner growing even more enthusiastic and respectful. He smiled, "Rest assured, sir. Within half a month, I'll have a definite answer for you!"
For the next few days, Ian stayed at the restaurant.
On the fifth day.
Keeper He arrived, bringing with him a black-faced man.
Ian glanced at the black-faced man, who looked to be in his early thirties, with a gloomy gaze. He carried a longsword on his back, two short swords strapped to his forearms under his sleeves, and his bulging waist likely hid more concealed weapons. His cultivation was at late Divine Sea Stage.
Keeper He hurriedly said, "Master Ian, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Wei, third boss of Dawnsky Pavilion!"
Ian nodded and said coolly, "Boss Wei, have you found the information I asked for?"
"Not yet!"
The black-faced man shook his head.
"If you haven't, then why are you here?" Ian's expression suddenly turned cold.
The black-faced man smiled thinly, "I'm here for two reasons. First, who exactly are you, Master Ian? I hope you'll answer honestly. Second, the information you commissioned us to investigate is far from ordinary. The previous price is too low; you'll need to raise it!"
Ian's face grew even colder. "If your Dawnsky Pavilion is so omniscient, you must already know who I am—so why ask? As for raising the price, the sixty thousand taels I've promised is already several times the market rate. How much more do you want?"
The black-faced man burst out laughing. "Ha! That's right, we've already tracked down your identity, Master Ian. We just came to confirm it. I didn't expect you to be so young and already leading a clan. As for the price, it'll be six hundred thousand taels. If you pay us another five hundred ninety thousand, we'll keep investigating your father's past!"
Six hundred thousand taels was equivalent to the Chu Family's annual income.
Ian didn't lack money, but he had no taste for being extorted. He replied coolly, "I'm not raising the price any further, and Dawnsky Pavilion must finish this investigation properly!"
The black-faced man was stunned, then sneered, "Master Ian, I suggest you reconsider!"
"There's nothing to reconsider!" Ian shook his head.
Smack!
The black-faced man slammed his palm on the table, his gaze turning cold. "Chu Fan, don't be ignorant! Dawnsky Pavilion isn't someone you can provoke. Be smart and hand over the five hundred ninety thousand taels, or you won't leave Maplecloud City alive!"
"Oh? I'd like to see you try!" Ian was completely unafraid.
"Courting death!"
The black-faced man's eyes flashed with killing intent. He suddenly raised both hands, firing two sleeve daggers at Ian—two streaks of cold light shot straight for him. As soon as the daggers flew out, the man drew his sword with his right hand and reached for his waist with his left.
But at that moment—
The black-faced man's movements froze, and even the two daggers stopped midair in front of Ian.
Ian calmly stepped forward and tapped the man's forehead, sending a Puppet Mastery Divine Art into his body.
When the spatial stasis faded and everything returned to normal, the black-faced man had become Ian's puppet.
"Your subordinate Wei San'er greets Master!"
Ian let him kneel and asked, "Speak. Why did Dawnsky Pavilion raise the price?"
Wei San'er answered honestly, "Master, you may not know, but everyone we sent to investigate your father's past was intercepted and killed by a mysterious expert. Not one survived. So our chief ordered us to stop investigating. But since we lost so many men, we wanted to make up our losses by getting more from you!"
Hearing this, Ian's face darkened slightly. Dawnsky Pavilion's agents were actually killed, which meant their investigation was heading in the right direction.
With that in mind, he said to Wei San'er, "Take me to your chief right now!"