Obviously, there's a reason why Wei hasn't touched a single strand of hair on my head after talking to Grandma Guanhuai.
And it's even more obvious that she's leveraging something against him.
Something he doesn't want me to know, and something he's afraid Grandma Guanhuai will touch.
If I can find out his secret, I can easily find information about the sewer organization he's in without having to investigate personally.
Wei walked away from the shopping centers, but instead of following behind, I set a new location on my map.
The Li-Liang gadget store.
On the outside, the store looked like your average antique shop, but upon closer inspection, they actually sell illegal gadgets that only Li-Liang users are able to use.
Of course, not anyone can waltz in and buy them.
And I'm proud to say, as a fellow veteran of this game, I am not some random person.
With a brisk five-minute walk, I had made it to the shop.
The shop was still here, just like in the game. Now I just had to make sure everything inside was the same.
With a breath, I pushed open the door.
As I walked in, a little bell rang.
It was an old sound, one I had heard many times before.
And there, I saw it.
A sigh of relief escaped through my mouth.
There, at the register, sat an old man.
He was quite short and had a long gray beard despite having a bald head. His eyes were just barely open, as if he was sleeping while standing.
Typical old NPC character in a game, am I right?
Turns out, my knowledge isn't all useless, after all, this Grandpa still exists.
I quickly walked up to the counter.
Although I was standing right in front of the old man, he didn't bat an eye.
Okay... this is normal, which is good... theoretically, if I say this line, he'll wake up.
"I'm here... for the Phoenix Rebellion."
All of a sudden, his eyes shot open.
His face seemed so much more lively, and he began inspecting me.
"Well, aren't you going to show me to the back?"
"... Of course, sir... but..."
"... But?"
What does he mean by " but "?
I said the easter egg, didn't I?
The old man clasped his hands together and leaned against the counter.
"Sir... could you..."
"... Yes... could I what...?"
"Could you help this poor grandpa get to the back? My legs aren't as good as they used to be."
... What?
"Sure, yeah, here, let me help."
I walked to the back of the counter and awkwardly tried to find the best way to carry him.
Because of his incredibly short stature, I decided to sling the grandpa over my shoulders and give him a piggyback ride.
Navigating towards the back door, I looked over at the Grandpa.
"Hey, aren't you going to put your key in? The door's locked."
"... Of course, sir... but..."
I stared at him, and he stared back at me.
"... But. What."
"Sir, I must have misplaced my keys; they are no longer in my pockets!"
... What the hell's wrong with this old man!
I know damn well he doesn't do this in the game; why is he so incompetent all of a sudden?
"Okay, well, where was the last time you saw your keys?"
"It was... was in... hm..."
"... Maybe do you have some kind of drawer or...?"
"Yes! It must be in that drawer over there!"
His fingers pointed towards a shelf with dozens of tiny drawers.
"... Are you being serious right now?"
"I know it must be in there! I remember putting it in those drawers!"
"Do you at least remember the area of the drawer? Like around the bottom left?"
"Hm... good question... let me think... hm..."
"... Right."
I put the old man down and started shuffling through the drawers.
Most were pretty empty; some held papers, others just had small knick-knacks.
And just as my luck would have it, I ended up looking through all the drawers except for one final one.
Just my fucking luck, the very last drawer was the one that had the key.
I pulled open the drawer just to find...
"... Hey... why is this drawer empty?"
"Oh dear, perhaps I didn't put it in any of the drawers..."
"... What? So you-!... No, never mind..."
"Wait! Repeat what you just said!"
"... What?"
"No, keep talking!"
"No, I said never mind-"
"You said 'you'! You as in me, and...!"
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and took out a shiny key.
"Ta-da! It was in my pocket the whole time! Silly me!"
"..."
"Alrighty, now let this old man open the door for you."
Although it took a few times, the man finally got the key into the keyhole.
Finally, through many trials and tribulations, the back door was open.
And even more thankfully so, the room was exactly like it was in the game.
Multiple cardboard boxes filled the dim storage room.
The only thing that differentiated the boxes was a small colored sticker on each one.
"So, what are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for the Stingray, rank B if possible."
"Hmm... as long as you have the money, anything is possible here."
He slowly walked around the stacks and stacks of boxes, seemingly looking for a specific marker.
"Ah, here it is."
He pulled out a box with a... wait...
Tracking devices have blue markers... this old geezer...
"Hey, that box has a purple marker; the Stingray has a blue one!"
"... Oh geez, you're right! Then it must be this box!"
"No, that box is way too big; the Stingray's like the size of a phone."
"Oh, kiddo, you should just have my job instead! Hahaha!"
"Um, haha..."
This geezer's taking too damn long; I'll just search for it myself at this point!
Scanning the boxes, it wasn't too hard to find a box with a blue marker about the size of an iPhone, considering how most boxes here weren't this small.
Inside the box was a bunch of foam that covered a slick, black briefcase.
"Ah, you found the box already? Here, let me open that for you."
For safety procedures, all the gadgets here were locked inside their respective briefcase, with only the shop owner having the master key.
The old man hovered his phone over the briefcase before there was a click sound, and the briefcase opened.
Inside was a simple screen with one wire and a small, black card.
I picked up the card.
[The Stingray — Rank B]
Perfect.
Using the wire to plug the device into my phone, I finally started up the main menu.
I then punched in Wei's phone number into the system, and just like the game, it worked.
The Stingray started tracking Wei's movements through his phone as a small marker appeared on the map.
For a second, I couldn't even breathe.
[Target: Found]
[Li-Liang consumption: Active]
T-This is a miracle! It worked! It really worked!
"Hey! I may be old, but I haven't forgotten that you haven't paid yet!"
... Right.
He held out his phone, and with a simple tap, the Jia was transferred over.
And like always, a notification popped up on my phone showing the amount transferred... and...!
"Wait, did you overcharge me? Why is the Stingray 100,000 Jia?!"
"This old man is forgetful, but I would never overcharge my customers!"
No, I clearly remember it being 80,000 Jia.
There's gotta be a reason why it got so much more expensive!
But before I could ask any more questions, the old man shooed me out of the store.
You know what? Fine!
I have more stuff to sell off anyway; I don't need to be worried about money!
I opened up the tracking device again.
Wei was still moving towards his destination.
The plan was to wait until Wei stopped moving, and then watch him leave the destination point before going back to that destination point myself.
That way I wouldn't be caught by Wei, and I would have all the time I wanted to investigate.
Having such a device in my hands outside like this was risky, so I sat down in a secluded alleyway.
Just how freaking far is Wei going? I feel like I've already used up a good amount of Li-Liang!
If I wanted to watch Wei's movements, I needed to hold down a specific button built into the Stingray device that drains the user's Li-Liang during use.
Digging into my pockets, I took out Grandma Guanhuai's healing potion, which I was supposed to drink this morning.
Right as I was feeling a little too lightheaded, I chugged down the potion, and soon enough, there was another burst of energy.
Whew, thank the lords I saved this bottle!
But this also meant that Wei had to get to his destination soon.
And it seemed like the horrible luck I had today paid off, because right as I thought that, Wei's movements came to a stop.
His location?
Incredibly deep in the slums, but it wasn't too shabby of a place either, at least from what I recall.
It's nowhere near the noble society, but better than the worst of the slums.
… Well, I guess it's time to investigate?