With the issue of blood being partially solved, all she had to do was wait till the next morning.
Since she was free, she decided to take her time and explore the city.
She noticed the city was separated into districts; the rich lived in the higher district, while the poor lived in the lower district, which was more of a slum. The roads were bad, the houses were terrible, the streets were littered with guttery remains of human filth.
Fei Yue wondered how people lived like this; she herself would rather remain in her small village.
There were areas where she would need to hold her nose to pass through; tattered houses and dilapidated buildings littered the streets.
Rows of beggars paraded the streets; from this district, she saw a lot fewer people parading the streets.
"Excuse me, what is that building over there?" Fei Yue approached a young man walking in the streets.
"You must be new," the young man said. "Everyone knows of that building since it was pretty popular in these parts."
"It is where people go to get information," the young man said before leaving Fei Yue standing on the scurry streets.
"Information, huh? That sounds like a good place to pass the time," she said to herself, before she began walking in the direction of the building.
Moments later, she was at the entrance. Ascending the steps, she pushed the door open; her senses were immediately assaulted by the stench of old books.
The supposed place where people get information was a library, filled with rows of bookshelves, filled with books. Fei Yue walked inside.
The place was mostly empty, with plenty of the city devoid of people; the number of people currently inside could be counted on one hand.
This was primarily due to the fact that not everyone in the slums could read; even if they could, they wouldn't waste time and money on the endeavor.
"Hello, miss, how can I help you? My name is Zhao Li, and I am the librarian here," a plump figure came up to her; in his hands were a pile of books stacked upwards, held to his chest.
"I need information."
"Well, help yourself; the payment is one silver," the fatty said, pointing at the rows of books arranged in their shelves.
There was a problem; although Fei Yue knew what books were, she had not had any formal education; she couldn't read.
"Can't you just tell me what I need to know? I cannot read," she added.
"Not to worry," the man dropped the books in his hands at the table with a loud thud, raising dust into the air.
"For five silver notes, you get a reading potion," the man said; his voice sounded gaudy, perhaps this was due to the fact that his throat was almost merging with his face. He proceeded to bring out a small vial containing a strange green liquid.
From Fei Yue's perspective, she could faintly see the green gooey liquid slithering and warping itself within the glass vial, as if attempting to get out; she subconsciously took a few steps backwards.
"What is that?"
"Oh, this? This is a reading potion concocted by the great adepts. A few drops of this into your eyes, and you'll be able to read; understanding will be based on your intellect, though," he said with a thinking, plundering face.
Fei Yue had every reason to doubt this meatball disguised as a man; his oversized belly seemed to pool all the way to his legs, with overly large forearms. "What does he eat?" she muttered underneath her breath. While others complained of not having enough to eat, this man was busy fattening himself up. "And what is with his nonchalant attitude? He spoke as if whatever he was saying was normal."
Plus, there was no way she was going to believe that dripping that glossy liquid in her eyes would miraculously give her the ability to read.
However, thinking of the various detours her life had been taking these past few days, she was open to believe anything. "Are you messing with me?" she asked one more time. "Can't be too careful, right?"
"No, ma'am," he then proceeded to press on the small, long, rubbery top of the vial, and a portion of the liquid was sucked into the leathery tube.
The unusually tall, plump man then approached Fei Yue; his huge figure hunched over her small frame, covering her own like a blanket in winter.
Fei Yue felt a bit threatened by his size, but she still poised her face and head backwards. The fatty Zhao Li then pressed the gooey green liquid into her right eye, then her left, in small quantities.
Fei Yue immediately felt as though something small and pointy had punctured her eyeball. "Ahh!" But there was no blood, and the feeling only lasted a single moment before disappearing entirely and was replaced by a light headache.
Then the fatty rolled himself up to the books he had placed on the table. Picking one up, he proceeded to show it to Fei Yue, who was clenching her temples. "What does this say?"
Fei Yue looked at the book; at first, she couldn't read the words, they were completely as unfamiliar as the first time she saw any book in her village. But then a biting headache filled her mind, causing her to yelp in pain.
But to her surprise, she felt like her mind was beginning to clear up, like a fog being lifted, revealing the world beneath. The words were no longer as strange as before; she found herself being able to read them.
"The compendium of deadly flowers," she muttered; the words she couldn't understand, but she could read them.
She guessed the book had something to do with plants, from the word "flower."
"See? Not bad, right?"
"That's amazing." Something like this really existed; she remembered when she was a child, her big sister had spent an entire year learning to read from the village elder.
"Something as miraculous as this really existed." Now she was beginning to think her sister had wasted an entire year, when she could just spend a few silver, and just like that, the elusive reading ability was within grasp. "Why do people not do this very often?"
Fei Yue immediately handed the fatty six silver notes; from the one hundred notes she was handed, she had spent a total of 31 silver notes, leaving a total of 61 silver notes.
If only she had known the true value of the money she was casually throwing away. Ten silver notes was the total amount of money people earned in a month in the slums, which meant in just a few days, she had spent three months' worth of salary.
Fei Yue gently massaged her temples, where the aching still lingered.
"Don't worry, that will pass; it is just a minor side effect."
Fei Yue nodded, before diving into the rows of books, burying herself in her newfound ability.
Hours later, an entire mountain of books piled up in front of her, so much so that the fatty Zhao Li's eyes widened in shock.
Time gradually passed steadily, as Fei Yue quickly lost track of time; she had spent an unknown amount of time reading any book her gaze could reach.
As she spent more and more time absorbing information, her horizons gradually broadened.
And now she realized how much of a dummy she used to be, and probably still was; that state of affairs, however, was about to change.
As she read more, her comprehension ability began to change, courtesy of her recent Rebirth.
Like the fatty had mentioned, the potion had only helped her understand the words, not comprehend them.
And as her horizons broadened, so too did her ability to understand the books and their contents.
The scenery outside began to change; day gradually turned into night, but Fei Yue was too busy to notice. She was like a child that had been given a new toy.
She had spent the entire day reading, only stopping when the fatty told her the library was about to close. She left, promising to return the next day.