The Mage of Primordial Chaos

The next morning, we set off early at around 6 AM. The reason for this was that we didn't want to run into Dong Zhu and his lackeys again, which would lead to a repeat of the events we had just experienced, and I didn't really feel like dealing with that again. Sure, it was pretty easy for me to subdue them, but it was still work, and work was irritating.

We first dropped by a convenience store to pick up some quick breakfast for ourselves, then immediately headed for the high-speed rail station in Huizhou, via taxi. The drive took about half an hour, and once we were inside the station, I began searching for a maglev to Shanghai, The Magic Capital - our destination.

"Hm...okay, so there are two lines heading for Shanghai today..." I murmured as I stared at the large screen in front of me that showed all the maglevs that were going to be passing through this station today.

"Which one are we taking?" Feng Mian asked.

"Let's take the one coming at 12 PM," I said. "The other one is coming at 8 AM, and that could work, but I want to eat lunch before heading on the maglev, so might as well leave for Shanghai a bit later."

"Okay, I'll buy us the tickets, then," Yu An Yan said, before heading over to a self-service terminal where you purchased tickets. She was our bank, pretty much.

Wait...that's a pretty mean way of putting it...it sounds like we're only using her for her money, but that's not the case. It's just...well, every expenditure we've made on this trip so far, she's paid for. I feel pretty bad, but the truth is, I'm completely broke at the moment. Once we get to Shanghai, I'll do a bunch of quests at the Hunters' Guild there, then pay her back everything.

After a while, Yu An Yan came back to us with ten printed tickets.

"How much was it?" I asked, curious.

"Well, it was ¥300 for one person, so that's ¥3,000 for all ten of us," Yu An Yan replied nonchalantly with a shrug.

"T-Three thousand..." I muttered in awe. "Man, if Flaria was still in her bird form, we could've saved ¥300..."

Feng Mian giggled. "It's not even your money, why are you so concerned?"

"W-Well, I'm planning on paying all of this back to Yu An Yan once I get the money, so..."

"No need," Yu An Yan immediately replied. "Do you really think the Yu family is in need of money?"

"Mm...we are one of the Four Great Families...of Shenzhen," Yu An Xue added. "Money...is not a problem."

"That may be so, but I think Big Brother Xuan Kai just can't get over it in his heart," Qing Yue explained. "I'm the person who knows him best in the whole wide world. He won't be able to rest easy until he pays back all his debts."

"W-Woah there, rest easy? That makes it sound like I'm about to die," I murmured.

"Oop, my bad," Qing Yue said with a laugh.

After that, we wandered around the station for a while, since we had plenty of time to kill. We decided to grab lunch early, since the high-speed rail didn't offer food, and we would be on the maglev for a good eight hours. I didn't want to pass that time hungry, so even though it was only 10 AM after we finished browsing through the cute little shops in the high-speed rail station, we decided to head to a restaurant that looked pretty good.

"Hm...dumplings, huh?" I murmured, looking at the sign of the diner.

Heaven Dumplings was this place's name. A pretty nice sounding name, sure, and there were plenty of customers eating at it currently as well. I figured it would be even more full when 12 PM came around, since that was the usual lunchtime. But since our maglev to Shanghai was taking off at 12, we couldn't wait until then - not that I wanted to, anyway. I hate crowded places.

I assumed most of the people here now were also going to board the maglev at 12, which is why they were eating here now instead of the proper lunchtime. That was fine by me.

The moment the girls and I stepped into the restaurant, we drew the gazes of all the customers, especially the male ones. Those with girlfriends or wives were immediately slapped by said women, and those without merely stared on. One guy even had drool spilling out from his mouth, and no, it wasn't because of the food.

The girls instinctively hid behind me, and the guys immediately turned their murderous gazes onto me. 

Having a harem...sucks.

I ignored their looks, something I was used to by now. Luckily, I had my mask on, so that meant I was under the persona of Kai Xuan right now, not my real self. If they came looking for trouble, I can just send them back where they belong without any fear of repercussion in the future.

Luckily, all the guys here had more self-control than the likes of Dong Zhu. Well, either that, or they just actually fear the law, because throughout the entire lunch, the only things that I received were death glares, nothing more. Meanwhile, the guys with girlfriends or wives kept getting hit by their partners for trying to sneak glances at my companions.

Sigh...this isn't even the men's fault. If you want to blame someone, blame these girls for being too gorgeous.

Hell, even Xiang Peng, who was the least good-looking out of the nine of them, had this mature body and overall air to her that made her attractive.

Overall, we ordered ten sets of dumplings, one for each of us. Of course, we ordered different flavors, and we shared between each other, since we wanted to try every flavor. The food was pretty delicious, and service was quick. So, we decided to leave a tip.

By the time we finished eating, it was 11 AM - just an hour before the maglev for Shanghai arrived at this station. So, we just waited patiently until the station's PA announced for us to begin heading for the platform. That would usually occur 10-15 minutes before the estimated time or arrival of the maglev, so we had nearly another hour to kill. There wasn't much left for us to do, so we just waited in some chairs. I was in the dead center of the nine girls...and Qing Yue, as if we weren't attracting enough attention, chose to sit on my lap. That left four girls on either side of me.

Many people passing by stole glances at the beauties with me, but like the guys back at the restaurant, refrained from making any actual actions. The girls didn't seem to notice since they were all on their phones, but damn, I did...mainly because I couldn't use my phone with Qing Yue sitting on top of my lap. I tried telling her to get off, but she just refused and pouted, saying 'this was her reserved seat'.

Since I was really getting uncomfortable with this atmosphere, I decided to make some conversation to take my own mind off the glares of surrounding passengers.

"So, Xiang Peng, while we're waiting, why don't you tell us a bit more about Shanghai?" I asked.

She put her phone away, and looked at me. "Tell you more...? Hm, what exactly do you want to know? Like, the exact area size or population? 'Cause there's no way I know that off the back of my head."

"The exact area size of Shanghai is 6,340.58762-" Mei Gui began, but I quickly cut her off.

"She was trying to make a joke there, Mei Gui...don't take what she says literally," I said. "I know, the joke was horrible, so it's not your fault."

"What?! How dare you say my jokes are horrible?!" Xiang Peng exclaimed, puffing out her cheeks in a pout.

I rolled my eyes, then with the most deadpan expression ever known to mankind, "Yeah yeah, your jokes are amazing, I'm laughing so hard right now. Anyway, tell me about Shanghai."

"Hm, well, for starters, Shanghai is a city like no other," Xiang Peng began.

"Well no shit, it's the Magic Capital," I said. "If any other city was like it, then where would its honor go?"

"True, but everything in Shanghai is just so...different from the rest of China - no, the entire world. That's honestly the best word I can use to describe it - you'll have to see the specifics yourself."

"Goddamn, you're useless," I muttered.

"Hey now, don't be like that, Big Brother Xuan Kai," Qing Yue said from on top of my lap. "It's more exciting if we find out for ourselves, right?"

Y-Yes, Qing Yue, but that's not the point here. The point here, is that I'm trying to make conversation, so that I can take my mind off certain things.

"Whatever..." I murmured, and resigned to just sit in silence for the rest of the duration until the maglev came to this station.