The driver of the limousine, Uncle Jia, was a friendly person. He drove me all the way home, which turned out to be quite far from the Na Lan Estate. Clearly the Na Lan family lived in an isolated neighborhood far from the dwellings of us commoners.
I alighted the car before I turned and bowed deeply, displaying my thanks. Uncle Jia waved a hand dismissively before pulling away. I watched the car leave and then I returned home.
"Sorry for being late," I told my parents when I entered our apartment.
"What happened?" Dad asked. "Training?"
"Yeah, sort of." I decided not to elaborate too much on what had happened today. It wasn't that my parents wouldn't believe me, but I wasn't the type to boast. Also, I would most likely go off on a rant, complaining about how the attitudes of rich people sucked.
"Don't stay out too late," Dad reminded me. "Remember those poor girls who got attacked in your school?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'm not a girl."
"That's not the point, son! Who knows when the culprit will switch targets?"
I doubted it would. It seemed to prey specifically on girls because it needed to feed on their yin qi essence, which meant that guys like me were safe. Not that I could tell Dad about that, of course. He would jump from horror if he learned that I had been out hunting ghosts.
Instead, my attention was drawn to the dining table. My stomach growled, reminding me that it had been a long time since I had eaten anything.
Damn the Na Lan family. The least they could do after I had saved their daughters was treat me to a meal. Even the Mo couple was a lot better than them in that regard.
Suppressing a sigh, I put on a smile. "What's for dinner?"
"I was just about to go buy some fried rice and Xing Zhou Bee Hoon." Dad grinned. "Is there anything you want in particular?"
"Nope." I shook my head. As famished as I was right now, I would practically eat anything edible. To begin with, I was never fussy. "Those sound fantastic!"
Later that night, when I returned to my room, I received a notification on my smartphone. Swiping the screen, I checked it, only to see that a million yuan had been deposited into my bank account.
"Holy fuck?!"
I jolted up, my mouth dropping at the enormous sum of money. The Na Lan family was really loaded.
But…wow. Despite her arrogance, Na Lan Yan Ran was a woman of her word. She had kept her end of the bargain and delivered the reward as promised. I just didn't expect her to send the money this soon.
Wait a second…how the hell did she know my bank account in the first place?
Now that I thought about it, she also knew about the financial background of my family. I didn't think to question it at that time, but now that I had calmed down at home, I realized that there was something amiss.
Evidently Na Lan Yan Ran had conducted an investigation on me. That explained why she took over an hour to show up. She must have instructed her staff to collect whatever information they could get on me. Then she read up on the collated info before finally deigning to meet me.
Scary. The Na Lan family had tons of resources and influence. I had best keep my distance from them and avoid Na Lan Yan Ran as much as possible. Not that I had to worry about that, though. There was very little reason for me to interact with a family like that. It wasn't as if this was some stupid son-in-law story where the protagonist married into the rich family of the most beautiful woman in the city just so he could get treated like trash by his in-laws.
Good lord, those sort of nonsensical stories were crawling out of the woodwork these days. I hated myself for reading them.
Anyway, I should return to reality. I couldn't help but be excited by the influx of cash I had just received. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I was going to accept the million yuan and buy what I needed.
Along with the money, Na Lan Yan Ran had sent me an email containing the information of the Divine Dragon Sect. Or at least the information she had. As it turned out, it wasn't a lot. Cultivators usually kept to themselves and the Divine Dragon Sect had kept their base or training grounds secret. That made sense. Of course they didn't want to reveal information about their base because it would open them to an enemy attack.
There was a single contact, though, along with his email. I composed a brief email and sent it to him, praying that it would go through. It would suck if it went straight into the spam folder. The name, Ye Wu Tian, raised all sorts of flags, though. I wondered if it was even a real name. Most likely it was a pseudonym, to preserve the contact's real identity.
They were being really careful about this.
As a side note, I noticed that Na Lan Yan Ran made no mention of the recommendation letter that her father offered to write. I had best assume that it wasn't going to happen.
That was fine. The daughter had more than kept her promise. And I never put much faith in recommendations in the first place. If the Divine Dragon Sect was truly as renowned as they made it out to be, they had no reason to listen to outsiders when considering potential disciples.
I scratched the side of my face, also feeling the anxiety. I knew the risks, of course, but I didn't have a choice. As far as I knew, this was the only cultivator sect in this world that I knew of, besides the Na Lan family – who I couldn't trust. If I wanted to learn more cultivation techniques, I had to approach them.
"Well…" I sighed. "If they do decide to eliminate me instead, then I'll deal with it when that happens."
No use uselessly worrying over the matter until then.
*
To my utter surprise, I received a positive email the very next morning.
"What…? He wants to meet? He says he'll consider accepting me as a disciple?"
I couldn't believe my eyes. I read the email a few times, excitement growing inside me. I hadn't expected this. Honestly, I thought the other party would express skepticism or flat-out ignore me, but the tone of his email sounded pretty warm and enthusiastic.
Was my luck finally turning around?
I tempered my excitement with caution. This could very well be a ruse. A positive-sounding email to lure me to a remote location where they could easily kill me and take my life. Just like how Qi Fu Ren and his Black Serpent Gang pals tried to ambush me in an abandoned warehouse far from any witnesses. That played into my favor the last time because the police never thought to link me to the massacre, but I didn't know if it would go smoothly for me again.
This time, the opponent wasn't just some random gangster from somewhere. He was an actual cultivator – one who had much more experience training and cultivating qi than me. Someone who had way more combat experience than me.
I couldn't afford to underestimate him.
I checked the email again. The sender wished to meet me this Saturday, in front of the Tian Long Temple. How oddly accommodating.
That was quite the apt venue to meet up, considering the name of the sect.
Swallowing, I closed my eyes, steeled my resolve and came to a decision.
"I'll go."
I could only move forward and look ahead. I couldn't turn back now, not after coming so far. I wanted to expand my set of cultivation skills and techniques and grow as strong as possible, after all. I needed to. Otherwise I would be a sitting duck, waiting for death as those cultivators swooped on me.
*
"I'm telling the truth! He was using some weird moves! Some kind of martial arts! I don't know what they were…karate? Taekwondo? Maybe Wing Chun?"
Shi Ting was appealing to a burly, muscular dude with shaggy hair and a beard. The huge guy glanced down at him, bored.
"So?"
"W…what do you mean, so…?"
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"Please take revenge for me! Beat him up! Teach him a lesson!"
"Why should I?" the burly guy gazed down on Shi Ting, and he trembled. "You got cocky on your own, offended someone, and then had your ass kicked, and now you want me to wipe it for you? You have some nerve, brat."
"I…I…I…" Shi Ting swallowed, and took out his smartphone. "I'll pay you! Ten thousand yuan if you beat up that bastard for me! Humiliate him in front of the other students! Maybe break an arm! That's all I ask!"
"Just ten thousand yuan?" the burly guy's eyes narrowed and hunched his broad shoulders. Shi Ting shuddered.
"Twenty thousand!"
"Now we're talking." The huge guy grinned and held out a hand to seal the deal. "It's nice doing business with you, Young Master Shi."
"Thank you, Bro Ying!" Shi Ting tinkered with his smartphone. "I'll send the cash right away!"
As Shi Ting send the money online through a cash app, Ying Quan contemplated the task he had just accepted.
"You said this guy is a martial artist?"
"Yeah! He beat up all five of my men, and then kicked me!" he gestured to his ruined face. "He even broke my nose!"
"I'm not surprised," Ying Quan said bluntly. "If you've spent more time exercising than chasing girls, you wouldn't have been beaten up so badly."
"But…Zhe Xiu and Wu Shu are both black belts in karate and jujitsu!" Shi Ting gestured toward two of his cronies, who were still nursing the wounds that had been dealt to them earlier that day. "Yet they also got defeated so easily!"
"That Shu Cong has great strength," Zhe Xiu muttered, clutching his chest. They had taped his fractured ribs, but he felt a sharp pain every time he inhaled. "And I get the feeling that he was holding back."
"Ho…?" Ying Quan raised an eyebrow. He grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Seems like this kid isn't someone we can underestimate."
"He's nowhere was strong as you, Bro Ying!" Shi Ting said quickly, always swift to flatter. "You'll crush him in one move!"
"All the same…" Ying Quan rubbed his chin. "It's probably best to be careful."
He turned and glanced at the group of massive fellas behind him.
"What do you guys say? You want a piece of the action?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"Might as well."
"It's been a while since I've been to a high school. Might as well check it out."
"Yeah, we might be able to see some pretty girls!"
At that, Shi Ting tensed and he clenched his fists. He shut his eyes, recalling how his love target slipped out of his grasp.
"That Shu Cong bastard will pay for taking my woman away from me!" he growled determinedly. His lackeys watched him in concern.
"Young Master Shi," Wu Shu spoke up. "But that Shu Cong already said that Na Lan Yan Ran was lying, and that he has nothing to do with her. I don't think he took your woman away."
"Shut up! I don't care! He humiliated us in front of everyone! You think we can let him get away with that?!"
Watching the ruckus, Ying Quan shook his head and guffawed.
"Woman…always the cause of men fighting each other." He reached out and caressed the butt of a scantily clad woman beside him, who moaned. "Just a piece of advice, Young Master Shi, you shouldn't be too…stubborn in your pursuit. Such women are often more than trouble than they are worth."
"Oh, but this Na Lan Yan Ran is definitely worth it," Shi Ting said firmly. "Taming a spitfire like her and teaching her to be submissive and subservient…especially on the bed…it's totally worth it."
Ying Quan looked disgusted even as he tightened his grip on the lady beside him, eliciting another groan. "You have quite the nasty taste and hobby, Young Master Shi. But rest assured…now that you've paid me, I'll definitely get the job done."