"Ahem, yes, come in."
The guard slid the door and walked into the dark room. The only source of light was a faint fire in the corner of the room. The administrator was sinisterly leaning on his arms which were on the desk.
"Well..."
The guard immediately got nervous and became hesitant to speak. It is said that the administrator's rank surpassed the Fourth Level Mark. Breaking through was no easy task, so this was already a massive accomplishment in the eyes of commoners like the guard.
The administrator became impatient and fixed his posture. He then opened his mouth.
"What?"
The guard felt a chill go through his spine and shook unconsciously. He scratched his head and began reaching for the ring inside his pocket.
"Well... I-I came here to report a sale..."
The administrator interrupted the guard's sentence, smiled widely, and began speaking.
"Isn't this the wrong place to report a sale? Hmmm?"
The guard's legs almost gave in to the terror that he felt. He knew that the administrator's time was precious, but he was wasting all of it by being hesitant.
"B-But you see... I received payment..."
"And?"
"But the item is still in my hands..."
As soon as the guard's sentence was finished, the smile on the administrator's face disappeared. He was aware that only high-ranking people bought items within this tall tower.
He also recognized that the guard reporting to him was stationed on the third floor, judging by his uniform, because within the tall tower, the guards on different floors had different uniforms.
The third floor was already high, that was why the administrator was startled. He glared at the guard.
"Why? Why do you have the item that someone supposedly bought?"
"It-It's because when the buyer wore the item... he d-disappeared right in front of me, leaving th-the ring..."
The administrator looked at the guard in disbelief. He raised his eyebrow and invited the guard to sit beside his desk in front of him. It was obvious that he didn't believe this measly Second Level Mark guard.
"What is the item, exactly?"
"It's this, sir..."
The guard took out the ring and placed it on the desk, which surprised the administrator.
The administrator picked the ring up and started examining it, but no matter how he looked at it, it looked like a regular old broken storage ring. He didn't see any engraved scriptures.
He deduced that the person's sudden disappearance had nothing to do with the ring, but rather the person instead. After all, the customers that bought in the tall tower were all nobles, and some of those had quite a few peculiar tricks.
"Hmmm, and who is this customer you spoke of?"
"It-It's the trash- I mean, the young master of the Li clan..."
The young master... Li Bai? Everyone in town knew how low Li Bai's cultivation level was. Anyone in town would be able to beat him to the ground, not to mention this guard... He was suspicious of this guard. Maybe he took advantage of Li Bai's weakness and stole the ring back after getting payment.
"What was his payment?"
"Ummm... ten Marking Pills..."
"What?!"
Even the administrator was startled now. Ten Marking Pills is undoubtedly the most expensive payment they have ever received! It was certain that currying favor with the supposedly measly Li clan was the best course of action.
If the case really was that the guard stole the ring back from Li Bai after beating him up, then he should receive capital punishment for ruining their chances with the surprisingly rich Li clan! However, if that really was the case, then this guard shouldn't have gone to report this weird occurrence to me...
The atmosphere went silent for a while. Both the guard's and the administrator's expressions darkened as time went on. The administrator glared at the guard from time to time, but other than that, nothing was happening.
Suddenly, the ring on the administrator's desk glowed wildly, brightening everything inside the room! The desk on which the ring was put on shook frantically, which made both the guard and the administrator stand up in shock. The two slowly retreated to the door leading outside, with each step getting faster and faster.
The guard looked at the administrator and was baffled, seeing him so scared like that. However, he had no time to pay much attention to this, as he too was terrified of what would happen next! He was a witness to Li Bai's disappearance after all, he thought that they were next!
The desk stopped shaking, and the ring hovered in the air. The two were frightened! The ring could fly?! If so, if it were to give chase to the two of them, no matter where they went, they would always be in the range of the ring!
A projection of Li Bai's body appeared, wearing the floating ring. The projection was standing on the desk, making it obvious why the ring was floating. Was Li Bai wearing it this whole time? If so, where did he go?
The projection finally became solid, and there Li Bai was, standing tall despite being a small child. He jumped off of the desk and looked around.
The two were shocked! How did Li Bai get here?
