I Really Can't Remember What They Look Like

The Head Waiter swept the dust off the floor and gestured for Master Chen to enter. "Master Chen, please come in. What would you like today? Our Shopkeeper just opened a jar of Osmanthus Wine..."

As the Head Waiter was about to continue, he saw Master Chen wave his hand. "Not today. I'm here to ask you something."

"Ah! Please, Master Chen, speak. I'll tell you everything I know."

"First, find me a private room where no one else will be."

"Right away, please follow me."

He led Master Chen to the best room in the inn, the Sky-Class Private Room, and casually wiped the table. "Master Chen, are you satisfied with this?"

As soon as the Head Waiter finished speaking, he saw Master Chen draw the knife from his waist and place it at his throat.

This terrified the Head Waiter, who cried out repeatedly, "Master Chen, spare me! Master Chen, spare me! I have..."

"Shut up!" Master Chen roared impatiently.

The Head Waiter immediately fell silent, but his legs trembled uncontrollably.

"What I'm about to ask you must not be leaked. If a third person finds out... you understand the consequences, don't you?"

"I understand, I understand!" The Head Waiter nodded repeatedly.

"Good. I ask you, have any Sect Members with outstanding auras stayed at your hotel recently?"

The Head Waiter thought for a moment after hearing the question and shook his head. "Not many guests have stayed here in the past few days. Sect Members... there shouldn't be any."

"What do you mean 'shouldn't be any'!? Are you messing with me?" Master Chen's eyes widened, and the knife pressed a little closer to the Head Waiter's neck.

The Head Waiter was so scared he almost wet himself. He said repeatedly, "There really aren't any! There really aren't any! Besides a few Young Masters from the Eastern Young Manor, all the guests these past two days were ordinary folk dressed in coarse cloth."

"Good. Now, go and call all the waiters you have under you. I have something to ask them."

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll go right now."

After speaking, the Head Waiter ran out of the private room and into the lobby, shouting, "Pockface, Little Six, Stone, come here, quickly!"

The waiters who were serving customers heard the call. After apologizing to their guests, they hurried over to the Head Waiter and asked, "What's wrong, Big Brother Liu?"

"Put down what you're doing and come with me."

"Huh? All of us? What about the business?"

"Ah, we can't worry about that now. Hurry up and come."

Although the three waiters were confused, they followed the Head Waiter.

They arrived at the Sky-Class Private Room. As soon as the waiters saw Master Chen inside, they seemed to understand what was happening and immediately bowed, calling out, "Greetings, Master Chen."

"Everyone, get over here," Master Chen glared at them and said.

Seeing the Long Back Saber Master Chen had drawn, the three waiters felt a chill run down their spines, their feet unwilling to move.

"What? Do I need to say it a second time?" Master Chen glared at them and said.

At this moment, the Head Waiter quickly kicked each of the three waiters, saying, "Hurry up!"

Only then did the three waiters stumble to Master Chen's side. Before Master Chen could even speak, the three waiters simultaneously knelt and kowtowed, "Master Chen, spare our lives! Master Chen, spare our lives! We really didn't do anything..."

"Shut up, all of you! Stand up!"

Upon hearing this, the three waiters quickly stood up.

After threatening the three waiters in the same manner, Master Chen asked, "Describe to me, one by one, the appearance of the guests you've served these past few days."

The three waiters listened and began to describe the guests they had served. When they heard about a woman wearing a straw hat, Master Chen would ask for details.

After Pockface finished, Stone immediately followed up, "I... I only served six guests yesterday, and they were all wearing straw hats."

Master Chen immediately asked upon hearing this, "Tell me their physical characteristics."

"Yes... yes." Stone finished speaking and began to recall, only to find that his impression of those six guests was extremely vague. He couldn't remember what they were wearing no matter how hard he tried.

"What are you thinking about? Speak!"

Hearing Master Chen's roar, Stone quickly knelt on the ground and said, "This humble one... this humble one truly can't remember what they looked like."

After speaking, Stone's body tensed, fearing he was about to receive a brutal beating.

However, to his surprise, Master Chen didn't kick him. Instead, he frowned and said, "The guests who came yesterday, and you can't remember what they looked like today?"

Stone quickly slapped himself, "It is this humble one's fault for being useless, but I really can't remember what those guests looked like."

Feeling that he had found his target, Master Chen suddenly kicked Stone in the stomach and roared, "Think carefully! Tell me whatever comes to mind, or I'll kick you to death!"

At this moment, Stone was in pain and anxious, sweating profusely as he desperately tried to recall. Finally, his eyes suddenly widened, and he shouted, "Th-that guest tipped me five coins."

Master Chen reached out upon hearing this, "Where's the money?"

"Here, here," Stone endured the pain and took out five Copper Coins from his bosom and handed them to Master Chen.

"Are you sure it's these five?" Master Chen asked, looking at the Copper Coins in Stone's hand.

"This humble one is sure, because it's rare for a guest to tip, so this humble one planned to hide it as protective money, and kept it at the very bottom."

Nodding, Master Chen took the five Copper Coins from Stone's hand and studied them carefully for a while.

'Duanping Ruixiang...'

Master Chen touched his chin, contemplating the four characters engraved on the copper coin and feeling its weight. "Three Treasures Coin from the Huainan Region, huh..."

The primary value of currency lies in its credit value. For example, a modern hundred-yuan banknote might cost only a few cents to produce, but because of the credit of the RMB, paper money made with a few cents can be used as a hundred yuan.

However, there is no unified, formal currency exchange system on the Profound Dragon Continent, making it difficult to guarantee the purchasing power of currency. In other words, the credit value of currency is almost zero, which leads to the face value of a copper coin being almost equal to its material value.

Because precious metals are scarce on the Profound Dragon Continent, even copper is in short supply. Therefore, coins made of pure copper are almost nonexistent. Most are mixed with lead, a material that is low in value, heavy, and makes the finished copper coins appear dull and lusterless.

And it's not just the authorities that mint coins; privately minted coins are also quite common. Thus, based on the quality of the copper coin, one can determine the approximate region where it circulates, and even trace its origin.

Master Chen squeezed the five copper coins repeatedly, recalling if he had recently heard of any experts from sects in the Huainan Region.

Finally, he stopped recalling and asked Stone, "Are those six guests still staying at the inn?"

"They checked out this morning."

"Is there anything else you can't recall?" Master Chen sternly demanded again.

"There's really nothing else, Master Chen. I truly can't remember what those guests looked like, and I wouldn't dare lie to you, Master Chen. I really don't remember."

"I trust you wouldn't dare hide anything from me!" Master Chen said, tossing the five copper coins in front of Stone before turning and walking to the private room's entrance.

Before leaving, he looked back at the waiters and said, "If I find out any of you dare to speak of what happened today..."

"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare..." the three said in unison.

"You'd better not!" With that, Master Chen opened the private room door and left.

Only after Master Chen's footsteps gradually faded into the distance did the four waiters let out a long sigh of relief, thinking with wronged expressions, "What kind of mess is this!"