The teahouse wasn't large, but it was clean.
Jiang Wen was initially curious about how a mechanical being drank tea, but after seeing the way Proprietor Hua Ming prepared it, he gained an understanding of tea drinking in this mechanical world.
Proprietor Hua Ming invited the two to sit down in the teahouse, then brought over a ceramic teapot filled with hot water. She placed it on a small stove to heat, and then brought out a set of teacups.
This was similar to the way ordinary people drank tea, except that the tea in the cups was different.
Instead of tea leaves, the cups contained several bizarre-looking stones. When the heated boiling water was poured into the cups, the stones immediately began to bubble.
Once the stones had finished bubbling, Jiang Wen saw that the previously clear and colorless water had turned golden, and it gave off a faint, delicate fragrance.
"What are these stones in the cup?" Jiang Wen asked Proprietor Hua Ming curiously.
Proprietor Hua Ming paused noticeably, then looked at him with some curiosity and smiled, "Doesn't the guest know about tea stones?"
"Tea stones?" Jiang Wen was puzzled.
"Legend has it that tea was a way of life in ancient times, before mechanical beings were born. The ancient people enjoyed drinking tea, emphasizing that it should be obtained in the right way, which led to the concept of tea. However, later the world changed, and the ancient people disappeared. The Mechanical Saint Mother created the world, resulting in the current world of Tianji. And this way of drinking tea was passed down from the ancient people."
"I have read various secret texts, which contain records of tea. However, I don't quite understand what tea is, or what tea leaves are. These tea stones originate from that. They are similar to the legendary tea leaves, and can also purify the soul and remove dirt from the body, which corresponds to the ancient people's description of tea."
After introducing the tea leaves, Proprietor Hua Ming sat aside and watched the two drink tea with a smile. Jiang Wen looked at the strange things in the teacup, feeling that they should have something in common with the mechanical beings' 'wine'. But thinking that he was here to trouble the proprietor again, he couldn't let her down.
He frowned and picked up the tea, taking a careful sip.
The result was surprisingly good. Jiang Wen had thought that the tea would be difficult to drink. Unexpectedly, it had a fragrance and sweetness. This surprised him, as he hadn't expected that there would be something drinkable in this Ink Capital.
"How is it?"
"Delicious!" Molly said loudly.
Jiang Wen nodded, considering it a compliment to the proprietor's skills.
"So, is there anything you two need from me by coming to my teahouse so early?" Proprietor Hua Ming asked with a smile. If her neck wasn't a bronze pipe, and if the torso under her clothes wasn't a thin mechanical body, Jiang Wen could have believed without a doubt that the proprietor was human.
However, there was still a difference between mechanical beings and living people, and it was easy to see the distinction between the two.
"I want to find someone. He may be in the Ink Capital, or he may not be. I wonder if the proprietor has a way?" Jiang Wen asked.
"If you have a portrait of him, I can naturally find him," the proprietor said with a smile.
Jiang Wen was surprised to hear this, not expecting that the proprietor of this teahouse would have such great abilities.
"Really?"
"Really." Proprietor Hua Ming nodded, and Jiang Wen didn't stand on ceremony. He took out a spirit stone and placed it on the table, then handed Xue Changming's portrait to Proprietor Hua Ming to look at.
"Wow! Top-grade spirit crystal!!" Molly exclaimed in surprise, looking at the spirit stone on the table. "I've never seen such a large spirit crystal in my life! Looking at the color, it must be a top-grade spirit crystal, enough to be worth thousands of ordinary spirit crystals. If I had this spirit crystal, wouldn't I be able to improve my limbs?"
Molly looked at the spirit stone longingly, showing how much she desired it.
Jiang Wen didn't know what spirit crystals were used for, but on the way here, Molly had explained to him what spirit crystals meant to mechanical beings.
Mechanical beings, or rather, machine beings, need spiritual energy to function. Although they can obtain spiritual energy from the bed while sleeping, that speed is too slow, so they often use spirit crystals. One tael of spirit crystal can sustain a machine being's activity for ten days or so, but if they encounter high-intensity operation, it can only last for a day or two. Therefore, having a large spirit crystal stone as a reserve is worth no less than an extra life for a machine being.
The spirit stone that Jiang Wen took out was a top-grade spirit crystal that Molly had never seen before, and even the composed Proprietor Hua Ming was no exception.
She didn't stand on ceremony and accepted the spirit stone, then took out a compass that Jiang Wen had seen before. It was the same thing that mechanical puppets also had, and when opened, it could project illusions.
Proprietor Hua Ming imprinted Xue Changming's photo into the compass, and after clicking it, the illusion disappeared. She then looked at Jiang Wen and said, "Within three days, I will have news. You can imprint the Hunchun Instrument on me, so that I can inform you when I find him."
"Hunchun Instrument?" Jiang Wen looked at the compass with a questioning voice.
"Doesn't the guest have a Hunchun Instrument?" Proprietor Hua Ming looked at Molly in surprise, her eyes conveying that she was saying, 'Where did you find such a strange person?'
Molly shrugged, indicating that she didn't know. Then she began to tell Jiang Wen about the Hunchun Instrument.
It is said that the Hunchun Instrument existed when the Mechanical Saint Mother created the mechanical beings. It is an instrument that can communicate, exchange, and project illusions. As long as a spirit crystal is installed in it, it can guarantee dozens or even hundreds of days of use. No matter how far away, as long as the Hunchun Instruments have been imprinted on each other, they can be connected at any time.
Listening to Molly's explanation, Jiang Wen felt that this thing was so much like a mobile phone? Except that it couldn't access the internet, it had all the functions of taking pictures, making calls, and so on. It was truly amazing.
"How many more surprises are waiting for me in this mechanical world?" Jiang Wen felt that the mechanical world was extremely novel. Many things had the shadow of the modern world, but were completely different from the modern world.
"The Mechanical Saint Mother, the ancestor of all machines. I'm increasingly curious about what kind of people they are, that they can create such miraculous mechanical beings."
Jiang Wen was very interested, and he wanted to meet the Mechanical Saint Mother that Molly had mentioned.
After learning that Jiang Wen didn't have a Hunchun Instrument, Molly used her own instrument as a contact method.
After finishing these matters, he asked Proprietor Hua Ming a few more questions.
"Does the Mechanical Saint Mother really exist in this world?"
"She exists in the world," Proprietor Hua Ming said faintly. "It is said that on the top of the Mechanical City, on the ninety-ninth floor, there is the Saint Mother's holy body in the human world. However, it is strictly protected by the Holy Sons, and ordinary people cannot enter."
"It seems that the proprietor must have seen it," Jiang Wen said with a smile.
"I have seen the Mechanical Saint Mother's holy body," Proprietor Hua Ming said with some recollection. "That is a perfect and flawless body, a combination of all the beauty in the world. All the mechanical beings who have seen the Mechanical Saint Mother are madly in love with the Saint Mother."
Speaking of this, Proprietor Hua Ming was still afraid.
"I was also once madly in love, but I later woke up. Do you know? Until today, my heart is still calling me to see the Saint Mother, to become one with the Saint Mother."
"This idea is too crazy, I can only stay away from there." The proprietor was lost in memories, and it was clear that that past made her feel pain.
Jiang Wen didn't ask any more questions about the later events. He had almost understood this mechanical world.
