"You lucked out, kid," Brother Hu said while tagging along with Yi Chen as they were strolling aimlessly after having dinner outside.
"Lucked out? What do you mean?" Yi Chen asked.
"I mean that since you've cut down your hair, there's not even a one in a hundred chance that the Town Head's daughter is going to choose you," Brother Hu snickered.
"If you weren't five years older than me, I would have punched you," Yi Chen said in annoyance.
"Hehe, don't take it to heart. Since tomorrow's a big day, you can't go there while looking shabby, so I'll let you borrow one of my good clothes," Brother Hu said cheerily.
"Can't I just wear my normal clothes?" Yi Chen asked.
"If you try something like that and catch the town head's attention, then you'll most likely be jailed and served several whippings for not showing the town head his due respect. So, tell me, do you want that to happen?" Brother Hu asked with a grin.
"No, thank you for the clothes," Yi Chen immediately accepted the offer.
"That's more like it. Since only young men like you, who are 16-17 years old, can attend tomorrow's groom hunt ceremony, you'll be there all alone. Don't get scared there, alright?" Brother Hu flicked his finger on Yi Chen's forehead playfully.
"Got it," Yi Chen rubbed his forehead with his hand, and the two of them soon reached their home.
Brother Hu brought Yi Chen outside his residence and gave him the clothes he had mentioned earlier.
"Here," After handing out the clothes, he patted Yi Chen's shoulder, continued, "Don't attract undue attention and everything will be alright. There are several good-looking men in our small town, so you need not fear."
Hearing Brother Hu's well-intentioned words, Yi Chen could only force out an ugly smile and nod before going back to his house.
After placing the clothes in the cupboard and changing his clothes, he finally lay down on the wooden cot.
In his mind, several thoughts were roaming around regarding how he was going to navigate his way around this new world.
The ability that Purple Orb had granted him didn't seem very useful to Yi Chen, but since it was the only thing he had, he was thinking of ways in which he could take advantage of this ability.
"In such novels, aren't there several martial arts experts who live as beggars or old hermits in the mortal world? With my ability, I'll first find them and then make them accept me as their disciple," Yi Chen muttered while in thought.
"Yes, let's do that," Yi Chen's gaze strengthened as he had finally decided on the path he was going to take.
He had scoured all the places he visited today in the town and found almost no one whose number was more than seventeen.
This had made it clear that he was quite far away from the place where the martial artists resided.
So, the only way forward was to leave the town and look for these experts in other places. However, for that to happen, he needed enough provisions to leave the town, and right now, he barely had enough money to sustain him for two days.
"The previous owner really didn't believe in saving money," Yi Chen sighed in defeat.
In the future, he planned to continue his job as a sweeper and collect enough money to leave this place in search of a martial arts expert.
After this long contemplation, tiredness started taking over Yi Chen's mind as he slowly fell asleep.
The next day, he woke up before the sun rose and got ready.
He looked at his appearance in the mirror one last time before leaving his house. Dressed in an elegant yet old green coloured robe, he soon made his way towards the Great Blue Residence.
On the way, Yi Chen met several other young men of the town who were dressed very elegantly as well. In all their faces, a look of anxiousness and fear was present.
"I don't want to admit it, but they do look much better than me…" Yi Chen muttered out his thoughts in both frustration and relief.
Following the horde of men, Yi Chen soon reached a grand blue coloured door. It was almost ten feet tall and six feet wide.
The door was currently shut, so Yi Chen waited outside the door just like all the other young men.
"Brother, are you alright?" Yi Chen saw a good-looking man who had the appearance of a scholar shaking from fear right beside him and couldn't help but ask.
Hearing Yi Chen's question, the man shifted his eyes towards him and said, "Alright? ALRIGHT? Do you think I'm alright? Look!" He pointed towards the crowd standing behind them and continued, "Do you see anyone in this crowd who is more handsome than me? It's a given that I'm going to get selected by that woman! Oh, my Youth! If only I were as ugly-looking as you all…"
The man started breathing heavily as if he were about to have a panic attack.
'Can I punch this bastard?'
Yi Chen's face twitched when he heard the man, and it was the same for the others who were listening to him, but seeing the man's plight, they didn't find trouble with him. Yi Chen, too, was the same and instead decided to console him.
"Think positive, brother. What if Miss Yu has a different taste in men? You look handsome and tall, but what if she likes someone who is handsome but of the same height as hers? Maybe she likes fat people, or heck, she might even like someone like me with short hair?" Yi Chen patted the man's back.
Hearing Yi Chen's words, the man finally calmed down. His eyes regained their earlier brilliance, and the next moment, he grabbed Yi Chen's hand, "Brother, you're right! There's still a possibility that Miss Yu has different preferences, and I won't get selected today. Thank you! Thank you for reminding me about this possibility."
"Haha, you're welcome," Yi Chen accepted his thanks, and the two then waited outside the huge door.
Just when an hour had accurately elapsed after sunrise, the huge door opened, and a few old men carrying long lists of paper with them walked out of the door.
The next moment, they started calling out names from the list, and the young men whose names were called out entered the residence.
"Tan Sen!"
"I'll be going then, brother. Thanks to you, I've regained hope in this bitter world," Tan Sen turned towards Yi Chen and said before leaving.
Yi Chen's consolation seemed to have done the trick as he was a lot calmer now but a sense of fear was still apparent in his shaky hands as he made his way inside.
He was soon followed by several others.
"Lu Shen!"
.
.
"Zi Cheng!"
.
.
Several names were called out and it was finally Yi Chen's turn.
"Yi Chen!" One of the men called out.
Yi Chen took a deep breath and stepped towards the entrance.
'I'll just lay low and follow Brother Hu's advice,' Yi Chen thought while making his way through that grand door.