The group passed through the town and followed the line that snaked into the city. They passed the guard’s inspection before entering the outer city of the capital.
Jason had been an Imperial Hunter for a few months and was qualified to enter the city. Zhou Jing had long explored the terrain of the capital.
With Jason’s identity as a guarantor, Zhou Jing’s new apostle successfully entered the outer city. The main street was wide, and many people were coming and going.
However, the houses were too densely packed. From the main road, many lanes forked out on both sides of the road, leading to alleys separated by various houses. They were like spider webs, and the routes were complicated and cramped, like the capillaries of the entire city.
The landmark buildings in the outer city were only the few guard castles, where a portion of the soldiers was stationed there to act as constables and control the city’s security. The capital city was essentially an entire fortress on its own. With the guard castles as the boundary, the outer city was divided into several districts. To a certain extent, the people living within were distinguished based on their functionality through the districts, but this could also ensure the normal lives of ordinary people.
Zhou Jing led Jason through the streets and alleys, through the dirty shantytown, past the bustling market district, and quickly arrived at the district where a large number of craftsmen lived… The street’s proper name was the Furnace District.
The various districts had the complete infrastructure, such as apothecaries, blacksmiths, tailors, and so on. This was made so that it was convenient for the residents to live in that area. However, many of the managers of these shops only consisted of ordinary craftsmen from the Furnace District. They crossed the city to work every morning and returned to their residences to rest at night.
High-quality products could usually only be bought in the Furnace District. Therefore, many wealthy residents of the capital would rather travel through the city to buy them, while ordinary residents wanted to live in the Furnace District to live… Unfortunately, they could not afford to buy a house in that district.
After all, people were divided into groups. These craftsmen were the intellectuals of the Mutant Beast World. Those who lived in the Furnace District were generally high-income groups. Moreover, there were many high-level craftsmen who worked for the Empire Workshop here, so the security was good.
For example, one could stroll around the slums and market areas, but if they tried to do the same in Furnace District, they would be chased away by the guards.
Zhou Jing had only walked for a while in the Furnace District before he was noticed by the patrolling guards and questioned.
The third apostle, Bill, was an “outsider” who had arrived in the capital for the first time. By right, he could not casually come to the Furnace District, but Jason, a proper Imperial Hunter, vouched for him. Then, the guard allowed the two of them to stroll around. He only warned them not to approach the inner wall.
“Right now, Jason’s identity is more useful.”
Zhou Jing watched the guard leave and could not help but glance toward the center of the city.
The high inner wall blocked their vision, and they could only vaguely see the towering palace castle.
The inner city was the core of the Terra Empire’s power. The walls were heavily guarded. In addition to the guard garrison, there were also many royal guards guarding the city walls—all of them were Mutant Blood Warriors.
It was quite difficult to sneak in silently.
“Speaking of which, why did I subconsciously think of sneaking into a heavily guarded place? Could it be the aftereffects of my incursion at White Plains Town…”
Zhou Jing composed himself and searched for a while on the road. He found an apothecary and immediately walked in.
After a while, he walked out again. There were already many apprentices in this shop, and they had no intention of accepting any more.
He tried one shop after another along the street. None of them were looking for apprentices. The capital was not a small place. There were many hunters there. Even if Jason decided to show his identity, if the other party did not have the intention to accept apprentices, even his status would not be effective.
Zhou Jing tried patiently. He only changed after visiting the 13th shop.
This was a small apothecary, and its shelves were cold and empty. Only the potion labels and prices were placed in obvious places, but not a single bottle of potion could be seen.
There was only a middle-aged man in the shop. He was lean, had a long beard, and was clad in a robe. At this moment, he was sitting behind the counter, reading a book.
Hearing someone enter, the middle-aged man slowly looked up and said unhurriedly, “Take your time to look around. What do you want to buy?”
“Are you hiring pharmacists here?” Zhou Jing went straight to the point.
The middle-aged man sized up Zhou Jing, and his eyes lit up. “A foreigner? Are you rich?”
Hearing this, Zhou Jing perked up. He took out his heavy money bag and shook it. The silver coins swayed and clinked, producing a pleasant sound.
The middle-aged man’s attitude immediately became enthusiastic. He stroked his long beard and smiled.
“It’s easy if you have money. I’m a pharmacist. You can call me Marley. If you pay me, you can be my apprentice…”
Zhou Jing blinked.
Usually, when a craftsman picked an apprentice, he would have to test their character and ability to see if they had the talent in this aspect and had to be responsible for them. However, this pharmacist only cared about money and did not reject anyone. He did not seem very reliable…
However, he did not mind. As long as someone could teach him the basics, he would be able to master it quickly with his own learning advantage.
At this moment, Jason walked in with a majestic gait. His strong body seemed to have its own aura.
Marley’s expression changed slightly when he saw Jason’s Imperial Hunter outfit. “This hunter is your friend?”
“Yes, I saved him once…”
Zhou Jing explained his previous words and introduced himself.
“Alright, I understand.” Marley seemed unhappy. His tone became a little more indifferent as he said, “If you want to be my apprentice, 50 silver coins every 10 days.”
Zhou Jing was stunned.
Good lord, why don’t you rob a bank?
50 silver coins was something that a farmer’s family might not even be able to earn in a year. Even for high-income hunters, it was a sum that could not be ignored. It was more than enough to buy a set of equipment… And this was only the price of being an apprentice for 10 days?!
Ordinary people wouldn’t even think about accepting! Knowledge in this world was very expensive, but not to this extent. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many pharmacists.