Mystical Journey

Instantly, Garen came to a realization. He did not expect this little brat to spurt out such a sensible justification.

“Aren’t you afraid of the embarrassment of getting rejected?”

“Embarrassed? What’s the big deal?” The girl pouted, “I’d rather be sociable and try to make new friends than merely feeling awkward about it! I enjoy liveliness, the more people the better because the best things happen when there are more people around. So much better than just being alone.”

Garen shook his head in disappointment as he knew that there must have been something wrong with her parents for her to have such mentality, for her to be so afraid of solitary. She enjoyed making friends because she was scared of being alone. For what he knew, a person like her just needed people whom she cared about to spend more time with her, but most of the time, a little wish as such never be fulfilled.

“Hey, what’s your name? Do you want to leave me your number? This is my very first time seeing an uncle with such a cool body!” Unexpectedly, the girl was asking for his number now.

Garen did not expect that he would meet such a human being like this little girl while he was simply roaming the streets as he was settling Blue Pole Star’s sister on this planet.

The young lady was making sense. After transmigrating so many times, he started from trying to blend in voluntarily. But now, he just put on this cool demeanor.

“Who knew, I’d be lectured by a little bastard like you…” Garen laughed humorlessly in his head. Despite being way older than the little girl, she actually had a clearer vision than him.

“Hey, I’m asking you something?!” The girl was still pestering.

“I don’t have a handphone,” Garen shook his head.

“You’re lying!” The girl pouted. “Can’t you see the convertible I’m driving?! It’s a convertible, for goodness sake! I’m loaded! Are you seriously turning down a friendship offer from a sugar mummy like me? What’s wrong with you!?”

Garen was speechless. This little girl had a weird point of perspective indeed, who would actually call themselves a sugar mummy?

“Look, I can treat you meals, go play around with you, shop with you, buy you gifts, heck I can even find other pretty girls to come along, and you’re still showing me that sour face of yours! What’s wrong with you?” The girl finally blurted out her true intentions, she did want Garen.

Garen knew the hidden meaning behind all these and looked at himself.

His black windbreaker was a bit tight, exposing his obvious inhuman body. Besides his physique, he did have a certain aura. On the other hand, he had some touches done to his face so that he looked ordinary and average, there was really nothing so special about him. So why was this girl so into him?

“Alright, just answer my previous question. What’s with the knife you’re carrying around? Since it’s not cosplay purposes, what is it for?” The girl started asking questions again.

“I actually practice martial arts, so I use the knife,” Garen simply answered.

The girl had her who-are-you-kidding-face once again, and so he quickly added, “This time, I’m not lying.”

He was unsure why he did not just leave but decided to continue talking to this little girl. Somehow, a casual conversation like this reduced the loneliness he felt deep inside.

It was evident that this little girl was lonely as well. Just because of loneliness, the both of them, surprisingly, were able to click. Garen continued walking along the way as the girl drove her car slowly beside, the strange combination even attracted passer-bys’ attention, but the duo was so immersed in their own bubble.

The sky gradually dimmed and nighttime seemed to have fallen.

Walking along the streets aimlessly, Garen has approached the suburbs without realizing it. It was the urban-rural junction where they had more stalls set up by the side of the road and people were wearing slightly tattered clothes.

“You should go home,” Garen spoke lightly.

“I’m in no rush. Hey uncle, you still haven’t given me your number,” the little girl smiled in return.

“You’re still young, what do you know about love…” Garen snickered.

“You’re just a few years older than me!” The girl was annoyed once again.

Garen looked up into the sky. The observant girl could pick up a trace of loneliness from him, it was very mild, but there nonetheless.

“Are you leaving already?” She could not resist but asked. She did not know why but since her first glance at this man, she already had a feeling that they were the same kind of people. They were lonely, and that cool facade they put on was just because they were afraid of being hurt. His odd but somehow cool getup was just a bonus, allowing her a reasonable excuse to strike up a conversation with him. She just did not expect the both of them to actually continue the conversation.

This man had completely no interest in her money, he did not even care about her convertible. The unconcerned behavior he was portraying since the beginning was already clear enough for her.

“Where are you going?” The girl asked immediately, “Is your house nearby? I actually have a friend who lives close by,” she was afraid of hurting his ego as she knew that most people who live in this area were not doing well financially.

Garen simply shook his head and stared at the equally lonely girl before him.

“Fate destined us to meet. Here, I have something for you.”

He had an inconspicuous ring in his palm. The greyish-black ring was crude and it seemed very normal. With a light flick, the ring landed in the car and was caught by the girl. The familiar action seemed well-rehearsed by the two of them.

The girl’s eyes were immediately wide opened.

“I hope there won’t come the time when you have to use it…” As she looked down at the ring, Garen disappeared into the air.

When she finally looked back up, the girl realized that Garen was gone already. She searched around looking in all directions, but there was no sight of him.

She rushed down her car and walked around, but Garen was no longer in sight along the empty streets. To run into the alleys from where her car was needed at least five or six seconds, but Garen had disappeared when she had her head down for a second. It was like he vanished into thin air.

“Hey!! Uncle!!” She could not help but panic and started shouting.

“Uncle! Where are you?!” She did not know why she started yelling regardless of her own image. There was no reason at all, just her impulse kicking in.

“Chen Cheng what are you doing!? Why are you making such a big racket?” A middle-aged couple rolled up from behind in a luxurious car.

“Dad… I…” The girl wanted to explain, but she was immediately interrupted.

“Your uncle just gave me a call just now saying you’re driving alone and you were just talking to yourself like someone was actually talking to you. You totally scared him. What in the world are you doing?!” The middle-aged man shouted angrily.

“There was an uncle talking to me just now!” Chen Cheng was trying to explain herself.

“What uncle?! I think you’re hallucinating! You go ask around when you’re on the way back and see whether anyone saw you talking to some old man! You were just being crazy and talking to yourself! Come on, it’s time to go home!” The man shrieked.

“Sigh… Even I was scared and rushed back from the office, I even missed my meeting,” the middle-aged lady said with a sigh. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I… But I!” Chen Cheng was red all over the face already, then she thought about the ring and held it up. “Don’t believe it just have a look! The uncle gave me this thing!”

“Gave it to you? This is clearly just some normal iron ring sold at the street stalls,” the middle-aged man casted a glance towards the shabby ring and shook his head. “Alright, time to head home. Chen Cheng, I know you don’t have anyone to accompany you at home, but you can go find those nice friends of yours. You know I can just transfer any amount of money you want into your bank account, and you can go anywhere you want, but I am begging you here, please stop acting crazy.”

“But I was really talking to an uncle just now! He had this blue scimitar hung at his waist which was really cool! He was wearing this black windbreaker, and he’s so tall and strong…” Chen Cheng was still trying to debate.

“Stop finding excuses to lie to us. Come on, be a good girl and go home, listen to your father,” the lady said helplessly.

“But I really…” Chen Cheng was so frantic to the point tears swelled up.

“Alright alright, we believe you,” the lady nodded her head and reached out to caress her daughter’s face, “Don’t cry don’t cry. Here, have your ring back.”

Chen Cheng took the ring back, she really was upset and had the urge to cry.

“I’m not lying!”

“You still dare to lie!!” Her dad was furious already, “Just see for yourself!”

He took his phone out and played a recording her uncle just sent him earlier.

Chen Cheng took a look and she was stunned for a while as well.

In the video, she really was driving alone slowly and seemed to be laughing at times or pouting in annoyance. It was as if someone was really was walking alongside her outside the car.

“I…” She was at loss for words. “I really saw an uncle… He was the one who gave me this thing!” She was still trying to argue as a panic started to flood in her mind. Was the cool man just now really just a hallucination? Was she really psychotic now? Was she hallucinating things?

“There’s no uncle or whatever, nobody was talking to you! You were just alone!” Her father’s expression softened a bit as he soon realized that his daughter was just speaking the truth. If she was really psychotic… He did not even dare to think about it.

Chen Cheng bent her head and stared at the ring in her hands silently, her eyes swollen red already.

“Come on, let’s go home. I’ll drive the car,” her mother got down of her car and walked towards Chen Cheng’s convertible.

Right that moment, a masked man rushed forward and fiercely knocked into Chen Cheng’s mother. With a swish, a knife was stabbed into her mother’s abdomen.

“No!!!” Eyes wide opened, Chen Cheng stared at the knife which aimed at her mother’s lower abdomen. Without a single care, she dashed forward to block her mother.

Suddenly, she could hear a sigh.

Clang!!!

With a soft clang, a dark blue knife which had a lightning-like shine flashed through.

The bandit was paralyzed while her mother was stunned, whereas her father who was halfway getting out of the car was equally stunned as well.

Meanwhile, Chen Cheng was just staring blankly at the motionless bandit before her, still holding onto the ring in her hands.

With a plop, the bandit fell knee first onto the ground. The bandit was not breathing anymore and the dagger in his hands fell to the ground with a crisp clang.

People started to crowd around them but other then Chen Cheng and her parents, nobody saw the blue light that shined that instant. Loud whispers were heard as the crowd discussed what happened, some of them even called the police.

However, at this moment, the only thing in Chen Cheng and her parents’ mind was that dark blue lightning-like flash. That momentary flash had already deeply imprinted in their hearts.

The husband and wife finally came around and looked at their daughter who was in tears.

“I didn’t lie to you…” Chen Cheng muttered, “Really…”