Chapter 42 - 42: Curse

"Well… that shit was basic."

Aside from Yun Hao's somewhat heavy breaths, there was complete silence inside the spacious restaurant. Some had their phones ready, but most of them have forgotten to press record as what happened here truly was shocking, and it happened fast.

For those who already knew who Yun Hao was from watching Hannah's WeLine video, what happened just now should have been close to impossible. Sure, there had been cases of people defeating those who have a higher cultivator rank than them, but Yun Hao was literally what is called a "baby cultivator"-- he just unlocked his meridians yesterday, it should have been impossible, at least to their notion, for someone like that to defeat a full-fledge cultivator already at the 2nd rank.

But now, it just happened… and they couldn't even record it since they were too shocked to even move a finger.

"Yun Hao… how?"

"I told you, if you're going to penetrate, penetrate hard," Yun Hao said as he put his thumbs up towards Huang Yi.

"Stop saying that like it actually means something profound!" Huang Yi said before letting out a short exclaimed gasp.

"Y… your arm!" Huang Yi's eyes widened as she pointed at Yun Hao's right arm.

"What about-- Gah!"

Yun Hao lifted up his right arm, only for it to twist in a way that it wasn't supposed to. If it wasn't him catching his flailing arm as soon as he did, his radius and ulna, which were split in two, would have probably pierced through his skin. Yun Hao didn't realize it earlier, but it would seem that the damage truly was critical when he tried to divert the man's drop kick earlier.

"Do you have like a Sen-beans or something!?" Yun Hao could not help but scream as he rushed towards Huang Yi.

"What do you think this is, Phoenix Orb Z!?" Huang Yi could not help but slightly avert her eyes as Yun Hao's broken forearm flailed about, "Just don't use it and it'll heal in a week or so…

...and stop flailing it around!"

"...It'll heal in a week?" As soon as Yun Hao heard that, his panicked voice started to calm down, "That's kind of fast."

"You're a cultivator at the Mortal Realm now, Yun Hao, wounds like that usually typically heal--"

"It would seem that there is quite a party here that I was not aware of."

Before Huang Yi could finish her words, a calm and sonorous voice reverberated throughout the whole restaurant, as if whispering to everyone, "I also wasn't aware that we were in the presence of an up and coming celebrity cultivator."

As soon as the words reached the diners' ears, the already silent restaurant became even more silent, not even a breath could be heard. Those who were in the path of the voice all quickly dispersed and made way for the old man that was slowly walking towards the man that Yun Hao just knocked out.

The old man seemed finely groomed and dapper, wearing a black long coat that complemented his thick beard, which also seemed like it was being groomed every morning.

"Hm, isn't this He's family's boy?" The old man said as he slightly pushed the unconscious man's head with his fine leather shoe to check his face, "A little troublesome, but the benefits outweigh the cons, I suppose. Take this brat away to my office and call the He clan."

The old man then casually flicked his fingers, and as soon as he did so, several guards suddenly appeared to take the unconscious man away. Afterward, the old man slowly walked towards Yun Hao and Huang Yi.

"This junior greets Grandmaster Deng!"

And before the old man could even say anything, Huang Yi clumped her fist and saluted him. Yun Hao, on the other hand, could not help but slightly take in a breath as he heard Huang Yi. Grandmaster? Was that some kind of honorific, or was this old man in front of them a cultivator of the Grandmaster Realm?

But either way, Yun Hao decided to greet Grandmaster Deng, even lifting his broken arm to salute.

"No need for such a formality, Huang Yi," Grandmaster Deng chuckled as he grabbed Huang Yi's clumped fist and slightly pulled it down, "But I didn't think that Mr. Yun Hao here and you were acquainted."

Yun Hao once again took in a breath. Even this old grandmaster knew who he was? Now he really should watch that video once he gets the chance to.

"Don't be so surprised, boy," Grandmaster Deng smirked as he saw Yun Hao's perplexed face, "It isn't every day that someone of Liu Hannah's caliber would speak so highly of… a baby cultivator. Anyone who is anyone knows who you are."

Yun Hao didn't really know how to respond or even talk to the person in front of him. He still hasn't really gotten over the fact that there was a Grandmaster in front of him, a man that was just a Rank away from being barred from living inside the Safe Zones.

"Here, have my card," Grandmaster Deng then put something inside Yun Hao's pockets, "Just remember that you owe me for washing this incident, boy. Also, we'll replace your order that was tossed on the floor… for free. I can't have guests leaving the Thousand Lanterns hungry, after all."

"...Thanks?" Was the only word that Yun Hao muttered throughout the whole conversation. And with that, Grandmaster Deng nodded before leaving abruptly, just gesturing for the other diners to carry on.

"I thought we were going to get kicked out," Huang Yi then let out a long and deep breath before looking Yun Hao straight in the eyes, "But that was crazy, Yun Hao! You defeated someone at the Spirit Realm!"

"Is…

...it really that impressive?"

Huang Yi continued to tell Yun Hao how incredible of a feat he just achieved today as the waiters began fixing their tables. Telling him all sorts of examples of other scenarios of the same kind, and how few there were.

And finally, after a few more minutes, their order was now once again at their table. Although Yun Hao was still a little heated from the exchange earlier, the food in front of him seemed to be even more so as the trails of smoke coming from the 6-legged goat stew made their way to Yun Hao's nose.

Although it smelled like any other meat stew, there was a certain aroma to it that made Yun Hao calm-- was this an effect of the magical beast? Will… he actually get stronger just by eating something like this?

Yun Hao was about to dive in, but before he could do so, Huang Yi took his plate. Yun Hao could only blink a couple of times as Huang Yi suddenly served him, placing the rice and stew on his plate.

And as if that wasn't enough. Huang Yi even took his chopsticks and…

"H… here."

"What are you doing?" Yun Hao once again blinked a couple of times as Huang Yi seemed to want to even feed him, the chopsticks filled with meat already in front of his mouth.

"Your… right arm is broken, isn't it?" Huang Yi stuttered as she tried her best to maintain eye contact with Yun Hao, "It's alright, I used to do this for my younger brother."

But he was left-handed and fully capable of feeding himself-- Yun Hao thought before slowly opening his mouth and eating the food offered to him.

"Is it deliciou--"

Before Huang Yi could finish her words, she quickly slammed the chopsticks on the table and stood up.

"Oh, what now?" Yun Hao could only groan in frustration as he looked to where Huang Yi was suddenly staring, only to see a red-haired woman staring at the two of them-- Song Jian.

"Ji… Jiji, what are you doing here?"

"You thought I wouldn't find out?"

Song Jian's voice was calm, but it held a certain tremble to it. Yun Hao, on the other hand, sneakily ate another piece of meat as he awkwardly looked back and forth between the two women before letting out a short but deep sigh.

Why was he cursed with such handsomeness? He thought.