Hou Niao had not changed his appearance. He had merely made a few slight adjustments using the tricks of the trade he had learned as a constable. He knew very well that if anyone was paying attention, any deliberate disguise would arouse suspicion.
There was no need at all. He did not seem to have any acquaintances in Qi State, did he?
Acting naturally was the best cover. In this kind of business, there was no such thing as absolute safety.
Like all cultivators who had traveled from afar, he toured all of Jianye City's famous historical sites and buildings over the next few days, along with its dazzling cultivation markets. He even spent freely on several artifacts. As he wandered, however, he also memorized the city's general layout and surroundings: where it was open, where it was bustling, where there were more or fewer people, and where cultivators gathered.
None of this was secret. Anyone who took an interest could learn it.
Although he was anxious, he could not show it. The means of making contact was also the most ordinary method used by mortals, with a fixed meeting place on the first, eleventh, and twenty-first of each month. Although everyone involved was a cultivator, using divine sense to communicate in a city like Jianye, where fish and dragons mingled and powerful cultivators abounded, would have been the stupidest approach.
Daoist methods included many ways to intercept divine sense. Using the simplest mortal methods was safer instead.
He had arrived in Jianye on the fourth, which meant there were still six days until the meeting. No amount of impatience would hurry it along.
Sometimes he wondered whether, if You Chao'en's injuries improved and he talked, he could simply head home.
He very much wanted to do something his own