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Chapter 8 My Name

'I can speak her language?'

Leo was stunned by this revelation.

The language the girl had just spoken was entirely unfamiliar to him.

What shocked Leo even more was that he not only understood her but also, when he replied in English, a language different from hers, she still comprehended him perfectly. Her expression and body language indicated that she hadn't noticed the language difference.

'What's happening?' Leo thought, but he realised that pondering this too deeply wouldn't be productive at the moment.

'At least the language barrier won't be an issue now,' he told himself. Leo decided to go with the flow and found comfort in the fact that language didn't seem like it was going to be a problem again.

Leo was still shocked but managed to calm himself down.

Thankfully, while he had been slow to react, the girl beside him hadn't noticed anything. Then again, she wasn't focused on him at the moment.

Having discovered that he could communicate with the natives of this world, Leo turned his attention to the girl who had approached him.

Leo observed her appearance.

She was a striking beauty, a real head-turner.

Taller than most girls, Leo estimated her height to be around 5'8".

Her lustrous red hair was elegantly tied up into a ponytail, and Leo couldn't help but wonder how it would cascade almost to her shoulders if she let it down.

Along with her statuesque height, she possessed a beautifully proportioned figure. Her assets might not have been overly ample, but they were perfectly suited to her physique, earning her a solid 8 on the attractiveness scale.

The girl's attire, a simple tunic, suggested that she, too, was a commoner.

Leo also noticed that the girl appeared to be rather fit.

There was also something about the girl that piqued Leo's curiosity.

She carried a sack that seemed to contain her belongings slung over her shoulder. In fact, almost everyone who appeared to be of their age on the dirt road had some sort of sack or item signifying their belongings.

Leo was one of the few who had nothing in hand.

As he looked around once more, he realised something else he had overlooked.

For one, almost half of the people on the dirt road seemed to be young.

On the surface, this didn't mean much, but as Leo observed further, he noticed that almost all the young people had some sort of belongings, and some even had weapons.

At first, Leo thought that carrying weapons in broad daylight was just a norm in this society.

The relaxed atmosphere on the road had also influenced Leo's thinking at that time which caused him to not dwell too much on it and shift his focus elsewhere.

However, as he thought about it more, Leo began to suspect that something important was happening in the city, and it might be centred around young people.

'Once again, my lack of information about this place is a real nuisance,' Leo thought to himself.

As he reflected on this, he suddenly realised that the girl beside him, whom he had momentarily forgotten, was speaking to him.

"You're also here for the disciple recruitment ceremony of the sects, right?" the girl asked.

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'Disciple recruitment ceremony? What's that?' Leo almost blurted out but managed to stop himself in time.

He then recalled a particular term the girl had mentioned.

'Sects? Isn't that like the martial arts organisations in cultivation novels?'

'She also mentioned something like a disciple recruitment ceremony. Based on my knowledge as a novelist, isn't that an event in cultivation novels where cultivation sects select individuals to join their ranks?'

'Hmmm'

'Together with the earlier scene of seeing those three flying on swords and now this, it's hard to not think this world is related to the cultivation I read about in novels.'

As several thoughts started to build up in Leo's head, the girl made him aware of her presence again.

"Senior brother?" She called out.

'Senior brother?' Leo was stunned by her form of address and wondered when he became her senior brother. Putting aside her choice of address, he wasn't even twenty yet! In a few months' time he'll be, but not yet!

It was also at this point that Leo realised who he was talking to. He remembered this was the girl who had been staring at him moments ago.

Leo's originally comfortable state after recovering from the earlier scare turned to cautiousness against the girl.

The girl once again didn't notice anything and spoke again.

"Senior brother should be heading to the city because of the sects recruitment, right? I wonder which sect senior brother has in mind," she said.

Cautious, Leo didn't give a reply to her question and asked one of his own. He also didn't have a reply to give in the first place.

"Not to be rude, but why approach me suddenly and then start to question me?" Leo decided to take a bold step and go straight to the point.

"Huh?" The girl muttered and tilted her head, the same innocent expression never leaving her face.

"Sorry if I was rude, Senior brother. I didn't know. Before leaving the village, father told me to try and make friends over here so we can assist ourselves should we want to join the same sect," the girl muttered.

Her words only made Leo more cautious, though he was also confused.

'That shouldn't be the reason she stared at me then and approached me now, right? Or is it me that's overthinking things because of my situation?'

"Why come to me though? Surely there are others you can meet to make friends here, right?" Leo asked as he made a gesture with his head toward the other young people who seemed their age on the road.

The more Leo spoke to the girl, though he was still very cautious, the intense restlessness he had been feeling since he joined the ranks of the people heading to the city significantly relaxed as he became a little bit more comfortable.

Hearing Leo's words, an embarrassed expression formed on the girl's face as she slowly turned her head to the side to avoid eye contact with Leo again as she spoke.

"I've approached everyone on the road that seemed to be heading to the city for the sects ceremony here, but…" The girl suddenly took a pause as her shoulders dropped a little before adding, "no one seemed to want to talk to me."

'Well, no shit, Sherlock. If you took the same approach you did with me with every other person here, I wonder why you're still on the road.'

"Does senior brother also not want to talk to me?" The girl suddenly asked. Her question took Leo by surprise.

Leo was about to instinctively reply, "yes."

However, he stopped himself just in time yet again when he saw it seemed like tears were about to drop from the girl's eye at a moment's notice should he give a wrong answer.

'Ugh. Don't tell me she's an actual crybaby. Or is she trying to trick me?'

Various thoughts flashed through Leo's mind as he considered what answer he should give. In the end, he looked at the girl's teary expression and sighed.

"It's not that. At least next time try to introduce yourself first if you're talking with a complete stranger before asking questions," Leo said.

"Really?" The girl's expression suddenly beamed as an excited glint flashed in her red eyes.

The way her mood suddenly changed shocked Leo, as she was just teary a few seconds ago.

'Women. Such hard-to-understand or relate-to creatures. My family must be built differently...…'

'Nah, they're all the same,' Leo thought when some certain memories flashed through his mind.

Putting aside his inner thoughts regarding women, Leo replied to the girl.

"Yes," he simply said with a nod.

"Great!" The girl beamed even more.

'If she's not faking it, this girl seems like an energetic and innocent, naive girl. Might be a bit of an airhead, though,' Leo thought as a smile subconsciously made its way to his face.

"Well then, senior brother, my name is Jing Rui. What's yours, senior brother?" The girl asked.

'Eastern-style names? I shouldn't say my real name then, but what goes with Leonard Fernando?'

It didn't take long for Leo to find a name.

"Lian Fengran. My name is Lian Fengran."