Chapter 333: Teleported! Now What? (2/2)
The guy had tattoos all over his chest and his back. His toned muscle was the same as professional boxers, who had about 10% of their body fat. Even his square jaw was similar to modern martial arts, who got punched a lot in their career.
Noteworthy enough, he had short trimmed hair, which was unusual for the locals. He carried a large bastard sword on his shoulder as if it was as light as feather. Nobody bothered picking a fight or calling him a slave either.
'He looks young, but he has a high cultivation base. Is this place a high-level zone? Am I in an advanced area or am I hanging around the strongest sect's area?'
In most wuxia novels, protagonists usually traveled the world and encountered stronger people, stronger sects, and stronger rivals as they progressed. They started from the weakest area first, after which they advanced to a higher stage as if they were playing games.
Miaomiao suspected that he was in an advanced area, which was stronger than the Mountain Goose City's newbie zone. This would explain why this red-bandana teenager was this strong despite being younger than him.
”Yes? Can I help you?”
The teenager put his bastard sword down and cupped his fist to salute Miaomiao, ”Haha! Hello. For a moment there, I thought you would have lost your cool and left without trying. I'm glad I've stopped you in time.”
”???”
Miaomiao tilted his head, wondering what the teenager was on about.
”Oh, excuse me. My name is Gan Xingba, the FORMER youngest son of Gan Clan. Meh, I'm an outcast, though. I'm here for the Jiangdong White Tiger Sect's annual examination. Are you here to take the exam, too?”
”Exam?”
Miaomiao sensed a déjà vu. He felt like something similar to this event had happened in the past.
Although confused, Miaomiao pretended to get along with the teenager. After all, Gan Xingba's name was not something that he could ignore.
As this place was like a counterpart world of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many famous historical characters roamed the land as cultivators. This teenager, too, was the counterpart of the Sun Clan's elite general, Gan Ning, who had the style name Gan Xingba.
It wouldn't hurt making friends with a promising youth.
”I'm Cao Mao. I'm a rogue cultivator,” Being cautious of the potential conflict, Miaomiao used his alias again. ”So, what are they testing this year? I'm kinda intimidated after seeing so many people here.”
”Hahaha! You're overthinking! You know, not many guys can have a strong cultivation base and physique like us! Most of them are just pushover weaklings that can't even reach the 4th-stage before they become 18! Look at us, we're about to advance to the 5th-stage soon, and we're not even 20! Hey, since we're strong, let's be friends, okay?”
”Err…”
This guy talked a lot. Still, he was somewhat honest.
”Sure. Do you think you can handle some wine?”
”Duh! Dude, you're looking down on me. Wine? Pfft! I've grown enough to down 10 vodkas a day!”
”… Okay,” Miaomiao was not impressed due to the teenager's age. He was too young to be an alcoholic. ”Sorry to ask, how old are you anyway?”
”15. You?”
”… Almost 20, I guess.”
”You look 18 to me. Anyway, who cares about age? Come on, bro. Let's enter the city and find a good tavern to drink! It's hard to find a bro, so let's party!”
”…”
Miaomiao started to regret befriending Gan Ning now. This guy seemed like an alcoholic simpleton, and he might cause a lot of trouble. He didn't even show respect to his senior!
While Miaomiao was queuing to enter the city, he continued to allocate more items from his spatial rings to his inventory slots in secret.
Wei Yuan was a fast worker. It only took a minute for her to empty his system inventory slots, and he needed to refill them with more items.
30 minutes later, Miaomiao and Gan Ning were in front of the checkpoint, where a dozen city guards inspected foreigners before they could enter the city.
”Name and affiliation?” One of the guards in a red lamellar armor asked Gan Ning and Miaomiao.
”Gan Xingba, former Gan Clan's most handsome young master!” Gan Ning went first.
”Gan Xingba? You again? Isn't this your third attempt?”
”Bah! Who cares if I failed twice!? As long as I'm not 20 yet, I can keep trying! Look at my cultivation base and my muscle! I've worked so hard this year, and I'm going to top the scoreboard!”
”Pfft. Hadn't you drown yourself with wine before the exams, you could have done that on your first run. Anyway, you can pass. Next!”
Gan Xingba seemed like a regular here. Miaomiao wondered how he failed the exams when his strength and potential were this exceptional.
Miaomiao approached the guard and stated his name, ”Cao Mao, a rogue cultivator.”
”No affiliation?” The guard frowned. Then, he turned around and called his supervisor.
The guard captain walked over and looked at Miaomiao, ”Where is your birthplace?”
”Red Sun City.”
”Oh, the capital city? Can I see your official name token?”
”I ran into a monster beast horde, and I lost it somewhere in the dark meadow. Sorry.”
”…”
The guard captain stared at Miaomiao for a moment. Only when he noticed the latter's cultivation base, the captain waved his hand and shooed Miaomiao away.
”You may enter. Don't cause any trouble here.”
”Huh? I can enter?”
”Do you want to take the exam or not!? I'm being lenient here since you're strong! Go on, we're busy!”
Miaomiao couldn't believe that his bullshit story worked. Sometimes, he wondered if he was actually a genius.
After Miaomiao walked past the checkpoint, he looked at Gan Ning, who had been waiting for him.
”Say, Xingba. What's this city name?”
”Dafuq? How come you didn't know!? It's so famous around here!”
”I'm illiterate. I can't fucking read!”
It was another excuse and a ploy to make himself look stupid, so Gan Ning wouldn't suspect a thing.
”Ah, I understand,” Gan Ning placed his arm around Miaomiao's neck and shed a tear. ”I've been through that period as well. I ended up spending half a year trying to remember 3,000 words at once. I know it's hard for you, but I can teach you. Now, have faith in your senior, and I shall give you tricks on how I learned to read!!”
”… Okay. What about the city name?”
”Bah, you're no fun. It's Jianye, the headquarter of Jiangdong White Tiger Sect!”