The fear of the unknown

I was confused. Scratch that. I was EXTREMELY perplexed by all the events that were happening right before me. Why? Where did it go wrong? How come the first string duo turned my attention towards the third squad? Are they planning something else? I don't get it. I don't get what's in the duo's minds. They even proclaimed that the third squad guys are the Weasel bandits. What are you planning, first string duo?

I didn't have to wait so long to get an answer for that. Just when they tried to go on a full on attack, someone blocked their path. The person who blocked them was like a boulder. They were bounced back on their collision with the said person. He was a towering, intimidating figure. Anyway, it didn't take a bright person to figure out who he was. Someone trying to save the Weasel bandits… The muscle behind the Weasel bandits. Guo Ning.

But, here's the confusing part. WHY? Why are these two deliberately trying to bring out Guo Ning? And why would Guo Ning come out to defend the third squad members if these two were in the first squad? Wait, does that mean…

[Ha, took you a long time to figure it out.]

{Wait, you knew they weren't in the Weasel bandits… Since when?}

[A bit after the beginning. Their actions were far away from anything that has been described about the Weasel bandits. They were pretty straightforward, you know?]

{Ha, all this time I thought they were acting concerned about me. But that was all real? What the hell!}

[You still got a long way to go, gurl…]

{Guess so. Anyway, who the hell are these two then, if they aren't the bandits?}

[That is something that you should ask them. I can't give a reply on that.]

{Hmm, I should take action now, huh?}

While the duo whom I previously thought were the first string bandits of the first squad were fighting against Guo Ning, I made my way towards them as well.

"Miss, what are you doing? You'll get injured." The boy of the duo tried pushing me aside since Guo Ning's punch was directed straight towards me. However, I dodged both the push and the punch with relative ease. I could feel it. Guo Ning didn't throw a serious punch. It was more to get me out of the crossfire. This guy… Well, I would've died from that punch if it was a few months ago, so I understand the caution. But, I'm not the same idiot from back then. I have successfully evolved into a dumbass. So, rather than moving away, I headed straight towards Guo Ning. Since, I knew theatrics were an important part if I wanted to etch my image in people's minds. I decided to walk menacingly slow; so slow that Guo Ning already threw three punches towards the boy in the midst.

Since the slow stuff didn't seem to work, I decided to pick up pace. That's when the girl of the duo stopped me. "Miss, please stop! This isn't a fight you can win." She warned me.

I closed my eyes. What she said might be true, especially since I really don't want to use the Dragon's rage or borrow the Gold dragon's power. However, if I just cower away thinking that literally every fight is impossible for me, it will always remain impossible. Guo Ning is strong. I don't need some skill to know that. And that's exactly why I have to face him. This is the perfect place to test myself.

I didn't even know that my hair was turning back into white like back then until the girl shouted it out in surprise. Upon hearing that, I opened my eyes. It really did turn white… Well, silver… If you wanna be all specific about it.

"What the hell?" I could hear the astonishment in Guo Ning's deep voice. I didn't mind. I'm here just for one thing. I'm here to test out what kind of a skill this silver hair is.Well, there's also the serving justice part. But that isn't my main mission.

I tried walking towards Guo Ning once again and this time as well, I was stopped by the girl. "Miss!"

"Move." I ordered. I didn't even have my Dragon's rage turn on, but the way I ordered her to move did have some authority in it. It was kinda weird. Maybe this is what Goldy meant by feeling like a dragon. Ah, you don't have to answer, Goldy. This is my epic moment. I don't want you interfering with it.

[...]

Anyway, I guess it was just pure instinct, but the girl moved. The boy tried covering for her, but I evaded him and went straight towards Guo Ning and just stood there before him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Picking a fight with you." I replied.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" He asked, with a concerned look on his face. I understand what he's thinking. I look pathetic. Although I did build some muscles back in the training, it didn't look powerful enough. Like, the girl from the duo… She didn't have any sort of 'muscle', but she did have an aura of the power around her. Not big enough to stop people from attacking though. But still, she did have that special feel. This wasn't something that the person could freely turn on and off. It was simply an aura that they have since the beginning.

However, I had none… At least, I looked like I had none. I mean, would they even believe me if I said that I have a powerful aura that I can turn on and off? They'd probably laugh at me. So, to Guo Ning, I was basically a weak b*tch trying to pick a fight that she couldn't win. But do I care? No. I simply don't care. I don't know what changed. Maybe it's because I have Goldy on my side. I don't feel the fear that I felt moments before.

[You're a dragon now, Hua. Dragons don't feel fear.]

I guess he's right. Although I did ask him not to interfere in my moment. Oh well, what can i do about it, eh?

"Yea, I wanna." I replied.

Guo Ning sighed. Seems like he really doesn't wanna fight against me. "Don't blame me if things go awry." He spoke.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on doing that." I assured him.

"Hmm. You two. You heard her, right? Move aside." Guo Ning ordered the two who were heading towards me, seemingly trying to persuade me off this idiotic plan of mine. So, for once, I felt thankful to this huge man that I've met for the first time. I really didn't need any interruptions when I whoop his ass.

Yet again, Guo Ning tried fighting me with caution. His swing lacked everything; power, speed and accuracy, they were all missing in that swing of his. It wasn't even worthy of me dodging it. I could sense the trajectory of the punch even with my eyes closed.

So, I decided to teach him a lesson. A lesson on how underestimating someone could punish you dearly. I didn't dodge. I stayed on my ground. I caught his swinging hand and used the momentum to just barge him into the ground. Even then, I didn't let go off his hand. I placed my knee right on top of his head and placed the entire pressure of my body on that one point while I twisted his arm in a way an arm shouldn't be twisted.

He felt it. He felt the fear of the unknown. He got hit because he underestimated me. This time, I felt it. I felt the resolve of a man. A man who chose someone as his opponent. Guo Ning used his sheer strength to throw me far away from him and stood up nonchalantly as if nothing really happened. Made sense. I barely used Qi for attacking him that time.

Anyway, I landed on my all fours once I got on the ground from that throw he just made. If this was in the World of Cultivation game, one could perceive that my agility is pretty high. Anyway, he stood there, moving his shoulder to see if something happened to it. Yet again, he didn't even bat an eye towards me. It was as if I didn't even exist before him. And even if I did, I was just a single speck of dust that he didn't care about. I guess this part of him made me angry. I personally didn't feel it; I thought that this was something trivial that I shouldn't be angry about. However, my body seemed to think otherwise. It seemed to think that the nonchalant look on Guo Ning's face was the greatest disrespect it ever faced. The body was enraged, it shook so hard while I ran towards him. He had a tall frame. And here I was, a really short person wanting to punch his face. I guess I used a little Qi to make me jump right then. Because in the next moment, his face was right before me, still not looking at me though. I didn't care. I just wanted to hit him. That's when I felt it. It was my turn to feel the fear.

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