The figure turns out to be a young boy. He wore plain clothes and looked unremarkable overall; however, he had one feature that stood out, and that was his long frizzy black hair. It was tied into a ponytail with a cloth string, but a bundle of loose strands at the front covered his face. One has to wonder how he was able to see where he was going as the bundle almost entirely obscured his eyes.
Upon hearing the skinny man's reprimand, the boy gave an apologetic bow before he went to walk around him. The skinny man, however, was not about to let him off the hook, and he was stopped.
"Listen here, you brat! Do you have any idea what your interference cost me? I only had the chance to do this in one take! If I were to do this a second time, it would cost a few hundred more gold coins to buy back another silk dress!"
The skinny man pointed at the young woman by the side. Even though she was covering herself with a towel, the lanky young man brought for her from inside the house, her torn silk dress was still slightly visible.
The youth glanced at the young woman, paused, then reached into his right sleeve pocket and pulled out a single gold coin. He then extended his hand towards the skinny man for him to take it; however, he only got a cold snort in return.
"Brat, do you think a single gold coin is enough? I said the silk dress costs hundreds of gold coins!"
The youth paused once more and then started glancing around. Soon, he spotted the image recorder in the lanky young man's hand. He stepped forward and stretched his hand out as if to ask for it.
The lanky young man was confused and looked at the skinny man for what he should do.
The skinny man frowned slightly and was about to curse at the youth, but the youth's hand suddenly shot out and snatched the image recorder from the lanky young man.
The skinny man almost fainted from fright when he saw this, but just as he was about to rush at the youth to take back the image recorder, he saw the youth turn it to the display side and began tracing his index finger across its jade-like surface.
Under the tip of the youth's finger, Magical symbols bloomed on the image recorder's display screen as he rewrote the Rune Inscriptions on it.
Not just the skinny man, the lanky young man, and the pair of adult actors had their eyes widened at the scene.
After about a minute or two of the youth sliding his finger across the image recorder's display screen, he finally stopped and handed it back to the lanky young man.
Instantly, the skinny man rushed up and snatched the image recorder from the lanky young man before examining it. Not long after, an excited expression bloomed on his face before he let out a hearty laugh. Turning to the youth, he nodded and said.
"You increased the recorder's quality and capacity by three times! It's almost at the level of a high-quality recorder. If I had to pay an Inscription Master to upgrade it to this level, then forget gold coins, I'd probably have to sell my arms and legs to afford it. With this, consider that your debt is paid."
The youth remained silent as he bowed and then turned to leave. However, he was stopped once again by the skinny man.
"Wait!"
The youth paused and turned back around. The skinny man carefully handed back the image recorder to the lanky young man before approaching the youth.
Looking down at the youth, whose top half of his face was covered by his hair, the skinny man went to speak but then paused, before saying not long after.
"I was going to ask you to come work for me as my personal Inscription Master, but…"
The skinny man's words trailed off as he reached out to sweep back the youth's hair from his face while tilting his head back to get a better look at his face.
The youth's face was thus revealed, but he kept his eyes closed while the skinny man examined his face.
Almost immediately, an exclamation escaped the three people at the back when they saw the youth's face.
Eyes lighting up, the skinny man said in amazement.
"As I thought, your face is quite pleasing to look at. I could tell just by seeing your nose and lips. But…"
The skinny man looked at the youth's face with a bewildered expression as he asked.
"Brat, are you a girl or a boy?"
However, before the youth could answer, the skinny man glanced at his flat chest and said.
"From your physique, you should be a boy. But to think a person could possess such a gender-neutral face. You'll be popular with both men and women if you were to come work in the adult entertainment business!"
The skinny man removed his hand, allowing the youth's hair to cover his face, before asking once again.
"Kid, what's your name?"
The youth fixed his hair to cover his eyes as he opened his mouth for the first time and spoke.
"Mister, my name is Ah Mieu."
"Ah Mieu, is it? Not a bad name, your stage name can be Mieu-Mieu. What about your age?"
"I just turned fifteen two months ago."
"Eh? You're only fifteen?"
The skinny man's expression changed when he heard that, and he looked Ah Mieu up and down, this time more closely. With this, he realized this kid truly looked young. His height was not that outstanding, as if he hadn't gone through his growth spurt yet, and his face indeed had a bit of immaturity to it. However, he had overlooked these features due to the big clothes he wore, and how surprised he was after seeing his handsome face.
Sighing regretfully, the skinny man said.
"I don't hire kids. Since you're so young, forget I asked about working as an adult actor. But my offer to become my personal Inscription Master is still valid. I might not look like someone important, but I have some connections in the Inner Circle and can get you a Master so you can learn more about Inscriptions. I guess you've only learned a trick or two; however, with a Master to guide you properly, along with the talent you've shown, you can definitely make something of yourself and leave the Outer Circle for a better life. So, how about it, kid?"
A gust of breeze suddenly swept through the alleyway as Ah Mieu smiled and responded.
"Thank you, mister, but I have to decline your offer. I was planning on killing you for touching me, but since you seem like someone with morals and chose not to hire me when you found out my age, I'll let it go this time. But hopefully, you won't carelessly touch someone else in the future."
Not only the skinny man, but the others behind him were a bit taken aback by Ah Mieu's words.
The skinny man's brows furrowed slightly before he opened his mouth to say something; however, at that moment, the breeze blowing through the alleyway slightly lifted Ah Mieu's bangs and revealed his eyes, which were strangely of a blood-red and piercing blue color.
This scene caused the words the skinny man was about to utter to change into a bewildered mutter.
"Red and blue eyes…?"
However, not even a second after he uttered those words, he recalled a piece of information some of his friends in the Inner Circle once mentioned to him regarding the Nine Desires Pavilion, and what happened a year ago. Almost immediately, his pupils constricted to the size of pin-needles, and out of instinct, he retreated several steps back from Ah Mieu.
With his entire body trembling like a leaf blowing in the wind, the skinny man stared at Ah Mieu with a horror-stricken face before stuttering.
"Young Master Nihil, I-I apologize. I didn't know it was you."
When the lanky young man heard his boss refer to this youth as 'Young Master Nihil', he didn't show any reaction; however, when the two adult actors heard that name, their pupils similarly constricted from shock.
As someone in their line of business, there was no way they would not know the name Young Master Nihil from the Nine Desires Pavilion. But more importantly, this name had caused every Clan and Sect from the Inner Circle, both small and big, to go to war nearly two years ago!
Even though this war had only lasted for a single day, several Clans and Sects had been destroyed in that short period. Even a top Clan that had ties to a Sect from the Main Circle was destroyed, which prompted attention from those ultra elites in the Main Circle.
Due to such big events, those from the Outer Circle refer to that day as 'A Day of War for a Lifetime of Pleasure'.
Smiling, Ah Mieu shook his head and softly said.
"From today onward, I am no longer a part of the Nine Desires Pavilion. So, I've taken on my true name, which is Ah Mieu."
"Y-Yes, Young Master Ah Mieu."
"I am not a Young Master anymore either."
Ah Mieu released a chuckle before he bowed to the skinny man.
The skinny man didn't dare accept his bow and jumped out of the way before bowing himself.
With a smile still on his face, Ah Mieu said goodbye before he turned and continued down the alleyway to his destination.