The city streets bustled with diverse-looking pedestrians and teeming with fauna and flora. Trees and bushes sectioned the streets in half; with every other street, a tiny aqueduct divided the intersections and connected back together with red-stained wooden bridges. In every direction, Wu Niu could see garden ponds with frogs leaping between lily-pads to thick patches of cattail, and wood benches refreshingly placed within shady silhouettes of finely sculpted trees.

As Wu Niu walked, he was profoundly enlightened in just how beautiful a place could be. It seemed as if this place was one with nature, and yet it's red-stained wood, and paper architecture was so much more advanced than anything he had ever seen back home.

Litters of stray cats riddled the streets, vigorously hunting the local rat population. Every now and then, one of the feline pals would brush up against Wu Niu leg letting out a grumbly yet soothing purr.

-This place is a paradise.

Wu Niu couldn't help but notice how beautiful the women of this city were. Their faces were all so different, and they wore ostentatious and colorful flowing robes that further distinguished themselves from each other.

That seemed to be a trend in this city. Every person looked distinguishably different from every other person, whether it be their physical appearance or their clothing. Some of the people even had light brown hair. This came as a surprise to Wu Niu. He hadn't ever seen nor did he know that hair could be brown.

-There are people with brown hair?!

Wu Niu spotted the tall pagoda that the guard had mentioned.

It was seven stories tall, with each floor being skinnier than the last causing it to taper away near the top. Each story was separated by curved burgundy roofing that bellowed downward and arced up in the corners. Wide metal double-doors stood ajar, showing inside, a male clerk behind a large desk.

The clerk's desk was cluttered with books of various sizes and colors. Even more, books were stacked up around him, leaving very little room to move without knocking something over.

-This is their library? It's so much bigger than I would've ever thought.

“Awesome!”

Wu Niu chuckled as he stepped through the double doors with joyous reverence at the library's raw scope. It was certainly a lot larger than the pitiful library that the Wu family estate had to offer. If there was anything on the topic of a split soul, he would find it here for sure.

Looking up, Wu Niu saw an opening in the center of each floors' ceiling, which revealed their contents barred behind a polished burgundy wooden railing. Bookshelves lined each floor's walls, top to bottom, with multiple circular stairwells leading to and from.

“So many books!”

The clerk sat at the desk, attentively writing in a large ledger with quilled pen and inkpot. Hearing Wu Niu's elated ravings, he tilted his circular reading glasses to match Wu Niu’s eyes. Then setting his quilled pen aside, he sighed with disdain.

"Guessing by those rags, I assume you are a looking for migratory citizenship."

Wu Niu inhaled his sudden and quickly arisen irritation as he quickly replied, "Yes, I am… In fact, I was looking for a job as well."

The clerk sighed and beckoned Wu Niu to approach the counter. Retrieving two identical cards from out of a drawer in his desk, the clerk slid them forward and handed the quilled pen to Wu Niu.

"Sign your family and personal name here and here," the clerk murmured while pointing at the dotted lines.

"And what if I don't have a family name?"

The clerk was seemingly unperturbed by this question.

"Yes, as I should've expected. For those without family names, a title is more than sufficient."

-It must be a rather common occurrence then. But what would my title be? Something cool, maybe?

Wu Niu sat in contemplation until the clerk snapped him out of his daze.

"C'mon, I haven't got all day."

"S-Sorry."

Wu Niu began to write out whatever came to mind.

­_Niu of Blackrock_

Wu Niu filled out both cards and handed them to the clerk, who arched his brow, skeptically inquiring, "Blackrock? I've never heard of such a place."

Wu Niu looked down at the floor as he began to formulate a lie.

-How should I respond?

Looking back up to the clerk, Wu Niu swallowed his pride and spoke.

"Y-Yeah, Blackrock doesn't exist. I made it up because I thought it sounded cool. I'm actually from a nameless fishing village just north of here."

Wu Niu had told another lie, hoping that his self-deprecation would make it seem more believable. Plus, there technically was that village fisherman Jiang lived in.

The clerk squinted and looked over Wu Niu's outfit once more.

"Hmm… I guess that seems to be about right. So, you're from that trash village. Why am I not surprised?" the clerk mumbled, resting his head in his hand.

Something about the clerk calling fisherman Jiang's village trash set Wu Niu off. His fist clenched into a cudgel, and the veins on his forehead bulged out. Giving the clerk a false smile, he held his hand out, gesticulating for his ID.

The clerk yanked his head back, momentarily surprised and perhaps even a little intimidated by Wu Niu's impassive fury.

"A-Alright… Take this, and don’t lose it. I'd rather like it if I didn't have to bother with you again."

"Tch."

Wu Niu swiped the card from the clerk's hand and strode toward the door, but as he was about to step out, he remembered the other reason for coming here.

Turning back, Wu Niu hollered, "Hey. Where can I find the job listings?"

Without lifting his head from his book, the clerk pointed to the door and hollered with a monotone voice.

"Outside along the wall."

"Thanks," Wu Niu frustratedly hollered back as he stepped through the door, back outside.

-Bastard.