Chapter 610

Chapter 437 The Clock Shop

“The White Stone Craftsmen Guild is a base in the city?”

“Yes, it’s a trading point within the city where one can trade secret items at any time. I want to go there to trade some things. Do you know of any such places in Trua?”

In the living room of the apartment, Brandon casually spoke out. After hearing his words, the woman known as Miss Wuyan began to think. After pondering for a while, she responded with a nervous expression to the unexpected guest sitting on the sofa.

“At gatherings, Mr. Jieshi once told us that if we need to conduct transactions outside of gatherings, we could go to a certain place and find people there. They can trade many extraordinary items, but usually, the prices are much higher than those during gatherings, and the quality is also higher. It’s not recommended for low-level individuals…”

As Miss Wuyan said this, Brandon’s eyes lit up after hearing her words, and he continued to speak.

“According to your description, it’s very likely. Could you please tell me where exactly this place is?”

“According to Mr. Jieshi, it’s in Pebble Lane on Silver Staff Road in East Water Bay. There’s a clock shop called Jose Clock Shop inside. If you say you want to buy a stone heart watch, the staff will take you to the trading location…”

“A clock shop? I understand. Have you been there before? Is there anything worth noting when going there?”

“Well… I’ve only been there once before. At that time, I was buying some medicine, but after asking about the price and finding it too expensive compared to gatherings, I didn’t decide to buy it. As for anything worth noting, there isn’t much. It just feels like the owner is a bit fierce, treating the staff very strictly. Even small mistakes get scolded. When dealing with them, it’s best to communicate directly with the staff; the owner is not easy to talk to.”

Miss Wuyan said this. Listening to her words, Brandon nodded and then spoke.

“I understand. Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Wuyan. Your information will save me a lot of trouble.”

As Brandon spoke, he took out a small envelope from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table in the living room. He then continued to speak.

“This is a little bit of the insights I’ve gained while exploring the hidden path. You can take it and read it. Consider it my reward. Be sure to take precautions against poison recognition while reading. I’ve written down the rhythm and order of reading for you.”

“This… This is truly very grateful. Helping you is an honor for me!”

Seeing the envelope on the coffee table, Miss Wuyan said with bright eyes, then bowed to Brandon. She hadn’t expected this powerful extraordinary being to actively pay a reward. She originally thought that just getting through this encounter safely would be enough, and had no expectation of receiving any form of repayment.

“It’s nothing, just mutual assistance. Exploration on the hidden path is full of dangers. Take care of yourself in the future.”

Brandon said this, then stood up from the sofa after taking another sip of tea. Putting on his hat, he walked to the door of the living room and opened the main door under Miss Wuyan’s nervous gaze.

“Lastly, your tea is quite good.”

With that, Brandon left, leaving Miss Wuyan alone, staring at the newly closed door.

…

Not far from the Huijin neighborhood, Dorothy sat at her seat in a restaurant, eating pastries while scrutinizing the Trua city map spread out on the table, confirming the exact location of the place Miss Wuyan mentioned.

“East Water Bay… Let me see, it doesn’t seem too far away. It should be within kilometers. In that case, I’ll just have Brandon take a taxi there.”

After gathering enough information from the local secret researchers in Trua, Dorothy decided not to delay and sent the zombie puppet Brandon to the new location. Under Dorothy’s manipulation, the zombie stopped a taxi near the entrance of Huijin neighborhood and directed it to head towards the area indicated by Miss Wuyan.

Early in the morning, Dorothy followed her plan and found the herb shop in Trua, most likely frequented by local secret researchers. Then, using several dog zombies to guard the entrances of these shops, she used their sense of smell to detect the scent of visitors, identifying who might be a secret researcher based on the combination of odors, similar to how she used dog zombies to sniff the living Brandon in Igewent.

Although using dog zombies to smell was less effective than using scent sigils and required closer proximity, it was sufficient for the current situation.

So far, Dorothy’s plan was progressing smoothly. After successfully obtaining information about the White Stone Craftsmen Guild, she also gave Miss Wuyan a little reward, mainly consisting of apprentice rank promotion ceremonies, preventive methods for poison recognition circulating internally within the Radiant Church’s Historical Records Office, and harmless methods of accumulating spirituality like body tempering techniques…

“Now, let’s focus on that base. Hopefully, they have what we need…”

Thinking this, Dorothy finished her cake and called for a server to bring her a cup of black tea. She then began sipping her tea while waiting for Brandon to arrive from afar.

As time passed, the taxi carrying Brandon finally arrived at Silver Staff Road in East Water Bay. After getting off here, Dorothy instructed him to search along the ordinary-looking street. After asking the locals, she finally found the alley called Pebble Lane.

Under Dorothy’s control, Brandon entered the real pebble-paved alley. Unlike the dark and dirty alleys in the western part of the city, this alley was clean and tidy, with numerous shops and pedestrians. Brandon quickly found the place he was looking for, named Jose Clock Shop.

Glancing at the dignified signboard of the shop and admiring the large standing clock in the window covered with a thin layer of dust, Dorothy then instructed Brandon to enter the shop. What came into view was a room full of clocks.

In the antique-styled clock shop, countless various wall clocks hung on the walls. These clocks were slowly ticking, running with a steady sound. Various styles of exquisite dials displayed different hands moving at their own pace, mostly indicating the current time, around three thirty in the afternoon.

Besides the wall clocks, the shop also had many tall and beautiful standing clocks. Facing the entrance were glass cabinets filled with various smaller pocket watches. Behind the cabinets, two young male clerks were sitting idly. Upon seeing Brandon enter, they showed a hint of alertness. One of them stood up and said,

“Welcome, sir. How may I assist you?”

Listening to the clerk’s words, Brandon did not answer immediately. Instead, he circled the clock shop, scanning the various wall clocks and standing clocks hanging on the walls. After thoroughly examining the surroundings, he slowly approached the counter and began to observe the pocket watches through the glass, saying as he looked,

“Is your boss not here?”