Chapter 11 - 11: Small World

"Mama, mama. Look at that--"

"Don't look at him, he's probably on drugs. Don't involve yourself with men like that in the future, okay?"

Out in the busy streets, a mother was currently pulling her daughter away as they saw a tall man laughing menacingly inside a dark alley. That man was, of course, Yun Hao.

He had been trying to hold off his laughter ever since he got out of the restaurant, and now that he was alone in an alleyway, he was finally able to let all of it out. But alas, contrary to his expectations, his tall stature was too domineering not to notice even in a dark alleyway.

It didn't help that he was punching the wall in happiness, not even minding the pain as the skin on his fingers was ripped away due to the strength of his punch and the hardness of the wall.

"Oi! What are you doing there!?"

Yun Hao, however, had no choice but to run away when one of the people inside of the building he was punching threatened to hit him with a baseball bat. His laughter, however, still echoed, causing the people to make way for him as if he carried a virus that came from a small animal.

It also didn't help that his hair was bouncing, causing the huge scar on the left side of his face to be visible. That, along with the black bags he was holding… It was enough to make one very suspicious.

But Yun Hao did not really seem to mind, as his classmate's blank expression replayed in his mind over and over again. Thinking about it logically now, he should probably start getting ready in stepping into the world of Cultivators. Trouble would surely be finding him now that he has offended one of the young masters of Tsinghai Highschool. If he was a cultivator, then they would have to think twice about getting even with him.

"..." How does one become a Cultivator in the first place?

Yun Hao blinked a couple of times as he realized that he did not know the first thing about becoming one. Just last year, he was not a fan of normal humans pursuing the way of the Cultivators.

He hated the fact the Cultivators looked down on normal humans, and even then, the normal humans wanted to become one of them. He wanted to be successful as a normal human using his boxing skills… but alas, that was taken away from him.

And now that he was interested in being one… he had no idea where to start.

"Mr. Hao!"

And as he was scrambling his mind for a hint, a familiar voice called to him from behind-- the female Cultivator in the mixer earlier.

"You…?"

"Good thing I caught up to you, Mr. Hao." The female cultivator seemed to have scurried to chase him, seeing as her clothes were crumpled up, but even though she seemed to have sprinted all the way from the restaurant without pause, she didn't seem to be short for breath-- another perk of being a cultivator, Yun Hao thought.

"Did… you need something from me, master…"

"Huang Yi, you can just call me Huang Yi." The female cultivator waved her hand, gesturing for Yun Hao to drop the honorifics.

"Ms. Huang," Yun Hao still bowed respectfully. Who knows when this cultivator suddenly decides to hurt him, he thought. It was best to be on her good side as much as possible, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Yun Hao was a bit nervous. Was she here because his classmate wanted to take revenge on him as soon as possible and asked Huang Yi to hurt him?

...She wouldn't just kill him in front of all these people, will she?

"No," Huang Yu shook her head before tilting it to the side, "Well, actually, yes. I think I recognize you now."

"...Me?"

"Hm," Huang Yu nodded, "You're the athlete that the Song family wanted to take in, aren't you?"

"...How'd you know about that?" Yun Hao could not help but raise his eyebrow as he heard the Song family being mentioned. It was the family that wanted to open up his meridians, in exchange for joining their clan.

"There are only a few Normie-- normal people the clans take notice of, and even fewer clans in this city in the first place," Huang Yi let out a small smile, "I happen to be close with Song Jian and she told me that someone actually had the guts to refuse her family."

"Jian… Colorful person," Yun Hao muttered. He had only met her once, and she was a little bit too headstrong for him, "Well, small world."

"Hm," Huang Yi nodded.

"..."

After that, there was an awkward silence that lingered for about 5 seconds before Yun Hao puckered his lips, "Right then… I don't want to take too much of your time."

"Wait, no."

"!!!"

Yun Hao was about to turn around, but Huang Yi grabbed his wrist. This caused Yun Hao to drop the bags he was carrying and push Huang Yi's hand away, immediately backing up and putting up a stance.

His right eye completely focused on Huang Yi's smallest movements.

Huang Yi as well, put up her guard as soon as Yun Hao's temperament suddenly changed. But after a while, she realized her blunder. Did she just put up her guard just because of a normal human? And so, realizing her silliness, she quickly put down her guard.

Yun Hao, as well, put down his guard when he saw the look of confusion in Huang Yi's eyes.

"S… sorry, instincts," Yun Hao could not help but stutter. How stupid was he that his first instinct when a cultivator touches him is to fight back?

"N… no," Huang Yi as well, stuttered due to the sudden awkward atmosphere that now pestered the air.

"...Is there something else you needed from me, Ms. Huang?" Yun Hao once again asked while picking up his bags from the ground. There were a lot of people walking around, who knows when someone might nab one of his bags.

"I… was hoping to get your number."

"My… number?"

Did this female cultivator actually fall in love with his manly charms? Of course, Yun Hao wasn't stupid. He knew that he was better looking than most men even with half of his face covered with hair… but this is a cultivator. And besides, he was still recovering from a heartbreak.

Although Huang Yi didn't look too bad herself.

"Wait, no. It's not like that!" Huang Yi, who realized the look of judgment on Yun Hao's eyes, quickly waved her hands, her face almost turning cherry, "I wanted to offer you the same thing that the Song family offered you…

...Become a practitioner under our Huang fam--"

"I don't have a phone."