NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121: Little Loli in the Martial Arts Gym
As evening descended upon Shanghai City, the fiery red afterglow of sunset was just fading from the horizon, giving way to the night.
This was the heart of Shanghai City. A little over a month ago, it had been the world's number one coastal economic powerhouse, a city that moved a staggering 50 million metric tons of cargo.
Here, "bustling" wasn't some fancy adjective; it was just the everyday normal.
Skyscrapers soaring over 400 meters tall were a dime a dozen in the city center, packed one right next to the other. In fact, it was the low-rise buildings that were the oddities, making those plots of land even more ridiculously valuable.
Covered head-to-toe in dust, Shu stood looking utterly disheveled in front of what appeared to be a rather old building, lost in thought.
He'd asked Yun Feng, and apparently, while Shanghai City's downtown area had tons of gyms, there was only one martial arts gym: the "Taixu Martial Arts Gym."
Taixu plus martial arts gym... Shu was pretty sure he was in the right place. But staring at this "Grand View Garden" in front of him, Shu suddenly started to doubt himself.
Fu Hua, someone who could only afford mantou with chunbulao (plain steamed bun with type of pickled mustard green aka cheap meal) and barely got enough nutrition, actually had this kind of family wealth?!
No, that was just stereotyping.
Shu shook his head, scratching his messy, dust-caked hair, dislodging a small chunk of cement.
He'd picked that up crawling through a dog hole. To shake off that Honkai Emperor, he'd burned through a good half of his [Expectation].
He definitely wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice. Why face it head-on when you could just run?
So he ran. He bolted through the city buildings, weaving and dodging. No matter how powerful that Honkai Emperor's physical attacks were, it just couldn't keep up with Shu doing parkour inside a skyscraper.
Once he was sure he'd led the Honkai Emperor far enough away, Shu kept his head down, not showing himself again until night fell.
Being alone wasn't fun, especially in a world crawling with danger.
Shu still had a decent amount of [Expectation] left, but he was completely out of [Prayer] to use it. Plus, he'd ripped his clothes while running, leaving him feeling a bit chilly.
After circling around the entrance twice, shivering, Shu decided to climb the wall.
He'd tried the door, but it was jammed shut. Wall-climbing was his only option.
Good thing his physical stats had gotten a boost, or Shu figured he'd probably have trouble even scaling this wall.
Hopping down into the courtyard, Shu looked around at the old, classically styled wooden buildings. Combined with the silence of the night, he suddenly felt a bit creeped out.
"Whew… wasn't Fu Hua scared as a kid?" Shu felt the wind getting colder. He rubbed his arms, searching for a door in the dark.
Same white walls with pinkish-red tiles everywhere. He turned a corner, and it was still the same white walls with pinkish-red tiles.
After seeing wall after wall like this, Shu unconsciously sped up his pace.
He started to wonder if he'd run into a ghost wall [鬼打墙 - a folklore phenomenon where you get lost in the same place repeatedly, often attributed to ghosts]. He knew it was just his imagination running wild, but he couldn't help thinking about it.
"Hey, it's just me freaking myself out." Shu couldn't stand the eerie quiet anymore. He spoke up, trying to boost his courage.
"Let me just find the door…" Shu muttered to himself, using his own voice to break the silence.
There's no way there are actually ghosts, right?
"Hello?" A tiny voice suddenly echoed from right behind Shu.
Shu instantly shut his mouth, leaping forward several meters in a single bound.
Don't look back! Ghost stories from his memory and his rational mind screamed at him not to respond to these creepy calls.
But his body and his damn curiosity wouldn't listen.
Shu whipped around for a quick glance. A will-o'-the-wisp flickered and floated towards him from the darkness.
Shu gasped, sucking in a lungful of the night air. It was chilling, and Shu felt like he was inhaling yin energy straight into his lungs.
"Um… are you okay?" The "will-o'-the-wisp" in the dark seemed to exude a hint of worry.
Faced with the approaching "ghost," Shu's first instinct was to shout a mighty "Begone!"
But then he sensed it – a faint wave of concern, mixed with a touch of fear, emanating from the darkness.
If it weren't for that emotional tremor, Shu would have definitely yelled that "Begone!" at the top of his lungs.
Forcing down his unease, Shu cautiously approached the "will-o'-the-wisp," squinting. Only when he was within five steps did he finally make out what the "ghost fire" actually was.
It was just the flickering flame of a candle! But the candle was a deep red, blending into the background and making it look like a floating light.
And holding the candle was a tiny hand. Shu took two more steps closer and saw a little girl, covered in gray dust just like him.
How little? Probably small enough for Bronya to pat her head and not even need to bend down.
What's a kid this young doing here?
"Uh…" Shu thought about how he'd almost screamed his lungs out at this little kid and felt his face flush with heat.
"Hey there, little one, what are you doing here?" Shu worked his facial muscles, forcing a friendly smile as he crouched down.
"Shifu instructed me to wait here…" The little girl eyed the grimy, messy-haired strange guy with the forced smile crouching in front of her. She couldn't help but take a wary step back.
Shu: "…" Are you seriously backing away right now?
Shu stayed put, still crouching and smiling.
He needed to at least find out who this little girl's Shifu was… It couldn't actually be Fu Hua, right? The Fu Hua he knew wasn't the 50,000-year-old Herrscher… maybe it was Fu Hua's grandpa?
"Who's your Shifu?" Shu's smile grew even more "natural."
"Shifu is Shifu." The little girl's answer was perfectly natural.
Shu paused for a second. "Okay… and what's Shifu's name?"
"Shifu's name is Shifu." The little girl's reply was unchanging, followed by a sniffle.
"Alright, then where did this 'Shifu' go?" Shu could feel a vein throbbing in his forehead, but he kept the smile plastered on his face.
"I don't know!" The little girl puffed out her chest with righteous confidence, sniffing again.
Shu: "…"
"Hey! Are you messing with me, kid?" Shu stood up, rolling up his sleeves and pretending to step forward menacingly.
He got it now. This kid was either messing with him for fun, or she was just naturally dense and completely immune to his questions. Either way, he wasn't getting any more information out of her like this.
The little loli flinched, quickly stepping back and dragging a giant iron sword from behind her. The sword was almost as tall as she was. "What do you think you're doing! Let me tell you! I'm the 48th generation personally trained disciple of the Taixu Martial Arts Gym! I'm not to be trifled with!"
Hearing this, Shu's eyes instantly lit up. Not because of the little girl's hilariously unconvincing threat, but because she had just confirmed she was indeed a disciple of this martial arts gym.
Personally trained disciple! That sounded seriously awesome!
"You're a personally trained disciple here?!" Shu took two excited steps closer. "Hehehe, I didn't mean anything bad, relax, I'm a good guy! Hehehehe... Hehehehe... Hehehe…"
Little loli: "…"