Chapter 00027: Meeting Qu Yi Again
# Meeting Qu Yi Again
Chapter 27
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 27: Meeting Qu Yi Again
Due to some delays, the high-speed train arrived at Pujiang Station early the next morning.
After leaving the station, Ding Huan immediately took a taxi to Puhai Martial Arts Square.
This was the location for the entrance exams of the top ten martial arts academies on Blue Star.
Since Qu Yi was planning to take the exams, she would definitely be here.
Puhai Martial Arts Square had been built less than ten years ago and was a popular venue for various martial arts events.
The surrounding area was always bustling with activity.
Puhai was a large city, and Ding Huan knew that finding Qu Yi here wouldn’t be easy.
He planned to stay for several months, so his first priority was to find a place to live.
Ding Huan initially wanted to stay in a decent hotel, as he needed a quiet place to cultivate for the next two to three months.
However, to his surprise, even though he had arrived more than two months early, the hotels were already fully booked.
It wasn’t that there were no rooms available at all, but during the exam period, most hotels were fully reserved.
Ding Huan needed a room for several months, so he couldn’t book one of those short-term rooms.
After checking several hotels, he finally managed to secure a room in a smaller hotel.
The room had been booked online by someone else who had just canceled their reservation.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to find a place to stay.
As for the students coming to take the exams, Ding Huan assumed their parents had already booked rooms for them, so he didn’t need to worry about that.
If Geng Qianxing couldn’t find a place to stay, he could always crash on Ding Huan’s floor.
After resting at the hotel for a day, Ding Huan went out the next morning.
He had two tasks: first, to see if he could find any information about Qu Yi.
Since Qu Yi was taking the entrance exams, she would likely be around Puhai Martial Arts Square.
If he looked around enough, he might just find her.
Once he found her, he planned to rent a gene lab for three days.
When Ding Huan arrived at Puhai Martial Arts Square, he finally understood why Qu Yi had come here early.
The entire area around the square was filled with vendors selling gene potions of dubious origins, with prices ranging from high to low.
Ding Huan didn’t need to ask to know that most of these potions were fake.
In addition to the potions, there were also martial arts crash courses, gene fusion enhancement workshops, and gene compatibility tests—basically, anything you could think of that might be related to the entrance exams could be found here.
There were also legitimate gene institutions, such as the building in front of Ding Huan, which had the words "Huaxia Martial Arts Gene Testing" written in calligraphy above the entrance.
People were constantly coming and going, and in the small square in front of the building, many were handing out flyers.
Before Ding Huan even reached the entrance, he had already collected several flyers.
Upon closer inspection, Ding Huan saw that the tests offered included gene type testing, gene compatibility testing, and gene growth potential testing.
The latter two were part of the entrance exams for the top ten academies.
Ding Huan guessed that many students taking the exams would come here beforehand to get tested, just to have an idea of where they stood.
Ding Huan was certain that if Qu Yi was here to take the exams, there was an 80% chance she would come to this place to get those two tests done.
Just as he was hesitating whether to go inside, he overheard a conversation nearby.
"... So what if a Coupled Gene Body appeared? A few days ago, there was a girl with a Gene Affinity Body..."
"Is she staying at Jiuyue Hotel?"
"Yeah, there are a lot of people getting tested these days. We should keep an eye out—maybe there are other rare gene types around..."
The two voices grew softer as they entered the gene testing hall.
Thanks to Ding Huan’s status as a first-level gene cultivator, he could hear them clearly.
Their conversation made him wary.
Coupled Gene Body? Gene Affinity Body?
Ding Huan stared at the backs of the two people as they disappeared, his thoughts turning to Qu Yi.
During the entrance exam period, all sorts of rare gene types would appear here, and Gene Affinity Bodies wouldn’t be uncommon.
In her previous life, Qu Yi had likely been taken away after participating in the exams...
But it was also possible that if she had come here to get her gene type and compatibility tested beforehand, her Gene Affinity Body might have been discovered earlier, and the Gene Alliance might have taken her away before the exams.
That was entirely possible.
Other organizations might not dare to take Qu Yi before the exams, but the Gene Alliance was different.
After all, the Gene Alliance was one of the founding organizations of the top ten academies.
Ding Huan didn’t go to Jiuyue Hotel immediately.
Instead, he stayed outside the official martial arts gene testing building.
After waiting for over two hours, he finally saw the two people from earlier come out.
They were chatting as they walked toward a nearby hotel.
From a distance, Ding Huan could see the hotel’s name: Youdun High-End Hotel.
They really were saving time.
Instead of walking further, they had chosen a hotel right across from the gene testing building to search for rare gene types.
Ding Huan followed them, waiting until they entered the hotel before approaching.
The two went through the lobby and took the elevator.
Ding Huan didn’t follow them directly.
With his current level of perception, he could easily see which floor the elevator stopped at, even from a distance of over ten meters.
A few minutes later, the elevator stopped on the 11th floor.
Ding Huan then pressed the elevator button and went up to the 9th floor.
From there, he took the stairs to the 11th floor.
The hotel’s corridors formed an L-shape, and Ding Huan slowly walked along the 11th-floor hallway.
When he reached room 1123, he heard the voices of the two people inside.
Although the room had decent soundproofing, it was useless against Ding Huan’s hearing.
After confirming that the two were staying in room 1123, Ding Huan left.
---
After leaving Youdun High-End Hotel, Ding Huan headed to Jiuyue Hotel.
Deep down, he knew that Qu Yi probably wouldn’t trust him, but he still hoped to convince her.
Ding Huan planned to go straight to the front desk and ask which room Qu Yi was staying in, or have the front desk call her down.
However, when he was about a hundred meters away from the hotel, he stopped.
He saw Qu Yi, accompanied by the same girl he had seen back in Anhe County.
There were also a middle-aged man and woman with them.
Ding Huan could tell at a glance that the two were martial artists.
From the way Qu Yi interacted with them, it seemed they had a good relationship.
It looked like Qu Yi wasn’t unprepared—she had people protecting her.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Ding Huan quickly walked up and called out, "Qu Yi."
The group turned around, and when Qu Yi saw that it was Ding Huan, she was visibly surprised.
Ding Huan had actually followed her from Anhe County to Puhai and even found her here.
How had he managed that?
The girl with Qu Yi covered her mouth in shock.
After a moment, she said, "You... you actually followed us all the way here from Anhe County?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man and woman glared at Ding Huan with hostility.
Ding Huan could only say to Qu Yi, "Qu Yi, I really mean no harm. I just need to talk to you about something important."
"Um... do we really know each other?" Qu Yi asked uncertainly.
Ding Huan had come all the way from Anhe County to find her, and he didn’t seem to have any ill intentions.
This made her wonder if she had forgotten some old friend.
Qu Fei had said that Ding Huan seemed dangerous, but Qu Yi didn’t feel that way.
Still, Qu Fei’s words had some merit, which was why she had left Anhe County with her early.
Ding Huan said sincerely, "Qu Yi, maybe you don’t know me, but I know you. I just need ten minutes of your time. Can we talk here in the lobby?"
Hearing that they would talk in the lobby, Qu Yi nodded instinctively.
Before Qu Yi could respond, the middle-aged man beside her said sternly, "Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you following Qu Yi? What do you want to talk to her about?"
Ding Huan guessed that the man was either a relative or someone very close to Qu Yi.
Facing his questioning, Ding Huan bowed slightly and said, "I know Qu Yi is here to take the entrance exams for the top ten academies. I have a way to help her get into one of them..."
Ding Huan could tell that the man wouldn’t let Qu Yi sit down and talk with him alone, so he decided to take a chance and reveal his intentions.
The man snorted coldly, his gaze sharp as a knife.
"Leave now, and I’ll pretend nothing happened. If you stay here any longer, don’t blame me for being rude."
"Uncle Jiu Yi, I think he means no harm," Qu Yi said, sensing that Ding Huan had no ill intentions.
It was just a feeling, but she trusted it.
"You’re too naive. That’s why I don’t feel safe letting you go out alone," Uncle Jiu Yi said, glaring at Qu Yi.
Qu Yi quickly lowered her head and didn’t say anything more.
Ding Huan could only say, "If you ever run into any trouble in the future, you can come find me. I’m a mentor for the students from Yujiang University taking the exams. I’ve brought three students here to participate in the entrance exams."
"You’re a mentor?" the girl with Qu Yi exclaimed in surprise.
Ding Huan smiled.
"Yes, I am. I really just want to help Qu Yi. I mean no harm."
"Enough. Leave now," Uncle Jiu Yi said, clearly not believing a word Ding Huan said.
(End of Chapter)