Chapter 4 - 4: A Surrender

"Should I… blind you as well, then?"

Yun Hao looked straight into Yazhu's eyes as he lifted him higher into the air, "...Or should I say cripple you? That's what the cultivators always like to say, right?"

Long Yazhu could only groan in pain as the grip around his neck tightened. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. And it wasn't because of the pressure on his neck, no. It was because of the way Yun Hao was glaring at him.

The pitiful look that Yazhu saw in Yun Hao's eyes earlier was now completely gone, completely replaced by… nothing. Yun Hao's eyes were devoid of any emotions-- the eyes of those who had nothing left to lose.

The other people outside the hotel were also starting to gather, raising their phones and pointing the camera towards the commotion; some were even doing a live broadcast.

"What are we doing!?" One of the guards hollered, "We should save the young master!"

"Don't move," the guard that blinded Yun Hao's eye blocked his colleague's path, "We don't know what he'll do to the young master."

"He's just a Normie!" His colleague rebuked, "We can crush him without him even knowing what hit him!"

"...In what way does that look like a normal human to you?" The guard that blinded Yun Hao's eye let out a slight scoff as he looked at his colleague. Even though he overwhelmed Yun Hao in the end, he still had first-hand experience as to what Yun Hao could do.

Even as a cultivator, Yun Hao was able to dodge his attacks and even get a punch in. No normal human could do that. He was told that Yun Hao was a talented boxer… but to think it was to that extent.

One could not help but imagine what it would be like if someone like Yun Hao becomes a cultivator. But alas, there were only 3 ways one could become a Cultivator legally.

You need to be born in a family of Cultivators, or at least get the attention of a clan to have them open your meridians for you, or pay to have your meridians unlocked in the Confederation.

Yun Hao wasn't born in a family of cultivators. He had the attention of a clan, but he refused it. As for having to pay to become one… How? He had no money.

"I suggest you let the young master go, Mr. Hao," The guard said as he slowly approached Yun Hao, "Or we will be forced to put you down."

Hearing the words of the man that blinded him, Yun Hao only let out a scoff as his eyes did not leave Yazhu. Right now, there was only one thought in his mind-- revenge. The others might think he was bluffing, but right now… all he could think of was all the humiliation he had suffered.

And to think that it was because of someone that he once treated almost like a brother?

Maybe… maybe he really should just snap his neck right here and now?

"Let him go!"

And as soon as he thought of that, a high-pitched voice pierced his ears, followed by a sting on his cheek. "Let go of Yazhu, you're hurting him!"

"..."

Yun Hao's jaw started to tremble as he saw Angela trying to protect Yazhu. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Angela's slap hurt more than every punch he ever took inside the ring… it even hurts more than when he lost an eye.

Now that he was thinking about it… Angela never once did this for him when he was being beaten up by Yazhu's guard a year ago. Was she…

Was she actually involved with what happened to him? Is that why she provoked them in the first place so that he would have no choice but to fight?

"Did you… know what was going to happen to me?"

"W… what?"

Angela could not help but slightly back away as Yun Hao's dead eyes now stared at him, "Were you part of the plan? How long have the two of you been together? Were the two of you already together when you were dating me?"

"We were! So, please let him go now! It was me, okay!? I was the one who planned everything!"

"Gukh!"

"No, let him go!"

The grip on Yazhu's neck grew even tighter as Angela's words reached Yun Hao's ears, "Y… you planned everything? Why? I…

...I love yo--"

"I don't!" Angela raised her voice even further, garnering the attention of even more people as they pointed their phones at them, "You don't even take me out to eat and I had to pay for our date a couple of times! What kind of man treats his girlfriend like that!? You don't even have your own house and live inside a box of scrap metal!"

"..."

"Yazhu provided me with everything I wanted! When he… when he approached me, he made me feel welcome!"

"..."

"Now, please… let go of him!"

"Okay."

"W… what?"

Angela, as well as the 2 guards, could not help but blink their eyes a couple of times as Yun Hao suddenly let go of Yazhu just like that. Yazhu groveled on the ground, holding his neck as he tried to catch his breath.

"B… baby!" Angela quickly rushed towards Yazhu to support him, holding his hand she touched his face as gently as possible.

Yun Hao could only let out a slight breath as he looked at his girl-- at Angela. How blind was he to not realize that Angela has never once treated him like how she treats Yazhu now.

"Stay where you are!"

Yazhu's two guards were about to rush towards Yun Hao to pin him down, but before they could do so, Yazhu shouted.

"Don't!" He said, his voice still cracking from having his neck strangled, "Let him go."

"But young master, he--"

"He is nothing," Yazhu said as Angela helped him up, "He will always be nothing. You just wait until I become a cultivator, Yun Hao. I will make sure to pay back what you did here today!"

"...You won't need to," was Yun Hao's response before he turned around to leave, "You can drive your way home, I left the keys in the car."

"Should… should we really just let him leave?" One of the guards asked his colleague.

"Let him be, young master's orders."

"But… is he really just a normal human? How could he lift the young master that easily?"

"..." The one who blinded Yun Hao's eyes squinted his eyes as he watched Yun Hao walking away, "He is… but he's a monster as well."

***

"...Fuck."

Yun Hao was now standing in front of a small shed… no, he was now standing in front of his house. And it was as Angela described it, a box made of scrap metal that looked like it was in the middle of nowhere.

Yun Hao used to live in one of the apartments that Yazhu's father provided for his workers, but after he went abroad, Yun Hao was quickly transferred here. It was one of the Long Family's scrap yards somewhere in the city. All the trash and debris from all the construction were thrown here, and Yun Hao's shed was made from it.

Yun Hao always wondered why he was sent here, now he knew why-- it was probably because of Yazhu.

At the very least, though, it was a quiet neighborhood except for the trucks that were coming in during midnight and throwing in trash and rubbles.

Yun Hao could only sigh as he entered his tiny house, the metal door screaming as it scratched the surface.

A desk, a chair, and a bed-- those were the only two things that were inside his house. For bathing, he had to go to the high school early to indulge the showers there.

With another sigh, Yun Hao approached his desk before grabbing the chair and dragging it to the center of his small house.

He then went back to his desk, opening its drawer and revealing its content-- a rope.

"....I guess I'll just die then."