The Growth of a Titan-Chapter 412- Looking For Evidence

Sol and Mar-Yue, with Woo-seong trailing behind, retraced their steps and came to a store they had once passed.

"Rising Phoenix Palace."

Sol muttered the name of the store that was on the signboard above the entrance. He found it peculiar that this store too has such a grand name, though it was starting to feel a bit ostentatious.

"Perhaps it’s a chain of stores with the same owner?"

Sol muttered once again, but Mar-Yue wasn’t listening to him as the moment they entered the store a few shoes caught her attention.

However, Woo-seong was listening to Sol and his brows furrowed as he stopped to look at the name on the store’s signboard.

"Brother Sol, I think this street is owned a by single Sect or Clan, as all of the stores have Palace in their name."

Woo-seong said after going after Sol and Mar-Yue who entered the store.

"They do?"

Sol wasn’t particularly looking at the names of the stores they passed by, so he didn’t know this was the case. But now that Woo-seong mentioned it, it was highly likely this street was owned by one establishment.

"Greetings to the two Young Masters and the Young Miss, welcome to our Rising Phoenix Palace. I am this store’s manager, Han Guang."

An old man with gray hair wearing an amicable smile approached them, interrupting Sol and Woo-seong’s conversation.

Woo-seong looked at the smiling old man and asked with narrowed eyes.

"To think the manager himself would greet us by the entrance."

The old man didn’t seem to notice the inquisitive nature of Woo-seong’s words as he chuckled and said.

"I’m not one of those managers that sit back and watch their employees work tirelessly. I might not be as energetic as you young ones, but this old man still has the vital to outrun a young calf."

Han Guang rubbed his short gray beard as he said this.

Mar-Yue seemed to be amused by his words as she chuckled.

"Senior Han, it’s my first time coming to Jianghu, can you show me the footwear the refined ladies here wear?"

"Hoho, so this is your first time visiting Jianghu? You came to the right store; with this old man’s experience I know just what you’re looking for. Oh, and you can just call me Old Han."

Without saying anything further, Old Han led the three into the store.

As they were being led, Sol looked over at Woo-seong with a questioning look. Woo-seong’s stern question before was quite abrupt.

Seeing his expression, Woo-seong sent Sol a soul message.

"Brother Sol, I think something strange is going on."

Woo-seong then retold Sol what he overheard from the female attendant.

Sol listened silently then sent a soul message of his own.

’Since they’re chain stores then it’s not surprising that they would alert each other of potential customers.’

’But-’

’Don’t worry, I’m not lacking in Aether Stones so I’m not afraid of them bringing out their most expensive items.’

Woo-seong wanted to say something, but Sol confidently assured him.

Woo-seong eventually nodded, but in his heart, he was feeling uneasy. Somehow, he had become the one worrying about spending money when it was Sol not too long ago scamming an old man out of five mid-grade Aether Stones.

In reality, Sol was unconcern about spending his wealth now because it was for Mar-Yue, and he didn’t mind using most of it on her.

From this one could see that Sol was a doting boyfriend.

Not long after, Old Han brought them to a specific jade case.

Similar to the other store, numerous clear jade cases were spread around the large first floor with more than a few people browsing the items inside them. Most were girls in groups, while others were together, perhaps being each other’s significant other.

Out of all the display cases in the store, Old Han brought them to this one.

It held a pair of under-the-heel footwear that was white and had blue floral patterns across it.

"Does the Young Miss like this pair?"

At some point in their walk, Old Han had taken out an equally old pipe to smoke. Each time he puffed on the pipe, smoke resembling two small twisting dragons would exit his nose. However, they behaved strangely as they would linger around him.

It looked as if they were dragons born from him and were unwilling to accept their fate a be dissipated. They would rather stay and accompany him.

The scene was quite mystical to witness.

Upon hearing Old Han’s question, Mar-Yue looked at the pair of shoes and asked in slight surprise.

"How could you have possibly known I would like this pair?"

Old Han smiled as he puffed out another two dragons, adding to the eight already around him.

"Didn’t I say before, with this old man’s experience it’s simple to know a customer’s preference with just a glance."

Old Han said this with a faint smile as the ten smoke dragons coiled around. All of a sudden, he looked extremely mysterious and otherworldly.

If a mortal was here, they would have likely thought he was an Immortal Deity who had descended from beyond the Nine Heavens.

Mar-Yue looked to be quite amused by Old Han’s performance. She wasn’t one to find such things amazing. If Old Han were to give her that pipe, she could create a smoke dragon that filled this entire store.

Sol too had the same reaction, however, Woo-seong was furrowing his brows behind the two. He couldn’t help but curse Old Han inwardly.

’Damn old man, it’s obvious you heard from that old hag about Sister Mar-Yue’s preference!’

Woo-seong snorted softly before looking away from Old Han.

However, his gaze involuntarily landed on the small stone tablet inside the display case that held the pair of shoes. On it displayed was only the name of the creator and the price as they weren’t equipped with functions to help with cultivation and the like.

When Woo-seong looked at it and saw the price, his pupils dramatically contracted.

Feeling breathless, he involuntarily blurted out.

"Blood hell, why does this cost ninety million mid-grade Aether Stones when it doesn’t even have any features to help with cultivation?!"

His sudden shout made a few girls in the store turn to look at him with displeasure.

Old Han also had slight annoyance flicker past his eyes. His was bad for his business.

He then said in a low tone.

"Young man, I suggest you keep your voice down in the store so as to not disturb the other customers."

Woo-seong smiled awkwardly as he hadn’t meant to shout, but he was still aggrieved at the price, so he insisted.

"I apologize, but why is the price so high?"

Old Han took the pipe from his mouth and responded calmly.

"Perhaps you are comparing the shoes in my store to the common ones you can find outside. However, I assure you they are as far apart in similarity as the heavens are from the earth. Not only was this pair of shoes crafted by a well-known artisan and from the finest materials, but between the cost of this artisan’s service as well as the rarity of the materials, it is expected for the selling price to be of this level."

As Old Han spoke, he seemed less annoyed by Woo-seong’s question and was instead amused as he continued with a chuckle.

"But if you think this price is high, don’t look now as the price for the pair of shoes next to this is even higher."

Old Han motioned to the display case next to the one they were standing in front of, and they all looked towards it.

Woo-seong’s eyes immediately focused on the price, and he became utterly dumbfounded.

"This... That is..."

Woo-seong was speechless because the price was actually two hundred million mid-grade Aether Stones!

Woo-seong somewhat refused to believe a pair of shoes would cost this much, even if the artisan services and materials were extremely expensive.

Mar-Yue looked at the pair of shoes in the display case with curiosity.

It was similar to the pair of shoes she wanted, but it was blue with white wavy designs on it.

Both shoes were rather plain at first glance, but the simple designs on them would make one feel that a lot of care had gone into creating them at the second glance.

"Do you want this pair as well?"

Sol asked when he saw how Mar-Yue was looking at the pair of shoes.

Mar-Yue hesitated slightly, but Sol gently squeezed her hand. Mar-Yue glanced up at Sol when she felt his squeeze to see that he was smiling at her.

His gaze was encouraging, and it was as if he was saying she really shouldn’t hold herself back.

At this moment, Mar-Yue was so moved that she wanted to kiss Sol. However, she was too embarrassed to do something like that in public, so she settled on returning Sol’s squeeze.

Though if Sol had known Mar-Yue would find kissing him in public embarrassing, he would have done it without hesitation, and continued to do so every chance he got.

Smiling, Old Han said.

"This old man can see you both love each other very much. It reminds me of the past."

Old Han sighed with forlorn before he called over a store attendant and ordered him to put away these two pairs of shoes.

He then turned to Sol and Mar-Yue to ask with a smile.

"Will that be all, or would you like to look around some more? This old man can guarantee that there are a few more items you might on the higher floors."

Mar-Yue was interested as Old Han had gotten her preference right on the first try. She decided she would follow him to look around. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

All this while, Woo-seong was frowning hard.

After his accidental outburst, Old Han started ignoring his presence. He might as well be the passing breeze in his eyes.

’Damn old man, I know there is something suspicious going on.’

Woo-seong ground his teeth before he started glancing around the store to find anything suspicious. He really didn’t like how Sol was spending so much even if Sol himself didn’t mind. But for Mar-Yue’s sake, Woo-seong didn’t want to say anything until he found evidence of foul play.