《My Unconventional Lover: Seeing A Different World》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1: The Unexpected Roommate (1) Some people said that ghosts were scary. Other people said that it was better not to be able to see ghosts. But, others said that it was better to be able to see them. To me, personally, I really wanted to see them. There were many ways to see ghost, based on the urban issue. If someone wanted to see ghost, she or he should see through between his or her legs while he or she was standing. Another way to see a ghost was to wash face by using coconut¡¯s water. Other people said to rub the eye lids with grave soil. There were too many issues about how to see ghost but no one could really prove it. Somehow, it bored me to no end. The most logical and understandable way was from my father. He said to me long ago that we could see ghost if the ghost wanted us to see them. It made sense to me. I meant, they, the ghost, were really something different with us, human. They were included in supernatural things that also needed supernatural power to see them. If they really wanted someone without supernatural power to see them, then it meant they had to use their own power to make people see them. ..... But, considering that they didn¡¯t have solid appearance like human, it took much power to make normal human see them and of course, it was not easy -or that¡¯s what I thought. Therefore, not many normal people could see them consciously. You could say that I was interested in ghost. I even forced my super-filthy-loaded uncle to take me to the haunted ces in Ennd when I visited him there before my graduation -of course he rejected my request because he was really a scared-cat. I managed to take a tour there with my aunt, but because I loved her so much, I agreed not to get inside and just stood in front of the building. Well, I was disappointed, of course -I was still disappointed till this time, but I really couldn¡¯t force my aunt to get inside with me. However, no matter how much I was interested in ghost, I had never got inside a haunted house or ce voluntarily in Indonesia. If I had to go in, I would do it. But, if it was just to sate my curiosity, I didn¡¯t think so. I knew that not all ghosts were bad, but still, the vibe those ces gave me was different with other haunted ces in foreign country. It was like, the ce said not to mess around with something inside, and as a good girl, I wanted to obey it. Like I said, I didn¡¯t want to do it voluntarily. But, if I had to do it, I would face it like it was nothing. Chapter 2 Chapter 2: The Unexpected Roommate (2) That day was crazy. After my graduation, I started my day as a college girl. Of course I still had to follow the orientation before I started the real life of university student, but I knew I would enjoy it -even the orientation I hated the most, I¡¯d enjoy it. But, what made me busy was not my campus activity; it was to move to my new dormitory. My previous dormitory made me unable to sleep when it rained heavily. I didn¡¯t want to live under pressure just because I had to stay alert all the time during rainy season. So, I decided to move from that ce and looked for a new ce; a ce near to campus,fortable, clean, and safe, preferably an all-girls dormitory. After exploring the city for almost two days, I had finally found the right ce. One of my friend suggested me to visit this ce, actually. The name was Rosemary Dormitory. It was an all-girls dormitory, located near campus, clean, safe, and maybefortable -I wouldn¡¯t know it before I tried to live in here first, right? ..... The owner was an almost mid-aged woman named Mrs. Rosa. She looked good, nice, and carried the vibe of motherhood. ording to Mrs. Rosa, the only room she had was the one and only room in the second floor. The price was normal, I thought. Besides, from what my friend told me, I would get a new room. Mrs. Rosa asked me toe and to check the room today, so I did. I was on my way to the dorm when suddenly... My phone rang and buzzed inside my pocket, made me jumped and cursed slightly because I forgot to turn off the vibration. As I checked it, my smile found its way to my face. I pressed the green button and put the phone on my right ear. ¡°Good morning, may I help you?¡± I spoke clearly but half-jokingly with my business-mode voice. ¡°Ah, good morning, may I speak to Jane?¡± A manly voice that I recognized for we had been being pretty close for a year sounded through the speaker as he spoke in his business-mode voice. ¡°Jane is speaking. State your mind, soldier.¡± I changed my role into a king role as I treated him as a soldier. He might give up now because he couldn¡¯t speak like a soldier. ¡°It¡¯s not fair! You know I can¡¯t speak like a soldier! Do you want me to treat the king or princess like a friend?¡± He protested and Iughed. ¡°You should learn more, Randy.¡± I said. ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Have you found a new dormitory?¡± He asked. I did tell him that I wanted to move from my previous dormitory. ¡°Yes, I have.¡± I nodded, not care if he couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°How much is it?¡± ¡°Normal price. I got a bigger room, my friend said. I don¡¯t even have to buy a new bed.¡± ¡°Sounds nice. Have you seen this room?¡± ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m on my way to see it. Based on what my friend told me, my room is new, the only room in the second floor and bigger than any ordinary rooms. It is more expensive than those rooms, but I think it is worth it. If I like it, I¡¯ll take it.¡± I exined to him. ¡°Hmm, a new room? Be careful, a new room usually has a ghost in it.¡± Randy sounded like he wanted to scare me, but of course he knew I didn¡¯t get scared easily. ¡°Ahaha... I don¡¯t care,¡± was my response to him. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± I replied quickly. ¡°I¡¯m lucky if the ghost is a man and handsome. Ahahaha....¡± I added as Iughed again. ¡°What will you do if the ghost is a handsome man?¡± He sounded curious. But then, well, he was always curious about everything I did. ¡°I¡¯m gonna date him.¡± I said, full of determination. ¡°I can¡¯t make him my servant, can I?¡± Iughed again. ¡°You wanna date him?!¡± I swore I thought I could see his eyes widening in surprise as he said that. ¡°If he is handsome, why not?¡± I shrugged and thenughed like a famous female ghost in Indonesia -if you knew what I meant. ¡°Waah, if it¡¯s like that, I wanna be a ghost.¡± Randy sounded serious. ¡°Eh, why?¡± I frowned. ¡°So I can date you.¡± He replied. Somehow he sounded half serious and half joking. But I knew better not to take his words seriously. So, Iughed, again. ¡°Seriously, you¡¯re gonna be in big trouble if Nessa heard it. And I don¡¯t want to get involved in your lovebirds fighting.¡± I said to him while stillughing. Randy chuckled. Nessa was his girlfriend and he admitted to me that he loved her. But, still, sometimes, he liked to flirt with me, like now. ¡°If she heard it, I would get smashed with a ball on my face, literally.¡± He said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to visit you in the hospital after that, Randy. So, be careful.¡± I said, stillughing. ¡°Ahahaha....don¡¯t worry.¡± He replied. ¡°I¡¯m in front of my new dorm now. Call meter?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sure. Or maybe you can invite me to your dorm. With Nessa, of course.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do thatter after I finish the orientation.¡± I smiled. ¡°Okay. See you.¡± ¡°See you, Randy.¡± I put back my phone in my pocket after I turned off the vibration and walked to the front door. Chapter 3 Chapter 3: The Unexpected Roommate (3) ¡°Here you are. This will be your room. I¡¯ve cleaned it. Do you like it?¡± Mrs. Rosa showed me the room. It was on the second floor, twice bigger than my friend¡¯s room downstairs, withplete furniture, plus air conditioner. The view in the balcony was not bad either. I got my own ce to dry my clothes ¨C yeah, we could not useundry machine at that time and I was in tight budget, so yeah... ¨C and I didn¡¯t have to ask my guest toe to my room because I could always use the balcony. ¡°I like it. I like it very much.¡± I said to the woman, excitedly. ¡°May I know whose room is it?¡± The air suddenly turned heavy as Mrs. Rosa¡¯s face turned sad. ¡°It¡¯s my son¡¯s room. He left home long time ago.¡± She said slowly. I caught something off with her response. ¡°He is dead, isn¡¯t he?¡± I asked carefully. She gasped and slowly nodded. ¡°If you don¡¯t want it, it¡¯s okay.¡± She said quickly. ..... ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s not like that. I want it. I do want this room.¡± I hastily replied. She eyed me unbelievably. ¡°You still want it?¡± I nodded quickly. To show my determination, I reached into my pocket and took out some cash. I handed it to Mrs. Rosa. ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled softly and apologizing. ¡°When will you move here?¡± ¡°Probably tomorrow or the next day. I¡¯ll do it as soon as possible.¡± I answered. ¡°Can Ie in?¡± ¡°Ah, yes, of course. I¡¯ll leave you alone to take your time. Ah, this is your key.¡± Mrs. Rosa handed me the key before she left. I smiled to her as she left. ¡°Excuse me...¡± I greeted as I stepped inside the room. Cold breeze greeted me as soon as I got inside. I turned to see the source and let out breathe that I didn¡¯t even know I held. It was just the air conditioner. It seemed like Mrs. Rosa left it on. Not that I minded it. I liked it when my room was cool. I continued my inspection. My gaze turned to the bed that was put on the carpet. It was big! It was big enough for two people. But, it seemed it was still an old bed. Maybe it was her son¡¯s bed? My inner-self whispered to me. Did I really want to stay in this ce? The furniture was still her son¡¯s furniture. Should I be scared? What if I got haunted? Scared? Yeah, maybe a little. But, I really liked this room. There was no way I wanted to be defeated by the haunted side of this room. As I considered about it more, myst decision was to stay. Moreover, I¡¯ve paid it to Mrs. Rosa. I approached the bed. As a first step, I might want to touch the ce where my life wouldy without defenseless every night. ¡°Excuse me...¡± I started as my hand touched the cold surface of the bed. It was without sheet, but it was soft. I smiled. Then, I went to the bathroom. The bathroom was prettyrge. It had shower in it, not like a usual bathroom a dormitory would have. The water flowed without obstacles and what surprised me was it had hot and cold water! Yay! After that, I went to the kitchen. It was not a kitchen, actually. Maybe, it was a ce to put some things that did not belong in the bedroom, but I could use it as a kitchen. It was prettyrge to be a small kitchen, too. ¡°Okay, good. I¡¯ll get ready and move here as soon as possible.¡± I said to myself. After turning off the air conditioner, I got out and locked the door. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± I said and smiled. ... It was a hot day like usual, but I had to ignore the humid and annoying weather for now. Of course, I had a reason. Currently, I was standing in front of my new room with all of my stuffs. Sweat dripped from my forehead and ran through my neck and my chest. Not that I paid attention to it, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice it. Rx, Jane, your cold room is waiting for you, I whispered to myself, to encourage my own self to move so that I could finish it quickly. I opened the door and stepped inside with a smaller bag in my hand. Again, a cold breeze swept my face. This time, I frowned. I remembered correctly that I turned off the air conditioner before I left this room yesterday. Chapter 4 Chapter 4: The Unexpected Roommate (4) I remembered correctly that I turned off the air conditioner before I left this room yesterday. I froze on where I stood. Something was off with this room. Somehow, it was different with the vibe it gave yesterday. And then the thought appeared in my mind. ¡°Excuse me. Please, let me stay in this ce. I won¡¯t disturb you, so please, don¡¯t disturb me. I just want to live peacefully.¡± I said slowly.[1] Silent hit the room. I waited for any refusal, but nothing happened. I smiled and bowed in gratitude. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said softly. I continued to arrange my stuffs, put it in the right ce, and when I finished, I took a bath. After that, Iid on the bed -of course I had put a sheet on it -and stared the ceiling. Slowly my eyes got heavier and I started to close them. Slowly, I fell asleep. And in my sleep, I dreamed. ..... ...... In my dream... ¡°Hi...¡± A boy approached me. I turned my head to look at the source of the voice.. ¡°Hi...¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how I should react to this person. He was handsome. No, he was hot! ¡°I¡¯m Tom. You are Jane, aren¡¯t you?¡± He handed his hand and I took it as I nodded. ¡°How do you know?¡± I asked him as I tilted my head slightly. He smiled and I couldn¡¯t help but to melt. ¡°You¡¯re living in Rosemary Dorm on the second floor, right?¡± His answer made me more confused and curious. ¡°Yes. How do you know?¡± ¡°Of course I know. I used to live there, too.¡± He answered calmly. My eyebrows arched. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The room you are living in now is used to be my room.¡± He said again. I thought for a while, and then my eyes widened in shock as I learned the meaning of his answer. I stared at him, eyes to toes and back again. ¡°No way. You¡¯re a ghost?¡± I asked, still in shock. Tom nodded. ¡°Why? You¡¯re scared?¡± ¡°Scared?! Of course no...¡± I replied hastily. That was true. I didn¡¯t think I was afraid. ¡°Woah... It¡¯s the first time I see a ghost. Great! This is just so great!¡± I almost shouted in joy. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of me?¡± He frowned. I shook my head quickly. ¡°Do you have a scary face?¡± Tommy shook his head. ¡°Are you really not scared?¡± He asked in disbelief. ¡°Yeah. As long as you don¡¯t appear with your scary face.¡± I grinned. ¡°If I got shocked and got a heart attack, what will you do?¡± ¡°You lie. Or is it because you are seeing me in a dream?¡± ¡°Eh? Am I dreaming?¡± Tom nodded. ¡°Then, when I wake upter, you should show yourself to me.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m in front of you now. Why don¡¯t you try to open up your eyes?¡± ¡°How?¡± I blinked. ¡°Close your eyes then count to three, and then you can open it up again....¡± I closed my eyes and counted to three. I felt something strange. I could feel my eyelids moving. I really was dreaming! It was really a dream! Then, Tom? I opened up my eyes slowly. My sight was still blurry, but I could see something was in front of me. The object was getting clearer as I was getting back my sight. As it getting clearer, I could finally see the object in front of me was a man. He wasying beside me, actually. ¡°Hi...¡± He greeted me. ¡°Tom...¡± I said his name without realizing it. Tom smiled as I stared at him. My hand moved to touch him. But, I couldn¡¯t touch him! He really was a ghost! Chapter 5 Chapter 5: The Unexpected Roommate (5) I startled. ¡°G-great! You really are...a ghost!!¡± I said in awe. Tom smiled. ¡°You¡¯re really not afraid of me.¡± He said slowly, seemingly amused with my reaction. ¡°Ahaha... How long have you been here?¡± I asked. He shrugged. ¡°Two years...¡± ¡°Wow, it¡¯s that long? You must be Mrs. Rosa¡¯s son, right? Does she know you¡¯re here?¡± I asked again. He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I pinched my own cheek hard and moaned in pain after that. I really didn¡¯t think that I could really speak with a ghost. It still felt not real for me -even if I was still rubbing my cheek. ..... Tomughed seeing me rubbing my redden cheek. A sense of curiosity overwhelmed me as I raised my hand and touched him. Cold, like touching the air. ¡°At least I have a friend to talk to in my room, right?¡± I blinked at him. After confirming that he was a ghost, I stood up and headed to the bathroom. I really needed to take a shower. But then, a thought crossed my mind. ¡°Can you walk through the wall?¡± I asked over my shoulder. ¡°Yes...¡± Tom answered. ¡°I want to take a bath. Don¡¯t you dare to take a peek on me.¡± I red at him. I did remember that I had taken a bath before I slept, but I felt I¡¯m all sweaty and sticky again. I needed to take a bath again and turned on the air conditioner to the coolest temperature. ¡°I won¡¯t. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He said as he floated out the room. I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Realizing what I was doing, I cursed myself. He could walk through the wall, what¡¯s the point of locking up the door? Taking a deep breath, I pushed the thought to behind my mind. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but stay alert. Even if he was a ghost, he was still a man. And I was a girl. It would be embarrassing to me! I took a bath as quick as I could and walked out the bathroom in bathrobe and underwear. I looked around me. I thought it was safe. No sign of Tom. I took my clothes from the wardrobe and put on my pants. I was just about to put on my T-shirt when I saw Tom floated through the wall. I screamed and pulled the nket to cover my body. ¡°Woaah, what is it? What is it?¡± He asked, startled. He stopped in front of me. ¡°I¡¯m dressing up! Can you, please, be aware of your surrounding?! Don¡¯t just float in like that! Turn around!¡± I shouted at him. I was really sure I was blushing at that time, madly. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said before he turned around until his back was facing me. I kept looking at him as I put on my T-shirt. He was really a good ghost -if ¡®good¡¯ was the right word to describe him. He didn¡¯t take a peek even just a slightest. I guessed what happened just now was pure coincidence. ¡°Done..¡± I told him and he turned around again. This time, he was facing me. ¡°Sorry...¡± He said. He really looked sorry. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s okay.¡± I said quickly as I waved my hand in front of my face. I took my lotion and applied it on my skin. Tom seemed to watch me all the times. His hand reached my arm and I shivered as I felt the coldness of his hand. Tom pulled back his hand and looked at his palm in sorrow. ¡°I can¡¯t touch and feel anything anymore.¡± He said slowly. Seeing him like that somehow made me feel sad. I watched him as he covered his face with his hands. He was sitting, half floating. Without I realized, I had approached him and stood on my knees. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him. It felt weird, but I could feel when my hands touched him. Don¡¯t think about it.¡± I said softly, tried tofort him. Minutes had passed and we were still in this position. A couple of minutester, Tom raised his head. It¡¯s a cue for me to release my hug. ¡°You...hug me?¡± He sounded confused, as if he had just realized that I was hugging him. ¡°Yes. Why?¡± I replied, as confused as him. For real? You noticed it just now? Tom shook his head. ¡°Nothing. Thanks.¡± His expression did not seem good, but he was not as gloomy and sad as before. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Feeling better?¡± I asked, ignoring the confusion in my mind. Tom nodded and I took a deep breath. Heh, somehow, I managed to calm him down. And that¡¯s how I got a roommate, a rare one, should I say. Chapter 6 Chapter 6: The Unexpected Roommate (6) It had only been two days after I moved to Rosemary. I still talked to Tom and somehow our rtionship grew stronger but at the same time weird. Of course I didn¡¯t say anything to Mrs. Rosa or other girls. I didn¡¯t want to freak them out. Somehow, I didn¡¯t know why, what happened in my room would not be heard on the first floor. No one asked me why I screamed that night, that¡¯s why I concluded so. Today, I went to the campus. On my way to the faculty, I met Randy. As I thought, he asked about my new dormitory. ¡°Hi, Jane. How are you doing?¡± He smiled at me. ¡°Good. You?¡± I asked him back. Of course, I smiled back at him. ¡°Good. How is your new dorm?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice. The ce is good and as I told you, I got a bigger room. I also gotplete furniture. I like it.¡± ¡°But, no ghost, right?¡± He asked half joking. ..... Iughed softly. ¡°There is one. And he is reaaallly handsome.¡± I watched as his eyes widened in shock. I smirked inwardly seeing his expression. ¡°Really? It¡¯s a man?¡± ¡°No. A girl.¡± I said hastily. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a man. I clearly said ¡®he is really handsome¡¯, didn¡¯t I?¡± I stared at him, questioning his ability to hear. ¡°Ahaha... My fault. Sorry.¡± Heughed nervously. ¡°Is it really haunted?¡± I smiled, trying to make it as mysterious as I could manage as I shot him another question. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. You tell me.¡± He scratched his head. Iughed. It¡¯s always nice to see him feeling at loss and dumbfounded. ¡°Sorry, gotta go first.¡± I waved him good bye and walked away from him. ¡°Ah, okay...¡± Randy nodded. But, a secondter, he shouted at me. ¡°Jane, how about the ghost?!¡± I turned around and walked in reverse. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re thinking about!¡± I shouted back, and then turned around again. I walked fast, leaving him dumbfounded while smiling like crazy. I kept walking, unaware of my surrounding that was getting quiet and silent. There was no one in this ce besides me which was a bit weird but I didn¡¯t notice it. A cold breeze swept my face, bringing a chilling sensation to my skin, and in the next second, I gasped as Tom appeared in front of me. His face was really close with mine and his right hand held my chin up. ¡°Hi, Jane...¡± He greeted, half whispering while looking at me with a weird gaze. I was shivering under his gaze. So intense, as if there was fire in his eyes. Anger was reflected in his translucent eyes, but for what reason, I didn¡¯t know. I startled and stopped walking. My eyes widened in shock and my heart was beating faster. I could feel my face getting hotter. Probably because his handsome face appeared right before my own eyes. ¡°Tom....¡± I whispered. He smiled mischievously and I snapped back into my conscious. The anger was nowhere could be seen. ¡°Tom!!!¡± I held back my scream in annoyance as he floated higher, out of my reach. My face was hot, embarrassment and anger mixed into one. I stomped my feet as I continued to walk. Fortunately, there was no one around at that time or else I would bebeled as crazy girl on my first day in campus. Tom flew towards me, approached me and stood in front of me. He floated backwards as I walked forward. ¡°Who was it?¡± He asked. ¡°Who was who?¡± I asked him back. ¡°The boy who talked to you just now. Who is he? Your boyfriend?¡± ¡°Oh, did you mean Randy? No. He is my high school friend. Why?¡± Tom shook his head. ¡°Nope. Just curious. I saw you two were pretty close. I thought he was your boyfriend.¡± I chuckled. ¡°No way. He has already had a girlfriend. Her name is Nessa. She is an athlete, a volleyball yer.¡± Tom nodded. ¡°But, you like him, don¡¯t you?¡± He asked suddenly. ¡°Yes.¡± I answered, but then I realized his question. ¡°What?¡± I frowned as I red at him. Tomughed out loud, made me feel uneasy. I knew I heard it clearly, but I didn¡¯t like the way heughed at me after listening to my answer. ¡°What¡¯s so funny? Hey...¡± I swung my hand, trying to reach him but it passed through his translucent body. Damn his ghost body! ¡°You like Randy.¡± Tom said while stillughing. ¡°What was your question?¡± I asked, feigning my confusion. There was no way I would want to admit it like that! ¡°I asked you, do you like Randy? And you answered it ¡®yes¡¯ quickly. Ahahaha...¡± Tom replied, stillughing like crazy. I wonder what was so funny about it. But, I was pissed off, really. The feeling of beingughed at ones face was seriously annoying, especially when the one who wasughing did it like a maniac! ¡°Okay, look... Please, stopughing, Tom. Listen to me first. TOM!¡± I shouted at him. Tom approached me. This time, he was trying to suppress hisugh. ¡°I used to like him. But, the feeling has gone. I don¡¯t know when, but I don¡¯t like him like that anymore. Understood?¡± I said in annoyance. ¡°Ohh... So, you don¡¯t have any romantic feeling towards him anymore?¡± His mischievous eyes shimmered in dangerous glint. Chapter 7 Chapter 7: The Unexpected Roommate (7) ¡°Yes. Don¡¯tugh!¡± I red at him, ignoring the weird light in his eyes. What could he do to me, anyway? Tom covered his mouth, trying to muffle hisughter. ¡°Okay...¡± He said, but I could hear the mocking tone behind his sentence. I huffed and walked pass through him and he followed me closely behind, ignoring the chilling it gave me when I passed through him. We didn¡¯t talk for a couple of minutes. To tell the truth, I was still upset with him. I didn¡¯t know that he could be this mischievous. Well, I knew now. ¡°Heeh, this is how it looks like out here. It¡¯s been a long time.¡± Tom said. He was looking around him, reminiscing about something. ¡°Where have you been in two years exactly? Don¡¯t tell me you just stay in that room.¡± To my surprise, he nodded. ¡°I miss this ce.¡± ..... ¡°Did you go to this campus?¡± I asked and he nodded again. I was speechless when I heard that he attended the same campus as I was. I didn¡¯t know ghost could remember their past. Wasn¡¯t in the movie they told that after a person died, she or he would forget about her or his life during their life? Tom was truly a weird ghost who remembered where he studied. ¡°Ah, I remember now!¡± He shouted suddenly. His face showed his happiness. ¡°Remember what? You look so happy about it.¡± Asking him casually, I seriously didn¡¯t think he would remember anything beneficial. Tom grinned. ¡°Of course. I couldn¡¯t remember anything about my life for the past two years. The only thing I remember is where I live and my name.¡± Oh, so my previous spection about he remembered his life was wrong? My bad. ¡°What about now?¡± ¡°Now, I remember a little bit.¡± Iughed. ¡°My, My. You¡¯re a ghost. What are you trying to remember your life for? You¡¯re dead.¡± I stated to him. ¡°Who said I¡¯m dead?¡± Tom said hastily. He red at me. ¡°Look. You¡¯re a ghost. So, it means you¡¯re dead. D-e-a-d. Got it?¡± I red back at him and stated that as a matter of fact. ¡°No. I¡¯m not dead yet. I¡¯m ¨C not ¨C dead.¡± He said hastily, stressing every word he said while still ring at me. ¡°Whatever. You¡¯re dead or not, you¡¯re still a ghost. G-h-o-s-t. Ghost.¡± He was so weird. Was it what they called a denial? I saw him ring at me, obviously not happy with my conclusion. Suddenly I had a bad feeling about him. He might want to do something to me. ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I said hastily. ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, please. I have no intention to hurt you.¡± I rubbed his translucent cheek gently as I smiled softly. ¡°Come on.¡± Tom followed me again, but this time, he walked besides me. The air seemed heavy. Was he still angry to me? ¡°Ah yes, which faculty were you in?¡± I tried to lure him into a conversation. ¡°Emm... Engineering Faculty, Department of Architect.¡± He answered proudly. ¡°Oh, then, have you graduated from it?¡± I asked even though I knew it was such a ridiculous question. ¡°I have, if I remember it correctly.¡± Tom answered, this time was not as proud as he sounded before. ¡°What about you? What faculty?¡± He nced at me. ¡°Engineering, but I take civil engineering.¡± I answered carefully. ¡°Huh?! You¡¯re my junior, then.¡± He said happily. ¡°What about the initiation?¡± Shaking my head, I replied. ¡°Not yet. Tomorrow is the weing initiation¡± ¡°Oh. Then, why do youe to campus?¡± He eyed me cautiously. Why did he need to ask about everything? ¡°Me? I was asked by Senior Rizal toe.¡± ¡°Huh?! What¡¯s for? Who is he anyway?¡± Tom frowned and eyed me suspiciously. ¡°Senior Rizal is the leader of Student Council. I don¡¯t know why he asked me toe.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Rizal? His name is Rizal Ali?¡± Tom looked at me all of sudden. I nodded. This time, I was the one who got surprised by him. ¡°How do you know?¡± I stared at him and heughed -maybe because of my expression. Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The Unexpected Roommate (8) ¡°Heh, I¡¯m your senior. Start from now, you should pay a respect more to me.¡± He said while smirking slightly. ¡°Yes, yes. Got it. But, how do you know him?¡± I asked him again. ¡°He is my junior. Say hello to him for me.¡± Tom said, smiling. ¡°Ah. Okay. I¡¯ll tell himter.¡± I replied, obviously not aware of what I said. As soon as I reached the door of the Students Council¡¯s room, I knocked on the door. The door cracked open and I pushed it slowly. I gasped a bit as I saw many seniors were in the room. Nervous hit me and I could feel my hands started to sweat. ¡°Get in. It¡¯s okay.¡± Tom encouraged me. I gulped slightly as all eyes are looking at me. ¡°My name is Jane Harris. I was asked toe by Senior Rizal.¡± I said to them as I still didn¡¯t know where Senior Rizal was. ..... ¡°Ah, I¡¯m here.¡± A handsome man stood up and smiled at me. I knew him, of course. I had a crush on him since the first time I saw him in the registration building. He was Rizal Ali, the Students Council President of Engineering Department, meant ... the most popr person in Engineering Faculty. ¡°I thought you couldn¡¯te today. Come here. Let¡¯s get to my room.¡± He approached me and led me to a door nearby -his room as he said. I smiled, trying so hard not to show my nervousness in front of these hungry hyenas that were ready to be released on the initiation day tomorrow. I took a nce behind me and realized that Tom had left me. Ugh, he must have slipped away again. ¡°You must be confused as why I called you here today.¡± Senior Rizal started and smiled. ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± I answered anxiously. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You look so nervous.¡± Senior Rizal showed his concern towards me that only made me more nervous. Tom, please,e back! ¡°Ah, no... nothing.¡± I said hastily. ¡°No need to be nervous.¡± He smiled gently and I could only nod. ¡°I called you here to give you this.¡± He gave me a stic bag. I took it even though I was still confused. What was it? I opened it up and took out my university coat and my payment check that I had been looking for since two days ago. I almost came back to my previous dorm to look for it. ¡°You dropped it in the hall thest time you came here. When I came out to find you, you¡¯ve gone. I¡¯ve done you a favor to take your coat before I finally got your phone number from the registration.¡± As if he knew what was in my mind, Senior Rizal exined it to me. I made a long ¡®o¡¯ sound as I nodded. ¡°Thank you very much, Senior Rizal. Then, please, excuse me.¡± I turned around to leave the room as I smiled. But, before I reached the door, I remembered something. I turned again to face Senior Rizal. ¡°I almost forgot. Tom says hello for you.¡± Senior Rizal frowned as I said that name. ¡°Tom? Which Tom?¡± He asked, but I could hear his voice was shaken a bit. ¡°Emm, err.... Tom....¡± I looked around me, suddenly realized that it was the most stupid idea! ¡°Tom Cruise. Tell him from Tom Cruise.¡± Tom appeared suddenly from the closed door. ¡°Senior Tom Cruise.¡± I said without thinking twice. Then, I looked at him. ¡°You don¡¯t look like Tom Cruise at all.¡± I told him, half shouting in annoyance. I really forgot that my action could make Senior Rizal be more confused. ¡°Wait a minute. Who did you talk to?¡± Senior Rizal asked and suddenly I realized my stupidity. Senior Rizal couldn¡¯t see Tom, of course!! Fool me! ¡°Ah, erm...¡± I stammered. I really didn¡¯t know how to exin it to him. ¡°Tell me, Senior Rizal. Do you know Senior Tom? Tom Cruise.¡± Senior Rizal¡¯s face changed as anxiety and surprised showed on his face. He nodded slowly. ¡°That senior sent his regards for you. He says that you are his junior, is it true?¡± I asked, ignoring his anxiety. ¡°Re-regards? Bu-but... he is dead.¡± Senior Rizal said in a low voice, almost like a whisper. I stared at Tom who looked shocked too. ¡°I am...dead?¡± He whispered in disbelief. Chapter 9 Chapter 9: The Unexpected Roommate (9) My gaze was back to Senior Rizal who still looked sad. ¡°S-senior, what had happened exactly? How did he die?¡± I asked carefully. ¡°Two years ago, Senior Tom followed a foreign program. It was like a meeting between young architects that was held in Ennd. Where it was, I forgot. It was a great event and would be broadcasted throughout Indonesia and some other countries. But, then we heard the news that the ship they were on was invaded by some people that were identified as terrorist. Those people blew up the ship in the end. In the victim list, his name was in it. From 265 young architects who followed the event, 190 people were seriously injured, 70 people died, and 5 people were missing. Three of five missing people had been found a year ago, but they were all dead. The other two are still missing and no one knows where they are.¡± Senior Rizal exined slowly. I stayed silent. It was tragic, really tragic. I turned my face to look at Tom who also listened to Senior Rizal¡¯s exnation. I could see him still denying the story. ¡°Well, to tell you the truth, I am with Senior Tom right now. He is the one who asked me to give you his regards. If you have something to say, you can say it. Senior Tom will listen to you.¡± I told him softly and slowly. To be honest, the thought that he might get scared of me -of us -because I could see Tom or his thought that I was freak didn¡¯t appear in my mind at all. ¡°He is ... here?¡± Senior Rizal sounded nervous. He startled, of course, but he nodded to my words. ¡°Senior ...¡± Senior Rizal called slowly. ¡°Please, forgive me. It¡¯s about your girlfriend, Nita. I couldn¡¯t keep her as I promised you. When you¡¯ve gone, I couldn¡¯t hold her not to go with Rama. They have got married and she is carrying his baby now. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Senior Rizal said slowly. He bowed in shame. I saw as Tom¡¯s face contorted in agony. I was sad, of course. Howe his life would be this tragic? Even after he was dead, his misery seemed to follow him. ..... ¡°It¡¯s okay. As long as she is happy.¡± Tom said in bitter voice. ¡°Senior Tom said that it was okay, as long as the girl was happy.¡± I repeated the words to Senior Rizal. Senior Rizal didn¡¯t say anything. There was a moment of silence between us. ¡°Emm, Senior, please excuse me now...¡± Breaking up the silence, I turned around and nodded to Tom, to ask him to go home. As we walked side to side to go back to my dorm, I decided that I couldn¡¯t handle his sad face. I couldn¡¯t stand it! I took out my phone and my headset. I put my headset in my ears and acted as if I was epting a call. ¡°Hey, Senior, cheer up!¡± I talked casually, as if I was talking to someone in the phone. ¡°Senior Tom...¡± I called him again, adding the Senior to mock him a little. Tom turned to see me as I winked at him. ¡°Smile, please...¡± I said to him as I smiled. Tom smiled a bit. His lips formed a thin line, really not like his usual smile. Somehow, I was annoyed by this. ¡°Hello? Senior Tom? Why don¡¯t you talk? You are usually so talkative.¡± ¡°What should I talk about?¡± Tom asked in low voice, as if he had lost his energy and power. ¡°Anything. Just don¡¯t be quiet. It¡¯s not like you, you know?¡± ¡°Emm.... What should I tell you?¡± He tilted his head as he is thinking. ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk about you?¡± He said then. ¡°Eh? Me?¡± I repeated, surprised by his proposal. ¡°Okay.¡± I replied. For now, I just had to agree with him. It was better than to drown in silence. ¡°Do you have any cousin or siblings here?¡± ¡°Cousin, yes. But not in Engineering.¡± Tom: ¡°A boy or a girl? What department?¡± Me: ¡°A girl. She takes Law Department. She was major in fashion when she was in high school, but now she wants to be awyer, so she took Law as her major. It¡¯s funny, isn¡¯t it?¡± Iughed a little. Tomughed, too. Heughed so hard and freely, with the hint of sadnessced in hisugh. The scene of himughing despite filled with sadness still looked great and I couldn¡¯t help but felt mesmerized. And that time, a thought crossed my mind. I wish he was not a ghost. Chapter 10 Chapter 10: The Unexpected Roommate (10) The initiation went smoothly at first. Although I had heard about it before, I couldn¡¯t help but felt exhausted and annoyed at the same time. People said that the initiation in Engineering Faculty was no kidding. It was crazy and I felt it since the first day. We were asked to bring strange and weird things to the initiation. Really, it drove me crazy. One thing that I noticed during the initiation was the treatment I got from the seniors. They were hungry and dangerous hyenas in front of the other students, but friendly towards me. What¡¯s wrong? It was strange. But then I remembered that it might be one of their tricks. They would be really nice in the beginning, but in the end, I would be their dessert. On the fifth day, I finally snapped. I hated when the other students avoided me and whispered bad things about me just because I got a seriously nice and better but suspicious treatment from all the seniors. It was not like I asked for it! I didn¡¯t even know why they did so! ¡°Senior, may I talk to you for a second?¡± I asked Senior Rizal after I approached him after the initiation was over. ¡°Ah, Jane. Of course...¡± We moved away from the other seniors. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I smell something suspicious.¡± I told him, half whispering. ..... ¡°Suspicious?¡± He frowned and looked at me with confused face. ¡°To be honest, I am confused. Why am I feeling like all the seniors are treating me really good? While the others were getting a hard time, I got spoiled by all the seniors. I don¡¯t like the negative response they gave to me. I feel like I¡¯m being isted.¡± I said to him. He didn¡¯t say anything. It was as if he really was hiding something. But, what was it? ¡°Look, all of us, the seniors, was visited by Senior Tom in our dreams before the initiation.¡± Senior Rizal said slowly. My eyes started widening as I heard Tom¡¯s name was mentioned. ¡°He asked us to treat you well, not to harm you, to keep you safe. That¡¯s why we treated you different. We all owed something to him, that¡¯s why, we...¡± He didn¡¯t continue his exnation, but I didn¡¯t need to ask him the rest of the story. I could get the rest of the story. ¡°So, you want to pay him by doing this?¡± I unconsciously red at him. ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that. But, we all respect him.¡± He said hastily. I didn¡¯t say anything anymore. It was useless and wasting time to try to talk to them. I thought they were all afraid of him as a ghost more than their respect to him. Just wait you, Tom. I¡¯ll be home right away! ... ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I kicked my shoes off as I walked into my room in hurry. ¡°Senior Tom...¡± Yes, I called him ¡®Senior¡¯ since calling him as ¡®senior¡¯ was just my way to mock him or to show my displeasure. Tom appeared with smile on his face. He still looked good-looking and everything, but no, now was not the time to admire his face. ¡°You¡¯re back...¡± He greeted me. ¡°What will you bring for tomorrow?¡± He asked innocently without any suspicions to me. ¡°Senior...¡± I called him, this time I put on my upset face as I stood in front of him. He frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Why did you ask my seniors to treat me better?¡± I couldn¡¯t hide the annoyance in my voice. ¡°What do you mean?¡± He sounded confused by my question. ¡°You are the one who asked them to treat me well, right? Don¡¯t you know what have you done to me? I don¡¯t have any friend. Huh!¡± I let out all my stress to him. ¡°Fine. If you don¡¯t want it, I¡¯ll tell them to stop.¡± He spat, sounded hurt and upset with my outburst. After that, we didn¡¯t talk at all. I was still upset and he had gone. But, what he said was true. On thest day, I really became their dessert. It was like all their stress for being nice to me for five days was finally unleashed. I got the most attention and this time, it was not a good treatment. I must admit I was really tired. I was covered in mud; smelly and dirty. I was upset! But, I couldn¡¯t protest it any longer. Tom really did what he said. He even was there to mock me and annoyed me more. ¡°You¡¯re the one who asked for it.¡± He said calmly as we walked home. I red at him. ¡°Yeah, thank you. Happy now?¡± I replied in sarcastic tone. ¡°Look! I hit a stone.¡± I pointed out my leg which covered in mud. ¡°Lie!¡± He said quickly. I pouted and walked again. When I got to my dorm, I quickly got into the second floor after I promised them to clean the floor. I didn¡¯t waste my time and went straight away to the bathroom. After cleaning myself, I lied on my bed, wearing my warmest pajamas. I felt my body temperature slowly raised. My eyelids started to feel heavy. I forced myself to get up and went downstairs to clean up the mud I caused. After that, I had dinner -just a little bit because I didn¡¯t have any appetite and then I went back to bed. It didn¡¯t take too long before I finally fell asleep. Chapter 11 Chapter 11: The Unexpected Roommate (11) I groaned as I opened my eyes. My head felt dizzy and all my body seemed to scream in pain. I took a nce over my clock and realized it was still 11 o¡¯clock. My body started trembling and shivering. I was feeling cold. ¡°Eh? What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I heard Tom asked me. ¡°Cold...¡± I said as I huffed. I wrapped myself in my nket but it didn¡¯t seem to work. I remembered I still had a nket inside my wardrobe, but I didn¡¯t even have strength to move my hands and legs. Tom floated closer and watched me closely. ¡°You¡¯re not pretending, right?¡± He was eyeing me down suspiciously. It was ridiculous. Howe I was expecting a help from him? He was a ghost, for God¡¯s sake. Fool me! ¡°Hey! Your body...¡± He shouted in shocked. He floated to turn off the air conditioner and floated back to me. To think about it, I should find it funny or strange that he could touch things if he wanted to but he couldn¡¯t touch human. But, I didn¡¯t have the strength to worry about it. ..... ¡°Are you still cold?¡± He asked. I nodded slightly. Tom pulled the nket to cover all the way to my neck, and then he hugged me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. There¡¯s nothing I can do to help you.¡± He whispered in my ear. I didn¡¯t say anything to respond. But slowly, I could feel the trembling stopped and warmth overtook my body. My body started to feelfortable and I felt asleep. ... ¡°Tom, thank you.¡± I said to Tom once I got better. He smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. It¡¯s nothing. If only I could do better, I¡¯d done it before you got worse like that.¡± He said gently. ¡°Too bad, I¡¯m ...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t...¡± I cut off his words. ¡°Please, don¡¯t say it.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Why?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I just don¡¯t like hearing it.¡± I answered slowly. ¡°Okay...¡± He shrugged as he floated away. Actually, that was not all true, after all. It¡¯s just... the way he hugged mest night, I could feel something different from him. There was something warm emitted from him. I started to think that maybe... just maybe... he was not dead yet. ¡°Ah, when is your inauguration night?¡± asked Tom suddenly. ¡°Emm, if I¡¯m not mistaken, it will be on tomorrow evening.¡± I replied. ¡°It will be a lot of fun. May I tag along?¡± He asked as he floated away in joy. ¡°Juste. It will be fun.¡± I said. ¡°Of course, it will...¡± Tom said quickly, full of confidence. I only huffed in silent. ..... Tonight was the inauguration night -it was more like a party than inauguration. All of the new students were gathering in the main yard of Engineering Faculty and trying to get along with the others as well as with the seniors. There were some performances performed by new students and some seniors. We all got along well, I thought. The event was going smoothly and in the half of the event when someone called me. ¡°Jane...¡± I turned my head to see who called me. ¡°Tom...¡± I frowned as I saw who called me. ¡°Senior Tom...¡± He reminded me as his eyebrows twitched in annoyance. ¡°Hm...¡± I got up and approached him. ¡°Why do you just show up now?¡± I whispered as I sat beside him. ¡°Heh, I still had some unfinished business to take care.¡± He answered while turning away. ¡°You sure are busy.¡± I mumbled. ¡°Of course. I¡¯m Tom Cruise, after all.¡± He said proudly. I shot him a displeased look and heughed gently. He looked so handsomeughing like that. I cursed myself as I began to think that maybe I should have just dated him. I reminded myself again and again that this ridiculously handsome man was actually a ghost and I couldn¡¯t -shouldn¡¯t -fall in love with him. The event went on and I was still sitting in the back line of the seats with Tom besides me. No one was around so I didn¡¯t really think that someone would notice me. Besides, I didn¡¯t really have friends. ¡°Ah, I found you.¡± Except this one. Her name was Fani. She was the only friend I got during the initiation. She was the only one who didn¡¯t push me away when I still got a better treatment. I looked at her, confused, as she approached me -and Tom -in the back seat. She looked like she had been searching for me for a while. ¡°They want you to see them now.¡± She said as she steadied her heartbeat. Did she really run to find me? ¡°Who?¡± I asked. ¡°Seniors. Also, they want you to ask...err, emm.¡± She stopped for a second, thinking about something or maybe someone. ¡°Tom. Yes, Senior Tom. They want you to ask him along with you.¡± Fani said. My eyebrows arched as I turned to see Tom besides me. He just chuckled at me. ¡°Okay...¡± I said slowly as I rose from my seat. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°Wait the minutes.¡± Fani grabbed my arm. ¡°Who is Tom?¡± ¡°He is our senior.¡± I answered. ¡°Is he handsome?¡± I could see the sparkle in her eyes and chuckled silently. I stole a nce to him and pretended to think for a while. ¡°Emm...I could say he is handsome. He is white, pretty tall, this much...¡± I raised my hand over my head, estimating Tom¡¯s height without counting the floating distance. ¡°But, he is pretty annoying and a narcissist. A big narcissist.¡± I added quickly, ignoring the annoyance growled from Tom who was looking at me with wide eyes. Chapter 12 Chapter 12: The Unexpected Roommate (12) The light in Fani¡¯s eyes was getting brighter and I could see her excitement. ¡°But, he really looks like Tom Cruise, a bit.¡± I addedter and Tomughed sheepishly. ¡°Please, introduce me to him.¡± Fani pleaded. She couldn¡¯t hide her excitement. ¡°So, where is he?¡± ¡°Physically he is not here. But, the spirit is here.¡± I smiled at her, waiting for her response. What kind of response would she give? Her excitement seemed to disappear. She stared at me in confusion. ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± She asked slowly. ¡°I mean, he is dead. Got it?¡± I answered calmly. I swallowed myugh as her eyes widening in shock. Her body started trembling. ¡°Y-you... are... kidding, a-aren¡¯t you?¡± She stammered. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± I was eyeing her with my innocent eyes. ¡°Then, I go first. See you around.¡± I waved goodbye as I walked away from her, leaving her still trembling and pale like a paper. ..... ¡°Are you crazy? She might think that you¡¯re crazy.¡± Tom said. Iughed. ¡°No way. Don¡¯t worry. Ah yes, do you have any idea why they called us?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I have no idea.¡± I didn¡¯t ask again. Whatever it was, it must be not bad since Tom was here with me. We walked together, approaching all the seniors who were sitting in a room. It was clearly shown in their face that they were nervous and uneasy. ¡°Good evening.¡± I greeted them. ¡°Ah, good evening.¡± It was a rare thing to hear them answering a greeting in harmony. I approached my female senior, Senior Vina, and sat beside her. She flinched slightly, but I caught her movement as if she was trying to stay away from me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked her. ¡°Ah, n-no... nothing...¡± She answered nervously. ¡°Are you scared?¡± I guessed. Senior Vina gave me her bitter smile and shook her head. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll move.¡± I got up again and moved beside Senior Rizal. He also flinched as I sat beside him. ¡°I don¡¯t want to move again.¡± I said quickly. There was no empty chair left. I didn¡¯t have any options and standing in the middle of them was obviously not a choice. Senior Rizal only smiled to respond my statement. ¡°May I know why did you ask me toe here?¡± I asked as all of them were still silent even though they were the one who asked me toe. Why did I feel like our role was reversed? It was like I was their respected senior and they were my juniors. ¡°W-where is Se-senior Tom?¡± Senior Rizal asked, stuttering. ¡°It¡¯s not even your first time to talk to him, what are you afraid for?¡± I frowned at him. He smiled again, and it still looked bitter. ¡°Where is Senior Tom?¡± I could see he was trying to collect himself, topose his demeanor and to appear calm in front of all of us. ¡°Here...¡± I pointed out beside me -where it looked empty but no, Tom was really here beside me. They changed nces as I stared at them one by one. They did act suspicious. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°Senior Tom...¡± All of them shouted in unison, worry and fearced their voices, and it made me even more confused. ¡°Please, forgive us!¡± Senior Vina shouted. All of them bent down their necks, staring their own shoes when I shot a confused look to the ghost beside me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked for the third time. ¡°Jane, please, forgive us.¡± This time, Senior Fitri spoke. ¡°Huh? Why? Why would you ask for apology? I don¡¯t get it.¡± My eyebrows frowned deeper. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s because of us that you got sick after the initiation. Sorry...¡± Senior Fitri said. Now I got it. I red at him while he was just smirking like a horse. ¡°Well, I¡¯m fine, so it¡¯s okay...¡± I told them softly. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Senior Tom is really enraged toward us,¡± said Senior Rizal while deeply bowing in shame and fear. ¡°Raise your head!¡± Tom said suddenly. They all obeyed themand and I was pretty sure they now could see him since they all could hear him just now. Their pale faces proved that I was right. ¡°If Jane has forgiven you, I¡¯ll do the same. It¡¯s over now.¡± He said calmly. Then, he looked at me and smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s go home...¡± He said to me. ¡°Eh? It¡¯s over?¡± I asked. Tom nodded and walked away. I got up and followed him after I told them that I needed to leave. ¡°Senior...¡± I called him after we got out from the room. ¡°Hm?¡± He stopped and turned around to face me. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You scolded them?¡± I shot him curious eyes. ¡°I did. It¡¯s because of them you got sick like that.¡± He answered innocently. I pouted. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t like it. But, thanks.¡± I smiled sweetly at him. ¡°Thanks for worrying me.¡± I noticed his expression turned weird before he turned around. Was he blushing? ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± He said. We went home quickly and I didn¡¯t say anything again about it. But now, I found a new hobby; to watch him. Somehow I was interested in learning his expression. Was ghost able to let out their human expression? Was he really blushing at that time? Of course I got much time to aplish my new hobby and goal since he was my roommate. Besides, we were pretty close. If he were not a ghost, people might think that we were couple since we lived together. Of course, we didn¡¯t have any romantic time or moment. I did my activity like usual and he was just floating around the room or annoyed me with questions or mocked me. But, sometimes, we talked about things. Having a roommate was really good because I had someone to talk to, but it was even better because he was a ghost. That means I didn¡¯t have to worry about him dirtying the room even though he could touch things but not me. Heh, I guessed I didn¡¯t really mind to have a roommate at all. No, I didn¡¯t mind, as long as my roommate was someone like Tom. Chapter 13 Chapter 13: Complicated Crush (1) A weekter, I finally had started my life as a college girl. Things seemed to get better and I really enjoyed my campus life. All the seniors didn¡¯t seem to be scary anymore and I also had known some of the lecturers. Ah, I thought love was starting to bloom as well after the initiation. I could see some of the seniors were getting hooked up with the juniors. Well, they clearly were hitting on them softly and smoothly. It¡¯s not my business, I know. But, it was not a lie either to say that many female juniors were falling in love with the male seniors. They had their own idols among the seniors, but some of them had to be ready to be broken heart as their idols didn¡¯t pick them. Well, maybe I would feel the same, too, if Senior Rizal chose another girl and not me -not that I was ready to be in rtionship, though. Whatever it was, I would just have to go to campus and enjoy my life, right? ¡°I¡¯m heading out now...¡± I shouted out a bit as I ran out from my room. ¡°To where?¡± Tom asked. ..... ¡°Campus, where else?¡± I looked at him in confusion. ¡°Please, take care of my room.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°Okay...¡± He replied. ¡°Take care!¡± I nodded as I locked my door. I ran down the stairs and went straight to the campus. The weather was pretty nice and I was thankful for the shades of the trees covering the unpleasant light of the sun all the way to my lovely and respectable campus. ¡°Hey, Jane...¡± I stopped as I heard someone called my name. As I turned my head to see the person who called me, I locked eyes with Senior Dino, who was known from his smiling eyes that made him looked cute. ¡°Hi, Senior Dino...¡± I greeted him. ¡°Ahaha... Sorry, did I startle you? You want to go to campus?¡± asked him. ¡°Yes. I want to check on my Academic Advisor.¡± I said. ¡°Do you want to go together?¡± He offered. ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m fine. I don¡¯t want to be a burden to you.¡± I smiled, rejecting his offer as polite as possible. To be honest, I really wanted to ept it. But, a woman couldn¡¯t be too easy, right? Hahaha. ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t. Come on. Let¡¯s go together. I don¡¯t mind at all.¡± He insisted and I started to act like I was thinking, considering his offer seriously. ¡°Emm, I don¡¯t know. Is it really okay?¡± I asked slowly. Definitely acting. ¡°Or, maybe, are you scared your boyfriend might see you with me? I get it...¡± He said then. What a great line to check if the girl is avable or not! Feel my sarcasm? I smirked inwardly. There was an urge tough hard hearing his words, but of course, I could control it. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not like that, really. Boyfriend? Ahahaha.... no way...¡± Iughed gently. ¡°Then, what are you waiting for? Hop up!¡± He said quickly. I hid my smirk really well as I finally nodded and thanked him for offering me a ride. I got on his motorcycle, and after he told me to hang on, he started the engine and the wheels started to carry us to our faculty. It became faster and faster, but I didn¡¯t feel scared at all. I was enjoying it actually. As he slowed his speed, I knew that we were getting closer to the faculty. Wolf-whistles and shouting weed us as he parked his motorcycle in the parking lot. I was nervous and I could feel my face getting hotter. Oh no, it shouldn¡¯t happen. I could only blush when I was around Senior Rizal! ¡°Is it just me or am I listening to the sound of bird chirping?¡± Senior Dino said, a little bit loud as he smiled mischievously towards his friends -the other seniors. ¡°I just happened to realize that I love birds.¡± Senior Mario, the one who whistled to us I believed, said jokingly and made the same sounds again. ¡°Dino, you¡¯re cheating! You always want to steal the first start.¡± It was Senior Ando¡¯s turn to say something. I didn¡¯t even know if he was joking or not. ¡°Thank you, Senior...¡± I said to him before I left. I really should leave this ce before I froze. He nodded and smiled as he said ¡®you¡¯re wee¡¯ to me. I left them, ignoring the shouts and tease they gave to us. I stepped on the stairs as I let out the breath I had been holding. This was going to be crazier than before. ¡°Ehem...¡± I turned my head to see the owner of this husky voice, I saw Tom one stair behind me. ¡°Tom...¡± I said in surprised. He chuckled lightly. ¡°I saw you...¡± He said in teasing voice. I frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t hide it. I saw you when you shyly refused his offer but deep inside your heart, you really wanted it.¡± Tom said again. Ah, I gulped nervously. He saw it? It was embarrassing! Chapter 14 Chapter 14: Complicated Crush (2) Ah, I gulped nervously. He saw it? It was embarrassing. ¡°Are all girls like that?¡± Tom sounded like he was thinking. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I said, are all girls like that? Shyly in the surface, but greedy inside. Her mouth says differently with what her heart wants.¡± Now he sounded serious and a little bit upset. I was shivering and to be honest, I was scared a bit. ¡°N-not all of them, really... Please, don¡¯t think weird things.¡± I said, almost stammering. He looked at me a while, then floated away, leaving me in confusion. I sighed. I thought there was something wrong with him. But, what was it? I continued my step, still thinking what might happen to him that he acted strange like that. I drowned deep down in my thought, not realizing that I finally reached the second floor and that I didn¡¯t see where Tom went. My feet just stepped on the second floor when he appeared out of nowhere, so sudden that it startled me and made me almost fell back down the stairs. ..... ¡°The point is... I don¡¯t want to see you walk together or anything with any boys again.¡± He said, half growling, and definitely serious. But I didn¡¯t really react to his words since I was busy collecting my soul that seemed to fly out from my body. ¡°Tom!¡± I screamed slightly. ¡°You scared me!¡± I red at him. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± He said innocently and with straight face as if he didn¡¯t care if I fell or no. I was pissed off, really!! ¡°What did you say before?¡± I asked him. I forgot what he said, really. Half of it. ¡°No, nothing. Forget it.¡± He said as he floated away. I stared at his back in confusion. He was really weird. ... It was a fine day. A bit too hot, but still fine. I have been adapting with my new schedule as a college student very well and through time, I finally managed to have some friends -even when some of them were still sneering at me. However, I didn¡¯t know why but it seemed like most of the people in my circle were my seniors! Mostly, male seniors! Thinking back, I probably knew the reason why those people still sneered at me. Who wouldn¡¯t when their crush being so close with a girl? But, boy, how wrong they were! I had my own crush, too, and I was as desperate as you girls! ¡°Jane, do you want to go out with me?¡± Senior Dino stared at me with a hopeful eyes. That sessfully snapped me out of my daydreaming. Well, I should say I was surprised. I didn¡¯t know how to react. I liked Senior Rizal, but why was he the one who asked me out? Before I could react, he bowed deeply and sighed dejectedly. I looked at him in confusion. ¡°I wish I could say that easily to Mia.¡± He said slowly. ¡°Jane, please, help me...¡± Senior Dino pleaded with his charming eyes. Those eyes which usually filled with warmth and mischievousness was now filled with anxiety. ¡°Eh, with what?¡± I asked, still confused. ¡°Help me to ask Mia out.¡± He answered softly, a blush started to creep on his cheeks and ears. Now, I got it. I was being a guinea pig here. Ahahaha... fool me to take him seriously. Luckily my brain seemed to stop working so I didn¡¯t have to process his words seriously and worst, replied with something ridiculous. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll help you.¡± I smiled, almost like a grin. ¡°Be a brave man, Senior. What are you afraid for? You just have to ask her out, right?¡± I said encouragingly. ¡°Talking is easy.¡± He said slowly and slightly pouting. He was really cute! The cutest senior I had ever seen. Iughed slowly and stared out of the cafe. Engineering students were hanging out under the big tree in front of the cafe. This cafe was surely the best spot to hang out. The air was refreshing and it really was helpful when the weather was hard; like too hot and humid. ¡°Ah, yes. Who is Senior Mario¡¯s girlfriend?¡± I asked him as I caught the face of Senior Mario among those who hang out under the tree. ¡°A medical student. They have been dating for 2 years. Her name is Via.¡± ¡°How about Senior Ando?¡± I asked as I took a sip of my juice. ¡°A junior from Math Department. Her name is Shinta. They have been dating since Shinta was in the first grade of high school.¡± Senior Dino answered while putting a chip in his mouth. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s great! How about Senior Rizal?¡± I asked. My acting was really great even when my heart was beating fast. ¡°Rizal? He is still single. But, from what I¡¯ve heard, he likes a junior. They are pretty close right now, but to be honest, I don¡¯t really know.¡± He answered as he shrugged. ¡°Heeh?! It¡¯s prettyme. Howe the Students Council President doesn¡¯t have a girlfriend?¡± Iughed slowly, half-jokingly. ¡°How about you? Why don¡¯t you have a boyfriend?¡± He said quickly. Iughed nervously. ¡°Me? I don¡¯t have anyone to like me. So, I don¡¯t have a boyfriend.¡± Senior Dino took a peek of his watch. ¡°Shit, I gotta go. I¡¯m almostte. Sorry.¡± He got up, shot me an apologizing look, and ran away after I nodded. ¡°I thought he was really asking you out.¡± I thought I heard Tom¡¯s voice really close to me. I turned and sighed as I saw him sitting down -no, floating -above me. Slowly he floated down and sat on where Senior Dino was sitting a while ago. ¡°It will be awkward if he is the one who asked you out, not Rizal. It¡¯s a luck that he didn¡¯t, right?¡± He saidter. I bitterly smiled at him. Tom always teased me since he knew that I liked Senior Rizal. He knew it since I always acted nervous and awkward when I was around Senior Rizal -that was what he said. ¡°Rizal ising.¡± Tom nodded to behind me. I turned around and gasped as I saw the said person was reallying towards me. Chapter 15 Chapter 15: Complicated Crush (3) ¡°Orange juice...¡± He said to the waitress when he stepped in the cafe. I stayed quiet, not saying anything, not even moving. My heart was beating fast. I could see Tom stared at us, moving from me to Senior Rizal, repeatedly. I thought he found it funny that I could be this stiff when Senior Rizal was around. ¡°Jane?¡± I startled a bit as Senior Rizal greeted me. ¡°Are you alone? Where is Dino?¡± He asked. I turned my head and smiled at him. ¡°Senior Rizal. Senior Dino has just gone. He still had ss, he said.¡± I answered, trying to be normal in front of him. I was getting better at this. ¡°Can I sit here?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah, sure. Please...¡± I said to him, trying to be friendly. I ignored Tom¡¯s res at me. ¡°Thank you...¡± Senior Rizal sat on the empty seat -not the one with Tom¡¯s on it. His order came next. ..... ¡°Do you still have ss after this?¡± asked him. I swallowed my ice quickly and shook my head. ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°I still have one ss after this, but I don¡¯t think the lecturer wille.¡± He answered. ¡°How about I take you around this afternoon? It¡¯s only if you¡¯re not busy.¡± I gasped and screamed inwardly. What was this? Was he asking me out? Hooray!! ¡°Err, it¡¯s fine with me. What time?¡± I asked as calm as I could. ¡°But, is it okay?¡± I asked him again, slowly and cautiously. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Heughed. ¡°4 o¡¯clock. I¡¯ll pick you up in your dorm. How does it sound?¡± He looked at me. I took a peek at Tom who was still sitting and looking at us ignorantly. ¡°Okay...¡± I said. Senior Rizal drank his juice fast and smiled widely. ¡°Then, see you at four.¡± He said as he got up and walked away in wide steps. I could feel my face was getting hotter as Senior Rizal went away. Woah, finally, I got the chance to have a real date with Senior Rizal! ... ¡°What if I didn¡¯t allow you to go with him?¡± Tom asked as he stared at me straight in my eyes. I frowned and stared at him back. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that you¡¯ll go with him.¡± He said quickly, almost sounded like a child. ¡°Eh? Why? What are you? Am I your daughter? What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I said to him quickly, not wanting to lose this debate. ¡°I still don¡¯t like it.¡± This time, he red at me. ¡°Tell me the reason. You can¡¯t forbid me to go with him if you don¡¯t tell me the reason. You know that I like him, why should you hold me down?¡± I told him, slowly my anger built up as I was getting upset with the way he talked to me. ¡°Girls.¡± He mumbled. ¡°Getting all excited just because their crush asked them out. It¡¯s not even a date.¡± This time he turned away and huffed in disgust. ¡°So what?¡± I raised my chin, challenging him. I could feel my blood rush to my head as my tears threatened to pour out, sign of me getting more and more upset to his childish remarks. ¡°He asked you out not because he likes you, you stupid. It could be that he likes one of your friends and chooses to approach you since you are easier to be approached. You fool! Poor you!¡± Tom said, sharply. How rude of him! ¡°I hate you!¡± I spat at him in rage. I turned around until my back was facing him and the tears that I had been holding back came like a broken dam. How could he say that to me? Was it wrong for me to be happy? And he had to ruin that for me! ¡°So what if I¡¯m hoping a bit? Stupid Tom! Evil!¡± I said without thinking. Cold air covered me. It must be him. ¡°Jane...¡± He called me in low voice. I got up and passed through his translucent body to the bathroom. ¡°Don¡¯t follow me!¡± I yelled at him as I mmed the door. This was the first time I argued with him and I was really upset with what he said. He was stupid!! Stupid Tom! Chapter 16 Chapter 16: Complicated Crush (4) Even when I fought with Tom, I still went to the ¡®date¡¯ with Senior Rizal. This time, Tom didn¡¯t follow me like he always did. Let him be! Yeah, over all, I would have fun with Senior Rizal. If I could be a little bit aware of my surrounding, I thought he liked me. Ahaha... but, I couldn¡¯t put too much hope in it, right? The day was getting darker. Now we were sitting in the bank of a small river which was located a little bit far from G city. Why he brought me here, I didn¡¯t know. There was nothing good to see here. Beach was better than this ce. We could see the sun setting down, hiding behind the horizon, leaving colourful sky behind it for the world to see. It was such a romantic sight! It was getting darker and darker and worry and nervousness started to creep on me. We were still sitting here, talking nothing important. I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, so I voiced out the question in my head. ¡°Senior, why are we here?¡± I whispered to him. He looked at me gently and smiled. I could feel my heart beats faster inside my chest. ¡°Sshh... just watch.¡± He whispered, in lower voice. I looked at him in confusion. What should I see? What will I watch? ..... ¡°They areing out.¡± Senior Rizal whispered again, but this time his voiceced with joy and happiness. But, that¡¯s not what my concern was. My concern was he was hugging my shoulders and my eyes seemed to jump out from the sockets. He pulled me closer to him until I could feel his warmth against my skin. But, wait, what ising out? Ghost? Monster? Fairy? Is it some kind of joke? I held myself a bit not to see what was in front of me. But, my fear was taken down by my curiosity. I opened up my eyes and I finally understood what he said. My eyes widened in surprised as I saw what he meant by ¡®them¡¯. ¡°Hotaru[1]...¡± I mumbled in disbelief. ¡°Beautiful, aren¡¯t they?¡± He smiled at me. ¡°Yes, really.¡± I agreed with him. Now I got why he brought me here. He took me far from the city only to show me this rare experience that I guaranteed would never be found in the city. It was even more beautiful than watching sunset. The fireflies appeared more and more. Now, it was not as dark as before. The dim light from the fireflies and the moon in the sky shone where we were sitting on. ¡°Like...¡±I heard Senior Rizal mumbled something, so I turned my head to look at him. ¡°Did you say something?¡± I asked. ¡°I like you.¡± This time, the words were clearer. I was stunned. Was I dreaming? Or did I really hear a confession from my idol, Senior Rizal? ¡°Going out with me. Be my girlfriend, Jane. I really like you.¡± He repeated firmly. His face was slightly blushing even under the dim light of the fireflies. ¡°Ah.. I.... I....¡± I stammered. Why was I stammering like this? Wasn¡¯t it what I wanted? My love was not a one-sided love and I could feel my face blushing like crazy. ¡°Do you like Dino?¡± He asked. It was a surprising question. I shook my head quickly. ¡°Or Mario?¡± He asked again. I shook my head again. ¡°It¡¯s pissing me off every time I saw you with one of them. This is the first time I want to monopolize someone just for myself, and it¡¯s you.¡± He admitted while bowing shyly. How cute! ¡°I like Senior Rizal.¡± I said without even realizing what it means. Senior Rizal stared at me. Then, I realized what I had said. My face was flushing red and my heart bit like crazy. ¡°Is that a yes?¡± He asked me, sounded full of hope. I nodded slowly and shyly, didn¡¯t want to see too excited. ¡°Yes...¡± I said slowly. Oh gosh, may I faint now? Senior Rizal smiled widely. ¡°Thanks God.¡± He mumbled. He looked awkward. No, the air felt heavy and awkward. What is happening here? We were finally dating, but why is this happening? Senior Rizal suddenly got up and sat behind me. Then, he hugged me from behind and hid his face in my shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t know anymore. Now that you¡¯re mine, I won¡¯t let you go.¡± He whispered in my ear. Iughed slowly. He was so funny. Howe he became this childish? I patted his head gently. Woaahh... This was the first time we were this close. But, then... *kiss* ...a kissnded on my cheek. My cheeks were getting hotter. ¡°Just let us be like this now. I¡¯ll be staying upte tonight to finish my drawing task.¡± He whispered. I smiled. ¡°Okay...¡± Chapter 17 Chapter 17: Complicated Crush (5) ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I put away my slippers as I jumped on my bed. The shback of what happened today shed in my head. I still couldn¡¯t believe that I was finally dating with Senior Rizal now. Ughh, it was like a dreame true for me. Tom must be surprised when he heard me dating with Senior Rizal. Ah, by the way, talking about Tom, where is he? He didn¡¯t follow me around today. Ah, why should I care? ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± It¡¯s his voice. I huffed and turned away. ¡°Don¡¯te closer. I¡¯m still mad at you.¡± I said, slightly muffled by the pillow. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to tell me what happened?¡± He asked. Of course, I ignored him. ¡°Am I ignored? Or, should I go to the other source?¡± My eyes widened in shock as I heard him. ¡°Don¡¯t!!¡± I screamed in panic as I turned around. I saw him smirked in victory. ¡°We are dating. So, if you bother our rtionship, I don¡¯t want to know you anymore. Got it?¡± I red at him, trying so hard so he would listen to me this time. His expression changed. He bowed his head and mumbled something not clear, then he floated out the window. ..... ¡°Where are you going?¡± I asked loudly, slightly in panic. What if he went to Senior Rizal¡¯s ce? He looked at me with his sad face and gave me his bitter smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t intend to disturb him. I¡¯ll be going out for a while.¡± He said, and then he disappeared. It¡¯s strange! ... Darkness surrounded me. No matter how many times I blinked my eyes, I still couldn¡¯t see anything. Everything seemed so quiet. But, I did not feel scared at all. My mind has been asking me, what ce is it? But, I had no answer to the question. ¡°I like you, Jane, that¡¯s why I don¡¯t want you to date him.¡± I heard a familiar voice near me. I frowned. ¡°Who is it? What do you mean?¡± I asked as I blinked. I really had no idea where I was. But, then slowly everything seemed to form into shapes, including the person in front of me. ¡°Tom?¡± I called out. It is really him. ¡°I like you, Jane...¡± He said, as he walked towards me with sad and frustration all over his face. ¡°But, I¡¯m dating Senior Rizal now.¡± I said. ¡°Rizal is not here. Please, don¡¯t leave me alone anymore.¡± He whispered. His big hands cupped my jaws. ¡°B-but...¡± I tried to resist. ¡°Sshh...¡± He whispered again. His lips gently closed my lips and slowly he sucked on my lips. I couldn¡¯t resist him. My heart was beating fast. The only thing I knew was I wanted to get closer to him. Somehow, his sadness sucked me into a confusing circle. He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me like there¡¯s no tomorrow and I was drowned in the hot kiss he gave me. Lips, face, and my neck, he showered it all with his kisses. ¡°You¡¯re mine.¡± He whispered with a breathy voice. ¡°Tom...¡± was the only thing I could say. ... I snapped my eyes open with ragged breath. I was flushed. My eyes were roaming my room, scanning for the transparent body belonged to Tom, but he was not around. I sighed thankfully, patting my chest to ease the strong beat of my poor heart. ¡°Dream...¡± I whispered as I wiped the nonexistent sweat on my face. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The dream shed in my mind again. I didn¡¯t know how I should treat the dream. Was it a nightmare or something, I didn¡¯t know. All I knew was my body shivered with a weird vibe and I didn¡¯t know why, I felt like I wanted to cry every time I recalled his expression and his voice. He sounded frustrated in my dream. ¡°Did something bad happen to him?¡± I thought. ¡°But, what¡¯s bad thing that could happen to a ghost?¡± Chapter 18 Chapter 18: Complicated Crush (6) Aah, I didn¡¯t know anymore. Tom, please,e back! I whined lightly as I hid my face in my knees. A little whileter, I raised my head and saw the clock on the wall. It was 3 in the morning. I got up and walked to get some water. After I drank almost a ss full of water, I washed my face in the bathroom. After that, I walked back to my bead. Cold wind blew and I shivered lightly. I turned around, hoping to see Tom, but I found no one behind my back. I sighed and sat beside my bed. ¡°Senior, please,e back!!¡± I called slowly. ¡°...¡± ¡°It¡¯s not funny anymore. Come on. Howe you let me sleep alone? It¡¯s annoying, you know.¡± I whined. ¡°...¡± ¡°If you don¡¯te out soon, I¡¯ll be mad at you for real, you know. I¡¯ll cut you off!¡± ..... Cold wind covered me but I didn¡¯t care about it. Then, a pair of translucent hands hugged me from behind. I could feel a cold breeze crept on my spine. ¡°Okay, but promise me you won¡¯t get angry again.¡± He whispered right on my right ear, cold but gently. ¡°Who was the one who went out from home?¡± I said sarcastically. Tomughed. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Let¡¯s sleep again.¡± I got on my bed and covered my body with nket again. He followed me and lied beside me. He stared at me. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m just a spirit. If I had a body now, you would be done by now.¡± He said as heughed slowly. ¡°Yeah, I guess I am.¡± I huffed. The dream came back and flooded in my mind. ¡°Actually... I had a weird dream just now.¡± I said doubtfully. ¡°Dream? About what? Who?¡± Tom asked calmly. ¡°About you... and me.¡± I answered slowly. Then, I told him about my dream. Just so you know, if Tom really were a human, I would never, never, and never tell him that dream. It was embarrassing. Tom nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just sleep.¡± I obeyed him and closed my eyes, hoping that I could get beautiful dream with Senior Rizal. ¡°? Hehehe ¡°? ... Where am I? What do I do here? Why am I alone? Why am I here? I looked around me as those questions spinning in my head. I was in a unfamiliar path led to an unknown ce. Trees grew beautifully and safely on each sides of the road. Green grass added the calm and cool breeze around me. Still, this ce was unfamiliar with me. ¡°Jane...¡± Finally, a familiar voice called me. I turned around fast to see who called me and smiled widely in relief as I saw Tom wasing towards me. ¡°Do you want to take a walk with me?¡± He asked as he stopped in front of me. ¡°Sure...¡± I answered. He took my hand and we walked hand to hand towards the path. The road led us to a beautiful garden full with flowers. I was not really a fan of flowers, but this sight made me unbelievably happy and calm. We talked, but I didn¡¯t know what we were talking about. Weughed, but I didn¡¯t know the reason. I enjoyed hispany under the tree, surrounded by flowers and warm breeze. Somehow, it felt like I was having a date with Tom. ¡°Jane....¡± Another familiar voice called me. The voice came from the path where I came from. Someone was running towards me and I assumed it was the owner of the voice. But, who is it? As he was getting closer, I finally recognized him. It was him. It was Senior Rizal! Chapter 19 Chapter 19: Complicated Crush (7) Senior Rizal smiled towards me as he steadied his breath. ¡°I saw youing here, so I came to check. It¡¯s really you!¡± He said happily. His eyes sparkled with joy. I had just wanted to reply, but Tom cut me off. ¡°Excuse me, she is having a date with me.¡± Displeasure filled his voice. I was surprised and turned to see him. There is something wrong with this situation! There is something off! But, what is it? I saw Senior Rizal frowned. ¡°Date? What do you mean? Jane is my girlfriend.¡± Thump... That¡¯s right. I was Senior Rizal¡¯s girlfriend. Then, why was I having a date with Tom? What more confusing was I couldn¡¯t say a word about what Tom said. ¡°Jane is my girlfriend. Not yours, got it?¡± Tom said firmly and loudly while holding me closer to him. ..... Senior Rizal seemed off, couldn¡¯t say anything and only looked at me in disbelief. It¡¯s like he was trapped between shocked and confusion. In the mean time, I was dragged farther and farther by Tom. Senior Rizal!! I wanted to scream, to call him out, but somehow my voice got stuck in my throat. My hand reached out for him when I was dragged away by Tom. But, he was getting further, until finally I lost sight of him. In front of me was Tom, still dragging me as everything around me shifted fast to darkness. Cold air surrounded his being, and I could feel his rage just by seeing his back. The image of Senior Rizal was left behind by us slowly disappeared and I focused myself onto the person in front of me. Looking at his back, I sensed the loneliness hid behind his rage. His grasp on my hand was tight, but gentle at the same time. He was angry, but he was still trying not to hurt me. Even though I was still puzzled with this turn out of event, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel warmth started to fill my heart. ¡°JANE...¡± I heard Senior Rizal¡¯s voice again, calling me out. I turned around and saw him chasing me, reminding me that I was still his girlfriend! A little whileter, he caught my hand and pulled me away from Tom. ¡°Don¡¯t go...¡± He said with breathy voice. ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! I¡¯ve told you that she is my girlfriend.¡± Tom held my other hand while staring at Senior Rizal coldly. Senior Rizal smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean, but Jane is mine.¡± He said. Then, I felt something soft and warm touched my lips as warm breath swept my face. His face was so close to me! Senior Rizal pulled out from his kiss and smiled at me. I could feel my face burning up and my heart pounded loudly in my chest. ¡°Enough!¡± Tom shouted in rage. I turned my face towards him in shocked, but he pulled me to his embrace and kissed me. He kissed me again, but hotter and sexier than before. It was filled with lust and anger, as if he wanted to devour me. I was melting when his tongue swept my lips and entered my mouth. He mapped my mouth, touching every sensitive spots inside my mouth while I surrendered under his touch. I didn¡¯t want to pull out from his embrace. My head was getting hotter and my heart bit even faster than before. A whileter that seemed so long, he pulled out and stared right through my eyes. ¡°Do you understand now? It¡¯s my turn now, not him. Please, don¡¯t let him separate us now. Please, just for this time, just think about me. Just me.¡± He whispered, sounded broken with pleading eyes. All I had in my mind was the picture of his expression and the sudden urge to hold him. So, I held him tightly. I didn¡¯t know since when my hands were free and what happened. But, all I had in mind was to hold him tightly now. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t go anywhere.¡± I whispered back, softly and gently. He pulled me closer as he hid his face in my shoulder. ¡°I like you, Jane...¡± He said, barely a whisper. ¡°I really like you.¡± Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Hello, Love (1) I came out from my room with a terrible face -or that was what I thought my face would be. Last night dream was so intense and ¡®hot¡¯. Ugh, I was getting all dizzy just from remembering it all. I had no idea that Senior Rizal would kiss me. Even if it was just in my dream, but it was our first kiss! Ugh! What made me confused was how I could have a dream with Tom twice in a night. We even kissed twice! And I got a love confession twice. Twice! Was that just a coincidence or did it have other meaning in it? I shook my head. I couldn¡¯t erase the picture of how Tom looked at me. I couldn¡¯t erase his expression from my mind. What was happening here actually? I couldn¡¯t ask Tom because I couldn¡¯t find him anywhere the time I opened my eyes this morning. ¡°Mrs. Rosa, I¡¯m going to campus.¡± I said when I caught a glimpse of her body in the dining room. ..... ¡°Ah, Jane...¡± I stopped and walked backwards. Mrs. Rosa approached me with a cheerful and happy face. Smile was on her face, as a sign that she was really happy now. ¡°Yes?¡± I stared at him confusedly. ¡°Just have a breakfast first. You still have time, right?¡± She said. Did I hear that wrong? She was asking me to have breakfast, right? Well, I didn¡¯t mind at all, of course. I didn¡¯t have a chance to have breakfast this morning. Without giving me a chance to answer, she dragged me down to the dining room. I could feel my saliva threatened to dribble in the corner of my mouth when I smelled the familiar smelling from the pot. It¡¯s chicken porridge! My favorite! ¡°Dig in...¡± She said after she put a whole bowl of chicken porridge in front of me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled and started to dig into the chicken porridge in front of me. It¡¯s really delicious! ¡°Is it delicious?¡± Someone whispered on my ear. I didn¡¯t need to turn around to see who the person was. It must be him. Tom. Who else? ¡°It¡¯s really delicious.¡± I smiled to Mrs. Rosa. ¡°By the way, what¡¯s going on exactly? Are you nning to hold a party?¡± I asked as I saw many ingredients beside the dishwasher, enough to feed more than twenty people. She shook her head. ¡°Tom visited mest night. I¡¯m really happy. And he asked me to make him chicken porridge. Because you are the one who is living in his room now, I decided to give this to you.¡± She exined happily. Her eyes emitted warmth. She did not even sound so sad like before. I guess her dream was joyful, after all. Oh, was that so? I smiled. Tom was sitting on the chair beside me now. He kept staring at me and smiling. ¡°Eat a lot so you can grow faster.¡± He said, almost made me choke. What the hell?! ¡°Thank you for the meal.¡± I thanked her as I got up from my seat. I had just finished eating the porridge and drinking a ss full of water. ¡°Hold on. I want to give you something.¡± Mrs. Rosa said quickly. She went into the kitchen hurriedly and came back with a lunch box. ¡°It¡¯s for your snack. Don¡¯t flip it, you¡¯ll ruin the cake.¡± She said as she handed me the box. I held the box in my hand tightly. What¡¯s inside of this box? I thanked her again and walked outside. Tom was still following me. ¡°I think I don¡¯t have to apany you to go to campus anymore. I¡¯ll just wait in your room.¡± He said, all of sudden. ¡°Eh? Why?¡± I looked at him. ¡°Your boyfriend is here.¡± He said indifferently. I turned my head to the gate. Senior Rizal had just arrived and taken off his helmet. Then he smiled at me. The dream shed back in my mind and I could feel my cheek was getting hotter. Huh, it was so embarrassing! Now I had to try to look calm in front of him, just because of the stupid dream. ¡°Go.¡± Tom said as he floated and went into the house. I approached Senior Rizal with the crazy thump in my chest. I held the lunch box in my chest tightly, hoping that it would prevent my heart from jumping out from the ce. Chapter 21 Chapter 21: Hello, Love (2) ¡°Morning...¡± He greeted me while smiling so handsomely. ¡°Morning...¡± I replied, trying to give him my not-so-awkward smile. ¡°I¡¯m on time, I guess. I thought I waste to pick you up. Hop up!¡± He said as he handed me another helmet. Iughed softly. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m happy.¡± I said. I didn¡¯t even know where those words came from. He blushed, but he hid his face as he bowed his head. ¡°Come closer.¡± He asked. I did what he said and one warm smoochnded on my forehead. ¡°That¡¯s my morning kiss.¡± He smiled shyly and my brain screamed almost out of control. Who knew he could be this cute and sweet?! Haha. ..... Long story short, I went to campus with him. Happiness and shy mixed into one. I couldn¡¯t exin how I was feeling right now. Also, I predicted the time when I agreed to go to campus with him, all the inhabitants of the faculty were in chaos when they saw meing to campus with him. We even walked side by side andughed all the way to the building. I practically could see the brokenhearted girls surround me. But, what could I say? ¡°You¡¯ve been holding that lunch box since I picked you up. What¡¯s in it?¡± Senior Rizal asked. To tell you the truth, I forgot about the lunch box. ¡°I don¡¯t know. This was given by Mrs. Rosa. She said it was for my snack. We can eat it togetherter.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°Alright...¡± He smiled softly as he patted my head gently. ¡°Jane!!¡± My eyes widened in surprised when someone grabbed my shoulder. Senior Dino¡¯s wide grin appeared before me. ¡°Senior Dino! You¡¯re surprising me!¡± I said, protesting his way of greeting me. Damn him and his cute eye-smile! ¡°I have something to say. Follow me.¡± Senior Dino said happily. ¡°I take her for a while, okay?¡± He said to Senior Rizal as he pulled me along with him without waiting for the answer from Senior Rizal. I couldn¡¯t say anything and let myself being dragged down the corridor by Senior Dino. I was pulled further and further from Senior Rizal whose expressions turned as cold as steel. Was he angry? ¡°Good news! I¡¯m dating Mia now.¡± Senior Dino said happily with the gleam in his eyes. He held my hand tightly. ¡°Ah, hahaha, congrattion, Senior.¡± I smiled awkwardly. I could feel something bad was approaching us. My hands were suddenly free from his hold. Another pair of hands was separating us. I was surprised, but I didn¡¯t need to see who separated us. It must be him; Senior Rizal. He must be really angry now. ¡°Congrattion, Dino. I have important news for you, too.¡± He stared at him coldly. Senior Dino stiffened, probably a little bit shocked seeing the change in Senior Rizal¡¯s expression. Senior Rizal held me by my shoulders and smiled threateningly. ¡°Jane and I are dating now. Do you know what it means?¡± He said, still with his threatening smile. Senior Dino¡¯s eyes widened as he heard it. I didn¡¯t know if it was a scared expression or surprised. Probably, it was a mix of both expressions. ¡°A-ah, congrattion. Congrattion for both of you.¡± He said after being silent for a while. His expression started to rx. ¡°Dino, do you know what it means?¡± Senior Rizal asked him again, with a threatening voice and stare. Then, Senior Dinoughed loudly. I stared at him in surprised. What¡¯s so funny? Did Senior Rizal¡¯s change of attitude make him crazy? ¡°I got it, I got it. Sorry. I¡¯ll be more cautious next time.¡± Senior Dino said as heughed again. ¡°But...¡± He said again, but hisugh turned into smile. ¡°I really didn¡¯t think that you liked Jane. Haha. You are really unpredictable. I hope this time you are serious about her. Well, after seeing how you reacted just now, I¡¯m sure you must be really serious. Jane will be in troubleter.¡± ¡°Huh?! Trouble? Why?¡± I asked in confusion. ¡°You¡¯ll get itter, little sister. Be happy, okay?¡± Senior Dino turned around and left us whileughing out loud. My left eyebrow arched as I frowned. What did he mean? I was getting more confused now. ¡°Huff...¡± Senior Rizal huffed slightly. ¡°It seems I must be more patient. My emotion is really easy to distract.¡± I turned to see him. ¡°Are you fine? Let¡¯s go to the infirmary.¡± I really wanted to ask about what Senior Dino meant, but I thought it was not wise to ask about it now. Moreover, Senior Rizal¡¯s face really looked pale. Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Hello, Love (3) I turned to see him. ¡°Are you fine? Let¡¯s go to the infirmary.¡± I really wanted to ask about what Senior Dino meant, but I thought it was not wise to ask about it now. Moreover, Senior Rizal¡¯s face really looked pale. ¡°Hahaha. I¡¯m okay, don¡¯t worry.¡± Heughed softly and asked me to go inside. ¡°What time is your ss?¡± I asked, still insisting that he needed to take a rest. ¡°Hm, at ten. Why?¡± He stared at me confusedly. ¡°And, what time did you go to sleepst night?¡± ¡°At three, if I¡¯m not mistaken.¡± ¡°You still have time. Come on.¡± I dragged him into the infirmary. ¡°Take a rest. I have ss in 30 minutes. But, I¡¯ll wake you up before 10.¡± I pulled the nket on the bed in front of me. ..... Senior Rizalughed loudly. ¡°You are really interesting. I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m fine, haven¡¯t I? But, you¡¯re still insisted.¡± ¡°Just shut up, don¡¯tugh, and get some sleep.¡± I said hastily as I moved out a bit and red at him. He sighed loudly and took out his shoes. ¡°Okay, I get it. But, as an exchange...¡± He lied down and looked at me. ¡°Don¡¯t go. Stay with me for a while.¡± I smiled and sat on the chair next to the bed. ¡°Okay...¡± ... To say that I was happy now was an underestimation. I was now beyond happy. It seemed like my rtionship with Senior Rizal would grow rapidly. I had a feeling that we would move fast. How fast it would be, I didn¡¯t know. It was our second day of dating. Anything could happen, right? Now, I was sitting next to Senior Rizal on grass in the left park of my campus. People usually didn¡¯te here because it was near the abandoned-tombs and they got scared because of it. To say the truth, I liked this ce. This ce was beautiful and so green and fresh. I felt like I could sleep here every day, camped here, and enjoyed my time here. It was so quiet, butfortably quiet, not terrifying quiet like what people said. ¡°Ah, this is the first time I can feel as fresh as now. My presentation was great! Thanks to you.¡± Senior Rizal smiled happily. It was the first time I saw him this happy. ¡°Why me?¡± I asked while smiling. ¡°You suggested me to sleep, that¡¯s why.¡± He said. ¡°Aah, is that so? Well, that¡¯s good, then. Now, it¡¯s time to have lunch.¡± I took out the lunch box Mrs. Rosa gave me and opened it up. ¡°Woah, it looks delicious.¡± Senior Rizal stared at the lunch box with sparkles in his eyes. I took a piece of it and fed it to Senior Rizal. He didn¡¯t seem to mind the way I treated him like a kid. He ate the cake, and then he frowned. ¡°Is it good?¡± I asked out of curiosity. ¡°Mmm, yes, it¡¯s really good. But, I think I know this cake. The name is banana cream. It¡¯s Senior Tom¡¯s favorite cake. He used to bring this cake at campus.¡± Senior Rizal answered with a sad face. I kept silent. Was that so? I fed myself with a piece of the cake. Sweet. It tasted like a weird feeling slipped in my heart. What was this? ¡°May he found peace there.¡± Senior Rizal looked at the sky, staring at it, but his eyes were empty. I held myself not to chuckle. Howe he could find his peace if he was still in my room? If Senior Rizal found out about it, what would he say? Ugh, just thinking about it made me shivered. I didn¡¯t have any guts to tell him the truth that Tom was still in my room. ¡°Yeah, I hope so.¡± I said. Senior Rizal looked at me and smiled gently. I fed him again before I melted with his smile. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s finish it off.¡± I said after fed myself again. Less than 15 minutester, the lunch box became empty. I took a bottle of water out from my bag and took a sip of it. ¡°Do you want to drink some?¡± I offered to him. He smiled and took the bottle from me. He, then, took a sip. At that time, I realized something. Wa-wasn¡¯t it an indirect kiss?! Hyaahh... To think about it again, we ate from the same spoon and drank from the same bottle. What else would it be other than an indirect kiss? I hoped I was not blushing madly now. ¡°Thank you for the meal.¡± He said while smiling. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it...¡± I said, trying to act normal. Senior Rizal took a nce of his watch on his wrist. ¡°There is still time until the next ss.¡± He said slowly, almost like a whisper. I took a peek on my own watch. It was true. There were still 10 minutes before the next ss began. So, what about it? Chapter 23 Chapter 23: Hello, Love (4) I took a peek on my own watch. It was true. There were still 10 minutes before the next ss began. So, what about it? I didn¡¯t need much time to find the answer. He hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead gently. Then, he kissed my cheek. Then, my nose. I could see where he would go, yet I didn¡¯t have any protest or strength to stop him. Why? I also wanted it. What¡¯s so wrong about it? We were dating, right? ¡°Tell me if you don¡¯t want it.¡± He whispered. Then he kissed the corner of my lips. He pulled out a bit and looked straight into my eyes. ¡°May I?¡± He whispered again. My heart thumped loudly when I closed my eyes and waited for my first kiss. I could feel his warm breath on my face and I could feel his soft lips on my own. He tasted sweet and soft. His big palms cupped my face and pulled me closer to him. His lips opened mine a little bit and he pressed his lips deeper. He kissed me slowly and sucked on my lips gently. Without realizing it, I responded to his kiss. My hands grabbed his back. My heart felt like it could jump out anytime from my chest. The kiss was getting hotter and wilder. It felt like I was getting devoured by him! I moaned without realizing it when his tongue found its way into my warm mouth and explored inside. His tongue yed with my tongue and he sucked on my tongue lightly. I moaned and my body stiffened. Our bodies felt like melting into one. The heat was unbearable. I was flushing against him. I can¡¯t! I screamed in my head. If he didn¡¯t stop anytime soon, I was going to melt! He was just too good in kissing. I couldn¡¯t stop him. ..... His kiss slowly became gentle, and then finally, he pulled away from the kiss. I opened my eyes slowly while still trying to steady my heart beat and my breathing. I knew well that I was blushing like crazy now, but it didn¡¯t stop me from looking at him and saw him smiling at me meaningfully. His fingers traced the shape of my lips that was just kissed by him. ¡°I love you...¡± He said gently and oh, so softly. I nodded. ¡°Me too...¡± I replied softly. He bowed and kissed me again. I had a feeling that it was going to take time. ¡°Senior, we¡¯re going to bete.¡± I whispered, reminding him. He mumbled, but he kept kissing me. Then, he pulled away only to look at his watch. ¡°Tsk, it¡¯s not enough. I¡¯m addicted in kissing you.¡± He said like a spoiled little child. Iughed slowly. ¡°Come on, stand up.¡± I said. Should I say that I am addicted to him as well? Halfheartedly, he stood up and wrapped his arm around my shoulders to walk beside him. He touched his lips slowly and eyed me while smiling mischievously. ¡°I can still feel your lips.¡± He whispered before we went to our own ways. He waved at me as he walked away. I stared at his waving, stiffened in my ce. He was right. I could still feel his lips against mine, too. God! It was embarrassing. ... ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I took off my shoes as I entered my room. Smile still lingered on my face. ¡°Wee...¡± Tom greeted me with his gentle smile. If only I could hug him, I must have hugged him now. ¡°You look so happy. Did I miss something important?¡± My heart stirred and I felt slightly guilty inside, even though I didn¡¯t know why I would feel so. Should I tell him about what happened this afternoon? It was weird. It was as if I was worried that Tom would be angry to me. ¡°It must be about Rizal, right?¡± He guessed. I was surprised and looked at him. ¡°Ah...¡± He shouted. This time he put on a surprised expression like those I saw inic or manga. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me... kiss? He kissed you?¡± He shouted with a muffled voice. His eyes widened with mischievous glint. Bull¡¯s-eyes! I was pretty sure I was blushing again now. Tom¡¯sugh confirmed it. I jumped on my bed and hid behind my nket. What happened with Senior Rizal shed in my mind again and it made my heart thumped wildly again. Chapter 24 Chapter 24: Hello, Love (5) Warning: Err, there is a bit of suggestive smut activity ahead. Not much, just a bit. And obviously not in detail, but it could lead your mind to you-know-where. Read at your own risk. ¡°Congrattion...¡± I heard his voice so close to me. I pushed down the nket until my head came out. I stared at him who was lying beside me. Slowly, I could feel my eyes getting heavier. I didn¡¯t know why I could be this sleepy. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t go to sleep yet. You haven¡¯t taken a bath.¡± He said, but his voice seemed to be fading away. I wanted to reply ¡®yes, just a moment¡¯ but I couldn¡¯t say a word anymore. And, before I knew it, I fell asleep. ... I walked like a drunken man towards my bathroom. My eyes felt heavy. I hope the warm water could rx me so I could go to sleep in peaceter. I unbuttoned my shirt slowly after I took off my pants. My eyes were closed so I couldn¡¯t see surround me. Then, suddenly, a pair of big arms hugged me from behind and helped me to unbuttoned my shirt. I turned around slightly to see this person. ..... ¡°Tom?¡± I called him slowly. He smiled and kissed me. He took off my shirt until I was half-naked in front of him. The strange thing was I didn¡¯t freak out! I even responded to his kiss and undressed him. Everything happened out of control. Howe I could stay calm in an embrace of a half-naked man? Not to mention I was half-naked, too. What else could it be beside ¡®doom¡¯? Again, the strange thing was I didn¡¯t refuse him nor I freaked out. We made love like a husband and a wife under the showering of warm water. The steam made us even hotter. All I know was Tom loved me and so did I. I was pretty sure he would not leave me. From his every touch, his breath, and his gestures, it was as if he was telling me that he was for me -that he was entirely mine. But, something was wrong... ... I woke up, again with cold sweat running through my body. My body flushed, hot in all ces. My eyes scanned the room quickly, trying to find the transparent body belongs to Tom. Damn! How could I dream of having sex with him? Not to mention it felt real! What should I call this dream? A nightmare? Wrong. A good dream? No. The right word was embarrassing dream! Yeah, that must be right! I got down from my bed and drank a ss full of water that I put on my table near my bed. Then, I took a deep breath, trying to steady my breathing and pushing away my stress by exhaling it hardly. ¡°It¡¯s just a dream, it¡¯s just a dream...¡± I mumbled, chanting those words like mantra. After I felt sure about everything, I walked towards the bathroom. Cautiously and fully aware, I locked the door, forgetting the fact that a ghost didn¡¯t need a door to get into a room, after I inspected the bathroom thoroughly. I thought I was safe for now. I could take a bath in peace. Warm water was flowing from the shower-head, wetting my body as I was thinking under it. The dream came back in my mind and I couldn¡¯t help it but to think that it felt real. Every touch he gave me, his kisses, it seemed to leave prints on my skin. I didn¡¯t want to erase it, I thought. No, I didn¡¯t want to erase it. The only thing I wanted to erase was the memory of us being one. It¡¯s really embarrassing! Was that how I would feel when I had sexter? My heart was beating fast, but it felt fun. And why did I have to dream of doing it with Tom and not with Senior Rizal? I didn¡¯t intend to think pervert things with Senior Rizal, it¡¯s just... It was confusing. You knew what was weirder than that? I did it without freaking out, calmly, as if we were really dating for real or even got married. I felt my brain itched. I should stop thinking about it, really. I put on my towel, wrapped it around my body and walked out from the bathroom. Droplets of water were still dripping from my wet hair, but I ignored it. ¡°Hey, hey, you¡¯re wetting the floor!¡± I didn¡¯t have to turn around to see who it was. It must be him! Chapter 25 Chapter 25: Hello, Love (6) ¡°Hey, hey, you¡¯re wetting the floor!¡± I didn¡¯t have to turn around to see who it was. It must be him! But, I did turn around, to see him and smiled to him. ¡°I¡¯ll clean it upter.¡± I said as I took another towel to dry my hair. I started applying my lotion on my skin, ignoring Tom who kept staring at me. Yeah, keep doing like that. I wanted to see how you would react. ¡°It¡¯s so unlike you to let me here.¡± He said. ¡°Not for a long time.¡±I smiled. ¡°You can go out when I want to dress upter.¡± I said calmly. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I don¡¯t have a body-¡± ..... ¡°-or else, I¡¯ll be done.¡± I cut him off, smiling. ¡°Ya, ya, I know. That¡¯s why I can be calm now.¡± Heughed softly. ¡°You may go out now. I want to put on my clothes.¡± I said to him after that. ¡°Calm down your ass...¡± He said, mocking me. ¡°Won¡¯t you get out?¡± I red at him. Heughed again. But he did it anyway. ... I straightened my back as I moaned lightly. I felt my back hurt after arching my back for too long. ¡°Aahh, tired... I¡¯m sleepy.¡± I whined. I had just finished my homework. ¡°Heh? It¡¯s just 8 pm, you¡¯re sleepy already?¡± Tom scolded me. I arranged my books while smiling at him. ¡°What¡¯s tired is my mind. It¡¯s normal if I want to sleep now.¡± I said. I put my feet under my nket and sighed in relief. ¡°Senior,e here...¡± I called him. He floated towards me and sat half-flying in front of me. ¡°Why?¡± I stared at him. I reached towards him, touching his untouchable cheek, and kissed him, on his lips. Untouchable, but I knew I was supposed to touch his lips by now. Just for a while, then I pulled out and smiled. ¡°Haha, I¡¯m the newest record holder of kissing a ghost for 5 seconds.¡± I shouted happily. He stunned. It seemed like I caught him off guard. But, he kept staring at me. I just wanted to ask him what¡¯s wrong but the knock on my door startled me. I got up, leaving him staring at me like that, and opened the door. ¡°Hi...¡± The familiar voice greeted me as the door was opened. ¡°Senior Rizal?¡± I stared at the person in front of my door, surprised. It was really him, right? What should I do? I was still wearing my pajamas! He smiled. My hand reached the switch of balcony¡¯smp. I sighed inwardly as my balcony turned bright. ¡°Ah, have a seat, please...¡± I said after a while. How stupid and rude I was for letting him standing up like that! ¡°Thanks.¡± He sat on myzy chair. We talked a bit, just a light topic. He told me that he missed me, that¡¯s why he came to meet me. I felt like I was flying on the cloud nine. Thirty minutester, he asked for permission to go home. He told me that he had to finish his project tonight so that we could be together on the next day. After he left me, I turned themp off and closed the door. But, not more than five minutester, my door was knocked again. When I opened it, Senior Rizal stood in front of the door again. ¡°Senior? Do you leave something here?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes.¡± He answered, and then he hugged me. ¡°15 minutes.¡± He said, almost like a whisper. Before I realized what he meant by ¡®fifteen minutes¡¯, he pushed me into my room. He kicked the door closed and before I asked, he has closed my mouth with his. He kissed me passionately. Then, I knew what he meant. ¡°Tsk, I¡¯m going out. Call me if he does something to you.¡± I heard Tom said something, sounded grumpy and upset. I mumbled, muffled by Senior Rizal¡¯s kiss. My mind didn¡¯t focus. Senior Rizal held me tightly on his chest. Our bodies flushed together and I felt slightly hard to breath. His kiss turned more passionate and hotter. After a while, he pulled out and took a deep breath. Then, he kissed me again. A light kiss on my forehead, cheeks, eyes, then lips. Slowly, softly, and breath-taking kiss. I liked the way he opened my lips with his lips. I liked the way he sucked on my lips. He was so gentle. I wondered if his bed-y was as gentle as his kiss. Would I feel the pain? Ah, I started to think perversely again. It must be because that stupid dream! ¡°Jane...¡± Senior Rizal called softly. I stared at him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Chapter 26 Chapter 26: Hello, Love (7) ¡°Jane...¡± Senior Rizal called softly. I stared at him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Oh, what was I doing? I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I answered as calm as possible -which was really hard since my heart was beating like crazy. He eyed his watch. ¡°It¡¯s already passed 15 minutes.¡± He smiled. ¡°Want me to apany you to sleep?¡± I smiled, but didn¡¯t say anything. I was confused -I didn¡¯t know what to answer. But, apparently for him it was a yes. He picked me up bridal style and put me on my bed. He covered me under my nket and kissed my forehead, like a kid I was. I had just wanted to protest his action when his lips covered my lips again, shut me from what I wanted to say. ¡°Just sleep. I¡¯ll pick you up tomorrow.¡± He whispered softly. I rolled my eyes. ¡°Nine o¡¯clock.¡± I said, smiling. ¡°Alright, my princess. Now, sleep. Or, I¡¯ll have to punish you.¡± He joked, smiling. ..... ¡°What¡¯s the punishment?¡± I asked. ¡°Like this...¡± He kissed me again and Iughed inwardly. ¡°Then, may I ask for the punishment?¡± I whispered, half-jokingly. Iughed softly. I pushed myself a bit and kissed him. He responded to my kiss, but slowly his kiss turned more passionate and lustful. I moaned and his kiss moved to my chin, and then my neck. Again, my heart wildly thumping inside my chest. Unconsciously, I moaned again. At that time, he pulled out and smiled. ¡°We will slip, you know?¡± He whispered, warning me. I blushed as I realized what he meant. What did I do? Oh God, it¡¯s embarrassing! ¡°Just sleep. I¡¯ll go home for real now. See you tomorrow.¡± He kissed my forehead gently and got up. This time, he really left, leaving me cursing myself for what I had done. Was I just giving myself to him? I must be crazy. Crazy. CRAZY!! It¡¯s all because of the dream I got this afternoon. Aaarrgghhh...I was so embarrassed! He must think that I was an easy girl. There was no use toment on my stupid action now. I should have been more careful and aware from now on. I couldn¡¯t be caught off guard anymore!! ... ¡°Come here...¡± I called Tom to approach me. Tom moved closer and sat on the bed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his lips. Just for a while, then I pulled out. ¡°Haha...Got you!¡± Iughed softly. He stunned and stared at me unbelievably. It was as if there was no way I would kiss him. I smiled at him. ¡°How is it?¡± I asked. He snapped and smiled. ¡°You still need to learn again. But, it¡¯s pretty good as a beginner. It should be like this.¡± He pulled me and kissed me passionately. ¡°I¡¯ll show you another thing.¡± He whispered then he kissed me again. Slowly he moved on to my bed and pushed me in the process. He lied me down without releasing his kiss. Tomid on my body, pressing onto me. His tongue swept my lips and snuck into my mouth, dancing with my own tongue, and tickling the roof of my mouth. My heart thumped like thunder as I moaned softly. My hands grabbed his hair gently as my back arched a bit and my body stiffened. His kiss moved slowly to my neck, then to my chest. His hands grasped my hands tightly and he eyed me while smiling mischievously. ¡°Do you like me?¡± He asked, all of sudden. I stunned. Did I like him? I didn¡¯t know. I spent most of my time with him, how did I know I liked him or not? ¡°I¡¯m not doing it if you don¡¯t like it.¡± He sat back. I stared at him. ¡°Do you not like me?¡± I asked him back. He turned around and looked at me straight into my eyes. He smiled softly and stroked my cheek gently. ¡°I like you, of course. I really like you. But, maybe, you don¡¯t like me.¡± He said slowly. I stunned again. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I may like you. But I really don¡¯t know. You are always near me, beside me. I¡¯m not sure if I like you or not.¡± I said. ¡°Ah... is that so?¡± He said softly, sounded hurt. I hugged him. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m sorry...¡± I whispered to him. Chapter 27 Chapter 27: Hello, Love (8) I woke up with tears running down my face. I feel my chest like it was tied up tightly that it made me hard to breath. I cried in my sleep. I didn¡¯t know why I could feel as sad as I felt now. I wiped my tears. It had stopped falling, but my chest still felt hurt. I was full of sadness now. At seven fifty in the morning, I got up, forcing myself to get ready to go to campus. I was still bearing the pain in my chest, but I tried hard to stand up and prepare myself to go to campus. Senior Rizal came to pick me up at nine sharp, just like as he promised me. The pain in my chest lightened up a bit, but still, I felt something was off. What was it? Something was wrong with me. I went through my day feeling like there was a hole inside me. No matter how many times Senior Rizal asked me, I always told him that I was alright. No matter how many times he kissed me, I would always feel there¡¯s something wrong. I tried hard not to show this pain to anyone, to lie to everyone, but even in the middle of crowd, I could still feel this pain. There was really something wrong with me. What was it? ... Author¡¯s note: I¡¯m using this space because next chapter will have different titles. Might as well write some hints about the previous version and the reason why I stopped writing them, right? So, I am not going to talk much about this character because I still feel a bit traumatic after being haunted for almost two weeks, messing up my sleeping schedule, as well as making me afraid to sleep. I can only say that this character, this female ghost, is the kind of evil ghost. I nned to create a fight between Tom and this female ghost, introducing another ghost, making Female Lead had a bunch of ghost following her. Instead of creating a whole group of poke-ghost, I ended up being haunted. (-.-lll) ..... They came in my dreams every night. Sometimes, they would chase me down in any kind of ce. What¡¯s worse was I perfectly realized that I was dreaming. Sometimes, they would appear in my room, watching me from every corner of my dorm room. Their scary faces really scared me! Then, as if scaring me in my dream was not enough, I kept feeling weird chilling aura in my room, and hearing some strange noises at night. Call me paranoid, but that¡¯s what I experienced. After seeing them in my dream for almost two weeks, I gave up. I thought, maybe they didn¡¯t like it when I wrote about them. So, I decided to stop, tore down the page, and threw it away. I even said something like, ¡°There! I stopped! Stop bothering me!¡± I know for some people it sounds ridiculous, but that¡¯s what happened to me. After that, I stopped seeing them in my dream, stopped feeling chilling atmosphere inside my dorm room, and stopped hearing suspicious noises at midnight. I also stopped writing this story for months. Chapter 28 Chapter 28: Strange Things and Jealousy (1) ¡°I am home...¡± I said slowly as I closed the door behind me. I took off my shoes and dragged my feet towards my bed. Throwing myself onto my bed, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I let my body weakened by the pain haunted in my chest. What is this strange feeling? I was sure I was fine at campus, surrounded by people. No, not really fine, but it was enough to make me ignore the pain in my chest. But, after that, surrounded by cold and darkness, the pain came back with triple force, leaving me breathless and pathetic. But, no tears came out. It¡¯s a dry sorrow and I choked on it. I didn¡¯t have the strength to get up. As much as it pained me, I just wanted to be drowned in this misery. How pathetic I sounded, I knew. But, I didn¡¯t care for now. I was still a human. I could feel the upside and down of this life. But, since when did I feel like this? My mind traced back my life from the time I could remember. I was sure my life was pretty much normal. There¡¯s no abnormal activity around me. But, why do I feel like this? What is this strange feeling in my stomach? It weakened me. It was as if it sucked my breath, fed on my life essence. Is that too much? I should haveughed right now because of my cheesy thought. But, I didn¡¯t have much strength tough on my silly thought. That¡¯s how messed up I thought I was. ..... I passed day by day feeling the same thing. Of course, I was happy when I was around Senior Rizal. I couldn¡¯t count how many times we have kissed. I couldn¡¯t count how many times I smiled around him. Yes, I was happy with him, but I still felt like there was something off with me. Every day felt the same for me. Two months had passed. I still felt the same. My rtionship with Senior Rizal was more than fine. He even introduced me to his family. I was nervous, of course. But, I gave my best. His family seemed nice, but I could feel something wrong with how they treated me. Maybe I just felt insecure because that was the first time I was introduced to my boyfriend¡¯s family. But, still, I felt something was off with me. The strange feeling was still there in my stomach. I tried to ignore it every time I consciously felt it was there. But, it never worked. ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I said slowly. I couldn¡¯t count how many times I had said these same words, but this time, I realized I¡¯ve been saying this to no one. As the door closed behind me, I stunned in the dark. The strange feeling came back full force. Emptiness. Silence. It hit me hard. My eyes scanned the room, searching. But, I couldn¡¯t find what I was searching. I got up on my bed and hid under my nket. I felt like crying. It hurt so much in my chest. I was like something pressed deep inside it. This stifling emotion was really unbearable. I missed someone, I wanted to meet someone, but I didn¡¯t know who. Cold breeze blew on my spine and I turned around instinctively. ¡°Tom?¡± I called unconsciously. But, no one was there. And, that¡¯s the time when I realized who I missed. All memories came back in my mind. How could I forget him?! My tears were running down my face and I kept enchanting his name, asking him toe back until I tired myself out and fell asleep. I miss you, Tom. ... ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± A familiar voice called as the door opened. The owner of the voice came inside my room with a wide smile on his face. Chapter 29 Chapter 29: Strange Things and Jealousy (2) ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± A familiar voice called as the door opened. The owner of the voice came inside my room with a wide smile on his face. ¡°Tom...¡± I stared at him in surprised. I was really happy to see him again, but I also still pissed off because of his sudden disappearing. I turned away and put on an upset face. ¡°Oh, you still remember having a home?¡± I shouted at him, clearly showing that I was upset. He smiled and approached me after closing the door. I turned away more and hugging my pillow. My back was facing him. ¡°Why do you sound upset? Aren¡¯t you happy I¡¯m back?¡± asked him, with a sad tone that he made so professionally. I turned to face him and looked at him sharply. ¡°Feeling satisfied after leaving me alone? Are you happy seeing me crying? Are you happy seeing me sad?¡± ¡°Said who?¡± He frowned. ..... ¡°Then, why did you leave me without telling me anything?¡± I red at him. ¡°So what? We¡¯re not...¡± I cut him off with kissing him, right on his lips. Oh, how I miss him so much! ¡°We¡¯re dating, isn¡¯t that enough for me to know where you¡¯ll go?¡± I said quickly. ¡°How ignorant of you!¡± I hit his chest lightly. There were still many things I wanted to protest to him, but he cupped my jaw and kissed me passionately yet so gently. ¡°I¡¯ve just found out that we are dating.¡± He whispered seductively. I red at him again. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®just found out¡¯? For all this time, you think of me as what? I...¡± Again, he silenced me with his kiss. ¡°Quiet. I don¡¯t want to hear any words now.¡± He whispered huskily. He pushed me and moved onto me as I lied down on my bed. His body was pressing on me as he kissed me, gently and passionately. I was drowned in our confusing love. I gave myself to him wholeheartedly, without anyin. My heart beat fast and the pain had gone just like that, as if it was never there to begin with. I felt content,fortable, andplete now. And I knew why I felt like this. I liked him. Not just a brotherly feeling. I loved him. All my bodies and nerves shook with anticipation as he touched me. I was so close to him, really close that I could practically feel his heart beat and his warmth. I could smell his breath. I could even feel him inside me. ¡°I love you, Jane...¡± He whispered lovingly in my ears. All of my nerves trembled and shook with wild beat as I reached the climax. My soul levitated to the cloud nine with him. I love you too, Tom. ... I woke up with a rush breathing. It was impossible that I had sex again with Tom in my dream for the second time. But, this time, I didn¡¯t feel anxious. The pain was gone and what surprised me more was the fact that I dreamed of myself telling my own self that I loved him. My phone vibrated slightly. It was a message from Senior Rizal. A pang of guilt sipped into my heart. ¡°Jane, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t meet you today. I have to finish something. Love you.¡± I sighed as I replied his message. ¡°Okay. Take care. Love you too.¡± I typed. I took a deep breath and looked around me, but Tom was not here. I sighed in disappointment. I thought, after I had a dream about him, I would meet him again as soon as I opened my eyes. But, I was wrong. I got up and walked to my bathroom. I was not feeling like going to campus today. ¡°Damn! Just wait until youe backter.¡± I grumpily grunted as I turned on the shower. I rubbed my body slowly. The dream felt so real. I still could feel his touch. Damn! I thought I had fallen for him for real! It made me wanted to cry every time I remembered him. I finished my bath and got ready to go to campus. I should move quickly, or else, I might cry. I locked my door slowly as I sighed heavily, then proceeded to walk down the stairs to the front door. My steps came to a halt when I noticed Mrs. Rosa was sitting down in the dining room. She looked like she was in trouble, so I cancelled my intention to go to campus and approached her. ¡°Mrs. Rosa?¡± She startled. She then looked at me and smiled awkwardly. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± I asked as I sat next to her. The middle-aged woman sighed. ¡°I had a dream about my son again. In that dream, he came home like usual, just like when he was still alive. He opened the door and called out ¡®I¡¯m home¡¯ then, he kissed my cheek. But, this time, he said that he wanted to meet his wife first. After saying that, he ran upstairs to his room. I am confused. When did he get married? Then, I started to think that maybe, maybe if he hadn¡¯t died, he would have married by now.¡± She exined. Chapter 30 Chapter 30: Strange Things and Jealousy (3) I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t surprised. Worse, I was blushing. I was lucky she didn¡¯t notice it. She didn¡¯t even pay attention to me so I could hide it fast. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right.¡± I smiled. Tom, where did you go actually? She smiled and looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m fine now, thank you. You can go to campus or you¡¯ll bete.¡± I nodded and excused myself. As usual, my walk to campus felt alone and lonely. Tom had not been apanying me for two months or since he left me to be exact. But, another thing hit me as I reached my campus and finished my ss. That¡¯s right, I forgot that I wouldn¡¯t meet or see Senior Rizal here today. It was now officially lonely. Anyway, what was Senior Rizal doing? ¡°Feeling lonely?¡± Someone teased me. As I turned around, Senior Aldo¡¯s face greeted me with his smirk. I hissed slightly. ¡°What is it, Senior?¡± ..... ¡°Do you know where he is going? I didn¡¯t meet him. I didn¡¯t see him anywhere. His phone is also not active. It¡¯s weird.¡± He frowned. Of course, he was talking about Senior Rizal. I shrugged. ¡°He said he had an urgent business that he needed to take care as soon as possible, that¡¯s why he couldn¡¯te today.¡± Senior Aldo nodded. ¡°Then, I go first. If you get any news from him, contact me, okay?¡± He said as he waved goodbye to me. I nodded and waved him back. I was alone again. Should I go back home? Crying? I got up and walked back home. I opened my room¡¯s door weakly. ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I said weakly. ¡°Wee home...¡± Someone greeted me. I startled and looked straight in my room, eyeing the owner of the voice who greeted me. There he was, floating above my bed while smiling at me innocently. I closed my door and approached him. The longed in my heart couldn¡¯t be held anymore. I reached out and hugged him for a long time. He felt cold and empty, but I didn¡¯t care. No, I didn¡¯t care at all. ¡°I miss you so much.¡± I whispered to him. ¡°I love you...¡± I could feel him hugging me back. ¡°I love you more, Jane...¡± He whispered back, softly and gently. I closed my eyes. Why did I feel so sleepy right now? ¡°Just take a rest. You¡¯re tired.¡± He said softly. I nodded and lied on my bed after throwing my bag besides my wardrobe. He followed me toy beside me. Seeing him smiling gently, I felt content and in peace. ... ¡°I miss you, Tom...¡± ¡°I miss you too...¡± He replied. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for leaving you alone.¡± Half whispering, his voiceced with apology. I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m happy that you are here. But, please... don¡¯t leave me again.¡± I said, still hugging him. ¡°Not a chance.¡± He tightened his hug on me. I felt so right in his embrace. So content. So calm. So peaceful. It¡¯s like I wanted to stay like this forever. ¡°If I propose you, will you say yes?¡± He asked. I nodded. ¡°Sure thing.¡± I answered full of determination. ¡°You¡¯ve promised me about that.¡± I could feel him smiling even though my face was hidden in his chest. I lifted up my chin to look at his eyes and nodded. ¡°Sure.¡± I said. He bowed down his head and kissed me again, softly. We kissed, for a long time. ... I woke up and for the first time I felt the urge to keep sleeping to my heart content. In my dream, I could touch him; hug him, as if he had a body. I even could kiss him and make love to him without any worries. That¡¯s not the point, but I thought that was important, too. The point was I could be together with him again. But, I thought I forgot something important. What was it? Chapter 31 Chapter 31: Strange Things and Jealousy (4) But, I thought I forgot something important. What was it? A sh of familiar face came in my mind and I stiffened as I noticed whose face that was. Senior Rizal. ¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Tom asked, startled me from my dozing off. I sat on my bed, deciding to ignore the guilt I felt inside. ¡°I am...¡± I mumbled softly. ¡°Then, get up. Take a bath and eat before you get sick. I want to get out for a while.¡± He said. Tom had just wanted to float away when I called him in panic. ¡°Where will you go?¡± He stopped and stared at me. Then, he smiled. He approached me again and kissed me on my forehead. ¡°I just want to go downstairs, to visit mom.¡± He said gently. ..... ¡°Don¡¯t go...¡± I whined at him unconsciously. I really did that. I didn¡¯t know why, but I didn¡¯t want to be separated from him for now. He stared at me, probably found it adorable and amusing that I didn¡¯t act like I usually did. I realized it, of course, but I couldn¡¯t control it. ¡°You still want to bathe, right? That¡¯s why I¡¯ll go downstairs while you¡¯re taking a bath.¡± He said again, still gently. I shook my head again, this time harder than I ever did before. ¡°Don¡¯t go...¡± I whined again, slightly begging him to stay. A mischievous smile appeared on his face. ¡°Alright, but you have to allow me to get into the bathroom with you.¡± He said. I supposed to reject the offering, but I didn¡¯t know why, I said the opposite. ¡°Whatever, as long as you¡¯re still here with me.¡± I said, but I winced inwardly. It seemed I was not the only one who winced inwardly, but also Tom. He stared at me in disbelief, as if what I said to him was all joking. ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked me again. I nodded slowly. Somehow, he found it funny and he held hisughter, but his eyes couldn¡¯t hide the mischievous glint in it. ¡°Then, you should allow me toe into your dream tonight.¡± He said. Was that possible? I didn¡¯t care. ¡°Do whatever you like.¡± I said while nodding and blushing madly. I didn¡¯t wait and walked into my bathroom before he changed his mind. I could feel him following me into the bathroom and I could feel the change in my heart beats. I really was lucky that he didn¡¯t have a physical body, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about losing my virginity to him. I tried to erase the thought that now I was in a bathroom with a male ghost. Whatever it was, he was still a male and it was such an erotic and nerve-wrecking experience I would have after this. I stood with my back facing him. My face was still blushing. I could feel my hands rejecting to cooperate with me. I couldn¡¯t undress myself, but it was impossible for me to take a bath with my clothes still on, right? Even with my hands slightly shook, I pulled on my t-shirt slowly. Wasn¡¯t it like doing a striptease in front of him? Ah, remembering it just making me more aware of my surrounding. I could feel him behind me and my face blushed again. Of course, I knew I could take back what I said, to say to him that he could go downstairs and to leave me alone. But, somehow I really didn¡¯t want to be separated with him. I turned and looked at him. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked calmly. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing.¡± I admitted to him softly. ¡°Can you turn away for a while, please?¡± He didn¡¯t reply, but he did it anyway. After his back was facing me, I really undressed myself. After being naked for real for the first time, I felt really insecure. I turned on the shower and stood under the steam. I didn¡¯t turn away to see him, but I could feel him staring at me. I was flushing, I knew. ¡°I really want to touch you. I wish I had my body.¡± His whisper sounded really clear in my ear. His transparent arms wrapped around my waist and as if rubbing on my stomach. The coldness tickled me and made me shivered. I could imagine how it felt like if it was his real hands rubbing on me. ¡°Should I possess Rizal so I can touch you?¡± He asked. I didn¡¯t know if that was a joke or anything, but I didn¡¯t like it, so I red at him. ¡°Don¡¯t do that....¡± I hissed at him. He smiled. ¡°Hurry up.¡± He said and walked back to his ce, in the corner of the bathroom, staring at me again. I did as he said, hurried up. After taking a bath, I dressed up, of course Tom was still watching all my movements. Then, I had lunch, or probably dinner. I didn¡¯t know. After that, I did my homework. It really took my time. At 8 pm, I thought I tired myself out, so I pushed away all my homework and lied down on my bed. As usual, Tom lied besides me. I turned to face him and smiled at him before I closed my eyes. Slowly, I entered my dreamnd to fulfill my promise with Tom. Was that even possible? I didn¡¯t know. I just had to sleep to find out, right? And, what if he really came to my dream? What would we do? Would we make love again? Not that I minded it, though. I didn¡¯t have to worry if we had to do it again and again in my dream. It was just a dream, right? Ugh, I thought I was getting more and more pervert. Chapter 32 Chapter 32: Strange Things and Jealousy (5) Warning: steamy scene ahead! You¡¯ve been warned! My breath ragged as I opened my eyes. My face was really hot, as if steam could flow out from my head. My heart thumped like crazy and I couldn¡¯t slow it down. All my body seemed to be more sensitive than before. It was like...the feeling in my dream still lingered on my body. Ah, what should I do? I thought I had be a pervert. Something down there needed to be touch. Did I just moan? Aaahhh...... ¡°I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re this lewd, Jane.¡± A whisper pulled me back into reality, snapped me back into my consciousness, and blushed madly. ¡°To-Tom...¡± I barely let out a voice. ¡°Do you want me to relieve your need?¡± Tom whispered again and I swore I could feel his tongue licking my ear lobe, made me shivered. ¡°After Ie back to my own body, I¡¯ll fuck you till you can¡¯t walk.¡± I moaned out hearing his bold and husky confession. Oh, I guessed I couldn¡¯t wait for that time to happen. ..... So, when? When would youe back to your own body? I wanted to ask that, but my voice wouldn¡¯te out. I didn¡¯t even realize my right hand had traveled south to my crotch and rubbed on my pussy. It was wet and it only drove me crazier every time I touched my pussy. I let out breathy moan, didn¡¯t even care about my surrounding. I didn¡¯t care that Tom was watching me now. The feeling of being watched by him only triggered the tingling sensation in me. I opened my eyes that I didn¡¯t know I closed and watched at his expressions. His eyes clouded with lust -I didn¡¯t know that a ghost could feel lust over a human. He was watching me and it only heightened the feeling inside. ¡°To-Tom...¡± I called his name as I rubbed my clit, still clothed with my panty. The pleasure took over my body and I could feel my tears started to flow out. The pleasure was just so great I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I didn¡¯t even have time to feel embarrassed. The only thing I knew was I needed to relieve this pain inside me and seek the pleasure. ¡°Yes, like that, Jane. Rub it harder. And after youe, I¡¯ll stick my dick inside your wet pussy and fuck you hard until you scream.¡± Tom whispered in my ears. His dirty talk only brought me closer to my climax. ¡°Tell me how you feel.¡± I moaned again. ¡°G-good... aahh...¡± I started to feel empty. I wanted to be filled. Something was missing. But, I couldn¡¯t take away my hand that was still rubbing my clit. My breath got more ragged and my eyes dropped heavily. I tried to stifle my moan and ended up biting my lips as the pleasure shook me and brought white stars in my sight. The tremorsted for a while. After the sensation cooled down, I could feel my body getting more rxed and calmer. I closed my legs, whimpering slightly as the throbbing feeling was still there. Then, I opened my eyes slowly. Still hazy with the pleasure, I caught the glimpse of his gentle smile. Then, the embarrassment hit me. My already blushed face blushed even more. I pulled my nket, covering my whole body including head. What? Why? That was my first time. Was it called masturbating? Damn! How could I do that? In front of the man -ghost -I loved, nheless. ¡°Damn, that was sexy and hot. I really wish I could touch you. But, surely I wouldn¡¯t be able to hold myself around you. I think we were going to fuck like bunny in heat if I had a body.¡± He grinned. ¡°Pervert.¡± I mumbled. I heard himughing. ¡°And who was the person masturbating....¡± ¡°Aaargh.... shut up!!¡± I quickly cut off his words as I got up and faced him. He smirked. Sexily. Oh God, a ghost had this kind of smile should be arrested! Yeah, that was right. He was just a ghost, thankfully. Chapter 33 Chapter 33: Strange Things and Jealousy (6) After that dream, I kept blushing whenever Tom was around. He also asionally teased me, but most of the time he would only smirk at me. And, I had been wondering why I had just noticed the sexiness hidden behind his smirk. Being around him would make me stupid, literally. My brain seemed to stop working properly. I was torn between wanting to see him more and hide from him. Even when I went to campus, I felt reluctant to leave him -after he came back, he refused to walk me to campus. A weekter, I finally found why. Senior Rizal. Right, I was still Senior Rizal¡¯s girlfriend. But, how could I forget about him for a week? My whole mind focused only on Tom, and I totally forgot about Senior Rizal. After being absent for a week, Senior Rizal had returned. Somehow, I felt there was something off from his expression. Whenever I tried to ask him, he would shake his head and tell me he was okay. I was never a pushover concerning someone¡¯s problem. I always thought that I couldn¡¯t force someone to talk about their problems to me. If they wanted to talk about it, I would make sure I stayed and listened to them. But, if they didn¡¯t want to, I didn¡¯t see any reason for me to force them to spit it out. ..... So, I let Senior Rizal alone with his problem. Even when I was in his side, I felt there was a distance between us. There was an invisible wall separating us. I¡¯ve been wondering if it were the effect of my heart had a sudden change. I was obviously still with Senior Rizal, but at home, I was all lovey dovey with my ghost roommate that turned into my ghost lover not long ago. Apparently, I was not the only who noticed Senior Rizal¡¯s change. As Senior Rizal¡¯s closest friends, Senior Rizal and Senior Mario noticed it, too. Both of them asked me if we got into a fight and I answered no. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Even if he doesn¡¯t really like the girl, he will never, ever, ignore them. It¡¯s not like he is identally ignoring you. It¡¯s more like he openly ignoring you.¡± Senior Dino said as he frowned. ¡°More like, Rizal is running away from you.¡± Senior Mario corrected and my heart nodded in agreement with what he said. That was right. Senior Rizal looked like he was avoiding me. But, why? ¡°Senior Rizal is avoiding me? But, why?¡± I asked. They shrugged. They did not give me any choice but to think about it carefully by myself. As I was pondering the reason of Senior Rizal¡¯s sudden change of behavior, something shed in my mind. Don¡¯t tell me... Tom didn¡¯t... Did he? ¡ª It was almost dusk when I finally reached my dorm. After a long and tiring day at campus -plus with the addition of the strange behavior of Senior Rizal, I finally had my time to rx. I had just stepped in front of my door when a weird chilling aura suddenly hit me. I turned my head to the source of the chilling aura and found my eyes hit a pair of cold eyes, staring right at me. My breath hitched as I saw that pair of eyes on the familiar face. My heart felt like jumping out of my chest as I rubbed my chest to calm my wild beating heart. ¡°Tom, what are you doing out here? You¡¯re scaring me!¡± I scolded him in a low voice like a whisper. ¡°You had fun with your boyfriend?¡± He asked but the disdain was clear in his voice. I opened my door and stepped inside, ignoring his question. I have been getting this question when I came hometer than usual. It was true, my ss had finished before two this afternoon, but something came up at campus so I had to stay behind to take care of it with my friends. And, Tom would assume that I waste because I yed with Senior Rizal. If I was not mistaken, it was the sixth question he asked me. ¡°I was not ying. I was studying and taking care of some issues with our project.¡± I exined as soon as he walked through the wall and sat in front of me. He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking if he could ept my answer, probably. ¡°Then, can you break up with him soon?¡± This time, he didn¡¯t bother starting it with sugar coating words. He was getting more and more brave in voicing out what was in his mind. But, I also had something in mind. ¡°Tell me, Tom. Can you really enter a human¡¯s dream?¡± I asked. ¡°It depends.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Answer my question first.¡± He stared right through me. ¡°Then, did you or did you not enter into Senior Rizal¡¯s dream and threating him with something again?¡± Ignoring his plea, I asked straight to the point. Tom¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he shot me a disdain look. It was as if he was saying ¡®why would I stoop myself lower to threaten that poor boy?¡¯ ¡°I would never do something like that!¡± He protested. ¡°What? Did that boy say that to you?¡± He frowned. ¡°No?¡± I asked him back. ¡°NO. Never. I have never visited him in his dream since the inauguration!¡± Tom answered disdainfully. From the way he talked, I was pretty much sure that he spoke the truth. Then, what was the reason of Senior Rizal¡¯s sudden change? As I was thinking about that, Tom moved to sit in front of me, supporting his cheek with one of his hand. His face was so close to me that it made startled. ¡°Don¡¯t think about him when you¡¯re here. Haven¡¯t we talked about it before?¡± He reminded me. His handsome face pouted a bit. I smiled. His jealousy was indeed scary sometimes. But, he made a distinct line about my treatment to him and Senior Rizal. Even though he would suggest me to break up with Senior Rizal and got severely jealous after that, he had never flown to Senior Rizal¡¯s dream to do something I didn¡¯t like. ¡°Also, why would I get into that boy¡¯s dream when I have your dream to enter?¡± He smirked. I blushed. Oh, whatever. Chapter 34 Chapter 34: Am I Cheating? (1) Things with Senior Rizal seemed to get worse every day. He kept disappearing and no news from him at all. Then, on the next day, he would appear and hug me. I mean, yes, I felt guilty because of all the things happened between me and Tom. But, I couldn¡¯t help but to feel annoyed at Senior Rizal¡¯s strange action. But again, I asked myself, ¡®am I cheating? Does having a rtionship with a ghost consider cheating?¡¯ I still liked Senior Rizal, but ... I didn¡¯t even know what was going on. ¡°Jane...¡± A whisper in my left ear startled me from my daydreaming. As I turned my head, a pair of sturdy arms enveloped me in a warm embrace. The familiar scent of his body assaulted my nose as my body gradually rxed in his embrace. ¡°Senior. Are you done with your ss?¡± I asked as I tilted my head to look at his side profile. ..... ¡°Jane. You know how much I love you, right?¡± Surprisingly, he didn¡¯t answer my question this time and said this thing where I knew for sure he was not this type of person. Not when we were practically in public ce. We rarely showed our affection to each other in front of other people. I frowned hearing his question. This was probably a touching question or a proof of his love to me, but only if we were not in odd situation like he kept ying hide and seek with me. In this kind of situation, I could feel something was off from him. It was like he was feeling guilty and he might leave me sooner orter. It was true that while I was feeling confused with my rtionship with him and my own rtionship with Tom, it had never crossed my mind that we would break up. Tom was a ghost. We could never be together. And Senior Rizal was a human, in flesh and bones. As a normal human, it would not be hard who I should pick, right? ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I turned myself to face him, pulling myself out from his embrace. Senior Rizal smiled bitterly as his hand reached out to touch my cheek. His thumb rubbed my cheek lovingly as his eyes showed his affection to me. This kind of direct touch, warmth, and sense of security were different from what I experienced with Tom. ¡°I love you. You should know that.¡± He whispered. My eyebrows arched. ¡°I know.¡± I said. But to say I loved him back, somehow the words couldn¡¯te out. Senior Rizal pulled his hand from my cheek and grabbed a hold onto my own two hands as he sat in front of me, loking straight into my eyes. ¡°Tell me, Jane, do you like anybody other than me now?¡± He asked suddenly. If I were drinking, I would have spurted out the liquid in my mouth onto his face listening to his question. I almost choked on my own saliva! What? Did he suspect something? ¡°Wh-why are you asking me that?¡± I stuttered, my eyes widened in shock. His eyes showed that he was serious with his question but also there was a trace of sadness. Was he seriously asking me this question? ¡°Nothing.¡± He said as he shook his head. He lowered his head until I couldn¡¯t see his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s have a date today. You don¡¯t have any ss after this, right?¡± He said suddenly. His voice turned cheery and bright, totally different with the previous him who looked gloomy and sad. I shook my head. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Great. Now, let¡¯s go!¡± He stood up and pulled me up to my feet before he dragged me towards the parking lot. That afternoon, we yed a lot. We kissed, too, and went a bit overboard. Senior Rizal acted like he didn¡¯t care if someone recognized him in public, disying his affection towards me. I, on the other side, felt extremely guilty because sometimes my mind was wandering to my room, where my other boyfriend was waiting for me, probably sulking because I camete again. Was it considered as I cheated on him? Chapter 35 Chapter 35: Am I Cheating? (2) After my date with Senior Rizal ended, he sent me home personally. As usual, he would stop in front of my dorm, but that night, he parked his bike and got off. He stood tall in front of me. Looking at his unusual stature, I frowned. Then, without saying anything, he pulled me into his embrace -this time, he hugged me tightly. ¡°Se-senior?¡± I called out to him. ¡°Thank you for today. I¡¯m so happy with you. And I¡¯m sorry. No matter what happened, I still love you.¡± He mumbled behind his helmet, but still clear on my ears. ¡°But, let¡¯s break up.¡± He said firmly. *Thump... I stiffened in his embrace. My heart started to beat irregrly. What did he say? Break up? ..... ¡°Ah, I can¡¯t do it. I am not willing to break up with you. How could I let you go? I take it back! I don¡¯t want to break up from you!¡± He said again, sounded unwilling to really break up with me. Before I could react, he had pushed himself away from me, releasing his hug from me and turned to get on his bike. ¡°I need to go before I start to get any ideas again. Bye.¡± He smiled at me as he started the engine. I nodded and waved at him as I watched him disappeared in the night. I had not had a chance to say any words to him at all and he just left me like that. I took a deep breath and turned my heels to walk into the house of my dorm. The dorm was surprisingly quiet. It was like all of them were out at this particr time or had already fallen asleep. As my steps approached the stairs to the second floor, I could feel the chill airing from the next floor. I sighed in defeat. Pacifying Tom was not an easy task, not when I openly broke our agreement; Senior Rizal could have me when I was in campus and when I didn¡¯t have ss, I belonged to him, Tom. At most he would tolerate me with Senior Rizal was until four to five in the afternoon. And now, it was almost nine... I gulped hard. Should I face him now? When he was upset, Tom could be really scary. His transparent body would emit cold air and his eyes would be the scariest of all. His eyes would turn cold and red streak would tint the pupil of his eyes. I always had a goosebumps every time I met those kind of eyes. Gritting my teeth and steeling my heart, I stepped up. As I got closer to my room, the chilling aura thickened. I gulped again one more time before I opened my door. A st of icy air hit my face as soon as I stepped into my room. Enduring his rage, I closed my door and turned on mymp. ¡°I¡¯m home...¡± I said weakly. I saw him sitting on my bed, his arms were crossed in front of his chest. His eyes red daggers at me. The red tint was there and it looked especially scary with his expression. Why do I feel like I was caught cheating on him? Since he knew about my rtionship with Senior Rizal, it wouldn¡¯t count as cheating, right? ¡°Do you know when I really wish to have a body?¡± Without moving an inch, his cold voice asked me. ¡°N-no?¡± I answered weakly. ¡°First, when I really want to touch you, kiss you, make love to you. Second, when you go out that door and meet that bastard who had monopolized your time again today. Third, when you break the rules we both have set up, to punish you for your disobedience.¡± He said through his gritted teeth. It seemed like...this time, I could not escape! Chapter 36 Chapter 36: Am I Cheating? (3) But then, I realized something. I suppressed the urge to raise my eyebrows and rolled my eyes. Somehow I felt like he was a pervert beast who only knew how to pin me under his body. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have one. I walked to him, approached him with a suppressed smile on my face. Sitting in front of him, I stared right at his eyes. ¡°What?¡± He asked, uneasiness hit him. ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering since... ahem, you know... ¡®that¡¯ time, you mentioned getting back to your body. What do you mean by that?¡± I ignored the blush crept on my face. Tom arched his beautiful eyebrows. ¡°When was ¡®that¡¯ time?¡± Smirking, his eyes looked at me teasingly. ¡°You know that¡¯s not the point of my question.¡± I rolled my eyes. ..... ¡°And you know I¡¯m still waiting for your exnation foringte today.¡± His eyes turned cold again. I gulped. He wouldn¡¯t let me get away. ¡°Fine. I was having a date with Senior Rizal.¡± I admitted, avoiding his eyes to hide my guilt. ¡°I get it.¡± Tom stood up and flew away to the door. ¡°Where are you going?¡± I asked in panic. ¡°What? Are you afraid I¡¯ll visit him? Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t get anywhere near him.¡± Without turning back to face me, he answered before he continued walking through the door. He left me stunned on my bed. My mind seemed to stop working. Did he mean that? How would I know he said the truth? I realized I was scared if he confronted Senior Rizal. If that happened, then either me or Senior Rizal would be forced to see psychiatric. ... It had been five days since my date with Senior Rizal, as well as myst contact with him. After that day, I had not met him even once. He didn¡¯te to campus as well. His friends were all looking for him, but I had no idea how to answer their questions. ¡°Are you sure he didn¡¯t mention anything to you before?¡± Senior Mario asked me. His thick and de-like eyebrows frowned as he tried to interogate me. I shook my head. ¡°I have no idea.¡± Sitting in my side with his girlfriend, Senior Dino frowned as well. ¡°It¡¯s not his style to leave so long. Even if he has some family matter, he will at least contact one of us to ask about the lectures. Now, after he has a girlfriend, I assume he would at least call you. But, here you said you haven¡¯t heard anything from him either. It is really weird.¡± I shrugged, but my heart whispered the same. Senior Rizal was getting suspicioustely. What was happening to him exactly? I wish he could talk to me about it so I could help him. After our date, I thought our rtionship would return to the same state it was before he started acting weird. Ah, how could I forget about that? Did it have something to do with him asking for a break up? I straightened my back, as if someone had just poured cold water onto my head. It must be it! It must have something to do with it! ¡°What is it? Do you remember anything?¡± Senior Mario asked. ¡°He said ¡®let¡¯s break up¡¯.¡± I said slowly, as if being controlled. ¡°What?!¡± The three of them looked at me with widened eyes. Shock filled their eyes as they stared at me. ¡°Then, Senior Rizal and you...now...¡± Mia didn¡¯t continue her words but I knew what she was going to say. I shook my head. ¡°No, Senior Rizal took it back, saying that he couldn¡¯t break up with me.¡± They let out a sigh of relief after listening to my answer. ¡°Still, it¡¯s strange, isn¡¯t it?¡± I looked at the three of them. ¡°Now that you say it...¡± Senior Dino¡¯s frown getting deeper as he immersed himself in thinking about his bestfriend¡¯s behavior. We sat in silence for several minutes, thinking about any possibilities that might happen to Senior Rizal. But, no matter how much I gave it a thought, I could never guess what was happening to my boyfriend. Until two dayster, we finally found the answer. Chapter 37 Chapter 37: Am I Cheating? (4) I was sitting in an empty ss, texting my aunt, when Mia and Senior Dino came rushing with a panic look on their face. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked them, feeling confused. ¡°Have you heard it?¡± Mia asked, but she sounded careful with her tone. I frowned. ¡°About what?¡± Senior Dino sighed and took an invitation from his bag then put it in front of me. It was a wedding invitation. The date was today. What surprised me was the name that was written in the invitation. I looked at Senior Dino and Mia. Both of them had a look of pity mixing with anger in their eyes. ¡°Is it...¡± I choked on my words. ..... ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve confirmed it. Some of our friends went to the wedding this morning. It seems like they all tried hard to hide it from you. They even hid it from me! Damn those so-called brothers!¡± Senior Dino balled his fist as he cursed through his gritting teeth. I took a sharp breath. Was it real? I thought this kind of scenario only happened in drama. Who would have thought it would happen to me? If I had known earlier that he was going to get married, I would have agreed to break up with him! What the heck?! I picked up my phone and punched on his number. As expected, my call went to his voicemail. My mind went nk. All I could hear was the repeated voice of the woman in my phone telling me that I couldn¡¯t reach the number I was calling. I didn¡¯t even know what I was thinking. I blinked and blinked my eyes repeatedly. I could hear voices around me but I couldn¡¯t catch what they were talking about. Mia was looking at me full of concern and Senior Dino was busy tapping on his phone furiously but his mouth never stopped moving, as if he was cursing someone. ¡°JANE!!¡± Mia shook my body, sessfully brought me back to my sense. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m asking you, are you okay?¡± She repeated her question. Ah, that¡¯s right. I asked myself the same question. Am I okay? I was shocked, yes. I felt pain, yes. But, it was not like what I thought I would feel. I felt betrayed and upset. But, strangely, I could feel there was a part of me inside that felt relief after realizing Senior Rizal was not with me anymore. But, the anger still overwhelmed me. ¡°I¡¯m a bit...lost.¡± I told her. ¡°Damn! None of them is picking up my call!¡± Senior Dino was still furious. ¡°This is thest time. If this bastard isn¡¯t picking up, that¡¯s it! I¡¯m heading over now!¡± He said furiously as he made hisst call. ¡°Senior Dino is calling all of his friends who went to the wedding. It seems like all of them are still there.¡± Mia rubbed my back. I nodded. He might want to talk to Senior Rizal, too. ¡°About time! Damn it, Mario! Why are you guys turning off your phones?!¡± Senior Dino snapped as soon as his call went through. I couldn¡¯t hear clearly what Senior Mario said, but I could hear the helplessness in his voice as he tried to talk to the fuming Senior Dino. ¡°Where is that coward now?!¡± Senior Dino asked through his gritted teeth. He stood up and paced around the room while scolding Senior Mario who didn¡¯t seem to be willing to hand the phone over to Senior Rizal. ¡°Great! Just great!¡± Senior Dino was closed to have a breakdown. He was ready to throw his phone when his eyes met mine. The rage in his eyes changed with helplessness and sorry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t convince him to talk to you.¡± He apologized weakly. ¡°That¡¯s okay. Thank you, Senior.¡± Even though I said so, it seemed like these two people did not believe in my words. They apanied me, even when I returned to my dorm, and left me after I promised them that I would be okay, that I was not going to do something stupid -I bet I would not have that kind of thought, ever. After sending the couple off, I went to my room. Stopping in front of my door, suddenly I felt hesitant for the first time. There was a part of myself told me that I should have just dumped Senior Rizal first because I had already had Tom. Another part of me said that it was my karma for betraying Senior Rizal and going out with a ghost. But, seriously, who would dump a human for a ghost? Now it had reached to this extent, who could I me? I sighed. The anger of being betrayed by Senior Rizal came again and the sadness was messing up with my head again. Instead of going in, I ended up crouching in front of my door with my head hanging low between my gripping hands. I took a deep breath repeatedly in steady rhythm; not too fast nor too slow. ¡°Do you mind to tell me what happened to you?¡± I heard Tom¡¯s voice talking to me. ¡°I am sorry, give me a minute.¡± I replied, but not looking at him. He did give me some minutes to calm myself down. After I calmed myself, I pushed myself to stand up, my eyes met his as he was looking at me with questioning look in his eyes. Seeing him unexpectedly made me feel a lot calmer. ¡°Feeling better now?¡± He smiled at me. I nodded. Yeah, absolutely better. I felt so much better now that I saw him smiling at me, which was strange for my own feeling. My boyfriend had just dumped me and got married to another woman without telling me beforehand, I felt so angry for being hidden in the dark, and now after I saw my ghost boyfriend I felt so much calmer, as if Senior Rizal getting married did not matter to me. And that¡¯s where it was strange! I shouldn¡¯t have felt that way! No matter how much I liked Tom, I shouldn¡¯t have picked him over Senior Rizal who was a real human. But, I obviously underestimated my own feelings for Tom. The fact that only by seeing him could calm myself was a big proof that I liked him more than I liked Senior Rizal. And, I also came with a conclusion to myself. I cheated on Senior Rizal. I was the one who started cheating, thus I didn¡¯t have any rights to get angry over his marriage with another woman. I should have thought about it long before, but I guessed I was just too ignorant to realize this kind of things. Chapter 38 Chapter 38: Moving On (1) After his marriage with another woman, I heard Senior Rizal was taking a break from his study. Then, I heard nothing. Nothing about him, but talks about me were spreading like wild fire in the campus. Almost everyone was looking at me with pity in their eyes, some even openly mocked me. First week was the hardest. I had to answer the questions from people who showed their concern towards me, but most of them only wanted to know the story. I told them, we broke up before he got married. Only some of them knew the truth and I didn¡¯t feel the obligation to exin more to those who didn¡¯t know. The following weeks came as a breeze through my already painful and tiring life. Even though I didn¡¯t have to answer to questions, I still had to deal with the stares people gave me. Through times, I finally managed to get used to it and people started to believe me, that we broke up before Senior Rizal got married. And I couldn¡¯t care less for them. ¡°Everything¡¯s good at campus?¡± Tom asked as soon as he met me in front of the dorm. I nodded, walked into the dorm without saying anything. Thest time I spoke to him in front of the dorm earned me a suspicious stare from my dorm mates who happened to be in front of the dorm as well. They thought I was shocked and went a bit insane because of the pressure and they insisted to apany me for almost a whole week, talking to me about other things other than romance, sleeping in my room with me, even advising me to move on quickly. I seriously thought I would go insane with how they looked after me, but deep inside my heart, I felt really grateful. Another one who almost felt insane with their existence was Tom. Heined repeatedly to them, telling them that there was no way I would go crazy over Senior Rizal leaving me when he was still there with me. Of course, hisins went into deaf ears -only I could hear him. No matter how hard he yelled at them to leave me alone, they couldn¡¯t hear them. ..... With them insisting to apany me, we lost our time together. He would only huff in rage and flew outside to leave us girls alone. But, he had never attempted to scare them out even once. He said, even though he didn¡¯t like them taking me away from him, he also felt grateful that they would support me. He even felt great when they talked bad about Senior Rizal. When the time came where they were sure I was okay, Tom was so happy he identally knocked on my book till it flew and fell near their feet. They were about to go out, but because of that they stopped. I broke in sweat as I tried to find an excuse to them. Luckily, they believed when I said I was chasing away a fly with the book and it flew out of my grasp. With so many things happened to me, I couldn¡¯t care less about Senior Rizal and the issue about me out there. With Tom besides me for almost every time now, I almost forgot that I used to have a boyfriend named Rizal. I guessed I moved on pretty quickly. A month after that, I met someone on my way back homete at night. He was Senior Rizal. Dressing up casually, I noticed he looked slightly thinner than he was before. His eyescked the vigor he usually possessed. His charming and gentle features matured a lot in a month. He must have been through a lot to change drastically. But, I also noticed I didn¡¯t feel the butterfly I used to have when I met him. ¡°Hi...¡± He greeted me awkwardly. ¡°Hi.¡± I replied before I continued my steps. It was a good thing that Tom was not apanying me this time. ¡°I want to talk to you.¡± He said hastily as I walked past by him. I stopped, and turned around to face him. Mix emotions came swirling inside my heart. Gritted my teeth, I tried to suppress the anger that threatened toe out. ¡°Please...¡± He begged. Swallowing my anger, I took a deep breath. ¡°Fine.¡± We went to a nearby park. He bought me a cup of hot vanitte and a cup of ck coffee for himself from a coffee stand in the park. After saying thanks for the drink, I took a sip slowly. He sat besides me, maintaining a metre distance between us. Silence fell between us for a couple of minutes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He broke the silence with these words. Chapter 39 Chapter 39: Moving On (2) ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He broke the silence with these words. I sighed. It should be me who said that. But, here I was, still refusing to talk. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything. My parents forced me to marry her even though I had tried to talk to them, that I only love you.¡± He added. He lowered his head, his eyes hiding behind his bangs that I noticed got longer. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± I said. I watched the sky getting darker. ¡°I already knew they didn¡¯t like me.¡± Smiling bitterly, I remembered the first time he introduced me to his family. ¡°I tried to run away the night before my wedding, but my brothers held me back. I was being confined and only this morning they let me out. They even threatened me to hurt you if I talked to you before the wedding was over. I shouldn¡¯t have told you this, I don¡¯t deserve your forgiveness, and I¡¯m not here to find a peace after telling you the whole story, hoping that you would forgive me and take me back... I know that¡¯s impossible, but...¡± He blurted out, trying to exin everything in one breath. His exnation rendered me speechless. Was that how much they hated me? They would even go to that extent to prevent him for meeting me? What have I done to provoke them? I was pretty much sure I only met them once and it was when Senior Rizal brought me over. So, what did I do to provoke them? They even confined him, their own brother and son, to prevent him to see me. What was going on exactly? And, why would I want to take you back? I asked inwardly. ..... ¡°Jane, I...¡± He stopped before he could continue his words. ¡°I still love you.¡± He said weakly. I arched my eyebrows. ¡°Is that all?¡± I asked. My question sounded cold-hearted, I knew, but I couldn¡¯t care less. The person in front of me was not Senior Rizal that I knew. The man in front of me was a married man and I really didn¡¯t want to get into serious trouble for being seen with a married man. He could sense my intention as he looked at me with disbelief in his eyes. ¡°Jane...¡± ¡°I forgive you already. Thank you for loving me, but ever since you married that woman, I broke all of the connection between us. I wish you a happy wedding life. I don¡¯t know what kind of hatred your family had against me that they would treat you that way, but after marrying you to their chosen woman, I hope they would treat you and your wife better now.¡± I said casually. My eyes looked straight into his eyes, making sure every words reached his heart and he found the seriousness in my words. I must make him believe that I was over him by now. ¡°Now, please excuse me. Thanks for thette.¡± I stood up, reaching for my bag and ready to leave the ce, when his hand grabbed my wrist, effectively stopping me from moving. ¡°I don¡¯t recall breaking up with you.¡± There was a hint of anger in his voice. I turned to face him and sure enough, he looked angry. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not interested in having an affair with a married man.¡± I said calmly as I tried to pull my hand from his grab. ¡°Jane...¡± ¡°Let me go, Senior. You have a wife now, and I will find someone who will not leave me for anything in the future. One thing for sure, he is not you.¡± The face that crossed my mind at that time after I said that was Tom. It was strange because Tom was not a human, but a ghost. But, no matter what, Senior Rizal¡¯s existence within my life came to an end that night. Probably a bit surprise with the way I talked, he let me go. I used the chance to leave him quickly before he changed his mind. I felt like Senior Rizal was losing his rationality -it was like he was ready to do anything. I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally reached my room, closing the door behind me as I slid down on the floor. The faint light from my bathroom helped me to get onto my slightly wobbly feet and I dropped myself on my bed. ¡°You camete.¡± A sexy whisper caressed my ear and I let out a soft hum to respond to it. Closing my eyes, I could feel his chilling body hovering on my back. If he had a body, I was pretty sure the thing I would feel was not a chilling and empty air, but a warmth and sturdy body. ¡°I met Senior Rizal just now.¡± I said to him without opening my eyes. Chapter 40 Chapter 40: Moving On (3) ¡°I met Senior Rizal just now.¡± I said to him without opening my eyes. The already cold air felt even more freezing as soon as I said those words. I shivered slightly. Pushing myself onto my knees, I opened my eyes and tried to look at him in the dim light. It was surprisingly easier to see him in the dim light than in the bright light. After realizing that weeks ago, I started a new habit to turn off mymps almost all the time. ¡°That bastard...¡± He growled through his gritting teeth. ¡°What did he want?¡± Anger sparked from his eyes. ¡°Easy.¡± I smiled. ¡°He only wanted to apologize and...¡± I recalled what had happened and told everything to Tom. A frown appeared on his face. ¡°He is sick. Did he think he could get you after what he had done?¡± ¡°Well, will you let me take him back?¡± I asked teasingly. ¡°Hell no! I won¡¯t let you get back to him! You¡¯re mine and mine alone!¡± Snapping his head towards me, he red at me. ..... Iughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t take him back even if he begs me.¡± I assured him. ¡°But, you see, it¡¯s strange how unaffected I am with how things happened. I mean, it shook me a bit, but not to the point where I thought I might lose my mind. Instead, I feel... free.¡± I was looking at him while he was listening to me. Hearing thest word I spoke, I noticed his face softened as a gentle smile yed on his lips. ¡°How I wish I could kiss you right now...¡± He whispered, sexual tension rose between us as he floated nearer. I chuckled. Should I tell him how I wish the same? ¡°Who can stop you anyway?¡± I smirked. ¡°Right.¡± The gentle smile turned into a sexy smirk that I loved. His eyes shed with dangerous glint but I felt no fear. ... I have never thought before that I would find a charming man so annoying. If the ¡®me¡¯ right now could travel back in time and told the ¡®me¡¯ back then that Senior Rizal could be really shameless, I was pretty sure it would lead to a big fight between myself. I thought, after I told him that I had forgiven him; that I was okay with him marrying another woman; that I wish he had a good life, he would return to his wife¡¯s side and obediently became a good husband to the woman, just like how he had been a good son towards his family, obediently. It had never crossed my mind that he would stalk me. I was pretty sure his friends didn¡¯t know that. He would wait for me and try to talk to me every time I walked back home. I tried to change route, but he always got me. I didn¡¯t know how he did that. ¡°Senior, please, go back. What¡¯s the point of doing this? You have a wife now.¡± I tried to reason with him. His face turned frosty as soon as his wife was mentioned. ¡°Don¡¯t even mention her! I¡¯ve told you, I only love you!¡± He growled. I shrugged. I didn¡¯t want to provoke him here. Continuing my steps, I walked back to my dorm. Before I reached the ce where he would usually leave me, his phone rang. ¡°What?¡± He answered, feeling annoyed. I couldn¡¯t help but overhear him talking. ¡°I¡¯ve done all you want! I¡¯ve fucking married that woman you picked for me! I¡¯ve even fucked her! Just wait till she gets pregnant and I swear I¡¯ll leave her to you! That¡¯s all what you want, right? For her to bear my child? Great! Just wait for the big news! I¡¯ve made sure to fuck her enough to have twins! Now, stop controlling my life!¡± I had never heard Senior Rizal cursed that much, as hostile as that, in my entire time I was with him. I always knew him as a gentle person, the one who could warm other people¡¯s heart, the one who could support other people. Hearing him cursing and talking like that shocked me. I stopped in my track unknowingly as I stared at him in disbelief. Senior Rizal was still muttering a series of curse even though the call had ended for some time. He paced around with lowered head, one hand was on his hip and the other grabbing his hair in distress. As if realizing that I was still here, he stopped and looked at me with widened eyes. Surprised was seen in his pair of eyes. He might have never thought that I would still be there, listening to his rants and curses. Slowly, the surprise in his eyes turned into despair as he hang his head lowly. ¡°You heard that?¡± He asked weakly. I nodded, then let out a small hum to answer his question. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to hear that...¡± He groaned in a low tone. ¡°Why?¡± I asked. He hesitated. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you...¡± He shook his head. Chapter 41 Chapter 41: Moving On (4) He hesitated. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you...¡± I arched my eyebrows and approached him. Unlike before, he flinched when I got closer. Seeing his reaction, I had a suspicion that the story behind his wedding was much moreplicated than being forced to marry by his family. But, whatever the story was, he had made it clear that he couldn¡¯t tell me, that I shouldn¡¯t know about it. Too bad, telling me that I shouldn¡¯t know about it only made me more curious. I peered into his eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. I could see his eyes filled with anxiety and guilt. I could understand the guilt, but the anxiety? Where did ite from? ¡°Is there something you haven¡¯t told me?¡± I asked, refusing to budge from where I was standing. ¡°No.¡± He shook his head in hurry. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark. You should go home.¡± He said and without waiting for my response, he turned around and walked away in a haste, as if he was afraid I would pressure him to answer my questions. Well, I was about to do that, so... ..... But now that my target has gone, it¡¯s best for me to go home. The sky was beautiful at that time; it was grey with the streak of red and orange. The sun was setting and the wind turned even colder. Fastened my pace, I walked towards my dormitory. I was pretty sure Tom was waiting for me. After exchanging greetings with my dorm mates, I quickly ran towards my room. I needed to tell Tom about what happened today, especially about Senior Rizal. He wouldn¡¯t be happy that I met him again -and I had been hiding the fact that Senior Rizal had always tried to talk to me -but I still thought that he needed to know. ¡°Don¡¯te in!¡± A shout was heard as soon as I opened my door. My step was halted, my eyes scanned the pitch ck room. ¡°Tom?¡± I called out for him, half-whispering. ¡°Stop right there, Jane!¡± He shouted again, his voice filled with urgency. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked anxiously. Then, an eerieugh was heard, a familiar one, the one that I always heard from horror movie. My eyes widened in shock and my body turned rigid. I had goosebumps all over my body. Something inside my mind told me to run, but my feet were glued to the floor. ¡°T-Tom?¡± I called again, this time my voice was shaking my fear. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jane. I¡¯ll take care of it. Just stay there.¡± Tom¡¯s voice was heard again, soothing my frightened heart. ¡°Are you sure you can take me down?¡± That strange high-pitched sound was heard, challenging Tom. ¡°Why can¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Oh, this is awesome!¡± The scaryugh was heard again and I thought I almost fainted from fear. I closed my eyes in fear. ¡°She is a cutie. I¡¯ve been wondering about her since the first time I saw her with that boy.¡± My ears twitched when I heard that. Which boy? Senior Rizal? ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ie in peace. I don¡¯t mean harm to her.¡± The high-pitched voice changed suddenly, a soft and melodious voice was heard instead. It was nice hearing her voice. ¡°H-how would I know you tell the truth?¡± I stammered. ¡°I came to inform you something about the boy.¡± She said calmly, and with her new and beautiful voice, I couldn¡¯t help but trust her. ¡°You can open your eyes, cutie. I promise I won¡¯t bite.¡± She chuckled and I heard her voice got nearer to me. ¡°Don¡¯te too close to her! We will see about that after we hear what you want to say!¡± If I guessed right, Tom must be standing in front of me now. ¡°How rude! I have never appeared in this beautiful form in front of just anyone! Are you questioning my integrity as a Kuntnak[1]?¡± She protested in annoyance. I opened my eyes slightly, took a peek to the situation in front of me. Standing right in front of me was Tom¡¯s transparent body. Through his body, I could see another translucent body was floating not far from me. The body belonged to a fair woman in white clothes. Her long and dark hair covered her back and what surprised me was the smoothness of the hair. The image of this female ghost in my mind was long, dark, and messy hair, covering her hideous face. Some of them even had a hole on their back, showing their spine and bloody insides. Their white clothes had soil stained and looked strangely frightening. But, the woman in front of me was far from hideous. Instead, herplexion was so fair it made me a bit envious. She wasn¡¯t boasting when she said ¡®beautiful form¡¯ just now. Chapter 42 Chapter 42: His Story (1) If someone were to ask me back then what I would do in this situation, I wouldugh at his or her absurd question. But, here I was, sitting on my bed, with two ghosts floating around me. My ghost boyfriend, Tom, was sitting beside me, throwing the other ghost a warning re. Not far in front of me, still floating, was a well-known ghost whoseughter could make almost everyone shivered and had a nightmare. She called herself as Kunti -amon name for ghosts in her kind. And this ghost was totally a beauty! Her pale red lips curled up in a small smile, her big eyes sparked in excitement, and her super pale skin made all of it seemed contrast. She was beautiful, but at the same time creepy. ¡°So...¡± Tom broke the silence. ¡°What do you want to say?¡± ¡°Ah, right. I almost forgot.¡± Kunti pped her hands once as she looked like she really forgot about her goal ining here. ¡°I see you¡¯re not with the human boy anymore?¡± She smiled at me, asking my confirmation with her spection. I nodded. Seeing my confirmation, her smile disappeared. ¡°Then, I guess he has just got married, right?¡± Her voice sounded solemn, with a chilling tone. ..... I arched my eyebrows as I nodded again. Her question did not sound strange. I mean, almost everyone in campus knew about it, what¡¯s more a ghost like her? She must have her ownwork to find information, right? Ghosts were not restricted by time, distance, and space, after all. But, somehow, from the way she talked, my previous spection about Senior Rizal¡¯s wedding surfaced and got stronger. Kunti crossed her arms in front of her chest as she frowned. She was looking at me, looking like she was at lost at how to break the news to me. ¡°If you¡¯re still hesitating, you bettere back againter after you¡¯ve made up your mind. Jane still needs to rest and -¡± Tom said in displeasure. ¡°He didn¡¯t marry a human.¡± She interrupted as she stared through my eyes. I blinked my eyes in confusion. What? Did I hear that correctly? ¡°Well, he doesn¡¯t know about it. He only knows his parents made him marry a woman. I guess it is a vow between two families. But, I still have no idea the goal of their action.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait! If he didn¡¯t get married to a human, then what is she?¡± Tom¡¯s question sessfully snapped me back to my sense. ¡°They had a wedding ceremony. They also invited lots of people toe to their wedding. If he marries a non-human being, surely people will notice, right?¡± I frowned. My mind seemed to connect all the information, but there were some details that were missing. ¡°I bet you didn¡¯t attend his wedding, right? If you were there, you must have sensed something. Your affinity with the likes of us is strong. Most of the time you don¡¯t notice us, but your sense is pretty good.¡± Kunti exined. My frowned seemed to get deeper. ¡°I didn¡¯t get an invitation. I even knew that he was getting married right on the day of his wedding. How could I go?¡± ¡°Well, it seems like they had decided not to invite you. Not because you were his girlfriend, but because they could sense you were trouble to them.¡± Kunti pondered a while. ¡°Have you seen his wife?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Wait, you said my affinity is strong. Why can I only see the both of you?¡± ¡°Nice question! You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m old enough to know this kind of things, so I can answer you question!¡± Kunti grinned. ¡°First, your ability is blocked. But, for some reason, your ability doesn¡¯t affect raw spirit like him.¡± She pointed at Tom who was in return, arching his eyebrow handsomely. ¡°I, on the other hand, need to exert a bit of power to reveal myself in front of you in this state. It would be so much easier to appear in my scary form, but I don¡¯t want to scared you.¡± She shrugged before she continued, ¡°The others also need to use their power to let you see them. Which lead us to the second point. As a raw spirit, his power is slightly different with us. And he knew how to use his power. Let¡¯s just say...while you were sleeping or at campus, a certain someone was working hard to chase all of those ghosts away from you.¡± ¡°If he didn¡¯t do it, do you think we are the only one you could see now? Because of your affinity is strong, and whatever that blocked your affinity has weakened, we only need to use a third to a half of the supposed amount of power to appear in front of you.¡± Chapter 43 Chapter 43: His Story (2) I stared at her with wide eyes as I heard about her exnation. So, I actually possessed the ability to see them? And it was blocked? ¡°Do you have any idea why your ability is blocked?¡± Kunti peered into my face in curiosity. I blinked once, a certain person appeared in my mind. Who else? It must be my father. I needed to find the right time to call him and ask him about it. ¡°Well, that¡¯s aside...¡± I waved my hand in front of my face. ¡°How is Tom different from you? Raw spirit?¡± I looked at the both of them alternately. Tom shrugged at me. ¡°Ah, you didn¡¯t notice? Look at him carefully.¡± I turned my head to my side, carefully observing the male ¡®raw spirit¡¯ beside me who was squirming in ufortably under my gaze. ¡°Now, look at me.¡± I changed my line of sight to her as I began to observe her. I frowned after some time had passed. True. Only after a thoroughly look I could see their difference. Of course. Why didn¡¯t I notice it before? My eyes lighted up in my new discover. Both of them were transparent, but Kunti was like a darker stic while Tom was like a super clean stic transparent. Kunti¡¯s whole being was dimmed, an eerie type of transparent where one could almost feel the coldness of the skin. Tom, on the other hand, even though he was pale-looking, he looked brighterpared to Kunti. It was as if his transparent body was covered with a sheer light. ..... ¡°One more thing. You must have tried to touch him, right? Now,e and touch me.¡± Kunti suggested. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, touching me won¡¯t make you sick. It won¡¯t be the same other way around, though.¡± She added after seeing me hesitating. Her lips curled up in a amused smirk. Grunting a respond, I got down from my bed and approached her. All this time Tom didn¡¯t say anything -maybe he was also eager to know. As my hand passed through Kunti¡¯s translucent hand, I shivered madly and pulled out my hand quickly. My eyes widened in shock as she only let out her horrifyingugh, as if to emphasize that she was a ghost. My whole body was trembling in fear and shock. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tom came from my back, noticing my difort and fear. Shakily, I sat back on my bed as I tried to control the shiver in my body. Tom was reprimanding her, scolding her to stopughing. Then, I noticed. His arms were enveloping me, grabbing me on my two arms. Different, I mumbled, too different. The temperature was not the same. Tom was cold, but Kunti was even colder. No, the level of coldness was different. Compared to Kunti, I thought Tom was slightly...warmer. As absurd as it sounded, that was what I felt. ¡°You might want to drink something warm to help you control your shivering.¡± Kunti suggested. This time, she smiled gently. I nodded. My hands were still shaking, but I got up and pour down some warm water into my ss. Tom was trailing behind me, as if guarding me in case something bad might happen to me. His handsome face contorted in a frown when he saw my hands still shaking while holding the ss. After my shivering calmed down, I walked back to my bed, ready to hear more. ¡°Good, now, thest is -¡± ¡°Is there more?¡± I interrupted, the idea of touching her again appeared in my mind but I strongly rejected it. ¡°Yes, one more. Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t need to touch me again.¡± As if she could see what¡¯s inside my mind, sheughed. ¡°Lastly, I cannot touch things; alive or not. I can possess people, but touch them..¡± She shook her head. ¡°Raw spirit, on the other hand, can still touch several things, excluding living person -but they can walk through walls like us, too. Ghosts like me, however, can move things with our ability only if we have enough power. Human usually calls us as poltergeist. Raw spirit doesn¡¯t have this privilege, of course.¡± She exined further. This one I knew best. I saw it with my own eyes Tom touched things; even though not all the time. I knew for the fact that whenever I fell asleep after doing my homework and forgot to turn off themp, I would wake upter with a nket draped over my back and shoulders and my bedroommp had been switched off. It also reminded me of when I was sick. To show what she said was true, Kunti floated to my ss, the nearest thing from her, and tried to grab it. Unfortunately, her hands passed through the ss. I followed her every movements with wide eyes and mouth opened slightly -which only I realized after everything had happened and Tom chuckled beside me. ¡°You should see the look in your face just now. You looked dumb.¡± He said. Pursing my lips, I shot a re at him. How dare he said I looked dumb? ¡°But, no matter what, even if you are dumb, you are my dumb.¡± He leaned his body towards me as he said the most cheesy line I have ever heard from him while smiling brightly. Chapter 44 Chapter 44: His Story (3) ¡°Excuse me! Looking dumb and being dumb are totally different!¡± I protested. My line of mind was distracted because of his teasing. ¡°Err, could you lovebirds stop fighting in front of me? Don¡¯t you pity this single soul here in front of you?¡± Kunti¡¯s helpless voice reminded me that there was something more important than to argue with him. ¡°Okay. I get it now. The two of you are simr yet so different. Which bring me to myst question. Why are you two different?¡± Kunti shook her head softly. ¡°Unfortunately, even if I know the answer, I cannot tell you. No matter how hard I try to tell you, it¡¯s like there is an invisible bound is tying my tongue, hand, and any means to tell you the answer. You only have to know, that we are different.¡± I took a deep breath and straightened my back. All the information I got filled my brain and I felt my head so full. Now that I knew he was not an ordinary ghost, I only had to think the reason he became a raw spirit. A chuckle left my lips when I realized our topic had changed. At first, we were talking about Senior Rizal and his wedding. And suddenly, out of nowhere, we talked about Tom and Kunti. Well, that¡¯s how girls talk! We jump from one topic to another in a heartbeat! ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Tom asked. ..... ¡°I just realized we have strayed away from the topic.¡± I told him. ¡°Well, can¡¯t me anyone. It¡¯s us girls who do the talking. It¡¯s normal.¡± Kunti smirked as she shrugged her shoulders. I nodded along, agreeing to what she said. ¡°Anyway, what will you do about him? Your human boyfriend, I mean.¡± Her expression turned serious. To be honest, I really had no idea. I didn¡¯t want to get involved in his family matter, but I was too curious to let it slip away. Especially after what I heard, it picked my curiousity to know more. Also, there was a part of me that wanted to test the affinity Kunti told me before. Would I really feel the difference or not? ¡°For now, I still don¡¯t know what to do. I¡¯ll think about it again because it doesn¡¯t really involve me. I broke up with him when he got married. We really don¡¯t have any rtionship now except being friends or acquaintance.¡± ¡°I refuse to let you go near him!¡± Tom said sternly. ¡°Such a jealous husband! Tsk tsk tsk...¡± Kunti shook her head as she clicking her tongue. ¡°We¡¯re not married yet!¡± I protested. ¡°It¡¯s easy. I¡¯ll marry you tonight.¡± Tom smirked yfully, which earned a re from me. But, a blush crept to my face, unveiling the giddy and warm feeling I felt deep inside. ¡°Did I say I want to marry you?! Humph!¡± I scowled and looked away from him to hide the blush on my face. ¡°You two lovebirds can continue your bickering. I¡¯ll head back to my cemetery, bye.¡± Kunti floated away, probably unwilling to stay any longer to hear our bickering. ¡°I¡¯ll visit againter!¡± She shouted before she disappeared behind the wall, waving her hand to me without looking back at me. ¡°Thank you!¡± I shouted back. ¡°She¡¯d better noting here again.¡± Tom frowned in annoyance. ¡°She meant good bying here. If not for her, how can I know that the two of you are different? You should be thankful.¡± I scolded him softly. Tom was silent for a while. But, when I stood up to take myte bath, he followed me to the bathroom. Instinctively, I stopped and turned around. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I frowned as I asked him. He smiled, a kind of smile that I knew would bring trouble for me. Hastily, I stepped back. ¡°No! Whatever it is that pop in your mind, I refuse to do it!¡± Shaking my head in a hurry, I moved away from him. ¡°Oh,e on. You don¡¯t even know what I¡¯m thinking about!¡± He faked a groan, but the dangerous glint in his eyes betrayed his innocent-sounding words. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± I warned him, for whatever reason he had in mind while he floated towards me slowly. ¡°I want to test something...¡± He said while smirking sexily. Trapping me between his cold and transparent body in front of me and the sturdy wardrobe behind my back, he leaned in and whispered, ¡°Something rted to your dreamst night...¡± I could feel the heat rose to my cheeks, making me blush as I remembered the ¡®wet¡¯ dream I gotst night. Chapter 45 Chapter 45: Inevitable Confrontation (1) Two days had passed since Kunti¡¯sst visit to my dorm. Surprisingly, thest time I met Senior Rizal was also two days ago. In these two days, I thought about what Kunti said repeatedly, picturing any possibilities that might happen to me if I were to pick each options; either I confronted Senior Rizal or ignored the fact that he married a non-human being. None of these options gave me a happy ending. Either one, I would still feelplicated. That¡¯s why I dyed taking a decision, hoping that maybe a good n would appear in my foolish brain. Being entangled with other people¡¯s affair was not my style, after all. Besides thinking about the options, I also made an attempt to satisfy my curiousity about my blocked-ability. Yesterday, I finally got a chance to call my father. After exchanging greetings and standard conversation between a daughter and her father, I finally asked with the most childish question I had ever thought, possibly. ¡°Dad, why can¡¯t I see ghost? Even as a child, I don¡¯t recall seeing one. Don¡¯t they say that children are sensitive towards ghost?¡± I tried to sound as natural as possible. My father knew my interest towards ghost, so he would probably not be feeling anything off with my question. ..... ¡°Who said you have never seen one when you were a child? It¡¯s exactly because you saw one that I had to forcefully close your third eye.¡± I heard my father scoffed, but what he told me made me jump in surprised. ¡°I did? What did I see? What had happened? Why do I not have any memory about it?¡± I bombarded him with a series of questions. ¡°It was around dusk and you said there was an old man in white were waving at you, calling you. So you asked me who he was. You have no idea how frightened I was at that time. So, I closed your third eye.¡± He ended his story with a sigh. ¡°But, Dad, aren¡¯t you able to see them, too? Is the fact that I could see one frightened you so much?¡± ¡°Exactly! I can see them, but I couldn¡¯t see the one you saw. And that¡¯s what scared me!¡± ¡°...¡± Why do I feel like something is missing? ¡°Maybe I was just hallucinating?¡± I suggested with a shrug. ¡°No.¡± He sighed. ¡°You did see him. The reason why I couldn¡¯t see him is because the one you saw is on different level with the ones I usually see. I can only hear their voice, but I can¡¯t see them.¡± His voice grew solemn. My heart was racing at the thought of my ability was stronger than my father¡¯s. ¡°When you and your siblings were born, I had sealed all of your ability, to prevent you from seeing them. Your siblings are doing good until now, but you are different. I am worried about you, though. But, you haven¡¯t told me anything about seeing them, so I thought the seal is working fine.¡± He added. ¡°Or...Is it?¡± Thest words sounded doubtful. My father must have been thinking that I was suspicious. I tried tough it off. ¡°Of course! I am just curious. You know me. Ahaha...¡± Even through the phone, I could feel his suspicion towards me. If I were in front of him, he would definitely expose my lies in a heart beat. To avoid that, I barely managed to switch the topic to something else before I hang up. Wiping the nonexistent sweat on my forehead, I deliberately sighed out loud. After that, I told everything that I was talking about with my father to Tom. We discussed about it for hours, trying to decide whether I should lift up the seal or not. But, even after I fell asleep in the middle of our discussion, we had not reached any conclusion about my ability...and Senior Rizal. I shook my head. I really should stop thinking about Senior Rizal now. Whoever he was married to, it was none of my business. But, was it okay to leave him not knowing about it? As I was, again, pondering about Senior Rizal and his wife, I didn¡¯t realize I had reached the ce where Senior Rizal usually waited for me. If only a pair of feet didn¡¯t appear in my line of sight, I wouldn¡¯t have known that I had almost reached my dorm. Stopping my feet, I looked up to see the person who was standing not far in front of me. Chapter 46 Chapter 46: Inevitable Confrontation (2) There, in front of me, was standing a beautiful young woman. Dressed in a simple beige blouse that was neatly tucked in her brown pencil skirt,plemented with a pair of beige heels and a light brown sling bag draped over her shoulder, she looked so stunning. Not to mention her fairplexion. Her skin was to die for, the kind of how all girls wanted; milky white to the point it almost looked pale. Her wavy hair was pinned on one side and the other side draped over her shoulder. Her face... Hhh, she was simply too beautiful, if not for the suspicious shadow hovering over her whole body. I realized I was seeing things. The sky was still bright enough for me to see her clearly. Even though she was standing under the shadow of the wall, I could clearly see the shadow hiding behind her back. When she noticed me looking at her, she smiled softly. But, instead of giving me a friendly image of herself, she gave me a creepy impression; as if the one who was smiling was not her. This person is dangerous, I should not get close to her. That was what I thought. Keeping that in my mind, I continued walking towards my dorm. But, before I could pass her, she called my name, sessfully stopping me from moving forward. ¡°Are you Jane? Jane Harris?¡± She called out softly. Damn, even her voice sounded good. ..... Pulling the corners of my lips to create a smile, I turned around and faced her. ¡°Yes?¡± She came out from the shadow, approaching me and my eyebrows twitched in reflex. ¡°My name is Amanda, Rizal¡¯s wife.¡± She held out her hand as she introduced herself. Damn, I didn¡¯t see thating. ¡°Ah, hi.¡± Awkwardly, I reached out and shook her hand. Just for a while, because I felt a familiar chilly sensation from her. The shadow behind her back also flickered, as if reacting to my touch. ¡°Do you need something?¡± I asked, shifting the curiosity in my mind. ¡°Do you have time? I want to talk to you.¡± She asked politely. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded. ¡°Should we go somewhere?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a good cafe nearby. How about we go there?¡± I suggested. My dorm was nearer, but there was no way I would bring this suspicious creature near my dorm. ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s go.¡± She smiled even wider as she gestured for me to lead the way. The ce was really near, it only took eight to ten minutes of walk, but I felt it was like an hour to get there. The whole journey was awkward and tensed. I had this weird feeling that Amanda was harboring an evil intention to me. Of course, I kept it inside. I was sure it was just a paranoid thinking after seeing that ck shadow behind her. But, really, who wouldn¡¯t feel so? This beautiful young woman was definitely not themon type. She was different. I didn¡¯t know what was different from her but I couldn¡¯t shake the chilly feeling I had when I shook hands with her. As soon as we arrived at the cafe, I ordered a cup of cappino and a coffee bun. It had always been my favorite here. I noticed she only ordered a ss of lemon juice. Was that why she could maintain her figure? Technically, Senior Rizal was really lucky to have her as his wife. I shook my head slightly. My mind has been distracted with some unimportant issues. I reminded myself that I needed to focus myself to this person in front of me. I looked up, seeing her twirling the juice in her hand. Her eyes seemed empty, as if she was lost in thought. We sat there like that, said nothing to each other for about three or four minutes. I squirmed in my seat, considering whether to break this awkward and weird atmosphere or not. As I opened my mouth, she looked up and stared right on my eyes, catching me off guard. Her stare was sharp, as if she wanted to pierce right through me. Complex emotion seemed to swirl in her eyes. What I noticed the most was the ck shadow in her back; it flickered and broadened itself, as if wanting to show itself. I squinted my eyes, looking past her shoulders to the ck shadow which now was transforming into a form. As it began to take a shape, I looked around me and noticed that no one actually realized what was happening between this woman and me. ¡°So, you are Jane.¡± The shadow, which was now in a form of a ck woman without face, only a pair of eyes ring at me and lips which formed a sinister smile, talked to me through Amanda. Her voice was creepy, not a surprise seeing she was a weird creature as well. I straightened my back. If I said I wasn¡¯t scared, it would be a lie. I was scared, but I knew she wouldn¡¯t do anything to me in public ce, especially where eyes were seeing us together. ¡°I am. What do you want?¡± I asked solemnly. Amanda let out a soft chuckle, sounding normal for normal ears. But, with the addition of this ck shadow¡¯s voice which seemed to control Amanda¡¯s every action, it didn¡¯t sound normal at all. It was more like a grunt. Amanda¡¯s soft chuckle ovepped with this shadow¡¯s grunt created a disastrous harmony. I now realized the voice they created during horror movie was not intentional; more like it was exactly what ¡®they¡¯ sounded like. Rough and hideous. Chapter 47 Chapter 47: Inevitable Confrontation (3) Shivering slightly, I clenched my jaws tightly. I refused to show my fear in front on this weird woman. The more I afraid of her, the more this creature would feel victorious. With that resolution in my mind, I steeled my heart and looked at Amanda straight to her eyes. ¡°Stay away from my husband.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I¡¯ve tried, but he wouldn¡¯t leave me alone.¡± ¡°Then, find another way to avoid him.¡± Amanda frowned. I scoffed. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to do disappearing skill.¡± I said sarcastically. Only if I mastered this skill I wouldn¡¯t have to meet Senior Rizal. Amanda frowned, clearly felt irritated with how I replied. ¡°You¡¯ll regret it if you don¡¯t obey my words ¡± She hissed. Her eyes showed a streak of insanity and maliciousness. Was it a threat? ¡°Yeah, right.¡± I replied. Shifting my eyes, I looked right at the pair of eyes of the ck shadow. The eyes widened slightly as our gazes met. ¡°No matter who you are, I¡¯m not obligated to obey your words. Especially not from someone like you.¡± ..... ¡°So, you can see me.¡± That was not a question. It was more like a statement, a confirmation of my ability. I shrugged. ¡°More or less.¡± The weird lips on the ck shadow curled up in a sinister smirk. ¡°Very good.¡± She said so, but I could see she didn¡¯t mean topliment me, at all. She sounded like an angry woman who disdained my existence, instead. The strange thing was...after I steeled my heart from the fear, I found myself bing less anxious and more rx. It was not a kind of rx where you were confident with something, but it was more to..zy rx. As if the one in front of me bored me and at the same time, I was not worried that I might not be able to protect myself if she decided to attack me. I just felt sozy to deal with her now. ¡°If that was all that you want to tell me, then I¡¯m off now.¡± Taking my bag with me, I stood up and walked out of the cafe, ignoring her stare on my back. I walked quickly back to my dorm, couldn¡¯t wait to tell what had happened to Tom. Half way to my dorm, I realized something and felt extremely pissed at myself. Crap! I forgot my coffee bun! Cursing Amanda under my breath, I continued my steps heavily. The matter with Amanda didn¡¯t seem to affect me much, but the coffee bun was really delicious! If only she didn¡¯t provoke me, I would have never forgotten my delicious bun there! My mood was bad after that. I couldn¡¯t forget my lovely bun! And because of my rage towards Amanda, the way I was retelling the story to Tom was considered very exaggerated. ¡°And? Did I miss something? What made your mood bad after that? After hearing your story, that vile creature couldn¡¯t provoke you, so what made you so upset?¡± Tom was eyeing me with curiosity. ¡°It¡¯s because of her that I forgot my co-bun!¡± I snapped. Tom arched his beautiful eyebrow. A mocking smirk appeared on his face. ¡°Seriously? Only because of a bun?¡± ¡°Only? You said ¡®only¡¯?!¡± I red at him. ¡°Coffee bun is the most exotic vor exist! You didn¡¯t even try it and you said ¡®only¡¯?! IF ONLY she didn¡¯t provoke me, I would never leave it there!¡± My emotion seemed to pass my emotion meter standard. Apparently, my reply triggered something in him that he started tough madly. Clutching his stomach with both of his hands, he was throwing aughter fit. But, until he finishedughing, I didn¡¯t even know which part of my words was funny to him. Frowning my eyebrows while silently mourning for my coffee bun, I sat on my bed. ¡°You seem to crave for coffee bun.¡± Tom said after he finally calmed himself. I shot him a long nce but not replying. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...¡± He gasped. His eyes widened as he stared at me withplex emotion. ¡°What?¡± I asked when he didn¡¯t seem to continue his words. ¡°Are you pregnant, Jane?¡± He whispered. His eyes sparked with mischievousness and hidden joy. My eyes widened at his words. ¡°Excuse me! That¡¯s not possible!¡± I nearly shouted. I could feel the heat rising to my face, sessfully made it red. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tom smirked. ¡°Listen, no matter how many times you fuck me in my dream, I will never get pregnant because of a dream. So, get real! A ghost will never impregnate a human.¡± I was surprised I didn¡¯t stammer when I said that! ¡°Well, I hate to say that it is indeed possible.¡± Familiar voice chimed in right after I finished talking. Both Tom and I turned towards the source of the voice and caught a horrifying sight that I was sure I would never forget for my whole life! Chapter 48 Chapter 48: Possibility (1) ¡°GAAAHHHH!!!¡± I screamed in fright when I saw a messy-haired, burnt face with some of the flesh half-peeled and hung onto the face, and creepy big red eyes Kunti appeared from my window. The voice was hers, there was no mistaken of it, but that appearance... it was too horrible to be seen! My whole body stiffened even after my scream died out. My eyes widened in shock. Warmth seemed to leave my body and I couldn¡¯t turn my face away from her. I really wanted to turn my head, but an invisible force tied me up to stay still. I couldn¡¯t even close my eyes! ¡°Get used to it. After what¡¯s blocking your ability has been cleared up, you¡¯ll see many more like me out there.¡± Kunti said as she casually sat down, floating. ¡°Your boyfriend here agreed to this therapy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember agreeing to your condition to suddenly appear in this form of yours.¡± Tom frowned in displeasure. I could hear them talking, but the shock was too much. I just stared at them, with fear gripping my poor heart. Tears came streaming down my cheeks as I choked on my breath. ..... ¡°Enough!¡± Tom jumped on Kunti, who changed herself into the one I knew. As soon as she turned herself, the force binding me to stay conscious and still disappeared. Next thing I knew, I fainted. I didn¡¯t know how long I had been out. When I opened my eyes, I saw familiar faces; not Tom¡¯s nor Kunti¡¯s face. It was human, that¡¯s for sure. ¡°Thank God, you¡¯re awake. We¡¯ve been so worried about you.¡± She was my dorm mate, Riri. ¡°Are you okay? Do you feel sick anywhere?¡± My another dorm mate, Angie, asked me. ¡°Senior Rizal is so worried about you. He refused to leave your side.¡± Riri said, and I finally saw Senior Rizal sitting not far from my bed, looking at me in distress. Why is he here? What is he doing here? ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I managed to reply after struggling a bit to let out my voice. ¡°Here, drink this first. You don¡¯t seem to catch a fever, so you¡¯ll likely be fine.¡± Angie helped me to take a sip of warm water. ¡°Thank you.¡± I softly said. My eyes darting around, looking for Tom and Kunti, but I couldn¡¯t see them anywhere. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. I fainted because of Kunti, I knew that. But, how did these guyse here? What is Senior Rizal doing here? ¡°Senior Rizal wanted to meet you so we apanied him to get here.¡± Angie started. ¡°You know, to give you moral support to reject him.¡± She whispered. ¡°But, we found you unconscious.¡± She added. ¡°At first, we thought you were sleeping, but no matter how many times we called out, you didn¡¯t answer us. Sorry for barging in.¡± Riri continued. Ah, so that¡¯s what happened. ¡°Thanks. I think I am exhausting myself, that¡¯s why I fainted.¡± I smiled weakly at them. The corner of my eyes noticed some movements from Senior Rizal¡¯s side, so I turned my head to look at him. He stood up and approached us. ¡°Could you give us a second?¡± He asked to Angie and Riri. He sounded polite, but the glint in his eyes was too cold to ignore. Riri and Angie looked at me, waiting for my response. Sighing, I nodded to them. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t do anything stupid to someone¡¯s husband.¡± His clenching fist didn¡¯t escape my eyes when I said ¡®someone¡¯s husband¡¯. I wonder what he wanted now. ¡°We¡¯ll be right at the door. Shout if he does something weird.¡± Riri red at him as if warning him to behave himself. Angie shot him a warning re, too, but both of them stood up and left us. Silence fell between us. ¡°What is it?¡± I started when I saw he had no intention to start speaking. ¡°It¡¯s her, right? She came to you, right?¡± I saw his fist clenched tightly and his jaw hardened as he spoke. Why would he be mad? ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Maintaining an indifferent expression, I casually answered. ¡°Did she do it to you?¡± His question came with a low growl. I chuckled. Of course not! I fainted because of the stupid agreement between Kunti and Tom. There¡¯s no way your wife could scare me into unconsciousness! I wish I could say that in front of his face, but I shut my lips tightly. Choosing my words carefully, I opened my mouth to say, ¡°No, don¡¯t worry. She didn¡¯t do anything to me.¡± Senior Rizal frowned, looking like he didn¡¯t believe with what I had just said to him. ¡°By the way, she is really beautiful. No wonder your parents like her.¡± I said again, changing the topic. ¡°You should be grateful to marry a woman like her.¡± I tried to smile to ease up the awkward atmosphere. Instead of rxing his posture, he frowned even deeper. His lips tightly pressed into thin line, as if he was suppressing a rage inside. His eyes fulled of anger, but to whom, I had no idea. I was sure he would snap in a second, but he surprised me when he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then, a smile appeared on his face. A gentle but fake smile. Hidden deep inside his eyes was pain, loneliness, and the unspeakable anger. Those what he was faking, but somehow I could see it. ¡°Rest well. d you¡¯re okay.¡± He touched my head, ruffled my hair a bit, before he turned around and walked out of my room, sessfully startling the two girls behind the door. I watched his back as he disappeared from my room. The back that used to look so sturdy and warm was now looked gloomy and lonely. Did I do right by letting his weird wife stayed married with him? Chapter 49 Chapter 49: Possibility (2) It was two hours after Senior Rizal left and thirty minutes after Riri and Angie were finally convinced that I was fine. Laying on my bed alone, I stared at the ceiling, trying to recall everything and assess it one more time. Everything seemed to in disorder in my mind so I got up and took a pen and a paper. I wrote down the things inside my head one by one as I recalled them. First, Senior Rizal¡¯s wife¡¯s name was Amanda. She was definitely not a mere human. What she was, I had no idea, so I put a big question mark on it. Second, there was a big change in Senior Rizal¡¯s personality. The warm and gentle Senior Rizal was nowhere to be found now. I suddenly thought, did it have anything to do with the fact that he was married to a strange creature? Third, should I interfere with his marriage? Woah, hold it! I sound like ¡®homewrecker¡¯ here! I frowned, realizing that there was something wrong with how I said it. Never mind, I¡¯ll think about itter. Now, where was I? Fourth was Tom¡¯s existence. He was a raw spirit, and he was different with Kunti. What was he, then? Again, I put a big question mark. ..... Fifth, I remembered before I lost my consciousness, Kunti said something about the possibility to get pregnant. I twirled the pen in my fingers as my mind finally worked in order. Mapping what was inside my mind really helped me a lot. I skipped the one I couldn¡¯t think of the answer and focused more into the others. Like, what influenced the change in Senior Rizal¡¯s personality? ¡°Jane?¡± A soft voice called me out. I turned my head to see Kunti floating through the wall with her head lowered. This time, she came without her scary form; I sighed in relief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Kunti said. She looked remorseful. ¡°It¡¯s okay. But, please, don¡¯t scare me like that again. That was my first time losing unconsciousness. It felt bad.¡± I said, shuddering at the thought of her horrible face. ¡°But, as I said -I don¡¯t know if you were listening though- you need to get used to my form. I¡¯ve found a way to unlock the seal in your body. That way, you will see us everyday and not all of us are good enough to change our form into a pleasant one just to avoid scaring you.¡± Kunti exined. I frowned. The idea of gaining full ess to my ability had not crossed my mind at all. But, I¡¯ve thought about it now. If only by seeing her could make me unconscious, what would happen if I were to see lots of them? That thought made me shivered in fright. She was right, I need to get used to her form. But, I think I couldn¡¯t do it now. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. At least, don¡¯t start now. I¡¯m still not fully recovered from earlier.¡± I shook my head hastily. ¡°By the way, where is Tom? I couldn¡¯t see him anywhere ever since I woke up.¡± ¡°I thought he was here.¡± Kunti said in confusion. I frowned. Tom was not here where Kunti thought he was here. So, where he is now? ¡°Well, I need to ask you something. It¡¯s a good thing he is not here.¡± I faced her as my face began to blush. Maybe she saw my blush, that¡¯s why Kunti started to smirk yfully. ¡°I think I know what you want to ask.¡± She said smugly. ¡°I¡¯ve told Tom about it. Maybe you should-¡± ¡°NO!¡± I interrupted quickly. With a ghost -spirit, whatever -as pervert as him, I was sure he would only tease me to death if I asked him to exin it to me. Kuntiughed heartily, finding my strong rejection amusing to her. If she were a human, I bet she would have been rolling on the floor,ughing her ass off. As she still drowned in herughter, I could feel my face blushed even more. ¡°Aren¡¯t you done yet?¡± I gritted my teeth. Kunti sat up, floating properly in front of me as she wiped the nonexistent tears from her eyes. ¡°Ah, damn, that was a goodugh. Too bad I couldn¡¯t shed tears anymore.¡± She said between her stifled giggle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You cannot get pregnant from him. And you¡¯re right. Even though he fucks you in your dream countless times, he couldn¡¯t get you pregnant.¡± She smirked as my face blushed even more. Yes, Tom would always invade my dream and he would do ¡®things¡¯ to me; erotic things. Luckily I was not a boy, or else, I would have to wake up with a boner and dirty pants every day. Not that being a girl was too much different. I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of those memories from my mind. ¡°So, what do you mean it is possible?¡± ¡°A ghost could make you pregnant. It is possible. But, again, Tom is a raw spirit. He is not a ghost, so he cannot impregnate you.¡± Kunti exined more. Ah, I forgot about that... ¡°He could only enter your dream, but he cannot touch you. But us, ghosts, it is an entirely different matter. For example, for a stronger ghost like me, I can materialize myself for a couple of minutes.¡± She said as her body floated down and her feet touched the floor of my room. The transparent skin she had changed into pale skin. I could no longer see through her body now! What the...!!! Chapter 50 Chapter 50: The Proof My eyes widened as I saw her solid body approaching me. Feeling curious, I reached out to touch her. It was still cold, just like the first time I touched her. Kunti snapped her fingers in front of my eyes and smiled a bit. I blinked confusedly at her action but did not think too much. ¡°Touch me again.¡± She said. So, I did. Surprisingly, the coldness I had just felt disappeared! She felt warm, just like a human! My eyes got even wider at this fact. ¡°H-how?¡± ¡°Wait...¡± Kunti frowned as her body changed back to its transparent form. ¡°Ah, damn, changing my form and altering your sense were too much hard work for me. I used too much of my power. You¡¯d better prepare yourself. I could change back to my scary form anytime soon.¡± She grumbled tiredly. I gasped a bit at the mention of her scary form. Sooner orter, I still had to face it, so I tried my best to calm myself. ..... ¡°What do you mean altering my sense?¡± I asked. I need to use the time wisely before she changes back. There¡¯s no way I can face her rotten face like that! ¡°It¡¯s exactly like how it sounds. To make sure the human will not suspect anything when our kind seduce them, we need to alter the human¡¯s sense, to make them feel as if we are human. And because you have the ability to see us, it is harder to alter your sense. You have no idea how much power I used just now just to materialize into a human and to alter you sense.¡± Kunti exined and sighed at the end of her exnation. So, that was what happened. But, seduce... I blushed at her choice of word. ¡°So, your kind can make us pregnant?¡± Kunti nodded. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard it? Wow, it was a very well-known story among human, yet you haven¡¯t heard about it.¡± Kunti shot me a disbelief look. ¡°What story?¡± I asked. Is there really a story between a ghost and human? ¡°You see, and as I told you before, the stronger we are, the more we can perform. Do you know the infamous Gendruwo[1]?¡± Her expression turned into a mix of seriousness and excitement. I nodded to her question. ¡°You see, he was attracted to a female human before[2]. But, the human has already had a husband. So, he waited and waited until he finally got his chance. Her husband went out of town for work. It was supposed for a whole week. But, he only went away for around three to five days, then he returned home. He said his work finished early so he went back fast because he missed his wife. So, can you guess what happened?¡± My eyes widened as my brain processed the story fast. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...¡± I gasped. Kunti smirked, but she didn¡¯t say anything. She seemed to enjoy seeing me flustered because of the story. ¡°The one who came back was not her husband but the ghost. Her husband was still working, right?¡± I said almost breathlessly because of the turn of event in the story. Kunti nodded in satisfaction. ¡°And then?¡± ¡°He...had sex with her?¡± I asked in small voice, nearly a whisper, even though I knew there was no one around besides Kunti and me. ¡°Bingo!¡± Kunti pointed at me in total satisfaction, praising me with her eyes and smile. But, again, she didn¡¯t say anything anymore. ¡°B-but... How could she not notice about her own husband? There must be something different with him, right?¡± Kunti nodded again. ¡°She noticed something different about him, of course. But, under the pleasure of her ¡®so-called¡¯ husband gave her, she chose to abandon her thought. Do you know what she noticed different from her husband?¡± Kunti leaned over to me. Excitement was seen in her eyes. I tried to think of things that could make the poor wife noticed the difference. Since body heat could be altered, I went to the most visible things I could remember. ¡°Eating habit?¡± Kunti shook her head. ¡°The size of his penis, his sex technique, and his appetite in making love to her.¡± The filter in her mouth seemed to be broken at this time as she mentioned those things casually while I, the listener, was blushing madly at her vivid detail of story and how excited she was when she told me the ¡®advance¡¯ version of the story; the story of the ghost and the wife¡¯s bed activity. I bet no one knew this version of story... Kunti continued like a broken water pipe, kept rambling about the story between the ghost and the wife excitedly. I could only listen to her, couldn¡¯t say anything because all she was telling me was the erotic details that only made my head felt hot from the excessive heat. I really wanted to scream at her, calling her pervert ghost, but my mouth and my throat felt dry. So, I just sat there, being a good listener, while asionally swallowed my own saliva to wet my throat. ¡°She only realized that the one slept with her was not her husband when her real husband came home. She was in the kitchen and her ¡®husband¡¯ was in the backyard when her real husband came home. You have no idea how surprised she was when she saw her husband in the front door, when she had just seen him in the backyard. When she asked him where he went just now, he said he had just returned from work and he apologized for the 3 days dyed because things came up at his work ce. At that time she realized there was an impostor in her house, so she cried and dragged her husband to the backyard, to meet the impostor.¡± ¡°When they reached the backyard, the husband was surprised to see a man with the exact copy of his face, standing near the fences and looking at them. Before they could react, the impostor had jumped over the fence and his body turned into his real form, running into the woods behind the house. Later on, the wife got pregnant. They couldn¡¯t abort the baby because it would risk her life, so they decided to keep it. When the baby was born, she took after her father¡¯s traits a lot. I don¡¯t have to describe to you how she looks like, right?¡± Kunti ended her story with a sigh. I was speechless for almost a full minute when I remembered something. ¡°The Gendruwo daughter, that¡¯s her, right?¡± I nearly shouted. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s her.¡± Kunti nodded. ¡°I thought she was born with abnormality. I have never thought that she was a Gendruwo¡¯s daughter for real.¡± I said. Kunti shook her head. ¡°So, now you believe that ghost can impregnate human?¡± I blinked my eyes repeatedly, still processing the information I got. ¡°Your kind can impregnate us, but Tom¡¯s kind cannot. I get it. And only the strong one could do it. He could maintain his physics for days, just how strong he was?¡± ¡°Very strong. He has lived far longer than I have. In fact, he is still around until now. His child is still alive, after all.¡± Kunti shrugged. ¡°Does he visit his child?¡± ¡°Yes. Sometimes he visits her.¡± ¡°Then, what about female ghost seduces a male human? What will happen?¡± ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t seduced a man before, so I don¡¯t know. But, I¡¯ll find something for you.¡± Kunti said. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re not blushing anymore? Too bad. It¡¯s fun to see you getting flustered like that.¡± Sheughed. With the mention of that, I blushed again. ¡°Shut up. Pervert.¡± ¡°Oh, poor innocent Jane. No wonder Tom finds you irresistible, you¡¯re so adorable. With the amount of times he fucks you in your dream, you¡¯re still blushing so adorably like this at the mention of sex. No man could resist you, you know.¡± Kuntiughed happily. I put my hands on my heated cheeks, trying to hide the blushing on my face. When will this pervert stop teasing me? _______ [1] Gendruwo: a ghost in Indonesia, usually portrayed as male ghost with big and hairy body. [2] I heard and read this story before (without the erotic part of story, of course, and yes, as long as I remember, it did happen -the imposing part, I mean). I¡¯ve modified the story to fit in this novel, so yeah, please feel free toment about it. Chapter 51 Chapter 51: Do You Have A Boyfriend? I only managed to get that piece of information from Kunti that night. She had to leave early because she had started to turn into her original scary appearance after using too much of her power. I still wanted her to stay and to answer my other questions, but I also didn¡¯t want to see her hideous look. So, I urged her to leave quickly before the fresh memory became even fresher. Before she disappeared, she mumbled lightly about unlocking the seal so she didn¡¯t have to use much effort to talk to me. Honestly, I was tempted to do so, but I had to ask my father. Not because I was dependent to my father upon any decision, but he was the one who sealed my ability away. He must have any good reason to do so. After Kunti went away, I was left alone with silence. The soft hum of my air conditioner was the only voice I could hear. I looked for my phone to check on time and saw it has passed midnight. When would Tom be back? Getting up, I undressed myself and prepared to take a bath. My body felt sticky because I had not had a time to take a bath ever since I returned from campus. Thinking back about it now, there was a lot that happened to me today. My mind had been working actively. With all the information rushing into my mind, I was surprised I wasn¡¯t losing my head yet. I let the warm water washed the exhaustion I was feeling. I tried not to think about anything but to focus on my rxing bath, but my mind seemed to be overworked. It didn¡¯t show any signs to stop processing the information! Taking a warm bath seemed to worsen my already heated head, so I adjusted it to a bit colder one. ..... As soon as the slightly cold water hit my already warm skin, I hissed slightly. Damn, that¡¯s too cold for me! At least the coldness could take my mind away from the information I had in my mind. Adjusting the water heat again, I sped up my bath and emerged from the bathroom only in my towel. Strands of my hair got wet and fell on to my shoulders. I knew very well how sexy I was at this particr time, but there was no one around, so I should not feel embarrassed. Or, so I thought... A whistle was heard and I snapped my head to the source of it. Sitting -floating- in front of my wardrobe was Tom. His eyes had this yful twinkle in them, his mouth formed a sexy smirk, and the way he gazed at me left me feeling hot all over my body. In instant, I could feel my body flushing under his stare. ¡°So. Fucking. Beautiful.¡± He stressed on his every words. ¡°Hey, sexy, do you have a boyfriend?¡± He wriggled his beautiful eyebrows, but didn¡¯t make a move to approach me. His voice sounded a bit husky, an obvious proof that he was aroused. He always teased me at times like this. But, I knew he did not only say it. He admitted to me once, that he really liked seeing me after I took a bath, wrapped in my towel, with ayer of steam from my bath emitted from my body. He said I was so sexy he would fuck me hard if only he had a body. Not that he didn¡¯t do it in my dream, afterwards. It was crazy how easy he could invade my dream, and even though not every night or every sleep, I still thought he controlled my dream instead of me controlling it. Well, he couldn¡¯t materialize himself to have a solid body, so it was his only way to get in touch with me; by touching my soul directly in my dream realm. And I had noin about that; even though I would wake up feeling extremely hot sometimes. Strange, right? Clearing my throat and ignoring the blush formed in my whole body, I walked towards him slowly. I didn¡¯t mean to seduce him, or to deliberately make me sexier. But, apparently he thought so. I yelped as he pounced on me. Surprised filled my head when I realized... I could touch his body! Looking up to him, I saw his smirk and I couldn¡¯t see through him. ¡°Surprise...¡± He whispered in husky voice. ¡°I¡¯m still unable to alter your sense, but it¡¯s much better.¡± He said. My eyes couldn¡¯t get anymore wide, but it was still wide. ¡°H-how?¡± I stammered through my breath. The cold floor under my back was almost as cold as his body. ¡°I went to find a way to be able to touch you.¡± He smiled gently this time. His fingers touched strands of my hair on my face and pushed them back gently and lovingly. ¡°H-how?¡± I repeated my question. He chuckled. ¡°Are you a parrot? Why are you repeating your question?¡± Blushing, I pinched his side, earning another chuckle from him. He took my hand that was pinching him and brought it to his lips, kissing it. I blushed even madly. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the storyter. For now, get up, you¡¯ll catch a cold if youy on the floor like this.¡± He pulled himself up before he pulled me with him. ¡°And who pounced on me just now?¡± I muttered under my breath as I let myself being pulled up by him. ¡°My bad.¡± He smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to warm you up in a bit...¡± He whispered as he took me in his arms. I blushed furiously, only if... I could blush even more. Chapter 52 Chapter 52: What should I do if I get addicted? Warning: NSFW ahead! Read at your own risk! I was raised in the environment where virginity was highly valued. People would talk bad if you lost your virginity, saying that it was the only thing that would make your future husband appreciate your existenceter. But, as I grew older, I decided that if my future husband would not appreciate me being not virgin anymore, there was no point to get married. Not that I would act like a cheap whore, sleeping around with men. Up until today, I could still maintain my virginity, and if I could preserve it until marriage, it was even better. But, losing my virginity willingly was better to me than losing it after being raped by some bad people -no offense to those who got raped, seriously you got no choice at all. Also, what is the point of saying that one was still a virgin if one was an expert in dirty talk? Who would believe that? Anyway, if I were to lose my virginity tonight, I had no regret ¨Ceven when I lost it to a pervert spirit I called my boyfriend. ..... I was writhing beneath Tom¡¯s naked cold body, feeling hot all over my body. His tongue was wrestling with mine, plundering my mouth in a hot feverish kiss. His kiss felt so good; wild, as if he couldn¡¯t wait to devour me, and urgent. His cold hands brought goosebumps wherever he touched; he felt cold, but in a good way. I moaned when his hands cupped my breasts and fondled them. My nipples felt so good under his active hands and I could barely recognize my own voice when I moaned again and again. I didn¡¯t even know when I lost my towel. ¡°I¡¯ve been dying to taste these buds here...¡± He whispered hoarsely after he pulled out from our kiss. Before I could react, he had descended and caught one of my nipples between his lips. Wet tongue licking my hardened bud, ying with it, all the while I could only moan in delight. Delicious sparks had been attacking my lower region as well as heightened the need of carnal pleasure within me. Tom treated my breasts equally, switching to the other while his hand kept fo fondling them. After a while, he stopped and pulled himself to admire his work. A satisfied grin formed on his face when he noticed my hardened buds got even harder. Maybe he also grinned because he saw the look on my face. ¡°Oh, baby, you look so beautiful.¡± He whispered as he kissed me again. ¡°Open your legs for me...¡± His whisper sounded so erotic and I remembered I moaned from it. Opening my legs for him, I vaguely realized the position I was in. I felt bared and open before him, which only heightened the lust in me. Settling himself between my legs, my hot core made contact with his stiff rod and I gasped when he pushed it slightly to get between the flower¡¯s petals. He rubbed it against my wet fold while kissing me deeply. His hands started roaming all over my body again, rubbing me, making me go wild with his touch. ¡°Baby, open your eyes...¡± He whispered again. When did I close my eyes? Slightly panting, I opened my eyes, feeling them a bit hazy with my lust and need. His handsome face got into my sight and oh, he was so sexy I couldn¡¯t care less I was making love to a ghost. Was this what the poor wife felt at that moment? Lust and need to be pleasured? ¡°Watch me...¡± He said and Oh, how I loved his deep and sex-filled voice. The words barely managed to register in my mind when he descended and kissed my inner thigh. Oh, I can see where it is going... My heart thumped faster and I could feel myself blushing even more. It was my first time, but I had no intention to refuse his will. After all, he had made sure to lick me down there every time he fucked me in my dream! I had been wondering how it would feel in real. And, now I¡¯m about to get one, how could I reject him? He must have noticed the eagerness in my eyes because he decided to tease me, ignoring my frustrated groan when he avoided kissing right in my waiting hole. Do I sound like a b*tch in heat now? I could care less. I could be a b*tch in heat, but I would only be HIS b*tch in heat. ¡°Beg me, baby...¡± He smirked. I could feel my hole twitched when he blew on it. I wanted him to touch it, to lick it, to suck on it. It was unbearable, not when he was there so close to it but refused to touch it unless I begged him. So, I begged him. ¡°Please, please, please, Tom...¡± I didn¡¯t realize how desperate I sounded. ¡°Please what?¡± He licked the outer lips in a slow motion, avoiding touching the burning hole and my clit. I shuddered in anticipation, but only to meet with frustration. ¡°Please, touch it! Lick me! Eat me! Make me cum!¡± I nearly shouted when he dove right to it as soon as those embarrassing words came out of my mouth. I threw my head backwards as the pleasure hit my every nerves hard. A throaty groan and moan came out from me as hepped diligently at my wet folds. His tongue would tease my hard clit and my thigh would stiffen in response. Then, his tongue would force its way into my small hole and rub it hard, making me gasp and I felt my legs turned like jelly. His big cold hands took a firm control of my ass, holding each of my thighs firmly so I wouldn¡¯t back away from his sweet torture he implicated upon my body. ¡°Ah...Ah...ah... Tom...¡± I gasped, calling out his name while moaning. My eyes widened as I felt -and watched ¨C his finger went inside me. His tongue was still flicking at my clit, but now he had one of his fingers inside me, rubbing the walls of my tight hole. ¡°Damn, baby, you are still so tight.¡± He murmured. His eyes met mine and I could see him filled with the same lust I felt. He stopped his licking for a while, only to study my reaction when he pushed his finger deeper and rubbed my walls. Gasp escaped my lips and I could feel my eyes rolled to the back of my head as I closed my eyes in ecstasy when his fingers grazed on to something that felt so good inside. I crumpled my bed sheet under my hands, my back arched unconsciously, and my thighs moved to close themselves when a strange feeling, even bigger than when I rubbed my clit, came onto me. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t allow that. I wasying there, with my one of legs pinned under his own leg, and the other was held in ce with his one hand. The other hand was busy pleasuring me to a new level of pleasure. I was crying when the strange feeling washed over my body in a huge wave. Oh my God, what should I do if I get addicted to this pleasure? Chapter 53 Chapter 53: Unable To Walk Warning: NSFW content ahead! Read at your own risk! Laying on my back with my body drenched in thinyer of sweat, I gasped for air after a huge orgasm hit me a minute ago. The orgasm was so intense I could still feel my body twitching a bit even after a minute had passed. My lower region felt so hot and empty, and surprisingly, hungrier. As if it wanted more. ¡°Damn, you are so sexy. I¡¯m d I get to see you like this even just for once.¡± Tom¡¯s husky voice was heard and somehow in my fuzzy mind, I caught onto something weird from the way he said it. I opened my eyes, about to ask him what he meant by that, but my question got caught in my throat when his lips met mine. ¡°I¡¯m not done with you, baby.¡± He whispered against my lips. I could only moan in response because his hand had brought his member near my hot pot of sweet nectar. Rubbing them slightly, I could barely notice between my gasp and moan, that he felt somehow different. He wasn¡¯t so cold anymore. Instead, he was felt slightly warm. But, that thought was soon being pushed behind my mind when he started to push his member into me. I gritted my teeth when his big pole pierced me slowly. The feeling of being full was in time with the slight pain. ..... ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re damn tight even after I loosened you up just now.¡± He grunted. He pushed slowly and I couldn¡¯t help clutching onto his arms tightly. Damn, Is he always this big? ¡°Is it too painful?¡± He asked softly. I opened my eyes and looked into his eyes. There was trace of worries in those eyes. I shook my head and tried to rx myself. It surprised me how fast I could adapt to this situation. As soon as he sensed my body getting rxed, he pushed again. I moaned again as he started to pull out a bit only to push in again in a shallow thrust. I knew he did that to let me adapt to the size of his big member, but the depth of my hole was waiting for it to finally fill it. I didn¡¯t know what came onto me that time, but I remembered I pulled him towards me and his member sunk in me suddenly. I gritted my teeth when the pain hit my body hard. ¡°You¡¯re too reckless.¡± He scolded me lovingly as he stayed still. He rained my face with his kisses, licking the tears in the corner of my eyes and pinching my nipples gently, trying to divert my attention from the pain I felt in my lower half. The pain was almost unbearable. I remembered my body was trembling badly because of it. But, after I forced myself to rx, the pain subsided and a pleasant feeling started to ignite within. Especially when his member poked that good spot inside, instantly making me moan as stars starting to appear behind my eyelids. Tom started to thrust his hips. Slowly at first, then gradually bing faster. As his thrust getting faster and harder, I found it hard to control my voice. Not when he was pummeling my sweet spot repeatedly. Avoiding the risk of getting busted, I put a pillow on my face so I could scream on it. But, Tom pulled it away from me. ¡°Ah, ah, ah... No, please. They¡¯ll hear me scream.¡± I begged in frustration. My voice was almost like a hoarse whisper. ¡°Just scream. No one can hear your voice. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He smirked so evilly. ¡°Come, baby, moan for me, scream for me.¡± His voice was like a hypnotics, and I couldn¡¯t refuse him. Thrusting hard into me, I let my voice out from my throat. I felt liberated. Sometimes I moaned, sometimes I screamed. He yed with my body so well I had noin to him even after my voice got hoarse. The pleasure was so intense, I almost thought I would faint again every time he made me cum. And he brought me to the peak several times, making me feelingpletely exhausted. He took me in every possible ways he could think of. After hours of having sex, I did pass out on him. Thest time I remembered was he was taking me from behind for the third time and I had lost count on how many times I climaxed under his beastly energy. By the time I woke up, I was already covered in my nket, feeling sore all over my body. I checked on the time and saw it was nine in the morning. I sighed. For the first time in my life, I skipped a ss. There was a bit of regret after breaking my clean record as a good student, but after recalling what had happened the night before, a smile crept on to my face as blush started to appear, too. The sore feeling I had was the proof that I did have sex with Tomst night. Speaking of him, where is he now? I looked around the room, looking for him, but there was no sign of him. Maybe he went to visit his mother again, I thought. What will he say to her this time? That he will give her a grandchild? I chuckled at that absurd thought. Even though the night before was too hot to remember, I vaguely remembered he had never shot his cum inside me. At one point he might even say that he didn¡¯t know if his cum could make me pregnant, but he would not risk it. So, he made sure to cum outside. Come to think of it, I should feel sticky, but why don¡¯t I feel it? I only felt naked, bared, and sore, but the stickiness was not there. I remembered exactly his hot cum was sprayed onto my back and my stomach, but it was no where to be seen now. My whole body felt clean, instead. I tried to stand up, but my wobbly legs started to shake. My hips hurt from the straining I did and I fell down on my butt even before I got the chance to properly stand up. My cheeks started to heat up when I realized the source of problem. Damn that beast! He made me unable to walk only after one session! Chapter 54 Chapter 54: Will I Be Okay After That? Rain had started to pour down since morning. The air felt wet and cold, made me shiver despite the thick sweater I was wearing. I looked into the sky. The thick and dark cloud showed no signs of dispersing, creating a gloomy feeling inside ones. Sometimes, there was sound of thunder exploding as if it was right on top of the dorm, making the girls in the dorm shrieked in fear. Thick dark cloud and the sound of the thunder. Perfect! I unhappilyined to ... no one, actually. Huffing slightly, I pushed open my umbre and stepped under it before I started walking under the heavy rain. The sound of rain hitting my umbre was like a prelude to something bad that wasing to me, apanied by the sound of my own footsteps hitting the wet roads, sometimes stepping into a puddle and sessfully sshing water on my shoes. Maybe it was just my own paranoid thought. Maybe it was because of the weather. Maybe it was also because of my worry towards Tom. My train of thought didn¡¯t seem to be able to set a positive mind. It was as if something was telling me that something bad was about to happen. I just couldn¡¯t shake this weird feeling I¡¯ve been feeling ever since I saw Tom came back with an even paler face after that night. The dim light within him seemed to run out of oil and it freaked me out. He smiled like usual, acted like usual, nothing was different from him besides his appearance. When I asked him where he went after ¡®that¡¯, he said he didn¡¯t know where he was. He vaguely remembered what happened. After wiping my body with warm towel, he seemed to be sucked into a portal and appeared in a ce he had no memory of. Before he managed to find out where he was, he was thrown back to my room again. And, that had been upying my mindtely. The loud thunder startled me, making me stopped on my track and looked up to see the raging sky. ..... Fine, it is indeed in rainy season, but could you, please, not scare me like that? I frowned as I continued my steps, looking ahead of me. This road was the same road I always took whenever I went to campus. It was usually quiet, thergest number of people I met here could be counted on one hand. And it was not on rainy days. But, now... I saw one, two, three... What the heck?! Since when did this road be so crowded like this?! There were at least twenty people using the same road as me. All of them were using umbre so low it hid their face almostpletely. Not that I wanted to sneak a peek on their faces. Why would I even do that? Whatever. It¡¯s their own business. Deciding to ignore them, I kept walking. I could see the junction that led to the main street, and unconsciously I hastened my pace. What made me do so, I still didn¡¯t know. When I finally reached the bustling and crowded main street, I stopped and looked behind my shoulder. To my surprise, I saw the same empty road as I always saw. I didn¡¯t notice I widened my eyes, but I realized one thing that made me hastened my pace. Back then, I didn¡¯t notice it, but now I was in the bustling and crowded street, it was as clear as a day in summer. The only sound I heard -besides the thunder and the rain, of course ¨C was my own footsteps. With more than ten people around me, there was no way I couldn¡¯t hear their footsteps! But, it happened! Even in this crowded street full of vehicles, I could still hear the sounds of pedestrians¡¯ footsteps around me. Why couldn¡¯t I hear them in a quiet alley? Now, they disappeared. What else could that mean? It must be them! Does it mean my seal has weakened? Should I really open the seal? Will I be okay after that? Maybe I should give my father a call. I really had to have a long talk with him. Taking out my phone from my pocket, I dialed his number and put the phone on my ear. As I listened to the boring sound of my call, I continued my walk. Probably still a bit traumatic with the previous incident, I could help but listen to other people¡¯s footsteps and watch their feet. As a result, when my call got through, I couldn¡¯t respond in time. At that time, I had no idea my decision would change my view of life as well as my environment. I had no idea how big the responsibility I should bear to be able to see ¡®them¡¯. Chapter 55 Chapter 55: Paranoid ¡°Darling, what¡¯s up? Why aren¡¯t you speaking?¡± My father¡¯s voice traveled through my ears, pulled me back from my paranoid world. ¡°Um, Dad. No, I was distracted.¡± I replied, shaking my head a bit even though I knew he couldn¡¯t see me. ¡°Where are you now?¡± ¡°I am on my way to go to campus. Where is mom?¡± ¡°She is with the neighbors. You know them.¡± I could see my father shrugged his shoulders and smile crept up on my lips. ¡°It¡¯s good she blends with the neighbors quickly.¡± I said. ..... ¡°Yeah. So what is it that made you calling me? Do you need more money?¡± He asked. I awkwardlyughed when he asked me that. It seemed like I did that a lot; calling them only to ask for my monthly money. ¡°No, I still have some with me, probably will be enough until next month.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m calling you for something different.¡± ¡°...Is it regarding your ability?¡± How does he know? I was stunned. ¡°Sweetheart, ever since thest time you called me and asked about it, I¡¯ve been having this feeling, telling me that you must have started seeing things. After all, the seal could only contain your ability until you were 17 years old. It¡¯s been months now, so I am not surprised if you tell me you¡¯ve been seeing things now. Am I right?¡± ¡°...¡± Dad, you are right. ¡°Actually, considering your age now, there are two options for you to do. First, topletely seal it. Second, topletely embrace your ability. Each of it has its own perks and it¡¯s your choice that will be used. It¡¯s your body, after all.¡± My father said again, ignoring my silence or maybe taking it as yes. There. I had my answer and my options. My seal had weakened after I reached seventeen, which was why I could only see them after I entered university. And I could choose topletely seal it, or topletely unblock it. ¡°Will I be okay if I want to unseal it?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It might seem strange and a bit scary for you at first, but it will get better. Trust me. I¡¯ve told you before that being able to see them is better than not able to see them, right?¡± I remembered he did say something like that. ¡°Well, I¡¯ming back home for New Year¡¯s holiday. I¡¯ll make up my mind before that.¡± I told him. ¡°Sure. But if they are nning to do something bad to you, just remember not to be afraid. You are stronger than you thought, Darling.¡± I had the urge tough when he said it. Should I tell him that I fainted after my first time seeing a real form of Kuntnak? ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to remember that.¡± Instead, I told him that. After exchanging some other small talks with him, and talked a bit with my mother who had just returned, I hang up. Just in time, I reached my faculty. Closing my umbre, I stepped deeper into the building. After putting my umbre near the entrance, I walked to the appointed room for my uing lecture. Maybe it was because of the rain, the faculty that was usually crowded now seemed a bit gloomy and creepy, with quiet halls and rooms. Only several students were seen so far -this time I made sure I heard their footsteps -but I felt better. After I reached the room, I saw no one was inside. So, I turned back and sat on a nearby bench. I took my headset and plugged it on my phone. In a while, my favourite songs could be heard from it. This silence was truly suffocating me, so listening to music was the only way to ignore the horrifying feeling that mighte. Even so, I would unconsciously take a peek towards the door, fearing that something scary might appear. Or, towards the hall. Even in the corner of the ceiling. Silly me, being afraid for no reason. Huffing slightly, I tried to calm myself and to think of something more joyful. Like, thinking about Tom. Now that I thought about him, the memory of the night before shed in my mind. I could barely notice the blush in my cheeks. I was so deep in reminiscing about our night when my line of sight caught a glimpse of familiar figure floating towards me down the hall. Staring at the familiar face, I arched my eyebrows. Kunti? What is she doing here? It¡¯s the first time she came to meet me here. Turning off the music without pulling out the headset, I asked her as soon as she came closer. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked in a low voice. Kunti grinned yfully. ¡°I went to your room but Tom said you¡¯re here. So I came here. By the way, I saw the blush!¡± She teased me. I put my hands on my face and realized I was burning up with embarrassment. ¡°You must be thinking about that night, right?¡± She added. ¡°S-shut up!¡± I hastily scolded her. Kuntiughed happily. ¡°How was it? Did it feel good? Judging from how you screamed for more that night, it must feel good. Is he big?¡± Peered into my eyes, she floated happily, hovering all over me excitedly. ¡°Pervert. Why do you want to know?¡± I gritted my teeth. ¡°Hm, should I find my own human?¡± Ignoring my question, Kunti started to think about something else. ¡°Yes, then you can fuck him silly...¡± I said quickly. Chapter 56 Chapter 56: She Is Crazy Kunti let out a roar ofughter when she heard me said that. Her floating body floated even higher and made a turn in the air, and I was sitting there, dumbfounded seeing the circus in front of me. Is it really that funny? I waited until she came down from her fit ofughter. Still with stiflingugh, she came down and floated in front of me. I couldn¡¯t see the tears in her eyes, but she wiped it as if she had it. She really had a goodugh. ¡°Really, Jane, you are so funny and adorable. You¡¯re so charming. Howe no human boys like you? That Rizal boy is indeed handsome and smart to put his choice in you, but he couldn¡¯t refuse his fate to marry that silly creature.¡± I blinked my eyes in response to her chattering. I didn¡¯t know what I should say to react to herpliments which ended in her sighing. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I repeated my question. ¡°You must have something to tell me since you couldn¡¯t find me in my dorm.¡± ¡°Well, actually I wanted to ask you this days ago, but you were so busy and you know, problems knocked on your door in one day and you were -¡± ..... ¡°Straight to the point.¡± I interrupted. ¡°Did you really meet that nasty creature?¡± Kunti asked hastily. I arched my eyebrows. ¡°The one within Amanda?¡± ¡°Is that the poor woman¡¯s name?¡± I nodded. ¡°A very good name for a vile creature.¡± She scoffed in disgust. ¡°I¡¯ve met them, but I couldn¡¯t see the creature¡¯s true form. I could only see ck shadow, a pair of eyes, and lips.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good enough. You¡¯ll either feel disgusted or scared if you see her true form. That¡¯s what you got if you¡¯re evil.¡± Kunti sneered. ¡°Oh, I thought you¡¯re evil, too.¡± Of course, I was just teasing her. There was no way this super friendly ghost in front of me was evil. She might be mischievous, but I was pretty sure she was not evil. ¡°How dare you!¡± Kunti shot me a disbelief look. Her wronged expression almost made me choke on myughter. ¡°I¡¯m a decent ghost! I have never EVER done evil deed during my life as a ghost!¡± She protested fiercely, but somehow in an adorable way. It was a good thing she protested like that in her beautiful form, and not with her scary form. If not, I was sure I would have fainted because of feeling more traumatic than before. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Taking a long nce at her teasingly, I noticed she still had that wronged expression on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t you always scare people away sometimes?¡± I pointed out what she was best at. ¡°...I do.¡± She replied weakly. ¡°But, that¡¯s it! I have never hurt people before, I swear! I only need to scare them because that¡¯s how I earn my power.¡± She hastily defended herself. ¡°Okay. I believe you.¡± I nodded to her. ¡°So, you said the one with Amanda was evil. How evil is she exactly?¡± I changed the topic quickly before Kunti had a change of mind and decided to get back at me by changing her form. ¡°Her source of power is the darkness inside the human.¡± Kunti¡¯s face turned serious. I was about to ask more since it picked my curiousity, but my ears which were still plugged by my headset caught a voice. It was not the voice that made me shut my mouth, rather, it was what it said. ¡°See? She is talking by herself again. I¡¯ve told you she is crazy.¡± My eyebrows were raised in surprised. I turned my head to the source of the voice and saw two girls of my ss were eyeing me with a pity look in their eyes. Excuse me?! Who is crazy here? ¡°She might hear you.¡± The other girl warned her. ¡°So, what? I bet she doesn¡¯t understand a bit what I am saying. She might not know that the one I referred to is her.¡± The first girl shrugged her shoulders in nonchnt way. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to youter.¡± I told Kunti, making it as if I had just finished calling someone. She nodded but she didn¡¯t go away. Maybe she wanted to watch a good show. I pulled out my headset and raised my head up. Tilting my head slightly, I met their eyes head on, smiling sweetly but my heart felt the chill. As my eyes scanned the situation around us, I strongly believed that they were talking about me. After all, it was just the three of us in this corridor. ¡°Widya, Anita, hey. How are you?¡± I called out to them. The two of them looked startled. It was obvious that they did something bad; in this case, badmouthing me behind my back. ¡°W-we¡¯re good.¡± Anita nearly stammered as she answered. ¡°Good.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Ah, I suddenly remember about Senior Rizal. I remember seeing a pink letter on his desk when we were still dating. He said someone had been putting the letter on his desk every Friday or Saturday. I wonder what happened to her now that Senior Rizal was married.¡± I spoke a bit louder, intentionally saying it out loud. ¡°Should I get those campus news guys to interview this person?¡± A loud thud was reverberating through the corridor. I took azy nce at them and saw Widya was picking up a thick book from the floor. She looked so flustered, but that¡¯s what I was aiming for! Chapter 57 Chapter 57: I¡¯m Crazy So... ¡°What was her name again? Should I tell Senior Rizal that the W he mentioned before is her?¡± As if being oblivious of her flustered state, I kept talking. Anita obviously didn¡¯t know anything about her friends¡¯ shameless action. But I did. Those pink letters were not mere love letters. Ifmon love letters talked about the sender¡¯s feeling of adoration and love, her love letters were filled with her desire to him, almost to the point of obsession. Of course she didn¡¯t put her name, but I saw her once going out from Senior Rizal¡¯s room. Too bad there was no CCTV in his room, so no one knew about it besides me. ¡°Hm, I bet those guys would love to interview her for her obsession towards Senior Rizal. Let¡¯s see, do I still have Hana¡¯s phone number?¡± Tapped on my phone, I deliberately scrolled through my contacts slowly. ¡°Jane!¡± A shout filled with rage was heard and I raised my eyebrows, feeling victorious. It was so easy to get this girl all riled up. If she was smart, she would not get overly enraged like this. After all, I didn¡¯t have any proofs with me. Even though I heard her call, I didn¡¯t turn towards her. Only after I saw her pair of shoes in front of me then I lifted up my face, only to see her fuming rage. Her eyes widened in fury and her face flushed for the same reason. ..... ¡°You, you, you...¡± She pointed at me, repeating the word ¡®you¡¯ several times stupidly. ¡°Yes? Do you need something from me?¡± I asked while smiling sweetly, as sweet as I could. ¡°W-what do you mean by that?!¡± Widya red at me. ¡°By what?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Just now! Y-you, you, you ¨C¡± ¡°Oh, pardon me. Does it bother you? I was talking to myself. I¡¯m crazy, so yeah...¡± I said it casually, totally ignoring her deathly re. ¡°Anyway, why do you feel bothered by it?¡± Widya bit her lips in frustration. Beside her, Anita was looking at us repeatedly in confusion. She clearly had no idea about what was going on between us. But, it was not over yet. Faking the surprised look on my face, I continued. ¡°Ah, I know why. Silly me! What¡¯s the point of asking that question? I¡¯m sorry, I should have known that you perfectly understood that the one who had been sending those pink letters for Senior Rizal was YOU. After all, you are not as crazy as me to not understand about what I was talking about.¡± I watched as her mouth gaped open like a fish. Her eyes widened, as if they would pop out from their sockets anytime. Anita was no different beside her. She finally got the whole idea and looked at her friend in disbelief. After all, the talk about ¡®suspicious pink letter¡¯ was pretty well-known back then. She might never have thought that the one who sent the letters was her best friend. Still smiling, I stood up and left them. I woulde back to attend my ss but for the time being, I needed to distance myself from her. What if she turned into a rabid girl who attacked blindly? I obviously didn¡¯t want to degrade myself by getting into a cat-fight with her. As I walked away from the crime scene, I heard the two of them got into an argument. Argument about what, I had no idea. I couldn¡¯t focus on what they were saying while Kunti wasughing beside me, following me closely. ¡°I never thought you had that side in you!¡± She said between herughter. ¡°...¡± What? Do you think I will just stay quite when a person bully me? Dare to create bad issue about me? Let¡¯s see who could do worse! I didn¡¯t respond because there were more people around me than I was in thest time. Finding a rather secluded ce to sit, I put on my headset again and pretended to call again. ¡°Did you have fun?¡± I asked without taking a single nce at her. ¡°I did.¡± She replied. Even though I didn¡¯t see her face, I could still feel the grin she had on her face. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s talk again about what you said when I return hometer.¡± I said calmly. ¡°Fine. I am going back to my tree, then.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± If I wanted to find herter, I needed to know where she stayed. ¡°That tree...¡± At her voice, I looked up to see where she was pointing at. To my surprise, she was pointing at a big tree near the left park, right in the area of the abandoned tombs. Did she... She giggled, probably knew what was inside my mind. ¡°Oh yeah, I saw it. Your first kiss with the human boy.¡± She said, answering my silent question. Her giggling turned into her signatureugh as she floated away happily, sessfully making me shivering in fright. ¡°Damn it! Which Kuntnak dares to scare people in broad daylight?! Show yourself! I¡¯ll exorcise you right away!¡± I stunned hearing the shout. Someone could hear that? Chapter 58 Chapter 58: He Could See Her? I turned my head quickly to look at the owner of that shout. Standing not too far away from me was one of our lecturers in the faculty, Mr. Sanjaya Adiguna, one of the youngest lecturers as well as top three of the hottest man in Engineering Faculty -Senior Rizal was the fourth in this ranking. His well toned bodyplementing his tall stature was to die for, always sessfully made women felt their knees weak at the sight of him. His deep voice could make women felt tingling all over their bodies. I even heard that after his ss, those horny women would feel wet down ¡®there¡¯ ¨Cthis was a secret talk between women indies room. His charming smile could make a moody woman smile along with him. Besides his perfect physical appearance, he also had attractive personality; friendly, smart, humble, kind, and funny. He was practically PERFECT! A saying came into my mind when I finished analyzing this man: ¡°Good man always dies faster¡±. He was not only good; he was perfect, so did it mean he would die even faster? I had always believed that ¡°nobody¡¯s perfect¡±, so, even when people talked about him being a perfect man, I would only think of him as a specimen worth observing. To find his ws was my goal in observing him. But, damn, he was so perfect I couldn¡¯t find his ws at all ¨Cor probably because I was too busy thinking about Senior Rizal and Tom that I neglected my observation and probably missed some details. ..... I always thought of him as a modern man, that he wouldn¡¯t believe in mystical things like ghost. But, who would have thought he had a sharp hearing? I saw him looking around sharply. Some students were looking at him in confusion, while some were already pale in fear. Those might be the ones who knew about his ability, so they trusted him when he cursed like that. Should I tell him that Kunti has gone? ¡°That creature is really testing my patience. She really follows me here, huh? Let¡¯s see if you still refuse to leave after I exorcise you.¡± He was muttering through his gritted teeth as he made his way to his office, which coincidentally was beside the bench that I was sitting on. My eyebrows arched when I heard what he said. So, he was being haunted, huh? I tried to take a peek inside his office, but my eyes caught another entity inside his room. I couldn¡¯t see her face clearly and her form looked like a grey shadow. But, one thing for sure, Mr. Sanjaya was not alone in that office! I pulled back my head that was stretched to see inside the office. I don¡¯t know anything, I don¡¯t know anything, I don¡¯t know anything. I chanted repeatedly under my breath. My hands were holding my head as I refused the urge to take a look inside again. ¡°I know you can see me...¡± A whisper as cold as ice hit my right ear. I shivered as the temperature dropped a few degrees. ¡°Why is it so cold?¡± I muttered while rubbing my arms repeatedly. Ignore her, ignore her, ignore her. That was what my heart told me, but my feet glued to the floor and my butt to the bench. I couldn¡¯t move away! Damn it, after all my experience with Kunti, I still froze in my ce! Not my fault, this fellow is really different with the bubble head Kunti! This one was full of bad aura, almost like the one who was with Amanda. Swoosh... She moved in front of me, chasing my line of sight. It scared me, of course! But, I pretended to casually look past her. Not an easy feat because she seemed to not believe in my attempts and always tried to be in my line of sight. She was truly frightening! As I was losing my mind to keep avoiding her attempts and crying inwardly while begging to be left alone, an upset voice was heard from my back. ¡°There you are. Finding someone to bully, huh? After your failed attempt in seducing me, you¡¯re extending your paws to this poor girl?¡± The voice was barely a whisper, but the rage in it was obvious. I looked passed through my shoulder and noticed Mr. Sanjaya was standing behind me. His face was darkened with displeasure as he looked passed me to the one in front of me. He could see her? Chapter 59 Chapter 59: Future Husband What happened next seemed blurry to me. I didn¡¯t really remember what had happened to the ghost that had been bothering me. Next thing I knew, I was in Mr. Sanjaya¡¯s office, drinking a cup of tea. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He asked in worried tone. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to scare you like that.¡± When I lifted up my face, I saw ¡®guilty¡¯ and ¡®concerned¡¯ pasted on his handsome face. A ss of ck coffee was in his hands and he was leaning towards me from his seat that was situated not far beside me. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I told him softly. I watched as smile found its way to his sexy lips... Oh God, I really need to stop. Why do I see him that way? It was not the first time I saw him, but it was my first time talking to him. He was a lecturer for Computer Engineering, so he had never taught my ss. Yet, there I was, talking to him like he was my academic advisor. ..... ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± He asked. His smile was so warm I couldn¡¯t help but feel enchanted by it. ¡°Jane. Jane Harris, from Civil Engineering.¡± I introduced myself. A surprised look was seen on his face. I guessed he had heard about me, right? After all, there was no one in campus, especially engineering faculty, that didn¡¯t know about Jane who got dump by Rizal Ali. ¡°You¡¯re Jane Harris?¡± I nodded at his question. ¡°I¡¯ve been dying to meet you, actually.¡± The smile on his face grew brighter and wider. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about you from your father, but I haven¡¯t had time to actually look for you even though we are in the same building. My bad, please, forgive me.¡± Okay, that was a surprise! And here I thought he would recognize me for being Senior Rizal¡¯s pitiful ex. Fortunately I didn¡¯t say that out loud. But, wait! Did he just say he knew my father? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sir, do you know my father?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. We have met several times before. Your father and my father are old friends. So I met him for a couple of times before. I think I also met you long time ago.¡± He was squinting his eyes as he tried to remember his meeting with me. It must be around twelve to sixteen years ago, when I was around one or two years old. At most, I would be 5 years old because I had no recollection of meeting him. His chuckle made me realized that I was deep in my thought. As I regained my senses, I looked at him again. ¡°Unfortunately, the smiling sunshine I met long ago is too quiet now.¡± He said while looking at me with his deep eyes. I could feel my cheeks reddened at his casualment. What ¡®smiling sunshine¡¯? This man is seriously a flirt. ¡°I still have that picture of you with me, when you were four years old.¡± He said again as he started to rummage his wallet. I coughed lightly to clear my throat. ¡°Why would you have my picture with you?¡± And he is carrying it around in his wallet, too! Isn¡¯t it strange? Heughed. ¡°Your father never mentioned about me to you, right?¡± Yeah, he never did. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s to be expected. After all, you haven¡¯t reached the agreeable age to finalize the agreement.¡± He said casually. ¡°Ah, here you are. Look at my smiling sunshine!¡± He handed over a piece of old photo. Did he really have my picture with him? As my eyes took a careful look on the picture, I could feel them widened as I recognized the person in the picture. There¡¯s no mistake, it was me! And, I was not alone in it, too. There was a boy beside me, holding onto my hand. There was a warm and gentle smile on his face as he was looking at the young me in the picture. But, I didn¡¯t recognize the boy. Who is he? ¡°See? I didn¡¯t lie, did I? I really have your picture with me.¡± He grinned. ¡°Why do you have my picture, Sir?¡± I asked slowly as I was still feeling dumbfounded. ¡°Why? Because you¡¯re my fiancee, of course. I only have this picture of us together and I¡¯ve been cherishing it so much. Never thought I would finally meet the real you here, after you¡¯ve grown up beautifully.¡± The look in his eyes turned even more gentle and there was a hint of excitement in it. But, it was not the reason my eyes widened so much right now I felt like I was acting like a fool. Fiancee? Then, it means... he is my future husband?! What the hell?! Dad has never mentioned about it before! And oh yeah, you¡¯re beyond help, Jane! How could you not notice that the one in the picture is him? Why else would he bring that picture around with him? Do you think he would bring a picture of a young boy with him around if it¡¯s not him? As I lost myself in a series of cursing my own foolishness and the turn of events that was happening in front of me, I failed to notice a pair of eyes was watching us the entire time. Who could me me, though? Who would be in right mind after a hunk just confessed that he was her future husband? Obviously not me! Chapter 60 Chapter 60: Scare The Only Person That Can Make You Blush Everybody was looking at me when I came out from Mr. Sanjaya, no, Sanji¡¯s office ¨Che insisted to make me call him Sanji without any honorifics. I could see the big question mark on top of their head. Why would a Civil Engineering student be in the office of Computer Engineering¡¯s lecturer? Those busybody people seriously needed to stop putting their nose in other people¡¯s business. They needed to learn not to be overly curious. After all, curiousity killed the cat. If they knew their idol was engaged to me, how many hearts would be broken by the news? And how much insults would I get? ¡°Hey, Junior. Why did youe out from Mr. Sanji¡¯s room?¡± I turned my head to see the one who was asking me. It was Senior Mario. Behind him was his friends, the other Seniors that I have already known before. ..... ¡°Ah, I-I...¡± What should I tell them? ¡°Are you two dating?¡± Senior Dino¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°No!¡± I quickly denied. ¡°No, of course no.¡± Shaking my head hastily, I tried to make it sounded and looked natural. ¡°Senior, please, watch what you said. Don¡¯t you know Mr. Sanjaya has an army of fan girls protecting him? What would I be if I crossed them?¡± Shivering from the horrid thought, I thought I managed to make my act so real. ¡°So what? Those rabid fan girls can all go to hell! Mr. Sanji barely has time to date and now they all want to take away his opportunity to date any girl he wants? What¡¯s wrong with them?¡± Senior Dino hastily responded, obviously disgusted with Sanji¡¯s fan girls. And, what he said was true, anyway. I couldn¡¯t say anything anymore. ¡°By the way, I notice you guys have been calling him Mr. Sanji. Are you guys close to him?¡± As far as I know, only those who are close to him would call him ¡®Sanji¡¯. ¡°Hell yeah! He is our big bro!¡± Senior Ando grinned with a proud look on his face. I raised my eyebrows as I heard his answer. Come to think of it, there were other seniors present as well. I knew them but I was not close to them as I was with Senior Mario and friends. They must be from other departments, right? One, two, three, four, ... I unconsciously counted them. There were seven of them, including Senior Dino, Senior Mario, and Senior Ando. If I were right, the one with silky mid-length hair which was tied loosely was Senior Pico ¡ª I had no idea why his name was Pico ¡ª from Architecture Engineering; the one with tribal style hair was Senior Ricky from Automotive Engineering; the one with curly hair was Senior Farhan from Computer Engineering; and thest one was Senior Hani with his super short hair to the point he was almost bald, from Architecture Engineering. ¡°Are you done counting us?¡± Did I mention this almost bald Senior had a terrible temper? He frowned slightly and I jumped a bit when I met his eyes. He looked so serious and uptight. Hastily, I turned my head away to avoid looking at him, then apologized for my rudeness. Without waiting for another question to pop before me, I hastily excused myself and escaped from there. ¡°Ah, you scared her.¡± I vaguely heard Senior Ando¡¯s words, with a hint of regret. ¡°What a great reaction, Bro! Blushing right now will not do you any good! You¡¯ve just scared the only person that can make you blush!¡± I almost stopped in my track when I heard iting from Senior Mario¡¯s mouth. The urge to turn around was so big I almost fell into temptation. But, I wouldn¡¯t do that. Not when they could still see me. So, I ran even faster. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have time to return because my ss had started. And I didn¡¯t have time to think about the ¡®blushing¡¯ as I was soon got upied with my assignments. ¡ª¡ª¡ª- I spent my whole day working on my assignments for two subjects. All the counting and numbers made my head spin as soon as my focus got distracted. Good thing that I got distracted only after I¡¯ve finished the assignments. Collecting my stuffs from the table, I began to put them in my bag. It was almost 7 in the evening and the sky had turned darkpletely. Only the lights from the streetmps brightened the road and there were only few people left in the campus. I stretched my body, popping the stiff joints in my body and moaned in satisfaction. Flung my back pack to my shoulder, I walked out of the library with the intention of going home. Campus was always scary at night but it had never made me scared before. Somehow, for some unknown reason, I could feel the eerie pressure in the air. My heart started to thump louder and faster all of sudden. Something told me to hasten my steps, and I obeyed it. Soon, my hastened pace turned into a run. Switching the position of my bag to the front, I ran towards the gate. But, the gate seemed so far away! I wanted to cry but no tears coulde out! Why? Why would the gate be so far?! As the fear intensified and I almost broke in tears, a blinding light stopped beside me, along with the screeching sound of brake being stepped on, and a voicemanded me: ¡°Hop on!¡± Chapter 61 Chapter 61: Disappeared! ¡°Hop on!¡± The door was flung opened and I nearly choke when I saw the person who sat behind the wheel. It was Senior Hani! ¡°Quick!¡± He urged when I had not made any move yet. He did not need to urge me further because I had already rushed into his car and put on my seatbelt. As soon as I sat inside the car, he stepped on the elerator and the car ran straight into the gate hastily. Slowly, I regained my sense and the fear that was clutching my heart disappeared. I looked back to the dim street, but couldn¡¯t notice the odd that caused the fear inside me just now. Frowning my eyebrows, I straightened my back and looked ahead. ..... ¡°It¡¯s still there, hiding in the dark.¡± Senior Hani said, sessfully made me turned my head to him. ¡°Senior, you can see it, too?¡± I asked in disbelief. ¡°Is it so strange for me to be able to see them?¡± His tone was as if he was unhappy with me questioning him. Afraid that I might offend this grumpy senior, I hastily shook my head and waved my hands in rejection. ¡°No no no, of course no.¡± Silence fell between us as he drove towards my dorm. I had no time to ask why he knew where I lived. I didn¡¯t want to provoke this grumpy man, so when we reached my dorm, I hastily got down and thanked him. He only grunted his response before he drove away, as I expected. I watched the starless dark sky. It seemed like there would be another heavy rain at night. The air still smelt damp and cold from the earlier rain, yet another one wasing. As I watched the sky, I saw something moved towards me, as dark as the sky, perfectly concealing its form, but not its presence. It reminded me of what scared me back then in the campus. Is it the same thing? Shivering slightly, I hastily stepped into the dorm and walked fast into my own room. From the balcony, I could still see the strange shadow moved slowly in the dark, as if looking around for something. Surely it was not looking for me, right? Before the worse came to worst, I decided to hide myself within my room. ¡°I¡¯m home.¡± I said as I closed the door behind my back. ¡°Oh, wee back!¡± As usual, Tom would wee me with his excited smile stered on his pale face. I smiled at the sight of him. The fear I felt just now dissipated without a trace. ¡°Did something happen?¡± He asked, concerned. Many happened today, but I wouldn¡¯t tell him that. So, I shook my head and walked towards him, putting my books and my bag on my desk, before I plopped myself on my bed. I stared at him. ¡°Why don¡¯t you follow me out tomorrow?¡± I asked. ¡°I would love to, if I could. The thing is... I can¡¯t go anywhere beyond the house.¡± He sighed. ¡°What? Why? I thought you didn¡¯t want toe because I dated Senior Rizal.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. That was my reason why I stayed at that time. And I thought I couldn¡¯t control myself from punching him if I saw him again, that¡¯s why I still didn¡¯t follow you even after you broke up with him.¡± He looked hesitant to continue. So, I peered through his face and urged him. ¡°When did it start happened?¡± I remembered he said he went out ¡®that¡¯ day. ¡°After... After our time together.¡± He answered weakly. ¡°It was like a barrier is preventing me to go out.¡± My mouth gaped open at his exnation. A barrier preventing him to go out? What does it mean? Did it have anything to do with how he became paler after our night together? ¡°Then, why didn¡¯t you tell me from the start?¡± I asked him in annoyance. ¡°I thought it was only for a while. But, unfortunately I still couldn¡¯t go out until today. I lost my chance to tell you because of my own stupidity. I¡¯m sorry.¡± He lowered his head in dejection. I took a deep breath as my hand massaged my throbbing head. Fine. I think I must have exhausted myself. I need a good warm bath and nice sleep. And maybe some food to fill my empty stomach. Rising to my feet, I walked to my small kitchen and began to prepare my dinner, totally ignoring him. It was as if we had never talked about it before. After finishing my dinner, I stepped inside my bathroom and enjoyed the warm rain inside. My whole body felt rxed and I spent my time under it to my heart content. By the time I was ready for my sleep, I had already dressed in myfortable pajamas. Turning off themp andid on my bed, feeling warm under my nket, I let out a soft sigh of pleasure. ¡°Are you ¨C¡± ¡°No. Stop. I had many things happened to me today. I just wanted to clear my thought of everything, including your stupidity. I want sleep now. Unless you want to help me sleep, you better not say anything at all.¡± I interrupted quickly, even without opening my eyes. ¡°Okay.¡± He answered softly, but I could feel him getting closer to me. My body shamelessly responded to his approach, even when he did nothing of sort. ¡°I love you, Jane.¡± His cold lips were on my forehead, kissing me gently. ¡°I love you, too.¡± I replied softly. Feeling his cold body next to me mixed with the warmth provided by my nket made me sigh in bliss. This is perfect, I thought. I couldn¡¯t ask for more. Not long after, I felt into deep slumber. As usual, I had a dream about Tom. But, unlike any other of my dreams, he didn¡¯t make love to me. We onlyid on a big bed, surrounded by petals of different flowers, and staring at each other. His fingers yed with my hair and softly touched my cheek. I felt so loved and cherished. My heart grew warmth and I rubbed my cheek on his rugged palm, closing my eyes in the process. How I wish we could stay like this forever. But, my wish got interrupted as soon as I finished wishing in my heart. A loud thunder startled me, made my eyes flew opened in surprise. The scenery around me changed as darkness began to dominate my dream. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, but I got no response. Turning my head to my side, I couldn¡¯t see Tom anywhere. He disappeared! Chapter 62 Chapter 62: no update Hi, Sorry for the ¡®no update¡¯ title. I might not be able to do another update for a week, more or less. My younger brother has just passed away, so yeah¡­ It¡¯s awkward to talk about it so I left it hanging. For you who have brother or sister, older or younger, even though they are annoying as hell, just remember, they are still your siblings. Don¡¯t hate them, don¡¯t be upset to them too much. When they leave without any way to return, you¡¯ll realize you lost something that is so precious. Well, I¡¯ll stop talking about it. I love my brother and he had done everything he could to help me in many ways I needed him, but God has other ns for him. May he rest in peace o(-?-)o Thank you ..... Chapter 63 Chapter 63: Vivid Nightmare ¡°Tom?¡± I called out for him. My eyes scanned surround me, looking for his figure in the darkness. Still, I got no response and he was still nowhere to be seen. The darkness started to creep closer to me and I could feel the fear started to build inside me. ¡°Tom!¡± I jumped and tried to run away from the creeping darkness. As I looked back to see around me again, I saw arms were formed and were reaching out for me, just like the one I saw in anime. How could this happen to me? I cursed under my breath as I kept trying to dodge the attack of those arms. I kept running and running. The fear that I felt before had disappeared before I knew it and irritation reced it. Something grew inside my heart, co-existing with the irritation I was feeling. ..... Then, as if snapping from a hallucination, I stopped my feet and turned to face the arms that were reaching out to me. The scene should be scary if anyone was ever to be put in this situation. But, for some reason, I only felt upset instead of fear. ¡°Damn it! This is my dream! Only I can control it! You, no matter who you are, are not weed in here! Get out!¡± I growled angrily with gritted teeth. There was a loud shrieking from the arms that were trembling now. Their motion stopped at once as they iled and shook before they became one with the darkness again. ¡°Come out if you dare. Don¡¯t hide behind the darkness! I know you¡¯re in there! Come out now or I¡¯ll burn you alive!¡± I threatened as serious as I could to convince this creature that I was not joking around. I watched as the darkness formed a figure. At first, it was a pair of feet, then it was legs. Everything was pitch ck and suddenly I smelt something stinky, like the smell of wet trash and rotten food. The smell assaulted my nose as I cringed my nose and half-choked on it. Damn! Is it possible to smell something like this in a dream? As I tried to fan the smell away with my hands, there was aplete figure of a woman standing not too far away from me. Despite theck of colour that made her looked like a super pale woman, she had a great figure, a figure of a model that everyone would envy. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t fit to be a model for hair treatment since her hair was a mess. Not to mention the sickening smell came from her body. I suppressed the urge to vomit when the smell assaulted me again. ¡°Damn, you¡¯re so stinky! Where the hell are you from?¡± I frowned as I voiced out myint. The pale woman grinned creepily, making me shiver slightly. Slowly, she approached me. My feet moved backward in response unconsciously. Her eyes met mine, but I didn¡¯t tter. I might move backwards to avoid her, but it didn¡¯t mean I was scared of her. It was just... She was smelly! ¡°Stop right there!¡± I hastily shouted when she gave no hint to stop. Her feet came to a halt, but the expression on her face did not change. I frowned a bit. This pale girl was surely testing my limit. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you want from me, but you better stop disturbing me. Or else...¡± I let my words hanging with a hint of threat to her. A gust of wind suddenly arose and blew towards me. I raised my hands and shielded my face. The wind was hurling and howling, creating a rather eerie sound to hear. I got goose bumps all over my body and out of nowhere, I couldn¡¯t move my body. It was as if I was bound by invisible rope. The sound of the wind howling was now mixed with incoherent screaming. I couldn¡¯t hear what it was said, but I knew for real it didn¡¯te from my mouth. Then, I could feel my eyes fluttered opened. I am awake! But, I still experienced the sleep paralysis. And, worse than any sleep paralysis I¡¯ve ever had, I wasying on my side, facing the wall, not like usual when Iid on my back. A shadow was looming over me but I couldn¡¯t make out the form of it. As my breath quickened in panic, I heard it screamed to my ear, shouting something I didn¡¯t understand. The shout made me tremble and I could feel my body froze. I gasped as my eyes snapped wide open. Instinctively, I took a deep breath when my body was free from the invisible bound. Blinking my eyes rapidly, I tried to move my fingers to ensure I was really free from the sleep paralysis. But, the picture of the woman as well as the scream in my ear were still vivid in my memory. My heart was still thumping loudly in my chest and my body was covered in thinyer of cold sweat. Damn! I was sure it was not any regr sleep paralysis. I was also sure it was not a mere nightmare. It was the first time I could smell something in my dream -really smelt it, not just my mind stating the smell. Not to mention the smell was really bad. Despite the slight fear I was feeling, I couldn¡¯t help but analyze the possibility of the dream. As I changed position into sitting, I remembered something important and asked my own self: ¡°Where is Tom?¡± Chapter 64 Chapter 64: Not You After the nightmare, I didn¡¯t dare to fall asleep. I busied my mind with thinking of anything I could think; including Tom¡¯s disappearance and the reason that dream ured. All for one sole reason: to distract my mind from fear. Fear was a form of weakness. But, in several cases, it could boost one¡¯s bravery when this person was in pinch. In this case, when I was dealing with astral beings, fear couldn¡¯t be in my dictionary. The more I feared them, the more they got stronger and more annoying. So, I couldn¡¯t ¨Cwouldn¡¯t¨C show them my fear. But, still, the horror screaming got me good enough not to let me sleep. As a result, there was a pair of shadow hanging under my eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?!¡± Fani screamed in horror as soon as she saw me in the campus. ..... I smiled weakly at her and sat down on the nearest bench I could reach. Iid my head on the cold tile of the table and sighed. It felt so good on my slightly warm skin. ¡°Let me see!¡± Fani pulled me up to get me sitting straight. Her hands cupped my face as she looked at it with a serious look in her eyes. ¡°What did you do to your baby skin?¡± She shrieked in disbelief and annoyance. ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep.¡± I swatted off her hands andid back on the cold tiles. Tom had note back either, so I could not sleep. ¡°Why?¡± Sheid her face beside me and stared right at me. ¡°Nightmare.¡± I sighed. ¡°Are you a kid?¡± She scoffed at me. I was too tired to argue with her, so I kept my mouth shut and closed my eyes. My ss would start in an hour or so and the weather was perfect to have a nap; with grey clouds hanging in the sky which were gradually getting thicker and cold wind blowing gently. ¡°Are you gonna sleep here? Seriously?¡± Fani asked again, but I was falling deeper into my sleep that I had no strength to reply. I still remembered she grunted a ¡®fine¡¯ under her breath before I finally lost contact with the outer world. This time, I didn¡¯t have any nightmares. My dream came in a fuzzy feeling and unclear. It was a normal dream, with frames skipping, and incoherent murmurs of people. My sleep was short, but satisfying. It only took thirty minutes and by the time I woke up, I felt so fresh. Only, since when did I get into the infirmary? I looked around me in confusion. I was clearly sleeping under the blue mushroom in the front yard of the faculty building, why would I be here? As I was still pondering about it, the door to the infirmary was pushed open. A familiar figure walked in and as his eyes met mine, a smile formed on his handsome face. ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± He said as he closed the door behind his back. I blinked in confusion. Why would Sanji be here? I watched as he pulled a chair closer to me and sat his butt on it. His hand twisted the cap of a bottle of water opened and handed it to me. ¡°Drink it. You need to stay hydrated after a good sleep.¡± He said gently. I really wanted to ask him, but I chose to push the question on the second of my list to do things now. He was right, I needed to drink. Without hesitation, I took the bottle and drank a big gulp to soothe my dry throat. As soon as the fresh water reached my throat, I could feel the effect in my previously slightly warm body. It was as if a thirsty nt being watered right in time and the almost wilted leaves came back to life. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said to him after I finished drinking almost half of the water inside the bottle. Chuckling slightly, he said: ¡°You drank it without any hesitation. Aren¡¯t you afraid I put something inside?¡± ¡°Put what? Drugs? You won¡¯t dare.¡± I smiled firmly. ¡°I have never had a contact with drugs for as long as I can remember.¡± He grinned innocently. ¡°But, what if it¡¯s not drugs? What if it was love spell?¡± His innocent grin was immediately wiped out by the slightly dark and taunting gaze of him. ¡°Love spell is only for coward and people who have no confidence with themselves. I believe you¡¯re not a coward and obviously you don¡¯t have any issue with self-confidence, considering you are the third hottest male in this faculty.¡± I calmly stated my opinion. ¡°You could have any girls you want, you see?¡± His gaze returned back to his gentle and calm demeanor after hearing my answer. His shoulders slouched a bit in dejected manner as he said in a low tone, ¡°Apparently, not you.¡± I arched my eyebrows. Was he serious? Chapter 65 Chapter 65: Damn, He Is Good! Was he serious? Why would a mature man like him be interested in me? I knew that he was supposed to be my future husband. I knew that it was normal for him to approach me. I also knew that it was possible for me to feel something towards him. But, even though every possibilities were opened for me, I had something that tied me up to where I thought I belonged to. Tom. People might call psychiatrist on me for choosing a ghost over a human. But, that¡¯s where I felt the safest, the mostfortable, and the warmest. Ghost or not, I wanted him. ..... Deciding to act like a deaf, I took another gulp of the water and asked him the question I¡¯ve been keeping inside. ¡°Why am I here?¡± ¡°I brought you here.¡± His answer was surprisingly calm and on point. On one hand, I froze after hearing his answer. Just imagine an idol carrying a sleeping girl in his arms, how did his fans react to that? They must be going crazy, right? Should I carry some pepper sprays in my bag now? Or should I hire some bodyguards? Okay, I admitted the bodyguards part was too much, but I also needed to ensure my safety, right? On the other hands, I felt very much embarrassed. ¡°What kind of girl would fall asleep in the open space? What if you drooled?¡± His tone was reprimanding at first, but soon itced with teasing. The corner of his lips was lifted slightly, creating an illusion of seductive smirk. Complemented by the teasing glint in his eyes, I could feel the heat rose to my cheeks, painted my face with a shade of red colour. Damn, he is good! My reaction to his words got dyed because he attracted me too much. He might not be a devilish beauty, but he sure had devilish smile and enchanting eyes. ¡°W-what kind of girl? Obviously my kind of girl! And, for your information, I don¡¯t drool!¡± I almost stuttered from embarrassment. His smirk grew imminent as he crossed his arms -oh my God, his muscles... I think I almost drool -in front of his chest and leaned back to the back of the chair. I was ogling at his muscr arms when I noticed he was looking at me with his teasing eyes. Suddenly, I had the urge to p myself! Unconsciously, Ipared him with Tom. As long as I could remember, Tom also had a nice body. He was not as big as Sanji, but I liked his pale and well-toned body. All in all, both had their own charm and I realizedparing the both of them would only lead me in a maze of confusion. I cleared my throat and got down from the bed. ¡°Thank you, for everything. I owe you and I¡¯ll make sure to pay you backter, but for now, I need to go. Please, excuse me.¡± That sounded polite enough, right? As I walked to the door and was reaching out to the handle of the door, I was stopped by his sudden suggestion. ¡°What about a dinner together tonight? Just you and me?¡± I was silent for almost three seconds. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t.¡± Then, I walked out of the infirmary hastily. I didn¡¯t give him any chance to ask his question again. I walked fast, almost like running, to anywhere my feet would bring. I could feel the stares people gave me and I was sure it all came from girls. I ignored it. You can stare all you want. Hmph!! I stopped as soon as I reached a rather secluded area. Only after I stopped that I felt the sudden tightness in my legs. I guessed I was too tense and quick from escaping from him so my legs suffered from cramps. After finding myself a spot to sit on, I started to massage my legs. My mind was reying Sanji¡¯s expressions in the infirmary and I had to pinch my thigh to prevent myself from ogling his sexy smirk. Sitting alone had proven to make mind focusing on unnecessary things. Nodding my head in resolution, I stood up and walked towards the appointed room for my next ss. Again, I was stared by people. Some people even whispered among themselves while throwing a look of disdain to me. Ignoring them again, I stepped into a room. The room was noisy as usual before I stepped into the room, but all of a sudden, it was as quiet as graveyard, with all the eyes were on me. I couldn¡¯t help but arch my eyebrow as my eyes scanned those familiar faces in front of me. I noticed some of them had the jealousy expression, some had sparkling in their eyes, and some were only curious. Clearing my throat slightly, I walked towards an empty desk and fiddled with my phone as soon as my butt was seated on it. ¡°Jane, we have something to ask you.¡± I looked up and saw two of my ssmates were standing in front me with curiousity stered on their faces. ¡°Go on.¡± I nodded my confirmation. ¡°Are you really Mr. Sanjaya¡¯s fiancee?¡± One of them asked, sessfully made me almost choked with my own saliva. H-how did she know? Chapter 66 Chapter 66: Possessed For a split second, I could feel my eyes widened slightly. But, I gained control of my expression quickly. Instead, I chuckled as if I was just hearing the most ridiculous question. ¡°Who told you that?¡± As long as it didn¡¯te out from Sanji¡¯s mouth, I thought I could still find a way to twist it and avoid ¡ª ¡°Mr. Sanjaya did.¡± These words sessfully cut off my train of thought. This time, I froze. Damn, that goes my way out of this future hell. People didn¡¯t bully me when I dated Senior Rizal because they thought Senior Rizal was still within everyone¡¯s reach. But, Sanji was in different realm. His fans didn¡¯t bother to create a high standard for his future girlfriend or wife, they simply dissed any girls or women came close to him. His existence was like a male god and only a super strong goddess could rival his lunatic fans. And if I were not able to find a way out of this mess, I would be the next victim of his crazy fans! ¡°No way!¡± An exim escaped their mouths as their eyes widened in shock. But, in the next second, their gaze turned hostile towards me. ..... ¡°What rights do you have to be his fiancee?¡± The first girl red at me, small growl escaped pass her lips. ¡°You¡¯ve seduced Senior Rizal, now that you got dumped by him, you decided to put your ws onto Mr. Sanjaya? What a slut!¡± The other girl was even more hostile towards me. Thanks to their full of rage voice, the whole ss was now staring at me with different emotion swirling in their eyes. I was insulted and humiliated, but for some reason I was smiling. The angrier I felt, the calmer I was. Crossing my arms in front of my chest and leaning my body on the back of the chair I was sitting on, I looked up at them. ¡°Are you done?¡± I didn¡¯t notice the coldness in my voice. I was sure I was being normal, but after that, some said that I was too scary. The two of them looked shocked. There was a second where the both of them -all of them, actually- fell silent that the only sound I could hear was the sound of air conditioner. ¡°If you¡¯re done, move aside. I came to study, not to hear your bullshit about your jealousy over someone you couldn¡¯t have.¡± I watched as their faces turned red from anger. But, I am not done yet. Tilted my head to the side slightly, I continued. ¡°Tell me, just because he said I was his fiancee then should I feel like one? Then, is it okay for me to go on a date with him?¡± I deliberately made myself sounded happy and excited. ¡°YOU WISH!!¡± They shouted almost in unison. ¡°No. You wish.¡± I pointed at them calmly, stressing on the word ¡®you¡¯. ¡°Move aside. I don¡¯t have anything to do with him.¡± Gesturing for them to move away, I rxed myself, but never let my guard down. Blowing up in rage, one of them raised her hand in attempt to p me. But, before she could swing her hand down, a sh of ck shadow shot into her body. Her body froze with her eyes wide opened. On the next second, her eyes closed and her body went limp. I watched everything with a frown on my face. ¡°Cindy, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Her friend called her as she shook her shoulder lightly. Thanks to her, I witnessed one of the scariest in horror movie: the time when closed eyes were opened widely suddenly. I flinched in my seat as Cindy¡¯s eyes met mine. Rage was obvious in her eyes, but then she turned her gaze from me to her friend beside her. A creepy smirk was formed on her face slowly, like an evil being was possessing her. Wait, ¡®possessed¡¯? Don¡¯t tell me... My eyes widened at this thought. The shadow just now must be one of them, but who? Do I know this one? As I focused my eyes on her, I could see a thinyer of ck shadow emitted from her. Damn, she is really possessed. Eh, wait, I can see this kind of thing now? Wow! I was snapped back to reality when I heard a voice in front of me. ¡°W-w-what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Her friend stuttered as she stepped backwards slowly. ¡°What¡¯s with her? Why did she stop hitting?¡± A displeasedment came from the audience was heard and she earned a super terrifying death re from Cindy. ¡°I think there¡¯s something wrong with her.¡± A male ssmate said. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Another one chimed in. Whispers were heard throughout the room. As the whispers grew louder, Cindy stood straight and shouted. ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Her thin voice was strangely loud and piercing, sessfully silenced all the people in the ss. Still with her widened eyes, she swept her gaze towards then. Crazy glint appeared in her eyes and her fist clutched tightly. ¡°You stupid, pompous human! Sanjaya is mine!! How dare you ugly sluts put your ws towards what¡¯s mine!¡± She shouted unashamed. She was the one who shouted so openly, but why did I feel embarrassed instead? ¡°Are you crazy?! The slut who takes Mr. Sanjaya is the one behind you! Why are you calling us sluts?!¡± Another angry shouted was heard. Cindy sneered. ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know anything? You stalk Sanjaya¡¯s ount every day, don¡¯t you?!¡± The girl¡¯s face was flushed. ¡°W-who didn¡¯t do that?¡± ¡°You put Sanjaya¡¯s picture in your wallet and when someone asked you, you told them that he was your boyfriend.¡± Cindy continued, making the other girl flushed even redder. The eyes of others were focusing on her with different thought inside their head. ¡°CINDY!¡± The other girl screamed in frustration. She might have never thought that Cindy was revealing her secret to other people. Judging by the way that girl reacted to Cindy¡¯s usation, I knew that all was said was true. Damn, this ghost is scary! She is really doing her best to be an evil creature! How could ¡®she¡¯ make Cindy spilling those information? Chapter 67 Chapter 67: Told You I Could Do It ¡°Cindy, what¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Her friend who came with her to bully me shook her body lightly, only to earn disgusted look from her. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me.¡± Cindy said coldly as she eyed the hands that were grabbing her arm, then straight to her friend¡¯s eyes. I noticed she trembled slightly as she released her grab on Cindy¡¯s arm and walked back in fear. I arched my left eyebrow as I watched her behavior. At this moment, I noticed the ck mist seemed to be thicker and enveloped Cindy¡¯s body tightly. Well, I guessed she would lose her consciousness sooner orter. ¡°Stay back. That¡¯s not Cindy.¡± Finally, someone was clever enough to notice that the one who was standing in front of them was not the real Cindy inside. ..... ¡°What do you mean?¡± The other started asking. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, she is possessed.¡± Gasp escaped from their lips as Cindy sneered even more hostile towards them, as if she was watching a bunch of fools. ¡°I¡¯m noting out no matter what you do.¡± She said. ¡°Go away! It¡¯s not your world anymore! Go back to where you came from!¡± ¡°No way! I¡¯ve been waiting this moment where her negativity finally reached the right amount for me to possess her!¡± ¡°Someone, please help her!¡± Cindy¡¯s friend shouted for help. ¡°Call an exorcist!¡± ¡°It¡¯s useless! None of them can get me out from this body!¡± ¡®Cindy¡¯ arrogantly said. It was my first time seeing someone being possessed but almost to the point of being normal. She really didn¡¯t look like she was possessed. Most of the possessed people I knew would either go on a rampage or act like a beast, but I had never seen someone as calm as this one. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would think that she was just being her normal self. ¡°Who are you?¡± asked one of my ssmate. ¡®Cindy¡¯ sneered again. ¡°You¡¯re not qualified to know my name.¡± Right at that time, the lecturer came in a hurry along with one of my ssmates. It seemed like he had called the lecturer the moment this chaos was started. ¡°What is happening here?¡± The lecturer, Rianti Putri, asked with a frown on her face. Her boyish appearance paired with sharp eyes and stern face could put any boys to shame and because of that, she could easily intimidate anyone. ¡°Miss Rianti, Cindy got possessed!¡± I had no idea who shouted that but he sounded like a terrified little boy instead of a grown up. Miss Rianti¡¯s sharp eyebrows frowned as she looked at the said girl who got possessed. ¡°Possessed? She looks fine to me.¡± A chuckle escaped Cindy¡¯s mouth as she arrogantly crossed her arms in front of her chest. If I had not known better, I would have thought that she was not possessed, too. But, the ck mist proved the opposite to me. What kind of ghost could possess human like this? ¡°What are youughing at?¡± Miss Rianti asked. Well, this would take a while. This bantering would get no where. The one inside Cindy needed to be exorcist. I had a bad feeling about how casual it acted even after possessing a human¡¯ s body. As the bantering went on, I scanned my eyes around me and noticed some other blurred creatures were here. I could not make out their faces but based on their figures, I guessed they looked bad. They were standing beside one of my female ssmates who looked terrified. And their number started to increase as I witnessed another one appeared. So, it seems like thismotion attracted them. And, if my guess is right, they are actually trying to possess that one girl. ¡°Woah, it¡¯s so lively here. It even could be heard from my ce.¡± A familiar voice was heard and I saw Kunti floated in with a big excited grin on her face. I shot her a questioning look when our gaze met, asking what she was doing here. ¡°Oh, so this is your ss.¡± She eximed as she floated towards me. ¡°The negative aura here is thick. That was our source of energy, so no wonder many wille.¡± Kunti said. ¡°Also, do you see some of us are here?¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°They are waiting.¡± She deliberately paused speaking as she shot me a look. ¡°They are waiting until one of these humans feels weak by all this negative energy and possess them.¡± Possess them? Make sense. I nodded slowly as my eyes scanned the expression on my ssmates¡¯ faces. My gaze stopped on one of the girls who was blinking her eyes hard but still looked disoriented. One of the creatures seemed to envelope her back as her eyes were dropping heavily. It got her! A sneer was heard and I turned my head to the source of the sneer. My gaze met head-on with Cindy¡¯s gaze and the cold glint shed in her eyes. ¡°I won¡¯t be alone.¡± She said slowly, as if wanting to provoke me. I raised my eyebrow and sighed. ¡°Do you believe that I am capable of pulling you out and thrash you?¡± My voice came out so low and indifferent. After I finished saying that, she burst outughing, sessfully frightened the others. ¡°YOU?!¡± She pointed at me mockingly and back tough like crazy. I frowned as the other gazes were focusing on me. This ghost was really testing my patience! Without waiting for her to finishughing, I instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand. I pulled hard, but let my fingers slid from her small wrist, not really pulling Cindy. Instead, the ck mist came out from her. ¡°Told you I could do it.¡± I smirked. Chapter 68 Chapter 68: Senior Ghost Standing in front of me, no, floating in front of me was a weird-shaped ck shadow which had a pair of eyes and evil looking mouth. That pair of eyes was red but shock was seen from it. Its gaze fell onto its hand that was being hold by me. A look of astonishment shed in those red orbs. I, myself, was shocked too, actually! I mean, since when did I have this ability? If I had known before that I had this ability to pull out unwanted ghost from a possessed person, I would have used this ability long ago when I saw how hard it was to exorcist them. Not to mention after an exorcism was performed, the possessed one would feel weak. Right. Talking about feeling weak, I forgot about Cindy. My gaze turned to look for Cindy and I saw her was sitting on her butt. Her face paled and her eyes widened in shock as she was looking at ... me? No, that was not right. She was looking at the creature in my hand. ¡°She can see it. To be precise, she can see us all here. You forcefully pulled this one out, shook her soul a bit, made her able to see them for a bit while. It is not permanent, probably onlyst for five minutes or less. Only if she doesn¡¯t faint.¡± Kunti exined. ¡°Oh, she faints.¡± She giggled as we saw Cindy¡¯s eyes rolled to the back of her skull and she fell backward, losing her consciousness. As soon as she fainted, the whole room fell into uproar. Of course, the one being responsible for that was the second possessed girl. ..... As I turned to look at her, I saw the typical reaction of someone getting possessed. She had a mad expression on her face. Paired with wide eyes and hardened jaw, she looked odd and scary. A sneer appeared on her face and she let out a strangeugh; it sounded like her voice but at the same time it sounded like a grown up man. I watched as this girl growled at those near her, made one of them jumped in fright and cried in fear. I felt my head ached and I rubbed my forehead in distress. Some people had taken care of Cindy, probably bringing her to the infirmary. Some girls had escaped, which was better in order to avoid them being possessed. Some guys had taken a hold on the possessed girl and restrained her from causing a mess. I saw Miss Rianty also rubbed her temples. She didn¡¯t look scared or nervous, just distressed. She must have been used to deal with this kind of things. I heard her ask a male student to call for Sanji. ¡°What will you do to this creature?¡± Kunti¡¯s voice made me realized that I was still holding the one that possessed Cindy. ¡°What is this thing?¡± I asked quietly. The chaos helped me to distract people¡¯s eyes from me. It struggled to break free from me but somehow it couldn¡¯t. I also couldn¡¯t feel its struggling at all. But, the asional grunts and growled were heard clearly. ¡°She is one of my kind.¡± Kunti answered. A Kuntnak? Why is she only a shadow, then? Also, she didn¡¯t sound like one just now. Maybe I need to interrogate her a bit. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I took my phone with my free hand and flung my bag over my shoulder without releasing my grip on the ck shadow. Going out through the side door of the room, I dragged the unwilling shadow behind me. Kunti floated behind me, following me quietly. I kept walking until I reached a secluded area. After making sure that no one was around, I faced the shadow. ¡°Can she talk?¡± I asked Kunti. Kunti nodded. ¡°She is just in shock because you pulled her out suddenly.¡± ¡°You can feel shock, too?¡± I widened my eyes in surprise. Who are they trying to fool? Shock? ¡°Of course we can.¡± Kunti stomped her feet angrily. ¡°Even though we are ghost, we also can feel shock.¡± She added. I found it hard to believe, though. ¡°Damn you stupid ghost! Why are you still not talking? What¡¯s the point of being a senior ghost if you keep silent like this?¡± Kunti pointed a finger at the shadow, talking while fuming mad in anger. I stunned when I heard her say ¡®senior ghost¡¯. Holding back myughter, I began to mutter under my breath. ¡°Senior ghost. Is there levels between them?¡± Chapter 69 Chapter 69: So You Can See Them As soon as I finished muttering, there was movement from the ck shadow in my hand. Turning my head to look at it, I found it started to take a shape. The ck shadow in my hand changed into a cold pale arm with long and slender fingers. If only the nails on those fingers were not freaking long, I would have been jealous to the owner of those beautiful fingers. As I saw the hair seemed messy, my heart thumped loudly. She wouldn¡¯t show me her scary appearance, would she? She did exactly like what I had been avoiding for. I took a quick deep breath when I saw her ghastly appearance; it was an ugly ck face with a pair of red eyes opened wide. ¡°Damn!¡± I cursed as I turned my face not to look at her. As if her scary face was not enough, she let out a shrillugh which sessfully made me having a bad goosebumps all over my body. ..... ¡°Damn it! Stopughing! Don¡¯t you know you¡¯re ugly?!¡± I scolded her as I rubbed my arms repeatedly. ¡°With how you look and how youugh, do you think Mr. Sanjaya will like you? Dream on! He would never turn to look at you!¡± When I heard theughter stopped, I knew I talked about the right thing. But then, I was stunned when theughter turned into weeping. I thought that a Kuntnak¡¯sughter was the scariest, but at this precise time, I changed my mind. Their weeping sound was even scarier!!! ¡°W-why are you crying?¡± I stared at the ugly face in front of me in disbelief. I forgot the fear I was feeling when I looked at her face. ¡°Jane, you cruel!¡± Kunti said in disappointed tone. ¡°How could you say that thing so lightly? Even though we are ghost, our hearts are as fragile as human!¡± Fragile, my a*s!!! I really had the urge to curse out loud, but after something reminded me that getting into trouble involving these creatures were worse than with human. So, I swallowed those words back, hard. Disguising my irritation by pinching the bridge of my nose, Iposed myself and asked Kunti. ¡°Does she really like Sanjaya?¡± ¡°I do! I do, I do, I do!¡± The other ghost replied, half-screaming her answer with aggrieved tone. I was taken aback with her enthusiastic yet sad answer. She cried even harder and I was sure I had dumbfounded look on my face. What¡¯s with this situation? Kunti sighed. ¡°She fell too deep.¡± She said as she shook her head. I scratched my not-itchy head as I watched the weeping ghost cried to her heart content. But, I was not really good at consoling others, let alone a ghost, nor I was patient. After several minutes, I turned back and walked away, leaving the still crying ghost. I still had other things to do, I really had no time to console this heartbroken ghost. Matters that I wanted to ask her before, I pushed that in the back of my head. ¡°Where are you going?¡±Kunti floated behind me. ¡°My ss.¡± I replied without looking at her. ¡°Oh.¡± Kunti replied. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going.¡± ¡°Take your senior away.¡± I waved goodbye at her, reminding her on her way back to take the weeping ghost with her. I didn¡¯t bother to look back but from the gradually disappearing cry, I knew that Kunti had dragged her senior away. I let out a sigh of relief. I walked back into the building, searching for my ssmates. After what had happened, I doubted the ss would continue. Not to mention there were several others that got possessed. I wondered how they were doing. Frantic steps were heard through the hallway, followed by some chattering. ¡°Did you find her? No?! Okay.¡± It seemed like this person was on the phone. From the sound of the footsteps, I could make out the number of people; probably two or three of them. As I finally saw these people, they happened to see me, too. Their steps became faster. ¡°There she is!¡± One of them shouted. They are looking for me? Unconsciously I stopped walking and stared at them. Not until they were pretty close then I recognized them as my ssmates. ¡°Jane! Thank God, we found you!¡± One of them, Elisa, shouted at me. There was a hint of relief in her voice. ¡°Are you looking for me? Why?¡± I asked the three of them in confusion. During themotion in ss just now, these three were the strong ones. No ck shadow could approach them. ¡°Come, follow us! Mr. Sanjaya is looking for you.¡± Without exining more, I was pulled to their pace and I had no choice but to follow them. During our way there, they provided me with some information of what was going on. Apparently, some of them witnessed the moment I pulled out the ghost from Cindy¡¯s body -without seeing the ghost, of course -and thought I did something to Cindy. But, after Cindy was conscious, she said that I pulled the one that invaded herself. Also, the people who got possessed increased. There were total of five people as we spoke and I couldn¡¯t help but widen my eyes at the number. No wonder the faculty was strangely quiet, saved from one ce ¨Cthe hall. As soon as I reached the hall, there were quiet a number of people had gathered there. With the number of people increased, the number of ck shadows tempted by the negative vibes increased, too. Suddenly, I felt an uing headache. ¡°Ask them to disperse the crowd. If they keep gathering here, there will be more people got possessed.¡± I said to Elisa. Elisa nodded as she approached one of our male ssmates. Some of them got up and worked together to disperse the crowd, and some of them stayed to restrain the possessed ones. The screams and growls filled the hall and it created an image of apocalypse where zombies and human were fighting. What am I thinking? I shook my head slightly. As I stepped into the hall, my eyes met the figure in the middle of thismotion; Sanji. Besides him was Miss Rianti. Both of them frowned as they looked at the possessed students in front of them. ¡°Ah, she is here.¡± Miss Rianti was the one who noticed me first. She was frowning but a hint of relief could be seen from her eyes. ¡°Miss, Sir.¡± I greeted at them. Sanji stared at me, probably probing me from what he heard from Miss Rianti. I guessed Miss Rianti had told him what had happened in the ss. ¡°So you can see them.¡± He said. It was not a question. It was a statement. I blinked. ¡°Not really.¡± Chapter 70 Chapter 70: Why Should I Feel Guilty? I blinked. ¡°Not really.¡± Sanji pointed at one of the possessed student. I recognized her as my ss¡¯ clown, the effeminate Gabby. ¡°That one inside him is looking for you.¡± Oh, this is new, I thought. Why would a ghost look for me? Frowning a bit, I walked towards Gabby who was sitting in a very feminine way. I guessed what possessed him was a female ghost. He was batting his eyelids seductively towards the boys who were surrounding him. They were getting ready to pounce on him whenever he went berserk, but disgust and wary were clear in the depth of their eyes. ¡®Gabby¡¯ noticed me approaching him and smirked evilly. His seductive gaze disappeared as mocking and taunting reced it. I couldn¡¯t help but think that he looked a lot like an antagonist in every novels I had ever read before. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± He said in a strange pitch; a mix of Gabby¡¯s own voice and a female¡¯s high pitch voice. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, maintaining our distance just in case he decided to pounce on me. ..... His smirked grew wider. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you all this time.¡± He said. Stalker? My left eyebrow arched. ¡°Don¡¯t include me in that shame level of you foolish human. I ain¡¯t stalker.¡± He snorted. Did I speak out loud just now? This time I made sure I locked my lips tightly. I only stared at him, waiting for him to continue talking. ¡°You must want to know where your dear boyfriend disappeared to.¡± He continued. My eyes widened. He, ah no, she knows about Tom? ¡°Come out and talk.¡± I told him. He shook his head. ¡°This fe is so funny. He is a man but he has a heart of a woman. Those stinky maniptive creatures had done quiet a good job in turning him.¡± He pped his own chest as he talked mockingly. He was clearly speaking about himself but it was as if he was talking about someone else. Of course, that was because the one who did the talking was not Gabby, instead it was the ghost inside of him. Judging from how calm she was and how smart she sounded, I guessed she belonged to the upper ss, meant... Kunti¡¯s senior by far. Should I ask about ¡®those stinky maniptive creatures¡¯ he spoke about just now? After considering some options, I decided to ask it another time. I bet I would still meet him againter. ¡°Say, do you think he will appreciate it if I manage to seduce a man for him?¡± Gabby asked, excitement was clear in his eyes. ¡°No.¡± I answered firmly. He frowned, like a maiden feeling wronged. ¡°Why are you so sure?¡± He asked sulkily. I massaged my eyebrows, feeling headacheing my way. ¡°Won¡¯t youe out or not?¡± I asked, a hint of threatced my words. His wronged expression changed with a faint trace of anger. ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± A low growl escaped from his throat, sessfully made everyone stiffened in alert. I arched my eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯ve taken too long in his body. It will only harm him, not to mention your bad intention. Gabby maybe a bit feminine, but he is not gay.¡± Maybe, I added inside my heart. Gabby chuckled and threw me a mocking stare. ¡°You talked as if you could make me out from this body. Also, are you sure you can keep me from possessing himself again in another time?¡± Gabby responded in victorious voice. ¡°Who knows?¡± I shrugged my shoulders. I honestly was not sure whether I could perform the same act as I did to Cindy or not. ¡°Once a person is possessed, it¡¯s as if a hole is opened in his or her body to let them enter the body freely. Only after a super long ritual that the hole can be closed bit by bit, but it will not disappear.¡± Sanji came behind me. I turned to look at him who was frowning for whatever reason made him upset. As my eyes met his, the displeasure sparked brighter. ¡°So, what is the talking about your boyfriend¡¯s disappearance? I thought you¡¯ve broken up with that foolish number four. Or, did you?¡± He asked in low voice so only I could hear him. I gulped slightly and turned my head to avoid his peering gaze. Why do I feel like I am being caught cheating from my own boyfriend? Before I could think of any response, I was saved by the woman in Gabby¡¯s body. ¡°Hey, handsome! Do you want to hook up with me? I can promise you I¡¯m a total tight and virgin but willing to try new things!¡± I shuddered as I heard those dirty words came out from his mouth. The slight feminine but kind-hearted Gabby was being tainted in front of me, how could I stay silent? Suppressing the anger I felt inside, I walked towards him in big strides. Reaching out my hand, I lightly pushed his right shoulder and when the ck mist was pushed out of his shoulder, I grabbed it hard and pulled it along with me. A screeching sound was heard as the ck mist was dragged out from the body forcefully. I watched over my shoulder to the creature in my hand who was now being dragged by its shoulder and struggling to make me release my death grip. ¡°You¡¯re outside now.¡± I told it coldly. The loud screeching stopped and as if it had just realized what had happened, it turned its pair of red eyes towards me. Shock, anger, and fear mixed in its eyes, but I ignored them. I turned my head to Gabby who wasying on the floor weakly. His eyes met mine but instead of fear, he looked thankful and a bit shock. After that, he lost consciousness. ¡°Treating me like this, you must not want to hear about your boyfriend.¡± It snorted and its body slowly gained a form. ¡°And I am not talking about your ex. I¡¯m talking about the boy in your dorm.¡± Indeed, it was talking about Tom. My body stiffened as I looked around. It was my luck that I had pulled it out from Gabby¡¯s body, I could bet that no human could hear it talked. Yes, normal human would probably unable to hear it, but Sanji was not a normal human after all. When I saw him, he was standing straight, looking right at me with his eyebrows frowning. The displeasure was still clear in his gaze. Under his sharp gaze, I felt like I was stabbed by countless needles of ufortable feeling. The word ¡®guilt¡¯ appeared in my mind. It was strange. Why should I feel guilty? Chapter 71 Chapter 71: What An Arrogant Ghost! Why should I feel guilty? Awkwardly, I turned away from his peering gaze and pulled the shadow with me. My feet felt light as I tried to quickly run away from the crime scene. Ignoring my surroundings, I missed the stares some people gave me, especially those who were possessed. Later on, I found out that they hadbeled me as a freak; a freak who could interact with ghost. My reaction for that title would be for next time story. My sense in detecting the crowd was getting better and better, or maybe it was only my awareness was heightened due to the tension I felt just now. But, as far as I could remember, I did not meet many people during my escape with the shadow. My feet stopped moving when I finally reached a rather secluded area. Looking behind my back, I saw a woman in red floating backwards as a result of me grabbing her shoulder. It seemed like she found a time to transform herself into her usual appearance while I was dragging her out. ¡°Hey..¡± I called her out. ..... ¡°You know even if you drag me out of there you can¡¯t hide the fact that the little boyfriend of yours is a ghost, right?¡± She said without looking at me. I knew that, of course, but I only shrugged my shoulders in response. Probably sensing my small movements, she turned her body towards me. I thought that she would have a worse appearance than Kunti¡¯s and her senior¡¯s, but I was stunned when I saw the reality in front of me. Instead of a super messed up face that people couldn¡¯t bear to see, her face was surprisingly normal. By normal I meant, no barely hanging eyeballs, no ck and garish scars on her face, and no super ugly hair style. Her face skin was smooth but pale, the kind of pale that would make ones remember for a long time. Her eyes were surprisingly ck and a bit nted. Her nose was straight and her lips were blood red. Instead of ugly and scary, her face leaned towards creepy and unusual; a perfectbination of elf and devil, maybe. Her hair was long and a bit messed up, but not to the point like Kunti¡¯s. Judging from her appearance, I bet she must be some higher sses -even higher than thest one possessing Cindy -of female ghost. And, it seemed like she was not in the same ss as Kunti. Maybe she saw me stunned so she threw me her creepy smirk. Her sharp teeth were shown and I couldn¡¯t help but shudder at her not beautiful smile. ¡°I¡¯m not some of those low sses ghost that you¡¯ve known before. Don¡¯t ssify me as one of them.¡± She said cheekily. I blinked my eyes, not knowing of how I should respond to her arrogant statement. No matter what sses you are, you are still a ghost, right? I had the urge to retort back but I held back. This female ghost was obviously stronger than Kunti, stronger than any ghost I had ever met, it was still unclear to me of what would happen to me if I were to oppose her openly. ¡°You¡¯re pretty quiet, huh? Or, are you trying to analyze me? Don¡¯t bother with it. I¡¯m an open book, I held no hidden intention.¡± She grabbed my hand that was still clutching at her shoulder and easily threw it away. As if it was not enough, she patted her shoulder like my hand left dirt on it. What an arrogant ghost! I really was turned speechless by this female ghost. I felt like I would degrade myself if I were to talk back to her. Oh yeah, she was quite talkative, too. I didn¡¯t even need to say anything but she would bber everything out. After showing me disdain look on her face, she floated around me, scrutinizing me from head to toe. It was ufortable, but I was lucky I held back. ¡°Hm, you have an almost opened seal in your body. Why don¡¯t you open it fully?¡± She asked me with an interesting look on her face. ¡°What seal?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± The surprised look on her face only made her face even creepier. ¡°I seriously thought how you could pull me out of that human¡¯s body. Turns out you really have the power inside but it is suppressed. The seal is almost broken, though. Hey, you¡¯re quite special, you know?¡± Herst statement was said with twinkling eyes. ¡°Special?¡± I wonder if that was a good thing or not... Chapter 72 Chapter 72: I Think I Just Saw Myself ¡°What do you mean ¡®special¡¯?¡± Again, she smirked. I had this sudden urge to punch her in the face every time she showed me her annoying smirk. ¡°I won¡¯t tell you.¡± She said as she turned away from me; I could tell she did that purposely. Before I could retort back, she had floated away and waved goodbye to me. ¡°I¡¯ll tell youter when the time hase!¡± She said. I stared at her disappearing back, feeling dumbfounded. I had a feeling that somethingplicated was heading towards me. She still had not told me about Tom¡¯s disappearance, yet she left me hanging with another troublesome matter. Taking a deep breath, I decided to head back. This time, I knew for sure that no ss would be held for today. ..... After what had happened today, I knew it would a long and tiring day for anyone. By the time I entered my room, I was greeted by the sight of Tom. He was sitting down on my bed, waiting for me like usual. He turned his head towards me in a creepy manner and it was like a horror sound effect was ying in my head. However, I noticed his expression was slightly off. I mean, he looked much gloomier and paler than before. It was as if he was bing more and more like a ghost. A ghost wouldn¡¯t be sick, right? Still, seeing him in this state made theint I had in mind flew away. He didn¡¯t even wee me!! ¡°Tom?¡± I called him slowly as I carefully approached him on my bed. I watched as he blinked his eyes painfully slow, like a super sleepy person who already ran out of energy but still couldn¡¯t fall asleep. His eyes looked empty, lifeless, and it worried me. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked again, but still no response from him. ¡°Tom?¡± ¡°...Jane?¡± His voice came out like a whisper. Okay, he was not like his usual self. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I reached out to him but the chilly feeling numbed my fingertips, reminding me that he was not a human. ¡°I think...¡± He trailed off. ¡°What?¡± I scooted closer to him, try to hear what he said. ¡°I think I just saw myself.¡± He said in a whisper, but loud enough for me to hear. His words caught me off guard as I stiffened in response. What did he mean? Did he have any recollection about his past life? My eyes met his. A flicker of light appeared in his almost lifeless eyes. Emotion rushed in his stoic expression and brought up some warmth. It was as if he was excited after ¡®seeing¡¯ himself. ¡°Uhum...¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°W-what did you see? I mean... do you remember something from your past life?¡± Hearing my question, he frowned as he fell into deep thought. ¡°Was it just my memory?¡± He asked, probably to himself. ¡°What did you see?¡± I asked. ¡°I was sleeping alone in a room. But, I don¡¯t know where it was.¡± He answered, his eyes were looking at me in confusion. I raised my eyebrows. ¡°Do you still remember the detail?¡± Honestly, when I asked this question, I was just messing around with him. I was not even being serious with my question. But, surprisingly, he took it seriously and thought about it. ¡°It is pretty bright, and the room is mostly white. I remember the window is big and I could see a big tree from the window. But, I couldn¡¯t hear anything. I only saw myselfying on the small bed, still sleeping. There is a flower on the nightstand and a book.¡± He exined slowly. He was trying hard to remember it and I found it strange that he could see something so vivid. ¡°Well, at least you have regained some of your memory. By the way, where were you?¡± I asked, diverting his attention from his memory. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was sucked into a ck hole and when I opened my eyes, I was standing near the bed where my body wasying.¡± He said in all seriousness. What did he mean by that? ¡°After that?¡± I asked again. ¡°After that, I was sucked again into the same ck hole and appeared here. Then, you came.¡± He said. I frowned. Based on his exnation, he was only ¡®seeing¡¯ himself for a short while, in reality he had been missing for hours. What the hell is happening here? And, what is the ck hole? Why do I feel like we were speaking differentnguages just now? Chapter 73 Chapter 73: Father Ever since Tom came back, I could feel the difference around me. I didn¡¯t know what was the reason for the change, but I could feel it clearly and it became stronger as day passed. And, when I talked about change, I meant the presence of ghost. Yeah, somehow my sensitivity towards them increased as I could sense them now. I could also see them sometime and I would be lying if I said I was not scared by their appearance. Most of them were in hideous state and some even emitting bad aura around them that made me feel fear. The good news is they would not enter my room and the furthest they could do was haunting my balcony. Damn... that was my favorite spot. Who said ghost would not appear in the broad daylight? Wrong. It was just in the broad daylight, it tended to get brighter and their transparent body sometimes got even more transparent that people normally could not see. But, they were actually there all the time. A bit cloudy and I could see them clearly. I used to dislike the brightness of the sun, but now I couldn¡¯t express how much I loved it and did not even care if I got sunburn because of staying under the sun for too long. Well, not that I would get one, I got a good sunblock cream to protect my skin. Haha... ..... At least, I didn¡¯t need to see them under the ring light of the sun. After Tom returned, I got back to my daily activity. Of course, I couldn¡¯t avoid meeting Sanji. As expected, he was asking me where I brought the ghost from before. ¡°She went away, of course.¡± I answered. His sharp eyes as if wanted to pierce me. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could pull out a ghost from someone¡¯s body that way. They thanked you, you know?¡± He said. ¡°Ah, I had no idea as well. I don¡¯t even know why I did that. Haha...¡± I let out a hollowugh as I avoided his gaze. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t mean it can¡¯t be done. I knew someone who could do the same, only this person pulls it on top of the possessed one¡¯s body. It¡¯s like pulling out weed.¡± Sanji said casually. ¡°Oh yeah, who is it?¡± I asked, not at all wishing for a reply. ¡°Your father.¡± Sanji smiled at me, but it was not his smile that made me stunned. My father? I didn¡¯t know my father could do something like that. Why haven¡¯t I seen him do ... anything like that? ¡°From your reaction, I bet you must not know about it.¡± Sanji let out a smallugh and I swear I could feel invisible daggers were flying towards me. Some of his lunatic fan-girls must be here. ¡°Your father was one of the best exorcist, too bad he stopped meddling with the ghost after he finished his journey to the South. Well, of course his skill increased after his journey, but he rarely dealt with ghost anymore. But, I only saw him use his skill twice, first was when I was still a kid and the second was after his journey, one day before I met you. So, I had a very good understanding that his ability had somehow increased. And, whatever he got from his journey, I see it being passed down to you.¡± Hearing him describing about my father like that, how cool was that? I almost couldn¡¯t stop myself from grinning foolishly but at the same time, a part of my heart and rational brain processed the entire story in a high speed information processing. Did my father really have the ability? ¡°I¡¯ve never known... I mean, I know my father can see and has some understanding towards their world, but I really have no idea he could be that way. When did he go to the South?¡± I asked as I looked at him curiously. ¡°When you were about three to four years old.¡± He answered lightly. ¡°And how old were you back then to be able to remember everything so detailed?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always been a smart boy, especially to the things that I am interested with.¡± He shrugged and put on his annoying smirk. His gaze was as if taunting me, ¡®I¡¯m this smart, what can you do about it?¡¯ ¡°Which reminds me...¡± His voice cut the word that was about toe out from my mouth. He looked even more serious as he leaned forward, staring right through my eyes. ¡°What did she mean by ¡®the boy in your dorm¡¯?¡± Chapter 74 Chapter 74: Sorry For Admiring Another Man Is it still possible for me to dodge this question? Should I pretend to be deaf? Is it toote for me to pretend that I have ss now? Where is the bell when I need it? God, I miss high school bell... ¡°Don¡¯t try to avoid the question.¡± His voice snapped me out to reality. I didn¡¯t even need to fake my expression as I was sure I put on a stoic expression on my face. Whatever reaction he caught in my eyes ¨Cand I was sure he could see my eyes wavering slightly as he was blessed with those incredibly amazing sharp eyes¨C I wouldn¡¯t deny it. I had no reason to do so. So be it, if he wanted to know about Tom. But, I would be passive, just answering his questions. I wouldn¡¯t say anything unless he asked it. ¡°So, what did she mean? Is there any boys in your dormitory?¡± Sanji asked. His eyes peered through my eyes, trying to figure out what I was thinking, probably. ¡°Yes.¡± I replied. ¡°And no.¡± I added. He frowned. ¡°A ghost?¡± He asked. I was not surprised he would think so. After all, we had one thing inmon; sixth sense. ..... I shrugged my shoulders. Tom was not particrly a ghost, though. ¡°But, I didn¡¯t see anything attached to you.¡± His frown deepened. That¡¯s new, but I guess I was right about Tom was not an ordinary ghost. ¡°Is he bothering you?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Then why did she mention about him? Do you have any rtionship with this particr ghost?¡± His eyes were looking straight at me, probably wondering the answer himself by searching for it in my eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I shrugged again. ¡°Jane, you know you can tell me anything, right? Don¡¯t hide anything for me. What if it bes bigger and endangers yourself? I prefer you to tell me anything. Especially since your sixth sense has not been fully opened.¡± Sanji softened his voice, trying to persuade me. I held back the urge to roll my eyes. What¡¯s wrong with him now? I had never thought we were that close for me to talk about anything to him. Not even because my sixth sense had not fully awakened. He might want to keep me safe, but I wouldn¡¯t let him do anything for now. He didn¡¯t need to know more about Tom. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded, showing a small smile to him. Sanji smiled back at me. His smile was so calm and tender, but somehow I had a feeling that he still hid something behind his smile. ¡°So, when will you treat me to a dinner?¡± He grinned and again, I felt the invisible flying daggers were thrown towards me. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when the timees.¡± I smiled. Could those girls summon up their courage and face Sanji directly instead of directing their anger to me? ¡°I know it is annoying, but bear with it.¡± He said in a low tone. His grin was still stering on his handsome face. I needed one second to understand what he meant by that. His grin turned into a soft smile. ¡°They can be annoying, which is why I still haven¡¯t had a girlfriend until now. Of course, part of it because I¡¯ve already engaged to you, but the thought of having a girlfriend did cross my mind for several times. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± He added thest sentence quickly. ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all. I mean, I didn¡¯t even know I¡¯m already engaged.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Well, even though it crossed my mind for several times, I haven¡¯t had a chance to do it. Mostly because these girls put a scary standard on who should I date. Not that I must follow their condition, but they managed to scare the girl I was close with so far.¡± Sanji let out a bitterugh. I was amazed seeing him so calm even though he felt sad with the oue. He couldn¡¯t sue them for scaring his potential future wife, but he also couldn¡¯t do as they liked. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel angry?¡± I asked. ¡°You know, you could pursue the girl and protect the girl from your fans, you know? What if they did something harmful to the girl?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s the point. I had no idea how they managed to scare those women. They didn¡¯t harm them, not even a bit. But, the next thing I know, the woman whom I was dating had avoided me like I was some kind of disease. I couldn¡¯t even sue them for harming people. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been thinking, since they wanted to avoid me, then so be it. There¡¯s no point for me to keep chasing after them. I don¡¯t want to waste my time to convince the woman to stay with me. If she doesn¡¯t have the guts to stay with me, I won¡¯t waste my time either.¡± Sanji exined. There was bitterness in his voice, but his voiceced with determination at hisst sentence. ¡°But again, maybe it was the way my destiny is. I couldn¡¯t find any woman since I have been engaged to you. So, I don¡¯t really feel lost. After all, I still have you as my fiancee, right?¡± He shot me his beaming smile and for a second, I felt like I was blinded by him. How could you be so good-looking, Sanji?! Tom, I¡¯m sorry for admiring another man... Chapter 75 Chapter 75: Tom Meets Sanji (1) Sniff, sniff... Unconsciously I sniffed the air around me. For a second, I thought I smelt something. It was a mix of flower and something dead which intrigued my curiosity. Was it only my imagination? Did I get involved in their ¡®world¡¯ too much that I was starting to be paranoid? I could feel that my skill was getting better, but nothing could make me happier than the improvement of my mental state. Sometimes I still flinched, and sometimes I thought I was going crazy, but somehow I managed to stay sane. Trust me, there¡¯s nothing good with being able to see and hear ¡®them¡¯. The once peaceful world of mine disappeared in an instant. I heard voices that did not belong to human which made me even more quiet anywhere I went. I needed to make sure that a human was talking to me instead of hastily replying something that was not spoken by human. Now, I could even smell them. What¡¯s more, I could differentiate them into good or evil by their smell. Just like what I smelt just now. ..... I was pretty sure it was the smell of evil ghost. Why did I say so? Of course I had my own reason. So far, those who were evil, disturbed human a lot, were those who smelt bad. The nastier the smell, the worse they were. In contrast, those who smelt nicer were usually powerful and nice. Of course, all of these information were told by Kunti. So, what was the meaning of the flowery smell with a hint of rotten flesh? Easy, it meant this ghost was trying to trick people by tricking them into thinking that she was one of good ghosts. In reality, she was not. She might not bring harm to people, but she was mischievous enough to cause trauma to some people. I didn¡¯t intend to look for this one, of course. I didn¡¯t want to get too entangled in this whole ghost affairs and still sought my peaceful life. Never thought it was toote for me to do so. Well, at least I could choose not to interfere too much with ¡®them¡¯. With that thought in my mind, I turned back my body and continued my steps. It was dusk, the sunny day left red and orange glow in the sky to apany the sun to rest. Half of the sky turned dark and thanks to the tall trees and buildings, I couldn¡¯t enjoy the beautiful sunset from where I was standing. Well, I wouldn¡¯t enjoy it as much as I used to. Ever since my ability to see ¡®them¡¯ was opened, I couldn¡¯t say sunset was enjoyable anymore. Because at this precise time, I could see them clearly and the time they started to get active. If I were to see the dusk sky in the middle of the city, I would see them flying above the houses, tainting the beautiful sky with their ugly faces. If I were to see the sunset in the sea, the scenery was scarier than the scariest horror movie I¡¯ve ever watched. So, if anyone wanted to ask me to see the sunset, I would surely say no. It was already dark when I got into my dorm. With my favorite fried rice in my right hand, I was stunned to see a strange view that had never happened before in front of my dorm. When I was still with Senior Rizal, this feeling had never appeared. The anxiety was nowhere to be found back then. But somehow, seeing Tom, who finally was able toe out from the room, stood in front of the dorm with Sanji who was looking at him with a deep frown on his face, made my heart jumpy from anxiety. What are they doing? I screamed inside my head. I watched both of their expression, trying to figure what was going on. Tom had a serious expression, even more serious than I had ever seen he became. He stood firm, his already cold body emitting even more cold than he usually was. He looked alert, as if Sanji was his enemy. Standing in front of him was Sanji, with a deep frown between his eyebrows. Displeasure was clear in his eyes. His body exuded a kind of aura that I had never seen from him before. It felt like an authoritative pressure but I was not for whom. Well, I didn¡¯t feel like he was directing it towards me, so I only had one answer; it was for Tom. But, I also didn¡¯t see Tom being affected by his pressure. So, what was it for? or did he release it unconsciously? Anyway, until today I still have no idea how I knew he was releasing his aura. It was not like I could see it, but I could say I felt it, I sensed it. Chapter 76 Chapter 76: Tom Meets Sanji (2) ¡°Was he the one?¡± Sanji kept maintaining his gaze on Tom, but I knew he was asking at me. This time I had no way to hide it anymore. Tom was standing in front of him. His every gesture was probably understood by Sanji. Lying to him would only make things moreplicated. But, my voice was caught in my throat, leaving me no other choice but to shrug my shoulders in hesitance. The frown in his face deepened. Did he treat Tom as an evil ghost? ¡°Who is he?¡± This time, it was Tom. He didn¡¯t move his eyes away from Sanji, only asking me in a serious tone. ¡°He is¨C¡± ¡°Sanjaya, her fianc¨¨.¡± Sanji cut my answer, sessfully made me re at him. His expression was calm, as if me being his fiancee was not something new -okay, fine, I know I was engaged to him ever since I was a child, but still... -and he had been waiting for this moment to say it. I bet he didn¡¯t know the effect it would have on Tom after he said that. But, I did. ..... I watched as Tom¡¯s eyes grew wide in shock. His transparent body swayed a little and a look of hurt shed in his eyes. Slowly he turned his head to me, breaking his eye contact with Sanji. ¡°I just knew about it not too long ago, too.¡± Without needing to be asked, I defended myself. ¡°Just...just how long is not too long ago?¡± His voice was full of grievance. Was it so easy to sway this man? Just a mere sentence could hurt him? He didn¡¯t even want to hear my exnation! ¡°What does it have to do with you?¡± Another source of my headache spoke with hint of displeasure in his voice. ¡°Whether she is my fiancee or not, you don¡¯t have to know it.¡± He sounded cold, coupled with the fact that the night wind was blowing lightly, I felt the temperature dropped. Hisst sentence made Tom turned his head towards him again and they both locked in a staring match, only this time it was more intense. As the spectator, I could only feel the corner of eyes twitched as my hands were itched to beat these two men to behave themselves. Fortunately there was no one around except us, but who would know what happened after that? As I watched these two men -one human, one ghost -were involved in a strange eyes fight, I failed to notice the appearance of another entity behind my back. A familiar smell assaulted my sense as I frowned in disgust. Why would the rotten smell get stronger? Before I could turn myself to find the source, a sh of ck shadow shot above my head towards my dorm, along with the familiar sound that could make one¡¯s hair stood. It flew right in the middle of these two men, but somehow its creepyugh turned into a shrill scream where it stopped abruptly and made a big U-turn before it... escaped? No, it only looked like it escaped from something, but there was no reason for it to escape. From its shrill cry, I detected fear. What kind of creature could frighten these entities? Before my confusion got the answer, another entity came, but this time, it didn¡¯t run away like the one before. Instead, it went around the roof, totally ignoring us below. Then, another one came. Another one... Another one... Another one... In less than two minutes, there were more than ten of them hovering on the roof of my dorm. It was my first time seeing them in a group. What was the reason exactly? The good thing was their arrival made Tom and Sanji stopped staring at each other. I was just about to joke with them, asking them what they were doing staring at each other so hotly when there was a girl between them, but Sanji cut me off. ¡°Someone is pregnant here.¡± Sanji said while looking at them. I looked at him in surprise. How did he know? ¡°Or someone is aborting her baby.¡± Tom frowned. His entire being emitted cold aura. Who would be happy if his/her own home was used to do something so irresponsible and dirty like that? I¡¯m not talking about being pregnant, of course. While I was watching and thinking, my eyes caught one familiar figure among those ugly faces on the roof. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Kunti!¡± As soon as those words came out from my mouth, I was stunned when all of them turned to look at me in unison. Shoot! I forgot all of them are Kunti! Letting out hollowugh, I took a step back. All of them looked scary, not even the mischievous Kunti whom I thought I¡¯d got used in seeing her. There was no traces of her being yful. It was like she was blinded by something powerful enough to make her not able to recognize me. The way she looked at me was like the way she looked at her enemy or rival, as if I wanted to steal her food. ¡°Ah, I...¡± I stuttered, not knowing what to say. Before I could think of something to say, those Kuntis let out shrill cries and shot towards me with all their hatred being directed at me. What is going on exactly?! Chapter 77 Chapter 77: The Uninvited Guest (1) Facing an army of ugly and scary women left me dumbfounded and felt a bit scared, unable to react on time. What should I do? It was not like I knew any skill to protect myself from them. It was not like I could fight them like I fought human. Even though I could pull them out from any possessed people, it didn¡¯t mean that I could touch them like I touched human flesh. I didn¡¯t know how I dragged them out, but somehow they couldn¡¯t break free from my grasp. But, the same didn¡¯t apply to Tom. I couldn¡¯t touch him at all. Well, probably it has something to do with him not being an ordinary ghost. So, what should I do now? ..... In the middle of my confusion and slightly panic state, I saw two shadows shed in front of me and shielded me from the attack. ¡°Back off!¡± Two different voices shouted in unison. Before it dawned to me, a gust of wind blew towards those Kuntis and another shrill cries was heard. As I looked up after tidying up my messy hair, I saw them flying away in hurry, scattering in all directions. In a moment, the roof which was covered by them before, now was back to the previous state. I could no longer see any of them floating, standing, sitting on the roof like a minute ago. Standing in front of me was two men who were the cause of the frightened Kuntis. They were still facing the building, with their back facing me. I didn¡¯t know what kind of expression they had on their face right at this moment, but I noticed their aura changed. But what made me stunned mostly was the change in Tom¡¯s transparent body. For a second, I thought I saw wrongly. For a second, I thought it was someone else who was standing in front of me. For a second, I swore I saw his body solidified, not the transparent one anymore. My head went nk as I kept staring at his back. Even after he turned around to face me, I was still dumbly looking at him. My only purpose in mind was to find any part of his body which had solidified, to prove that I was not mistaken. But, all I could see was his transparent body with his handsome face, looking at me in worry. ¡°Jane!¡± Somebody shook my body hard, sessfully snapped me back to my senses. As I turned my head towards the one who shook me, another manly face filled my sight. In his clear eyes, there was no trace of worry, only confused. I could understand if he were worried about me, but why was he confused? ¡°What did you do? Why did they turn aggressive so suddenly? It was not normal.¡± He sounded confused, indeed. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Before I could answer, another question was thrown to me, but it was from Tom who was eyeing me with worry. Warmth filled my heart seeing he was so concerned about me, unlike someone who could only care about the reason behind the attack. ¡°First, I am fine. Second, how would I know they would turn aggressive? I only recognized one of them and identally called her. I had no idea they would attack me like that. Third, thank you for saving me.¡± I answered both of their questions in one go. I was not upset at Sanji¡¯sck of concern, and I was not trying to defend myself. I was not some troublemakers. But, I felt I needed to make myself clear on what happened moments ago that made them attack me. Thinking back to how it happened, I did realize something was amiss. I watched the roof where those Kuntis were gathering at before. It was as empty as I usually saw. There was no trace of any one of them, which made me questioned our previous assumption. Was there really someone inside who was pregnant? I was not trying to put my nose into other people¡¯s business, so I was not going to try to find out who the pregnant girl was. However, as the only person on the second floor which had the view of the roof of the whole dormitory, I didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to have a group of Kuntnak as my everyday scenery. Not to mention their noisyughs and weeps. Who knows maybe some of them would get lost and ended up in my room. That was thest thing I wanted to happen. I was considering the worst option that might happen to me when my eyes caught sight of a suspicious shadow lurking in the dark from the roof towards my room. Bad premonition rose inside my heart. Ignoring the two men, I ran inside and went straight to the second floor, into my room. I had just stepped on thest stairs when I saw my visitor this time. It never crossed my mind that I would meet her again. Chapter 78 Chapter 78: The Uninvited Guest (2) ¡°It¡¯s you.¡± I coldly stated. There was no reason for me to act warm and friendly to her. Thest time she met me was when she asked me to stay away from Senior Rizal. What did she want now? The one who was standing in front of me was Senior Rizal¡¯s true wife, not Amanda, but the creature who possessed Amanda for years. This thing was the true wife of Senior Rizal. The ck shadow I saw just now was also this thing. Even though it was in Amanda¡¯s form, I could see the difference just from one look. Amanda was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. This thing, on the other hand, even though it copied her enviable body, it couldn¡¯t copy her elegance and human aura. ..... In my eyes, it looked dark and empty, with stiff face and bad standing posture. The difference between this thing with Amanda was like Heaven and Hell. It didn¡¯t take much time for Tom and Sanji to catch up with me. Both of them were right in time to hear its creepyughter with menacing re being shot at me. Its body was exuding danger, as if it was getting ready to pounce on me, to hurt me. As soon as they heard itsughter, Sanji jumped in front of me, putting me behind his sturdy back. At the same time, Tom rushed towards the uninvited guest, but he failed as it moved so fast, dodging his advance on it. ¡°Hahahahahahaha!¡± Itsughter grew louder and I was sure we were not the only ones who could hear it; especially with how terrifying its aura was. The shrieks and loud noise from the first floor were the proofs of my guess. ¡°What do you want?¡± I frowned in displeasure. This thing came only to create chaos here? ¡°I guess you still remember me, huh?¡± It said, still floating near my balcony. I recognized this voice. It was indeed the same voice that ovepped with Amanda¡¯s voice that day. ¡°I believe we have nothing to say to each other, do we?¡± ¡°You know it?¡± Sanji turned his face a bit until his side profile was seen from my point of view. I knew it was not the time to admire his pointed nose, sharp and thick eyebrows, as well as refine jaw, but I couldn¡¯t help it! ¡°Jane?¡± Sanji¡¯s thick eyebrows frowned as he didn¡¯t hear my answer. I hastily cursed myself inwardly to get distracted for a second before I said my answer. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Sanji arched his eyebrow, silently asking me more about it. But, I felt ufortable telling him that this entity was Senior Rizal¡¯s wife. How could I exin that to him? ¡°Don¡¯t ask anymore. It¡¯splicated.¡± I shook my head, refused to talk more. ¡°So, he left you because of this thing?¡± Surprisingly, Tom said it in sarcastic tone. I knew I had told him about my encounter with Amanda, but I had no idea where he got the idea that this thing was the one who failed to provoke me. ¡°I think he is still oblivious to its presence.¡± I said as I rubbed the area between my eyes. After I responded on Tom¡¯s remark, I could faintly feel Sanji¡¯s back emitted cold aura. I thought he felt unhappy that he was the only one who didn¡¯t know the situation, but I didn¡¯t want to dwell on this matter for long. ¡°You came to find me, you must have a good a reason. Now tell me.¡± I looked up at the creepy thing. I still had no idea what kind of ghost was it. It grinned even wider, creating a hideous appearance with Amanda¡¯s face. Truly not a sight to see. ¡°I want to get rid of you, once and for all.¡± It said. Its eyes exposed its malicious intent towards me, and I couldn¡¯t help but shiver lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have a grudge towards each other.¡± I frowned in confusion. I haven¡¯t even met Senior Rizal after that day, but now this thing suddenly threatened me with my life. ¡°You have no idea how many of us want you dead!¡± As it said so, it shot towards me without any hesitation. Even though I¡¯ve prepared for it, I still couldn¡¯t react fast. Fortunately, Sanji was still in front of me, blocking its attack and at the same time assisting Tom who was in charge of doing the attack. I felt useless as I watched how epic the battle in front of me was. It was my first time I saw Tom in a fight and it was almost as brutal and fantastic as how human would fight. Sanji, who was still standing in front of me, was focusing himself in defense. If one would ask me how they fought, well, it was almost the same with how human fought. Only, it was soul fighting and the consequences were more dangerous than physical brawl. Ah, there was also no going soft against female. I could see Tom was going all out in fighting this thing. As for me, I was fully protected with how these men acted. But, I knew I shouldn¡¯t just keep quite. What could I do to help? ¡°Foolish spirit! Why do you help her? Don¡¯t you know her blood can help you to strengthen your soul? I need her blood to stabilize the baby in my stomach!¡± It roared angrily as its attack was easily fend off by Tom. Well, that¡¯s new! I didn¡¯t know my blood was that good. Chapter 79 Chapter 79: Human Blood and Sacrifices ¡°All the more reason for me to eradicate you for good!¡± Tom growled as he pounced on it even more ferociously. The shrill cry was heard from its figure as its appearance shifted to its original form. The cry sounded agonizing and those who could hear it would have goosebumps all over their body. Just imagine a piece of flesh was ripped apart from one¡¯s body. Only, instead of flesh, it was a small part of its ck shadow was ripped by Tom¡¯s ws and dissipated in the dark night. No wonder it would cry like that. After its cry, the noise downstairs was even more obvious as those girls living in the first floor were all screaming in fright. I bet they all had run out of the house now. ¡°I underestimate it.¡± I heard Sanji mumbled. ¡°It is so strong. Its host muste from a strong family, too. Too bad they¡¯re too involved in dark magic. It craves human blood and sacrifices. I can¡¯t eliminate it right away, but I can drive it away. Unless we find the host, we really can¡¯t do anything.¡± Sanji added in firm tone. Human blood and sacrifices? I frowned as I heard that. ..... Something clicked inside my mind and my eyes widened in shock. It can¡¯t be, right? I must be wrong. I shook my head as I tried to deny the horrible thought that came into my mind so suddenly. Senior Rizal wouldn¡¯t be the sacrifice. He couldn¡¯t be. I failed to watch how Sanji and Tom worked together to drive it away. The only thing I knew was the angry roar filled with agony and promise of revenge was directed at me. Surprisingly, after it left, the dark night seemed to be a bit brighter. Then, I heard someone was calling out for me. It was Mrs. Rosa¡¯s voice, trembling with fear but still calling me out. ¡°J-Jane? Come down, dear. It¡¯s not safe up there.¡± I exchanged nces with Tom and Sanji. Seeing the both of them nodded their head while giving me a look; don¡¯t tell anyone about what had happened just now, I took a deep breath and put on terrified expression before I headed downstairs. ¡°Mrs. Rosa? What was it? It¡¯s so scary!¡± As soon as I saw the relief expression in her tired face, I felt a pang of guilt inside for acting like this. ¡°We don¡¯t know yet. I¡¯m d you¡¯re fine. Let¡¯s head outside first. Come on. I¡¯ve called for help, he mighte in several minutes. Come on.¡± Mrs. Rosa held me by my shoulders tightly as she led me outside, to join with the rest pale-faced girls. As I was being led by Mrs. Rosa, I saw Sanji tip-toed to the back door. I bet it was Tom who told him about the back door. As soon as my friends saw me, they rushed to me and pulled me in a group hug while asking me if I were okay. ¡°I¡¯m okay. I just...¡± I shook my head in confusion, still maintaining my acting. ¡°What was that? All I know I heard scary cries, and I couldn¡¯t move if not for Mrs. Rosa calling me.¡± Deep inside, I had the urge to praise myself for being so convincing. All of them shook their heads. ¡°But, you¡¯re pretty strong. If it had been me, I would have peed myself, or fainted.¡± Angie shivered at the possibility she mentioned. ¡°I would have bawled my eyes out of fear.¡± Riri added with a terrified look on her face. ¡°Of course, only if I would not faint before that.¡± From her expression, both were not good options for her. Responding to their statements, I could only let out hollowugh. My acting should be good enough to deceive them, right? Then, why did I think that I would get exposed easily? Minutester, a man came in a hurry and approached Mrs. Rosa. Somehow, he resembled Tom a bit. His eyes, eyebrows, and jaws were the most simr I could see. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the simrity between them because he was standing close to me. ¡°Sis, I came as soon as I got your message. Tania said there was something strange happened? What is it?¡± Oh, so he was Mrs. Rosa¡¯s younger brother. No wonder he looked like Tom. ¡°Ben, thanks God you¡¯re here!¡± I could hear the relief in her voice. She must be feeling so frightened. Mrs. Rosa told him the story of how she and the rest of the girls heard the noise and ran out in fright. Hearing the story from their point of view made me nodded in silence. If I were them, I would run away, too. However, since I was the rted party, I had different point of view from them. The only thing I agreed with was how scary it was. I was too engrossed in my own world that I didn¡¯t notice the man¡¯s gaze had shifted from Mrs. Rosa to me. ¡°She is the one who lives upstairs.¡± Mrs. Rosa¡¯s voice snapped me awake and realized that he was looking at me with a gaze that looked like he was saying: I know what you¡¯re hiding. Chapter 80 Chapter 80: Alive? I suppressed the shock I felt inside and kept maintaining my ¡®I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about¡¯ expression on my face. ¡°Where were you when it happened?¡± He asked. ¡°Upstairs.¡± Why did I have a feeling that I was being interrogated? ¡°Did you see anything out of ce at that moment?¡± He asked again. ¡°Ben, she had just arrived when it happened. She was even too scared to move, how could she notice anything?¡± Mrs. Rosa said to her brother, then she turned towards me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, dear. This is Ben, my younger brother. You can call him Uncle Ben.¡± She smiled gently despite still looking a bit pale. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Mrs. Rosa. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t help with anything, Uncle Ben.¡± I replied politely. ..... Uncle Ben didn¡¯t say anything, but he still looked at me with the same look. Two seconds felt like eternity for me and only after he turned his head away, I could finally breathe. I didn¡¯t expose myself, right? I didn¡¯t know what Uncle Ben did, but he came back with Mrs. Rosa with a smile on his face and Mrs. Rosa¡¯s face was not pale anymore. It seemed like she put a lot of trust in her brother. ¡°Jane, Ben wants to talk to you.¡± Mrs. Rosa called me and gestured me toe closer. What was it now? I had no other option other than to approach them. I realized the seriousness of the ¡®talk¡¯ when Mrs. Rosa left us alone. The same look was casted at me again, making me ufortable. But, the stubborn me refused to show it on my face. ¡°Jane, isn¡¯t it?¡± Uncle Ben started. His features softened but he still held the same look in his eyes. I nodded. He really looked like Tom over closer inspection. ¡°You¡¯ve met Tom.¡± It was not a question; it was a statement. My body trembled slightly, normal response when someone caught a person lying or hiding something. ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but you definitely met him before.¡± He added. Uncle Ben probably caught the slight trembling of my body, that¡¯s why his gaze changed with a look of relief and he even smiled gently. I couldn¡¯t hide anything from him, really. Before I could respond, Tom came and stood near me, directing a warm gaze towards his own uncle. ¡°Uncle Ben..¡± He called in low tone. ¡°Is he here?¡± I noticed Uncle Ben¡¯s voice trembled slightly. ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Does Rosa know?¡± I shook my head slightly. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Uncle Ben let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m afraid she couldn¡¯t take it. The fact that I can¡¯t see Tom means there is still a possibility for him to be alive out there.¡± ¡°...¡± I was not the only one who was stunned silly. Tom was also rooted to his ce, staring at his uncle in mixed emotion. ¡°It might be fate that bring you to us, to let us know that he might still be alive out there. I¡¯ll work harder to find him, but don¡¯t tell his mother. I don¡¯t want to put false hope in her already broken heart. Tom was her only child from her beloved husband who already passed away when Tom was still five years old. She loved him dearly, but the ident happened. It broke her heart, and I don¡¯t want her to experience it twice.¡± Uncle Ben was full of hope, but why didn¡¯t I understand what he was saying? Seeing that I gave him no response, Uncle Ben cleared his throat before he put his palm across my forehead for a while. Only after that, I could snap back to my senses. As I looked up to see the man in front of me, I saw him in a deep thought. ¡°Uncle Ben?¡± He was startled, but he regained hisposure fast. Smiling gently at me, he patted me on my head. ¡°You have a strong mind. No wonder you¡¯re chosen with this gift. Use it wisely.¡± He said gently. Even though he said it like that, I still felt like he was hiding something from me. ¡°I¡¯ll see youter. You cane to me if you have something to ask.¡± He turned around and walked away, waving at me. Was it just me or was he turned soft towards me? It took me some minutes to finally realize I forgot to ask the most important thing! Was it possible for Tom to be still alive? Stomping my feet in annoyance for my own stupidity, I didn¡¯t stop cursing myself even when the others shot me a weird look. Ah, right! I was too deep in my own thought for cursing my own self when I remembered another person who should be more surprised than me. Turning my head towards where he was at thest time, I still saw him there with the same expression on his face. ¡°...Tom?¡± ¡°I¡¯m...still alive?¡± Chapter 81 Chapter 81: Amanda (1) Tom was still alive! At least, that¡¯s what Uncle Ben told us. It was hard to believe what Uncle Ben said, but I also had no way to prove that he was lying. The only thing I could do was to meet him and have a long conversation about it. But, nning was easy; doing it for real required time and trick. Of course, I had some very good reasons to say so. First, it was almost the end of semester, which meant I was busy with my final project for the semester. The amount of project that needed to be done was enough to make me forget the night I was assaulted by my ex¡¯ shadow wife. Second, every time I finally had time to rest and thought about things other than my projects, I was always dealing with some astral entities that were trying to harm me in some ways. Fortunately, I was always with either Sanji or Tom. There were times when I was not with any of them but with my ordinary friends who could not see ¡®them¡¯, all I could do was trying to find any excuse, believable or not, and ran away. I even ran away from Kunti! ..... Who could be so powerful to manipte her? I knew Kunti was not the most powerful ghost out there, but the fact that she could change her appearance into a normal human proved that she did has some power inside. If someone were to manipte her, it meant this person was really powerful. I wonder who could this person be? The target was me, surely it must be someone I knew, right? Not to mention this person could also persuade Amanda. Because of those reasons, I spent almost a month ignoring and dodging the attack directed at me. Of course, it was not an easy feat. That was why Tom and Sanji always tried to stay with me in any asions. If they were not with me, well, I could only run away and hide in my newest and best hiding ce; the infirmary. For some reason, they couldn¡¯t enter or find me there. After that, I would wait on Sanji or Tom toe and pick me up. I seriously needed to learn some tricks to protect my own self against these ghosts. Apparently, because the frequency of Sanji being with me increased, I gained more human enemies. Jealousy was indeed scary. At least, I didn¡¯t need to run for my life when I dealt with them. A bit of threat would scare them away. And I was not someone who couldn¡¯t protect my own self against physical bullying. I always brought a recorder with me just in case I needed to protect myself against some unjust usations. So what if one of those stupid and love-struck girls¡¯ father was awyer? What if one of them was a policeman? I made sure to multiply the recording so if something were to happen to the recording file, I still had some back ups with me. Try deleting all of those, I dare you! Not to mention I had Sanji to back me up; my ultimate problem solver! Well, I was confidence I could deal with humans anytime, but dealing with ghost was something I didn¡¯t know how. Was there any way to learn it? If someone were to ask me whether I felt tired with how I lived my life, I wouldn¡¯t deny it. YES, I felt exhausted! But, I had other goals in mind that could distract me for a while. Thankfully I still had my peaceful time in my dorm to rest my body and mind. Talking about my dorm, I thought most of them would move out after what had happened before. But, I didn¡¯t see them making a move. It was like everything came back to how it was before, like the fight between Tom and Amanda had never happened. Well, I thought it was the best oue that could happen after all. After two exhausting weeks, I finally had time to rearrange my mind. My first n was to visit Uncle Ben. Surely Tom still remembered his uncle¡¯s house, right? There were so many things that I wanted to ask to Uncle Ben. The next one was probably to help Kunti, which led to the next question. How could I do it? Maybe Uncle Ben could give me some pointers about it. Thest one was not final. I only gave it a slight thought but the weight of this issue was too strong for me to ignore. However, I needed to consult about it with the others; Sanji and Tom. I wanted to help Senior Rizal. I didn¡¯t think Sanji and Tom would agree to it, but at least I tried to say it to them. To convince them, I needed solution on how to help him. If I could ensure them about the n and not marched forward blindly, I was sure I was not going to get rejected. ¡°Jane, have you checked on your exams?¡± Mia¡¯s voice pulled me out from my own world. As I turned my head to look at her, I noticed the helpless look Senior Dino and Senior Mario had on their face. What was it? I bet he must be hiding something from me. ¡°I have. How about you?¡± I asked her, ignoring the look on both of the men behind her. Mia nodded. ¡°I couldn¡¯t see Sanji. Where is he?¡± She was looking around as she sat beside me. I shrugged my shoulders in response. Why did I have a bad premonition? It was like calm before the storm. What were they trying to say? ¡°Did Amandae to you?¡± Senior Mario asked. Here we go! I could roughly guess about what they wanted to talk about. Chapter 82 Chapter 82: Amanda (2) Did meeting the thing that possessed her count? As I nodded my head in hesitant, the expression on their faces changed again. ¡°Then, will you go?¡± Senior Dino asked with a frown on his face. I blinked my eyes once. I really had no idea what they were talking about. ¡°Go where?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t she tell you why she came to you?¡± This time, it was Mia who asked in curious tone. She wanted to kill me, yes, she did say so. But, judging from the looks of it, that was not the case. ..... ¡°Actually, we didn¡¯t talk much and she left in a hurry.¡± This was true. ¡®Amanda¡¯ was busy fighting Tom and she left in a hurry after almost being killed by Tom. ¡°I see...¡± Mia nodded. I counted every second passed and I was sure there was something wrong with them. It was like they wanted to tell me something but they had no idea where to start. ¡°Okay. What do you want to tell me?¡± I stared at them one by one, forcing them to voice out what was hiding inside their minds that they wanted to tell me. But, they still didn¡¯t talk. ¡°Is it about Senior Rizal?¡± I guessed. Seeing the change in their expressions, I knew I was right. ¡°I know I may sound cruel, but I have nothing to do with him.¡± I shrugged my shoulders as I raised my hands, gesturing ¡®don¡¯t count me in whatever ns you have inside your head¡¯. ¡°He is sick.¡± Senior Mario said hastily, obviously ignoring me. ¡°Like, very sick.¡± Senior Dino added. Both of them had the fiery look in their eyes. It was like they were desperate but helpless, too. ¡°I know it¡¯s not fair for you, but the one he wants to see is you.¡± Senior Dino lowered his head in guilt. ¡°Amanda was clearly upset when he called out your name, but she could do nothing. That¡¯s why we asked you if she came to you or not.¡± There was hint of amusement when Senior Mario said the first sentence. ¡°Jane, I think you shoulde and see Senior Rizal.¡± Mia didn¡¯t say it, but from her gaze, I knew Senior Rizal had it hard. Taking a deep breath, I paused for a second before I finally nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go and visit himter.¡± The three of them let out a sigh of relief as smile stered on their faces. But, it was not a happy kind of smile. It was like they were relief that I agreed to their absurd request, but at the same time felt guilty about it. Thus, I decided not to torture them any longer. ¡°Well, I gotta go back.¡± I stood up and waved them goodbye. As I walked back to my dorm, I saw someone familiar was standing near the campus gate. Senior Hani? What is he doing here? Because I thought we were that close to talk to each other, I walked past him after greeting him. Who would have thought he woulde at me and grabbed my wrist? I was startled and turned to look at him. His grip on my wrist was painful and I had already frowned in pain but he didn¡¯t look like he would release me. ¡°Senior, what is it? Can you let my hand go, please? It hurts!¡± I winched and hissed in pain as his grip on me was getting tighter. Still, he was silent. I peered at his slightly lowered face and noticed his empty eyes and hard face. It stunned me seeing him like this. If I recalled correctly, he had a tsundere personality and tended to blush whenever I was involved. But, seeing how he could grab my hand without blushing, I was sure of one thing. He was possessed! But, I didn¡¯t see any ck mist surrounded him. Was I toote and it had merged with him? What thing possessed him? It was strange. No matter how much I tried to talk to him, he would not speak. The weirdest thing was it was the main gate of campus, yet no one was here for these couples of minutes. It was like I was trapped in a conspiracy. Someone was obviously plotted against me. Someone had nned this from the very beginning. As it dawned to me, my surrounding was suddenly turned dimmer. The previous sunny sky turned cloudy in a second, the temperature dropped and wind suddenly blew from out of nowhere. It was like I was moved to another dimension. As if it was not bad enough, shrill cries were heard in the sky. Following that, I saw countless ck shadows covering the already dim sky. I didn¡¯t need someone to tell me what they were. They were ghost, of course! Someone was summoning them. As I thought so, I heard someone chanted in a whisper, getting louder and louder, and the bellowing and cries from those entities were the answers to the chants. I willed myself to stay strong and to be more alert. I was scared, yes, but in this situation, I would not allow myself to be defeated. No matter what happened, I needed to stay brave. As I repeatedly told myself to be strong, that I would be okay, I could feel a stream of warmth flow through my veins and warm my body. The fear I felt was gone and I could only feel myself bing calmer and calmer. It might be my hallucination, but I felt I was not alone. I felt I had a very strong power supporting me from somewhere. As I was getting calmer, my mind turned clearer than ever now that fear was not clouding me. I looked at the tight grip Senior Hani had on me. He was still standing there with empty eyes and expressionless. Ignoring this puppet, I tried to scan my surrounding which was full of ghost no matter where I looked. I only had one goal inside my mind; to find the mastermind of this whole creepy thing. As my eyes set on the gate, I sensed a familiar creepy and disgusting power came from behind of it. ¡°Come out, I know you¡¯re there.¡± I said calmly. Another creepyughter was heard, overpowering the otherughs. From behind the gate, a figure came out and shot me a terrifying look. Her eyes were wide opened and her mouth formed a cruel smile. Her beautiful feature contorted into malicious and hideous form. ck mist turned like a raging ck me, licking her previously fair skin. Her fingers turned into ws and her slender body grew bigger and taller, probably over two meters. Her current appearance was far from her beautiful and elegant self like the first time I saw her. ¡°Amanda.¡± I sneered. She was indeed Amanda, Senior Rizal¡¯s wife. ¡°Jane. Harris.¡± Her soft and beautiful voice even turned ugly. I guessed we should never judge a book by its cover! Chapter 83 Chapter 83: Amanda (3) Amanda let out hystericalughter and her already wide mouth turned even wider. As sheughed crazily, gust of wind swirled around me, carrying the smell of blood and rotten flesh. The smell was too disgusting, it nearly suffocated me to death. But, Senior Hani in front of me didn¡¯t even flinch. How serious was the effect of possession exactly? ¡°I clearly underestimated you. You¡¯re just a young human, but I need to spend this much of effort only to catch you!¡± She sneered in annoyance. ¡°I really have no idea why you¡¯re so eager to catch me. Do I owe you something? I don¡¯t think so.¡± I was a bit surprised I didn¡¯t stutter. Amanda¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance. She looked like she wanted to tear me apart, but she held back the urge until her body was shaking. From the way her body shook, I could assume how much she hated me. ..... Iughed inwardly. My eyes stole a nce towards the silent Senior Hani. Why did he not make any move? ¡°What have you done to him?¡± ¡°Just turned him into my puppet. It was not easy to control him, but as long as I know his weaknesses, I can make him do anything I want.¡± After saying that, Amandaughed. I arched my eyebrows. His weaknesses? I wonder what they were. As I thought so, my free hand grabbed his hand which was gripping my wrist. As if feeling shock from where I was holding him, I could feel the slight tremor from his hand that I was holding, spreading through his body in a second. Before I realized what had happened, Senior Hani had released his tight grip on my wrist as if he was holding a hot iron bar. ¡°J-Jane..¡± He stuttered. His originally light skin was tainted with red blush until it covered his ears and neck. His eyes darted everywhere except myself as he stepped back slowly. ¡°Wee back!¡± I smiled at him. ¡°It¡¯s good to take back the control of your body, right?¡± My voice seemed to make him realized about his condition. Straightened his body, he looked like he had finally collected himself as he shot a death re towards Amanda. ¡°Tch!¡± Ridicule and disgust were seen from her eyes as she met Senior Hani¡¯s gaze. ¡°You are no use for me now. Scram, weak human!¡± She shouted as she waved her long right hand. As if on cue, several ghosts that were wailing and floating near us shot towards Senior Hani and trapped him in their circle. It happened so fast, I was left dumbfounded in my ce. Secondster, the circle dispersed along with Senior Hani and the ghosts. ¡°Where did you send him to?¡± I snapped at Amanda, feeling the rage slowly built inside of me as a result of rage and anxious for Senior Hani¡¯s safety. Amanda let out her shrill and creepyugh, as if seeing me getting worked up over Senior Hani¡¯s disappearance was something she was waiting for. ¡°Find your way out from here and you¡¯ll know!¡± Amanda grinned from ear to ear; if she had one. ¡°Of course it won¡¯t be easy.¡± She added. ¡°After all the effort I spent to trap you in, I won¡¯t let you go before I achieve my goal in taking you here.¡± She walked to me, her super tall body swayed and created a horrifying sight. The other ghost flew and formed a line behind her back, like the rows and lines of maids and eunuch walking behind a queen. I didn¡¯t think I could fall asleep after seeing this indescribable sight in front of me. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I want to show you something good.¡± She sneered. Somehow I felt like she was up to something bad. ¡°What if I refuse?¡± I frowned. There was something inside of me saying that I shouldn¡¯t agree to her. Amandaughed. ¡°Jane, Jane, Jane.¡± She shook her head. ¡°You have no other choice but to obey.¡± She said in a dangerously low tone. Her eyes sparked with bloodlust and I couldn¡¯t help but shiver at it. After that, I felt like I was bound by invisible rope, rendered me motionless. Then, a big force sucked me into a deep ck hole and I lost my eyesight for a second. Panic rose in my heart when I couldn¡¯t see anything. Even after I got my eyesight back, my heart was still thumping loudly and madly. This time, I was alone. I couldn¡¯t see Amanda or any ghosts around me. I was alone, but I was still unable to move. As I finally epted my current situation, I realized that I had no idea where I was. It was a familiar house, but I couldn¡¯t remember whose house it was. Who would have thought that I found the answer so fast and in a strangely weird way? Chapter 84 Chapter 84: The Sacrifice and The Trigger (1) ¡°Get out!¡± I was startled by the roar. It seemed like this person used almost all of his energy to shout furiously just now that it made him coughing non stop so badly. The voice came from a slightly opened door on my right. I tried to peek through the opening, but I couldn¡¯t see the owner of the hoarse voice. All I could see was a woman was standing near a bed and someone wasying on it. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your energy on me.¡± That melodious voice was also familiar to me. It sounded beautiful but at the same time I could feel the cold and malicious intent in the voice. Was I too paranoid? ¡°Your parents had sold your body and soul to me. It¡¯s only a matter of time for you to finally fulfill their wish. I am carrying your baby now, but too bad you won¡¯t live long to see your child.¡± It was said in a very soft voice, like a mother cooing her baby. The only difference was it contained mockery, ridicules, and malicious intent in the soft voice. And that was not all. As I heard it, my mind opened up one of my tightly locked box of memory. As the memory in it flooded my mind, my eyes widened as I realized who these people were. Of course, I didn¡¯t spend much time here, that was I only found it familiar but couldn¡¯t recognize it right away. ..... It was Senior Rizal¡¯s house. Thest time I stepped inside this house, this house was crowded with people. Howe it was so silent today? ¡°You¡¯re devil!¡± It was Senior Rizal¡¯s voice, a bit hoarse, but I knew it was him. The one who was speaking to him must be Amanda. I was just about to shout to Senior Rizal to help me when the scene in front of me changed quickly. Instead of still sitting in the living room, I was moved to the bedroom. I was standing beside the bed, while Amanda was standing on the other side. I bet Senior Rizal couldn¡¯t hear me or see me. It was useless for me to shout at him to help me. ¡°Rizal, just give it up. It will be better for you to ept me. That way, I don¡¯t have to forcefully take your soul.¡± Amanda was still talking with her sweet voice. If I didn¡¯t know her personality well, I bet I would have been fooled by her, too. I would have believed in whatever she said. ¡°I have taken your ability to walk. I have taken the function of your arms. You¡¯re like a doll, you are alive, yet you couldn¡¯t move anymore. Should I take all of your senses?¡± Amanda sneered creepily. Cruel! My hands twitched and balled into a fist. Because of the building emotion I was experiencing, I failed to realize that I finally could move some parts of my body. ¡°You¡¯re crazy, Amanda.¡± Senior Rizal shook his head. He was indeed onlyying on his bed, looked helpless and powerless. His body was getting thinner and there was a pair of dark circles around his eyes. His eyes looked like it was almost popping out from their sockets. He was ring at Amanda, hatred and anger were obvious in his eyes. He didn¡¯t even bother to hide it, but instead showing it openly at his object of madness. My heart thumped as I saw his condition. What exactly had he happened to him all these months? ¡°Rizal, Rizal, darling.¡± Amanda called him as if trying to appease his anger. In reality, she was only toying with him and Senior Rizal seemed to get used to it. As she lowered her head, I saw Senior Rizal frowned in disgust. Amanda was probably sensing the disgust in him, Amanda chuckled then straightened her body before her soft chuckle turned into madughter not befitting of her elegant image. ¡°How about now?¡± Amanda wiped her face with her right hand. I didn¡¯t understand what she was doing, until I heard Senior Rizal called my name. ¡°Jane? What are you doing here? Go! That mad woman is looking for you. Go!¡± Fear and anxietyced his voice. The same feeling could be sensed from his gaze. But, I was almost sure with one thing; he was hallucinating. I didn¡¯t know what trick she used to make her look like me, but it only worked for Senior Rizal. I couldn¡¯t see any changes in her face, but the look in Senior Rizal¡¯s eyes told me that he was indeed looking at me and not some impostors. I frowned as I realized my face was used to trick other people. Not to mention the person who was tricked was Senior Rizal. I definitely needed to take into ount of whatever she did. ¡°You always soften in front of this face, but always as hard as stone when you are with me.¡± Amanda sneered as she said it in whisper. Why did I catch a trace of jealousy in her voice? Out of nowhere, she smiled so sweetly it disgusted me to the point of making my stomach churned. She lowered her head and smiled even more when the previous disgust from Senior Rizal didn¡¯t appear. Her hand caressed his hair gently. ¡°I¡¯ll be okay. She had gone away for a while.¡± Amanda said. ¡°I miss you, Senior.¡± Thest sentence was said so lovingly. ¡°That¡¯s not me!¡± I shouted, but my voice couldn¡¯t reach them. Senior Rizal¡¯s gaze softened when he heard that. ¡°I miss you, too, Jane. I still love you. I do.¡± He replied in a hoarse voice, almost like a whisper. My eyes widened in shock as I heard him say that. My heart felt pity for him, but I really couldn¡¯t do anything. I couldn¡¯t talk to him, I couldn¡¯t touch him to make him realize that I was here. ¡°You have no idea how much I regret leaving your side. You don¡¯t know how much I hate my family and my wife for threatening me to leave you. They even spouted some bullshits like you could bring cmities to our family and something like that. That¡¯s the most ridiculous thing I¡¯ve ever heard in my life. Even so, you still came here to visit me.¡± Senior Rizal added. His eyes were wet as he tried to hold back his tears. All the while, I was stunned hearing his confession. He must be so desperate not to notice the bizarre situation. How could he say that to his wife? ¡°Jane, I know I am unforgivable. I don¡¯t deserve your heart at all. But, please, don¡¯t hate me. I still love you. I love you too much to the point I am willing to abandon my wife. They only need me to breed her, after all. Now that she is pregnant, I want to leave her. I don¡¯t care about her and her baby. All I want is you. s, I suddenly couldn¡¯t walk, as if I was crippled. I want to go to see you, but I can onlyy on this stupid bed. Jane, promise me you wouldn¡¯t cast me away, that you will give me a chance to mend our broken rtionship. We don¡¯t have to be lovers again, at least don¡¯t push me away.¡± He was pleading desperately, only the one he was looking in the eyes straight was not me, but Amanda. It was a lie if I said I was not moved or touched by his confession. I was tempted to say ¡®it¡¯s okay, I¡¯m not angry anymore.¡¯ but my voice was caught up in my throat. Deep in my heart, I had already promised myself to rescue him from this malicious woman. I forgot that this malicious woman held a vital point in my rescue mission. The sess of my mission depended on her. ¡°Ungrateful scum!¡± Amanda gritted her teeth as her body emitted strong dark aura. Her eyes zed with madness as she stood up and looked down on Senior Rizal who was startled with her. ¡°I really wanted to give you long live even if I had topromise with your obsession of your ex. I am even willing to change myself to look like her only to please you! Who would have thought that you had that kind of thought inside your mind?!¡± She shouted in rage, unlike her calm self. ¡°If you can¡¯t give your heart to me, might as well you don¡¯t have one!¡± A heart-wrenching cry then filled the room and my eyes widened in horror. Chapter 85 85 The Sacrifice and The Trigger (2) I saw red, sshing on the bed and Amanda¡¯s body. The thick smell of iron invaded my senses. The cry filled with agony and pain made my whole body trembled in fear. Despite the horrid scene happened in front of me, my eyes were still wide opened, too shock to close my eyes. I could feel all the colors drained from my face. Until today, I still have a nightmare because of it. The ring red of blood filled my sight and suddenly I felt nauseous. The body on the bed was now twitching in agony. Blood kept spurting from the fresh wound on his chest. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull and his face scrunched up from the immense pain. I was so shocked with what had happened to Senior Rizal that my mind started screaming that it was not real; that I was only dreaming and I needed to wake up. I didn¡¯t even realize the tears had formed two small rivers on my face and I had been chanting the same words over and over; wake up, wake up, wake up Jane. Suddenly, the twitching stopped and I blinked my sore eyes to make sure I didn¡¯t see it wrong. Yes, the twitching stopped. And yes, he had stopped breathing, too. ..... There was a huge lump in my throat and my heart thumped even wildly. My whole body was shaking with fear as I reached towards his wrist. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t touch him and it made me even anxious. ¡°No, no, no, no, no...¡± I kept saying the same words like a broken record. My tears kept flowing on my cheeks. ¡°It must be a dream. It must be a dream. It must be a dream.¡± I whispered to myself. Lunaticugh filled my ears and I found the source was no other than Amanda. Her right ws was still dripping with fresh blood as her eyes filled with thirst for blood. Her tongue peeked from between her slightly dark lips, licking the blood on her lips. Her current image was like a cold blooded killerbined with lunatic member of Satan sect, like a bloodthirsty psychopath. ¡°Too bad. I¡¯ll use your blood to nourish our child.¡± She said icily as she rubbed her belly. I was still having a hard time to properly breathe. The only thing that could hold me back from breaking down was I believed it was only a dream and I reminded myself to treat it as if I was watching some gore movie. Yes, I was just watching some bloody scene. Then, I heard someone called my name; a very familiar voice. ¡°Jane...¡± Turning my head to the source of voice, my eyes widened once again as my breath hitched. It was Senior Rizal with his chest dripping with blood, standing not too far from me. I turned my head to look in front of me and I saw Senior Rizal lying motionless in his pool of blood on his bed. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally here.¡± Amanda smirked as she stared right at Senior Rizal in my back. ¡°Now you¡¯ve met her, right? Myst gift for you before I¡¯ll tie you up with me forever.¡± That was myst thread of hope. I was not dreaming. I was in another dimension, the dimension where all ghosts and souls stayed which exined why Senior Rizal couldn¡¯t see me just now. Now that he was dead, he was in the same dimension as I was in and he could see me. But, that was it. As myst thread of hope vanished in my sorrow of losing the one I wanted to save, I felt something snapped inside me. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. I could only see a very clear scene of Amanda pulling Senior Rizal with some sorts of metal chain. Her face was a description of evil being and Senior Rizal was her prey. I had no idea what they were talking about and I didn¡¯t care whether they were talking or a one sided threat. I only felt my body went cold. My mind was as clear as morning dew. I could even breathe like usual. My hands twitched and formed a fist. The only thing in my mind was to kill Amanda. I wanted to kill her! I wanted to kill her! I wanted to kill her! As the desire grew bigger, my ears main function returned. ¡°Did you enjoy the show?¡± Amanda shot me a victorious look. ¡°You have yourst chance to say goodbye to your ex, Rizal. It will be thest time you met her and you¡¯ll stuck with me for eternity.¡± She smirked, showing his sharp teeth to us. I was not in the mood to talk. I only wanted to kill her so bad, that I broke into a sprint and crashed on her. My left hand grabbed her neck in a tight grip as my right hand pierced through her belly. Amanda wailed loudly. She might not believe that I could attack her. I wouldn¡¯t believe it, too if I didn¡¯t do it myself. I had no idea where the strength came from, but it was like I had been given the power to kill her. Warmth filled my body but it couldn¡¯t warm my already cold heart. The killing intent was still so strong inside me.I wanted to see her suffer and die! ¡°You... you... you...¡± Amanda¡¯s eyes widened in shock as she stared right at me. I turned my hand inside her belly and she screamed again. There was no blood, but the pain was strong for her. ¡°Damn you!¡± She shouted and swung her hands towards me. I squinted my eyes and a sh of white shot from my back. Amanda screamed again and her hand was stuck to the invisible wall behind her, with a spear holding her in ce. There was a man in white holding the spear, but he didn¡¯t say anything. And I wouldn¡¯t care less about him. But, Amanda¡¯s eyes filled with fear as soon as she saw him. ¡°WHO ARE YOU EXACTLY?¡± She shouted at me. Her voice was filled with rage and fear now. I pulled out my right hand from her belly and reached out to the ck chain from her other hands which connected her with Senior Rizal who was like a puppet. With a slight tug, the chain broke and Senior Rizal gained his freedom. ¡°Go. You don¡¯t belong here. I¡¯ve forgiven you. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t rescue you on time. Now, go. I¡¯ll clean you of your grievances. It is the only thing I can do to help you achieve a better after life.¡± My hand swiped his face three times and the wound on his face disappeared. Instead of being a grey ghost, he turned into white clothed ghost which brimmed with lights. I could feel something or someone was approaching, a big power but filled with warm. But I couldn¡¯t see anything or anyone other than white light. It could be this thing or this person was too big that I couldn¡¯t see its true form. I watched as Senior Rizal was engulfed in the white light and disappeared. A part of my burden lifted from my shoulders. But it didn¡¯t mean I would let Amanda go. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn.¡± I turned my head to her as I said it coldly. If it was how a ghost paled, then I guess it¡¯s safe to say that the color drained from her face. For what reason? I didn¡¯t care. ¡°You... you... who are you exactly?¡± Instead of roaring in rage, her question now came out like a whisper. Chapter 86 86 Let¡¯s End Your Life Here (1) ¡°Who am I?¡± I snorted coldly. ¡°I am the one who would bring cmity to all disgusting creatures like you. I swear I¡¯ll drop all of you in the deepest Hell and burn you all with the eternal fire of Hell!¡± The sky rumbled and lightning stroke the Earth hearing my vow, as if validating the vow I made and made sure all the creatures on Earth remember those words. The fire deep within myself was burning yet my heart was still as cold as ever. My vow might sound cocky and overconfident, but somehow it felt right. As if the purpose of my existence was to eliminate all the evil beings in the world. As I put all my attention to Amanda, I failed to notice the lines of white clothed ghosts standing behind my back, but surely Amanda didn¡¯t. She saw everything and her body trembled even more. Her knees buckled and she lost the strength to support herself. If not only for my left hand still holding her neck, she would have fallen t on her face. But, I didn¡¯t want to release my hand on her neck. Instead, I tightened my grip. ¡°Where is your master?¡± Amanda shook her head, refused to talk even though she was still trembling. ¡°Still trying to hide your master?¡± I sneered. ¡°Don¡¯t think I can¡¯t do anything to your master even if you hide him. It¡¯s easy for me to find him.¡± I threatened, but I knew I could do it. I didn¡¯t know how, but there was something inside my head that telling me I could do it by following certain ways. I didn¡¯t know where the information came, but I was sure it was the right way to do. ..... ¡°Spare me!¡± Amanda cried when I put my right hand on her forehead. I followed the instruction in my mind as I closed my eyes, concentrating fully on the light thread that floated through the darkness. It didn¡¯t take long before I finally found the end of the light thread. I was in a dark room with only five candles lit on a big table in one side of the room. No, that was not a table. It was an altar. There were many kinds of offerings on it and a very ugly -creepy, but I felt it was uglier than being creepy -statue on it. The room smelt like flowers but there was a hint of blood. As I inspected the offerings on the altar, I found a bowl of blood was one of them. My nose scrunched up in disgust. Looking away from the blood, my left eyebrow arched when I caught sight of the statue. Was this Amanda¡¯s true form? So ugly. I reached out and took the statue. I might be able to toy with herter by using this statue. I smirked as I had the thought. I was wondering where the owner of the altar was. As I asked myself, the door to the room was pushed open by an old man in ck. He was startled when he saw me in his private room. ¡°Who are you? How did you get in here?¡± He asked warily. I smiled at him. ¡°Using your own daughter as the host of this disgusting and evil being, what a great father you are!¡± I knew his identity as soon as I saw him. The man looked like I had just exposed his dirty secret. His face paled, but he collected himself very quickly. The shock turned into rage as he said nothing and directly attacked me. What a stupid person! Obviously, fighting has never been my forte. I didn¡¯t know any martial arts. Facing this kind of situation where I, a weak girl, was attacked by a grown-up man, I should be feeling scared and probably peed my pants, but strangely, I was so calm it made me confused. Before I could do anything, white light shed again from my back and before I knew it, the old man had sprawled on his back, motionless. Not dead. Because near his feet was standing his soul, being locked up by two white-clothed ghost. Their appearance this time made me think about something; was it possible that they were my guardians? I looked behind my back and surprised to see lines and rows of white-clothed ghost standing behind me. Half of the room was filled by them. Why didn¡¯t I feel them just now? But, they didn¡¯t say anything. They were so silent I almost thought they were all mute. They didn¡¯t even look at me. It was like they were here only to protect me. But, who were they exactly? I turned my attention to the old man who looked shock. He was looking at me as if I was a strange old woman who not only knew how to sing out of tune in the middle of the road, but also capable of solving the hardest calction of Math in Senior High School level. He should have noticed the legion behind me, which made him unable to move freely. ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked in a whisper. ¡°Your daughter¡¯s deceased husband¡¯s ex-girlfriend.¡± I smiled and felt great when I saw his eyes widened. ¡°Nice timing. Let me take you somewhere. I want to show you something.¡± I beckoned at the man to get closer. My two guardians pulled him over and I reached out to put my hand on his forehead. The scene around me changed again as I returned to the other dimension where I kept Amanda captive. ¡°I bring your master with me.¡± I said in a cheerful tone. Not the ce to be cheerful, but only thinking that I got to torture these two evil beings who caused the death of Senior Rizal, my mood became brighter. Amanda¡¯s eyes widened in shock as she stared at her father. She was back to her human form, so when she acted pitiful, she did look like one. But, it wouldn¡¯t work on me. Using honey trap to soften my heart? Hah, in your dreams. I¡¯ve fed my heart to the dogs the moment you killed Senior Rizal, so don¡¯t bother acting pitiful. I didn¡¯t realize the murderous intent emitting from my body as soon as I remembered the bloody scene I saw just now in this same room. Senior Rizal¡¯s body was still there. It seemed like no one was there to check on him. I gritted my teeth. What a great family! They left their own brother, their own son, to the most dangerous person in the house. They didn¡¯t even bother to check up on him! I really wish I could burn them all! ¡°Great Lady, please, spare me! I was just following orders from this old man! Please, spare me!¡± Amanda wailed. She realized acting pitiful was useless against me and felt fear tightened up in her chest when she felt my anger. But, it was toote! They couldn¡¯t bring back the death to life. I intended to let them feel the same desperation Senior Rizal felt. Killing them instantly was too easy as a punishment for them. I would make sure they wish they were dead! Chapter 87 87 Let¡¯s End Your Life Here (2) The old man seemed lost when my eyes met his. It was like he was reminiscing where he did wrong that he was captured by me. He must have seen the dead body on the bed as he shot his daughter a proud look. But, that look changed when he realized his daughter was begging me to spare her own life and brought him as the culprit. ¡°Your daughter brought me here because she wanted to show me something. Now, I brought you here for the same reason.¡± I smiled again. Amanda¡¯s eyes widened as she probably was picturing the torture I would put her through. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll send you back to where youe from.¡± I touched the middle of her forehead and she was sent to the human dimension. Of course, she was still able to see me and hear me clearly since she belonged to this dimension. ¡°Go, and tell Senior Rizal¡¯s family that he¡¯s dead.¡± I nodded my head towards the door as I put my hands behind my back. ¡°Now.¡± Amanda got up and ran to the door. I followed her with light steps. Even though I followed the same route as her, no one could see me. It was no wonder his family couldn¡¯t hear his piercing scream when his heart was pierced by Amanda, it turned out they were on the opposite wing of the house, singing on the top of their lungs in the singing room. When they saw Amanda pulled open the door with anxious look on her face, they frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Senior Rizal¡¯s eldest brother asked. ¡°It¡¯s... It¡¯s...¡± Amanda nced at me who was standing not too far from her, leaning on the wall with my arms crossed in front of my chest. ..... ¡°What?¡± The second brother urged her, but with softer tone. They knew the importance of Amanda in their family. ¡°He¡¯s gone.¡± Amanda weakly said. ¡°...¡± There were some seconds of silent before they ran out from the room and dashed madly at where Senior Rizal¡¯s body was. I doubted they ran because they were anxious. It was more like they couldn¡¯t wait to get the affirmation with their own eyes. I smirked as my heart grew colder seeing their true intention. It was not Senior Rizal¡¯s fault to be born in this kind of sick family, so I could only pity on his bad luck. Hopefully he was happy now as he had united with the universe. If the universe still wanted to torture him, I would like to ask what sin did hemit to get a life worse than animals. My assumption turned out to be real. As soon as they saw Senior Rizal¡¯s dead body, they only mourned for a bit, on ount that he was their brother. But, it was not even five minutes, all of them turned towards Amanda with excitement filled their eyes. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for you to do your part. You¡¯re pregnant now. And you¡¯ve taken the sacrifice you asked. Now, it¡¯s your turn.¡± The eldest brother said. Amanda sneered. She probably forgot that I was still near her as she tried to hint them that she was not alone. My right hand pierced her back and she wailed in pain loudly. ¡°Don¡¯t bother hinting them. I¡¯ll let them know they¡¯re not alone myself.¡± I said in a low tone to Amanda who wasying on the cold floor, bathing in cold sweat. There was fear in her eyes as she looked at me. Seeing their sister inw screamed in pain, the brothers turned panic. Their first instinct was to run away. But, I blocked their way out. mming the door shut, I made two of my white-clothed army guard the door. No matter how hard they tried to open the door or break the door, it wouldn¡¯t budge. At the same time, I continued my torture upon Amanda. Soul was the easiest to torture. It was very fragile. If one possessed the ability to touch the soul, he/she possessed the ultimate power to kill someone without harming the body physically. What a scary ability! Which was why not all people could do it. Some people could do it after training for years, with the help of astral entities. Some people could do it after doing some rituals. But, I could do it without so much effort, it was like pinching a cotton candy. So easy, yet so destructive. I pulled on her legs, crippled her physical body just like how she crippled Senior Rizal. Her scream made Senior Rizal¡¯s two brothers frightened even more. They banged the door hard while shouting for help. It was the perfectbination to my hatred towards them. ¡°Spare me, Great Lady! Forgive me!¡± Amanda begged. Tears and snots smudged her originally beautiful face. ¡°Did you spare him when he begged you to let him go?¡± I growled as I pulled on one of her arms. Her wailing again filled the room. I panted lightly. Standing straight on my feet, I looked down at her. I took out the statue I stole from the altar and looked behind my back at those white-clothed army. I noticed one of them was holding a bowl of blue fire. Perfect! ¡°Bring me the fire!¡± I ordered and to my surprise, he did move and bring the fire to me. ¡°No! No! Please, don¡¯t burn it! Please!¡± Amanda scampered on her feet, but she couldn¡¯t move too much as she was crippled now. Anxiety was clear on her face as she tried to reach out for me. I sneered. ¡°Oh well, it¡¯s from a good wood. It¡¯s perfect to serve as firewood.¡± Chapter 88 88 Let¡¯s End Your Life Here (3) ¡°No! No! No!¡± Amanda shrieked as she watched in horror her statue was burning slowly in my hand. As soon as the fire licked the wooden statue, she screamed in agony. I would blow the fire, put it off for a while before I would set it on fire again and again. Seeing and listening to their sister inw screaming in pain and talking nonsense made Senior Rizal¡¯s brothers almost lost their mind. They must have thought that their dead brother was the one who tortured Amanda, so they went and knelt beside the bed and facing Senior Rizal¡¯s body. After all, a vengeful ghost was something everyone needed to be wary of and the most difficult to get rid off. ¡°Brother, please, let us go. We promise we will take care of your body well. Please, forgive us and let us go.¡± The second brother begged. ¡°Rizal, you¡¯re always so magnanimous. Please, let us go.¡± The eldest pleaded. I snorted when I heard those unsympathetic wordsing from his own brothers. I was d Senior Rizal had gone. If he still lingered here, the pain from hisst memory would torture him again and again. Adding with how they asked for an apology, I was not sure how he would react. Well, since I was here, I would make sure they got what they deserved. ..... Tossing the statue in my hand towards the white clothed army who was holding the fire, I left a message at him as I made my way towards those evil brothers. ¡°Burn it slowly.¡± The scream that followed after my words was a proof that my order was obeyed. I smirked as I noticed the cold sweat and fear in their faces. Well, it wouldn¡¯t be long before your turn approached you. Well, actually you don¡¯t need to wait for long, I whispered inwardly. I kicked the eldest brother¡¯s knees and he fell forward while wailing like a ughtered pig. His hands held onto his knees so hard his knuckles turned white. I chuckled. Of course it would hurt. I ripped a part of his soul and blocked the flow of soul into his legs and I broke his kneecaps, literally. He was crippled inside and outside. But, that was not the end. I still needed to cripple his arms. So, that was what I did. The eldest brother bit his lips as he let out a throaty growl of pain. His face paled and he looked like he would lose his consciousness anytime. Hoho, not that fast, buddy. I still want to take my sweet revenge. Before his eyes rolled to the back of his skull, I poked his forehead and transfered a bit of energy to him, shaking off the unsteady mental and forced him to stay awake. I did it! I watched as his eyes were wide awake yet the pain was unbearable. Not to mention I¡¯d been nudging his kneecaps and elbows. His body was soaked in his cold sweat. Seeing him in so much pain delighted me, but the pain of losing Senior Rizal couldn¡¯t be reced. Well, there was still his other brother. I turned to walk at the second brother who was hiding in the corner while praying. Too bad, I was not a ghost nor a devil. His pray wouldn¡¯t affect me. Not long after that, another scream was filling the small room. The second brother wasying on the floor with his arms and legs twisted to the opposite direction; courtesy of me, of course. If someone were to see this scene, he or she might have a never ending nightmare. A supposedly elegant and beautiful woman was now twitching on the floor while groaning softly. Almost all of her visible skin had been burnt. The smell of burnt flesh mixed with sweat and blood created a disgusting smell, but I couldn¡¯t care less. Two grown up men wasying on the floor while groaning in pain. They couldn¡¯t move too much and every twitch of their bodies brought immense pain to them. One dead body with a hole in his chest wasying on his own pool of blood. Despite the way he died was full of injustice, he still looked peaceful. It was as if he had been looking forward to his own death. Unseen from naked eyes, there was an old man shivering from fear in a corner. I still had to deal with himter. I took a deep breath. I didn¡¯t know how long I had been here. Tom or Sanji must be looking for me now. Taking a quick nce at the only air venttion in the room, I saw a piece of dark sky. The night hade. I needed to speed up the process. I looked at Amanda. Her body was now full of burns. Her eyes looked empty as she moaned in pain. The torture had not ended yet. A secondter, her right arm was on fire again and her scream once again filled the room. This time, as if knowing my intention all along, the fire didn¡¯t stop. Realizing the fire kept burning her body, she looked at me in disbelief and her eyes widened in horror. ¡°Let¡¯s end your life here. Hope I don¡¯t see you again.¡± I was looking down at her who was crawling at my feet. I was fully aware how cold my gaze was, but I didn¡¯t have any intention to change it. Hearing my words, Amanda seemed to lose herself. She pushed herself and tried to grab me. But, before her hands could touch me, her entire body was lit in the fire. ¡°Waaa....!!!¡± She screamed as she moved towards me. I waved my hands, locking the energy around her until she was trapped in an invisible box. ¡°Please, forgive me, Great Lady! Forgive me! Spare me!¡± She shouted madly. ¡°Toote. Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be alone down there. Just wait for your master.¡± I said icily. The fire got bigger and bigger and it engulfed her wholly in a minute. Later on, the white clothed guard took back his fire and the remnants of fire left Amanda¡¯s body. As the fire left her, so did the evil creature in it and the burns. There were no traces of her being burnt like fresh meat since the one who got burnt was the soul, in this case was the evil being inside of her. It was my first time killing someone, but somehow I wasn¡¯t bothered with it. ¡°Now, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Chapter 89 89 Finally, Home! (1) One down, one to go. Seeing his daughter as well as his pet died without any traces of physical abuse on her body, the old man must be feeling dumbfounded. If the police needed to hold an autopsy on her, I was sure they would say she died because of heart attack. Reason? Feeling aggrieve after seeing hee husband died cruelly? Not bad of a reason. But, it would only happen if Senior Rizal¡¯s family decided to call the police to investigate who hurt their eldest and second son. I was one hundred percent sure they wouldn¡¯t do it. After all, they were the ones who nned for his death all along. This time, I gave them a bonus; the wife. About the old man? No, killing him now was just too easy for him. After considering for a while, I decided to keep his soul here and torture him little by little. ..... It¡¯s time for me to go back. Waving my hands towards my mysterious white-clothed army, I left the scene after giving Senior Rizal¡¯s onest look. It still pained me seeing him like that, but it might be thest time I saw him. After all, we had some good memories together and he had been so kind to me before he got dragged into this devil¡¯s plot. At least, I knew he was in a good ce now. ¡°I see you have some awesome abilities in you.¡± The old man said. ¡°Too bad you are too young to understand its function. I am willing to teach you if you release me.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± I coldly reprimanded him. ¡°Take him away and locked him up where no one could find him. Every thirty minutes, pulled something out from him. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s his nail, tooth, or eye. If therees a day nothing could be pulled out, just chop his fingers one by one. He won¡¯t bleed here, so it saves us from cleaning. Don¡¯t forget to burn all the things you take from him.¡± I ignored his pale face and ordered the men casually. ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T DO IT! YOU CAN¡¯T ABUSE YOUR POWER LIKE THIS! THE UNIVERSE WON¡¯T ALLOW YOU!¡± He shouted madly as he was taken away by the men. Ah, so noisy. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to cut his tongue, lest he made some unnecessary noise and disturb your peacefulness.¡± I added as they did what I said obediently. When I heard the muffled groan, I knew they had taken his tongue. Serve you right, old man! After the nuisance was taken away, I pinched my nose bridge and closed my eyes. How do I get out? I thought so hard to find the answer of this question. My surroundings had changed. It didn¡¯t show Senior Rizal¡¯s room anymore, but an empty and dim room without any furnitures. Where am I? I looked at my surroundings carefully. There was only one door, so I walked towards it. As my hand reached the door knob, someone spoke behind me. ¡°Mdy, you might not want to get out now. If they see a human in flesh is here, they might not ept it so well.¡± Turning around, I saw it was one of the white-clothed men, but with more expression than the others. He was smiling politely, unlike the others who were only capable of showing strict expression. ¡°You are?¡± I arched my eyebrows. ¡°Forgive my rudeness. I camete even after I knew Mdy ising. My name is Siji. I will be your advisor from now onwards.¡± He bowed his head slightly. Advisor? I looked at the white-clothed army behind him. ¡°I will answer all of your questionster, Mdy. For now, don¡¯t you want to go back?¡± He reminded me. I nodded. What he said was right. Considering what he said was true, that he was my advisor, then it wouldn¡¯t be hard to question himter. ¡°Then, how can I leave this ce?¡± I asked him. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way, Mdy, only if you allow it.¡± He replied as he raised his hand towards me. I knew what he meant so I allowed him to do it as I closed my eyes. I could feel his rough fingers touched my forehead and a warm stream of light entered my consciousness. My body felt light and I had been floating for some times when I saw a big door. The door just appeared out of nowhere and I could see it with my eyes closed. As I didn¡¯t have any other options, I decided to walk through the door. As soon as my feet stepped on the other side of the door, a sense of fatigue hit me hard. I could vaguely see the dark sky and themps, signs that I had returned to my world, but the dizziness I felt was too strong to ignore. It didn¡¯t take long before darkness finally engulfed me. Actually it came so fast even before I could take one step from where I originally stood. Before I sumbed to the darkness, two words appeared in my mind, ¡°Oh shit.¡± ¡ª¨C To say that my body was tired was not enough to describe the feeling I had right at this moment. Instead of feeling tired, I felt my body was boneless and sore all over. My head felt like it was gonna split into two. My throat felt dry as if I had not drunk for more than three days. I could only weakly moan in pain and difort. Fortunately, the bed and nket were so soft, wait.. bed and nket? I opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar room. My walls were not dark grey. Instead of two small wardrobes, I only had one big wardrobe. My curtain didn¡¯t reach the ceiling. Also, where the hell was my small kitchen? I was at lost at where I was. I had never been in this room before so I had no idea whose room was this. After I fainted yesterday, who picked me up? ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± That voice jolted me. Why is he here? Chapter 90 90 Finally, Home! (2) ¡°You¡¯re lucky we were close by when we found you unconscious yesterday. You¡¯ve been sleeping for almost a day now. You must be feeling hungry.¡± He said as he sat down besides me, checking on my temperature. After that he pulled out his phone and gave someone a call. ¡°She is awake. Bring the porridge over.¡± I was at lost seeing himmanding someone like that. I was just about to call him when he stopped me. ¡°Drink first.¡± He said as he held the straw near my lips. I didn¡¯t object and sucked the water in the ss like a madman. ¡°Slow down, you¡¯ll choke..¡± Damn, I did. ¡°There, there.¡± He patted my back lightly, but I notice the corner of his lips lifted a bit and his eyes had the hint of teasing glint. ¡°Sanji, is she really awake?¡± Someone obviously didn¡¯t care about knocking the door and just barged in with a tray in his hands. ¡°Yes, she is, Hani. You¡¯ll spill the porridge if you don¡¯t know how to be calm.¡± Sanji stood up and took the tray from Senior Hani who was looking at me with relief all over his face. ..... ¡°He was the one who informed us about your disappearance.¡± Sanji said as he put the tray on the nightstand. ¡°Ever since we found you near the pond, he has been staying close and insisting to...¡± ¡°Sanji!¡± Senior Hani interrupted quickly while blushing. I think it was toote for him to stop Sanji now. ¡°Wait for you to wake up.¡± Sanji shot him a nce, ignoring Senior Hani¡¯s attempt to make him stop, and continued where he left off. His hand kept stirring the porridge in front of him casually. Senior Hani hastily turned around and left, but I noticed the blush that got even redder on his face. How could a man blush easily? Sanji shook his head when he saw his student ran away because of feeling shy. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. He is just too shy around girls.¡± Ah, so he is like that around other girls, too? ¡°Ah...¡± He stopped his hand movement and thought a bit. ¡°I think he blushes like that only around you.¡± Sanji stared at me as if confirming something. ¡°Yes, only around you.¡± He nodded and his hand started resuming his hand movement. I blinked my eyes, not knowing what to say. ¡°You attract too much bugs around you.¡± I heard him mumbling in dissatisfaction. ¡°What?¡± My voice came out as a squeak and it almost made me p myself. Sanji looked up but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I¡¯ll help you sit so you can eat properly. Should I feed you?¡± He asked with a serious face. ¡°No, thanks.¡± I declined his offer right away. This time I didn¡¯t squeak. A bit hoarse, but my voice was still fine. As soon as the warm porridge entered my throat and stomach, I could feel a bit energy flow into my body. In the end, I finished the whole bowl in a sh. After eating the whole bowl of porridge, I was fed with sweets. I was so starving that I forgot one crucial thing. ¡°Where is Tom?¡± ¡°After we found you, he disappeared. I don¡¯t know where he went to.¡± Sanji shrugged his shoulders. Hearing his exnation, I frowned. There was no way he left just like that. Something must have happened to him. Was it possible that he went back to the ce where he said he saw his body? ¡°Actually, there is one more thing that you need to know.¡± Sanji seemed to be more careful with what he was about to say, but he had no idea I had guessed what it was. ¡°Rizal is dead. The funeral was held this morning. You were still unconscious, so...¡± He left his words hanging, but I already knew. ¡°Alright.¡± I answered shortly. ¡°They said they found his wife died, too. Probably a heart attack after seeing Rizal died. She was said to have fragile body since young.¡± Sanji added. I didn¡¯t say anything, just nodding my head. I knew it was all real, it was not a dream. I could still see some of the white-clothed men guarding every corner of the room as well as the door. Could Sanji see them? Seeing his calm demeanor, I doubt he could see them. What made us different? I pondered a bit, but I still couldn¡¯t find the answer. ¡°By the way, your father called. He wille tomorrow.¡± Hearing my father woulde was probably the best information I had ever heard so far. What had happened during my six months stay had changed my view of life. Especially myst two months where my life was always on the edge, my father¡¯s presence gave me a sense of security. I honestly couldn¡¯t wait for him to arrive. There were too many things I needed to ask and he needed to answer. I really wanted to go home! ¡°Just take a rest. Call me if you need anything.¡± Sanji patted my head lightly before he got up and walked out of the room. ¡°Sanji...¡± I called before he pulled the door closed. ¡°Yes.¡± He looked at me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled. He returned my smile with a gentle one. ¡°Anytime. Wee home, by the way.¡± He replied. I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s your home, not mine. But, still it feels better than there.¡± ¡°It will be yourster, after all.¡± Sanji chuckled. I didn¡¯t know he was being serious or just trying to enlighten the mood. ¡°Ah, the bathroom is on your right. I¡¯ve put some of your clothes there. One of your friends at dorm brought it this afternoon. Good night.¡± This time, he closed the door for real. I was left in the room alone, looking at the ceiling. Sanji¡¯s room was picturing his personality well. He looked detached and cold from one nce, warm and friendly upon knowing him, and passionate and trustworthy after knowing him well. However, there was a hint of childish in him. it added to his charm as a man, though. As I drowned myself in analysing Sanji¡¯s personality, one of the men approached me. ¡°Someone is sending shadows to you.¡± The look of rx in my eyes turned cold. Who was it that so eager to end their lives? Chapter 91 91 Spirit, Soul, and Shadow (1) Actually, I had no idea what they meant by shadow. But, from the way he told me, it must not be something good. ¡°We have followed the source. Apparently it¡¯s the old man¡¯s friend. They have been trying to attack Mdy because they knew about your power.¡± The man said calmly. After hearing it, I could vaguely guess what shadow was. Shadow was the astral entity that was used to harm people. It could be a form of curse if one couldn¡¯t see them, but it could be an eternal haunting to those who could see them, because they would nevere in their beautiful form. No, scratch that, they didn¡¯t have beautiful form. They were the embodiment of wicked, sin, and evil beings who used their negative aura to create bad things towards their victims. I knew this kind of things more or less because it was not something new from where I came from nor where I was studying at. These shadows could do various missions, from haunting a person until killing the person. Of course, the master should pay for it, too. The more dangerous the task, the more expensive the master would pay too. For example, to kill someone, they needed to prepare human blood as the payment. There were also some of these shadows who were hired to make a person rich. Through a vessel like statue or any other items, they would ask for payment. For example, when someone asked for wealth and power, this person might need to sacrifice human¡¯s life. The life of innocent children who got kidnapped while ying around, or worse, their own children or family member. ..... Those who were used in these kinds of activity, either served as a tool for human¡¯s greed or as curse for ck-hearted humans, were called Shadow for they didn¡¯t have their true forms anymore, and their originally transparent and grey soul turned dark and ck. There was nothing good upon agreeing a deal with them. ¡°Where is Siji?¡± ¡°In the captive room.¡± Probably torturing the old man, I know. ¡°Tell him toe here now.¡± I pushed the cover from my body and got down from the bed. I really needed to take a shower, but I decided to finish the problem that wasing at me. While I was checking on the clothes my friend brought for me, I felt Siji¡¯s auraing near me and stopped behind me. ¡°Mdy.¡± He started. ¡°Do you need me?¡± ¡°Tell me, Siji, you¡¯ve seen the shadows being sent to me, right? What do you think?¡± I turned my body until I was face to face with him. He was beaming with smile as if what I¡¯ve been asking him was a low-leveled question and not more than just a joke to him. ¡°A child y.¡± He said, his voice wasced with confidence. Siji was not an old man. He was like an adult man in his thirties, even older than Sanji. He was full of vigor and his eyes still sparked with mischievousness sometimes. I had been wondering what he used to be when he was alive. He had the same aura of those deceased people, meant that he used to be a human, too. How did he end up being the supervisor of this army? ¡°So, can I trust this child y to you?¡± I arched my eyebrows. ¡°Of course, Mdy.¡± He bowed down then disappeared. He must have gone to take care of those shadows, right? After he left, I went to the bathroom to clean myself. I spent the time under the warm water to think about some things. The image of Senior Rizalying in his pool of blood hit me and out of nowhere, I started crying. It was strange. I didn¡¯t cry when I saw him died. Why now? I felt as if my heart was being squeezed. It was too painful to ignore. I choke on my sobs as I finally realized the reason I cried. It was because of guilt. If only I could learn about my power a bit earlier, I might still be able to save him. If only I didn¡¯t postpone looking for Uncle Ben, I might have the solution to help him. He might still be alive if only I were one step faster. All of those possibilities crossed my mind, broke my heart into pieces. I wanted to apologize, but he was not here anymore. Then, I remembered thest image I stored inside my mind before he went. That smile and that light. He must be in a good ce, right? I managed to save his soul from being consume by that evil being, right? He didn¡¯t have to go through all the pain over and over again just like the other sacrifices, right? I calmed myself before I stepped out from the bathroom. My eyes were still a bit puffy but I felt a bit better. I couldn¡¯t save his physical body, but at least I managed to save his soul. I repeated that sentence in my head to help me calm down. Facing myself in the mirror, I promised myself not to hesitate when it came to simr matters. For now, let¡¯s sleep again. I crawled back under the cover, but after sleeping for a whole day, I couldn¡¯t fall asleep. As a result, I was just staring at the ceiling nkly. ¡°Mdy.¡± Another call came. ¡°There is a spirit outside trying to get in.¡± My ears perked when I heard it. Spirit? What does it mean this time? ¡°Let go of me! I know her! Who are you guys, actually? I didn¡¯t see her for hours and now you guys are here blocking my way! Let me through!¡± I heard a shout on the other side of the door. Tom! I opened my eyes wide and jumped from the bed. ¡°Let him in!¡± I shouted hastily. The fact that Sanji or Senior Hani could hear me was out of my mind. I only knew I wanted Tom to be here. The shouts stopped and a secondter, a transparent body shot at me, embracing me in a tight hold. Wait, embracing me? I pushed his body at the speed of light and looked at him with wide eyes. Chapter 92 92 Spirit, Soul, and Shadow (2) I could touch him! My hands touched his body repeatedly. It was still a bit cold, but at least I could touch him now! ¡°Tom...¡± My voice came out like whisper, but my eyes didn¡¯t leave my hands that were still touching him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He asked carefully. His voice wasced with worry but I couldn¡¯t appreciate his worry for me, not when I could touch him like this. ¡°Tom!¡± I called out again, this time I looked up and looked at his eyes. He was startled but he returned my gaze. ¡°I can touch you.¡± I said to him. ¡°W-what?¡± He blinked and stuttered. ¡°I said I can touch you!¡± I repeated as I continued touching his chest, his stomach, and finally his cheeks. ¡°I can touch you for real!¡± I grinned. I watched as his eyes widened and he touched my hands. After his transparent body made contact with my skin, his already wide eyes widened even more, creating aical expression on him. ¡°It¡¯s real.¡± He whispered. He pulled my hands from his cheeks as heced his fingers with mine, feeling the warmth of body on his. ..... After proving that his body would not pass through my body like usual, he broke into wide grin. ¡°What happened? Why did it happen? I¡¯m happy, of course, but this turn of event is just too shocking to be epted. There must be some hidden effect.¡± Tom said as he yed with my fingers. He was right. Before I could say anything, a familiar voice interrupted us. ¡°Mdy, I¡¯ve done what you ordered me to do.¡± Siji came to report. Then, his eyes shifted to Tom and to our intertwine fingers. ¡°What is a spirit doing here?¡± He asked. There it goes again! Spirit? ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked him. ¡°Mdy, forgive my rudeness, but it¡¯s better for you not to get close to spirit. Your presence could disturb the flow of thread connecting the spirit with the body, which will affect the body losing the spirit needed by the soul and the body will die. A spirit is just a part of active soul of a body which is inma or serious injury. Even though I said it is just a part of an active soul, it is actually one of the vital parts of soul which responsible with the flow of emotion and memory. If the person loses her or his spirit duringma, the person might be mentally retarded.¡± Siji exined briefly, but it was enough to make us shocked. Now I knew what spirit was, how could I bear to let him stay with me? Turned out he did see his own body at that time, but where was it? ¡°Spirit, you need to return to your own body and find the right timing to return. Don¡¯t stay too close to Mdy before you return to your body. It will affect your chance to get back to your body. Trust me, you¡¯re not the only spirit I¡¯ve met. I¡¯m warning you because I see you¡¯re close with our Mdy. Now, go back to where your body is.¡± Siji reminded Tom in a rightful manner. ¡°Thank you, Siji. If not for you, I might have ruined his chance to stay alive.¡± I nodded at him. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed.¡± Siji looked like he still wanted to tell me something, but he held it in. He bowed once more and disappeared. After he left, I exchanged look with Tom. There wasplicated look inside his eyes. I admitted, there was too much of information that needed to be processed. First, my guess was right. Tom was too human for a ghost. Turned out he was not one. He was a spirit. Which came to the second issue. A spirit meant he still had the opportunity to be alive. Tom was still alive, but where his body was still an issue to solve. The third was he couldn¡¯t stay close to me in his spirit form, which meant we had to be separated. (T_T) He needed to return to his body to grab the chance to be one with his soul and body. Where was his body actually? I had the sudden urge to find the way to find his body, but I didn¡¯t know where to start looking. ¡°Tom...¡± I called out softly. ¡°After I can finally touch you, you want to drive me away?¡± Tom interrupted, but there was no anger in his voice. I smiled apologetically. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t forget about me when you wake upter.¡± I held onto his hand. ¡°What? Do you think we are in some cheap drama where someone who wakes up fromma got amnesia?¡± He chuckled. ¡°Silly girl. I won¡¯t forget about you. If I do somehow, you¡¯re allowed to hit my head so hard, deal?¡± I pouted. Would I have the courage to hit him if he really forgot about me? I didn¡¯t think so. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Juste back safely. If only I could know where you were all this time.¡± I let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Mdy, I can help you to send him back to where his body is.¡± Siji appeared suddenly. My breath hitched as I was startled with the way he appeared. ¡°Siji.¡± I growled at him. His confession brought a heavy feeling inside my heart. On one hand, I wanted Tom to return to his body quickly, but on the other hand, I didn¡¯t want him to go. Siji said he knew how to make Tom return to where his body was, and I had the urge to strangle him for giving us an easy way out. I thought I was too selfish at that time. ¡°Siji, are you sure you could send him at the right ce? Can you tell me where it is?¡± I eagerly looked at Siji. ¡°Mdy, I may be able to send him, but I have no idea where he is. I will only guide him through his thread that connecting him to his body, then I¡¯ll leave him alone.¡± Siji smiled apologetically. Chapter 93 93 I Don¡¯t Dare, Mdy I looked at Tom who was also looking at me. My heart felt heavy when I thought he would leave me. But, it hurt even more when I thought he would die for real. If I were to think rationally, I would have let him go back to his body. I didn¡¯t mind being separated from him for a bit, as long as I knew that he would eventually return to my side. But, this time it was different. I didn¡¯t know if he woulde back or not. I didn¡¯t even know if he would still remember me or not. There were too many possibilities that made me scared to let him go. But, I reminded myself again that there was a high possibility of Tom being alive; breathing, warm, and... human. Even though it was hard, I decided to let him go. ¡°Mdy?¡± Siji was waiting for my decision. ¡°Send him back.¡± I was surprised to hear my own voice sounded so weak. ..... ¡°Jane.¡± Tom hugged me tight. ¡°I will stay if that¡¯s what you want me to do.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you. Juste back safe and sound. You do know that I have Sanji beside me. If you take too long to return, I¡¯m afraid you...¡± ¡°No!¡± He cut me off. A smile bloomed in my face as my intention to tease him seeded. His face hardened as he red at me. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± He growled. I chuckled. ¡°Go...¡± I pushed him lightly. ¡°Jane, promise me you¡¯ll wait for me.¡± He pleaded. I nodded my head. ¡°Of course.¡± Only after hearing my answer that he released his hold on my body and walked towards Siji who was waiting so patiently. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Tom stood in front of Siji. Siji reached out and widely spread his fingers. His thumb and point finger touched Tom¡¯s forehead while the others were covering Tom¡¯s eyes. Secondster, I saw Tom¡¯s transparent body disappeared bit by bit. My heart thumped loudly and painfully as I watched him disappeared. When he was finally no where to be found, I found Siji frowned slightly. ¡°What is it?¡± I squinted my eyes. Don¡¯t tell me you send him to a wrong ce, I said in my mind. ¡°Nothing, Mdy.¡± Siji bowed slightly. He looked calm but somehow I felt that he was hiding something from me. ¡°Siji, you better don¡¯t hide anything from me.¡± I reminded him. ¡°...I don¡¯t dare, Mdy.¡± He lowered his head. ¡°It¡¯s just... I detected something from him, an aura not belong to him is in his body.¡± I frowned. ¡°Is it harmful?¡± ¡°I have no idea, Mdy. I didn¡¯t have any chance to look into it before he went. Seeing the way the owner hid its aura so well, I could only guess the owner is powerful.¡± My frown got deeper. I was worried that it would bring trouble to Tom even before he returned to his body. ¡°Is there any other way to know where his body is?¡± Siji shook his head, but then he stiffened. ¡°Actually, there is one way to know it.¡± He looked at me with serious gaze in his eye. ¡°Speak.¡± I really hoped I could hear good news from him. ¡°By following the thread of one of his family member. The closer the member to him, the clearer the thread is. It means, it will be a lot easier to follow. As long as one is still alive, the thread will not be broken.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know such thing exists.¡± I eximed. Finding a close family member of Tom was not a hard one. I could either choose his mother or Uncle Ben. ¡°But...¡± Siji stopped talking hesitantly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°How you do it, you need to learn it from Sir Sadewa.¡± Siji seemed restless. ¡°Who is this Sir Sadewa? And where do I find him?¡± Seeing his expression, the problem musty in the way I could find him. ¡°He is an elder, well-known in our dimension. You can¡¯t find him. He will appear in front of you if he wants it. There¡¯s no way to find him either way.¡± Siji smiled apologetically. I sighed. Of course, there was no easy way to it. ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way. Thanks, Siji.¡± ¡°My pleasure, Mdy.¡± With that, he disappeared. I crawled back under my nket andid down silently. As I nced at the clock on the grey wall, I saw it had passed two o¡¯clock in the morning. I sighed softly. Too many had happened in this past months. I needed to set my mind straight before I was consumed by this weird power in me. Finally closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and breathed slowly. My body started to feel the flow of energy around my body. With the white-clothed army standing on guard, the energy around me filled with positive vibes, creating a cool and soothing sensation in me. I felt safe. With that feeling inside, I finally fell asleep again. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C I heard noises. There were many people talking at one go. Were they debating? I opened my eyes slowly. The blur image slowly became clearer. A frown formed in my face as I realized the odd around me. Could someone, please, tell me where I am now? Chapter 94 94 Anymore Than This, Let¡¯s Fight! (1) I wasn¡¯t surrounded by dark grey walls anymore. There was no more childish ceiling. No navy nket and yellow bed-sheet. Instead, I wasying on a hard bed with thin cover, surrounded by walls made of woods, and -forget about ceiling, this ce didn¡¯t have one- roofs made of dry palm leaves which were stacked together and bound by rope made of the skin of woods. It was arranged so tight and firm that even if it were to rain heavily, there would be no rain drops leaked into the house. That was not the point. WHERE AM I??? I was frustrated after I found out that I was not at the same ce anymore. Wasn¡¯t it too bizarre to suddenly find out I was not in the same ce anymore? Was all the surprises in these past six months not enough to make me crazy? Now, I was thrown in this ce for what reason, dear universe? Please, answer me! Out of my frustration, I grabbed my hair and kicked around while whining. I just wanted to cry and scream! I had enough of it! Just thinking about it made me in bad mood. I didn¡¯t feel sleepy for being woken up from my sleep. I was just frustrated and upset for all that had happened to me. ..... I felt like I could punch the sandbag for a whole day to appease my anger. By the time, I finished cursing whoever brought me here, my mood was totally destroyed. I put a long face, with cold eyes, and pouted mouth. Have you ever felt so upset and mad that you thought you would agree to a fight if someone asked you to do it? That¡¯s what I was feeling at that moment. What I felt was beyond mere irritation. I was mad! Whoever you are who dragged me here,e out! Come out and let¡¯s talk about life! Unfortunately, I was in rage for nothing. It was all in vain since no one came to me to appease my anger. I sat down on the bed, my hands tightly grasped the disheveled bed-sheet while my chest was rising up and down, following the fire in my chest. As time passed, my anger slowly subsided, but it didn¡¯t disappear. After my anger slowly dissipated, I could hear the conversation out of the room. It sounded like a meeting, with around four to five people were talking in a hot debate. I frowned as I heard what they were talking about. ¡°Are you sure you want to ept a kid to continue the legacy?¡± One. ¡°She is not just any kid. She...¡± Two. ¡°She is a kid! She¡¯s not twenty yet!¡± A different voice cut it off. Three. A p on a table was following this sentence. I couldn¡¯t imagine how irritated this person felt. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about it before. No matter how old she is, if she has the ability to do so, let her be.¡± Okay, this person was the fourth. This one sounded gentle and nonchnt. ¡°Even her father didn¡¯t pass the test, how do you think she will pass the test? She is just a kid!¡± Two? ¡°What right does she have tomand the first army? She doesn¡¯t have the capability tomand the seventh adviser!¡± The voice was different. He was the fifth person. ¡°She couldn¡¯tmand the army now. The General hasn¡¯t appeared yet. Our concern for now was to prevent this girl from using the army too much. However, regardless of how old she is, we have no rights to strip her off her privilege as the Master of First Army.¡± The fourth still sounded cool. Silence fell into the room as no one was able to refute what the fourth person said. Somehow, I had the feeling that ¡®the girl¡¯ they were talking about was actually...me. I frowned. I didn¡¯t think I ever crossed each one of them before. I didn¡¯t know them. Were they the one who dragged me here? ¡°Do you think she will agree to our request?¡± The first person who talked spoke hesitantly. ¡°She must! There¡¯s no point for her tomand the army without the General.¡± If the girl they were talking about turned out me, I thought I needed to have some private conversation between the third person and me. I wanted to ask him, ¡°Do I owe you something? Did I kill your wife and children? Why are you so spiteful towards me?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe The Middle Region will be guarded by a kid, a girl on top of that.¡± A sigh and words of pity came from the fifth person. That¡¯s it! It is clearly a discrimination towards gender! I pulled open the door and walked towards the source of the voice. In the slightly bigger room, I saw, not five, but six men were sitting around a table in the middle. It seemed like there was only one person who kept silent, but I didn¡¯t know which one he was. I didn¡¯t really care, though, since I came out to defend myself and my gender. ¡°What¡¯s wrong being a girl?¡± I shouted. Seeing the look of surprised in their old faces made me realized one thing: They didn¡¯t know about my arrival in this log cabin. s, I bet they didn¡¯t know who I was. ¡°Who are you?¡± One of them asked carefully, confirming my guess. I couldn¡¯t control myself not to roll my eyes at the question. ¡°Jane Harris.¡± I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. They had not even had a chance to wipe off the startled expression on their faces when their eyes got even wider and mouth hung open. Surprise part two! ¡°You are the kid!¡± One of them eximed with his finger was pointing at me. Secondster, he shouted in pain as he pulled his finger which was bent in odd angle. Serve him right! Chapter 95 95 Anymore Than This, Let¡¯s Fight! (2) ¡°You, you, you...¡± Another one stood up and pointed at me while stammering. His eyes widened as shock filled his eyes. I felt a bit guilty when I had to treat an old man like this. I was taught by my father to respect the Elders and love the Younger. But, I was feeling rather impulsive right now. I felt my life was in jumble, as if someone wanted to fast forward my life into a certain point. Even before I could breathe freely from the life changing event happened in my life, I was sucked into this ce that I was not familiar with. Who wouldn¡¯t get mad if one was pushed around like a ball to do something one was not familiar before? When a person was upset, the person was bound to do something impulsive. Just like me. I broke that old man¡¯s finger, only because I didn¡¯t like the way he pointed at me and talked to me. Father, I¡¯m so sorry I forgot about all of your teachings! But, my anger didn¡¯t disappear just like that. Instead, I was getting more upset seeing those old men¡¯s way to talk to me. ¡°I guess I was right that you were talking about me.¡± I sneered. ¡°But, before I start asking about the point of your discussion, do I know any of you?¡± I walked calmly and kicked a chair to the table like a ruffian, then sat down in the same circle as them. I totally ignored the look they gave me, instead, I peered at them one by one, demanding answer from my questions with the slightest hum from my throat. ..... ¡°Miss Harris...¡± One of them attempted to talk. ¡°Just Jane, thank you.¡± I cut him off, feeling uneasy for unknown reason if they were to call me Miss Harris. Probably because of the guilt, probably because I was not used to it. There had never been anyone who called me Miss Harris before. That person cleared his throat. ¡°Jane. We¡¯re the guardians of the legacy. Our main task is to assess the ability of the First Army, also known as the White Army, and their readiness in facing any threat or danger or challenges. It includes the presence of Adviser, General, and the Master of the army. If any one of these aspects is not satisfied, we couldn¡¯t possibly allow the army to be operated. The legacy has clearly said that these three main pirs need to be existed for the army to be able to move. As the guardians of the legacy, we don¡¯t want any unexpected incidents happen because we don¡¯t obey the legacy.¡± The man patiently exined themselves. Guardian of the legacy. I pinched the bridge of my nose. What kind of joke is this? Why am I entangled myself with this so called legacy? Whose legacy is this, actually? ¡°This is the legacy of the first White Army Master, also the founder of the White Army, whomanded the army for more than two decades.¡± As if hearing the question inside my head, the man continued speaking. I squinted my eyes as I heard him talking. Then, I looked at the others who were eyeing me in displeasure; especially the one who got his finger broken by me. Well, it had been fixed, but he was still feeling sour. ¡°And, how is it rted to me?¡± ¡°The current White Army is missing its General. Thest general finished his time years ago. An army without a general could bring side effects to the Master if the Master forcibly uses the army.¡± The man continued. ¡°So, that¡¯s what you meant by ¡®request¡¯?¡± I arched my eyebrows. They exchanged nces before they nodded to my questions. These old men were seriously cute with the way they nodded their heads in unison like that. ¡°How much do you know I am the new master?¡± ¡°We only happened to know it today, that a new master hase. Seventh Adviser has shown us your picture before.¡± Another man, the new voice, said. ¡°Look, little girl, you¡¯re still a kid. It¡¯s better for you to heed what we are saying. Unless you want yourself to be driven mad, then you better listen to us. Don¡¯t use the army before the general appears! You can¡¯t bear the consequences. Your power won¡¯t be able to control the overwhelming power those hundreds men possessed. You¡¯ll end up getting swallowed by it.¡± Another old man spoke, but instead of full with worry like how an elder supposed to be towards younger generation, his voice was full of discontentment. He was the fifth person I heard before. I blinked my eyes as I stared right at him. He might feel uneasy for being stared like this that he averted his gaze. ¡°Old man, tell me, how old was the youngest master before?¡± I looked at the kind old man who was smiling after listening to my question. ¡°Thirty five years old.¡± He answered. His answer made me realized why they were so opposed to me. But, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle lightly. ¡°No wonder you are so opposed to me and had been calling me a kid all along. Surely you won¡¯t feel secure with a teenager as the new master. I am still what, seventeen years old. I will be turning eighteen in a month, but still I am too much younger than the youngest master before.¡± I spoke calmly. ¡°But, you know what, I¡¯ve used the army before. I¡¯ve held captive an old man who was dead set to kill me and killed a shadow with the men¡¯s help even before Siji came.¡± I watched their reactions in amusement when they heard I had used the men before. Their eyes widened inical ways as their jaws almost touched the floor. Chapter 96 96 Anymore Than This, Let¡¯s Fight! (3) ¡°You, you, you...¡± My lips twitched when I saw this old man pointed his finger again at me, this time there was a mix of rage and hopelessness in his eyes. Did he only know how to say ¡®you¡¯? His other reactions couldn¡¯t win this one. As soon as the surprise left their faces, I watched as their expression turned dark. I raised my eyebrow. ¡°Did someone turn crazy before?¡± ¡°Not just crazy, but died.¡± The second old man snorted. ¡°How long did it take before this person went crazy or died?¡± I asked again. ¡°The longest was two hours after hemanded them.¡± The sixth old man replied. Two hours. ..... I counted with my hands. It had been more than 24-hours for me, but I didn¡¯t feel anything other than being irritated and frustrated. And it was because of a whole different reason. ¡°Jane, how many hours have passed since youstmanded them?¡± The fourth asked me. ¡°More than twenty four hours, I think.¡± I replied calmly. Their old eyes widened again. I thought my presence would give them heart attacks one day. But, I hardly doubt that they would die because of it. They couldn¡¯t possibly die again, right? At least, I wouldn¡¯t be used as murderer if one day I made them so angry until they coughed blood. Dear Universe, you made me meet these poor old men, surely you have considered the consequences, right? As I said that in my heart with a sneer escaped my lips, thunder rumbled outside, as if answering my question. But, I wasn¡¯t done. If you drag me to an unknown ce without my consent again, I¡¯ll fight you! Anymore than this, let¡¯s fight, my dear universe! Whatever you are! I raised my fist into the sky angrily and the thunder rumbled even madly, reacting to my anger. ¡°Why are you provoking the sky?!¡± One of the old men reprimanded me. As I looked at their faces again, I noticed the fear in their eyes. ¡°I couldn¡¯t remember thest time thunder appeared in our dimension.¡± The third old man shook his head. ¡°Something big is happening.¡± The fourth old man sighed. ¡°What something big? It is clearly because of this little girl! She is provoking the sky!¡± ¡°You should be grateful that you are fine even after 24 hours had passed. What are you doing provoking the sky?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling them to stop making me appear at random ces, so what?¡± I replied casually. The sixth of them had dumbfounded expression on their faces. Was it so surprising? The universe, nature, sky, or whatever it was had chosen me tomand the White Army. I knew for sure that I was not the usual person who possessed the sixth sense. If I were to speak frankly and exaggeratedly, it must be something rted to the bnce of the universe. It had been written by God and executed by the Universe. I couldn¡¯tin to God, right? Under the absolute order of life, I couldn¡¯t do anything. But, against the executor, the ruler of this small universe, I was sure I couldin a bit. ¡°Gentlemen, if there¡¯s nothing to talk about, please, excuse me. I would like to return to my bed.¡± I stood up, ignoring the look they gave me, and walked towards the bedroom where I came from before. To my surprise, Siji had been waiting for me, smiling from ear to ear. ¡°Mdy.¡± He bowed a bit. ¡°How do I return?¡± I asked him. ¡°Concentrate and find the opening of the curtain that separating our dimension.¡± He answered. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I raised my brows. He nodded. ¡°Do you need me to send you back?¡± ¡°No.¡± I snorted. Wasn¡¯t it just opening a transparent curtain? It couldn¡¯t be that hard, right? I sat down on the hard bed cross-legged and closed my eyes. As darkness entered my vision, I stabilized my breath. Then the image of the room in Sanji¡¯s house entered my vision, only it came in slightly grey color. It was as if a curtain was separating me and the room. The only thing I needed to do was to find the opening of the curtain. Where was it? Why was it so hard to find it? My frown was getting deeper as I searched and searched but couldn¡¯t find the opening. ¡°Having trouble, Mdy?¡± A voice drifted to my consciousness. ¡°The first time is always hard.¡± I couldn¡¯t see his face but his voice carried a trace of smile. Damn, this adviser. How dare he mocked me! Out of nowhere, I saw Siji reaching out and pulled the curtain open. ¡°The opening is so hard to see, but it is there only for those who can see it.¡± He said as he put down the curtain once again. I didn¡¯t even blink only to spot this opening. He was right. The opening was hard to see, but it was there. This time, I reached out myself and pulled the curtain. The feeling was almost the same with touching the finest silk. The only difference was this one was softer and transparent. Also, this one was cold. Not the cool type, but eerie cold type. At least, it was not the same with touching snakes. As soon as I stepped inside the room, the warm air greeted me, making me sure that I was back to the human dimension. Great, finally more time to sleep! I crawled back under the cover and closed my eyes. This time, I was sure I would wake up in this very same bed, and not in some unknown ce. But... BANG! Chapter 97 97 Bad News! (1) I took a sharp breath as my eyebrows twitched in annoyance. ¡°CAN I HAVE SOME FUCKING PEACEFUL TIME?!¡± I shouted in rage without even opening my eyes. I admit I rarely exploded like this, but this time, I was seriously annoyed! My chest raised up and down in sync with the thump of my heartbeat. I really wanted to kill someone right now! As I didn¡¯t hear any voices or sounds after I shouted, I opened my eyes and stared at the open door. No one was there. No. No human was there, but a ghost... yes, there was one. The poor ghost was staring at me in fear, his whole transparent body was trembling. Beside him was two of my white-clothed men, lowering their heads, avoiding my gaze. I was pretty much aware that my eyes were shooting death re right now, that was why sometimes I regretted the time my rage was over the top. Innocent people would feel the side effect of my rage. ..... But, for now I couldn¡¯t care less. Even though I had slept for a whole day, but considering all the bizarre incidents happened to me, I needed to blow off some steam. Not that I did it intentionally. I took a deep breath to stabilize my heartbeat. I was still annoyed, but I needed to stay sane and cool headed in order to solve any problems that came to me. Pushing my body into sitting position, I looked at the three of them. ¡°What is it? Who are you?¡± ¡°Mdy, this one here is trying to break into the chamber.¡± One of the men answered with his head was still lowered. I shifted my gaze to the ghost. As my eyes met his, his body trembled even more. He was on the verge of tears and ran away if my men didn¡¯t hold him in ce. ¡°Spare me! I¡¯m just curious to see the person who stays in Sanjaya¡¯s room.¡± He knelt almost automatically while begging. His eyes had tears it it. I frowned hearing hisme excuse. ¡°Are you the ghost who resided in here?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes. I¡¯m Sanjaya¡¯s friend.¡± He nodded his head quickly. ¡°No, you¡¯re not.¡± Sanji¡¯s voice came from the next room as the door creaked open. His sleepy face coupled with his messy short hair didn¡¯t make him look like a man in his thirties. Instead, he looked like a wild young man in histe twenties. So tempting. So hot. So irresistible. If any of his fan girl ever saw him like this, I was one hundred percents sure that she would die of nosebleed. My mind was distracted for a second because of his appearance. When I noticed him smirking, I knew he caught me staring. Damn, being in rage was really not good for me. I was too impulsive! I couldn¡¯t hide my expression at all! How could I get caught staring at him out of all people? So embarrassing! ¡°Sanjaya, how could you...¡± The ghost was now in tears as he looked at Sanji in disbelieve, like a wife being wronged by her husband. Eh? Why did it sound strange? I frowned. Sanji pinched between his brows, obviously feeling irritated. ¡°You¡¯re just a confused ghost leeching of me. I obviously had kicked you out several times, but you came back over and over.¡± Confused ghost? I raised my brow as I got down from the bed. Dismissing the white-clothed men, I stood in the door frame, crossing my arms in front of my chest. ¡°What do you mean confused ghost?¡± I asked to Sanji. ¡°He obviously doesn¡¯t have any grievances left in this world, but he still stuck here. As he doesn¡¯t know what made him unable to proceed to a better ce, he is still wandering outside. He even wants to have his own house here! But because he doesn¡¯t have any money, he insists to live with me.¡± Sanji exined. ¡°Sanjaya, we¡¯ve known each other for what, fifteen years or more. Do you have the heart to let me live in the street? Don¡¯t you know there are frightening women out there? Not only frightening, they are also UGLY! Do you know my struggles?¡± At first, he spoke in aggrieve tone, silently pleading. But then his voice was the image of a man suffering injustice. He was the only man that I have ever seen full of expression. If only he were still alive, I bet he could be a very good actor. Seeing his horror expression when he talked about ugly women out there brought smiles to my face. He was talking about Kuntnak, I knew that. But, to find a grown-up man, err ghost, feeling afraid of the Kuntnak was funny for me. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked the man. He looked like in histe thirties. He was not particrly handsome, but he was not ugly either. He had the standard face of Indonesian people. I guessed he must be a native of Indonesia, without any mix of blood in his bloodline. ¡°Bima. My name is Bima.¡± He answered quickly. I nodded. ¡°Are you afraid of Kuntnak?¡± ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± He replied almost instinctively. I chuckled. ¡°Sanji, he is an interesting fellow. Why do you not want him?¡± Sanji frowned when he heard me. ¡°Do you want me to live with a gay ghost?¡± What?! Chapter 98 98 Bad News! (2) This revtion was not what I was expecting. Seeing the sheepish smile on the ghost face made me understood why Sanji was kicking this fellow out. I cleared my throat. ¡°Well, since it¡¯s still dark out there, I¡¯m going back to sleep now. Bye.¡± Turning my body around, I waved goodbye to the ghost and human and closed the door hastily. Let Sanji deal with the ghost! But, before the door was closed, something blew in and held onto the door. As I turned around, I saw the ghost was there, working hard to keep the door open. ¡°Miss, Miss, please, hear me out first. Help me!¡± He said between his gritted teeth. I pulled back my hands and crossed it in front of my chest again. What an acting! ¡°Enough. Don¡¯t act in front of me. What are you trying to do acting like that? I didn¡¯t even use much strength to close the door, yet you look like you¡¯re pushing a big stone. What do you want?¡± Bima, the ghost, stood upright when he heard me. A shy smile appeared on his face as he lowered his head. If he still had his body, he would probably blush in embarrassment. ..... ¡°Do you hate gays?¡± He asked carefully. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for it, you know? I also thought I was normal, that I would have a wife and two kids. But, I had no idea that the wife in my mind was actually a guy! And that I wouldn¡¯t have kids if I were to marry a guy! Is it my fault that I fell in love with another guy? What¡¯s wrong being in love?¡± In the end, he didn¡¯t just ask, but he defended his sexuality and yelled at me as if I was the one who bullied him for falling in love with the same gender. ¡°Are you done?¡± I asked him calmly. Maybe he was surprised with his outburst and felt guilty for yelling at me, he lowered his head in shame as he nodded his head. ¡°First, I¡¯m not homophobic. I have no problems with your kind. But, if a straight man doesn¡¯t want yourpany, you better behave. Don¡¯t force it!¡± ¡°Second, only because you were bullied because of your sexuality, it doesn¡¯t mean all people are the same. There¡¯s nothing wrong being in love. I don¡¯t care who you love, as long as it¡¯s not someone¡¯s husband which meant you¡¯re destroying someone¡¯s marriage, or underage kids.¡± ¡°Now, tell me what do you want?¡± I looked at him straight at his eyes, ignoring the trembling of his body. ¡°I... I...¡± He stuttered. His hands were reaching out to me, but before he could touch me, he was grabbed and flung far away from me. ¡°Don¡¯t touch her!¡± In a second, Sanji stood in front of my door, putting himself as the unbreakable wall between me and Bima. Bima floated back with aggrieve look on his face, but he did maintain his distance from us. ¡°I-I just want to stay here. I promise I won¡¯t disturb you.¡± He said slowly. I noticed the frown on Sanji¡¯s face. Objection was cleared in his face. I could understand the reason, though. But this coward was in need of a ce to stay. ¡°Tell me, do you want to live with Kuntnak?¡± I asked Bima. His expression changed when he heard me. His already transparent body looked pale as he stepped back. His head shook quickly. ¡°That¡¯s what Sanji feels if you insist on living with him.¡± ¡°But, I¡¯m not Kuntnak!¡± Bima argued hastily. I had the urge to face-palmed my face. ¡°You are Kuntnak in Sanji¡¯s eyes!¡± I retorted back. Bima was left speechless. He looked at me and Sanji repeatedly. Then, he lowered his head dejectedly. ¡°Fine.¡± He mumbled as he floated away. As he disappeared through the wall, I let out a sigh of relief. I was just about to turn around and crawl back under my nket when I noticed Sanji was still standing with tight expression. ¡°What? Are you regretting your decision now that he left?¡± I teased him. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Sanji flicked his fingers at my forehead gently. ¡°One of the reasons I don¡¯t like him beside him being a gay ghost is he is sensitive towards bad news. He came here today, it must be some sort of premonition.¡± Sanji exined, but the frown in his ce were only getting deeper. I raised my brows. ¡°Bad news? Howe?¡± During my lifetime as a horror lover, I had not heard a ghost could be a premonition for bad news. I guessed with my new ability, I really opened a whole new world for me to experience. But, bad news? Now that he mentioned it, I did feel something bad wasing at me. What is it? Chapter 99 99 Bad News! (3) After Bima left, I was starting to feel uneasy. Even though, Sanji had said not to think about it too much, I couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy. As I kept worrying about things that had not even happened, the rest of my sleep went bad. I kept getting nightmare. It was not the same nightmare as I had at that time, the one with shadow in it. It was like any other nightmares, where I was surrounded by darkness or being chased by monsters. I know it sounds like a child¡¯s dream, but I was pretty sure it was monsters. Shapeless monsters. By the time I woke up in the morning, ah it was in the afternoon, I had dark circles under my eyes and my eyes seemed to miss the softness of the pillows. Even the cold water I purposely sshed onto my face couldn¡¯t reduce the awful sensation I was feeling. ¡°Good morning, Jane.¡± I could hear the teasing tone in his voice, but I didn¡¯t care. I nodded to Sanji who was cooking our break... lunch. It was lunch time, of course. ¡°Erm, judging from your face, I don¡¯t think you have a good night sleep.¡± He smiled. ¡°No shit, Sherlock.¡± I replied before I grabbed a bottle of cold water bottle from his refrigerator and put it on my face. ..... ¡°Sorry for actingfy in your house. I¡¯m not in the mood for courtesy.¡± I said while savoring the coldness of the bottle on my slightly warm face with my eyes closed. ¡°You¡¯ll catch a cold like that.¡± I heard him saying gently. I replied with a low hum, but ignoring his warning. ¡°Where is Senior Hani?¡± ¡°He went back home this morning while you¡¯re still asleep. With all themotionst night, he didn¡¯t even wake up. You can imagine how tired he was.¡± Sanji chuckled. ¡°Where¡¯s Tom? I thought I heard himingst night.¡± ¡°He¡¯s gone.¡± I answered shortly. ¡°Gone? What do you mean ¡®gone¡¯?¡± I opened my eyes and saw Sanji sitting in front of me with a frown on his face. After considering the possible oue that might happen, I decided not to tell him about how Tom was only in ama. So, I shrugged and closed my eyes again. ¡°I don¡¯t know. He came and said goodbye. That¡¯s all.¡± I didn¡¯t need to know how he reacted to that. My mind focused on the bad feeling I had inside. Somehow, the bad feeling turned into something else. I felt my chest tightened and I had the urge to cry. My eyes started to feel warm, but I suppressed it. I took a deep breath repeatedly, but the feeling didn¡¯t disappear. It eased up a bit, but it was still there. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you okay?¡± Sanji looked at me with a frown in his face. Worryced his voice and his gaze, but I was too deep into the strange feeling I had to react to his worry. I shook my head lightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mood swing, maybe?¡± I said, but deep inside my heart I knew it was not a mere mood swing. It was something stronger than that. Something that I couldn¡¯tprehend the origin. It was different than mood swing. ¡°Are you on your period?¡± He frowned. I smiled a bit. I had just had my period, and it had passed the time for me to have mood swing because of that. But, I didn¡¯t say anything to Sanji. ¡°Ah well, you must enlighten your mood. Your hungry stomach will only make it worse. Why don¡¯t you dig in now? Before it gets cold.¡± Sanji pointed at the food in front of me. ¡°Thanks.¡± To make him less worry about me, I decided to just go along with it. Even though I didn¡¯t have appetite, I must eat. Sanji must notice the way I ate different from before, but he didn¡¯t say anything. He put my favorite dessert on the table after I ate -I didn¡¯t know where he found out about it -but it still didn¡¯t improve my mood. Instead, the urge to cry was only getting stronger. I took a deep breath over and over again, to calm my heart beat which was thumping loudly. After finishing the whole cup of dessert, I excused myself to get back to my room. If I really cried, I didn¡¯t want to do it in front of Sanji. The ring light from outside hurt my eyes and somehow it irritated me. I closed the curtains until the room was enveloped in the dim darkness. I even didn¡¯t turn on themp. I sat there in the dark. The only light that could get into the room was the one that happened to peek from the slight opening of the curtains. It was enough to let me see The White Army who was now standing in front of me in a straight rows and lines. ¡°Siji.¡± I called my Adviser. ¡°Here, Mdy.¡± He appeared in front of me right after I called him out. I was still frowning. After I sat in the dark only for a minute, somehow I had a hunch of the cause of the bad feeling I had. ¡°Find Bima, bring him here. Don¡¯t let Sanji know about it.¡± I ordered him. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji turned around and ordered some of the men to execute my order. At this moment, I only wished for my premonition to be wrong. The men worked efficiently. In no time, they came back with Bima in their arms, struggling to let him go. But, no sound came from his throat. The men threw him in front of me. I watched as Bima¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°What are you?¡± I asked. I really needed to find out why Sanji said he was a bad premonition. It was as if he was the messenger of misfortune. ¡°M-me? I¡¯m, I¡¯m..¡± He stuttered. My frown got deeper. It was as if someone was whispering to me to reach out and put my fingers in his forehead, to find some information hidden deep in his soul. I didn¡¯t know how I did that, but somehow it worked. Images after images flooded into my mind but none of it was the one was looking for. Deeper. I need to search deeper. Deeper I went, then. My eyes closed tightly and the frown in my face only got more profound. This time, it was not images anymore, but rather a dark well appeared in my mind. It was like a dark and bottomless well. I couldn¡¯t see the base. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± A voice startled me and I stopped moving. Is it possible for a ghost to be possessed? It doesn¡¯t make sense! ¡°What are you doing in Bima¡¯s soul?¡± I asked. ¡°I am Bima, and Bima is me. We are one entity. We are inseparable. You, human, what are you looking for?¡± The voice sounded heavy and raspy, typical voice of monster. ¡°Are you the one who bring bad premonition to me?¡± The voice was silent for a moment before it spoke again. ¡°Indeed.¡± He spoke slowly. ¡°Humans are miserable creatures. They are given the chance to change something, yet they are foolishly ignore it. They are given the chance to prepare their heart for something bad that might happen to them, yet they still me others. Everything happens for a reason, and we always give a sign. Yet, they are ungrateful and only looking for pleasures, wailing and ming others when they are in pain.¡± I was rendered speechless hearing him speaking. I was only asking a simple ¡®yes¡¯ and ¡®no¡¯ question, yet he spoke so much? I shook my head lightly. I couldn¡¯t deny that what he said was true, but I was really not in the mood to hear a lecture. ¡°Tell me, what kind of bad thing that will happen to me?¡± ¡°Human, what is your fear?¡± He asked me. I was stunned. Fear? I feared a lot. I couldn¡¯t ask more as I was sent back forcefully. When I opened my eyes, I saw Bima was looking at me expectantly. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He asked carefully. I pulled out my hand and steadied my breath. ¡°Take him out.¡± I waved my hand. I didn¡¯t need to see whether my order was carried out properly, they would do it to their best. I sat back, the question was yed over and over in my mind. My fear? I had so many fears. What did it mean? As I was thinking about the question and the rtion to the ufortable feeling I had inside, Sanji pushed the door opened. His hand went right to the switch as he turned on themp. Now that the room was bright, I could see the anxiety in his eyes. My heart thumped loudly when I saw him. Here ite! ¡°Jane, promise me you¡¯ll be strong after you hear this.¡± He said carefully as he sat in front of me. ¡°What is it? Just tell me.¡± I was starting to feel suffocating. It was starting to feel hard to breathe. Sanji took a deep breath before he started speaking. ¡°Your father got into an ident. The car he was in fell off the road and flipped.¡± Chapter 100 100 Missing! My biggest fear in life was to lose my parents. I couldn¡¯t imagine what my life would be if they died before I did. As the only child at home, I grew up epted all of their loves. But, they didn¡¯t spoil me rotten, which was why I got their permission to study far from them. I knew to behave myself, not to embarrass them, to be a filial child to them. I love them so much. So, if something were to happen to them, I could only be strong and face it, under one condition; it was the will of God. But, if I found out it was something rted to maniption, human or ghost, bring it on! I was not going to let you get away with a simple punishment! Dare to mess with me? Let¡¯s see who would suffer in the end. As for now, my biggest fear suddenly happened. My mind went nk for minutes, my eyes widened and I could feel the warmth drained from my body. My breath hitched in my throat. My hands and feet were cold. I felt like a mess. ¡°Where is he now?¡± I asked. ¡°Missing.¡± Sanji replied slowly. This word snapped me back from my shock. ¡°Missing? What do you mean?¡± I red at him. ..... Were we in some kind of action movie where people kidnapped other people after getting them into an ident? Sanji ryed to me what he had heard before. Out of eight people in the car, only my father went missing and the other seven was severely injured. No one was died in this ident, but strangely my father went missing! There must be something wrong with the story, or in the story. ording to Sanji¡¯s story, he sat in the middle of seat, there was no sign of him being thrown out of the car, and there was no clues whether he walked out of the car on his own or not. It was as if he was swallowed by the earth. The coldness I felt before disappeared as my brain was forced to work hard. I had a feeling that what had happened to my father was something that even policemen couldn¡¯t solve. Somehow my feeling told me that someone was ying around. No. Someone was tired of living well. Someone wanted to feel the Hell. I sneered. If it were to happen before I acquired the White Army, I would be panic and cry. I might not ask the rest of the story, instead I would run out while crying and calling for my father. Which would be stupid for me, for I had no idea where to find him. Fortunately I grew some sense in my mind after these exhausting months. For now, I only needed to sit a bit and thought about it. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Sanji asked worriedly. I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m good. Thanks for informing me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if there are any issues about him.¡± Sanji stood up and patted my shoulder. ¡°Thanks.¡± I nodded and watched him leave the room. As soon as Sanji disappeared behind the door, my body went numb and cold. The hint of warmth in my eyes disappeared and turned into cold glint. ¡°Siji.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji appeared in front of me. ¡°Find out what happened to my father.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Having Siji and the White Army around was equivalent to having a high-speed and unlimited intework. They worked faster than anyone since they were limitless and unbounded by space and time. I only needed to say the word, and they would execute the order. Sometimes, I would remember what the old men said, that I would be driven mad or worse, die, if I continued using the army. I wonder why, though. As I was pondering about that matter, Siji came back in a hurry. ¡°Mdy.¡± He sounded a bit hesitant. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Your father was kidnapped.¡± He said in a low tone, worried that I would lose my temper. But, I didn¡¯t. I remained calm but I couldn¡¯t hide the frost in my voice. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°They said it was greendies that took him away.¡± I frowned. ¡°Green?¡± I searched in my memory any information about Green Ladies but I got nothing. What is their rtionship with my father? Why do they have to take him away? Do they mean harm to him? I had these questions inside my head. As long as I didn¡¯t know their intention, I couldn¡¯t just stay calm. ¡°Mdy, they are the maids of the Queen of South Sea, one of the ten rulers of mystic world in Indonesia, in other words, our dimension.¡± Queen of South Sea? No wonder. I could feel my brain went nk. How do I find any information about him? How do I help him? As if knowing what I was thinking, the next wordsing out from Siji¡¯s mouth dampened my mood entirely. ¡°Queen of South Sea is known for her tight security. Any insider information won¡¯t leak unless they do it intentionally. Unless we build a good rtionship with them, there¡¯s no way we can get any information from them. But, as far as I know, the Queen is not someone who would do kidnapping for no good reason. Let¡¯s hope your father is taken care well by them.¡± I remained silent as I heard him. ¡°Queen of South Sea¡¯s people came far away from the sea to thend only to kidnap my father, it seems like my father is an important figure to them. I hope they really take a good care of him.¡± I said. ¡°But...¡± I looked up at him. ¡°If they dare to hurt him, I swear I¡¯ll find a way to make them suffer, Queen or not.¡± My voice was picturing the determination I had inside. ¡°We will follow you, Mdy!¡± Siji lowered his head with one of his arm crossed in front of his chest and his body straight upward. Behind him was countless of men in white doing the same pose. With them as my backers, I felt I didn¡¯t need to be afraid of anything. Be it a Queen or a King, as long as they dared to hurt any of my beloved people, they would suffer from the consequence. I promised myself I wouldn¡¯t act recklessly. I promised myself to be stronger. I needed to be mindful of my every actions, to stay cold headed in spite of theplicated problems being thrown at me. ¡°Siji, when will the General of the armye?¡± This one point bothered me the most. As long as this general appeared, the power of this army would increase in several folds. I was sure of that. ¡°Mdy, about that...¡± Siji hesitated again. Chapter 101 101 How Much Time Do I Have? I raised my eyebrows as I stared at him, waiting for him to continue his words. ¡°We are not sure when the next General wille. There¡¯s no information or rule about the time of the General¡¯s appearance.¡± He exined. Well, it seemed that I could only wait. ¡°Then, tell me, how much time do I have?¡± Siji put on a confused expression. I didn¡¯t know whether he was really confused or he just pretended to be. ¡°Excuse me, Mdy?¡± ¡°Those old geezers told me. I shouldn¡¯tmand the army without the general around. I would either be crazy or die. Now tell me, as my adviser, how much time do I have?¡± My voice sounded calm and casual as if I wasn¡¯t asking about the countdown of my time left in this world. ¡°Ah, those old geezers are too old to remember things. It was partly my fault as well. I did tell them that you would be the next Master of White Army, but I forgot to tell them that you¡¯re different. The previous Master might die or turn crazy aftermanding the White Army without the General around. But, it happened only because they didn¡¯t possess much spiritual power to begin with. Therefore, when they forced themselves tomand the Army, even just one of the men, the effect was grave for them. Commanding the Army needs plenteous amount of spiritual power, but with the existence of the General, the power needed reduces to half, and when theymand the men, the power needed are taken from both the Master and the General.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why they should wait for the appearance of their General before they tried to do anything with the army. Sadly, some of them were too eager to try the power given to them and ended up badly.¡± Siji ended his exnation with a disappointed expression on his face, as if hemented the decision the previous Master took. ¡°You, on the other hand, Mdy,¡± He continued. ¡°...are different. At first I also thought that you were the same with the others and honestly I had waited the time you would lose yourself aftermanding the men like that. But, strangely nothing happened to you. I also waited for you to lose your mind, but instead of being unstable, you are getting more and more level-headed every day. There¡¯s no sign for you to have a mental breakdown, or being overly emotional. So, I assume that you are different from the others.¡± His eyes sparkled with joy as he continued speaking. ..... But, I still didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Mdy, your spiritual power are beyondprehension. It¡¯s like a vast sea with never ending water supply. Even if youmand the whole army, you won¡¯t feel any change. We use your spiritual power to execute your order. The only thing that doesn¡¯t need your spiritual power is to guard you against the others.¡± I couldn¡¯t find any hint of lies in his way of speaking, so I decided that he was speaking the truth. Indeed, he acted differently during our first time meeting and now. He looked phony before, but he looked truthful now. Being near him was getting morefortable. ¡°Of course, the existence of the General will help you lessen the burden. We can work more effectively and faster. The spiritual power needed is lessened and you can save more of it. If you need it fast, your spiritual power will be used by us to enhance our speed in working. That¡¯s how it works.¡± I kept silent, but Siji kept talking, exining all about spiritual power to me. This was his true self, not the superficial one before. He was a chatterbox when he gotfortable with a person. More or less like my own personality. ¡°Then, do you have any idea who will be the General?¡± Siji shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t have any clue about it. The system is almost the same with how the universe chose you to be the Master. We will never know until this persones.¡± So, that¡¯s how it was. I nodded my head. He said I wouldn¡¯t feel any change, but I could feel the fatigue as the effect of them draining my spiritual power. It might be fatigue. But, it also might be me being sleepy for one sole reason; I love sleeping. I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to soothe the stress I was feeling. Everything happened too fast that I didn¡¯t even have time to breathe properly. Now that my father was kidnapped and my General was still unknown, I needed to properly make a n to find the reason behind the kidnapping from Queen of the South Sea¡¯ Nyi Roro Kidul¡¯s [1] maids. ¡°Where did thest generale from? Maybe if we can find some clue there.¡± ¡°Thest general came from a hidden vige deep in the forest in the South. Your father had visited that ce before.¡± Siji answered. I frowned. What hidden vige? I was pretty sure I was not living in the world where Naruto lived, so what hidden vige? As if knowing what inside my mind, Siji continued talking as he exined about the hidden vige. ¡°It¡¯s a hidden vige indeed because only some people could find this vige. No matter how hard you try to find this vige, if it doesn¡¯t allow you to enter it, you won¡¯t find it. But, your father was exceptionally epted there back then. Maybe if you go searching for it, it will allow you to enter, too. Maybe you can find any information regarding thest general there. After all, not all people know about this matter.¡± As he was still speaking, my mind wandered to my previous conversation with my father before I came to study. He said he visited a vige before during his trip in the South. The vige was hidden from outside world but they nevercked of daily necessities. The girls were beautiful and the boys were strong. They had strong spiritual power and never felt afraid of seeing ghost. They even hunted the ghost who would dare enough to disturb human. They had a way to dispel the ghosts. If this vige was the same vige that Siji mentioned, then no wonder the general came from this vige. I also had heard my father said that his offspring wouldn¡¯t get lost in the forest if one day she decided to find it. They would always open the gate to their vige willingly. As I thought about that, I smiled unconsciously without feeling what-so-ever. If this vige was the same, I would find time to go there. But, who would apany me to the vige? Would they really ept me just because I was my father¡¯s daughter? If the way they weed me was warm and good without any slight trace of contempt, I might start to think that my father had some rather serious issues in the vige. He might be someone they respected a lot, but I couldn¡¯t guess what his position was. Chapter 102 102 Shut Up! (Tom¡¯s PoV) After reluctantly leaving my girlfriend, Jane, to go to where my body was staying, I was pulled by unknown force and suddenly I was surrounded by darkness. I couldn¡¯t see anything other than feeling the strong force pulling me. The idea of losing my ability to see made me panic for a second, but then I saw a ray of light wasing closer and closer to me. No, it was me getting closer to the ray of light. As the light was getting bigger and bigger, in the end I was swallowed by the blinding light, causing me to close my eyes to avoid being hurt by it. All of my senses felt dull. I couldn¡¯t hear, see, smell, speak or even feel anything. It was as if I was thrown into a bright white room without gravity, leaving me floating around with no ce to go. Was I being sent to the right ce? I was wondering in the middle of being senseless. My eyes were still closed. I had no intention to open it since the ring light was still too bright for me. Even with my eyes closed I could still see the light, what would happen if I opened my eyes? I could have just surrendered to the situation I was in. As long as I knew I was conscious, I should just wait patiently to finally reach the ce my body was in. ..... I didn¡¯t know how long I have spent in the bright room, but slowly I started to regain my senses. My feet felt numb. No matter how hard I tried to move it, I couldn¡¯t move it. Then, I felt my stiff fingers touched something soft and nice. My fingers reflexively moved but it was still too stiff to move after all. So, I remained quiet again. After that, there was no sign for my other senses to improve. Other than the feeling in my fingers and feet, I felt nothing else. Time passed by and suddenly one day, I could hear some voices around me. At first it came as buzzing sound, but eventually it became coherent. I could hear some people talk. Even though thenguage was something I was not familiar with, I could understand it. It was not some special ability to understand thenguage, many people were fluent in thisnguage. ¡°After two years, this patient finally shows some changes. Do you think he will wake up soon?¡± It was a woman¡¯s voice. Judging from the way she spoke, she must be a nurse. Does it mean I am in a hospital or a small clinic? ¡°I hope he could wake up soon. He has been asleep for too long, he might need a hell of therapy to regain his ability to walk after he wakes up.¡± Another voice chimed in. She sounded hopeful and calm. ¡°Doctor Gwen has put a lot of efforts for this patient in these couple of months. After having a series of convulsions, this patient really shows some improvements. Let¡¯s hope he will really wake up, and nothing bad will happen to him.¡± Convulsions? Me? I frowned when I heard them talking. There were some information I got from their conversation. First, I was saved by a person called Doctor Gwen. Second, I had convulsions during some of these months. Third, I could basically conclude where I was right now based on their dialect andnguage. Combining with the story that myte Junior Brother Rizal, may he rest in peace, told me and Jane that I had idents in Ennd, I was one hundred percent sure that I was either in Ennd, Scond, or Irnd. As I realized where I was, I couldn¡¯t help but groan. The distance between Indonesia and Ennd was too much! How could I get back to Jane if I were so far away? What if that bastard Sanjaya did something to her? Only the thought of it made me howled in frustration. If only, if only Uncle Ben was here. I didn¡¯t even know if he had started looking for me again or not. Even if he did, he couldn¡¯t know where I was, right? Every possible way out for me to get back to my lover¡¯s side in a hurry was not avable, unfortunately. At that time, I was not thinking clearly as the only thing inside my mind was to get back to Jane as soon as possible. I totally forgot the fact that I was inma for two years, which meant some of my body parts would not function well and I needed to get into some physical therapy to return the function of it. ¡°Ah, do you remember that time?¡± The voice turned excited. ¡°Which time?¡± ¡°I got night shift that night and I had just finished checking on him and was about to leave him.¡± The voice was strangely excited and I could hear a hint of lust in it. Why did I shudder as I heard her talk? Somehow I had a bad premonition from the way she talked. ¡°Ah, I remember it!¡± The other woman excitedly replied. ¡°Oh my God, I seriously thought I was too lonely that I imagined things. Who would have thought that he had a big one?¡± I shuddered even more as I heard her describe what had happened in lewd manner. How I wish I could shout at them! Shut the hell up! Chapter 103 103 Jane, I¡¯m Sorry Warning: Some R-18 scenes ahead, NSFW, reverse r*pe! Read at your own risk! (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°Too bad he is inma. I wonder how wild would he be if he were conscious?¡± ¡°I heard he used to have good figures. But, afterying down unconscious for two years, no wonder his figure changes. But, seeing his pretty face, I can imagine how hot he will be after he wakes up and returns to his good old days.¡± ¡°To be honest, I had a wet dream with him after that night. He looked so different with how he is right now. Just thinking about it now got me wet. Dear God, he fucked me good. I had to rub myself off several times when I woke up.¡± The lust in her voice thicken and I almost could imagine the way her body moved as she was talking about it. The other womanughed. ¡°I thought I was the only one, turns out I¡¯m not alone. I also had a very lewd dream with him the next day. And oh gosh, I wish I didn¡¯t have to wake up since he made me unable to walk after that in my dream. When I woke up, damn, my panties got so wet I never thought I could be that wet.¡± ¡°Admit it, when he got a boner during your night shift, you sucked him off, right?¡± I was startled and if my eyes wasn¡¯t held down by the ring light, I would have widened my eyes. How I wish I could cover my crotch after hearing them talking, but my arms were so soft I couldn¡¯t move it. ..... ¡°Of course, a delicious treat was in front of my eyes, why should I leave it?¡± She replied almost instantly. ¡°Oh, he was so creamy and hot. I could still taste the bitter sweet of his cum in my tongue.¡± She made a sound as if she was savoring a delicious treat. ¡°Oh I¡¯m so wet! I want to rub one off!¡± Her voice hoarse, thick with lust. ¡°Me too...¡± The other woman replied with the same lustful voice. One could imagine what had happened between two lustful women in a room with ambiguous voices filled the room. Muffled moans reverberated through the silent space I was in. I couldn¡¯t help but feel heated by their lustful moans. Damn, if only Jane was here with me! ¡°Keep your voice down! Someone¡¯s gonna hear you.¡± One of them reminded the others in a hush voice. ¡°Doing naughty things in a patient with a big dick¡¯s room, I¡¯ve never thought I could be this aroused. Ah... More, give me more! Slide your fingers deeper!¡± Her muffled scream was strangely loud for me to hear. It also shattered the barrier I created inside my mind as images of two women fooling around filled my imagination in harmony with their moans and groans. ¡°Hey, he¡¯s hard.¡± A sultry whisper snapped me to my senses. Who¡¯s hard? Me? As I was still pondering how they knew, I felt some strange yet familiar feeling in my lower abdomen. It was as if some hands were caressing it lower and lower till it touched the most sensitive part of my body. No way! Worse, the feeling was not just for a fleeting moment. Instead, it grew stronger and stronger, together with the hands movement that growing faster and faster. My breath quickened as I felt a familiar sensation pooled in my lower abdomen. No, no, no! I was trying so hard to deny it, but the feeling rushed into me like a torrent flood that washed me up quickly. I would have groaned as the stars rushed behind my closed eyelids, making me floating in bliss, but I remembered I still lost my ability to speak, even just uttering a sound was hard for me. Jane, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t mean to cheat on you, I was forced to swallow the blissful feeling of cumming. I couldn¡¯t do anything about it! Forgive me, Jane! As I slowly climbed down from the orgasmic feeling, guilty started to seeped into my heart. Jane¡¯s cute face entered my mind, especially her lustful expression as I made her orgasm. I made her cumming, but here I was made cumming by these unknown women. I had the urge to cry but I had no tears to begin with. As I was stillmenting about it, I failed to notice that those hands had not stopped their exploration. I gasped as I felt something wet enveloped the tip. The wet feeling lowered until I felt my whole dick was buried in a tight, hot, wet cavern. It¡¯s not what I think it is, right? Please, tell me it¡¯s not! My blood boiled once again as the pleasure started to attack my body, in rhyme with the movement of the wet cavern engulfing my hard dick. Moans of pleasure entered my ears and I had the urge to push this woman out of my body. ¡°Fuck! He still feels hot as I remembered!¡± The grunts was several folds lustful than before. ¡°Oh dear God, fuck me!¡± She rambled. ¡°Oh yeah, keep rubbing my clit while I fuck this big dick! Suck my tits! Suck my tits! Yes! Yes!¡± Get the hell away from me! I closed my eyes tightly, bit my lips as the pleasure rocked my body. Even though I tried so hard to refuse the pleasure, it went in vain. I don¡¯t want it! I don¡¯t want it! Jane, please help! These women are scary! Jane, help! I was crying while my body was trembling in pleasure and my heart was filling with guilt. It was pleasure, yes, but I didn¡¯t want any of this. But, who could save me? Chapter 104 104 You Killed Her (Jane¡¯s PoV) The sky was incredibly blue without a hint of clouds tainting it. The wind was blowing softly, ying with my locks of hair. The rustle of leaves created a perfect harmony with the wind and the clear sky. I looked up at the sky, noticing a dry leave being blown by the wind. It was my fifth day in my hometown. After my father disappeared, I had to convince my mother that he was okay, that I would find a way to find him. In the end, I suggested for her to go to Ennd and stay with my uncle and aunt there. So, there was only me in the house. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t feel alone since my White Army was always with me. Before I returned to my hometown, I had applied for a long-term leave of study. I understood that I couldn¡¯t concentrate on my study with my current situation. Instead of wasting my time, I decided to take a leave. My mother didn¡¯t oppose it since she was too concerned with my father¡¯s matter, therefore I had plenty of time to make a n. Before I left my dorm, I had a long talk with Uncle Ben. I exined to him some matters about Tom, leaving the fact that Tom and I was together. I also left him the details about who I was in another dimension. Uncle Ben knew I hid some things, but he didn¡¯t force me to talk about it. After I told him that Tom might be on his way back to his body, Uncle Ben decided that he would go back to Ennd and looked for him. We kept each other contact so he could easily reach me when he needed me. He went on the next day. ..... Sanji said he was going to finish some of college issue before he joined me in my hometown. Honestly, I didn¡¯t really want hispany since I was afraid I would sway to his side while Tom was not around. Haha, just kidding. I¡¯m a faithful girl. Actually, Sanji was a huge help for me. He helped me going through the phase where I lost one of my foothold; my father. He was analyzing things with me and didn¡¯t question me too much when I asked him for help. He also gave me a sense of security when he was around. So yeah, I was expecting hising. Ah, I also went to Senior Rizal¡¯s house, may he rest in peace. His family looked at me strangely but I didn¡¯t care. I only went to show my condolences before I proceeded to go to his grave. After that, I went to Amanda¡¯s house. Heh, going to her house was interesting. Just when I stepped my foot in their gate, I saw a bunch of Kuntnak staring at me from the roof. I recognized them, of course. It seemed like the one who ordered them to attack me at that time had something to do with Amanda¡¯s family. No wonder she also appeared there. Now that I had unlocked my full ability, I could see a chain in their feet, tying those Kuntnak together. The chain emitted ck aura that controlled them. I recognized the aura as it belonged to the old man, Amanda¡¯s father. From outside, one couldn¡¯t see these entities because there was a barrier preventing people to see their ¡®pets¡¯. But, when a person stepped into the yard, one could sense the difference atmosphere. Apparently, those tens of Kuntnak were not the ones that got caught by the old man. Under the big tree in the corner of the front yard was a big Genderuwo that was chained to the tree. It was eyeing me with a growl from its throat. As I walked inside further, I saw five Buto Ijo or green goblins in the left yard. They were baring their fangs at me. I chuckled seeing them as I knew they wouldn¡¯t attack since they were chained to a big rock. When I knocked on the door, a tiger appeared in front of me, passing through the door and looking at me straight into my eyes. I smiled. ¡°Hello, Mr. Tiger. Would you allow me to knock on the door?¡± I asked politely. The tiger let out a low grunt and it walked passed me. ¡°What do you want?¡± I heard it asked. I turned around and watched himid down on the floor gracefully. I couldn¡¯t see its mouth moved, but I was pretty sure the question was from it. ¡°I came to see whether this family still has some conscience inside. Their youngest daughter died, yet they didn¡¯t seem in sorrow. Also, I came to express my condolences.¡± It grunted again as it turned its head away. ¡°You killed her, but you showed your condolences towards her family. What a joke!¡± He said spitefully. I didn¡¯t erase the smile in my face. ¡°You know for sure why I did that. After all, she was not supposed to be alive. It¡¯s her father decision to put the shadow inside his daughter¡¯s body.¡± The tiger sneered. ¡°Go ahead. Knock and see it for yourself, how rotten this family has be.¡± It said as itid down its head on its big paws, turning its face away from me. My eyebrow arched when I heard that. I might be wrong but I caught a hint of disdain in his voice. But, I didn¡¯t continue to talk with it. Instead, I turned around and knocked on the door. Knock! Knock! Knock! The knock was neither loud nor low, but I heard its echo. This house was surprisingly big and empty. Not long after, the door creaked open a bit and there was a pair of eyes peeking through the opening of the door. Those eyes were creepy. It was opened wide and I could see the red veins in it. Dark circles seemed to decorate under the eyes, making it creepier to look at. The hair was slick and long, matted to the head. It looked like this person had not washed his/her hair for a week. ¡°Who?¡± A low voice seemed to belong to the owner of that pair of eyes sounded behind the door, but I could guess that this person was not a girl. ¡°My name is Jane. I heard about what happened to Amanda.¡± I smiled. That person widened his eyes after hearing my words. I didn¡¯t know if he felt shocked by hearing my name or by the fact that I knew Amanda. Chapter 105 105 It Was Because Of Me! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I watched as the man behind the door trembled, but my smile didn¡¯t falter. I kept my eyes on him, didn¡¯t even feel a slight confusion and pity after seeing him trembling like that. But, I didn¡¯t move either. I stood in front of the door unwavering, stubbornly waiting for the man to invite me in. But, the man was still unmoved. He was neither running away nor moving forward, which looked a bit funny for me. ¡°Can Ie in?¡± I asked softly. I thought I was being shameless like this, asking for the host to let me in. But, honestly I couldn¡¯t care less. I really had a strong urge to get inside, as if something was luring me in. I had a feeling that there was something ¡®cool¡¯ inside. The man was startled. His eyes darted back and forth, he would look at anything but me. ¡°Y-you, you...¡± He stammered, for whatever reason, I didn¡¯t know. ¡°Surely you won¡¯t let me in, right? I came to express my condolences.¡± I really thought I was acting like a hooligan. Forcing my way in by using polite words? Only fools would really let me in. And this man was one of the fools. He might be unable tomunicate well due to nervousness or fear, but I thought it was easy to corner him. With just simple words, I managed to make him let me in! I wasn¡¯t shy or being courtesy. Stepping into the house, I could instantly feel the gloomy aura filling the house. I was right, the house didn¡¯t have many things. That¡¯s why the sound of my knocking echoed. ..... I finally got a good look of the man. He was thin, but not to the point he was like a malnutrition person. He was not bony but he gave me an image of a bony person. His long hair almost reached his chest, but it didn¡¯t look good or healthy at all. As I gave it a good look, I could see another entity was on his back. It was a woman with her long hair matted to her face. The bony impression I got from him was actually her. She was so bony I thought she was only skeleton. If her body was not transparent, I would think she was some kind of hungry monster sucking on the life of this man. Oops, she was really sucking on his life. I saw her teeth,tching onto his neck but I bet he didn¡¯t feel a thing. Did he know it or not? I didn¡¯t have any intention to ask when the thing behind his back looked up and her gaze met mine. She sneered but didn¡¯t release her bite on his neck. I calmly moved my gaze away after I looked at it in silence. There was no fear inside my heart after I witnessed Senior Rizal¡¯s death. I walked further into the house and the man finally showed me some response. He chased after me, pulling out a chair and let me sit. ¡°I¡¯ll let them know you¡¯re here.¡± He said. I nodded my head and bit my tongue lightly to remind myself not to ask where his stammering went. He went further into the house, gave me an opportunity to explore this ce. I didn¡¯t need to wait for too long, though. Not long after the man disappeared, some people came in with the man was walking not too far from them. I arched my eyebrows as I saw them. They were Amanda¡¯s sisters, brothers, and mother. Instead of being warm and friendly upon seeing me for the first time, all of them had dark expression on their faces, except the first man. Other than their expression, I sensed something off from them. ¡°Miss Jane.¡± The oldest woman, the mother I assumed, greeted me with stern face. Her wrinkled face didn¡¯t affect the strong body she possessed as she stood straight as an arrow while looking down at me. I stood up, holding my bag on one hand with my back straight and my eyes met hers. ¡°I believe it¡¯s the first time we met.¡± I smiled a bit as I offered my hand for a handshake. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The old woman replied shortly as she reached out to shake my hands. When my hand grabbed her hand in a powerful handshake, I saw shadows, probably two to four came out from her body. It was like they were trying to ask me to y with them. ¡°My name is Sumirah, Amanda¡¯s mother. I¡¯m really grateful for youring to see her.¡± Her stern face was still on, but an awkward smile appeared on her face. I smiled even deeper. From the corner of my eyes, I could see some movements behind me. The only person behind me was a man, probably Amanda¡¯s brother. Since when he moved behind my back, I didn¡¯t know. I cleared my throat as I finally realized what was off from them. It was because in each one of them, there was at least two shadows leeching onto their soul. No wonder the tiger said they were rotten. I didn¡¯t know the reason behind it, it could be because they served as a sacrifice or they were the one who were using the shadows, but whatever the reason was, this family was indeed too disgusting. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for theck of manners. Ever since Amanda died, her father went intoma as well. Our family couldn¡¯t afford to let him being treated in the hospital even after we sold so many things so we took him back. I¡¯m only able to provide you with in water, please pardon us.¡± The mother spoke softly and full of awkward smiles, but only God knew how much she wanted to throw me out from her house. Also, who asked about her husband? I didn¡¯t even utter a word about anything other than showing my condolences yet she had exining about her husband. I sneered inwardly, knowing fully well the reason why her husband lost his consciousness. It was because of me! Chapter 106 106 Help Us! (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± I smiled, but even though the water was put in front of me, I didn¡¯t touch it. I noticed the Shadows in their body soared high and watched me from above. As the negative aura increased, some of my White Army men appeared out of nowhere right behind me, dispelling the negativity around me. Seeing my rx stance without any care in this awkward situation where I was being stared by four to five people in the room, there was a hint of confusion and astonishment in their gaze. Maybe they thought no one had ever escaped from their pressure. I was the odd one, then. As I watched them, I realized the only one whose Shadow was not pressuring me was the previous man¡¯s Shadow. It was still gnawing at his neckzily. I could roughly guess that he was the next sacrifice prepared by this family. What his rtionship with this rotten family was still unknown to me and I wasn¡¯t interested in it so far. If I needed to help someone, I didn¡¯t have to know that person¡¯s background. ..... A low growl snapped me back to my senses and I moved my gaze to the tiger that was walking slowly into the room. ¡°Stay away from the kid.¡± The tiger shot me a warning re. There was no kid inside the room but I was sure it meant the man. I arched my left eyebrow when I heard it talking. It stopped outside the perimeter and looked at me with a murderous glint. I chuckled. ¡°Mr. Tiger, I don¡¯t have any reason to hurt this poor man. If you¡¯re on his side, why don¡¯t you help him?¡± My words made the other five widened their eyes. Their eyes darted around, trying to see the tiger I was talking to. The tiger snorted. ¡°Foolish human! No matter how hard you try to see me, you won¡¯t be able to see me.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re here only for his sake?¡± Ignoring the bunch of imbeciles, I continued talking to the tiger. It seemed to me that these people knew about this tiger but didn¡¯t have the luck to actually see it. The tiger let out a low growl as a reply for my question. ¡°Just don¡¯t hurt him.¡± It said before it turned around and walked away to watch from the side. The tiger might look fierce, but it was not as dangerous as it looked. It even looked helpless as it didn¡¯t have any idea on how to help the man. I shifted my gaze to the man who was standing behind the others with his head lowered but eyes wandering around. ¡°You, what¡¯s your name?¡± I nodded at him, sessfully cutting off the words that seemed toe out from one of Amanda¡¯s sister¡¯s mouth. ¡°Ah, m-me? My name is Bumi [1].¡± He replied, earning him a re from the others. I nodded calmly. ¡°Nice name.¡± ¡°Miss Jane.¡± One of the brothers frowned in displeasure and with a hint of warning as I directly ignored them. ¡°Yes?¡± I smiled at the man who called my name. My expression might be unthinkable for him as he was stunned for a second. The Shadows above his head flickered and sneered at me, reaching out their long arms to w at me. How stupid! I pped those ws until they shrieked in pain. I could see it affected the host as the man¡¯s face drained of color and he swayed slightly. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at me more intense than ever. Not only him, but also the others were looking at me! Ignoring their stares, I took out a wet tissue from my bag and cleaned my hand that I used to p those hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you have your guts from, but I¡¯m not like the others who will feel intimidated by you.¡± The smile on my face disappeared as I shot them cold and aloof stare. It was tiring to y nice guy with these fools! Seeing they were more or less the same with the old man, I didn¡¯t think I had any reason to spare them. Not to mention another life was in their hands. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t kill them. I wouldn¡¯t dirty my hands. ¡°I knew from the first I saw you that you¡¯re troublemaker! You are simply bringing bad luck to us! Rizal¡¯s and Amanda¡¯s death was definitely caused by you!¡± Amanda¡¯s sister who was silent the whole time finally opened her mouth and words that came out from her mouth was only usation. I chuckled as I heard her usation. Leaning forward while crossing my arms on my knee, I clearly felt the mockery and the disdain in my eyes. Now that all pretenses had been shed, they didn¡¯t bother to show hospitality anymore. The negative aura was getting intense, but it didn¡¯t affect me a bit. Instead, the Shadow in the first man seemed to be more vigorously sucking on his life force. In a minute, the man turned even paler and weaker. I wasn¡¯t supposed to only watch it instead of helping him. But, I was more curious as to why the tiger was protecting the man but it allowed the Shadow to feed on him? Judging from its aura, I bet it had tremendous power in it. pping a Shadow like that was easy for it to do. But, it didn¡¯t do it. Why, though? Would it abandon Bumi in the middle of this chaos? The roar of tiger pulled me back to reality and made the dense negativity dissipated a lot. The five people in the room turned all their heads towards the gigantic tiger that walkedzily towards them. By seeing their reaction, I knew they could see it, including the murderous intent in its eyes. ¡°I thought you would never make a move.¡± I smiled. ¡°You did it intentionally!¡± It hissed. I shrugged. ¡°Obviously you had the capability, but you didn¡¯t make a move. Why? I¡¯m curious.¡± The tiger snorted. It eyed the five people who had not recovered from their shock and snarled at them. ¡°If I remove the thing forcefully, I¡¯m afraid I will hurt him and end up risking his life. That¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± It said slowly. ¡°Do you want me to help you?¡± I offered my help. The tiger turned his head towards me. ¡°Wrong step and I¡¯ll swallow you with these fools!¡± He threatened, but he didn¡¯t refuse my help either. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s easy.¡± I stood up and walked towards Bumi who was crouching on the floor. The tiger followed me closely, going through the line of five people easily. It was really easy, actually. I grabbed the Shadow¡¯s face and a shriek was hearding from its mouth. I needed to prying open its mouth so it wouldn¡¯t keep feeding off Bumi. As I was finally able to pull its teeth, it struggled even more but I didn¡¯t loosen my grip in its neck. The rest was easy to do; just pulling it out like pulling out weed in the front yard and back yard. With one of my hand gripping the struggling shadow, my other hand touched his soul, calmed it down so he wouldn¡¯t feel overly dizzy. ¡°Done.¡± I looked at the tiger with a smile on my face. ¡°Bumi is also okay.¡± I patted the Bumi¡¯s shoulder. The tiger didn¡¯t seem to believe its own eyes. It had been living near Bumi ever since Bumi¡¯s mother died. It was supposed to be a guardian, but it failed to do it which resulted in its master. It had tried to p the Shadow away with his big paw, but he noticed the pale face Bumi experienced so it canceled its intention. Until I appeared. It must feel so bad after seeing me pulling away the shadow so easily. ¡°What do I do with it?¡± I raised the struggling shadow in front of me towards the tiger. The tiger didn¡¯t say anything, but it crouched down, putting on a stance that it would jump. So, I threw it and the tiger went to put an end to the Shadow. ¡°Now, it¡¯s your turn.¡± I smiled evilly towards to five people. The five of them snapped back to their senses and horror was imminent in their faces after seeing the tiger was shredding the shadow apart with its ws and teeth. I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen if the shadow was a human. Before I could move to pull the ¡®weeds¡¯, I heard desperate cries nearby. ¡°Help us! Help us, too!¡± Chapter 107 107 Nice Question (Jane¡¯s PoV) I recognized the voices. It was the cries of the Kuntnak outside. Some of the unfamiliar ones were probably the sound of Buto Ijo. One of the heavier one was perhaps the voice of the Genderuwo. After hearing their desperate cries, I realized that they only looked scary outside but they were more or less simr to human inside. Who said they didn¡¯t know fear? Who said they didn¡¯t feel stressed under pressure? Just as their voices now, there was hint of fear and distress in it. ¡°Later.¡± I told them. Due to the slight disturbance from the other trapped entities, I almost got hit by one of the Shadows from the rotten family. Too bad for them, I was not alone. One of my White Army men protected me. Actually, the fastest way to deal with them was to use the White Army, but I didn¡¯t do it. Not because I was afraid my spiritual power would be depleted and harmed me, but because I wanted to do it by myself. I wanted to end this rotten and disgusting family by my own hands. ..... After failing to attack me, all of their eyes reddened in fury. Their mind was more or less controlled by the Shadows now. It was impossible to talk to them logically. Not that I wanted to solve by talking. They were beyond saving, so I was not going to spend my breath in persuading them. Let¡¯s just pull off these weeds and be done with it! I watched as those Shadows were once again moving to attack me. They were fiercer than ever, together with their hosts. In the big living room, a fight broke out between me vs five people in Amanda¡¯s family. I was not good in fighting, to be honest. But, these people were not either. They were practically just throwing themselves at me, with arms iling like a crazy man, and screaming at the top of their lungs. Their hands were in shape of ws, looked somehow creepy but also weird. Their movements were unorganized and disharmonious, leaving holes for me to slip in and dodge here and there without breaking a sweat. If you are imagining a cool fight with techniques and everything like the one you saw in a movie, sorry to break that for you but my fight with these people were not more than me running away from their zombie-like chase. Of course, I didn¡¯t really run away. I was only trying to find a gap between these ¡®zombies¡¯ to pull the annoying weeds one by one. As I finally spotted one, my hand quickly moved and pulled the Shadows from the Mother. There was a tearing sound when the Shadow was separated from its host, apanied by the shrill cry of both the Mother and the Shadow. I sneered, but didn¡¯t stop. The Shadow in my hand got snatched by the tiger and I couldn¡¯t care less what he was doing to the Shadow. ¡°Throw them at me! I¡¯ll rip them until they¡¯re gone!¡± The tiger roared madly. ¡°My pleasure, Mr. Tiger.¡± I replied without looking at it, a sinister smile appeared in my face. After one was plucked out, it didn¡¯t take too long for the others to follow. Loud tearing sounds were heard in time with their painful wailing continuously. Fortunately this house was located far from the other houses. Considering how big this house was and the distance between this house and the nearest house, I was sure no one could hear their cries. After tossing thest Shadow to the tiger, I cleaned my hands with wet tissue again while looking down to the people who wereying on the floor. They were groaning softly, their body were twitching for whatever reason I didn¡¯t need to know, but the most important was they were still alive. Yes, I left them alive. As I said before, killing them was too light of a punishment to them. It was too easy. They were bestowed with brain and feeling, but they didn¡¯t use it well and wisely. If they wouldn¡¯t use it, then might as well they didn¡¯t have one. That¡¯s what I thought. So, that¡¯s what I did. I took away their Shadows forcefully to let them taste the feeling of having their soul being torn apart. As they were attached as one, the other would feel the difort the other were feeling. By pulling them out, I saved their souls from being devoured by those evil creatures, but I also left them with a deep wound in their soul. They would never forget the trauma they felt and the most important part was the act of forcefully tearing apart the body of the shadow from the host would mostly made the host... mad. I didn¡¯t care. I squatted near the mother and my eyes met hers. ¡°Who... are you?¡± She asked with a trembling voice. Her eyes filled with fear and unwillingness. I smiled. I waved my hand and the old man battered and full of wound soul appeared behind me. I even used some of my energy to make the woman and her children saw him. ¡°Do you want to be like him?¡± I asked casually. Their eyes were wide open, with mouth agape. Obviously they didn¡¯t know why the old man would appear by mymand. ¡°What did you do to him?¡± One of the brother shouted at me in rage. ¡°Just a light punishment for causing someone¡¯s death.¡± I replied casually. ¡°What¡¯s the difference? Both of you are ying with other people¡¯s life.¡± The other man shouted in agitation. I smiled. ¡°Nice question...¡± Chapter 108 108 I Won¡¯t Take Your Life I smiled. ¡°Nice question. Let me put it like this; your father was doing it illegally. I, on the other hand, is doing it legally. I got permission from the higher ups to do whatever I am doing right now. So yeah, we are simr but not the same.¡± The way I was speaking probably made them furious, but what could they do about it? To harm me, they first needed to have strength and rationality. But, seeing their condition now, they could onlyy on the floor with their mind started to muddle. Moreover... ¡°If you guys insist on troubling me, I could help you save some of your efforts, by directly throwing you inside with this old man so you can apany each other.¡± I walked around slowly while looking at them sprawling on the floor. With how intense I was staring at them, I couldn¡¯t possibly miss the glint in their eyes. They might be thinking that throwing them in a room together would give them opportunity to n their escape and retaliation. Little did they know, getting inside the torture room meant they should say goodbye to their lives. There was no going back after that. Not to mention it was not a prison in human dimension where the warden could get sleepy and make mistakes. It was a prison in another dimension, in mystic world, with the White Army as the guards. Even if they didn¡¯t need to sleep and didn¡¯t feel tired, I still put on a tight schedule on them to torture the old man. Even if they did sleep, with how many they were, I doubt these people could cheat on my White Army. Wishful thinking! I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at how their mind worked. ..... ¡°Old man, they want to be with you.¡± Turning my body around so I could face the not-poor old man¡¯s soul, I saw him turned rigid as his head shook wildly and he let out some unintelligible noises in attempt to speak, probably shouting at them not to think so foolish. Too bad he was a mute now. He couldn¡¯t say anything at all and only made incoherent noises. ¡°See? Even the old man suggested you not to take any rash decision. Why would you join him?¡± I kindly tranted what he was saying. ¡°Screw you!¡± ¡°Go to hell!¡± Facing with their anger and insults, I was staying calm. There¡¯s no point in getting worked up over this small matter. ¡°Well, because it¡¯s not a small matter, let me decide it for you. Your father will stay inside while the five of you will still be here. Of course, I won¡¯t take your life. I have no use of it. You can keep it.¡± I said casually. ¡°I¡¯m taking him back. I¡¯m only taking him out here so he can see with his own eyes what kind of mess he has created. I¡¯ll let him watch as you guys turn muddle-headed from the side-effect of your power.¡± I added on still with the casual look on my face. I might sound cruel but I didn¡¯t care. On the other side, I pretty much knew that the old man in my prison didn¡¯t have much time to live. With the fact that his soul had been taken forcefully and being led away from the body for so long, I doubted he would survive for more than a month. His only family was on the brink of getting crazy yet he couldn¡¯t do anything. He indeed was forced to watch them slowly turned crazy and as a normal person, I was sure it was a torture for him. That¡¯s exactly the reason why I had been keeping him alive; to let him taste the worst torture in his life. This kind of people, they didn¡¯t know the word ¡®remorse¡¯. I was saving them from getting drowned deeper in the ck hole. If the old man knew better, he would have kowtowed to me for saving his family. Of course, what would happen next was out of my responsibility. Whether they would rot in hell together or not, was not my business. After achieving what I came for, I decided to leave. Somehow along the fight, Bumi was hiding in a corner of a room and fainted. How weak was he to lose his consciousness like that? I med it on the Shadow that feed on him, though. Reaching for his consciousness, I tried to examine his spiritual strength. Siji had been teaching me this trick after I got the news about my father got into an ident. I was pretty much good at it. After checking on him for a while, I found that he had lost quite amount of life energy but his spiritual strength was surprisingly good. No wonder he could still be sane after being sucked on by the Shadow for long. Usually, after a person got into contact with Shadow for quite a long time, this person would get possessed so easily. It was as if a hole was opened in this person¡¯s body which would allow those entities to easily enter and possess the body. Somehow I managed to find a way to fix it. Bumi was not the first person so I was pretty sure it was safe and trustworthy. I had tried this method to close the gaping hole in Senior Hani¡¯s body. He admitted that he could see ¡®them¡¯ but he could easily get possessed, too. Just like what had happened with Amanda. Most of the time he could control the one who entered his body, but facing a strong opponent like Amanda, he could do nothing. That was why I made him my guinea pig to my experiment. I sealed off the hole with my spiritual power. I used my own power to close it and made some adjustments here and there in his consciousness, his source of spiritual power. I didn¡¯t even know it would work, but it did! It may sound awesome and cool, but trust me, it was not easy. I depleted most of my energy after doing that for the first time, but I was sure I could control it on the second time. I left Bumi after I finished ¡®fixing¡¯ him. I wasn¡¯t worried at all because the tiger was there. Of course it would be best if he left the house, but I left the option to him. Ah, if anyone would use me being too reckless, that one day one of them would report me to the cops, I would say ¡®what report can a crazy person make?¡¯ As for Bumi, hehehe, I fogged up his memory about me. The neighbors? The closest neighbor was more or less 100 meters away and most of the people nearby knew that this family was a family of shaman. If anything bad were to happen to them, their first thought would be ¡®it must be caused by their own pets shadow. They might not be able to feed them, which was why those pets retaliated and ended up causing a demise to the family.¡¯ Before I went out from the quiet yard, I fulfilled my promise to those creatures outside. Their appearances were still scary as ever, but the voices that were transmitted into my brain was desperate. So, I broke the chain that was tying them up and set them free. Some of them left, but some of them stayed with a purpose; to hide the house so that no human would be able to see it and feel overly curious. They would only leave after all of them had died, excluding Bumi. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I breathed in the fresh air of my surrounding. The rice leaves were ying with wind, creating a soothing music to the ears. After I returned to my hometown, I rarely had time to to take care of ¡®them¡¯. But, it didn¡¯t mean I was free... Chapter 109 109 The Deal (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) What was it? I didn¡¯t understand this situation a bit. One moment I was cursing myself for being drowned in pleasure, one moment I was crying for Jane to help me. What kind of man was I to cry out for his girlfriend to help me? However, what I was feeling at this moment was neither pleasure nor agony. I felt nothing. As if the pleasure and agony just now was only a speck of dust, blow it and it¡¯s gone just like that. There was no trace of it, having a wet dream was more real than those feelings. I wonder what happened? ..... Now that I realized the odd of the situation I was in, I started to notice somethings. For example, instead of having the ring light shone onto me which resulted me in closing my eyes tightly, my surrounding went into dim brightness. It was not overly bright, and it was not dark either. I could feel the warm light shone on me and for the first time, I wanted to open my eyes. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, my eyelids didn¡¯t want to cooperate with me. Secondly, I was not particrly feeling anything. I could feel myself floated and my exposed skin and fingertips were touching something so soft lightly. It sent ticklish feeling in my fingertips but I couldn¡¯t grasp it. Maybe if one could touch the cloud, it was the same with touching cloud. The question was, where was I? ¡°Human.¡± A deep and rough voice was sounded near my ears. I was a bit surprised, but that¡¯s all. I recognized this voice so I didn¡¯t feel nervous at all. ¡°Do you still remember our deal?¡± The voice continued. ¡°Yes.¡± I replied and startled when I heard my own voice. I could finally talk! ¡°Now that you¡¯re going back, I want to take my part of our deal. I have taken the first part of my share. The lust of those two women is needed in my harem, so I took them with me. The rest of our deal will be collected after this. I came only to tell you this. After you open your eyes, you will forget about me and our deal. You can live your life as you wish.¡± ¡°Wait! What will you take from me?¡± I asked hastily,pletely ignoring the fact that this thing had taken the two nurses who had attacked me. Not that I felt guilty or regret about it. ¡°Memory of your lust.¡± The voice replied. I was stunned. What did it mean memory of my lust? ¡°Then, human, let¡¯s not meet again...¡± The voice faded away and disappeared. Who would like to meet with you again? I was too reckless at that time, but at least it worked well. I managed to have a skin to skin contact with Jane, even made love to her. What memory of lust, I guessed it was worth it. As the voice disappeared, the ticklish feeling I felt in my exposed skin and fingertips gradually became stronger. But before I started to feel ufortable of it, the ticklish feeling was gone and my fingertips touched something solid, cold, and slightly rough. My eyelids twitched and slowly I opened my eyes. This time, instead of blinding light, I was greeted by dim light behind the door. It was sofortable, yet at the same time it was unfamiliar. I felt like my whole body turned into a mush. I had no strength and energy to move my limbs. I tried to peek a little on my crotch, but I couldn¡¯t see anything. I didn¡¯t feel anything strange, as if the whole ordeal didn¡¯t happen. I couldn¡¯t even see anyone around me. Other than being surrounded by warm light and some electronic equipment, I couldn¡¯t see anything else. I took a deep breath. Where am I? My sight was still a bit fuzzy, but I was sure I was clear-headed. I could think clearly, analyze my surrounding and match it with the information I had in my mind. I closed my eyes. Seeing the blurry image in my eyes made me dizzy, might as well I closed it. After I closed it, I could finally feel more focus. Now that I could focus more on my surrounding, I could finally hear some distinct voices talking in English. I couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying, but I knew they were talking in the same ent with the lost nurses. So, I was still somewhere in Ennd, Irish, or Scond. The information was still more or less the same. The only difference was the absence of the perverted nurses. Was it true that thing took them? I couldn¡¯t imagine how their life would be after being taken as the part of the Genderuwo¡¯s harem. I did came to it, making a deal with him with exchange of his power to let me solidified my body. I wonder what he would take from me as the part of the exchange. Memory of lust? What was that? Chapter 110 110 The Deal (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) As I was still thinking about it, I felt a presence -not just one, apparently, because I could feel several presences around me. Next thing I knew, I was seeing some heads looking into the windows. Ghosts. I didn¡¯t feel scared because I¡¯ve seen worse. These ghosts were looked rather ordinary, without any changes in their forms. They looked just like how they were when they were alive. But, how could I see them? I was sure I had closed my eyes, so how on Earth did I see them? At that time, I didn¡¯t know the concept of ¡®third eye¡¯ but I was smart enough to understand it. I had ever heard about it so it was not hard for me to ept my new ability. I was still alive. ..... I could see ghosts as the side-effect ofma, not a new story. I had read and watched some movies before about a person who went intoma, and lost their memories when they woke up. I didn¡¯t feel that. I woke up with my memory was still intact. I didn¡¯t have amnesia like the ones in the movie, how boring! Well, it was good, too. What could I do if I forgot about Jane? Surely she would kill me! My attempt to focus on my surrounding turned into reminiscing my sweet moments with my girl, Jane. I missed her! I missed everything about her! I even missed her... eh? The perverted smile on my face turned stiff as I encountered thick fog in my memory. What was it? What happened? Why couldn¡¯t I remember our kiss? I was sure I kissed her, I touched her, I even made love and fucked her, but howe the images that I had preciously stored inside my memory gone just like that? Every time I tried to recall the way her lips felt against my own lips, I saw thick fog. Every time I tried to remember the way she moaned when I thrust into her hot velvety hole, I saw the thick fog again. Her lusty expression when she cum, her blushing face when she asked for more, her scream when I licked her, I could only meet the FOG! Damn! What¡¯s wrong? ¡°I had taken my share. Now, human, farewell.¡± The rough voice belonged to the Genderuwo rang in my ear again and I was sure I saw it near my bed before it vanished into darkness. Something clicked inside my mind. Memory of lust. Did he mean everything rted to my lust had been taken by him? I quickly searched inside my memory and found nothing rted to my perverted encounter with Jane. He took them all! I had the urge to cry but no tears woulde out. My precious memory! (ToT) Call me a pervert, whatever, but my perverted moments with Jane was so precious to me. Losing them made me devastated! I don¡¯t want to wake up! ¡ª¨C As much as I said I didn¡¯t want to wake up, my eyes had recovered their energy and flew open when the morning birds chirped on the windowsill. I had fallen asleep after aggrieving over the lost of my precious memory and I woke up feeling better but with sour mood. When I opened my eyes, my gaze met a pair of hazel eyes. Surprised filled those eyes and on the next second, the owner of those eyes had run out of the room while calling out for Dr. Gwen. I didn¡¯t have to wait for long because not long after that, a woman maybe in her early fifties came in a hurry. Following behind her was the owner of those hazel eyes before with a man in white uniform. They acted fast, greeted me first while taking my blood pressure, pulse, and everything only they knew what it was for. It was hard for me to make a sound first because my throat was dry and my lips were perched, but after they gave me some water and thin slices of ice, I finally felt better. Dr. Gwen was the person who found me on the shore near this hospital, in City P somewhere in Ennd . She was an energetic old woman who was apparently in her sixties! She looked younger than her own age, I should say. She filled with positive vibes. She was kind and dedicated to her work, totally a proper role-model one should look up to. She was also really easy going. ¡°Does anyone of you know where Jacqueline and Mary went to? I haven¡¯t heard anything from them for a while now.¡± Dr. Gwen asked when she came to check on my condition three days after I woke up. The owner of those warm hazel eyes, Lily, answered her question while putting a te of apple on the nightstand. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard anything about them, too. Their house was empty when I went there yesterday. Their neighbors thought they were here.¡± She shrugged her shoulders. Lily was Dr. Gwen newest recruited nurse. She was twenty-something years old, I guessed. It would be rude of me to ask about her age, so I could only guess it. She was opening up the curtain and window in my room to let fresh air in. Her daily morning job was including getting my room aired and checking my condition for morning report. She had a pair of warm hazel eyes and some freckles on her face. Considering she had natural red hair, it was normal for her to had freckles. She was also one of the unrestrained person. I mean, she was fully dedicated to her work and was not fear to offend some people if they did something bad in the hospital. Fortunately, she had Dr. Gwen backing her up, if not, I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen to her. About Jacqueline and Mary, I guessed those were the names of the previous nurses who ¡®attacked¡¯ me. In this particr moment, I was thankful because I couldn¡¯t recall any images or feeling rted to ¡®that¡¯ night. I even forgot about their lewd conversation. I only remembered that two nurses raped me, but because theck of feeling and proofs inside my mind, I really didn¡¯t feel a deep trauma. It was like reading a title of a story. Two hot but unknown nurses raped a man inma. It was merely a title without story. I was intrigued to say that those two nurses had been taken as concubines in a ghost¡¯s household, but I held back. Nothing good woulde out if I said that, right? ¡°Jacqueline and Mary were the ones who took care of you for the past two years. Too bad they¡¯re not here to witness you waking up.¡± Dr. Gwen sighed, and I sighed for a different reason. What would happen if I woke up while they were raping me? Only the thought of it made me shivered. ¡°Well, we will wait for a month for their return, if they don¡¯t return by that, I will assume they had really gone to seek new experience just like how they told me before.¡± Dr. Gwen said casually. ¡°And you, young man, your condition has been stabilized, we can start your therapy anytime you want.¡± She smiled at me. ¡°Thank you, Doctor. Do you mind if I borrow your phone? I want to make a call to my uncle.¡± I couldn¡¯t possibly do everything for free, right? Calling Uncle Ben was my way out for now. I hope he didn¡¯t change his number. ¡°It¡¯s rare to see someone so clear-headed like you after being asleep for two years.¡± Dr. Gwen chuckled but she took out her phone. ¡°Just use it. I know you¡¯re worried about the fees, but I could assure you that I¡¯m not in a rush for your money. After all, all the resources here are mine. Hahaha...¡± Dr. Gwen let out a heartyughter. There was no arrogance in her tone. I was surprised after she said that it was all her resources, but hearing the way she admitted it so casually without feeling arrogant or shy, I was stunned. What kind of person was she? After saying that, Dr. Gwen walked out and left me with Lily who was stifling herughter. ¡°She is right. This hospital and all the resources are hers. She isn¡¯t a bit shy admitting it, but she is also not disying arrogance. Weird woman, right?¡± Lilly exined as she started to fiddle with the electronic devises near my bed. She probably was here to collect it and brought it back to the storage room. ¡°Abraham will be here shortly to massage your legs for you. If you need something, just press on the button.¡± She said before pushing the device out of my room. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said to her. The room fell into silence when she left. I yed with the phone in my hand. Dr. Gwen was so sure to leave her phone to me. Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯d hack it or do something bad with it, but she was so care free it made my head hurt. After fiddling with the phone for a while, I tapped on the phone and punched in Uncle Ben¡¯s number. Only when I heard the sound of my call had been connected, I could finally calm myself. Please, pick it up! Please, pick it up! Please, pick it up! I chanted in my heart. But, I was happy too early. My heart dropped when I heard the connecting sound stopped. Chapter 111 111 Coming! (Tom¡¯s PoV) No, no, no! I could distinguish the difference of rejecting the call and disconnecting by itself. What had just happened was not because the call was too long to answer, but because it was rejected! No! Anxiously I tried to call the number again, but after three rings, it was rejected again! I tapped open the message box and typed a short message for Uncle Ben. ¡®Uncle, it¡¯s me. Please, pick up the phone.¡¯ Then, I pressed ¡®Send¡¯. After sending the message, I waited for several seconds before I resumed calling him. But, my call was rejected again. I was starting to think that my uncle had changed his phone number and my call went to another person. My hope was crushed just like that, but a message came. ¡®Who are you?¡¯ ..... I widened my eyes. Didn¡¯t I already say that it¡¯s me? How could he ask me again? I read my previous message three to four times until I finally realized the mistake I made. ¡°You¡¯re stupid, Tom.¡± I mumbled to myself as Iposed another message for him. ¡®It¡¯s Tom, your nephew. I need your help.¡¯ This time, I didn¡¯t have to wait long as a call came in. Only, it used an unfamiliar string of number. I thought that it was for Dr. Gwen, but because I was still waiting for Uncle Ben¡¯s call, I decided to pick it up and inform Dr. Gwenter. Of course, I would apologize to the person on the other end of the call since it was not appropriate for me to pick any phone calls other than mine. But, I was d I picked it up. As soon as I heard the familiar voice calling out for my name came from the other end, I was near to tear up. You¡¯re a man, damn it! But, I was not the only one who was on verge of tears. Even though he concealed it, I knew he was crying. ¡°Are you okay? Where are you?¡± He asked as soon as my call got through. ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m fine now. I¡¯m in a hospital in P City.¡± I told him briefly what had happened to me and to my surprise, Uncle Ben had already been in Ennd for several days. ¡°I¡¯ming! Just wait for me!¡± He said. Before I could tell him that I needed money to pay for my treatment fees during my stay here in this hospital, Uncle Ben had hung up. I stared at the phone, feeling speechless. Whatever, I could just ask him directly. After that, I practically had nothing to do. Staring at the ceiling, I was wondering what Jane was doing. I wonder if that jerk had been making some move on her. Only the thought of it made me frowned in displeasure. How can I contact her to inform her that I am okay? As I drowned myself in thought, I noticed some uninvited entities hade into my sight. One of them was a soldier in his uniform, blood seeped from the invisible wound in his head, creating a small red river on his face but he seemed oblivious to it. The other was a kid around nine years old, with red hair in two pig tails, her eyes were the most noticeable in her. She had different eye colors, the left one was in warm hazel and the right one was blue. She had two noticeable dimples in her cheeks as she was smiling so brightly when she saw me looking at her. Thest one was an old man in casual clothes. His wrinkled face showed no emotion but his eyes was prating through me. I didn¡¯t know what he was seeing in me. There was no visible wounds on both the old man and the girl. I wonder what caused their death? ¡°I know you can see us, boy.¡± The old man said. There was no malicious intent from the way he spoke, so I assumed he didn¡¯t mean harm. He also didn¡¯t show any emotion. ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded. ¡°Do you need anything?¡± ¡°No.¡± They shook their heads. ¡°We were attracted to your aura, that¡¯s why we came to see you.¡± The old man continued. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my aura? Is there something special about it?¡± ¡°You have an aura of people who have sixth sense, but somehow yours is thicker and also a bit different.¡± ¡°Usually, it is easy for us to possess the person with your aura, but I can¡¯t even see where I should begin to. The usual entrance people in your kind possess are not there. I don¡¯t know where to start sneaking into your body.¡± The soldier frowned as he moved to inspect my body. ¡°Bloody old man, don¡¯t disturb him! Move away! You¡¯re hindering my sight!¡± The little girl shouted cheekily. ¡°Little Girl, don¡¯t be so rude.¡± The soldier looked at her in displeasure. The little girl harrumphed slightly and floated towards me. Her eyes sparked with interest as she inspected my body eager than the soldier. Watching them looking at me like I was some specimen, I couldn¡¯t help but feel speechless and dumbfounded. Why do I think that these three came here for different purpose? ¡°Don¡¯t bother about their antics. Unless you can move, I doubt you can get away from these two.¡± The old man appeared suddenly beside my bed with his hands behind him. ¡°But, I¡¯m a bit curious about you, too, actually.¡± ¡°...¡± The little girl was still arguing with the soldier, leaving me with the old man in a conversation. But, why did I feel like I was close to being their experiment? Then, I heard the little girl said ¡°Say, what is this chain in your legs?¡± Chapter 112 112 The Dream (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) Chain? I instinctively lifted up my legs, but due to my absence in moving my body two years, I couldn¡¯t move them even just an inch. How frustrating! ¡°What chain?¡± I looked at the little girl who was floating above my legs in confusion. ¡°This chain.¡± She dove down for a while and pulling up a string of chain from under the bed. That was really chain! Seeing the translucent form of it, I was sure it was not attached to my physical body, but rather to my soul. That exined why I didn¡¯t feel a thing. But, what was it for? I was not even a fugitive, why would I need a chain? ¡°I can¡¯t pull it any longer than this. It seemed to be tied down to something. I don¡¯t know how to get into the ground so I don¡¯t know where the other side of this chain is.¡± The little girl said as she dropped down the chain. I expected to hear metal clicking, but to my surprise, it didn¡¯t make a sound at all. ¡°See, I told you you¡¯re different.¡± The old man sighed. ¡°What did you do to have your soul chained down like this? No matter what you do and where you go, the person on the other side of the chain could detect you.¡± ..... ¡°The chain is different. I saw a chain before, tying up Aaron¡¯s feet. But, this one is different.¡± The soldier touched his chin as he thought about it. ¡°Of course, silly. Aaron¡¯s chain is the memory of hisst appearance when he was alive. This chain, however, is a very different story. Only those who have power can chain someone¡¯s soul like this.¡± The old man said. His tone contained a bit of ridicule but his expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°You seem to know much, Old Man.¡± The little girl asked in suspicion. ¡°I¡¯ve seen one, that¡¯s why I know.¡± The old man snorted. ¡°Oh? Really? Where?¡± The little girl was taunting, with a cheeky smile on her face and mischievous glint in her eyes. What was she up to? Apparently the old man was feeling rather generous as he started to recount a story. I was not interested in the story but I had no choice. Even though I was curious with the chain in my feet, my mind didn¡¯t stop from wondering and picturing the story in images in my mind. It was a story of a man used a woman for having affair behind his back. It was a local story but nobody talked about it for years since it was one of the unsolved mystery back then. They were not married but they had been in rtionship for long. The woman was crying back then and swore that she was innocent. But the man continued reprimanded her, not believing even one of her words. In fact, the one who did the cheating was the man. To avoid getting busted by the woman, he did that usation. In his anger, he even made a vow. ¡°I would never, never cheat on you! I swear on the name of God, the sea behind my back as the witness, that I would never cheat you! The sea will take me if I dare to cheat on you. But, look at what you did? You cheat on me! Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit harsh for you to hurt me like that?¡± The man peered into the woman¡¯s eyes as he righteously said that. As the woman couldn¡¯t take the usation being thrown at her, she proved herself innocent bymitting suicide. She jumped into the sea and her body had never been found until now. Silly, I thought. If the man had used you for something that you didn¡¯t even do, just leave him! There¡¯s no point of continuing the rtionship like that. But again, the pressure of society back then was heavier than nowadays. Cheating of one¡¯s partner would result in condemnation of the entire society. After thinking back the effect that she would bear if she continued to live, I was sure she would kill herself sooner orter. A woman in love had a gentle heart, a slight disappointment could break her heart, let alone a heavy usation like that. That man was seriously evil to push the woman he had been in love with to the point of suicide. As I continued listening to the story, I found the reason behind his evil deed. The woman whom he was having affair with was a daughter of a famous merchant. One could guess the reason, right? Truly evil. Well, in rtion to the chain, after the woman jumped into the sea, a shackle being locked in his feet and a long chain was attached to it. Even a person with sixth sense could not see it, let alone normal people. But, all the ghosts were pointing their fingers at him, judging him since they all bore witnessed to the ident in the sea. One of the spectators was the old man who was telling us this story. ¡°The chain was connected to the sea. If you think it was his ex-lover¡¯s revenge, you¡¯re wrong. She didn¡¯t even linger here with us. It was his own vow that the sea had stake their im on his soul. They only needed to wait for the right time to drag him under the water. And they did pick the most suitable time, indeed.¡± The old man sneered and I could see a hint of mocking and disdain in his old eyes. ¡°Right after his wedding with the merchant¡¯s daughter, they went strolling on the beach, celebrating their wedding. As the merchant¡¯s only daughter, her father gifted her a small ship for her to use. So, they went into the sea, to find some time alone to release their lust. Unknown to her, the sky had darkened, the sea was in turbulence. Only when the ship was shaking did they stop fucking each other. When both of them came out to check on the situation, a huge wave had already prepared to swallow them both.¡± ¡°The woman was found in the shore almost naked, but the man was nowhere to be found. Many people had tried to look for him, but they couldn¡¯t find him. Some physics told the merchant¡¯s daughter that he was taken by the sea and don¡¯t bother to look for him. The sea had imed him, there was nothing he could do. Only us, the ghost, knew what happened.¡± The old man¡¯s expressionless face had broken by now. He looked sinister, as if what had happened to the man was not enough. ¡°Old man, you look scary.¡± The little girl frowned, but she didn¡¯t look scared at all. If anything, she only looked a bit disturb. ¡°Old man, is the woman whomitted suicide...your daughter?¡± I asked carefully. The three of them whipped their heads towards me, different expression shed on their eyes and faces. Chapter 113 113 The Dream (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°H-how do you know?¡± The old man hissed. His eyes shed with dangerous glint as his body stiffened and went into alert, ready to pounce on me if I were to threaten his existence. ¡°Easy.¡± I smiled. ¡°I had nothing against you. I¡¯m just curious why did you sound so malicious when you told us the story. Especially when you mentioned the man. But when you mentioned the ex lover, you had a loving hint in your eyes. My first assumption that you are somehow rted to her, but to say that you used to be her secret admirer, it doesn¡¯t match with your expression.¡± ¡°So, it came to the second conclusion, which is you are her family. But, after hearing your point of view as a ghost in this story, I realized that you must have died before she did. You still lingered in this world because you couldn¡¯t bear to part with your family, so you chose to stay to watch over them. But, you had to watch your daughtermitting suicide in front of your eyes and you couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Even if you searched the sea to find her, you couldn¡¯t see her soul. That¡¯s why you¡¯re still here, drowning in your grievances over your dead daughter.¡± ¡°Even after the cause of her death had died, you still couldn¡¯t ept it.¡± I took a deep breath after talking so much. I¡¯ve just awaken from my deep sleep for several days, talking so much had tired me out. I was surprised but a frustrated feeling arouse. The old man¡¯s facial expression changed repeatedly as I spoke. After some time, he finally calmed down as his stoic expression softened. ¡°Indeed, she was my daughter, my one and only. She was the only one that her mother left for me. Her mother died after giving birth to her, but she made me promise to be a good father to her and to make sure she married a good man. Too bad I died before I could witness her wedding, so I refused to go to afterlife so that I could at least see her wedding. When I saw her got together with the man, I assured myself that he would treat her good. I had waited for a year, but he still didn¡¯t have any intention to marry her. Even so, my daughter loved him and he had been treating my daughter so well.¡± ¡°But, I witnessed him cheated on her and had been so furious ever since. Too bad, I didn¡¯t have sufficient energy to let her know that he was not a good man.¡± The old man dropped his head in self-me. It must have been hard for him to witness the person he loved the most was gone just like that. The good thing was the woman, this old man¡¯s daughter, was nowhere to be found, which meant she must have gone to the ¡®waiting area¡¯; a better ce than here. ..... ¡°Old man, I understand your point. But, it didn¡¯t get us anywhere? What¡¯s with the chain?¡± The little girl wore an impatient look in her face, but at least she was polite enough to let him finish with his story. The old man cleared his throat. ¡°What I meant is this chain is used to bind someone. The problem with that cheater is he made a vow that if he cheated, the sea would take him. His vow was heard by the King of the Sea, so it was granted so quickly. The mystic kingdom underwater is not to be trifled with. They are known for their authority over ghosts, souls, or the residents of another dimension which rted to water. Water ghost, monsters, kappa, they are all under the authority of the King of Sea. Making a foolish vow when he knew he did cheat, he must have challenged the authority. And that¡¯s what they despise the most. So, they spared no time and chained him up.¡± ¡°But, as I see it, the chain in your feet is slightly different with the one from the sea. The one that bound the cheater¡¯s feet looked as if it was made of water, but at the same time it was so sturdy. Yours, on the other hand, looks like it was made of ...¡± The old man picked the chain and frowned a bit as he studied it for a while. ¡°...I sensed fire, but it¡¯s not pure fire. Rather, it is made from coals. There is still fire inside the chain, but somehow it¡¯s not activated. I wonder why.¡± ¡°So, do you mean whoever put the chain on me is rted to a ce with fire?¡± Who in the world didn¡¯t need fire? ¡°It sounds absurd, but yes. It¡¯s better for you not to think about it for now. Just get better first.¡± The old man said. After that, the old man didn¡¯t give me chance to ask as he drove the other two away from the room, leaving me alone again. The fatigue for speaking too much caught up to me now that they had gone and not long after, I fell asleep. In that sleep, I dreamed. I remember this dream because I thought my previous conversation with the old man caused the dream. But, after I finally returned to Indonesia, I knew it was not as simple as that. In this dream, I was in a small vige, far from cities. The houses were all made from woods and it was all high but not too big. It looked so traditional that I thought I had turned back in time. The houses were not a lot and there were some spaces as the yard in each house. Short wooden fences surrounded some of the houses. It was too short I had no idea what¡¯s the benefit of putting such short fences around the house. Usually people built fences to protect their house from burry. But, if a house was using this fence that had not even reached my knees, what¡¯s the point? My train of thought about the short fence was soon interrupted by someone. ¡°Wee.¡± A man with dark brown skin greeted me with a smile on his face. ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± He added. ¡°Follow me.¡± With that, he turned around and led the way. Only at this time that I realized I had been standing in their gate. As I had no other choice, I followed him. The man brought me to a house with the biggest yard and longest fences in the area. After climbing the stairs to the upper level, I was surprised to see what had been waiting for me. Chapter 114 114 The Dream (3) (Tom¡¯s PoV) Or rather, who were waiting for me. This... guest room is a bit too big, isn¡¯t it? Sitting in the room was some people who I had never met before. On the farthest end of the room, there was a big chair. Judging from the size and the meticulous carving on the chair, it must be for a very important person. Well, I doubt I was the person. On my right, sitting along the wall was some elders who were wearing traditional clothes with one simrity; they were dark in color. On my left was a row of white-clothed men, standing straight and not moving even just an inch -except the movement of their eyshes, looking sturdy and scary, but somehow there was an indescribable feeling I had inside, as if these men were emitting sacred aura around them; like they were some holy people selected by the Almighty to eradicate every evil beings in this world. But, the feeling didn¡¯t end here; the strongest feeling I had inside was... a sense of belonging. It was as if I knew them, that they were my blood brothers, that we were actually so closed. Of course, it was not my first time meeting this kind of white-clothed people. They were so simr with the ones who were guarding Jane¡¯s room at that time, but at that time I didn¡¯t have this kind of feeling when I saw them. I guess they only looked simr, but different in some ways. The men on my right side were closing their eyes, as if our presence didn¡¯t disturb them at all. The white-clothed men, on the other side, was looking straight in front of them. ..... What¡¯s so interesting about the wall, really? I tried to follow their line of gaze, but I really couldn¡¯t see anything good on the wall. The wall was made from wood; teak wood, on top of that. The rich brown color was giving the room different view from when I was outside. It was as if I was in the room of an important figure in the vige. The feeling it gave me was a small luxurious house, instead of an ordinary house in a vige. Whoever owned this house was probably filthy rich. ¡°Please, sit here.¡± The man who was guiding me had stood in the middle of the room where a cushion was ced. He wanted me to sit on it? I arched my eyebrows. The man politely urged me to sit on the pointed cushion, so I could onlyply and walked towards the cushion. As I sat down on it cross-legged, the eyes of the elders fluttering opened. Their gazes were directed at me, but despite the nervous thump in my chest, I didn¡¯t feel any emotion from their gazes. How could every one of them control their emotion that well? Among these people, there must be one person who ruined the harmony, who would spill the beans, but I couldn¡¯t see anyone like that. As I was still pondering about these elderly, the door near the big chair on the furthest end was pushed open from the other side. From the door came a middle aged man. His sturdy and thick beard looked all scary, giving the others a scary man vibe on the first meeting. But, despite his scary appearance, his bright eyes deceived his appearance. From his bright eyes, I could see years of experience that he had gone through, forged him to be hard and wise, but still didn¡¯tck his kindness. Those eyes seemed expecting something, a good thing. His lips were hidden behind the bush of his beard and mustache, but I could make a slight smile on it when he saw me. The man sat down on the empty chair near the big one. Based on his position, he must be some kind of right or left hand of the person who owned the big chair. I was really curious to see this person. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± The man who entered thest started speaking. His raspy voice sounded charismatic to my ears. It was rare for me to find another man¡¯s voice to be charismatic, but this man¡¯s voice fit the category easily. As soon as this man¡¯s voice fell, the elders that had been sitting quietly started to move slightly. Sitting there crossed-legs, their backs were straight with head held up, hands on their knees. Seeing their posture, no one would believe that they were old men. Their eyes were sharp, like fighters on the battlefield. ¡°Initial Challenge for the future General of the First Army, will now begin. The candidate, son of thete Fadel msyah, Thomas Putra msyah, will have his first trial to be the General of the First Army; Soul Endurance, including the mentality and spiritual test. The test will be supervised directly by Sir Ahmad Ismail, the right hand man of the current king, and will be conducted under the guidance of the elders in Satu vige.¡± The man who led me to this room started speaking and after hearing about what he said, I was stunned. What trial? What General? How do they know my father¡¯s name? How do they know my name? What king? Satu vige? Where is it? Where am I? Chapter 115 115 The Dream (4) (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°The candidate, Thomas Putra msyah, do you have any inquiries regarding your first trial?¡± ¡°I do.¡± I nodded my head firmly. ¡°Where am I? What is it about? What do you mean by trial? Soul Endurance? How do you know me? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about and I don¡¯t know any of you. Could you, please, exin it to me?¡± The man smiled patiently at me. ¡°We know what we want to know. Nothing in this world can hide anything from us as long as we want to know something; except God wishes it to be hidden. We have our ways and means and you¡¯ll know about it if you¡¯re one of uster. You don¡¯t need to know us now, but we will get to know each other as time flies.¡± Why do I feel like this man is saying cheesy lines? ¡°About Soul Endurance, as long as you¡¯re able to maintain your sanity after the trial we¡¯re about to give to you, then you¡¯ll pass the test. You will not be the only one to have this trial, but each one of you will have different situation and approach on how you deal with pressure. I only wish you the best for your trial.¡± He said calmly. I waited for him to continue but he just smiled. Is that all? He didn¡¯t even answer all of my questions! The man, Sir Ahmad Ismail I assumed, had been staring at me in amusement, but he also didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Well, off you go! I¡¯ll see you when the trial has ended.¡± The man waved his hand and I felt my consciousness turned blurry and the floating feeling came again. ..... When I opened my eyes, I had returned to my room in the hospital. Was it a dream? I wiped my face with my palm, it¡¯s good if it was just a dream. It¡¯s good. It must be because I met with those ghosts before I fell asleep that I had such a bizarre dream. I looked at the tightly closed curtain. It seemed like it¡¯s still dark outside. I couldn¡¯t see any lights other than the ones that were from my own room and the corridor behind the door. It looked like I still had some time to sleep. As I was thinking like that, my eyes gradually fluttered closed. I could feel the slight feeling of being swayed and floating, but I was still conscious. I knew it was the sign that I was getting deeper in my sleep. It would only take some time before I finally fell asleep for real. In the midst of falling asleep deeper, between dream and reality, my ears caught sharp sound of metal being drawn. Before I could react to find out the source of the sound, sharp pain hit my body as a cold and long object was being stabbed into my chest. I gasped for air loudly as my eyes flew opened in horror. What was that? I checked my chest and breathed in relief as I felt it still intact with no wounds or blood in sight. Cold sweat started to wet my temples. It was just a dream. I sighed. Luckily, it was just a dream. But, the pain was so real it still lingered in my mind. I tried to shake the bad thought from my mind and tried to sleep again. Again, I felt the same feeling before I felt into deep sleep. And then, two des were prated into my body, each was sunk deep in my shoulders as my throat growled in pain. Blood spurted from the fresh wound on my shoulders and I could feel my arms trembled in pain. My eyes flew opened again. My breath ragged and cold sweat was practically drenching my whole body. I turned my head to see my own shoulders to notice that they were fine without any wounds or blood on it. The patient gown I was wearing didn¡¯t even show a bit of abnormal crease on the shoulders part, a proof that I didn¡¯t even move that much. One dream of being stabbed was probably just an inadvertence. But, twice? I began to have my own suspicion. The lingering and non-existent pain from the previous dream haunted my sleep as I refused to close my eyes. I tried to think the possibility that might exist because of my two dreams, but I couldn¡¯t find anything. As I was too serious in thinking, I unknowingly closed my eyes to help me focus on one suspicious topic. In the end, I fell asleep identally, only to be waken up by three daggers being thrown at me fast. Each of it stabbed my right chest, my right thigh, and my left abdomen. I really wanted to howl in pain as my body went rigid from pain. My breath hitched in my throat and even if my eyes had flown opened, the pain didn¡¯t subsided. Only after I tasted it, I knew the word of ¡®terror¡¯. Whatever it was, I was sure my dream was not normal. No matter what the reason was, those dreams were not normal! No, I can¡¯t fall asleep! I can¡¯t fall asleep! I pped my cheeks twice to get rid of the sleepiness that started to hit me. In usual situation, this kind of dream would make my sleepiness went away until morning, but how do I still feel sleepy even after being terrorized by that scary dream? I would rather dream about ugly ghost than being tortured like this, especially where I could still feel the pain inflicted in me. But, I was sure this dream was not normal. I can¡¯t fall asleep! I made a resolute decision. Chapter 116 116 Lisa; Sooner or Later, I Will Find The Truth (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) How many days had passed since I returned to my hometown? I wondered. I didn¡¯t go out much. I preferred to stay at home and meditated. Three days ago, Sanji finally came and he said that he had taken a leave from his job to solve the problem regarding my father. I was really grateful for what he had done, but I was at lost when he first stepped into the house. Even though the house my parents left me was a bit far from the other houses and it had high privacy protection -such as high fences made from bricks and stones, I was still unsure of letting him stay with me under one roof. There were four bedrooms in this house; one was mine, one was my parents¡¯, and the other two were left for guest. Technically, I was the only one at home so three bedrooms were empty. But, I couldn¡¯t invite him in and stay with me. As much as I wanted to do so and ignored the people talking, I couldn¡¯t do it. Unless I wanted the neighbors would call the elders in the area and reprimanded me. I still had to maintain my parents¡¯ dignity and showed them that they had raised me to be a well and proper girl. Fortunately, Sanji didn¡¯t even mention about it. After he had ensured that I was fine, he said that he would live in a rented room nearby and to call him whenever I needed him. That was so sweet of him. He would alwayse by when the sky was bright and return to his dorm when the sky had darkened. Sometimes, some of my high school friends woulde. Thus, no neighbors wouldin that I was being alone with him in the house. The presence of my housekeeper had also helped to lessen the curiosity of the aunties. Being a nosy auntie herself, my housekeeper was so ¡®generous¡¯ to exin the rtionship between me and Sanji. I learned a lot from Sanji about the other dimension, even though his information was not as specific as Siji¡¯s, but at least I knew the stereotype of these ghosts when they came out and scared people from human¡¯s perspective. While what Siji had been telling me was impressive, but that came from an adviser of White Army. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t think of these ghosts as anything dangerous since he was much more powerful than them, but Sanji was different. ..... Sanji¡¯s opinion on ghost was what I called ¡®normal reaction¡¯ for human to see ghost. Siji would never say that Kuntnak was scary either for itsughter or weeping, Genderuwo was ugly for its strange form, or anything scary rted to them. But, Sanji would say the things that human would normally notice and cause the fear inside them escted to the point they would feel terrified. Both of them had provided me with the best information I could ever get, but somehow I felt something was missing from it. After several days in my hometown, I met with a young woman a few years older than me. Her name was Lisa. It was our first time meeting, but I felt like I had known this woman for years. We hit it off right away. Even though she was older than me, she didn¡¯t like me calling her ¡®sister¡¯. So, we called each other¡¯s name, which would sound rude for some people but we didn¡¯t care at all. I met her under special circumstances, actually, and her personal being was not the first thing that attracted me, to be honest. I was doing my morning jogging when I saw hering out from a big iron gate. Her expression seemed off but she maintained her courteous smile on her face. Again, that was not the thing that attracted me to her. What attracted me was the fact she was followed by some powerful guardians. They could be her family, or just guardians, I didn¡¯t know. So, I hastily approached her, finding the best excuse to talk to her. I know, I might sound like a desperate boy trying to get a girl, but I was curious! Not to mention Siji knew her and her guardians. I was lucky because Lisa was an easy going girl. She was easy to approach butter on I found out that it was because I was a girl that she didn¡¯t feel cautious around me. As I talked to her, I found out that she had just lost her brother three months before. She had just visited his grave as well as her father¡¯s grave that morning. At that time, I realized the area which was surrounded by high walls of bricks and iron, a big house kind of fences, was actually a family cemetery. I mean, what a special cemetery! Whatever, that¡¯s her family¡¯s problem. Anyway, I was talking with Lisa when I met one of her guardians¡¯ gaze. I didn¡¯t feel threatened or scared by the sharp gaze, but I could feel the power under that gaze. For a moment, I felt loss because I was stared at so suddenly. Before I could speak, the old man who was staring at me shifted his gaze towards my back. I sneakily looked behind my shoulders and noticed that Siji and some of the White Army were standing there. The one who was being stared at was Siji and Siji was obediently bowing his head solemnly. I might have just known Siji and didn¡¯t know his past, but after conversing with him, watching him, and observing him, I knew that he was a proud man. He practically bowed his head not to anyone. Even my first impression on him was not that good. But, he was so obedient in front of this elder. Who is he? Chapter 117 117 Lisa; Sooner or Later I Will Find The Truth (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I had waited for the elder to utter some words of recognition for Siji, but the elder didn¡¯t say anything, much to my disappointment. After staring at Siji for a while, the elder didn¡¯t look at him anymore and returned to his usual aloof stance. He didn¡¯t look at me or Siji anymore, but somehow I knew this elderly was not an easy one. He acted as if he didn¡¯t know about Siji but I knew he did. Anyway, I wouldn¡¯t scare this young woman by saying that there was an elder behind her and some other powerful astral beings. Ignoring the others and focusing on building a good rtionship with this young woman named Lisa, I finally had something to busy my days. Of course, this happened before Sanji came. By the time Sanji finished his work and came to find me, Lisa had gone to her new work ce. After my first meeting with Lisa, I went back home only after I managed to make an appointment with her to meet on the next day. I was totally curious about her. But, that night an uninvited guest came to my house. Since my house had a barrier around to prevent unrecognized ¡®beings¡¯ came into the house, the elder had to wait for my permission to get into the house. Siji was the one who told me about hising. Even though he had already passed away for so long, I still needed to show him my respect as a junior towards a senior. So, I didn¡¯t waste any time toe and ept him at the front door. ¡°Please,e in, Elder.¡± I politely invited him in. ..... The elderly walked inside and threw me a nce. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel afraid I might hurt you after you let me in?¡± He asked calmly. I smiled at him. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t have that thought, right?¡± The elder¡¯s thin lips curled up a bit into a fleeting smile, but he said no more. I followed him into the room and watched him sat on the soft couch. There was a slight movement on the couch but it was not as heavy as when a human was sitting on it. I took a seat at the nearest couch as I was still watching the elderly not far from me. Before I could speak, Siji came and stood beside me, but he didn¡¯t say anything. As soon as Siji appeared, the elderly¡¯s eyes moved onto him. ¡°Long time no see, Number Seven.¡± The Elderly started. My eyebrows arched as I heard him called Siji. Number Seven? It reminded me of that time when those elders in the other dimension were talking. If I were not mistaken, I also heard them say something about ¡®Seventh Adviser¡¯ and I had epted it long ago that the Seventh Adviser they were talking about was Siji. Why and how he could be the Seventh Adviser, I had never asked him before. I thought, just like me the Army who had different Master and General, Siji might be the seventh adviser appointed to this army. But, from this old man¡¯s way of talking, it was not just a number. ¡°Sir.¡± Siji quietly bowed his head down as a form of greeting. ¡°You¡¯re here, it means this girl is the new master of White Army.¡± That was not a question, but a statement. Why did I find it not a surprise that he knew about White Army? This time, his gaze drifted to me. His pair of eagle eyes looked exceptionally overwhelming at this particr time. Under the pressure of his gaze, I almost broke out in cold sweat. ¡°Not bad. I can see why she was chosen to be the one.¡± The elder pulled his gaze back as he stared at a big picture hanging on the wall; a picture of my parents and me after I graduated from High School. ¡°Indeed. Her fate has been decided since long ago, even before she was born into this world.¡± Siji nodded his head. Those words sessfully caught my curiosity. ¡°Number Seven, are you sure she is the one? I know she has much stronger of mental power than the others, but how can you be so sure that she is the one?¡± ¡°Sir, do you remember why I became Number Seven?¡± The elderly snorted. ¡°I¡¯m the one who gave the number, why would I forget?¡± Siji smiled politely, but he couldn¡¯t hide the beam in his eyes. ¡°Exactly. She is the only one who can maintain her rationality for more than 30 days. No, I don¡¯t think she knows about it. I can say that my presence doesn¡¯t affect her at all, and it is instead the other way around.¡± He said proudly. Wait! Are they talking in the samenguage as I use or am I too dumb to understand what they¡¯re talking about? Chapter 118 118 Lisa; Sooner or Later, I Will Find The Truth! (3) (Jane¡¯s PoV) As I was still mulling over the fact that none of what they were talking about made sense, both of them had continued talking. I was sure I paid attention to them, but I couldn¡¯t make a head or tail to what they were talking about. I could only catch some words such as ¡®the chosen one¡¯ being repeated and ¡®the world is changing¡¯. By the time I came to my senses, they had concluded their conversation and somehow I got a ¡®token of eptance¡¯ from the elder. ¡°My name is Guntur Bharata. The girl you met before is my great-great-granddaughter, our dearest descendant who possesses the ability to inherit the family but refuses to do so. Since her father had closed her ability, we have no way to persuade her to ept her fate.¡± The old man sighed. Her father closed her ability? She is the same as me, then! But, mine was locked, not closed by my father. It also had a time limit and when I turned seventeen, I had started to ¡®feel¡¯ them. I also epted my ability, even though I was not excited to do so but things happened and I didn¡¯t have the chance to refuse it. Besides, I didn¡¯t know what exactly happened to Lisa that made her refused her fate to inherit the family. I guessed I just needed to find the right time to ask her about it. ¡°You don¡¯t need to introduce your name. Number Seven had told me about you.¡± He waved his hand impatiently before I could even produce any sound. This old man was quite sassy, huh? ¡°Take this. This world will be shaken in a while but I hope you can calm it downter.¡± The old man tossed me a long white silk scarf which was almost as light as feather. I held the scarf in my hands in confusion. What is it for? ..... As if sensing my confusion, the old man sneered. His eyes reflected his mocking towards me. ¡°You¡¯ll need it when you meet that old woman under the water.¡± Old Woman under the water? Did he mean the Queen of South Sea? By the time I came to my senses, the old man had walked out of the house and disappeared in the dark night. Since the source of my answer had gone, I could only turn to the second person who was involved in the previous conversation. ¡°Mdy, your eyes scared me.¡± Siji stepped back as my eyes met his. It was so rare to see him getting flustered but I wouldn¡¯t back down. Not now. ¡°Speak. What do you know?¡± ¡°About what?¡± I smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t y dumb with me.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, Mdy.¡± He smiled nervously. ¡°Oh really?¡± He must have known that I was being sarcastic with him as he grew anxious. ¡°The Elders are calling for me. I need to go!¡± With that, he turned around and disappeared. Running away, huh? I smirked. Seeing he was getting so flustered over a simple question from me, I guessed it was not something he could divulge so freely to me. There must be a rule to that. But, sooner orter, I would know everything I needed to know. There¡¯s no need to be overly anxious about it, then. As I thought so, I walked into my bedroom and let the dream fairy took me to my dream. After that night visit, Sir Guntur had note to my house again. However, Siji would disappear asionally. Compared with the hidden information of me that they had talked about before, I was more curious about Siji¡¯s past. I shook my head. I was distracted again. Right now, my priority was Lisa. I needed to know about her. I had known that the powerful figures behind her was probably being tied down by Sir Guntur and it would be rted to his identity which was hard for me to find out, but as I was seeing her more and more these days, I noticed a Shadow was following her. But, the old man and his men didn¡¯t take any movement towards that Shadow which only led me to two options; first, they didn¡¯t know about the Shadow existence or it could the Shadow was not invading their range of protection, and second, the Shadow was rted to them. I was more inclined towards the first option, actually. At first I thought it was a lost Shadow, or a Shadow without Master. But as I kept seeing it every time I met Lisa, I noticed that this Shadow had its eyes on Lisa. But, with the protection of her ancestors, I doubt this thing would every its fingers on her. Still, I was curious. To have a Shadow followed like this was not something good. It was mostly because the person the shadow was following was cursed by someone and surely the intention was either to kill the person or just torturing him/her. I thought, Lisa must have been in contact with some dark magic before. But that thought went as soon as it came because I had no proof that she was involved in dark magic. So, what was the problem? It wouldn¡¯t take long for me to find the answer. Behind her bright smile, Lisa was hiding a deep scar that would always haunt her whenever and wherever. Chapter 119 119 Lisa; Sooner or Later, I Will Find The Truth! (4) (Jane¡¯s PoV) It was in the afternoon, when the sun had started to go West and the temperature started to cool down. I was sitting on the rooftop of my house with Lisa, enjoying the scenery and the wind with a cup of warm tea in our hands and some sweets and snacks on the side. She came to say goodbye, saying that she would go continuing her study and work tomorrow and she had no intention toe back even though this was her hometown. As this might be ourst meeting, I braved myself and asked about her father and brother; also her other family. After she told me her story, I had the urge to curse myself to ask those questions and made her sad. Have you ever felt so sad that your tears just suddenly rolled down your cheeks but you tried to convince yourself that you¡¯re fine? That¡¯s what happened when she told me her story. She was crying, but she said she was fine. Her tears would not stop rolling down her cheeks, yet she still smiled and continued talking. She didn¡¯t sob, but sometimes she would take a deep breath and wipe her tears away. I wouldn¡¯t say I knew the pain she was feeling because I had never been in her position. But, the frustration she felt, somehow I understood. It might be more or less the same when I heard my father was in ident. Only, I could see my fatherter but she couldn¡¯t see her brother and father ever again. Maybe in afterlife, who knows? Lisa lost her father several years ago. She said her only regret was she had not provided the best for him yet because she had just started working for several months at that time. From the way she talked about it, I noticed that she had made some efforts to help lessened her father¡¯s burden by doing the monthly shopping for daily necessities. For Lisa, it was not enough. ..... So, after her father passed away, she promised to herself that she would take care of her brothers. Lisa had one older sister who was working out of the town and two younger brothers who were living with her. Her mother... I guessed her rtionship with her mother was not that good and I had no intention to ask why. By the time she said her mother was absent during her father¡¯s funeral and mourning days, I had detected some internal conflict and I didn¡¯t wish to ask more. She said her mother returned only after her father had passed away for almost forty days. Which was too long for me. What kind of mother would leave her children facing that kind of situation alone? Forty days meant more than a month and it was too f*cking long! When Lisa mentioned about her mother, there was a displeasure in her eyes but her expression was still the same. I also noticed the change of emotions in the powerful beings and Sir Guntur at the mention of her mother. They must have found that her mother was not satisfying in her role as a mother. Lisa didn¡¯t know that. She only felt a wave of warm wind blew in her direction, but I knew for sure that it was their rage. ¡°Somehow, losing my father was not as painful as losing my brother.¡± Lisa added. Her face reddened slightly from all the tears she shed before. If losing her father was not as painful as losing her brother, I couldn¡¯t even imagine how much tears she would produce for her brother? Her first younger brother was not on good terms with her for years. She said that he was undoubtedly evil, naughty, and annoying which led her to stop caring for him for years. Only recently that they started to mend their broken rtionship between sister and brother, especially after their father passed away. Unfortunately, as their bond as a family started to be stronger, an unpredictable ident befallen upon him. ¡°Doctor said it was an infection. I said it was not merely an outer cause. My heart was telling me that there¡¯s something wrong with the way he got sick. It was just a tiny wound, but in a matter of a night, it swelled up into unbelievable size. No matter how many antibiotics from the doctor he took, it wouldn¡¯t go down. My cousin said that he must have gotten his ¡®sickness¡¯ from his cigarette. Someone had been targeting him. There was no way a small wound like a small e would lead him to a fast death. He felt sick for five or six days before he died. He couldn¡¯t walk, he couldn¡¯t eat, he couldn¡¯t even sleep, and it was hard for him to speak. I couldn¡¯t do anything and only told him that he would be fine. That he would get better soon.¡± Her tears started to flood down her cheeks by the time she said it. ¡°He said he felt hot. He said... it was so noisy when there were only the three of us sitting outside his room, talking in hush voice. He said he saw a big diamond with sparkling lights. It was so blinding and he asked me to pick it up for him. I made fun of him, saying that he yed too much game. Little did I know, it was the sign that he would notst for the night.¡± Lisa stopped talking as she took a deeper breath than she did before. ¡°I said it was harder losing him than losing my father. It was because I saw him taking hisst breath in front of me. The feeling of seeing his heart beat stopped is still fresh in my mind and I couldn¡¯t erase it. I will remember it for the rest of my life. No matter how many times I tried to locate his pulse, I couldn¡¯t find it. My heart started to panic but my mind urged it to stay calm, that it would be okay. That he would wake up. I thought, didn¡¯t some of these scenes happen in a movie? Didn¡¯t the actor or actress inside wake up after several seconds?¡± She gave a bitter smile but I couldn¡¯t smile back. How frustrated she was at that time? How shock she was at that time? Just seeing her expression right now left me dumbfounded. How painful it was for her to see her own family left the world forever by her own eyes? Her tears were madly wetting her face, her nose and eyes reddened, but she still smiled silly. She disyed a strong front but she was as fragile as one could think. ¡°Do you know what I was thinking at that time?¡± She asked as she was wiping her tears. Her smile was still stered on her face but a determine look shed in her eyes. ¡°If... If what my cousin and my heart told me were true, that someone had been targeting my brother and using my brother as his experiment to test his dark power, just pray to God that I wouldn¡¯t find out his identity. Jail or anything would be thest thing I would think. My goal would be killing that bastard.¡± Her eyes shed with ferocity belong to a mad man and I shivered as I felt her killing intent was real. She would really do it! ¡°But, as I¡¯m not a person who will hold a grudge, my anger might disappear after several weeks. If it is true, then I will just pray that God will punish this kind of person and let me have a chance to see him with my own eyes that he is also not having a good life and time before he died. He might have a hard time dying but living will only be a torture to him. He will feel so painful that he wishes he could die but he couldn¡¯t. He still needs to pay for what he had done towards my brother. An easy death will be a luxury to him. And I believe that whoever ys with dark magic with the intention to hurt other people, this person will not die easily.¡± She said firmly. ¡°If my brother really did die because of infection, I could only pray for him to always be in the care of the Creator. Sooner orter, I will find the truth. I just have to wait patiently with what God ns for me and my family.¡± Lisa returned to her usual calm state with puffy eyes, red nose and face, and some remnants of tears on her face. I took a deep breath. Now I knew the origins of the Shadow who was following behind Lisa. Signaling with my eyes, Siji went out and rushed towards the hiding Shadow. I would deal with itter. Regarding her brother, I was sure he was in a better ce, maybe the same ce with where Senior Rizal was. Since he saw a blinding lighting to him, he must have been loved by the Creator that He wouldn¡¯t allow him to feel anymore unnecessary pain. It was easy to say that the Creator loved someone, so much that He would take this person before this person suffered a lot. Anyone withck of brain would me the Creator if that was the case. Thankfully, Lisa was not a brainless idiot, but instead a strong and wise woman. Even though there was a split second that I felt afraid of her, I was sure she was not a psychopath. Just like my own self who was nning an infiltration in the Queen of South Sea¡¯s castle under the water, I was sure I was not a viin. After all, we did what we could for our beloved ones. ¡°I wonder if there is a way to know whether someone is dead because of getting cursed by dark magic.¡± Lisa stared into empty spot for a second. I was tempted to say ¡®yes¡¯ but I held back. She didn¡¯t need to know, but I would deal with it for her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you wash your face first? Your face will be swollen to the point you¡¯re resemble a ...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± She interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡± She got up, put down her cup of tea on the table and got inside the house to wash her face in the washroom. Maybe she would continue crying for a bit, I didn¡¯t know. As she left inside the house, I shifted my gaze towards the Shadow that was standing in front of me, baring its sharp teeth towards me but couldn¡¯t do anything to me since it was being held tightly by two of my White Army men. ¡°Hello...¡± I greeted it. Chapter 120 120 Your Master is Stupid (Jane¡¯s PoV) Creepyugh was heard from the Shadow¡¯s throat, mixed with a bit of its disgusting growl. Seeing it¡¯s scary and twisted appearance, I was sure it had forgotten its true identity. Negativity had given it a new power but it also had changed its appearance. After learning from Siji these days, I knew that these Shadows were mostly humans before. Even after their death, their greed didn¡¯t diminish, but instead it was getting stronger. With a bit persuading, they turned into human¡¯s pet, feeding of negativity and blood of living creatures, their previous human form changed into this horrid appearance. Sometimes, some of these creatures were able to obtain a huge power and helped them to upgrade their level in the astral world, they could change their appearance to a soft and gentle woman or handsome and manly man. Compared to those who still had their human form, these beings were much more powerful and their form were much more solid than those newbie ghost. Still, normal human couldn¡¯t touch them. And their scary appearance was much more scary than these Shadows. Kunti was included in the higher level ghost who was able to change their appearance. Normally, normal dark magic practitioner couldn¡¯t summon her or use her. But, Amanda¡¯s father was not any normal dark magic practitioner. He used special method in summoning Kuntnak to deal with me. Too bad, I was not a normal person, too. Instead of ying with me, he ended up being tortured inside my house in astral world. One must think... What if I didn¡¯t have this power? No ifs. If i didn¡¯t have this power, I wouldn¡¯t be targeted by them. They would treat me like any ordinary people since I possessed no threat to them. I was being targeted because they had sensed something in me. Too bad it ended up unlocked all the power inside of me. ..... Well, let¡¯s get back to the Shadow in front of me. It wouldn¡¯t be good to let it wait for me while I was reminiscing back to my days before I was able to see them. ¡°Siji, is there any way to see what it has done?¡± I asked my adviser. ¡°Put your hand on them and try to focus your consciousness. It might resist but you can use your authority to subdue it and freely look into his memory.¡± Siji answered. ¡°Sounds easy but knowing you, I won¡¯t think it is easy.¡± I shook my head. After all, Siji was probably a genius, and that¡¯s how he became an adviser. Siji smirked but he said nothing. I put my hand on the Shadow¡¯s shoulder, ignoring its shriek and violent trashing, and closed my eyes. I had done this before, working up my consciousness and I had somehow had a grasp of how to do it. But, I had never done it towards any astral beings before. Invading someone¡¯s memory would not feel good, right? But with the authority as the master of White Army, I could do it forcefully towards evil beings. I just needed to be careful and absolutely never underestimated those beings. Well, easier said than done. I took a deep breath and put my strand of consciousness imbued with my spiritual power into the Shadow in front of me. But, as soon as I entered its mind, I had the urge to pull out and beat Siji up. He didn¡¯t mention that going inside a Shadow¡¯s mind would as dark as hell! But, I couldn¡¯t pull out now. If I were to stop abruptly, I would hurt myself. I was aware that forcing my way in would have to be slow like the flow of water in the calm river. Again, I took a deep breath to suppress the annoyance. It was dark inside the Shadow¡¯s mind, but I made my way steadily. It was as if there was a flow of stream leading me inside. I thought I had been walking for several minutes when I noticed a strong force was attacking me, trying to stop me from moving forward. It went dizzy for a second, but I persisted. Steadying my breath, I walked forward with my right palm opened wide in front of me. The strong force got violent and I felt like it was trying to shred me into pieces. The sensation was almost real that I started to falter. ¡°Stop!¡± I hissed towards the oppressive force. ¡°I can end your tiny life here, you know?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see who¡¯s going to die, then!¡± A strange voice belonged to an older woman was heard as it spoke viciously. A stronger oppressive force came towards me like a tornado, but somehow I felt calm. ¡°Fool.¡± That word escaped from my lips as I flicked my fingers towards that force. ¡°Submit yourself!¡± I ordered as my body emitted thinyer of light and surrounded my body. A strand of it formed a thin rope and flew towards the force, encircled something in the middle of the force. A shrill cry was heard as I tugged the thin rope. An old woman fell with a thud in front of me and just like that, the oppressive force went as if it was never there. The old woman wailed like a pig, my thin light rope was wrapped around her neck tightly. The more she struggled, the more it tightened around her neck. I sneered. ¡°With your power and you¡¯re trying to challenge me?¡± I snorted. ¡°Hiding yourself in the mind of your pet, controlling it so that it won¡¯t betray you. What a fool step! This Shadow had surrendered itself the moment I went into its consciousness, yet you wanted to act as if it was its will to reject my presence here. Do you think I am that blind not to be able to differ both of your power? Not to mention that you¡¯re here on behalf of someone, the real person who sent this shadow to harm Lisa¡¯s younger brother. Since that person is not that powerful, you want to protect it by giving him a pet that you have under your control? Very nice!¡± I pped my hands in a mocking gesture. ¡°Hey, your master is stupid! At least you¡¯re not as stupid as her.¡± I shouted at the darkness in front of me. As expected, the darkness started to shake and crumble down, revealing a young girl around fifteen to sixteen years old, shaking with fear. She was wearing a in white dress with a pair of beautiful shoes. Her hair was around waist length and she had fair skin -if only it was not too transparent. She was walking towards me while avoiding the intense gaze from the old woman. The old woman had a mad look on her face, as if she wanted to swallow the young girl wholly. The young girl, on the other side, was jumpy and frightened. When she passed by the old woman, the old woman jumped and threw herself at the girl, sessfully made the girl scream and ran towards me in her fright. But, they must be thinking that I was stupid to the point this cheap plot would be unseen from me. Heh! Chapter 121 121 Horror Movie in Real Life (Jane¡¯s PoV) I raised my free hand and a light barrier appeared in front of me. The young girl bumped into it and wailed loudly. Her previous timid and scared expression turned violent as her evil face ovepped with her innocent face. At least her innocent soul was still there even just a little bit of it. I took a deep breath as I retracted the light barrier from my left hand. My fingers touched the girl¡¯s forehead, ignoring the ovepping shadow in her face. ¡°You¡¯ve done a lot of misdeeds which caused you to lose yourself in it. It¡¯s hard for me to clean you off but I can help you to regain your own self. Just promise me that you¡¯ll stop harming the innocence and start cleaning yourself.¡± I told the little girl. The timid girl appeared for a second as she nodded her head vigorously. ¡°NO!¡± The old woman screamed in denial. ¡°No? Not only helping her regain her own self, but I¡¯ll also pull out what you¡¯ve put in her to control her. That way you won¡¯t have a way to control her anymore.¡± I smirked, provoking the old woman. Hearing what I said, the old woman¡¯s eyes widened. She must have not guessed that I knew about her trick. I sneered. Ignoring the old woman who was struggling to free herself from my light rope, I focused on the girl in front of me. My eyes were closed to allow me be more concentrate on the task in front of me. Leaving the rope on its own, my hands were now focused to pull out all of the things and curse put into this girl. ..... I estimated she was around thirteen or fourteen before she died. She must have been deceived by this old woman to work under her sinful action. Poor her, died so young yet when she died, she was used to no good things and ended up being swallowed by her hatred and negativity. Thankfully, a small part in her was still refusing to let the darkness swallow her whole and it was that tiny piece of goodness inside that gave me courage to help her. I wouldn¡¯t do something I didn¡¯t have confidence in. As I said I could help her, I was sure I could definitely help her. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed since I started to pull out the bad things that had been nted inside of this kid¡¯s soul, but I knew that I spent much energy on it. By the time I finished, the timid and pure soul of a young girl appeared in front of me with no trace of evil in her eyes. I felt a bit drain of energy, but my task had not done yet. Lisa was still in my house. I needed to act quickly before she caught me in the act. I needed to know everything I needed to know. I took a deep breath and watched the things that I pulled out from the girl. I couldn¡¯t figure out the shape of these things, but when I touched it, I had a suspicion that it was a kind of fire. Some of them were smelly, like a wound infection. Some of them felt prickly. But I still couldn¡¯t see what they were. ¡°Thank you.¡± The girl shyly thanked me. I nodded my head. ¡°What are those?¡± I pointed at those things that were fidgeting slightly. ¡°Those are the ability she gave me. My job was to make someone sick of infection even from a small wound, burn one¡¯s body from the inside, torture that person, and melt one¡¯s skin until this person died.¡± The girl obediently exined. My body went rigid when I heard that. I felt familiar with those conditions. ¡°How many people did you kill before?¡± The girl lowered her head in shame and guilty. ¡°I¡¯ve tried to stop myself but I couldn¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry.¡± She sobbed lightly. I sighed and red at the old woman who was still struggling herself with the binding. ¡°Why are you following Lisa?¡± ¡°My task has not done. I was ordered to slowly torture a young man. But before I could torture him thoroughly, he died. I was sent back here to hurt a young woman named Lisa, but I didn¡¯t have opportunity to approach her. She is surrounded by many scary old men.¡± As she was talking, I was pulled into her memory. It was like in the horror movie where the main lead was pulled into the ghost¡¯ memory to show the main lead the way the ghost died. The only difference was this time was not in a movie. It happened in real life. It was as if I was watching horror movie in real life. In her memory, I saw Lisa was with a young man I suspected was Lisa¡¯s younger brother. Then, I saw Lisa went away, I didn¡¯t know where she went to. I was about to follow Lisa when I saw another young man was approaching Lisa¡¯s brother. He offered cigarette for Lisa¡¯s younger brother and thetter took it. As he lit it up and took a deep breath of its smoke, he failed to see the weird gaze of the man. But, I saw everything! Apparently, he was the one who make Lisa¡¯s brother fell sick. His motive was still unknown, but it wouldn¡¯t take long for me to know about it. He was just testing his new power of cursing people, torturing them with a disease where no doctors or scientist could cure. Testing his power and his carelessness made someone died. This kid was seriously twisted in his way of thinking. I stared at the young man who was now walking away with a wide smile on his face, malicious intent in his eyes and somehow he resembled this old woman in some ways. ¡°Your grand kid?¡± I turned to see the old woman. Chapter 122 122 The Saddest Person Smiles The Brightest (Jane¡¯s PoV) The old woman put a more fierce look on her face, warning me not to have any funny ideas towards the young man. What I hate the most was if the elders were spoiling rotten their younger ones to the point these kids were not able to tell what¡¯s good and bad. When a kid was dependent to their parents, it was normal for me. But, when the kid was overly spoiled by the parents, it would only lead to the damage of the kid¡¯s personality and behavior. As a result, the kid would have twisted mind and personality, which was dangerous to the society. Just imagine, even a simple sentence ¡°it was just a joke¡± could result to someone¡¯s death, but if the speaker of this sentence would not feel any remorse, that he/she had caused someone¡¯s death with his/her ¡®joke¡¯, then there must be something wrong with the way he/she thought. What a pity! Instead of creating a smart and good generation, their parents created a little monster who could kill another living person with a smile on their faces and said it was just a joke. Instead of being a smart and thoughtful person, their kid grew up being a cunning and cruel person. In this case, I fully med the parents. ..... But, I wouldn¡¯t say that the parents¡¯ job was easy. Any job was never easy. There was always things that needed to be sacrificed in any job. To me, the key wasmunication. A goodmunication could make a sour rtionship became better. Especially in parents-children rtionship where the children still needed their parents attention and love, a goodmunication could make the children feel close to their parents, creating a stronger bonding between them instead of solely holding onto the status as parents and children. Once the children grew older, it would be hard for parents to persuade them back whenever they did wrong. At that time, parents would either feel anger or guilty for their failure. And yes, I could only say the parents were failure when they failed to shape their children into a good and proper kids just like what they had in their mind. In this case of the young man and his grandmother, it was not a failure. Instead, it was an achievement when the young man became so spoiled and close to her. Which grandparents would not feel joyful when their beloved grandchildren would feel closer to them? They would do anything to make their grandchildren feelfortable around them. Not to mention, as a person who possessed this kind of ability, she must be seeking someone to pass on her power, to continue her line as a shaman and to control her Shadows. Well, since I hated this kind of treatment and behavior towards the younger ones, I was sure I wouldn¡¯t let both of them go. The old man in my house in the astral dimension was near his limit. It would serve this old woman a good reminder of what would happen to her next. I soothed the little girl in front of me. I could feel she was still pulling me further into her memory. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have time so I rejected her request. As I was soothing her so that she would not be overly anxious, I started to retracted my consciousness from her. And slowly, I opened my eyes. The previous scary shadow disappeared and in its ce was the little girl, standing obediently while staring at me. Not only that, the old woman was also around, still tying with my light rope which resembled more like an ordinary rope. The things that I pulled out from the girl¡¯s soul were still fidgeting near my feet. Now that they were exposed to the sunlight, I could see their true forms. A small flickering fire, some small and smelly maggots, chains and shackles, and some needles. I frowned as I noticed those things. This girl said that it was the ability the old woman gave to her, but from how I saw it, those things were used to restrain her. When she was sent to hurt someone, she would feel pain all over her body and those pain were what she would transfer towards her victim. Fire; to make the victim feel burning up while the victim¡¯s body was actually covered in cold sweat. Maggots; to gnaw at the victim¡¯s body from the inside, creating a small wound as if the victim was falling sick because of the wound got infected. Then, it would slowly gnaw on the healthy body. Chain and shackles; there were mostly for this girl. But, she would transfer the sensation to the victim, in which resulting with the way the victim¡¯s walking. The victim would feel his/her legs or arms heavy. Needles; what is it for except to torture the victim? How cruel! ¡°Take her.¡± I waved my hand to the men who was guarding the girl. ¡°Show her a ce for redemption. She needs to clean herself.¡± The girl couldn¡¯t say anything before she was disappeared. As soon as the girl disappeared, my gaze shifted to the old woman who was staring at me. ¡°Get her to the torture room. Let her watch the torture the old man is having. After that, let her feel her living hell. Don¡¯t let her return to her body ever!¡± I hissed thest sentence through my clenched teeth in anger. I could feel the rage starting to overwhelm myself, but I didn¡¯t hold back. ¡°You send a piece of yourself here, it means you¡¯re ready to face its consequences.¡± I smirked evilly as I watched her face paled. Honestly, I barely recognized my own voice as it came out so cold, colder than I could imagine I would produce. But then, I guessed I was too angry to be able to control the emotion that leaked through my voice, revealing the intention deep inside my heart. After my men brought the old woman away, I took a deep breath and slowly my emotion got better. I ordered one of my men to keep those things safely. I thought I could still use it for teaching the sinister old woman a lesson or two. Also, I still needed to take care of the remaining Shadows behind her, especially the one that had been controlling the girl just now. I had a hunch that this Shadow was not a usual one. I was still deep in thought when I heard steps from the stairs. Lisa wasing back. She really took her time down there well. A smile was on her face, but her puffy eyes were enough to tell me that she had been bawling her eyes out during several minutes she was away. My hands clenched hard behind my back, remembering the memory the girl was showing me. The torture she gave to Lisa¡¯s younger brother was reying in my mind. The painful feeling he was experiencing was something I regretted to see, because I was sure if I were there at that time, I could easily help him, taking out the source of his pain. If I had been able to help him, Lisa wouldn¡¯t have suffered for so long. I felt guilty foringte, even though it was not my fault. At that time, I was still being hunted down by the ghosts from Amanda¡¯s order. At the same time, Lisa¡¯s brother was falling sick and died. I took a deep breath again and put on a smile on my face. ¡°You sure took your time down there. Or did you get lost in my small house?¡± I teased her. Lisaughed, sounded like a normalugh but at that time I finally understood the saying that the saddest person smiled the brightest. Her smile andugh indeed sounded cheerful, as if she had not just cried, as if we had never talked about her younger brother¡¯s death. Her smile andugh were contagious as it carried the softness of her heart, the intention to make other people¡¯s happy no matter who they were, and to hide the pain she was feeling inside for losing the people she loved. After what happened to me, I could feel myself turned cold and apathetic towards the world, but she took another way out. Instead of judging and ming others to the point of madness, she turned her grieve into love. What a strong girl! We exchanged jokes after that, no one talked about sad things again. When she returned to her house, it was already dark outside. The powerful figures were still following her after throwing me a helpless look on their faces. I could only shrugged my shoulders. Lisa had openly rejected their proposal to make her their new master. I could do nothing to persuade her. After all, I thought she had been too upied with her work and study and her sorrow, she didn¡¯t need another trouble came to her way. Don¡¯t worry, Lisa, I¡¯ll help you gaining your justice! I promised myself. Chapter 123 123 The Lava Chain (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) It¡¯s hot! It¡¯s hot! It¡¯s hot! My eyes flew opened in shock as I gasped for breath. Sweat was covering my body, drenching my clothes and my bed. Instinctively, I held out my hand and tried to find any sign of burn there. But, no, my skin was perfectly fine. There was no sign of any burns. As my skin was pale, it only looked flush. Just after I finally got rid of the knives being thrown at me, I had to face this fire that appeared out of nowhere. Shouldn¡¯t the test be over by now? Why would I dream of being burned alive then? Yes, I had figured out that the whole painful and scary dream of me being stabbed by knives was a test; Soul Endurance test, to be exact. I mean, which soul would not be shaken after experiencing that kind of dream every time? It took me some time to understand that, but when I finally grasped the way to keep my sanity and to strengthen my mentality, spiritually and naturally, after being tortured by the knives, the test started to get harsher. Every time I closed my eyes to sleep or rest, I would be waken up harshly by knives piercing through my body. ..... It would be strange if one didn¡¯t go insane after having the same and more intense dream every night. But, somehow I got through it. Myst dream about knives was reminding me of an anime where the red hair woman summoned countless of swords in the sky. It happened to me, only the swords changed into knives or daggers in various shapes and sizes. The number of it made me broke in cold sweat. I even had a thought that I would die for real from the pain after being pierced like a hedgehog. I didn¡¯t know if I could protect myself from them like my previous dreams before. The number of knives and daggers was obviously ten times the amount of the knives in the previous dream! Fortunately, I managed to stay alive somehow. I woke up with cold sweat soaking me wet and drenching my bed and I had a hard time to exin to Dr. Gwen about what had happened. After that, I slept dreamless night. It was almost for a week and I thought I had passed the test. But, who would have thought I would dream about fire? As I thought so, my ankles were suddenly feeling like it was scalded by hot iron. I hissed in pain and instinctively moved my feet closer to look at my ankles. Thankfully after following some physiology therapy, I could finally move my feet even though it was a bit hard for me to walk fast. But, ording Dr. Gwen and the others, my recovery was considered fast, faster than any people they knew. They even called me inhuman with my ability to recover fast. Actually, I also had no idea why I could recover fast. I stared at my ankles with wide eyes. When the loli ghost came that day, she mentioned about chains on my feet. After I started my therapy, I had seen it. It did look as ck as coal with red streaks on it, like a flow ofva from the eruption of a volcano. But, it looked transparent at that time. Now, it was starting to materialize. Because of that, I started to feel the scalding hot around my ankles. Redness started to form around my ankles and the chains were starting to emitva like appearance with fire in some spots. What the hell?! Whoever put this chain on me must be some crazy psycho! My first reaction was angry, of course. At first, I thought as long as the chain didn¡¯t harm me, I would let it be. I didn¡¯t know where it was from, after all. But, after feeling the scalding sensation which getting harsher and harsher, I had the urge to beat the person who put the chain on me. I tried to pull the chain but my hands got scalded by the heat, too. Being in pain made me unable to think calmly. Only after seeing the chains turned as red as fire, I gritted my teeth and pulled the chains so hard. I grunted and growled inside as I used all of my energy I could muster to pull whoever and whatever on the other end of the chain. The heat burned my palms but I held the chain tighter, unwilling to let go. What kind of test was this? Didn¡¯t this suppose to be testing my soul? Since when did the test change? Honestly speaking, using only this kind of brute force would not give me anything other than worsened my scalding skins. But, it must be because Heaven was being good to me that something happened. Only, instead of pulling anything from the other side of the chain, I ended up being pulled by some stronger force from the other side. I was pulled down from the bed harshly even before I managed to let go my hands from the chains. My eyes widened as I fell then shut tight as I was expecting the pain of hitting the hard floor. But, instead of hitting the tiles of the hard and cold floor, it seemed like I fell in the water. Chapter 124 124 The Lava Chain (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) No, it was not water. It was not cold and wet. It was like I was sucked into warm sand, except I didn¡¯t feel suffocated at all. I was startled for a while but as I tried to breath, I couldn¡¯t find it difficult. Instead, it was as if I was not drowned but only being enveloped by darkness. If only I couldn¡¯t feel the sinking motion, I would have believed that I was not drowned. Even if I tried to open my eyes, I couldn¡¯t see anything. I didn¡¯t know where I was and the warm feeling started to increase by a notch. Strangely, I didn¡¯t feel panic. The scalding feeling in my hands and around my ankles was gone as if it had never been there. The warmth was stillfortable for me, so I didn¡¯t really pay attention to it. Instead, I chose to clear my head and started to think of another thing. When would I stop sinking? Was I sinking faster? Then, an idea popped in my mind. At this rate, I might end up at the core of the earth. Who knows? I chuckled at that thought. What was I thinking? Instead of ended up at the core of the earth, there was huge possibility that I would end up dead. ..... Then, didn¡¯t it mean I wouldn¡¯t meet Jane again? That thought woke me up. No! I wouldn¡¯t let that happen. Calm down! Think something! Think something! I frowned and tried to materialize the same shield I used in my dream and wrapped it around my body. Cool sensation enveloped my body, just in time when the temperature started to be hot instead of warm. You must have thought why I didn¡¯t find it strange or panic about it. Please, I had died once. I knew the feeling of being separated from my body. Nothing could make me scared right now, at least I didn¡¯t lose any of my memory now. I knew perfectly what happened to me right now, every feel and every sense. ¡°This human is so calm.¡± A thunderous voice was heard and my eyebrows twitched. Where did the voicee from? ¡°As expected from the one who was tied to the death volcano.¡± A chuckle followed the voice, sounded like a voice of a kid. My eyes narrowed at that statement. Tied to the death volcano? Who? Me? He meant, this chain? If what he said was true, then it exined why my chain was so hot likeva. But, why? Why did I got chained? ¡°Huh? My subordinate said that the death volcano is showing signs of eruption. We better leave and inform the others.¡± The childish voice said. ¡°Ah, is that why this human is here?¡± Again, a chuckle was heard. ¡°Well, he is just another sacrifice for the volcano. Let¡¯s go!¡± Wait, sacrifice?! What did I do to deserve this kind of cruel destiny? Why should I be a sacrifice? What is this death volcano anyway? As I thought that I would be a sacrifice to an unknown volcano, I struggled harder to get free from the chain around my feet. I tugged harder but it didn¡¯t move a bit. I gritted my teeth as loud grunt escaped my lips. I had deep frown on my face and I was sure my face was contorted into something so unsightly, but at this moment I really didn¡¯t care about it. I need to take off this chain! Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn¡¯t take it off. My frustration grew as the temperature around me seemed to increase but my body wouldn¡¯t stop moving. Slowly I started to see other than ck; it was red, twinkling and creeping in the dark. My eyes and lips twitched. It wasn¡¯t hard to guess what it was. It was the flow ofva. I guessed I must have been so close to the mountain. I straightened my back as I finally guessed where I wouldnd. I stood tall and upright with eyes ring at the red streaks below me. As the redva got closer and closer, the chain around my feet red up, burning my skin. However, I didn¡¯t shout, scream, or in panic. I hissed a bit, but that¡¯s all. I watched as the chain around my feet glow with red lights and then the whole chain lit up. Two lines of red streaks prated the darkness in a speed I couldn¡¯t exin. ng, ng! The red lines finally stopped moving, but there was something with the sound at the end. ng, ng? What was that? My body moved even faster and in a second I had already seen the texture of the ground that would wee me. Just seeing the pitch ck ground ahead of me made me smile bitterly. Didn¡¯t it look so hard? I was sure my bones would be broken to pieces if I were to fall on that surface. No, I don¡¯t want that! The red chains around my ankle glow even redder, but the heat was still the same. Even though smokes started rising from it, it didn¡¯t feel hot at all. The scalding feeling I had before was not there. The pain came and disappeared like a headache. It hurt like hell when it was there, but felt nothing when it disappeared. Somehow I felt I was being yed by mysterious force. Then I saw two red dots on the ck surface, getting bigger and closer. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was where the chains were tied to. I didn¡¯t know what came onto me, but when I pulled the chains as I yelled loudly, I heard a loud cracking sound. I didn¡¯t bother to find the source of the cracks as I focused solely on the chains in my hands, so I missed the way the ck ground was cracking. ¡°DEATH MOUNTAIN OR WHATEVER, I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!¡± I screamed loudly as I pulled the chains even harder. A second after I said that, I heard a loud rumbling sound as heatwave hit me hard. I was pushed back several meters, but I could feel the chains around my ankle moved wildly following the wave. I was free! I opened my eyes in a slit while my arms crossed in front of my face, protecting it from the heatwave. The chains were indeed had been pulled out from the ground, but what surprised me was the boiling hot redva under my feet. What the... Chapter 125 125 Death Volcano (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) During my whole life, I rarely cursed. Even though I am a man and I was surrounded by tough guys and they swore and cursed a lot, I was raised by my mother to mind every words I would say. Speak nicely, she said. A man of manner was much better than a man of matter. The way you spoke and chose your words represented your true self. Therefore, even though I was not really good at talking good, I was sure with my ability not to curse and swore. But, at this particr moment, I had a strong urge to curse loudly. Not only because of theva under my feet, but also because I noticed a strange phenomenon from up above it. The biggest hole with sizzlingva was in a shape of grinning devil. There were two small holes above it, right at the ce of eyes. I didn¡¯t want to think that it was a very big creature under my feet, waiting for me to enter its mouth, but somehow I got the feeling that it was really a gigantic creature. What the hell was that?! To my surprised, the big grinning hole moved a bit and a loud roar was heard, along with the hot wind came upon me. Sparks of fire andva hit me, but thanks to my shield, I was left unscathed. Still, my shield couldn¡¯t really protect me from the heat. But, that¡¯s not the point! ..... The hole was really a mouth! As if to confirm that what I¡¯ve been thinking of was right, the two little holes were blinking twice. Then, the same roar was heard again. ¡°Come to me, human! Come to me!¡± A loud and hoarse voice reverberating around me. ¡°Let me taste your flesh! Let me drink your blood!¡± I sneered. ¡°Not even in your dream.¡± I hissed. I swung the chain around my right foot and aimed in towards the left eye of the unknown creature. I didn¡¯t think it would work since its body was made ofva but as the big nail on the other side of the chain entered the hole, the creature let out painful roar and the big nail was stuck in it. The mountain size creature moved wildly and because the chain was still attached to my foot, I moved along with the sway. ¡°Pain! Pain! Pain! Stupid human hurt me! Pain!¡± The creature wailed loudly. Lava started to shoot out from its mouth, creating a vision like an erupting volcano. ¡°The stupid one is YOU!¡± I roared as I threw the chain on my left foot towards its other eye. Again, it stuck inside and the creature moved even wilder. ¡°Ah! Ah! Ah! Stupid human pierced my eyes! He makes me blind!¡± The wailed got louder and louder that I had a hard time keeping my rationality in check. Gritting my teeth, I pulled the chains up again. Using my feet to control the chains was really hard. I preferred it to chain up my hands instead of my feet. As I thought so, the chains around my feet lighted up and moved onto my wrists. I looked at it wide eyes. What the hell happened? Did it really change ce like how I asked it? As much as I wanted to find out about it, I knew I couldn¡¯t waste anymore time. In a second, I would be swallowed by this strange creature. I swung the chain in my right hand towards the outer area where no holes withva were seen. The big nail on the other side of the chain stuck in the ground but the tremor from the strange creature made the chain wobbled. Still, I pulled myself towards it. As long as I didn¡¯tnd on theva, I thought I could make it alive. I breathed out a sigh of relief as my feet touched the hard ground. Finally, with the ground under my feet, I didn¡¯t think I would be scared of anything. The ground was still shaking and the wail got louder. Knowing that the tremor came from the creature, I was standing calmly as my hands rolled the chains around them. Only after I finished rolling it I noticed the chains had turned ck like a coal with a bit of heat inside. The red lines on it was barely visible, but I knew it was still there. It might sound weird, but I wasfortable with the chain being around my hands. ¡°Huh? It woke up?¡± The childish voice was heard again. I looked up, but the dense darkness made me unable to see anything, not even with the help of theva near me. My shield was still on, protecting me from the heat. ¡°Who woke up?¡± The thundering voice was back again. ¡°The volcano. But, it doesn¡¯t spewva like I thought.¡± ¡°Maybe it has consumed the human that¡¯s why it felt satisfied.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. The human is nowhere to be seen.¡± My eyes and lips twitched. Who are these people? They were so casual with the whole situation I was sure it was not the first time a human was sent here. But, I guessed all the humans from before were ended up in theva as sacrifices as they told before. ¡°But, the volcano made a strange noises and movement. What¡¯s wrong?¡± The childish voice drew nearer and I squinted my eyes to catch the figure. I was waiting, seconds ticked by and it felt like hours. It only took five seconds, but I grew nervous with each second. Five secondster, my eyes widened to the point it was almost bulged out of its socket. What kind of creature is that? Chapter 126 126 Death Volcano (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) Up there, still a bit hidden within the darkness, I vaguely caught a non-human creature floating in the air. It was red with a pair of horn on its forehead. It looked like Hell Boy, with smaller features and more sinister expressions. Its eyes were big like a big marble with a hint of mischievousness. No tail as far as I saw, but it was wearing a ck top, looking like an ancient tattered costume. It was also wearing ck pants and a piece of Batik cloth wrapped around its hips. I was not sure what kind of creature it was but I was sure it was a male. Perhaps, it was a human before? But, the strange thing was even though his clothes were tattered and looking like a rag, the Batik cloth around his hips was still intact, instead it was kind of glowing. I was sure the cloth was not something ordinary. He must have not noticed me yet. His eyes peered into the bigva hole while his fingers caressed his chin, looking deep in thought. ¡°I think this volcano sounds weird. I have never heard it like this before.¡± He said. ¡°...¡± The owner of thunderous voice didn¡¯t say anything but I could feel the air shifted slightly, a sign that something wasing. I was about to see the owner of the other voice when the creature under my feet shifted and wailed even louder. ..... ¡°Stupid human, let me eat you! Stupid human, don¡¯t hide, let me drink your blood!¡± There was anger in its voice, but I didn¡¯t feel scared at all. Instead, I could feel the irritation stinging my brain. How dare it called me stupid! ¡°Who are you calling ¡®stupid¡¯, you bloodsucker maniac?!¡± I gritted my teeth as I stomped my feet as hard as I could. Loud crack was heard and the ground under my feet sunk under my feet. Thankfully I was fast enough to swing the chain around my hand again and nailed it on the higher ground. Thanks to that loudmotion, those two unknown visitors finally noticed my presence. Their heads turned towards me in a sh, looking so creepy with those big and red-rimmed eyes. ¡°He is alive?¡± The childlike voice owner asked in disbelief. ¡°Seems like he is not any ordinary human.¡± I couldn¡¯t catch what they said after that because my ears were full of the gigantic creature¡¯s wailing. Was it just me or these two couldn¡¯t see this overly gigantic and weird creature in a shape of volcano? They looked so calm while I was nearly mad from the sound. After nting my feet on the higher ground, I looked at those two visitors who were still eyeing me with their big bulging eyes. I didn¡¯t know whether they were sneering or not, surprised or not -it was hard to decide that since their features were not really human-like, but at the same time they looked almost human to me -but I knew that they found me oddly interesting. Little did they know, I found them strangely interesting as well. I wish I could have more time to observe them, but the wailing really got into my nerves. ¡°If you won¡¯t shut up, I¡¯ll break every inch of your body.¡± I growled, threatening it. As I said so, I remembered when I broke the ground with my stomp. Did I really that powerful? Or was it this creature that was so weak? Listening to my threat, the creature went wild. The whole mountain shook violently asva shot out from every holes. Even the visitors flew back several meters to avoid the burst ofva. A long and loud roar was heard and I frowned as I heard it growl in anger. ¡°Tiny, little, puny human dares to threaten me?! I have existed for hundreds of year but no one belittled me like this! This is pure humiliation! This is humiliation!¡± ¡°I am the Death Volcano! I am the mother of all volcanoes! I control...¡± Why did it start rambling about itself? Who would want to know about your origin? So what if you¡¯re Death Volcano? So what if you¡¯re the mother of all volcanoes? So what if you are the one that controls all active volcanoes in Indonesia? What can I do about it? ¡°SHUT UP!¡± I shouted, sessfully made the Death Volcano shut its mouth. ¡°Look! I don¡¯t care who you are and what you¡¯re doing, but if you are eyeing for my life, you should know that I can do the same to you.¡± ¡°Stop making noises and throwing your temper. I¡¯m not someone with a good temper either, so don¡¯t even try to test my patience! Keep your mouth shut and go to sleep! No one needs yourva!¡± I might sound ridiculous at this time, but I couldn¡¯t care less about it. This creature needed to know that I was not someone it was easy to bully. After shouting for that long, I took a deep breath to stabilize my breath. My surroundings turned dark as the big hole spurtingva started to close, forming a thin line ofva and two smaller holes had closed up. Now that everything went serene with only the sound of my breath and the magma crackling under the ground, I could finally think about it wholly. So, the death volcano they were talking about was some kind of gigantic creature? But, judging from how those two reacted, they did see the volcano as volcano, not as a big creature that possessedva ability in it. So, where was the wrong in it? Was it with me or with them? Anyway, now that the death volcano had been quite down, I could finally look at the two visitors of mine. ¡°I see, he is not an ordinary human.¡± The childish voice started. ¡°He ordered the death volcano to shut up? I almost thought he was some crazy human. But, he did it. The death volcano stopped erupting.¡± The other one said. ¡°Do you think he canmand the volcano? It¡¯s been years since thest time I saw someonemanding it.¡± Can I? These two realized that I could hear them, right? But, what they said really picked my curiosity. Tapping my right foot on the ground lightly, I called the volcano lightly. ¡°Hey, wake up.¡± The ground shook a bit and its eyes opened up wide. Honestly, I was stunned when I felt it moving. Did I really do it? Chapter 127 127 A Man Defiles My Body! (Tom¡¯s PoV) This time, there was no voice; only a soft hum buzzing in my ears which reminded me of the start-up sound an engine or machine made. Those holes opened up again. It still felt strange to me but if I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would have told the person who told me this story to go to sleep. He must have been dreaming when he said he saw two holes filled withva as eyes of unknown gigantic creature. Unfortunately, I saw it myself. Seconds passed but there was no voice. Where was it? As those holes opened up again, I could see the both of my visitors more clearly. The owner of the other voice belonged to a tall and hefty middle-aged man wearing dark clothes with striped inner t-shirt that I was sure it was red and white stripes, but probably due to some unknown circumstances turned into brown and dark red stripes. Even if it looked tattered like his friend¡¯s clothes, I could still recognize the origin of the clothes. It was traditional costumes from Madura. I gulped. As far as I know, Madura was known for their straightforwardness. Their ancestors possessed some tricks in martial arts and mysterious power that made them formidable. Seeing one in the form of non-human, I was one thousand per cents sure this man was not any ordinary man when he was alive. Compared with the Hell-Boy looked like creature, this man looked more human. There was no horn on his head, no tail, no unusual skin color, and even though he looked ragged and poor from the way his clothes appeared, he was not dirty at all. I always thought Madurese would have thick mustache on their upper lips, but this man didn¡¯t have it. If it was not because of his clothes, I wouldn¡¯t believe that he was a Madurese. Or... was he, really? Staring at other people for too long might be rude, but not when you were engaged in a staring contest. I knew that I was not supposed to stare at them, but since they were staring at me, I thought I should return their good intention by staring at them, too. ..... Scared? Yeah, a bit. But, I had been living as a non-living human before and I had seen my fair share of ugly creatures, so even though I was feeling a bit scared, I was sure it was not because of their appearances. I was mostly scared of new ce, especially this ce where no human could live. Where am I? How can I go back to my own world? What will happen to Jane if I¡¯m trapped here? I had just returned from the waiting room to wait for my time to head towards thend of dead and I had not met my mother yet, how could I ept that I would be trapped into an unknown ce? But, being in panic was not helping at all. That was why I still put on my calm face in front of all of these bizarre things. The ground was still shaking a bit under my feet as I was in staring contest with the visitors. I even forgot that the volcano could speak. My attention was still full on those men and only when the ground shook harder that I shifted my eyes to the ground. ¡°What is happening?¡± I asked myself. ¡°The volcano is going to erupt!¡± The Hell-Boy look alike shouted as both of them flew away fast. True to his words, the volcano did erupt and the sound of loud crying prated my eardrums, making me dizzy from the sudden wailing like voice. ¡°Waa....¡± Spits of fire came out from the big hole as magma flowed from smaller holes, creating two small streams. It didn¡¯t need a genius to guess that it looked like a crying mountain; a wronged and crying volcano. I was dumbfounded as I saw it. It was not cute at all! ¡°Hey, shut up!¡± I said loudly. ¡°Waa!!!¡± Its cries got even louder and theva and fire turned even more intense. I flinched from where I was standing as fire started to rain on me. Stepping on the ground in attempt to avoid the spit of fire, I unknowingly moved closer to the source. Even with all the shaking andva, I was amazed I didn¡¯t lose my bnce. My shield had long gone by now, so my skin started to feel the heat from theva well near me. Now that I was standing near the holes, I was able to see the protruding rock near the biggest hole which was still spitting fire. My feet walked towards it, my body was being drawn to it unknowingly. As I was getting closer to it, I saw the rock was red, like coals being burned by fire, but only a half of it. It was as if there was a source of fire behind the rock. Somehow, the wail got even louder as I got nearer, but the voice changed a bit. ¡°Waaa!!!¡± It still cried, though. ¡°A man defiled my body! Waa!¡± The voice continued. I stopped in my track as I heard it talk. ¡°A human male steps on my body! Waaa!¡± The cry turned even more aggrieve. My lips twitched. Okay, that¡¯s it! It must mean ¡®me¡¯, right? I hastened my steps, but before I could get real closer to the rock, the chain around my wrists buzzed and lit up. The other end of it moved by itself and dropped to the ground. My shock didn¡¯t end just like that because it started to move towards the big rock, like a snake. As soon as it disappeared behind the rock, the wailing sound disappeared. Chapter 128 128 The Son Of Universe (Tom¡¯s PoV) I quickened my steps, afraid that I would lose whatever it was behind the rock. Whatever it was, I had a hunch that it was connected to the chain around my wrists. ¡°Hm? Why is it here?¡± A voice belonged to a young boy was heard, ovepping with the previous voice that I heard. As soon as I stepped behind the rock, I was stunned as I was greeted by the presence of a young boy around fourteen to fifteen years old, wearing only a piece of cloth over his body but his skin color was dark with red lines, really simr to the chain around my wrists. His hair was tied in a bun on his crown with a gold hairpiece holding it in ce. As he looked up, I noticed his eyes were red and there were streaks of tears on his face. He was also wearing gold bands around his wrists with intricate patterns on it. He looked like ancient kingdom¡¯s child; no, abandoned ancient kingdom¡¯s child. He was barefoot with a pair of gold ankle bands around his feet. The young boy looked at me and I watched as his eyes turned wide. He was getting flustered and starting to stammer. ¡°You, you, you...¡± His hands trembled and he took a step back, as if I was a frightening ghost in his eyes. I wish I could tease him, making him really cry must be amusing. But, I was attracted to the chain in his hands. ¡°Yo.¡± I greeted casually. Suddenly, the young boy jumped in fright and tossed the chain away before he ran away while screaming loudly. ..... ¡°Go away! Go away! Go away, you filthy human! Wuaaaa...¡± The way he rejected me made me cold. I could feel my eyes darkened. Grabbing the chain in my hands, I threw it towards to boy. ¡°Go, and capture him.¡± I said. Strangely, after I said that, the chain moved towards the young boy and quickly wrapped him in a tight bind. Huh? I snapped to my senses right after the boy shouted for being bound. The chain listened to mymand? How? I looked nkly towards the chain which was now dragging the kid. He struggled to get free from the bind, but it was useless. ¡°Traitor! How could you do this to me?! I am your old friend! I¡¯m your family! How could you do this to me after youe back?! Traitor! You even sold me to the human! How could you let him defiled me?! You traitor!¡± He yelled in rage. His feet were kicking around. Eh? This kid surely has a ¡®good¡¯ interpretation, right? My lips twitched again. ¡°Hey kid.¡± Crouching beside him, I poked him with my finger. ¡°Who defiled you? I¡¯m not interested in children or boy. I¡¯m a genuine man who loves woman. I have a girlfriend, just so you know. So, don¡¯t overthink things or I¡¯ll beat you up.¡± I red at him. As soon as I started speaking, the young boy stopped kicking and looked at me. ¡°But you poked my eyes earlier. Even though it¡¯s not my real eyes, still it hurts. Then you stepped all over me. You even rubbed my body!¡± His voice got even louder as he looked more wronged than before. Tears started to form on the corner of his eyes. If he was really the volcano in human form, I guessed I really did what he used on me. But, when did I rub him? I tried to think hard under his aggrieve re. ¡°I didn¡¯t rub your body.¡± I frowned. ¡°You dare to lie, you filthy human!¡± He shouted loudly. If only he was not bound by the chain, I was sure he would have pointed his finger at me. But, his re was enough to show how much he despised me. ¡°Then, tell me why would I rub your body?¡± I peered into his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know. M-maybe you are attracted to my wless body.¡± He stammered. ¡°That¡¯s right! You must be envious towards my wless body.¡± He looked up confidently. This kid seriously... I had the urge to smack his head. Where did his assumptione from? Who the hell taught him that? Why should I envy his body? What wless? wless ck? Huh, don¡¯t make meugh. ¡°Kid, you... who taught you that?¡± ¡°The old man told me that people would drool when they meet me, that I should protect myself not to be defiled by human. You obviously have bad intention towards me, you filthy human!¡± The young boy seemed to be getting more and more angry. The frown on my face got even deeper. Whoever this old man was, he must have messed with this young man¡¯s mind. ¡°Who are you? Why are you here?¡± Decided to ignore about the kid¡¯s absurd reason, I asked about his identity which I should have done before. Even though I knew that his identity would not be ordinary, I still needed to confirm it. ¡°Putra Semesta [1].¡± He answered arrogantly. My eyes twitched. His name was surely... something. Whoever named him must be bad at naming. Who would name someone as ¡®the son of universe¡¯? Wasn¡¯t it too overbearing? It was okay if his name was just ¡®Putra¡¯ but adding ¡®Semesta¡¯ behind it was too.... I sighed. Never mind. I would not analyze into it too much. ¡°Why are you here?¡± I repeated my question. ¡°What do you mean why I am here? I¡¯m always here. I was born here and have been living here all my life. Where else should I go to?¡± He retorted back. This child reallycked of manner. The old man of his surely didn¡¯t put much effort in educating him properly. I knew that he was not human, but at least teach him some manner! ¡°Are you the Death Volcano?¡± The child, Putra Semesta, stared at me with tight lips. His eyes quivered but he closed his lips tightly as if he was afraid he would say something. But, never mind. From his expression, I already knew the answer. Chapter 129 129 How Do I Return? (Tom¡¯s PoV) I sighed. ¡°Putra Semesta, or can I call you Putra? Surely you don¡¯t want me to call you Semesta, right?¡± Putra red at me even more viciously. ¡°Putra Semesta. Don¡¯t even think to call me just one word!¡± He spat out angrily. ¡°Well, Putra, what is this chain?¡± Obviously, I ignored his warning. Putra Semesta was just too long to say! There¡¯s no way I would tire myself with calling him Putra Semesta all the time. Like it or not, he must ept it! As I predicted, his face scrunched up in anger when he heard me calling him Putra. ¡°Don¡¯t make it short! It sounds like I¡¯m such a weak human and I don¡¯t like it! My name is Putra Semesta, I¡¯m the terrifying Death Volcano, how could you call me like I¡¯m a tiny puny weak human child?!¡± I nodded. What he said did make sense. But, this child seriously had a bad temper. How could he shout and yell as he liked? A thinyer of smoke emitted from the boy¡¯s body as the red markings on him glowed. He really was simr to the chain in this aspect. ¡°Just ept it. Calling you Putra Semesta is too long. Either I call you Putra, or Ireng, your choice.¡± I smirked. The boy stopped emitting smokes as he stared at me suspiciously. ¡°What is Ireng?¡± ..... ¡°It means ck.¡± My grin turned wider as I watched his already dark face darkened even more. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! My name is Putra Semesta!¡± He bellowed. ¡°Ireng.¡± I casually said. ¡°Putra¨C¡± ¡°Ireng.¡± ¡°Pu¨C¡± ¡°Ireng.¡± ¡°FINE!¡± He shouted and I grinned. ¡°Putra is fine.¡± He gritted his teeth and I watched his changing expressions in amusement. ¡°That¡¯s a good boy! Now tell me, what is this chain?¡± I tugged on the chain around his body. Putra snorted. ¡°It was made from the rock from the deepest volcano that was always surrounded by the hottest magma of Death Volcano. The first Guardian picked it up and turned it into chains to bind the next Guardian of Death Volcano. It is also to bind some immoral humans who only know to create trouble on mountains, to be the source of heat for Death Volcano.¡± This kid was unexpectedly obedient after I tamed him. Even though he still put on angry face, but he spilled everything I needed to know in one go. ¡°Does it have consciousness?¡± Putra shot me a look as if I was an idiot by asking an obvious question. ¡°Of course. Do you think it is an ordinary chain? How do you think it could find you?¡± I arched my left eyebrow. Can somebody exin to me how a mere rock could have consciousness? Putra must have known what I had in mind as he sneered. ¡°How could a rock have a consciousness. Of course it didn¡¯t have consciousness, you stupid human. It has consciousness only after the first Guardian made it into chains and put some enchantments in it. My first Guardian was that powerful, it was a piece of cake for him to turn an ordinary object into mystical weapon.¡± Even though he sounded like he was scolding me, I could detect a hint of proudness in his tone. ¡°So, this chain is used to bind the next Guardian and immoral humans. Which category am I in?¡± I knew I was not immoral, but I could never assume the right answer for now. Putra didn¡¯t even hide his expression when he rolled his eyes at me. He looked at me as if I was the stupidest human alive. ¡°Did I manage to eat you? No, right? Then, it only means you¡¯re my Guardian. Is it so hard for you to understand that? What a stupid human!¡± I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Since I brought it upon myself, I needed to endure it. Who told me to ask that question? ¡°How do I return, then?¡± Skipping all the questions about Guardian, I picked the one that I needed to know the most. ¡°Release me first, then I¡¯ll show you!¡± I tugged at the chain lightly. ¡°Release.¡± Just a simplemand, yet the chain did release Putra. Putra jumped and stood upright. He was still ring at me resentfully. ¡°So?¡± I tilted my head, waiting for his answer. ¡°Justmand the chain to take you back.¡± He grunted. That simple? I looked at the chain in my hand. ¡°Take me back.¡± I said. Half of my heart didn¡¯t believe, but when the chain moved, I was startled. The chain moved like a snake, rolled itself neatly and nudged on my bottom to sit on it. As I sat on it, it shot upwards and in a sh, I had already left the ground. ¡°Don¡¯te back!¡± I heard Putra shouted. If I were not too surprised with how the chain took me, I would have yelled back at him. The chain moved faster and faster, and in no time, I could see something open up and I saw the sky with golden streaks as a sign of the sun was rising. It¡¯s dawn already when I stepped my feet in the solid ground, this time it was in human world. The chain coiled itself around my wrists and disappeared. I looked around and found that I was sent outside the hospital where I was staying. ¡®Great, what should I say to them if they noticed me missing from my bed?¡¯ I grumbled. ¡®Should I say I took a walk outside because I felt so stuffy inside? I don¡¯t think that reason is valid since I still have difficulties in walking too far.¡¯ My mind created a scenario of what I should say the moment those nurses asked me. But then, something clicked inside my mind. Difficulties in walking? I stared at my bare feet. I had jumped and run on the Death Volcano, I didn¡¯t feel any difficulties. Even my bare feet looked fine without any blisters or wounds. I didn¡¯t feel any ufortable feeling like I would feel during therapy. Instead, I felt energetic and healthy. What happened? I inspected my legs. The thin legs from the night before had gone! It was as if I had never been in ama for two years. I could see the shape of my calf, feel the muscles in my thigh, it felt amazing! Not only my legs, I also noticed my arms had formed their muscles. No more weak chicken arms! My grip got even stronger. Even the color of my skin which was previously pale white like a sickly boy, turned healthy bronze color. Was it because of the Death Volcano? Chapter 130 130 Jane, I¡¯m Coming! (Tom¡¯s PoV) Some things could not be exined logically. I assumed, since I had be the Guardian of Death Volcano, it would be embarrassing to have a weak and thin guardian, right? So, it must have done something to my body. My question was... would it be permanent or for a while? Would it have a side effect? Then, another thought invaded my mind, made me forget about the side effects and everything. I could meet Jane now! A smile lit my face instantly at that thought. Without thinking any further, I ran into the hospital straight to my room and fetched up the phone that my uncle left to me. My excitement surged up as I dialed on my uncle¡¯s number. I gripped the phone hard and... crack! What the!! I was stunned and my grip loosened a bit unconsciously. I stared at the cracks on the phone in my hand. Did I do that? Am I that strong? ..... I gripped my phone even harder and the loud cracking sound traveled to my ears. Along with that, the phone in my hand was ... I couldn¡¯t describe the damage I did. My eyes widened to the point it instantly felt ufortable. I blinked to reduce the difort and stared at my hand again. The phone was really broken! How do I call Uncle Ben now? At that time, I cursed myself repeatedly for my stupidity. Somehow, in my mind, I could see Janeughing at me for my foolishness. As one of the brightest in campus, it hurt my pride for doing something so impulsive. Just because I was curious with how the phone got broken, and exerted too much force until I couldn¡¯t use the phone for real. If only I had used my brain, I would have waited until I finished calling my uncle before I tried my new power. Of course, I realized it was a side effect, or rather the bonus I got, after being the guardian of Death Volcano. But, how stupid I was to break the phone before I could even use it? I wish I could smash myself so hard! Just as I was stillmenting about it, the door was pushed open by Lily and Dr. Gwen who looked anxious and relief at the same time. ¡°You¡¯re back! Where have you been?¡± Lilly was the first one to rush towards me while Dr. Gwen was standing in front of the door and heaving a breath of relief. From the look of it, they found out that I was not here and had been looking for me. But, I came here at dawn, right? How could they check on me so early in the morning? It¡¯s not like they still needed to check on my drips at night. They didn¡¯t check on me at night again after I had started my therapy, except when I pressed the button. So, why were they here so early in the morning? How did they know I was not here? ¡°Emm, what¡¯s wrong? Were you two looking for me?¡± I forgot about the broken phone for a while as I saw their faces. ¡°Of course! Where did you go? I was so scared when I couldn¡¯t find you in your bed even after I checked on you three times!¡± Lilly was practically scolding me. She even lightly pped my arm to express her agitation. How would I know you would check on me?! ¡°Ah, I was in the toilet.¡± That excuse came out from my mouth even before I could think about it. ¡°I¡¯ve checked the toilet twice and you¡¯re not there.¡± Lily threw me a sharp gaze, as if she wanted to see how far I would lie to them. ¡°Wait!¡± I was about to reason out when Dr. Gwen stopped us. The old woman scrutinized me from top to toe while frowning. She stepped closer and grabbed my arms. I was a bit startled, yes, but I did nothing and let the doctor to feel my muscles. She was groping me, feeling me here and there and I could feel my face heated up a bit. ¡°Doc -Doctor Gwen?¡± I called out to her. The woman stopped groping me and straightened her back to look at me in my eyes. Her eyes were sharp, like she wanted to prate into my soul to find the answer she was looking for. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, not knowing what she was looking for even though I knew what she had in mind. Since I didn¡¯t know how to exin it to her, I would pretend like I knew nothing. Dr. Gwen sighed after seconds of staring contest had passed. ¡°Lie down. I need to check on your condition.¡± She said as she prepared her stethoscope. I obedientlyid down on my bed and let her do the check up. Confusion was still clear in Lily¡¯s eyes for a second, but after she watched me carefully being examined, her eyes widened in shock. ¡°You! Where are the musclesing from?!¡± She nearly shouted, but Dr. Gwen sharp gaze made her mmed her mouth up. Again, since I didn¡¯t know how to exin, I chose to be silent. I practically ignored what she asked. Thankfully, because Dr. Gwen was present in the room, Lily couldn¡¯t ask anymore and only stared at me in curiosity while assisting Dr. Gwen. After Dr. Gwen finished checking up on me, she smiled. ¡°You can call your uncle. Your current condition is perfect for you to return. There will be no problem at all.¡± Ah, right. I was about to call Uncle Ben. I took a nce at the broken phone near the bed and sighed. Sensing something was wrong, both women followed my gaze line and almost shocked when they saw the broken phone. ¡°Never mind. I¡¯ll call your uncle for you. Lily, prepare the documents for his discharge.¡± Dr. Gwen turned around while fishing out her phone from her pocket. Lily was following behind her back obediently while still throwing me confused looks from time to time. I had a hunch that Dr. Gwen knew something. She was not an ordinary doctor who only believed in science. She must know something about the other world. If not, how could I exin her easy eptance of the weird things happened to me? But, since she was not going to ask, I was not going to question her, too. For now, I needed to pack up and get ready to return home. Feeling excited, I jumped from my bed and packed up my few clothes that Uncle Ben brought to me. The image of meeting Jane after not seeing her for months overflowed my mind and I couldn¡¯t hide the stupid grin in my face. Jane, I¡¯ming! Chapter 131 131 Side Story: The Guardians of Legacy The Guardian of Legacy was a group of old men who weren¡¯t bound by any kingdoms. Just like what their name was, they were guarding the legacy left by the First Master to ensure the safety of the next masters, generals, or even the advisers of White Army. They needed to make sure that all the aspects were satisfied before the army could be utilized to the fullest. They would also make sure that the army was not used to harm innocent people and still used to bring peace and bnce to the mystic realm or astral world, or whatever human said it. But, other than those duties, these old men¡¯s main job was to record the activity regarding White Army. They had their own records about the previous masters, even from the first master, and their own special traits. They even had noted down the rules set by the first master and the prophecy about the White Army. Everything rted to the White Army, they knew it all. But, even as old souls, they tended to forget something. As the one in the army who held the closest rtionship with these old men, Siji would constantly remind them of several things regarding to the army. But, with how he was trained before he became the adviser of White Army, he was really not good in pacifying these old coots who were used with how humans, the previous masters, treated them respectfully. Instead of mingling with them, Siji chose to read the old books in the library. Yes, they had library. Where else would they store the records? That was what he would do before he got the signal that the new master had arrived. Only after he had met the new master who was still a teenager then he told the Guardian of Legacy about the exact presence of the new master. As the Guardians, they knew that a new master had appeared, but they wouldn¡¯t know the person until they met him or her. Usually, the adviser would bring the new master to meet them right away. But, this seventh adviser of them only brought a picture of the new master; it was unknown how he took the picture or by using what means. Surprisingly, the person in the picture was not that unfamiliar with them. Instead, she was someone they knew. ..... Years ago, her father was selected to be the new master of White Army, but apparently he failed. Then, out of nowhere, his kid came and imed the title as the Master without following the selection; which was okay since the selection was only to amodate those who had ability to make use of their ability to their best. They couldn¡¯t reject a new master, but they could make the new master unable to use the army until they agreed to it. That showed how much they weighed in the decision¡¯s making in the army. Obviously they had many dissatisfaction with the new master. Siji, however, only showed the picture and left. He didn¡¯t say anything aside from ¡°this is the new master of White Army¡± before he went. Therefore, after he left, those old men was engaged in a heated discussion about the new master. Jane Harris. Their dissatisfaction was one, she was a girl. They only had one female master before and the experience with the female master was obviously not good. Based on this female master, they knew the future of White Army would be bad if Jane were to be the master of White Army. A shy and indecisive master, who wanted that? The second was not only this new master was a girl, she was also still a teenager. Who didn¡¯t know that a teenager could not control their mood swing? No matter in which era, teenagers were always the hardest to control. What if she were in the mood to ughter people? She might use the army to really do that. Well, it was an exaggeration, but she would probably be more impulsive than any hot-headed man. So, no, a teen girl was obviously not the best master. The third was the girl didn¡¯te to greet them. Out of all the masters of White Army, excluding the first master, they all came and greeted the guardians, paid respects to those elderly men. But, this girl was nowhere to be found even after some time had passed. In reality, it was not even a day, but these old men really knew how to exaggerate things. Actually, not all of them had the same thinking about Jane. One or two of them didn¡¯t really care who would be the master as long as the master didn¡¯t break the bnce in the astral world. At this particr time where the discussion had heated up, the so called Jane appeared. It was all thanks to Siji! If only Jane knew Siji was the one who brought her to meet those old men, he might get a good beating from Jane. But he was so good at hiding himself as he let those old men got scolded by Jane. Shy? Did Jane look shy now? Indecisive? The one who hadmanded the army without even batting her eyelids or asking questions, Siji was sure she was far from indecisive. Those old men who were used to be respected a lot would suffer in her hands. They had forgotten their position and main goal after these years. Maybe Jane could put them into their ce. That¡¯s what he thought. After taking Jane back, Siji returned to where those old men were. As expected, there was displeasure in some of their faces. ¡°Seventh Adviser, are you taking side with her? You¡¯re not here when she came just now, are you purposely leaving her here?¡± Old One said in displeasure when Siji appeared. Rather than defending himself, Siji sat down and let those unsatisfied old men venting their anger on him. Well, he still had something to tell them so letting them venting a bit was not much for him. Another news yet toe to give them a huge shock. Jane had shocked them several times just now, but the biggest news remained hidden. ¡°She provoked the sky! You heard that?¡± Old Three said in rage. ¡°Seventh Adviser, you were with her right after she imed the army, right? Did she reallymand the army?¡± Old Four asked calmly. ¡°Do you really ept her to be the new master?¡± ¡°She did and yes, I do.¡± Siji answered calmly. ¡°Why?! You knew for sure that it is forbidden! She will die! DIE!¡± Old Three shouted. ¡°You know we don¡¯t like writing dead person in the records.¡± He frowned. ¡°Old Six, do tell me thest prophecy by the first master before he died.¡± Siji turned his head towards the only man who kept silent throughout the whole ordeal. Old Six frowned. ¡°Why do you still keep your habit of calling us with number? How many times have I told you that you should call me Eyang[1] Wira, you rascal?!¡± He red at Siji. ¡°You all know that I have a name, too, but you insist in calling me ¡®seventh adviser¡¯ or ¡®number seven¡¯. So, to save my energy, I decided to call you by number as well.¡± Siji replied nonchntly. ¡°Just give up. Old Six is much easier to say than Eyang Wira.¡± ¡°This brat!¡± Old Five wanted to smack him, but he held back. ¡°Guardians of Legacy, what is thest prophecy from the First Master?¡± Siji practically ignored their angry stares and looked at them one by one. ¡°Siji, why are you asking it to us?¡± Old Five frowned in confusion. ¡°If you forget about it, then let me recite it for you. ¡®There wille a day where a new master who is so powerful appears in front of you in a different way the others would appear. This person doesn¡¯t even need the presence of General to help him or her to control the army, tomand the army. This person¡¯s spiritual power is so vast like the ocean that it can amodate the whole army. Just so you know, when this person appears, it means a big urrence will happen in the near time. The universe will not let any abnormality goes unnoticed and unsolved. It means something has disrupted the bnce of the world. Support this person as much as you can. The bnce must be restored.¡¯ Tell me if I¡¯m wrong.¡± Siji ended his long speech. The six old men who were surrounding the table stared at Siji as if he was just scolding them. In reality, what he told them started to enter their brain and their brain was processing it as soon as it entered. A person with vast spiritual power? Able tomand the whole army without a general? Was the First Master referring to Jane Harris? On what basis did she be the one in the prophecy? Even if it¡¯s true, should they let a teen girl to fix the bnce of the world? It sounded unbelievable, right? Not only unbelievable, but also impossible, right? ¡°She didn¡¯t show any abnormality aftermanding the army for more than 24 hours. I think she is the one the First Master was talking about.¡± Siji added as he saw them unresponsive to what he had said. It seemed like the bomb this time was too strong, didn¡¯t it? ¡°Now that I¡¯ve reminded you all about it, I need to go back. I need to prepare her to get ready to face the world. You don¡¯t want a clueless girl to fix the bnce of the world, right?¡± He smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As far as I see it, she might even surpass the First Master inmanding the army. Just wait and see.¡± Siji left the Guardians after saying so. Silent filled the room after Siji left. The old men were sitting in their seat while still pondering over what Siji had just said. They really had not thought about that possibility before. It seemed like their time as the Guardians of Legacy would end up soon. Unwillingness painted to some of the old men¡¯s face. They were used to order humans around, holding the highestmand in White Army where even the Master of the army would follow what they said. They were not ready to part with that. They forgot the purpose of their existence. As the Guardians of Legacy, they existed only to supervise and help the new masters of White Army, and it was not forever. They had time limit. The limit was when a powerful master appeared. After the crisis had passed, so did their time. That was why before they were appointed as guardians, the first master had repeatedly reminded them to be neutral, to stay away from human¡¯s greediness, and to maintain a positive aura around them. But, they forgot about it. Not all of them, but some of them forgot about it. The others who were calmer sighed. Their expression showed that they were ready for everything. But the others wore a terrified expression on their faces. No, we don¡¯t want to go back yet! Chapter 132 132 I Miss You (Jane¡¯s PoV) How many months have passed since thest time I saw him? Did he really return to his body safely? Why didn¡¯t he call me if he had awaken? Thest time Uncle Ben called me, he said that Tom called him and he was on his way to see his nephew. After that call, Uncle Ben had not called me again and it had been some times after that. What had happened? Wait, is it possible that he got amnesia soon after he woke up? It could be! Uncle Ben must be feelingplicated that he couldn¡¯t call me to tell me the news. I was stunned with that thought. Just like in those cheap soap operas in TV, when someone woke up fromma, that person would forget everything about his/her past life. Was it true? ..... Then, would I be waiting in vain? ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Siji¡¯s voice startled me, sessfully brought me back to my senses. I turned around and looked at Siji who was standing not far from me. As usual, he was wearing white traditional costumes, with ck headband around his head and ck sarung with gold embroidery around his hips. The clothes might looked in but upon closer inspection, one could see thin gold threads was decorating the fibers of the white costume. All the clothes on his body was adorned with gold threads, it showed how important his figure was. His clothes were not the only one that I took notice, apparently. Ever since I started to take a good look at those surrounding me, I noticed his hair. How could a man have such silky hair? To be honest, I was stunned when I finally noticed his beautiful hair. At first, he tied up his hair in a bun, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t notice it. But, then he tied it up in a ponytail. His hair easily reached his waist even when he tied it up. Sometimes, he would put it in half-ponytail. And he had an amazing hair! I mean, wasn¡¯t he a ghost? Why was he able to change his hair style? It was my first time seeing something like that. Wasn¡¯t any ghost stuck in theirst appearance and not capable in changing it? Of course, Sijiughed at me when I asked him. ¡°I¡¯m not a mere ghost. I¡¯m already the permanent citizen of mystic world. I have my own life there, my own house. I even followed the selection to be an adviser. The permanent citizens of mystic world live just like human. We are not wandering ghosts. When a ghost reaches a certain level, they can have a life. You might not believe it since you haven¡¯t stepped out from your house in the other dimension, but you¡¯ll be surprised if you see it one day. Haven¡¯t you ever heard about the ghost market? That¡¯s us, the citizens of mystic world.¡± He also exined to me what it was like living in the other dimension and why I couldn¡¯t step out from the house in the other dimension. My current power or ability was not enough to hide my aura as a living person in that dimension. He said when I was powerful enough, I could either hide my aura or let it out since no one in the dimension could harm me. The second option, of course, could only be applied if I was more powerful than the first master, he said. What a standard! He also exined, even though they lived like humans, but they didn¡¯t have to have the same routine like taking a bath, eating, or even sleeping. Didn¡¯t have to didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t do it. Some of them still enjoyed the feeling of taking a bath even though it didn¡¯t do much to them. Some of them even enjoyed eating human¡¯s food. But they literally didn¡¯t feel hungry or thirsty towards human¡¯s food. They mostly felt hungry for energy, either positive or negative energy, it depended on the type of ghost. Only powerful humans could walk into the other dimension in their human¡¯s body ande out safely. That was why Siji had always forbidden her to open the door that led to the other dimension. Regarding his hair, he always had that hair even before he died and turned into ghost. He said he had taken care of his hair meticulously by following his mother¡¯s recipe of silky hair ever since he was a young boy. Seeing that his appearance was the one in his thirties, I could imagine the effort he had put to take care of his hair. But really, his hair was so beautiful I couldn¡¯t bother to mask my envy look. Well, now that I looked at it again, even though I still felt envious, I was not feeling bothered anymore. For now, I needed to know what happened to Tom and Uncle Ben. I took my phone and tried to dial the number, but then I remembered... the fee for international call was so expensive! As a child who lived alone without any job, I couldn¡¯t afford the fee for international call. I could only wait for Uncle Ben to call me first. Why wouldn¡¯t Uncle Ben install Whatsapp or Line in his phone? That way I could call him without having to worry about roaming, right? I put down my phone, feeling dejected. What should I do? I missed him already. ¡°You must be thinking about that human, right?¡± Siji guessed. Seeing that I didn¡¯t respond him, he assumed that he was right. ¡°Mdy, it¡¯s best not to drag other humans in your affair. I think that man, Sanjaya, is enough to help you. I don¡¯t see any benefits of letting another human around you.¡± He said politely, back to his old self as an adviser. ¡°I¡¯ll let him decide about that, Siji. Since I¡¯ve promised him that I would wait for him, I will wait for him.¡± I calmly told him, not feeling offended a bit with what he told me. Siji didn¡¯t say anything after that and I didn¡¯t bother to look at him anymore. My mind drifted to when I was still with Tom. Every single things we did together, every arguments, and every dreams he cast upon me. With every memory we had together, if he forgot about it, what would I do? I asked myself that question. Well, as long as he was alive and healthy, it was enough for me. About us? I would let fate decide for us. If we were meant to be together, fate would bring him back to me. I was sure of that. Tom, did you know? Sanji had said that he would not give up on me. If you really forgot about me, I would go with him. It was not a threat, but... Yes, it was a threat. Talking about Sanji, I had not seen him for almost a week. I wonder if he was busy. Since he lived in a contracted room, I couldn¡¯t visit him lest giving those ¡®haters of mine¡¯ reason to attack me. Seriously, I preferred to take care ghosts and shadows instead of these haters of mine that mostly consisted of middle aged aunties who worked harder than a CCTV and journalists. ¡°Siji, could you check on Sanji, please? I haven¡¯t seen him for almost a week. I¡¯m afraid something happened to him and he didn¡¯t want me to know. Since he can¡¯t see you, you can observe him for a while before youe back and report to me.¡± Siji stared at me for a while, as if hesitating to do my order. But, before I could ask, he had bowed down and disappeared. It¡¯s strange. Why would Siji give me that look? Why did he hesitate to do my order? Usually, he would directly confront me if I gave him an order about something that may be a bitplicated or problematic, and he had never hesitated to do that. That was the first time he looked hesitated yet he still did it. What was it actually? Did he know something I didn¡¯t know? Chapter 133 133 Sanji (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Siji came back before dark. When he appeared in front of me, he was wearing his stoic expression. Even though I knew he would use this expression most of the time while we were dealing with shadows, I could sense he was deliberately trying to hide something about Sanji from me. Using this expression right after I asked you to check on Sanji? You really couldn¡¯t hide your expression well, Siji. ¡°Speak, what happened to him?¡± I asked. ¡°Do I need to visit him?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need, Mdy. He is fine.¡± Siji replied. Normally, I would find his reply as nothing went wrong. But, somehow today I felt like he was hiding something from me. Seeing that Siji didn¡¯t want to tell me about it, I could only take care of it by my own means. Since the day had just darkened, I grabbed my jacket and went to Sanji¡¯s ce after I checked on all of the windows and doors. Surely I still didn¡¯t want my house to be visited by burrs, right? Siji didn¡¯t say anything, but from the corner of my eyes, I could see the helplessness in his eyes. He didn¡¯t have a choice but to follow me. I rarely went out when the night hade. I preferred staying inside the house only because I didn¡¯t want to meet ghosts on my way. There were many of them, but since my house had many guardians, it was rare for them toe and disturb me at my house; Lisa¡¯s case was the exception. ..... However, now I had stepped out from myfort zone. I was bound to see ¡®them¡¯, like it or not. Fortunately, even though sometimes I would flinch and startle when they appeared out of nowhere with their hideous appearance, I managed to control myself not to freak out. Well, when I was handling a mission of eradicating shadows, I knew that I turned into fearless young woman. But, handling shadows and seeing ghosts were two different things. When I handled shadows, no matter how horrible and scary their appearances were, I would not feel scared. There was a goal inside my mind, which was to help people and to exterminate evil beings. But, meeting hideous ghosts meant just seeing them. I couldn¡¯t control where they could pop out from, or how they would look like. I couldn¡¯t hurt them unless they wanted to hurt me. So yeah, I didn¡¯t feel much fear, but they always startled me. I rode my father¡¯s scooter towards where Sanji lived. He lived not far from my house, so I could reach him in no time. After parking the scooter in the safe ce, as well as ignoring the look a Kuntnak gave me, I went straight ahead to Sanji¡¯s room. Knock, knock, knock! I knocked on his door lightly. After waiting for while, I couldn¡¯t hear anything from the inside, so I knocked again. This time, I barely caught the rustling sound. Not long after that, I heard raspy voice asking behind the door. ¡°Who is it?¡± I frowned. His voice sounded like he was sick. ¡°It¡¯s me. Open the door, please.¡± I answered. ¡°Jane? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ming to check on you. Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay. Just go back.¡± He answered hastily. ¡°Open up so I can see you. You don¡¯t sound you¡¯re alright.¡± I frowned. Siji and Sanji did hide something from me. ¡°Sanji, open the door!¡± I insisted. ¡°No. Just... go, please.¡± He sounded helpless and I was intrigued with his condition. What had happened to him that he didn¡¯t want me to see him? ¡°Sanji, open the door!¡± My voice hardened as bad feeling started to fill my chest. Sick or not, for Sanji not to let me see him must be something big had happened to him. ¡°Jane, please...¡± ¡°No, open the door or I¡¯ll break in!¡± I said. Breaking into his ce was an easy feat for me. Of course, for normal people, breaking into a ce was tiring, troublesome, or even impossible. But, ever since I had learned how to get into the other dimension, this kind of thing was easy for me. The other dimension, astral world, or mystic world was not bound by space and time. It only looked spacious inside, but the door could be anywhere. One step inside could be one thousand step in the human realm. Humans¡¯ walls were nothing in the eyes of ghosts and citizens of the other dimension. For me, it was only a matter of opening an invisible door and crossing the door to get inside Sanji¡¯s ce without destroying his ce. I used to hear a story about how people could travel thousands of miles in five to ten steps. I already thought that it was amazing even though I had not known the way yet. Now that I knew they were using the astral world as their door, I even thought it was even cooler. It had never crossed my mind that I could do it myself. Not that I always did it. Since I couldn¡¯t show myself in the astral world, I could only make use of my house in the astral world. More than that, I couldn¡¯t do it. I couldn¡¯t risk myself open up a door that could lead me to the street of astral world. Only after I was powerful enough than I would use this ability to the fullest. Who knows maybe I could even cross the ocean with just five steps in astral world? Then, would I be able to travel around the world? Of course, it would be illegal since I didn¡¯t have visa to some countries. Well, now I was nning to use this skill to break into Sanji¡¯s ce if he didn¡¯t open the door for me. Probably sensing the determination in my voice, the door creaked open. Sanji appeared looking all haggard. His eyes had dark circles around with face as pale as paper. The luster I usually saw in his eyes faded so much he almost looked like a drug-addict. But, I knew he didn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t touch any of those things. He even thinned out a lot in a week! What had happened to him, actually? Sanji looked away, avoiding my scrutinizing gaze. ¡°I¡¯ve told you to go away.¡± He said in a low tone. I pushed the door opened and walked inside. After closing the door behind me, I finally saw the change happened to Sanji fully. ¡°What... had happened to you?¡± I whispered as I looked at him from head to toe. Chapter 134 134 Sanji (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Sanji fidgeted a bit, looking like a nervous little girl in front of her crush. I had no memory about Sanji acting this way. No matter what happened, Sanji was a strong man. I barely remembered anything that could make him devastating. What had happened to him actually? ¡°I¡¯m fine. Sorry to make you see me in this state. I¡¯ll visit you again next week after I feel better.¡± Even the way he smiled had changed. I looked around his small room. There was no sigh he was being haunted, or shadows disturbing him. I needed to remind myself that Sanji was an excellent exorcist, how could shadows and ghosts disturb him? So, what caused his change? ¡°His spiritual flow is in disorder. That¡¯s why he looks like it.¡± I heard Siji¡¯s voice talking from my back. I frowned. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. Disorder spiritual flow? What could be the cause? As I voiced out the question, Sanji must be thinking that I was asking him, but Siji knew best that I was actually asking him. ..... Sanji sighed. ¡°Come inside.¡± He turned around and the way he walked made my heart ached. Howe he walked like an old man? Staggering and slow. I followed him and sat on the only chair in the room while Sanji took a seat on his own bed, leaning against the wall then releasing a sigh of relief. All the while, Siji kept talking to me. ¡°I guess he joined the recruitment to be General.¡± He said. He said ¡®he guess¡¯ but I was sure he had known it from the beginning. ¡°What general? What recruitment?¡± This time I used our special link to deliver my question. I didn¡¯t want Sanji to be suspicious of me. ¡°Well, seeing the effect it had on him, I guess he was recruited to join the test for General of White Army.¡± Siji answered in a low tone. See? He had known from the start that Sanji joined the recruitment, that was why he said Sanji was fine. Now everything made sense. As the Adviser of White Army, howe he didn¡¯t know who joined the test? But, why didn¡¯t I get the notice? When did the test start? As the Master of White Army, why was I clueless about it? Wasn¡¯t a General a vital part of the army? Then, howe I was not noticed about the test? Or had it always been this way since the beginning? ¡°Mdy, the test itself is not something we can do whenever we can. We only get the sign from the universe and prepare the necessities. Every candidate is brought to the test location by the will of the universe itself. Just like how you¡¯re chosen to be the Master, we also don¡¯t know who would be selected to follow the test.¡± As if knowing what I had in mind, Siji exined patiently. I still had a lot in mind about the test, but I decided to wait until I could find the way to help Sanji. ¡°Then, tell me, is there any way to fix his spiritual flow?¡± ¡°Unless he finds the peace of his mind, his spiritual flow will always be in disorder.¡± Siji replied calmly. Heh, the peace of his mind? It sounded easy but I knew dealing with mental, mind, or spiritual was never easy. ¡°What exactly did he do that he upset his spiritual flow?¡± ¡°I have no idea about it, Mdy. I only know their first test is about Soul Endurance.¡± Ah. Soul Endurance? Even if I didn¡¯t know how the real test was, I could vaguely guess the content. Of course, from the name itself it was pretty clear; Soul Endurance was to test the strength of one¡¯s soul or mentality. If someone didn¡¯t have a strong endurance under strong pressure or mental attack, I was sure that person would be a goner soon. Seeing that the person¡¯s field of expertise would be rted to ghosts and any astral beings, no wonder they would put this skill in the test. So, whatever the content was, I could imagine how hard it was for Sanji to experience it. No wonder he looked so haggard like a drug-addict when in reality he was only feeling stressed or maybe a bit mental disorder. Ah, my bad. I wasn¡¯t supposed to say he had mental disorder, right? My bad. The question was... how could he find his peace of mind? How could I tell him that he needed to find something called his peace of mind? I didn¡¯t realize I had a deep frown on my face until Sanji poked my frown with his finger. I was startled but then I saw him smiling gently, as if he was trying to ease my worry. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m fine, right? I will be fine. Don¡¯t keep frowning unless you want to have wrinkles on your face.¡± He said jokingly. I sighed. He was always like this. He didn¡¯t want to see me in trouble. Even when he was in trouble, he would make sure he didn¡¯t trouble me. Sanji was so mature, but sometimes I just wanted him to stopforting me when he was the one needed thefort the most. That¡¯s why, I decided to give it a try. I wouldn¡¯t tell him everything, but I would ask him to blindly trust me. Not a good idea, I knew, but it was not impossible. ¡°Sanji, if you don¡¯t want me to worry about you, how about you listen to me?¡± I leaned forward as I scooted closer and kept my eyes on him. ¡°I know it might sound weird, but don¡¯t ask anything, please. Just follow my instruction. I know what you¡¯ve been through and I know it can be a bit traumatized for you, but I need you to think of something positive. I know you are a strong man, you can easily walk out of your nightmare if you want to. Just remember, no matter how realistic they are, they are just nightmare. You wake up, you¡¯re fine, you¡¯re alive. You...¡± I was babbling. Even though I had said that I would give it a try, to ask him to walk out from his fear, but in the end, I was only uttering nonsense. I said what came into my mind. As long as it could lift his mood and give him a booster to change for the better, I didn¡¯t think twice. I mean, I had bad experience, too. I remembered I was scared of Kunti when she first appeared with her hideous appearance. Even though she had me looked at her to let me get used to her appearance, still there was fear lingering in my deepest heart. But, what used of fear when I couldn¡¯t save Senior Rizal? What¡¯s more scary than watching someone being tortured to death right in front of your eyes? After that time, I didn¡¯t find them overly scary and I could walk past them without any changes on my expressions. Sanji must be like that, too. He must have experienced something bad that made him unable to sleep and looked all hideous like this. I just wanted him to conquer his fear, to walk out from his scary experience and assure himself that he was fine, to take full control of his emotions. But, I was really bad with words. I tried to talk it out, but I didn¡¯t know if my wish was conveyed to him sessfully or not. I kept talking, half-scolding, half-begging him to wake up and face the world. I watched as his almost dull eyes started to regain its mischievousness. The light started to return to his eyes and his smile started to look sincere and not forced anymore. His previous pale look began to regain its color. I didn¡¯t know which part of my speech was able to touch his heart, but I was happy he was back. ¡°Jane.¡± He called out softly before I finished speaking nonsense. ¡°Huh?¡± I stopped talking and looked at him in confusion. ¡°What?¡± Before I could react, Sanji had pulled me into his embrace. ¡°Thank you.¡± He whispered. I blinked my eyes, didn¡¯t know how to react to his embrace. It was too sudden! ¡°I get it. I promise I¡¯ll get better soon. You don¡¯t have to worry so much. You¡¯re starting to be talkative when you don¡¯t know what to do. Do you know you¡¯re bad atforting people? But, even though you¡¯re bad at it, I don¡¯t mind it. You¡¯re adorable when you try tofort people which will end up in a long speech. Even though I don¡¯t mind listening to your speech, but I can¡¯t help it since you¡¯ll grow impatient and worry so much if I don¡¯t respond. So, as much as I want you to stay and talk to me, I know that you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll fight my fear. After I get better, then I¡¯ll listen to you.¡± Sanji talked so much that I had a hard time processing what he was saying while I was still in his embrace. Not helping at all. My mind was divided either to listen to what he was saying or to think about what I should do after he hugged me. In the end, I couldn¡¯t say anything, and I couldn¡¯t push him away. My mind was still in chaos, and as if hugging me was not enough... he kissed me! ¡°Thank you.¡± He whispered again. Chapter 135 135 Pervert! (Jane¡¯s PoV) The ce where hended his lips on felt undeniably hot. It rapidly spread on my whole face as I stared at him in, feeling dumbfounded with what he had done to me. Even though it was normal for a man to kiss his fiancee, even though I was betrothed to him since I was young, and he had been beside me in recent months, we had never had an intimate skin ship. The reason? One, I was in love with Tom. I had never considered myself to cheat on him even when he was still a spirit -a spirit who managed to acquire a solid body only to make love to me and took my virginity. Two, Sanji knew that I had that kind of rtionship with Tom. He never said that he would give up on me, but he also never mentioned about our betrothal. Even though he was always beside me, and sometimes joked around about what¡¯s his would be mine, he had never done something like this. Yes, he had hugged me before, but it was only when I had nightmare when I took a nap in the afternoon. Today was the second time. In my mind, he was so mature and considerate, I couldn¡¯t deny that I felt safe andfortable around him. But, he had never kissed me before! Even though it was only a kiss in my forehead, but still... I didn¡¯t know how I came out from his room, but I realized I had been standing in front of his door was when the sound of door closed traveled to my ears. But, instead of demanding exnation for what he did, I walked away with fuzzy mind. For someone who had experienced naughty things, my response was surely pathetic. I only got what... a kiss on my forehead, but I had lost my mind. What happened to me? I should have not reacted like that! Even if he kissed me on my lips, or gave me a deep romantic kiss, I shouldn¡¯t react like that! Or... should I? As soon as the thought of Sanji giving me a deep kiss on my lips entered my mind, my whole face flushed even more. I could feel the heat emanating from my face that I stopped my steps and sat on the stairs. I hid my furiously blushing face behind my arms as I tried to get rid of that image; image of Sanji and I engaged in a deep kiss. ..... You must be crazy, Jane. You must be crazy, Jane. I repeated those words over and over inside my head. I even tried to picture myself and Tom instead of Sanji, but it was unsessful. There was something inside told me that Sanji had a different charm with Tom. Since I had tasted the way Tom made love to me, how about Sanji? His mature and manly charms would surely give me different vibes and experience. OH MY GOD! What a perverted girl you are, Jane! Pervert! Up to that thought, I opened my eyes wide as I cursed myself. How could I fantasize about having sex with Sanji? What had happened to me, exactly? Since when did I be this pervert? Before I could curse myself enough, the Kuntnak from before appeared right before my eyes. Even though I was startled, I managed to hold myself, and thanks to her, I managed to divert my attention from my own dirty thought. ¡°So you can see me, indeed.¡± She sneered. Instead of long hair, this one had short hair, around her shoulders, but still in a mess. Her pair of bulging eyes looked especially scary with visible red veins. Her smile was unnaturally formed. There were red patches on her face to her neck, and I noticed a rope hanging from her neck. Her clothes? If you think she was wearing a white dress, then you¡¯re wrong. She was wearing a shirt, I was not sure with the color but I could see the flower pattern on it. She was also wearing what I thought should be a pencil skirt, but it was in tattered version. Even her flowery shirt was torn in some ces. Her legs... If she were not a ghost, I would have praised her for her beautiful legs. Unfortunately, she was dead and somehow she lost her left shoe. Was it another Cindere story ghost version? Was she going to ask me about her left shoe? Ah, where was Siji? Normally ghost wouldn¡¯t get near me with Siji around. Since this ghost could approach me, it meant Siji was not around. ¡°Young girl, you can see me, can¡¯t you?¡± The Kuntnak asked impatiently as she followed my line of sights. This ghost... I was checking around to make sure no one saw me talking to a ghost, but she blocked my sight. ring at her, I clicked my tongue in displeasure. ¡°If someone see me talking to you, and thinks that I am crazy, I¡¯ll make sure you pay for that.¡± I gritted my teeth as I spoke. After that, I walked away. The Kuntnak looked surprised but her expression turned quickly. She floated behind me, following me to where I parked my scooter. ¡°Can you help me?¡± She asked. ¡°No.¡± I replied hastily as I put on my helmet. ¡°Can you find my left shoe?¡± She appeared right on my face again, ignoring what I said, and even put on a scary appearance. Her smile turned wider and weirder with her face was close up to mine. She even said her sentence in a spooky manner that made me almost pped her. ¡°Ah, you scared me!¡± I rubbed my chest to soothe the shock I felt while closing my eyes. After inhaling and exhaling several times, I finally opened my eyes and looked straight at the ghost who was now giggling uncontrobly. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re Cindere? Why are you asking me your left shoe? Go and sing in the tree, maybe your prince will be attracted by your singing and bring you your shoes! How would I know where you shoe was?¡± I scolded her. Her weird smile disappeared as soon as I started scolding her. ¡°Young girl, you must help me to find my shoe!¡± She red at me while speaking frighteningly again. ¡°Ah, are you deaf? I said I don¡¯t want to help you! I¡¯m not even a prince so why did you ask me about your shoe?¡± I scolded her again impatiently. ¡°If you disturb me again, I¡¯m going to burn you.¡± I remembered the fire from the army. After I trained with Siji, Siji taught me how to take out some things from the other dimension to my dimension, including the fire. And that was the only thing that I was willing to practice more and harder so that I could master it in no time. And I did it! After saying that, the blue fire appeared on my palm. It didn¡¯t feel hot at all. I only felt a bit warmth emitting from the fire, but it was not hot at all. No matter how much I let out, it would not feet hot at all. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t get burn. But, at the same time, the expression on that ghost face changed. Without waiting for mymand, she retreated hastily while shaking her head. ¡°No! No! No! Don¡¯te closer!¡± She shrieked loudly and in a fright. It seemed like she knew what fire was this. I sneered. ¡°You want me to help you, right? Then, let me help you.¡± I approached the ghost, but before I could take my third step, she disappeared. ¡°Eh? Where did she go?¡± I looked around me in confusion. Of course no one would answer me. After making sure that the ghost was nowhere to be seen, I walked towards my scooter and rode it back to my house. Half way to my house, I stopped the scooter and looked ahead of me. I saw something interesting. I didn¡¯t know about it before, and I had never paid attention to it after I gained my ability, but now as I saw it again, I had a hunch that my previous assumption was correct. Not to mention, I could see it very clear now that I was the Master of White Army. Chapter 136 136 One Day, I Will Go There (Jane¡¯s PoV) Ever since I was in High School, or maybe ever since I started to observe more around me, I noticed something far away in the mountains that surrounding my hometown. After the day grew dark, in the Northern mountains, I used to wonder why there would be lights on it. It was like a bright light lit the whole parts of Northern mountains area. I thought it was where the miners were digging golds, but after an incidental investigation, the area where people dug for golds was the Eastern mountains area. So, what happened to the Northern part? Of course, I didn¡¯t say it to anyone, not even to my parents, until one day during myst year in High School, my friend was sending me home. As the night had started for around three hours, I noticed the light was getting brighter. So, I asked my friend whether she saw it or not. To my surprise, she didn¡¯t see anything. Even though the light was brighter and created a warm halo on the mountains, she didn¡¯t see anything. Luckily I was smart enough to stop asking her that question. When she asked me what I meant by that, I told her that I saw it wrong. It was nothing. Up to that point, I was curious. But, I forgot to ask about it to my father. Only when I saw it again that I remembered I did feel curious about that warm light. Now, after I had fully embraced my own ability, my eyes sparked when I saw the truth behind the light. All this time, the thing that created that warm halo of yellow light was a big wall. It looked like Great Wall of China from afar, but with bright warm light emitting from it. ..... Now I wanted to go there! But, of course I wouldn¡¯t go alone. Maybe I should wait for Sanji to get better and take him there. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out without taking my eyes off from the massive building. ¡°Here, Mdy.¡± Siji appeared beside me. ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± I nodded to the direction of the big castle. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, that is a hidden kingdom, but I¡¯m not sure about the name.¡± Siji replied. ¡°Hidden kingdom?¡± I looked at him with a frown. ¡°You mean, it¡¯s like the Hidden Vige my father visited before?¡± ¡°Not quite the same. The Hidden Vige your father visited before was built by humans and there are humans living there as well as souls like us. But, that hidden kingdom, judging from the color of light surrounding it, it was built by the citizens in my dimension. Even though there are humans inside, it will probably not more than ten.¡± Siji exined. Ah, so it was like that. ¡°Can I visit it?¡± ¡°You want to go there?¡± Siji was looking at me as if he was looking an idiot. I frowned. ¡°Why do you look at me like that? Can¡¯t I go?¡± I scolded him. ¡°You can. Why not? But, are you sure you want to go there? What if you can¡¯te back? The ce where the ones inside are the citizens of astral world is quite dangerous. When they sensed a human entering their zone, they won¡¯t attack directly. Instead, they will be extremely hospitable to you, making you feelfortable with them when in reality, they will make the time ran slower in their dimension, yet so fast in humans¡¯ realm. Have you heard about a wife was persuaded to follow one of my kind and when she came back, two weeks had passed? She only felt that she only went for two hours, but her family said that she had been missing for two weeks. That¡¯s what happened when they trapped you inside.¡± Siji exined seriously. ¡°Do I have to worry with you guys around me?¡± I asked ignorantly. ¡°They will ignore us, but not you. Among the citizens of astral world, there is nothing like how you fought with Shadows or evil forces. If I get into a fight with one of the citizens of astral world, it¡¯s no different with how humans fight with each other. However, it is different if you are the one who get into a fight with them. As two different entities, the fight will never be usual. So, honestly, we can¡¯t do much if you¡¯re not strong enough to protect yourself in our dimension. As I said before, as long as you grow powerfulter, our power as your army will increase, too. At that time, no one can mess around with you.¡± Siji stared right at me seriously. After hearing his exnation, I kept my mouth shut. Even though I acted like an ignorant little brat, I knew how serious it was regarding matters about their dimension. I was sure I didn¡¯t want to offend ¡®anyone¡¯ from their dimension. Once they were offended, their retaliation was not something a normal human could see or protect from. Offending them was like a never ending nightmare. They knew no bound, time, distance, and condition when they struck. Never mind, I was sure one day I would go there. Without saying anything, I started the scooter and continued my trip back home. Of course I could still see the majestic sight of the big wall and I still had a desire to go there, but I needed to hold that desire. I would wait until I became powerful enough to walk into astral world openly. After parking the scooter inside the garage and locked the gate, I opened the door to my house. Themps on the wall started to lit up by itself the moment I stepped into my house, lighting my way into the house. I had turned off all the mainmps before I went out, and activated these smallmps with motion censor. I rarely activated these smallmps, actually, even if they were actually pretty cool and with the rightmp to turn on and the right angle, the picture taken in this spot would turn out beautiful. The reason was pretty simple. Since the stairs to the second floor was ced in the opposite corner, it meant whenever I woulde down and the house was still pretty dark, I had a direct view to this corner. What if I saw themp was lit one by one while there was no one near it? So much for being a horror lover. Ever since my father made a small renovation and installed thesemps, I had always thought about that. Therefore, even when I regained my ability to see them, I still didn¡¯t want to use thesemps. I walked hastily towards where the switch was and nned to brighten up the whole room for several minutes. But, before my hand could reach the switch, I was stopped with a familiar voice calling out for my name. ¡°Jane.¡± Instinctively, I turned around and what caught my eyes first was... the motion censormp right in front of the door was still glowing and twomps didn¡¯t show any reactions towards motions, which meant... Something, or someone, was standing in front of the door. Who? Why couldn¡¯t I see anyone? If it was ghost, why couldn¡¯t I see it? Chapter 137 137 Another Handsome Man? (Jane¡¯s PoV) My body went full alert. Since this house was protected by my father¡¯s charm and my own men, invisible guest couldn¡¯t enter at will unless I allowed it. The fact that this ¡®guest¡¯ could enter the house and still remained invisible in my eyes made me vignt. It could be family, or strong opponent. Which one was it? ¡°Jane Harris.¡± The voice was heard again, followed by the lights of themps started to light up one by one. At the same time, I moved backwards, tried to put some distance with whatever wasing for me. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I asked. I tried to contact Siji and the men, but somehow no one responded my call. What happened? ¡°There¡¯s no need to spent your energy. They won¡¯te.¡± The voice said and it was as if I could see it smirked. ¡°Your connection with them is not strong enough yet. It¡¯s easy for me to block it out.¡± I frowned. It sounded strong. I was sure it was not Shadow. It must be another kind of entity that I didn¡¯t know existed. ..... But, what was it? ck mist appeared out of nowhere and gathered in the ce where the voice came. As it condensed and formed a figure, my eyes widened at the sight of it. What was it? I had never seen this figure before. I was not sure with the exact physical appearance of this figure, but I could recognize a pair of bull horns on its head, a big and burly body, and a tail. His pair of red ring eyes were ring at me and a mouth which was grinning devilishly at me. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. I was not afraid, but I was worried that I had done something terrible to offend this creature. ¡°I heard a new master hase. So, I want to check it out. Your lousy charms can¡¯t hide your presence and block me, by the way. So, there¡¯s no need to be that shock.¡± It stopped around a meter away from me. Ah, so I didn¡¯t offend it. It also answered my questions regarding how it could get it which made me realized that it was strong. But, it talked about ¡®new master¡¯, it probably didn¡¯t mean me, right? As I was still pondering over the intention of this creatureing onto me, I saw it looked at me from head to toes and otherwise. I felt like I was being scrutinized over my quality as the new master based on my physical appearance and it made me unhappy. ¡°Excuse me, who are you?¡± I repeated my question as anger started to fill my chest. I had not heard the answer but the ck mist suddenly turned into fire, sessfully made me shocked. I had not had time to shout ¡®Fire¡¯ when I noticed the fire in front of me starting to disappear and the ce where the fire stopped burning was reced with a pair of... foot? Complete with a pair of shiny shoes. What the?! I followed the ce where the fire stopped burning and was stunned when a man appeared in front of me. Was he a magician? Even though that thought crossed my mind for a second, I knew for sure he was not a magician. No magician could make a realistic creepy ck mist with terrifying aura without any spooky background music supporting him. It could only mean one thing; the creature in front of me was not a ghost, soul, or even shadow. ¡°This is the appearance that most young women like, right?¡± Again, he ignored my question as he flicked his arms and straightened the fold of his sleeve. If anyone asked me, was Tom handsome? Yes, he was handsome. A refreshing and bad-boy looked kind of handsome. Was Sanji handsome? Yes, he was handsome. A gentle yet mischievous mature kind of handsome. Then, was Siji handsome? Yes, he was handsome. Siji had the type of indigenous handsome face, a pure Indonesian face with slightly and healthy tan skin, sharp eyebrows, warm gaze, gentle features, and totally Indonesia. I had not realized the men around me were handsome before, butpared with this man in front of me, I couldn¡¯t say anything. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was like the living version of every tall, mature, and devilishly and ridiculously handsome man from anime. Had you ever watched of anime entitled ck Butler, you must have heard about the devil butler, Sebastian. This man expression was like Sebastian¡¯s expression whenever Sebastian was in devil mode. His eyes were beautiful, deep ck (and it was my first time seeing the real ck eyes) with dangerous glint in them. He slightly squinted his eyes, making it looked even more dangerous to me. He was smiling but his smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes. His pair of thick and sharp eyebrows were so beautiful I almost asked where he had done his eyebrows. He had high nose bridge with the right size of nose on his face. His thin lips looked slightly rosy and not to mention his defined jaws. Where could I meet a perfect specimen like this one? Okay, I was distracted. His appearance could really kill someone. If he wanted to kill me, I would have died the moment I was mesmerized by his eyes. I only described about his face, but it didn¡¯t mean he had poor body figure. I couldn¡¯t describe in detail lest I would drool as I looked at this uninvited guest, but even being covered by clothes, I could see his sturdy body. The ck pants and ck shirt on him on made him looked lean and... delicious. Oh my God, why are there many handsome males around me? ¡°Done stripping me with your eyes, little girl?¡± He smirked sexily, but it didn¡¯t reduce his dangerous vibe. I coughed lightly as I could feel my cheeks heated up. What happened to me exactly? ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°An old enemy of the first master.¡± He said and I stiffened up. His expression showed that he didn¡¯t lie. But, before I could utter a word, he disappeared. In a sh, I felt my body was lifted up in the air until my legs were kicking in panic. My throat was seized as a big hand took hold of it. I choked with the need of air, my hands grabbed his hands in attempt to make him put me down, but he was too strong. I could see the mockery inside his eyes as his killing intent surrounded me. ¡°You¡¯re too weak.¡± He whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t bother calling your army. If you as their master couldn¡¯t defeat me, they would be even weaker.¡± He sneered. ¡°Little girl, don¡¯t y around with your power if you¡¯re not going to use it for good. The first master of the army was much more annoying than you, but he was strong. Even I was not his match. Of course, as the master of the strongest army, what could I expect? I came to check on how strong the new master is, too bad... you can¡¯t even dodge my advancement.¡± He said in a low tone, sounded like a dangerous whisper to me. ¡°A new master like you should just die!¡± He shouted as he flung my body to the side. I felt my body was thrown like a broken kite. My back hit the back of the couch andrge amount of air was being pushed out of my chest. The hit was hard enough to make me feel the stinging pain on my back. For a while, my mind went dizzy and I felt dumbfounded with what had happened to me. Before I could gather my strength, I felt my body was being lifted in the air again. My scream stopped in my throat as he choked me again with his big hand. At that time, I thought... would I die here? I opened my eyes in a slit, to see his expression but he still wore the same expression on his face; dangerous and indifferent, as if crushing me was only like ying with a toy. ¡°Is it painful? I don¡¯t think so.¡± He sneered again. And once again, I was thrown to the side. I rolled my body and covered the back of my head with my hands as I knew where I was headed to. I was supposed to hit another chair, but this time it was not a couch. It was a wooden chair and I could imagine the pain I would feel. But, instead of hitting a hard chair, I hit a hard chest and a grunt filled my ear. Chapter 138 138 He Has No Name (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Are you okay?¡± Siji¡¯s voice had me cracked open my eyes. He was the one that cushioning my fall. He must have solidified his body in purpose to save me. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I inhaled sharply as the pain from before stung my body. Putting my body on the floor, Siji stood up and blocked me from the man¡¯s view. Without seeing it, I knew that his expression hardened as his body went full alert. ¡°You again.¡± He hissed. I propped myself up to see the man was smirking with eyes full of madness. ¡°Siji, Siji, Siji. We meet again.¡± His grinned turned even wider and creepier. His handsome face contorted into madness. ¡°Get lost!¡± Siji barked loudly. As he said so, the men from the army appeared and filled my house, ready to attack. ¡°You know I¡¯lle back.¡± The man said while licking his lips. His tongue looked inhuman. In that particr moment, I felt like I saw a... devil. ..... ¡°Your current Master is so weak. I¡¯ll y with her to her death. Hahahahaha...¡± The way heughed was like a maniac, it sent shivers down my spine. And I could hear the seriousness in his voice, that he would y with me until I died. A powerful figure like him said that he wanted to kill me... tell me, how should I react? My mind was screaming at me, that there was no way I could protect myself if he wanted me to die. My whole body trembled slightly as fear consumed me. What should I do? Why did this maniac want to kill me? ¡°Scram!¡± Siji shouted as his fingers let out blue fire which was being shot towards the man. At the same time, the men rushed to attack him in all directions. Technically, there was no way he could dodge. Even shadows couldn¡¯t escape from this full siege mode. But, he was gone. The men scrambled to check on every corners of the house, to find him. Meanwhile, I was stunned in ce, my eyes was nkly staring at empty space. ¡°Mdy, are you okay?¡± Siji¡¯s voice pulled me back to my senses as my eyes met his worried gaze. ¡°I think I am.¡± I answered softly. Siji tugged me slightly towards the chair and let me sit down. He was still in his solid form, and thinking about it now, I am amazed with how much power he has inside to be able to maintain his solid form for a long time. He could even maintain it for a week, if he wanted it. Of course,ter I found out why. ¡°Drink first.¡± Out of nowhere he put a ss of water in front of me. I inhaled softly and reached out to the ss. I noticed my hands were still trembling, but after gulping down the water, I could feel my nerves rxed and the trembling lessened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should have known he woulde and find you.¡± Siji started. I put the ss down on the table and looked at him. He had returned to his soul form and he had a guilty expression in his face. ¡°Who is he?¡± I still had not had the answer, damn that man! ¡°Is he a soul?¡± Siji shooked his head. ¡°He is not a soul. He was not originally a human. We don¡¯t know his name. He has no name. Don¡¯t be tricked by his appearance, he can change his appearance to anything, anyone, any age. He is what we call... the devil; the negative being that has been living in this Earth far before the humans. We can¡¯t kill him. We can only lock him up for a while. It¡¯s useless to lock him up, anyway, since his kind is more than us. But, this one is particrly interested in White Army. It has been bothering us ever since the First Master was alive. But, there were times he didn¡¯t appear at all. Up until now, we still don¡¯t know his motive.¡± I frowned. ¡°Did he kill the previous masters? The ones that he chose to y with, until their deaths, as he said to me.¡± Siji¡¯s frown got even deeper. I noticed he clenched his fist hard. It must have been true, right? ¡°Did anyone ever escape from him?¡± I gritted my teeth. ¡°Only the First Master. Actually, he was no match for the First Master. They fought a lot, but First Master would always win. Butter on, every time the Master of White Army that he disturbed passed away, we would always see him in the location, standing with his back towards us. Before we could react, he would disappear. Even though the cause of their deaths were not rted to him directly, as such he didn¡¯t kill them directly, we were sure that he was somehow involved in it. Not to mention, every time the master died, none of us in the army noticed it. Not until we felt the presence of our master had gone. And, trust me, we all feel it.¡± Siji looked at me in the eyes, seriously. So, he was the First Master¡¯s enemy? Was he taking his revenge upon us? But, why didn¡¯t he appear in front of all the Masters? Why was it only some of us? I smelled something suspicious about this man... devil, whatever. I had a feeling that there was something this man was hiding from us. ¡°I had tried to contact you the moment he appeared, actually. But, I didn¡¯t know why I couldn¡¯t reach you at all. I bet it must be because he had blocked the link between me and you. He has that power, which is why you were always one step behind before the demise of the previous masters. But, then you appeared. How?¡± ¡°It makes sense. We really have no idea all this time, because the previous master never told us about this blocking thing, honestly. Now that you mention it, I think it does make sense. I personally came because I felt strange you hadn¡¯t called me upon arriving at your home. I thought you must have many questions regarding Sanjaya and the recruitment, but you had not called me. That¡¯s why I took the initiative toe and find out what you¡¯re doing. The moment I appeared, however, I saw him throwing you around like a rug sack.¡± I winched as he reminded me of that. My back was tingling with pain again, there must be some bruises there. ¡°You were so bad-asses when dealing with shadows, but you became a weak chicken in front of him. This is why you should start learning self-defense.¡± Siji shook his head. He intentionally put his helpless expression to mock me, I knew it. But he was right. I needed to take some self-defense lesson. Taking self-defense lesson was not my priority since I thought I only dealt with shadows and ghosts. Therefore, when Siji suggested it to me, I always rejected his idea. Now, I finally realized the importance of learning it. ¡°Then, should I learn karate? taekwondo?¡± I asked. Hearing what I say, a victorious grin appeared on Siji¡¯s face. But, he shook his head again. ¡°For someone who dealt with shadows and ghosts like you, ordinary martial arts are not sufficient in enhancing yourbat power. You need to learn the special martial arts, designed especially by the First Master and our experts, to use both of your physical and spiritual power to defend and attack. If you¡¯re able to master it, I believe when the deviles and picks a fight with you, you won¡¯t be thrown aside like what he did today.¡± ¡°Special martial arts?¡± I looked at him in suspicion. ¡°Or, do you want to back out now? Well, as you have said before, the devil has the ability to block your connection with us. When the timees that he attacks you, I won¡¯t be sure that you can escape it like today.¡± Siji¡¯s expression hardened again. I could feel his emotion, though. As much as he despised himself for threatening me with what had happened, he was the least person, or soul, that would want to see me die in the hands of the devil. How many masters had died during his service as their adviser? I could feel the agony he felt whenever he failed to protect the fragile life of human being he called as his master. ¡°When will we start?¡± I asked, and a smile bloomed from his face again. ¡°As soon as the bruises on your back heal enough.¡± Siji said. Ah, right. My bruises. After dismissing the army who came back with nothing, I went to my bedroom. This time, Siji himself put an enchantment in my room. He said it was not enough to block that dark creature, but it was enough to alert him so that he could return to my side fast enough. That night, despite the pain in my back, I could sleep well. The fear was forgotten as soon as I felt the devil had some ulterior motive towards me. As I forced myself to stop thinking too much, I finally fell in the deep slumber. But, I had a strange dream. In that dream, I met with some people... Chapter 139 139 Side Story: The Seventh Adviser (1) It was around 7xx, in unnamed small vige, a young man died before he had the chance to explore the world. He was known as the smartest young man in the vige, the brightest one among the youths in his age, and the one who had the highest possibility to be able to serve the king. However, that night he drew hisst breath with feeling sadness and disappointed. He watched as his family cried before his rigid body. His watched their expressions one by one, and found out his own brother was sneering at him; not at his rigid body, but at him. ¡°Too bad, lil bro¡± He mouthed that words without showing an ounce of sadness in his face. Instead, only a victorious expression was shown in his face. But of course, he knew his brother was such a good actor. Right after he said that, his brother put on a sad expression as he tried to appease his mother. He even shed some tears. ¡°Mother, let lil brother have some peace. Let¡¯s go. We need to prepare a proper burial to him.¡± The older brother, Arya Wijaya, softly asked his mother. He took a side nce to his little brother¡¯s soul which was still floating near them and sneered a bit. The little brother, Aditya Dananjaya, clenched his fist. Rather than feeling angry, he was feeling sad as he knew the one who caused his death was none other than his own older brother, Arya. Danan knew the reason behind his brother¡¯s action, though. By the end of the week, both of them would travel to the main city to join the test to enter the kingdom. He had never thought that it would be the reason, but apparently it was. Since he was -said- to be brighter and smarter, his chance to get into the kingdom was higher than his older brother. Therefore, his older brother decided to eliminate him to ensure his chance to get into the kingdom. Of course, Arya could do that because he believed he could get into the kingdom, only if his younger brother didn¡¯t stand in his way. ..... Both siblings were bright and smart, but his older brother was always second to his own younger brother. His pride was pricked and slowly he developed jealousy and hatred towards his own brother. He had wanted to kill his younger brother on their way to the main city, but he was afraid he couldn¡¯t find the best reason and alibi for himself when their dearest mother asked about his brother. So, using a ¡®help¡¯ from his ¡®friend¡¯ he poisoned his own brother. Danan couldn¡¯t see them any longer as he felt something was pulling him hard. His soul was sucked so fast, by the time he came back to his sense, he found himself in an unknown forest. Where was he? How did he end up here? He had those questions in his head, but he couldn¡¯t find the answer. Just as he was thinking about it, he was startled by a voice greeting his. ¡°Oh my, oh my, oh my. Look who is it. Young man, are you lost?¡± A kind voice belong to a woman was heard. Danan turned around, only to see a woman around in her forties was talking to him. For a moment, he was stunned. Wasn¡¯t he dead? This woman was still a human, right? Then, why? ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re dead already? What a pity!¡± The woman put on a sad expression as she studied him further. All the while, Danan had not uttered a word to her. ¡°Do you want toe with me? I know a ce where you can stay.¡± She smiled gently. If he were still a human, Danan was sure this woman had bad intention to him. But, now that he was a ghost, what bad thing could happen to him? So, he followed the woman. They walked further into the forest while talking. No, to be exact, the woman was talking and Danan was listening. She was a talkative middle-aged woman, he thought. But, he still didn¡¯t say much; only answering yes or no to her questions. They had walked for a bit while and Danan was thinking where they were heading to. It was not like he could feel tired even after walking that far, but it was just bothering his mind. He didn¡¯t know the ce, even though he was a ghost, he was still feeling uneasy with the super long walking. ¡°Excuse me, but where are we?¡± For the first time during their conversation, he finally asked a question. ¡°Oh, you came here but you don¡¯t know where it is?¡± The woman looked at him in surprised. ¡°This is the inner region of Sacred Forest. You must have heard of it before, right?¡± She said casually while smiling. But, her answer made him stunned. Who didn¡¯t know about Sacred Forest? As far as he knew, this forest was forbidden for human, especially the inner region. Kings or vige chiefs could only go to the outer region to make some offerings. No one would dare to enter the inner region. But, here he was in the inner region with a woman. A human, on top of that! What happened with the legend that humans were not allowed to enter the forest? ¡°Seeing your reaction, you must have heard of it before. Don¡¯t worry, as long as you¡¯re with me, you¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯re almost there, just hang on for a bit.¡± She was still smiling as she kept leading the way. Danan didn¡¯t ask anymore questions, even though he had many inside his mind, and kept following the woman. They walked deeper into the forest, and just as Danan was about to ask again, he caught sight of something that made him dumbfounded. Unconsciously, he stopped walking. His eyes were scanning through the sight in front of him in surprise. What on earth happened here? Where did this beautiful vige appear out of nowhere? Laid in front of him was thendscape view of a vige. Surrounded by tall trees, with sufficient amount of sunlight, neat rows of wooden houses, this ce was just like any other prosperous vige. It was just one thing; it was hidden in the inner region of Sacred Forest. However, that was not the only thing that attracted him. As where he was standing at was the higher ground than the vige itself, he had a better view about the vige. From where he was standing, he could see the west part of the vige was not upied by human. Instead ofmon type of house, there were only three big buildings and two multipurpose buildings without walls. From these five buildings, Danan could see some beings like him were walking around. No, not only in those buildings, but also in the whole vige. It was just... the west part of the vige was reserved only for them. What was this ce? ¡°Wee to our vige!¡± The woman waited until Danan had fully absorbed about his surrounding before she snapped him out to reality. ¡°This is the Sacred Region, the core of Sacred Forest. As you can see, we live side by side with your kind. The west wing is specially built for your kind and there is a portal there where it can lead to your dimension. But, as a new soul, you must not enter that dimension for now. You¡¯ll be preyed upon by bad guys.¡± Danan blinked his eyes and for the first time, he really took a good look upon the woman in front of him. A suspicion poked his heart, as he found this woman¡¯s identity was mostly not ordinary one. ¡°Sacred Region, fine, I get it. But, who are you?¡± He asked. ¡°Ah, I haven¡¯t introduce myself yet, right? My bad.¡± The woman straightened her back and with a flick of her hand, her aura changed. From a in woman, she looked noble and graceful. Her in clothes couldn¡¯t hide her aura, as she stood there with the majestic feeling of a King mixed with the graciousness of a Queen and the free spirit of an unrestrained human, creating a somehow bnced and powerful impression of herself, totally different with her previous self. ¡°My name is Dewi Sasmaya. I¡¯m the Chief of Sacred Region.¡± She introduced herself, which only surprised Danan more. How many surprises woulde to his way? He thought. ¡°Aditya Dananjaya, for not bearing grudge over the misfortune fallen upon you that caused your death, for being able to be clear headed even after your life was taken from you, I personally wee you to Sacred Region and be the part of Sacred Region¡¯s family member.¡± She said with a graceful smile on her face. Danan was stunned. All this time, this woman actually knew about him. To be able to know about him and the reason he died, just how powerful was she actually? Chapter 140 140 Side Story: The Seventh Adviser (2) Danan was about to ask how she knew him, but before he could open his mouth, several men ran up to them in a hurry. ¡°Chief, we were looking for you!¡± The man in the front looked flustered as he approached them. The woman, Dewi Sasmaya, waited until the men got closer before she asked them unhurriedly. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a problem in the west wing. Sir Guntur is going berserk again!¡± The man said hastily in a panic. A frown appeared on the Chief¡¯s face. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Exin to me about the situation on our way there.¡± She said as she started walking. But, she had just taken three steps when she stopped and looked at Danan¡¯s direction. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you moving?¡± Danan blinked his eyes, but again, he didn¡¯t say anything and moved to follow their steps. He observed the behavior of the men in front of him. They didn¡¯t ask her who he was, and let him follow them. It could only mean one thing. It was not the first time and perhaps not the second or third time, for their Chief to return to the vige with a ghost or soul tailing behind her. Danan frowned. Was it really okay for him to follow her? They walked towards the west wing hurriedly, but instead looking like a bunch of messy people, they looked somehow overbearing. Even though Danan could feel their hasty paces, he could not ignore the fact that their steps were firm and strong, as if it was perfectlymon for them to walk that way. No one was left behind as they marched in a perfect harmony. ..... Except Danan who struggled not to be left behind too far. It was a good thing he was a ghost already since he didn¡¯t need to catch for breath. In no time, they arrived at the gate of west wing. As soon as he stepped inside, Danan felt a pressure he had never felt during his life. It was as if he was walking in a thick concentrate of air, it felt stuffy and overbearing. The feeling was almost the same when he climbed a mountain with his brother when they were younger. As they got closer to the peak, he could feel the pressure in his lungs, but it felt refreshing when they stopped. This pressure, however, was different. He didn¡¯t feel better even after he stopped walking and rearranged himself. It was strange, he didn¡¯t need to breath, so why did he feel stuffy inside? The pressure made him feel a bit of reverence, but for whom, he didn¡¯t know. It was also a kind of pressure where he entered the territory of someone powerful. He couldn¡¯t help but be a good boy and behave himself. After deciding that he would be fine, he continued his steps before he lost sight of the Chief and the men. They crossed the building and headed towards the backyard. A thundering shout made Danan stopped in his track while covering his poor ears. ¡°SCRAM, YOU IMBECILES! HOW DARE YOU STILL LINGER IN FRONT OF ME! DO YOU TAKE ME AS DEAF WHEN YOU BRATS TALKED BEHIND MY BACK?!¡± It was clear the shout was filled with anger and displeasure. Danan wondered, how great was this man to call ghosts as imbeciles? Somehow he wondered, was he also a wandering soul like him? As Danan was still pondering over it, he didn¡¯t notice a group of ghosts like him were running towards him like they were being hunted down by ghost busters. ¡°The old man is going crazy again. I wonder who provoked him this time?¡± Danan heard one of them spoke as they ran passed by him. ¡°Who cares? Just run away for now. We all know how scary he is when he goes berserk like that.¡± The other ghost said. Soon, the backyard was empty, leaving the Chief and her men as well as Danan stood upright near one of the multipurpose building. Danan tried to look into it and saw a man was sitting crossed-legs on a small stage. He was a human! Wow! Danan had the urge to p his hands, but decided to go against it since he notice how dark the man¡¯s expression was. Bad news, he thought. ¡°Old man...¡± The Chief greeted as she walked into the building. The men were all left behind, standing in front of the building with Danan. ¡°What?¡± The man whose named was Guntur Bharata red at her, but didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Who provoked you this time, old man?¡± Dewi Sasmaya asked casually while sitting next to him. ¡°Those stupid ghosts, of course. I gave them homework to do at full moon which wasst night, but they didn¡¯t turn their homework today! But, what made me furious was the fact they tried to outsmart me with their amateur reasons. Trying to twist the truth, huh? Very good! I¡¯ll let them know that cunning and stupid scheming were rejected in my ss!¡± ¡°They are so stupid I bet they were also stupid, stupid enough to let them die young like that! Not to mention the selection, but even to let them join the test is an embarrassment for me!¡± Sir Guntur gritted his teeth why his hands balled into fists. ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you find another student to teach?¡± Dewi Sasmaya casually stated her opinion. ¡°Woman, you know very well they are the only students here. Which student could I train more?¡± He sounded dejected and helpless with a hint of anger in his voice. ¡°What about him?¡± Danan flinched as he saw the Chief was nodding at him. If he could, he would break into cold sweat when the man finally looked at him. ¡°Where did you find this unlucky soul?¡± Sir Guntur asked as he got up and walked towards Danan while staring at him closely. ¡°He wandered in the forest this morning. So I picked him up and brought him here.¡± The Chief answered. Danan suppressed the ufortable feeling inside him as the man kept staring at him. He straightened his back and tried to think of something else as the man drew closer and closer to him. ¡°Hey, Chief! Why are you bringing a troublesome kid back? An unlucky soul who got murdered by his own brother, and a very fresh soul, I could say. Let me guess,st night? You dealt with it pretty well, huh?¡± Sir Guntur said with a smirk after he shouted at the Chief. ¡°Can¡¯t help it, though. Your presence could make people crazy. It could be him died, instead of you. It is my first time seeing chaotic aura in the right vessel. No wonder he would kill you without batting an eyelid.¡± Chapter 141 141 Side Story: The Seventh Adviser (3) As long as he was alive, Danan was considered as the smartest man in his vige, but why did he feel like he turned stupid after being dead? Or, was he too shocked to ept the truth that he was dead already? But, it didn¡¯t seem to be the case. He was perfectly sure that he had epted the fact that he was not a human anymore. So, why did he feel so stupid? All the books that he had read before didn¡¯t mention about chaotic aura. Even the knowledge he got from people¡¯s experience felt unfamiliar with the words ¡®chaotic aura¡¯. He had never heard about it. ¡°What is chaotic aura?¡± He asked. Sir Guntur who was turning around to leave stopped in his track and turned a bit only to give the young man a look from the corner of his eyes. After that, he snorted and walked away, ignoring the question as he made his way towards where he was sitting before and taking a sip of his drink. ¡°Chaotic aura is used to describe when dark auras sh with strong bright auras where dark auras should be dominant, but because of the presence of the strongest brightest aura, they are oppressed. But, it doesn¡¯t really suppress the evil in bad auras. People usually have one dominant bright aura, several sub-dominant auras also exist for some people but not all of them, and a couple of dark auras. Just the weak ones.¡± Chief Dewi Sasmaya spoke on behalf of the old man, but it was enough for Danan. At least someone could exin to him what they meant by chaotic aura. ¡°People who possessed chaotic aura usually would not live long. They either died young or went mad from the continuous sh between the auras inside their body. You, however, you were able to live past twenty years old, and I could say it was impressive. And you are even perfectly fine without any tendencies to go mad.¡± ..... ¡°Therefore, it can only be one thing; you are the right vessel of it. The dark aura couldn¡¯t control you, but...¡± Chief Dewi stopped speaking for a bit as she peered through his eyes. Danan could feel the seriousness from her gaze. ¡°It would affect the people around you, including your brother who killed you.¡± Danan went nk for a while. ¡°You mean... it will make people around me to have intention to kill me?¡± He didn¡¯t mean to whisper, but somehow his voice choked that he could only manage to let out a whisper. ¡°What? No! If that¡¯s the thing, your mother, as the closest person to you, would have killed you ever since you were born.¡± Chief Dewi smiled brightly, totally a different expression from her previous expression. Danan let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Then... why?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t affect your mother because of her true love for you, both of you, as her own flesh and blood. An unconditional love, your chaotic aura couldn¡¯t defeat that. Chaotic aura can only affect those who already have bad intention. The longer that person stays with you, the better the effect is. Of course, it won¡¯t affect anyone who only meet with you for a while. In your brother¡¯s case, he had already had an intention to hurt you, probably because of envy. He might not really do it, but because of your presence around him, it only made his intention stronger. His intention also changed from wanting to hurt you to kill you. That¡¯s all the chaotic aura¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°In other words, you have devil inside you.¡± The blow was too much for Danan this time. He staggered slightly and plopped on to the ground with shaky legs and hands. What Chief Dewi told him echoed in his mind, that he was the cause to his own death. For the first time in his life, he feared his own self. ¡°Don¡¯t be sad. Even though having chaotic aura is bad, I¡¯ve never heard it would still affect people after the vessel died. Also, dark auras are not the only ones you have inside you. Remember I said about strongest bright aura? You possess it inside you, too. Your kindness and intelligence shine bright, proof that they are your strongest traits, able to suppress the devil inside you. As long as you keep it well, you don¡¯t have to worry about your dominant dark auras.¡± Chief Dewi made it sound like so easy, but Danan was not convinced at all. ¡°Kid,e here.¡± Sir Guntur waved towards him, beckoning him toe closer. Danan pushed himself up and with wobbly legs, he approached the old man. His mind was still in a mess, but he didn¡¯t disobey the call of older people. Only after he felt the old man reached out for his arm that he winched and jumped backwards. Fear consumed him again. ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t want you to be affected as well.¡± He said hastily. Sir Guntur¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Come here!¡± He yelled angrily. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a weak man? Your damn auras cannot affect me, so juste here and let me take a look at you!¡± Whether he spoke the truth or not, Danan didn¡¯t know. But seeing the old man¡¯s face contorted in anger, he didn¡¯t dare to reject. In a sh, he appeared in front of the old man and let the old man grabbed his wrist. Wait, grab his wrist? Danan looked at the wrinkly hand that was grasping his wrist tight in surprise. He didn¡¯t see it wrong, the old man really grabbed his wrist and he could even feel the tightness from the grasp. How could a man touch a ghost? Danan was speechless. ¡°Lad, I¡¯ll help you getting used to your auras but you must obey me. Can you do it?¡± The old man looked at him seriously. Danan gulped slightly, didn¡¯t know how to respond. His eyes met with Chief Dewi¡¯s gaze and saw her nodded, encouraging him to say yes. ¡°Yes.¡± He said to Sir Guntur. ¡°Good. Now, we need to get rid of your human name. You need new name. Start from now, you will be Number Seven. You got it?¡± Again, he was speechless. ¡°Sir, why Number Seven?¡± He asked carefully, hoping that the old man wouldn¡¯t yell at him again after he asked such question. Sir Guntur snorted as he pulled his hand back. ¡°It¡¯s easy to remember. Seven is a lucky number. With all the dark auras inside you, you need some lucky charm attached to you.¡± Danan blinked. This old man picked that absurd name for him with that intention in mind, he couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t like the name, right? Whatever, it¡¯s just a name, after all. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get a new nameter after you finish your study.¡± Chief Dewi said softly. ¡°Now that my business here is over, I need to get back to take care of some matters. Number Seven, wee to Sacred Region!¡± After that, she left coolly without looking back again. In the vast hall, there were only the two of them; Sir Guntur and Danan, the Number Seven. ¡°Study well, don¡¯t be like those brats just now who only y around. You have some potentials inside, I hope you can nurture them well and utilize them to the fullestter. There will be a selection in the near future, I¡¯ll personally teach you to prepare yourself for the selection. If you¡¯re selected, the real study will begin at that time. Just prepare yourself.¡± Sir Guntur said to him. Even though his old face still looked hard and unapproachable, he had softened up a bit. ¡°May I know what selection is it?¡± ¡°Selection to be an adviser. After you¡¯re selected, you will be trained a lot harder than before to fit in your role. After that, you will be appointed to your work ce.¡± Sir Guntur said casually, but from the way he talked, Danan knew this old man was hiding some important information. Never mind, Sir Guntur wanted him to be an adviser? Even though he didn¡¯t know what kind of adviser it was, Danan knew it wouldn¡¯t be bad. Little did he know, he was going to be appointed in the most prominent army in Middle Region, and his role was not only as an adviser, but also strategist, and most importantly... a babysitter. Taking care a teenager while he himself had existed for more than a hundred years could be considered babysitting, right? Chapter 142 142 Side Story: The Seventh Adviser (4) Danan was made to study hard by Sir Guntur after their talk that day. He followed the regr sses and private sses by Sir Guntur. He even didn¡¯t have time to visit Chief Dewi Sasmaya as he used all of his time to study and study more. Fortunately for him, he loved reading and studying, which helped him a lot with the process where others would find agonizing. He was a fast learner and his progress made Sir Guntur proud. By the time the selection started, Danan joined it and maybe by the will of Universe, he passed the test and joined the ss of Adviser as the seventh student. Therefore, his name, Number Seven, was known as he was the Seventh Adviser admitted into the ss. To his surprise, there were only the ten of them. Before he was admitted into the ss, he thought there would be around twenty to thirty of them in the ss. Who knew that there would only be the ten of them? Later on, he found out that they were prepared to be advisers of ten mystical army in the Middle Region. As to which army would they be assigned in, they didn¡¯t know. The Elders only told them that they would be assigned based on their performance, skill, and knowledge. He also thought that it might take several years, probably four to five years, to learn about all the things that an adviser needed to know and do. Little did he know, he would spend hundred years to master all of it; almost three hundred years, to be exact. He watched as the initial excitement in their faces faded away as the time went, but nobodyined. They did what the Elders asked them to do, learned what the Elders taught to them, basically obeyed every single thing the Elders and Teachers said to them. Sometimes, they would be assigned to some tasks, be it a small case to bigger case. At first they were sent as a big group,ter on it was divided into half, then a pair, until when they were assigned with their tenth case, they were required to travel alone and find the solution alone. Since that time, all of the cases were handled individually. Most of the time they were outside of the Sacred Region, practicing their skills. They had trained themselves until they could solidify themselves, practiced martial arts, mastered spiritualbat arts, and filled their memory with knowledge of Middle Region and everything. Those were precious information and Danan took them all seriously. ..... Danan could see that everyone was trying so hard, so he didn¡¯t want to bring everyone down. He learned harder and harder, even though he had to divide his attention and memory in searching and learning information about his chaotic aura. Even though Chief Dewi had said that his aura might not affect humans, Danan was still a bit skeptical. He practically put a fair distance between him and anyone else. Sir Guntur had tried to suppress his aura, but it was useless. They came to conclusion that it might be because he didn¡¯t have human body and advised him to keep his distance with people, especially humans. Sealing his aura inside his own soul was like trying to fill a basket with water. So, he gave up and tried to find another useful information from where ever he could get. It took him more than two centuries until he finally found out something about his chaotic aura. He was in his mission to track down dangerous Shadows and their Master where he needed to stay around humans for a long time. These Shadows and their Master were so crafty that they managed to hide themselves from Danan. He didn¡¯t have any choice but to wait a bit longer. At that time, even though he still managed to put some distance with him and humans, there were some asions where he would squeeze himself among the humans. At first, he didn¡¯t really pay any attention to the things around himself, especially those humans couldn¡¯t see him so he didn¡¯t find any reason why to put his attention towards them. Only after he noticed the fifth crime happened around him less than three days he was around them, then he started to be more aware. The first one was the couple husband and wife who were living near the tree he usually used to scout on situation were having a big fight in which the husband yelled at his wife about his dissatisfaction towards her and ended up in him almost killed her wife who had gone through everything with him for forty years. Not a short time for human, yeah, that¡¯s why after he thought about it, he found it ridiculous. Not to mention he heard the talk of their neighbors where they were also bewildered with the change happened to the husband, for they had never heard him raised his voice towards his wife, ever. The wife was still under treatment, but seeing her condition, Danan was sure she wouldn¡¯tst long. Two days after that, the wife died and the husband was used and punished for killing her. The second crime was the waiter in the restaurant where Danan would asionally visit to find some information while drinking tea stole the money and ran away. The owner of the restaurant always thought that he was an honest man, that¡¯s why he kept the man as his right-hand. Even though he was in need of money, he had never stolen any money from the owner. But, this time, he did so! The man was still on the run. The third one was a good young man raped a teen girl. The problem was this young man was known as a kind, polite, patient, and all best virtue in him. Let alone raping a girl, even if he was locked in a same room with a girl, all the people in the vige knew that he would never cross the boundary. He was the favorite boy of the vige. But, he raped the girl who was almost ten years younger than him. How was he rted to Danan? This young man was the one who provided information to Danan whenever Danan appeared in the restaurant. It was not like he went around to collect it, but Danan would ask it as if he was only initiating a casual conversation. Of course, the young man was being detained while the girl¡¯s family demanded the court to behead the young man for tainting their precious daughter. The fourth one was the sisters in the shop in front of the restaurant were losing their mind and started to fight over a man. It was chaos, Danan couldn¡¯t find the words to describe the situation at that time. Both the sisters were detained in the local prison for causing disturbance. The fifth one was the one where Danan started to think deeply. A lovely girl seduced a married man, and now she was used of adultery together with the man. The man was no other than the owner of the restaurant and the girl was the one who always came to deliver the tea leaves that the owner ordered from her mother. What¡¯s more that they did the ¡®deed¡¯ in the warehouse in the back of the restaurant and was caught in the act by the man¡¯s wife. As he pondered about it, he realized two things; first, these five major things happened in less than a week. This vige was considered peaceful as only minor things would happen from time to time. For five major immoral things happened in less than a week, it was something big for them. The second was all the people were rted to him in a way, they were usually ¡®inside¡¯ the perimeter he had created. Danan had just arrived in the vige for maybe twelve to fourteen days before the incident happened. It was a rather short time for his chaotic aura to take action. It proved what Chief Dewi told him to be wrong, that his chaotic would not affect human. Instead, it worked faster than when he was still human. At this rate, he couldn¡¯t get close to any human at all in the future. After epting new information about himself, Danan started to increase his effort in finding the Shadows and the Master. His hard work was not in vain as before the first month ended, he had found out the ce where the despicable human was hiding in. The next action was carried swiftly and without any significant trouble holding him back. He managed to destroy their den and cleaned everything; Shadows and their Master. After that, he returned to the Sacred Region and talked to Chief Dewi about his findings. They talked about it a lot in safe perimeter, then Danan left the woman. This time, he was really strict with his rule to maintain safe distance between him and humans. Many things happened to him after that, but he faced everything head on with cold-headed, hastily gave any problems with the best solution he had. By the time their study ended, they were told to enter the chosen army. Danan, without him knowing, was appointed as the best adviser and chosen to be the adviser of White Army. After the inauguration as the adviser of White Army, he was bestowed with the name ¡®Siji¡¯ which meant ¡®One¡¯, as the symbol of him being the best adviser. Apparently the name ¡®Siji¡¯ was exclusive for the best adviser only and the previous ¡®Siji¡¯ was chosen to serve as an adviser in the other army. Of course, he would still be the seventh adviser in the eyes of his teachers. But, his study didn¡¯t end there. Right after he was appointed as the adviser, he learned a lot about White Army from the library of the Guardians of Legacy. Yeah, it was a never ending study session, but he liked to do it. Chapter 143 143 High-Rank Evil Shadows (Tom¡¯s PoV) Breathe, Tom, breathe. Breathe. Breathe. I took a deep breath repeatedly as I closed my eyes tightly. My hands gripped the armrest of the chair I was sitting on tightly as I chanted inside my mind to breathe properly. It had been four hours since myst departure from an airport in London. Sitting beside me was my uncle, Uncle Ben who had been snoring lightly since a few minutes ago. I, myself, had just woken up from a very disturbing dream. Therefore, before I exploded, I forced myself to calm down. In my dream, I saw Jane and Sanji were talking andughing. I called her out but she couldn¡¯t hear me. Even when I stood in front of her, she didn¡¯t notice me. Then, I saw Sanji pulled her in his embrace and kissed her. Even in my dream, I could feel my eyes widened in shock and jealousy. The anger started to build in me and when both of them were starting to look more erotic, with the whole neck-kissing and oh, even though that creature had taken all of the images of me making love to Jane, I still remembered some of her weak spots which was a few centimeters under her left ear. And that f*cker was kissing her there! Jane¡¯s face looked full of bliss as she moaned erotically, grinding her hips on Sanji¡¯sps. I couldn¡¯t bear to see more of it, so I decided to pull her away forcefully. ..... However, before I could move from where I was standing, I saw someoneing in from the door. My jaw cked as I recognized the person who had juste in. It was me! My own self! My feet were glued to where I was standing, but the ¡®me¡¯ in my dream grinned excitedly as soon as his eyes caught sight of Jane and Sanji, grinding each other ass off. What the?! ¡®I¡¯ walked to them and lowered ¡®my¡¯ body so that ¡®I¡¯ could get onto the same eye level with both of them. With my wide eyes, I watched the ¡®me¡¯ in the dream pulled Jane¡¯s face and kissed her hard, all the while he was groping her left breast, ying with it. I should have exploded with rage with what happened in front of me, but surprisingly instead of going berserk from rage and jealousy, I could feel myself getting aroused. The scene in front of me was surely not helping as I watched her moaned helplessly as two pairs of manly arms and hands circled her body and teased her sensitive spots. Just before I could watch her reaching for her first climax just from being teased, I woke up. Looking around me, I realized I was still in the ne and it was still pretty bright out there. I let out a sigh of relief as I realized Jane was not anywhere around my sight. But, I noticed another problem. I got a boner! A hard one! I was lucky my jacket covered it up. I couldn¡¯t imagine how I should react if one of the stewardess noticed my boner. It must be awkward as hell! For now, I should reduce the swelling. There was no way I would want to jerk off in thevatory, and jerking off on my seat was totally out of question. That left only one choice for me; to calm my mind and suppress my desire. It must be because I had not engaged in any sexual activity after I woke up; being raped by two nurses before I full woke up was not included. I had been busy with all the tests and everything that I forgot, as a sexually active and healthy man, it was hard to abstain from any sexual activities, including jerking off. As I had no time to indulge myself in sexual pleasure after waking up fromma, the frustration came back to me in several folds. But, I held back. I had endured it for months, I was sure I could endure it some more. Breathe... Breathe... Breathe... I could feel the frown formed on my face as I tried to imagine other things except Jane. I tried to think about her, picturing her smiled in my mind, but the only thing I could picture about her was her wanton face drowned in lust and pleasure, as well as her sweet moan. And it wouldn¡¯t help at all. So, I tried to think of other things. Rainbow chicken. Poor little chicken, their owner painted them in attractive colors to attract the attention of innocent kids. The kids would then ask their parents to buy them the chicken with their favorite color. After that, the chicken would die young. Poor chicken. Also, I forgot about Ireng. How was it doing with him now? I had not returned to see him these few days. How do I return to that ce, anyway? Hm, I might have to ask the chain to take me there. I opened my eyes slowly and peeked under my jacket. Thank God, I made it. I let out a sigh of relief. Now that I had woken up, I couldn¡¯t go back to sleep. I watched as the sun outside the airne descended down and left orange and red streaks in the blue sky. Even the white cloud couldn¡¯t conceal the majestic scene happened upon my eyes. It could be my eyes ying trick on me, but why did I feel the red and orange streaks were approaching at us fast? Also, why was it cloudy all of a sudden? The grey shadow extended from where the horizon was painted in red and orange to where the ne was flying, sessfully blocked out some of the light as it turned dark quickly. The white cloud under the ne turned grey but the red and orange streaks of light still remained. As I looked at it closely, I noticed the grey color in the cloud were so much alike a school of fish swimming. It moved fast and it a minute the whole cloud turned grey. Honestly, I had never heard about it before. I thought it was a natural process of changing from day to night. But, when something jumped out from the grey cloud, I couldn¡¯t say that I wasn¡¯t shocked. I was startled and shocked, yes, as my eyes widened to see the thing that had just jumped out of the cloud. Apparently, it was not the only one as the others were catching up to it and in a sh outside the airne was full with them. Ghosts. Not just mere ghosts, but evil shadows. Just seeing the way they grinned evilly reminded me of horror movie. Not to mention that thing noticed me looking at it before he shed me a grin. I had a bad feeling about it. I pulled down the window shade hastily. I know doing that would not give any differences since this thing could just fly through the iron bird and face me, but it didn¡¯t cross my mind at that time. So yeah, secondster as I was sitting in my chair, the thing was hovering in front of me. Its bony figures,plete with bald head, grinning widely like a freak, big eyes without eyelids, as well as bony nose, looked exceptionally hideous and horrible. His long fingers extended towards me as it tried to touch me, but I had my shield ready unconsciously. ¡°As expected, you really can see me.¡± Its whisper-like voice said to me. Its eyeballs turned wildly and the sight of it made me frown in disgust. This was not an average evil shadow, but perhaps a high-rank one. The fact that this shadow could roam outside without being restraint was proof that it was powerful enough not to let human bound it, or it was probably a new shadow. But, after listening to it talk, I was sure that this one was a high-rank one. A newbie would charge forward recklessly, but this one looked soposed it looked creepy. ¡°Even if you can see me, what can you do about it?¡± It sneered as it floated away. I watched it closely and noticed that some of its friends had made into the cabin. They were hovering above the passengers suspiciously. Some of the asleep passengers frowned, as if they were having a bad dream. Those who were not sleeping looked restless as they looked around. My eyebrows twitched looking at them. One of them tried to approach Uncle Ben but I red at it. It shrieked loudly as it flew away, of course no one could hear its shriek except me. Even Uncle Ben who was sensitive towards ghosts and shadows couldn¡¯t hear it; or maybe he was just too tired to be aware of his surrounding. ¡°What are you shrieking for? He can¡¯t touch you. Just do what we need to do. He needs twenty more souls by tonight. Quick!¡± The one that approached me shouted in hoarse voice. Chapter 144 144 A Fight In The Air (Tom¡¯s PoV) I was stunned as I heard it shouted. He? Who was ¡®he¡¯? Twenty souls? Did they n to kill us? To extract twenty souls was not a trivial matter. My mind couldn¡¯t help but think that they might do something to this ne. F*ck, I¡¯ve just awaken fromma now they want me to go through that incident again? Hell no! I suppressed my rage as I closed my eyes and tried to apply what I had learned these couple of days. After the incident in the Death Volcano, I realized that I coulde out from my body anywhere and anytime I wanted. My soul remained inside of my body, protecting my body with the shield I managed to create after the Soul Endurance test, while my spirit came out and fought. After several times of practicing before I headed back to Indonesia, I could feel myself improved by leaps and bounds. Those ghosts from the hospital that day said that it was because I had a special type of soul and body, as well as my bond with the Death Volcano, that I managed to master the technique in no time. Clutching the chain in my hands, I stood up and headed towards the cockpit. I looked back at my body and smiled in satisfaction as no shadows could get near me with my shield on. I also expanded my shield so it covered Uncle Ben inside. Seeing that they could not get near my body, they growled as they pounced on me. I could see the one who talked to me just now were looking at me in surprise. It might not think that I coulde out from my body like that. ¡°Don¡¯t let him go into the cockpit!¡± It shouted loudly and at the same time the ne shook. I took a peek at the situation outside. There were countless of them outside, creating a light turbulence to the ne. Thankfully it only shook a bit, so many of passengers didn¡¯t take it too serious and there was only an apologize announcement for the slight disturbance and to assure the people that everything was going to be okay. ..... In a minute, it won¡¯t be okay anymore, I thought. The chains in my hands glowed slightly as I smashed the nearest shadow to me with the chain. Howl of pain filled the entire cabin but somehow I was the only one who could hear it. The howling didn¡¯t stop as my hands kept punching those shadows that were trying to block my way into the cockpit. I practically punched my way through it. As I reached the door to the cockpit, I was startled when I heard a shout from my back. Turning back, I saw the one from before charged towards me in a sh. Its eyes showed its rage and its w was extended towards me. Fortunately, I managed to dodge it, but I failed to notice its other hand moved fast and hit me in my right shoulder. I gasped as I could feel the pain from my right shoulder. I was thrown back several steps before I managed to bnce my own self. While holding onto my right shoulder, I looked up and my gaze met with the shadow¡¯s creepy eyes. It was still in a full-alert stance, ready to pounce at me anytime. But, I straightened my back, showing to it that its punch didn¡¯t affect me. Sure, I was caught off guard, butpared with how I was tortured with those knives in variant sizes and shapes during the test, this was nothing. With that horrible experience as aparison, I felt better. ¡°Human, don¡¯t push your luck.¡± It growled. I arched my eyebrow at it, but didn¡¯t say anything. Turning around, I found out that I was actually in the cockpit already. Heh, it must be a very stupid shadow. How could it hit me right into the ce I wanted to visit? But, what was that? I squinted my eyes to properly the thing in front of the ne. Things, actually, since there were more than one. The biggest one was standing -floating, I mean -in front of the ne, creating a very dark cloud in front of them. If I didn¡¯t have this ability, I was sure I would think that we had entered a very dark ce in the sky. Even the darkest cloud before heavy rain was not as dark as this one. Then, there were two mischievous creatures standing in the side, blowing towards the pilot and co-pilot¡¯s eyes. I was sure they were not shadows, but what creature they were, I had no idea. The pilot and co-pilot looked drowsy. No matter how people saw it, the fact that both of them got super drowsy at the same time was not a usual matter. I bet all of the idents where the drivers or pilots were suddenly feeling drowsy had something to do with these two creatures. As I thought so, I could feel the ne was starting to lean down. The pilot¡¯s body had started to lose control as he leaned forward and pressed onto the wheel. The co-pilot was not reliable himself as he leaned back and closed his eyes as well. Those two creatures? The one in the pilot¡¯s side was practically pushing the pilot¡¯s body towards the wheel and the other one was just blowing in the co-pilot¡¯s face. It was kind of disgusting, actually. Imagine an ugly creature which was obvioulsy not a human blowing its breath onto your face. The first reaction must be feeling disgusted, right? But, at this time, I couldn¡¯t even think of it as I only knew those two creatures were responsible for the uing ident. Not that I would let it happen, anyway. I loosened the chain in my right hand as I put a steady stance to throw the chain towards those creatures. But, before I could make a move, the one behind me was obviously feeling displeasure as dark mist started to emit from its body. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll y with you next time.¡± I said as I dodged his attack again. ¡°Bind.¡± I whispered as the chain in my left hand moved quickly towards the evil shadow. I didn¡¯t need to see what happened to the evil shadow as I made my move towards those unknown creatures. I swung the chain in my right hand towards the one beside the pilot as I made big strides and pped his back so hard. I couldn¡¯t touch him, but I could touch his soul as I was in my spirit form. As my p hit his soul, he snapped awake so fast and pulled the wheel again to steady the ne as soon as he realized the urgency of the situation. The creature was shocked as my chain could hit it, it even shrieked in pain. It was even more shocked as I could take out its effect from the pilot. Ignoring that one, I moved towards the other one beside the co-pilot that didn¡¯t look like it understood the situation. My right arm reached out and grabbed it hard, then I flung it towards its friend. My chain moved and bind them both in ce. At the same time, the pilot had managed to wake his co-pilot up. Both were flustered but this time they remained alert. Probably still confused about what was happening, but they might choose not to speak about it until theynded. I took a deep breath with my hands on my waist. It was just several moves, why did I feel so tired? Probably because of the adrenalin rush. ¡°Who order you to harm humans?¡± I started my interrogation. Hearing my questions, those two creatures started to let out strange noises with menacing res being shot at me. Clearly, they were angry. Since they couldn¡¯t talk, I could only assume two things about their identity. First, these two were not originally human. Second, they were not high rank creatures. Since they couldn¡¯t talk, I wouldn¡¯t bother wasting my time asking them. After all, there was one who could talk. I looked at the evil shadow who had smirk on its face. There was a victorious expression in its face. ¡°You¡¯re not worthy hearing His name, human.¡± ¡°Yeah, said the ex-human turned evil.¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Hideous heart create hideous appearance. Since you¡¯re this ugly, it means you must be pretty evil, right? The one who canmand an evil thing like you... must be someone so powerful.¡± I paused for a while, seeing its expression closely even though its ugly face made me almost vomit. Ah well, I was in my spirit mode so I wouldn¡¯t vomit easily. Too bad. There was no visible changes in its expression, but from the way its pupil contracted, I knew it started to feel uneasy. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to catch your masterter, but for now, just go to the Death Volcano.¡± I whispered to it coldly. With a flick of my finger, those chain moved and bound every shadow in the ne tightly, including the big one outside. The sight of it was unbelievable if I were not seeing it with my own eyes. I couldn¡¯t believe the chains knew what and how exactly I wanted it. As I walked into the cabin, I saw the chains were spreading like web, coiling themselves around the shadow and moved towards their new preys. Howl of pain filled the cabin twenty times fold than before and it started to affect the ne. All the passengers were awake as they heard the creepy howling. There were goosebumps on their bodies and fear started to make them panic. Even the stewardess were helpless because it was their first time hearing this kind of howling. I was staring at the web-like trap that had sessfully bound the shadows. ¡°Bring them down.¡± I said casually. After I said that, the chain moved and dragged them out of the ne, but before long, they were gone. The ne was stabilized after that and the strange sound disappear, but the fear it inflicted in the passengers¡¯ heart could not be undone. It seemed like there would be another ghost story during flight appeared. Well, since I had done my job, I nned to go back to my body. However, before I could finally rejoin with my physical body, a strong wave of dark spiritual power hit me hard. A sh of grey robe filled my vision as I was dragged out of the ne. Chapter 145 145 Enemy? (Tom¡¯s PoV) I was shocked to see I was out in the open air. It reminded me of how I was inma at that time. I was floating, but the scenery around me was different to the ones I used to see. When I was inma, I was sent back to where I lived; I saw familiar sights. But, this was my first time floating this high. No, that¡¯s not the point. I shook my head slightly and my gaze turned towards the grey cloaked man in front of me. I could barely see the dark mist emitted from his body because of the night sky, but I was sure it was there. Who was he, actually? Was he the one who ordered those shadows to kill people? But, why would he attack me instead on focusing to his mission? Seeing that this person could float like me, I was sure he could separate his spirit from his physical body as well, which meant... he was not an average person. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, shouting loudly as the sound of the ne¡¯s machine was really loud. He didn¡¯t answer, but I could vaguely sense he was sneering at me! What the?! ¡°Are you rted to those shadows just now?¡± He shook his head lightly and I was... upset. Why wouldn¡¯t he talk? ¡°Are you mute?¡± I shouted, feeling irritated. ..... At this time, the noise had travelled far enough to let us talk without shouting, but this damn unknown visitor still refused to open his mouth. Calm down, Tom, calm down. I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly to ease the anger. Let him be mute if that was what he wanted. I should just return to my seat and the matter of him hitting me out of nowhere... Just say I was unlucky to be bitten by dog. After I managed to calm myself, I was prepared to go back to the ne, to where my body was before Uncle Ben realized I couldn¡¯t wake up. However, before I moved, he started attacking me again. His w reached out for me, seemingly trying to grab a hold of me. Good thing was I was nimble. Now that I could see his attack, I could dodge it easily by moving my body to the side. His w went pass my neck and I could see his hand was fully covered with dark mist. Totally evil! If his w got my neck, I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen to me. He didn¡¯t look happy that I evaded his attack as his other hand delivered another blow at me. Sorry, dude. You¡¯re just too slow. But, howe I couldn¡¯t see his features even after he had moved towards me. All I could see was pitch ck darkness, as if there was no one wearing cloak. It was just ridiculous for me. Wait, do I really have time to think about it? ¡°How dare you looking down upon me?!¡± Finally she talked. Eh, she? I stared him... err, her with wide eyes. I was 100% sure that the one hiding under the big grey cloak was a man, turned out it was... a woman? I really couldn¡¯t control my expression as I kept dodging but my eyes kept looking at her -even though all I could see was darkness. Probably looking at my expression, she exploded in fury as her attack was getting faster and faster. I could even sense killing intent in every attack she dealt at me. The dark mist around her body thickened and she let out dangerous growl as she charged towards me. Seeing her attitude changed drastically, I hastily realized my mistake. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t mean to look down on you.¡± ¡°Still daydreaming while fighting with me and you said you didn¡¯t look down upon me? Who you want to kid, hah?¡± She replied fiercely without slowing down her attack. Ah, I¡¯m in trouble, I thought. ¡°I want to rip your stupid face into pieces.¡± She growled again. Ah, she must be talking about my stupid expression just now. It made sense if she felt angry because of that. After all, no one would want to be stared at, wide eyed nheless, with shock expression on their face. She had every reason to get mad at me, but hey, I had not even mentioned about how she attacked me! As I remembered the reason why I was exposed in this ce, I changed my tactic from dodging to attacking. I needed to subdue her before I could interrogate her. The fight didn¡¯tst long and I finally managed to hit her on her back -not too hard since she was still a woman and the way she attacked me in the ne before was not meant to harm me. So, I was just returning the favor. ¡°Now tell me, who are you? Why are you attacking me?¡± She snorted. ¡°I just wanted to test how strong my rival is before the second test starts.¡± She said, full of disdain. Rival? Second test? ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...¡± I pointed my finger in agitation towards her. ¡°Do you also join the test to be a General?¡± ¡°I do, so what?¡± She lifted her chin a bit, looking so proud and arrogant. ¡°Ah, and here I thought you are an enemy.¡± I let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Since you passed the test, then it means you¡¯re strong. Good job!¡± ¡°Wipe your stupid grin from your stupid ass face!¡± She barked. I was taken a back. This woman... Wasn¡¯t she too hot-tempered? ¡°Just you wait! I won¡¯t let you seed! The General position is mine!¡± She yelled loudly before she turned around and disappeared. I was just about to ask how she knew about me joining the test, but she disappeared so quickly. Forget it. I closed my eyes and concentrated to return to my body. I opened my eyes slightly as I heard Uncle Ben¡¯s voice calling out my name. Apparently he had been trying to wake me up for some time, but I didn¡¯t wake up. He was afraid that I would fall intoma again. Why would I fall intoma when all I did was sitting down, anyway? But, I didn¡¯t say that to him. I only said someforting words to him and told him that I was still sleepy. After that, Uncle Ben let me sleep more. Several hourster, the nended in Indonesia safely without any incident like before. Even though I saw one or two shadows passing by, I didn¡¯t make a move. But the journey didn¡¯t end just like that. We still needed to continue the journey until several hourster. It was a long journey, yes, and really exhausting. If only my uncle didn¡¯t rush us, I thought I could still... Never mind. The one who was in a rush was me. I really missed my sweetheart. Of course, I missed my mom, too. This time, I was sure the first sentence I would tell my mother after exchanging greetings with her, probably some tears-including event, was... Mom, I have a girlfriend. Please, help me to marry her soon before that bastard takes her away from me. Imagine what expression my mother would make. Never in million years I would have thought that at the same time as I safelynded in Indonesia and on my way to return home to my mother, my baby girl was kissing someone else. Chapter 146 146 It¡¯s All His Fault (Jane¡¯s PoV) It felt so good. The soft breeze of wind felt so amazingly good on my skin. Paired with the warm light of the sun and the sounds of leaves rubbing against each others, it was totally a bliss. Especially when I finally had a free time from training myself with Siji. Just saying his name could make me frown for a full one hour. That man... I swear to God, was a hell of a trainer! He might look gentle and all smiles, but when he got into trainer mode, oh. my. God, he was a beast! As if physical training was not exhausting enough, I had to put up with spiritual training as well. During the training, I remembered that one time when he told me that I had vast spiritual energy, I wish I could p him in the mouth because I practically could feel my energy had been drained from my body. What vast spiritual energy? He must have made that up! But, I was too tired to argue with him so I only kept that thought inside. Well, I would surely find a chance to talk it out with him. For now, just rest. Erase that frown on your face and rest properly, I said to myself. I closed my eyes, tried hard to straighten the frown on my face by thinking about something good. Yes, something like... ..... What would I do if Tom came back? How should I react when he stood in front of me? No, why would I n my reaction? Change to another question. Then, how would our rtionship be? When he was still a ghost -ah no, spirit I mean -we were practically like a newlywed couple. Our interaction was limited inside my bedroom, and even though he could say anything to me outside the room, it was practically a one way conversation. He would apany me doing my homeworks, talk to me, joke around, and sometimes he would even flirt with me, and more than twice he would talk about lewd things he would do to me if he were to have a body and every words could sessfully make me hot and aroused. Damn, after trying so hard to make myself busy so that I wouldn¡¯t think of doing anything lewd, the feeling returned in several times folds and made my body extremely needy. Damn Tom and his tease! His almost daily dose of lewd dream really changed me. After he went away, I had never had lewd dreams anymore. Suddenly, I craved for one. It¡¯s all his fault for turning me into a pervert in heat! My brain was consumed by lust bit by bit. All I wanted was to touch my body, but at the same time I resisted the sweet torture. My breath grew erratic but the fire in me was still burning. Ahh! What should I do? What should I do? You want to feel good, right? Touch yourself! You know very well where it feels good. It¡¯s not your first time after all. Touch yourself. That whisper was like fuel adding into the fire in me. My mind became hazy as my hands caressed my whole body. That¡¯s right, it was not my first time, so why should I care? I needed to pleasure myself. Just this once, just this once, I promised myself. I barely heard my own gasps and moans as I continued to touch my body. My mind went back to when I pleasured my own self with Tom dirty talking in my ear. My whole body felt so sensitive and with my hazy mind and slightly blurred eyes, I thought I saw Tom. It was probably only my imagination. It might be because I was half-asleep and I was dreaming. The lust drove me crazy and I didn¡¯t care whether it was my hallucination or not. ¡°Tom...¡± I whispered lustfully. I closed my eyes tightly as my hands started to tease my sensitive spots. But, a pair of warm lips met mine and all my rationality went out the window. The kiss was so passionate, it was as if he wanted to devour me. My moans and gasps met with his primal growl as he fondled my body. My moans gradually turned louder, but he swallowed them all. The tip of his tongue was tracing my skin lightly, giving me another height of pleasure. Ohh, it feels so good! Feels good, right? Surrender yourself to me and I¡¯ll pleasure you to your heart content. The whisper came again and I thought it was Tom speaking to me. Under his coaxing and teasing, I did surrender myself to him and let him y with my body. He didn¡¯t make love to me, but he pleasured me until I couldn¡¯t open my eyes. I could only muffle my lustful moan and scream of his name as he brought me to climax several times under his mischievous and skillful fingers and tongue. By the time I finished climaxing, I was so rxed and fell asleep with my clothes in a dishelved state. I could only pull my nket to cover my privates before I drifted off to sleep. I was asleep for hours and when I woke up, it was already dark. My stomach made a grumbling sound, a protest for not feeding it. I got up and was speechless as I found out the state I was in. I thought it was just a dream! What¡¯s wrong with me? Why did it feel so real? Wait, what¡¯s that? I hastily walked towards my mirror and pulled my t-shirt. My eyes widened as I caught sight of it. Under my left breast, there was a hickey, clear and fresh. If it were just a dream, why would there be a hickey there? Someone must have been here before and took advantage of me! Chapter 147 147 Let¡¯s Do It! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I could feel my rage bar was increasing rapidly. Rather than confusion, I felt so angry that I could smash everything in my sight. My hand was itchy to do so, but something told me not to follow my rage. Somehow, I found myself sitting on a chair with my eyes closed as I tried to calm my anger. After repeating the breathing exercise, I was finally able to surpress the anger in me. But, as my head was still in a mess, I couldn¡¯t think properly. My hunger was forgotten just like that and I decided to take a shower, to cool down my head. In the shower, I thought a lot, but I couldn¡¯t find any solution and answer. But, after I felt fresh, I felt so much better and went to the kitchen to fill my stomach. What people said that one couldn¡¯t think with empty stomach was true. I had showered and eaten, I felt so fresh and energized, thus I was ready to assess the situation again. With a cup of green tea in my hand, I sat down on my single couch near the window in my room, and my eyes looked at my bed. I tried to reply what had happened, but this time I was not aroused -maybe a bit, but I could control it. Probably it was also because I had done ¡®it¡¯ which made me not sexually frustrated anymore. Anyway, I was being clear-headed. Which reminded me, was it normal for me to be that aroused? I didn¡¯t think so. I might be sexually frustrated and feeling aroused over a dirty imagination, but I didn¡¯t think it would be that bad that I couldn¡¯t distinguish between real or dream. Pleasuring myself was one thing, but losing myself in it and not aware of my surroundings during ¡®that¡¯ time was totally not like myself at all. ..... Even when I was masturbating -there, I said it -with Tom beside me, I clearly knew my surrounding. But, this time it was like I was enveloped in a big balloon, I couldn¡¯t hear what happened outside the balloon. All I could do was to focus on the pleasure and lost in it. I took a sip of my green tea. The fresh taste of tea made me more focus with what I was thinking about. The smell was so refreshing,bined with the coldness of night wind that entered from the slightly opened window, it felt strangely perfect. It cleared my mind in instant, pushed down my assumption and hasty assessment. I tried to recall what had happened slowly and steadily. From when I thought about my hellish training with Siji until I started to feel aroused, I tried to find something odd about it. Thinking about Tom and his perverseness would surely heat my body, especially since I had grown ustomed to how he would touch and manipte my sensitivity and senses. But, still, I found it a bit odd for me to be unaware of things around me, especially after I had Siji and the men with me now. I couldn¡¯t say that I was always alert, but at least I could say it was rare for me to have a deep sleep these days. I could easily wake up even with the slightest disturbance. So, where did it go wrong? I squinted my eyes, trying so hard to remember even just a bit information. Didn¡¯t I hear someone whispering to me at that time? That¡¯s right! My eyes were opened wide as I realized this. It was an unfamiliar voice. I had never heard of that before. But, I was sure it was not only my hallucination. After all, I got a hickey on my body! This was enough for me to assume that someone or something was here with me. But, whose voice was it? I must be really hypnotized for the voice didn¡¯t stop there and I couldn¡¯t detect anything. As far as I could remember, the voice was whispering to me, encouraging me for more than twice. After the first whisper, I saw Tom and then everything went blurred. It must be the part where I was getting ¡®yed¡¯ by the unknown guest. Then, the second whisper came and made me surrender myself to the unknown guest. I must admit that ¡®thing¡¯ was really skillful since it could make me orgasm several times without doing ¡®the full course¡¯, but the fact that it hid and yed with me made me angry and uneasy. If it were really an unknown lewd creature, the fact that it could pass through theyers of enchantments and barriers around my house was a proof that it was powerful. Wouldn¡¯t I feel unsafe even in my own house, then? Not to mention its ability to hypnotize human with its voice. It could even disguise itself into someone we desired the most! How scary would that be?! What kind of creature was it actually? Some ghosts could do that, I know. I still remembered about the story Kunti told me, about how a Genderuwo disguised itself to be a man and made love with his wife. But, I was sure the barriers and enchantments around my house were too powerful for any ghosts with that level of power. Just say that the enchantments and barriers which were put by my father weren¡¯t strong enough, but how could it pass through Siji¡¯s enchantments? Not to mention there were some of the men guarding outside. They rarely came into my room to give me my privacy, but Siji put an enchantment here thest time the Devil came. So, how could it go in and harrass me? No matter how hard I tried to think about it, I couldn¡¯t find the answer. However, I knew one thing; the thing that molested me was either as powerful as the devil, or stronger than the devil. Each option was not favourable for me, though. It seemed like I needed to step up my game and master the special martial arts Siji had been teaching me as soon as possible. Also, I needed to enhance my sensibility. I had been tricked once, I didn¡¯t want to be tricked twice. With that thought in mind, and the fresh feeling I had, I made up my mind. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out and in a sh, Siji came before me. Seeing his usual expression, I was sure he was unaware of what had happened to me. Not that I wanted to talk to him about it. I mean, who would talk about one¡¯s ¡®y¡¯ time to opposite sex? Not me, obviously. So, I didn¡¯t mention anything about it to him. Not even a word. ¡°Can we continue with the training?¡± I asked seriously. Siji¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°I thought you wanted a day off.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good now, so let¡¯s resume the training.¡± I cooly replied as I put the empty cup on the window sill. ¡°Well, if you insist. This time is perfect for you to meditate. Why don¡¯t you do it?¡± Siji looked exceptionally calm, but I had known him enough to say that this meditation he said was not going to be an ordinary meditation. I meditated almost every day. He was there to guide me. But, after he mentioned it, I was one hundred percents sure that it was not an ordinary meditation that I always did. ¡°Tell me, Siji. It won¡¯t be an ordinary meditation, right?¡± I looked helplessly at my advisor who was now openly showing his smirk. ¡± Of course not. Meditating in the middle of silent night is just an easy task for people like you. It¡¯s easy to regte your spiritual power around your body and strengthen it. But, you know, the battlefield is not silent. It will never be silent. I will train you so that you¡¯re able to do what you always do during your meditation as good as when you¡¯re not meditating. If you¡¯re lucky, you might find the fastest way to do it even with your eyes wide open and chaos around you. But at least, the process won¡¯t be as slow as today.¡± Siji exined in unhurried tone. ¡°You must maintain your calm even when you¡¯re hurt. As I said before, you possess a vast spiritual power that it¡¯s enough tomand us without the General. But, if you think you ran out of spiritual power, it means that you¡¯re not doing it right. And we¡¯re going to fix that by letting you learn about your own flow of spiritual power. It¡¯s time for you to dive deeper into it and stop observing from outside.¡± His smirk disappeared and seriousness reced the look on his face. I was beaten up when he trained me with a smirk on his face, what would happen to me when he got serious? He was already a beast even when he had that amusing and yful spark in his eyes, but the spark was gone and danger and seriousness were in. I swallowed hard. Should I back out now? After all, I still had several hours until my day off was over. But, I couldn¡¯t take back what I had just said, right? ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± I nodded, surrendering myself to what fate would give me. ¡°Good.¡± Siji showed his victorious smile. Without waiting for me topose myself, he had brought me to an unfamiliar ce. ¡°Are you telling me that I will meditate here?¡± I asked as I looked at my surrounding. Cliche! A cave with a big stone? I bet he must have thought to let me meditate on the stone. ¡°Sit cross-legged on that stone.¡± He nodded. I was right! But I didn¡¯t say anything other that obeying his words. So, I sat down just like how he instructed me to do. ¡°Meditate like usual. You still have around eight hours before dawn. Please, don¡¯t lose your focus! Start!¡± He said suddenly. It was out of nowhere, but I did it. Closing my eyes, I meditated like how I always did it. ¡°Whatever happenster, don¡¯t lose your focus.¡± Siji reminded me. Somehow I found it really fishy. He must be hiding something. But, I only found the answer one hourter... Chapter 148 148 Eight Hours of Suffering (Jane¡¯s PoV) One hour passed and I started to feel something. My body started to feel like I was surrounded by intense fire. The fire didn¡¯t touch me, but the heat was enough to make me ufortable. I was thinking to stop my meditation and open my eyes, to see what was going on around me. But, I held back. I remembered what Siji told me. ¡°Whatever happens, don¡¯t lose focus,¡± He said. It was hard to distract my mind from the scorching heat but I forced myself to do that. It was not easy, but I persisted. Not to mention the temperature increased as time passed. Fortunately, I was a quick learner and strong-willed. Before long, even when I was supposed to feel my body was burning, I actually felt nothing. I managed to put my focus entirely in the flow of my spiritual power. I had heard about how ones¡¯ senses could be manipted by using strong suggestion. As long as the person had strong mind power, he/she would not feel the pain of walking on the path with broken sses, literally. There would be no wounds either. At that time, I forgot with the boiling hot I felt. Instead, there was something else that attracted me. After being able to get rid of the heat I was feeling, I could sense something from my spiritual power. I could only feel foreign feeling when I tried to feel my spiritual power before. I knew it was there, but I couldn¡¯t figure out the form. I couldn¡¯t exin it in detail for myck of knowledge about spiritual power. ..... However, after the heat dissipated, I could see something resembled white smokes in my consciousness. Was this my spiritual power? My consciousness which was usually a bit dark with four to five torches illuminating the area turned brighter. There was no need for torches anymore. Instead of a single room, I found my consciousness was more like a ser field, no, even bigger than that. I couldn¡¯t see the end of it. As far as my eyes could see, I could only identify that white smokes flowing around freely. What happened actually? At time like this, where is Siji? Before I could use my connection to call him, I felt a piercing pain in my left thigh, as if someone had just sliced a big piece of meat from my thigh. It was so painful that I forgot to breath for a while and I was pulled out from my consciousness by force. Cold sweat started to wet my clothes, but I didn¡¯t open my eyes. Siji¡¯s message echoed in my mind, to keep myposure and stay focus. The excruciating pain didn¡¯t dissipate as quickly as the burning sensation from before. It was even harder for me to focus on my meditation. Another sh came and I bit my lips to prevent myself from screaming out of pain. My whole body trembled badly and I almost lost myposure. Pain was radiating from my back where the second sh was and tears threatened to spill from the corner of my eyes. It hurts so bad! No matter what happens, don¡¯t lose my focus! I reminded myself. I took a deep breath before I pulled myself from the pain like I did before. Somehow, I managed to re-enter my consciousness again, but the pain didn¡¯t go away. What happened? The pain was still there but it was bearable now. I noticed the flow of the white smokes was slightly disturbed in several parts of my consciousness. I reached out to feel the agitated white smokes and found out that it was because of the pain I was feeling. The more I whined about the pain, the faster I surrendered to the pain, the worse would my spiritual power be. It would affect my ability, of course. But, who could endure such pain?! Even though my heart wasining so much, still I willed myself to endure the pain. There would be no more distraction. I couldn¡¯t distract myself, I could only endure it. It was hard. I spent hours to get used to the pain each time another sh came upon my body. The burning sensation didn¡¯t disappear either, the effect was something I couldn¡¯t exin. Just imagine yourself being surrounded by intense fire, the heat caresses your skin, and the temperature doesn¡¯t show any signs to drop. On top of that, someone is whipping your body with a whip with long and thin de being attached to the whip. Someone would asionally slice a bit of your meat and the slow and careful slicing action put you in agony. That was what happened to me, and I was forced to endure that. Did I ever think to give up? I did! But, I couldn¡¯t. Not because I remembered about what Siji told me, but more like I had no way to stop my force meditation. It couldn¡¯t be called meditation anymore! It was pure torture! Who in the world created that set of training?! But, the more Iined, the more I felt agitated, the harsher the torture would be. I had no other choice but to regte my own spiritual power and forcefully calm the agitated white smokes. I was so engrossed in soothing the spiritual power that I forgot which situation I was in. It was almost at the end of time being given to me by Siji that I realized the pain was nothing like before. Not only that, even with the pain attacking me, I could still focus on the main point; to appease the agitated flow of my spiritual power. My spiritual power moved faster and steadier than before. It was as if I identally opened up the tap from the source of my power and it was flooding my consciousness until I felt I was slightly bloated from the excessive amount of spiritual power. Is it possible for someone to die from excessive amount of spiritual power? But, how do I stop it? Don¡¯t be panic, don¡¯t be panic. I can handle it. I¡¯ll find a way until Sijie. I repeatedly said that, but Siji didn¡¯te. He came to find me after eight hours had passed and I could see the golden light of sun fell upon my tightly closed eyes. I thought I almost died! Even though I managed to find the way to surpress the erratic flowing of my own spiritual power, the process took some time and instead of pain, I felt I almost lost my calm. It was a good thing that I managed to survive. Siji brought me back to my house and I almost copsed the moment I felt the familiar surrounding enveloped my senses. I totally didn¡¯t care where I would crash on as long as I knew I was at home. My staggering feet couldn¡¯t hold me up any longer as I started to lose my consciousness due to fatigue. That was eight hours full of suffering for me. It was just eight hours, yet it could rival the other hellish training Siji gave to me and sat at the top spot as the most evil training Siji had given to me. Fortunately, I did gain much from thesest hours, otherwise... Siji would get a heavy punishment for making me endure that kind of pain. I did a good job enduring it and it took almost all my rationality to stay focus, but now that I was at home, I deserved to be slightly at ease, right? Before my body hit the floor, a pair of sturdy arms caught me and a familiar smell hit my senses. Well, it was a proof that I was really at home. With Siji and him guarding me, I could freely sleep to recover myself. Chapter 149 149 Home (Tom¡¯s PoV) My first n after greeting my mother and fulfilling my duty as a filial child to her was to find Jane. It was just too bad that she had moved out from the dormitory. She went back to her hometown based on Uncle Ben¡¯s information. He had contacted her after I called him that day, but after that, he had not contacted her anymore. He said, he had tried several times but his call wouldn¡¯t get through no matter what. His messages couldn¡¯t be sent. It was as if the number was never active. When we reached Indonesia, Uncle Ben had tried to call her again, but still no luck. Actually, I was a bit upset for my own stupidity for not asking him whether he had Jane¡¯s number or not. I was about to me him -yeah, human¡¯s nature -but I held back since he was my uncle. So, I could only me my own self. After that, I tried to contact her as well. But, the result was the same. Did something happen to her? I was worried that she might run into trouble and would be too ashamed to ask for help. I wish I could run into her arms soon but as a long lost son, my mother still wouldn¡¯t let me go too far. Speaking of my mother, she was so emotional that I was worried she would get a heart attack when she saw me enter the room with my uncle. She cried so hard as she hugged me tight. ¡°My son! My son! My son came back! He¡¯s alive! Thank God he¡¯s alive! Thank God!¡± She sobbed as she repeated those over and over again. She cried so hard, but there was no pain in her eyes anymore, only happiness and grattitude. I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t miss her. After all, she was the one who loved me unconditionally since I was a baby. She was the best mother in the world. In my past, present, and future, I would always love her. Just thinking of the pain she was feeling during my absence made my heart flinched in pain. After all I personally watched all the tears she shed for me every night for more than two years. Mom, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m back now. I will be more filial to you from now on. Don¡¯t worry. ..... But, can I go for a while to pick your future daughter-inw? I could only ask that question in my mind. Seeing the state my mother was in every day after she saw me safe and sound in her house every morning when she woke up, I didn¡¯t have the heart to part with her so soon. Wait for me, Jane. I need to convince your mother-inw to let me go and pick you up before I can meet you. Just for a little while. Just wait for me. I was still staying in my old room. My mother once asked me if I wanted to change room, but I politely refused. She said that there was once a college girl rent the room, and she kinda like the girl even though sometimes she would act a bit weird. She also told me that the early months the girl was there, she had a boyfriend but the boyfriend got married and died not long after the marriage. Maybe that was why the girl decided to move out. It looked like the story between Jane and Rizal did reach my mother¡¯s ears. Of course, no one knew the version of story that Jane, Sanji -unfortunately- and I knew. Even so, the fact that Rizal died made me a bit gloomy. After all, I knew the reason why he died. Poor Rizal! But yeah, I still used the same room. There were traces of her in my room even after it had been so long since thest time she upied this room. I remembered the night where I alwaysid beside her, watching her fall asleep before finally I entered her dream to tease her. Well, I couldn¡¯t remember the detail of my teasing, as well as the time when I made love to her for the first time on my bed, because of the stupid promise I made with that strong creature that used lust to enhance its power. But, at least I knew I did something to her and it was not only my imagination or dream. It had been a week since I returned here and I could see the stares those girls gave me whenever I came out of my room to the kitchen. I was wondering whether it was okay for me to stay since it was a girl dormitory. My mother convinced me that it was okay, that she believed me. But, did she believe those girls too? I was practically being stripped naked by their eyes whenever I came out from my room. Why did I feel like I was in dangerous area? I always checked on my clothes before I came out, worried that I might be wearing too revealing clothes and was deemed inappropriate by these girls. But, why did I still feel unsafe? Also, there was once during the night when all people had fallen asleep, my door was knocked softly. It woke me up, but before I could ask who was there, a soft voice of a girl came from the door. It was not a voice of ghost, I was sure about that. But, somehow it freaked me out even more than a ghost ying a prank on me that I didn¡¯t feel sleepy anymore. I checked on the clock and saw it was around one or two at night. The knock went on and the voice kept calling for me. I was a bit curious as to why she put herself at risk to knock on my door in the middle of the night, but I didn¡¯t want to go out and asked it directly. I didn¡¯t want to fall into some underhanded method, especially when I was practically saving myself for my one and only Jane. Therefore, I could only resort to one way out; to use my spirit to scout on some information outside. Using my power and ability for this kind of thing would surely make me sound so petty, but I didn¡¯t mind as long as I could avoid any ambigous interaction with other girls. Before long, I had been floating in front of my door and looked at the girl who was almost sticking herself in my door. Wearing a thin sleepwear under her loose sweater, who was she trying to seduce? I was not even sure if she wore anything under that short and thin sleepwear. After seeing her appearance, I was sure of one thing; this girl was a red g. Sure thing she was not a serial killer, but knocking on a healthy young man¡¯s room in the middle of the night and calling out with that kind of whisper, she must have had a naughty idea in her small brain. Leaving her alone, I went back and continued to sleep, pretending that I heard nothing. In the next morning, I saw her pouting at me but I acted as if I didn¡¯t understand as I greeted all of them like usual. Seriously, were girls these days so easy to seduce? If only my Jane were that easy to seduce, I was sure I would have been rolling in the sheet with her, probably not leaving the bedroom for several days. Ah, what was I thinking? I was at home, but this home was notplete without her. I needed to find a way to get her back! I thought so, but maybe our destiny was fated to be away from each other for a bit longer. Even though I was a bit upset, I couldn¡¯t do anything at all. The second test wasing! Chapter 150 150 So Close, Yet So Far (Tom¡¯s PoV) That night, I was brought back to the same house where all the elders and white-clothed men were sitting thest time. I guessed I passed the first trial and now I was ¡®invited¡¯ to follow the second one. I looked around and noticed that there was an additional chair on the right side of the big chair. Thest time I came here, there was only one chair on the left side. Since there are two chairs on the either side of the big chair, I thought that someone more important than Sir Ahmad would eventuallye. Would the King finally show himself? I couldn¡¯t wait! I was curious about the man who ruled this Satu Vige. The excitement to finally see the King filled my mind, but I tried so hard to keep my expression in check, not to show anything. The situation was still the same, where the elders closed their eyes and the white-clothed men stood like statues. After I made sure that they did looked the same, I finally noticed the additional soft cushion being put a meter away from me. Someone must have passed the first trial. Somehow, my mind reminded me of my encounter with the woman in grey hoodie. I had a strong feeling that the other person would her. Well, whoever it was, it didn¡¯t have anything to do with me. The trial was meant for individual test, knowing my rival would mean nothing to me. After all, I didn¡¯t even know her and where to find her if I wish to spy on her ability so that I could prepare myself. It¡¯s better to just leave it alone and try my best in this trial that I didn¡¯t sign up for. Ah, right. The woman seemed eager to be the General, it meant she knew about it before and probably had been practicing for a long time. I, on the other hand, was summoned here without my consent and too confused to realize what had happened until the first trial started. I had no other choice but to follow the trial. ..... Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t care whether I got selected for the position or not. I just couldn¡¯t give up halfway whenever I started something. I must give my best no matter what the oue was. So, even though I really didn¡¯t care about this General position, I was still obediently sitting here and waiting for the Supervisor toe. A minuteter, I heard sound of someone¡¯sing. ¡°Candidate Number 2, please, take a seat and wait for a while.¡± The voice of the man that led me here was heard. There was no response, but I could hear the light steps of this Candidate Number 2. I took a peek from the corner of my eyes and saw a tall woman sat cross-legged on the cushion beside me. Judging from her height, she was really the one who attacked me that night. But, her appearance really caught me off guard for a while. It¡¯s rude to stare, I reminded myself as I forced to turn my head around and fixed my sight ahead, wherever my eyes wouldnd as long as it¡¯s not on her. I was sure she was not from the same region as me. It was most probably that she came from the further east region. Her dreadlocks was tied up in a pony tail. Her eyes didn¡¯t show many expressions, but remained steady and cold. She was wearing a ck tank top and army trousers,plete with military boots. Her arms looked strong and even though I could only see a bit of her, I could see that she had a perfect body as a soldier. Was she in the army? That exined why she looked so tough. My judgement over Number 2 was soon over as the door from the furthest end was pulled open. There were three people came in this time. But, somehow I couldn¡¯t see the other two clearly. They looked more like shadows than humans. The only difference was I could see their feet touching the wooden floor, solid and not floating. But, based on the height of these people, I could guess that one was a girl and the other one was a man. Or, maybe I was wrong. The big cloak covered their figures perfectly, which reminded me... I wrongly guessed the gender of the person that night! Fine, let¡¯s just say these two were men. Oh, there was someone sitting in the big chair! Was that person the king? As usual, Sir Ahmad sat on the left chair. The other one upied the chair on the right. ¡°Let¡¯s begin!¡± Sir Ahmad said. The man who brought me here stood up. ¡°Congrattions for those who passed the first trial; Soul Endurance. The candidates are invited here to follow the second trial to test candidates¡¯ attitude and aptitude in battling enemies. Any battle strategies are weed to support your trial. Your performances will be supervised by Sir Ahmad Ismail, and two of our honorable guests; The Master and Adviser of the First Army. For further secrecy and objective assessment, we put on some enchantments that will not allow you to see the appearance of the Master and Adviser of First Army, and otherwise.¡± Ah, so they are Master and Adviser of First Army. I nodded inwardly. I thought he was the King of Satu Vige. ¡°The second trial is also conducted under the guidance of the Elders of Satu Vige. The rule is simple; after this you will be taken to the arena and each of you can use all your ability to stabilize the condition there. We will watch you closely and objectively. Any forms of cheating are not allowed and whoever does it will be disquilified from the trial in instant. Now, do any of you have any inquiries about the second trial?¡± The man looked at us. Based on what he was saying, it seemed like we were going to be sent into a ce where we needed to stabilize the situation there by using our own ability. I was curious where they would send us, though. I understood what he said, but why did I feel like I was going to be sent into a virtual ce like those in the RPG? Only, I was sure it was not all about fight since our main goal was to stabilize the situation, not killing people. ¡°Do we have a time limit?¡± The woman beside me asked. Her voice was the same with the one that night. Even though she sounded colder and calmer now, I was sure I didn¡¯t mistake her for anybody else. That was really her. ¡°Yes. You only have six to eight hours to finish the trial. After eight hours and you¡¯re still not sessful with your trial, you will be forced to return and it will be a disqualification. If both of you failed at the same time, we¡¯re going to hold another trial for you. But, if both of you are seed inpleting the trial, we will judge based on the points that we have prepared.¡± I frowned. Just six to eight hours? I hope it¡¯s enough. ¡°Master and Adviser of First Army, do you have anything to say?¡± The man looked at those two. The one in the middle raised her hand. Hm? Now that she had raised her hand, I could see the slim figure hiding behind the big cloak. So, Master of First Army was a woman. But, why do I feel like she was familiar? ¡°Do your best. I¡¯ll be waiting for the best General to stand beside me inmanding the First Army.¡± She said cooly. She didn¡¯t sound like a girl, instead she sounded like a mature woman. So charismatic, aloof, but reliable. My heart thumped as I heard her speaking. All of my focus was on her. It was strange, that kind of voice obviously belonged to the one who was used to lead masses, the charismatic leader like voice, but why did my heart thump faster when I heard her? No, no, no. Why would my heart respond to some unknown woman¡¯s voice? This is not right! I cursed myself inside as I tried to distract my mind from the echo of her voice. But, I couldn¡¯t help but to stare at her even though I couldn¡¯t see her clearly. The more I saw her, the more I found her simr to Jane. Based on my memory of Jane¡¯s body, the woman sitting in the main chair had ny nine percent simrity to Jane. But, her voice was different. Ah, maybe I missed her so much that I started to see her in other people¡¯s figure. There was no way the one in front of me was Jane. I must be hallucinating. I shook my head slightly. ¡°Candidate Number One, do you have any other questions?¡± I looked up and found out they had been staring at me. Maybe they saw my little antics and I couldn¡¯t help but feel embarrassed by my own stupidity. ¡°Ehem, no.¡± I said. ¡°I will definitely do my best.¡± I bowed my head a bit. ¡°Good. Now, we will send you to your appointed arena. Good luck!¡± With that sentence, I felt everything around me twisted and disappeared. I felt dizzy for all the changes, so I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, my surrounding had changed. Where am I? Chapter 151 151 Are You Going To Cook? (Tom¡¯s PoV) As far as I could see, I could only see trees, bushes, and mosses. The smell of damps woods and mosses mixed with the fresh air. My lungs ordered my nose to suck on the air as much as possible, filling them with the fresh air to the brim before they exhaled it and repeated the process for around three to four times more. This was awesome! My body felt invigorated and I thought I could walk for hours without feeling tired. Of course, that¡¯s only in mind since another important question popped in my mind. Where am I? If I¡¯m not mistaken, they asked me to stabilize the situation. But, what situation do I need to stabilize in a jungle? That ce was not even a forest, but really a jungle. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a lion popped out of nowhere. Probably an elephant, too, or a big snake capable of swallowing human. My body shivered involuntarily. Instead of waiting my doom here, I chose to pick a direction and walked towards it. I walked carefully while looking for a trail, the one that human would make. Damn, if it went on, my eight hours would end up with me being stuck in this jungle. Why did they send me here exactly? Also, I was curious where they sent the other one. Did she end up in the deep jungle like me as well? ..... I shook my head. Wherever they sent her, it was none of my business. Oh, I found one! My eyes widened in excitement as I happily walked towards the trail I found. After observing for a while, I chose to go to the right. Hopefully I could find a human settlement. It didn¡¯t take long for me to finally smell what I assumed to be human¡¯s cooking. The smell was good and I could feel my stomach growling. Wait. I stopped and stared at my own hands. I thought I was still in my spirit form. Now that I thought about it, I breathed like usual, touched everything like usual, and now my stomach even wanted me to feed it. Did those elders from Satu Vige bring my body over? What would happen if my mother went and didn¡¯t find me in my room? Just the thought of my brokenhearted mother made me uneasy. It seemed like I need to speed up the process so I could go back earlier. I hastened my steps and arrived at the... what the f*ck?! What happened here? I was stunned at the border of the small vige. I couldn¡¯t see anyone outside the houses. The road was abandoned as I could see some baskets were scattered as if the people were in hurry that they knocked down anything in their way. Some torches had not even been lighted yet, leaving some spots of the vige a bit darker than the other side. What scared them that made them abandoned everything? Did they see something? Since the sky had started to turn dark, I could only think so. There was no serious damage, no screaming, which meant there was no wild animal entered the vige. So, what made them run away? As I was still observing the situation, I noticed the window in the nearest house was opened slightly. Somebody must be peeking from inside because as soon as I focused my sight on it, the window was pulled shut again. Well, I wanted to say it was kind of rude, but I thought it was eptable since it was okay to guard against someone they didn¡¯t know. But still, I felt hurt a bit... Maybe I should be more active and approach them. Smile, Tom, smile, but not like a creepy stalker. I was just about to take my first step to that house when I heard a screaming in the far end of the road. Without thinking much, I ran towards the source of the scream and saw something scarier that Kuntnak. My eyes widened and my body froze. It was my first time seeing ¡®it¡¯ with my own eyes, how could I not freeze? The sight was really horrifying that I didn¡¯t know what to do. Was that the infamous Kuyang[1]? Rumors said that Kuyang would target on babies or pregnant women. My eyes shifted from the floating head and internal organs in front of me to the woman who looked paled from being scared to death. Her big belly proved that the rumors was true, that Kuyang was after pregnant women and babies. ¡°Save me! Save me, please!¡± The pregnant woman cried in desperation. The Kuyang only made a madugh as she advanced forward. Then, she hissed with her tongue licking her lips, as if she could imagine the taste of the pregnant woman. Truly disgusting! My brain worked faster to find anything that could be used against this thing. Relying on physical power alone would lead me to a total lose, I needed to think of something. What could I use to get rid of this evil thing? I couldn¡¯t see any broom sticks around, bamboo, nor pineapple. What option did I have? My eyes darted from one object to another, trying to find something that may be able to use against Kuyang. I noticed some dry sand was put in front of a house. Taking two handfull of it, I ran towards the Kuyang and threw it right at her. ¡°Gaahh!!¡± The Kuyang let out a shrill scream as it floated away, startled by my attack. Dry sand stuck on her organs and it made her flustered. Taking the chance, I ran towards the pregnantdy and pulled her to her feet. Fortunately, someone was kind enough to open their door to us. ¡°Sekar, Sekar, thank God you¡¯re okay!¡± An older woman inside the house rushed to the pregnantdy and hugged her while crying. ¡°Sister, I¡¯m scared!¡± She sobbed pitifully. ¡°It¡¯s okay, you¡¯re safe now. You¡¯re safe. It¡¯s okay.¡± The woman rubbed Sekar¡¯s arms and back, to warm her up as a proof that she was really safe. ¡°Thank you, Mister, for your help.¡± The man who was being silent the whole time thanked me. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing. I should do what I can do.¡± I smiled and shook my head. ¡°I guess you¡¯re not from around. What did you throw at the devil?¡± He asked. ¡°Ah, my name is Jaka. This is my wife, Arum, and her younger sister, Sekar. Sekar¡¯s husband had not returned from the woods and she said she was going to wait for a little bit. But that vile creature came to us faster than we expected.¡± The man named Jaka gritted his teeth. ¡°If only we knew what her weakness is, it will be easier to deal with her.¡± He added. ¡°How long does she terrorize your vige?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a month and we had lost several people because of her.¡± ¡°Had any of you conducted a thorough search for the vile creature?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t even know how to protect ourselves from her, let alone search for her.¡± Jaka frowned. His answer made me realized how bad the situation was. These people might not know what Kuyang was, how to identify them, and how to protect themselves from Kuyang. They lived in fear for a month and whoever that Kuyang was, it was highly possible that the origins was in the same vige. How could I tell them that I might know about it? ¡°Ah, I still haven¡¯t say my name. My name is Tom. Nice to meet you, Jaka.¡± I held out my hand and shook hands with Jaka. The way he frowned didn¡¯t escape my eyes. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°Ah no...¡± He shook his head as he smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just... your name is... unique. I haven¡¯t heard anyone with your name before.¡± I let out a dryugh after hearing what he said. Indeed, my name was a result of cultural crossing in my era. Ancient folks... hehe, what did they know? ¡°Well, it¡¯s because I came from far away.¡± I reasoned. ¡°Anyway, we need to do something about the one outside.¡± I hastily diverted his attention back to Kuyang outside. Right after I said that, the door was pounded hard from the outside. The two women screamed in fear as Jaka and I helped them to walk away from the door. In a haste, I pulled the nearby chairs and put them before the door. I didn¡¯t know if it would suffice, but at least we had tried. Well, to be honest, I doubted it could hang on longer time. After all, ancient houses were not as sturdy as our modern houses. Not to mention it was all made of wood. If it used woods like the house in Satu Vige, I was not worried since that kind of wood was strong. But, this house, even though it was pretty big, it looked like I could make a hole with my fist alone. Ah, it only made me even more worried. ¡°Do you have bamboo, limes, sand, salt, onions, garlic or broom sticks?¡± I asked anything that crossed my mind. If any of my friends were here, they might ask me whether I wanted to repel Kuyang or to cook. ¡°What do you need those for?¡± Jaka asked with a frown on his face. I noticed that he still had something to say so I cut in. ¡°They¡¯re not for cooking! Just get me some if you have them!¡± I urged. Seeing his expression rxed as if he had just misunderstood me, I nearly spat out a series of insults. He didn¡¯t really think that I was going to cook, did he? Chapter 152 152 The Most Wicked Mind (Tom¡¯s PoV) I watched as both of the women were hiding in the corner, and somehow there were two children with them. I guessed they were Arum¡¯s children. All of them were shaking badly while hiding their faces. The pound on the door was getting louder and louder, but Jaka had not returned. Where did he go to get those items? Actually, I was more than enough to take care of that Kuyang. I had the power as the Guardian of Death Volcano, dealing with the Kuyang should be easy. I didn¡¯t need those items to deal with it, but I remembered my task was to stabilize the situation. If I were to take care of it without teaching them how to do it by themselves, by the time I returned to Satu Vige, the same thing would happen to them over and over again. I needed to teach them how to defend themselves against Kuyang. The methods of dealing with them were varied based on the origins of people. Even the name was different in some provinces in Indonesia. Where I lived, Kuyang was called ¡®Pokpok¡¯ or ¡®Ponggo¡¯. My childhood was filled with the memory of my mother forbade me to y until dusk because she said Pokpok was going around to catch children and eat them. Well, it was true. At that time, people were scared to get out of home after dusk. Doors and windows were tightly closed and onions and garlics would be found in some spots in my house. My mother even prepared broomsticks near her. Luckily, the men were not useless. They all agreed to search for the culprit when she was out looking for victims. All men who had pregnant wife at home would stay at home and guard their wife, while the others would go out and search every house for the headless body. When they couldn¡¯t find the culprit in the houses, they searched among the woods, especially under banana trees. It took them three days to finally had a clue about who the Pokpok was. So, they watched her activity closely and secretly, observed any weird behaviour she might show during the day, and when the dusk came around, some men followed her. ..... Their suspicion became stronger when they saw her didn¡¯t head to her house, but to her small cottage in the middle of her family¡¯s garden, surrounded by many crop nts and vegetables. There were even a huge area of banana trees behind the cottage. The men hid themselves behind the castor trees that were arranged in neat position as hedgerow. They waited and waited, and finally a head with its inner organs flew out from the house. They clenched their fists as they waited until the head went far away. After that, they went inside the house. Indeed, there was a headless body inside. Anger and disgusts mixed inside their mind but they managed to control themselves. What they did made me speechless, though. If I had not known that the one they were doing it was Kuyang, Pokpok, or whatever she was called, that hadmitted crimes by killing some poor pregnant women out there, I would say these men had the most wicked mind ever. Cruel, ruthless, and sadistic were the right words to describe them. What did they do? They put sand, broken sses, limes¡¯ juices, and broomsticks inside the body. Then, they put the body inside a sack and brought it with them. The end result, every body could guess it. Anyway, to protect one¡¯s self against Kuyang, the basic ingredients were the same, but the method was probably a bit different. I had heard about how pregnant women would carry garlic and lime with them whenever they went out. Also, some of them would put onions and garlics in several spots in their houses. They said ghosts and Kuyangs hated the smell. Anything pungent would drive them away. Some said to put broomstick across the door before we went to sleep. Some said to put mirror in front of the door because Kuntnak and Kuyang didn¡¯t like to see their own faces in the mirror. There were many ghost stories that I had heard from my friends and people around my house when I was younger. But, regarding Kuyang, what the people in my vige did left an impression in me. Cruel, indeed, but towards human who practiced dark arts, I wouldn¡¯t feel pity for them. ¡°Here you are. I tried to gather anything I could find.¡± Jaka finally came with salt, garlics, and onions in his hands. ¡°Cut them.¡± I ordered him as I started to cut open the onions and garlics. The spicy smell invaded my senses and I put some near those women and children. After those onions and garlics were cut, I walked towards the door with salt in my hand and onions and garlics in my other hands. ¡°Open it.¡± I nodded towards the door. The pounding had stopped for a while, I guessed she had noticed the smell, huh? Jaka hesitated but under my gaze, he put away the chairs and opened the door. The Kuyang was still hovering in front of the house, looking disturbed and it was probably because of the smell of these items in my hands. It¡¯s time to put my practice into real work. I doubt I would miss my target; the floating Kuyang. Without any hesitation, I threw the salt in my hand towards the Kuyang. The shrill scream was a proof that I hit my target. Her organs must be covered by some salt now, how painful would that be? Not my concern, anyway. In a second, I threw the onions and garlics towards her and asical as it looked, I watched as she flew away quickly while screaming frighteningly. I sneered. Serve you right foring at me. As I turned around, I saw Jaka and the others were watching me in awe. I rubbed my nose awkwardly. ¡°Let¡¯s scatter some onions and garlics around the house.¡± I suggested. Jaka nodded and together we scattered the remaining onions and garlics in his hand inside and outside the house. Well, the smell might be a little torturous for those who weren¡¯t used to the smell, but better safe than sorry, right? Even Sekar who was pregnant said that she would endure the smell for tonight. I was invited to spend the night there, which I epted, but what about my eight hours? As much as I wanted to gather all the men to talk about how to take care of Kuyang issues, I noticed how scared they were toe out even after they heard the Kuyang had gone. Maybe they thought she woulde back, which was normal. I had no other choice but to wait until it was brighter to talk to the vigers. But, I didn¡¯t think eight hours was enough. I sighed as I closed my eyes. Whatever. I¡¯ve tried my best, if I were to be forced to return, then I would let them judge it for me. Eight hours were not enough! After a stressful night, I didn¡¯t even realize I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, the sun had shone brightly outside. I also heardmotion outside. What happened? Did the Kuyange backst night when I was asleep? I woke up and looked around. It was amazing I didn¡¯t forget where I was even when I had just woken up. Other than feeling a bit sleepy, I felt clear headed. It was just... I was still here? The eight hours had not finished yet? Since it wasn¡¯t over yet, I would continue with my n. After tidying up myself to be more presentable, I walked out of my room. The moment I stepped outside the room, themotion stopped as I saw several pairs of eyes were looking at me. Different emotions could be seen from their eyes; confusion, awe, suspicious, awareness. They might have assumption in their head. For now, let them assume all they want. I have urgent matters to do. ¡°Where can I go to wash my face?¡± I asked Jaka who was sitting in the middle. ¡°Over there.¡± He pointed to my left as he stood up and directly led me to their bathroom. It seemed like he finally had reason to escape from the situation inside. ¡°They have been waiting for you since early this morning.¡± Jaka sighed as I washed my face. But, how can I brush my teeth? Forget it. ¡°Just in time. I also want to talk to them about what happenedst night.¡± I looked at Jaka with a smile on my face. ¡°Now, if you excuse me, I want to pee.¡± I said in a whisper. ¡°Just do it. We¡¯re both men, what are you feeling shy for?¡± Jaka casually replied. It was not that I was feeling shy, but... well, if he didn¡¯t mind, let him be. Without saying anything anymore, I pulled out my ¡®tool¡¯ and emptied my dder. ¡°H-how is it possible?!¡± I heard Jaka stuttered. I turned my head towards him and saw him staring at my penis, wide eyes. This is exactly why I indirectly asked him to step away so I could take a pee. It was not that I wasn¡¯t feeling proud with mine, but I knew some people would feel inferior when theypared theirs to mine. And, I didn¡¯t want Jaka to feel so. He was a good man, after all. But, mine was above average for an Indonesian. Chapter 153 153 Run to Your Arms (Jane¡¯s PoV) My training with Siji went well. It was still exhausting, but somehow after I pushed myself past my limit, I found myself feeling a lot stronger and firmer than before. I gained so much from his training. I could see more than ghosts. Siji said that it had been my talent, which made me different from those who could see and interact with ghost, even with those who had sixth sense, who could predict future. My talent was entirely different but at the same time had the simrity with them. The simrity was we could see ghosts andmunicate with them. But the difference was my scope was a lot wider than them. Not to mention I had my own personal house in their dimension so yeah, it was a lot different between us. Ever since I could see them, my whole world suddenly became so full with them, but luckily I had Siji who taught me how to surpress my ability so that I could see humans more than them. After that intense meditation, I could see the flow of spiritual power in and around someone. I could even see them in different colors and forms. Different colors marked different levels and purity in someone¡¯s body. Mine was white. Not because I reflected it as white, but it was indeed white and it came in the forms of smokes. Siji said my form was the hardest to control since smokes could be disintegrated easily. But, if I could take a good control of it, it could be the easiest and the strongest form of attack. There were some who possessed water like spiritual power, thin string like, and even something like silk scarf form. Each form had its own weaknesses. Water form looked strong, and it was indeed strong, but one wrong step, the person could turn crazy or even died. Thin string like spiritual power looked fragile, but it could be the strongest form of spiritual power. With the right method, those thin strings could form a strong and sturdy rope and this form was most suitable for exorcist, actually. The silk scarf form looked sturdy but it had its limit in upgrading the power. Well, I couldn¡¯t be bothered with other forms of spiritual power. I just needed to learn to control my own spiritual power so that I could use it in defense and attack. My training with Siji was as harsh as always. However, even if I alwaysined every time the training was over, I would always look forward for the next training. It was because I had felt the benefits from the hellish training I got from Siji. After what happened that day, that ¡®thing¡¯ had note again. Not that I wanted it to do things to me again, but more like I wanted to know what or who was strong enough to make me lose my senses. I was curious. Also, Sanji had returned! Even though he was very much still the same with how he was before, I could see he became more mature -as if he wasn¡¯t mature enough- and somehow stronger. Physically he was still a bit thinner than he used to be, but he was a lot better than thest time I saw him. He came to see me on the day when I had just finished my first torture in meditation. He was just in time to catch me when I fell down because of fatigue. After that, he kept visiting me every day. ..... Siji said that he got enlightenment after his failure in the test, which was why he looked different. He didn¡¯t say anything about the test, so I didn¡¯t ask about it either. We talked like usual, practiced, and scouted for information about my father. I even made a n with him to visit the Hidden Kingdom in Northern Mountains. Of course, I didn¡¯t specify the time since Siji said that I needed to be powerful enough to go there. At least, I had shared my n with someone. Sanji agreed, of course. After his return, he always said yes to my request. I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but I wasn¡¯t blind or not sensitive. I did kept quiet, but it didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t know anything. I mentioned that Sanji had changed, right? He became more mature, yes. Siji said that he got enlightment, yes, I could see that in his spiritual power¡¯s flow. He got that thin string from, by the way. But, I noticed another change in him. It was true that he always treated me well ever since we knew each other. But, the feeling I got back then was different with how I felt now. Before, I felt like a spoiled little sister to him, but now I felt like I was the only one in his eyes, I was being enveloped in a bubble, safe and warm. I still got my freedom, but somehow he would always be there whenever I turned around. What was it? Did it have any rtion to how he kissed me that day? I shook my head as I watched Sanji disappeared in the dark road, heading back to his dorm. What should I do about Sanji, then? ¡°Mdy.¡± Siji called. ¡°Hm.¡± I didn¡¯t look up from where I was sitting. ¡°There is an invitation for you.¡± That caught my attention. ¡°What invitation?¡± I looked at him seriously. ¡°Invitation to attend the second trial for the General trial in Satu Vige.¡± I arched my eyebrows. ¡°Satu Vige? Where is it?¡± ¡°It is a hidden vige where the Guardian of Legacy resided in, somewhere in Southern area.¡± Siji tactfully answered. I knew he was still hiding something from me, but I was not in the mood for an interrogation. So, I let him be. ¡°Fine. When will we go?¡± ¡°Tonight at nine.¡± ¡°How do we get there?¡± I frowned a bit. ¡°Use the other dimension to open the door right towards the vige.¡± Siji replied casually. Right, I had not had time to try that for a long distance ce, but I guessed I could try it now. I shifted my eyes to the clock on my wall. It was almost nine o¡¯clock. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I stood up excitedly. Focusing my eyes and spiritual power, I could see the curtain that separated my world with Siji¡¯s. After a series of torture while meditating, I finally could use my power without closing my eyes, as if what I did was something usual for me. In a minute, I finally reached a ce I assumed as Satu Vige. I even appeared in the front gate of the vige and there were two people waiting there. ¡°We to Satu Vige, Master of First Army!¡± Both of them greeted me politely. ¡°Thank you.¡± I replied calmly. I needed to maintain a good image in front of them for now. ¡°We have prepared the ce. This way, please!¡± The man led us to a big house in the vige. Both Siji and I didn¡¯t say anything as we only followed them. Before we entered the room, a man came and introduced himself as Sir Ahmad Ismail, the right hand man of the current King in Satu Vige. I practically hid my expression since all I wanted to do was to exim over the King status. How could a vige not have a chief but a King instead? Anyway, we were requested to enter the room and had a seat. But, before that, Siji and I were asked to use a cloak to cover ourselves. Of course, I agreed. The cloak was so big it even covered my whole body. Where could I get this cloak, then? I felt a bit awkward when I was asked to sit in the middle seat. But, they politely exined to me that since the King that should have been here to assess the candidates were not here, they asked me to sit on that seat, instead. They also assured me that no one wouldin about itter. Under their persistance, I could only surrender and put myself in the middle of Sir Ahmad and Siji who was so silent beside me. Then, the trial began. Only after that, I noticed something was strange. I couldn¡¯t see the candidates clearly. Other than the number of candidates and the gender of both candidates, I couldn¡¯t see their faces and figure well. But then, all of my confusion disappeared as I heard that they put the enchantment to make us judge objectively. So, it was like that. Then, out of nowhere, we were asked to say one or two words. Siji didn¡¯t mention it to me! He even shook his head ahead of me and gestured that I had something to say. Damn him! Raising my hand up, I put on a calm facade. ¡°Do your best. I¡¯ll be waiting for the best General to stand beside me inmanding the First Army.¡± I said casually and in low tone. I hope I managed to impress them that the Master of First Army was not a kid and could be reliable. ¡°Yes.¡± The woman candidate replied in a firm voice, but the other one didn¡¯t say anything. I curiously looked at him. Even though it was not that clear, but I could still see his figure. Good figure. Not too muscr, lean but strong. He had the same body proportion as Siji¡¯s. I wonder if he was good looking, too. ¡°Candidate Number One, do you have any other questions?¡± ¡°Ehem, no.¡± He said, slowly. Maybe he was a bit embarassed since we caught him daydreaming. ¡°I will definitely do my best.¡± He added. I didn¡¯t know why but I found myself being fixed on him. Why do I feel the need to see him closer? Now that I see it, he looks oddly familiar. Even his voice felt familiar. That pair of arms looks inviting, as if I had been there before. Should I try to run into his arms to see how much I found it familiar and whether I had been there or not? Ah, what am I thinking? I nearly smacked my own forehead. Chapter 154 154 It¡¯s Not Bullying (Jane¡¯s PoV) I couldn¡¯t take another look on the man because they had disappeared in a sh. I guessed they had been sent to the ce where they were taking the test. Why did I feel like I was in a game? ept a mission and you would disappear and appear in the appointed location. Whoever designed the trial must be some crazy genius. How did they do that? I didn¡¯t even know where they were sent and here I had started to think about the beginning and the process of it. ¡°Mdy, we need to change ce.¡± Siji said to me in a low voice. I was startled, but I was getting good at hiding it. Standing up casually, I noticed Sir Ahmad was waiting for me before the door. ¡°Pri-... Mdy, after you.¡± He politely gestured towards the open door. ¡°Thank you, Sir Ahmad.¡± I nodded and walked passed him. ..... Since I didn¡¯t know where to go, I deliberately slowed down my steps. In no time, Sir Ahmad had walked slightly ahead of me and Siji one step behind me. Was this the feeling of being escourted? Not bad, he he... Sir Ahmad didn¡¯t ask anything regarding my position as Master of First Army -they were used to call it ¡®First Army¡¯ rather than ¡®White Army¡¯- but he would make sure I wasfortable. He was so friendly that I almost thought it didn¡¯t fit his outer image. That¡¯s why we couldn¡¯t judge someone from his/her cover. Sir Ahmad brought us to an underground room built near a very big tree -I had never seen a tree that big in my whole life. The time needed to reach the room from the surface itself took around five to seven minutes by following a long stairs with only one meter wide. After that, we reached a spacious room where all the elders from before had taken their own spots and started to meditate. I looked at them one by one, feeling slightly surprised that they could be this serious. But, didn¡¯t Siji say that this ce was where the Guardian of Legacy lived in? Where were they? Why couldn¡¯t I see any of those old men? ¡°Hey...¡± I turned my head slightly towards Siji. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say those old men lived here? Where are they?¡± ¡°They should be around. But, I don¡¯t know where exactly.¡± Siji replied. ¡°I bet they must be avoiding me on purpose.¡± My lips twitched as I thought about that possibility. After all, half of them refused to acknowledge me. Siji smiled but he didn¡¯t say anything. While we were conversing, we had arrived in a small and clear pond in the middle of the room. The water was rippling a bit, and despite how clear the water was, I couldn¡¯t see the bottom of it. I wondered what we were doing here. There were seven of us around the pond, including Siji, Sir Ahmad, and me. I didn¡¯t know the four men in front of me, but I had seen them in the same room as us just now. I was just about to ask when the four of them moved and stood in four opposite direction. One secondter, they knelt before the pond and put their right hand on the surface of the water. I didn¡¯t know what they did but slowly I could see some images in the water. There was no sound, just images and it was taken from the first person point of view. What did it mean? It meant I was watching through one¡¯s eyes. It also meant I didn¡¯t know whose point of view I was seeing. Until I saw the hands, looked strong and firm, moving downwards and... damn! Shouldn¡¯t there any censor feature in this magic pond? I felt my cheeks burnt hot and I practically avoided eye contact with anyone. Luckily it was just for a split second. But, that split second made me have another unforgettable memory in my life. By the way, what did the four men do until I could see this images? It was practically a non electric LCD projector! Okay, I admitted that I asked that question to myself to distract myself from the previous scene. It didn¡¯t help at all, though. After I finally calmed myself, I took a peek towards those people around me and found out they didn¡¯t feel disturbed even just a bit. I guessed it was something usual to them. But, another question popped in my mind. Had they told the candidates that they were going to monitor their every action and probably watched their private time? Wasn¡¯t it viting their privacy? Could these people be sued for abusing their authority and invading other people¡¯s privacy? ¡°Whatever we see here stays here. Out there, we know nothing, we watch nothing.¡± Siji whispered to me. He must have read what I had been thinking since I couldn¡¯t control my expression well because of the shock I received. The image in the pond changed and this time I saw bushes and trees moving so fast. No, to be precise, the second candidate was running so fast. Because of there was no sound, I could only guess the reason she was running. Seeing that she repeatedly looked behind, she must be being chased by something. But, I couldn¡¯t see anything chasing her. Why did she run away, then? Every time she turned her head around to check on her surroundings, I always focused my eyes to see what was she running away from. I couldn¡¯t see ghosts -even if there were ghosts, I doubted she would be afraid of them- or wild animals, or bad guys chasing after her. So, why did she run? Before I could see the answer, the image changed again and this time I saw many people were sitting in a group while listening to the first candidate. They all looked serious, this candidate number one had some serious ¡®befriended¡¯ skill. How many hours had passed that he managed to get that close with those people? What was the situation exactly? ¡°Mdy, if you¡¯re tired, you can take a rest there.¡± Siji pointed at a soft chair near the wall. ¡°Eight hours is not short. I¡¯ll wake you up before they finish so you can see their performances.¡± ¡°I got it. Let me watch for a little longer. I need to see what they are facing.¡± I replied without looking back at him. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji bowed again. So, I stood rooted on my ce, watching the images appeared in the pond. After almost an hour, I finally understood the problem they were facing. Candidate Number One was dealing with Kuyang. Woah, that¡¯s a whole new level of ghost since Kuyang was not entirely ghost. Kuyang was still a part of human. Candidate Number Two was also dealing with Kuyang. To be honest, I prefered to deal with Kuntnak, or Genderuwo, or even Shadows than to deal with Kuyang or Psik. Ghosts, in general, were transparent, but Kuyang was as solid as human. It was not hard to deal with Kuyang, but the image of it would never leave a good impression. Now, I felt a bit pity towards those two candidates. But, seeing the way they solved the problem, I was entertained. In the end, I didn¡¯t take a rest but instead pulled the chair towards the pond and sat on it while watching the test. Both of them were superb, but the first candidate finished much sooner that the second candidate. He only needed six hours and Number Two needed seven and a half. Still, they were awesome. After the second candidate disappeared from the images, I realized that they didn¡¯te back. They might be heading towards their house and prepared themselves for the uing day. I, on the other hand, was held behind since I needed to grade their performance. Troublesome! As much as I didn¡¯t want to do it, I must do it. They reasoned with me that the one who would be chosen after all would be my partner for life. That¡¯s why my grade was important for them. Well, if they put it that way, I just needed to pick the one that I found interesting, right? I didn¡¯t even know how I should grade them. If I were to be with one of them, might as well pick someone who entertained me the most, right? So, I made my decision. Apparently, they were a bit surprised with my choice. However, there¡¯s no further discussion as they discussed it among them, leaving me out. I guessed they didn¡¯t want to know why I chose that one, right? ¡°Hey, can I go back now?¡± I whispered to Siji who was still standing upright beside me. ¡°It should be okay. I¡¯ll let them know.¡± He said before he strode over to those people who were still discussing. I couldn¡¯t hear what they said but I guessed Siji had conveyed my words to them. After that, Sir Ahmad came to me with Siji and apologized for unintentionally neglecting me. He also said that the result would be out as soon as possible but the General wouldn¡¯t be able to meet me until he or she understood the meaning of the position and the army. It might take weeks, months, even years. Ah, the process was tooplicated. By the time my General came, I should make him or her do lots of job to make sure he or she had understood the armypletely. No, no, no. It¡¯s not bullying; it¡¯s called ¡®strenghten the bond between the army and the General¡¯. ¡°Mdy, I see the smirk.¡± Eh? Chapter 155 155 Visiting Old Friend (Tom¡¯s PoV) Knock, knock. I opened my eyes instantly as soon as I heard the door was knocked from outside. ¡°Tom? Are you awake?¡± It was my mother¡¯s voice. My eyes drifted to the clock and saw it was nine in the morning. Ah, my mother must have let me sleep more because I remembered I returned around four or five in the morning. I usually woke up at six or seven and I was worried my mother woulde into my room if I didn¡¯t wake up at the same time, but I guessed I worried for nothing. My mother only knocked at my door when it was nine because at that time all food had been served on the table. She didn¡¯t want me to eat cold food in the morning, that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t wake me up before it was all served. ¡°Yes.¡± I replied, my voice was a bit hoarse and I thought I might catch a cold. I went into my bathroom, cleaned up myself, and made myself presentable before I went down to the dinning room and had breakfast with my mother. As usual, those girls were eyeing me. Some of them had gone to campus, but most of them were still at dorm. Truly making me ufortable! But, what could I do? I couldn¡¯t just scold them, right? I couldn¡¯t just ask them to leave either. All I could do was to keep my distance with them as well as maintain a luke warm attitude in front of them. I didn¡¯t want to be overly friendly or too aloof to them. ..... If I were to be overly friendly to them, I was worried the issue of me being close with girls in my mother¡¯s would spread and reach Jane¡¯s ears. I had not seen her being jealous but it was because I didn¡¯t give her a chance to do so. I was still a ghost, Jane was my first girl I hooked up with when I was in the state. After all, she was the only one who could see me. So, I didn¡¯t give her chance to do so when I was still in ghost state, I was sure I wouldn¡¯t give her a chance now that I had my body back. Even though I didn¡¯t know how scary she would be if she was jealous, I still didn¡¯t want to risk it. If I were to act aloof to those girls, I was afraid it would hurt my mother¡¯s reputation. Therefore, let¡¯s y safe! I wouldn¡¯t act too friendly nor too detached to them. ¡°Tom, I want you to meet someone.¡± My mother started. It was rare for her to say something like this. Why did I have a bad feeling about this? ¡°Who?¡± I asked, hiding the uneasiness I felt inside. ¡°You see, do you remember Aunt Tari that came that day?¡± I could see my mother was trying to be calm, but she also hid her nervousness. Aunt Tari? ¡°The one who brought along her daughter?¡± I arched my eyebrows. I didn¡¯t like them. ¡°Yes, yes, that one.¡± My mother nodded. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± ¡°I know you¡¯ve just returned and I still want you here with me. But, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time for you to find a girlfriend? If it¡¯s okay for you, I can arrange it so that you¡¯ll be officially wedded before the end of this year.¡± My mother spoke softly and carefully but she couldn¡¯t even see me in my eyes. And that exined my bad feeling. ¡°Did she tell you that her daughter likes me?¡± ¡°Well, yes... But, if you don¡¯t like her, it¡¯s fine. I can tell her that you still want to apany me.¡± She said hastily. Saying that after you spilled the fact that you wanted me to get married soon? Mom, you¡¯re too obvious. ¡°I have a girlfriend.¡± I stated. ¡°I¡¯m going to pick her up soon and I¡¯ll introduce her to you. At that time, you¡¯re free to decide the date of our wedding. The sooner, the better. But, until I return with her by my side, I beg your permission to let me pursue her.¡± Well, that¡¯s abrupt, I know. But, I would rather make it clear than make my mother anxious and confused. That dumbfounded look on my mother made me slightly regret about telling her my n. But, she snapped back quickly as the light in her eyes changed into excitement. ¡°Who is she? Where did you meet her? Is she a good girl? Do you need my help to convince her to be your wife? Tell her not to be worried. I¡¯m not going to make her a ve in our house. I¡¯m not going to ask her to do house chores. I will be super good to her. Now, tell me, son, who is this girl?¡± Ah, she was beyond excited. She even made a bold statement about not going to ask my future wife to do any house chores. My mother really wanted a daughter-inw. But, how could I tell her that the girl was Jane? I needed to meet Jane to match our story so that my mother would not feel suspicious. ¡°Wait, is it your girlfriend from back then? What¡¯s her name again? Nita?¡± ¡°Mom, she¡¯s got married long ago.¡± I hurriedly said. ¡°Ah, she did? Then, what are you waiting for? When will be your turn?¡± She went back to nag me about my marriage. I could only sigh, what else? ¡°Should I go to pick her up tomorrow? But, I can¡¯t guarantee that she wants to follow me back soon.¡± ¡°Yes, just go tomorrow. The sooner, the better. Just go and win her family over so that you can bring her back here. After that, we can discuss it here first before I go to her family for the official proposal.¡± Ah, my mother was overly excited. It seemed like I really needed to bring Jane soon. Seeing my mother¡¯s excitement made me smile. It was good that she didn¡¯t need to be in constant worry. Now that I returned, it was normal for her to think about my future. Now that I had avoided the issue of me going into a blind date with her friend¡¯s daughter, I could finally breathe. If I didn¡¯t say the truth that I had a girlfriend, I didn¡¯t know how many girls would be shoved into my eyes by my mother. I really forgot she could be overly reacted and excited sometimes. ¡°Mom, I want to go out for a bit. I want to visit my old friend.¡±. ¡°Hm? Sure.¡± She nodded. With her permission, I finally went out for the first time since I arrived. The weather was a bit cloudy when I was out. Here and there I could see ¡®them¡¯. But, no one came close to the dorm. I guessed Jane had put something here to prevent them toe closer. I went to Uncle Ben¡¯s house. His house was not that far, actually. I could take a grab there, but I still wanted to enjoy my hometown. So, I walked to his house. It took nearly thirty minutes for me to reach his house, but I felt great. My purpose in visiting him was to borrow his motorcycle. However, as I went there, he said his son took his bike to visit his friends. So, he lent me his car, instead. So lucky. My next destination was to buy some flowers. With a small bouquet of flowers in the passenger seat, I went to the public cemetery where Rizal was buried. It was almost midday, but since it was cloudy, I didn¡¯t feel hot being in the middle of graves. Finding Rizal¡¯s grave was not hard. There were some wilted flowers on it, someone must havee to visit him. I stared at his grave for a while before I squated down and put my flowers before the gravestone with his name written on it. Poor young man. I didn¡¯t really know what happened to him but I did know that he married a wrong a woman, and being used by his family. May he rest in peace, I prayed. ¡°Hey, buddy.¡± I started. ¡°I¡¯m back. Thanks for taking care of Jane. It was short, but still you are the part of her life. It¡¯s a bit regretful that we can¡¯t meet, you know, alive and healthy. You thought I was dead, but here I am, sitting beside your grave, talking to your gravestone. Even though there were times where I hated you for taking Jane¡¯s attention, it didn¡¯t affect how you were one of my precious friends. You still are.¡± I stopped for a bit. I didn¡¯t know what else I should say to a gravestone. It sounded stupid, but I couldn¡¯t stop myself once I started. The one who was buried here was one of the men that I thought would be beside me when I got marriedter. ¡°Hope you¡¯re happy there, buddy.¡± I whispered softly, my hand rubbed the gravestone carefully. My eyes stung, I didn¡¯t think I could be this emotional visiting this man¡¯s grave. I was too engrossed in my one way conversation with Rizal that I failed to notice some steps were heading towards me and had stopped near me. Only after I heard someone called my name that I realized I was not alone. ¡°Tom?¡± I turned my head and saw some familiar faces standing behind me with widened eyes. Ah, I didn¡¯t expect to meet them here. Chapter 156 156 I Even Met A Beautiful Girl There (Tom¡¯s PoV) Standing behind me were Rama and my ex-girlfriend, Nita. Nita was holding a bouquet of flower in her hand while Rama was supporting her. With one look I could tell that she had just given birth. Her baby must be around six to eight months old now. Herplexion didn¡¯t look that good. Even after months of giving birth, she still looked pale and weak. Was there something wrong? ¡°It¡¯s really you.¡± Nita gasped as her hand holding the flower trembled. Rama¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good, as if he was hiding his guilty. ¡°Yeah.¡± I stood up. ¡°I¡¯m back. Congrattion for your wedding! Hope you have a happily ever after marriage life.¡± I said casually. I didn¡¯t want them to think that I came back to im what was mine. Heh, Nita was a good girl. She loved me and I loved her dearly. It¡¯s just, I didn¡¯t know how much she loved me. And I couldn¡¯t, didn¡¯t want to me them, really. After all, they heard that I was dead. Well, I did think I was dead as well. So, it was just normal for Nita to move on with her life. Rama, as my best friend, was suitable for her. He might have tried so hard to be there for Nita when the news about me being dead came out. So, yeah, he deserved it. Anyway, there was nothing for me to be angry about, so I really had no idea why they would put on that expression. ..... I sincerely hope for the best in your marriage life, hey! ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry...¡± Nita said. I almost couldn¡¯t hear it since her voice was like a whisper. ¡°No need to be sorry.¡± I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not anyone¡¯s fault. We¡¯re just not destined to be together. You guys look cool. How is your baby?¡± I tried to switch topic. Surely, talking about their newborn baby was a joyful thing, right? But, why did they look even gloomier? What¡¯s wrong? Tears came trickling down Nita¡¯s cheeks and suddenly she was sobbing. I was stunned, didn¡¯t understand what had happened. Did I say something wrong? My eyes shifted towards Rama, trying to get some information from him but he looked so sad -I hadn¡¯t seen him that sad before- even though he held it in. ¡°Um, what¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked carefully. It was amazing that Nita¡¯s tears didn¡¯t move me like I used to. Before, I would feel panic whenever she started crying without knowing what the reason was, but now I was just startled and thought that I might say something wrong. ¡°We lost him, Tom.¡± Rama said in a whisper, nearly choked in his own voice. I was speechless. No wonder their reaction was odd, turned out their long awaited baby... died. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I could only say that. ¡°My condolences.¡± Rama nodded as he hugged the weak figure in his arms. I watched as he coaxed her softly. He was really a good husband. ¡°Wee to visit our baby.¡± Rama said. ¡°Do you... want to meet him?¡± He asked carefully. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded. I followed them to a small grave. Nita knelt in front of the grave as she rubbed it tenderly. Her tears didn¡¯t seem to stop anytime soon. Rama left her alone as he stood beside me. ¡°She is the most shocked one when it happened. She couldn¡¯t stop ming herself for her carelessness. You see, she is supposed to be healthier now, but because of the grieve, she looked weak and pale. We visit our baby¡¯s grave almost every day since the day he died. Even when she doesn¡¯t feel well, she will stille here.¡± Rama said slowly. I frowned. ¡°What happened? If you don¡¯t mind to tell me, of course.¡± Rama sighed. He looked several years older than me now when actually we were of the same age. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you, but after I took her home. Do you want toe with me and have a coffee somewhere?¡± Rama looked at me. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded. This man was once my best friend. Because of the ident happened to me, I didn¡¯t know if we were still best friends or not. He might still feel guilty for marrying my ex, and I might feel awkward for all theplicated things between us. So, maybe we could start with a long talk. ¡°What are you doing here, then?¡± Rama asked. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m visiting Rizal.¡± I nodded to where Rizal¡¯s grave was. ¡°Poor boy.¡± Sadness clouded his face again. Even though Rizal was our junior, he was our favorite junior for his obedience and good manner. As time passed, he became one of us. ¡°Did you know his wife died after he died? She was pregnant, but her sadness over losing him made her had a heartattack.¡± Rama started. ¡°But, there¡¯s a rumor, saying that Rizal didn¡¯t die because of sickness. He died because he was used as a sacrifice. But something went wrong that not only Rizal was dead, but also his wife and their unborn child. Even Rizal¡¯s brothers got crippled. If that¡¯s the truth, then he was really a poor boy.¡± It was not even a minute since my frown disappeared, now it formed in my face again. At this rate, by the time I went out from this public cemetery, I would have many wrinkles on my face. Jane wouldugh at me for sure. But, it was hard not to crease my brows when I heard that twisted story. Sadly, I knew that the story was true. After all, I was there when Kunti told Jane that he didn¡¯t marry a human. Even though at that time the story was still unclear, but I could connect the dots here and there about his death. We chatted for a bit about small things while waiting for Nita to finish her conversation with her baby. The clouds were getting darker when we finally went out from the public cemetery. Because I drove by myself when I came and the couple also drove their own vehicle, Rama made sure to safe my phone number and asked me to wait for him in our usual cafe near the campus. So, I went there alone. The cafe owner was still the same despite his wrinkles started to be more apparent. He didn¡¯t seem surprised when I appeared there, seemed like he had heard about my return. ¡°Hello, youngd. You¡¯re still alive, huh? How was the other side?¡± He asked with a joking smile on his face. ¡°Alive and healthy.¡± I shrugged nonchntly. ¡°The other side? I didn¡¯t reach there. But I can tell you something.¡± I leaned towards the bar table. ¡°Where I went is an awesome ce. I even met a beautiful girl there.¡± I grinned. His old eyes sparked with excitement. ¡°Really?¡± His eyes widened. I nodded to express my seriousness. If only he knew the awesome ce was my own bedroom, hahaha... ¡°But, old man, don¡¯t go there yet.¡± ¡°Hahaha, I still want to live well, youngd. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Heughed. I smiled. ¡°Is the rooftop avable?¡± ¡°Yes. Just go. How about your order? Still the usual?¡± He asked. ¡°Nope. I¡¯ll take apple juice. But the food is still the same. Make it two. And a cup of ck coffee. Rama¡¯s gonna need it.¡± I waved my hand as I headed to where I usually sat with my friend; the rooftop. The ce didn¡¯t change much, save for the number of flower pots added in the rooftop. The paint had started to fade away, but our signs were still there. ¡°Tom was here.¡± I read the stupid sentence I wrote when I was still a college student. A smile crept in my face before I knew it, but it disappeared as soon as I felt something cold caressed my back. Even though the sky was dark and I was in an open space which meant it could be wind, but I could distinguish the difference. This cold was only belong to those who were either dead, or already a ghost. I didn¡¯t remember this ce had ghost. Ah right, I couldn¡¯t see them back then. ¡°Pretty boy, pretty boy,e here.¡± Sultry whisper was heard even before I turned my head. It was so enchanting that I was tempted to put a stupid on my face. But, I held back. This was wrong. Something was definitely off here. ¡°Pretty boy, wanna y with me?¡± The voice was even closer to me as a pair of cold hands carressing my shoulders. A transparent hand appeared from my back to my chest, rubbing it lightly with the cold air around it. Damn, this ghost! How dare she took advantage of me? I grabbed her wrist in annoyance, but I knew well my face didn¡¯t show any expression other than being stoic. I must show her that not everyone could be seduced. She might remember my face for someone that couldn¡¯t be messed up with. With a light tug, the ghost who was sticking to my back was pulled before me. She even let out a seductive shriek, how devoted was she to be a seductress? I was about to scold her, but all of my words got stuck in my throat as my eyes widened in surprised. Chapter 157 157 I¡¯ll Give It To You (Tom¡¯s PoV) Standing in front of me was someone I had been wishing I could meet soon. Her bright eyes were a bit watery, staring at me pitifully, creating an image of a weak and fragile woman. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a pony tail, swayed with the wind. She was still as beautiful as I remembered her to be. Ah, not right. How could Jane be here? How dare this thing used her appearance to seduce me! I seethed in rage. This resemnce really caught me off guard. Even though I had a strong mind after being forged in the first trial and after all I had been through, I was still swayed by this familiar presence. If it were any ordinary person standing here, that person might have sumbed to the seduction. Too bad it provoked the wrong person. Even if you took after her appearance, there was no way you could act like her to fool me. ¡°You¡¯re a thousand years too early to copy her.¡± I gritted my teeth as I frowned in anger. ¡°Hng...¡± ¡®She¡¯ let out a throaty moan as she still attempted to seduce me. Her hand pinched my sleeves slightly as her pitiful expression was still intact in her face. Fuck! Jane never made that kind of face only to seduce me! Never! Get that disgusting expression out of her face! I could feel my veins popped out in anger as I tried hard how to eradicate this lowly creature. My soft spot for Jane made me holding out from strangling its neck. I didn¡¯t want to see Jane¡¯s face contorted in pain as I tried to strangle herter. That¡¯s why, I needed to find another way to make it stop copying Jane¡¯s appearance. ¡°It¡¯s easy. Just close your eyes, you stupid human.¡± I heard Putra¡¯s voice in my mind. ¡°To be able to copy someone¡¯s appearance, it seems like this one has some abilities. Unfortunately, it hasn¡¯t mastered the technique yet when it met you. Well, I¡¯m waiting right here. It will be a good firewood for me.¡± His childish voice sounded so funny with thatmanding tone in it. ..... ¡°Since you want it, I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± I closed my eyes as my hand grabbed the copycat in front of me. Lifting my hand up, I could feel its struggle to be free from my clutches and its original voice leaked out. Its sharp scream felt like needles stabbing my eardrums but I didn¡¯t let it go. ¡°Let go! Let go! Why aren¡¯t you seduced? Why?¡± It screamed madly. ¡°You can never imitate her. Even a thousand years of practice won¡¯t be enough for you.¡± I replied coldly. ¡°Now, go.¡± The chain appeared around my wrist and glowed dangerously before it moved and entwined itself around the thing in my hand. I didn¡¯t have the chance to properly see its original form because I was closing my eyes the whole time and only opened it up after the screaming was gone and I could feel nothing in my hand. ¡°Heh, it¡¯s a good catch. This thing has killed several people before, so it has rich dark energy in her. Good job, human.¡± Putra¡¯s voice was heard again. He was praising me, but I felt like ¡°Ireng, talk to me in that tone again and you¡¯ll see what I¡¯ll do to you.¡± I warned him casually as I sat on the bench in the corner of the rooftop. ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ireng!¡± He shouted, clearly upset with how I called him. ¡°Be good and speak properly. Don¡¯t use that tone when you¡¯re speaking with me.¡± He was silent for a split second before I heard him speak again. ¡°Then, how should I do it?¡± He asked weakly. ¡°When someone gives you something good, or help you, you should say thank you. And when you want something, don¡¯t forget to say ¡®please¡¯. You are a good boy but you should really learn how to speak properly.¡± I said. ¡°This good boy is thousand years older than you!¡± He hissed. Well, that¡¯s true, but in my eyes, he was still a young boy. ¡°Talk properly ording to your age, then. If you can do it, I¡¯ll stop treating you like a kid.¡± I said casually. ¡°Now, be good and learn properly. I¡¯ll find time to visit you thereter.¡± ¡°Don¡¯te!¡± He shouted in irritation, but I didn¡¯t reply. I still had some matters to do right now. Well, how long would it take for Rama to get here? It should not be long since his house was not that far from this cafe. I took my phone out and tried to call him. My call was picked up after second ring, though. ¡°I¡¯m here. Ah, hi, Old Man. Is Tom here?¡± He said before I even asked. ¡°Usual ce.¡± I heard the old man below replied. ¡°Huh?¡± Rama sounded dumbfounded. ¡°Tom, are you in the rooftop?¡± He asked quickly. ¡°Yes. Where else?¡± I asked in confusion. ¡°Come down! Don¡¯t ask, juste down!¡± He sounded panic as he rushed over. I frowned, but I stood up and went to the stairs. I was about to head down when I saw him hastily climbed the stairs. ¡°Tom,e here!¡± He waved his hand as soon as he saw me. I walked down casually, didn¡¯t understand why this man looked so flustered. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked him. ¡°Ah, we haven¡¯t used the rooftop after you... you know. But, then rumors said that there¡¯s ghost there. I went there before and the atmosphere really changed. It was creepy and terrifying there. Even after the old man has tried to brighten it up with more flowers, the atmosphere is still gloomy and dark. The old man is the only person who can go there without losing his mind. He didn¡¯t tell you, did he?¡± Rama talked fast as if he was afraid I would interrupt him. ¡°He didn¡¯t.¡± I nodded. I guessed the rumor started because of the ghost just now. But, I had sent it away, so it should be fine. How could I say that to Rama? ¡°What ghost? There¡¯s nothing there.¡± The old man came with a tray filled with my order. ¡°Right. I was okay just now. Nothing haunted me.¡± I nodded sincerely. I guessed it was better than to exin about the whole thing to Rama. ¡°But...¡± Rama was about to argue back, but his voice died down in his throat. The old man walked passed us but the way he nced at me didn¡¯t escape my eyes. I knew it! The old man knew about the ghost. But how he survived the seduction, I didn¡¯t know. Unless he wanted to talk to me about it, I didn¡¯t want to ask him, too. We followed the old man back into the rooftop. My order was ced on the table as I sat back to where I was sitting before. Rama, on the other hand, was looking around full alert. The way he hesitantly walked while looking around almost made meugh. Since when did he start to be afraid of ghost? I remembered him being the brave one who didn¡¯t believe in ghost and always walked in the front whenever we entered a haunted ce. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here. You can rx.¡± I said to him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say we have a lot to talk about? Why don¡¯t you sit here and start talking?¡± I nodded at the bench in front of me while stirring my juice. ¡°Thanks, Old Man.¡± ¡°Call me when you need anything.¡± He said before he went back behind the counter downstairs. After he left, it was just the two of us. I was still stirring my apple juice, waiting for Rama to start talking. But, minutes passed and he had not uttered a word. He was just taking a sip of his ck coffee almost every ten seconds. ¡°So?¡± If this went on, I doubted he would start speaking soon. ¡°Ah well...¡± He lowered his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said, barely audible. ¡°For what?¡± I leaned back after taking a big sip of my juice. ¡°You know...¡± He shrugged. ¡°Rama, I¡¯ve told you before. It¡¯s okay. If anything, I¡¯m d that you both got married. There¡¯s nothing to be sorry about. You don¡¯t have to constantly feel sorry about it. I¡¯m fine.¡± I emphasized every word I told him, hoping that this time it would be engraved in his mind and heart that I was happy with the both of them. Rama looked up and met my eyes carefully. He must be feeling guilty all these years for taking my girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, as his wife. Well, he could feel so because he really took our friendship seriously, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t feel anything towards me after taking her as his wife. ¡°Say sorry about it once again and I¡¯llpletely disregard our friendship.¡± I red at him, warning him not to be foolish. He grinned. ¡°d you¡¯re back, buddy. You don¡¯t know how broken heart we were when we got the news.¡± He said, even though he was still feeling a bit reluctant, he had sessfully supressed it and decided to go with the flow. ¡°I thought I was dead, too. It was terrible.¡± I shook my head. I was telling the truth, but maybe Rama thought I was talking about what happened in that ship. ¡°Now, tell me, what happened to your son?¡± His smiled bitterly after I asked that question. ¡°Well, he fell down... from the stairs.¡± His voice trailed off. ¡°Nita was watching over him in the living room in the second floor but because she rarely had a good sleep at night, she fell asleep just for mere seconds. Our son was only ten months, that¡¯s the time where baby was the cutest, they started to babble and imitate us. Because our room was in the second floor, I made sure that everything was safe for both Nita and our son. I even installed a safety gate on top of the stairs to prevent him from falling from the stairs, but somehow... he still did!¡± I watched the aggrieve expression on my bestfriend¡¯s face. He said Nita med herself, but I knew he med himself, too. There must be something more about it. ¡°Are you sure the safety gate is working?¡± I asked carefully. ¡°I installed the permanent one, arge and wide baby gate. Only adults can open it. You cane to our house to see it for yourself.¡± Rama answered hastily as he took a sip of his coffee. ¡°Nita said that she had made sure the baby gate was closed before sheid down on the mat, watching our son ying. She said, she was dreaming. She saw someone opened the baby gate, and yed with our son. Then she woke up because she heard our son¡¯s cry so loud, but then she heard nothing. But...¡± He couldn¡¯t continue. His jaw hardened as he tried so hard to control his emotion. His face contorted in agony. The image of losing his son in a horrible way seemed to haunt his mind. ¡°Where were you?¡± ¡°I was working. My mother called me to inform what happened and I rushed to the hospital. But, my son had gone.¡± He clenched his fist tightly that I saw his knuckles turned white. He was not there to see what had happened to his son, but the image in his mind tortured him. What about Nita? No wonder she looked that pale and weak. ¡°Nita cries every day, ming herself. It¡¯s hard for her to sleep at night. She always has a nightmare and wakes up feeling agitated. I feel sorry for her. She always says that she saw someone opened the gate and led our son to the stairs. Someone must have targeted our son. She¡¯s starting to use some people in our house. There¡¯s something wrong with her. I think I should take her to see a psychologist.¡± Ah, their problem seemedplicated. Any mothers would lose their mind when their children died. Put my mother as an example. I was already so big when she got the news that I was dead, but even after two years, she had not forgotten about me. What about Nita who had just got the taste of being a mother for several months? I couldn¡¯t imagine the pain she was feeling. But, why did I feel this was not as simple as it looked like? Throwing a piece of toast into my mouth, I sharpened my eyes to see the man in front of me carefully. If I saw any dark mist hiding in him, I would make sure that whoever sent these shadows would rot in the hottest magma in Death Volcano. Ah, they would not rot in magma. Before long, they would end up as firewood for Putra Semesta. Chapter 158 158 The Tears of A Mother (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) Rama noticed the way I looked at him. He must have found that I acted a bit weird. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡± I blinked my eyes and returned to my usual state. Chewing a piece of potato fries in my mouth, I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to look if there¡¯s something bad sticking to you.¡± ¡°What bad? What is it? Can¡¯t you speak clearly?¡± Rama looked at me in horror. ¡°Have you ever heard that those who experienced near death could see those who don¡¯t belong to this world? Ghost, I mean.¡± I asked casually, but with a hint of seriousness in my voice. Rama didn¡¯t reply but he looked as if he was ready to listen to whatever I was about to tell him. ¡°I can see them now.¡± Rama was stunned. He only looked surprised, but he didn¡¯t deny it. I guessed he really changed from Rama back then who was so brave and didn¡¯t believe in ghost, to someone who even felt scared at the mentioning of ghost. There must be something that changed his mind. Was it because of his son¡¯s death? ¡°I believe you.¡± He said as soon as the surprised expression was erased from his face. I arched my eyebrows. That fast? Even though I knew he must have some beliefs about ghost, I didn¡¯t think he would easily believe my words. ¡°Do you want toe to my house?¡± He asked carefully. He might not say it out loud, that he wanted me to see if there¡¯s something wrong with his house, but I knew what he wanted. ..... So, was I ying as an exorcist? I had never portrayed myself as an exorcist or ghostbuster before and I had not thought to do so in the future. This ability to see ghost and to fight them were not something that I wanted to use as future upation. But, I wouldn¡¯t refuse this invitation. The sooner I cleared up my mind about the thing that tickled my instinct, the better and the faster I went home to pack up. ¡°If it¡¯s okay with you.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Why would it be not okay?¡± He smiled. ¡°Come on, my mother will be happy to see you, too. You know she is always favor you more than me as her own child.¡± Iughed. Indeed, his mother was sweet. Rama used toin that I was her own biological child and not him, which earned him a loud smack in his back. It was such a good day. After paying for our food and saying goodbye to the owner, we left for Rama¡¯s house. Both Rama and Nita came from a well-off family. Combined with how the both of them also had a well-paid job, I didn¡¯t think they would live poorly. Seeing their house I was sure that these two lived their life pretty well. Their house was a pretty big and beautiful. It seemed that Rama¡¯s mother lived with them ever since his father passed away; it happened before I got into that ident. Knowing her mother, I was sure she was an understandingdy who would not interfere with her son¡¯s household. She might even like Nita and treat her like her own daughter. She lived in the first floor of their house since it would be tiring for her to walk up and down the stairs. True to what Rama said, his mother weed me with a big hug. She even cried and repeatedly expressed her grattiture towards God that I was alive. She was practically like my mother when she knew I was alive. She even checked if I was hurt somewhere, but after she saw my healthy body, her tears turned intough. ¡°Seeing you this robust and handsome, I can finally feel relieved. I should stop crying, lest it spoils this happy moment. Come,e,e inside.¡± Rama¡¯s mother pulled me along with her. ¡°Have you eaten? How about having lunch here?¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ve eaten, aunty, thank you.¡± I refused her invitation politely. ¡°Well, it¡¯s too bad, since I made some sour broth and crispy fried tempeh with chili sauce, I remember them to be your favorite.¡± Ah, I was nearly salivating. Only at the mention of those food could make me almost drooling. Those were some really easy to make food, traditional ones, but I liked them so much I could eat them every day. The fresh and sour sensation of the broth,bined with the soft texture of fish, could make me forget about my surroundings. The crispy and salty taste of tempeh and the spiciness of the chili sauce wouldplete the sensation in my tongue. Ah, it was a torture to refuse that kind of offer, but I had just finished eating. My inner-self was crying at the thought of refusing that delicacies. ¡°Aunty still remembers me so well. Thank you so much, but maybe next time. I hope you forgive me this time.¡± I apologized to her sincerely. ¡°It¡¯s okay, child. There will always be another time. Just make sure to visit me again, okay? That time, I¡¯ll cook for you again. You came back safe and sound is enough for me.¡± She hugged me again. ¡°Mom, I¡¯ll take him upstairs.¡± Rama said quickly, saving me the efforts to console his mother again. ¡°Sure. Go. Nita might have just fallen asleep. You should check on her, too. She had nightmare just now.¡± Rama nodded at me, gestured at me to follow him upstairs, so I followed him. Before we got to the second floor, I had seen the baby safety gate he told me before. It wasrge and wide like what he said. When I got to the second floor, I looked around, trying to find any trace of inhuman beings in this room, but I found nothing. ¡°I¡¯ll check on Nita first. Make yourself at home.¡± Rama said. I nodded and stood before the safety gate. I inspected the lock and found out that indeed, only adult could open it. There was no way a baby less than a year could open the lock. From the top of the stairs, I sat down and looked down. I couldn¡¯t imagine how a baby could roll down from here to... there! My eyes widened as I saw a trace of dark mist disappeared in the wall, right at the corner of the stairs. It was so fast, but I could see it. What was it? As I was still pondering about what I had just seen, I heard Nita screamed from one of the bedrooms. I stood up and walked towards the source of her scream, sinister aura spread quickly, creating a suffocating atmosphereced with intense fear. Whatever it was inside the room, it was not an ordinary shadow. It was an evil thing! ¡°She¡¯s here! She¡¯s here! She wants to kill me! She wants to kill me!¡± Nita screamed histerically. ¡°Nita, baby, calm down. There¡¯s no one here. Calm down!¡± Rama hugged her tight, preventing her from trashing so much and hurt herself in the process. This was what I saw when I got into the room. ¡°She killed my baby! She killed my son! Now she wants to kill me!¡± Nita cried but her voiceced with anger and fear. From what I saw, she was close to losing her mind. ¡°No one is going to kill you. You¡¯re just dreaming, baby. It¡¯s just a nightmare.¡± Rama coaxed her. How I wish I could say the same. As soon as I reached the door, my eyes had been staring at one spot; the corner of the room, in front of the wardrobe. The thing floating there was a woman, I was sure of that. The sinister aura came from her. Her face didn¡¯t have any disgusting and horrendous wounds, instead she looked fine. But, her features made her looked unbelievably frightening. Her eyes were formed almost into a slit, glowing red with intense hatred. Her mouth was riddiculously wide with sinister smile stered on her face. Her hands, ah no, they were ws, not hands anymore. They looked thin and long with sharp nails on each fingers. She was covered with ck mist that I almost thought that she was ck as well. Not trying to be racist, but when someone died with evil heart, his/her soul would turn ck, as if he/she was being painted with ck soots. Judging from how thick the ck mist around her and how bad the darkness spread in her body, I could assume that this person was beyond help. What was it that made her so cruel? It wasn¡¯t long until she noticed me staring at her. Turning her head towards me, she sneered with her eyes full with malicious intent. ¡°Human... you can... see me...¡± Her hoarse and crooked voice travelled to my ears, but she stayed at her ce. It would be trouble if Rama and Nita heard me talking. I expanded my shield and hid behind the wall as my spirit floated out to take my ce. ¡°Of course I can see you.¡± She looked surprised when I came out in my spirit form. But then she let out her creepy chuckled. ¡°You got some skills in you, not bad.¡± She sneered. She was capable of speaking fluently, why did she have to speak frighteningly just now? ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked, ignoring herment. ¡°Why? You want to save this girl?¡± She asked unhappily as she approached me. ¡°Did you kill her son?¡± I asked again, not feeling intimidated even just for a bit even after she tried to overwhelm me with her dark aura. ¡°YES! Hahahahaha...¡± Her eyes widened in satisfaction as she answered my question. Then, sheughed like a maniac, as if killing the baby was an achievement for her. I frowned as I watched her stillughing in front of me, clutching her stomach as if it would still feel hurt afterughing so hard. But, herugh changed abruptly to a weeping sound. Streaks of tears came streaming down her face, making her looked even more terrifying. I could sense her chaotic emotion from her aura, madness and deep sorrow seemed tobine into one, but why? Chapter 159 159 The Tears of A Mother (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) I was still watching her, ignoring the couple who was still hugging each other the bed nearby, when she turned her head towards me sharply. Her red eyes bulged out as she red at me. Her face was still wet from her tears, but it only made her appearance even more ghastly. Her lips stiffened and growl was heard from her throat. The dark mist around her thickened, creating an even more eerie atmosphere. There was no doubt the two nearby were affected, especially Nita who was obviously not in a good condition. Her mental was still shaky, a perfect condition for a human to get possessed. But no, she was not possessed entirely since she became linked to the ghost because of the dark mist. I was startled seeing the ghost was standing upright with her chin up as she looked down on me. The same happened to Nita who got out from Rama¡¯s embrace and stood on the bed. She got the same posture as the ghost as she red at her husband. ¡°Nita? Baby? What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Rama asked carefully, a bit surprised with his wife¡¯s behavior. He was probably feeling a bit scared, too. I mean, who wouldn¡¯t be scared when someone was ring at you with all her heart? I went back to my body and got into the room. ¡°You had better gone out now.¡± I advised him without breaking eye contact with the ghost. ¡°But...¡± Rama was about to protest, but I didn¡¯t let him. ¡°Just go! Get some help! Don¡¯t let her approach the living room!¡± I shouted at him. ¡°Trust me.¡± Rama grunted in distress but he obeyed what I said. Actually, it was just an excuse. I didn¡¯t want him to see me fighting with invisible force. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t fight Nita. I had my chain to restrain her movement and another chain to seal the room so that the ghost couldn¡¯t escape, but the main issue was the ghost herself. ..... How do I deal with her when I don¡¯t possess my chain? ¡°Be careful with her, human. She is dangerous. I smell something rotten from her. Big chance that she sold her soul to the devil to acquire this disgusting ability.¡± Putra¡¯s voice travelled to my ears. Even his way of talking which was usually mischievous and overbearing sounded serious. This ghost was a real deal. She was even more terrifying with those in the air ne. I wonder why, though. ¡°I know.¡± I said between my gritted teeth. My body went full alert, every movement of the ghost made me flinched. The pressure was strong, but I could stand it. I guessed I could say it was all thanks to the first trial. My shield was getting stronger after my encounter with Putra Semesta, but somehow I felt that I was stillcking in some ways. I knew how to fight the ghost, after all I managed to capture all the shadows in the airne before. Compare to this ghost in front of me, there was a huge difference of number. How could I take care of more than a dozen shadows but feel helpless against one ghost? Of course, the difference was I could freely capture those shadows before since I was in my spirit form, but here I needed to make sure that Nita would be left unharmed. I could use my chain to restrain her and the other chain to seal the ce so that nothing coulde and join in the fight. But, how could I fight her without my chain? I knew how to fight them without weapons, but to do that, I needed to be in my spirit form to better use my spiritual power. But, to be in my spirit form, I needed to make sure it was safe for me. What if Rama came back and saw me unmoving? He might think something had happened to me and making them even more panic was thest thing I wanted to do. Not to mention all the troublesome exnation I needed to give to them. On the other hand, fighting with my physical form was not entirely useless. If only I could use my spiritual power better, including fusing it with my physical form, I didn¡¯t have to worry about anything. To be frank, I was bad at it. Was there any easy way to master it? Without my chains to back me up and without the ability to use my spiritual power freely, what else could I do? But, it didn¡¯t mean I could only sit back and do nothing. Why didn¡¯t I use the chain to capture her instead of sealing the room? I would say, nice idea, but no. I needed to know why this woman haunted Nita and Rama. For that, I needed to lower her guard or defeat her. After that, I could enter her mind or coax her to let me see her past. On the other hand, her dark skill she obtained from selling her soul to devil was pretty powerful. If I didn¡¯t seal the room, our fight would attract other ghosts here and it would create a worse situation. Therefore, I opted for sealing the room and dealing with one ghost instead of directly using the chain to eradicate more of them. Well, I knew the basic of fighting ghosts since I had done it so much when I was still inma, let¡¯s just do it and pray that I could somehow do it well with my physical body. It didn¡¯t have to be perfect, it only needed to be useful. What else? I needed a good strategy, but what strategy could be used in this sudden situation? ¡°Hey, you killed her son, but why are you crying?¡± I asked, tried to distract her attention. She sneered. ¡°An innocent baby was harmed, what kind of creature am I not to cry over this?¡± I was stunned. Did she really just say that? ¡°You¡¯re the one who harmed him! Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a bit conceited for you to cry for him?¡± ¡°SHUT UP!¡± She roared, gale of wind created a havoc in the bedroom. Whenever she talked, Nita would start talking as well. It was as if they were one being. But, because she was restrained by my chain, she couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t say the same towards the ghost, though. With a sharp scream she pounced on me. Her ws were extended towards my neck and her eyes glowed red. I put on my shield as I tried to focus my spiritual power on my hands. As her ws bounced back from my shield, I reached out and tried to grab her arm. Unfortunately my hand went through her as if she was just a smoke. There went my first attempt. It seemed like I needed to put more spiritual power into it. But, it went through again on my second attempt. Scorn appeared on her already sinister face as she realized I couldn¡¯t touch her. Damn, she was mocking me! The most infuriating thing was I couldn¡¯t say anything since I really couldn¡¯t touch her. How much spiritual power did I need to put into my hands so that I could grab her? ¡°No human can prevent me to kill this woman if I want to. Not even you! Foolish human! Only with that tiny bit of power you think you can subdue me? Not even in your dream!¡± She screamed tedly. Her face showed sinister expression but she sounded happy when she reprimanded me, I must say she was definitely crazy even when she was a human before. Her attack grew faster and more frequent. If I had not had my shield with me, I would have been torn into pieces by her ws. Not to mention the dark mist emitted from her fingers looked suspicious. ¡°Tell me, is there a reason for you to kill her?¡± I tried to talk to her again, to slow down her movement. ¡°Reason? Hah, of course!¡± She sneered as her dark mist started to envelop my body. Well, not good. I watched my surroundings as it started to turn dark. I had never heard about a ghost with this ability, not even shadows. What kind of ability did she get in rece of her soul? ¡°Young man, if only you didn¡¯t interfere, I would have spared your life. But now, you can only be the part of my power. You¡¯re running out of your spiritual power, right? Your shield won¡¯t be able to hold up for long.¡± She said. She was right, but I didn¡¯t want to say it out loud. The lights in the room flickered and died. I was lucky since it was still bright outside, but still her dark mist covered almost all of the room. If this went on, I was sure I would only be her part of power. I didn¡¯t want that, of course. But, I didn¡¯t think I could summon any more spiritual power. Even my shield started to run out of juice after epting her attack one after another. It was proof that she was strong. Maybe I should take a gamble. Since my shield was formed from my spiritual power, too, I might be able to grab her if I used all the spiritual power in my shield towards my hands. But, the risk was too great. What if she decided to attack me? Without my shield, I was sure I wouldn¡¯t escape unscathed. But, sometimes we needed to sacrifice something in order to gain for the best result. As long as I could dodge her attack and minimize the impact of her attack, I wouldn¡¯t die. I might get some scratches but I wouldn¡¯t die. This was my only chance, I needed to grab her and entered her mind. I had made up my mind. This time, I didn¡¯t use my shield. Instead, the power I usually used for my shield was transfered to my hands. I could feel the difference and after making sure that it was the best I could do, I started to make my way towards the woman. I was still surrounded by her dark mist and it almost made me unable to see even my own hands, but I could still feel where the sinister aura was the thickest. I could still see her glowing eyes. I knew where my target was. Without wasting my time, I charged forward. As I got closer to her, I could feel prickling sensation as if I was being pierced by super thin needles all over my body. At first it felt itchy, but then the needles turned bigger as if wanting to make holes in my body. It was painful, and it grew even more as I got closer and closer to her. But, this was my only chance! Chapter 160 160 The Tears of A Mother (3) (Tom¡¯s PoV) Waves of dark mist attacked me, made me gritted my teeth hard. Why did I feel I was only moving in the same spot? There must be something wrong with it. ¡°Stupid human, you¡¯re trapped in her halucination! Her dark mist can make you halucinate and trap you inside!¡± It was Putra¡¯s voice, scolding me. ¡°I thought you¡¯re so brave when you decided to pull down your shield. Turns out you¡¯re just so stupid!¡± ¡°So, the pain I¡¯m feeling is halucination, too?¡± I asked. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s... real.¡± His previous despise disappeared in instant along with his voice. I snorted. I didn¡¯t have to argue with him. I needed to break out from this illusion as soon as possible. Another batch of needles were being pierced into my skin and I gasped in pain. No, these were not needles anymore. These were rods of iron with sharp tip. The pain attacked me in waves after waves. I almost knelt out of pain, but I held back. Even though the pain was real, I didn¡¯t smell or feel blood on my skin. It could only mean that the one that was under attack was my soul, not my physical body. I needed toe out from this illusion so that I could deal with whatever that hurt me. But, how? Using pain to make me out from this illusion was clearly impossible since I was being inflicted with pain all this while, but there was no sign of me to be able to break out from this halucination. I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down. There must be someone who could pull me back and help me. But, who? ..... Ah, quit thinking that somebody was going to be there to help your *as! Just find a way to end this soon! ¡°Stupid human.¡± I heard Putra was insulting me again. ¡°Ireng, make yourself useful. Come on!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me Ireng!¡± He shouted. ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t call me stupid either. Now,e and help me.¡± ¡°As the Guardian of Death Volcano, you¡¯re certainly stupid. How could you think that you¡¯re spiritual power is limited to that amount only?¡± ¡°My dearest Putra Semesta, can you speak in one go? I don¡¯t think I can hold on much longer.¡± The pain was too much! ¡°Focus! You have Death Volcano as your source of power! You are the Guardian of Death Volcano!¡± For the first time, I heard Putra¡¯s voice so serious and powerful. He was right. I had never thought about the benefits as the Guardian of Death Volcano ever since I came out that day. I thought my only duty was to take care of that brat, but I forgot that even the chains had chosen me as the Guardian, and I couldmand the chains. It could only mean one thing, now that I thought about it. I couldmand the whole Death Volcano if I wanted to! As I thought of it, my body felt light and slowly... trace of fire appeared in my eyes, burning through the dark mist that had been enveloping me. I couldn¡¯t summon any spiritual power before, but now, I could feel my body was flooded with spiritual power in endless stream. I smirked. The fire made a path for me, lighting up towards the ghost who was shocked to see the change in me. This time, I made sure it was not halucination as I clearly saw the distance. I pounced on her with my whole body exuded of spiritual power. I could feel no pain and when my hand grabbed her foot, I couldn¡¯t hold the smirk on my face. ¡°Got you. Try to run away? Heh...¡± I snorted as I pulled her down hard. ¡°How could you!¡± She screamed as her dark misty body was thrown towards the floor. Since the room was sealed in whole direction, she couldn¡¯t pass through the floor and ended up like a ragged sack on the floor. I didn¡¯t bother to reply to her usation. The fire followed my wish as it trapped her inside in a circle. The ghost seemed to underestimate the fire, but when she realized she couldn¡¯t get through, panic started to overwhelm her. Even the dark mist that had been controlling Nita was cut by the fire which made Nita fainted. ¡°No! No! No! I don¡¯t want to end here! I must make them suffer! I must make them suffer!¡± She screamed hysterically. I ignored her and walked towards Nita. After making sure she was okay, I pulled out the residue of dark mist that tried to stick in her and burned it in my hand. To be honest, if I were not too upied with the whole situation, I might still admire my new found found power and thought that all of it so cool. Who wouldn¡¯t? I was like the one in the Fantastic Four who could control fire, how cool was it? But, all I thought of was to finish this off quickly. After taking care of Nita, I retracted my chain back and used it on the ghost. Only after the ghost was tied up, I could finally breathe. The dark mist started to dissipate, too, leaving only the warm glow ofmps in the room. I called back the fire and approached the ghost who was still wailing on the floor, saying that ¡®they must suffer¡¯ and ¡®I¡¯m gonna kill them¡¯. Again, she was crying with intense hatred in her eyes. I knelt down beside her. ¡°Surrender to me.¡± I said as I put my hand in her head. ¡°NO!¡± She tried to struggle, but it was in vain. I entered her mind, peeking into her memory. She was still struggling, not allowing me to see them, but I persisted. In the end, I saw something that made my heart ached. What I saw first a sight of a woman bawling her eyes out while holding onto a big white bundle tightly in front of a house. Judging from the model of the house, the way she dressed, and the environment, I was sure this happened not too long ago. But, why did she cry in front of the house? There were not lots of people around her but no one approached her. I walked towards her, trying to see more clearly about what she was doing. But, I got another shock after I got closer to her. The white bundle in her arms actually was a dead body of a boy around six to seven years old. What actually happened here? ¡°What is this woman doing here?¡± The front door was opened and the one who came out was a thin man with hard expression on his face. He looked displeased when he saw the presence of the woman in front of his house. I watched as hatred and rage filled the woman¡¯s eyes when she looked up to see the man. ¡°You animal! Heartless bastard! Sick pervert! I want people to know what kind of sick person you are!¡± With tears on her face and hatred and rage in her eyes, she pointed her finger towards the man. Her hand trembled because of her rage, but it didn¡¯t make her looked like she was weak. ¡°Servants! Throw away this woman far away!¡± The man called out for his servants hurriedly. ¡°This man... The man who you all looked up as the gentlest man, is an animal! He raped my son, forcing him to keep silent, and when I finally managed to know the truth from his scribbles in his books, I got the news that my son was found dead near the river bank. He was supposed to be at school! But, you killed him! He wrote it in his book, that you would kill him if someone knew about it! You raped him, then you killed him because you don¡¯t want your dirty act to be known by people!¡± The woman shouted, every word was clear and powerful. I turned my head towards the man and saw his expression changed for time to time. His pale face changed to red and then pale again, which exposed his mind. This woman was speaking the truth! He was disgusting! I really wanted to tear this kind human alive! It was a pity that he was pretty good at controlling his expression, which was good enough to deceive the uneducated people around them. ¡°Nonsense! Servants! Bring this woman to the police station! I want her to be punish for ndering me!¡± He shouted towards his stunned servants. ¡°Punish me?! Hah!¡± ¡°You used me for raping your son, do you have any proofs? An uneducated woman like who didn¡¯t even finish her elementary school dares to say that I¡¯m doing dirty things? Aren¡¯t you the one who sold your son to people? Why did you use me for doing nothing? I didn¡¯t even know your son. On what base that you said I raped your son? I¡¯m not sick! I have a beautiful wife. You should know that I can make you spend the rest of your life in jail just because of your usation towards me and for killing your own son!¡± The man was shouting, so fluently as if he was stating the truth, that he was innocent. Hearing his word made the woman¡¯s body trembled in anger. Her eyes widened as her finger kept pointing at him. ¡°You... you... you...¡± She kept repeating the same words. It was a pity that the woman was really uneducated, that she was defeated by the man who studied in more higher degree than her. His skill in talking made him won the heart of people and in instant, before the woman could defend herself, she was dragged by the man¡¯s servants. Later on, the woman was sentenced with a life sentence. She would be in jail for her whole life which was kind of sad and infuriating for me. But, before her first week over, she killed herself. She was found dead in the bathroom after painting the walls with her blood, writing her curse towards the man and all of his offsprings. She vowed that she would not rest before she made his offsprings suffer, not being able to continue his line of family, and finally killed them all. In the end, she said to herself ¡°My dear son, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t be with you there, for I sold my soul to the devil so I can avenge you¡±. And I did see her selling her soul to the devil. Until the end of her life, she always cried and mourned for her dead son. Even when she took her own life, she was still crying. The pain of losing her only child made her blind and resorted to the dark path. ¡°What kind of mother will not feel pain for losing her child? My tears is the only thing I can give to my son, the only thing that makes me remember that he died miserably, that I have to avenge him. I will make sure they feel what I feel, before I make them end their own life.¡± Her eyes showed her resolute hatred as she said this repeatedly before the day she ended her life. Chapter 161 161 Too Deep To Come Out (Tom¡¯s PoV) I took a deep breath to calm my pounding heart beat. The ghost in front of me was still struggling to be let out of my chain, but tears was still streaming down her face. I retracted my hand as for the first time I could feel her anger, hatred, sorrow, and desperation. I was a man but my heart felt so full of pain. Even as a man, I didn¡¯t think I could keep that much of feeling inside. What about this woman? She sacrificed her own life to avenge her son. Did she seed? What¡¯s the rtionship between that immoral man with Nita? Was she one of his offsprings? Since the woman cursed his whole family not to have someone to continue their line of family, I doubt that Nita still had the same family name as that man. If I didn¡¯t remember wrongly, Nita was the only child at home. She said she had a younger brother but he died a week after he was born. After that, her mother was always sick. I wonder if it rted in any way to this ghost in front of me. I pitied this woman, but I couldn¡¯t help her either. I had never known any way to undo an agreement between human and devil. She was too deep toe out from the hole she dug herself. Even so, she willingly jumped into it and lived in it. ¡°Is there a way for me to keep her?¡± I asked Putra through my consciousness. ¡°You want to keep her?¡± Putra sounded shocked. ¡°Yes. If I keep her with me, I¡¯m sure she won¡¯t do anything bad to Nita and her family anymore. But, I need to make sure she is locked up and unable toe out. Tell me, is there a way for it?¡± ¡°Humans are strange, indeed. Don¡¯t you know that human who died by killing herself won¡¯t be epted under the earth and above the sky? Why do you have to burden yourself with her?¡± ..... ¡°I know that, too. I just want to find a way to clean her from her promise with the devil. I want her to be clean from this ck mist around her. I want her to remember her old self, not the one tainted by hatred.¡± Putra went silent for a while, but then he said helplessly, ¡°Send her here. I¡¯ll put her in the cage near the crater.¡± I smiled, even though I didn¡¯t know he could see or sense it or not. ¡°Thank you.¡± I waved my hand and the ghost in front of me disappeared along with the chain. I took a deep breath. The situation had finally calmed down. I looked around me and found out that other than Nita being unconscious and the room was slightly in a mess, it was all still in good shape. I thought my fire would leave a trace, but fortunately it didn¡¯t. Otherwise, I didn¡¯t know how I could exin to Rama. Speaking about Rama, where was he? He had gone out for quite a while, didn¡¯t he feel bad for leaving her wife with her wife¡¯s ex-boyfriend alone in their room? Not that I wanted to do something bad towards her, of course. I was just saying... Well, I might as well retract my chain that was sealing the room. I opened the seal and the chain went back to my wrist. At the same time, Rama came. ¡°Tom, how is it? Oh!¡± He looked surprised as his steps were halted. His eyes focused on my wrist. Did he see it? I nced at my wrist, but the chain had disappeared even from my eyes. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked casually. ¡°Ah, no, I thought I saw something around your wrist.¡± He said as he pointed at my arm. ¡°What thing?¡± I purposely raised my hand and showed him. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything around my wrist.¡± ¡°Probably just my illusion.¡± He shook his head. ¡°How about Nita?¡± ¡°She is fine.¡± I nodded at his bed. Rama approached his wife and held her. ¡°Are you sure she is fine?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I nodded as I shot a long nce towards a new ghost that had just entering the room. Some of them were peeking from outside, but no one was brave enough to enter, except that ignorant Kuntnak. I flicked my fingers and a small dot of fire shot towards her, making her ran away in fright. It was a warning. Come inside and I¡¯ll burn you. ¡°So, are we safe now?¡± Rama asked carefully. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°Well, just a bit problem. I¡¯ve taken care of it for you. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡± I answered calmly. ¡°But ifter she is still having nightmare, or something strange happens, you can call me. I¡¯ll check again for you.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Rama said whole-heartedly. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± I waved my hand. ¡°Well, I need to go back home now. I¡¯lle byter. No, you don¡¯t have to send me to the door. Just stay beside her. She will need it.¡± I hastily said as soon as I saw him stood up. ¡°Okay.¡± Rama smiled weakly. Then, I waved goodbye and walked down to the first floor. I still put some attention towards the house, checking here and there, but fortunately, other than the man in the living room which was a good ghost, I didn¡¯t find any other casualties. Now, I needed to go back and packed my things. As my mother said, I needed to pick Jane quickly. I only hoped she didn¡¯t forget me during our separation. I tried to call her again on my way home, but my call got cut off even before it got through. This was strange. Even if she changed her number, it wouldn¡¯t be like this. ¡°Hello, Kunti. Nice to see you again.¡± I greeted as I watched from the rear-view mirror. A ghost was sitting there silently ever since I walked out from Rama¡¯s house. But, I ignored her. Only now that I greeted her. The one sitting in the back was the same Kunti who was with Jane and me that time. Even with her terrifying appearance, I could recognize her right away. Seeing that she didn¡¯t manage to scare me, sheughed and changed her appearance to a better one. ¡°You remember me!¡± She eximed while grinning. ¡°Of course. Were you trying to scare me?¡± ¡°Yeah, but it didn¡¯t work. Now I see that you have some abilities in you. You got a lot stronger than you used to be.¡± Kunti was staring at me from top to bottom teasingly. ¡°Well, something happened. By the way, do you remember that time when you attacked Jane?¡± ¡°Ah that...¡± Jane awkwardlyughed. ¡°Of course. Even though I couldn¡¯t control myself, but I knew what I was doing. Actually, I have just gained my full freedom a month ago. It was hard to break free from that kind of bind. It¡¯s just my luck that someone helped me, and I only needed to deal with the aftermath of breaking the contract. Well, the contract happened without my consent so I didn¡¯t feel loss. For now I made sure to stay away from bad human again.¡± I looked the determination in her eyes and wondered why she lost her control at that time and suddenly brought up the issue about contract. ¡°How exactly did you get involved in that mess?¡± ¡°Well, you might not notice back then, but even though I always boast about how powerful I am, I was just an underling. My leader sold me to that creepy old man after she manipted my mind. Even just thinking about it made me infuriated to no end. Huff...¡± She looked pissed, indeed. ¡°But, after that person helped us, she freed us not only from the man¡¯s contract, but also from our leader maniption. That¡¯s why I ran away and picked a ce to heal myself and made myself better.¡± She sounded like human talking like that; ran away to heal herself? Huh, I bet if she were given an opportunity to be alive, she would take it right away. But, her leader? ¡°Your leader? Can you describe to me about your leader? Is she a human?¡± ¡°Ah no.¡± Kunti shook her finger dramatically. ¡°She is a Kuntnak, just like me. But, she is stronger. A lot stronger even when she first came into our dimension. She was strong when she was human, and became a lot stronger when she became one of us. You don¡¯t want to deal with her, trust me.¡± She shook her head with all seriousness. ¡°A strong Kuntnak, huh?¡± I was tempted to find out about this leader, but I was soon be reminded of what my first goal toe back home. ¡°How about the person who helped you? Do you know who she is?¡± ¡°Err, I know her. But I couldn¡¯t tell you.¡± She said hesitantly. ¡°By the way, I saw you when you walked into that house.¡± She might want to divert the topic. I had not even asked her how she found me, but she started talking about it. Not that Iined about it. If she wanted to hide the identity of the person who helped her, I didn¡¯t matter to me. ¡°I thought why you would enter that deadly house? Turns out you got some tricks under your sleeves. Hehe...¡± She chuckled. ¡°It was pretty hard to deal with her, trust me. But, I managed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that you coulde out alive. If something happened to you, how should I exin to Jane when she came back?¡± Kunti said grumpily. ¡°I haven¡¯t even asked for an apology yet, and I have to exin about your incident? I don¡¯t think I have that much of courage to face her wrath.¡± Iughed hearing her fear towards Jane. Did she forget she made Jane fainted when she first appeared with her horrible face in front of Jane? Jane was still a beginner back then, she had the ability but she couldn¡¯t use it properly. I wonder if she had developed her skill now. ¡°You talked as if Jane has changed into a terrifying person.¡± I said between myugh. ¡°Oh you haven¡¯t seen her. She has changed, one hundred eighty degrees. She is no longer the weak Jane that was afraid of ghosts. She is a fighter now.¡± Kunti replied firmly. There was a hint of proud in her speaking tone. Well, Kunti could be said as Jane¡¯s coach in getting used to ghost appearance, so it was normal for her to be proud with Jane¡¯s development. ¡°Well, Kunti, do you remember your name? It¡¯s hard to call you Kunti all the time.¡± I asked. She once refused to tell her name, saying that we only needed to call her Kunti. ¡°Since I had broken free from that monster¡¯s clutch, I can tell you my name. My name is Amira.¡± Kunti, no, Amira introduced herself with a smile on her face. ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you my name before because I was still her underling, means our name was bound to her. But not anymore.¡± Amira looked even more cheerful than thest time I saw her, still teasing Jane in my room at that time. Now I wondered how could a young woman as cheerful as her die and end up as Kuntnak? ¡°Are you going to visit Jane?¡± Amira asked. ¡°Yes.¡± I stopped the car in my uncle¡¯s house. ¡°Do you want toe with me or wait here? I¡¯ll leave tomorrow.¡± I looked at her before I got down from the car. Amira looked troubled. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll stay.¡± She said softly. ¡°Sure. But for now, I advice to go. My uncle doesn¡¯t like your kind.¡± I warned her. ¡°Ah right. See you!¡± Amira went and disappeared in hurry. I chuckled seeing her fleeing so fast. After talking to Uncle Ben, I went back home and started to pack up my things. Finally, in less than 24 hours, I could finally meet Jane! Chapter 162 162 It¡¯s Time For n B (Siji¡¯s PoV) I didn¡¯t know how I should tell Jane that her boyfriend was recruited into the army. He became her long-awaited General, to be precised. I knew for sure that she didn¡¯t know the one she had chosen on the trial day really ended up became her General and that she didn¡¯t really care who would be the one. After the trial ended, she spent her days like usual; training and sleeping. When the Elders called me to tell me about the result, I left Jane in the middle of her training in strenghtening her spiritual power. She was gifted in this area, yet she said she was still mediocre. If only those Masters out there heard herment about herself, they might vomit blood. Anyway, my problem right now was to pick up the General and brought him to the army. Masters didn¡¯t need time to try and be epted by the army. They were chosen because they had capability. Generals, on the other hand, were selected. It was rare for the Generals to be chosen like the Masters, most of the time they were selected after following series of trials. This time, there was only two trials since the candidates were few. After two main trials, the chosen candidate would spend his or her day with the army. It was a kind of trial, too, actually. If the army refused the chosen candidate, the second candidate could step up and try to blend in with the army. This step was the most important. I could only hope that man could live up to Jane¡¯s expectation. Early in the morning, I brought some men with me and went to where the man was living. Just in time, I saw himing out of his house with a big bag in his hand. Apparently he was leaving to somewhere. His mother was waving at him, meant I couldn¡¯t act yet. I gestured the men to stand by and waited for mymand. As soon as the man couldn¡¯t see his mother anymore, I nodded and my men surrounded him. He was surprised when he saw the men, but I didn¡¯t reveal myself to him. I doubt he forgot about me. In a second, the men had brought him to our camp near Satu Vige, in the ce where the men were staying. Sir Ahmad had been waiting for him and as soon as he appeared there, Sir Ahmad had started to wee him. ..... He was stunned at first, but then I noticed he was getting more annoyed in every second. Even when Sir Ahmad congratted him for being chosen, he didn¡¯t show any ted expression. Only annoyance. It was normal since we interrupted him from going somewhere. I bet he might be heading off to see Jane. If only he wasn¡¯t casted to join the trial, we would not do something so despicable such as jamming the signal so that any calls or texts from him or Jane would not get through. We even messed with the signal from his uncle. It was to prevent both of them to know our n. ¡°Well, this is the Adviser of First Army; Siji.¡± Sir Ahmad introduced me to him. Being pointed directly made me had no ways to avoid him anymore. I only hoped he was the kind of people who would forget other people¡¯s face easily. When I first met him, my hair was tied in a bun and I was wearing white clothes. This time, however, I let my hair down and I was wearing my grey clothes -it was only a matter of snapping my fingers, after all. Even though it was absurd to think that he would forget me just because of the difference of my hair styling, I was still holding onto that tiny hope. Why didn¡¯t I want to be recognized? The answer was simple; it was troublesome. I didn¡¯t want him to think that he could ask for any information about Jane from me. In short, I hated to be a messenger between him and her. Well, even though there was no guarantee that it would really happen, I prefered to be ready when the time came. Better safe than sorry, right? But, that man named Tom, only nced at me and nodded once before he turned his head towards Sir Ahmad. I arched my eyebrows, wondering whether he did know me or not. Ah well, since he didn¡¯t say anything, I wouldn¡¯t pry either. I excused myself and went into my own ce. I only needed to watch the proggress from afar. I guessed Sir Ahmad had told him what he needed to do in the camp. After that, both Sir Ahmad and I watched him interacting with the army. When on duty, those men were like statues with stoic faces, only capable of following orders. But when they were off duty, they were like human soldiers; talking, joking, and ying. Even so, whenever new people entered their camp and tried tomunicate with them, they would automatically be aloof again, zipping their mouths tight. The Elders had said that the new General would spend his time with the army, try to blend in, and get to know the army better. It might take days, weeks, months, even years. Before that goal was achieved, the new General wouldn¡¯t be granted the permission to meet the Master. In any case before Jane, the Masters couldn¡¯t wait to use the army, that¡¯s why they were so eager to have their own General. Some even used the army without waiting for the General which resulted in their own dead. Therefore, the Generals would sometimes feel that they were more important than the Master in running the army. They didn¡¯t need to worry that they would lose out in action. However, Jane was different. She could operate the army even without the General. I believed Sir Ahmad had told him about it, that he would lose on some actions if he couldn¡¯t blend with the army fast enough. We might have asked him to act fast, but... not this fast, right? Both Sir Ahmad and I were stunned as we saw the scene in front of us. He had been here for what? Around two or three hours, but how did he manage to make the men sing together with him? They looked so close that if someone who didn¡¯t know better would say that he had been with them for long. After four hours, I could see their cooperation and coordination were superb. They understood him so well that they knew what he would do with just a nce, and he knew how tomunicate with them. ¡°Well, that¡¯s surprising.¡± Sir Ahmad said calmly even though there was surprise in his voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to use the n that we have arranged for him. He looks fine to me.¡± ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t.¡± I frowned. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for n B.¡± ¡°You have n B?¡± Sir Ahmad looked at me in surprise. ¡°Of course.¡± I nodded without adverting my gaze from Tom who was still ying outside. He looked like he was home, as if he was born to do this. ¡°What is it? Tell me!¡± Sir Ahmad looked at me expectantly. ¡°What else? Let him meet the Master. He has done his part of the job, to get to know the men. Now that he already did it, we can¡¯t force him to stay, can we?¡± I replied casually. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Sir Ahmad looked doubtful. I could understand the meaning behind his question, after all they had been the one that held the selection and train the Generals. And they knew perfectly well how long they would need to get into those men¡¯s good book. Seeing that Tom only needed less than six hours to do that, Sir Ahmad may be feeling a bit skeptical. ¡°Absolutely. Well, he is heading towards where Master is, after all.¡± I answered. ¡°Come on, we need to tell him.¡± The rest of the process went fast as Tom said goodbye to the men. When I mentioned to him that we were heading to meet the Master, he didn¡¯t say anything. It was clear that he got annoyed for a bit, but he didn¡¯t voice it out. ¡°After you meet Master, your position as the General of FIrst Army will be engraved into your soul. I must say that the process was a bit painful at first. If you want to back out now, this is your chance.¡± I reminded him casually. ¡°As long as it won¡¯t take long, it doesn¡¯t matter. I need to go somewhere after this.¡± He said coldly. Yap, he was definitely upset. I had the urge to ask him where he wanted to go, that if he were to see Jane, he might as well stick close to me and I would take him to her through the shortest shortcut. But, I held back. My hand moved to open the door to our dimension, then another door. In a sh, we had arrived in the front yard of Jane¡¯s house. ¡°Come on.¡± I gestured for him to follow me, and he did. Obediently, he walked behind my back and stopped in front of the main door. ¡°Ring the bell, or knock. Whatever.¡± I could have brought him inside, but I wanted to see both of their expressions. It must be funny. Only imagining it could make me chuckled. He didn¡¯t say anything or ask anything. He pushed on the ring bell and waited for any response. It didn¡¯t take long as the front door was pulled open from the inside by someone. Both of their expressions were amusing, but I frowned as I really didn¡¯t like this kind of reaction. Chapter 163 163 The Triangle Is Finally Complete (Jane¡¯s PoV) Siji had been acting strangetely. Usually, he would always appear in a heart beat whenever I called him. But, he gotte these days. He even left me in the middle of my training several times. He didn¡¯t tell me where he went, and I didn¡¯t ask him for fear I might be too demanding. Well, I am the Master, so it should be okay, right? However, I didn¡¯t want to do that. He only appeared a bitte, it was not like he didn¡¯t appear at all, or that he neglected his duty. I must be an understanding Master so that my men would not think of me as burdensome or annoying. Today, he left a bit early during my training. Before midday, he returned but he used the front door. I could sense his presence, that was why I didn¡¯t stand up to open the door. He even pushed the door bell, what kind of trick was he ying? Sanji was the one who stood up and opened the door while all I did wasying on the couch with my head tilted backwards to see the guest. Indeed, I saw Siji in front of the door, but what¡¯s with his face? He looked like he was disappointed with something? Why was he sulking there? Not only Siji, but Sanji had a weird expression on his face, too. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Sanji asked. He didn¡¯t sound cold or aloof, just curious. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you live here.¡± There was another voice that clearly sounded displeased. Oh? Siji brought back another person and Sanji knew this person? ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the one I need to report to is him?¡± Eh, why did I feel his voice was a bit familiar? I got up into sitting position, still toozy to go to the door. ..... ¡°Not him.¡± Siji answered. Huh? He talked to Siji? He could see Siji? Even Sanji couldn¡¯t see Siji! ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Sanji asked. See? He couldn¡¯t see Siji unless Siji allowed him. I doubted Siji had shown himself to Sanji, though. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± I asked Sanji before things got more awkward between him and the guest. Before Sanji could say something, the guest had barged his way into the house and was looking at me with widened eyes from the front door. He looked surprised but also there was longing in his eyes. He was oddly familiar to me but... it couldn¡¯t be him, right? Or, was he? No way! I pushed myself up and half ran towards him. I was not blind, but why did the closer I get to him, the more familiar he was to me? The more familiar I found him to be, the more I couldn¡¯t think of anything other than getting close to him. But, what if he wasn¡¯t him? I stopped right in front of him as that question invaded my mind. I stood there, staring at him nkly. I wanted to hug him, but what if it wasn¡¯t him? ¡°Jane!¡± He pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight I thought I would be crushed in his arms. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± His whisper travelled to my ears and all of my doubt disappeared in instant. I hugged him back, as tight as I could as smile was formed on my face and tears rolled down my tears -Siji saidter that it was the stupidest smile he had ever seen in his existence and I really had the urge to strangle his neck after he said that. The one I was hugging was warm and solid. There were no more transparent body, no more creepy cold body, no more untouchable body. Only these feelings could make me emotional. I was so happy he could return in one piece! ¡°I thought you forgot about me.¡± I said between my sobs. ¡°How could I?¡± He pushed himself so that he could see me. His warm thumbs were wiping away my tears repeatedly. His smile was still the same when he coaxed me, so gentle and warm. ¡°Don¡¯t those people who were inma usually forget about some people or some memory? Especially since both of us only met when you had already been inma.¡± I stared at him in confusion. ¡°Did you stuff your head with those stupid soap operas and dramas when I wasn¡¯t here?¡± He scolded me, but I didn¡¯t feel any anger in his voice. I scratched my face awkwardly. It wasn¡¯t to the point that I watched those every day, but at some point I did watch them to relieve some boredom. Tom shook his head. ¡°Now you see me safe and sound, also I still remember you, you should stop worrying about it.¡± He kissed my forehead before I could react. After all this time... and all that skinship we did back then... why did I blush with only a kiss on my forehead? ¡°Enough.¡± A pair of strong arms pulled us apart in one go. I turned my head and saw Sanji with dark face and cold eyes. He was closed to emit murderous aura but somehow he held back inside. Pulling me behind his back, he stood between Tom and me. The gentle expression on Tom¡¯s face disappeared as he frowned in displeasure. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He growled. ¡°How do we know you are really Tom? You might an imposter for all we know.¡± Sanji crossed his arms in front of his chest. He could be super protective when he wanted and needed to be, but why did he choose this time? Tom smirked and oh, his smirked was still the same, only this time there was a hint of danger in it, probably because the one talking to him was not me, but Sanji. I was one hundred percent sure that he was the real Tom. ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± Sanji asked. ¡°Of course. Sanjaya, the man who imed to my girlfriend¡¯s fiance.¡± Tom sneered. ¡°Too bad Jane is mine.¡± Ah, how many times should I tell him that I was not a possession? I was not a thing. Even though I liked him saying something like that, still I needed to remind myself that I was a human and not a thing. He couldn¡¯t own me. ¡°You know about it and you¡¯re still so cocky and came here?¡± Sanji sneered as he looked at Tom in disdain. ¡°What did you do to have Siji bring you here?¡± Eh? He knew about Siji? I turned towards Siji who was still watching quietly while leaning against the door frame. Siji shrugged but his previous sulking and disappointed expression had gone. Recing them was an excited expression, as if watching us brought great joy and excitement for him. ¡°You knew about it?¡± I asked Siji, usingly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m enjoying the triangle becameplete, of course I wouldn¡¯t spoil it by saying that Sanjaya could see me.¡± He answered calmly. ¡°How could you!¡± I red at him. ¡°Since when was he was able to see you? I have never seen you interacted with each other before. Also, what triangle are you talking about?¡± Why did he have to bring up about triangle at this time? Sometimes he would say something unrted to what we were talking about, but I didn¡¯t think he would do it now. ¡°Since we came to see him that day.¡± Siji still answered my question calmly. ¡°Also, the triangle is...¡± He gestured at Sanji, Tom, and me. I felt lost. Chapter 164 164 Living Together (Jane¡¯s PoV) I felt lost. I had just known that Siji loved love-triangle story a lot. He even found us amusing and watched us excitedly that I wouldn¡¯t believe that he didn¡¯t like story about love-triangle. However, before Tom and Sanji got involved further in argument, Siji reminded Tom about the reason he was brought here. ¡°I think you should report yourself now.¡± Siji nodded at him. ¡°Report? What report?¡± I looked at the both of them alternately. ¡°Where is the Master?¡± Tom was snapped back to his senses as soon as he heard what Siji said. I had a feeling the moment he said Master. Just seeing him able tomunicate with Siji made me suspicious. Now that Siji mentioned about report, my assumption was likely to be correct. I watched as Siji nodded at me nonchntly. I also watched as Tom¡¯s face changed into confusion when he made sure that I was the one Siji pointed at. ¡°She is the Master?¡± Tom voiced it out, demanding for a verbal answer, yet he only got a nod from Siji. ..... ¡°If what you mean is Master of First Army, yes, that¡¯s me.¡± I nodded. ¡°Aah.¡± Tom didn¡¯t look surprised, but he looked like he had expected it. ¡°Make sense.¡± He nodded. I arched my eyebrows. ¡°You take it so easily. Now tell me, what is it that you want to report to me?¡± Out of nowhere, he reached out his hand to me for a handshake. With a firm gaze and polite smile, he said to me, ¡°My name is Thomas Putra msyah, starting today I will be your General. Please, take care of me.¡± See? I KNEW IT! ¡°Wee to the army, Sir Thomas. Please, take care of me, too.¡± It wasn¡¯t awkward. It was as if we were just partners in work. Warm glow emitted from where our hands were connected and enveloped our bodies. I felt cool breeze on my body despite that warmth in my hand. So refreshing. For a split second, I was brought into my consciousness. I already knew that I had vast consciousness to house my spiritual power, but now, even though I still couldn¡¯t see the end of my consciousness, I could feel the flow of spiritual power was getting better and swift. The form also changed a bit; it was getting thicker and longer. Even though I put my hand in the stream, the smoke didn¡¯t dissipate where my hand was. Instead, it got thicker and circled my hand in a tight grip. Surprise? Of course. I didn¡¯t know the presence of a General could affect my own power. What about Tom, then? The glow dissipated and once again I looked at Tom who still had a surprise expression on his face. I looked at him carefully and found out that the flow of his spiritual power was also as swift as mine. It was as if we were connected to each other. I shifted my gaze to Siji and found out that he had a dumbfounded expression on his face, too. Not because of us, but because he had felt his own spiritual power matched to ours. ¡°Indeed, the appearance of a General can bring a significant change to us now that we¡¯replete.¡± Siji nodded. ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t know the report could be done that way. The previous Masters and Generals made it in ceremony, with kneeling and everything. You¡¯re the only ones who made a report and established the connection with that simple introduction and handshake.¡± ¡°Should we redo it, then?¡± I asked, a bit worried with the future. ¡°No. The condition is for the General to report him/herself to the Master and get acknowledgement from the Master. Physical contact from the Master is the main key of this report. Most of the Master put their hand on top of the General¡¯s head, blessing the General with their eptance.¡± Siji exined. ¡°Then, it¡¯s alright like this.¡± Tom smiled. ¡°Are you done?¡± Sanji¡¯s voice made me remember that he was still with us. He stepped forward and again pulled me away from Tom. ¡°Please, maintain a reasonable distance between you and her before we clear out several things.¡± Again, Tom frowned in displeasure. ¡°I don¡¯t think there is anything to be cleared out.¡± He replied coldly. ¡°Of course. Since I¡¯m her fiance, it should be like what you said. There¡¯s nothing to talk about.¡± Sanji smirked. The frown on Tom¡¯s face got even deeper. It was clear that he was provoked by what Sanji said. I was about to interrupt but Siji held me back and shook his head. ¡°Why?¡± I asked him in a whisper. ¡°Let them talk.¡± He said. ¡°They need to settle it between them. If you take side, the one on the other side would leave you, I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t want it.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that serious, can it?¡± I shook when I heard him say it. Really? If I picked Tom, then Sanji would leave? As much as I wanted Tom to stay, I also didn¡¯t want Sanji to leave. Being with him for these months made me grow a bit of affection towards him. Okay, it was not only a bit. It was quite... much, actually. In some ways, I was dependent to him. I had got used to his presence that only thinking about him leaving would make my heart ache. I knew that I sounded so selfish, that I wanted both of them to stay with me. But, I didn¡¯t want them to fight either. Keeping the both of them beside me would surely lead to some arguments, but I didn¡¯t want either of them to leave. ¡°That¡¯s why I said to let them talk.¡± Siji said again, as if he could read my mind. Fine, I would let them talk. But, not here. ¡°Gentlemen, can we move to the living room so that you guys can talk more freely?¡± I smiled awkwardly at these two...damn, two hot men were fighting over me in my own house! Why did I just realize it? Easy, take control of yourself, Jane. Control yourself. I said to myself inwardly. I was fortunate that both Tom and Sanji agreed even with long face. The both of them were sitting each at the furthest end of the couch, while I took a seat in the single couch. Both of them had murderous aura around them which made me got up and went to the kitchen. I couldn¡¯t stand the pressure emitted from both of their body. Propping myself on the ind table in the kitchen, I watched the uing duel between two men from afar. Siji was sitting right beside me, clearly enjoying the show. Even though I said that I was watching the duel, in reality I was admiring the changes in Tom. Compared to the previous version of Tom, this version of Tom was more mouth-watering. I mean, just look at those firm and muscr body of his. He wasn¡¯t overly bulky but obviously he wasn¡¯t as thin as he used to be. I didn¡¯t say that his body back then was not good, but this time he looked more like a model than amoner. He didn¡¯t look like he was frequent in the gym, but he was definitely had a sexy body. Did he have abs? I wonder how he would look like under his shirt. Oh God, I must be blushing right now. Feeling conscious with the heat that started to spread on my face, I hid my cheeks with my hands. But it didn¡¯t stop me from observing him more. His tan skin... I remembered his pale skin when he was still transparent back then. He was definitely not tan, but the one in front of me had the sexy tan color. Never mind, everything about him was sexy! Why bother mentioning his figures and adding sexy in each of them? He was sexy, in and out, top to bottom! I suppressed the urge to squeal with difficulties. My Tom, he was my Tom! ¡°You have that silly grin on your face, are you aware of it?¡± Siji¡¯s voice snapped back to my senses. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re also drooling a bit.¡± He pointed at my face. I wiped the corner of my mouth quickly but found out that I was tricked. Sijiughed when he saw me ring at him. Never mind, I didn¡¯t want to waste my time ring at this old man -well, he never liked it when I called him old man. Deciding to ignore whatevermenting from Siji, I continued ogling at my boyfriend, and my fiance. Both of them were hot! If I were ordered to choose one, I would bawl my eyes out since I couldn¡¯t choose. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed since I started to watch them, but whatever sound or words came from them didn¡¯t enter my ears at all. I didn¡¯t know what they were talking about. I realized they had finished talking when the both of them hade in front of me with a smirk on their faces. What? What happened? I was bewildered as I looked at them alternately. ¡°Well, congrattions for you!¡± Siji said as he got up from his seat. He was smiling at me, but I truly didn¡¯t know what he congratted me for. ¡°Now that Tom is here, I guess I should just move in, too. You can¡¯t possibly live here with just the two of you, right?¡± Sanji said. I was stunned, but I couldn¡¯t react in time. What did he mean about living together? Why did those simple words create aplicated mess in my head? How could I turn stupid only after admiring men¡¯s body? ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be back soon. Don¡¯t get too close to him while I¡¯m not here, okay?¡± Sanji warned me before he took his bag and walked out of the door. ¡°I¡¯m off, too. Just call me when you need me.¡± Siji waved his hand and disappeared. Tom and I were the only ones left. I blinked my eyes in disbelief. Those two went so fast that I had no chance to ask them about the deal between Tom and Sanji. I could ask Tom, actually, but I doubt he would tell me about it. I shifted my eyes to Tom who was walking towards me. His bright eyes made me anxious, it was as if he was nning to do something to me. As he was getting closer, I noticed the burning me in his gaze. In instant my heart beat wildly as my face flushed a deep shade of crimson. Tom swept me off from my feet and put me on the ind table. Without wasting anymore words, his hot lips met mine. His kiss was demanding, as if he wanted to devour me. His hands firmly held me back in ce, sticking close to his body. His body went in between my open legs and one second into our kiss, I had put my legs around his hips, eager to feel more of him. Chapter 165 165 So This Is How You Smell (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Jane, Jane, Jane.¡± He whispered between his feverish kisses. He sounded like he wanted to make sure that I was really the one in his arms, that he was not halucinating. I wanted to answer to his call so bad, to ensure him that I was here with him. But, I was too upied with his kisses that I wasn¡¯t able to utter any coherent words. Only my tight grasps could show how much I wanted him to know that I was here. In the end, we both were gasping for breath with his forehead sticking to my shoulder and his arms were encircling my body in a tight hug. I, myself, clung onto him with my legs still mping around his hips and my face hiding in his neck. We stayed like that for a while until we caught our breath. This feeling was so....satisfyingly amazing to me that I was afraid I was only dreaming. ¡°I miss you, Jane.¡± Tom whispered in my ear. I smiled. ¡°I miss you, too.¡± was my reply, but after that, I tightened my arms around his neck as I gritted my teeth. Not too strong to choke him, but strong enough to know that I was deliberately causing him difort. ¡°Since you miss me so much, why didn¡¯t you call me, huh? I was almost at my limit waiting for you and ran away with Sanji.¡± ¡°Ahk, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry. I did try to call you several times, but my call wouldn¡¯t get through no matter what. That¡¯s why I chose toe to see you, but Siji kidnapped me on my way here.¡± He didn¡¯t struggle to break free and just let me punish him to my heart content. ¡°Show me your phone,e on. I need to check whether you¡¯re lying or not.¡± I released him and put on a stern face. Tom rubbed his neck a bit but hastily took out his phone for me to see when I red at him. I checked on his call log and found out that he did call me several times. I even checked my number to ensure he got the right number, and sure he did. ..... ¡°After Uncle Ben found me, he had tried to call you but the result was also the same. We thought that maybe you had changed your number and waited for you to call us, instead. But, you never called us.¡± Tom exined. I frowned as I reached for my abandoned handphone on the table. I showed him my call log, proof that I had been trying to call for Uncle Ben months ago. ¡°Well, that¡¯s strange.¡± I mumbled. ¡°Siji.¡± Siji appeared in a sh. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fast.¡± He smiled with a mischievous look on his face, and it took me a second to understand the meaning of it. I could feel my expression darkened but Tom was smiling brightly. ¡°Not now, Siji. I need to make sure she is okay before I do it. When that timees, you might get some days off.¡± The heat started to spread to my cheeks when I heard him. He was still a pervert, that side of him didn¡¯t disappear, after all. ¡°Siji, I want to ask about something. I remember Sanji mentioned about how ghosts and your kinds could affect everything rted to electromaic. Now, tell me, is there a possibility that you can purposely disturb the signal to a certain person? I mean, if I want to call Sanji, can you block it?¡± I diverted their attention before Tom¡¯s teasing grew wilder. Siji pondered for a while. ¡°Yes, I can, Mdy.¡± He said. I squinted my eyes. Why did I have the assumption that he was the one behind the mimunication between Tom and me? ¡°Siji.¡± I put on my very serious expression as I looked at that man. ¡°Confess. Now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mdy. It was for the best for the both of you. Since he was selected to join the trial, we had been constantly disturbing the signal on your part. We were just lucky since you had not mastered the ability to control spiritual power. And since Tom had been back to Indonesia for quite some time during your training, we changed target and blocked his signal instead of yours.¡± It was quite surprising to see him confessed so quickly, but his smiling face made me twitched in annoyance. But, after hearing his exnation, it really made sense that I had no chance toin to him. I sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± I said afterwards. ¡°You¡¯re dismissed.¡± Siji bowed before he disappeared. ¡°You...¡± I looked at Tom who was still standing there without words after showing off his perverseness. ¡°I¡¯ll show you your room.¡± I jumped down from the table and beckoned him to follow me. ¡°Thank you, Mdy.¡± He said which earned him a re from me. He grinned as he followed me. He took his bag from the living room and I brought him to the guest room in the first floor. ¡°You can stay here.¡± I said as I walked into the room. It was a good thing that I always had the housekeeper in my house cleaned the guest bedroom. ¡°Bathroom is near the kitchen. Sanji¡¯s room will be next to yours. You can put your things in the wardrobe. Just make yourself at home.¡± I said as I sat down on single couch near the wardrobe. ¡°I have a question.¡± He said with serious face. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your bedroom?¡± He leaned down and trapped me in the couch. His smirk made my poor heart fluttered. ¡°On the s-second floor.¡± I blushed. ¡°Let me see it.¡± He pulled me up excitedly. ¡°Why?¡± Why did he have to see my bedroom? I was seriously dumbfounded looking at his excited expression. ¡°Isn¡¯t it every man¡¯s dream to enter and see their girlfriend¡¯s bedroom?¡± He stated it as if it was obvious why he wanted to see my bedroom. ¡°What dream? Isn¡¯t it just your dream?¡± I red at him, feeling utterly disbelief with his shamelessness. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t it?¡± He pondered for a bit. ¡°Never mind that. Let¡¯s go! Show me your bedroom.¡± He chuckled as he dragged me to the second floor. I had no other choice but to lead him to my bedroom. It was fortunate that I had just cleaned my room, so it wouldn¡¯t be so embarrassing for me when Tom entered my room. Not that it would do much since I was sure he had seen all of my embarrassing side when I still stayed in his room. ¡°Woah, so this is how you smell!¡± Tom eximed as soon as he entered my room. He sniffed here and there, making my expression fell watching his behavior. ¡°I couldn¡¯t smell anything back then, but now I¡¯m d I¡¯m still alive.¡± He grinned innocently. I sighed. If he put it that way, how could I have the heart to scold him? I sat down on my bed. ¡°Stop it. You look like a pervert doing that.¡± I said it softly. Tom grinned and squated in front of me. His hands grabbed my hands and kissed them softly. ¡°All the things that I couldn¡¯t do to you back then, I will make sure to do it now. I don¡¯t care what other people say as long as I have you with me.¡± He said gently. Thump! How many times did he want to make my heart raced? Damn it! ¡°What did you two talk about? You and Sanji, I mean.¡± ¡°Oh, we just had an agreement. That¡¯s all. About the content, you better not know it. After all, having one more person to protect you can set my heart at ease. Not that I can¡¯t protect you, but after hearing where you n to go, I just can¡¯t help but feel worried. Only after all of these finish, we will let you choose. For now, even though I don¡¯t like it, you will have us at your sides to protect you and to love you.¡± Tom tightened his grasp on my hands gently, as if he wanted to make sure I understood what he said. How could I not understand? Didn¡¯t it mean that I would have two boyfriends? Hahaha. What? Did I have my own harem now? Hahaha. Of course, my expression was still stoic as ever. I didn¡¯t show the amusement I felt in my expression. I could only choose when I got my father back, right? I knew what he meant. Sanji must have told him about my missing father. To be honest, I still didn¡¯t have any news about how my father was. But, it didn¡¯t mean I would give up. Since my army wasplete, and I had upgraded my ability, it would only a matter of time before I started on my journey to get my father back. I had Sanji and Tom on my sides and Siji and the White Army as my support. What else I needed to have? For now, I just needed to make sure I had passed Siji¡¯s standard in the uing test he held for me. ¡°I have another thing to ask, actually.¡± He looked at me with his fake seriousness this time. ¡°Do you still remember what I said back then at that time?¡± I frowned. Which one? ¡°When I said we would fuck like a rabbit in heat.¡± He grinned and in instant my face blushed a deep shade of crimson. Chapter 166 166 Truce (Tom¡¯s PoV) I was right when I thought that I knew the man; Siji, I mean. I always knew he wasn¡¯t themon ghost that we knew, that he was something more than that. To my surprise, I was right. He was the adviser of First Army, or White Army. Thest time I saw Siji was when he sent me back to my body, but at that time, I thought he was only a bodyguard sent by her ancestors to protect her. Only after I knew her identity as the Master of White Army that I realized how much my girlfriend had changed. Of course, she changed to be a better self. However, the moment Iid my eyes on her, my surrounding seemed to blur. I was a bit surprised when I saw Sanjaya the moment the door was opened. Seeing that he remembered me and acted guarded against me made me a bit uneasy. He didn¡¯t even ask why I remembered him and how I got here, instead he asked why I was here. It was as if I was not weed in the house and he was guarding a very precious treasure. Since I didn¡¯t really like him, my answer towards him was a bit hostile, too. For a second, I thought that he was the Master, but thankfully Siji said it was not him. I really forgot that the one I saw that night was a woman. Then, I heard her voice. My whole body stiffened for a split second as I recognized that voice. How could I forget her voice? My body acted before I knew it and I had barged my way into the house. Sitting on the couch with a pair of curious eyes was the one I had longed to see for months. Her wavy hair was tied in a bun with some shorter strands framed her oval face. Her curious eyes widened as she got up and walked closer to me hastily, anxiety was clear in her eyes. I stood rooted on the ground, waiting for her to reach me since I was too afraid I couldn¡¯t hold myself back if I were to make the first move. But, she stopped. She might be thinking that it was not me, and on the next second she would think it was me. If she were not to move, then I would make my move. I couldn¡¯t wait, so I pulled her into my bear hug. The feeling of her warm flesh against my body felt so good that I couldn¡¯t help but feel emotionally moved and physically aroused. ..... As her scent drifted into my nose, I nearly lost my mind. Why did she have to smell so intoxicating? Was this the effect of being abstain from any sexual intercourse for months? But, even when I was still in the hospital, no matter how sexy the nurses there, I wouldn¡¯t feel aroused at all. And because my memory of Jane mostly had been taken away by that creature, I couldn¡¯t think of her at all since I couldn¡¯t picture her in my mind. Now that she was in front of me, I could feel her warmth, smell her scent, and touch her body, I could feel my own blood and heat went south and nearly nked my mind. I had to fight so hard with myself to control my primal urge. She had that effect on me! But, I didn¡¯t know it would this strong. Easy, boy, calm down. Easy! I reminded myself over and over. Until I felt her tears and heard her sobs. All the pervert thoughts flew away, leaving only worry and anxiety over what made her cry. ¡°I thought you forgot about me.¡± She said between her sobs and I secretly breathed out a sigh of relieved when I heard the reason she was crying. Pushing myself so that I could see her, I saw her eyes were red as tears streaming down her cheek. Not only her eyes, even her cheeks and nose were red. Seeing her like that, I felt guilty for making her worry about me. But, she was so cute, reminding me that time when I saw her crying in our room. ¡°How could I?¡± I wiped clean her tears with my thumbs as I smiled gently at her. She was still saying what made her anxious and I couldn¡¯t help butugh when all the reasons she said were exactly like those in the drama in the television. She was so cute like that, but I knew better than to tease her at this moment. I didn¡¯t want to ruin our reunion with my teasing. However, there was one person who ruined that moment. Sanjaya. Long story short, we had a long talk while Siji and Jane were waiting in the kitchen. I was still feeling displeasure with the presence of Sanjaya, especially when he reminded me that he was Jane¡¯s fiance. Like, who cares? Even though you are her fiance, but I am her boyfriend, the one tha she loves! So, what are you gonna do about it? But, what he told me made me stunned. When I was struggling with my recovery, my dearest girlfriend was facing a hard time because her father was kidnapped. Sanji told me the story and proposed a solution, that instead of fighting over her affection, we needed to shower her with affection so that she wouldn¡¯t feel that lonely. I was her boyfriend, and he was her fiance. No one would step back to let the others imed Jane¡¯s sole affection. Seeing her expression when we were debating earlier, we knew that she was unwilling to let one of us go. I was jealous, of course, but for now, her happiness was my priority. I would sign this truce between Sanjaya and me. Finding her father would be our mission since I was her General, too. Ah, speaking about being General, there was no doubt she was the one at the second trial back then. She was speaking casually but the tone changed into the one simr to when she was talking back then;manding and charismatic. In a second, warm glow enveloped us and when it dissipated, I could feel something different from my body. I felt my body lightened and as if power was overflowing from my body before it slowly became steady. It felt so refreshing. And I was not the only one who felt that, apparently Jane and Siji felt that, too. ¡°Human, she is powerful. Maybe more powerful than you.¡± I heard Putramented. I agreed inwardly. Did I feel intimidated? No. I felt so proud of her, instead. She was strong, beautiful, but cute. She had soft spots and could be seen as weak, but that¡¯s when she kicked asses. But, of course, I had reason why I wouldn¡¯t feel intimidated. Because, no matter how strong she was, she was still vulnerable inside. Our mission, Sanjaya and I, was to make her feelfortable with her vulnerability, to prevent her from hardening her heart because she would feel that she was alone. We needed to make sure she was not alone, that we were here, that she could always depend on us. That¡¯s why, no matter how strong she was, no matter how monstrous her power was, no matter how wide her influenceter was, we would always be by her side, supporting her. With that in mind, Sanjaya and I reached for an agreement. However, my strong and cute girlfriend did have her own dumb moment. I was sure our voice could be heard from where she was sitting, but why did she look as if she didn¡¯t hear anything? Her face even flushed a bit, I wonder what she was thinking about. In the end, we were the only ones left in the house. Sanjaya left to take his things since he was going to live here -I thought he had been living in the same house with her. Siji also left with a meaningful smile on his face. Since those two had left, my desire lit up again when I saw her like amb ready to be ughtered. I just missed her so much that I needed to touch her, feel her body against me, to make sure I wasn¡¯t dreaming. No, I couldn¡¯t hold back anymore. I walked up to her, picked her up, and put her on the ind table. Making sure our bodies were sticking closely, I dove down and sealed her lips with mine. It felt so good kissing her like this, when both of our bodies felt warm. I used my several months frustration in the kiss while at the same time, I restrained myself. The warmth from our bodies had turned into scorching heat that travelled to my crotch. A part of my body down there started to stir alive and hardened with each kiss. She was gasping for breath between our feverish kisses, moaning a bit, but I was sure she didn¡¯t realize it. Her head tilted backwards as my lips travelled to her neck and sucked on there lightly. Even though my memories were taken, somehow my body still remembered where her sensitive spots were. The state she was in now really couldn¡¯t help with my predicament. Her body flushed red, her breath sounded erotic, and she was wing my head with passion. Her legs were mping tight on my hips and I nearly lost my mind and ground myself to her hot core. Easy, Tom. Easy. Don¡¯t let the beast out now! I reminded myself over and over. It was not easy, though. Chapter 167 167 When Satan Gives A Chance (Tom¡¯s PoV) Well, it was hot and everything that we could barely breathe properly. The big ice block I called ¡®missing her¡¯ got melted as soon as I touched her. It turned into a river in my heart, giving me a satisfaction from finally meeting her but also greed to possess herpletely. However, as soon as I said that I missed her, her arms around my neck tightened as I felt her intentionally strangling my neck. Well, it didn¡¯t hurt, and it didn¡¯t affect me that much, but I knew she deliberately did that. She only wanted to show me how she was feeling. She said that she missed me, too, but because I didn¡¯t call her or inform her anything, she almost ran away with Sanjaya. Even though I knew she didn¡¯t mean it, I couldn¡¯t hide the fact that it did sting a bit when she mentioned Sanjaya¡¯s name. Well, it wasn¡¯t her fault. If she really went out with Sanjaya because I didn¡¯t call her, it was my fault for taking too much time. I couldn¡¯t me her if she really chose Sanjaya over me. But, since I was here in front of her, and that she still didn¡¯t have the change of heart even after she lost contact with me and my Uncle for months, I would make sure to spoil her a lot. I couldn¡¯t go out with her and show everyone that she had me besides her. I couldn¡¯t protect her directly from any physical harms. However, I could do all of those now. How about Sanjaya? Well, just think of him as a helper. Even if I was sure I could make her happy by myself, our mission was not something simple. Instead of protecting her all by myself, I needed to have a wild card in my hand that could do the same when I wasn¡¯t here. Not that I wanted to go somewhere alone, it was just... it¡¯s better to be prepared. Well, if she didn¡¯tin about it, I wouldn¡¯t think that something was happening. She checked my call log and she showed me hers. It was weird, I admitted. So, she called Siji. ..... Siji¡¯s first remark when he appeared made me grinning from ear to ear. I thought to myself that I would treat him better next time. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fast.¡± He said while looking at me meaningfully. It was clear what he meant by saying that. ¡°Not now, Siji. I need to make sure she is okay before I do it.¡± It was true. No matter how horny I was, I needed to make sure she was okay and ready before I made my move. After all, I had so much energy inside, ready to be released when the right time came. Also, I had so many ns to do to her; making love to fucking, I would do it all to her. But, of course, her pleasure would always be my number one. Again, only after she was ready. ¡°When that timees, you might get some days off.¡± I added, enjoying the blush appeared on her face as I said that. I was just being honest, though. When she gave me a green lightter, I didn¡¯t think I could hold back myself anymore and most likely she would end up being unable to use her legs. Jane hurriedly diverted our attention to ask the question she had been wanting to ask to Siji. As it was also rted to me, I listened to Siji¡¯s response carefully. Turns out, he was the culprit! I take it back what I said about treating him better! Damn him! Even so, Jane didn¡¯t protest anything. Probably she found what his exnation somehow made sense, that she couldn¡¯tin or scold him. I admitted that his reason was irrefutable, that he acted on behalf of the army. Even I couldn¡¯t utter a word to scold him for his reason, therefore I could only keep my displeasure inside. After exining about it, Siji was dismissed. It was only Jane and me in the house again. She showed me to my bedroom in the first floor, which reminded me... I was in her house, and I got to see her own bedroom. Visiting my girlfriend¡¯s bedroom was my old dream as that way I felt even closer to her. I knew that it sounded pervert, but I just needed to see it. So, I made her showed me her bedroom. Her bedroom was located in the furthest room on the second floor since she got to enjoy two views from it. Stepping inside her bedroom, I was feeling ted since the atmophere in her room was totally different with the dull appearance of my bedroom. Even though her room was not girly; she didn¡¯t paint her room pink or peach or any pastel colors like most girls did, but it had her mark. The room was picturing herself so well. I imagined my girl spending her time in her bedroom every day, sat on the couch near the window, or read a book with a cup of tea in front of her. It was also possible that she would beying down on her bed while ying with her phone. Only the images of it could make me feel like I was surrounded by her. Not to mention the scent lingering in that room... it really belonged to her. I wouldn¡¯t lie and said that it didn¡¯t arouse me. I was hard, and in instant the images in my mind turned into something naughty, such as her beneath my body, moaning and calling out my name. I tried to talk to her, to distract my mind about those naughty images in my mind. It was easier now that I had Jane in front of me. I was fully aware that I was talking to her, but the desire in me started to overflow and made me a bit hazy. Faking a serious expression on my face, I asked whether she still remembered what I told her that day. As expected, she forgot. Then, let me refresh it in her mind. ¡°When I said we would fuck like rabbit in heat.¡± Her fair skin turned crimson red in a sh. She must have remembered it. After all, the asion was not usual. ¡°Well, I did say that I would check if you¡¯re okay. Seeing how red your face just because of a sentence, I am sure you¡¯re perfectly fine.¡± I grinned. ¡°But...¡± I tightened my hands around hers. ¡°I will wait until you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it was a bitte to ask whether I am ready or not? Didn¡¯t we do it already?¡± She asked despite her face was blushing furiously. I chuckled. She was right. Normally, the word ¡®ready¡¯ was used only for the first time, not for the second time. But, it was my first time doing it with her after returning to my body. I couldn¡¯t just recklessly strip her and my own body and do the deed, right? ¡°Then, do you want to do it now? Because, to be honest, I¡¯m hard already.¡± I whispered thest sentence as sexy as I could. ¡°B-but...¡± She stuttered adorably with her blushing face. It was so easy to get some worthy reaction from her. Just a little tease and she would be red to her ears. So cute! ¡°See? I¡¯m not going to force you.¡± I smiled gently at her. Even if I was so horny, I wouldn¡¯t force her. I made sure of that with my heart and mind. ¡°Sanji will be here sooner orter.¡± She said softly. My eyes widened, not because she talked about Sanjaya, but the fact that she found an excuse like that, which meant if that man did not return today, I would have the opportunity to do it with her! No, control yourself! It¡¯s still your first day stepping in this house and you will start it by fucking the owner of the house? How despicable you are! My inner self reminded me. That¡¯s right, I needed to control myself. Don¡¯t let lust control my mind! I needed to be strict with my own self. I had endured it for months, enduring for a longer time wouldn¡¯t harm myself! Cold water shower and a solo time would solve the problem without scaring my girlfriend. However, as if Satan himself was giving way to my lustful mind, Jane received a message from Sanjaya, saying that he could onlye on the next day since he still had something urgent to take care of. Of course, he also warned her to stay away from me. But, it was not only me who felt horny, but also my adorable poor girlfriend. It was clear from the way her eyelids started to flutter down in a seductive manner, her breath started to grow eratic, and her body started twitching here and there. My girlfriend had turned naughtier from thest time I met her! She might have a hard time enduring it without me. Poor her! ¡°I... I have never done it again, after that time.¡± She said shyly. She must have got the message from the way I looked at her, as if I was ready to devour her. I didn¡¯t expect her to confess, but her confession only made me even more needy. I needed to have her! I couldn¡¯t hold it anymore. Pushing her body until sheid down on her bed, we got entangled in a hot feverish kiss once again. This time, my hands wouldn¡¯t stay quiet as they moved to caress the side of her body, under her oversized t-shirt. I swallowed all of her sexy moans and eager to make her letting out those sexy and cute voices more often. Chapter 168 168 Side Story: She Is His Fiancee, But She Has A Boyfriend (1) His name was Sanjaya Adiguna, a young man who was capable of exorcism as well as seducing women. He was around 15 years old when he experienced his first love. Unfortunately, the one he loved was a four year-old girl. The lonely boy who had no friends because people would say that he was crazy fell in love with the warm and cheerful smile of four year old Jane. His father and Jane¡¯s father were friends and they had a chance to visit Jane¡¯s family at that time for a week. And he fell in love just on the very first day he stepped in the house. During their visit, Sanji, that¡¯s what some people called him, got close to the little girl and amazingly, the girl got attached to him. Every morning for the next six days, that little girl would cheerfully wake him up at 5.30 and urge him to get up and drank milk with her. No matter how sleepy he was, he would always wake up at the sound of her cheerful voice calling his name. ¡°Brother Anji, Brother Anji, wake up! Wake up! Let¡¯s drink milk! Mom is making pancakes this morning, too! Come on, wake up!¡± When the sun was rising up, she would bring him outside to enjoy the morning sun. He would apany her, too. Her parents sometimes scolded her for bothering him so much, but he smilingly said to them that it was fine, that he liked it. He had never known he would have that gentle look on his face. A 15 year-old boy already had the feeling to indulge that little girl in gentleness, pamper her, and spoil her every little wish. It was probably because of that his father had the courage to propose a betrothal to Jane¡¯s father. However, Sanji¡¯s father forgot to put the word ¡®serious¡¯ in his proposal. It went as a small talk between friends, which resulted Jane¡¯s father had never mentioned about it to her at all. At the age of 15 years old, young Sanji didn¡¯t really understand the concept of betrothal, but he was smart. With a bit exnation from his father, he knew that Jane was supposed to be his future wife. He got to live with the girl like his father and mother and he was excited as he was thinking about that. However, his father said not to expect more, since Jane was still a kid, it was more likely that she would forget about him. If they were destined to be together, then fate would find a way for them to be together. After saying that, his father told them that they had to move out. Therefore, he got separated with his little sweetheart for years. He became skeptical that she would still remember him and so he tried to date another girl. No luck, though. Thirteen yearster, he met her again. ..... He had heard about her applying for the same university he was teaching at from his father. However, due to his tight schedule outside the campus, he couldn¡¯t meet her. But, just like what his father said, if they were destined to be together, fate would find a way to bring them together. That day, when he was feeling a bit upset because a ghost dared to haunt him, he met her again. At first nce, he didn¡¯t know whether the girl he had just saved was Jane. However, he couldn¡¯t help but to check her out again because of her fair skin, hair being tied up in a bun with some wavy strands framing her face, and that familiarity he got from staring at her. When he heard her name, he practically had to exert every ounce of his power to stop himself from hugging her in a bear hug. He tried to act calm and mature, and only said some things to her about their past together. But, it seemed like she didn¡¯t know that they were engaged. Well, it was a verbal engagement, not the official one, but still... Only after he managed to calm him down that he could size her carefully. Other than her fair skin and slightly reddish-colored hair which was tied in a bun, Sanji finally understood the familiarity he felt just now. She still had those round and cute eyes, only minus the innocence. Her figure matured well with her age and she turned from a lovely and bubbling little girl, to a sweet and calm young girl. Thump! He could feel his heart beat faster than usual. He almost couldn¡¯t hide his disappointment when he knew she didn¡¯t know about their childhood engagement. However, he tried to be so understanding by looking at different excuses he found in his brain. Maybe her father forgot to tell her about it! Wel, it has been too long since thest time they met, so it was only normal for her to forget about him! As the older one, he needed to be magnanimous and let her be. It was his fault for leaving at that time, though. After their meeting, he had just found out that his fiancee was well-known among the students because she was dumped by Rizal Ali. Rizal even got married without her knowing about it. Did Sanji know Rizal? Of course. Even though he didn¡¯t teach Rizal, but he knew that young man. Stupid, he thought. But, he still felt relieved, after that. After all, he didn¡¯t have to do anything to get rid of hispetitor. Of course, he still didn¡¯t know about the young man ghost in his fiancee¡¯s dormitory. Sanji would stay in campus longer than he usually did in the past. He even made sure he would walk towards where civil engineering students hung out together. It was just he rarely met Jane that way. But, he would not give up. Even though the circumstances where he met Jane were not what he thought would be, he got to know more about her. Just like him, she was able to see ghost, even capable of doing exorcism. Well, her method was not the usual one where exorcist would chant mantra and everything, but she still performed exorcism nheless. She fought against those ghosts using the most difficult methods; using her own soul and spirit to fight them. It was almost the same with how ghost was fighting against another ghost. If it were in human dimension, it was as if fighting criminals with raw power. If talking didn¡¯t work, just use fist. As someone who had been in exorcism world since young, naturally Jane¡¯s talent didn¡¯t escape his eyes. He got more curious about her as days passed and the desire to really possess her got even stronger. However, he did notice something was off with Jane. Until one day, he finally knew what was wrong. Jane was seduced by a male ghost in her dorm room. As much as Sanji didn¡¯t want to admit it, Jane had even treated the ghost like her own boyfriend. Sanji wanted to have an eye to eye conversation with her about that ghost whose name was Tom, but he just couldn¡¯t find the right timing about it. There were some things happened to her afterwards that even he, as an exorcist, was feeling overwhelmed. Sanji didn¡¯t know what happened but after Jane went missing, she became a lot colder and more mature. She looked like she needed to sleep for three days straight, but her sensitivity towards ghost had increased that even a slight disturbance from a ghost could wake her up. However, Sanji couldn¡¯t see Tom after that day. Jane only said that Tom was gone, but his instinct told him that there was something more about that. Well, whatever it was, it could only mean one thing; Jane was all for himself now. After the news about Jane¡¯s father went missing, Sanji promised to himself and herself that he would help her. He would be with her during her hard times. He thought, maybe she would open up to him and forget that boy ghost. He tried to act gentlemanly to his best, tried to make her feelfortable and everything, but it seemed like he was close to failure. Instead of viewing him as a possible life partner, Jane was treating like he was her brother. Maybe it was because he was always gentle to her, afraid of showing his true nature to her. She might view him as a harmless man, the one who would never attack her sexually, but little did she know... he dreamed of her almost every night, staining his shorts with his love juice every morning. It was not as if he could control his dream, but still, seeing a naughty Jane in her dream at night and the innocent Jane in the morning really tested his strength. Jane didn¡¯t know how much he wanted to m her to the wall and take her right after he stepped into the house, or bend her over the couch and drive himself into her. She didn¡¯t know. After all, he was a man with needs. But, he had been suppressing his needs in order to make her open up to him as soon as possible. Didn¡¯t they say women loved gentlemen? Then, he would be a gentleman for her. However, his feeling leaked out when Jane visited him that day. Chapter 169 169 Side Story: She Is His Fiancee, But She Has A Boyfriend (2) Prior to Jane¡¯s visit to his rented room, Sanji had been dreaming super weird and scary dreams. Usually, when he got nightmare, he would just pray or chant some enchantments if it was rted to some astral beings. However, none of his methods worked and he kept dreaming the same things over and over again, which resulted in him waking up five to six times in a night with his body drenched in cold sweat. What did he dream about? The same thing was he dreamed himself falling down and broke his bones. At first, he just fell down from his bed, nothing was broken and he didn¡¯t think of it as anything. In his second dream, he fell down from a second story house and he broke his legs. This time, he woke up with cold sweat dripped from his forehead. The third time, he fell down from the third floor of an unknown building, and surprisingly he didn¡¯t die, but he broke his backbone and legs. At this time, he was being suspicious that something had been messing around with his dream. So, he woke up and pondered for a bit. He really didn¡¯t rte those dreams to his previous dream, the one before he got those scary dreams. In that dream, he was summoned to a room with elderly people. They said something about a trial to a General of something army. The first trial was called Soul Endurance, and they said he needed to pass the test to grant him a pass to the second trial. After that, he woke up and only thought that he dreamed that because he was too into his research about how to get information from the South Sea. Even after he fell down from the fifteenth floor and his body turned into meat patty, he still didn¡¯t realize the connection. He had tried to chants some enchantments, but the dream kepting to him in a steady pace. In the end, he gave up and refused to sleep. By the time Jane came to check on him, he looked haggard and tired that he didn¡¯t have time to feel happy with her visit. He didn¡¯t even want her to see him that way. He had always created an image of himself in front of her as a strong and reliable man. What would she think if he let her see his ugly image? Sanji knew that he had lost so much weight. He himself didn¡¯t want to see his reflection, what about Jane? He didn¡¯t want her to feel disgust with himself. ..... However, Jane was always so stubborn, and Sanji always gave in for her. Even if he didn¡¯t want to, he still opened that door for her and flinched when she stared at him sharply. He was preparing himself for any harsh and disgusting words she would say to him, but she didn¡¯t say any of those. Instead, she listened to him talking about his weird dreams. He just said that it was weird, but he didn¡¯t mention the details, like how he had died several times in his dream. She listened to him attentively but Sanji could see she was in her own world. He saw her frowning as she carefully looked at him. She must have worried about him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m fine, right? I will be fine. Don¡¯t keep frowning unless you want to have wrinkles on your face.¡± He tried to say that jokingly, to ease her worry for him. In the end, Jane gave him advice. It was a long talk, something about walking from the nightmare and that he should be strong. However, Sanji really felt it. He knew what she said was right, and somehow he felt as if he was convinced to do what she said. It was like he was hypnotized, but he was still aware of what he was doing. Looking at her being a bit flustered from exining things to him made him feel guilty but at the same time happy. Guilty because he made her worry. Happy because she cared for him. He also felt Jane was seriously cute from the way she talked to him. She was always cute, but seeing her trying to make sure her points was clear to him looked cute. The ufortable feeling he felt inside, as well as the traumatic memory inside his mind felt cleared up as he made a resolute decision. He wouldn¡¯t let some stupid dreams control him. He would be the one who control his dream. If his dream wanted him to fall down and die, he would make sure he prepared a safety way out from that. No more pain, he would not let the dream became a nightmare anymore. It was up to him to make it into an adventure or good dream. After that, he kissed her forehead to express his grattitude. He shouldn¡¯t do that, but he couldn¡¯t help it. He really wanted to kiss her and he had controlled himself to his best by just kissing her forehead. If he had followed what his inner heart told him, he would have kissed her hard on her lips. Ah, he also hugged her and her soft body felt so good against his own body. At this time, he regretted why he neglected himself. His strong and manly body looked sickly and didn¡¯t match with Jane¡¯s soft body. At this time as well, he vowed to gain back the time he lost, and his splendor as one of the hottest man alive. Narcisstic much! But he didnt¡¯ care. Seeing Jane¡¯s response towards his hug and kiss made him even more sure that he needed to return to his old self, and upgraded himself into a better version. Screw being a gentleman! He would show her that he wanted her. Indeed, he had changed just like how he wanted. Even though he didn¡¯t turn too flirty and touchy and he made sure Jane was aware of his feeling. Somehow, he had a feeling that Jane did have feeling for him. His advances to her were not rejected and it was either she realized it or not, she acted more spoiled with him. It was almost a year since that boy ghost left, he thought, he was sure that he could make her his lover sooner orter. However, Heaven didn¡¯t seem to grant his wish regarding being Jane¡¯s man. That day, that boy named Tom came on their doorstep. Sanji didn¡¯t ask why he was still alive since he knew there were some things that could only remain mysterious to some people. Sanji believed that what had happened to Tom was the way the Universe showed to humans that It still held some power, that...or Tom was someone special. Tom didn¡¯t seem to forget Sanji either, and obviously not Jane since Sanji witnessed with a painful heart the way those two hugged each other. He could sense the intimacy between them and Sanji was sure that these two were closer than anybody could imagine. Just a short picture of Jane and Tom being intimate with each other could make his heart boil in jealousy. He didn¡¯t care about anything else, including the fact that Jane was the Master of White Army, and Tom was her General, or Siji, the man that he realized his existence only after he returned from the traumatic therapy, was the Adviser of White Army. He didn¡¯t care about those facts, but he indeed thought about one thing. If only he could persist with the trial, the one who became her General would not be Tom, but him. Well, since the trial had passed, he could only stopmenting about it and move on. Since he couldn¡¯t be her General, it didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t stay by her side and please her. As shameless as he sounded, he asked for a private conversation with Tom. Even though he didn¡¯t like this man¡¯s presence, he was sure of one thing; Tom was strong. Since they were going against the Legendary Queen of South Sea, Sanji thought that they needed to have every single help they could gather. Therefore, he talked to Tom, saying what happened to Jane¡¯s father and about their truce. He also talked tantly about his feeling, and that he would not give up. He knew that Tom was disturbed with his confession, but apparently both of them had the same goal; to keep Jane safe and happy. Two were better than one. However, in war of love, there would never be two victors. One needed to give in and make way to the others. If these two loves insisted to be together to please one person, then they needed to support each other to achieve their goal. Since he loved her, and he had a truce with Tom, he was willing to step down for a moment and giving those two time to catch up. As a man himself, he knew perfectly what Tom wanted, since that was what he wanted to have and could only dream of it. People could say that he was a pervert, but what was wrong in lusting the person one loved? He only hoped that he would get the chance to please her sexually, that she wouldn¡¯t find him forceful or anything. For now, he could only feel that in his dream. A very sexy and wet dream with him and Jane as the actors in it. Chapter 170 170 Addicted to Him Warning! Steamy scenes ahead! Read at your own risk! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I was in heaven! My whole body was floating on the pleasure clouds, and I didn¡¯t want to get down from this heavenly pleasure! After that message from Sanji, it was only a matter of seconds before he stripped me from my top with his hand inside my short pants. I mean, Oh God, I was out of words as he teased my body here and there. His expert-like tongue licked the tip of my nipples, sending jolts of electricity in my whole body towards my crotch. His other hand expertly massaged my other breast and pinched them lightly. He did all of those while all I could do was moaning like a b*tch in heat! I didn¡¯t care, though. This was the pleasure that I couldn¡¯t get if I touched my own body. As expected, getting touch sexually by other people really felt unbelievably good. His hand in my pants created another pleasure experience, far better when he yed with my nipples. Somehow, he had found my slit and yed with it for a while. He pushed his finger a little into my hole without pushing my panty aside. He dragged his nail across the slit over and over again. Even though he didn¡¯t touch my clit, I could feel the heat and itch started to spread out from my pussy. I wanted him to scratch more that I pulled my legs towards my chest to give him an easy ess. He smirked. ¡°Oh my adorable Jane, since when did you be this lewd? Tell me, did you masturbate when I was gone?¡± He whispered sexily as he pulled my shorts off, leaving me only in my mini panty. ..... ¡°I-I... I didn¡¯t!¡± I lied, of course. It was too embarrassing to admit that I had masturbated once to the thought of him. Well, that was masturbating went wrong since I was sure there was someone pleasuring me instead of me pleasuring my own self. Not that I would tell Tom about it. I was not sure about how he would react. And since that matter was still blurry to me, I wouldn¡¯t say it until I was sure what kind of creature dared to touch my body and pleasured me like that! ¡°Hm? Trying to lie to me, my dear?¡± He whispered as he nibbled on my earlobe. I shuddered. His wet tongue touched the side of my neck, creeping downward as he waited for my response. He continued his assault on my body, sucking and ying with my nipples even harder than before as his finger rubbed on my itchy pussy vigorously. ¡°Aah... aah... ahh...¡± I moaned hotly, feeling the need to be filled as my pussy grew hotter and wetter. Between my hazy eyes, I saw him smirked sexily and without I realized I had pounced on him. ¡°Woah!¡± He eximed, but secondter, heughed. I had been a mess but he was still calm andposed, how could I find it fair? It was not fair, of course! Straddling his hips, I ground my hot core onto his throbbing member. His underwear was soaking wet with my juices and his precum. My arms were around his neck, grabbing his hair as my mouth moaned and gasps near his ears. We were practically grinding against each other, while still wearing ourst piece of clothes in our body. But, I could still feel the pleasure. In no time, I heard him gasped and groaned as I let out a throaty mewl as my first climax hit me hard and drenched our crotch. ¡°Haa... Haa...¡± I was out of breath as I leaned on his body. I heard him gasping for breath, too, but the hard thing under my wet core was still as hard as ever. As expected of my boyfriend, I smirked proudly. I was about to say something, but Tom had pushed on the bed again. This time his hands moved swiftly as he didn¡¯t give me a chance to react. He had pulled down my panty and -I didn¡¯t know how he did it, but he was naked so fast -shoved his member inside of me in a swift move. I clenched my teeth hard. It had been months since myst sex, which was with him, and I was still pretty tight down there. The fact that I was so wet was the only thing that helped me to ease the pain. But, damn, he was big. Even bigger than thest time I remembered him. Speaking of which, I might not tell him about it, but since he followed the test, then it only meant the one I saw back then in the magic pond was him! Come to think about it, he was indeed so big! Tom went still, probably realized that I was feeling a bit difort. He kissed me softly and murmured an apology. I could only nod since the small friction in me had started to feel good. The sparks of electricity came back and when he started to move, there was no soft moaning, only lustful moan and scream could be heard throughout my room. It felt so good! I was filled so good! His member rubbed all the good spots inside of me that I felt like I was bathed in pleasure. ¡°Tom, Tom, Tom, please...¡± I whined in frustration as he stopped pounding me the moment I was near my climax for the second time. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question, baby. Did you masturbate when I wasn¡¯t here?¡± He caressed my head gently. Our sweaty body created a delicious friction that only heightened my senses. He thrusted his member once, twice, steadily brought me back to the peak, only to be dropped down again. ¡°YES! YES! I DID! NOW, PLEASE MAKE ME CUM!¡± I practically screamed and somewhere along the lines, he had picked up the pace and pounded into me. Ohh, it felt so good! I couldn¡¯t utter any words when that happened, only moaning, gasping, and screaming to show how much I loved this. The heat started to spread like wildfire in my body only to be drawn again to my crotch. In a second, the heat exploded and white stars appeared behind my eyelids. My body was twitching and my mouth was in the shape ¡®O¡¯, I was lost in bliss, I couldn¡¯t feel anything. Even when he bit my shoulder, I didn¡¯t feel it. I was lost in pleasure that hit me hard. ¡°We¡¯re not done.¡± He said between his gritted teeth. Before I could react, he had turned my body until my back was on his chest. He drove inside of me again from behind. With his hands around my hips, I could only let him thrusting into me in his pace. This position made him hit other good spots inside that had me mewling in need. His member felt so hot inside. Since I had just climaxed, my inside felt more slippery. It felt even better as his member went in and out of my hot core easily, scratching every nook of my private area in a hot and strong pounding. My mind could only thing how good it felt inside of me and how good he felt. It didn¡¯t take too long before I felt the familiar sensation built up inside me again. Clutching my bed sheet tighter, my body went rigid again as my climax hit me again. Damn, he was so good that he could bring me to another orgasm in just several minutes. However, he was nowhere near done. He pulled me up until I was sitting on hisp, leaning backward at him. He pulled my legs and a sense of shame hit me as I realized how open I was in at this moment. ¡°Ah, no...¡± I tried to protest, but it died down in my throat when he resumed thrusting into me. Ah, he drove in so deep. The itch reappeared and I had the urge to rub my pussy and y with my breasts. I needed the itch to be scratch so bad and the itch to stop itching, which was ridiculous. However, before I could do anything about it, Tom¡¯s hand reached out for my clit and rubbed it hard. I said that I cried and screamed before, well, I guessed I was just being exaggerated. But, this time, without doubt for sure, I cried and screamed in pleasure. My head leaned back to his shoulder and I could hear his chuckled in my ear. ¡°Feeling good, Jane?¡± ¡°YES! YES! Ohh yess!!¡± I screamed in time with his thrust. ¡°¡±Tom, oh Tom...¡± ¡°Does it feel good?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes, yes, yes, oh yes...¡± I grabbed my own breasts and pinched them hard. The nipples felt so sensitive to touch, but it only heightened the pleasure. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°Yes, Tom, yes, please!¡± ¡°Please what, Jane?¡± ¡°Please, fuck me harder! Harder, please!¡± I screamed because he deliberately slowed down his movement now. ¡°It¡¯s always fun to tease you, Jane.¡± Heughed but then he really fucked me harder that I almost had a hard time to breath from his power fucking. But, I wouldn¡¯tin since he brought me to another climax. See, I was addicted to him already. Chapter 171 171 Not How My Parents Raised Me Warning: Steamy scenes ahead! Read at your own risk! NSFW! (Jane¡¯s PoV) My body felt sore all over. It felt like my bones had turned into mush. I could barely move and soaking myself in warm water really helped a lot. Yes, only if this man stopped fucking me! We woke up a bit early this morning even after an intense fucking in the night before. The reason was Sanji would being home at any time. However, because of one¡¯s huge appetite, I was devoured almost to my bones and since I felt so good during the fucking, I couldn¡¯tin more. However, now was a different moment. Tom promised me that he would only bathe with me. But, I should have known the libido of a man who was inma for two years was not low. While we were soaking ourselves in the bathtub, his hands started to wonder around. In the end, he finger fucked me until I climaxed twice. TWICE! And it was only with his fucking fingers! Worse, I really liked it that naughty ideas started to pop in my mind while he was doing it. ..... Like, how I wanted him to finger me while we were watching movie in the living room. Or while driving around in a secluded ce. Okay, number two was not probable for me to do it since it was too risky, and number one seemed to be impossible since Sanji was going to live with us. However, if I were to pick one that was most probable to be done, it was number one. Okay, let¡¯s not talk about that crazy pervert thought of mine. After fingering me, he picked me up from the bathtub and sat me down on the edge of the tub. Following after that, I shrieked in surprise as he dove down and licked me hard. Trust me, I tried to push his head away but he stayed glued to his ce. When the pleasure started to overwhelm me, I forgot to push his head; instead I pulled him and ground my core harder on his face. Ah, shameless me, but what could I do? He asked for it and it felt damn good. He even made me cum once that way! I thought he was going to ask me to return the favor, but he went straight to thrust into me. And, yes, we had sex again. Slowly, this time, as if he wanted to savor every minutes of it. My body felt sore indeed, but when the pleasure started to overwhelm my whole body, I sumbed to it instantly. He kept doing it until the water turned cold that he sped up and finished himself on my back. After that vigorous morning exercise, I couldn¡¯t lift myself up and ended up staying on the bed. However, since my bed was dirty with our juices and sweat -yeah, I noticed he didn¡¯t cum inside, which was different from thest we did it in his room -I could only settle on my window seat that faced the garden. As the one who still had lots of stamina and energy, Tom was responsible for cleaning my room. I thought I needed to threaten him with something so that he would stop touching me, but other than kissing my forehead and put a nket on me, he didn¡¯t do anything else. ¡°Just sleep,¡± he said while smiling radiantly. Ah, he had unleashed the beast in himst night, of course he would be super radiant today. Why did I agree to have sex with him again? It was our real first meeting and I easily gave myself to him, was it okay? That thought popped in my mind, but because my eyes started to flutter down heavily, I decided to put that in the back of my mind. I would deal with itter. Ifter on he decided to leave me because I was easy for him, then I would let him go. Whether my heart could take it or not, I wouldn¡¯t know until I experienced it myself. With that in mind, I fell asleep soundly. It was a dreamless sleep, long and satisfying. When I woke up it was near midday. I pushed myself up in a sitting position and slowly popped the stiff joints in my body. After a good sleep, the soreness had very much disappeared. It didn¡¯t happen on our first sexual intercourse, though since I stayed in the room for a day. Could I use the words ¡®practice makes better¡¯ in this case? Hahaha. I walked out of my room and went to the kitchen downstairs. When I finally caught sight of the kitchen from the stairs, I saw two men were talking seriously inside. Both of them looked like they were doing something but I could still see the seriousness in their eyes when they talked. What they were talking about, I didn¡¯t know since they were talking in a low tone. I could only hear incoherent murmuring from the kitchen, but I couldn¡¯t make up any words from it. However, let me enjoy this scene a bit longer. I smiled as I sat down on the stairs while watching those two from afar. Tom was such an amazing lover. His sturdy body was so warm and tough that I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I was being dominated by his masculine vibe. Since I had already had sex with him once, I didn¡¯t feel repulsed doing it again with him, which also could be the reason why I readily epted him. I didn¡¯t know if I had it right, but even though Tom was trying to be gentle, he was a beast. Sex with him felt wild, even when he purposely slowed down when we had sex again in the bathroom, I could feel his passion. He always made sure I cum before him, but nevertheless I still felt he was wild. However, since I had not had sex with anyone other than him, I couldn¡¯t make aparison. Sanji, on the other hand, looked like a gentle and mature lover. I thought he would be the type who was into slow love-making. Well, I didn¡¯t know if I would have sex with him but deep inside my heart, I knew that I wanted to try. However, my nature was loyal to one man. I could admire or get attracted to another man, even imagine myself being intimate with him, but I didn¡¯t have the courage to make it real. However, if Tom allowed me, I might do it for real. Hahaha. Damn, since when did I be this wild? I was just eighteen years old! Why did I have to have that kind of perverted mind? Control yourself, Jane, control yourself. That¡¯s not how your parents raised you. ¡°You¡¯re awake? Come here and drink something.¡± Tom was the first one who noticed me. He waved at me, gesturing me to go to them. ¡°We¡¯re cooking for lunch, just wait for a while. Lunch will be ready soon.¡± Sanji added as he pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Seeing the both of them weed me like that with gentle and radiant smile on each of their faces, I said to myself inwardly, ¡°Screw perverted mind! I will think of anything I want to think about! Perverted or not, I don¡¯t care. I am given with these blessings in the form of two hot men in my house. I know both of them have feeling for me. Even if it¡¯s just in my mind, I will strip them naked and y with them to my heart content.¡± I didn¡¯t realize it that I had not thought about my training, my position as Master of White Army, or even the rescue n to take my father back for two days. My mind was upied with the both of them, whichter I found out that they purposely did that, to bring out the humanity in me, and to make me rest a bit from turning into a cold-blooded Master of White Army. They resorted to shameless n to distract me, how could I make them disappointed and not think shrewdly about them? Their n was sess since I could only think about the both of them in perverted way. Why did I only think about perverted things rted to them? Well, I had heard something about the men from the war would have a pent up frustration that after they returned from battlefield, they needed to release the pent-up frustration through sex, to make sure that they were still alive. I might remember it wrongly, but I think I was in the same situation. After iming my position, I had been in constant stress to find out a way to save my father, also with my hellish training with Siji, and to eradicate Shadows. Not to mention the appearance of that Devil. I would say I was okay, that I only needed to watch some movies to relieve my stress. But, actually, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about any of those. Until Tom came and teased me to have sex with him. Even though the way he distracted my mind was using sex, which as a result turning on my perverted side, I could say he was sessful. I really couldn¡¯t think of anything else; not my father, not my training, and not my army. I only thought about myself and to indulge myself in my fantasy of being with Tom and Sanji on the bed, together. Wild, I know, but since it was just in my mind, what harm could it cause? Chapter 172 172 Messenger From The South Sea (Jane¡¯s PoV) I thought that I would have some days off without thinking about the army and all of my problems. I even had nned to do casual things with Tom and Sanji and I wasn¡¯t talking about sex, you know. As much as the sex felt good, I couldn¡¯t indulge myself in it too much. I was still young and I should have spent my days outside instead of rolling in the sheet with two hot men. I even had nned a horror tour for the three of us. However, things didn¡¯t always go the way we wanted it. It was lunch time, and we were having lunch together in the dining room when Siji came out of nowhere. His expression was solemn as he bowed his head a bit to me. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked him. Anything that could make his expression solemn must be really important. ¡°Mdy, we have news from South Sea.¡± My body stiffened when I heard South Sea was mentioned. It must be news about my father, right? Sanji and Tom¡¯s expression grew somber as they heard it, too. Sanji and I had been waiting for any piece of news from the South Sea, but this one was the first toe. ¡°Tell me.¡± I put down my spoon and fork, and turned to face him. ..... ¡°Actually, it was a messenger from the Queen herself.¡± Siji said again. Messenger from the Queen? ¡°Our men met her when she reached thend, and brought her to us as soon as possible. Maybe you want to meet her?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I stood up, didn¡¯t bother to ask where they held the messenger. Siji bowed down again as he opened the door to my house in their dimension. It was quick and in a second, I had entered my house with my cloak draped around my shoulder. I nced behind me and found out that Siji and Tom were following me. I couldn¡¯t find Sanji, but from the way Siji looked at me, I knew that he had exined it to Sanji to Sanji couldn¡¯t follow us. Well, at least for now. I focused my attention towards my guest who had been waiting in the guest room. A beautifuldy in green was sitting on the wooden chair with her hands on herp gracefully. As expected of the people under the Queen, they were all as graceful as their Queen. As much as I wanted to stare at her, I remembered my main priority ining here. Taking the main seat as the host, my arrival was finally noticed by her. ¡°This servant greets Mdy, the Master of The White Army.¡± She bowed down a bit while speaking in a soft tone. Even her movement was smooth, sody like. ¡°Rise.¡± Imanded. ¡°I heard that you came from the South Sea?¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± She answered softly without making eye-contact with me. ¡°And may I know what does the Queen want from people on thend?¡± ¡°This servant came to see Mdy on ount of Lord Satya to deliver a message to Mdy.¡± The woman stepped forward and out of nowhere, apanied by the presence of water, a scroll of paper appeared in her hands. It was like a magic, but I didn¡¯t have time to admire it. She bowed down as her hands were offering the scroll of paper to me. I frowned a bit. Who was this Lord Satya she was talking about? Still, it wouldn¡¯t be polite to let her in that position for much longer. Nodding my approval at Siji, Siji approached her and took the paper from her hands. He even opened it right on the spot and read it. ¡°Hidden Vige, M Province. You know where to find it. Bring the ck Creese to the South Sea.¡± He read. Hidden Vige, M Province? Where was it? ¡°Since the message has been delivered safely, this servant will excuse herself.¡± She bowed again and with a wave of her hand, water came spiraling up around her. When the water dropped down, she disappeared, leaving wet patch on my floor. Damn, she left even before I could ask about my father. She even wetted my floor! Who was going to clean it up now? I could feel my face darkened. ¡°From now onwards, if the Queen sends a messenger, let her wait in the garden. That way, their water can be used to water the nts.¡± I gritted my teeth in annoyance. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji answered. ¡°About the message...¡± ¡°Do you know where it is?¡± I turned to look at him and Tom. ¡°Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t.¡± Tom shook his head helplessly. ¡°Well, Siji must know something.¡± I stared at Siji. ¡°There are more than ten Hidden Viges in M Province, I really don¡¯t know which one it is.¡± Siji replied with a helpless smile on his face. I squinted my eyes, trying to remember if I knew something about Hidden Vige in M Province. M Province, wasn¡¯t it in the South? ¡°Let¡¯s go back. Sanji might know something.¡± I stood up and opened up the door to my house by myself. ¡°How did you do that?¡± I heard Tom eximed behind my back. ¡°Siji will teach you.¡± I grinned as I stepped into the living room of my house. Sanji was there, walking back and forth anxiously. He looked like a man who was waiting for his wife giving birth to their first child. The moment heid his eyes on me, he approached me eagerly. ¡°How was it?¡± He asked. ¡°We got a message from Lord Satya. Hidden Vige in M Province. He said that I knew where to find it and I needed to bring the ck Creese to him in South Sea.¡± I said, flopping down on the couch. My cloak had disappeared the moment I stepped in our dimension. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know any man named Satya or Hidden Vige. So, I have no idea where to get this ck Creese that I have never seen before.¡± I added. ¡°Say, do you know any Hidden Vige in M Province?¡± I turned to see him, and only then I realized that Sanji¡¯s expression had darkened a lot. What was it that made him unhappy? ¡°Jane.¡± He called me in a dangerous tone. ¡°Hm?¡± I replied shortly. ¡°Even though I don¡¯t know who Satya is, but at least I know the other two.¡± He said. His eyes met mine and I saw helplessness as well as joy shed in his eyes. ¡°Really? Then, tell me.¡± I sat down properly as I stared at his face. ¡°ck Creese is a mystic weapon who picked its own wielder. As far as I knew, it is in the hands of your father. Also, since this Lord Satya mentioned about Hidden Vige, he must have known that ck Creese is a vital item in the vige. The ck Creese must have been sent back to the vige by your father.¡± Sanji exined. ¡°What¡¯s more, since he mentioned that you knew where to find the Hidden Vige, I bet this Lord Satya we are talking about is your own father!¡± I was stunned as I heard what Sanji said. ¡°But, his name is not Satya.¡± I mumbled. ¡°Well, whether this Lord Satya is your father or not, we will find outter. For now, I think we must prepare ourselves to go to this Hidden Vige. I know where to start, but I don¡¯t know the way there. Whether we could reach the vige or not, it depends on you.¡± Sanji looked at me half-smiling. ¡°What are we waiting for, then? Let¡¯s pack up!¡± Tom, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke in a matter of fact tone. The both of them didn¡¯t even wait for my reply and went to their own room to pack up. I turned my head to Siji who was still wearing his solemn expression and sighed. Whatever, I¡¯ll just go. What can happened to me with Sanji and Tom protecting me? Not to mention Siji and the men. Let¡¯s just go! But, honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure that I could find the ce. My father did tell me before, a long time ago, that if his descendants wanted to visit that ce, they would always open the gate for us. There was no way his child would get lost in the forest during the searching for the vige. I really felt skeptical, and I meant to talk about it to Sanji and Tom. However, both of them looked excited and trusted me that I would be able to bring them there. How could I say to them that I wasn¡¯t sure? Ah, let¡¯s just pack up first. Whatever happens after that, let¡¯s just think about it at that time. That¡¯s what I thought. We finished packing soon and in less than eight hours, we had stood at the entrance of the forest in M Province. I took a deep breath as I watched my surroundings. It was around ten in the evening. There was no way I wanted to go inside the forest thiste. The people who lived around the forest also told us to take a rest first and went inside first thing in the morning. However, I didn¡¯t know what burned the fire inside these two men that even though they didn¡¯t say it, I knew that they wanted to go into the forest at this precise moment. What the hell? Even though I wasn¡¯t scared about those things anymore, but it didn¡¯t mean I wanted to send myself at their doorsteps willingly. At least, let me wait until it was bright. The voice of night animals were never good to begin with and I didn¡¯t want to walk inside being surrounded by those voices. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside tomorrow morning.¡± I said to those men. They simultaneously looked at me, which was kind of startled me. They were so in sync that I thought they were puppet. But, only for a second, but they treated as if they didn¡¯t hear me saying anything. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to enter a forest at night instead of in the morning.¡± Tom said. He sounded rather enthusiastic, which was worrying for me. I wasn¡¯t surprised when I saw Sanji was nodding his head. I had guessed them right, that they wanted to enter the forest at night. Even so, it still left me speechless. They won¡¯t force me to enter the forest tonight, right? Chapter 173 173 Ambush! (Jane¡¯s PoV) After one long re and silent treatment, both of them finally gave up and found an inn nearby to have a good night sleep. Early in the morning, we woke up and got ready to enter the forest. The forest was one of tourist attraction in that area, but it was limited until two kilometers after crossing the main river. More than that, it was still a pure and mysterious forest and usually no one would want to enter there. However, that¡¯s where we wanted to go. How did I know it? Of course, it was because I was holding a brochure in my hand. Truthfully, I was attracted to the river. The brochure showed a picture of big river with some stones in all sizes and shallow and clear water. It was really an attractive looking picture and I wish the real one was even more beautiful. With that thought in mind, I was even more eager to enter this forest. Based on what the people said, if we followed the trail towards the river, we would reach there probably at ten or eleven. That was the perfect time to enjoy the fresh water there! Entering the forest, honestly I could only feel the fresh air filling my lungs. Tom was leading the group and Sanji was protecting in my back. I was walking in the middle without any worry since I had two strong men in front of me and my back. Of couse, it didn¡¯t mean I would let down my guard. Being the Master of White Army made me vignt with things around me. If one wanted to ask me whether I saw something in the forest, then yes, I saw ¡®something¡¯ -if that was what you meant. But, I only saw the strong ones. Not because my ability was limited, but I purposely suppressed my power. I didn¡¯t want to attract their attention to me which in result making them crowding around me. Since this was a forest, most of the beings here were not human-like beings. ..... There were weird shape beings which crawled like a spider, some were flying with a pair of bat-like wings, and others were either sprawling on the ground sleeping or strolling around aimlessly. Since I purposely held down my ability, the amount that I could see was limited. However, it was not the same for the two men with me. When I saw those creatures were attracted to us to the point they started to approach us, I knew that these two men were using their ability to the fullest. It was like attracting moths to the me. ¡°You two purposely made eye contact with them, right?¡± I gritted my teeth as I asked them. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we could close our eyes and walk forwards.¡± Tom replied and even though I couldn¡¯t see his face since he was facing to the front, I knew he was grinning. Behind me, I heard Sanji was chuckling, a sign that he agreed to what Tom had just said. ¡°Hm? There are shadows among them.¡± Sanji eximed in a low tone. ¡°Wow, nasty! Look what it is holding in its hands!¡± Tom pointed out at one of the shadows. Disgust was evident in his voice and soon I knew why. The one he was pointing at was a big ck and hairy being with fangs and red eyes, sitting on one of the branches in a big tree. In its hands was fresh bloody meat which it would chew from time to time. Its eyes were fixated on us and suddenly it leapt from the tree it was sitting on, to the other trees, and stopped near us. ¡°Hungry...¡± It growled, saliva nearly dropped to the ground. ¡°Humans! Delicious humans here...¡± He grinned. His eyes showed madness as he braved himself to step closer to us. Ah, it¡¯s troublesome. ¡°Can you handle it?¡± I asked the both of them. ¡°What? Do you even need to ask that?¡± Tom sneered as he didn¡¯t break the eye contact with the shadow. ¡°Then, finish it quickly.¡± I waved my hands and found a ce to sit and waited for them. I really didn¡¯t have any intention to start a fight as soon as we entered the forest, but since this thing was aiming for us, intending to make us as its meal, then I made an exception. Let¡¯s see how much can you eat, Ugly Face! I didn¡¯t even know what kind of ghost it was. Was it some kind of Genderuwo? The one that had been in contract with humans, of course. Greedy and cruelty were dominant from its aura. I didn¡¯t know how many humans had it killed under the order of another sick and evil human. Since it was this terrifying, strong, and ugly, I bet it had been affected by the resentment and fear of its victims. Since what it did was not something good, it was normal for it to have this terrifying form. I continued to watch the fight. Sanji was using mantra and enchantments to fight against them. I guessed after he got enlightenment that time, he got stronger and firmer. He looked like a very skillful exorcist like that. I also noticed that his mantra and enchantments made him able to hurt them in anyway even when he didn¡¯t use any weapon. Tom, on the other hand, was like fighting with human. He kicked here and there, threw punches, and what was that hanging on his wrists? I squinted my eyes to have a better look at the thing around his wrists. Wasn¡¯t it chains? How did it get there? I was sure I had not seen it before. With how easy he utilized the chain to swing here and there, I was even surer that it was a mystic weapon obeyed only to him. Hm? Why did I feel that those two were in a strain? I blinked my eyes to adjust my sight, this time I didn¡¯t suppress myself. To my surprise, instead of that one nasty shadow, there were some others which probably were its underlings. It might be hundreds of them, damn! Handling these much, I believed in Tom and Sanji. They would be able to eradicate those shadows for sure, but it would take much time. I didn¡¯t want to miss the perfect time to y in the water. Sensing my stares to them, those unknown creatures shifted their eyes on me and started to target me. I didn¡¯t know why, but I thought the way they were looking at me was like they were looking at their prey. Ah, I remember. They did treat us like meal. I nodded as I stood up and patted my butt from dirt. Since they want to provoke me, let¡¯s end this quickly so that we can reach the river on time. That¡¯s what I told myself. This was the time I got to practice what I had learned from Siji. Smirking, I weed their advances towards me while ignoring the shouts of horror from Sanji and Tom. What? Are they forgetting the fact that I am the Master of White Army? I put my hands together in front of my chest, at the same time channeling my spiritual power to my surrounding. Since my spiritual power was in the smoke form, I could manipte the air around me to be my weapon. Well, I was still not good enough at it, but Siji said it was enough to knock down some low level shadows if I were to be ambushed like this time. That¡¯s why I said, it was a good time to practice. The air around me changed as soon as I started channeling my power. Before they could touch me, they were sent flying, howling, and dispersed even before theynded on the ground. I smirked again, feeling happy that it worked better than I expected. What did I do? I used my spiritual power to change the density of the air around me, creating two fingers thick and an arm length invisible stick weapons which pierced through their bodies in one go. Not only that, my attack came in five waves that could cover up to till ten meters after it was being released and it could only affect shadows, not human. I was working so hard on this move that I set the rule not to use to harm humans. As a result, not only the batch of shadows that was sent to attack me was sent flying and dispersed into thin air, but also those who were fighting against Tom and Sanji. The boss, the one who was eating meat, was the only one left. It was looking at me with shock all over its hairy face. I noticed its body trembled slightly, especially when I was approaching it. It was flinching and nning to run away, but the chain in Tom¡¯s hand caught it up first and tied it up. ¡°Tell me.¡± I started coldly. ¡°It is still in the very outer area of this forest. Since many peoplee in and out using this path, there was no way someone would let anything as dangerous as you lingered in this ce. In other words, you should not be here. Then, why are you here? Whomands you?¡± ¡°And don¡¯t even try to pretend that you don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m saying since or you¡¯re not able to talk. I won¡¯t buy it.¡± I added but still with my calm face. It looked shocked that its n was seen through by me. Under normal circumstances I might be more lenient and wait for it to talk, but obviously not today since I had another n to do. The question had been popping in my mind for several times, but I ignored it. But now I needed to know the answer. Chapter 174 174 Increasing Combat Power (Jane¡¯s PoV) It let out a voice resembled to a growl, but somehow sounded like it was saying something. I sratched my head with my finger with my eyebrows arched in annoyance. It wanted to test my patience? ¡°Speak properly.¡± I pped his back hard. ¡°It¡¯s clear you can speak since you said that you were hungry and we were delicious. I¡¯ve said before, don¡¯t pretend that you can¡¯t talk.¡± I stared at it, colder as the sentences went on. The chain around its body lit up in a fiery red lines. My eyes fixed on it and found out the unusual pattern on it. Other mystic weapons or tools would have ancient letters on it, but this one didn¡¯t have one. The ring red lines on it instead formed simr to the cracks in the volcanoes, and the source of power inside of it was surprisingly more simr to the molten hotva. It was so interesting that I nearly forgot I was interrogating a shadow. The painful groan escaped from its mouth as soon as the chain lit up. Its body writhed but it couldn¡¯t do anything to escape from the chain. Also, I noticed that the chain moved even tighter if it resisted more. ¡°Ready to talk?¡± Sanji asked. I took a long nce at the man on my left side. He was the one that was the most normal one amongst the three of us, but he didn¡¯t question about the chain. Heck, he didn¡¯t even question why Tom wasn¡¯t dead when Tom came that day. It was as if he knew everything and he wasn¡¯t feeling curious at all. ..... If I were him, I would have put an interrogation session for the whole day the moment Tom appeared in front of me. Who wouldn¡¯t? ¡°M-my Master sent m-me he-herre to attack a-anyone rted to th-that man.¡± It really could speak! Even though it was stuttering a bit. I arched my eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Which man? ¡°You have his scent on you. The man who came from the North.¡± It replied, not stuttering anymore, but I knew it was saying the truth. Fear was still apparent on its hideous face after all. I sighed. ¡°Say, don¡¯t you know this man who came from the North¡¯s name?¡± It shook its head. ¡°Master only gave me his scent.¡± Was his master a pervert? I couldn¡¯t imagine what he had done to get this man from the North¡¯s scent. Did he steal this man¡¯s clothes? What a pervert! ¡°Another question, is your Master a man or a woman?¡± I asked again, feeling curious with its Master. ¡°A man.¡± He said. I blinked my eyes. ¡°Your Master is a pervert. I¡¯ll keep you hostage for now. I¡¯ll settle the score with your Masterter after I finish my business.¡± Whoever this Master was, I needed to meet him for a quick interrogation and probably some demolition. After all, dealing with ck magic practitioner was not my first time. Let¡¯s see his motive in attacking me. Waving my hand, I sent the nasty shadow into the prison of White Army. With tight guard of White Army men, I was sure it couldn¡¯t escape. They would know what to do. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± pping my hands together, I restarted our trip. Tom and Sanji didn¡¯t say anything and resumed their position. I thought it was ourst time dealing with shadows in the forest, turned out before we reached the river, we met another four ambushes. Since I had used my imperfect ultimate skill once in the beginning, I didn¡¯t use it again. Not because I didn¡¯t have appropriate power to create the same trick, but it would consume my energy and the effect would be pretty grave. Not that I would get injured or anything, rather, I would sleep for two days, at least, to replenish my energy. It was fine if we were only at home, but falling asleep in the middle of a forest that I had never visited before... wasn¡¯t funny at all. Ever since I showed them my skill, Tom and Sanji had started to be even more vigorous in fighting the shadows. Their skills got even better as time passed. No, rather than their skill, it was safe to say that theirbat power increased. Compared with the first time they fought with these shadows, the way they used their skills looked even more swift and precise which resulted in the time they finished sweeping the shadows into thin air. Also, both of them got into harmony easily during the fight. They started to trust their backs to each other, that made me almost like I could do nothing. Like I was a third-wheel. Well, it was a joke. They would scold me for having that thought, I knew. I only got a little bit of action during the fight since they didn¡¯t allow me to spoil their training practices. All I could do was be their fourth eyes -since Sanji¡¯s third eyes was Tom and Tom¡¯s third eyes was Sanji. Whenever a shadow found an opening that neither Tom nor Sanji noticed, I would act and save those two asses. I doubt they knew about it since they were too engrossed in fighting. Anyway, long story short, because of those disturbances along the way, we could only reach the river in the middle of the day. Even so, I was still happy because the reality was even more beautiful than the picture in the brochure. The water was cold and fresh. The stones that scattered on the bank and in the river, even if they were scalding hot from being roasted under the sun, looked so amazingly wonderful. I took a deep breath. The air in the forest, even though felt fresh, but it was a bit damp. The smell of rotten trees was a bit more imminent than in the other part of the forest. However, the fresh air in the river was a bit different. Which was why I was so excited the moment I stepped onto the stones on the bank. ¡°Jane, be careful!¡± Sanji reminded me as he kept his pace to match mine. ¡°Okay!¡± I replied. Of course, I would be careful. I didn¡¯t want to slip and hit my head on the hard rock identally. I went to find a shade to sit down and at the same time ying with water. But, hahaha... it was all just my wishful thinking. I really couldn¡¯t find such spot here. If it were still at ten in the morning, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sit down under the sun light while ying with water. However, it had passed twelve! The sun was obviously not ying around at this particr time. It was like the sun was on rage, screaming ¡®burn! burn!¡¯ while pouring its heat to Earth. So, no. I wouldn¡¯t do something that harmful to my own body. ¡°Let¡¯s cross the river!¡± I said to the both of them after tasting the water with my hands for a while. ¡°I thought you still want to y with water.¡± Tom peered into me in confusion. ¡°No, thanks. The sun is definitely waiting for me to do it, but I¡¯m not going to satisfy its wish.¡± ¡°Heh, what a way to say that you¡¯re afraid to be burned.¡± Tom smirked. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Ignoring his teasing remarks, I hopped from one stone to another until I finally reached the opposite side of the river. But, this side was a bit strange. My eyes focused on the forest as I felt something was waiting for me to get inside. It was as if I was walking into a trap. I frowned. What trap could it be? ¡°What is it?¡± Tom asked as he peered into the forest, following my action. ¡°Something is here.¡± Sanji said coldly. He must have sensed it, too. ¡°No shit, Sherlock.¡± Tom grunted. I didn¡¯t see it but I knew he was sneering at Sanji. ¡°So, are we going to stand here all day long?¡± He was right. No matter how uneasy I was feeling, I couldn¡¯t stop here. Stepping forward, I stayed alerted just in case it was another ambush. The atmosphere in the forest was totally different with the other side of the river. This time, it was even denser and more powerful than before. I frowned as I noticed the presence of stronger entity around. I became even more wary because I could only sense the presence but I couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°Come out.¡± I said as my eyes darted here and there to find the owner of this suppressing ability. Tom and Saji were ready to battle at anytime. However, since the enemy still refused to show themselves, they could only maintain their alert stance all the times. My voice echoed slightly in the calm forest. Following that, a big shadow loomed all over us. I frown as the shadow tried to intimidate us. Is it seriously trying to intimidate me? Who told him to do something like this? Was it still the same master as the ones before? If it was, I guess I needed to meet this master before I could continue my journey. I closed my eyes and waved my hand towards the shadow which was still refusing toe out obediently and instead only using his lousy skill to scare us. A shriek was heard as I sessfully hooked my fingers into its body. Following after that, something fell right in front of us, creating a loud thumping sound. Opening my eyes, I smirked as I stared at the one who was still sprawling on the ground in front of me. Chapter 175 175 Summoning The Men (Jane¡¯s PoV) However, as I finally got a good look on the one I caught, I was stunned for a split second. On the next second, I stepped back, my whole body went on full alert and ready forbat. I wasn¡¯t the only one who understood how grave the situation was, but also Sanji and Tom who already put on a stance to fight, shielding me with their bodies. Even their previous rx expression was gone, only frown and hardened jaw was seen on their face. ¡°Ah, that hurts...¡± came a muffle groan from the one who was sprawling in front of us. It pushed itself up, shaking off the dried leaves stuck on its body. My eyes followed its move -ah no, it should be ¡®his¡¯ movements closely. The moment he had stood straight while rubbing the back of his neck, I knew that whatever he was, he couldn¡¯t possible be in this form for just a short period of time. He must have assumed this form for a really long time, which was why his every movements were so identical to what human would always do. Even his facial expression was wless. The only thing different was the pain tolerance. For a non-human entity to have a human form for a long time, he must be a powerful one. What kind of human could enve this powerful human? Or rather, how many sacrifice did he demand to get this human form? ¡°Hello, little girl.¡± He smiled. His form was a young man, probably as young as Sanji or Tom, but I couldn¡¯t see any trace of his original appearance at all. d in a ck sport trousers, ck t-shirt, and a pair of running shoes, he looked like a harmless tourist having a good morning jogging in the forest. He wasn¡¯t necessarily handsome, but at least he was not ugly at all. Ah, what was I thinking? ..... I shook my head slightly to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts inside my mind. Since he could create this form and even blended with this form so well to the point I couldn¡¯t even see the difference between him and the form he was created, I was one hundred percent sure he was indeed riddiculously powerful. I watched as his thick eyebrows frowned. What? Why did he look like he was about to p someone? ¡°Little girl, is that how your parents taught you when someone older than you greeted you first?¡± He asked in displeasure. ¡°Well, my parents taught me not to speak to strangers.¡± I replied casually. His expression changed. ¡°Good, good, good.¡± He nodded even though he was gritting his teeth. He might not know that I could reply like that to him. As an old soul, he might find my way of speaking disrespectful. ¡°You purposely blocked our way, even tried to intimidate us, and you want us to have a nice conversation with you? Tell me, is that even possible?¡± Sanji spoke in a matter of fact tone. ¡°Who sent you?¡± The chains around his wrists made a dull sound when Tom moved his hands. ¡°Ah, kids nowadays are seriously needed a beating or two to straighten them up. How dare they talked to an elderly like this?¡± He sighed in a righteous manner. Chuckles escaped my lips when I heard him said that. Shouldn¡¯t he make his appearance be more believable if he wanted to use us for that crime? With twenty something human form, he expected us to treat him like an elderly? Was he joking? ¡°Next time, try to appear with an elderly form and make a good start, that way we might treat you better.¡± I said lightly. It was not a suggestion. I even doubted that we would meet again after this one. His expression darkened when he heard that casual remarks from me. I really didn¡¯t know what could please him when he would take everything that we said seriously. He got offended easily, really. ¡°Now, maybe you can tell us, who ordered you to wait on us?¡± I repeated Tom¡¯s question. ¡°Did he order you to harm us?¡± Tom added. ¡°Nice question and nice assumption.¡± He pointed at us with a sneer. ¡°I thought that I wouldn¡¯t need to use any of my strength since that old man has dispatched his best fighters before me. But, it seems like you guys have a good skill. I don¡¯t know how you managed to defeat them, but I will say one thing to you, I¡¯m not as easy as them.¡± The longer he talked, the scarier his form turned into. It might not be his true form, but I could roughly guess what his true form looked like. Monster; a terrifying one, if I could say. ¡°Stand back!¡± Tom reminded me before he pounced forward towards that scary looking man. A fight broke out between the man versus Sanji and Tom. By number, it was a win on our side. Sanji and Tom were excellent fighters, but against this sole man, I was surprised to see that it was them who got on the losing end. I knew that the man was powerful, but I was too careless to think that he would not be that strong. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out softly and the man appeared right after thest letter was spoken. ¡°Mdy.¡± He bowed a bit and followed the line of my gaze. He was quick-witted as he saw the fight in front of us. He understood that someone had sent this human imposter to me in attempt to harm me. ¡°Do you think we can take him down?¡± I called him out not to ask him to fight, of course. I needed advise from him, after all he was the one who knew about the limit of our power. ¡°It¡¯s not totally impossible, but it would take some time. Especially since Sanji and Tom had exerted much of their power and energy on the previous fights. Both of them couldn¡¯t take down this level of shadow all by themselves. And your set of training was only for your own self, means it can¡¯t be used in group. Anyone who tries to fight on your side will end up harming you, instead. So, it could only be you fighting against him.¡± Sanji exined. ¡°But, it will take some time, right?¡± I repeated what he told me before. Siji nodded. ¡°Is there any other way to make it fast? I want to visit that old man and ask him what he wants exactly.¡± ¡°Of course, there is a way, Mdy. By using the power of White Army,mand the men to capture him. After all, if he wants to show off his power that he got after years of being a shadow and feeding off human¡¯s blood and soul, our men don¡¯tck any of those power. We are First Army, after all.¡± Siji smiled reassuringly. ¡°Then, let¡¯s do it. I can train some other time after I reached that Hidden Vige. For now, let¡¯s get rid of the one who wants to harm me.¡± After saying that, I unleashed my full power, as well as summoning all of the White Army men. In a second, lines and rows of white clothed men were standing behind my back. The glow of their white clothes lit up the forest in a mysterious way. Siji stood on my left, with a thin smile on his lips. His white robe lit up the same way with the rest of the men. ¡°Get them back.¡± I gestured for some of my men to take Sanji and Tom back. It would be hard for Sanji and Tom to find an opening by themselves to retreat. Ten of my men flew towards the agile enemy in front of us. Four of them caught hold of Sanji and Tom¡¯s left and right arms before they leapt backwards andnded in front of me while the six of them helped them to stall for time. Sanji was almost running out breath as his eyes were still as focus as he did in the battle. I let him rest a bit further away from us. Compared to him, Tom was in a better shape. ¡°General, join the men.¡± I looked at him. Tom looked startled a bit but then he calmly epted mymand. His whole body was covered in white mist and the next second he had changed into a set of General-like clothes, only it was in white. He also let out faints of mysterious white glow, but his was denser. His earlier grave expression turned solemn, as if the one in front of him didn¡¯t mean anything to him. My whole men was finallyplete. It felt good, somehow. I looked at the shadow and smirked. His eyes widened when he saw what happened. ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away. Capture him alive.¡± Imanded. I could feel my spiritual power, the smokes like power, rushed out of my body and enveloped the whole army. Even so, I didn¡¯t feel anything strange at all. ¡°Swords, surround him! You heard the Master! Don¡¯t let him get away! Capture him alive!¡± Tommanded to the men behind him. A sword appeared in his hand as he himself led tens of men wielding swords to surround the surprised shadow. An even intense fight broke out near the river bank. This time I could see some differences in Tom¡¯s move. It might be because he was using his power as a General, he looked more agile and totally in harmony with the men. It was as if they had been training for years together. ¡°Damn you! I¡¯m not gonna be captured here alive!¡± The shadow yelled in fury, as it turned into something bigger and more powerful than his previous form. ¡°Here hees.¡± Siji said as he stared at monster in front of us. Chapter 176 176 Meeting The Master (Jane¡¯s PoV) As soon as he used his true form, the rotten and disgusting smell as a result of his evil deeds all these years permeated through the air. It was so disgusting that I really wanted to throw up right away. However, I held my ground and willed myself hard. I had been training hard under Siji¡¯s hellish training to ovee this kind of distraction during a fight. Smell, pain, and vision illusion were something I needed to guard against. It was a good thing that those men were not affected with the smell, but Tom and Sanji were the exceptions. Sanji, who was resting a bit far away from us, had started to empty his stomach. The sight of him retching made me feel sorry for him. Tom was no better than him. He distanced himself from the monster and puked. I gave Siji a look and he nodded. Both Tom and Sanji would have a hell of training to ignore this kind of thingster. Heh, just the thought of the two of them being tortured like me lifted up my mood. Hah, finally I wouldn¡¯t be the one who experienced that hell! Since my mood was getting better, I spent no time to finish the monster in front of me. Waving my right hand, my spiritual power rushed forward like mps and attached themselves around the monster. ¡°Bind.¡± I softly said as my opened palm closed tightly. The invisible rope connecting the mps to me tightened up around his body. He roared to the sky as he struggled to get free from the mps and ropes. My eyebrows twitched in a frown when I felt the rope around my hands trembled as an effect of his powerful struggle. ¡°Tighter.¡± Siji said as he watched me struggling with the monstrous evil thing. I exerted more force and pulled the rope tighter around his body and another roar was heard. Was it because it was my first time dealing with this kind of shadow or this shadow was just too hard to tame? ..... He didn¡¯t cease his struggle. As expected of a super old shadow, his power was not to be triffled with. Instead of feeling suppressed by his imminent power, I gradually felt excited. This kind of powerful enemy appeared in front of me, did he deliver himself to be my sandbag? This kind of enemy, I was free to let out my whole power, right? Then, let¡¯s see how much he could stand it. With this kind of mind, I poured out my power into the invisible rope. At the same time, my left hand moved and countless invisible mps rushed towards him from all direction. My White Army Men had stepped back for a second before they rushed forward again and worked together with me. It looked like they were dancing around the big enemy, but the swords in their hands shed towards the struggling monster. Roar and grunts were heard continously. ¡°Just give up.¡± I said calmly. ¡°NO!¡± He stubbornly refused. I sighed. Well, I had not finished testing my new set of martial arts, after all. Since he refused to give in, I should have just gone and tested some moves that I learned from Siji. Too bad his body was too big to fight one on one with me. I was smirking, but based on what Siji told me after that, the lights in my eyes showed the evil design I had on the shadow. I rushed forward, just in time when the men flew backwards and created a barrier around the monster. Five men carrying fire approached and stood in the inner side of the circle. The others stood back and guarded the perimeter as I nted all the handles of the ropes in the ground. Fully concentrating on my task at hand, my hands moved again and all the fire flew up to the air. Those tiny little fire balls, with just one blow of breath and a simplemand, lit up all the ropes in a big blue fire. Of course, the fire was under my control. I could easily make it reached the shadow quickly, but I also could slow it down. ¡°Do you give in now?¡± I asked calmly. ¡°Never!¡± I sighed. My fingers twitched and five lines of fire shot towards him and burned his wrists, ankles, and right middle finger. Painful groan and roar reverberated in the forest. It didn¡¯tst long. Those five lines of fire left five burns on his body even though I only burned him for five seconds. It looked painful, but he gritted his teeth and refused to give in. This time, rows of swords came and stabbed his big body. Another howl of pain was heard. ¡°You should change him back into his human form before you can take a peek inside his head.¡± Siji reminded me. ¡°Got it!¡± Just force him to return back to his human form, right? That was easy. I just needed to suppress his power to the point it reverted back to his human form. With that in mind, I swiftly moved and tortured that poor monstrous thing. ¡°Give up!¡± I shouted as pulled the ropes tighter. He howled again, but this time I watched as his body shrunk in size. I didn¡¯t know since when the smell disappeared, but when he had reverted back to his human form, Tom approached us in staggering steps. His pale face looked especially scarybined with the menacing re he shot towards the shadow and the faint white glow emitted from his body. He probably felt humiliated for throwing up so much like that. He didn¡¯t say much as he pulled out his twin chains, glowing bright red, and threw it towards the poor man. The chain circled his body from his feet to his red, leaving only his head out with eyes bulging out. ¡°Damn you, stinky creatures! Let¡¯s see if I didn¡¯t throw you in hell after this!¡± Tom threatened him through his gritted teeth. ¡°I¡¯ll wash you with theva of Death Volcano, I bet it can clean all of your disgusting smell.¡± Death Volcano? Instinctively I looked at Siji, the know-it-all Adviser of mine. He looked surprised, but he didn¡¯t say anything. But, from the way his gaze towards Tom changed, I knew it was not something so simple. Well, I would find out about itter. For now, I should just focus on interrogating this shadow. This Shadow was powerful, I knew about this fact. Because it had been living for a long time, it had some additional suply of energy inside his body. He could have defend himself and not to fall into this sorry state if his opponent had not been me. Even though I was still a kid in the shadow¡¯s eyes, but my teacher was an old man who had existed for more than a millenium as well. Not to mention he was a genius. However, since it had happened, I could only watched as once again it was tortured, by Tom, this time. ¡°We still need him.¡± I reminded Tom who nearly lost his mind. ¡°You should go back and rest for a bit.¡± I rubbed his arm softly. Tom closed his eyes as he rxed his body under my hand. After he could control his anger, he opened up his eyes again and looked at me softly. ¡°Be careful.¡± He rubbed my cheek lightly before he moved to the back and joined Sanji who was sprawling in exhaustion. I returned my gaze towards the Shadow. With this fight, I could finally measure my own power. I gained benefits while he almost lost his life. I stepped towards him and put my right hand on his forehead. Concentrating my power, I entered his mind and followed the light thread that connecting him to his master. In no time, I was brought to a foreign ce. I looked around. It was slightly different with Amanda¡¯s father¡¯s working room. This room had wooden walls and floor. The only resemnce was how the room was nearly dark with a table full of many things, and one of them was a bowl full of blood. Behind the table was a row of statues, I suspected as the ce to host the shadows. By the look of it, this man had around twenty main shadows. He had sent some of them to me and they were all still being kept in my ce. I smirked as an idea crossed my mind. ¡°Heh, let¡¯s see what would happen to you if I do this.¡± I collected all the statues after locking whatever inside it with my power and threw them toward the big bowl of fire in my men¡¯s hand. As expected, all of them howled in pain, but I could sense the one in front of me didn¡¯t show any difort. It meant he wasn¡¯t included in those statues. Interesting! I was about to mess up with the table again when the door was pushed open hastily. A pair of old widened eyes met mine. ¡°Bastard! What are you doing?!¡± He pounced forward, trying to catch my neck in his tight grip. ¡°Cleaning.¡± I said nonchntly as I dodged his advances. He must be feeling aggrieved hearing my answer, but there¡¯s nothing he could do since his statues were burning in the me. As for me, I was more than happy that I could provoke this man. Who asked him to provoke me first? Chapter 177 177 Last Words? (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Who are you?¡± The old man was eyeing me warily. Even though he was still angry and had already got ready to attack me again, but he wasn¡¯t fool to attack me blindly. ¡°Well, I want to ask you the same. Who are you? Since your minions attacked me, I am curious about you. Really.¡± Was my expression convincing enough? I hope so. The old man frowned as he heard my question. He might have not realized that his minions had attacked someone. Poor old man with poor memory. ¡°Do you recognize these?¡± I waved my hands and the ones I captured before appeared in front of me, being tied up and burned while wailing in pain. The old man¡¯s eyes widened. Of course he recognized them. He might have remembered what task he had given to these poor shadows that he shot menacing re at me. His lips curled up in a sinister smile. ¡°It¡¯s been years, I thought I would not have any chance to meet with him or his descendants. Since he is so sure in sending his own daughter to the forest, he must have some faith in you.¡± The old man sneered. I held the urge to roll my eyes hearing his gibberish. Wasn¡¯t the fact I could find him a good enough proof that I wasn¡¯t an average daughter? ¡°But, what can a kid like you do? Even if you are as talented as your father, I doubt you can defeat me. You¡¯re too young for that.¡± ..... This time, I didn¡¯t hold back and openly rolled my eyes. This old man really had issues with his memories. Any sane man would be wary of me since I appeared out of nowhere in his supposedly private room. What¡¯s more, I openly showed him that I had the ability to burn his minions, what talent did he want to see from me? ¡°Old man, are you sick?¡± I asked in a fake worry. ¡°Or is it that your eyes can¡¯t see clearly?¡± ¡°Impudent! How dare you talk to me like that?¡± He shouted in rage. ¡°Easy. There¡¯s no need to shout. I am just asking.¡± I flinched in annoyance since his shout was really too loud. ¡°How do you want me to talk to you? Soft and polite? I think I¡¯m polite enough considering I don¡¯t hit you or whatever.¡± I said casually. ¡°Kid, I¡¯ll make you regret ining here. Your lousy skill won¡¯t be able to beat me.¡± I nodded. Why did this old man talk too much? Was he stalling for time? I looked at him carefully, trying to see any additional moves he made. And I was right. His left hand was holding a small statue. Not only that, I saw something was dripping from his hand. Since there was blood in the room already, I couldn¡¯t tell whether there was additional blood in the room or not. But, I was one hundred percent sure that it was blood. My guess was he purposely cut himself, only enough to draw blood and to soak the small statue with his blood. It might be the way he used to summon his ultimate shadow, to tell him that he was in danger. I chuckled. He might not know that the one he was waiting for had been subdued by us. ¡°Old man, are you waiting for someone? It¡¯s better for you to stop your bleeding, lest you¡¯ll get sick from losing too much bloodter. Should I help you summoning him here?¡± I asked with a smile on my face. The color on his face drained as he heard what I said. His already old body trembled slightly, but I didn¡¯t feel even an ounce of pity. He was this old already but he still chose to y with shadows. I didn¡¯t even know how many humans had fallen victims in his hands. Why should I pity him? I waved my hand again. A thin white smoke appeared and when it dissipated, I could see two figures inside. One was tied up in chains and cut a sorry figure, while the other one was standing upright, his white robe fluttered with the soft wind that carried them here. His expression was solemn but from his sharp eyes, I could see that he was doing great even though he had vomited his breakfast. That was great! I had not had the chance to properly tend those two men since I needed to deal with this man as soon as possible, but seeing his well-beings brought relieved to me. ¡°You...¡± The old man looked shocked as he recognized the one in Tom¡¯s hand. His body trembled even more that I was almost sure that he would have a heart attack. If he really did have a heart attack, I would say ¡®pathetic¡¯. A sinner like him who had taken probably countless lives of people and then died because of heart attack, what a simple way of dying! ¡°He is the one you¡¯re waiting for, right?¡± I smiled. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve met each other, anyst words?¡± ¡°You... Who are you?¡± The old man¡¯s voice was like a whisper as he stared at me in horror. ¡°Me? I thought you already knew it.¡± I walked towards him with a smile on my face. ¡°I¡¯m the one and only daughter of Farid Harris. You set up all those shadows for him, didn¡¯t you? Or for anyone who had any blood rtion with Farid Harris. Too bad, I¡¯m not as weak as you think. So what if I¡¯m just a kid? Can a kid do this?¡± I snapped my fingers and the fire got even bigger and burned those shadows in a sh. His house, however, even though it was made from woods, didn¡¯t show any trace of fire. Even as the fire burned those wailing shadows, I kept my eyes on him, watched his expression closely. The fear started to cloud his eyes and his terrified expression was a sight to behold. I wish I could let his victims see his expression right now, that this heartless man could feel fear, too. ¡°As for that one...¡± I pointed at the man beside Tom. ¡°I¡¯ll let my General decide.¡± Chapter 178 178 Fall In Love With Her More (Tom¡¯s PoV) I was so pathetic. How could I puke that bad? In front of Jane, out of all people. It was an utter humiliation to me. But, how could she withstand the disgusting smell? She really made me looked like a pathetic guy when she stood there, looking good and strong, like a valiant hero saving her damsel in distress. Ah, it was embarrassing, but I really couldn¡¯t stand the smell. How did she do it? Well, at least, I was not the only who retched my guts. I looked at the man not far from me. His pale face lifted my mood. I closed my eyes for a moment. Jane was still with the shadow. However, I wasn¡¯t worried since I used my chains to tie him up. If he made any attempts to run away or to hurt her, I could feel it since the chains were connected to me. I could crush him with one hand before he could do it. Inside my consciousness, Putra was throwing a fit ever since I threatened the shadow to throw him in the Death Volcano. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! Don¡¯t you dare bringing him here!¡± He shouted in anger. ¡°There¡¯s no way I will allow someone as nasty as him toe down here! I don¡¯t need him to nourish theva! I don¡¯t need him! Don¡¯t bring him here!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think he can be good firewood for yourva? After all, his level of evil is not average.¡± I said to him, ignoring his rage. ..... ¡°No means no!¡± Putra red at me. ¡°Fine.¡± I rolled my eyes and closed my connection with him. I lied, of course. My anger for being humiliated in front of Jane would not diminish with just a punch or two. Not that I was going to tell Putra about it. ¡°Sit down.¡± I opened my eyes only to find Siji looking down at me in a mocking gaze. What the... ¡°Sit properly and channel your energy to your stomach. Do as I say and follow my instruction closely. You, too, if you want to.¡± Siji said to Sanji who did his instruction quickly. I had no other choice as I sat on the ground with crossed legs, following his instruction. Several minutester, I could feel my body lightened up and the terrible feelings I experienced because of vomiting too much disappeared. ¡°Later on, both of you will follow my training. Jane has arranged for you two to train your senses to avoid something like today happens in the future.¡± Siji said calmly. ¡°Do you mean, Jane has trained herself to face things like this?¡± What kind of training was it that it could make my sweet Jane to be able to block her senses like that? I was curious, but I was also a bit terrified. I doubted that Siji was a kind instructor. He was anything but kind in my mind. He was genius and loyal, but he was also someone who was maniptive and cruel. ¡°Now get up. Jane has gone to the mastermind¡¯s ce. You better prepare yourself just in case she calls you.¡± After saying that, Siji walked away calmly. His white robe fluttered with the wind. I got up and dusted my pants from any dirt. Then, I walked towards the shadow who was kneeling on the ground being held down by my chains and something that Jane put on him. It was invisible, but since I saw it lit up with blue fires, I knew it was there. To be honest, what Jane did back then was beautiful. She looked like she was dancing; azy dance since she rarely moved from the spot she was standing on. But, her arms, hands and fingers moved so smoothly and gently that I thought she was dancing. The highlight of what she did was when the fire lit up in a big blue fire. It was so beautiful, but at the same time I felt I was not good enough. I needed to train myself harder so that she didn¡¯t need to take care of small things like these. I was the General, but she ended up doing everything alone since I was too busy... vomiting. Ugh, only the thought of it could make me boiling up in anger. Calm down, Tom, calm down. ¡°Scan this area, check for any other shadows. If there is any, exterminate. We don¡¯t know how long we will have to be in this forest, we need to be extra more careful. Go.¡± I ordered some of the men. In a sh, around fifty of them moved in a small group to scout on the area. I dismissed the rest of them back to the camp. Jane was really going all out by summoning them all here. I could even feel the flow of energy belonged to her and me flowed steadily towards the army. Even I, as the General, got my fair share of it. The most shocking discovery was she was still able to do the attacks and even transferred herself to the ce where the mastermind was by searching the connection in the shadow¡¯s mind. It was not an easy thing to do. It required spiritual power as well as superb mental power to achieve it. Compared to her, I was still a rookie. No, it wouldn¡¯t do. I needed to be strong, too. It should be me who protected her, not the other way around. No matter how hard the training was, I would definitely do my best and ace it. I was still lost in my mind when I felt a warm sensation from my feet. It was as if someone was telling me that I was being summoned. Smoke rose from the ground under my feet and enveloped me and the shadow. I let the warm sensation enveloped me and I felt something shifted under my feet. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in a different ce. Jane was standing there. She looked relieved when she looked at me. But, since we were not the only ones here, I couldn¡¯t say sweet words to her. I looked at the other person in the room; an old man. Was he the master? ¡°He is the one you¡¯re waiting for, right?¡± She smiled, but I could feel the coldness in her smile. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve met each other, anyst words?¡± She sounded like a mafia; even her words carried killing intent. She really meant her every word. I couldn¡¯t see the sweet and sexy Jane this time, only a ruthless Jane; the girl who had hardened her heart to wipe out every evil in this world. However, despite how ruthless she sounded be, or how overbearing she looked like, I couldn¡¯t hate her or despise her. Instead, I fell in love with her more. Chapter 179 179 More Evil Than Your Father (Tom¡¯s PoV) I watched closely as Jane disyed her power in front of the old man. She only took three men from the army her, including myself. But, we had not had any show off time since she overwhelmed the old man all by herself. She might have a good reason to do that, but I felt like I was useless. The other two that she took with her were parts of fire bearer team in the army. It was only the five of them, but I couldn¡¯t say that their position or job was insignificant. First, the fire was not an ordinary fire. It was spiritual power, a blue me that could burn anything. It was slightly different with the fire from Death Volcano but still it was dangerous. I still had not known the advantages of this blue me, though. Second, the fire was a proof of the power held by the Master and General. Which was why, the presence of these five men was not to be taken lightly in the army. If they were given amand, they could be the most dangerous men in the army. They could burn an entire city in a blink of eyes since their mastery in controlling the fire. To keep the fire lit up for all these years was not an easy task. Without the Master and General, the smallest fire was in baby fist size. It showed how strong their mental power as well as how well their control over the power was. But, I noticed the difference of size before I officially joined the army and after that. Before I joined the army, the fire was in the size of two adults¡¯ fists. After I joined the army, it increased in size by another inch. However, when Jane¡¯s and my powerbined together before, the me soared higher, like a big torch. I thought that was the biggest fire it could ever reach. Turned out I was wrong. With just a wave of her hand, the fire soared bigger like bonfire, burning those shadows like those were fire woods. So easy, so fast. And it didn¡¯t involve the power of those two fire bearers. ..... It was pure her power. Even I, the one on her side, was amazed with her disy of power. Deep inside my heart I was thankful that I wasn¡¯t her enemy. If she were my enemy, I would have cowered in fear after seeing this. She looked like a queen from the hell, basking in the blue glow of fire with her cold sharp eyes that seemed to be able to see the depth of someone¡¯s heart. Her hair swayed along the flow of energy, but instead of feeling hot, I could only feel warm. It was truly a sight to behold. I was sure I could never forget this sight ever... in my life. The sound teeth chattering interrupted my amazement towards my girlfriend. Surprisingly, the source of the sound came from the shadow that we captured. He might have realized who he had provoked and regretted it. Heh, it¡¯s toote. Let¡¯s just hope that she would forget about you. But, even if she did, there was no way I would let you off. ¡°As for that one...¡± I saw her pointed at the man beside me. ¡°I¡¯ll let my General decide.¡± The corner of my lips curled up a bit as I heard her decision. Well, it would be my honor. Pulling up my chain that was tying him up, I dragged him into the middle of the room. ¡°Hey, Putra. Tell me how to open up the path to the Death Volcano.¡± I called out for him in my consciousness. ¡°No way!¡± Putra refused strongly. ¡°Tell me, or else I¡¯ll be calling you Ireng for a month.¡± Not a nice threat, but this kid was seriously aware of his image that it was sufficient enough to threaten him. ¡°You¡¯re awful!¡± ¡°You know I do since we first met.¡± I smirked inwardly. ¡°Come on, this stupid shadow is waiting.¡± I heard him groan unwillingly. ¡°Hit the ground with your chain and order it to open up the path to Death Volcano.¡± He grumpily said. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled at him, of course we were the ones who knew that I was smiling. I raised the chain in my hand and hit it on the wooden floor, not too lightly and not too strongly. ¡°Open up.¡± Imanded and in instant the floor behind our feet made a rumbling sound. The wind was howling as a slight tremor hit the room. There was a fluctuation of energy in the room and a crack finally appeared on the floor. The ground was opening up slowly as ring red light as well as heat started to invade our senses. In a matter of second, everyone in the room could see the boiling hotva in the ground. ¡°I¡¯ve told I¡¯m going to wash you in the Death Volcano.¡± I smirked as I saw the pale face of the shadow. ¡°No, no, no...¡± He shook his head hastily. ¡°Please, spare me. Don¡¯t kill me, please!¡± ¡°Now you know how to beg?¡± I smiled. ¡°Throw him in.¡± I moved the chain in my hand lightly. The chain obeyed mymand in a second. It brought the shadow towards the crack then threw him inside. We all ignored his scream. Rather, we enjoyed the sight when my chain plunged him inside the boiling hotva for a second, then pulled him out again before he melted inside. He was even still able to scream, meant he was still fine. Probably. However, it wouldn¡¯t be for long. Before his scream hurt our ears for long, he had taken a big dive into theva pool again. This time, when the chain pulled him up, he couldn¡¯t make another sound. However, from the way his body was twitching, it was clear that he had not breathed hisst. As if a shadow could breathe. Whatever. ¡°Drown him.¡± Imanded again and this time, he didn¡¯t show up again. The crack on the ground slowly closed up and left no trace, much to my surprise. I looked up to see the old man pale face. He looked so terrified than his whole body trembled badly and his knees felt weak. He flopped to the ground with cold sweat all over his body. His eyes didn¡¯t move from theva pool but he didn¡¯t say anything. Well, I doubted he could say a word after all he had witnessed. ¡°Now you know how much a kid like me can do to you?¡± Jane¡¯s cold and mocking voice made the old man¡¯s eyes widened and his trembling got worse. ¡°You...¡± He started with shaky voice. ¡°More evil than your father.¡± He said. As soon as he said that, the air around Jane changed. Not good. I screamed inside my head. Jane moved like a sh. Her small and beautiful hand grabbed the old man¡¯s throat, looking like a grim reaper¡¯s weapon to take souls. ¡°Since you said it as if my father had annihted your entire family, then let me see how evil he is with my own eyes.¡± Jane was seriously angered, but despite her rage to destroy everything and killed that old man, she was still able to think clearly not to believe blindly. I watched as she put her finger on his head and closed her eyes. Was it possible for her to peek into his mind? Well, since she could track down this old man who had nned to attack her or her father, I believed it was possible for her to do something like this. The old man¡¯s eyes rolled back to his head. Jane must be doing something inside. Not long after that, Jane¡¯s eyes opened up and mocking was clear in her eyes. ¡°What did you say about my father? Evil? Are you talking about yourself?¡± She sneered. I didn¡¯t know clearly what happened between this old man with her father, but it seemed like this old man was ndering her father by shifting the truth. Serve him right! ¡°I¡¯m going to take your ability and cripple you for the rest of your life. Let¡¯s see how you will live your life from now on.¡± After saying that, I saw her pulling out something from his head. The old man¡¯s eyes rolled back to his skull and his body convulsed slightly. A choking groan was heard from his throat but Jane didn¡¯t stop. To be honest, I thought he wouldn¡¯t live after Jane was done with him. But who would have thought that he was merely convulsing a bit and groaned in pain before his erratic breath stabilized. But, he was in a mess. Some sort of bad smelling liquid came out from his body but he couldn¡¯t control it at all. He looked so pathetic and disgusting, but Jane¡¯s cold and detached stare looked devoid of feelings. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± She shifted her gaze from him and walked towards me. When her hand touched my shoulder, I felt the ground under my feet shifted and we were back to the forest where Siji and Sanji were waiting. But, before we could take another step, Jane fell down. If not for my quick reflexes, she would have fallen face first on the hard ground. Still, it incited worry on us. ¡°Jane!¡± Chapter 180 180 Don¡¯t You Think It¡¯s Strange? (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°Is she exhausted after using her power like that?¡± I asked Siji who had just finished examining Jane. Siji frowned and shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Her flow of energy and spiritual power are still fine. That much of energy and spiritual power are nothing for her.¡± ¡°Then, why?¡± Sanji asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s like she has just experienced something that shook her psychologically.¡± Siji answered. ¡°What happened there?¡± He looked at me. Shaking her psychologically? I squinted my eyes as I tried to remember what could be the trigger. Was it that time? When she peered into the old man¡¯s mind? What did she see, actually? ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t really know, but there was one time where she peeked into the man¡¯s mind to see why the old man said that her father was cruel. But, after that she was fine so I thought it was nothing. But, seeing her now, I start to doubt it. What happened actually?¡± Hearing my exnation, both Siji and Sanji couldn¡¯t say anything. This matter, we could only wait for her to exin it for us. It was only if she was willing to share with us. ..... ¡°Let¡¯s set our camps here. With her losing her consciousness like that, I don¡¯t think we can continue with our journey. Let¡¯s take a rest and continue when she awakester.¡± Sanji suggested. ¡°Good idea.¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll set up her tent first so that you can take her inside.¡± Sanji stood up and found a clearing before he set up a tent for Jane. He looked so skillful, as if he had done it often. In no time, Jane¡¯s tent had stood on the ground. Sanji had evenid down a small and thin mattress on the ground inside,plete with a set of pillow and nket for her. Nice job, though. After setting her down in her own tent, I came out and came face to face with Sanji. ¡°I¡¯ll look around and gather some fire woods.¡± I said to him. Sanji nodded before he set up another tent nearby. I left him and went deeper into the forest. Sometimes I would stop and took some fire woods into my hands before I continued walking. After I thought I had walked far enough from the camp site, I stopped. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out. Siji appeared before me. He must have noticed my solemn expression since he didn¡¯t say anything like usual. ¡°Do you know anything about Jane¡¯s father? You better tell me.¡± I looked at him. ¡°General, it¡¯s better for you to ask Mdy directly. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not my ce to talk about her father.¡± He answered politely. But, that was not the answer I needed to hear. Even so, I knew that he was right, that I should ask her directly. The only concern was... would she tell me about her father? She imed that her father was not evil, but seeing her reaction right now, somehow I felt something was off from the story. It was just a pity that I couldn¡¯t pry into someone¡¯s head like what she did. Or, could I? ¡°Tell me, can I do like what she did? I mean, pry into someone¡¯s memory. She even can find the mastermind by searching the connection between the master and the shadow from the shadow mind. Did you teach her that?¡± I asked him curiously. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, General. That ability is solely for Master of White Army. Even I was surprised when I knew she could do it. And no, I didn¡¯t teach her finding the master through the connection. She knew it since the beginning. That was the way she used to find Amanda¡¯s father back then.¡± Siji answered calmly. Amanda¡¯s father? ¡°Which Amanda?¡± ¡°Jane¡¯s ex-boyfriend¡¯s wife.¡± Ah, I got it. But, what did it have to do with Jane? It seemed like Siji needed tell me a long story. ¡°Tell me about it.¡± I told him as I started to collect some fire woods again. This time, Siji was strolling with me while telling me a story about how Amanda kidnapped Jane, killed Rizal, and Jane retaliated back. It was such an amazing yet sad story. Jane??s full power was triggered by Rizal¡¯s death, I couldn¡¯t imagine the trauma she experienced at that time. No wonder she was so different after that. I remembered I had not had the chance to ask how she was doing before I was sent back to my body. I pitied Rizal for he was born into a ruthless family who sold him to the darkness so that they could gain some worldly benefits. However, in the end, instead of getting the benefits they were waiting for, they lost a good child and two of their children were crippled. They also lost the connection they had with the person who promised them all the wealth. That was some messed up family, I should say. But, for Jane to look for Amanda¡¯s father, I could imagine what Jane was thinking at that time. She must have felt that she must uproot the problem to avoid any future disturbance. Also, I think I could guess the reason why they didn¡¯t invite Jane on Rizal¡¯s wedding; other than Rizal didn¡¯t want her to know, obviously. They had already sensed that something was different from Jane from thest time she visited them. It was some kind of premonition since they adopted evil way and Jane was prepared to fight evil. Yeah, it must be something like that. Let¡¯s get back to the reason I was hearing this story. From the way Siji told the story, it seemed like Jane already knew the way to do those things. ¡°But, it¡¯s impossible. Her ability was sealed by her father, that¡¯s true. But she regained her ability only after she met me. She learned to interact with ghost because of my guidance and one of the ghosts nearby. In other words, she didn¡¯t learn about that skill. She has no chance to learn about it, how would she know how to do it? Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange?¡± Instead of agreeing with me, Siji only smiled. But somehow I felt his smile hid some meaning in it. It was as if he knew something, but he didn¡¯t want to tell about it. Instead, he wanted me to guess it. Chapter 181 181 Murderer! (Jane¡¯s PoV) Blood. Blood everywhere. All I could see was blood. Where am I? This question appeared in my mind. The ce was so dark, no, rather than saying it was dark, it was actually ck. The only colors that appeared in my vision were ck, red, and white. It was like an endless nightmare, brought me back to when I saw Senior Rizal was killed. He was bathed in his own blood with a hole in his chest. His heart was pierced by a soft looking hand, yet so sharp to be able to prate the body. Blood kept flowing to the floor and reached my feet to where I was standing. No, it was not right. At that time, his blood wasn¡¯t as much as this. Something was not right. Where did all this bloode from? A cry filled with terror made me looked up to where the source was. Out of nowhere, I saw some people were being chased by something. Far behind these people was a man who emitted a strong cold aura that I was almost sure this man was an iceberg. His murderous intent was so strong that I couldn¡¯t help but feel affected by it. He was walking calmly but his every step created a tremor and terror. He looked overbearing and terrifying. Too bad I couldn¡¯t see his face clearly. The one that was chasing the people was a creese. It was flying and emitted a faint glow of yellow light. Anyone could tell that the man was controlling the creese. However, what I couldn¡¯t understand was, usually something with yellow light was not evil, but why was this creese murdering people like that? Yellow, gold, white, blue, green, and orange were warm lights where it represented a good mystic weapon that was made for goodness. Its main trait was for defense. But, why was this one used to kill people? What happened here exactly? ..... That group of people was consisted of two adult women, two adult men, two young boys around 14 and 8 years old, and a young girl around 10 years old. They were all running in fright, but in the end, no one could survive as the creese took their lives one by one. This scene was strangely familiar to me. Where did I see it? I watched as the creese flew back into his hands. The faint yellow glow finally lit up his face and my eyes widened in shock as I saw that man¡¯s face. How-how could it be? Why did my father look like a cold-blooded killer? My breath got caught in my throat that I had a hard time to breathe. I refused to believe that my father was the one who killed those people, even those children, without batting an eyelid. He even didn¡¯t look remorse after all he did. There was no trace of emotion in his eyes, as if what he did was a just. I didn¡¯t know that man. I didn¡¯t know him. He was not my father. Those adults... I didn¡¯t know, but maybe theymitted something bad. After all, I did kill someone before. But, those children... what did they do? How could he kill them? No, that was not my father. My father wouldn¡¯t be that heartless. However, that was not the end. The creese made a slurping sound and the blood that was sticking on it was sucked clean. The faint yellow glow changed into ring red for a while before it was back to the yellow glow. I was shocked. As far as I knew about mystic weapon from what Siji taught me, I had never heard about a mystic weapon having two lights; defensive and offensive. Red, it meant it was undeniably blood-thirsty, a mystic weapon that was meant to kill. ¡°Murderer!¡± A shout was heard and I turned my head towards the source of the shout. It was the old man. Now I knew where I had seen this scene. It was from the old man¡¯s memory. The one that I had denied over and over after I had seen it. Despite those denials I made inside my mind, I couldn¡¯t shake the shock I was feeling. It was too intense. Imagine the one you hold dear in your heart, the heroic figure who could always save your day, the warmest and safest ce you can always turn to, the strength you need in your life, turns out to be a cold-blooded killer who murdered kids. It was like my whole life was a joke, a lie. I didn¡¯t know who I could trust. With the way I saw my father in that old man¡¯s memory, I was afraid that one day I would face my own father¡¯s blood thirstiness. It shook me so hard that I didn¡¯t continue seeing the rest of his memory after I heard him calling my father a murderer. I didn¡¯t even remember what happened after I took that old man¡¯s ability. Yes, I didn¡¯t kill him since I felt guilty for what my father did. Even so, there was this strange feeling gnawing my heart ever since I saw his memory. But, why did I see this memory again? I thought I had left the old man. Then, why was I seeing it again? The scene in front of me stopped where I heard him shouting murderer. Then, it was dark. I couldn¡¯t see the trace of blood anymore. Even my erratic breathing was turning normal. But, this darkness was weird. I had never been afraid of dark, but this time, it made me uneasy. It was as if something was ready to jump on me from the dark. It felt like I was being watched. My eyes darted from one side to another side. Somehow I felt like there was something moving in the dark. I didn¡¯t detect any malicious intent, but still it made me uneasy since I couldn¡¯t detect any good intention either. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I asked cautiously. This time, my eyes caught a sh of something in the dark. It was clearer and I was sure there was really something in the dark. My body went full alert as my eyes watched the thing moving in the dark carefully. Woosh! Something came onto me and my body moved automatically before my brain could process. Dodging the attack slightly, my hand grabbed whatever that came onto me tight. But, before I could properly see what thing that attacked me, another hand came to my neck. Ugh! Chapter 182 182 I¡¯ll Wait For It (Jane¡¯s PoV) I shifted my feet to avoid this attack, at the same time pushing the thing in my right hand to block the hand that came to me. The thing I was holding was another arm, from the texture of it, I was sure it was a man¡¯s arm. It felt firm, strong, and not overly muscr. So yes, it was a man¡¯s arm. This time, I went offensive. Clutching the arm with my both hands, I threw him over my shoulder. Even with my smaller frame, I could throw an adult simr to Tom or Sanji¡¯s body over my shoulder after being taught by Siji. My hellish training didn¡¯t only involve about spiritual training, after all, but also physical training where I pushed the limit of my physical strength to the point I couldn¡¯t believe I could achieve. There was a loud sound when his body mmed the ground. I jumped back a bit after I attacked him. I didn¡¯t hear a grunt, normal sound people made when they were being thrown to the ground, which meant whoever I threw on the ground was not an ordinary man. I cursed the darkness that surrounded me until I felt nearly blind. Where was I, actually? Why was there no one here? Where were Sanji and Tom? Siji? I tried to call out for Siji, but he didn¡¯t respond. It was strange. Other than beingte for several times because he was taking care the matter with Tom, he had never beente before. Not to mention not appearing at all. It was just impossible. I couldn¡¯t even summon the men. What was going on here? Where was I, actually? ¡°Don¡¯t even bother trying.¡± A voice was reverberated through the darkness. ..... Another attack came. Again, I dodged and counter-attacked. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to wake up for some time.¡± The voice said again. And another attack. I couldn¡¯t counter-attack but at least I dodged. Wake up? Then, was I asleep? If I was really asleep, then I was dreaming at this moment. Since this man could talk casually like this, he must be an intruder. Tom could enter my dream when he was still a spirit, this man must be something simr. But, that¡¯s not the point. Since it was in my dream, I should be able to control it, right? With that realization in my mind, I tried to put a light in this stupid dark room. The keyword was ¡®try¡¯. It was hard to put my one hundred percent effort in this try since I kept getting attack from the owner of the voice. ¡°Who are you?¡± I shouted in annoyance. I heard him chuckled and felt that it was scarily familiar with someone I knew. ¡°It seems like you forgot about me that easily. Didn¡¯t I say that I would y with you?¡± So, I was right. It was no surprise for me. Only this evil creature coulde and go as he pleased after torturing me. No, he didn¡¯t mean to torture me. He wanted to kill me. I needed to light up my surrounding so that I could see him better. With that thought in my mind, the room was slowly brightening up. Even when I was getting attacked, the room still brightened up gradually. It was a big white room, simr to my consciousness. But, there was no smoke like spiritual power around. It was just a in white room. It was so big that I couldn¡¯t see the end of the room. But, standing not far from me was the man who appeared in my house that day. The devil who imed himself as the enemy of First Master. He was still wearing that smile on his face. His expression was much less the same with the one he showed me that time. I frowned. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°What else? y with you, of course.¡± He said casually. His body disappeared, but this time I was ready. I dodged his vicious kick and even kicked him back. His leg was mmed to the ground and I delivered the second kick on his thigh. ¡°You¡¯re getting better, little girl.¡± He smiled as he blocked my kick easily. I didn¡¯t stop, though. I continued my attack on him, using all kinds of martial arts Siji taught me. It was a pity that I couldn¡¯t use my spiritual power on him since I couldn¡¯t feel it. Because I couldn¡¯t feel it, there¡¯s no way I could summon it. Hm? There must be a way. After all, this was my dream. In no time, I could feel the familiar flow of spiritual power in me. Since this man was a devil, any physical and spiritual attack would work on him. Combining my physical and spiritual attack, I really caught him off guard. ¡°Nice!¡± He smiled wider, and for a second I could see a trace of joy and proud in his usually stoic eyes. We exchanged blows for more than ten minutes. Even though I still couldn¡¯t really hurt him since he was so capable -I hated to admit that -at least, there were some times I could make him flustered with my attack. In the end, I was defeated. He tied me up with his dark mist, with both of my hands in his hands to prevent me summoning another spiritual power to hit him. He was standing in front of me, stepping closer to me as he peered into me with his ck eyes. Now that I think of it, it looked and felt slightly intimate with my hands in his hands and his face closed to mine. But at that time, I didn¡¯t feel anything like this. ¡°You¡¯re showing a rapid progress. That¡¯s very good. But, with only this kind of ability, you won¡¯t be able to defeat me.¡± He told me softly. He was smiling mockingly at me even though he talked to me softly. He sounded more like a victor mocking the loser, and I was so upset listening to him. ¡°Just you wait! I¡¯ll definitely defeat you like First Master kicked your ass!¡± I growled at him. He blinked his eyes and I thought I saw pain in his eyes. Another blink and it was gone. Was I over thinking things? Also, why did I feel the way he was holding my hands was gentler and not like he was restraining me? ¡°I¡¯ll wait for it.¡± He said in a whisper, and he disappeared just like that. I was dumbfounded at his unusual behavior. I couldn¡¯t see the malicious and killing intent he disyed at that time. I couldn¡¯t even feel the fear that I felt at that time when I first met him. He didn¡¯t act like this at that time. Screw him, I needed to get myself together and reminded myself that he wanted to kill me. There was no point in thinking about him that way. However he acted was not my concern. I only needed to make sure that I could survive if he appeared again. Probably kicked his ass so that he would stop bothering me. But, I doubted it could happen in the near future. Since he had gone, I needed to wake up. Wake up, Jane! Chapter 183 183 What I Want To See Is A Ghost (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Jane!¡± My eyes snapped open at the voice who was calling my name. Two worried faces came into my vision. I blinked my eyes at them. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tom asked. It was a bit strange for me to see them both so close up from below. I almost couldn¡¯t hear what he was asking me about. ¡°Jane?¡± Sanji called me again, returning my senses quickly. ¡°Ah, yes?¡± ¡°Are you okay?¡± He repeated Tom¡¯s question. ¡°Yes, of course, I¡¯m okay.¡± I pushed myself up to sitting position, sessfully made them move a bit away from me. ..... ¡°Um, where am I?¡± I looked at the familiar but not so familiar scenery in front of my tent. There was a bonfire nearby. I could also hear the sound of stream of water. There was also smell of wet woods and rotten leaves. It seemed like I was still in the forest, near the river. ¡°We¡¯re still in the forest, near the river bank.¡± Sanji answered. ¡°Do you want to eat something? We have just finished cooking something.¡± It was a wake-up call for my hungry stomach. After being unconscious, no, asleep for hours and at the mention of food, it immediately made a grumbling sound. It was so loud that I couldn¡¯t help but blush in shame. Never mind. I should not overly concern about my image in front of these two. ¡°Come on.¡± Tom helped me up while Sanji made way for me to get out from the tent. They brought me near the bonfire. The heat from the fire travelled to my skin and warmed it slightly. I sat on a mat spread on the ground. In a second, Tom had handed me a bowl of hot noodles and Sanji draped my shoulders with my nket. To be honest, it felt good being served like a princess by the two of them. However, at the same time, I felt guilty. They had treated me so well and I could only pick one of them at the end? Couldn¡¯t I just have them both? I was being greedy, I know, but I couldn¡¯t help it. When boys started to treat you good and admitted that they had feelings for you, you couldn¡¯t help it but want them all, right? Okay, let¡¯s just forget about it for now. ¡°Be careful, it¡¯s still hot.¡± Tom reminded me when I stirred my food slowly. I could only nod while looking at the fire absent-mindedly. I didn¡¯t realize when they both had sat down on my right and left and started to put some food in my bowl. When I snapped back to my senses, my originally half-full bowl became full with some crackers, soft-boiled egg, and some shredded chicken meat. ¡°How can I finish this?¡± I eximed in surprise. Sanji and Tomughed seeing my expression. ¡°You¡¯re so deep in your own world that you didn¡¯t realize it when we put some other things in your food. ¡± Tom mischievously said between hisugh. ¡°I nned to add some pepper into it, actually, but you return too quickly.¡± Sanji chuckled. I red at the both of them. I didn¡¯t know they had this mischievous side in them. I found it harder to believe that the both of them would work together to prank me. ¡°Next time, don¡¯t wander your mind everywhere, especially during eating. You will never know what we put inside your food. It will be edible, yes, but maybe you won¡¯t like it.¡± Tom stirred his food and took a big slurp of it. ¡°Focus during eating, or enjoy your eating is one of the way to show your gratitude for the food.¡± Sanji added and he, too, took a big slurp of his noodle. I was speechless when I heard them lecturing me about eating manner. ¡°Fine.¡± I grumbled under my breath and started to really enjoy the food. The warm soup entered my mouth to my stomach, creating a happy contented feeling in me. The nightmare that was haunting me for some time was shoved behind my mind. As expected, nothing could beat good food. If I could have some ice cream after this, it would be perfect. Ah, suddenly I had a craving for ice cream. ¡°I want to eat ice cream.¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°It¡¯s prettyte already if we turn back to buy you ice cream. I¡¯ll buy you as much as you want after we finish our business here.¡± Tom said. I was a bit startled when I heard him responded to my mumble. I wanted to ask him how he could hear that, but considering the almost non-existent distance between us, I swallowed the question back in. Both Sanji and Tom were practically sticking themselves on my sides. I chuckled before I went back to eat my food. It wouldn¡¯t take long before my bowl was empty and I sighed in bliss. That was satisfying. Since I had just eaten, I couldn¡¯t go back to sleep right away. Therefore, I chose to sit still on the mat, holding a cup of warm water in my hand, while looking at the night sky. It was a bit cloudy. There were no stars in the sky and the moon sometimes would disappear behind a thick cloud. Would it rain? Hm, wait? I had just realized that it was prettyte, but why didn¡¯t I see any ghost around? ¡°I ordered some of the men to guard the perimeter. Ghost or anything can¡¯t enter without our permission.¡± It was as if Tom knew what I was thinking about. Well, seeing ghost was one of the things people would experience during camping or hiking. Even though I saw them practically every day, I still wanted to see what kind of ghost this ce had. Not shadow. I had had enough of shadow for now. What I wanted to see was ghost. I remembered one of my friends told me a story of when she was joining a schrship program and they were having an outdoor meeting in a forest, too. She said they were called one by one, only to see a red Kuntnak sitting at the top of the biggest tree in the forest. She said, it was the most terrifying experience she had ever had since the Kuntnak caught her staring at her, so the both of them was practically staring at each other. I remembered I shivered when I heard her story. I thought that it must be horrifying. Never had I imagined I would experience it myself and even fainted. Thankfully the one I saw was not red Kuntnak, but just amon Kuntnak. Now that I thought about it, I wanted to see a red Kuntnak. Was there any in this forest? As soon as I thought about it, I saw something flying across the river. Chapter 184 184 Older Than Siji (Jane¡¯s PoV) People said to be careful with what we were hoping for, for whatever it was, it could turn into reality. Two seconds had not passed since I wished that I could see a red Kuntnak. I would never thought that I would really see one. Across the river, a Kuntnak in red was flying slowly and stopping on top of a big stone. Since it was pretty dark and only the light from the moon was illuminating the river, the red color of her outfits felt extremely out of ce and stood out in the darkness. I guessed the perimeter Tom talked about didn¡¯t include the other side of the river. Just like the other Kuntnak, this one was also ugly with messy hair. Instead of white clothes, this one was wearing red dress. When the wind blew, a slight trace of blood invaded my nose which answered another of my question. Why was it red? Turned out it was dyed red of blood. It could be her blood, or other people¡¯s blood. Unless I saw her memory, I wouldn¡¯t know whose blood it was. I was able to see it pretty clearly despite the distance and the darkness because it was twice bigger than usual Kuntnak. Like, she was really big. Not human kind of big, but she was oddly big. ..... And yes, I was not the only one who saw her since Tom and Sanji were watching her closely, too. However, this scene was a bit funny for me to remember. Normal people would shout in fear, or run for their lives when they saw her. Least they could do was to enter the tent in a group and locked themselves in. There was no way they could sit calmly while sipping tea, coffee, milk, or warm water like we did. Instead of freaking out, we watched the Kuntnak as if we were only watching a movie. ¡°It¡¯s red Kuntnak.¡± Tom said calmly. ¡°I heard this kind of ghost is pretty easy to find in the area.¡± Sanji replied. ¡°Really? Why?¡± Tom looked at him curiously. I didn¡¯t say anything, but I was curious, too. Sanji shrugged his shoulders. ¡°No idea.¡± We turned our heads back to watch the red Kuntnak again. She must have sensed that someone, or rather three people were watching her. Her glowing red eyes looked straight at us and she let out a shrill scream that I assumed was for scaring and intimidating us. Indeed, she was scary. But after having met all of those kinds of ghosts, shadows, and other astral entities, she was not that scary. Red Kuntnak was a bit different from the usual Kuntnak I met. Some of red Kuntnaks were able to intimidate other creatures for they possessed a huge amount of grievances and resentment before they died. It could also be because of they had been used for evil deeds that they could possess that terrifying power. However, some red Kuntnaks were just ordinary Kuntnaks in red. The one in front us, she was one of the powerful red Kuntnaks. How powerful she was, I didn¡¯t know. ¡°Just go! We have nothing do with you!¡± Tom waved his hand as he shouted towards the Kuntnak casually. He said it as if he was just shooing a bug. Ah, it was rude tough, don¡¯tugh, Jane. I took a small sip of my warm water to hide myugh. What were we doing? When other people would run away at the sight of this ghost, we just casually shooed her away. Apparently, this ghost was not a smart one. She must have thought that we were just brave people who had no ability to confront her. Probably with that assumption, she charged towards us while letting out high-pitchughing. ¡°Fool.¡± Sanji took a sip of his coffee calmly. Before she could reach us, one of my white-clothed army appeared and blocked her way. I didn¡¯t know whether that man was too powerful, or that Kuntnak was too weak, but with just a mere blocking, she was thrown back even further away while screaming so loud I was sure the whole forest heard her. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a Home Run.¡± I chuckled as my eyes followed the curve she was flying off. ¡°Good job!¡± I raised my thumb up towards the one who had just thrown the Kuntnak away. That man bowed down before he disappeared, hiding behind the trees again. Honestly, that was an unforeseen experience. Even though I still saw a red Kuntnak, but I obviously didn¡¯t foresee that she would get thrown away like that. Well, she was like a bully who picked the wrong victims. After that, it returned to its peaceful atmosphere. No one talked about the red Kuntnak, as if she had never been there. I also returned to my stars seeing activity. No one talked during this time and I didn¡¯t feel awkward at all. Only after several minutes passed, Tom¡¯s voice broke the silence. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay, Jane?¡± I looked at him. It took me several seconds to understand that he was referring to where I was unconscious. I couldn¡¯t tell him what I saw, though. ¡°I¡¯m sure. Maybe I just used too much of my energy.¡± I reasoned with him. Tom and Sanji exchanged meaningful nces, but I didn¡¯t know what that meant. Even so, I ignored them. It was easier to do rather than to confront what they had in mind. ¡°You know you can always talk about anything to us, right?¡± Sanji chimed in. I faked a smile. I really couldn¡¯t smile like I usually did hearing their heartwarming words of assurance. ¡°Of course.¡± They must have seen through my fake smile because the frown between their thick eyebrows grew even deeper. Even so, they didn¡¯t say anything. At this moment I chose to return to my tent, to avoid any more questionsing from them. I¡¯m sorry, Tom, Sanji. I can¡¯t share what I saw with you, lest you feel disgusted with it. The next morning, we continued our search. As we passed the safe area and crossed the line, I could feel something was different. Just one step into the area and I could feel the different sensation and pressure. I took a deep breath and looked around me. The pressure was different but why couldn¡¯t I see any astral beings here? I couldn¡¯t find anything, but I clearly felt the pressure of their kind in this area. Huff... I exhaled in a puff. Both Sanji and Tom looked cautious, but for me, even if the pressure was a bit strong, I couldn¡¯t detect any bad intention in the pressure. Instead, the pressure was to keep the other entities to behave themselves. ¡°Pardon us, Elder¡± I said softly and as polite as I could. I couldn¡¯t see it didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t there, right? Since I couldn¡¯t see it, I would just have to attract it to me. Not that I wanted to fight it, no. I wasn¡¯t mad to the point I wanted to challenge every one. Even though I was able to fight and I had much power, I didn¡¯t want to provoke every entity to save me some energy. After all, dealing with the crazy shadows was enough troublesome for me. The air shifted and I realized why I couldn¡¯t see it. It was because it was so big. It had even melded with the forest so well that it was hard for me to spot it if not for the air shifted right in front of my eyes. Whatever this thing was... it must have been older than Siji. Chapter 185 185 Blood to Verify Herself (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Please, excuse our rudeness in interrupting your sleep. We just wish to visit a ce inside.¡± I said to it politely. After I said so, the air shifted again but this time the pressure had lessened by a lot. It was a sign for us that we could continue our travel. ¡°Thank you, Elder.¡± I bowed down a bit before I gestured for the two men to get going. ¡°Bless you,d.¡± I heard a heavy voice in the forest, but I couldn¡¯t see the form. Even so, it didn¡¯t bother me. I smiled, but didn¡¯t say anything. Our travel went strangely smooth, nothing disturbed our way. Probably it was because of the Elder that we met before. The men from the army had been dismissed before we started walking, so there was no way it was because of us. I also had reminded the two hot-blooded men to control their power in case they attracted any unwanted disturbance. We might not face any disturbance on our way, but it didn¡¯t mean we saw nothing. As for me, I saw many entities that I had never seen before. Their forms were not human like, rather, they looked like monsters in the movie. They looked scary, looking like viins and the underlings, preparing to besiege us. But, I didn¡¯t feel any negative vibes from them. Instead, their presence calmed the forest. The already cold atmosphere didn¡¯t feel ufortably cold, but it felt good-cold. Instead of feeling uneasy with my surrounding, I felt contentedly safe. Even so, I didn¡¯t let my guard down. ..... We walked further and further into the forest. I really had no idea where this Hidden Vige was, so I just walked aimlessly. Kind of fool, I know, but I really had no idea. When the sun started to go down and created red and orange streaks on the blue sky, I started to question the words my father told me. ¡°Well...¡± I huffed, gasping for my breath. The thick oxygen mixed with the damp smell really made my lungs worked harder, but somehow I felt fresh. ¡°Is the vige still far ahead? Or should we turn left? Or right? Where do we go?¡± I asked as I turned my head to scan my surrounding. ¡°No idea.¡± Tom and Sanji shook their heads. Great. We were three fools, going into the forest without knowing where to go. ¡°Well, let¡¯s think about it. It¡¯s a Hidden Vige. Unless someone brings us in, I think we couldn¡¯t get in no matter what. The thing is...my father did say that as long as it was his bloodlineing to this vige, the vige would show itself and ept the person.¡± I tried to remember what my father told me. Reviewing from the beginning might help when I was stuck in a ce. ¡°But...¡± I looked at those two silent men who were listening to me attentively no matter how ridiculous the thing I said. ¡°What if this vige doesn¡¯t recognize me? Should I announce that I¡¯m Farid Harris¡¯ one and only daughter? Is that even possible?¡± ¡°Well, those shadows recognized you on first nce, I doubt the whatever system this vige has was any lesser than those shadows.¡± Sanji voiced out his opinion. ¡°Exactly.¡± I nodded at him, feeling proud that he could catch on what I meant to say. ¡°You don¡¯t have to drip your blood to verify yourself, do you?¡± Tom suddenly expressed his inner thought. To be honest, I didn¡¯t think that far. Should I try it? ¡°I suggest you not to do it. It¡¯s forest. Blood can attract any unwanted animals or things. It¡¯s not as if we are going into an evil cult, right? There¡¯s no need for you to shed some blood over it.¡± Sanji hastily denied that idea. I frowned. That made sense. But, I really had no idea how and when we would get to the vige. ¡°Let¡¯s keep walking. If we can¡¯t reach this vige after the sun sets, we will camp for thest time here and return first thing in the morning tomorrow.¡± I told them. ¡°What about the creese, then?¡± Tom asked. ¡°Well, we will gather some information first before we enter the forest again. If my father really came here, there must be some people who know my father. He is such a chatterbox that I doubt he didn¡¯t make friends here.¡± I said casually as I continued my steps. ¡°Are you even allowed to say that your father is a chatterbox?¡± Sanji chuckled. ¡°He is not here, is he? And it¡¯s only between us. I doubt both of you will tell my father about this.¡± I smirked mischievously at them. ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t say it like it was a bad thing, so I refuse to feel guilty.¡± Iughed at my own stupid reason. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t hear anything.¡± Obviously, Tom was ying deaf. But from the way the corner of his lips curled up a bit, I was sure he really wanted tough. ¡°Don¡¯t just save yourself!¡± Sanji pped his shoulder in fake annoyance. ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡± Tom flinched and moved away from Sanji in a fake oblivious expression. Iughed even harder seeing these two¡¯s interaction. Their fake expressions were so obvious but they went with their bantering. It looked so funny, but I knew they purposely did that. The atmosphere between us had just started to feel tense. It was hard to maintain our sanity after staying in the forest without any idea where our destination was. That¡¯s why the joke was needed to help us rx our tense nerves. The sun was leaning towards the West horizon quickly. I couldn¡¯t see it in this dense forest, but at least I knew that the sky had started to darken. In less than thirty minutes, the sky would entirely darken up. We needed to find a ce to set our tents before it became darker. ¡°Hm?¡± My eyes caught something not too far away from us. ¡°I think I saw a clearing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go! We need to hurry before it bes dark.¡± Sanji hastened his steps, followed by Tom and me. I did see a clearing. Therefore, I rushed forward to lead them to it. However, as I got closer to it, my steps ttered as amazement filled my mind. Sanji and Tom were seeing what I was seeing and they, too, stopped in their tracks. We approached the clearing that I saw with eyes full of expectation. There was worry as well as fear inside, but there was also anticipation in our eyes. However, as we got closer, I was stunned. Did we really find the right ce? Chapter 186 186 I¡¯m Really Innocent (Tom¡¯s PoV) It was indeed a clearing. But, there were houses, lightening up with some torches along the way. Somehow it reminded me of when I was in the second trial. But, this vige was bigger and better than that one I was sent in. Was this the Hidden Vige? There was a gate not far from us. It was built between two tall trees, and decorated with young coconut leaves, flowers, and some other nts that I didn¡¯t know the names. I only saw those during traditional public events at home. Those nts were used for joyous moment. That gate was not the only one that made us slow down our pace. Standing on the either side of the gate were lines of people, which reminded me of how young maidservants and butlers lined up to greet their master. They¡¯re not here to wee us, right? Wait, I think I recognize the man in the front line. ¡°Wee, Princess, to Satu Vige.¡± The man smiled, even though the smile was hidden behind his thick moustache. That???s him! The man who was sitting in the farthest end of the room during the initiation! I couldn¡¯t control my expression as it gave away the surprise I was feeling. How did we get here? Also, Princess? Who? Jane? I took a peek at Jane¡¯s expression. It looked like she was surprised, too. But, it didn¡¯t take long because her expression darkened in the next second. ..... ¡°Siji.¡± She called out. Normally, Siji would appear near the one who called him. But, it was as if he had known that Jane would explode, he deliberately stood a bit far away from us. That smile on his face looked oddly annoying this time. A punch on his face would be good. Normally, Jane was not an impulsive person. She would think about her action before she actually did it. But, she lost control of her emotion now that she rushed towards Siji and punched him in his stomach. It was either Siji was being lenient or Jane was extremely strong, but she managed to send him flying with just one punch. Not only that, the wind around her howling and the temperature dropped as she stood there with annoyance written all over her face. The pressure she emitted from her body was a bit scary that I couldn¡¯t help but shiver slightly. Damn, Jane was losing her rationality! No words could pacify her this time. I watched helplessly as she waved her hands towards Siji and he was lifted on the ground by invisible force. Since Siji didn¡¯t have solid body, I didn¡¯t think this move could hurt him. However, I took it back fast. From the look of difort in his face, I knew whatever Jane did to him really affect him. But, how? Try imagining a butterfly was sentenced to a death sentence by hanging itself on the high tform. It could fly, right? So, it was no use. ¡°You could have told me that my father went to Satu Vige, that way I wouldn¡¯t spend my days to get here. I could simply open the door to the astral world and take a shortcut there.¡± Jane said between her gritted teeth. Her sharp eyes were shooting daggers towards Siji who could only smile weakly. ¡°Tell me, what should I do to you?¡± ¡°Mdy, I¡¯m really innocent this time.¡± Siji tried to utter those words of defense even though his neck was choked. ¡°Speak.¡± Jane was still with her murdering aura, but I could sense that her rationality wasing back to her. ¡°There are many hidden viges in M Province. Furthermore, each vige is connected to one to each other. I really couldn¡¯t predict which one your father had gone to before.¡± From how fluent he was talking, I was sure Jane had loosened up the force around his throat. I watched as Jane took a deep breath, as if trying to contain the stifling anger inside. The wind stopped blowing like crazy and the pressure disappeared. The atmosphere even turned to normal. After that, Siji was dropped to the ground. Good thing was Siji didn¡¯t have physical body. In a second, he had controlled himself and floated on the ground. His hand was rubbing his neck, a normal reaction when one just got strangled. ¡°Save your excuses. I know you have known it from the start.¡± Jane eyed him coldly, and Siji could only let out a weakugh. He bowed down a bit and disappeared, ran away to be exact, to avoid getting on her nerves more. I could say, nice move, Siji. I watched those poor humans who were waiting at the gate. Some of them could only smile awkwardly while wiping cold sweats forming on their forehead. Their posture even changed a bit, a posture of being submissive to a powerful dominant. Even Sir Ahmad Ismail, I believe that was his name, was smiling helplessly. However, they couldn¡¯t do anything since Jane had stood in front of them. As if someone was flipping her switch, her expression changed in instant she stood in front of them with her back straight in a graceful pose. A smile adorned on her beautiful face, as if the murderous intent just now had never happened. I was not the only one who was dumbfounded seeing how fast she switched her expression. One second she was all cold and dangerous, and in the next second, she was all smiling and graceful. ¡°I think you made a mistake, Sir Ahmad.¡± She said while smiling, but somehow the uneasiness returned seeing her smiling like that. ¡°How could it be a mistake?¡± He smiled politely. ¡°Lord Rama Satya is our King. His real name is Farid Harris, and you are His Highness¡¯ daughter.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s true...¡± Jane mumbled before she exchanged nces with me and Sanji. ¡°Lord Satya that the maid said before is my father.¡± ¡°Princess, you must be feeling tired after traveling from so far. Let me show you where you can stay.¡± Sir Ahmad politely said. Jane sighed. She must be in dilemma; she wanted to hear more but at the same time it would be rude to force someone from the first meeting. Well, this was not their first meeting actually, so it could actually happen? I don¡¯t know. Sir Ahmad brought us into the vige while exining about how happy they were to wee us, which they spent quiet a time to decorate the whole vige and lit up all the torches. After all, it was their Princess first visit in Satu Vige. It should be memorable and joyous. They even had prepared a banquet that night to wee us. Why did I feel that the reason we werete to find the vige was rted to their preparation in weing us? Chapter 187 187 The Banquet (Tom¡¯s PoV) Upon entering the vige, Jane was shown a different ce from us while Sanjaya and I were directed to a ce a bit further away from her. Weined to them, saying that we couldn¡¯t stay too far away from her since we needed to assure her safety. Guess what they said? The ce they were taking her was a ce especially made for the Princess and Princess¡¯ Consort a.k.a. her husband. So, unless it was her husband-to-be or her husband, no man could live in the same vicinity as her. What about lying to them, saying that I am her husband? There¡¯s no way I would use Sanjaya¡¯s name as her husband, of course. No, it wouldn¡¯t do either. What if they asked for a marriage certificate? We didn¡¯t have one. I was afraid it would only bring trouble for us if we insisted on staying in the same building as her. Even though I was worried, I couldn¡¯t do anything for now. Sneaking into her ce was out of question either since the man who happened to be our guide had just said that the guards here were not only humans, but also those from the other dimension. The security was tight here! I sighed. My eyes wandered as our guide still exined to us about things around. True to what he said, I saw many non-human entities floating here and there. They were all in the shape of humans, whether they were true human before, I had no idea. ..... But, why did I find them familiar? Even the man in front of me looked strangely familiar to me. ¡°This is where the Young Sirs will stay. Please, do ask if you have any conditions.¡± The man bowed down a bit in a polite manner. I took a look at the building where I saw them leading Jane to. It was pretty far. If something were to happen to her, could we reach there right in time? Even though there was no guarantee that something would happen to her, I didn¡¯t like the fact that I would have to be far away from her. Sanjaya might share the same sentiment with me when I caught him looking at the same direction with a frown on his face. ¡°Can¡¯t you give us a ce nearer to where your Princess is staying?¡± I tried to talk to the man. His expression didn¡¯t change as he just looked at me solemnly. It was hard to discern any emotion from his expression. One thing for sure, he had been trained to be a dutiful servant without showing any unnecessary emotion on his face. Such a tough training. Our guide had not had chance to reply when a man rushed towards him and whispered something. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were whispering about, but from the way our guide took a quick nce at us, I knew it was rted to us. ¡°I get it.¡± He nodded to the messenger then he turned to face to us. Bowing his body down a bit, he said, ¡°Please, pardon my negligence, Young Sirs. The Princess had ordered us to take you to the Red Residence.¡± The way he spoke was neither fast nor slow. Even though his expression remained the same, but at least he had the attitude of high ss hotel servants. With a thin smile on his face, as well as expression which show neither too humble nor too distant, he looked so professional. But, Red Residence? Wasn¡¯t it where they took Jane to? Jane really ordered us to stay there? But, wasn¡¯t it only for the Princess and Princess¡¯ Consort? Both Sanjaya and I didn¡¯t say anything and just followed him back to Red Residence. The so-called Red Residence was a stilt house with sophisticated design and made of wood. The design and the material itself made it looked somehow majestic. My guess was the wood was already hundred years old when it was cut and made into a house. Why did I say so? It was because I could feel that the whole parts of the house were emitting some kind of aura. The aura itself was calm and cool. Even before I stepped into the house, I could already imagine that I would like staying here. Since the aura of the wood still lingered even though it had been made into a house, I was one hundred percent sure that there was something in this house. This ¡®something¡¯ was not rted to any of the astral entities in the vige, instead it stood alone but unshaken. The guide brought us in and showed us to our room. Our room and Jane¡¯s room were separated by a huge living room and some guards in two different sides of the house. Even so, I still felt contented since I could reach her as soon as possible if something were to happen. ¡°Young Sirs, there will be banquet for weing the Princess and Young Sirs tonight in the Satu Vige¡¯s Main Hall. I was appointed to take Young Sirs to go there tonight. Please, do tell me if you have any arrangements.¡± The guide spoke again after he had shown us our rooms. ¡°Is there any dress code?¡± I doubt he understood what ¡®dress code¡¯ meant, though. ¡°I will send someone to deliver the clothes needed for tonight, Young Sirs.¡± He said. I was a bit surprised that he understood what dress code meant. ¡°Thank you.¡± Sanjaya cut in. ¡°Then we will wait for it.¡± The guide bowed down a bit and he left. After he left, Sanjaya shot me a look. ¡°He is not a fool.¡± He said. I arched my eyebrows because I knew for sure why he said so. He might refer to what I just did. But, why did he say that the guide was not a fool? Did he know him? ¡°He is one of the best students in Tourism Department in P University. His expression and the way he talks is the reference of how a ssy hotel worker deals with guest. He was a bit famous back then for three to five years if you remember. But then, he said that he wanted to return to his hometown. I had never expected to meet him here.¡± Sanjaya exined. I was stunned. Now that he said about it, he indeed looked familiar. But, I didn¡¯t bother to remember why I found him familiar since anything rted to tourism and its workers was not my forte and couldn¡¯t attract my curiosity. I was practically drowning myself in any knowledge about architecture and I might have seen him somewhere, that¡¯s why I stopped trying to remember him. The point was... I should be wary since I might meet someone who had been outside and returned to this vige because this was where they originally came from. ¡°Well, you will be even more surprised if you find out the identity of some other people in this vige.¡± Jane appeared with a smile on her face. Her eyes were clear with an excited gaze burned from within. From the way she talked, she must have known something unusual. ¡°I came just to check on you two. d to see that both of you are fine.¡± She smiled as her gaze swept on Sanjaya¡¯s and my body. ¡°d to see you¡¯re fine, too.¡± Sanjaya replied. I didn¡¯t need to see to know that he was smiling gently at my girlfriend. Ah no, we were in truce right now. I couldn¡¯t be jealous right now. ¡°Well, since you¡¯re both fine, you should take your time to take a rest. We will go to the banquet tonight.¡± She said firmly, like a good host. ¡°Also, don¡¯t speak casually to people under thirty years old. Most of them had gone to prestigious university and had some achievements but willing to return and serve their hometown.¡± She warned us before she left. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s better if you just keep quiet and stand by my side, actually.¡± She turned around only to say these words to us then she left us speechless. What she said was true, anyway. We were new in the area. After all, he came with the identity as her bodyguards, so it was better to stay quiet lest we embarrassed ourselves. Without saying anything, I went inside my room and lied down on the soft bed after cleaning myself in the bathroom. Before long, someone knocked on my door. It was almost the time for the banquet, so they delivered my clothes. It was pretty simple traditional clothes, actually. With a luxurious look kind of sarung around my hips, and the same pattern on my head band, I looked very much distinguished. Minutester, our previous guide came to pick us up. I said to him that we needed to wait for Jane, but he said that Jane would be the most important person in this banquet so how could she miss it. Therefore, we went to the Main Hall without Jane. He showed us to our seats before he left again. Many people hade and I recognized most of them as the people who were there during my initiation. Even Sir Ahmad Ismail was there, sitting on the right side of the big chair in the middle. On left side of the big chair were six chairs. It meant there were six other important people who would appear. Why didn¡¯t I know any of them? Weren¡¯t they there during my initiation? Even so, I didn¡¯t say anything. I was nning to call Siji out, but somehow I didn¡¯t feel right to invite Siji toe. Jane appeared in less than fifteen minutester. She was a wearing beautiful traditional costume with a big piece of head essories on her head. What stunned me was the amount of gold bracelets in both her wrists and gold nes around her neck. Were they fake gold? As if reading my mind, Jane mouthed to me ¡®Real¡¯ before she went back to being their doll of a princess. I nearlyughed seeing her fake expression, but even so, she really looked gorgeous. The dark green silk top matched with her rosyplexion. The gold threads used for stitching the pattern on the top and the skirt showed how exquisite the costume was. The maids brought her to sit on the big chair where she sat gracefully. Did she really ept her identity as their princess just like that? I don¡¯t think so! I¡¯ll just have to wait what she had prepared for these people. After Jane entered the hall, I was surprised to see six elderly entered after her. Well, if they were humans, I wouldn¡¯t be so surprised. But, they were all ghosts! What surprised me more was when the six of them sat on the six chairs beside Jane. Who are they? I noticed those elderly men took a nce at Jane, but didn¡¯t say anything. Jane smiled at them, but knowing them, that smile was nowhere polite smile. Instead it was a smile that saying ¡®long time no see¡¯. Had she met them before? After those old men appeared, Sir Ahmad started the banquet. ¡°Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. This evening, we are blessed with the presence of Jane Harris, the one and only daughter of our King, Farid Harris, who we all know as Lord Rama Satya. As the Adviser of Satu Vige, and the right-hand man of Lord Rama Satya, I represent all people in Satu Vige to wee our Princess. May you be blessed by The Creator always.¡± He said with a warm smile in his face. Jane was only smiling in responding to this warm wee and I couldn¡¯t help but smirk. ¡°God knows how long we have been waiting for this moment toe ever since that day. Your first visit was when you were invited to the second trial, and I nearly couldn¡¯t control myself to call you Princess.¡± Sir Ahmad started to reminisce about old times, and I was waiting for him to fall in the hole he dug himself. ¡°Honestly speaking, we have epted the information about youring since this morning, but because we wanted to make it a perfect wee, we identally spent too much time in preparation that we forgot to open the gate.¡± Iughed inwardly. See? He fell in! I watched as Jane¡¯s expression started to darken. Now she found the culprit, I was curious what she would do. Well, seeing the old man¡¯s embarrassed expression, I was sure Jane would be lenient towards him. But, how lenient she would be, I didn¡¯t know. ¡°Anyway, our Princess is here now! Safe and sound! Let¡¯s celebrate it!¡± Sir Ahmad really didn¡¯t know what wasing to him as he still innocently continued his wee speech. ¡°Thank you, for the warm banquet prepared especially for... me.¡± Jane¡¯s nearly cold and fake cheerful voice sounded so casual, yet it could make me shivered even though I was not the object of her sinister expression. Jane, you don¡¯t look like a Princess with that expression, you know? No, scratch that. She still looked like a Princess, but instead of a Princess in the human world, she looked more like a Princess from Hell. Chapter 188 188 Incapable of Leading The Army (Jane¡¯s PoV) I watched from behind as the man whose name was Ahmad Ismail, I believed, gave a heart-warming speech that I had never heard before. Most speeches either sounded courageous or boring, with hard to understand words that could make the speaker sounded smart and ssy. However, this speech was so casual that I thought I was sitting in a birthday party with my friends. It created lots more emotions than those which were written before hand and using those intelligent-looked words. However, no matter how heartwarming it was, it didn¡¯t extinguish the fire in me. Still, I kept my rationality in check. I couldn¡¯t just scold everyone when they had worked so hard to prepare a big wee for me, right? Also, I had been thinking about that name. Princess? I had been trying to make them stop calling me that. I wasn¡¯t a princess, no matter what they said. I didn¡¯t feel like one. But, they really took my words as wind passing by their ears. No, this couldn¡¯t do. I needed to calm down. Yes, calm down. Trust me, I tried. But, after he finished giving his speech, I couldn¡¯t help but express my gratitude in a ...slightly cold manner. ¡°Thank you, for the warm banquet prepared especially for... me.¡± By the time I realized, it was toote. The words had spoken. However, since I understood myself so well, I knew that the expression on my face didn¡¯t show that I was being thankful. Instead, it was sarcastic and cold, detached of any cheerful emotion that I tried so hard to create when I walked into the hall just now. Who said smiling could make someone feeling better? Forcing a smile could make one¡¯s mood better. Screw that! When one was too tired, not even a smile could lift their mood. ..... Give them a soft bed and soft pillows, also warm nket and told them to sleep. It would lift their mood for sure! No, that would be too much to prepare, just ask them to take a rest and not to care for anything; that would be better. I had tried to find any reason to keep the smile on my face, even forcing it so that I would look less menacing to these people that I had just met. However, it didn¡¯tst long since Sir Ahmad mentioned why he forgot to open the gate. The exhaustion I felt when I went around in the forest only to find this ce came back to me and without I realized, I had dropped down all pretenses. Well, it was not like I liked to lie to people or even myself. But, I really couldn¡¯t hold myself. me it on my exhaustion! I stood up, walking down from the highest chair towards where Sanji and Tom were sitting. They had stood up as well with worry stered on their faces. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tom asked, half-whispering. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t think straight.¡± I murmured slightly. I could feel the stares on my back. I didn¡¯t know what expression Sir Ahmad had on his face with how I treated him. ¡°Jane Harris, you are the daughter of Lord Rama Satya.¡± Sir Ahmad said solemnly, but somehow his voice was reverberating in the whole hall. I resisted the urge to reply ¡®No shit, Sherlock¡¯ to him. I turned around to see him standing straight, charismatic aura enveloped his beings. His bearing was really worthy of being the Adviser of Satu Vige. ¡°Hear my words! The Princess has entered Satu Vige with her identity as Master of White Army, together with her Prince Consorts, an exorcist and a General. Any objections of this matter can be directly stated at this precise moment.¡± Sir Ahmad peered at the people in the hall but no one made a sound. I, on the other hand, was frowning when I heard that. Two Prince Consorts. I did say about it to let them stay in the same residence as me. I didn¡¯t know he would say it in front of these many people. Also, I expected one of those old men raised their hand and expressed their objections. But, they didn¡¯t do it. I caught Sir Ahmad smiling at me before he started speaking again. Did he know about theint I got from those old geezers? ¡°As the Princess of our n, you deserve tomand the Seventh Adviser and The White Army. May you bring peace upon those who are visible and invisible.¡± Those words were ended with a loud apuse from the people, but the new name I got still made irritated. ¡°...¡± A princess? Don¡¯t joke with me! Who wanted to be a princess? Just the thought of how many people would call me that pink-colored name had me shivered. ¡°Just ept it. It¡¯s not bad, though.¡± A certain someone nudged my elbow as he grinned teasingly. Great! I rolled my eyes at him. ¡°You will be the only princess who has two prince consorts.¡± The older one spoke calmly. ¡°My dear princess, will you build your own harem now?¡± His eyes shed with dangerous glint. Harem? Screw you! I suddenly felt that these two men were only here to cause me troubles. Not to mention I regret saying that they were my husbands-to-be to Sir Ahmad when he met me in the Red Residence. I seriously thought that he would not buy it since no one in Indonesia had ever had two husbands at the same time! Apparently, that rule didn¡¯t apply in this Hidden Vige. Also, wasn¡¯t their truce too strong this time? If it were true that I could take two husbands, would they really agree with that? With how possessive these two men were, I doubted that they would live side by side as my Prince Consorts peacefully. Also, did I really need my identity as the Princess to be able tomand the army? Apparently, I said that question a bit out loud and it attracted the attention of Sir Ahmad. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t hear it clearly since confusion was all over his face. By the time our eyes met, I had put on my big smile on my face again, as if I wasn¡¯t the one who spoke those words just now. ¡°Let the banquet begin!¡± I eximed and cheers were heard from the people as they filled their stomach with the food in front of them. The only ones that gave me a strange look were the old men on my right. I remembered them, of course. Weren¡¯t they the ones that opposed me as the Master of White Army and said that no Master couldmand the army without General? Well, I could do it. Moreover, I had my General with me. What else could they say? I walked back to my seat, gave up on everything that was about to befallen to me. Well, as long as it was not bad, I wouldn¡¯t mind epting it. Being called Princess, even though I felt it was a bit too much, I would just have to endure it. ¡°Princess, you don¡¯t like anything on this table?¡± Sir Ahmad came to me with all smiles on his face as he pointed at the table in front of me politely. ¡°They are fine.¡± I said, but I had no appetite. ¡°I¡¯ll eatter.¡± ¡°Do you want me to order something light for you to eat?¡± asked Sir Ahmad carefully. How thoughtful! He must have thought that my stomach was upset; therefore I didn¡¯t want to touch anything on the table. ¡°If you can help me to get some warm water and sweets, it would be great.¡± I said casually. I didn¡¯t see why I should reject his good intention. ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± Sir Ahmad waved his hand and a maid servant came closer. ¡°Get some warm water and sweets for the Princess.¡± He ordered in soft tone. He didn¡¯t look like an arrogant man who used his power to bark orders or even abuse others. He ordered, but it felt like he was requesting instead. What a good man! Maybe I could find out something about my father from him. ¡°Sir Ahmad, can I ask you something?¡± ¡°Sure thing, Princess.¡± ¡°Sit down, then, I¡¯m afraid it will take some time to finish.¡± I nodded at his chair, gestured for him to take a seat. Sir Ahmad Ismail didn¡¯t argue and pulled his chair closer to me. Then, he sat down and looked at me expectantly. ¡°Is it true my father is the King here?¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± Sir Ahmad was smiling, even though his smile was hidden behind his moustache. ¡°Howe? Tell me everything.¡± Sir Ahmad looked more than happy to tell me everything. So, we ignored the banquet and sat there almost face to face. Sometimes, I would take a sip of my warm water and chew on my sweets. Sometimes, Sir Ahmad would stop to wet his throat before he continued his story about my father. He started telling me about how my father reached this vige. He said, my father could reach the vige was because he was guided by something. The Elders in the vige didn¡¯t believe it since they knew the thing that was leading my father was still in the house, refused toe out from its box. Yes, the thing that was leading my father was a creese; a ck creese. It was the mystical weapon of this vige, a very important one. Sir Ahmad told me that whoever could wield the creese, that person would be the King of the vige. No matter who that person was, the rule was the rule. It didn¡¯t matter whether the creese chose someone from the vige or not. Bloodline didn¡¯t matter in pointing the ruler of the vige. The one who made the decision was the creese. At that time, my father was also joining the selection to be the Master of White Army, but he wasn¡¯t fated with it. Instead, he was chosen to be the King since he proved that he couldmand the creese to move around easily. Only after they saw how my father wielded the creese that those Elders relented. Even so, based on what Sir Ahmad told me, I could conclude that those Elders were far much more rational than the Elders from White Army. Just look at them! Four out of six would asionally throw me a re when they thought I wasn¡¯t looking. Just wait, you old geezers! I¡¯ll settle the score with youter! After my father was crowned as the King, he had lived here for three to four months before he left. He also said to them not to close the gate if one day his descendants woulde. They had assured him that as long as he was the King, anyone with his blood coulde and go at this ce at will. Sir Ahmad also mentioned about the Elders¡¯ offer for my father to take a Queen from this tribe. My eyes widened when he mentioned about it. Fortunately, my father declined the offer, saying that he already had a wife and a daughter. If someone were to be his Queen, it could only be my mother. And if someone were to the Princess, it could only be me, his daughter. That¡¯s what he said. ¡°But, I don¡¯t want to be the Princess.¡± I said to him after he finished telling me that story. Looking at Sir Ahmad¡¯s dumbfounded expression almost had meughed. Ah, I felt guilty for making older person letting out that kind of expression. It felt like I was pranking him. ¡°Ah well, some people still don¡¯t believe that I canmand the man. It is okay to ask them toe here, right? After all, they only live nearby.¡± I stood up as I threw those old men my teasing smile. ¡°Of course, Princess.¡± It seemed like, anything I wanted; Sir Ahmad would always say yes and support me. ¡°Then,e forth!¡± I shouted and the wind started to howl like crazy. Along with the wind was the appearance of mysterious white glow that could onlye out from the White Army. I took notice of the change in those old men¡¯s expression and smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Would you still say that I¡¯m incapable of leading the army?¡± I asked them. How could I forget that day when they berated me for being a kid and not suitable to lead the army? Let¡¯s hear what they would say today. Judging from their expression ever since they appeared, they really had something to say to me. Now that I had started it, what would they say? Chapter 189 189 Should I Prove To You Again? (Jane¡¯s PoV) I watched as their expression darkened; only four of them, of course. The other two looked surprised but I could see that they were pleased with my development. Only these four people looked like they had been face-pped so hard that they couldn¡¯t contain the displeasure in their heart. ¡°Mdy.¡± Siji came forward and greeted me. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here.¡± I nodded at him. Why didn¡¯t I see him right after I summoned the men? ¡°Did the Elders bully you?¡± He asked calmly. It might as well he didn¡¯t ask it since he didn¡¯t really show his concern whether I was bullied or not. ¡°Well, I doubt that. It must be you who bullied them.¡± Siji¡¯s lips curled up in a teasing smile as he took a long nce at me. The reason he could be that calm was because he was sure I wouldn¡¯t be the one who was being bullied. Such a good assumption, though. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± I smirked. ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t.¡± Tom appeared beside me with his body exuded white glow belonged to the army. Sanji was right behind him. ..... What were they doing surrounding me like this? ¡°With just one nce, I know that they don¡¯t like you.¡± Sanji said. ¡°Well, I am just kid, so obviously they don¡¯t like me.¡± I shrugged. Talking about petty, I could be petty if I wanted to. ¡°Well, you¡¯re dismissed. Just enjoy the banquet and the night.¡± I said to the army. With the whole hall filled with them, I doubted the humans wouldn¡¯t feel disturbed. At least, I had shown them what I could do. After I said that, those hundreds of men dispersed instantaneously, leaving only Tom and Siji who were still standing beside me. ¡°I apologize for the sudden disturbance, please continue the banquet.¡± I sincerely offered my apology towards the people who hade to the banquet. However, the strange thing was... I couldn¡¯t find any annoyance in their expression. Instead, it was astonishment or admiration. The way they looked at me was somehow different with how they looked at me at the beginning. Was it a good thing or a bad thing? I chose to ignore it, lest it made me overthinking. I turned to see the Elders. ¡°If you have anyint, just say it to me tomorrow. I can¡¯t listen to it tonight for I am too tired to properly process anyint. You can¡¯t expect me to be nice and polite to you if you insist to show me that ugly expression on your face every time you look at me. When I finally have a proper rest, let¡¯s talk about it again. Is that okay with my dear Elders?¡± A smile was stered on my face as long as I talked. This was the least I could do to save them some face. Ain¡¯t I a nice kid? Well, I doubt their faces still could be saved, considering what I had done just now was almost like dering a war to them. But, they were old souls, right? They should be magnanimous and loving the youths, right? As an ignorant youth, they couldn¡¯t really me me, but instead they should assist me with guidance, right? Only at times like this I would use my ¡®youth¡¯ card. Otherwise, I refused to say that I was still young, too green to understand the world. I had seen my share and since my life was not like any normal girls¡¯ life, I pretty much understood some principles. ¡°Save your sarcastic thought inside and control your expression. If one didn¡¯t know you better, they must have thought that you were plotting to do some mischiefs.¡± Tom whispered to my ear. ¡°Let me guess. You must be thinking about how you will anger those poor old souls to death, right?¡± Sanji guessed in a whisper. His usually calm and mature eyes twinkled with trouble, as if he wanted me to ask him to tag along when that time came. ¡°They¡¯re dead already. You will only torture them instead of killing them.¡± Siji added calmly. ¡°But, it¡¯s even better.¡± Even he disyed a smirk. These people... How could they say that as if those old men had gone? They were still right there! Even though they were sitting a bit far from us, but there was a huge chance that they overheard what we were talking about. Okay, most of it was done in whisper, but SIji didn¡¯t whisper. From what Siji said, I believed as the smart ones, they could roughly deduce about the topic of our talk. Well, whatever. I shifted my attention towards Sir Ahmad who was silent during themotion I created. With a smile on my face, I apologized to him for it and he warmly said that it was okay. Didn¡¯t he indulge me too much? The banquet was over before midnight. It was a rule that no banquet, party, or any gatherings went past twelve. All people should have stayed in their house, unless they were the security guards. And to my surprise, the souls who stayed in Satu Vige had the same routines as humans. They also could sleep like humans. The next morning, I was woken up by a knock on my door. For a while, I felt lost. I thought I had returned to my home, but after closer investigation, I remembered that I had finally reached Satu Vige. Probably it was because I had finally had a good sleep, probably it was because I wasn¡¯t tired anymore, my mood was superb. It was so good that even when the maid called me ¡®Princess¡¯, I didn¡¯t flinch. Don¡¯t get me wrong. There was nothing wrong with the name ¡®Princess¡¯. It was just, in my mind, the term ¡®Princess¡¯ was close in meaning with those graceful, love-struck women who wore dresses and often associated with pink color. Of course, there were some princesses who were as brave as men and those were my kind of princess. However, I still couldn¡¯t help but flinch whenever they called me ¡®Princess¡¯ with those sweet and soft voices. Everyone had different preferences, but sometimes people would judge others based on this tiny information. After getting rid of those maids, I cleaned myself and just realized that it was almost midday. Ahaha... Wearing myfortable clothes, I went out from my room and found Tom and Sanji were sitting in the living room, talkingfortably. ¡°Ah, finally you¡¯re awake.¡± Tom was the one who noticed my presence. ¡°This is your breakfast. The servant had just sent it here.¡± Sanji turned his head to look at me before he pointed at some tes on the table. ¡°After this, you are needed in the Elderly Hall for discussing about the thing that brought us here.¡± I nodded my head as I heard what he said. They must want to ask about my father and the purpose of my visit. As much as I wanted this thing to end fast and for me to find my father as soon as possible, I still sat on the chair and started eating calmly. I didn¡¯t rush myself to finish my meal quickly since I knew it would be bad for me. Sanji and Tom continued their conversation, but I honestly couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about. It was something about ¡®breathing control¡¯, ¡®exhaustion¡¯, ¡®in and out¡¯, and other words that I knew the meaning but when it was put together, I really didn¡¯t know what they were talking about. My eyes widened when I saw Tom rubbed his own ass and said that ¡®thest time was hurt like hell¡¯ and needed Sanji¡¯s cooperation to be gentler next time. What the... I blinked my eyes as I stared at those two grown-up men that were engaging in a serious conversation. Probably sensing my sharp stares being shot to them, both of them turned their heads towards me and blinked their eyes. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you eating?¡± Sanji asked. ¡°Are you full already?¡± Tom added. I gulped hard. Indeed, I had stopped eating and I had already felt full, even though seconds ago I was sure I could finish all of the food on the table. Putting my spoon back on my almost empty te, I blinked my eyes awkwardly. Should I ask them? I didn¡¯t want to meddle into two men¡¯s situation, but asking it directly was better than presuming it, right? But, what if they admitted that they were in that kind of rtionship? My face contorted in unwillingness as that thought entered my mind. No, no, no. I shook my head quickly. ¡°What is it?¡± Tom was frowning as he came to sit beside me. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that something was off with the way he was walking. Oh no, no, no, calm yourself, Jane. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are thinking of something absurd again, do you?¡± Sanji¡¯s expression darkened as he shot me dangerous look with his sharp eyes. He must have thought what I was thinking since it was not the first time I made such a remark about... you know, two men in rtionship. After all, he had been apanying me watching movies and drama that he had heard me makingments about it. I let out an innocent smile. ¡°Is it not true?¡± ¡°What? What is it?¡± Tom was still clueless. As expected of my boyfriend who was sleeping for two years, he was still innocent. Sanji¡¯s expression still darkened to the point I could see thick dark cloud over his headplete with the lightning and thunder. ¡°She thought both of us engaged in gay activities.¡± Sanji said coldly without shifting his gaze from me. ¡°Ahaha...¡± I let out an awkwardugh. So, was I wrong? ¡°What?¡± Tom¡¯s voice dropped two notes and I thought I felt my body shivered in cold. His face was no less scary than Sanji¡¯s. It was clear that both of them were offended with something that I had not even had a chance to say. ¡°Dear Princess, while you were having your own beauty sleep this morning, Tom and I had woken up and started training with Siji. Since. Early. This. Morning. I don¡¯t know where you had that thought from or which part of our conversation that led you to have that perverted thought, I can only say to you that you are overthinking things.¡± Sanji stated coldly with a little hint of anger in his voice. ¡°Should I prove to you again that I¡¯m normal?¡± Tom growled in my ears as he moved his body towards me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Let¡¯s go to the Elderly Hall.¡± I got up quickly and ran away as fast as I could without looking back. Damn, I didn¡¯t know those two could be that scary when they were pissed off! I really couldn¡¯t do or say anything, that¡¯s why I could only run away from them. Well, I knew that running away wouldn¡¯t solve the problem, but at least I had time to think about it carefully so that when they confronted mete, I knew what I would say. Speaking of which, where was this Elderly Hall? I looked around but I couldn¡¯t see anyone near the Red Residence, which was kind of strange. ¡°Siji.¡± I called for myst resort to find the hall. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji appeared and bowed down politely. ¡°Show me the Elderly Hall.¡± I said to him. ¡°This way, Mdy.¡± Siji stepped aside and showed me the way to get to Elderly Hall. ¡°About Sanjaya and Tom...¡± Siji started as we walked a bit far away from the Red Residence. ¡°What about them?¡± I arched my eyebrows as I took a long nce at him. ¡°Suspecting them for something that they didn¡¯t do, are you ready to face the consequences? I overheard something just now, that they would show you how wrong you are.¡± Siji said calmly. My body stiffened as I unintentionally stopped in my track. My eyes widened. Staring at Siji¡¯s calm face, I found that it was hard to believe what he said. ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡± I said before I continued my steps. That¡¯s what I said, but deep inside, I was feeling slightly panic from the information. What was going to happen to me? ..... Chapter 190 190 The ck Creese (Jane¡¯s PoV) Siji didn¡¯t say anything after that, but my mind had started to guess and imagine the kind of consequences of how they would treat meter. Just say, I thought a lot; from the normal ones to the thing I was worried the most. And yes, it included some perverted or lewd kind of punishment. Don¡¯t me me, after all both of them were healthy men with healthy appetite. With how naughty Tom could be with me,bined with Sanji¡¯s frustration over me -plus my perverted mind, of course- I couldn¡¯t help but think about that. I didn¡¯t indulge myself into that imagination further, of course. ¡°Mdy, we are here.¡± Siji¡¯s voice made me realized that I had been walking while daydreaming. There were some people around me, and I noticed they had been staring at me in a weird way. Probably it had something to do with how I was walking while daydreaming, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t bother to greet them. Instead, I hastened my steps and went into the ce called Elderly Hall. Main Hall where the banquet was being heldst night was a type of open space hall, with only pirs and roof above the head to shelter from rain or harsh sunlight. This Elderly Hall, on the other hand, was a close type hall. It looked like a house from outside, but inside it had vast room that could amodate around three hundred to five hundred people. Trust me, it looked like amon house from outside. ..... This house must have been connected to a space in other dimension. Somehow, it reminded me of a certain magical movie that included wizards in a well-known school of magic... Oh, whatever, it¡¯s Harry Potter. Now you get it. They had this small looking tent which had spacious rooms inside. It was this kind of feeling that I got after I stepped into the house. In the middle of the house, there were some people sitting in a circle with serious expression on their faces. I noticed Sir Ahmad was one of them and even though they were sitting in a circle, I could still see the hierarchy clearly. Sitting on the furthest end from where I was standing was Sir Ahmad. On his right and left were some older people, were they the Elders of this vige? ¡°She is here.¡± Sir Ahmad was the first one to notice my arrival. He stood up and came over to fetch me. ¡°Princess,e and join us.¡± He said as he pointed at the circle politely. ¡°Sure.¡± I nodded awkwardly. I followed him towards the circle and sat down beside him, on a soft cushion. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± Sir Ahmad asked. ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Princess, are you aware of what we are doing now?¡± One of the Elders asked me with serious expression. His tone was neither overbearing nor displeased, but he was indeed emphasizing the importance of the meeting. But, I had just arrived. How could I know what they were talking about? ¡°I¡¯ll aware of it after I learn what you guys are talking about.¡± I answered him calmly. The man didn¡¯t show any displeasure, instead he nodded his head. He even looked like he was smiling. No, he was indeed smiling. ¡°Princess, what happened to Lord Satya?¡± asked one of the Elderly. I looked at them one by one, considering whether I should tell them about what happened to my father or not. In the end, I spilled everything I knew to them. As expected, they were shocked when they heard the Queen of South Sea took my father and even asked me to bring his ck Creese to South Sea. ¡°But, the ck Creese is always with Lord Satya. It¡¯s not here.¡± Sir Ahmad frowned in confusion. I arched my eyebrows, finding it somehow strange. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not here? As far as I know, the creese can disappear at will. How do you know it¡¯s not here?¡± They were all stunned when they heard what I said. It seemed like they had not checked on it yet. Well, since the creese was always with my father, they must not think that it would return here. ¡°I¡¯ll check on it.¡± Sir Ahmad got up and ran into a room nearby. A minuteter, he came back with a ck box covered with white silk in his hands. Putting it in front of me, he had a deep frown on his face. ¡°What is it?¡± asked one of the Elders. ¡°I think... it¡¯s inside.¡± Sir Ahmad softly said. ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s open it.¡± Another Elder urged him. I watched silently as Sir Ahmad carefully pulled the box from the white silk covered. The box was in deep shade of ck, but it looked glossy. It had a sophisticated feeling if one was to see it. To be honest, I had seen the ck Creese once. I even pulled it from its scabbard. When I told it to my father, he asked me whether I was okay, I said I was. I was just curious since I heard him talking to his friend once that the creese couldn¡¯t be pulled out easily from its scabbard. At that time, the thing that came into my mind was Excalibur. No one could pull it out from the stone, unless the person was the destined one. So, I wanted to give it a try. But, I simply pulled it out from its scabbard with just a minimum effort. I thought I needed to put more efforts into it, but before I could exert more of it, the creese was pulled slightly. I remembered stopped pulling it because of the strange feeling I had inside. Wasn¡¯t it supposed to be hard to pull out? Why did I do so easily? My father must have told lies to his fried! Since I had pulled it, might as well go all the way. So, I pulled it out from its scabbardpletely. The cresse was neither heavy nor light. The color was ck and it was not glossy or smooth like knife or sword. It had rough texture and other than the pointed edge, it wasn¡¯t sharp like any de or knife or sword. To be frank, it was ugly. So, I put it back into its scabbard, covered it carefully with the cloth, and put it back to where my father kept it. I only said it to my fatherter on while we were watching TV. Now, I was about to see it again. Was it really the same with what my father had at home? I watched intently as Sir Ahmad was about to open the box. However, soon I frowned when I saw the expression on those Elders and Sir Ahmad¡¯s face. What¡¯s wrong? Was the lock broken? ¡°I can¡¯t open it.¡± Sir Ahmad said as he gave up trying to open the box. I did witness how he tried so hard to open it, so I was sure he wasn¡¯t pretending. But, why didn¡¯t it open up? All the Elders gave it a try to open the box, but it was still to no avail. Then, the box was put in front of me. ¡°Lord Satya isn¡¯t here. How could we open it, then?¡± One of the Eldersined. ¡°Princess, just give it a try.¡± The one beside me pushed the box closer to me. ¡°I have never heard a descendant of the King could do the same with how her father did.¡± ¡°She is still so young, after all. What could see do?¡± ¡°How will she bring the creese out if she can¡¯t open the box?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push her around. If she can open it, it¡¯s good. If she can¡¯t, it¡¯s no problem at all.¡± ¡°Even though she is the Master of White Army, it doesn¡¯t mean she can pull out the creese.¡± ¡°Silent, please!¡± The one beside Sir Ahmad bellowed slightly. ¡°Whatever the reason is, Princess should be given the same treatment.¡± All the gossipy older men went quiet all of a sudden. I looked at the box in front of me. Did they really expect me to open it? I reached out to the box, picked it up carefully, and put in on myp. My hand fiddled with the lock for a while. It wasn¡¯t locked! Why did they find it hard to open it? I pulled the lid slowly as the others¡¯ jaws went ck. They looked at me in surprise as I opened the box really quickly and carefully. But, it was not the time for me to think about them. Lying inside the box was the same ck Creese my father kept at home. The pattern, shape, and aura it emitted were still the same with the ones back then. I picked the creese and pulled it out slightly. ¡°No!¡± All of them shouted in unison when they saw me pulling the creese out from its scabbard. I stopped as I looked at their terrified expression. Why did they have that expression on their face? ¡°Princess, don¡¯t pull it out!¡± Sir Ahmad looked at me in horror. ¡°Yes! No, don¡¯t pull it out!¡± An Elder almost shrieked in fear when he saw me. ¡°Why?¡± I asked, feeling confused with their warning without exnation. ¡°Just... don¡¯t!¡± Sir Ahmad emphasized his words. ¡°What are you afraid of? See?!¡± I pulled out the creese easily and showed it to them. In instant all of them stepped backwards after making an embarrassing sound in their throat. But, the fear was too big that it clouded their rationality and to feel ashamed. ¡°H-how could you do it?¡± How? Grab the handle and pull it. That simple and you asked me how? I didn¡¯t realize that I had that ¡®you¡¯re stupid¡¯ expression on my face. If it were any normal situation, I would be lectured for hours and reflected on my mistakes. But, under this fear that I didn¡¯t knowing from whom or where, all of them trembled and nearly prostrated themselves in front of the creese. I curiously looked at the creese and my eyes found the rough texture on it. Ah damn, it¡¯s still ugly as ever. Chapter 191 191 We Will Show You Something (Jane¡¯s PoV) I really couldn¡¯t stand the texture of the creese. Was it the same creese that I saw in that man¡¯s memory? The one that had both offense and defense skill in it? Why was it looking so dull in my eyes? Even though the aura that I felt was somehow mysterious, but I couldn¡¯t feel the sinister and terrifying aura that I felt when I peeked into that man¡¯s memory. Was it really the right creese? ¡°P-Princess, please, put it back.¡± I raised my eyebrows at them and put the creese back into its scabbard. Only after I did so, they could finally let out their breath that had temporarily stopped in their throats and their heart beat started to return to normal. ¡°Princess, are you okay?¡± Sir Ahmad hastily came near me and inspected me with his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I answered calmly. ¡°What? Was something supposed to happen to me when I pulled it out?¡± ¡°Usually, some people are allowed to open the box but not allowed to pull it out from its scabbard. Those are lucky people. Those who are allowed to pull it out from its scabbard are considered unfortunate. Other than Lord Rama Satya and the previous Kings before, people who were allowed to pull it out would end up as its nourishment. It was either their soul would be drawn into it to be its ves or their blood would be its bathing water.¡± Sir Ahmad stopped for a moment, but I felt my eyes widened as I heard his exnation. That bad? No wonder my father asked me that question that day and they had such a strong reaction just now. My curiosity really nearly killed me! How close to death was I actually? ..... ¡°There was a King back then who had a son. For us, the son was a good person. He was so kind with above average power that we were almost sure this young man would probably the first sessor of the position. For your information, we have never had a King from the same bloodline. But at that time, we thought that he would inherit his father position as the King. It was fine for us, seeing that he had already ¡®met¡¯ the creese when he apanied his father. But, after he pulled out the creese, the creese swallowed his soul.¡± Sir Ahmad¡¯s voice turned grim, even his expression changed. It was not only Sir Ahmad, but also all the Elders in the room. It was as if they were forced to remember an unsightly memory that they had been trying so hard to forget. Well, seeing a living human was being swallowed by a ¡®thing¡¯ could really be considered a nightmare. I knew what it felt to have such a memory. But, the creese swallowed him? I stared at the creese in my hands. Are you really that dangerous? Why did you do it? I believe you have some exnation, right? I had those thoughts in my mind, asking that creese and ignored the fact that it couldn¡¯t hear me. Or maybe it could, who knew? After I said those, the creese in my hand trembled and let out its warm glow. Before I could react, the creese went out from its scabbard by itself and presented itself in front of me. The others jumped back hastily when they saw the creese was moving. I was the only one left in the middle of the room, staring at the creese that was floating in front of me. It looked like it was scrutinizing me from head to bottom, judging me. [We won¡¯t hurt human with pure heart] I was stunned when I heard the voice in my head. I was sure the voice belonged to two creatures or whatever it was. The voices were ovepping, sounding like a bad quality speaker. However, I couldn¡¯t see the origin of the voice. Also, what did he mean by ¡®pure heart¡¯? Did it mean the reason it harmed that King¡¯s son was because he harbored ill-intention inside his heart? Well, I bet these Elders and Sir Ahmad didn¡¯t know about that. My eyes were still being fixated on the creese. No matter what, I couldn¡¯t turn my head or look at the others. For the others, I might look like I was being hypnotized or possessed, but in reality, I just couldn¡¯t move. A big force was holding me back to my ce. ¡°Pardon my ignorance, but why aren¡¯t you guys with my father right now?¡± I asked to them inside my mind. [He purposely left us here. No matter what, we can¡¯t go to him] I frowned. Why? [Human, are you going to take us with you?] The voice changed. This time, it was only one entity that was talking to me. ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded. ¡°My father asked me to bring you along to the South Sea.¡± [South Sea? The Queen needs us to do something?] The voiced changed again. It was the other guy who had higher pitch of voice. ¡°Do you know the Queen? Have you met her before?¡± [Rather than saying we have met her, it was more pr¨¦cised to say that we saw her once] ¡°Last question.¡± I said to the creese. ¡°What are you?¡± [You¡¯ll know it one day, human.] With that, the creese went back to its scabbard and the invisible force that made me unable to move disappeared. I shook my head slightly as my hands caressed the creese. [Human, we¡¯ll show you something before you bring us out.] The voice came back. I arched my eyebrows in confusion and my vision went white. In a second, it came back but my surrounding had changed. I was brought to a ce that felt familiar but also unfamiliar for me. Then, I saw the man that I had crippled just a day before. What the creese showed me was more like fragments of memory that came and went in a smoke. Sometimes, I couldn¡¯t even hear the sound or voice in the fragments of memory. Even so, I realized what it had been showing me. All the family members of that man, including the children, were guilty of cursing more than one hundred people. The youngest child, the ten year old girl, was responsible for making some of her friends died with a terrible sickness that even doctors couldn¡¯t find the cause. With her innocent appearance, people wouldn¡¯t link their deaths to her. Actually, not only her, but also all the family members had a rather good image in front of other people¡¯s eyes. People wouldn¡¯t think that they were the cause of several deaths in their ce. Evil, right? But then, they met my father. My father wouldn¡¯t make a move that cruel to them if they didn¡¯t threaten him, actually. From those fragments of memory, I could only assume that it was rted to my mother and me. Our whole family, actually, including my uncles and aunts. It triggered my father¡¯s anger that he made that killing move. And it all happened before my father reached Satu Vige, before he was officially appointed as the King. He had already had chemistry with ck Creese. I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t proud of my father. A smug smile appeared on my face as I realized how awesome my father was. After watching and interpreting the whole fragments of memory, I finally returned to my body. The first thing that I saw was the faces of the Elders and Sir Ahmad who had a worried look on their faces. ¡°Princess, are you okay?¡± Sir Ahmad asked. I blinked my sore eyes then nodded. Damn, how long did I not blink because of watching that fragments of memory? My eyes were so sore that I started to tear up. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± asked one of the Elders. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I nodded and moved to put the creese back into its box. ¡°I was just having a conversation with ck Creese.¡± I smiled. Should I tell them that the creese could detect people¡¯s malicious intents that were why not everyone could touch it? ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to inherit this creese.¡± I added hastily as I saw their weird expression on their old faces. ¡°The creese made sure of that limit to me.¡± The odd smile that was threatened to appear in their face disappeared, but the twinkle in their eyes remained. It was as if they were more relieved that I was fine than finding a sessor of the position. ¡°You can take the creese with you, Princess.¡± Sir Ahmad smiled as he reminded me of my initial purpose ofing to this vige. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± I said to them. ¡°Of course, we¡¯re sure about that.¡± The Elders nodded their heads. They were so cooperative that I almost thought it was all a test or a set up for me. After all, some of them openly said their doubts about me. But, they were pretty rational after being shown with my real capability and whole-heartedly epting me. ¡°Princess, since you¡¯re able to take the creese with you, are you going to leave this vige as soon as possible?¡± I turned my head to the Elder that was asking me that question. I could notice a hesitation in his voice. ¡°I suppose so.¡± I nodded at the old man. ¡°This old man begs you to postpone your journey.¡± He bowed a bit. ¡°Why?¡± There must be something that caused this old man to say so. ¡°Start from tomorrow, there will be thick mist in this forest. It might be a natural phenomenon, but actually it is gathering for those entities. A portal will be opened nearby and when that happens, humans would usually get lost. Even though Princess is the Master of White Army, it is better to be safer, right?¡± He patiently exined to me. ¡°Ah, right. Good thing you remember that!¡± Another Elder eximed. My eyes lit up in excitement when I heard that a portal would be opened nearby. ¡°Is it okay for me to visit it?¡± My reaction might have stunned these poor old men as they had been staring me like I was a bit crazy. Other people would stay far away from the portal, but here I asked whether I could visit it or not. ¡°Err, about that... We truly had no idea. We all stay in the vige when that timees every year. Since this vige had its protective charm, those entitiesing from the other side can¡¯t enter our vige at all.¡± Sir Ahmad exined. Such a strong protective charm! ¡°Who made it? The charm, I mean.¡± Maybe I could learn some new tricks about charms from this person. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Rama Satya.¡± The excitement disappeared from my face. Not because I didn¡¯t believe what they said was true, but it was because I needed to be patient for I still needed to take him back with me quickly before I could learn anything about charms from him. ¡°Ah well, how long will itst?¡± ¡°Three days. Only after that Princess can go out safely.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Three days, huh? Then, I¡¯ll spend my time training with the men.¡± I got up and straightened my clothes. ¡°Then, Gentlemen, please, excuse me.¡± I bowed down to down and turned around to leave the hall with a box with the ck Creese inside in my hands. They had changed the ck box with an ordinary one to avoid any suspicion towards me. I walked towards where I entered and a bit surprised when I saw Siji was there. I thought he had returned back to the camp, but he was there, guarding the door silently. ¡°You¡¯re still here?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious whether you can visit the portal tomorrow?¡± Siji asked. In a sh, my eyes were on him, with my head nodded enthusiastically. Chapter 192 192 Side Story: Little Devil Some people called him Devil. Some called him Demon. He didn¡¯t remember how he was created nor how long had he lived. He only knew he was ordered to watch for humans, manipte their mind to let themmit sins. He was pretty much an expert in that case. He could even stand for himself, not allowing other devils to pick on him or order him around because of his capability in doing his job. Yeah, he could proudly say that he was one of those highest ranking devils thatmanded several thousands of lower rank devils. But, instead of staying put in his throne, he always went from one ce to other ces. If he felt like it, he would fool some humans, but most of the time, he would just be there as a spectator. He had been to many ces and he had fooled many humans. His mischievous manner would even make him put some bad things into children¡¯s mind. Since he couldn¡¯t touch babies, for they were the purest things in world, he would wait until they had grown up a bit. There¡¯s no exact age when he could start affecting those poor little boys or girls, but once they started to think about bad things, it was the cue for him to start working. How could children think about bad things? Well, ask their parents what they had been showing or teaching the children. Since no ordinary people could see him, even if they performed exorcist on him, it didn¡¯t affect him. But, one day when he passed by a vige, he was stopped by a cry of a baby. His mischievous mind kicked in and he sauntered the source of the cry with a wicked n inside his mind. In that house, he saw a baby girl was being cradled by a woman, probably her mother. He approached the baby and saw a pair of big and beautiful eyes was looking at him intently. It was strange, he thought. Normally even baby couldn¡¯t see him. Looking at her size, he assumed that she would be around six to eight weeks old. How could she see him? ..... He tried to move around, but her eyes followed him around. Yes, she had stopped crying, but she didn¡¯tugh either. Normally babies wouldugh if they saw something or someone yed with them. Even just making a small movement would make themugh. But, this baby was so strange that she would just look at him as if she was watching a pathetic clown trying to inciteughter on children. ¡°Kid, don¡¯t challenge me.¡± He said to the baby girl as he put his fingers on her forehead, trying to see what¡¯s inside her head. But to his surprise, she moved and pped his hands away. She made it as if she only rubbed her own face, but he, as the victim, knew better. No, there was no baby could be this strong. He must be imagining things. With that thought in mind, he tried to do it again. But, again his hand was pped by her. At that moment, he knew that he wasn¡¯t imagining things. Moreover, the look in her eyes was as if giving him a warning not to do that again. How odd was this baby? He didn¡¯t realize he had been standing there with dumbfounded expression on his face for a pretty long time. Hell, he didn¡¯t even realize how stupid he looked like. If only he could see himself in the mirror... After that day, he practically watched her almost all the time. Sometimes he would go to other ces and returned after a week or a month. But he never let her out of his eyes for more than that. He didn¡¯t try to approach her, just silently watched her from afar. However, there were times their eyes would meet, but she would not say anything to him. The first time she saw him, her friends asked her what was wrong since she stopped ying. She said that she saw a man, sitting under the tree, but her friends said that they didn¡¯t see anyone. Of course, even the most capable one with sixth sense wouldn¡¯t be able to see him, let alone those ordinary children. All except her. It was a good thing that she said she saw it wrongly and never mentioned about it again. Therefore, no onebeled her as a weirdo. Even if she saw ghosts, she wouldn¡¯t say anything and wouldn¡¯t even flinch in fear. Instead, she acted as if she didn¡¯t see them. What a clever child! All humans who could see ghosts meant that they had the same frequency with the ghosts. The ghosts would know which humans could see them as well, and would be attracted to the humans. Same case applied for her, too. However, no matter what they did, she would never show them that she could see them. That¡¯s why some of the ghosts were being bold and tried to touch her or even hurt her. The first time he saw their attempts to hurt the girl, heughed. Even his hand could be easily pped by her, what about theirs? He really couldn¡¯t wait to see it. Yet, when he saw it, he couldn¡¯tugh at all. When a ghost tried to choke her, she pinched the hands that were around her neck until it snapped. And she did that calmly as if she was just massaging her own throat. Yes, snapped! How strong was she to be able to snap the hands of an entity not belong to her world? She was ridiculously strange and strong. At the age of 12, she approached him for the first time. She was waiting for her friends toe and y with her. But, because she came much early than before, she needed to wait for a bit longer till her friends came. However, he was sure it was intentional. She intentionally came early to approach him. She nned it well, he should say. ¡°Hello, Mister.¡± She greeted him with a thin smile on her face as she stood in front of him. The Devil arched his thick eyebrows, but he didn¡¯t reply her greetings. ¡°You¡¯ve been watching over me for years. What do you want from me, Mister?¡± It was a miracle for a girl at her age could ask that kind of question with a calm fa?ade. Her mind was obviously working differently with the other kids. ¡°You¡¯re imagining things.¡± I said to her. The smile on her face grew wider. ¡°What kind of thing are you, Mister? You¡¯re not a ghost, so what are you? Your ck wings are so big, I¡¯m a bit curious whether those are heavy or not. Also, don¡¯t you feel it troublesome to walk among the trees? You live in the forest, right?¡± She could see his wings? At her words, he was stunned again. He rarely used his wings since he preferred to walk on foot. His wings were his identity as a member of the highest ss of devil. Therefore, other than in his dimension, his wings would be invisible even though he still could use it. She was practically the first human who could see his wings. What was she, actually? ¡°Mister? Are you mute?¡± The corner of his lips twitched when she asked him that innocently. You are mute, your whole family is mute! ¡°Kiddo, I¡¯m going to swallow you if you keep picking a fight with me.¡± He threatened the girl with menacing look on his face. ¡°Mister, don¡¯t twist your face like that. It doesn¡¯t look good on you.¡± Out of nowhere, she extended her hand and rubbed his frown away. Again, he was dumbfounded with how brave this kid was. ¡°There, you are the most handsome person I¡¯ve ever seen, so don¡¯t twist your face like that.¡± This time, she smiled toothily until her round eyes forming a beautiful pair of crescent moon. At this moment, the Devil, who didn¡¯t know the concept of beautiful things and memory, felt like he saw the most beautiful thing in the world. He didn¡¯t know he had heart until it started beating with a loud thump, almost hurting his chest. He stood up abruptly, startling the little girl to the point he almost felt guilty, and ran into the woods. His mind felt nk as he tried to understand this new feeling. No, no, he was afraid of this new feeling. What had happened to him? What kind of charm did she put on him? What a strong charm! Little Devil! He thought grumpily. He kept running, but the palpitated feeling inside his chest didn¡¯t disappear. With a loud howl, he jumped and spread his wings. Each p of his wings brought him further away from the Little Devil. He thought that his situation would revert back to normal once he was far away from her. But, as long as the girl¡¯s face popped in his mind, the thumping would start again. So, he flew for several days until he realized he had been too far from her. Without thinking much, he changed course and flew back to where she lived. In his heart and mind, he promised that he would watch her from further away and not let her see him just in case something like that happened again. Hundred yearster, he would realize what the girl was doing to him and it called ¡®flirting¡¯. But, seriously, a twelve years old girl flirted with an adult? Ah, she must have not known that was called ¡®flirting¡¯ either. Chapter 193 193 Side Story: Nataya. Her Protector. He watched her growing up. The thumping in his chest didn¡¯t stop whenever he saw her, still he didn¡¯t stop watching her. He had once identally heard some people talked about how they watched over a kid grew up and developed a parental sense, treating the kid as their own. The Devil tried to associate what they felt with how he was feeling towards the girl. But, other than the strange thumping in his chest, he didn¡¯t feel anything. Well, he didn¡¯t have a thought to nt bad things into her again. He just silently watched her. The feeling of wanting to protect her and spoil her didn¡¯t appear in him. They didn¡¯t mention anything about the ufortable thumping in their chest either. Therefore, he concluded that was not the answer he was looking for. When the girl was fifteen years old, he overheard her parents talking about something called marriage. He had seen plenty marriages so he knew what it looked like. However, deep inside he didn¡¯t understand the concept of marriage. Why did human have to get married? In his dimension, there was no concept of marriage. A male devil could have as many as females as he wanted. The higher the position of the devil, the more females he would have in his harem. Therefore, the concept of marriage in human world was a bit strange for him. ¡°My good daughter, you¡¯re at the age of how you should get married soon. We won¡¯t force you to do it, of course. But, if you have already found a good man to be your husband, just say it to us. If a single man wants you to be his wife, it¡¯s good for you. But, if you could only be the second, the third, or even the fourth wife, it is good, as well. We could only wish you for the best.¡± Her mother said softly, but there was sadness in her voice. ¡°Mother, you are the only wife that father has. If I were to get married, I wanted a man who would only love me, who would only have me as his one and only wife, just like father.¡± She answered calmly. ¡°Dear, it¡¯s hard to find a man like your father. He is special.¡± With that, her mother shot a long amorous nce towards her father who was still silent all the time. ¡°I¡¯m lucky to have caught his eyes and to get married to him. But, you should know, a woman¡¯s destiny is to serve her husband. As long as you can serve him well, he would guarantee your life. We can¡¯t hold you back with us for long, dear. People will condemn us, including you.¡± The Devil who was hiding in the dark was frowning. This was a serious matter. The concept was pretty much the same with how it was in his dimension. Females were used only for breeding and to build powers. Somehow, he didn¡¯t agree with it, which was why he had not taken any females until now and relied solely on his power and his underlings to be powerful. ..... ¡°Mother, is there a man asks for me already?¡± She was still calm, as if it wasn¡¯t rted to her. Both her mother and father were silent for a while. ¡°Truthfully, yes. It¡¯s Mr. Jatmiko. He wants you to be his fourth wife.¡± Her mother answered helplessly. The Devil who was eavesdropping arched his beautiful eyebrows. Jatmiko? If he wasn¡¯t mistaken, the man who¡¯s called as Jatmiko was a forty-something years old man who owned the biggest shop in the vige. In short, he was the richest in the vige. The images of the supple body of the girl standing side by side with the big belly old man who was even older than her own father made him frowned in disgust. He couldn¡¯t ept it! No matter what the reason was, he couldn¡¯t let her be with that disgusting old man who had sick perverted mind. He wouldn¡¯t be called a Devil if he couldn¡¯t see the dirty mind and secrets of people. That Jatmiko guy was clever but a pervert. He enjoyed breaking a virgin girl slowly until they begged for him. Since all of his wives imed that they didn¡¯t love him when they were sent to marry him, of course there would be some kind of resistance when the wedding night happened. He would not force himself upon them, instead he used a clever way; he would arouse their lust, teased their body, to the point they would lose control of themselves. Then, when they couldn¡¯t think straight, he would im them. Smooth, right? If he did that and loved his wives properly, then the Devil wouldn¡¯t call him a pervert. However, he would make sure he broke their minds properly, attached to him sexually, then he would abandon them. Next thing they knew, he would take another wife. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t be just that if a Devil like himself would notice this man. The thing was... this man used a love charm in the process. Yes, a love charm that borrowed the power of devil¡¯s underlings specialized in enhancing lust and pleasure. If this girl was to fall into his hand, there was one hundred percent rate that she would be ruined just like that man¡¯s other wives. The Devil didn¡¯t like the idea, which was why he sent one of his powerful underlings to put something on him. Didn¡¯t he like to use Love Charm? Let¡¯s see who¡¯s going to be seduced by him after he was seduced by a subus? The Devil smirked. Jatmiko wouldn¡¯t want to wake up after he tasted the power of the subus the Devil himself had raised. Because of his meddling, and the girl¡¯s insistence to refuse the marriage offer, the marriage was cancelled. However, after that another man came to propose to her. Again, the Devil interfered. He did it for several times until the girl decided to leave the vige. She stated her reasons to her parents. First, she wanted to gain experience outside. As it was more convenience to travel as a man, she disguised herself as a man to ensure her parents. Second, after several failed attempts to propose her, she feared it would bring bad luck to her parents, that¡¯s why she needed to leave as soon as possible. Third, she didn¡¯t want to be someone¡¯s second, third, or fourth wife. With those reasons, she left the vige sessfully at dawn before anyone in the vige woke up. Of course, the Devil followed her silently. ¡°Mister, I know you¡¯re there.¡± She said as soon as they reached the inner side of the forest. The Devil wasn¡¯t surprised that the girl knew about his presence. After all, even though theirst interaction was when she was twelve years old at that time under the tree and he had not approached her after that, but he knew that she always noticed his presence. She would nce at him every now and then but she would not approach him nor acknowledge him. Coming out from the shadows of trees, he approached the smiling girl. The thumping in his chest was still there, but after years of experiencing it he had got used to it. ¡°Are you following me, Mister?¡± She asked sweetly. He didn¡¯t reply, but he kept following the girl. Her sweet talk and bubbly personality made the usually bored and quiet travel for him seemed livelier. They didn¡¯t talk much, but both were feelingfortable with the presence of each other. It was strange, but he didn¡¯t mind thepany. He was used to the cruel, bloodthirsty, and wicked way of speaking from his underlings, but he couldn¡¯t imagine that he would prefer this girl¡¯s sweet and lovely personality. Who would have thought that the bubbly personality of this girl would changeter? Not that he the resented her change. He enjoyed her every change, big or small. At the age of twenty years old, the girl had travelled through some ces, moving around while gaining experiences. Sometimes she would disguise as a man, sometimes she would return to her own self. Most of the time she was in disguise, though, since she had proven that being a girl attracted lots of trouble. However, the Devil thought that she attracted equally lots of trouble when she was in her disguise as well. When she was in her disguise, she would attract some younger girls because of her gentle personality. Even when she changed herself to be more mischievous, those girls would still blush around her. The Devil even had an urge to throw those shameless girls towards his underlings and let them ravaged those girls. He would suppress his evil aura whenever he thought about it since he would earn a re from her. She was so sensitive with the change of aura around her. Maybe that was why she could adapt quickly to every situation. However, he preferred her in her disguise rather than in her own self. Since she had developed into a fine young woman, even though she was considered old and had not got married, many dirty minded old men would asionally pursue her. For example, there was a forty-something old man intended to take her as his sixth wife. The Devil overheard the way he was talking about her to his friend. ¡°She should be thankful that I want to marry her. As an old virgin, it¡¯s hard to find someone like me.¡± He sounded so righteous, but the Devil knew deep inside this man¡¯s heart, he didn¡¯t care about the girl¡¯s age at all. Instead, he nearly drooled every time he looked at her. A frown appeared in his forehead. However, the man was right about one thing and the Devil could sense it. ¡°Her smile is so charming. I feel refreshed whenever I see her smiling. The way her hair falls down her back, the way she is speaking, even the way she refused to talk more are so adorable that I can¡¯t help my heart to want to keep her beside me.¡± He really adored the girl, but his pride didn¡¯t allow him to say it out sincerely. Human. The Devil snorted. However, what the man said was being processed in his mind and heart. He found out that whatever the man said about her, he was feeling it, too. What surprised him that when he manipted the man¡¯s dream to let him dream about the person he had wanted to see the most, he saw the girl in the man¡¯s dream. And what the man had done to her made him boiling in rage that he instantly turned that ¡®wet¡¯ dream into a nightmare that man would never forget for his whole life. He returned to where she was living and watched her the whole night. The images of how the girl reacted under that man¡¯s touch in that man¡¯s dream invaded his mind again, and he could feel the same boiling rage being ignited in him again. The urge to torture that man again filled his mind, but before he could get up and do it, the girl woke up. ¡°Mister, you¡¯re back.¡± She said with her sleepy voice. Was she waiting for him? ¡°Where did you go just now? I couldn¡¯t feel your presence. I thought you would leave me now.¡± She struggled to open her eyes and that sight was so cute in his eyes. Cute? That word had never been associated with his kind before. He had never called anything or anyone cute before. So, why did he feel this tiny human was cute? ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you.¡± He didn¡¯t know what came to him, but those words that came out from his mouth sounded like a vow instead of a mere sentence. He watched her blinked her cute sleepy eyes. She was really adorable. A certain image of something that he saw when he was still travelling around the world came into his mind and he was eager to try it out on her. ¡°Mister, what¡¯s your name?¡± She finally asked it. ¡°Give me a name.¡± He said as he approached her. ¡°You don¡¯t have a name, Mister?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Yes.¡± He sat on the bed, in front of her. ¡°Hm, then...¡± Her eyes were fixed on him, probably trying to think of a good name. After a while, a smile bloomed on her face as her eyes were twinkling with the brightest stars he had even seen. ¡°Nataya. A protector. My protector.¡± Good enough, he thought. Even though he was actually far from the meaning of the word itself, but he could see himself being her protector in the future. ¡°Nataya.¡± He repeated. ¡°Thank you for the name.¡± ¡°Are you really thanking me? You don¡¯t like the name?¡± ¡°I like it, of course.¡± ¡°Then, you should smile if you really like it.¡± Again, she extended her arms and pulled the corners of his lips to form an awkward smile. It wasn¡¯t as if he didn¡¯t know how to smile, but most of his smiles were superficial, sinister, or bloodthirsty. To make him smile like she did, hm... he could give it a try. ¡°See? It¡¯s not so hard, right?¡± She was smiling. Even in the dim light of moonlight that came through the venttion above the tightly closed window, she looked bright and lovely. ¡°Yes.¡± Nataya, the Devil, wasn¡¯t really sure if he did that right, but at least seeing her smile, he knew that somehow he had done his best. What he was about to do came back to him that he leaned to her and put his lips on hers. Wasn¡¯t this how those people from the West did it? Chapter 194 194 Side Story: The Ovepping Image of Two Girls Nataya, the Devil, was considered as one of the smartest devil back then before he knew the girl. Even so, he was rendered speechless under her re. He really had no way out to walk away from this girl. Whatever she said, she was always true. After kissing her that time, Nataya began to understand some points. For example, he had an even stronger urge whenever he saw the girl, including kissing, touching, hugging, and any other intimate actions that he had never understood before. However, the thing was she seemed to dislike the actions, for real or not, but she would always throw him a re every here and then. Therefore, the Devil returned to his post, watching her from afar and this time, he had made sure to protect her well. He had even managed to convince her to let him be her sparring partner and to give her some pointers about her new found ability. Whatever the girl wanted, he would make sure to help her achieve that. Years after that, the girl had developed into a fine young woman who still loved to disguise herself as a man. Her power and ability had developed into a whole new level that Nataya was sometimes still feeling amazed of her talent. Her personality also experienced a huge change. There was no more bubbly and cheerful young girl. Instead, the young woman in front of him had a mature aura,pleted with sexiness and elegance belonged to a youngdy. Sometimes, she would even scorn at him. Her cute re had turned into a fierce re, yet it still looked adorable in his eyes. Ever since she went out from her vige, they always trained together every day. People would probably see that she was getting stronger and stronger and Nataya would not be able to defeat her. In other people¡¯s eyes, he was thrashed by her. The truth was... he let himself being defeated by her every time. As the one who helped her gain the power she needed, the one who pushed her to let out her one hundred percent ability, there was no way he could be defeated that easily. ..... The young woman knew it, but she didn¡¯t say anything and just let the Devil apanied her. He apanied the young woman to gather several hundreds of men¡¯s soul and transformed them into one big army. He apanied the young woman to set the rules in the army. He did all those to satisfy the vision she had about the future. Yes, as time flew passed, she suddenly had a ¡®vision¡¯ about the future. Not suddenly, she had already had it since she was young, but it just got clearer as she got older. Whenever she told him about the vision that she got after, he would listen to her intently, thinking that she was indeed a chosen one, chosen by the Universe to bring peace and avoid cmities. She used her vision to prepare a better future for everyone even though she sacrificed herself, her youth, to do it. She gained influence in both humans and astral dimension with his help behind her. He made sure he would always be there whenever she needed him. However, it was probably the will of the Universe, the n that the Creator had made, he couldn¡¯t do anything, worse wasn¡¯t present when she sacrificed herself to save the Middle Region from copsing. The one that killed her didn¡¯te from the astral world, instead...it was human. When he reached the ce, he nearly lost himself in his rage and almostmitted a massacre. However, every corners of the ce was filled with her memory and all of her words were deeply engraved in his heart and mind. ¡®Don¡¯t hate humans too much. Whatever happens might be a start of something better.¡¯ She left the world and her inheritance to the next person to continue her path. But, all the people after her were just thrash. They couldn¡¯t evenpare to her nails. What a disappointment. What a disgrace to the name of White Army. She had tried so hard to make them the number one army in the astral world, but those people after her couldn¡¯t really do anything right. It pissed him off that he wanted to kill them! However, once again he remembered the hard work both of them had put to build the army, so he held back the urge. He watched them from afar, remembering the days when he loved watching her from afar as well. But then, they would die even before they could control the whole army. He would always be there when they were dead and a thought came into his mind as he looked down on those corpses. Pathetic. He didn¡¯t even need to test them, they would die even before heid his eyes on them. However, his displeasure disappeared slightly when he finally learned that the army had a new Master and this new master was somehow powerful. Without waiting for too long, he went to find the new master to test her ability. The first time he saw the new master he was stunned for this new master emitted the same flow of energy and aura as the girl back then. They were obviously two different people, but why did he find them a bit simr? That tiny bit simrity made his heart skip a beat, but not enough to arouse the old feelings inside. However, the feeling went away as soon as it returned. From the moment he started the test to see her ability, he knew that she was not the young girl back then. No, they were totally different. It was a good thing that Siji came. He could use the reason Siji hade as an excuse for him to slip away. He used two whole weeks to calm himself, convincing himself that the girl back then had died and there was no way she would still be alive after more than one thousand years. When he returned to the ce where the new master was living in, he watched as her aura had got even more simr to the girl back then. With those simrities in mind, he decided to help her to push passed her limit, to let out her whole ability. He would help this new master to be able tomand the army just like the girl back then. He still remembered her back when shemanded the army, truly breathtaking! Then, let¡¯s see how much she could endure this temptation! It was not the first time he did this kind of things, luring humans into their own lust or greed. He even tried this trick to that girl back then, and he could only say... it didn¡¯t end well. No, it ended really well. It was just... it didn¡¯t end in the way he intended to be. Not that he minded it, though. At this moment, he was presented with a chance to lure the girl to drown in her lust. With his level of ability, it was so easy to do that. After all, this girl had started to feel the heat, he would just need to fan the me. A bit of whisper here and there, and she started to writhe. Her face was contorted in sexual frustration as her hands traveled to her body, caressing here and there. He watched. Based on the way she moved, she was practically an amateur. However, the raw feelings exuded from her fresh body made him remember that night when he tried it to the girl back then. After being alone for more than hundreds of years, his own desire sparked again at the sight of the poor girl. The image of the new master ovepped with the girl back then and it made him unable to control himself and enjoyed the feast in front of him. He could not enjoy her to the fullest, of course, because in his mind, the one in his arms was the youngdy back then. Doing it right away without her consent would break the trust between the both of them. But, it would be different if he would just pleasure her. And that was what he did to her. His pride seemed to swell as he heard her moaning in pleasure, screaming as her climax hit her over and over again. In the end, after he thought that she couldn¡¯t do it anymore, he stopped and realized what he had done. The ovepping images of two girls made him blinked his eyes repeatedly as he staggered backwards. What had he done? He stared at the sleeping girl on the bed, sleeping so soundly with a naked body and a nket over her private ce. Even so, he could still remember that private ce had swollen because of repeated teasing that brought pleasure to her. She looked so enchantingly beautiful, different kind of beautiful with the girl back then, but still beautiful nheless. Her messy hair, messy bed, and messy way of sleeping were proofs enough that she enjoyed what he did to her. A sense of guilt came upon him. He thought that he had cheated her. However, the frozen feelings inside had started to melt. No, he wouldn¡¯t love this new girl like he did to the youngdy back then. However, he could always help her. After all, he was the only one who knew the White Army as good as that girl. He would train her to be a good master. ¡®Ajeng, I will make sure she is ready for whatever future being thrown at her.¡¯ That¡¯s what he promised in his heart. Chapter 195 195 Meeting An Old Acquaintance (Jane¡¯s PoV) What those Elders said was true. I looked at my watch and saw that it was nine forty five in the morning. However, it looked like it was still around five to six in the morning. The mist was ridiculously thick! Honestly, I only thought when they told me it would be misty for the next three days, it would be like the mist near my house. However, this mist was even thicker, it resembled smokes. If it was not for the drop of temperature and the damp feeling I got after standing too long outside, I would think that the forest was on fire. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is there thick mist out here? I thought it¡¯s still early so I went back to sleep.¡± Tom who had just woken up and cleaned himself asked as he came out to stand near me. I squinted my eyes as I noticed he didn¡¯t feel cold at all. Here I was wearing thick jacket and even twoyers of socks and a pair of thick gloves, but he didn¡¯t even flinch with the cold. Tom must have sensed the way I was looking at him as he grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll warm you up.¡± He approached me with his hands ready to touch my face. He had juste out from bathroom, his hands must be feeling cold, but I saw his hands didn¡¯t look like it was cold. I was feeling curious. I let him put his hands on both of my cheeks and felt surprised that his hands were warm to the point in was almost hot. It wasfortable hot. Usual warm couldn¡¯t warm up my cold cheeks in instant, but his hands had the perfect heat to make my whole face felt warm. Not because of blushing, but literally feeling warm. Is he sick? I thought. ..... ¡°I¡¯m not sick.¡± He said with a chuckle. He put his forehead to mine and this time I blushed. ¡°After I woke up, I had some encounters with... you know. Then, I gained this hot body.¡± I rolled my eyes when I heard the way he said the word ¡®hot¡¯; it could be literally hot in temperature, and hot as in sexy. ¡°Of course, you can only feel the difference when it¡¯s cold. When it¡¯s hot, my temperature will remain like anyone else, only... I won¡¯t feel the heat. It¡¯s more or less the same for me.¡± He addedter on. ¡°Isn¡¯t it great?¡± He grinned. Yeah, great. Really great. But, how long would he put his forehead on mine? Was he trying to shoot a song MV? ¡°Are you two done? It¡¯s misty out there and you two are being all lovey dovey in front of the house?¡± Azy voice was heard. It was Sanji¡¯s voice. ¡°What? Are you jealous? Why don¡¯t you join us then?¡± Tom retorted back with a mocking smile on his face. There was no answer from Sanji for a while, but when he did give an answer, I was a bit surprised. ¡°Sure. Why not? Not that I¡¯m jealous, of course. But two body heats were better than one.¡± He answered calmly as he stepped down from the house and approached us. No, he approached me and hugged me from behind. His body heat warmed my back and Tom¡¯s body heat warmed my front. Well, this position was kind of embarrassing, but it felt good. My empty back felt alive as a rush offortable feeling filled my heart. ¡°Well, if someone were to see what¡¯s happening here, I would sue you both for damaging my image.¡± I reminded both of them that we were hugging in front of the house with abandoned feeling. ¡°Speaking of which, I haven¡¯t met anyone here after this misty started. I wonder where they all go.¡± Sanji only loosened his arms a bit, but he didn¡¯t release me. ¡°True.¡± Tom nodded. Could these two men release me first? The sudden attack from these two men made my heart palpitating madly. As a result, I felt my throat dry and my voice was cracking slightly even when I was just about to make a sound. But, before the words started to form, we heard a distinct noise simr to a crowd of people in the traditional market. It was so clear and loud that it was hard to ignore it. However, it didn¡¯te from the market inside the vige. Instead, it came from the forest. The voice was getting louder and merrier. I looked around in the thick mist, but I couldn¡¯t see anything. This thick mist... no wonder people would get lost if they forced themselves to walk in the forest during this time. ¡°The portal is open.¡± I whispered. ¡°What portal?¡± Both of the men asked in unison. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you?¡± I looked at the both of them with innocent look in my eyes. The look of confusion in their eyes changed when they heard me asked about that question. A frown formed on their handsome faces as displeasure was hinted in their eyes. ¡°I think it slipped in my mind?¡± I struggled to break free from their hugs, but of course, it went in vain. I was trapped between the bodies of two hot men with their eyes shootingser to me. How could I get out? ¡°Eh? Both of you make a progress rather quickly, huh?¡± I deliberately controlled my voice and let out my acting skill. ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject.¡± Tom interrupted. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to expose your vulgar rtionship with Sanji?¡± I red at him while controlling theugh that threatened toe out from my throat. ¡°Stop, Jane. You know very well it¡¯s just your imagination.¡± Sanji whispered in my ear with dangerous tone. ¡°What imagination? What am I imagining?¡± I stepped out from their circle as I red at Sanji. Mission Aplished! It was impossible for them to answer that question. But, before they realized what happened, I needed to make a run for myself. With that thought in mind, I ran from them quickly. Siji told me that I could enter the portal, but only for several minutes. I could enjoy the gathering longer if I didn¡¯t have to enter the portal. He would be there to help me manipte my aura to resemble one of them. Under one condition; I needed to go alone. And by alone, I meant to hide it from Sanji and Tom. Bringing them with me could increase the chance of me getting found out by them. However, my stupid mouth couldn¡¯t control itself and let it slipped from my mouth. That damn Tom also had a super hearing ability. ¡°Siji.¡± Siji appeared beside me, running like me. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I nodded at him. Siji nodded at me in return and touched my hand. In a sh, I was brought into the forest. The mist was still enveloping the ce but it was not as thick as the ones in the vige. Was it because of the charm? ¡°Are you ready, Mdy?¡± Siji asked before he started channeling his power to manipte my aura. Nodding my head, excitement and nervousness mixed into one. Soon, I was feeling slightly dizzy and my aura changed. It worked! ¡°The portal is over there.¡± Siji pointed at one direction. Walking carefully towards where he was pointing at. On my way there, I would meet with countless of ghosts and Earthlings with different expression on their face. Not to mention, they had different shapes. It was my first time seeing this much of ghosts in my life. All of them looked like they had been to a banquet, chatting cheerfully and in friendly manner no matter what they looked like. They would pass by me, but they would not even spare me a nce. Reaching the dark door of the renowned portal, I stopped for a bit. This portal didn¡¯t have any guard? I had not heard any portals were opened without a guard. However, I was thinking too soon. Coming out from the portal was a giant body of tiger; not a real tiger, of course. But the one on its back rather picked my interest. That cold face was somehow familiar to me, but where did I see him? ¡°You forgot about him already?¡± Siji asked me with a smile on his face. Why did I feel that Siji knew this person would be here and purposely lured me here? The tiger¡¯s eyes met mine. Its cold and dangerous eyes gave a fleeting look at me, but I saw the acknowledgement in its eyes. I had met them before? The man on its back looked at me. His indifferent gaze remained but I noticed the slightly wide eyes he made when he saw me. It was a sign that he recognized me. ¡°It¡¯s my honor to meet the Master of First Army here. What can I help, Mdy?¡± The man spoke as I was still trying to remember who this man was. ¡°Bumi?¡± I asked carefully. I wasn¡¯t sure since this man was one hundred and eighty degrees different from the one I met back then. The only thing that I thought really simr to Bumi back then was his eyes. Indeed, they were really different since the one back then possessed a fear in his eyes, but the one in front of me was cold and indifferent, looking down on his surroundings as if they were mere ants. The tiger heard me calling his name and snorted. ¡°Human, you sure aren¡¯t blind.¡± It¡¯s Bumi indeed! And this was the cocky yet helpless tiger back then? The both of them were the guardians of this portal? Chapter 196 196 A Treasure? (Jane¡¯s PoV) My eyes twitched in disbelief. Bumi was still a human, I knew that for sure. The tiger was still the same one; a spiritual tiger. Why did they end up as the guardians of this portal? ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked stupidly, even though I had already guessed the answer. ¡°It is what you think it is.¡± Bumi said indifferently. Was it easy to read my mind? Why was the person who I had just met once able to see what¡¯s inside my mind or what question I had inside? ¡°You¡¯re getting more expressive after ourst meeting, Miss Harris.¡± See? He did it again! What did he mean with me getting more expressive? What¡¯s wrong with me? Should I bring a mirror with me and use it whenever I was about to talk? ¡°What are you doing here, human?¡± The tiger growled. It only repeated what I said. I grinned. ¡°It is exactly what you¡¯re thinking about.¡± ..... I watched as Bumi and the tiger¡¯s eyebrows arched in surprise as they heard my answer. They were really so funny! ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡± The tiger shouted with a low growl escaped his lips. ¡°Well, a human could be appointed to be the guardians of this portal. Why couldn¡¯t a human enter the portal?¡± I said casually. Both the tiger and Bumi couldn¡¯t retort back. I smiled as I walked towards the open portal to take a look. That magical door was still attached to the trees and even though I couldn¡¯t see anything or anyoneing out from the door anymore, I could still feel that there was something inside that was far more powerful than the others. ¡°I want to get inside.¡± I said, full of determination. ¡°No!¡± Both Bumi and The Tiger shouted loudly. The Tiger even leaped and guarded the door so tightly, made me took two steps back in the process. I eyed the two of them suspiciously. Their reaction was so strong I was almost tempted to force my way through only to see what was inside the portal. I didn¡¯t think the reason they denied me entrance was because of the rules; instead, it was all because of that powerful figure inside. ¡°Will ite out?¡± I asked them. See? Both of their eyes were widened to the point I almostughed my as* out since the tiger looked so funny that way. I chuckled. ¡°Do you think you can hide it from me? Just pick, I force my way in, or you two bring me inside by yourselves?¡± Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I put a smile on my face and gave them those two options. Whatever it was, I was telling myself that I was going inside no matter what. Maybe they saw the determination I had in my heart, or maybe they realized how stubborn I could be. After a few seconds contemting about the options I had given to them, both of them gave up and gestured at me to follow them in. I smirked. I won! Human¡¯s world and ¡®their¡¯ world were only separated by a thin but super sturdy silk-like curtain. If I wanted to get to my house in the other dimension, I needed to open through the crack in the curtain and cross over. However, in this portal, there were no such curtains. It was like an open door, big and wide. The only difference was this portal felt like a never ending cave with dark interior. It was so dark that I could hardly see anything. If it wasn¡¯t for the presence of Bumi and the tiger in front of me, I couldn¡¯t be so sure where I was. ¡°Don¡¯t blindly walk inside even though you have two guides. You are now experiencing what those poor people experienced before they were lost.¡± Ah, I still had Siji with me. Even though what he said was still baffled me, but I didn¡¯t say anything and did what he told me. After focusing myself, I finally saw my surrounding. Instead of dark ce, I was actually walking in a big garden. Despite the slightly gloomy atmosphere, this garden was still beautiful. My attention was slightly divided ever since I saw the garden. If it existed in human¡¯s world, I was so sure it would attract some youngsters who were always looking for beautiful, unique, or even scary ces to take pictures and upload it in their social media. All for the sake of ¡®like¡¯. Well, that was not the problem here. The real problem was I was getting closer to the source of the power. My curiosity was picked. What was this thing, actually? ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Bumi stopped and my eyesnded on a small hut in the middle of a pond. The pond itself was so big, probably half the size of a ser field. In the middle of it was a small ind with a hut made of woods and bamboos on it. There was a flickering light inside, but I couldn¡¯t feel the presence of anything from it. My eyes scanned the ce, trying to find the way to reach that hut. ¡°Miss, don¡¯t even think about it. Many had tried to get there, but no one seeded so far. You can¡¯t find the way in.¡± Bumi said casually. I knew that he didn¡¯t mean to show his disdain, or to show that I was too careless. He was only reminding me just in case I would just waste my time trying. But, I ignored him. I really wanted to go there. If scanning casually wasn¡¯t enough, then I would walk around the pond until I found the way to get there. I was that determined to get there that I left Siji with Bumi and the tiger unknowingly. My eyes were opened wide. I made sure not to miss even just a tiny spot. There must be something here that could help me gained the understanding to reach that ce. After a careful inspection, I finally noticed something strange. I raised my head and saw Siji was talking seriously with Bumi and the tiger. Bumi had even got down from the tiger¡¯s back and stood face to face with Siji with a frown on his face. What were they talking about? Why did Bumi make that expression? I shook my head and focused on what I had just found. There was a way in, of course. How could it not be there? It was just, the location was really... hidden. From the ce I was standing on, I couldn¡¯t see Siji and the others, which meant, the reason I couldn¡¯t find the entrance before was because it was hidden from my eyes. However... I put my hand on the bridge that connected the ind to where I was standing. It wouldn¡¯t shake, right? I hated it when I walked on a bridge and the bridge was shaking! Especially when I couldn¡¯t see the appearance of this bridge clearly for some other reasons that I didn¡¯t know. No, I must be strong. I wanted to go there, right? I needed to be strong and BRAVE! Walking on the bridge slowly, I found that it was pretty solid. Therefore, I hastened my steps. Why did I feel like the hut was still far away? Eh? Was it just my feeling or this stupid bridge was starting to shake? ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± A familiar voice greeted me. My head turned to the source of the voice and saw a man that I couldn¡¯t forget his face, stood effortlessly on the bridge. He didn¡¯t even need to put his hands on the safety rope! How did he do that? No. I shook my head quickly. That was not the point for now. What was this man doing here? What did he want? He chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t be so wary of me. It¡¯s not like I want to attack you.¡± ¡°Haha, said the one who threw me around like a rag doll on our first meeting.¡± I let out a dryugh with my eyes still locked at him. He chuckled again. ¡°My bad. Please, forgive me.¡± He said. I didn¡¯t know whether he was saying it sincerely or not. But, I didn¡¯t intend to find out about it. ¡°Like I would trust the words of a Devil.¡± I snorted. ¡°Well, to prove that I¡¯m sincerely offering my apology to you, I¡¯ll help you to get into that hut. You want to go there, right? I can help you.¡± He said calmly. He wanted to help me? A Devil wanted to help me? At what cost? My soul? No, thanks. Was it toote for me to turn around and run away? He might have sensed my hostility towards him or even my intention to run away. In a blink of an eye, he had disappeared and appeared behind me, sessfully blocking my only way out. Damn Devil! ck hearted! I curse you to the deepest hell and rot there! Damn you! ¡°Are you sure you want to go back? The thing inside, it might be useful for you.¡± The Devil¡¯s ability in coaxing was really top notch. Why was I suddenly interested in what he said? I should have struggled to break free from him, not to let him lure me into that isted, secluded hut in his dimension where he was obviously stronger than me? Well, not that he wasn¡¯t stronger than me in human world either. Chapter 197 197 Something Belongs to The First Master (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Jane Harris, you don¡¯t believe me?¡± Hmph! How many times did he practice that feeling wronged expression to be this good? I bet he must have done it, tricking other people to believe that he was really feeling guilty. But, I wasn¡¯t that stupid! How could a devil feel guilty to the point he could make that wronged expression? It must have been in his trait, a perfect actor to fool humans. ¡°Fine. If you don¡¯t trust me, then I¡¯ll go. But, please, consider entering that hut. You might find it useful for you. After all, no one can take it out unless it is the master of White Army.¡± The Devil stepped backward while trying to smile, but I could still see the hurt in his eyes. I blinked my eyes, and he disappeared. How could I know he was saying the truth? He was a Devil, after all. Devils tell lies to human. But... I took a look at the hut and sighed. There was something that attracted me to get inside, indeed. I didn¡¯t know whether it was my own curiosity since I liked this kind of ce so much, or it was because something inside was calling for me, but I knew for sure that I wanted to go inside. ..... ¡°Siji!¡± I shouted loudly. I needed to inform him so that he knew where I went. As expected, he appeared in a sh, only this time he appeared on the side of the pond. He was frowning as he looked at the bridge and me repeatedly. ¡°I¡¯m going there!¡± I shouted at him. The frown on his face was getting deeper. ¡°Mdy, I don¡¯t think... that¡¯s a good idea.¡± He said hesitantly. ¡°I know. The devil was here just now, and he told me that I should go inside. There is something inside that might be useful for me.¡± I rolled my eyes, mostly at myself. Why would I use his words as if I believed him? ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me?¡± I asked Siji. If he were so worried about me, why didn¡¯t he just follow me in? It was surprising that he didn¡¯t reply it right away. He was still pondering but his eyes flickered here and there, as if he was searching something. ¡°Sure, Mdy, but there¡¯s a tiny issue that I think you should know.¡± He said carefully before he lifted his eyes and looked at me. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t find the bridge that you¡¯re stepping on.¡± He said. ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s right there in front of you.¡± I pointed at his feet. He could just step on it and he would be on his way to meet me, but why did he say that he couldn¡¯t see it? Even the Devil could step on it, why couldn¡¯t he? ¡°I couldn¡¯t see anything, Mdy. There¡¯s no bridge here.¡± To prove that he was saying the truth, he put his foot forward, stepped onto the bridge, but to my surprise, his foot went through it! My eyes widened. What the hell happened? ¡°Siji, just wait there, then.¡± I put my hand on my forehead, massaging it lightly since it started to feel a bit stuffy in my head. ¡°Mdy!¡± Siji shouted, but I didn¡¯t turn back. Hardened my heart, I stepped towards the isted ind with one thing in mind; I needed to get inside the hut. Cool wind breeze hit my face softly as soon as I stepped on the small ind. Instinctively, I took a deep breath. The hut in front of me looked even more appealing now that I looked at it closely. The atmosphere was calm and cool. It was so nice to stay here for a couple of days, far from the crowded and noises of the world outside. ¡°Excuse me.¡± I greeted in front of the door, but no one answered. I remembered what the Devil told me and pushed open the door. There was a warm light emitted from the small fire in the middle of the room. The fire was big enough to keep the room warm and at the same time provided the right amount of lighting in the house. On the furthest end of the room was a door. I stepped inside and walked into that door slowly. Was it really okay for me to get into the house just like that? But, I couldn¡¯t sense any danger. Since I couldn¡¯t sense it, might as well satisfy my curiosity, right? I pushed open the door and was greeted by an old wooden bed that looked pretty old. On the bed was a white piece of cloth, being folded neatly. It was covered with dust, but when I took it, I realized it was still so good. The material was silky and cool to touch and it was such a big piece of cloth. No, to be exact, it was a robe. Dust flew everywhere when I picked it up. I coughed lightly and hastily came out from the room. After my cough subsided, I spread the robe again and took a closer look. ¡°Hm, is it just my imagination or this robe has shrunk in size?¡± I mumbled under my breath as I tried to examine it. I thought the robe had shrunk to match my size. Feeling curious, I put it on my shoulders and the robe fluttered lightly on my back. See? It really fitted me. The robe could cover my whole body perfectly. Even the hoodie was perfect to my taste. ¡°I wonder whose robe is this?¡± I mumbled lightly. The fire in front of me flickered slightly then all of sudden; it grew bigger as if fuel was being poured into it. At the same time, the powerful feeling I felt from the portal overwhelmed me again. I gasped and stepped back. It was the fire! ¡°Use it wisely.¡± A voice was heard in the house and the fire flew towards me in haste. It all happened so fast that I didn¡¯t have a chance to shout or run away. The fire enveloped me and I could only close my eyes and waited for the pain. But, the pain never came. My surrounding was so silent. Slowly, I opened my eyes and took a peek at the situation. There was no fire chasing after me. There was no fire in the middle of the room either. What happened? I nced at my left and my right, but the house was dark now that I almost couldn¡¯t see anything. It was a good thing that I remember theyout of the house. Using my memory as my guide, I managed to get out of the house safely. Without waiting for anything, I ran on towards where Siji and the others¡¯ were waiting. I even ran on the bridge that I feared so much. ¡°Mdy!¡± Siji¡¯s expression was the weirdest that I had ever seen in my life. His expression was a mix of relieved, worried, and even anger. However, his smile proved that he was worried about me. He felt relieved because of his worry for me. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I assured him after I arrived in front of him. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to steady my heart beat and my breath. ¡°Mdy?¡± I heard Siji¡¯s voice, calling me hesitantly. ¡°What is it?¡± I looked at him, half-panting. ¡°Where did you get it?¡± Siji pointed at my shoulders. It was only then that I realized I identally brought the robe out with me. I felt blood rushing out from my face. It was a well-known rule in human world that if one entered the other dimension, one should not bring anything belonged to this world out, not to mention stole something. However, she had just done it! ¡°I-I¡¯ll put it back. I didn¡¯t realize I took it with me.¡± I stuttered. However, the bridge disappeared. Not only that, even the small ind with the hut disappeared without a trace. There went my only opportunity to put the robe back into it. ¡°Mdy, do you know what robe it is?¡± Siji asked. Did he really have to tell a story about it? ¡°It is the robe that the First Master used when hemanded the army. This pure silky white color,bined with the fire pattern on the robe as if the fire is alive is the signs that only First Master has. After all, this robe was hand-made by him. Rumor said that the fire in the robe is indeed alive and the history of White Army stated that First Master had summoned and used the fire several times.¡± Siji exined excitedly while going around me to take a look at the robe. ¡°I guess...because you have taken out the precious items inside, the hut has finally disappeared for good.¡± Our guide stated. ¡°Since you¡¯ve got what you nned to do inside, I think it¡¯s better for the two of you to go out. Otherwise, I really couldn¡¯t guarantee what will happen to you if they realize that there is a human here.¡± ¡°Thank you for the reminder. I¡¯lle byter to y with you, guys.¡± I nodded in agreement. Bumi opened another portal for us and it led to the forest. However, before I could realize, the portal brought us to a kind of dangerous ce. Chapter 198 198 A Battlefield (Tom¡¯s PoV) My frown didn¡¯t disappear even after an hour had passed. Jane had once again fooled us and run off. I might not be feeling this way if she took us with her, but she escaped! She had even mentioned that baseless gossip she made and made it as her shield before she ran away. Did she need to be re-assured that we were normal? I had not thought about ying tag team in bedroom business, but it seemed like that thought picked my interest. Sanjaya and Me vs Jane. The thought of making love with her in the presence of another man, even seeing her epting his teasing and pleasure, made me hard. I couldn¡¯t think of any other men, but if I including Sanjaya in our bedroom business, I didn¡¯t think I would mind. No, not because of him. But the thought of Sanjaya making my girl drown in pleasure made me calm. It wasn¡¯t any other person, but Sanjaya whom I knew had always loved her and wouldn¡¯t bear to hurt her. My girl was in the hands of two men who loved her. I would never think that I would be that kind of man who would allow their wife or girlfriend to be touched by another man. But, here I was thinking, that if Jane asked me, I wouldn¡¯t mind sharing her with Sanjaya. After all, seeing her drown in pleasure was my kind of pride as well. If two men could give her double of the pleasure, I wouldn¡¯t mind do it and use another person to satisfy her. If worse came to worst, I would just kick him out if he ever hurt her. ..... My girl deserved to get the best treatment, in and out of bedroom. After all of these matters, I would make sure to ask her out more often, go on dates, and do everything together. Of course, it would be even better if she agreed to my proposalter, then no one could talk if I wanted to kiss her in public or put my hand around her waist. Another benefit that I would get was I didn¡¯t have to worry when I cummed inside her. Okay, my mind was obviously starting to y with me. Ah, Jane, what are you doing to me? I pinched the bridge of my nose slightly, trying to ease the umted stress and confusion in my head. I looked around me but I couldn¡¯t find Sanjaya. I wonder where he went. Not that I really cared about it, though. But, how could I get to Jane? ¡°Siji.¡± I called out for the Adviser, but he didn¡¯t appear. My only guess was... he was with Jane. I sighed. At least Siji was with her. Thatzy-looking man might look harmless, but actually he was an old monster who had existed for more than a millennium. His spiritual power was great even without Jane¡¯s or my help. Unless she called for the army, I couldn¡¯t trace her back to her position. I rested my head on the back of the chair and closed my eyes. The unfamiliar kind of ceilings made me realize how my life had changed. It was as if my life was fast-forwarding itself that I had no idea anymore what¡¯s happening around me. Actually, I had a question in my mind all this time. Why did I meet Jane that day? To be honest, when the first time she stepped into my bedroom, I already had my eyes on her. Not because she was beautiful, and not because she was a girl, but it was because I felt like I was drawn to her. I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off her. Then, impulsively, I entered her dream on her first day sleeping in that room. Seeing that a girl was sleeping in my own room, on my own bed, actually didn¡¯t make me feel anything at first. Only after I saw her reaction in her dream, and after she woke up and looked at me, the strange feeling appeared. It was like... She was meant to be there. It was her ce, to sleep there with me beside her. If you said that it was because I was single for too long, no, that was not true. Trust me, I forgot that I once had a girlfriend named Nita until Rizal reminded me of her. Let¡¯s not talk about Nita. Then, I spent my time with her and realized that I was such a possessive boyfriend. Again, I wasn¡¯t this possessive when I was with Nita. The word ¡®trust¡¯ had a deep meaning to me, but with Jane, I just couldn¡¯t associate myself with that word. I was being jealous all the time and seriously possessive when I finally had her. I just couldn¡¯t let the day passed without me touching her. If I were a human back then, I would be hard every time and every day. I was addicted to her. I even made a promise to myself that if I were to have a body and Jane was still mine, I would make love to her every day. Good thing that I was able to control myself now that I was back to my own body. Not because my attraction to her had lessened, or my addiction was cured. It was because I knew that I couldn¡¯t do something so ridiculous like that in real life. I could have sex with her almost every day back then because I did it in her dream. After doing it for real at that time, I knew it would bring serious trouble for her if I really did that and I didn¡¯t want it to happen. So, yeah... I controlled the urge, my lust and my addiction, and changed it into something safer. Protection and love. Yet, that girl had turned trickier and naughtier than thest time he saw her. In less than a year, she had turned from the sweet and fierce girl, into strong but trickier girl. I wasn¡¯tining, of course. It was like watching her spreading her wings wide and started to fly. It was beautiful but somehow worrying. If there were any days in the future when she would fall down, I would make sure to catch her. My eyes flew open as my train of thoughts got interrupted. A warm and familiar sensation enveloped me, and in a blink of an eye, I changed ce and... clothes. Jane was summoning the army! But, why couldn¡¯t I see her? ¡°Attack!¡± I heard her voice shouting in fury as shemanded the army to attack... what was that? My eyes widened as I saw countless shadows crawled, flew, and ran towards us from all directions. What happened here? I didn¡¯t have time to find her and ask her because soon I got busy handling the ferocious shadows that were attacking me. My chains danced in the middle of the battlefield, destroyed the shadows one by one. The others were using swords, spears, or even arrows. This was my first time being engaged in a big scale war-like battle. Never ending painful shrills reverberated through the forest, creating an even chilly atmosphere to the misty forest. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a big zing fire burned a whole bunch of shadows into ashes. It was so beautiful yet it carried killing intent the strongest. She must be there. There was no one who could make such destructive attack other than her. She especially liked using fire, after all. However, there was something different this time. Usually, she would use the fire bearer¡¯s me; the blue one. But this time, she used a zing red me and instead of being dispersed after burning that much of shadows, the fire flew above her head in a circle. Since the mist was still thick, even though I said that it was her, truthfully I had not seen her. I wasn¡¯t able to see whether the owner of that strange fire was really her or not. ¡°Grrroo...¡± A growl was heard that near me and before I could realize, a fire arrow was shot towards the shadow that had just pounced on me. The arrow came from the fire in the thick mist. Such uracy! Even in the middle of this misty situation, the arrow directly pierced through that shadow and burned it. My chains were still dancing, giving me the best protection it could possibly give. I was supposed to control it and let it all abilities came forth to help winning this battle. However, all I could do was gawking at the thick mist and waiting for the figure to appear, all the while watching the fire burned some other shadows into the ground. ¡°Stupid, you¡¯ll die if you keep staring at the mist.¡± I heard Putra was scolding me again. ¡°Such a useless guardian, I told you to use your power properly! You¡¯re looking like a dancer with those chains moving like that!¡± A frown appeared in my face. He was right. I could control fire, too. My fire was from the Death Volcano. As that thought appeared in my mind, my chains lit up with dark red fire, looking so much like ava in the deepest part of a volcano. The fire was getting bigger and the chains were getting longer and swift. The ground cracked and let out sizzling sound. Smokes rose from the crack and it mixed with the mist. The fiery magma appeared from the crack and started to burn everything in its path. Then, I heard a chanting, soft like a whisper but powerful. At the same time, I saw a silhouette walking in the smokes and mist, looking so powerful especially when wind blew and cleared away the smokes and mist. The fluttering robe that seemed to catch on fire looked amazingly great, like a picture out ofic. Chapter 199 199 Big Sacrifices (Tom¡¯s PoV) d in a silvery robe that emitted faint glow of white light, her originally brown hair which somehow had a faint red glow on it looked surprisingly suitable and powerful on her. Her sharp eyes prated the mist and smokes as another batch of countless shadows flocked around her. But, her mysterious chanting got them to stop as painful wails had once again filled the entire forest. Again, this batch was burned to death by her. This scene where the mist and the smokes had started to subside as well as the burning shadows was on fire framed her appearance d in silvery robe with fiery red glow hair and covered in... blood? I waved the chain in my hands and opened up a path for me towards her before I rushed to her side. There was some blood on her fair and pinkish face, but coupled with her sharp and deadly re, it gave her an image of a cold-blooded war goddess who wanted nothing but to annihte everything in her path. Her hands and clothes were stained with blood and I inspected her quickly, trying to find out whether the blood was hers or not. The one on her face was obviously not hers. But the ones on her clothes... I wasn¡¯t so sure since it was still wet. Jane walked passed me with cold eyes. It was as if she couldn¡¯t see me, which made me uneasy. Not because she couldn¡¯t recognize me anymore, but because I was afraid with the state of her mentality. She could act like this meant something big had just happened to her, and I didn¡¯t know what that was. What exactly happened here that could make her lose her mind like that? I saw her raising her hand and raging fire appeared out of thin air. Hastily, I went up to her and held her hand back. My action earned me a scary re from her. ¡°Enough. You¡¯ll hurt yourself.¡± I said to her as gentle as I could be. ..... I saw a bit of warmth filled her cold eyes, melting the ice inside. Her stoic face and imposing aura started to diminish as her face contorted in agony. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks as she let out a heart-wrenching cry. She broke down in front of me while mumbling incoherent words. ¡°What?¡± I bowed my head to her level so that I could hear what she was saying more clearly. At the same time, my chain moved and counter-attacked the shadows that were trying to attack us. ¡°They-they sacrificed ba-babies!¡± She sobbed. ¡°And, and kids.¡± She cried even louder. ¡°All, all these shadows ate th-them.¡± She gritted her teeth and killing intent so thick was reflected in her teary eyes. In this modern era, was that kinds of dark arts practice still exist? I knew it was, but to the point of giving out such a big scale of sacrifices... I couldn¡¯t imagine how evil this human was. Just the thought of those innocent children and babies were killed so inhumanly made my blood boiled. Even a man like me could feel disgusted and angry at that thought of it, what¡¯s more a woman like Jane? It was no wonder she could go berserk like that. I hugged her for a while until her sobs almost disappeared. ¡°Where are they?¡± I didn¡¯t even notice that my voice had dropped low and my eyes were shooting out death res. ¡°Some of them have escaped. Siji is chasing after them. The others...¡± She looked down on her own bloody hands. ¡°I¡¯ll chase after them. You sit here and calm yourself. Only you can help those poor babies and children. I¡¯m sure you can do it.¡± I made her sit on a big trunk of root of a big tree with a smile on my face. Despite the gentle smile I gave her sincerely, we both knew that there was a raging fire in me that needed to be satisfied. Jane nodded and started to control herself. After seeing her calm down, I stood up and looked at the mess around us. ¡°Men, guard the Master! Annihte all the shadows! Leave none alive!¡± I shouted towards the men. The faint white glow grew even brighter, as if it heeded my call. The fire-bearers jumped and encircled Jane and used their fire to block the masses of shadows. It was a satisfying scene to be looked at. I knew they would take care of Jane where I wasn¡¯t around. Now that I had made sure Jane¡¯s safety, I went to find Siji. By using our connection, I tried to link where he was and rushed towards that ce. It didn¡¯t take long until I reached the ce where Siji was waiting. He was fighting against four men d in ck clothes. They all looked so good in fighting, but it was obvious they were not Siji¡¯s opponent. Siji really didn¡¯t give them time to retaliate as his every hit was aimed towards their vital points. He was really in a whole new level than us. He really looked like he was dancing as he dodged and counter-attacked all of the attacks. In just a mere ten minutester, he finished ying around and all of those men were lying on the ground motionless. ¡°They¡¯re not dead.¡± Siji said before I could even ask. ¡°Let¡¯s bring them back and let Jane take care of them.¡± I waved my hand and the chains went and coiled themselves around those four people. Then, it lifted them up and carried them back to where Jane was waiting. Those shadows were all eliminated and the forest turned into a fresh and beautiful forest again. Jane was still in meditating pose. I didn¡¯t know what she was doing, it was just I knew it was not something so simple. I waited for her to finish while sitting a bit far away with Siji. Those four people were still unconscious, so I was really idle for several minutes. The men went back to the camp, some stayed to protect us. Several minutester, I heard a rustling sound and found out Jane had just started to put her feet down on the ground. ¡°Are you done?¡± I asked her as I approached her. She looked at me and nodded slowly. ¡°I¡¯ve sent them away.¡± She whispered slightly. I smiled. ¡°Good job.¡± I praised her. Probably it was because the danger had passed, her face paled slightly and contorted in pain. Her steps wavered as she sat back on the big tree roots. Blood oozed from her wounds around her legs, and I caught her before she fell down on the ground. I wasn¡¯t sure about the cause of the wounds. It didn¡¯t look like it was bitten but I knew it was because of the battle just now. Upon closer inspection, I was speechless as I saw how serious those wounds were. ¡°Siji, bring us back to the vige.¡± I ordered as I picked her up. ¡°Take those four with us.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I heard Siji replied, then a door was opened in front of me. The door led us to the house that we were staying at. As expected, Sanjaya was freaking out when he found out that I was not at home. He was just about to rush out when we appeared. ¡°What happened to her?¡± Sanjaya asked me in dangerous tone. I had no other choice but to tell him the whole story, all while we treated her wounds carefully. ¡°Don¡¯t step out from your room for several days so that you can properly rest.¡± Sanjaya reminded her as we put her down onto her own bed after treating her injuries. Jane was nodding reluctantly. ¡°Where are the others?¡± She asked me. I nodded at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m keeping them until you¡¯re getting better.¡± Jane nodded, agreed with my decision. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure they¡¯ll pay for what they have done.¡± Sure thing, they indeed needed to pay for what they had done. ¡°By the way, where is the ck Creese?¡± I asked her. Her expression changed as she heard my question. _______ [intermezzo break] Author: Hello, shameless andzy author here! Tonight, I have a special person as my guest here in my dark and damp room -just kidding. Please, give a warm wee for Jane Harris! Non-existent audience: *give a not so heartily apuse. Jane: Thank you. (smiling sweetly) Author: Well, Miss Jane Harris, my first question might sound a bit bold but please answer it truthfully. Remember, we only allow true confession! Jane: Author, you know very well this smile is a fake one. Hurry up with the question so I can rest early. (ring at the author) Author: Sure. Then, my first question... after your real first night with Tom, have you ever a wet dream with Tom? Jane: (smirking) Do you consider it bold? Then, let me answer it boldly, just like the way you like it. Yes, I have and I loved it. I think it¡¯s safe to say I¡¯m always feeling horny around him. Author: .... Damn. Well, my dear readers, if you have any questions to any characters in this story, just feel free to ask and I¡¯ll let them answer it. Hehehe... Chapter 200 200 I Don¡¯t Have A Choice (Tom¡¯s PoV) Don¡¯t tell me... Did she drop it somewhere during the fight? Her anxious expression then changed into a big grin. ¡°I kept it in my bag.¡± She giggled. I had a dumbfounded expression on my face, I was sure of that even though I couldn¡¯t see it. Had she just tricked me? She still had the energy to do that? I wasn¡¯t the only one, though. Sanjaya had that look on his face, too. Well, seeing his dumbfounded look made me realized that my own dumbfounded look wouldn¡¯t be better than him. ¡°Both of you should take a look at your expression in the mirror. Ahahaha....¡± Jane¡¯s small giggled turned intoughter. Because she was too deep into herughter, she forgot about her injuries. Soon, she hissed in pain and as much as I loved her, seeing her like that after pranking me -us, I mean -made me smirked. ¡°Now you remember you¡¯re injured? Rest well.¡± I rubbed her head before I went out from her room. Sanjaya also said goodbye to her and left her room. ..... Outside her door, we exchanged nces. Without facing the mirror I knew that our expression had darkened at the same time. She got hurt. If only we were stronger, this wouldn¡¯t happen. Even when she yed prank on us, we could track her down and save her before something like this happened again. It was a shame on us that we failed to protect her. Personally, I was hoping that those injuries would not leave scars on her fair skin. It would be such a shame to see her fair skin had such an ugly scar. No words needed to be spoken for we both had the same thoughts; train and train more. We needed to learn everything we could within a short span of time. Since we would be stuck here for the next two days, we would try our best to learn from Siji. In the next hour, the house that we were living in was filled with the Elders and doctors. Sir Ahmad came the earliest with pale face and cold sweat on his face. Trailing behind him was a female doctor who looked humble and kind. To be honest, if she didn¡¯t carry a first aid kit in her hand, I wouldn¡¯t know she was a doctor. After all, she really didn¡¯t look like one. ¡°Hey, do you know her?¡± I whispered at Sanjaya who was standing close by. Sanjaya had a frown on his face but he shook his head. ¡°I found her familiar, but I can¡¯t remember. Maybe I¡¯m wrong.¡± It was too bad there was no signal here, otherwise we would have searched about this doctor and found out about her in less than an hour. However, even though she didn¡¯t look like a doctor, she really did her job meticulously. She was so calm and her sharp eyes had a professional glint in them. She looked different when she had just entered the house and when she started to check on Jane. Maybe she really was a real doctor. Since there were some famous and talented people here, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she were really a doctor. Maybe it was because her humble and low-profile attitude as well as her loyalty and submissive trait covered her talent and aura as a doctor. Maybe she might just have ordinary face. There were many factors that could make her didn¡¯t look like one. Anyway, that was not my business. If Sir Ahmad brought her here, it meant she had some skills. However, minutes after that, several Elders came with some doctors; traditional and modern ones. I could only look at them discussing about the health of the ¡®princess¡¯ and how they would take turn to nurse her back to health. Well, since her injuries were somehow bad, both Sanjaya or I didn¡¯t have anyints when they told us their ns. If Jane only got fever, we had ways to nurse her back to health, but dealing with flesh injuries were not our specialty. We might as well let the experts do their job. As long as she could be as healthy as she was before, we would not interfere with it. We even ignored her pleading look when she was examined by those doctors. Our only hope was for them to be able to heal the injuries without leaving a scar. After letting Sir Ahmad took control of the situation, we went to train ourselves. It was such a good thing that Siji didn¡¯t really need to sleep. That way he could always be ready when we needed them. We trained ourselves hard and Siji seemed to increase the difficulty in each training that we were doing. Physical training almost made me lost my breath, but I persisted through it. Even when I could only take short breaths while my energy was drained from my body, I wouldn¡¯t give up. While physical training made me almost lost my breath, spiritual training almost made me crazy. My favorite was when I was taught how to recognize my own spiritual power and used it to my advantage. It wasn¡¯t easy. Truly wasn¡¯t easy. But based on what Siji told us, Jane could grasp it faster than we did. As expected of my girlfriend! ¡°What are you smiling so smugly of?¡± Sanjaya eyed me with a frown on his face. Only then I realized that I had been proudly grinning like a proud father hearing about his daughter¡¯s achievements. Oh, whatever. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do it again. This will be your twentieth attempt in recognizing both of your spiritual power. Even if you can¡¯t identify other¡¯s spiritual power, at least you have to know about your own well. Remember, you need to be one with the nature and yourself for you to be able to see it. Leave the worldly affairs behind your mind and start focusing on the universe. Feel the flow, see deeper inside...¡± Siji guided us as we closed our eyes and fell deep into our meditation. His voice was getting further and further away, or it could be the other way around. It was my twentieth attempt in doing this routine. I had got used to it but still I couldn¡¯t find the shape of my spiritual power. Maybe this time I could find it. I fell deeper into a bottomless darkness. My body swayed here and there and I couldn¡¯t see anything. Where was I? This feeling was different with my first attempt. I fell asleep at that time. I saw darkness and after that I was shaken by Siji to wake up. This time, however, it gave me different sensation. This time, I could clearly feel that I was still sober. I wasn¡¯t sleeping but I wasn¡¯t sure either. I was well aware of what I was feeling from head to toes. But, where was I? I was still thinking when I finally saw a small light trying to prate the darkness and shone brighter and brighter to the point it lit up my whole surrounding. As soon as I saw the ce around me, my floating body was dropped down harshly only to be caught on some white strings like that appeared out of nowhere. Since they were so thin, I broke it and some others after that and fell t on my ass on the ground. ¡°Ouch...¡± I grunted in pain. Pushing myself to stand up, I rubbed the painful area to soothe the pain. Even though the pain didn¡¯t disappearpletely, at least it wouldn¡¯t be an issueter when I sat on a chair. I looked up to inspect the thin strings like things floating in the air and around me. It came into several lengths. There were super long strings, around five meters long strings, and even one meter to fifty centimeters long strings. What were these? I tried to touch them but my hand went through it. Also, where was I? ¡°You¡¯re in your consciousness and those are your spiritual power. Now that you finally reached this level,e out so I can exin more to you.¡± I heard Siji¡¯s voice echoing in this ce he called ¡®my consciousness¡¯. As soon as I heard him saying that, I was pulled by a strong force and by the time I opened my eyes again, Siji had stood in front of me -us, I mean. ¡°Congrattions! Now, tell me, what is the form of your spiritual power and what is the shape of it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I think it was grey and looked like thin strings.¡± Sanjaya answered with a frown on his face. Thin string? ¡°Mine is white, and looked like thin strings, too.¡± I looked at Siji, secretly hoping that he would properly exin about it to us. ¡°That¡¯s a good form of spiritual power.¡± Siji nodded, much to my disappointment. ¡°Now get inside again and learn how to manipte your power to be more useful to you. Don¡¯te out if you haven¡¯t made any progress inside.¡± Siji waved his hand nonchntly. Damn him! I was waiting for more exnation, you know? However, he had gone before I couldint, saying that he needed to finish some urgent business and would be backter to see at our progress. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± I closed my eyes again and focused myself to enter my consciousness again. It was better and faster this time. I stood there, watched those thin strings floating here and there. What did Siji mean by manipting the power to my demand? How could I manipte this kind of shape? _________ [Intermezzo break] Author: Hello, dear readers, shameless author is here again! Tonight we have another guest to apany your night interview. Please, wee to Thomas Putra msyah! Tom: Do you need something from me? Author: Oh please, your current attitude has not even appeared in the story, what are you doing giving me this kind of attitude? *rolled eyes Tom: *re at the author Author: Fine. I just want to ask you a question. Can I make a side story about you and Sanji doing... ehem, you know... Tom: Are you tired of living? Author: Jane won¡¯t mind, you know. Tom: *summon his chains. Author: *run away Tom: Just wait till I see you, damn author! I¡¯ll tie you up and throw you into Death Volcano! *stand up and leave the studio. Author: (whispering) is he gone? Phew, he is getting scarier and scarier as the time passes. It seems like there will be no side story about that. Well then, we will stop here. See you next time! Chapter 201 201 Helping With The Training (Jane¡¯s PoV) Because of my injuries, our trip back was dyed for several days. Those people in the vige wouldn¡¯t allow me to continue my trip before they were sure my injuries had mostly healed. Doctor Mayang, a surgeon specialized in stic surgery, made sure that the injuries didn¡¯t leave any scars on my skin. I must say that she was really professional and patient in treating me. Only on myst treatment from her that I happened to know that she was one of the top five best students from a very well-known university in South Korea majoring in stic surgery. Many big shots wanted to hire her to be their private doctors or even join their hospitals, but she refused it. Instead of starting her career in South Korea, she returned home and became a maid to the current family of the King. Not a royal doctor, but a maid. What was in her mind at that time? However, she only smiled when I asked about her reason. How strange was she? Not only her, but also the other doctors that were sent to tend me were not ordinary people. Most of them graduated from a well-known university either in other countries or in Indonesia and held some achievements during their study there. Maybe the smallest achievement amongst them was from a doctor who graduated as the tenth of the ten best students in his university. He looked ordinary with his sses, but when he checked on my injuries, I noticed the serious glint in his eyes that changed his whole aura and my impression of him. Turned out, there was an incident during his mock graduation ceremony. The nine people before him all refused to be put before him. Not for a bad reason, but they said he deserved to be the first. In the ss, during discussion or practices, he would act as if he didn¡¯t know anything. In reality, he knew so much that the nine of them together would not be enough to drag him down from his throne if he wanted it. He had skills, knowledge, and all it would take to be a great doctor. But, he purposely suppressed himself so that he wouldn¡¯t stand out. Only the nine of them knew how great he was since he was the one who taught them almost everything they knew. Since he couldn¡¯t embarrass the vige, even though he acted like an idiot, he still managed to get himself thest spot of the ten best students of Medical Department. Now that I think of it, it was not a small achievement either. Instead, it was like a hiding dragon. ..... Well, whatever. They were all so awesome that I felt ashamed of my own self who took a leave on my first year as college student. Compared to them, I was nothing. Since this ce could gather this kind of people, I doubted this ce was as ancient as it looked like. It was true there was no electricity here. Not to mention electric stove, they even didn¡¯t use gas stove. They were still using firebox to cook food. Superb, indeed! It was modern era, but there were people who still used traditional firebox to cook food. It was like... imagine you are wearing a traditional costume, talking formally using ancient words, and standing in the middle of current era people. Ah, one more thing, you are hidden. No one could see you but you know the odd between you and the other people. Yet, you still feel like it¡¯s okay to be different and insisting to stay like the way you are now. Well, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good example, but that will do. Anyway, this ce had so many talented people. Staying here after knowing that truth had somehow made my heart hurt. The thought of ordering these talented people like maids and servants made me ashamed of my own self. It was better to leave the vige as soon as possible. With a resolute and full of determination expression on my face, I packed up my things. I also checked on the ck Creese once again to make sure it was still there and not just the scabbard. After keeping it safely, I walked out of my room to find those two men who were supposed to be my travelling partners. During the time I spent on my bed to heal my injuries, both Sanji and Tom only came to visit me for a while in the morning before Doctor Mayang came then they would disappear. On the next morning, they woulde again then disappear again. What were they doing exactly? I checked on their rooms but those were empty. The whole house felt so quiet that I couldn¡¯t help but frown. Since no one was here except me, I could only ask about their whereabouts from Siji. ¡°Siji.¡± I called him as usual. Siji appeared in front of me in a sh. ¡°Mdy.¡± He greeted me. I nodded at him. ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°Training, Mdy.¡± Siji replied shortly. Training? I frowned at that thought. What kind of training that made them forget about time? Was Siji the one training them? ¡°Will they take longer time? If so, then I will tell the others that I¡¯m not leaving anytime soon.¡± ¡°It depends on their ability.¡± Siji shrugged his shoulders with ambiguous look on his face. I frowned even more. The way Siji said it picked my curiosity. ¡°Can I take a look at them?¡± Siji smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± He brought me to a ce not too far away from the vige. It was closer to where the White Army was staying than to the vige. However, I had never been here before. Was this cavehere all this time? ¡°You came herest time.¡± Siji told me. It was as if he knew what I was thinking. Oh, he seemed to always know what I had in mind. Such a capable advisor! It was a good thing that I had already got used to it. ¡°Hm?¡± I looked at him. What did he mean I came here? ¡°You¡¯ll know it when you get inside.¡± He smiled and walked inside. I had no choice but to follow him. It was getting darker but somehow I found no trouble at locating things. We walked further inside but Siji didn¡¯t show any sign of stopping anytime soon. Where were we? How much further did we need to walk? As soon as my excitement almost died down entirely, I saw a dim light not too far ahead of me. As we got closer, the dim light turned brighter by a notch and grew bigger. Then, we arrived at a spacious room that was really familiar to me. I was here before, indeed, I thought as I smiled bitterly. How could I forget the torture I felt in the name of training? To train and form my own self into this current me, I had gone through hell and back to earth, tortured physically and mentally by Siji. Seeing this ce only brought back those painful memories, but remembering that Tom and Sanji were here, I could guess what kind of training they were having. A gleefulugh escaped my lips as I thought I wasn¡¯t alone. However, I was sure that their training would be sessful. Siji was a good teacher; there was no way he would fail at training those two. Now I couldn¡¯t wait to see their improvement! ¡°What stage are they in now?¡± I asked Siji as my eyes scanned the room and spotted those two were sitting cross-legged on the opposite ends. ¡°Well, they are learning to manipte their power now.¡± Siji shrugged. ¡°I remember you only need a whole week from the starting process of entering your consciousness to sessfully manipting your power. They took even longer time in entering their consciousness and now they have already spent around four days to manipte their power.¡± That long? Ah well, different people had different way to understand things. I shouldn¡¯t judge them too much. I nodded inwardly. ¡°Well, let me check on them.¡± I walked towards Tom first. Not because I had romantic feelings with him, but because he was sitting closer to me than Sanji who was at the other end of the room. I poured more of my power into my eyes -I usually limited it to prevent my eyes seeing ¡®them¡¯ too much which would be bad for me -and observed the flow of power in Tom¡¯s body. Hm? He still had that string kind of spiritual power like thest time I saw him in the second trial. But, it was still weak. This kind of spiritual power was supposed to be the strongest for exorcist, but without the ability to properly manipte it, it would be as weak as controlling nothing. However, tracing back to how Tom fought with those astral beings, I didn¡¯t think he couldn¡¯t control it. My guess was he unconsciously manipted his power. But, he was still unable to manipte it intentionally. If he could do it, he could turn it into anything he wanted and used one hundred percent of its power. His power was white, indicated that his power was the purest. Mine was white smoke, the purest form of my type of power. If I used it well, it would be my greatest defense and weapon. If Tom could use his well, he could be one of the most dangerous exorcists alive. Just that thought made me smile proudly. I honestly couldn¡¯t wait to see him getting strong. But, what made him unable to manipte his power? Manipting power was a matter of imagination. The more vivid ones¡¯ imagination was, the stronger the formter would be. I guessed his stubborn and unimaginative mind took control of him that he found it hard toplete. Putting my thumbs on his temple, I took a deep breath and tried to enter his consciousness. It wasn¡¯t as easy as taking a peek into a shadow or ghost memory. Not to mention he had a good barrier that shielding him from any unwanted mental attack, I needed to make my way softly and smoothly with a friendly thought in mind. It took some time for me to finally breach his shield and entered his consciousness, only to be startled with what I saw. What was happening here? Chapter 202 202 Strong Reaction (Jane¡¯s PoV) I was familiar with how a consciousness looked like; bright with spiritual power went to and fro. Normally, the movement of the spiritual power would be calm and smooth and in only two ways. But, the way I saw Tom¡¯s consciousness... it was a mess. The spiritual power inside moved randomly and fast. Just seeing it alone could make my head hurt. No wonder he would have a hard time manipting them. But, what caused them to be agitated like this? I floated down from where I was standing while looking at the agitated movement of the spiritual power. My eyes scanned the room and found Tom was lying down on the white floor while gasping for breath with his eyes closed. It seemed like he didn¡¯t notice my presence. On the other hand, Tom was not the only one that I noticed. I noticed other presence in his consciousness. Squinting my eyes to one direction, I saw a red dot further up ahead. It was really in contrast with the white surrounding, that¡¯s why I could easily notice it. The question was... Did Tom notice it, too? Cancelling my n tond on the white floor, I sped up towards the red dot in a sh. Upon closer inspection, I realized the red dot wasn¡¯t really small. ..... It was the size of people¡¯s head. It seemed like it was quite a distance from where I appeared to where this red dot was. Red ball, I mean. Also, was it just me or this odd ball was really trembling? I frowned as I looked at it closely. This odd red ball, even while trembling, was emitting a strange aura. Was it supposed to be terrifying? If it was, then it seeded since its presence could make all Tom¡¯s spiritual power ran amok. ¡°Hey.¡± I poked it lightly with my finger. It felt warm and soft to touch; like a baby¡¯s cheeks. I thought it would attack me, but it trembled even more. Instead of feeling terrified, I felt amused with the way this red ball acted towards me. This red ball didn¡¯t seem ordinary, I thought. The fact that it could enter into Tom¡¯s consciousness without him noticing it was exceptional enough. What kind of thing was it actually? ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you change into something that can speak? Staying like an odd ball is seriously not cute.¡± I said to the red ball while poking it here and there. ¡°And stop emitting your strange aura. You¡¯re making Tom unable to control his power.¡± Hearing what I said, the ball trembled even more and attempted to run away. Of course, it failed. I grabbed it with both of my hands, lifted it towards my eye level while ignoring its trembling body. ¡°Change now, or I¡¯ll force you.¡± I frowned at it. My hands were starting to warm up, ready to burst this ball if it dared to do anything funny. ¡°I¡¯ll change! I¡¯ll change!¡± It shouted hastily after hearing my threat. One threat and it surrendered itself. Was I that scary? With its ability to stay in Tom¡¯s consciousness and disturbed the spiritual power, I thought that it was a remarkable entity. I expected a resistance from this odd ball, actually. Who knew it would surrender itself with just one threat from me? Before I couldin inwardly more, the red ball in my hands let out a puff sound and it turned into a young boy who looked... unique. But, from his appearance I knew that this young boy in front of me was not pure human, even though ny eight percent he looked human enough for my eyes. Despite his unique appearance, I still found him cute with him fidgeting like that. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked him as friendly as I could. ¡°Putra. Putra Semesta.¡± He answered in a small voice. His round eyes traveled here and there, didn¡¯t know where to look. ¡°Does Tom know you¡¯re here?¡± Putra nodded in response to my question. That was strange. He knew? ¡°What is your connection with him?¡± I sat in front of him and pulled him down with me to sit on the floorfortably. ¡°Eh, I...¡± He was still trembling and from the look and sound of it, he was flustered with either my presence or my question. ¡°Tom is one of my people. I think you know that. That¡¯s why I need to know who you are to him so that I can make extra preparation if something were to happen.¡± ¡°That...¡± He still looked hesitant. I sighed. This boy really kept his lips sealed about his connection with Tom. It was either it was really a big secret or he was lying. Whatever it was, I had no other choice but to ask Tom directly. But, I couldn¡¯t make my presence so clear to him in his consciousness. I could only ask him when I came out from this ce and he finished his training. Then, I needed to take care of this young boy before I could do those. After all, stabilizing his terrifying aura was more important for now. By the way, where the hell did he get this terrifying aura with his cute face? Death aura was so thick around him that it caused Tom¡¯s spiritual power agitated. Not to mention the resentment. But, this kid didn¡¯t look like he was affected by those. He looked cute and pure. However, underneath his strong death and resentment aura, I sensed something stronger. It was something pure, something close to human¡¯s spiritual power, but his form is different. The deeper I looked into him, the stronger I found it. What was it? ¡°Putra, what are you?¡± I looked at him curiously. Hearing my question, the young boy in front of me was trembling with his eyes widened in shock. Even with his dark skin, I could notice that he was getting pale. What was happening with this kid? I was sure I wasn¡¯t scary at all and it was our first meeting. So, why would he get this kind of strong reaction towards me? Chapter 203 203 Dark (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°I-I¡¯m just a young boy! I¡¯m nothing more than an ordinary boy!¡± He hastily said, nearly shouted with his eyes forced to wide open in fake determination. Boy, your reaction is too strong for an ordinary boy. But, it was kind of cute, honestly. What he was didn¡¯t seem important for me. I could always ask Tomter. As long as he didn¡¯t harm Tom, I could turn a blind eye to him. However, he didn¡¯t seem harmless either. The way he was just standing here in a big ball shape and could agitate Tom¡¯s spiritual power was proof enough that he was not ordinary being. No, it wouldn¡¯t do. ¡°Kid, why are you scaring those poor spiritual powers? Don¡¯t you know your action can hinder Tom¡¯s growth? I¡¯m sure you both know each other, right?¡± Putra seemed flustered with my questions. He fidgeted a bit with his eyes looking at everywhere but my eyes. ¡°Putra, I¡¯m not trying to scold you. Don¡¯t be afraid. Let¡¯s talk.¡± I smiled at him warmly. I sat cross-legged in front him with my eyes stared right at him in what I thought would be a friendly look. ¡°I¡¯m sure that you have known that you are surrounded by the aura of death and resentment, yet you don¡¯t look like those crazed souls or ghosts that were overwhelmed by the aura. However, if you don¡¯t control yourself, you¡¯ll end up being a hindrance for Tom. I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t want that, right? After all, I think it¡¯s not because he doesn¡¯t notice your presence here, but it¡¯s because he knows you that he doesn¡¯t bother about you here in his consciousness.¡± ..... As for me, he must be too focus on his training that he didn¡¯t notice my presence here. It sounded ridiculous, but I honestly couldn¡¯t think of anything else as the exnation. But, it worked the best for me since I didn¡¯t want him to know that I was here. I watched as guilt covered the unique boy¡¯s face. I sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t you know how to control your power in someone¡¯s consciousness? You can either control your power, or help him. Combining both of your power can create something big, you know?¡± I softly talked to him. Putra was looking at me curiously. He was peeking through hisshes as his head lowered in guilt. ¡°How...can I do that?¡± He asked in a low voice. ¡°You...you¡¯re not going to hit me?¡± His voice trailed off as if he was afraid I would hear what he was saying. I arched my eyebrows in confusion. ¡°Why would I do that?¡± Putra looked at me with a confused look all over his face. Shouldn¡¯t I be the one feeling confused here? Why did he say it as if I usually hit him in any situation? ¡°Say, Putra, do you mistake me for someone else?¡± After all, his fear for me was not normal. It was my first time seeing him, so why would he look at me as if I was a bully? The boy blinked at me with fear and confusion reflected in his eyes. ¡°Look at me carefully. Do I look like the bully in your mind?¡± I scooted closer to him. Putra flinched but he obeyed my words. His pair of clear eyes blinked innocently as he stared me. In a whileter, I watched as he frowned slowly. It seemed like he had finally noticed that I wasn¡¯t his bully. ¡°Tell me, do I look like the one who bully you?¡± I repeated my question softly, trying not to scare him. He looked hesitant but his eyes didn¡¯t waver even for a second. He stubbornly looked at me, as if trying to convince himself that I was a different person. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°You...you...¡± He took a deep breath while his eyes were still looking at me. ¡°You¡¯re different. You¡¯re not her. But you look like her a lot, especially your aura.¡± He mumbled in bewilderment. ¡°See?¡± I smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who bullied you before.¡± Putra¡¯s tense body turned rxed. Even so, he didn¡¯t lower his guard around me. Just what kind of person could instill fear this deep in a kid¡¯s heart? Not to mention that I had the same aura with this terrible person. I really wanted to find out the identity of that person, but I knew that I shouldn¡¯t be taking my time leisurely. Since I knew I could find Putra as long as Tom was around, I put that idea on the back of my mind. Now, I needed to teach him how to control himself, or even better, help Tom! Luckily for me, Putra was a smart boy. I just needed to guide him a bit and he could practically do it all by himself. I watched as he concentrated his power and the red lines on his body lit up and created a stunning scene in front of my eyes. The death and resentment were practically covered fully, leaving only a bright and warm aura around him. Was thatva? The red lines moved and in contrast to his ck skin, the red lines looked like cracks on the volcano where one could see the ring red ofva underneath. At the same time, Tom resumed his training. I watched as the unordinary movement of his spiritual power stopped and turned into a better one. Start from this phase, he was alone. I couldn¡¯t meddle into it too far. As long as he understood the meaning of transforming his power, he would be fine. With that in thought, I went out from his consciousness. After returning back to my body, I watched as Tom¡¯s aura improved by leaps and bound. Satisfied smile crept on my face and I turned my head to see the other man was in the same posture he was in. Sanji¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t any better than Tom¡¯s, though. What could be his difficulty? I approached him and did the same thing that I did to Tom. As soon as I entered his consciousness, I was startled to see a dark room, a vast difference with Tom¡¯s consciousness. Even though I said it was dark, I could see a dim silver light far away from where Inded. It was my first time seeing a dark consciousness. What happened to him actually? And where was he? Chapter 204 204 Too Dangerous For Now (Jane¡¯s PoV) I floated closer to the silver light as my eyes inspected my surrounding. This was Sanji¡¯s consciousness, which meant I was supposed to be able to see his form of power. But, instead of seeing it, why did I feel like I was being watched from the dark? My senses sharpened as this strange feeling disturbed me. As I was getting closer to the only source of light in the dark room, I was tackled to the ground hard! ¡°Ugh...¡± I grunted from the impact, but something cushioned my fall. It seemed to be a solid hard body with a familiar yet unfamiliar aura. My eyes shot opened as I inspected the person who would be so brave to attack me. I found it hard to believe that somebody would want to attack me in Sanji¡¯s consciousness; therefore I wasn¡¯t a bit worried about it. However, being tackled like this, even though it wasn¡¯t hurt, wasn¡¯t feeling right. ¡°Hello...¡± A familiar husky voice travelled to my ears as I finally recognized the face under me. His smirk had unusually sexiness in it and his gaze ....was different. It was my first time seeing him smirking like this. His previous smile or smirk could only be described as gentle or mischievous, or even loving, but it had never filled with lots of sex appeal like this. Just seeing him smirking with that suppressed lustful gaze being directed at me make my heart thumped faster. I forgot that I was still lying on top of him. ¡°I really like this position, you know.¡± He said as he tightened his arms around my body. ..... I was pulled into his embrace again. How did he turn into a pervert? I squinted my eyes as I stared at him. His gaze was hot and lusty. A huge amount of desire was reflected in his bottomless eyes. In instant, my body felt feverish all over. Damn, how could I fall into his seduction? ¡°Sanji.¡± I frowned, hiding the fact that I was aroused from his sultry gaze and our position behind my fake displeasure. ¡°I thought you forgot my name.¡± He tilted his head a bit and his level of sexiness soared up into the sky. Was it possible to get nosebleed in this space? ¡°Nonsense.¡± I hastily replied as I broke free from his embrace and stepped backwards to keep my distance from him. Sanji chuckled. He pushed himself into sitting position but hiszy demeanor gave him a whole different vibe. I eyed him suspiciously, trying to find something that changed his aura. ¡°Why are you here?¡± He asked, but he didn¡¯t sound angry at all. Not even curious. ¡°Just checking on you.¡± I shrugged. ¡°How do you know I¡¯m here?¡± Tom didn¡¯t even notice my intrusion, but this man... He chuckled. ¡°This is my consciousness. Of course I would know if someone or something came in.¡± Right. This was how a person reacted towards an intruder in one¡¯s consciousness. But, Tom didn¡¯t even realize my presence. Was it a matter between dark and bright? Blind under the light but master in the dark? What kind of logic was that? ¡°Then, you should know why your consciousness is dark, right?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with dark consciousness?¡± He responded casually. ¡°Mine is bright. Tom¡¯s is also bright. This is the first time I see a dark consciousness. There¡¯s nothing wrong with it but I just found it a bit different.¡± I said while looking around. This ce was really dark, save from the silver light nearby. If Tom¡¯s and my consciousness were a bright white room that looked mysteriously endless because of the color, Sanji¡¯s consciousness was a dark room that looked intimidating and endless. Was it really okay? At times like this, I wished I could summon Siji. However, since I was inside Sanji¡¯s consciousness, there was no way I could summon him. Well, I would talk to himter. ¡°Then, tell me. What happened to you? Is it difficult to figure out the way to use and manipte your power? Why don¡¯t you show me the form of your spiritual power?¡± Sanji nodded at the silver light nearby. At first, I didn¡¯t get what he meant by nodding at it. I was asking him about the form of his spiritual power, why did he show me the silver light? However, after I looked at it closely, I realized that I was wrong. Running towards the only spot where the silver light was shining upon, I realized that the light came from thin strands of spiritual power. It was even thinner than Tom¡¯s but it emitted faint silver light. When they were put together, it created a pir of silver light in the midst of dark room. It moved vertically, not horizontally like mine or Tom¡¯s. However, it looked like an endless stream of spiritual power pouring in and pierced through the bottom of Sanji¡¯s consciousness. It was really a bizarre thing. How could it happen? Weird, but interesting. I wanted to study it closer. ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t get too close to them.¡± Sanji stood behind me and hold me back with his hands on my shoulders. ¡°Why?¡± I frowned. ¡°I collected them in one ce intentionally. Even though my arrangement isn¡¯t perfect, I think it¡¯s the best for now. I¡¯ll figure out the rest of itter. I¡¯ve spent my time here trying to understand them and keep them here in one ce where I can watch them. Not because I can¡¯t manipte them, instead, I¡¯d done it pretty much well, I think. It¡¯s just... it¡¯s too dangerous for now. I think I identally made them sharper.¡± He chuckled softly. Sharper? I arched my eyebrows, but said nothing. Sanji put his hand near the light so that I could see some scars on his hand caused by super thin and sharp object. He didn¡¯t mean... I turned my head and looked at his casual expression with a smile stered on his face. His spiritual power hurt him? ¡°If I let them roam freely, you won¡¯t be able to enter unscathed. So, I decided to put them together.¡± Sanji continued. That dangerous? Ah, just because it involved blood didn¡¯t mean it was more dangerous than mine. After all, I used mine to create fire; one that could extinguish evil without mercy. Well, I had not thought of a name for it yet. However, I was curious as to how far Sanji could manipte his power. Those thin strings could cut flesh; it wasn¡¯t impossible that they would be able to cut bones as well. Maybe not now, but I had a hunch that it wouldn¡¯t be long. If that time came, how dangerous would he be? Chapter 205 205 Royal Tomb (Jane¡¯s PoV) Three dayster, we came out from the forest safe and sound. Our objective ining here had been fulfilled, but we still had one more additional mission before we could go back and n for the next agenda. The mission came from Sir Ahmad, surprisingly. Not a mission, actually. It was more like a request than a mission. He said it was not a problem if I couldn¡¯t do it. He was just wondering if I could do it since I carried the Creese with me. He said, near the entrance to the forest, there was a high cliff where they -and some people around the forest -put their family¡¯s corpses. ording to the old man, their King -which was my father -was supposed to be there for thest step in the funeral process since the one who had just passed away was an Elder in the Vige. My father needed to put those coffins filled corpses into a cave on top of the cliff. Now that I saw the ce, I thought it was absurd. I did see the cave but it was high up there. I didn¡¯t see any stairs or any tools to lift the coffin into the cave. Forget about the tools and everything, what could I do with a giant Kuntnak guarding the entrance? Seriously, she was so big that even from afar I could still see her figure covering the tip of the cliff. ¡°Is that Kuntnak?¡± asked Tom as he looked towards the cliff. ..... Sanji squinted his eyes as he took a careful look on the giant ghost. Then, he shook his head. ¡°No. That¡¯s not Kuntnak. That¡¯s just a woman ghost, but she¡¯s even more frightening than Kuntnak.¡± He said firmly. ¡°How do you know?¡± In my eyes, that was Kuntnak. ¡°That¡¯s just an ugly and scary woman. I think you need to know the difference for sure now. Kuntnak was a ghost of a woman whose death was rted to baby or pregnancy. Abortion, murdered, suicide during a pregnancy and many other reasons rted to them can create Kuntnak. That one over there, however, doesn¡¯t look like it is rted to baby or pregnancy.¡± Sanji exined patiently. ¡°How do you know?¡± I interrupted before he finished talking. I didn¡¯t even realize I had repeated the same question. Sanji looked at me helplessly. ¡°Maybe you should allow yourself to feel more. That way you can understand why I said so.¡± I blinked my eyes. I did restrain my ability to see and to feel them to avoid being implicated by unnecessary emotion. After being pointed out the reason I couldn¡¯t see the difference, I could only grin while releasing the control I had slowly. Foreign emotion rushed into me as soon as the reign loosened. I felt an indescribable guilt. It was as if I hadmitted a big sin and it haunted me every day. It was something rted to betrayal and dark magic, which I had no recollection of doing it. Since it was the case, I was sure it was the ghost memory. Indeed, no baby or pregnancy was involved in her death, but because she practiced dark magic, she was consumed by it and turned into something resembled to...evil. It was a pity since she was pretty beautiful back then. Trust me, when people said negative heart made beautiful people ugly, it was all true. When the person with negativity in her/his heart died, her/his ghost would turn super scary and ugly beyond saving. They would drown in their negativity even more after they died. Even if they realized what they did was wrong, they couldn¡¯t go back to their beautiful appearance, no matter how long their redemption was. This ghost was repenting her sin, but since she had drowned too deep into her negative side, she couldn¡¯t go back to her original appearance. She looked terrifying, but only those who knew her could tell that she wasn¡¯t that bad, actually. My impression of her improved as well. As expected of the guardian of the Royal Tomb, one must be looked menacing to scare unnecessary people away. I could say she had done her job pretty well. As I was praising her inside my head, our eyes met identally. Another wave of emotion and memory entered my mind and for a second I forgot where I was. I was a bit surprised she opened up to me very quickly. But then after I watched the memory inside me carefully, I found the reason. ¡°You...resemble...The King.¡± She said hoarsely and slowly, sounded exactly like those ghosts I heard in the movie. Couldn¡¯t she speak normally? ¡°I¡¯m his daughter.¡± I answered casually. Yes, the memory that she gave me was the ones when she watched my father fulfilling his duty as the King, lifting the coffin in the air and put it in the cave. She would be responsible of guarding the cave and the things inside, visible or invisible, from any precarious and imprudent people. And yes, my father lifted the coffin in the air! How he did that, I still had no clue. He looked like a badass who mastered psychokic in a manga I read when I was a child. The ghost descended from the cliff and damn... she was huuuge! She was three times taller than normal people and of course, bigger. Her burned face and red eyes looked exceptionally chilling, but she didn¡¯t give off any dangerous vibes. ¡°The...princess?¡± I smiled awkwardly hearing those words. I wouldn¡¯t get used to that name, I guessed. ¡°You can say so.¡± I nodded. ¡°How do we address you?¡± Tom asked after being silent all this time. ¡°No... need... to... know.¡± She said coolly. ¡°Any... order?¡± ¡°I was requested by someone to bring a coffin there.¡± I nodded at the cave. ¡°The coffin is stored in the hut over there.¡± Sir Ahmad had mentioned before that the coffin was saved inside a hut at the foot of the cliff. At first, I doubted that the coffin would be intact after being left there for days. I even thought that I would smell something unpleasant since we were talking about corpse here. However, as soon as I understood the situation here, I realized that no one dared toe and mess with the coffin since it was still the area of the woman ghost. ¡°Then... I¡¯ll... open... it... for you.¡± She flew back onto the cliff and I witnessed something amazing that couldn¡¯t be exined with words alone. I didn¡¯t know what she meant by opening it for me, but I guessed it was some kind of barrier of the cave. As soon as this barrier was opened, a rush of spiritual power poured out from the cave. It was so strong that the trees around the cliff were swaying as if it was being hit by wind. ¡°Control... it.¡± I heard the ghost said. Control what? That wild spiritual power? Did I really have a choice? Positioning myself, I gathered my own spiritual power and aimed it towards that wild spiritual power. That power was getting bigger and more powerful but somehow I managed to bind it with my own power. After getting hold of it, I guided it towards the hut. The door and window were pushed opened by that weird power and to my surprise, the coffin inside moved as if it was being pulled by someone. Was it even possible? Wait, the flow of the spiritual power changed! It went backward! I shook my head slightly, tried to ignore the odd that happened in front of me. Following the flow of the mysterious force, I witnessed with my own eyes as the coffin was lifted and pulled into the cave. I finally realized why I should control that power. If I didn¡¯t control it, the coffin would end up hitting the cliff! It would be a disaster if it really happened. Not to mention the closer the coffin got to the cave, the harder it was to control. I was sweating so much when it was finally over. The ghost waved her hands and the crazy flow of power stopped. ¡°The pressure was crazy.¡± Tom said in shock. It was only at that time that I could finally see the expression of those two men behind me. Both of them had shock expression all over their faces. ¡°As expected of Royal Tomb.¡± Sanji whispered while staring at that cave with the same shock expression on his face. ¡°The pressure is different with ordinary tombs.¡± What pressure were they talking about? Other than the difficulty that I faced while guiding the coffin towards the cave, I didn¡¯t notice anything. ¡°Also, that woman is also someone that couldn¡¯t be trifled with. Her power as ghost got even better than she was a human before. It was no wonder she could be assigned as the guardian.¡± Sanji continued his exnation. ¡°What pressure are you two talking about?¡± Chapter 206 206 An Ambush (Jane¡¯s PoV) Hearing my question, both of them looked at each other as if to confirm themselves that both of them were indeed feeling the same thing. ¡°Never mind.¡± They said in unison. So harmonious! Since they didn¡¯t want to say it, I wouldn¡¯t pursue about that matter any further. Turning my head towards the ghost who had returned to her seat on top of the cliff, I bid my goodbye to her. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again next time.¡± I shouted at her while waving my hand at her. She didn¡¯t say anything and just threw me a short nce, looking all indifferent and aloof. But, again, I didn¡¯t feel any dissatisfactioning from her. No friendly aura as well, but at least she looked less intimidating in my eyes. Following the two men towards the bustling town nearby, I found out more information regarding my father. I didn¡¯t know my father was famous here. All of them called my father as King. After a long talk with a local, I finally found out that my father was indeed the King there. But, it was a whole different vibe with the title in the Satu Vige. To be pr¨¦cised, my father was crowned as the King in this area which consisted of five towns. It was pretty big, around one fifth of the province area. The reason he was chosen to be a king because of the same reason with Satu Vige; the Golden Eagle de chose him. ..... Yes, that Golden Eagle de was their traditional de usually used by the King. Compared to the ck Creese, it was far more inferior. Still, it held some importance to the people as the symbol of the one who held the high authority over traditions and customs. Even people from the government still needed to seek the king if they wanted to talk about the implementation of some country rules. Of course, they didn¡¯t know about my identity as my father¡¯s daughter. They treated us as if we were just some local tourists, which worked the best for me. Come to think of it, my father indeed had some mystical weapons at hand. He himself was attracted to the so called mystical weapon, so it was no wonder he could get his hands on some of good stuffs. Other than the ck Creese, there were this Golden Eagle de, a in steel de, and a small creese. I had seen those all, touched them, and even stared at them. Among all of them, the in steel de was the one my father and I used the most. It was so light that I thought my father was conned by someone, that it wasn¡¯t made of steel. The Golden Eagle de was ced in my wardrobe when I was Junior High School after Iined that I heard an eerie cry around two or three in the morning. It was a bit heavy and when I pulled it out from its scabbard, it honestly didn¡¯t look like a de at all. It looked more like a short square staff with sharp pointed edge. It was even heavier than the steel de. The small creese, on the other hand, was not more than my palm in length. It didn¡¯t have any scabbard and it was yellow in color, standard color of creese. After acquiring some information and sightseeing the local tourism spots while discussing of our next n, we decided to move to the area near the South Sea. Now I had ck Creese in my hand, I just needed to understand the terrain of the next destination as well as made some ns in case my first n failed. ¡°Mdy, I think you should improve your power first before you head over.¡± Siji appeared out of nowhere. ¡°She is this powerful already and you still need her to train herself?¡± Tom frowned in displeasure. ¡°Pardon me, Mdy. But there is an invitation came just now from the other Advisors to attend a meeting.¡± My eyebrows arched at the mention of invitation. ¡°Meeting? Other advisors? You mean, I have to meet the other nine Masters?¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± ¡°They summon everyone up, it means there is a big problem that needs to be taken care of.¡± I frowned as I tried to remember everything I had learned so far. ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve done your homework well.¡± Tom teased me. ¡°Of course.¡± It was hard not to smile smugly. It wasn¡¯t because I took the matter lightly. It was quite the opposite. Tom couldn¡¯t bear to see me getting serious. Being too serious didn¡¯t match me, he said. Let the hardest part became their burden, and I only needed to live my life well. Therefore, every time I frowned because of the urgency of a matter, he would always tease me until I lost the frown on my face. Tom would loosen me up by cracking jokes or teasing me and Sanji would do the thinking. Even so, I was the one who would decide whether their advice was suitable or not. I was the Master, after all, and I was the one who knew my army the most. ¡°When is the meeting?¡± asked Sanji with solemn expression. ¡°Fifteenth next month.¡± ¡°Well, it means we still have around twenty days left before the meeting. Where will it be held?¡± Tom checked on his phone and casually typed something in it. ¡°Y City. The exact location will be informed a day before.¡± Siji answered. ¡°It¡¯s near the South Sea. What a coincidence!¡± Sanji frowned. I was watching their interaction while chewing on my snacks. The three of them talked as if I wasn¡¯t present; however I hardly felt being left out by them. Instead, I took the opportunity to gather information and think about how to solve the problem by own based on my knowledge. It was really efficient for me as I could gather information without spending any energy to talk and ask questions. They really did me a big favor by taking care of it. ¡°Siji, if that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t you tell me what I should improve and what kind of people that I¡¯m going to faceter. You have met the other Masters, right? Based from what I know, White Army is the only mystical army that changes Master a lot during these ten years. So, is it possible that the other armies are still being led by the same Master?¡± I finally asked the questions that had been bugging my mind. ¡°Mdy is right. I will exin about the other armiester tonight.¡± Siji bowed a bit. ¡°Then, we will hear about it tonight. Since the day is still so bright. Let us have fun first.¡± Tom smirked as he put on his sunsses and stood up. His level of handsomeness rapidly rose that way and I noticed some girls turned their heads towards him while blushing slightly. Hey, that¡¯s my man you guys are drooling at! Watch your eyes or I¡¯ll have Kuntnak haunts your dream for a week! I red at them behind my own sunsses, but of course I didn¡¯t sound my internal scream at them. As if Tom wasn¡¯t enough to turn the heads of everydy nearby, Sanji also put on his sunsses and stood up. What happened with sunsses and this overload pheromone in the air? With Tom and Sanji around, I could say I was one hundred percent sure that every girl would curse me. They dressed casually, but since they maintained their figures and cleanliness, even when they just put on their sunsses and acted coolly, they would sessfully steal every girl¡¯s heart. Every time this happened, I would feel proud that I was surrounded by hot men, but I also had the urge to make Kuntnak haunt them in their dream. Of course, I shouldn¡¯t do that. I was the Master of White Army, the one who should keep the bnce, not some cheap dark arts practitioners who used ghosts to fulfill their worldly desire. Therefore I could only curse them inside my head. It was a good thing that we were leaving this ce soon. There were some ces that we still had not visited so we were nning to get it done in two days. After that, we would fly directly towards City Y and trained ourselves there. Of course, it was all just a n. Whatever happened in between was not our intention, but the will of God. This attack was an example of that. Taking the airport as the battlefield, I was honestly in rage as I noticed in a nce the ghosts that were attacking us were not wild ghosts at all, or rather, they were souls. Emitting a faint grey light, they rushed towards us with vigor in their eyes. They marched ahead without fear; their presence created a chaos in the airport as the electricity went off all of a sudden. Not only all the electronic devises in the airport, even cellphones and smartphones were having some mysterious issues, as those normal humans said. Of course, the nes were affected too since all the airnes that were getting ready to take off got their engines shut down out of the blue. Fortunately, no one got hurt in this stupid ambush. Whoever behind this attack was seriously stupid. Yes, judging from their pattern and appearance, I was one hundred percent sure that they were someone¡¯s army. One minute I was getting ready for my flight and chatting away with Tom and Sanji, and one minuteter we were attacked. Not to mention, they didn¡¯t hold back even just a little and ended up making humans panic. Many possibilities ran in my head as I realized the effect they got. I was tempted to call my army as well, but I didn¡¯t do it. Thankfully Tom was on the same page as me. We didn¡¯t want any more trouble happened because of the sh between two armies. ¡°Dealing with them, I think I¡¯m alone is enough.¡± Tom sneered as he sat quietly and a secondter, his spirit came out with a jump. A pair of long fiery chains was attached on his hands andter on danced along with his fists. ¡°Make it two. We need to finish them as soon as possible.¡± Sanji said coldly. He had not mastered the art of separating himself with his spirit, but I noticed the fluctuation of his spiritual power around him. Thin strings like power shot out from his body and it hit the masses in front of him. How he manipted and maneuvered them not to hit any humans got me impressed. He was so skilled at it! Eerie wails of those souls reverberated throughout the airport. I looked around, trying to locate the person behind this incident. Since Tom and Sanji bought me some time with their ability, I couldn¡¯t let them down. No matter what happened, I needed to catch the culprit! He must be nearby. I just needed to sense someone with strong spiritual force. Another benefit of having smoke like spiritual power was I could blend it with the air to scout some information regarding spiritual power. In other words, I could lengthen my senses. If you think I can use it to scout information like eavesdropping, you¡¯re wrong. It didn¡¯t take a long time to find this person. On the second floor of the airport, I sensed a strong force simr to the ones emitted from these souls. I finally got you! Opening my eyes, I smirked as I hid myself in the other dimension. I was getting better at it. A secondter, I found an opening and reached out for the person on the second floor quickly even before I came out from it. A startled expression appeared on his face as I pulled him into the other dimension hard and came face to face with me. ¡°Got you.¡± I sneered with my eyes devoid of warmth. Chapter 207 207 A Fake (Jane¡¯s PoV) The most popr thing in City Y was the way the people attached the importance of culture and customs in every spot in City Y. As the city with the densest sense of culture, City Y held many historical and cultural spots that could attract the attention of every tourist. All they knew that it was a ruin left by our ancestors. It represented the history and the culture of Indonesia. They only knew that it had no function as we spoke other than being a historical ruin for tourism spot. Little did they know those ancient buildings were there to represent the main city for mystical army assembly in Indonesia. Other countries had one on each of theirnds. For example, Ennd had Stonehenge and Egypt had pyramids. Since the meeting was held in Indonesia, of course, City Y would host the meeting. The reason why it was being held in Indonesia was because two out of ten mystical armies had Indonesians as their master. Therefore, those other countries decided that they would hold it in Indonesia. What a one sided decision! I didn¡¯t even have a chance to refuse this troublesome meeting. Afternding in the City Y, we went to find an inn. However, before we could enter the inn, someone hade and invited us to stay in a vi. Since it was free and the man who came to talk to us talked politely, I thought it would be rude to reject his invitation. Not to mention he knew about my identity as Master of White Army. Apparently, the invitation came from the King. Yes, he was the one who would be responsible for all of the cultures in City Y. If my father was a hidden King, this man, however, was known all over the ce. After we had taken care of our belongings in the vi, I ordered Siji to bring out the man we captured in the airport. ..... Back in the airport... It was a man in his thirties. His tanned face looked particrly cruelbined with his moustache and sharp eyes. There were wrinkles on his forehead, a sign that he frowned a lot. He looked more like a viin than a kind person, I said to myself when my heart told me to be positive thinking, not to judge a book by its cover. However, the reality told otherwise. The startled expression on his face disappeared a second after he was dragged into the other dimension by me. The next second, his ws were aimed at me in a deadly clutch. His eyes reflected his cruel intention towards me. He really wanted to harm me. However, old man, you were so wrong about me. The ¡®me¡¯ a year ago might be caught by your deadly clutch and probably would have lost my life in a move. But, old man, I was trained by a devil instructor and a real devil. Your move was just so-so in my eyes. The moves that Siji taught for me really suited my taste. I hated moving around too much in martial arts so he made me learn the one that didn¡¯t require many movements. He said he believed I could master this type ofzy martial arts because I possessed great amount of spiritual power and able to manipte it for my own benefits. And he was right. It was a badass type of self-defense. However, it was also a scary type of offensive style. Without moving from where I was standing at, I pped his ws away from me with a frown on my face. The man looked startled with how easy I stopped his move. But he kept attacking me afterwards. He seemed to forget that I was still holding back his clothes which restricting his movement. Even with one hand, I still managed to dodge and smacked his hands. In the end, I caught his hand and twisted it behind his back. My power locked his so that he couldn¡¯t use his clutch for now. I looked down and found out that the battle downstairs had finished as well. Those men had disappeared, and Tom and Sanji had returned to their seat. Because our ne was going to take off as soon as possible, I asked Siji to take a look of that man and moved him into my house in the other dimension. Back to present... Crossing my arms across my chest, I looked down upon the man who was sitting not too far from us. I didn¡¯t know what Siji had done to him, but he looked docile at this moment. ¡°Who sent you?¡± I asked coldly. The man shuddered, as if he was woken up by my voice. Malice returned to his eyes as he stared at me. I arched my eyebrows and leaned forwards. This was not going to be easy. ¡°Who is your Master? I¡¯m pretty sure your Master didn¡¯t know you used the army to attack me. Are you seeking death?¡± Flicking my finger slightly, the man hissed in pain as the power restriction around his hands gripped his hands tightly and pulled the man¡¯s arms up until his shoulders were threatened to be dislocated. ¡°Jane, leave it to us. Just sit there and watch.¡± Tom put his hand on my shoulder. A smirk appeared on his face as he kept staring at the man. I watched as both Sanji and Tom approached the man and asked him several questions. Whenever he refused to answer, a wail of pain would be heard in the vi. Tom was using his chain ofva to bind the man¡¯s body. Sanji, on the other hand, made his sharp strings floating around the man. Refuse to answer the question? Fine, then the chain ofva would re up and leave a sophisticated pattern of burn on his tanned skin. As if burn wounds didn¡¯t enough, hundreds thin strings around the man would turn into a super thin set of acupuncture needle. Not that I knew acupuncture. But, I doubted Sanji didn¡¯t know anything about it. At the same time with the chain red up, the thin needles would pierce the man¡¯s body. It might hit some spots in his body that could enhance the feeling of pain, made him feeling as if he was being stabbed by countless thick needles. That was why he would wail so hard that I found he was an embarrassment to shout so loud like that over a mere injury. Seeing Sanji smirked, I could finally be able to sense that he must have done something that made this man howled like a goat on a chopping board. ¡°You¡¯re going to regret this!¡± He spat spitefully. He red at them hatefully, as if he could wish nothing but hack us to death. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one regretting your action now? Why would we regret ours?¡± Tom mocked him. ¡°Who told you to attack us? Are we that easy to bully in your eyes?¡± Sanji moved his fingers lightly. It might look like he was ying; tapping his fingers on his other fingers. Only I could see that every time his finger moved, those needles would stab at him in different parts of body. The man didn¡¯t wail, but he looked difort all over. ¡°You don¡¯t deserve tomand the First Army! I have been training my whole life, meditating in the secluded mountain to gain the highest achievement spiritually, but when I came out, I heard a little girl is the Master! How could I be content? I could only get rid of you so that I can be the Master of First Army!¡± I was stunned hearing his outburst. Was this man a bit sick in his head? ¡°It seems like your years of meditating worth nothing now. You don¡¯t gain peacefulness as the sign of spiritual highest achievement. Instead, you turn into a madman. I can see now that your whole life is pathetic.¡± Sanji shook his head but there was no pity in his eyes. ¡°Just because you want to be the Master then the army needs you to be the Master? Isn¡¯t your current loss a proof enough to know that you¡¯re not worthy of being the army¡¯s Master? You can¡¯t even touch her, what made you say that you¡¯re better than her?¡± Tom sneered at the man. ¡°She can¡¯t even summon them when I attacked her. What¡¯s the use of her?¡± He snorted. ¡°Stupid! Why would she do that when we alone could defeat you?¡± Tomughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in his life. ¡°You mean, I¡¯m not qualified if I can¡¯t summon them?¡± I smirked at this man stupidity. He wasted his whole life to chase after the peaceful mind by meditating. However, he really didn¡¯t make progress at all. How could a sage be a madman like him? ¡°What should I do? I don¡¯t feel like summoning them. Do you think I would summon them just because you said so?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a fraud, after all. Just admit it that you can¡¯t summon them.¡± He sneered. Both Tom and Sanji chuckled as they heard what he said. Retrieving their weapons, both of them left him as they returned to my side. We were just about to let Siji take care of the man when we felt a huge wave of spiritual power approached us. ¡°Pardon us!¡± A greeting was heard from the front door. Judging from the voice, it was an old man, a healthy and vigorous old man. Pulling opened the front door, I was surprised to see a whole greyish mystical army was standing in front of the vi. An old man with white hair and white beard was standing in the front line with a grim expression on his face. He looked more like a sage than the one I captured inside. I guessed he was the true Master of the army. ¡°Release him.¡± The old man said. ¡°What a cute demand!¡± I smiled sarcastically. ¡°He tried to kill me and you came with a whole bunch of your men to order me to release him? Wow.¡± The old man¡¯s expression darkened even more. ¡°I don¡¯t know why he would try to kill you but I¡¯m sure my nephew wouldn¡¯t do something stupid.¡± ¡°Then, enlighten me, attacking me just because I am the Master of First Army, is it stupid or not?¡± The smile on my face didn¡¯t disappear even after this ridiculous conversation still went on. A frown appeared on his old face. ¡°Are you the Master of First Army? Don¡¯t talk nonsense.¡± ¡°Ay, your nephew is clearly more up to date with his information, I see. Although, I¡¯m more curious as to how your nephew couldmand your army.¡± I leaned on the door framezily with my arms crossed across my chest. ¡°UNCLE, SHE IS A FAKE! DON¡¯T BELIEVE IN HER! SHE IS NOT THE MASTER OF FIRST ARMY!¡± A shout was heard from the inside of the house. I arched my eyebrows as I chuckled. With a flick of my fingers, the man inside was being dragged out by an invisible force called my power. ¡°Here. Your stupid nephew.¡± ¡°Since you can see my army and you seem to have some moves with you, I don¡¯t think I can let you imitate the Master of First Army!¡± The old man was getting ready to order his men to attack us, but like hell I would let it happened. ¡°Siji, White Army,e forth.¡± I said in a low,zy voice. Chapter 208 208 Doesn¡¯t Feel The Same (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Siji, White Army,e forth.¡± I said in a low,zy voice. Blue me marked the arrival of my army. Even Tom who had been standing behind my back got teleported on my left side, in front of me,plete with his uniform as the General of White Army. Siji¡¯s pony tail and robe swayed as he appeared from the blue me, on my right side. The men were standing in rows and lines and left a big enough path for our guest to see me, the Master of White Army. I was still in the same position, didn¡¯t move even just a bit even though fiery red me appeared on my back and enveloped me in it. My robe appeared after the fire disappeared and honestly I was so satisfied seeing the look on their faces. I knew that using blue me as their entrance mark would create a powerful impact on our spectators. It was a bit exaggerated, but I was d I did that. The expression they had on their face was priceless. It was worth my power and effort. Compared to the greyish light emitted from the old man¡¯s army, my glowing White Army was so much better. From what I¡¯d seen, it was a pity that even though that old man was so old already, he wasn¡¯t capable of unlocking the army¡¯s fullest ability. That grey light looked so dull that I found it hard to believe that they were one of ten mystical armies in Astral World. It was too bad that there was limited knowledge about the other armies other than the names and origins. ¡°Old man, now you believe me? I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve been studying about during your meditation, but apparently you got trick by devils. Instead of gaining peace and calm mind, your inner self is destroyed slowly for feeding them with your corrupted heart.¡± I sneered slightly. ¡°No wonder they can be so stupid.¡± Tom shook his head in a fake concern. ..... ¡°Old man, on behalf of your status as their Master, I¡¯ll let you go today. Just remember, don¡¯t make me caught you again for the same reason. I¡¯m not that nice and patient.¡± Maybe he had already sensed that he couldn¡¯t win against me, or that his verbal usation was proven wrong, the old man didn¡¯t say anything anymore and dragged his nephew back with him. Those men also disappeared after he ordered them to do so. I only straightened my back after they had left. Red fiery me reappeared on my back and my robe disappeared instantly. ¡°You guys can return. Thank you foring here.¡± I said to the men, and with a wave, I dismissed them. The only one left was Tom who had returned to his casual outfit, and Siji who still looked like an ancient good-looking man. Sanji was still standing behind me and even though he had stayed silent this whole time, I could sense from the fluctuation of his spiritual power around him that he had prepared himself for a battle. After they had gone, the rapid flow of his spiritual power also returned to normal. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°Now let¡¯s get inside. Siji, I want to ask you something.¡± I said to Siji without looking at him. Throwing myself onto the couch, I was getting ready to hear Siji¡¯s story, his knowledge about the ten mystical armies that I couldn¡¯t find in any book. ¡°To be honest, Mdy, I have no idea as well.¡± Siji said even before I asked my question. I arched my eyebrow. ¡°The old man looks so capable, but he couldn¡¯t even use the army to its fullest. I¡¯m curious.¡± Tom, Sanji, and I stared at Siji in unison. He was the only one in our group who was knowledgeable. Even though he said he had no idea, I was sure he must have heard something. Siji bowed his head and frowned as he tried to think hard about the possible reason. I remembered what he mentioned before, that he only met some of the other advisors, but he didn¡¯t really know about the condition of each army. We waited but Siji shook his head even after he thought about it for a long time. ¡°I¡¯ll scout some information outside, Mdy.¡± He bowed a bit. ¡°Ah well, if you can do that, it will be good. But, please be careful.¡± I nodded at him. Being a soul didn¡¯t mean he was free from harm. That was why I asked him to be careful. After Siji left, Sanji and Tom looked at me simultaneously. There was mixed emotion in their gaze, but I couldn¡¯tprehend what it was. I failed to notice that it was our first time being together in a house without having to worry about how people perceived us. This vi was big and there was quite a distance to the closest neighbor. The previousmotion was a proof that no one would stick their noses in our business here. Again, I failed to notice that. I only knew they both shot weird gaze towards me. ¡°I¡¯m going into my room.¡± I stood up, breaking the eye contact I had with them. ¡°Both of you should clean yourselves and take some rest.¡± Waving my hand at them, I entered my room and locked it. I sat down on my bed for a bit with my eyes stared emptily into one spot. I wasn¡¯t in a daze; instead it was my form of protection. I needed to know where the ghosts were. It wouldn¡¯t be funny if one of them appeared and disturbed me. After confirming that the ghosts could only stroll outside and peek in the windows, I could finally feel rxed. Taking my bathrobe with me, I went into the bathroom and turned on the tap. Hot and cold water filled the tub quickly. I also found some bath bomb on the shelves in the bathroom. Picking one with the smell of rose, I put it in the water. Minutester, I had soaked myself in the tub. All my taut muscles went rxed as I leaned back and closed my eyes. The smell of rose permeated in the air. It brought a happy feeling inside as the romance side of me was being awakened. When was thest time I indulged myself in romance? I had a boyfriend, but because of the continuous urrence that happened in my life, I couldn¡¯t have a normal date and normal romance story like any other girls at my age. Did I still have time to have a normal love story? When would it be over? Maybe after my father had returned, maybe after that I could have a rtively normal romance story. I wanted to go to a date with my boyfriend tillte at night and had a kiss in front of my house under the shadows when he brought me back home. I wanted to hold hands with him while he was leading the way in the carnival or festival. Being the center of two men fought for my attention would also be good. Hahaha... I could imagine the struggle, though. Well, talking about normal date, my only normal date was when I was still with Senior Rizal. Even though it was just for a short time, it was still quite a memory to remember. I shook my head. Unfortunately, the one memory that I couldn¡¯t forget yet I refused to remember was myst time seeing him. The bloody scene would sometimes appear in my dream and my heart would feel dull on the next day. It was suffocating, yet I could do nothing to take care of it. I could only ept it and bear with it until I would feel nothing. Well, enough with sad memory. The path in front of me was full of obstacles that I practically had no time to reminiscence about it and dropped my mood even further. If I couldn¡¯t remember any of those happy memories, then might as well I took a nap. The water was still warm and the rose scent was enticing me to rx and... where was my sleepiness going? One minutes I felt fatigue, but as soon as the smell of rose filled the air, something inside me knocking my heart softly. The water felt feathery with the help of that rose bath bomb, tickling my skin in sensual touch. I hummed softly. Since I was alone, I didn¡¯t think it was wrong to indulge myself in a sexual pleasure all by myself. A change of pace. Let¡¯s see. There was a lot happened after ourst making love session in my house. Probably because of the stress and everything that only a mere thought of pleasuring myself made my breath ragged. Since it would be awkward for Sanji if we started humping like bunny in heat, I thought that I could pleasure myself; like that one time when Tom was still a spirit. Totally not because I was too embarrassed that Sanji was here in the same house as Tom and me. I just needed a change of pace. Pleasure could be attained even without a boyfriend, right? However, instead of pleasure, why did I only feel more frustrated? The way my hands rubbed my skin didn¡¯t feel the same when Tom was touching me. Everything was so different, even the way I felt down there changed. What was wrong exactly? Chapter 209 209 Ufortable Warning: A bit of NSFW ahead! Read at your own risk! (Tom¡¯s PoV) I didn¡¯t know when her wings had spread so wide and beautiful like that. We were always together but I had no idea how she could be so deadly yet beautiful like this. Sanji and I had been training like crazy, but we couldn¡¯t even catch up to her. The way she summoned the army even got me startled. How much spiritual power did she exert to create this mystical yet grandiose entrance? Yet, she looked perfectly fine after that. Siji had told us about how vast her power was, but to witness it with our own eyes... I thought I needed to double my effort in developing my power. Otherwise, instead of walking side by side by her and helping her through with all of these magical issues, I would end up being protected by her. Hey, my ego as a man wouldn¡¯t allow that! But, she was just too abnormal to be able to call a normal girl. There was no way I couldpete with her in terms of abnormality. Therefore, I should just level up myself so that, at least, I could stand beside her and help her to go through all these obstacles together. I sat down on my bed with my legs crossed. My back was straight and my eyes closed. I took a deep breath five times before I could finally enter my consciousness. As expected, Putra weed my arrival with his big eyes staring at me. Ever since I had improved in my spiritual power, I could meet Putra in my consciousness. I didn¡¯t need to go where the Death Volcano was. Only after I consulted with Siji that I finally understood that he could even go out and help me when I had reached one or two levels higher than I was at this moment. ..... The first time I realized Putra was inside my consciousness was after I had understood the way of my spiritual power worked out. After that, we had been working together tobine our power. Even so, it was still not enough topete with Jane. At that time, Putra said that Jane¡¯s aura was really simr to his First Guardian¡¯s sworn sister. He didn¡¯t like that girl because she often bullied him. Whenever she came by, she would always bully him. Sometimes, she would beat him up if he cried too much, or when he was about to go berserk. His First Guardian would only tell her to stop andforted him a bit by saying that his sister meant good by beating him up. Until today, I didn¡¯t know what he meant by that. Since she was so simr in aura with the woman, I could easily assume that the sworn sister he was talking about was indeed the First Master of White Army. However, Jane was so different from the mischievous woman back then, he said. He liked Jane more than that woman to the point he idolized her. Since he was inside my consciousness, he must have seen how Jane pulled that magnificent style of summoning entrance. Well, his clear and excited eyes were giving the answer obviously. ¡°What?¡± I asked him as I saw him following behind me with excitement painted all over his face. ¡°She is so cool!¡± Putra squealed in exhration. ¡°Tell me, how did she do that? It was my first time seeing someone summoned our kind as indolent as she was.¡± ¡°Apparently, I don¡¯t know the answer to your question.¡± I sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s train.¡± I sat down and started to meditate again. However, Putra was acting as if he had just eaten lots of sugar that he jumped around in tion. I sighed and gave way to him while I was leaving my own consciousness. Since I couldn¡¯t train, might as well let Putra used this ce. So, I came out and decided to check on the house before we all went to our own bed and slept. As this vi was pretty big, we got our own separate room. Honestly, I wish I could hug her to sleep. I didn¡¯t like it when I had to be separated with her. Weeks in Satu Vige were enough for me to hold back. However, this time, I didn¡¯t think so. The door to her room was locked when I tried to open it up at my first chance. Therefore, I went around continuing my inspection. After that, I nned to return to my bedroom, only to see Jane was standing in her bedroom door looking all flush and seductive. She was d in her bathroom robe but somehow the slight opening on her chest made her looked even more sensual. Not to mention the way her heated gaze was directed at me. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with some strands of her hair framed her pretty face. I gulped hard. Was it really wise for us to act like this? I would lie if I said I didn¡¯t want her. But, was it okay? What about Sanji? Thest time we did it in her house was because Sanji had gone out. However, I didn¡¯t think he would go out again this time. What would happen? As a fellow man with the same feeling towards the same girl, I was sure he must have dirty thought about my girlfriend, too. He must have dreamed about her in a very wet dream before. Strangely, I thought that that kind of thought would disgust me, or at least anger me. However, the thought of my girlfriend was being pleasured by two men gave me a strong sexual desire. I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen if it was anybody else, not Sanji. Maybe I would rip him to pieces. Maybe it was because I had been sharing the same struggle with Sanji that I was willing to see him with my sweetheart. Whatever it was, I didn¡¯t find it repulsive when I pictured him being tangled with my sweet Jane on the bed. Instead, I found it arousing. Both of us pleasuring Jane... hm, it sounded good. After all, Jane was our top priority. As if all my permission was heard, the door to Sanji¡¯s room was opened from inside. Our eyes simultaneously shifted to him. He must have noticed the way Jane¡¯s heated gaze was directed at him and the way I smirked in consent for what was about to happen. I only hoped he could get what I meant and didn¡¯t need me to spell it out for him. His gaze flickered a bit in hesitant, though. But it wasn¡¯t for long. His long strides across the room were a prelude to whatever would happen afterwards. Well, I guessed it was my time to give them bit privacy before I joined inter. Walking towards the opposite directions, I went to put on extra guards in some of the spots in the house. Her soft moan was heard from the crack of the door. My body instantly felt hot. It was crazy but I was feeling a bit jealous even if I was the one who allowed this crazy thing to happen. However, as crazy as it sounded, I realized I was hard the entire time. I was so hard I found my shorts so ufortable. I needed to have her. That¡¯s what I told myself. Thus, I entered her room and saw the most erotic live action sexual intercourse in my life. For a moment, I was absorbed in watching their y that I forgot to undress myself. Her moans turned into wild shrieks and as her pitch got higher to the point she couldn¡¯t make any sound, I knew that she had reached her climax powerfully. I felt like someone was challenging me. Without further ado, I crawled on the bed and joined in the fun. A smirk on Sanji¡¯s face made me realized that he was indeed challenging me. Fine! Challenge epted! With me joining in the fun, Jane could only gasp for breath as we both yed with her body. We made sure she got all the fun she needed, released all the stress she had inside, and at the same time, epted our way of pampering her on the bed. Of course, there would also be pampering mode outside the bedroom. Since I allowed Sanji to make the first move, I would also allow him to taste her tightness ahead of me. With thinyer of sweat covered his body, I watched as he pushed inside her. Primal grunt was heard from his throat and I smirked as I knew he would be hooked to her after he tasted her. ¡°Just remember not toe inside.¡± I warned him as I fondled with Jane¡¯s pair of stiff nipples. Seeing her writhed like that, gasping for breath, and moaning like a mess made me unable to turn my head. I was always mesmerized by the way she looked helpless under my body -this time, it was not mine, but whatever -and couldn¡¯t help but dive down and kiss her hard. I sucked on her tongue as Sanji sucked on her nipples. His waist didn¡¯t stop moving and with every thrust, Jane would let out sexy throaty groan. I moved away from her lips so that I could enjoy her sexy groan, but what she did made my eyes widened in surprise and pleasure. I didn¡¯t even notice my moan escaped from my mouth as soon as the wet cavern enveloped my stiff rod. Chapter 210 210 But You Liked It, Didn¡¯t You? (Tom¡¯s PoV) Where and when did she learn it? I learned about itter that she watched some ¡®education¡¯ before she decided to seduce me. She didn¡¯t n to do it since the thought of putting ¡®it¡¯ in her mouth made her flinched in refusal. However, as soon as I appeared and lust took over her mind, she felt intrigue and even... wanted it. That¡¯s her confessionter. It exined why she was clumsy at first, but several minutester, I could only feel pleasure hit my nerves. I forgot that she was a fast learner! Even when she got pounded hard by Sanji, she still could perform a rather mind-blowing fetio on me. Our grunts and moans mixed and created a rather sensual melody in the steamy bedroom. From a mirror stuck on the opposite of the bed, I watched three sweaty bodies moved erotically in the dim light. It was like watching a live adult movie without censor. The slim and fragile one was ced in the middle, became the center of attention amongst the three. She was also the one getting attacked so hard that sometimes she would gasp for breath. Even so, she persisted with her body flushed red and her eyes hazy with lust and desire. It was such a sight to behold. The more messed up she became, the more satisfied I felt. Based on how Sanji reacted, I bet he would feel the same. During the deed, I forgot that I should feel jealous to Sanji. I even forgot that I was Jane¡¯s sole boyfriend, the one who should please her instead of Sanji. All I had in mind were how beautiful she was, and how satisfied I was as I saw her being defeated even after she fought with us with all her might. I lost count on how many times we did it. Around two or three in the morning, after a bit of rest, Sanji brought her to the bathroom to clean themselves. I fixed the bed first before I joined them under the shower. To my surprise, they had started another round. Hah! I should have known Sanji wasn¡¯t any ordinary guy. He was more like a thirsty man who found an oasis. He had held back his desire all this time and when he unleashed it, he was like a beast. ..... Well, Jane had that effect on me as well. And I knew perfectly that with a bit of tease, the seductress would rise up from her slumber and respond to it. So, even though she was dead tired from our previous session, she would always have spare energy for another round. And what I found as I walked in on them was Sanji¡¯s fingers were ying with her slightly swollen and red pussy, fingering her till her body went stiff and her eyes rolled back to her skull. Her mouth formed an O and her gasp was slowly disappeared. Secondster, her naked body quivered along with her muffled scream as she got her climax. It was such a beautiful sight! Jane having an orgasm under the water, I mean. If you wanted to ask me whether I saw Sanji¡¯s body, yes, I saw it. However, since our body was more or less simr, I didn¡¯t feel inferior to him and had no need to check it out from time to time or evenpared myself to him. As a fellow straight man, my only concern was whether he could pleasure my baby Jane or not. In my eyes, he was just another naked man, period. Therefore, even with his naked body almost shielding Jane¡¯s whole body, I could only see Jane in her glory. So beautiful and breath-taking! Without waiting for her euphoria to over, Sanji and I had shoved our stiff rods into her and lifted her feet off the ground. Both of her holes were filled with our rods, Sanji was sucking and ying with her nipples, and I yed with her sensitive clit between my fingers. In no time, she had bucked herself, trying to free herself from us as another orgasm hit her. If it continued like this, we would spend our morning in the bathroom. But, we finally stopped when Jane protested weakly that she had no more strength to keep going. Sanji and I still reached our climax before we finally cleaned ourselves and slept on the made up bed together with Jane in the middle of us. I woke up when I felt someone was pinching my cheek. Opening my eyes, I saw Jane was looking at me with me shooting from her eyes. I wonder what made her angry this morning. ¡°Very good. I didn¡¯t know you would give me to Sanji.¡± Sheined in a whisper. I smirked. ¡°But you liked it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Her blush proved me that I was right. Leaning towards her, Iforted her. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I believe in Sanji. He won¡¯t hurt you. If it were another man, I wouldn¡¯t do it. Since we are devoted to you, you should be d that there is one more man to please you when the other one wasn¡¯t around.¡± ¡°What¡¯s more, I saw that you loved the way he worked your body.¡± I smirked as my hand slipped between thepels of her bathrobe and rubbed her firm tits. ¡°Also, I love it when you go wild.¡± I whispered seductively as I kissed her. ¡°Pervert fox.¡± She pulled my hand out of her robe and red at me. She looked so cute with how she was blushing furiously but forcing herself to re at me. Iughed. I was tempted to start another round, but my stomach had started to make a sound. Furthermore, Jane wasn¡¯t moving which led to one conclusion; she couldn¡¯t walk after our long battlest night. ¡°Let me massage you after I eat.¡± I promised her as I got down the bed and put on my clothes fromst night. ¡°Just wait here obediently.¡± With that, I went out from her bedroom and headed towards the kitchen. As expected, Sanji was there. But he looked in a daze even though whatever he fried had created a burnt smell. I put off the fire and put the sausages on a te. ¡°You¡¯re going to get yourself in trouble if you keep zoning out like that.¡± I said to him casually. Sanji looked at me with mixed emotion in his eyes. His mouth opened and closed like a fish without any wordsing out of it. ¡°I know. I was surprised at myself, too. But, after a careful thinking, I realized that I couldn¡¯t be selfish to you. We are both her protectors. Even though I did feel jealous at first, and I might feel jealous again in the future, I know that Jane needs the both of us. Not just me, but you too. For now, let¡¯s just focus on her. After all this mess up is over, we will see where the fate will bring us. Whether she picked you or me, we both know that we should ept whatever her decision will be.¡± ¡°For now, we should just ease her burden and stress. I must sayst night was crazy and wild and I don¡¯t regret my decision at all. See, Jane likes it. And as long as she likes it, I will willingly give in to her will.¡± I said to him in all seriousness I could show him. ¡°So, just in case you¡¯re still unable toprehend what I¡¯m saying, you are her boyfriend, too, from now on. Let¡¯s work hard to please her, help her, and protect her together.¡± I smiled and poured water into my mug. Sanji smiled. ¡°You... Don¡¯t regret itter!¡± He warned me, but I didn¡¯t take it to heart. It was better to end this conversation soon. I wasn¡¯t really good with words that it made me cringed after I said those words to him. I would never exin anything like that again! We both prepared thete breakfast together and brought it into the bedroom. The queen had been waiting, after all. We didn¡¯t talk aboutst night, instead, we talked about what we should do after that. Sanji said that he would go out to find some information about the man that attacked us yesterday. Also, he would want to get some information about the ce of meeting. I openly said to him that I would give Jane a massage since we had worn her out on the night before. Jane was blushing profusely as she noticed the way I said it to Sanji. It was a promise of sexy massage. I was still in naughty mood, after all. I couldn¡¯t help but tease her. Sanji shook his head and warned me not to overdo it. After having breakfast, Sanji went to his room and prepared himself. In an hour or so, he had set off to gather some information. On the other hand, I looked at Jane after Sanji went out. It seemed like I wasn¡¯t the only one who was in naughty mood. Even though she was still blushing, her eyes exposed her inner wish to be ravaged. Nah, I was just exaggerating about her being ravaged. It was just me who wanted to ravage her. Pulling off the sheets off her body, I helped her to lie down on her stomach. Still with her robe on, she instructed me to find her body lotion before I started massaging her. Pouring some of the lotion on her, I started to gently massage her. Start from her delicate feet, up until her thighs. I lifted up her robe until it hiked up on her firm ass, then I massaged her inner thigh gently before she couldin. She hissed in pain but then she started to moan softly. My fingers identally touched her naked pussy and felt that she was quite wet down there. Was she feeling aroused already? I smirked. It seemed my dirty mind would transform into reality. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- [intermezzo line] Tom: Would you believe it if I said ¡®I identally touched it¡¯? (smirking evilly) Author: ... pervert. (o.o) Tom: Who told you to give me a sensitive girlfriend? I just want to tease her all day and f*ck her senselessly. Author: ... crazy pervert. Jane will burn you. (o.o) Tom: No, she won¡¯t. After all, readers like what I do to her. (smiling victoriously) Author: ... Do they? Chapter 211 211 Please, Help Us! (Tom¡¯s PoV) I looked at the man Siji brought into the house. I didn¡¯t bother to hide my displeasure as I sat on the chair like a boss with my eyes shooting chilly gaze. Sitting beside me was Jane, fully dressed and if she were so passionate about getting pummeled just several minutes ago, she didn¡¯t show it. Her face returned to the serious mask she would put on every time she would deal with something important. Damn! Right in a crucial time, Siji told her that he got some lead about the army from before. Therefore, she requested to help her got dressed and refused any advancement towards her. I nearly broke the bed in my frustration. Since I couldn¡¯t get anything, I might as well follow her and listen to the ¡®lead¡¯ Siji got for her. The man was not a human. I wasn¡¯t surprised at that fact. However, the way he carried himself was so full of dignity that I was wondering how Siji could ask him toe here. ¡°Young woman, I see that you¡¯ve met the Cloud Army.¡± The old man smiled. My eyebrows arched in instant I heard that name. Cloud Army? I nced at her and found her frowning and falling into contemtion. ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Jane said with cold eyes. ¡°Why could that manmand some of the men?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because they are rted by blood. Compared to White Army who only obeyed one Master, Cloud Army is more like a Kingdom. Once the old Master retires, his or her children or even grandchildren will have the same opportunity to fight for the position.¡± The man exined patiently. ..... I had no idea such rule applied in that Cloud Army. It was totally different with how White Army chose their Master randomly. Honestly, I still had no idea what was the criterion to be Master of White Army. ¡°However, the current Master is not the rightful heir. The one who¡¯s supposed to be the rightful Master is his nephew, the little brother of the man who provoked you. It¡¯s just too bad that he is still young and easily manipted so he let his uncle to manage the army.¡± The old man spoke again. That answered why they couldn¡¯t use the ability of Cloud Army to the fullest. This man knew much. Who was he, actually? I guessed that he was an important figure in the Cloud Army. But, how could Sanji bring him here? He said that he would go out to scout some information, who told him to abduct someone here? Even though this old man was only a ghost -or soul, whatever -I didn¡¯t think it was appropriate to abduct one. ¡°Where is he?¡± Jane asked. There was no ripple in her cold eyes hearing about that. Well, the matter rted to Cloud Army was not any of our business so it was just right that she didn¡¯t care about it. ¡°ying with his friends.¡± The old man replied. I frowned as I heard him. How old was the Master, actually? ¡°How old is he?¡± I asked. Somehow I had an inkling that this supposed-to-be-the real Master of Cloud Army was even younger than Jane who was only in her teens. Well, she was not a young girl, but a girl who had turned into a young fine woman. Even her way of thinking was different with the girls around her age. When girls at her age were busy with their love life and got into trouble with their parents at their backs scolding them, Jane was busy nning about her father¡¯s rescue. When some girls out there were ying with fire; dating two men at the same time but failed to hide it or even worse, created a whole new trouble for themselves, Jane had already got two men in her hands. Two men who loved her enough to share her with each other but would drown themselves in vinegar when other men tried to get close to her. As one of the man, I could say that I was proud to be her man. Noin needed. So, I couldn¡¯t really take Jane as a mere teenager in herte teen age. After all, she was an abnormalpared to the others. Heh, I even forgot that she was still a teenager. It was because she had a mature body; a perfectbination of her mother who was a foreigner and her father who was taller than the average Indonesians. Many would envy her figure if only she would stop wearing loose t-shirt or baggy pants. She hid her curves really well. I was sure the real Master of Cloud Army was someone really younger than Jane to be able to let others take care of the army while he was having fun out there. ¡°He is twenty years old.¡± The old man said calmly. I frowned, an attempt to hide the shock I felt inside. Twenty years old? Ah, see? My Jane was still the best, after all. I didn¡¯t notice a smirk crept on my face after frowning. Later, I learned from Siji that I looked practically menacing that way. The old man thought that I was feeling displeasure with the age of the real Master and had been mocking him inside my head. He also thought that I was probably thinking about how to eradicate that foolish master of him, that I thought his presence as the real Master of a mystical army was a disgrace. The old man was seriously having fun in imagining things! He should be a novelist or a movie director if he had that great of imagination running wild in his head. After hearing the master¡¯s real age, Jane put her head on her hand helplessly. She had a hopeless look on her face and she sighed softly. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it that much.¡± I said to her. ¡°With the meetinging up, I can¡¯t help but feel nervous. Since they want to have a grand meeting, the problem must be pretty serious, too. I¡¯m just afraid that our force will be reduced greatly if Cloud Army couldn¡¯t use its full powerter.¡± Jane exined her worries. ¡°Young woman, I¡¯m willinglye to see you in hope that you can persuade the Master to take over the control of the army. Honestly, our current Master has been abusing his authority over the army. As the Guardian of Cloud Army, I couldn¡¯t let him continue his wrongdoings anymore. Please, help us.¡± The old man¡¯s gaze changed into something more serious as he spoke. He even lowered his head to plead to Jane. My eyes widened in surprise at the identity of the old man. So, turn out he was The Guardian of Cloud Army! No wonder he knew much about Cloud Army but at the same time he restricted an amount of information from us. Well, never mind. As long as he didn¡¯t n something bad for us, I didn¡¯t mind him asking for help. However, all the decision was still in Jane¡¯s hand. I looked at her pretty figure from her side. Her calm eyes didn¡¯t seem to be perturbed. She didn¡¯t show any sign that she was considering the request or not. If I were the old man, I was sure I would be nervous. ¡°Dear Sir...¡± I coughed in my hand. I was about to call him ¡®old man¡¯, but remembering his position as the Guardian of Cloud Army, I made some adjustment to it. ¡°We don¡¯t mean to reject your request, but we also need time to train ourselves. We have no idea about your real Master, so persuading him is nearly impossible. After all, we don¡¯t know whether he can¡¯t control the army because he is still young or because he doesn¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told him the same.¡± Siji chimed in. After all this time and he just made a sound now? Where were you? ¡°Your Master is a capable one. She is smart and reliable. I believe she could think of something to help us.¡± The old man shot him a long nce over his shoulder. ¡°As you know, we can do nothing to oppose our own Master, but if it¡¯s a force from outside, I believe Master of First Army is the most suitable to return the peace to Cloud Army.¡± His eyes showed his determination as he looked straight to Jane. I frowned. Did he even think of the casualties that might happen if White Army and Cloud Army were to sh in a battle? Why did he need to throw this burden at Jane? ¡°He¡¯s right. After all, Jane is the Master of First Army.¡± Siji said. Right. I forgot about that. Even though there was no rule stating that the First Army was the leader of all ten armies, ever since the presence of the First Master, all the other Masters referred to him as the leader. It came without saying that the Master of First Army would be the problem solver of the other armies¡¯ trouble, the one who held the highest order of all. But, somehow I had this doubt that something had changed. I didn¡¯t doubt Jane¡¯s ability, but human¡¯s greed was something we knew nothing about. I was afraid that Jane wasn¡¯t at the highest order anymore. ¡°Since it was the case, I can¡¯t promise you anything, but I will give a try. You know that we have very limited time to convince your real master to take over the army, so I hope you won¡¯t take it in your heart if I fail to do so.¡± Jane calmly responded to the man¡¯s request. ¡°Of course, of course.¡± He nodded hastily. There was sign of relieved in his eyes. His smile bloomed as soon as he heard her responding to his request. ¡°Good for you, old man.¡± Siji smiled. ¡°Now I can be reassured that your Master has voiced her choice.¡± The old man raised his thumb up towards Siji. ¡°I can return to my abode peacefully now.¡± ¡°Wait a minute.¡± A question popped in my mind and I hastily stopped him from returning to where he belonged to. ¡°Yes?¡± The old man turned his head towards me. ¡°Why weren¡¯t those two able to recognize Jane as the Master of White Army?¡± If they were ignorant like Jane or Sanji or me, it was pretty much almost impossible to recognize a fellow Master. But, I was sure I saw Cloud Army¡¯s Advisor among them as well as the General. How could the advisor not know about Jane? The old man let out a bitter smile listening to my question. ¡°Arrogance.¡± He said. His eyes reflected the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. ¡°We have tried to inform them both, but they refused to ept it. As I said before, we couldn¡¯t disobey our Masters, but we could choose to be silent if he didn¡¯t ask us first. It was hard to lie, but to stay silent the whole time was easier than sucking up to them.¡± Ah, so that¡¯s what happened. Exactly just how evil were those people from before that they made their own men turned themselves towards other people and asked for help? ¡°Then, please excuse me.¡± He bowed down again before he disappeared. I called Sanji as soon as the old man disappeared. Jane was still sitting with her frown grew deeper. I bet she must be thinking of how she could persuade that master who sounded no more than a yboy and troublemaker in my ears. ¡°Sanji, help us finding an information about the real Master of Cloud Army.¡± I told him as soon as I heard his voice on the other end of the phone call. ¡°Name?¡± I looked Siji as Siji told me a family name. ¡°Sanji, his family name was Wikarta. The real Master should be Rasha Wikarta, around 20 years old.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Then, the call went off. He was too serious to the point he talked less and less each day. What was wrong with him, actually? ¡°I¡¯ll go find information outside. We will start our training tomorrow morning. Don¡¯t forget.¡± Throwing a teasing smirk, he went and disappeared from our sight. After all the visitors had gone, I looked at Jane¡¯s serious expression. She didn¡¯t look at me at all. It was either she did it on purpose or she had drowned herself into working mode. Either way, I could only confirm it. ¡°Hey...¡± I rubbed her hand gently. Blinking her eyes, she turned her head towards me. What I saw bemused me. Her previous clear and cold gaze turned hot and seductive in a matter of seconds. What a strong desire! She must have been suppressing her libido this whole time during our conversation with the old man to be able to create this kind of storm in her eyes. But, she really did an excellent job hiding her true intention. Her stoic andid-back manner made her look hard to approach, but who knew what¡¯s behind all of it? I even thought that she had lost her desire, turned out she suppressed it and let it built up more and more inside. ¡°Tom...¡± She whispered softly. My ears felt like it was being tickled by her soft whisper and feverish gaze. Her eyes grew hazy, but it didn¡¯t stop her to do whatever she wanted. She moved so fast and when I realized what had happened, she was straddling myp. ¡°Ugh...¡± I groaned. Chapter 212 212 Get Up and Follow Me (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°Tom...¡± Her soft whisper tugged at my heartstring, brought a feathery sensation on my nerves. My heart palpitated as I felt my eyes grew hazy. I could feel something stirred inside, heated up my body and threatened to burst into fireworks. The heat pooled in my lower abdomen, and the little brother residing there had started to react strongly. Forget about how she had started to grind on me, her mere scent could instantly drive me crazy. She moved her body wantonly, her head tilted backwards as moans leaked from her sweet mouth. Every time she called my name, I felt like I wanted to ravish her. However, patient is virtue. I repeated that in my head. As soon as I saw her pouting at me while whispering ¡®please¡¯ in a frustrated tone, I knew that my patience bore a sweet fruit. Without waiting for her to plead for the second time, I switched our ce until I held her under my body, trapped between my body and the couch. Before long, I had pushed myself into her and we both moaned in bliss. Seeing the pleasure look on her face made me wanted to mess her up even more. I wanted to hear her scream. I wanted to see her bathed in her sweat. I wanted to mess her up inside and outside. And I got what I wanted. The chairs and table became our witnesses of how wild we yed. At night, I let Sanji slept with her. Since I had my share in the morning, it wouldn¡¯t be fair if I meddled into his action. Not to mention, Jane wouldn¡¯t be able to take it if we both serviced her. ..... There was no agreement between Sanji and me before. It just happened like that for two days. Well, if Siji didn¡¯t appear and force us to start training, I believed we would have lost ourselves in pleasuring Jane -and ourselves, of course. It was as if we were here on our honeymoon instead of attending a significant meeting. Therefore, after a round of scolding from Siji, saying that we both wasting Jane¡¯s time to improve herself, Sanji and I yielded and immersed ourselves in a hell¡¯s training again. About the matter with that real Master of Cloud Army, well, Siji let us out from our training for several hours on our third day of training. However, he let us out with a bunch of information in our hands, including the ce where this Master usually visited to y with his friends. Night club, arcade, cafe, and... woah, hotel. What kind of Master was he? ¡°He visited five hotels this week, with different girls around his arm. What a yer!¡± I shook my head as I looked at the pictures I had. Where Siji got these things, I had no idea. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Jane yawned but she still stood up and walked out. She just dressed casually; a pair of blue jeans and a simple over-sized white shirt on top of her navy tank top. The cor of the shirt was loose enough to show her beautiful neckline. Her hair was neatly tied in a ponytail. She usually didn¡¯t put any make up on, but this time she put on some peach colored lip cream and slight blush on her cheeks which further entuated her fair skin. I wish I could wrap her up in a thick nket to prevent her from showing anymore skin. She looked like a fresh goddess. Her eyes still had a hint of sleepiness, but it made her looked like an aloof ice queen. Was it really okay to let her out in this state? I wasn¡¯t afraid of her getting into an ident since there was no way Sanji or I would let her get into one. However, we were pretty much aware of how much of a seductress she could be in her lethargic state. And, how honest she could be with words. And how she could get easily irritated with stupidity. Just say, if that stupid real master decided to hit on her and tried to make his way with sweet talks and everything, forget about getting harsh words from her, I bet she would just drag him away and beat the crap out of him and make him assumed his position as the Master of Cloud Army, by force. Since we knew the consequences of letting her go by herself, both Sanji and I made sure to follow her. We arrived at the cafe near the campus where that Master studied at. It was right in the opposite of the main gate and it was pretty popr among the students. Our target was there, sitting with his friends, chatting andughing, in a corner of the cafe. I personally thought that Jane would find a ce to sit and observe the situation before she made her move. Who would expect that she would walk up to him and stand in front of him without saying anything until she got his attention. Sanji and I exchanged nces but we maintained a safe distance from her. It didn¡¯t take long since her first step into the cafe had attracted many eyes from the other customers. Even the Master of Cloud Army had his eyes on her in a second. I watched as Jane stood there without saying anything. She looked at the man quietly. My face darkened as I saw that lewd expression on his face. Could I punch him? How dare he look at her with his filthy eyes?! I wasn¡¯t the only one who got irritated with how he gazed at Jane like that. Beside me, Sanji had the same darkened expression on his face. However, that was not our only concern for now. Since he dared to show his disgusting face towards her, I bet she wouldn¡¯t let him off like that. My body went into full alert as I was ready to step forwards in case something bad happened. Surprisingly, she didn¡¯t go berserk like what I thought. ¡°Get up and follow me.¡± From her cold tone alone, I knew that she was irritated, as expected. Her eyes must have been shooting icy gaze at him by now. And when I looked at that man¡¯s eyes, I knew that I was right. I silently snorted. A man with a grain size of braveness, how could he be the Master of the Cloudy Army? Chapter 213 213 Roast to Death (Tom¡¯s PoV) His eyes were wavering in fear and intimidation. Any normal man with small guts would cower in fear, indeed. But, he wasn¡¯t supposed to be any normal man. He was the master of Cloud Army, but how could he be easily intimidated by her? ¡°Oh, what¡¯s this? Who is this? I haven¡¯t seen her around you.¡± One of his friends might think that it was alright to joke around. The way he saw her was always disgusting that I wish I could stab him in his eyes, to blind him forever. ¡°Rasha, where did you get this beautiful girl? You managed to hide her so long, what did you do to make her looking for you like this? Ah, is it because you grew bored of her so she came to you?¡± Another stupid man said with a mocking smile on his face. The others responded withughter as they sneered at Jane. I huffed in annoyance. We couldn¡¯t hitmoners, after all. No, we could. It was just... fighting with raw strength would be too tiring. I nned to use our power to teach these brats some lessons, but Siji said there would be some consequences. Whatever it was, I honestly didn¡¯t n to know about it. We all knew about it; Sanji, Jane, and me. Even though there was no tacit understanding between us, I believed that we all didn¡¯t want to taste it. However, I was seriously underestimating Jane¡¯s ability to challenge the rules. Without being able to do anything to prevent it, with a wave of her hand, all of those men got their mouths shut. Panic painted their faces as they couldn¡¯t make any sounds at all. It looked ridiculously strange for them and the others, but we knew perfectly well why. ..... All of his friends, except him. I smirked. If it hade to this, let me help her to get rid of these annoying bastards. Picking up on the back of their cors, Sanji and I started dragging them out of the caf¨¦, ignoring the stares people gave us. Holding one boy in our each hand, we threw the boys out in the open. Right after that, they got their voices back. Hysterical howling in horror resounded in the street, making all the passer-by startled and threw them questioning look. ¡°Stop howling and go back home.¡± I shooed them all. There was not even an ounce of pity in my voice when I said that. I even thought that they were lucky enough to only lose their voice temporarily. If I were Jane, I would have made them blind for three months! Probably being scared out of their wits, my warning to them was obeyed immediately. They all stood up, scrambled on their feet and ran away with their hands on their neck where scream of horror came out along the way. Not only human, even the wandering ghosts nearby all looked at them in confusion. The scene lookedical to me but I didn¡¯t have the mood tough. As fear tended to attract bad and evil ghost, not long after they ran away, those ghosts flew towards them rapidly. Those poor boys didn¡¯t know they had been marked by evil ghosts. Well, some of them were bound to get sick for days, I sighed. I was about to get inside the caf¨¦ once again when the door was pushed opened harshly from inside. It was Jane, and she was pulling someone with her other hands. It was Rasha, the real master of Cloud Army. His face was mixed of fear and anger, but Jane didn¡¯t seem to care about it. If Jane was pulling him on his hand, I bet some people would think that she was here to shoot some sort of cheesy romantic short movie. However, she was clutching at his cor and pulling him behind her, creating a ratherical scene to enjoy. Completed with his pale face, he looked like a husband who got caught red-handed having affair outside. I wasn¡¯t supposed tough at him, but I couldn¡¯t help it. However,ing out like this would surely attract people¡¯s eyes even more. I had no choice but to manipte the eyes of the people around us. Not hiding in the other dimension, but just using a trick to change their perspective. Otherwise, those smartphones of them would be filled with the videos of Jane dragging a young man on the street and in a matter of second, most people in the world would see it. It would be bad for her reputation. As expected, those people who loved to see a good show had all turned their heads away. They didn¡¯t notice us. However, I couldn¡¯t keep doing it. I was relieved when I saw making a turn on an alley nearby. Right when no people were around, I pulled open the curtain that had been separating us from the other dimension and Jane stepped inside with Rasha. I guessed it was not something that Rasha could see every day. Even though he was gifted with sixth sense and power to be the master of Cloud Army, but he had indulged himself in normal person¡¯s activity instead of tempering himself to be better as a Master. Therefore, even though he had witnessed how his uncle led the army, he had never experienced the feeling of crossing other dimension. He could see it, but because of his ignorance, he didn¡¯t know that he had been seeing the curtains, doors, or even borders to the other dimension. Judging from his expression, it was his first time crossing the other dimension. ¡°Wait! Who are you?¡± Snapping back from his trance, Rasha started to struggle free from Jane¡¯s clutch. Jane stopped and released him. Then, she turned to look at him. The way her cold gaze shot towards that poor man, I could see what he would be in the next hour. ¡°Fire Bearer,e.¡± Jane said in a low tone. I blinked my eyes. Fire bearer? What would she do with them? As soon as she finished saying those words, those White Army men bearing blue fire appeared behind her in a sh. ¡°Whatever she does, she must have thought about it before. Let¡¯s just watch.¡± Sanji said. He sounded so calm. The way he trusted her wasparable to me. Anyway, he was right. Jane must have thought of something. We should just wait and watch the show. Ah, also... we needed to be cautious in case this poor man nned to escape. Rasha¡¯s eyes widened as he saw those mighty looking fire bearers. ¡°You...¡± He choked a bit. ¡°Summon your army if you don¡¯t want to be roasted to death.¡± Jane said as she waved her hand and the blue fire behind her became even bigger and higher. This scene was unbelievably terrifying if the one she confronted was an enemy, but in our eyes -in my eyes -it was beautiful. In the dim surroundings of astral world, she was standing there with blue fire as her background. The blue light emanating from the fire made her looked like a high ranking priest in the game, looking ethereal and intimidating at the same time. I always knew fire was her forte, but how could she make it look like the fire was not dangerous at all? Even a kid knew better not to y with fire, but with her as the center, the fire seemed harmless and invited people to touch it. I shook my head slightly. I thought I was so in love with her that if she wanted me to jump into it, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do so. My eyes shifted to the frightened man in front of her. What I saw really made me speechless. If he could get any paler, he would. His legs were wobbling in fear as he stepped backwards. ¡°Young man, I suggest you to call your men right now. In any minutes, when she starts attacking, you won¡¯t have the chance to run away, I tell you. Just summon them and they will do the job.¡± If you have the ability to make them work, of course. I added that inwardly. ¡°What men?!¡± He shouted. ¡°Cloud Army. Don¡¯t y a fool. We know you are the real master of Cloud Army.¡± Sanji said calmly. ¡°What Cloud Army?!¡± He asked again. It looked like the fear had turned him stupid. We didn¡¯t have time to exin it to him, or rather, we didn¡¯t want to exin it to him. It would be a waste of our energy. Jane didn¡¯t give time for him to prepare himself as she stated her order. ¡°Go.¡± As soon as her voice was heard, streak of blue light shot towards Rasha in a sh. What followed after that was painful howling that came from the supposed-to-be-master of Cloud Army. Well, let¡¯s just hope he would be okay after this. Chapter 214 214 What A Cunning Move! (Tom¡¯s PoV) Normally, no one could leave unscathed from those fierce shots of fire. But, much to my surprise, he did it! As soon as those fire faded away, we all saw him fallen back with his eyes wide opened in shock. I was curious about how he could be safe and sound after that fire hit him. However, Jane didn¡¯t give him any chance to recover from his shock when sheunched another attack. With the fire burning high in the sky, she pulled a bow out of the air and put an arrow made of fire in it, aiming for Rasha¡¯s head. The cold look she had on her face really made me think that she really wanted to kill him. There was no blood thirsty air detected from her, but the way she looked at Rasha as if his life was not something worthy. Rasha was like an annoying mosquito that could be killed anytime without feeling guilty. But, I believed Jane would not reach to that point. There was no way she would kill someone as important as Rasha . But, the way she acted felt dangerous. Ah, I really didn¡¯t know what Jane had in mind. I really had no other choice but had faith in her. I focused myself on seeing Jane raining Rasha with fire arrows. That poor guy could only run away while screaming like a woman. The strange thing was... he was untouched by the fire! Now that my eyes had gotten used to the scene in front of me, I could finally see the faint barrier appeared in front of Rasha, protecting him every time he would get hit by the fire. It was so short that if I didn¡¯t watch it carefully, there was no way I could notice it. ..... However, I doubted that coward noticed anything. He still had that horrified expression on his face. If I were him, I wouldn¡¯t need to feel afraid since I would be unharmed from the attack. But, he didn¡¯t. How stupid was he exactly? Well, again, it was normal for him. But, I was more curious to why Jane kept getting more vicious in her attack. Each of her attack seemed to aim for kill. She might have known about the barrier, but she kept attacking Rasha. It was only around ten minutes since she started attacking and I had lost count on how many attacks had been shot towards that man. The sturdy barrier finally showed a crack and Jane increased her attack. The crack spread like a spider web under those attacks. I unconsciously held my breath as I watched it warily. Any of those attacks could cause death if it hit Rasha head-on! I thought I should be ready to pull that man out if something bad were to happen. However, my concern was not needed after all. Right before the barrier copsed, someone appeared between them and repelled those attacks away! Judging from the way his body was emitting a faint glow and looking almost transparent, I knew he was someone from the other dimension. Also, somehow our dim surrounding turned even darker, like a dark cloud before a heavy rain. Instantly, Jane stopped attacking. There was a glint of victorious in her eyes. Her sleepiness seemed to have disappeared. The sight of her bearing the demeanor of a winner looked sparklingly beautiful, especially with the glow of blue fire behind her. I was mesmerized by the scene in front of me for a split second. ¡°You¡¯re here, finally.¡± Jane said with a faint smile on her face. ¡°Master of First Army.¡± The man bowed down to Jane. ¡°Heh, she managed to get him out here.¡± Siji appeared out of nowhere. He chuckled in amusement, but it seemed like he knew who that man was. ¡°Who is he?¡± Sanji asked the question quickly before I could say it. ¡°Advisor of Cloud Army.¡± Siji smiled. ¡°Just watch. It will be a good show.¡± He said as he sat down next to me. My eyes widened in surprised hearing his answer. That man was the Advisor of Cloud Army? Then he was in the same position as Siji, then. As much as I wanted to ask more questions towards Siji, he had said to watch the show. Therefore, I turned my head towards the trio in front of me. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell him to assume his position as the rightful Master of Cloud Army? Or do you still want to y with his uncle and cousin?¡± Jane crossed her arms across her chest. The man smiled patiently. ¡°Master of First Army, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want him to be our Master. But, since he refused to acknowledge us, I couldn¡¯t even appear in front of him. Since he couldn¡¯t see me, how could he take on his role as our Master?¡± Jane arched her eyebrows as she looked at the young man behind the Advisor of Cloud Army. ¡°But now he can see you.¡± She said nonchntly. ¡°Go and take care of it. I want him to assume his position fully today.¡± ¡°But...¡± The Advisor looked like he wanted toin. Well, if I were to be a General for someone asme as Rasha, I wouldin, too. ¡°He has the ability to let you use your full abilities as Cloud Army. Without him, you can¡¯t even stand a chance to protect this city, let alone the Middle Region. Those uncle and cousin of him could only use your men for evil purpose. Unless he ims his position as the Master, they will be able to use you however they want, turning you from cloudy to darkness. If that happens, I¡¯m afraid Cloud Army will be destroyed forever.¡± Jane stated calmly. ¡°You, as the Advisor of Cloud Army, have the ability to shape your future master into what the Cloud Army needs. I believe you can awaken his real power in him in less than a week. I will see you in the meetingter, with him as your Master. If you fail to do so...¡± Jane stopped and smiled brightly at him. ¡°...you¡¯ll see your Cloud Army being White Army¡¯s sandbags.¡± After saying that, she waved her hand, signaling the fire bearers to return, before she walked towards us. ¡°Let¡¯s go back. I want to catch up on my sleep before Siji let us return to our hellish training.¡± She yawnedzily. ¡°Eh, I underestimated your bossing skill.¡± Siji said. ¡°I was expecting a good fight between you and that old man. But, he seems to be stunned speechless by your skill.¡± Jane flinched as she finally noticed Siji¡¯s presence. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯te.¡± ¡°Just say, your disy of power made the other ghosts went into chaos. It was hard not to notice.¡± Siji smiled as he stood up and dusted off his pants from the non-existent dust. ¡°Also, I sensed the presence of the other Advisor who was in distress. It can only happen if something dangerous happens to someone they are protecting. My guess is the barrier was created by him. All Masters of Cloud Army would have Advisor¡¯s barrier around him/her at all times just in case someone was to attack the Masters before they assume their position as Master of Cloud Army.¡± ¡°However, someone attacking until the barrier was about to copse is a rare case. You¡¯re not the only one, but it can be said that you are pretty nuts to break the barrier like that.¡± Siji squinted his eyes at Jane. ¡°Only when the barrier is about to break that the Advisor will appear. You have been targeting that case, right?¡± Jane smiled. ¡°Of course. If I really wanted to beat him into pulp, I wouldn¡¯t waste my energy and had Sanji or Tom to do it for me. But, the barrier won¡¯t work towards physical attack. Only when I used my power then it would be activated and send signal to the Advisor.¡± ¡°You have nned it all along!¡± I pped my hands out of admiration towards her. ¡°How do you know that information, though?¡± ¡°When you guys were practicing, I have been cramming my brain with knowledge about the armies and everything I need to pay attention to. You don¡¯t know how hard it was for me to remember all of those. I wished I could learn more about my power and practicing like you guys, but Siji had me read and memorize all about the armies.¡± Jane was like a withered flower when she talked about it, as if it was a dark moment for her to remember. Still, she was so awesome to be able to remember that information! ¡°Siji, why don¡¯t you go there and greet your old friend? Take your time chatting with him, we will wait for you at home.¡± Jane suddenly suggested with a suspicious fake smile on her face. Darling, are you trying to drive Siji away so that you can go back home and sleep? What a cunning move! Chapter 215 215 SIDE STORY: The Devil Attacks! Nataya was sitting on his throne with indifferent look on his face. His majestic horns were pitch ck, emitting dark mist around them. His red eyes scanned the room where his underlings were bowing down to him in reverence. Among them, there were four proud generals who looked physically terrifying and intimidating. The four of them were kneeling in the front line, with their heads lowered. Even so, one couldn¡¯t help but notice the trembling from these proud generals and those thousands of underlings. ¡°My King, what possibly could be the cause of your rage? Please, just give us an order and we will do it to our best.¡± One of the Generals tried to voice out his mind. Nataya blinked slowly. His red eyes emitted dangerous feeling which could make one¡¯s stomach tightened up in nervousness. Even if those Generals were the best of the best, they still couldn¡¯t take the pressure came from their King. After all, Nataya was a legendary figure in Astral World. ¡°Who ordered you to attack the borderline in South?¡± Nataya asked in an unhurried tone. The eyes of his underlings shed in fear as tremendous amount of pressure hit them like block of stones, crushing their bodies bit by bit. ¡°M-My King, pardon us. It is near that time. Some of our men lost control of themselves and ended up attacking the border.¡± The General who had red fur and whose eyes like crow¡¯s exined in fear. ¡°Hm?¡± Nataya tilted his head aside as he gazed at that General with cold eyes. He knew that South was the domain of this General. ..... This red general of him was known as the most cunning General, specialized in manipting people¡¯s greed and blood lust. Whenever there was a fight rted to wealth and it would lead to bloodshed, it must be his doing. ¡°Red, are you sure it was coincidence?¡± Nataya asked again. The General who was called as Red lowered his head even more and his body trembled even more. Their King rarely came back and took care of his Kingdom. Why should he return now and question about the attack in the borderline? Red really didn¡¯t know why his King would be so angry that he looked like he wanted to kill him. Yes, I did order my men to attack the border, so what? Who would me me? After all, it is that time where the borderline will be weakened to the point some spots in the human realm will be exposed to Astral World and probably emerged as one. Why couldn¡¯t I mark my territory? How many years had it been since thest time I tried to conquer human world? Redined in his heart, but his face didn¡¯t show anything on it. ¡°My King, is there any reason why we can¡¯t attack human world in this special time? Even though one millennium is not a long time for us, since that human had died, we haven¡¯t had time to expand our territory in the human world. This is our chance to make human revere us.¡± A coquettish voice was heard from the General who had slim and curvy body. It looked like this General was a woman, but in reality, it could be either one of them. When it chose to appear as a woman, it could be as gorgeous as it could be. If it chose to appear as a man, it could be as handsome as it could be. Its main power was to manipte people¡¯s lust, through dream or even in daily life. Even just a tiny spark of lust could invite it and it would be responsible to make it bigger, regardless of the gender. Nataya¡¯s beautiful eyebrows arched as he heard his General mentioned about ¡®that human¡¯. He knew perfectly well who it was talking about. It was his darling, Ajeng. The First Master of White Army. Back then, Ajeng had led the armies and the other Masters to take care of the stubborn devils. She had sessfully incited fear in the heart of these so-called devils. Even without his help, her own power had left a permanent impact on the devils who tried to dominate the world and enve humans. The vivid image of a sea of red me resembling hell was haunting the mind of those devils. Even after she had passed away, those devils still took thousands of years to recover from their fear. It seemed like they had recovered much that they even thought of attacking human again. They must have not heard about the presence of the newest Master of First Army. That girl, even though she wasn¡¯t as strong as Ajeng, was still so strong. Nataya chuckled when he remembered the way that girl looked at him. They were very different. But, he knew this girl had vast potential within her. Give her time and she would surpass the first master, he knew it. Only within a year, she had improved from nobody into a terrifying existence in Astral World. However, why didn¡¯t his underlings hear anything about her? Or was it that they underestimated her? ¡°Have you heard about the new master of White Army?¡± Nataya decided to ask them, just in case their ignorance caused them death. ¡°That little girl? Sure, we heard about her. What are you asking about her, My King?¡± Red asked in confusion. They didn¡¯t know that their King was the one who trained the First Master. If they had known about it, they would not dare to provoke her back then. Nataya chuckled. ¡°Nothing. I just want to warn you, don¡¯t provoke her.¡± All the devils present exchanged looks and there was a hint ofughter in their eyes. However, since it was their King who said it, they would keep it inside no matter how hard it was. But, as their King, how could Nataya not know what they were thinking about. He was just hoping they would heed his warning and not cause much troubleter on. If they provoked her, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save them. ¡°Don¡¯t attack the border and don¡¯t provoke the new Master. Just remember it.¡± He repeated his warning. After saying that, he waved his hands, signaling them to leave him. Those hundreds of underlings rose to their feet and walked out the enormous hall after giving him big salute. Nataya pinched the bridge of his nose and the mist rose and surrounded him. When it dissipated, a handsome man in ck was sitting on the throne regally. His ck hair further entuated the dangerous feeling when he opened his eyes. ¡°Ajeng.¡± He murmured under his breath. Pain shed in his eyes as he remembered thest time he saw his sweetheart. He frowned slightly and the pain changed into rage. However, split secondter, his expression grew solemn. ¡°For your sake, I won¡¯t harm those humans. I¡¯ve promised you, and I¡¯m going to keep my promise.¡± He whispered through his gritted teeth. There was rumble everywhere as dark aura emitted from his body grew stronger and stronger. Outside the hall were the surprised underlings who were staring at it with a big question in their heads. It was rare to see their King to be in rage that his surroundings would show a sign of copsing. Who would dare enough to provoke their King? Who would be so stupid to do so? If it was a human, then it could mean feast for the devils. But, if it was a devil, it could only mean the other devil was so strong and it would lead to a war between their kinds. Since their King didn¡¯t say anything about it, they would just keep quiet and wait for it. The rumbling finally stopped after a streak of ck shadow went out from the top of the hall and disappeared in the distance. Anyone could guess that it was their King, Nataya. Nataya nned to stay and monitor his kingdom for a while longer, actually. However, because of there was a big fluctuation of familiar power, he decided to check it out, just in case that foolish young girl got herself into a trouble she couldn¡¯t solve. It didn¡¯t take a long time for him to reach that ce. Right in the outer side of Astral World, he saw that girl was attacking a human with no expression on her face. All of her attacks were consumingrge portion of her spiritual power, but she didn¡¯t looked exhausted in a bit. Nataya¡¯s eyes flickered as it reflected the blue light from the fire. He was observing her attacks and from his point of view, he must admit that her attacks were beautiful. She didn¡¯t shoot carelessly. Every shoot she made was well thought. She knew what she did! In just a matter of days, she had improved leaps and bounds again. She surprised him with how fast she could advance. Nataya had even wondered whether she was really human. No matter how heaven-defying Ajeng was, she still took years to get to Jane¡¯s level and it was with Nataya as her mentor. But the young girl in front of him had been this good with only some pointers from him and a human soul as her mentor. How good was her perception to be able to lift her into this level? A wide smile spread on his face with his eyes gleaming excitedly. His fingers twitched in excitement, itching to have a good fight with this girl. A familiar sense when he sparred with Ajeng rushed back into his mind, and with that thought in mind, he dove down towards Jane and her friends with his ws aimed at her. This time, he didn¡¯t even y around like his previous visit to her. Chapter 216 216 SIDE STORY: Siji Lost Control! Nataya grinned as she sessfully blocked his attack. He didn¡¯t use his spiritual power to attack her, but he used it to block them from the others. That way, her friends wouldn¡¯t be able to interfere with their fight. Not even that advisor of hers. He watched as her gaze turned sharper and serious. There was no fear or hesitant like she used to have in her eyes. She was ready to take on his challenge, but Nataya couldn¡¯t predict anything about her. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up.¡± He said while grinning excitedly. ¡°Thanks.¡± She shrugged her shoulders but Nataya could sense that she had not lowered her guard even just for a bit. ¡°Do you still have any strength to fight with me? Surely that human over there couldn¡¯t possibly tire you out, right?¡± Nataya took a nce at the young man and his advisor who were watching at them with bewildered eyes. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a bit sleepy and I was just about to head home for a nap. I even thought of a way for my advisor to go away so that I could take my time sleeping peacefully. But, thanks to you... I can¡¯t do it now.¡± She smiled and said it through her gritted teeth. Her eyes shed with annoyance when she looked at him. They were really simr, Nataya thought. When Ajeng was deprived of the thing she liked the most too, she would bare her fangs at him with annoyance clear on her face. The memories of their small banter made his heart warm and his excited eyes turned soft. With the same expression in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but reminiscence about the old days. He found Jane more pleasing to his eyes and his initial displeasure towards her because of her age and incapability to lead the army was changed into something familiar. ..... As Nataya was still drowning in his memories, outside the barrier were three hopping mad men. Sanji and Tom were yelling curse at him, shouting at him to break the barrier. Siji, on the other hand, had anxious look on his face. He tried to feel the barrier to break it and save Jane. However, no matter how much power he used to break it, it didn¡¯t budge at all. The memories when he would always fail to protect the previous Master of White Army triggered his trauma. His fear that he would bring bad luck to the Master overwhelmed him bit by bit. Slowly, he lost hisposure, especially when Nataya started attacking Jane with ferocious attacks. ¡°STOP IT!¡± Siji poured his power towards the barrier, trying hard to break it. The ground was shaking as the impact of him using his full power against the barrier created by the Devil. He didn¡¯t want to see another Master died in front of him again. Thest time it happened, he thought he had got used to the feeling and that he wouldn¡¯t feel frustrated by his incapability to protect the Master. He thought because of his bad luck that the masters died. Then, Jane came. He thought she would be another victim to his bad luck. But, Jane persisted and Siji thought that he could protect her, help her to be a great Master. However, she was snatched right in front of his nose. Anger, frustration, and fear gnawed at his hearts. He didn¡¯t want anything happen to Jane. He wanted to prove that he was not a bad luck. While Siji was lost in his fear, Sanji and Tom put all of their power to help breaking the barrier. Helplessness was clear in their faces. How could they let anyone take Jane in front of their eyes? They were failure at protecting the one they loved the most. Obviously, these three men were drowning deep in their own thoughts and fear that they failed to see the fight carefully. If only they could put more trust in her and watch her closely, they would notice that Nataya didn¡¯t have any intention to hurt her. Instead, Nataya was giving her some pointers while they were engaging in an epic fight. The amount of spiritual power disy was not as grand as when Jane attacked Rasha, but it was even denser than and as exhausting as the one before. Jane¡¯s movement turned even more smoothly without any unnecessary moves in it and every hit would carry powerful effect if itnded on someone¡¯s soul. Nataya¡¯s eyes flickered in astonishment at how fast she could grasp his teaching. As the result, he attacked even more fiercely. He wanted to know how far she could hold on. Even when his barrier was under attack, it didn¡¯t hinder him at all. He kept moving faster and fiercer. Every second passed and he thought that Jane was an awesome human. She could really endure his attacks for this long. Even though her expression had changed and showed some difficulties when she fended off his attacks, she still refused to stop or beg for mercy. Until one moment where Nataya¡¯s punch brushed her cheek and created a cut on her fair cheek, they finally stopped moving. Jane¡¯s breathing turnedbor and she maintained her body to stay in the same pose for several second. Her hand that had touched Nataya¡¯s abdomen was still buzzing with her spiritual power. Nataya had stopped his attack, she had no reason to keep attacking either. However, since they had been fighting ferociously like two beasts, Jane still felt a bit overwhelm to start moving right away. Nataya¡¯s fist was still near her cheek and drop trickled down her cheek. ¡°You¡¯re getting better.¡± Nataya smiled and he waved his fingers towards the wound. The wound closed instantly and the blood disappeared. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jane smirked. ¡°Now, if you excuse me. You¡¯ve made my friends worried sick.¡± Jane straightened up herself and took a long nce at the other side of barrier where Sanji, Tom, and Siji were exhausting themselves to break in, only to meet with failure over and over. Nataya evilly smiled. ¡°You are a lot calmer now than back then.¡± ¡°Because I know you won¡¯t hurt me. There might be some misunderstanding back then and I have been thinking about it a lot.¡± Jane felt her cheek where the stinging pain greeted her before. But, the pain had disappeared and she couldn¡¯t feel any wound on her fair cheek. ¡°Well, you human friends need to train themselves more to be able to match you. Your Advisor, however, if he can let go of himself and stop ming himself, he will gain lots more than his millennium experience and power.¡± Nataya nodded at them and the barrier around them disappeared. As soon as it disappeared, the three of them pounced on him like wounded beasts. This time, Jane moved to the side, giving them the space to fight to their heart content. Nataya was still put on solemn expression even though he was surrounded by three men with big power, attacking him from all angles. As expected of the Devil King. Jane watched them closely. Waves of spiritual power filled the air as they exchanged blows after blows. The sky filled with sparks of the shes between them, creating a rather beautiful scene, if one could overlook the fight under the light. In the corner of Nataya¡¯s eyes, he could still see the girl was starting to get drowsy. Smirking slightly, he flicked his fingers and expected to see the girl toppled back with red forehead. But, when he saw her smiling slightly with her eyes closed tight, he knew he was bound to fail. Jane only moved her head slightly, tilting to the side, and whatever was flicked towards her had gone passed her. Nataya chuckled. She was able to dodge it meant that she was mostly ready to meet the other Masters. She wouldn¡¯t be dragged down by those old geezers and entric Masters of the other armies. ¡°Let¡¯s end this. I¡¯ll apany you guys to y some other time. See ya!¡± He waved his hand, blocking all three of them at once, with a grin on his face. After that, he casually jumped and his body disappeared in a sh. ¡°I¡¯ll chase after him!¡± Siji was just about to catch up to him when Jane opened her mouth and spoke. ¡°Just don¡¯t. Even if you can catch up to him, do you think you can beat him?¡± Jane opened one of her eyeszily. The three of them had dark expression as they realized what she said might be true. ¡°Let¡¯s go back! I want to sleep a bit longer for today.¡± Janezily yawned as she stood up and coolly opened up the curtain. Then, she stepped onto the human realm and walked away as if nothing had just happened. Sanji and Tom had no other choice but to follow her while Siji was still clenching his fist in frustration. Obviously, they all forgot about the existence of the Master and Advisor of Cloud Army. As the Advisor of the Cloud Army, the grey robed old man had obviously had more experience and had witnessed lots of people with amazing power. However, it was the first time he was left stunned. His eyes didn¡¯t leave Jane¡¯s figure ever since he watched the amazing fight between Jane and the Devil. He really had never seen anyone who could fight as beautifully and deadly as her. Not to mention the dense of spiritual power emitted from her body. It was terrifyingly formidable that he felt a bit suppressed by it. Another one who was overwhelmed with Jane¡¯s disy of power was Rasha. He had seen her showing off her ¡®magician¡¯ skill, but he thought that she would be weaker in physical strength. However, no matter how he thought about it, from the way she was fighting with the man in ck, she didn¡¯t show anything about ¡®being weak¡¯. Instead of fear, reverence started to grow in his heart. Jane was so amazing that he wanted himself to be like her. He wanted to have that kind of power, too. One day, he promised himself that he would challenge Jane again and he would make sure he wasn¡¯t running away like today. Chapter 217 217 The Only Female Advisor (Jane¡¯s PoV) It was one day before the meeting. It was early in the morning when someone adorned in flirtatious red silk robe appeared in my house -I mean, the ce I was staying at. She was lucky I had been awake for some time that I was fully sober when I weed her arrival. If I were sleepy, my first instinct was to attack any stranger inside my house, human or not. When she appeared, the others were still sleeping. Tom and Sanji were still sleeping. They had been going through a lot since thest time they saw the Devil fought with me. Their state of helplessness seemed to boost their motivation to train like hell. I had no idea what kind of training they were having with Siji as their mentor, but they had been behaving oddly ever since. Talking about Siji, he also had changed ever since that time. He became more attentive towards me and had been beside me more than before. Ever since I woke up this morning, Siji had been by my side even though we were just at home. Therefore, when this flirtatious soul appeared, he had me greeted her from his back, shielding me from our guest. ¡°Hihihi... Number Seven, what are you doing hiding your Master like that?¡± The woman hid herugh behind her hand with her eyes sparkled mischievously. ¡°Number Three, you¡¯re getting more and more...¡± Siji coldly scanned her from top to toe. The way his eyes shed with disdain made me chuckle slightly. As a man who was born in the ancient time, it was clear that he didn¡¯t like the concept of woman acting flirtatious in public. Seeing the familiar way this woman in front of me showed towards Siji and the way Siji called her with number made me realize that this woman was someone¡¯s advisor. ..... But, I was really curious about her Master. Who could be her Master? The woman in redughed teasingly as she floated towards him. Siji flinched but since I was still behind his back, he stood his ground. His hardened jaw was clear for me to see how much he loathed her. I was supposed to help him, in this case. However, I really wanted to see his reaction since it was rare for him to show this kind of reaction. My eyes followed the movement of the woman as her long and delicate finger traced a line from Siji¡¯s chin down to his chest provocatively. Siji shuddered and leaned back to avoid her finger touching him. His expression was...priceless. I burst outughing when I saw his face darkened to the point it could drip ink. ¡°Tsk tsk tsk, Number Seven, if you¡¯re still this aloof, how can you find yourself a girlfriend?¡± The woman seemed to be satisfied with his reaction. She stepped back as she shook her head in disapproval. ¡°Number Seven, you died as a lonely man. You had no woman beside you and you were still young. Now you are granted to have a second life and you still want to spend your life as a single? How pathetic you are!¡± Her beautiful face showed a pity expression. I honestly thought this woman came without any malicious intention, but other than being a bit trauma from the Devil¡¯s attack, I really had no idea why Siji would hide me behind his back when he saw this woman. ¡°Don¡¯te out! I don¡¯t want her lewd and stupid trait to affect you in any way!¡± Siji growled without breaking eye contact with the woman called Number Three. There was my answer. I didn¡¯t know whether I shouldugh or cry hearing his reason. Siji, you said she was stupid, but how could stupid person be an Advisor? ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. An old virgin like him has no clue how a woman should treat herself.¡± The woman tilted her body to the side as she smiled warmly at me. There. She was like an older sister figure, only she looked like she came from a brothel. I should not have said that out loud just in case I made her angry. Hahaha. ¡°You mean a woman should be acting indecent like you?¡± Siji smirked in disgust. I watched as the woman smiled, flirtatiously yet confidently. ¡°A man like you won¡¯t understand what a woman need.¡± She flicked her long hair as she swayed towards me with her big grin stered on her beautiful face. She pushed Siji lightly with her delicate fingers. It was just a bit of push, but because of his disdain towards the woman, he jumped. It created a perfect chance for Number Three to approach me. Sensing that she didn¡¯t have any malicious intent towards me, I let here closer. The woman was pretty tall, with slim body; a perfect body for a seductress. Not to mention she knew exactly how to use her charm to her advantage. I admired her, to be honest. ¡°Master of First Army. Ah, I don¡¯t like saying numbers.¡± She shook her head with a frown on her face. Then, she looked at me again and started with a smile. ¡°Master of White Army, let me introduce myself. My name is San. I¡¯m the Advisor of Merapi Army. I came to deliver the message regarding the ce of the meeting tomorrow.¡± She bowed down gracefully as her red silk robe looked as if it was caught on fire, but when the fire disappeared, her clothes had changed into one that simr to what Siji was wearing. I guessed it was their uniform as Advisor. Even her long swaying hair had been tied up in a neat pony tail. Gold earpieces in shape of leaves were adorned on each of her ears, pointed up to the sky. She looked exceptionally more beautiful with all the gold on her, I must admit that. ¡°Thank you for taking all the trouble toe here and deliver the news.¡± I bowed down to her. I smiled as I saw her giving me soft and warm smile. ¡°Here is the location of the meeting and the time of the meeting.¡± She pulled out a scroll made of the finest silk and handed it to me politely. I took it and opened it right in front of her. Siji was standing beside me, looking at San warily. After reading the neat handwriting inside, I smiled. ¡°Okay. I got it.¡± I nodded at her. San bowed down again and disappeared after throwing a flirtatious nce towards Siji. Iughed when Siji red at her in response. ¡°Do you like her?¡± I asked him as I sat down on the couch nearby. ¡°Like hell I would!¡± Siji reacted strongly. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard about this saying, but considering that you have existed for thousands of years, I guess you have. ¡®There is only a thinyer of wall separating love and hate¡¯. You love someone too much, it will turn into hate at some point. You hate someone too much, it will turn into loveter. Don¡¯t overdo it unless you want it to turn against youter.¡± I advised him calmly. Siji took a deep breath -as if he really needed oxygen. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you assume so, but just so you know, I don¡¯t love her, but I don¡¯t hate her either. She is an exceptional one as the only female Advisor. She managed topete with the other men and snatched the name ¡®San¡¯ for the Merapi Army. Well her name wasn¡¯t San back then, but she changed it years before.¡± Sijiughed. ¡°Really? What was her name then?¡± I looked at him curiously. ¡°Tilu, still it means ¡®three¡¯.¡± Siji grinned. ¡°Well, San sounds better than Tilu, though.¡± ¡°Indeed. She said she overheard it from some small eyes human merchant.¡± Siji shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s either Chinese or Japanese, then.¡± I nodded my head. Indeed, San was much better than Tilu, but Tilu was more unique than San, I thought. Since she wanted it, just let her be. Siji¡¯s name was pretty good, though. There was no need for him to change his name.... or was he? I peered at his face with that question filled my mind. ¡°Tell me, do you want to change your name, too?¡± ¡°Why should I?¡± Siji looked at me in confusion. ¡°Just asking. If you don¡¯t, then it¡¯s good.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Come, let¡¯s see the message once again.¡± I opened the silk scroll once again and read the word written in it. The ce written in it was a famous ce, there was no way I couldn¡¯t find the ce. The meeting time was at five in the afternoon. I inserted a bit of my spiritual power and the content inside changed. Smaller letters appeared and formed a row of sentence. ¡®All armies should gather at the outer side of temple. Password: Casanova.¡¯ Who decided the password? Why Casanova, though? ¡°It must be that man.¡± Siji face-palmed himself as he read the content hidden in the scroll. I looked at his expression in confusion. This one must be in good rtionship with him, I thought. ¡°Your friend?¡± I asked curiously. Siji chuckled and let out helpless smile. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any friends since I was known to have bad luck star around me.¡± Bad luck star? What was that? Why hadn¡¯t I heard about it before? ¡°Was it also the cause for losing control that day?¡± I peered into his eyes, refused to let even just a slight change of light in it went unnoticed. And yes, his eyes flickered slightly but he didn¡¯t say anything. He probably didn¡¯t know where to start talking. Or he didn¡¯t want to talk about it. It might be too agonizing for him to talk about it. I wonder what he had been through to be like this. At this moment, I realized that I knew nothing about Siji. ¡°Siji, do you trust me?¡± I asked him softly. He was bewildered hearing my question. I turned my body to face him. My hands reached for his hands, ignoring his flinching as my hands touched his. As I had been training harder and more serious, this kind of thing was easy for me. But, it was my first time taking the lead to hold his hands with a serious look on my face. ¡°W-what are you nning to do, Mdy?¡± He asked. I could sense his uneasiness, but I ignored it. I smiled. ¡°I¡¯m helping you out.¡± I said softly. ¡°Helping me with what?¡± He asked, dumbfounded. Chapter 218 218 You Don¡¯t Have to me Yourself (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Rx yourself.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything stupid to you, don¡¯t worry. After all, you¡¯re my mentor.¡± Iughed seeing him stiffened up, looking at me as if I was going insane and probably nning to devour him raw. Siji probably got convinced by me, even though he was still a bit suspicious towards me. However, his stiffened body rxed after some time. ¡°Close your eyes and listen to my words. Don¡¯t interrupt me, okay? Just listen and think about it carefully.¡± I spoke slowly to him. ¡°Siji, there¡¯s no such thing as bad luck star. People are born with their own destiny and their own path until the end. Sshh, let me finish it up.¡± I hushed him as soon as he tried to cut my sentence. ¡°People die every day, but whenever someone around you dies when you¡¯re not the one who kills them, it¡¯s not your fault. You don¡¯t have to me yourself when someone dies. That¡¯s just the way their life ends. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re the one who stabs them with knife, aren¡¯t you? Your presence alone is not the reason for someone to end up dying.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say, a mother dies after giving birth to a baby. People me the baby because she dies because of the baby. Do you know? When a mother is pregnant with a baby, she will know whether she can make it out alive or not. Or, the doctors will warn her about the risk. If she is afraid and doesn¡¯t love the baby, she will give up the baby. But, if she dies, then it means she chooses her baby to stay alive. She wants it, she makes the choice. Therefore, if someone is saying the baby is a bad luck, I think it is an insult to the blood, sweat and soul the baby¡¯s mother sacrificed for him or her.¡± ¡°In other words....¡± I took a deep breath as my eyes met his. At some time ago, he had opened up his eyes and stared at me. ¡°Unless you are the one who caused the death, and you know what I mean by that, you¡¯re not responsible for any of the deaths around you. You don¡¯t have to me yourself.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°The previous master of First Army died because of their ipetence. If one day I die because I am killed by someone, it is my inability to protect myself. Unless it¡¯s you who drives the knife through my heart, then it has nothing to do with you. Don¡¯t always me yourself. You are a great mentor, the chosen one. You¡¯ve tried your best to protect and teach those previous Masters. They died in a fight but it was written in their destiny. It¡¯s their path. No one can protect ourselves from our destiny.¡± ..... ¡°God gives us choices. Each choice would lead us to different ending. It means God doesn¡¯t only provide one ending for us. It¡¯s our decision that decides our ending. That¡¯s why people should choose carefully in any decision making and prays so that God would send us some clues to a beautiful ending.¡± ¡°If you want toin about how you died, which I have no idea about it, then you should think again. Most of the poor humans die and be ghosts. Some even can¡¯t find peace and turn into evil soul. But you, however, were destined to die in a hard way and live a new life as a soul. As The Advisor of First Army. God had nned for you to live this way, not to be sessful as human, but revered to as a soul. It has nothing to do with your bad luck star. Trust me.¡± I ended up my speech with a smile. My hands squished his hands softly, assuring him that it was all right. It might sound weird since I had lived not more than a fifth of his age, but here I was acting like an old woman with all advices about life. If only I were not in a serious situation, I would have burst into a fit ofughter. However, I noticed that there was something changed in his eyes. There was positive vibe emitting from his body. ¡°Also, you should remember. I¡¯m not those weaklings who acted without knowing the consequence. After all, you have tried your best to teach me. It would take more than a devil to take me down. I¡¯m not the same with how I was back then. He¡¯s not going to throw me around like a rag doll, thanks to my mentor.¡± I smiled teasingly at him. He chuckled and squished my hands softly in return. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said. It was two simple words, but it could feel that it came from deep inside his heart. His smile looked different, with more warmth and sincerity in it. The glow around him also changed into something purer. He looked more like a holy person instead of my Advisor, though. ¡°Ehem, can anyone exin to me what is happening here that requires you two to hold hands so romantically like that? You even see each other eye to eye.¡± Sarcastic voice came from my back. I didn¡¯t need to turn around to see whose the voice belong to. I rolled my eyes as my hands were still holding Siji¡¯s. After all, I¡¯m calming the negativity inside him, which had taken a root inside him while I was talking to him. I wasn¡¯t done yet, so there was no way I would release his hands right now just because of a jealous man. ¡°Tom, the messenger came by to deliver the ce where we will have the meeting tomorrow.¡± I told him calmly, ignoring his sarcastic remarks. ¡°Oh.¡± He replied. ¡°Can you let go of his hands right now? It¡¯s ufortable for me to see you holding hands.¡± He was still sounding sour and I could picture the way he frowned in my head. I chuckled. ¡°If you see carefully you¡¯ll see that there¡¯s no romantic feeling from the way we are holding hands.¡± I got no reply but after secondster, I heard him approaching us. Siji had been staying calm this whole time, as if the one we were talking about was not rted to him at all. ¡°Huh? Is it just me or Siji looks different today?¡± Tom squatted down and peered into Siji¡¯s face with a frown on his face. It was a good sign that meant Tom really took my words seriously and didn¡¯t act like a boyfriend being blinded by jealousy. He really inspected the scene closely and found out something different from Siji. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Siji replied calmly while smiling warmly. Tom squinted his eyes at Siji then turned his gaze towards me who only smiled at him. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. I got no clue as well.¡± I shook my head. Secondster, I pulled my hands. ¡°Done. Try to think about what I said carefully.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji bowed down with his hands clenched into fist on hisps. After saying that, he disappeared. Tom took his ce and stared right at me. ¡°What happened?¡± He asked in hushed voice. ¡°Something came up. But, he¡¯s okay now.¡± I replied. ¡°How¡¯s your sleep?¡± ¡°It should be me asking you that question. How¡¯s your sleep? You forbade us to sleep with you, I thought you would have a hard time sleeping alone.¡± His gentle eyes had a tinge of mischievousness, but he looked even more charming like that in my eyes. ¡°Both you and Sanji have been working hard because of the incident where the Devil kidnaped me. How could I have the heart to disturb you guys? Just take a proper rest. We still have many things to do. I still have not heard anything about the South Sea. I need to have a really good look at the South Sea after the meeting. Hopefully everything will go well tomorrow.¡± My eyebrows frowned as the initial purpose came hit me again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll soon hear good news from South Sea.¡± Tom cupped my cheeks in his big hands and squeezed them lightly. His wide grin filled my vision, lifting my mood in a sh. ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± I told him without telling him to let go of my poor cheeks. ¡°What do you want to eat?¡± He kissed me once. ¡°You¡¯re going to cook?¡± It was a rare case for Tom to cook by himself. All the cooking was usually handled by Sanji. ¡°Do you doubt my skill?¡± His grin was full of confidence. It was hard for me not to trust in him. ¡°Just say it. What do you want to eat?¡± He stood up, taking my hand in his, and led me to the kitchen. We had just filled the refrigerator with some foods around three days ago, so it was still pretty full with all the vegetables, fruits, and everything. Any ingredients of my favorite food was stored in the house. I sat behind the ind as I watched Tom opening up the refrigerator¡¯s door with a proud look on his face. ¡°Come. Name it. I can make it for you.¡± He said smugly. ¡°Great. Then, try making your version of delicious porridge.¡± Sanji¡¯s sleepy voice came behind me as he sat beside me after giving me a good morning kiss on my crown. ¡°I¡¯m not making anything for you.¡± Tom arched his left eyebrow while crossing his arms in front of his chest. ¡°Oh? Is that how you¡¯re going to y? Then, if I cookter, don¡¯t eat any of it.¡± Sanji threw him a dirty look, but there was no displeasure in his voice. It was as if they were just ying. Tom smirked. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m just kidding. Just don¡¯tin if anything doesn¡¯t suit your taste.¡± Why did I smell any trickery behind his words? Chapter 219 219 News from South Sea (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I watched the banter happened in front of me while eating quietly. We didn¡¯t have any training today and as far as my eyes could see, I didn¡¯t see any ghost or even my own men around us. It was like a normal day of normal human. I didn¡¯t even sense any negative aura which could be felt even though I couldn¡¯t see them. It was too calm that I couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy. Even though we wouldn¡¯t face any evil ghosts or entities every day, our life had never been this calm before. Calm before a storm. I just hoped it wouldn¡¯t be that case. Anyway, since we could have a normal day without seeing ghost, I decided to enjoy it to the fullest. After eating our fill, we nned to visit some ces in Y City that had not been visited before. The strange thing was we didn¡¯t see any entities at home, but we didn¡¯t see any of them when we were outside too. It was like there was no trace of them in Y City. It was so strange that I couldn¡¯t help but think about it even when we were having fun. The weather was nice and the air felt clear. Our surrounding was filled with positive vibe that made most people looked even more pleasant. I was supposed to enjoy it but there was something that made me concern. Biting the spoon in my hand, my eyes were wandering around, trying to see any ghost that would possibly pop out of nowhere. Usually ghosts in form of kids were the easiest to spot because of their yful nature. However, I could see any of them. ..... My eyes squinted in uncertainty. What¡¯s going on with this weird vibe? ¡°What is in your head?¡± Tom knocked on my forehead softly. ¡°Your ice cream is going to melt if you keep daydreaming like that.¡± Sanji scooped a big portion of ice cream from my bowl, followed by my resentful re. ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean you can take it!¡± I pulled my bowl closer to me to prevent him snatching more of it. Sanji smirked. ¡°You only realized now? That¡¯s the fifth time I ate your ice cream, sweetheart. It means that whatever distracts you from eating ice cream is something serious.¡± He smiled while speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. ¡°You have us. Don¡¯t think about everything by yourself.¡± Tom reached out his hand and forcefully took my bowl. ¡°And you should stop eating ice cream, for real. It¡¯s your third bowl, right? You don¡¯t want to get stomachache tomorrow during the meeting, right?¡± He said while meeting my re head on. I blinked my eyes in resignation. I couldn¡¯t argue with them over that matter. It was indeed my third bowl. If they didn¡¯t remind me, I would have finished it up and I was sure I would get stomachacheter. ¡°You should have said that in my second bowl.¡± I said weakly, trying to me it to them. ¡°We¡¯ve tried. But you just didn¡¯t listen. Turns out you¡¯ve been zoning out so seriously that you didn¡¯t even hear us. But, your way of zoning out is really awesome. You were daydreaming, but you¡¯re still able to order another bowl of ice cream.¡± Tom pped his hands while staring at me. So sarcastic. I scowled at him. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking about. It must be because it¡¯s too calm, right? For people like us who are always rted to ghosts that normal people can¡¯t see, it is really too calm, indeed. But, what¡¯s the worst that can happen to people with inhuman power like the both of you?¡± Sanji smiled confidently. I snorted as I heard thest part of his sentence. Inhuman power? Said by the person who could probably be more inhuman than uster. Of course, I didn¡¯t¡¯ say it out loud. The fact that his power was terrifying was still unknown to many people. Maybe I was the only person who knew about it. I didn¡¯t how he could hide it from Tom, but as the Advisor of White Army, I think Siji knew about it too. It was just he didn¡¯t say anything about Sanji¡¯s power. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. What¡¯s the worst that could happen to us? Since there¡¯s no ghosts can disturb us, let¡¯s enjoy our day. We haven¡¯t had normal date ever since we got together right?¡± Tom yfully stared at me with his teasing smile. I smirked. ¡°Fine. Since you ask for it nicely, then let¡¯s have a date. But you should remember that with two men and one woman, it¡¯s hard to have a normal date. After all, who would be so crazy to have a date with two men at once?¡± I chuckled lightly. ¡°A girl is caught red-handed having affair by her boyfriend. But her boyfriend doesn¡¯t get angry, but instead having a date with them together.¡± I shrugged as I recited the possible headline the masses would maketer. ¡°Then let us open their eyes. You are not cheating anyone. We both are your lovers.¡± Tom grinned mischievously. ¡°Not everyone can have the same chance as yours. Just enjoy it. Ignore what they are going to say.¡± Sanji stood up and rubbed my head lovingly. He then walked towards the cashier and paid for our order while Tom and I stood up and waited for him. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I put on my sunsses and walked ahead of them. With Tom and Sanji one step behind me, I felt like a princess with two bodyguards. Hahaha. We satisfied our mind and eyes to go sightseeing the cultural heritage in City Y, including the ce where we would be holding meeting tomorrow. There was nothing special in that ce. It still looked majestic as always, but really...there¡¯s nothing special. We returned home after went sightseeing before dark. Still, there was no ghost at sight. Until we slept at night, I couldn¡¯t see or sense any of them. I didn¡¯t even try to call Siji since I thought of giving him days off. Did ghost need days off? On the next day, I woke up a bitter than usual. Since the meeting would start in the afternoon, I thought that we could do something else in the mean time. Therefore, we set out from home a bit early. The sun was still ringly bright in the blue sky when we finally reached a small restaurant near the beach. Picking up the best spot to sit, I let the men to order food as I stared at the waves ying with the sand of the beach. Yes. It was South Sea. The ce I was nning to ¡®visit¡¯ after I was done finding news about it. It was so close yet it was so far... Chapter 220 220 News from South Sea (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) South Sea. The waves were ridiculously strong even at day. It was obviously in the middle of the day, where the sun should still feel the hottest in the beach, but it was inexplicably cloudy and windy. The wind was not particrly strong, but it was enough to give people a soothing effect in this weather. ¡°It¡¯s cloudy today too, huh?¡± The middle-aged woman who was serving our orders took a short nce at the sky before she continued serving the food. I turned my head towards her as I asked her curiously. ¡°Is it normal?¡± The woman smiled warmly. ¡°It¡¯s normal. It¡¯s just... every time the weather is like this, something will definitelye up.¡± She answered. ¡°Anyway, enjoy your food. Just call me if you need something.¡± The woman turned around and walked back behind the cashier. I turned my head back towards the waves of the sea. ¡°What are you doing? Why don¡¯t you eat?¡± Sanji pulled me out from my daze as he put a piece of grilled fish on my te while Tom scooped some chili sauce into small te and put it in front of me. ¡°Are you thinking about what the woman said?¡± Tom put some vegetables on my te. ..... ¡°Huh? Not really.¡± I shrugged. The enticing aroma from the food in front of me made me forget about what I had in mind for a while. ¡°Dig in, then. Whatever happenster, you should eat your fill first. The grilled fish here is awesome.¡± Tom¡¯s eyes shone in excitement. He was right though. I couldn¡¯t describe the wonderful feeling I had when I took my first bite. I could feel my body melt from how delicious the food was. It was a simple menu, yet the taste was so amazing that I couldn¡¯t help but want more of it. It was my first time I lost control of myself when eating outside. By the time I realized it, the tes in front of me were empty, leaving only fish bones in it. ¡°Wah, it¡¯s so satisfying.¡± Tom said, feeling content as he patted his stomach. ¡°Do you think she will give us the recipe if I ask for it?¡± Sanji squinted his eyes as he looked at us seriously. ¡°Sanji, it¡¯s rude to ask about someone¡¯s recipe.¡± I warned him while wiping my mouth clean from any grease with slightly warm cheeks. ¡°Then, let¡¯s not do it. I¡¯ll just go and pay for it.¡± He said and stood up to pay for our food. I followed suit and waited for him outside the restaurant with Tom. Again, I was mesmerized with the waves in the sea. The sound of it was calming that I forgot I used to like sea when I was a kid. Since when did I grow bored of this soothing and rxed sensation? I was still watching and enjoying the sound and scenes, but something happened afterwards. I saw a bigger wave came approaching us. It wasn¡¯t big enough to reach the furthest line of the shore, but it was still big nevertheless. Just when the wave moved down like a person doing a deep bow, my eyes caught sight of three beautiful women, looking otherworldly and enchanting, standing on top of a golden horseless carriage. The faint green glow was reallypatible with the gold light emitting from the carriage. The effect itself could make someone believe in a sh that these three weren¡¯t humans. As soon as my mind registered this fact, my eyes made eye contact with them. I knew right away that they came to find me with the way they looked at me. The way their eyes warmed up as soon as they saw me was the proof of my feeling. If they didn¡¯te ashore to find me, I was sure I would do anything to hold them captive and interrogate them. However, since they came to find me, I decided just to keep my vignce on just in case they tried to do something funny to me. I stopped only when the water hit my ankle, drowning my feet under the waves. It was fortunate that I wasn¡¯t using shoes when I came here. Looking up towards the three elegant women who stopped in front of me, I waited until they finished their greetings towards me. ¡°Greetings, Master of First Army.¡± The one in the front spoke so softly that I couldn¡¯t detect any evil intention from her tone. ¡°We¡¯re sent here by our Queen to confirm whether Mdy has brought the thing our Queen asks for.¡± They were neither overbearing nor impolite. Even though they were maids of the well-known Queen of South Sea, they didn¡¯t act arrogant like humans. I was sure these were notmon maids who only knew how to clean and take care of the households, but also those who possessed power to overturn the sea if they wanted to. Still, they were different from humans who acted high and mighty when they had some kind of connections with the people who had better position in work, especially when their ¡®connection¡¯ was someone in close rtion with them. Or probably these women had passed a strict selection and had trained to be what they were today. ¡°I have it with me.¡± I nodded. ¡°How is my father doing?¡± ¡°Lord Satya is doing fine. Our Queen can assure you that.¡± ¡°Then, tell your Queen that I¡¯ll visit her as soon as my business here is done. And you guys had better treat my father well.¡± I shot them a warning nce without continuing what I was saying. Let them think about it by their own. ¡°Of course, Mdy. Just call out for us whenever you¡¯re ready toe down.¡± The three of them bowed down again and the carriage turned back and disappeared under a big wave. I was still standing on my spot, didn¡¯t move even after they had disappeared. If it was not for Sanji and Tom who touched my shoulders, I didn¡¯t know when I would start to move again. Not because of fear or hypnotism. It was because I felt heavy to walk back. My father was so close to me, yet I couldn¡¯t do anything for now. I could only wait until the meeting finished. Siji didn¡¯t let mee even after we had spent some days here because of my insufficient power, he said. He wanted to make sure that even if I were to go alone and the rest of them would be blocked outside, I could still survive and escape. During myst training with him around two days ago, he said that I could walk into and out of the Queen of South Sea¡¯s pce safely even if I were alone. Still, I should avoid any direct sh with the Queen herself if I wanted to ensure my rate of escaping high enough. Since he dared to say it, I had much confidence in me that I could take my father back with me alone. Maybe I should just leave Sanji and Tom behind when I visited the Queenter. I didn¡¯t want them to face any danger. After all, the ce we were about to go was the pce of South Sea. It was a ce where no men were allowed to go in, except my father since he was kidnapped by them. From what I had learned before, no man could enter the pce and everyone in the pce was women. Any man who tried to enter it would meet a disaster. Even though my father was there unwillingly, I was worried that they would treat him bad since he could be the only man inside. Humph, if I were to find that my father felt any difort while being there, I would make them pay for it. But, for now, I needed to meet with the other Masters first and to hear what they had in mind. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I walked back towards our rented car with Sanji and Tom behind me. I didn¡¯t see their expression in fear that they would know what I had in mind. Obviously I was underestimating their ability to understand me. I seriously thought that I could still hide what was in my mind. Later on, they proved me wrong. Chapter 221 221 The Meeting (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I stared at the majestic historical building in front of my eyes. It was not my first time seeing this ce but seeing it now made me feel like I was visiting a different temple. On my first time visiting here, the mystic feeling wasn¡¯t felt as strong as what I was feeling now. Maybe because the first time I came, there were lots of people visiting this ancient site. Even though I saw some astral beings here and there, it wasn¡¯t as many as I was seeing now. This time, however, what I was seeing was not mere Kuntnak or anything. They were souls, or to be precise, they were armies. Yes, the vast yard of the temple was filled with different colors of glow from different armies. Standing in front of each army was their General. I didn¡¯t see their Master but I guessed they had been waiting inside by now. It seemed like General wasn¡¯t allowed to enter the meeting. My expression turned solemn as I realized this fact. I turned my head towards Tom and saw him nodded at me. He might have epted the fact that he couldn¡¯t go inside with me even though I knew that he was unwilling to do so. It was clear on his face, though. It was a good thing that Sanji was beside him, acting as his supporter. With Sanji¡¯s level-headed style, I wasn¡¯t worried that Tom would be easily provoked. Maybe First Army was the only one who had two leading men in front of them -only we knew best what position Sanji had in the army. I took a deep breath before I walked towards the gate. San had been waiting in front of it, smiling at me like a spring breeze filled with warmth. It was hard to ignore her even though Siji had repeatedly reminded me to stay away from her. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± She said. ¡°Password?¡± ..... ¡°Casanova.¡± I answered calmly, neither acting close to her nor avoid her. I wasn¡¯t sure the reason Siji wanted me to avoid her. Whether it was because of his personal motive or something even greater than that, I didn¡¯t want to take a risk. After I said the password, white halo enveloped me and secondster, I appeared in a foreign ce. The walls were made of the same stones as the ones in the temple. Even the floor was made of the same material. It looked gloomy and scary, with only some torches lit up the room. However, I didn¡¯t feel suffocated. Even though there was no wind blowing in this ce which was a sign that there was no air venttion in this strange room, the room was free of smoke from the torches. Then, I realized one thing. This ce was not in human realm. This was somewhere in astral world. In the middle of the room was a big round table made of white... jade? It looked beautiful and shiny, with ten chairs made of something as ck as charcoal. The contrast it set up in this foreign room made it somehow looked even more bizarre. Like, beautifully bizarre. I personally was interested in the chair. Upon closer inspection, I found out that it was made of wood. What kind of wood was as ck as this? I didn¡¯t have time to think about it, honestly, because the people sitting around the table had been staring at me. I looked at them without any expression on my face before I picked a chair for me to sit on calmly. I noticed that the other Masters came in different age. So far, I thought I was the youngest of all. Not only that, I was trying to hide my surprise as I saw they were not all Indonesians. I was never a racist, but seeing what they said white, ck, and yellow people together in the same room really got me a bit nervous. Probably Indonesia was the only one who got two Masters. After sitting down quietly, I began to ponder who had note. There was only one empty chair left, but it wasn¡¯t for long. From a corner of the room, I saw a familiar face striding in and sitting on the only empty chair around the lustrously bright jade table. Where did they get jade as big as this table? Ah, that¡¯s not the point. The one who had just arrived locked his gaze at me with a sneered in the corner of his lips. Looking at his youthful appearance brimming with vigor,pleted with the aura of a master around him, I unconsciouslypared the man in front of me with the one I beat up days ago. That¡¯s right. He was Rasha, the Master of Cloud Army. It seemed to me that he had sessfully regained control over his righteous position. How strong he was at this point, I had no idea. However, I couldn¡¯t see his advisor anywhere. Since all of the Masters were here, it was safe to say that I was the youngest, for real this time. I was worried that it would put me into a disadvantage since, normally, younger people should listen to older people. Not that I obeyed them much, though. Hahaha... I wished I had Siji with me to ease this awkwardness I felt inside. However, ever since I entered the room, I couldn¡¯t see any Advisors nearby. I could only think that it was normal that Advisors wouldn¡¯t be needed in a meeting between Masters. But, still... I wished he were here. Creak! The sound of the chair being pushed back made me lift my head towards the source of the sound. The oldest of us, the sophisticated looking old man with white beard and almost a head full of white hair, stood up and eyed us one by one. I couldn¡¯t see what he had in mind when his eyes swept past me. His gaze was solemn without any ripples, as if he was blind. If not for the clear light in his eyes, I would have assumed that he was blind. Chapter 222 222 The Meeting (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Wee, my fellow Masters.¡± He said with his old and rough voice after he finished looking at us one by one. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you all again after ourst meeting decades ago. I see new faces and old ones. Hopefully we can work together in harmony to maintain world¡¯s peace.¡± He smiled amiably. ¡°Since we are going to talk about something in the past, because some people here are new and young, it¡¯s best to have our Advisors with us here. What do you say?¡± I nodded my head, expressing my agreement. With Siji here, I could feel safer. Everyone had tacit understanding about the others, and without anymand, the advisors appeared one by one behind us. San was standing behind the old man, which meant the old man was the Master of Merapi Army. Honestly, he didn¡¯t look like a native Javanese since Merapi was located in Java Ind. He looked more like a Chinese or maybe Korean or Japanese since he had small eyes. However, his sophisticated look made all of those insignificant. The source of power supporting the army wouldn¡¯t choose someone only because of his origins. As long as that person fit the criteria, no matter who you were or where you came from, you would still be chosen to be the Master. ¡°First Advisor, long time no see.¡± The advisor next to me warmly greeted Siji. He was a mature man around thirty to forty years old before he died, I assumed. Siji was obviously a lot younger than him in appearance but who knew which era they were reborn as a soul. ¡°Tenth Advisor, long time no see.¡± Siji greeted him back with a neither warm nor cold attitude. ..... I arched my eyebrows in helplessness. Siji always maintained his detach personality when he dealt with things not rted to the army. However, in front of us, we knew how warm he could be. Since we were in a meeting, there was no way he would act like he always did in front of us. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, now let¡¯s get to the main topic.¡± The old man¡¯s face turned even more solemn. ¡°Just in case not everyone notices about it, I need to remind you all that... that time is drawing near. There is a report from people living near Merapi Mountain about anomaly happened in that vige. Although the urrence rate was still low, but it was no doubt the work of those demons. That ce is supposed to be safe, if not the safest, since it¡¯s located near Merapi Army, but somehow those strange phenomena urred there with one simrity; all victims were the ones who had gone into the mountains. Some of them even imed that they saw entities in the mountain.¡± ¡°Those people are the ones who had lived their lives in the mountain. They know about the mountain like the back of their hands. They even know the entities living in the mountain, but they said the ones they saw were not the usual ones. There was something different that they couldn¡¯t identify from them.¡± ¡°It could only mean one thing; the ones they saw were not ghosts, but demons.¡± Gasps filled the room as their faces turned stern. Everybody had that serious expression on their faces as they listened to the old man recounting about what had happened while all I could was to think about one thing. Were the demons that frightening? I had met one before, a strong one. He was terrifying at first, but I didn¡¯t know since when I was sure he didn¡¯t mean to hurt me. Judging from the way the Third Master told about the ¡®attack¡¯, I couldn¡¯t find any simrities with the one who always came to upset me. The one who always pestered me acted like the one sitting in the higher level of devil world, even probably the highest seat in the hierarchy. He never acted sloppy or harsh. Even the way he dressed every time he came in front of me was always refined. Attacking people like that was not his style, I guessed. Also, I had a hunch that those demons were only low level ones. As a proud creature, a higher level demon would not take orders from anyone other than those in higher position than them. Also, after learning about them for a while, I had developed a tiny piece of understanding towards devils¡¯ mind. Since they moved together and not individually, it was a proof that those were low level ones. I was sure of that. I didn¡¯t realize that I had been showing a bored expression as I listened to the heated debate whether we, the Masters, needed to give our support to the Master of Third Army or not. After all, the anxiety in their voices only made me head aching. Seriously, did they have to be so aggravating in discussing it? It was just a bunch of lowly level demons! Who they belonged to, I didn¡¯t care. Regarding the victims, as the Master of a mystical army, I was sure he could heal those poor people in no time. There was no need to ask us to have a meeting. ¡°Of course, I appreciate your willingness to protect Merapi Mountain and the people around it. However, that¡¯s not the point why I gathered all of you here.¡± He swept his eyes towards all of us before he started speaking again. ¡°What I meant to say that... it¡¯s almost time for the boundaries to weaken. When that timees, I¡¯m afraid those from the other world can hurt humans casually. They had tried it to my people; surely they will do it again in the future time. For now, only the borderline near Merapi Mountain weakened to such state that allowed them to hurt some people. By the time the power separating us and them has disappearedpletely, even one minute is precious.¡± He was right. Anyone of those demons, ghosts, and their kinds were harmful towards human. Not everyone could defend themselves against ghosts or even demons. It would surely be a big troubleter if we got overwhelmed with their numbers. I frowned when I thought about the possibility that their numbers would be even greater than us. Their ability was troublesome enough yet I still needed to worry about their number. ¡°Third Master, don¡¯t you think it is too early to say that those astral beings nned the attack to your people? After all, as far as I can remember, as well as what I had learned before, they had not attacked humans openly even after decades had passed.¡± The one who spoke was a man in brown, looking like a man in his forties, with sharp eyes and a hint of arrogance from his face. I had no idea whether he was truly arrogant or it was just his face. He worried about the worst possibility happened, however he was still trying to deny the fact that the Third Master hadid out in front of him. Was he that stupid? That was what I had in mind about this man. Arge scale of demons was seen in human world, how on earth was it not a nned one? It was not like they had no other things to do other than sneaking into human world together in a big group, attracting people like us who could eliminate them in a breath. Devils were not stupid creatures. They were smart, strong, and proud. If they truly needed toe to human world, they would do it individually and sneakily. If they moved in a big group, again, it meant someone was ordering them to do so. If only I could meet with the person in charge in their kingdom, I might be able to negotiate some things with them to prevent them from attacking humans. Who was their king? What should I do to meet him? Chapter 223 223 The Meeting (3) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Sixth Master, I believe you had finished your homework of learning the history of your previous Masters splendidly, but did you know why the demons had not attacked us for decades even when the borderlines weakened to such state?¡± Third Master eyed the man with solemn expression but a look of disdain was clear in his eyes. The Sixth Master twitched his eyes in annoyance. Seeing his action to keep mum with gritted teeth, I knew that he must have known the reason why. ¡°Seeing your response, you must have known the answer. Then, don¡¯t specte things again. We can¡¯t sacrifice people¡¯s life just because of one tiny ignorant thought. We are the Masters of Mystical Armies. Even if in other times we will have apetition between us, but in time like this, we need to unify our forces.¡± The old man spoke slowly but the reprimanded tone in his voice was so clear that I thought I heard a p being delivered towards the Sixth Master¡¯s face. It¡¯s rude tough, it¡¯s rude tough. I repeated those sentences in my head to remind myself not tough out loud for the Sixth Master¡¯s ignorance. ¡°You¡¯reughing. Do you know the answer to his question?¡± Siji whispered in my ear. Honestly, it was still unclear for me. I only knew that it was rted to First Master of White Army, but I had no clue about the exact things happened at that time. I had asked Siji when I learned about it, but he just said that he had no idea about what had happened at that time. I believed he must have been hiding something about it. Something as heroic as what the First Master had done must have been written in a thick book like a great novel based on true story. But, the information about her was only one page length. ..... It was suspicious, but I didn¡¯t know where to find the right information about it. ¡°At least I know not to make myself sound like a fool in times like this.¡± I whispered back to him. Siji didn¡¯t respond, but I knew he definitely liked my answer. My focus turned back to the old men arguing about how they should divide the force in protecting human realm. Each of these masters had their own territory to protect and since this matter would ur globally, I could imagine how much of a trouble it would be to protect everything in one go. Not to mention there was no exact information about which part of the human realm would weaken first. I watched the discussion quietly. Since no one asked about my opinion, I didn¡¯t bother to say anything. After all, with majority of the masters being older than me, no, ALL of them were older than me, they must have thought that I was too green to involve in this matter. It was fine by me, though. After all, this discussion was no different than foolish students arguing about foolish and baseless things. I mean, they didn¡¯t even know where the next attack would happen, but here they were debating about who to protect where. There were loopholes in their arrangements, too. I wonder what was inside their mind. ¡°Siji, is there anyway to find out which part will weaken first?¡± I whispered. Siji pondered a bit then he shook his head. His mouth opened, but then he closed it again. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he chose not to do it. My left eyebrow arched in suspicion as I nudged him lightly with my elbow. Whatever he wanted to say, it should be rted to this topic. Why would he choose to not saying anything? ¡°Just say it. If it¡¯s too absurd, I¡¯ll treat it as a joke. I have nothing to do anyway.¡± I convinced him. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard something before, about Death Volcano and its Guardian. I would think it was a myth, but some Elders said that our First Master knew him; the Guardian of Death Volcano. I think they once said that First Master cooperated with that Guardian to detect any problems with the borderlines in the world.¡± Siji said slowly with a serious expression on his face. ¡°However, I personally haven¡¯t met with this so called Guardian and never seen or heard about Death Volcano. No one knows about its location. It¡¯s an insider information since only us, White Army, know about this info. So, it¡¯s useless even if we ask other Masters.¡± He added. Guardian of Death Volcano? I had read about it in the books from the Elders, but the information provided in the book was too limited and unclear. Other than saying that Death Volcano was the mother of all mountains in the world, the one that connected all mountains in human realm and astral world, there was no other information about it. Other than the First Master, no one had ever seen this Death Volcano, let alone the Guardian. Even so, I thought that it wasn¡¯t unfamiliar in my mind. Something in my mind told me that I had met with this Death Volcano, but I couldn¡¯t recall anything. It was strange. Since it was something that I wasn¡¯t sure myself, I decided to push it to the back of my mind. After all, other than those from White Army, these Masters were of no help for me regarding the identity of Guardian of Death Volcano and the location of the said volcano. It was that time when I switched back my attention to the heated argument in front of me that my ears caught someone mentioned my name. ¡°Master of First Army is being too quiet. Is the topic too hard to follow?¡± The voice was filled with mockery and teasing that I was sure it happened because of my young self being looked down. It was Rasha. He didn¡¯t disdain me, but surely after getting used to his new power, his pride as a man still refused the fact that I nearly trashed him days ago. He mocked me, teased me indirectly for being too young to understand the topic, yet deep inside his eyes hid his fear towards me. He feared me, but he was brave enough to taunt me into action. Hmph. I snorted as I leaned back to the back of my chair with my hands crossed in front of my chest. My eyes met his and smirk came on my face as I noticed the shock in his eyes. He still put up a front, but he couldn¡¯t hide the fear he had towards me. Poor guy. Thanks to him, all eyes were on me. They looked at me as if I was just leeching on their superior status as one of the formidable Masters in the world. Disdain and refusal were clear in their eyes now. I didn¡¯t want to do this, but I thought I should. Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward towards the table and put on a more serious expression on my face. ¡°You guys know the best that it is impossible to protect all parts of human realm with our armies. But, instead of finding a way to detect it, you guys argued about who should protect where. I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t follow that kind of discussion.¡± They frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the way I was thinking and my frontal refusal to their n. ¡°What can a green young girl like you do? You¡¯re still too young to understand after all. You can go back home and enjoy your life, you know?¡± A man shouted at me disrespectfully. Chapter 224 224 The Meeting (4) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Listening to his mockery, I could only smile helplessly. These people were obviously the ones who thought younger generation knew nothing about the world and that we had no use towards several big problems urred in the universe. I really had no heart to scold them back at this moment because of how ridiculous they sounded and looked in my eyes. After all, they were all older than me. As the youngest person here, I should be magnanimous and let them lead, right? ¡°Your smile looks evil, you know. If you want to clean your hands from these stupid people, you better not let anyone see your evil smirk.¡± Siji whispered in my ears. He really caught me! Since arguing with these people was useless, I wouldn¡¯t waste my time to do so. Just let them bark! Soon they would see how stupid they were. After all, I had never said that I would do what they had decided to do. I would walk on my own. As arrogant as I sounded, I really had no intention to kill myself to do their lousy n. Since I felt familiar with the words Death Volcano, I would find out about it myself and solve it quickly. ..... Seeing that I didn¡¯t answer their questions, they might have thought that I had reflected on my mistakes and chosen to be submissive towards them. Their victorious gazes were clear and I bit my inner lip to prevent myself from chuckling out loud. As they returned to their heated discussion, my mind worked harder to think about anything rted to Death Volcano. Did I hear it somewhere? Should I ask Tom and Sanji? They might be the ones who told me about Death Volcano since I talked practically to no one other than the both of them the most. ¡°First Master seems to have something in her mind. She looked distracted the whole time and didn¡¯t pay attention to the discussion. I wonder if she may have another idea about this matter?¡± As the discussion came to an end, I heard a calm voice filled with disdain was aimed at me. I looked up and met a pair of familiar eyes. Those eyes filled with slight fear, boosting courage and mockery, totally different with the way those eyes looked at me at that day. It seemed like someone had gained tons of courage to confront me after I beat him up that day. I snorted as I kept my eyes on him. I really admired his guts to pick a fight with me. Did he think, after he had imed his right as the master, he could easily subdue me? Not a chance, boy. I might be younger than you, but I was sure you couldn¡¯t defeat me even if you trained yourself for a hundred years! ¡°You¡¯re thinking too highly of me.¡± I smiled. ¡°Second Master seems to be looking well, that he still has time to worry about me.¡± I purposely dragged the words ¡®looking well¡¯ to remind him that I still could beat him up if I wanted to. I tried to ignore it, but he really didn¡¯t do much in the discussion either. Other than staring at me with obvious scheming in his mind, he rarely made any sounds towards the heated discussion. The way he targeted at me looked like a pity young boy trying to find trouble with the adults in my eyes. After all, the disparity between our power was obvious yet he would seek death his so quickly. Was he a masochist? Did he really want me to humiliate him in public? Maybe he wasn¡¯t too satisfied with how deste the ce I beat him up thest time so he wanted to feel it the second time but in public? What a weird wish! ¡°Mdy, whatever you have inside your mind, you¡¯d better not speak it out loud.¡± Siji said using the link between us. My lips twitched as I red at him. ¡°What do I have in mind?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but it must be rted to that young man¡¯s provocation. Maybe something about his odd wish? Ah, I get it. Considering how weird your way of thinking, you must be thinking that he is a... how do you say it again? The person who loves to be tortured, I mean.¡± I nearly choked on my saliva when I heard him say that. How did he know it? Since when did he know me this well? ¡°Seeing your surprise expression, I must have guessed it right.¡± The victorious smirk on his face looked exceptionally annoying that I had the urge to p him. Because I had been too busy talking to Siji, I identally missed what Rasha said to me. When I realized it, his face had darkened to the point he looked like he wanted to rip me into pieces. I coughed lightly in my hand. ¡°Sorry, I was distracted.¡± The others had the same expression as his as they heard my excuses. But, out of them all, only Rasha¡¯s Adviser shot me an apologetic gaze with helpless expression on his face and San grinned excitedly for whatever reason she found amusing. ¡°First Master, what the Second Master said is true. You looked distracted the whole time. Even though I found it understandable for a young woman to not understand what we were talking about, but your manner in underestimating things is really too rude and unsuitable for a Master. You can¡¯t be too ignorant because you¡¯re still young. After all, a responsibility of a Master is so big that I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t bear it.¡± Fifth Master frowned disdainfully as he reprimanded me in righteous way. ¡°Fifth Master, you can¡¯t really me her. After all, she is new. She might not be able to control her army well yet. Because we all put our armies out there the guard the area, she must feel exhausted by now.¡± Another one chimed in. ¡°That must be it! That¡¯s why she was distracted the whole time. No wonder!¡± The others nodded their heads as the way they looked at me changed from disdain to mocking. Still, I was still smiling. ¡°Talking about new, isn¡¯t Second Master a new appointed Master as well?¡± I looked at Rasha who squinted his eyes in warning. ¡°Seeing that he is fine, why wouldn¡¯t I be fine too?¡± Rasha¡¯s expression turned uglier as I reminded him of his ignorance. The others¡¯ expression changed as well as their heads turned to look at Rasha with different light. I shook my head. I suddenly felt that the future of the world was in danger in the hands of these people. How could they neglect this fact? ¡°She is right. I¡¯ve met the Master of Cloud Army, but this young man here is not him.¡± The Sixth Master pondered as he looked at Rasha carefully. He must have met Rasha¡¯s uncle, that good for nothing uncle who nned to steal the position as the Master. ¡°I¡¯m the real Master of Cloud Army. He is my proof!¡± Rasha growled angrily as he pointed at his Adviser behind his back. Since only the Advisers knew each other, each of them looked at their own Advisers, seeking confirmation from them. Only after they nodded consequently that the Masters looked back at Rasha. ¡°Ah, Cloud Army is really as confusing as ever. Only Cloud Army has fake Adviser to apany the temporary Master. Even though the fake Adviser looked so simr to the real one, the fake one still looked too stiff. I thought that he was just as aloof as a rock. I didn¡¯t think that he would be a fake one.¡± Sixth Master shook his head. The Second Adviser had an awkward look on his face. I could totally understand what he felt. It wasn¡¯t his fault that the fake one met these people before him. Since his loyalty was only for the real Master, there was no way he would apany the fake Master. How could he know there was that kind of rule in Cloud Army? If he had known before, he would have refused to be the Adviser of Cloud Army. This piece of information was not told during their training for years. Because of it, he thought that the rules in Cloud Army was very much the same with the ones in other armies. I could read his thought and totally understand his misery. Rasha looked at me in displeasure as the topic has shifted to him. I smirked at him, taunting him to do better the next time he wanted to scheme against me. ¡°When did you assume your position?¡± Fifth Master asked Rasha curiously. ¡°Not more than two weeks ago.¡± He said in a low tone. Gasps of surprise filled the room as they looked at him bewildered. Not two weeks ago but he could stand the pressure of exerting so much spiritual power? If this young man could withstand it, there was no way this young woman couldn¡¯t do it. I was sure that was what they were thinking about as I saw their eyes shifted towards me. However, little did they know, the young man was at his limit. Thinyer of sweat was starting to form in his forehead. His eyebrows were twitching slightly every thirty seconds. It was just a matter of time until he copsed. By the way, did he have a General? ¡°Judging from the length of time he endured it, he has a General, but since he is still new, his spiritual power is not as controlled as yours. Well, you are the abnormal one here, you know?¡± Siji answered that question through our link. ¡°Thank you for yourpliment.¡± I smirked. ¡°I almost forgot to tell you the main purpose of having this meeting.¡± Siji said in serious tone. ¡°I know.¡± I might not know it before, but I was definitely not blind or stupid. ¡°Endurance.¡± Exerting much spiritual power to keep the men from the army while engaging one¡¯s self in discussion was indeed a hard task to do. As time kept ticking, the pressure should be getting heavier and heavier. But, did they seriously want topete in this area with me? Chapter 225 225 The Meeting (5) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I wasn¡¯t trying to brag or anything, but this kind of trick wouldn¡¯t work on me. These old people really jumped for one topic to another quickly like women in gossiping mode. Instead of continuing their usations towards Rasha and me, they hastened the closing of the meeting with sparkling eyes. Soon after, they all went out with eager steps, followed by their own Advisers. Seeing those old men looked so eager to check on the magnificent view outside the temple, I couldn¡¯t hide the smirk appeared on my face. Since they wanted to see the difference of strength between their armies, and probably trying to humiliate me and Rasha -not that I cared about him, I would love to apany them in their game. Let¡¯s see who would have thestugh. The exit brought us to the top of the temple with splendid view beneath our feet. From our point of view, I could practically see the luster colors of each army as the magnificent views of hundreds or even thousands of powerful entities lined up around the temple. I recognized the fiery red aura from Merapi army upied almost the whole west side of the temple. It looked grand and domineering from above, looking like demons emerged from hell with sparks of fire in the air. As expected of Third Master, his power was not to be trifled with. No wonder he became the leader of us. My eyes scanned the scenery under my feet. Not too far from Merapi Army was Cloudy Army. The gloomy greyish aura made them looked like they were here to bring bad news for people. It was too bad that the view was not as grand as Merapi since Rasha¡¯s power was slowly running out. It seemed like I was right about he was closing to his limit. Next to Cloud Army was an army which was emitting green and brown aura. I remembered reading it in the book about mystical army and I had been asking myself how they would look like. The lustrous color of green and brown was somehow satisfyingly cool looking from above. The colors represented the wilderness but somehow it looked oddly soothing, but with hidden danger inside. ..... Standing side by side with the hidden danger, Cloud Army looked so small and close to... nothing. It looked pitiful. I took a peek at Rasha who looked like he would copse at any moment now. Beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead. The others must have noticed about his condition as well since some of them shook their heads after taking a nce at him. How pitiful. In the contest of showing off, he failed to keep up and present a grand performance for these old geezers. Well, it was partly his fault for refusing to learn early. If only he had epted it since long ago, he wouldn¡¯t be in this predicament. I sighed. Fine, just this once. I walked towards him and grabbed his arm. ¡°Just this once.¡± I told him as he red at me. Before he could say anything, I had transferred some of my power to him. Below our feet, Cloud Army had a significant change during the transfer. Their greyish and gloomy aura rushed to the sky, created an even bigger dark cloud above them as the number of the men kept expanding. The pitiful looking army was now almost as intimidating as the savana army -The Eighth Army -with the gloominess emitted from them, looking like they were here to deliver bad news. I smiled in satisfaction as the army didn¡¯t look as pitiful as before and could finally stand side by side with the other armies. Only after I found it okay that I stopped helping. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not bad at all.¡± I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head to look for my own army. ¡®Look for¡¯ might be exaggerated since the moment I turned my head, I could practically see their aura. And it seemed I wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed it. All the other Masters were looking at my men with obvious surprise in their eyes. I smirked when their eyes met mine before they turned their heads to look at Cloud Army, and returned to White Army. If the whole West side was upied by Merapi Army, my White Army upied the East side and covered even the outer area of the temple. The blue and white aura were even stronger than Merapi Army¡¯s aura, made the East side of the temple looked bright and mysterious, yet calming and charming. Sometimes, there would be blue fire lit up from some spots at once. Even so, my me bearers were still standing behind the General, looking sturdy and imposing as ever. I grinned as I caught the sight of Tom and Sanji. Even from a far, I could see my General and Sanji stood side by side in front of the men while grinning from ear to ear. Those wicked grins...they must have done something while I was away. Or, they must have nned something. In a second, I finally understood what they did. The blue mes soared to the sky, making the wind howled and swirled in motion with the fire. At the same time, the bluish aura from the men disappeared and changed into cold white aura, glowing like a seeing-through mist in the mountain under the sun light. What a show off! I smirked as I noticed their intention. The show off took full two minutes before the blue mes returned back to its size and the lustrous bluish and whitish color calmed down and moved in serene flow. Well, old geezers, you want to show off? How do you like my show off? Holding back the mocking smirk in my face, I turned my head to look at the stunned face they had. They must have felt that it was impossible that a newbie like me could create such a scene without breaking a sweat. Right! This kind of thing didn¡¯t mean much for me. It was like a a child-y. I always knew that my capacity was vast, but I had no idea it was this awesome. I was surprised at myself as well, actually. Anyway, since the show was over, I saw no need to stay any longer. After all, I still had an appointment with The Queen. ¡°Pardon my rudeness, but I still need to be somewhere at this moment.¡± I bowed down my head a bit before I walked down towards my men with a smirk stered on my face and the unusually quiet Siji trailed behind me. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said to Tom and Sanji. ¡°Good job!¡± I finally heard Siji¡¯s voiceced with excitement followed by the sounds of hands pping. I didn¡¯t need to turn around to see that they had nned it together. These boys were wicked enough to deliver such a huge blow to the Elderly, what could I do with them? They were able to see my intention without me telling them what to do. Where else could I find partners as perfect as them? ¡°Now, let¡¯s move onto our next agenda.¡± Siji¡¯s voice turned serious. ¡°Right. The Queen is waiting.¡± I said as I nodded my head. To hell with the meeting and demons, my meeting with the Queen was what I came here for. Chapter 226 226 Into The South Sea (Jane¡¯s PoV) I took a deep breath as I stared at the vast sea in front of me. The sky was a bit cloudy and it was a bit windy. Standing on my sides were Tom and Sanji who looked lost. They were holding onto their hopes that maybe one of them could get into the territory of the Queen with me. I lied if I said I wasn¡¯t worried about getting inside alone. But, I repeatedly reminded myself that I was going to be fine, that the Queen wouldn¡¯t do something bad to me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if something happened to her, trust me, I will be the first one to know.¡± Siji appeared with helpless look on his face. Sanji and Tom frowned. They trusted him, but they couldn¡¯t help but feel worried about me. I took another deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going in.¡± I told them as I walked forward and stepped into the water. Didn¡¯t they say they would pick me up? Why weren¡¯t they here? As soon as I thought about it, the water in front of me churned and the atmosphere changed. The originally gloomy situation suddenly turned bright as the golden and greenish light emitted from the sea. Slowly, a gold cart appeared with two women dresses in green with gold essories riding on it. ¡°Greetings to Master of White Army. We¡¯re here under the order of our Queen to wee our distinguished guest. Please, step onto this cart and we will take you to the Queen.¡± One of them spoke in a soft and alluring voice. ..... I didn¡¯t need to be told twice. After I boarded the cart, the cart made a smooth u-turn and left the shore. I didn¡¯t look back, for fear I would make them even more worried. My expression might still look stoic, but I knew how sharp their eyes were. The worry would still be reflected in my eyes. However, secondster, I had other things to think about other than my worry. A big wave was rapidly approaching. It was around two meters tall, a perfect height to drown a grown up man. I didn¡¯t know whether these two beautiful women noticed it or not, but I was sure I was freaking out for a moment there. It was fortunate that I didn¡¯t shriek or scream shamefully when the wave hit down. I closed my eyes, braced myself for the impact, but there was nothing. Instead of getting hit by salty water, I only felt as if I entered a foreign dimension. It was the same sensation as when I crossed space using the other dimension. There was a moment of being deaf after I sessfully did it, but this time, the dullness remained. I couldn¡¯t hear the sound of wind, birds, even the sound of the waves. I felt as if I was getting deaf. Noticing that something had changed, I tried to open my eyes a bit, to see where I was. To my surprise, the cart was going down! How was I supposed to breathe underwater? My answer came as soon as the question popped into my mind. I breathed normally, of course. I always thought that being submerged under the water would be terrifying. It would be dark and suffocating. Fear would fill one¡¯s mind as theck of oxygen and cold would slowly grip the heart and affect the rationality. Turned out it waspletely different. Well, maybe it was because I went down with the women who controlled the sea. Instead of feeling cold and fear, my surrounding was enveloped in a warm light. It might be colder one or two degree than the ground, but it wasn¡¯t to the point of biting cold. The dull sound in my head slowly started to disappear as the sound of traditional instruments being yed from far away filled my ears. It was the distinctive sound belonged only to the Queen of Sea as the mark of her arrival or whenever someone was moving closer to her. The music was soothing and at the same time elegant. However, if one was to listen closely to the music, one could easily be drawn to the hint of mystic in it. Since I was a master of a mystical army myself, I could notice the presence of this hidden power. Yet, I wasn¡¯t affected by it. As time went on, the strength behind that power was getting stronger and stronger. It was steadily trying to warp itself around me, trying to mess around with my mind. I sighed. Was it always like this? Was it the wee I got as soon as I entered her territory? Were they trying to mess with me? The feeling was ufortable, but I felt annoyed more than anything. I tried to endure it as I thought it might be their form of protection against anything or anyone that had bad intention towards them. But, as the sound was getting louder and louder, I felt that it was toying with me. I couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. Those women in front of me didn¡¯t say anything throughout the journey and I didn¡¯t feel the need to ask them. Well, if they really wanted to test me, I would love to show them that I wasn¡¯t someone they could y with. Not today, my dear citizen of Soul World! With a small wave of my hand, the alluring power behind the music dispersed in a sh and the music started to disappear as well. The tranquility returned to my surrounding and a smile appeared on my face. It was much better. The only thing I could hear was the sound of water sshing the barrier around me, but I couldn¡¯t touch it. It was a refreshing feeling to hear to movement of water even though I was supposed to be in the other dimension. The cart moved down even further until I couldn¡¯t see anything around me other than darkness outside the barrier enveloping the cart. If you were expecting me to say that I saw schools of fish, corals, and every sea creatures, well, there wasn¡¯t going to happen since those were not what I saw. Other than endless water and darkness as I submerged further and further, I didn¡¯t see anything. Didn¡¯t people say that the pce of the Queen was so beautiful that it was hard to find anything topare to it? Well, I had not seen the pce yet so I didn¡¯t want to assume anything. We were still going down yet I still couldn¡¯t see the bottom of this ce. How long did we need to arrive at the pce, actually? One of my escorts took out a small shell and blew it. A soft yet adorable sound came out from the shell in a long and melodious tone. It sounded like a call of siren in the middle of the storm. As soon as she stopped blowing the shell, my surrounding lit up as if someone was opening a giant curtain for us and the darkness and dull surrounding changed into one from the fantasy. Colorful corals, fish in all size and colors were swimming here and there. It looked like a dreamy underwater garden in a painting. Not too far from it was the magnificent looking building made of gold and marble. This was the pce of the Queen of the South Sea! The cartnded on the path led to the pce and a group of women appeared in the sidelines, looking at me with straight face without any hostility reflected in their eyes. They looked like professional bodyguards in traditional costumes. Beautiful and elegant bodyguards. If I were a man, I wouldn¡¯t mind chasing after one of them. Where would one find such a beauty with strength without looking a bit boyish? But, of course, it was only if they were real human. Even though there was stories about the love between two worlds, I knew that it wouldn¡¯t be forever. Still, it was romantic, right? ¡°Here we are, Mdy.¡± The cart stopped and I was pulled from my imagination at the same time. Looking at the massive pirs supporting the ceiling in front of me made me feel like a dwarf in a giant¡¯s house. Why should they make a super giant room while they were only tiny creatures in it? ¡°Our Queen has been waiting for you.¡± One of the maids who were waiting for me made a slight bow at me before she spoke. Here we go! Chapter 227 227 I¡¯m Going To Dere A War! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I let myself being led into the spacious room. Rows of maids were standing in the hall way with their heads slightly bowed but their eyes were clear and full alert. The massive pirs looked outstanding and fantastic that I could only look at it in awe. Who built this pce, I wonder? Ah well, at one nce I could guess what race had built it. Obviously it wasn¡¯t human. Pulling back myself from getting deeper into my imagination, I started to anticipate my meeting with the well-known Queen of South Sea. But, what I anticipated the most was to meet with my father. I hoped he was untouched, as healthy as he could be. If I found any trace of difort from him, I would make sure that Queen answered to my questions. With that thought in mind, my steps were getting firmer and more confident. Soon, we met with a big door made of gold with exquisite pattern on it. It looked heavy and I was expecting a show where some women would work hard to open it. However, to my surprise, one of the women who led my way put one of her hand on it and with light push, the giant door was opened. She was so damn strong! After that, I was led again to enter the room behind the door. This time I felt as if I entered a big aquarium. On my right and left side was walls made of ss. I could practically see the fish and any sea creatures went forth and back through the transparent wall. Not too far in front of me was a majesctic looking throne. It was either made of gold or covered with gold, with sophisticated carvings and some gems decorating the throne. ..... Sitting on it was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen on earth. Her elegance was even in rival with those from human kingdoms. Her gaze was soft and warm, yet there was powerful current hiding behind it. Even with the gentle and elegance appearance, I could still feel the formidable force possessed by this Queen. Her body emitted soft and warm glow, making her looked like celestial being -if celestial being did exist, of course. Just like what people said, she was wearing green dress, fitting tightly on her body. Creme and green silk draped on her waist and dragging across the floor along with her dress. Her crown was so beautiful, with strings of jasmines dangling along her ck cascaded hair. She was exceptionally beautiful that it was hard to find anyone topare with her in the human realm. ¡°My Queen, we have brought the guest here.¡± One of my escorts spoke softly as soon as we stopped in front of her. ¡°Greetings for the Queen of South Sea.¡± I bowed my head politely as I greeted her. ¡°I never thought that his child would be one of mystical army¡¯s masters.¡± The Queen said unhurriedly yet sounded soft and warm. I smiled in response. ¡°I want to see my father.¡± I said directly. ¡°He is fine.¡± The Queen said softly, probably hoping that it wouldfort me. ¡°Then, it¡¯s not difficult to bring me to see him.¡± I retorted back as polite as I could be. The Queen smiled. Her smile was so gentle that I had no heart to trouble her. She looked so gentle and kind-hearted that it would be difficult to associate her with any malicious ns. However, I snapped out of it quickly. Don¡¯t be a fool! A psychopath could kill even with a smile on his/her face and would still feel innocent! Hardening my heart, I focused my mental strength to protect my consciousness. If she would use some charms to lower my guard, I would not hesitate to break her spell and confront her. ¡°I want to see my father.¡± I repeated my request firmly. Maybe it was my eyes ying with my mind, but for a split second I saw something cracked behind her gaze. She almost lost herposure under my stubborn resistance. What was it? Was her gentleness a lie? Why did I have the urge to test it? ¡°Show me the ck Creese first before I let you see your father.¡± She was still smiling but her tone sent chill and shiver down my spine. See? Her true color was showing up. I smirked. ¡°My Queen, the deal is for you to let me see my father before I can show you the creese.¡± I said calmly. After all, I needed to make sure that he was fine before I took out the creese. If something happened after I took out the creese, I was sure my father could handle it since he was the master of the creese. ¡°Mdy, it¡¯s advisable for you to do what the Queen said. After all, you father is a guest here.¡± The maid from before said in an even tone, neither overbearing nor arrogant. However, the threat behind it was as clear as the ocean behind the ss wall. ¡°So, it was true that my father was kidnapped here for evil intention.¡± My expression changed as I lost all the respect I should have towards this famous figure in front of me. ¡°After all, why would a kingdom that only has women inside kidnap a man? Whatever your reason is, you must be harboring bad thought.¡± ¡°Child, don¡¯t overthink things. We don¡¯t harm your father even a slightest. But, we also have to make sure that you have the ck Creese with you.¡± The Queen¡¯s voice hardened as her eyes were ring at me ferociously. She was starting to lose herposure. It was either she was provoked or she was in a hurry to do something. My presence seemed to make her lost her patience and it agitated her originally soothing aura. What could happen to the most formidable Queen in astral world that she would be agitated to this state? What could be possibly bothering her? From the story I heard, even when she went berserk, she wouldn¡¯t lose herposure like this. She would show her anger but never lose her elegance and rationality. Even when I hated the fact that they were trying to threaten me, I couldn¡¯t help but analyze the possibility of this situation from another point of view. I didn¡¯t even try to separate two of my thoughts, it just happened like that. One of my thought was to kill whoever tried to threaten me using my father, and my second thought was to know what happened to the wonderful Queen of South Sea to make her acting not like herself. Not that I had seen her before. But the thought just came to me like soothing wind during dry season. It¡¯s refreshing and unavoidable. I had no other choice but to notice it. ¡°My Queen, I can assure you that the ck Creese is with me. Why don¡¯t you take my father out and I¡¯ll take the creese out? The only one who can verify the originality of the creese is my father, isn¡¯t he?¡± I was expecting some stupid maid came out to interrupt my conversation with the Queen -just like those people in the novels I read before who were so eager to meet their Creator, however these maids were all well-trained. Maybe they had sensed their Queen¡¯s anger, therefore they didn¡¯t say anything at all. On the other hand, I was waiting for someone stupid to vent on the difort I felt inside. It was too bad there was no mole inside this pce, which meant I couldn¡¯t vent and also, the reason for the Queen¡¯s agitation was not from inside. ¡°Fine.¡± The Queen relented as she stood straight. ¡°Bring Lord Satya here.¡± She voiced hermand and three of her maids bowed down in unison, heeding hermand before they left the hall in unhurried steps. ¡°Child, you¡¯d better bring the real creese, otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t mind making you my prisoner for lying to me.¡± ¡°My Queen.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I really have no idea that the formidable Queen of South Sea is someone who really likes to threaten people. After all, you are a Queen. Even your presence can make people cower in fear. But, I have never heard that you are someone who could easily lose her temper. Also, I don¡¯t really like getting threatened by other people, especially when the one you put as the guarantee is my own father.¡± My smile gradually disappeared as my eyes were staring at her in all seriousness. ¡°Queen of South Sea, you had better listen to me. If I see or notice any difort that you guys inflicted upon him, trust me that I¡¯m going to dere a war against you.¡± Chapter 228 228 Side Story: Creating A Monster There was an uproar after the girl left the scene. Gasps could be heard here and there as they patted their chests repeatedly to ease the pressure they felt a moment ago. What a strong and intimidating power! The moment she walked towards her army, they all felt an immense pressure holding them down, making them suffocated with eyes widened in bewilderedment. They tried to use their own power to shield them from the pressure, but it didn¡¯t work too much, instead, the summoned army slowly dissipated because ofck of power. By the time she disappeared with her army, the pressure eased up slowly but the shock they received lingered for much longer. Even so, they felt fortunate since they could breathe properly again. One by one, they looked around to check on their own army. Miserable whining was heard as they saw the pathetic looking of their own armies. The wonderful aura was dissipating and the number of men existed was reduced to half than they had called before. The only one who survived was Cloud Army. It was still as gloomy as after she helped the Master. They looked untouched by her pressure, even so the Master had the same bewildered expression on his face. Cold sweat wetted his clothes as he couldn¡¯t snap back from his stuppor. If only one could hear what he said in his mind, they must have understood his feeling at this moment. ¡®I must be mad! Why should I provoke that devil? What qualification do I have to be brave enough to challenge her?¡¯ ..... Those questions repeatedly appeared and tortured his mind. The memory where she beat him up until his advisor appeared suddenly popped into his mind and his body shook. That day, his advisor clearly told him not to provoke her, that she was much stronger than she looked. However, as soon as he learned that he was going to be as strong as the Master of Cloud Army as well as possessed the same ability as hers, his ego as a man made him think that he could surpass her eventually. Little did he know, he was facing the most abnormal and unpredictable master of all times. Therefore, he challenged her with a stupid intention in mind. Only after he saw her disy of power then he knew how stupid he was. The reason why he was saved from the pressure was probably because of the remnants of her power in his army. While the others suffered a humiliation from being over powered by her, he was the only one who got lesson in the hard way. While the others were scrambling to their feet to steady themselves, Rasha was the only one who stood upright even though he wasn¡¯t in much better situation either. Even so, this situation wouldn¡¯t take long to change. Above their head, no one noticed the presence of a creature. Looking down upon those masters, his pair of red eyes hid the contempt in his heart. His pair of ck wings pped softly with his arms crossed in front of his chest. A vortex was formed behind his back as his Generals came out of it. Hiding behind the portal was his thousands army, trembling with excitement to a big battle. All of them felt the familiar auraing from those masters, and they all knew that the meeting was taking ce. However, a powerful aura swept those auras away and grew even bigger to the point that those demons were triggered and started to cause a ruckus. The aura was powerful that they felt like someone was challenging them. Their lust for blood and battle was called forth. All they wanted to do was to rush towards the owner of the power and consume her or him. The aura was so delicious and judging from the scale of the aura, there must be enough for all of them. Their greed almost got the best of them. If not for the more experienced Generals, they would all head to their doom. The Generals could smell that something was wrong with the aura, thus they hastily locked the way out and calmed their soldiers. The only one who remained unperturbed with all themotion in front of him was their King, Nataya. There was even a gentle smile on his face and his red eyes softened. Of course he knew the source of the power. Even so, he was a bit perplexed when he saw the behavior of his men. Did they react this strongly because of Jane¡¯s power or it was because of other aspects that he didn¡¯t know about? Only after his Generals reported back about the situation that he finally realized the odd that had been bothering him. Since he was the Devil King, he didn¡¯t feel anything like how his underlings felt. But, ording to what his Generals said, even they had the same urge as the underlings. They all felt the aura was delicious, it was so alluring that it made them want to rush towards the source of power and devour it. It was so pure and abundant, that even they who only consumed dark and negative energy would be attracted to it. However, the instinct of those Generals was pretty good. They knew something as good as this would mean danger. Their survival instinct took over their greed and saved them just in time. Therefore, they resisted the urge and locked their underlings to avoid any cmities befell upon them. Listening to his Generals description of the power, Nataya nearly jumped out of his chair. He nearly pped himself for missing this important fact. He was too drowned in his grieve for years that he always tried to find fault in the next generation of Master of White Army. When he met Jane, he tried to shape her into another Ajeng, which caused him to overlook the most important thing; Jane¡¯s power. The fact that he didn¡¯t feel like what his underlings felt was the proof that her power was not strong enough to distract his mind. However, he knew that the time woulde in the near future. It wouldn¡¯t be long until his Generals would sumb to the temptation and lose their rationality. When that time came, he knew he would be next. Instead of feeling fear, he was excitedly anticipating the time. While he was trembling from his excitement, his mind had started to n about the training he would give to the girl. She would be a terrifying existence in the near future, and he would be the one who created that monster. Chapter 229 229 Side Story: Low Level Curse The ns were meticulously thought. List of training set had formed in his head. Nataya rose from his seat and opened the portal to visit human¡¯s world. He wanted to see what the girl was doing until she let out that much of power. Since the meeting was going on, was it possible that she was bullied? With that thought in mind, Nataya hastened his pace and hurriedly went through the portal. What greeted him was enough to make him smile. Of course. Why should he worry about her? Even without unleashing her full potential, she could easily suppress those arrogant masters. He watched as she walked away, leaving such heavy pressure towards those men. Her power had increased again, he thought. He stood there with his wings pped softly, looking down upon those human and their pathetic looking in the aftermath. Look at their whining faces as they realized the casualty she caused after she left! She had sessfully inflicted fear and wary in their heart. The next time they met her, they would think twice before they provoked her. Of course, there would be some fool among them that would always try to court death. Towards this kind of people, Nataya could only shake his head speechlessly and let his underlings reaped on their greed and arrogance energy. Truly, human was the most idiotic creature when they were fool and the scariest genius when they were smart. Thanks to their overly greedy and arrogant nature, his underlings could probably promote to a new rank soon. As expected, some of his men hade out and manipted their minds. ..... Whoever came first would be the one who got served was the exact way how they preyed upon human. That way, they would not attract other human¡¯s attention with the negative energy they had around themselves. Nataya watched with cold eyes as he saw his underlings started to feast on the human¡¯s negative energy. Weak! He snorted. Even so, they were the chosen ones. Before long, they hade out from their stuppor and hastily retreat while cleansing their bodies from any impure thought. Some of Nataya¡¯s men got the rebound effect from their cleansing, but luckily no one got hurt more than necessary. His underlings still harvested quite an amount of power, though. ¡°First Master is so rude. She is a junior, how dare she suppressed us, her senior, with her power? So, what if she is strong?¡± A man grumbled a bit loud intentionally. ¡°Her trashy attitude won¡¯t make her survive. I wish I could watch her meet her demise soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, after all there is a curse being the Master of First Army. I wonder how long she could hold on? I just wish she would get it sooner thanter.¡± Those old men discussed among themselves with sinister smile bloomed in their faces. They were the chosen ones, yet they couldn¡¯t escape human¡¯s fate to be greedy and vengeful. Those dark mist as a result of their negative emotion leaked from their pores and mixed with their protective barrier against evil creatures. It made Nataya¡¯s underlings couldn¡¯t feed on it no matter how tempting it looked. Nataya frowned as he heard their conversation. As the sole witness of the demise of the Masters of White Army before Jane, he knew perfectly well how those people died. Yet, these puny humans said it was a curse? They had no qualms about cursing their kind, not to mention she was their fellow Master of Mystical Army. His initial irritation that he felt when he thought they bullied her resurfaced in several folds. They dared to curse her in front of him -under his watch? Maybe these puny humans wanted to test the feeling of being cursed. Nataya¡¯s body emitted dense dark mist as his eyes glowed dangerously. His wings pped softly, seemingly unperturbed with the turmoil that was about to happen. The dark mist created a big dark cloud that could cover the whole city. In a second, thunder and lightning filled the sky. The rumbling sounds came from the thunder filled the sky as the wind howled creepily. The initial peaceful situation turned into a chaos when the lightning strucked down towards those men and their disappearing army. Those masters seemed perplexed with the sudden change of weather. The clear sky suddenly turned into a thunderstorm, who wouldn¡¯t be dumbfounded with the change? As soon as the lightning struck down near their feet, they all knew that this wasn¡¯t a natural phenomenone. This thunderstorm was a creation of someone. But, who would be so powerful to create a thunderstorm capable of affecting almost the whole city? While they were all drowned in a deep trance over pondering the peculiar situation they were in, they all missed the smooth movement under their feet. Nataya¡¯s dark mist crept on the wet ground, hiding behind the shadows created by the minimum light. Wicked schemes were being delivered right to the targets. The mist contained some slow reacting but excruciating poisons that dark and evil practitioners usually used to harm humans, but in a more advanced level. Unless the dark practitioner was rted to him, then no one could heal them. Of course, Nataya didn¡¯t mean to harm them for more than necessary since it would disrupt the bnce of the world. However, he knew this action could serve as a warning to them. He would make sure that these humans knew their difference with Jane. The dark mist started to envelope their feet and crept its way up. It stopped only when it had reached their mid thighs. ¡°Now.¡± Nataya hissed as his hand clenched tightly. As soon as themand was made, the dark mist seeped into those humans pores and attacked the blood vessels and muscles inside. Heartwrenching screams reverberated through the heavy rain as they copsed on the wet ground one by one. Their bodies spasmed as they were tightly grabbing their legs and feet. The pain was agonizing, one that they had never felt before. It was unbearable. They could feel their legs lost the power to stand up while being tortured in pain. It was as if their bones were being scraped inside. Their muscles were tearing up. Their blood vessels expanded under the stress, created a rather terrifying look under their loose pants. They all gritted their teeth as they could only endure the pain. As the Masters of Mythical Army, they knew one or two things about this evil poisons and of course, they should be immune towards ordinary evil poisons. Seeing that this kind of pain had the traits of dark and evil poisons, they all knew it wasn¡¯t some usual dark arts. They had tried to get rid of it, however they couldn¡¯t do anything against it even if they had tried their best to counterattack it. With faces as pale as sheet and bodies soaked under the heavy rain, they all felt helpless. ¡°How is it? Is my curse good enough for you?¡± A thick voice was heard between the sound of thunder and rain. ¡°Who are you?¡± The Sixth Master shouted. ¡°No need to know who I am. You plotted against one of you, yet you can¡¯t even bear with my low level curse. You guys are so funny.¡± Nataya smirked even if he knew they couldn¡¯t see him. After all, he was hiding behind the thick cloud. Not intentionally, but it was too much of hassle to fly down. He preffered his current position, higher than those humans could see. If they had the power to drag him down, they were allowed to do so. Ajeng would drag anyone, or anything that hid from her andunched a sneak attack on her, out from their hiding ce. Her aim rarely missed which made her the most frightening opponent his kind would ever meet. She was aggressive and confident, a ruling Queen who aimed for a better future for human. Did Jane have this trait? Seeing how simr the both of them, Nataya was sure they were both simr yet different in some other ways. These Masters, however, were too self-centered to improve themselves in fitting themselves to be the best Master. ¡°Pathetic.¡± Nataya spat out this one word in disdain before he waved his right hand and walked back to his domain. The rain gradually stopped and the thunderstorm disappeared. Next, the thick cloud started to disperse, opening up a path for the sun light to pass through and shone upon those pathetic Masters who were lying on the wet ground with pale face. He retracted his dark mist slowly and disappeared from their viewpletely, leaving pale face and confused men behind. The pain left them as if it was never there, but the trauma it caused made their legs shivered and twitched. Pathetic, indeed. Without further discussion, all of them returned back to their ces. In their heart, fear started to form towards this unknown opponent of them. This man could subdue them so easily but then he left them after giving them a ¡®warning¡¯. Was that a warning? A warning for what? Chapter 230 230 The Agitated Heart (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Insolent!¡± The maid behind my back shouted in displeasure as they heard me threatening their Queen. The other maids¡¯ eyes also turned vignt as they shot me a warning re. I watched as the Queen¡¯s expression turned dark, obviously she had never thought before that I would say something like that. Even though provoking them was thest in my list, I wouldn¡¯t step back if something really happened to my father. It wouldn¡¯t be an empty threat if it did happen; I would make sure to make it happen. ¡°Child, don¡¯t be impulsive.¡± She said dangerously. Her eyes shed with a murderous intent, ready to take me down in a sh if I did something reckless. ¡°Try me.¡± I smiled as I looked straight at her eyes, meeting her gaze head on. Listening to my open provocation, those maids went into battle mode, ready to attack me. However, since I had not seen my father, I wouldn¡¯t start this fight. The tense atmosphere went for minutes that I was sure that just a small movement from me could trigger those maids to attack me. That¡¯s how anxious they were. It was just around two or three minutes, but I felt like it was almost an hour when the big door was pushed open from the other side. Two maids pushed open the door wide and I watched as the other one appeared with someone in her tail. My eyes went wide as I tried to see the figure behind her back clearly. It had been months since Ist saw him yet he didn¡¯t show any signs of aging. Shouldn¡¯t a man grow a bit of beard when they didn¡¯t shave for weeks, let alone months? But, my father looked exactly the way he left the house that day. ..... Did he shave in South Sea? That question somehow made me dumbfounded as I couldn¡¯t imagine a man like my father bent all the rules in a kingdom where all the citizens were women to take care of himself. After scanning my father¡¯s body, even went as far to ignore his questions, I could finally let out a sigh of relief. He was fine. The Queen didn¡¯t lie. ¡°Jane, are you okay?¡± My father repeated his question after he saw me sighing. ¡°I¡¯m okay, Dad. Did they hurt you?¡± ¡°No. It may sound serious, but they didn¡¯t hurt me. How is your mother?¡± ¡°I sent Mom back to Ennd. I had no other choice since her presence could slow down my effort in finding you. Also, I¡¯m worried about her safety so I think making her stay with Aunt Rachel would at least guarantee her safety.¡± I exined to him and noticed him rx after listening to my answer. ¡°Milord, the Queen is waiting.¡± One of the maid reminded us that there was one more person in the room who was so anxious over unknown reason. Exchanging nces, I nodded at my father and we moved towards the Queen. My father gave her a polite salute before he looked back at me. ¡°Do you bring the Creese?¡± He asked me solemnly. Unlike before, I didn¡¯t hesitate to take out the creese. Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out a slender box and gave it to my father. ¡°My Queen, thank you for taking good care of my father.¡± I made a polite salute towards the Queen which was responded with a wave of her slender fingers. There was a trace of helplessness inside her eyes. ¡°It was my fault for being overly anxious. Pardon my rudeness.¡± She said softly. I was a bit startled that she would lower herself to admit to her mistakes. After all, she was a Queen. No King or Queen would directly admit their mistakes. Giving outpensation was enough to be considered an apology. She had lowered herself to admit her mistakes, then I would give her no face if I continued to find fault with her. ¡°I was being impolite as well, I hope my Queen could be magnanimous and overlook my rudeness for this once.¡± I bowed even deeper to show my sincerity. ¡°Lord Satya¡¯s daughter is indeed spectacr.¡± The soft and warm smile returned to her face, making her aura as a Queen radiated even more. ¡°My Queen, the ck Creese is here.¡± My father presented the creese in the open box towards her respectfully. The Queen looked hesitant for a bit before she waved her hand towards the creese. An invisible force made the creese floating towards her steadily. However, the ck Creese emitted a soft red glow when it came into contact with the Queen¡¯s power. It reminded me of the time when the creese went berserk. Surely it wouldn¡¯t attack the Queen, right? After all, it even said that it knew her. The Creese stopped in front of the Queen while still floating above her hand. ¡°We meet again, ck Creese.¡± The creese let out a soft hum, as if answering the Queen¡¯s words. ¡°I need your help again, along with your master.¡± I shot my father a nce. Why did she mean by ¡®help¡¯? If she really needed my father¡¯s help, she didn¡¯t have to kidnap him, right? The creese let out a soft hum again, probably agreeing to her request. ¡°We can start anytime, my Queen.¡± My father was surprisingly obedient while I felt like I was being kept in the dark about what was going on. The creese vibrated and flew back to its box in my father¡¯s hands. My lips twitched. The formidable and terrifying force inside the creese was so obedient that I found it¡¯s hard to believe that it was a tool that was used to massacre humans. The Queen didn¡¯t say anything, but the anxiety returned to her face. She looked like she was in hurry to go somewhere, but at the same times, she was maintaining her elegance and hospitality towards her guests. ¡°My Queen, maybe we should do it now.¡± My father suggested. What should we ¡®do¡¯ now? What had happened, I really couldn¡¯t follow. ¡°You¡¯re right. Then, I have to trouble you.¡± The Queen nodded and tore open a portal. ¡°Little girl, you cane, too.¡± Of course, I woulde with you, guys. But, where would you guys go? Chapter 231 231 The Agitated Heart (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I tried to ask my father about our destination, but my father seemed to be engrossed in fiddling with his ck creese. I watched as the ck creese let out different colors in every five seconds. It would also let out soft hum and vibrate slightly. It really didn¡¯t suit its mysterious and terrifying identity that it made me shiver. Surprisingly, the Queen and her maids brought us to a house in the forest -which forest it was, I had no idea. It looked like a secluded vige, deep in forest. However, it was not a Hidden Vige. It was merely a secluded vige, far from the bustling city. There were houses other than this house, but there was some space between each other. They all had fence surrounding their house with the average height of the fence around one point five meters. It made them look unapproachable. What business did the Queen have here? She even personally came to visit, whoever inside this house must be someone important. However, I couldn¡¯t detect anyone inside the house. Weird! Five steps before we reached the front door, the Queen stopped, followed by her maids. It made me and my father halted our steps as well with a confused look in my face. The Queen waved her hand and her maids nodded. The four of them disappeared, but secondster I had the hunch about where they had gone. One of them was floating on top of the house, one was standing on the left side, one on the right side, and if my guess was right, thest one was probably behind the house. Anyone who knew would recognize that this was a simple array made for protection. I watched as the Queen waved her hands again, pouring her power into the array and a soft glow of green emitted from the house before I could finally notice some movements inside the house. This was strange. I was sure I couldn¡¯t notice anything or anyone inside, but now I could sense it. However, there was something off from the breath inside the house. ..... As the green glow disappeared, the bad feeling I got from the house got more intense. My body went into alert at once as my eyes scanned my surroundings. The dark and evil aura thickened in a matter of seconds. It was like they were attracted by something inside the house. Something that could attract this much of evil aura must be something wicked. How did the Queen rted to the evil thing inside? ¡°Lord Satya, please...¡± The agitation in the Queen¡¯s face got even more obvious. I watched as my father nodded and walked towards the door. In a haste, I jumped between him and the door, preventing him to move further. ¡°Dad, are you sure?¡± My eyes shot him a warning gaze, trying to stop him from going into the house. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jane.¡± My father patted my shoulder with assuring gaze. ¡°He needs me.¡± I frowned. Since my father said so, even if I felt reluctant, I could only move aside and let him enter the house. ¡°My Queen, would you mind to tell me who is inside this house? And why do you need my father to go inside?¡± I could only turn to the only one who knew the problem. The Queen of South Sea sighed even though worry was still painting her beautiful face. ¡°My son is inside.¡± She said in a low tone. Wait! Son?! I was sure my face showed the surprise I felt inside as I couldn¡¯t manage to control my expression. Was it appropriate for me to ask about how she could have a ¡®human¡¯ son? I really wanted to know but I knew it was rude to ask. ¡°He was cursed by malicious and evil power from the King of Devil from Red Sea. The dark and evil aura you see is the result of his curse. If the curse can¡¯t be lifted, then slowly he will die of pain that will eat his body inside. I¡¯ve tried to stop the flow of dark aura but it didn¡¯t help at all since the dark aura in him can still easily devour him slowly.¡± ¡°I remember seeing the ck Creese did something to a simr case before. That¡¯s why I boldly took your father out of desperation. That was part of my fault.¡± A curse from Red Sea? How formidable was it that the Queen herself couldn¡¯t do anything against it? A blood-curling scream was heard from the house. I was worried that the neighbors could hear it, but I guessed my worry was for nothing. The four maids had built a soundproof barrier outside the house when I was still processing the information from the Queen. I watched as the Queen¡¯s hands clenched as she looked inside the house with trouble all over her face. So, this was the cause of her agitation. No wonder she would lose herposure, it was her son¡¯s life and death matter, after all. The terrifying scream continued for some time, and I noticed the flow of aura turned chaotic. I frowned. It was not a good sign. Instead of getting better, I felt the aura was going berserk. Was it possible that it would attack whoever inside? As I was pondering about it, a rush of even sinister aura approached the house. My eyes widened as I tried to block it. However, I was a stepte. A painful growl was heard from inside and I could feel the warmth left my body as I recognized the owner of the house. I had no idea how I got inside but the next thing I knew, a creature almost simr to the shadow back then -but it was even nastier and stronger -was being clutched between my fingers. My eyes went cold as I stared at the creature shrieking in my hands, struggling to be free from my hand covered with my blue me. ¡°Scram back to your Master!¡± Imanded it between my gritted teeth as my blue me burned it even ferociously. The shadow screamed as it went out the way it came in faster than when it came. I turned to see my father clutching his chest with blood trickled slightly from the corner of his mouth. He was eyeing me with surprise, but I had no time to exin anything to him. The ck Creese was hovering above a man¡¯s body, trying to prevent the evil aura from attacking him. It was hard to guess his age since his body was basically so thin that it was boney. He was frowning as weak moans came out from his mouth. It was painful to see him. Those evil aura turned into wicked things that consumed on his body and soul. Pitiful. Before I could check on him more, another rush of sinister energy came in a stronger force. I sighed. This Devil King of Red Sea wanted to test me? I smirked. ¡°me bearer.¡± I softly called out and they all came in unison, not even a secondte. ¡°Burn them all.¡± Chapter 232 232 Picking The Wrong Opponent (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Burn them all.¡± The blue me rose higher and burned the dark aura inside the room in a sh. It continued burning even towards the dark aura which was still outside. Shrill cries were heard as it met the sinister and dark force that was about to attack us again. I smirked. Red Sea was too far from Indonesia, but if that King of Devil still wanted to y around, I could apany him to y. Even though I had no idea the root of problem that caused that King to attack the son of Queen of South Sea, I would not hesitate to conterattack if he attacked humans, especially my father. Whether I could win or not, it was a problem forter. It was not arrogant, but as long as I thought I could win, I wouldn¡¯t step back to protect what¡¯s precious for me. As the dark aura stopped invading the man¡¯s body, his painful moan disappeared, too. However, since there was still trace of dark aura inside his body, he would asionally whimper from feeling difort here and then. The ck Creese was still floating above his body while giving out soft hum. ¡°Dad, just call it back.¡± I said to my father. ..... Nodding his head, my father retracted his order and the ck Creese went back to his hand. Before putting it back into its scabbard, my father sat down and tried to expel the trace of dark aura that attacked him before. That much of wicked aura, I was sure my father could handle it himself. I turned my head towards the manying on the bed. Cleaning him from the evil aura would be troublesome, but if I didn¡¯t do it, the Queen would go insane. I was sure of that. If only I knew she needed this kind of help, I would dly help her. After all, with the form of my power resembled smoke and possessing blue me, I could fight with any curse however I wanted. For now, I wanted to check on how bad he was cursed before I started burning my way in. Letting out my smoke like power, I scanned the existence of dark aura inside the man¡¯s body and the casualties it resulted. It seemed pretty bad as the inside of his body looked like it was corroded by something, full of holes here and there. Or, it only looked like holes where in reality it was actually the dark aura taking ce inside. Whichever it was, it didn¡¯t sound good at all. He needed a thorough cleaning, inside and outside. When it was true that water was the best at healing and the Queen would be the perfect candidate to perform it, I didn¡¯t think it would be that simple. If the Queen could do so, she wouldn¡¯t waste her time by taking my father with her to save her own son. The only answer was because her water power did nothing to this evil aura. After all, the curse casted by a King of Devil wouldn¡¯t be ordinary. This man and the Queen were lucky since I had what it needed to counterattack the curse. Blue me. It was a good thing I had finished reading the description of this me and practiced using it in my spare time to test on the full potential. My finger took a small portion of fire and put it on different spots on his body; his forehead, on his chest right above his heart, above his abdomen, on his palm, and on his toes. After I had done lighting his body like candles -seriously, my lips twitched as I saw those small mes resembled candles a lot -I controlled them to enter the man¡¯s body through his pores. ¡°Jane, that¡¯s....¡± My father mumbled slightly while still sitting cross-legged behind me. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Dad. I know what I am doing.¡± I said to him assuringly. My eyes closed as I tried to see what happened inside the man¡¯s body through my spiritual eyes. The me burned here and there inside and slowly the amount of ck aura started to diminish. But, I still need to find the main source of power inside this man¡¯s body. Something nastier than a regr shadow, probably a curse tool ced inside his body or anything closed to that. The blue me reached deeper into his body and cleaned him from every bit of dark aura. The only ce left was his spine. He only felt difort here and there even when the blue me burned his internal organs, but burning the spine was a whole different case. The process would be really painful, depending on how bad it was affected by the corrosive nature of dark aura. As soon as my blue me reached his spine and entered his bone marrow, shrill cry came out from his mouth as cold sweat started to form on his face. It was a painful process, but it was needed. Also, it was about time.... Another shrill cry came from the ceiling of the house, ovepping with the cry of the man on the bed. I smirked. Got you! You¡¯re really picking up the wrong opponent this time. ¡°Dad, do you mind to use ck Creese to catch something?¡± I asked my father who was sitting there, stunned. ¡°It¡¯s hiding in the ceiling. Just absorb it, it will be helpful for the creese¡¯s growth.¡± I pointed at the ceiling casually. The creese didn¡¯t need to be told twice as it flew in a sh while glowing angry red towards where I was pointing at. The cry went even more harsher, but not too long after that, it disappeared. The only cry I heard came from the manying on the bed. Even so, his cry gradually became quiet and in the end, it came out only as a whimper. His body went from rigid from the pain to limp from exhaustion. His pale face looked as if he was drained of his blood. His body was wet from head to toe, as if he was just soaked in a tub full of water. As my me finished burning the dark aura in his bone marrow, his erratic breath gradually turned better. It was still weak, but it was better than before. I retracted my me and checked on him again. He was all good. He only needed to nurture his body back to health. Which led me to a new question...did he live alone? I shook my head slightly. It was not my business. I turned to see my father had a serious look on his face. The ck Creese had returned looking even more powerful than before and was floating above my father¡¯s palm. ¡°Dad?¡± I called out to him. My father looked startled. My guess that he was talking to the ck Creese. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± I smiled and went to hug him. ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re fine. Maybe you should reunite with Mom soon.¡± It might sound so hasty but actually I had been thinking about it for some time after the Meeting the other Masters ended. If what they said was true, then it would be chaos in the near time and I didn¡¯t want my father to get involved in that matter. It was better for him to reunite with my mother as soon as possible. ¡°My baby princess has grown up now.¡± He hugged me back while patting my back. Even without seeing his face, I knew for sure that he was smiling. ¡°Even after being separated for months, she immediately urged me to go far away instead of saying she missed me.¡± Iughed as I heard his softin. ¡°Of course, I miss you, Dad.¡± I hugged him even tighter. After going through several obstacles, I could finally see my father and he was fine. I was so happy and relief, but at the same time I knew I needed to evacuate him. Therefore, no matter how much I missed him, making sure his safety was my priority. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t tell him about the weakened border and the demons attack. ¡°As much as I miss you, as long as I¡¯ve seen you¡¯re healthy, I am totally fine. But, I can¡¯t say the same with Mom. You know how worrywart she is. So, it¡¯s best for you to reunite with her and take some vacation together.¡± I sat cross-legged in front of him while trying to persuade him. ¡°Jane, it should be me who said that. You¡¯ve tried so hard to be strong these months and even if you didn¡¯t tell me, epting this kind of power must not be easy for you. You don¡¯t need to hide it from me. Even though you are obviously stronger than me, you should know that I, your father, will always support you. You can always turn back and take a rest while I take care of you like usual. It is kind of sad for me that my only daughter has grown up this fast, but since you¡¯ve chosen to do so, I can only support you.¡± My father rubbed my head lovingly. ¡°I should be by your side when you embraced your power, yet I went missing and made you and your mother worried.¡± He sounded guilty and sad that I couldn¡¯t help but say something which reminded us that we indeed forgot something -or rather, someone. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s that Queen¡¯s fault for taking you away so suddenly.¡¯ Ah right, we forgot to inform the Queen. ¡°I¡¯ll go get her.¡± I was about to stand up and run outside when my father threw me a question I had been wishing he wouldn¡¯t ask. ¡°Jane, how about your education?¡± My body went rigid as I heard his question. Could the Queen save me from this situation? After all, if it wasn¡¯t because of her, I wouldn¡¯t take long leave from the campus. If my father knew about it, I couldn¡¯t think what would possibly happen to me. Chapter 233 233 My Daughter, My Pride (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°That¡¯s umm...¡± I didn¡¯t mean to stutter, but lying to my father about anything rted to my education was a bad choice to do. Nor that saying the truth was less troublesome as well. ¡°Lord Satya, how is it going?¡± The Queen appeared while asking hesitantly. ¡°It went well, My Queen.¡± My father stood up and bowed down towards the elegant woman. The atmosphere around her changed as her full of worry face now had a blooming smile on it. It was not a graceful smile like she showed towards unknown people. It was a smile pure of relief and happiness. It was a mother¡¯s smile. She genuinely cared for him. ¡°But, it¡¯s thanks to my daughter that My Queen¡¯s son can be saved.¡± My father continued. ¡°Honestly, it was a hard fight, close to impossible. But, since you trust this case to me, I should do my best. Turned out I underestimated the situation. If my daughter wasn¡¯t here, I am sure he wouldn¡¯t make it.¡± My father nced at me with eyes filled with pride. His eyes sparkled as if he was looking at his most treasured treasure. Pride and excitement were clear in his face. The surprise in the Queen¡¯s eyes was something worth to see. Apparently, she was indeed underestimating me the whole time because of my age. Even though she knew I am the Master of White Army, she had never thought that I could be this powerful. ..... Well, it was a bit unbelieavable for me too, actually. It was just I had no time to think about it that way. Instead, I learned to control and to utilize it to the fullest. I was kind of lucky that I could do that step by step under the guidance of the best advisor. The Queen was stunned as she heard my father¡¯s exnation. I was quiet all the while they were talking. Just let adults do the talking since I was only a kid in their eyes, anyway. ¡°I don¡¯t know what she summoned, but whatever or whoever they are, they must be powerful since I can¡¯t see them.¡± Ah, right. I looked at the five me bearers standing in the room. They were standing still with the blue me still soared in the sky, burning the remaining dark aura which was left in the air around the house within their parameter. The Queen could see them -of course, since they were from the same dimension, after all. She was a bit surprised to see the five of them there. But, my father couldn¡¯t. ¡°me bearer from White Army.¡± She whispered. ¡°You can control them already?¡± Her eyes filled with doubt and excitement. ¡°Um, can¡¯t I?¡± I shrugged my shoulders in hesitation. What did she mean by saying that? The look in her eyes turned excited when she heard my answer. ¡°Of course, you can. You¡¯re totally right. Only blue me can counterattack the dark aura. I¡¯m really lucky to have you here with us. You have my utmost gratittude, Master of White Army.¡± Her attitude changed as she bowed down to me. My eyes went wide as I saw the gracious and majestic Queen of South Sea was bowing down to me. In a haste, I jumped and prevented her from bowing down. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be courteous, My Queen. I just helped my father finishing his task so that he can go back to my mother¡¯s side as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Lord Satya is truly blessed with good luck to have you as his daughter.¡± Queen of South Sea kept singing praise for my father but she didn¡¯t sound like a sweet talker. From her eyes and expression, I knew that she meant what she said. It was an honest and genuine feeling came from her heart. Against this kind of person, I could only blush and smile awkwardly. However, when I turned to look at my father, those feelings disappeared, reced with dumbfounded expression. Look at his smug face! Where was his humble self that would usually refuse that kind ofpliment? Look at his puffed chest! There was so much pride in it! He shamelessly epted thatpliment directly. Was he my real father? ¡°Indeed. I¡¯m proud that she is my daughter. My only daughter, and my only pride and joy in life.¡± He said while grinning happily. I forced augh once before I found an excuse to go outside. I couldn¡¯t hear any of this anymore. ¡°I need to see the situation outside. My Queen, you need to nourish him back properly since the dark aura had corroded his body.¡± I reminded the Queen of the most vital information. After saying that, I escaped from the bizarre situation hastily. I stayed outside for several minutes to check on the environment, and only after I found there was no abnormalities happened outside and it was safe to get inside the house, I made my move. After retracting the me from the air and sending the me bearers back, I started to do another big scale deep scanning and cleaning around the house to make sure that everything went well. I found some other things that belonged to the malicious force but it was not as dangerous as the dark and evil aura from Red Sea. Queen, I don¡¯t even know why I voluntarily do it, and I don¡¯t demand forpensation, but at least help me distract my father from asking me about my study o(-?-) He always said that I should always put my study first no matter what happened at home. My only responsibility was to finish my study and to provide me with money, food, and facilities was my mother and father¡¯s responsibility. There was no need to worry about anything else. Just focus on my study. I took a deep breath while watching at the sky gradually turning dark. It seemed that there was something I forgot. What was it? I tilted my head, thinking about what I could possibly forget. Whatever I forgot, it must be something important. However, I couldn¡¯t figure it out. What was it? ¡°Jane, do you still have something to do out there? If not, why don¡¯t youe inside?¡± My father came even before I could recall whatever it was nagging my mind. ¡°Oh, sure.¡± I nodded and pushed the strange feeling to the back of my head. ¡°The Queen wants to ask you something.¡± ¡°Hm? About what?¡± I asked, feeling confused with this sudden questioning out of blue. My father shrugged, looking like he wanted to escape from whatever I was about to face. I smelled a conspiracy. My father was acting suspiciously. He even avoided eye contact wiith me. ¡°Dad, you didn¡¯t sell me out to the Queen, did you?¡± Even though it was kind of riddiculous, I couldn¡¯t help but ask jokingly. I was surprised when he didn¡¯t deny it nor agree to it. I had a bad feeling about the question the Queen was about to ask. Could I just run away from this situation? My father was fine and the crisis had passed. I could leave him here, right? The Queen would definitely send him back and he would go to Ennd to reunite with my mother all by himself. I could escape, of course. But, I was not fast enough, sadly. Chapter 234 234 The Rage of A Father (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± My eyes met with a pair of familiar and warm eyes, but the owner was someone I just met. She wasn¡¯t entirely a stranger since I could sense some familiarity in her, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was her or not. Could it be... ¡°My Queen?¡± I called out hesitantly. The one in front of me didn¡¯t look like the Queen of South Sea at all, instead she looked more... human. The woman smiled and waved towards a maid that I recognized as one of the four that hade with us here. Seeing the obedience the maid showed when she waved her hand, I was sure she was the Queen, indeed. As expected of the Queen, even when she changed her appearance, she couldn¡¯t erase her elegancepletely. On the other hands, she could mask her identity as the resident of astral world and appeared totally... human. What a frightening skill of disguise! ¡°Sit down, child.¡± She pointed at the chair near her. ..... Why did it sound so suspicious? Even so, I did sit down slowly. My body went into alert mode, just in case something were to happen so I could bolt out as soon as possible. ¡°Based on what your father told me, you¡¯re almost neen years old now?¡± She stared at me with a gentle gaze, but I sensed a hidden agenda behind her gaze. ¡°Yes?¡± I answered, but it ended up like a question since I was not entirely sure how my age rted to anything she was about to say. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure with how the world outside works for now, but considering your age, it must be your best time to bloom beautifully.¡± Bloom? Like flower? Her word of choice somehow made me feeling terrified with the possibility this conversation would end up. ¡°Child, I¡¯ve talked to your father, but we are just old people. Whatever we talked about, we need your consent to it.¡± She started, looking serious this time. See? I knew it! They must have talked something about me behind my back and probably reached to a decision, and this whole conversation saying that ¡®they needed my consent¡¯ was just a big fat lie! ¡°We were wondering whether you already have someone you fancy out there¨C¡± ¡°Yes!¡± I answered quickly, even before I processed the whole sentencepletely. ¡°I-I do have someone I fancy out there.¡± I didn¡¯t stutter, right? It wouldn¡¯t be convincing if I stuttered. The Queen arched her eyebrows. Her expression didn¡¯t show any displeasure from my disrespectful attitude of cutting off her words when she had not finished speaking. ¡°Sweetie, you will never know how long a rtionship canst.¡± She smiled. I was speechless. From the way she said it, I was one hundred percent sure that they talked about getting me engaged to someone rted to the Queen. I knew it! ¡°My Queen, you underestimate people¡¯s feeling.¡± I smiled at her. At this moment, I remembered what had been nagging in my mind. I left those two on the shore and I had no idea how long I had left them there! Did they set a camp there? I doubted that since the local policemen would definitely drive them away. They might have gone to find an inn nearby to keep an eye to the sea. If the waves were getting extreme, they would know for sure that there was something wrong and I might need their help. We had talked about that before I went down to the sea. Since I had returned on thend, I should be able to call them, but I really forgot about them! ¡°Siji.¡± I called out and as usual, he appeared silently. ¡°Can you bring Sanji here? I can summon Tom here but Sanji is a different case.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji nodded with a slight bow towards me. After that, he left. ¡°Is that the Seventh Advisor?¡± The Queen of South Sea¡¯s eyes sparkled with a new vigor as she looked at me. She looked like a fan girl meeting her idol. Or, did I see it wrong? ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded, a bit speechless seeing the elegant and graceful Queen of South Sea was fangirling over a man. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him this close despite how old I have been exist in this world. As expected of the most intelligent Advisor, he really looks up to his name.¡± She was right. Siji indeed looked smart and meticulous. He was always neat and he was handsome as well. What the Queen said was not wrong at all. If girls nowadays saw him, they would surely fall head over heels to him. He would probably have a bunch of brainless fans by now. ¡°Are you perhaps idolizing him?¡± I asked carefully. ¡°Many of us idolize him. It¡¯s just... the chance to meet see him this close is close to none. So, most of us cannot see him directly and can only admire him from afar. His brilliant demeanor is something hard to find even in our dimension.¡± The Queen admitted, but she had returned to her usual expression; warm andposed with a hint of enthusiastic in her eyes. What a superb control of one¡¯s self! ¡°Seeing that you have lots of potential to be a capable Master, I think I made the right decision to give my son to you.¡± The Queen¡¯sst words had me stiffened and bewildered to the point that I forgot what we were talking about. What did she mean by giving his son to me? I wasn¡¯t a babysitter! I was still young! Why would I take care of other people¡¯s son? Even if the word she used wasn¡¯t exactly the same with I had in mind, I could guess the meaning behind it. She wanted me to marry his son? Which son? The one that I had just saved? Or did she have other sons that I wasn¡¯t aware of? ¡°Excuse me, My Queen, I couldn¡¯t catch what you said just now. Could you, please, repeat it slowly?¡± ¡°I said, you should get married to my son. Even though he met a mishap this time, I can assure you that he is much more capable than he looks like.¡± The Queen dropped the bomb casually. If it was heard by me only, I wouldn¡¯t think about it. Unfortunately, right before I finished asking the Queen to repeat her words, I didn¡¯t notice three familiar figures arrived not far from me. ¡°Sorry to interrupt, My Queen, but your words have greatly offended us.¡± At the sound of familiar voice, I turned my back and looked at them with wide eyes. Their expression had darkened to the point I couldpare their faces with the soot. Their eyes shot a warning re at the Queen, how brave! As they got closer to me, they both bowed down a bit and stood behind my back with a really close gap between us. Too close to be bodyguards! I switched my sight towards the calcting Queen in front of me and saw that she was observing these men behind me with a calm expression. ¡°Which one of you is her boyfriend?¡± She asked suddenly. ¡°We are her boyfriends.¡± Tom replied in a fake polite tone. His answer greatly surprised the Queen as she had that rare startled expression in her face. Ah, it would be troublesome, I sighed. ¡°My Queen, what they said is true. I don¡¯t wish for us to act awkwardly in the future because of this misunderstanding, and you should know that your son is a great man. But, I already have two men beside me, what else do I need?¡± I tried to reason with this warm woman. ¡°I appreciate your good will, but I really can¡¯t.¡± I bowed down. ¡°Now, please excuse us.¡± I stood up and signalled the two of them to follow me. Again, I wasn¡¯t in a good luck. My father appeared out of nowhere with his face as ck as the bottom of the pot. He must have heard ¡°Which one of you is her boyfriend?¡± He asked glomily while his hand was holding onto the ck Creese. It was the same question as the one the Queen was asking, however the pressure was clearly different. Oh, crap. Chapter 235 235 The Rage of A Father (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Oh crap. ¡°Dad, calm down.¡± I eyed him warily. How could my father lose his rationality over this matter? ¡°Hello, Uncle Farid. Do you still remember me? I¡¯m Sanjaya.¡± Out of nowhere, with a bucket full of bravery and a belly full of guts, Sanji came out and greeted him warmly and politely. Hey, couldn¡¯t he see the menacing looking creese in my father¡¯s hand? Paired with my father¡¯s dark face, his body emitted a threatening pressure which totally enhanced the dangerous feelinging from him. If he said he would kill someone today, there was no way I wouldn¡¯t believe him. I watched anxiously as my father¡¯s eyebrows arched as he looked at Sanji in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s really Sanjaya.¡± A weird smile appeared on his face, even so I was startled seeing how fast his expression changed. ¡°How is your father? Why are you here with Jane? Also, is it you, the one who is her boyfriend now?¡± This time, I was truly terrified seeing my father changed his expression so fast like a psychopath. His gaze turned colder that it was hard to associate him with the one who was smiling brightly just now. ..... ¡°Dad, dad, calm down. The Queen is still here.¡± I tried to remind him. ¡°I know, baby. You don¡¯t meddle in men¡¯s business. Just stay away.¡± His smiling eyes met my horrified eyes. ¡°I just want to talk with my daughter¡¯s boyfriend.¡± It¡¯s over! I shouldn¡¯t have asked Siji to bring them here! ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for the inappropriate behavior, My Queen. As expected, I am not ready to let my daughter go. Just the thought of my little princess being with a boy who can¡¯t take care of her makes me angry. I¡¯m not ready to let go of my responsibility as her father and pass it on to some irresponsible boy who only knows how to hurt woman. Maybe in a few years, but this kind of talk should not happen in a near future. I¡¯m terribly sorry.¡± My father bowed deeply to the Queen who was watching in amusement. ¡°I get it.¡± The Queen was surprisingly cool about it. ¡°We will talk about itter if they are really meant to be.¡± Sanji, Tom and I exchanged nces hearing their words. However, what I was worried about the most was the fact that I had two boyfriends. My father nearly went mad at the mention of my boyfriend, but he thought it was only one. What if he knew I had two? I couldn¡¯t deny their identity. One of them was my boyfriend and the other one was my fiance. Even with his status as my fiance, my father looked ready to kill him. What would happen to Tom, then? I really had no idea my father would strongly oppose my decision to have a boyfriend even after I had graduated from High School. I mean, Tom may not be my first boyfriend, but I had obeyed my parents¡¯ wish to not have boyfriend before I graduated from High School. So, how could he react like this? I could only imagine how awkward it was for Tom. I didn¡¯t even dare to see his face right now. However, I truly underestimated my father¡¯s eyes and judgment in deciding something. His eyes finally caught sight of Tom who was standing beside Sanji. ¡°Or... is it you?¡± My father squinted his eyes at Tom who flinched slightly. ¡°Sir, nice to meet you. My name is Tom, and I am indeed Jane¡¯s boyfriend.¡± He bravely introduced himself. He even went as far as mentioning that he was my real boyfriend. I thought he was scared seeing his pale face and stunned expression ever since my father came out! Why did he admit that to my father? Seeing his stiff expression trying to smile as good as he could, I could faintly notice that he wasn¡¯t forced to do it, nor he felt threatened by my father. He looked more like a nervous man facing his girlfriend¡¯s... Ah, of course! How could I be so stupid? As a person who had tasted the feeling of ¡®nearly died¡¯, Tom must have lost many reasons to feel afraid for some things. Therefore, I could be sure about one thing; He wasn¡¯t afraid of my father, but he was nervous. I didn¡¯t know how high the possibility of this thought but if what he said to me was right, that he was serious to me, meeting his girlfriend¡¯s father was indeed nerve-wrecking. No. It was not nerve-wrecking anymore.Just looking at my father¡¯s face, I knew that this probably wasn¡¯t going to end well. ¡°So, you¡¯re her boyfriend.¡± My father growled. I gulped. I needed to do something before it went further than I could control. ¡°Dad, easy, easy.¡± I blocked his sight from Tom. ¡°Uncle Farid, I¡¯m also Jane¡¯s boyfriend.¡± As if Tom admitted that he was my boyfriend was not enough, this man suddenly jumped next to me and said it with a grin on his stupid face. No, it was me who was stupid. Listening to his nonchntly but sounded innocent confession made me want to strangle the both of them together. Which part of my father¡¯s words and expression were not clear that he wanted to harm someone? Look at that stiff and weird smile on his face! The ck Creese trembled slightly in his hand. My eyes widened at the thought that my father¡¯s slowly going mad. ¡°Very good! Very good!¡± He said through his greeted teeth. ¡°Two wild beasts are trying to fool my daughter? How nice!¡± Here we go... I gulped hard as I watched his face contorted in anger. ¡°Now let¡¯s see which one of you capable of taking care of my daughter!¡± With that, the ck Creese hummed slightly and vibrated. In a second, the ck Creese floated in front of us and pointed at Sanji and Tom repeatedly. Sanji and Tom went pale as they saw the creese was aiming at them. It was good that they had trained their reflexes during their training with Siji, otherwise they would definitely have been shed by the creese by now. I had the urge to facepalm myself seeing the odd view in front of me. My father, on the other hand, emitted murderous aura ever since then. ¡°Both of you can stop dreaming about my daughter! I won¡¯t let you have her to yourselves! You beast!¡± He shouted in rage, totally lost his rationality. ¡°Dad!¡± It was embarassing! He didnt even give Sanji a face and went straight up to reprimand the grown up man. Chapter 236 236 Run! (Tom¡¯s PoV) RUN! RUN, TOM! RUN! That¡¯s what I told myself as I moved my feet fast to avoid the sh of the ck Creese tailing behind me. I could just use my chain to deflect it and save my energy, but I lost my mind when the man whom my girlfriend called as her father appeared and put on menacing look on his face. I had never thought that it would be the way I met with my father-inw! He was so protective and possessive of her own daughter that I couldn¡¯t really think of anything other than staying alive. He looked like he was prepared to kill anyone who would have an inappropriate thought about his daughter. Well, if I were him, I would act the same. With a daughter as sensible and adorable as Jane, I wouldn¡¯t want mere boy to be with her. Which was why I had no qualms over how he treated me. It was kind of frustrating about how my first image in front of him was ruined just like that and somehow I doubted it would be any different if we were in a different situation. Even so, how long should I run from the creese? ToT Sanji wasn¡¯t in any better situation than me, though. The creese somehow could attack us both at the same time even when we went separated ways. Again, it was easy for us to deflect the creese, but somehow we didn¡¯t do it. ..... I guessed it was part of guilty conscience because we did taint his only daughter. However, I had never thought of leaving her alone. I didn¡¯t know about how Sanji felt but I knew exactly what I felt. I loved her, there was no doubt about it. I wanted to stay with her forever, yes, absolutely. There was no buts. I wanted her and I still do until now. ¡°Dad, Tom is my senior. I can assure you that he is more than capable of protecting me. You can rest assured. Also, isn¡¯t Sanji my fiance? You even talked about it to him and his father before you sent me to college. He is improving himself and I can assure you that he is more capable than you know. They have been taking care of me these months when I was at my lowest. Please, don¡¯t do this!¡± Her clear voice pleaded for our safety rang among the trees. ¡°Baby, you should know that I have no problems that you have two or three boyfriends as long as they can take care of you. Rules in our society indeed only let woman has one husband, but if you find more than one man is loving you unconditionally, you can always move to the Satu Vige and live there. I know both of them are equally important to you, but the thought of two men take you from me when I¡¯m not even done spoiling and pampering you makes me mad. I couldn¡¯t help it! I won¡¯t kill them, but I need to make sure they know that I treasure you so much that I don¡¯t mind hurting them if they hurt you one day.¡± I heard her father said that righteously. My jaw dropped as I heard his reply to his daughter. He was so cool that I wished he could be my father-inw soon. His reasoning was true but somehow he hit the nerve so bad that I wished I could just show him that I could easily stop him. ¡°Just keep running! Don¡¯t let the creese touch you! It can insta-kill you!¡± I heard Jane shout helplessly. ¡°Yeah, run, kids! I¡¯m being lenient to you since you have been taking care of her in my ce. But, it doesn¡¯t mean I will let you off easily. Just run few moreps and stay alive. Jane puts so much hope in you two, with one of you die will mean less flies around my daughter but more trouble for me, so do your best.¡± My future father-inw said grumpily. He looked unhappy, but since his daughter had imed us, I bet he wouldn¡¯t dare to make her sad. But, how could he say that righteously? ¡°Thank you for being merciful, Uncle Farid!¡± I heard Sanji shouted. ¡°Thank you for being merciful, Future Father-inw!¡± I shouted loud before I dodged the creese. That was close! ¡°WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, LASS?¡± A roar was heard and I knew I hit a nerve there. I chuckled as I heard my future father-inw went even madder at me. Even if he was angry, I would make sure he wouldn¡¯t forget about me, his future son-inw. Calling him my future father-inw was really a good move. I could sense the creese was moving even faster, so I increased my own speed and agility in dodging it. The sound of my future father-inw incessant ranting about how a man should treat his daughter was heard as my background sound of being chased by the creese. He sounded like he was nagging, but in actuality, he was describing his ideal son-inw. Heh, I would make sure I would live up to your expectation, future father-inw. ¡°Nice move back then.¡± Sanji appeared next to me as we escaped from the creese together. He was grinning at me. ¡°You even dare to call him that. Good work!¡± ¡°No reason for me not to do that.¡± I dodged another sh from the creese while grinning. ¡°Jane¡¯s father has always been an oddball. He is quite mysterious back then, but yeah... you can see that with your own eyes.¡± Sanji tilted his body a bit to avoid the creese this time. ¡°Well, he is quite a good father inw.¡± I nodded, agreeing with my own statement. ¡°Pfft, he is very likeable, indeed. That¡¯s why I also want him to be my father inw.¡± Sanji said with a nostalgic expression on his face. It seemed that he had indeed considered that possibility since long ago. His feeling for Jane really had deeply rooted inside his heart. It couldn¡¯t be ignored that easily. My feeling towards Jane was deep, too and I was sure it could bepared to Sanji¡¯s feeling. Anyway, there was no way I would lose to him in terms of how big and how deep our affection towards Jane was. I was about to continue our conversation when I felt a strong evil aura was heading towards our direction. It also came in a mass that it was hard to ignore it. What was it? Turning my body to face towards the source of evil, my eyes squinted in alert. The creese probably sensed it, too as it flew towards its master, leaving Sanji and me to face the evil force in the frontline. ¡°It seems like we have an important guest.¡± Sanji smirked. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do a big wee party for our guest.¡± A smirk crept on my face as my chain appeared around my wrist. Chapter 237 237 I Didn¡¯t Summon You (Tom¡¯s PoV) Thin mist containing evil aura crept in the dark sky. The twinkling of the stars was hidden behind it as it moved at the speed of naked eyes could see clearly. The sensation was really different with when I was around ghosts. The only thing that resembled this sensation was when I met the vengeful spirit of a mother in my ex¡¯ house. The resentment and hatred were strong, but this aura was even stronger. Just where did this strong evil spirite from? ¡°Let¡¯s clean this up.¡± Sanji tilted his head before he charged towards the aura. Following his steps, I rushed towards the aura on my side while spinning the chains in my hands. Throwing the chain towards the evil aura, I whispered under my breath, ¡°Go and destroy them all.¡± The chain glowed brighter as it rushed towards the evil aura. It even emitted red me, almost looked likeva from Death Volcano as it burned its way into the centre of the aura. Eerie cries was echoing in the night sky and something fell down from the sky. The thin mist gradually disappeared after this thing fell down. I noticed it was being chained up by my fiery chain, being burned down by the fire, yet it was still struggling against my chain. It was wriggling like a caterpir , totally disgusting and weird. ..... What was this thing actually? However, this was not the only one. Secondster, another down fell down with the same condition. I totally meant it when I ordered my chain to destroy everything. I had even let out sufficient amount of power, which I thought, enough to eradicate this evil aura. But, what was it doing? Why didn¡¯t it kill them? There was no way my chain would oppose to my order, which could only mean one thing. It couldn¡¯t kill them. With that in mind, I exerted more force and the fire in the chain burned even ferociously. The ghostly cries turned even louder and the wriggling was going even wilder. It was strange. There was nothing that the fire from Death Volcano couldn¡¯t burn. Yet, I watched another one fell down, still being chained by my fiery chain. Then, another one. And another one. I turned to see the condition on Sanji¡¯s side. He looked fine, but I noticed the puzzle in his eyes. He must be feeling lost as to how to defeat them. His power was a bit different with mine, but somehow he found a way to use it in different situation he was in. I noticed he found out about the existence of these things as well. He was even trapping three of them in a... cage? What¡¯s with that almost invisible silvery cage? What was that? I never knew he had that kind of ability within him. The mist gradually disappeared but the number of shadows we caught was shocking! I stopped counting when I reached the number of 20! And there were still lots of them on the ground! Another shrill cry approached me fast. It happened to get away from the chain and aimed me who was still feeling lost with the bizarre turn of event. Just feeling lost, but still full alert. I noticed it and reached out my hand to grab it. Surprisingly, it dodged and made a sharp turn to deliver another blow for me. It was quite fast, I must admit, but I was still faster. p! The sound of my palm met the shadow rang through the open space and the shadow flew as the result of my p. Chasing after it, I reached out again and grabbed it tightly. ¡°Putra, burn it!¡± I called out to the kid who was watching the whole ordeal from my consciousness. Mymand got heard and soon my hand was enveloped in fire fresh from the Death Volcano. I originally thought that the others couldn¡¯t die because the amount of fire in the chain was not enough. However, now that I was the one who asked Putra to burn it, I doubted that it would not work well. However, to my surprise, the fire didn¡¯t do much damage to it. Scratch that! It got no damage at all! What was this thing exactly? ¡°No good...¡± I heard Putra whispered in frustration. ¡°What? What is it? Putra, what is this thing?¡± I asked him. Even without looking at him, I knew that he had that terrified look on his face. From his reactin, I knew that he must have known something. ¡°Why is that thing here?¡± He whispered in disbelief. ¡°Do you know what it is?¡± ¡°Of course. Not even my fire can kill it. I may be called Death Volcano, but there is a volcano deep in the stomach of a sea has the aura that was so strong because it swallowed the souls and bodies of lots of sinners.¡± Putra eximed in irritation. ¡°Then, how do I get rid of it? What¡¯s the use of you having such an overbearing name, then?¡± I didn¡¯t mean to ridicule him, but whomever gave him that name, he must be a bit sick in his head. ¡°Do you think I want it? If only that stupid woman didn¡¯t take away my newly refine and strongest core, I can still hold my head high while being true to my name, Putra Semesta of Death Volcano!¡± He snapped. It was my first time seeing him snapped like that. It seemed that this topic was a taboo one for him that made him snapped like it. ¡°I am Putra Semesta of The Death Volcano! But, I can¡¯t even hurt this wicked thing!¡± Putra kicked around in my consciousness. ¡°Wait! Did you say someone take your strongest core?¡± I arched my eyebrows as I tossed the shadow in my hand towards my chain. Dusting my hand calmly, I nned to return the fire, but another shadow forced it¡¯s way to me. I weed him, of course! With another p. ¡°Yes.¡± Putra said grumpily. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°My Guardian¡¯s sworn sister.¡± His voice was weak. Sworn sister? Who was it? ¡°Can¡¯t you find her and take it back?¡± ¡°It¡¯s no use. I saw her refine it with her power and turned it into her own weapon. I can¡¯t use it even if I have it with me now. The characteristic of the core has changed into something even more terrifying than original core. Even if she was annoying, I must admit she was pretty good. The fire got even stronger and purer in her hands.¡± Putra¡¯s voice grew softer and I even noticed a hint of admiration in his voice. He must be fooled by that woman, but in the end, he, as a non-human existence, could only be in awe seeing someone stronger than him appeared in front of him. A creature like him, born from the power contained in Death Volcano, didn¡¯t know the feeling of jealousy and greed. If someone was stronger than him, then he would only feel reverance towards that person. There would be no jealousy or greed. However, he was capable of feeling fear and anger. He was also capable of feeling happy and joyful. Perhaps, it was not because he was born not to have those two destructive desire, but the ones who had been taking care of him all those years didn¡¯t show him that kind of emotion whenever they were around him. Which made me realized that the previous Guardians were such good people! I didn¡¯t teach Putra anything ridiculous, did I? I didn¡¯t want to taint their reputation, after all. ¡°Hey, what should we do with them?¡± Sanji¡¯s shout snapped me back from my irrelevant thought. I scratched my not-itchy head as my eyes scanned my surrounding. There was almost no ground could be seen as far as I could see. It was covered by the wriggling shadows chained by my chain. In Sanji¡¯s side, I saw his invisible silvery cage trapped many shadows inside. The faint light came from the light of the moon being reflected on the cage made it looked beautiful yet mysterious. How did he do that? ¡°I can¡¯t burn it.¡± I admitted to him. Sanji frowned. But before he could say anything, a me bearer appeared next to me silently. ¡°I didn¡¯t summon you.¡± I said to him. ¡°Master is summoning me.¡± He said with his expressionless face. I arched my eyebrows when I heard his answer. Jane called him? My eyes caught sight of the me in his hand. Should I try it? What if it couldn¡¯t kill them? Chapter 238 238 Find It! (Tom¡¯s PoV) Fire of Death Volcano couldn¡¯t burn it, what could the mystical fire of White Army do? I seriously hesitated, but since Jane had called him, I should just use him. ¡°You know what to do. Burn them all with all your might.¡± I sighed helplessly. ¡°General, you might want to retract your chain.¡± The me bearer calmly advised, then he turned towards Sanji. ¡°And yours as well, Sir.¡± He nodded at Sanji. I frowned. ¡°They will attack us again. You¡¯re aware of that, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, General.¡± The man nodded his head, still with that expressionless face he had on. I swear he wasughing at the camp that day! Since he insisted so, I could only retract my chains and Sanji did the same. The moment the bindings loosened up, those ugly creatures let out an even annoying shrill as they rose to the sky, covering the entire sky above us until no moonlight could pass through them. Ominous feeling rose in my heart as I frowned. My hands clenched at the sight of them. Before I could ask why he didn¡¯t move yet, the blue me rose in the sky and burned them in a sh, creating a rather peculiar sight as the bluish fire red up and quickly consumed every ck shadows covering the sky. It was as if the sky was emitting blue fire. ..... The shrill cries stopped and my eyes bulged as I realized there were none of them left alive. It could really burn them! I had no idea the blue me of White Army was this strong! I saw it burned the evil creatures back then in the forest, but the creatures this time were different and obviously stronger than the other ones back then. Even the fire of Death Volcano couldn¡¯t do any harm to these creatures but the blue me of White Army surprisingly could do that easily! What kind of me did the White Army have, actually? ¡°That¡¯s my core!¡± A loud shout came from my consciousness, made me feel a bit dizzy from the loudness. I shook my head to ease the slight dizziness I felt and a secondter, I realized what the boy had said. ¡°What? Your core?!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no mistake! That¡¯s the strongest core I¡¯ve once refined! No wonder I always felt this fire is familiar to me.¡± Putra said agitatedly. I blinked my eyes speechlessly. Who would have known the strongest core of Death Volcano was used as the source of blue me in White Army? Then, the sworn sister of the previous guardian of Death Volcano was one of the Master in White Army? Well, it was possible. I totally overlooked the fact that none of the Masters after the First Master and before Jane were able to live long. I had read about the history of White Army but I couldn¡¯t care less about the gender nor how long they had ruled over the army. All I know was the First Master was a bad-ass leader and Jane was the only one who could rival him. ¡°She has changed the form of the fire, making me unable to recognize it anymore if not for its destroying capability that goes beyond any worldly fire.¡± Putra frowned as he attentively watched the remaining fire in the sky burning up the tiny bits of dark and evil shadow left in the air. ¡°Finally, I find it.¡± He whispered full of excitement. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you can¡¯t take it back even if you find it?¡± ¡°Of course, I can¡¯t take it back. At least I can see it with my own eyes how it has developed. I think the sworn sister was once a master in White Army.¡± Putra said in all seriousness, totally not matched with his usual childish behavior. ¡°I agree.¡± I nodded my head calmly. I was totally clueless! Oh I feel so stupid! The fire died down and the sky returned to its previous state, dark with stars decorating it. The shrill cries had disappeared and the blue me returned to its bearer. With a simple salute at me, he returned back without saying anything else. The night returned to its tranquil state with only the sound of bugs singing from the nearby forest. I exchanged look with Sanji and I saw the same dumbfounded expression on his face. I guessed I wasn¡¯t the only one who finally knew the formidable power in White Army. I might spend a minute or so standing like a fool. I realized I was too ignorant about some things regarding White Army. I could say I had learned a lot about them, but truly I was just being stupid; trusting my own self only because I had Putra with me. What an arrogant thought and I realized why I couldn¡¯t surpass Jane. I learned as hard and as much as her, but I couldn¡¯t seem to beat her understanding about the army. Because she understood them the most, she could easily manipte the power inside to shape it in any form and colors that she liked. I trained as hard as her and from the same instructor as well. However, her power bloomed beautifully and soared high in the sky while I felt that, even though I did have improvement, I was left behind by her. At this point, I realized where it went wrong. Indeed, ignorance and arrogance could make someone stop moving forward. I remembered what Siji told me once after we finished training. ¡°You still haven¡¯t unlocked your true potential being the General of White Army. At this rate, no matter how powerful you feel you are right now, you can¡¯t catch up to Jane.¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s useless for me to tell you what youck. You need to figure it out yourself to make it work the best.¡± ¡°Do you know? Jane is the best at spotting her weakness. That¡¯s why she can grow stronger each day with one peculiar thought of hers. She wants to be better than before.¡± I didn¡¯t understand what he meant by that at that time. Thinking about it now, I felt truly like a fool. It was so clear yet my brain found it hard to understand. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out firmly. The man appeared quietly like usual. ¡°Let¡¯s train. This time, I will make sure I will be stronger than Jane.¡± ¡°Yes, General. Of course.¡± He said with a tinge of smile in his voice. ¡°The training will be rather harsh and you won¡¯t be able to attend to Mdy¡¯s call for some time unless it is life-threatening matter. Are you ready, General?¡± ¡°Sanji.¡± I turned my head towards the only person nearby. I didn¡¯t need to think twice to go. After all, I was going to get myself stronger and better. ¡°I¡¯m going off with my General¡¯s training. You are wee to join me but someone needs to keep an eye out for Jane. That Queen has some ulterior motive, do you think ...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pass this time. You can train alone. Your training as the General is not suitable for me, a normal human. Just go. I¡¯ll keep her safe.¡± Sanji cut off before I could even finish my words. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to say goodbye to Jane?¡± I shook my head. I wouldn¡¯t be able to see her for some time. I might postpone my training if I were to see her. It was better this way. I was sure I could return to her side with the new me. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I need to go as soon as possible before I change my mind. Thank you and take a good care of her.¡± I patted his arm before I went into a portal created by Siji. How long this training would take? I had no idea at that time. ¡°Ah, can you take care of Putra during my absence? I couldn¡¯t possibly take him with me to the training, right?¡± I looked back at Siji who was following me quietly. The calm man arched his eyebrows in confusion, so I summoned Putra out from my consciousness. ¡°I know that we are tied by the contract, but even though I¡¯m your current guardian, I can¡¯t take you with me to the training ground. Just stay with the men and help Jane. Siji will take care of you. Don¡¯t you want to see the blue me with your own eyes? The me bearers are all in the camp.¡± I told the kid. Putra squinted his eyes but then he nodded. I guessed the temptation to see the blue me was too strong for him to pass this chance. But, I was d he agreed to it. Even though the blue me was formidable, at least Putra¡¯s presence in the army could lend her a hand or two in a crucial moment. ¡°I¡¯m not a babysitter, but I¡¯ll take care of him for you.¡±Siji said calmly. ¡°Thanks.¡± I nodded my grattitude towards him and he waved it off casually. At the same time, Putra was sent to the camp of White Army. My eyes looked up at the other end of the portal. The moment I reached the other end of the portal, my hellish training would start. I took a deep breath. Here we go! Chapter 239 239 Where Does He Run To? (Jane¡¯s PoV) As expected. Tom was too prideful. See? He left me even before he talked to my father properly. He could even be said as impulsive as he did what he wanted right away. I understood that it might sting a bit knowing that I knew more than him, but it was not intentional. I had been thinking of how to make him realized his weakness, but I had never thought he would take this decision. Was he really leaving just like that? He had not had a proper conversation with my father yet! Was he really leaving? ¡°Where does he run to?¡± My father¡¯s voice travelled to my ears, sessfully snapped me out from my annoyance. ¡°There must be something urgent for him to leave with Siji.¡± My mouth twitched as I uttered that lie. ¡°Isn¡¯t he your boyfriend? He is the one who called me Future Father-inw just now, right? Where does he run to?¡± My father asked again, seemingly not satisfied with my answer. ..... ¡°Dad, he is indeed my boyfriend. And where he went to, I have no idea since Siji is with him. They could be anywhere.¡± I shrugged my shoulders as I tried to exin it to my father as calm as possible. It looked like I didn¡¯t care about his departure at all, that his presence was insignificant to me, but deep inside I was feeling annoyed and grumpy. ¡°Well, at least one fly has gone away.¡± My father harrumphed slightly as he flicked his sleeves and turned around. I could only shake my head helplessly seeing my father stubbornness in getting between us young couple. I wonder how long it wouldst, though. ¡°How is your father?¡± Sanji asked as soon as he got near me. I sighed. ¡°He still insists that you guys are pests.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. Sanji arched his beautiful eyebrows as his eyes blinking innocently. ¡°It¡¯s understandable, though. Even though your father agreed to our arrangement of getting us engaged, I guess when the time reallyes, he won¡¯t bear to let you go. After all, you are his one and only child. A precious daughter, on top of that. If I were to have a daughter as lovely as you, I would act the same, too.¡± Sanji nodded his head, acknowledging my father¡¯s behavior with a look of admiration in his gaze. I red at him speechlessly. Still, what he said really made sense. There was no way I could argue about that. Therefore, picking my choice wisely, I turned around and followed my father inside. I heard Sanji chuckled behind me, but I ignored him. Humph, let¡¯s see how long you can agree to that. We spent our night in that house. Fortunately, there was no more attack happened that night. Even though the night was still eerie, it was rather calm. However, I doubt the King of Devil from Red Sea would stop his attack. The moment those nasty shadows were eradicated, I was sure he would get the message. Well, if he was smart, then he would realize that he couldn¡¯t do anything to the Queen¡¯s son anymore. However, as a proud creature, I highly doubted that he would think that way. He would probably think that someone was challenging his power and he must be rushing his way here. Facing a King of Devil, could I do it? Even though the night passed by with much uneasiness, we managed to go through it. When the morning came, I was greeted with Sanji¡¯s sullen face. He was stealing nces at me from the other end of the front yard where he was standing with my father, talking who knows what. Why he was sullen, I had no idea. But, secondster he changed his expression to a smiling one when my father asked him something. His sullen expression had nowhere to be seen, making me giggled seeing how fast his expression changed. I was doing some streching in the terrace while looking at the green view of the forest nearby. The air was still so fresh, with hint of mist here and there while the sun was still shyly peeking from the top of the trees. It was an indescribable sight to see as it was rare to find this kind of scenery in my daily life. The beautiful lush of green refreshed and upied my mind for a while, made me unaware of the nces Sanji threw at me. Only after I saw sparks of familiar power did I realize that something was off. My eyes followed the source of the sparks and finally met his burning gaze. My eyebrows arched as I silently asked him what he was staring at me for. What he did caught me off guard for a second. How did he be so shameless? Why did he do that? What if my father saw what he did? My face burned up at the thought. Thank God my father didn¡¯t see that. Sanji could be a pervert sometime. Before something bad happened because of Sanji¡¯s perverseness, I thought that we must leave as soon as possible. Therefore, I talked to my father and the Queen about several things that the queen must pay attention to regarding her son, as well as making sure that my father went to Ennd to reunite with my mother, before I made an excuse to go alone. ¡°Where are you going anyway?¡± My father asked in suspicion. His gaze towards Sanji was even more hostile. ¡°Is heing with you?¡± ¡°Dad, I need to search for something. Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯ll be find. Since Tom isn¡¯t here, it¡¯s only right to bring Sanji with me. He is enough to take care of me.¡± I reasoned with him. That was not entirely wrong since I really needed to find any clues about Death Volcano or something like that. I didn¡¯t want him to know about the said volcano since it might sound a terrible ce considering the domineering name. ¡°Young ma,y a finger on her and you¡¯ll see hell.¡± My father threatened Sanji with all seriousness. Sanjiughed awkwardly as he shook his head, FAKING HIS FEAR towards my father. ¡°I won¡¯t dare.¡± Yes. He faked it. ¡°You and your father need to answer to me if something happens to my girl, fiancee or not.¡± My father¡¯s re was something I was proud of. It would always sessfully scare people away. But I doubted it worked on Sanji. Several threatster, I was ready to depart with Sanji tailing behind me. The Queen had promised that she would send my father back safely and make sure he bought ticket and board the ne to Ennd herself. She would take her son with her so that she could nurse him back to health by herself. She didn¡¯t mention anything about our previous talk but from her gaze alone, I could see that she was not giving up yet. What a stubborn woman! After making sure that everything was ready, I opened a portal to return to the Y City. There was something I needed to inspect before I started nning where to go. Chapter 240 240 The Lonely Devil (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I stared at the big mountain in front of my eyes. It was my first time seeing the mountain this close that the only thing that separated us was... nothing. I was practically at the foot of the mountain, where the road started to curve upwards. Only thinking of how I would need to bend my legs to climb this mountain made me frowned in annoyance. It would be tiring... and troublesome. There were not many people ever since some people got ¡®attacked¡¯ during theirst hiking. Even so, the cause was still unknown and the officials treated it as ¡®nightmare¡¯ that would only ur if the hikers nned to do something bad in the mountain. I took a deep breath and fixed my backpack straps on my shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I took my first step firmly. ¡°I thought you¡¯re going to chicken out.¡± Sanji grinned mischievously at me as he followed me closely with an even bigger backpack on his back. I snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t have that word in my dictionary. Let¡¯s get it done quickly and take a good rest.¡± ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Sanji nodded his head obediently. ¡°This time, no excuses whatsoever. I rarely have time alone with you, without Tom around.¡± ..... I blushed slightly when he said that. It reminded me of when we got back to our rented house right after we finished the whole ordeal with Queen of South Sea. He hugged me tightly, saying that a night without holding me close to him when he knew I was nearby and free was too agonizing, which exined his sullen expression. The moment he saw me in the morning, he almost lost it but he managed to hold back. But then, he saw me doing some stretching. Seriously, who would get aroused from seeing someone did some stretching? With his amorous and lustful gaze, he threw me kisses silently. If it were only kisses, then it would be fine. However, his fingers then curled and made a familiar motion along with his flicking tongue...and lustful gaze. I was speechless and my face burned as I realized what exactly he was trying to say. My stomach felt warm and it rushed steadily to my core. Next thing I knew, I was slightly wet only from his provocation. He knew that he could send me to multiple orgasms with his fingers and tongue alone, and honestly, I loved the way he did that. Thus, he teased me with that gesture. Fortunately, my father didn¡¯t see that. I had a bad feeling that if I didn¡¯t distance myself to take care of Sanji, my father would know the truth. After being alone with Sanji, I could voice out anything without worrying that my father would hear or see us. Of course, I refused any sexual approach he did to me because I had n for the next days. His teasing was so damn good that I almost gave up and let him do what he wanted to do -since I wanted it too -but I persisted to hold back the urge. In the end, after several negotiations, he finally let me go, leaving me feeling hot and wet from his dirty talk and naughty hands. I even had the thought to let him do me a little, gosh! Fortunately, I held back. It wouldn¡¯t be only a little if I gave him an opening. If that had happened, there was no way I would have the energy to climb this mountain. He was right, too. He rarely had time alone with me. Most of the time, they ganged up on me until I copsed. Because I had already titled him as one of my lover, I thought it was just right for me to give him equals attention and time as Tom. Even a date only with Sanji... No, we hadn¡¯t had a date with just the two of us as far as I could remember. Maybe it was time for me to give him his rights as my lover. Would Tom get jealous because of it? Hmph, even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t dare toin about it since he was the one who permitted Sanji to enter our circle. Also, who asked him to leave at his will without telling me anything? Countless thoughts shed in my mind as I climbed the mountain. We specifically chose a different path from the others right after we were sure that no one saw us went out of the path and entered the bushy parts of the mountain, hiding behind the trees. It was not like we particrly sought difficult way to investigate, but I noticed a fluctuation of negative energy deep in the woods, far from the path created for hikers. As far as I could see, there was no ghost around the path either. My guess was they all got attracted to the negative energy and went there to taste some. Since it was only a guess, I decided to take a look at the real situation there. Sanji and I walked deeper into the forest carefully, passing bushes and trees which could easily confuse people. It was a good thing that both Sanji and I could see the other dimension, that way any illusions from mischievous ghosts wouldn¡¯t affect us. My breath started to get ragged. The higher we climbed, the harder for me to breath properly. It had nothing to do with ghost or pressure from the negative energy, of course. It was because I rarely trained myself, and the oxygen was getting thinner the higher we climbed, as well as it was harder to walk between bushes than the path for hikers. Sanji, however, looked fine in my eyes. His breath was slightly heavier but not in a mess like mine. He looked like he only walked for several minutes in an even ground, and not climbed the mountain. I red at him resentfully. How could he even look so much more attractive now? His glowing eyes showed a rarely seen excitement. It might have been a long time since hisst hiking, right? ¡°There¡¯s no need to stare at me like that. You might be trained under Siji¡¯s hellish training, but your lungs capacity is still not enough to make you breathe properly in this woods. You need more exercise, baby.¡± He grinned at me, knowing what I was thinking about right away. ¡°Yeah, exercise.¡± I rolled my eyes at him as I kept walking to avoid him teasing me more. ¡°Well, you know, if it¡¯s hard for you to exercise alone, we are always there to help you.¡± His teasing voice came from behind my back and I couldn¡¯t resist the urge to roll my eyes again. ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah.¡± I nodded my head and agreed with whatever he said, not taking it seriously. ¡°Well, out of all kinds of exercise, I rmend you to do one to improve your lungs.¡± He said again, sounded so serious but I still refused to stop and look back at him, lest I fell in his trap again. ¡°Bed exercise is good and pleasurable for you. You¡¯ll get both the exercise and the pleasure. It¡¯s a good choice, right?¡± Even without looking at him, I knew he was grinning stupidly again. His pervert mind was beyond help. The old ¡®Sanji¡¯ I knew back then had changed. He didn¡¯t usually talk this lewdly, what could possibly change him? I didn¡¯t believe if one would say it was because he had tasted ¡®me¡¯ that he developed an addiction towards me. Instead of being addicted in making love with me, I thought he was addicted to talk dirty and lewd to me. What did he want from talking like that to me? ¡°Sanji, you¡¯re talking nonsense again.¡± I shook my head, trying to ignore what he said. ¡°How could it be nonsense?¡± He innocently replied. ¡°Why do you always say things like that?¡± I stopped and confronted him, all while breathing heavily. ¡°Things like what?¡± His innocent eyes and expression almost made me explode in outburst. How could he show that face to me? I red at him. ¡°Bed exercise things. What else?¡± ¡°Ah. What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± He still put that innocent look on his face, so annoying! I took a deep breath. ¡°Can you tell me what kind of bed exercise do you mean?¡± ¡°Sex, of course.¡± He answered without missing a beat. See? I didn¡¯t think wrongly! He really did think about sex! ¡°What are you? Sex beast?¡± I red at him again speechlessly. Sanji grinned. ¡°Is it wrong to talk about it with my girlfriend? It¡¯s just the two of us. There¡¯s no one around. You need to get used to it since this is how we¡¯re going to flirt when we be husband and wife.¡± He exined nonchntly. I was bbergasted with his exnation. Flirt? That was how he wanted to flirt in the future? By shamelessly talking about... ¡®those¡¯? My face flushed red with the thought. Actually, it was not that I didn¡¯t like it. It was just I was doing some thinking about the difference now and back then. Sanji was the one who got the most differences. It looked almost as if he was an entirely different person after he joined us. ¡°Only you will flirt like that.¡± I continued my steps forward, ignoring the fool behind me. However, before I could walk more, a pair of big arms trapped me in and hot breath tickled the nape of my neck. I shivered involuntarily at the skin contact. ¡°Do you know what else I like from talking that shameless?¡± His whisper sounded so raspy, thick with lust. It was a familiar voice whenever he would pound me from behind in the shower as he whispered dirtily in my ears. ¡°I know that you love it that your body will respond to my shameless talking. Your body will feel tingling and sensitive and your sweet little box will let out sweet juice.¡± I suppressed the moan in my throat as his dirty words hit me hard. My legs almost went weak and HE WAS RIGHT! I WAS F*CKING AROUSED! Only by hearing his voice and his dirty and shameless talking! Damn him! ¡°Can I touch you?¡± His fingers scratched my thigh lightly, sending waves of electricity to my crotch. It was ticklish and at the same time, annoying. It was annoying because the ce that needed to be touch wasn¡¯t touched at all. ¡°Sanji, we are in the forest.¡± I reminded him through my ragged breath. ¡°I¡¯m aware of that.¡± He said with a cunning smile. His fingers trailed a light path on my inner thigh, making me gasped as I grabbed his strong arms around me hard. Damn you, Sanji, were you trying to shoot p*rn? Don¡¯t make ¡®them¡¯ angry, you stupid pervert! ¡°Human, don¡¯t dirty ournd.¡± Hoarse voice was heard from nearby trees. I was startled, feeling ashamed that I was almost conducting a shameful act in this forest. In opposite to my feeling, I heard Sanji was lightly chuckling in my ear. ¡°Now you finally appear.¡± He nned it? Chapter 241 241 The Lonely Devil (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) I stood a step behind Sanji, looking up towards the tallest tree around us. The thick canopy of the leaves made it almost impossible to see the sun light. The only light came from the surrounding trees which barely enough to really light up the whole area. However, it didn¡¯t hinder me from seeing the big creature sitting on top of a big branch of the tree. The creature looked terrifying, with intimidating re from its red eyes, ugly face, and sharp teeth. It really looked like a monster. It was big, but as seconds passed by, I noticed that it grew even bigger. It stopped growing after it almost took five times of normal human¡¯s body. Its long legs were dangling freely from the branch it was sitting on as its huge body was looking down at us. ¡°Greetings, Elder.¡± Sanji greeted the creature in a not so casual but not too polite way either. I followed his lead and greeted it. ¡°Human, what is your purpose foring here?¡± The creature spoke but I couldn¡¯t see its mouth moving. However, that raspy voice undeniably came from it. ¡°Elder, I want to confirm something from you. As the one who is in control of the whole mountain, you must know more than the others. What is happening here?¡± Sanji asked in serious tone. ¡°...¡± The creature was silent for a while, as if pondering of what it should say to us. ¡°Elder, we need to know what¡¯s happening here before we can do anything to fix it.¡± I coaxed him further. ¡°Another human hase before and asked the same thing. But, he couldn¡¯t do anything to the portal.¡± ..... Another human? It must be the Third Master. But, he couldn¡¯t do anything to the portal? How could it be? He was a Master of Mystical Army; he must have possessed some kind of power to at least seal the portal for a while. But, this creature said that he couldn¡¯t do anything? ¡°Do you know who that person was?¡± I asked carefully. Third Elder lived around here so this creature must have known about him. ¡°I heard them call him Master. He must be the Master of Merapi Army that I heard before. It¡¯s been a long time since thest time Merapi Army appeared.¡± The creature pondered for a while, as if it lost in its own memories about Merapi Army. ¡°But, they have changed. They are not as fiery as they used to be.¡± It shook its head as its voice reflected the pity it felt. Thest time Merapi Army appeared... Well, Merapi Army was the only army that would change name every time they changed Master. The previous name of the army was Saint Helens Army, taken from an active volcano in Washington. Its base would also change ording to the name, no, the name changed following where the base appeared. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if the name was used twice or even more. As far as I know, the name ¡°Merapi Army¡± had been used twice so far and the first one happened a long time ago. This time, the Master of Merapi Army came from Philippine, but he must bear the name of Merapi Army because the base appeared here and not in Philippine. Actually, not one of the Masters from Merapi Army came from Indonesia since the only Masters came from Indonesia were just in Cloud Army and White Army. Ah, those were not the point right now. I shook my head to dispel the unnecessary thought and focus on what was happening in front of me. ¡°They changed?¡± I arched my eyebrows. Not as fiery as they used to be, it said. Did they look not so formidable now? It didn¡¯t seem so in my eyes during our meeting. ¡°Looked strong, but as weak as chickens. Truly disappointing.¡± The creature shook its head again. ¡°The portal is so strange and full of evil. Are you sure you want to investigate it? Even that human didn¡¯t dare to get close to it. We all here chose to stay away from it since it only brings wicked and harmful things even to us.¡± ¡°Well, we are here for that reason. Do you mind to show us which direction it is?¡± Sanji asked politely. The creature lifted its big and hairy arm and pointed at one point. ¡°Go deeper and you¡¯ll see it. Since you both are not ordinary people, it will be easier for you to spot it. But, I must warn you, don¡¯t step into that portal. Whatever it is beyond that door, it must be different from us. I don¡¯t want to see you waste your lives there.¡± ¡°Thank you for the guidance, Elder. We shall take our leave.¡± After getting the correct direction from the creature, both Sanji and I excused ourselves after thanking it. It might look terrifying, but its aura felt warm and positive. The way it showed its concern to our action warmed my heart and I repeatedly told myself inwardly to not judge the book by its cover. This time, Sanji and I stopped fooling around and focused on our mission. We walked deeper into the forest while paying attention to our surrounding. The negative aura felt denser and stronger. We were getting closer! We stopped only after we started seeing ghosts and shadows floating around in a weird pattern. It was like they were circling something. There were lots of them that the surrounding trees weren¡¯t looked so clear. I even heard their disturbing and ghostly moaning and shrieks. Any kinds of ghosts and shadows were there in front of me. The fact that they only gathered in one ce disturbed me. Why should they do that? Sanji and I hid from a far, making sure that we couldn¡¯t be seen by any of them. I even squinted my eyes to see what¡¯s in the middle of their crowd. There should be a portal there, right? How couldn¡¯t I see anything? Did they hide it? Or, was it indeed difficult to see through this mass of ghosts and shadows? I exchanged nces with Sanji and I guessed we thought the same. Lay low and watch for a while! Don¡¯t do anything until we are sure what we are facing with. I had no idea how long we had waited or how I could stay there unmoved for that long without feeling itchy. Right before I could think to n for an ambush, something happened towards those ghosts. Their wailing got even worse that my body couldn¡¯t help but shiver lightly. Also, the ghosts and shadows¡¯ movement looked agitated. What could possibly provoke them? Chapter 242 242 The Lonely Devil (3) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Since their pattern had broken, those ghosts and shadows started to disperse only for a split second. Those split seconds were enough for me to see what was hiding in the middle of their formation. There was a ck hole in a shape of a small gate. It really looked like those I saw in the books, only this one was not in the space, but in the middle of a forest. Wicked aura dispersed from the portal and as the howls and moans got louder and terrifying, the aura thickened. It looked almost as if something evil would pop out from the ck hole. It was almost agonizing to wait for what would happen. However, both Sanji and I knew that nothing good woulde out from it. I didn¡¯t even know since when I held my breath. Only after those ghosts and shadows did some ¡®strange and terrifying¡¯ dancing around the hole, that I finally realized to breathe again. Loud roar marked the entrance of some kind of devil creature. My body went to full alert as I knew this thing couldn¡¯t be underestimated. Whatever came out from the hole, it must be something more frightening than the usual ghosts and shadows. The first thing that I saw was red. The negative aura around us changed into thick bloodlust; an urge to overpower and conquer the surrounding, a wish to see everything dyed in red tickled my senses. This monster was so strong that its aura alone could affect people. It was just too bad that I was pretty much immune to this kind of threat. It only needed me a bit of mental power to shake off those thoughts. As the red creatures still forced its way out from the ck hole, the bloodlust aura got thicker. I heard a grunt behind my back -thankfully that stupid creature let out an ear deafening roar again so that this grunt was masked perfectly. ..... I looked back only to see Sanji was fighting with his urge. It was not easy for him, but it was not impossible. After all, he was one of the students under Siji¡¯s tutge. His eyes were reflecting a thick urge of killing intent. It went off like a light bulb; on and off repeatedly. If we weren¡¯t in a dangerous situation, I would haveughed at him. However, I was too tense tough. I watched as Sanji fought with the urge for a while. I could help him, shielding him from all the negative aura came from the red creature. However, his stubborn eyes told me not to do anything, that he got it under control. Since he silently warned me not to do anything, I decided to keep watching. If I were to see that it was getting dangerous, I would not hesitate to step in. It only took around ten to fifteen seconds, but it felt so long for me. Every second was precious to us and every second could lead us to our doom. It was fortunate that Sanji managed to get hold of himself before the creature in the portal fully came out. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I whispered as I helped him support his body. His pale face was covered with a thinyer of sweat. Sanji nodded. His eyes reflected an even stronger determination. I was sure his power got upgraded after this incident. As expected, real life challenge was the best teacher -if only the risk was not big. There was a grey hue around his head, probably the shape of his barrier. I was wondering how a string type spiritual power holder could create a light barrier. Turned out I was wrong. It wasn¡¯t light at all. As the strongest offensive type of power, people who possessed string type usuallycked in defense. Unlike my type of power which could be manipted at will and went offensive and defensive at the same time, string type could only be either one of them. It could only go offensive or defensive, never both. Seeing that he had sessfully activated the defensive side of his power, I sighed in relief. It seemed that he could only protect himself for now and unable to attack. I remembered the form of his power and felt slightly pity that I couldn¡¯t witness it wrecking havoc in the middle of this chaos. How wonderful it was to see it scare these things away. Too bad, I couldn¡¯t see it. Never mind. At least, I didn¡¯t have to worry about him getting affected by the wicked aura around us. ¡°Wait here.¡± I took him into a good hiding spot. ¡°I need to take care of whatevering out from that hole. It smells like a bad news.¡± My eyes squinted as I focused all my gaze towards that red creature. ¡°Okay. Sorry I¡¯ll try my best to recover soon.¡± He nodded while looking at me with helpless gaze. Obviously he was still ming himself for not being able to help me. ¡°No worries. Just protect yourself well.¡± I smiled at him reassuringly. There was a loud sound reverberating in the forest, sessfully scaring those people nearby. It was the sound of the portal being pulled open forcefully by the evil creature. As soon as the hole was getting bigger, a head popped out. Its malicious eyes and wide grin made its appearance even more menacing. Sensing the auraing from creature, my body went into full alert mode. The thing in front of me was something far more wicked and stronger than anything I had ever faced -I didn¡¯t count the King of Devil of Red Sea since I only faced with its underlings. I didn¡¯t have time to conceal my own power. Even if I didn¡¯t use it to one hundred percent, it was still more than half of them. I wasn¡¯t nning to underestimate it, but I could easily adjustter after I exchanged blows with it, right? ¡°Foolish human, I¡¯m going to dye yournd red with blood!¡± The voice was thick and harsh, malevolent intent spread to the surrounding with a swoosh. The howl and moans of the ghost and shadows echoed in the forest, replying to the red creature. They all danced around the portal, weing the presence of the evil creature to the human world. Half of the body hade out from the portal. Both of its ws were wing at the invisible frame, pulling out its body from the other side of the portal. Judging from how hard it tried to force its way out, its body must be huge. I took a deep breath and focused my eyes at my target. You wanted to create a blood field in human realm? Let¡¯s see if you have the ability to do that! Shielding my whole body with my spiritual power, I dashed towards the portal. The crowd of ghost and shadows in front of me dispersed before I could even reach them. Their annoying eerie howl went into silent scream as I used a bit of the smoke to block their throats. Before the red creature realized what was happening, I had jumped in front of its face with my fist ready to punch its big head. The red creature: ¡± ...!!!¡± ¡°Get back to where you¡¯re from!¡± I hissed before I swung my fist down to its head. BOOM!! Chapter 243 243 The Lonely Devil (4) (Jane¡¯s PoV) The wind rumbled as my punch met the wood hard skin of the red creature. The shock of the punch even spread to the surrounding vicinity and the shadows were exterminated in a sh as the ghosts fled for themselves. The creature let out a deafening howl as it was forced to get into the portal again. My punch might hurt it. From the way it reacted, it must be furious of me. Its eyes red at me with a shock and madness reflected in them. With a loud roar, it forced its way out again. My eyes squinted. Still didn¡¯t want to give up, huh? Fine. My feet didn¡¯tnd on the ground for too long as I leaped again and covered my hands in blue me. I didn¡¯t miss the fear and shock in its eyes as soon as it saw the me in my hands. I smirked. So, you¡¯re afraid of this me, right? How about a taste of it, then? Just when I was about to deliver another punch to it, it roared loudly and ayer of thick red mist covered its body and met my punch. I met a bit of resistant as my hand made a contact with the red mist but it was only for some milliseconds before my fist went through it. However, those milliseconds were what it was aiming. In those milliseconds, it could retract itself from the portal and returned to its world, sessfully avoiding my punch. My eyes darkened. nning to run away? Now that I knew your weakness, how could I let you go easily? ..... Without much thought, I jumped into the portal, only to find a much stronger resistance from the red mist. I burned my way in but countless creatures suddenly appeared and attacked me. Even though my blue me was formidable, I couldn¡¯t use it to burn them all carelessly. What if those creatures ran away and identally burned the good creatures living in this mountain? I sighed. If only Sanji could use his power. It would be a piece of cake for him to trap them all in a ce and I could burn them all with ease. Even though the red devil had gone, its lingering aura still existed. The pressure and the thick bloodlust had not immediately gone. Taking care of it would be troublesome and require much energy and time to control my power. And I honestly didn¡¯t have that much time since I had a ¡®fugitive¡¯ to chase. If I could catch that red thing, I thought I could force it to retract its aura -whether it would harm him or not, I didn¡¯t care. Since it was decided like that, I moved even quickly to eradicate everything in my path that dared to block me from chasing that evil red. But, still... it was easier said than done. ¡°Damn it! Get away from me!¡± I yelled in frustration as I made a hole in the barricade of strange creatures again. Strangely, the hole would be patched up immediately with new creatures even before I could prate it. It was frustrating, indeed. If only I had a back up. Siji was off with Tom. I could summon him but I didn¡¯t think this kind of thing needed him. Tom was even more out of question since he was off to train himself. Summoning the army? Nah. It would be troublesome -even though it might look badass if I did that. Who should I call? In the midst of all the troublesome thinking and knocking off the strange creatures, I felt a familiar burst of energying closer. Peeking over my shoulders, I saw hundreds of tiny greyish string of ropes rushed towards the me. It emitted faint silver light and the aura in each of the ropes was... strong. They went passed by me, didn¡¯t touch me even just a bit, and directly tied themselves to any of the creatures around me. It looked like a huge octopus with countless tentacles attacking them, lifting them in the air and opening up a path for me to move forward. ¡°Go! Sorry for making you wait!¡± I looked at him with surprise. It was a pleasant surprise for me, of course. Standing in the open space not too far away from where I left him, Sanji was emitting the same faint silver and grey light covering his whole body. His right hand was extended with his palm wide open, controlling those ropes. He looked a bit out of breath, probably because he was forced to manipte his power to this extent. Not only that, the protectve barrier around him was still there. It meants he could do both offense and defense with his type of power. He must be a genius! I hadn¡¯t heard about string type of power owner could attack and defend at the same time. Sanji might be the first. Maybe I needed to ask my walking encyclopedia about it. Too bad he was still busy with training Tom. But, seriously, he was awesome! I wished I had time to praise him, but the red devil was getting further and further away. Therefore, I could only raise my thumb to praise him for being awesome. After doing that, I hastily jumped into the portal and rushed towards the devil creature.The red devil must not have thought that I could chase it all the way into its teritory. Heh, it really underestimated me. It thought that I wouldn¡¯t dare to chase it into the astral world. No, it was a differentyer than the one I usually visited. The one I usually visited and where my other house was had the color of human world even though it was in a dimmer light. The activities inside even looked like a normal vige with transparent bodies here and there. However, this ce was dark. The only source of light came from the redva running in several ces. The ce only had three colors; grey, red, and ck. The red one looked so contrast with the others that it was the only source of light in this evil world. Lava, flowers, or... blood. I guessed I had entered the dimension to the evil creatures. I unleashed all my power and put all of my attention to my surrounding, just in case something nned to drag me to the abyss. Since I didn¡¯t bother to conceal my power, my speed automatically enhanced as well. In no time, I had run side by side with the red devil. ¡°Hey...¡± I waved at it, smiled at its shock expression. ¡°Do you miss me?¡± Chapter 244 244 The Lonely Devil (5) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Do you miss me?¡± The red devil halted its movement without taking its eyes away from me. A low growl escaped from its throat and without wasting any second, it pounced on me before I could even stop properly. It was so sudden but it didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t prepare for it. With just a bit of twist of my body and feet, I managed to dodge its attack. Its huge body created a buzzing sound when it delivered its punch, a sign that it did take me seriously. ¡°Trying to catch me off guard? How cute!¡± I smirked. Blue me covered my hands again as I made my move. Here, in this world, I didn¡¯t need to hold back. I went all out battling with it until the gloomy surrounding changed into a bright one with blue me flickering here and there. It growled even more ferocious as the time ticked by. It didn¡¯t seem to ept the fact that it couldn¡¯t touch even the edge of my clothes. With its big body -three times my own body, it looked slow in my eyes thus made it unable to see my movement. I guessed I must have hurt its pride. ¡°Human, who are you?¡± I tilted my head as I looked at the wounded devil in front of me. ¡°Now you want to know who I am?¡± ..... ¡°Just answer the damn question! It¡¯s been a long time since I found someone who can fight with me this long.¡± ¡°Is it yourst wish?¡± I was just teasing, of course! I didn¡¯t even know whether eliminating this creature would be a good thing or not. Surely, if I did, it wouldn¡¯t trigger any butterfly effect, no? Probably it would create a bigger war between devils and human? I surely didn¡¯t want any of that to happen. I had so many things at hand and I really wanted to enjoy my normal days. I still needed to continue my study in the college -before my father scolded me for taking a long leave! So yeah, beating it up might be a yes for me, but not killing it -unless someone told me I could do it. ¡°Last wish, my *ss!¡± It shouted in rage as it pounced at me again. Its big fist came down at me with its remaining force. It had exhausted most of its strength so it was not that powerful for now. But, it was pretty much still powerful enough to knock me down if I underestimated it. Of course, I had prepared myself. With the blue me in my fist, enhanced by my own spiritual power, I dodged to the side and grabbed its wrist. Such a big move with a big body, it was too easy to dodge. I could feel the vibration from its fist and the air surrounding it when my own hand made contact with it. It was really powerful, indeed. It roared in pain when my blue me burned its skin and rapidly advancing to its body. Despite the agony it felt, its red eyes shed and it used its other hands to attack me. My free hand met its hand and another amount of fire burned it. I had full control over the fire, of course. If I were to let it burn to its highest power, this red devil would have turned into a pile of ashes long ago. BOOM!! The ground shook when I threw the big body of the devil onto it with a loud sound. Twisting the arms behind its back, I stepped my foot on its back while chaining the arms and legs with the blue me. With its arms and legs were bound, it totally became immobile and could only let out painful howl and growl. ¡°It seems you¡¯re so eager to know who I am. Then, let me tell you.¡± I smirked as I said in a low tone from its back. I paused for a bit, meeting its gaze full of hatred from the corner of its nted eyes with a smile on my face. ¡°New master of White Army. Nice to meet you.¡± The light in its eyes flickered as shock was clearly seen in those red orbs. There was no hatred, just shock and fear. ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s you...¡± It whispered through it gritted teeth. I waved my hands and the blue me disappeared from its body, leaving ck marks here and there -save the one I used to tie it up. Its terrifying look turned pathetic. Its aura even got suppressed a lot and I couldn¡¯t even sense the bloodlust emitting from its body. It hadpletely disappeared. ¡°Now tell me, who is your boss?¡± ¡°No! I won¡¯t tell you!¡± It shook its head stubbornly. I sighed. ¡°I want to know the reason why he attacked the border. I just want to meet him. Maybe have a small talk.¡± I shrugged my shoulders. ¡°Probably a few warning.¡± A smirk appeared on my face. ¡°No! My Lord didn¡¯t tell me anything! He didn¡¯t order me anything!¡± It was funny how this guy would get so riled up when I talked about its boss. It was like a naughty kid got caught doing bad things and afraid that his mom or dad would find out about it. ¡°Oh, so you are acting out of order.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you call your underlings lest they wreck havoc in the human world now?¡± ¡°W-why should I?¡± ¡°Still trying to resist?¡± I chuckled in amusement. With a flick of finger, the blue me started to burn its hands and it started to howl in agony again. ¡°If I eliminate you here, your underlings will lose their leader and they will get summoned back forcefully. It¡¯s simple, actually, but must you refuse to do it?¡± I said unhurriedly while looking around carefully. Far away from where I was standing, I saw a big castle in the feet of a volcano. It looked dark and gloomy, a perfect picture for horror movie. There was no bats, but the dark smoke rose from it was enough to scare ordinary people away -not that ordinary people could enter this ce as much as they liked it. ¡°Is there where your boss is?¡± I pointed at the red devil who was still clenching its teeth, bearing the pain from the blue me. I noticed the flickering in its gaze, of course. ¡°Well, anytime you want, you can summon them back. But, if you still refuse to do it, the me will burn you alive in five minutes. My friend out there is not weak, you know. You just serve your underlings on the silver ter to be his practice partners. Take your time!¡± I smiled and waved goodbye to it, ignoring the horror in its eyes before I rushed towards the eerie castle. Judging from the form of the castle, I had a hunch that maybe the one inside was someone from a higher position. The boss might be someone so powerful. Could I handle this devil, then? I really had no idea. All I knew was I wanted to see and talk to him. Thinking about it now, it was a seriously stupid idea. It didn¡¯t take long for me to finally reach the gate. Yeah, good one. Why did they need gate anyway? I looked around. Surely they didn¡¯t have a doorman here, right? Pushing the gate opened, I stepped inside carefully. Was it really a demon¡¯sir or a haunted house? The yard was surprisingly clean, though. One would imagine skulls and skeletons were here and there in the demon¡¯sir, but this yard was nothing close to that. It was eerie, indeed, but it was ... normal. I thought I would face many things once I stepped inside this ce, that it would be another adventure for me. Who knew that this ce looked more like a deserted ce than an actual demon¡¯sir? Or, was I wrong? Maybe this ce was indeed an abandoned site. I thought only human would do that. I stopped in front of a super big ck door. It looked like it was tightly closed, but when I tried to push it, it creaked open right away. The sound made me shiver slightly. I thought I had got used to anything rted to horror since I started seeing ghosts, but creepy sound was still creepy -horror or not. The sound of the hinges reverberated in the spacious room as the heavy door moved. It looked like a big hall -arge one -with big pirs supporting the ceiling. Everything was gloomy there with the only source of light was the orbs flying here and there. A suffocated feeling crept in my heart even before I moved my feet to enter the room. There was no signs of demons, but I didn¡¯t lower my guard even just a bit. Instead, I made myself even more aware with my surrounding. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± A familiar voice travelled to my ears. I straightened my body as I stared at the source of the voice. Too bad it was too dark to see anything. Before I could summon my me to help me light up the area, the torches on the pirs were lit out of nowhere, immediately turning the gloomy room into a bright one. Sitting at the end of the room with the warm light from the fire illuminated him was a man whom I had not seen for a while. Chapter 245 245 The Lonely Devil (6) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± I couldn¡¯t contain the excitement I felt. The feeling of meeting someone you know in a new ce was really amazing. The initial fear was nowhere to be seen. The boundary that I built between us had disappeared as well. I only felt slightly relief that I met someone I knew here. Even so, it was really odd that I met him here on my first visit in this dimension, on my first try -scratch that, I didn¡¯t even try to find him since the one I was looking for was the boss of the red devil. I already knew that this man was a devil, so finding him here wasn¡¯t that surprising for me. But, meeting him on my first visit here was seriously strange. It was like fate was ying with me. He used to try to kill me but at the same time didn¡¯t really execute his deadly moves to me. Even though he was such an annoying man -no, devil -for always ¡®forcing¡¯ me to put my life on the line, I couldn¡¯t deny that he had taught me many things. Ever since that day I saw his strange gaze when I mentioned about First Master and then when he helped me to get the robe. To be more precise, it was after I saw a change of emotion in his gaze and face. He was not just a devil. He was something more than that and as much as I wanted to deny the curiosity in me, I wanted to know more about him. Which leading me to have this unsuitable emotion towards him. In which history stated that a human would feel happy when one met a devil? Fear should be the right word. Or reverence, for those who worshipped them. ..... Happy had never been the word. Yet, that was what I felt the moment I saw him. However, it was obvious that the man didn¡¯t share the same excitement that I felt. He had a stupefied expression on his face and his gaze said the impended words in his throat, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Is this your ce?¡± I asked him casually, ignoring the big question mark above his head. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± He asked, instead of answering my question. ¡°Oh, I was chasing a bad guy nearby. Is this your ce? Why are you sitting here alone?¡± I was moving closer to him as I threw him my question. ¡°Bad guy?¡± He frowned a bit, then he looked around with his sharp gaze. It was as if he was staring through the thick wall into somewhere far away. If he said he was scanning the perimeter, I would have believed him on the spot. Seeing that his gaze and expression changed, I knew that he must have found the bad guy I mentioned. From the look of it, he knew that guy as well. ¡°Do you know him?¡± I raised my eyebrows in suspicion. He pulled him back and stared at me. There was a faint smile in the corner of his lips when he looked at me, which confused me a bit. Even his gaze changed. Admiration and... what was it? Why did I feel that he had the same gaze that Sanji had back then? I shook my head. What was I thinking about? It was impossible, okay! First, he was devil, a big shot in this realm. There was no way a devil could be with a human! Second, I didn¡¯t even know his name! That¡¯s right! Should I ask him? I scratched my face lightly while pondering whether I should ask it or not. ¡°Stop it.¡± His hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me from scratching my non-itchy face and sessfully pulling me back to the reality. I was surprised since his action was too intimate for our status of rtionship. ¡°You¡¯ll hurt yourself.¡± He said softly. He was so strange! Since when did he be so attentive like a caring boyfriend? As far as I could remember, ourst meeting was when he led me to the inheritance and he was nowhere near this gentle towards me. Even more, could a devil be gentle? Coming into this realm must have change my perspective or it might have put an illusion on me. Focus, Jane, focus! You¡¯ll be trapped here if you don¡¯t focus yourself! I pped my cheeks hard to wake me up from the illusion. His gaze darkened and both of his hands grabbed my wrists tightly. ¡°What are you doing?¡± My eyes stared at his hands around my own wrists. Shaking his hands off me, I jumped backwards to maintain a good distance between us, ignoring his darkened face and a trace of hurt in his eyes. ¡°What now? Are you going to put me into another test?¡± I asked him warily. ¡°Don¡¯t get injured here. Even if you are someone with special constitution, this dimension is entirely different with yours. A small injury can lead you to be contaminated by the dark energy here. You won¡¯t feel it as long as you stay here, but once you return to your dimension, it will suck on your energy until there¡¯s nothing left.¡± He exined helplessly. Even though he still had a hint of displeasure in his eyes, but mostly he looked like he was controlling his nature. A devil tried to control their nature? It was something new for me. But, was what he said true? I had never heard any of that information before. ¡°I have never heard about that.¡± I frowned. ¡°Of course, since no man has evere out alive from this ce. Some souls got lost here before and they managed to return, but even though their bodies were saved from the dark energy, I couldn¡¯t say the same to their soul. You are the first living person whoes here and probably will be able toe out alive.¡± He exined patiently. Listening to his exnation made me feel that I was stepping into a whole new world. The feeling to learn something new was ignited inside my heart, yet there was a mix of fear inside. Was it okay for me to explore? ¡°No.¡± A stern voice startled me before I could think any further. I looked up at the tall man in front of me who still maintained our distance and surprised when I found his face looked hard and full of determination. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Whatever you have in mind, you can¡¯t do it.¡± He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. ¡°What I have in mind?¡± I asked innocently. He stared at me again with darkened eyes. ¡°You want to explore this ce, don¡¯t you?¡± I blinked my eyes to hide the surprise I felt. How did he know? Also, how did the topic change that much? As I was in a new environment, it was easy to sway my thought. My focus could be easily distracted if I didn¡¯t have goal in my mind. ¡°You¡¯d better go back to your dimension.¡± He sighed, sessfully pulling me back to the real reason I was here. ¡°No. I still want to meet that guy¡¯s boss.¡± I stubbornly replied, but when I saw his handsome face darkened again, I knew that he wasn¡¯t pleased with my intention. ¡°Such an imprudent thought! Do you think just because you¡¯re stronger than the others out there you can easily overpower any demon lord here? It¡¯s your luck that you meet me and not the other demon lords. They could easily crush you, you know?¡± Sinister aura leaked from his body and it surrounded me. If it were me months ago, I would have run away from this ce. But, the current me didn¡¯t feel fear at all. I didn¡¯t have much confidence in me to actually defeat this man, but at least I knew that I could hold on much longer than ourst fight. Whether I could win or not, I could only see when he sparred with me again. Probably it was a good time to exchange pointer with him, but remembering there was someone out there who was still fighting to hold the fortress, I decided not to do that. Still, I needed to find this boss. So, let¡¯s use another way! Chapter 246 246 The Lonely Devil (7) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Aren¡¯t you here though?¡± I looked up at him with a smile as cute as I could. Apparently, he didn¡¯t expect my answer at all. His eyes wavered but the darkness that had been looming over him -even his sinister aura -disappeared in a sh. ¡°You won¡¯t let me meet this demon lord all by myself, right? Well, I want to tell him that his underlings have acted without his consent. They are spreading bloodlust aura in human realm, probably aiming for a war. If he won¡¯t pull them back, don¡¯t me me for burning them to death.¡± I exined casually. What a na?ve intention! ¡°Jane.¡± He called out softly. But when I looked up at him, he was hesitating. In the end, he turned back and sat on his throne. ¡°Just go back. I¡¯ll deal with him.¡± He said. ¡°So, you do know him.¡± I nodded. ¡°If you say so, I guess I must believe in you.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going now. Fancy meeting you here, er...¡± I stopped my hand from waving while giving him a look. I didn¡¯t know his name! Considering how long we had known each other -even if it included the time when he nearly killed me -shouldn¡¯t we, at least, know each other¡¯s name? He looked back at me, as if probing my intention. In a full ten secondter, he sighed again. Was it so hard to talk me that he had to sigh every now and then? It was as if I was a troublemaker and he couldn¡¯t bear to scold me. ¡°Nataya.¡± He said, startling me. ¡°My name is Nataya.¡± Nataya. That name echoed in my head as it brought a sense of familiarity in my heart. It was my first time hearing his name, yet I felt like I had heard it somewhere before. ..... ¡°Now go.¡± He said. ¡°Then, I¡¯m off. Nataya.¡± I said absent-mindedly before I ran out. However, before long, I turned back and peeked inside from the big door. There he was, sitting again like a lost child. He looked so lonely in the spacious room. The mighty and cruel demon was exposing his weakness right now and I had no idea why he would do so. ¡°I¡¯lle back to visit you again, Nataya!¡± I shouted at him, startling him from his wondering mind. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t.¡± He smiled. Even though it was far away, but I could still see that he was smiling. Yet, his smile had a hint of sadness. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You crossed over because the border is weakened. After the border is returned to its original state, it¡¯s not easy to cross over.¡± I grinned. ¡°Not easy, but it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s impossible. See you!¡± I waved my hand and dashed off for real this time. The image of the man sitting on a throne with deste air around me made me sure about my decision. I would surelye back to visit him. Well then, I needed to return to where Sanji was. I hoped he could still hold on. He had improved himself under the pressure and I had no idea how long he could cope with his new ability. I didn¡¯t find the red devil on my way back. However, the situation was still as chaotic as I left it was. Shadows and ghosts were everywhere. However, upon closer inspection, I could see protective barrier was set around the perimeter, sessfully isted the outside of the barrier from the harm caused by the shadows. My eyes scanned the surrounding and realized that those shadows and ghosts were circling on one point. Sometimes they would even attack something in the middle of them. Seeing how dense they were and how I couldn¡¯t find Sanji anywhere, I had a bad feeling. Since there was a big barrier protecting us, I didn¡¯t need to hold back. Summoning the me bearer and some of the warriors, I let them prate the dense crowd and created a way for me to get in. Just as I saw a small path was finally made, I noticed anotheryer of barrier in the shape of an egg was in the middle of the crowd. Inside the egg was a man who was meditating calmly, as if he couldn¡¯t hear the noise outside the barrier. He looked fine to me. He looked like he was waiting for someone while meditating instead of meditating to control the situation. He had never ceased to impress me. How could he improved himself again this fast? He must be a genius. The bad feeling was gone in a minute once I saw him alright. The men from the army were really working efficiently. In just several minutes, most of the troublesome entities had gone. I could approach the egg-shaped barrier freely and made him realize my presence. His eyes fluttered opened and I waved at him from outside of his barrier. The look of relief in his eyes stung my heart. He must have been waiting for me. There were traces of fatigue on his face as a result of the continuous action of supplying power to keep the barrier. ¡°You¡¯ve done great. Thank you.¡± I smiled at him gratefully. After I said that, Sanji closed his eyes and lost consciousness. All the barriers that he had tried so hard to keep crumbled as soon as it lost its source of power. I jumped forward to catch his body before he could kiss the earth. Slowly, I transferred some of my power to keep him from being ufortable because of the depletion of his power. ¡°Men, you know what to do. It¡¯s either you chase them back, or exterminate them.¡± I softly ordered the men around me. ¡°Don¡¯t let them out from the mountain range.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± The reply came in unison as they shot to chase after the ghosts and shadows in all direction. ¡°Siji.¡± I called out to my Advisor who had disappeared with my General. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± Siji appeared as usual. ¡°Bring Sanji back to the house to rest.¡± I handed him to Siji. ¡°How is he?¡± I asked hesitantly. ¡°The General is doing great, Mdy.¡± Siji answered. I nodded my head. ¡°It¡¯s good. Go. Also, bring that kid to me.¡± Siji bowed his head before he disappeared with Sanji. In his ce, a unique boy stood while looking at me with wide eyes. ¡°We meet again.¡± I tried to smile as warm as I could, but his reaction told me that I might not look as warm as I wanted. Chapter 247 247 Big Secret! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I remembered seeing this boy in Tom¡¯s consciousness. At that time, this kid looked like he was afraid of me. This time, though he still looked wary but there was hint of curiosity in his eyes. However, as soon as I smiled at him, he jumped backwards with widened eyes full with terror. Disbelief was clear in his eyes as if I was about to ask him to sell himself away. It seemed that whoever made him traumatized was used to smile before it tortured him. Poor lil boy. ¡°No need to be so jumpy.¡± I retracted the smile on my face as I pinched the space between my eyes. ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡± ¡°Putra. Putra Semesta.¡± He answered in a low tone. ¡°Right. Putra, who are you exactly? How are you rted to Tom?¡± I asked in a serious tone. Thest time I asked him about it, he didn¡¯t give me a proper answer since he was too busy calming himself from his trauma. Since I happened to have some free time at hand, I thought that I should ask him about it. An existence like him was truly strange yet holding a mysterious power, I bet. My eyes watched the red lines in his body. I remembered clearly that it actually moved, like a river of hotva. Sure thing, when I focused my eyes, I noticed the small movement from the lines. ¡°Tom is my Guardian.¡± He answered softly. ¡°Guardian?¡± Why did you need a Guardian? Only a strong existence would need a Guardian to keep it in check. ..... He looked into my eyes and repeated his answer with a resolute look in his eyes. ¡°I am the spirit of Death Volcano and Tom is my Guardian.¡± Death Volcano! My eyes widened as soon as I heard what he said. I had been looking for Death Volcano ever since that meeting and it had always been before my eyes all along? I didn¡¯t know whether I shouldugh or cry at this ridiculous fate. Holding my forehead in my right hand, I took a deep breath after a series of maniac giggles escaped from my mouth. I badly wanted to vent but obviously I couldn¡¯t do that to the poor boy in front of me. Take a deep breath, Jane! Take a deep breath! Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Huff... That was better. After controlling the turmoil inside, I re-opened my eyes and met with the freaking out gaze belonged to the boy. Ah, indeed. I must have scared him with my behavior, I thought. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t do anything to you. I may look crazy but I promise I don¡¯t hit just anyone.¡± Iforted him as soft as I could. It worked! Even though the distrust was still there in his eyes, at least he wasn¡¯t trembling so bad anymore. ¡°Come here and sit.¡± I patted the ce in front of me. There was a protruding root of a nearby tree there, thick enough for him to sit on. He didn¡¯t say anything but he did what I told him to do. His obedience made me smile. As expected, an obedient child was the best. A cute and obedient child. ¡°Do you know what is happening here now?¡± I asked him. This whole time, we had been ignoring the wails and screeches of the demons around us. It was a bit noisy but we managed to talk without shouting at each other. Putra tilted his head, pondering over his answer for a full five seconds. ¡°Massive invasion from the devil¡¯s world? Is it ¡®that¡¯ time?¡± ¡°Yes, if you mean the time where the borderline between two worlds is weakened to the extreme.¡± I nodded my head. ¡°Do you still remember what the First Master asked you to do long time ago?¡± ¡°How could I forget?!¡± He answered almost instantly. He had furious look on his face but instead of looking menacing, he looked cute. ¡°That woman forced me to visit those stupid brats even when I said I couldn¡¯t do it! She even threatened me that she would spank my bottom if I couldn¡¯t do THAT simple thing! Did she think it was so easy to expand my consciousness to the whole world?! That vicious woman! So shameless! Rude! Evil! She made mey on the ground for a whole week and even forbade me to relieve myself privately! And every time I wanted to stand up, she would spank my bottom! You don¡¯t even know how humiliating it was to me! What¡¯s more infuriating was my Guardian indulged her in every action she did! Whose guardian was he, actually?! That woman was simply a witch! A witch!¡± Putra looked so aggrieved and there was anger imminent in his eyes. His chest heaved as he finished his longin. The red lines on his body grew even brighter and if my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me, there were sparks of fireing from his body. If it could provoke him this much, it must be tough for him to experience something like that. But, what caught my attention was not his misery, but a couple of words. That woman? Was he talking about the First Master? Wasn¡¯t the First Master a man? Did I just hear a big secret? Something so deeply hidden that even the Elders in the army knew nothing about, but it was revealed just like that? I was just asking him what he had done to stop the invasion, but who would have known that I would get a precious piece of information instead? But, why didn¡¯t anybody know about the real gender of the First Master back then? It was either the First Master was a master of disguise or... they deliberately concealed it from the world. Hmm, it arouse my curiosity. Should I do some investigation? But, if they deliberately concealed it, they might not want to talk about it. However, whether they did it or not, they ought to show even just slightest change in their expression. It seemed like I needed to talk to those old geezers, after all. ¡°Jane?¡± Putra¡¯s voice brought me back to my senses. Seeing how he had lost his initial anger and had confused and worried expression on his face made me realize how long I had wasted to think about the new information. ¡°Ah, sorry. I got distracted.¡± I smiled at him. ¡°Can you do it again? I mean, locating those portals.¡± ¡°You want me to visit those brats again?¡± His eyes widened in unwillingness. He even took two steps backwards in a haste as though I would catch him to do what I ordered him. Chapter 248 248 First Attempt (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°What? You don¡¯t want to? Or you can¡¯t do it? Which one?¡± There was no anger in my voice. Why should I waste my energy to be mad at him when I could easily achieve what I wanted by taunting him? A proud spirit of Death Volcano would never ept any belittle, I was sure of that. ¡°It¡¯s too bad. I thought you¡¯re so omnipotent that you can do anything. You¡¯re the Death Volcano after all. Never mind if you can¡¯t do it.¡± I waved my hand at him and faked the sadness in my face. I turned my face away so that he couldn¡¯t see the mischievous glint in my eyes. ¡°W-who said I can¡¯t do that? Just contacting them, right? It¡¯s so easy!¡± Putra denied it quickly. Sneaking a peek from the corner of my eyes, I found him pouted and acted all high and mighty. Stifling the giggle inside, I watched as he sat down on the ground, cross-legged, and closed his eyes. His previous expression changed into a serene one and his aura changed in instant. It was fascinating that he could change from a cowardly boy into a powerful spirit the moment he got into his own world. Red mist emitted from his body danced along with the flow of his power. It didn¡¯t look as dangerous as fire, instead, it looked so calm and harmless that I couldn¡¯t associate him with the Death Volcano. I watched him for about five minutes but he had not shown any significance change, a sign that he was still trying toplete the mission I gave him. Taking a deep breath, I looked up and around. Since Putra would take his time to ¡®visit¡¯ his underlings, I thought I should have given a finishing touch to my surroundings. The White Army men were all guarding the perimeter. I could not see them but I could sense them. All the wicked shadowsing from the portal had been taken care of by them. I couldn¡¯t see any of them, but the trace of bloodlust still overwhelmed the air. The portal was still opened and two of my me bearers were guarding it. There was no shadows or demonsing out from that portal but the negative aura still leaked out from it. Even if I gave my best to clean the aura, as long as the portal was still there like an open door, it was useless. So, why should I waste my energy to do that meaningless action? The best solution was to close this damn door. But, if I closed it, could I still have the opportunity to cross over? After all, I promised Nataya that I would visit him. ..... Hmm... Getting up from where I was, I approached the portal and studied it carefully. It was a like a door-shape ck hole, I couldn¡¯t see anything beyond that door. But, it did lead to the demon world; another world in the Astral dimension. I curiously stretched my hand towards the portal and touched. Physically, I could only feel a tingling sensation in my fingertips. However, as soon as I expanded my consciousness and probed it with my spiritual power, I could sense aplexyers of distorted dimension around the portal. Even the density of theyers was different with how I usually felt. There must be something which caused it to weaken. I kept expanding my consciousness and investigating theposition of theyers. There were many things that I didn¡¯t thing I could understand but I persisted. If I couldn¡¯t understand it now, at least I could collect some information about it. After all, I had never had any intention to learn about it before, but now I wanted to know about it as much as I could. Even if there was something that I couldn¡¯t find the answerter, at least I had other information about it at hand. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed ever since I tried toprehend theyers of dimension. I could be hours, it could be just several minutes. My sense of time was distorted as I involved myself further into theposition of theyers of dimension. As expected, I couldn¡¯t understand it wholly, but I couldn¡¯t say that it was fruitless attempt. When I opened my eyes, even I could sense the change in me. A sense of joy filled my heart for the result of my ministration. It was awesome! It was as if I was facing a series ofplex mechanism which worked to separate the dimension into several worlds. I could see where the ws were and how to fix it. The problem was I didn¡¯t have the means know to fix some of the parts. Well, since I had some other urgent business to attend to, I didn¡¯t want to dwell on it for too long. Just fix what I could and leave the rest forter. After all, I possessed the main item needed for the portal. With that in thought, I injected a big amount of spiritual power into the portal along with the heat from the blue me. I watched as the portal closed under naked eyes. The weakenedyers of the dimension were filled and strengthened. By the time I finished, the portal hadpletely disappeared and theyers of dimension that created the borderline had returned to its previous state. Well, theck of some substances could easily weaken it again inter years, but at least for now it was sufficient. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I gave the two me bearers who were staring at me a big grin. ¡°Well, is there any movement from the kid?¡± ¡°Not yet, Mdy.¡± One of them responded solemnly. ¡°How long have it been?¡± I looked around me to find that it was not that much different from before I took care of the portal. ¡°Around ten to fifteen minutes, Mdy.¡± The other one answered. There was a hint of reverence in his voice, as if he was close to prostrate himself to worship me. Maybe it was just my imagination, so I chose to ignore it. ¡°Jane! I did it!¡± A shout startled me and I turned around to see the owner of that voice that sounded so excited. Chapter 249 249 Second Attempt (Jane¡¯s PoV) It was the first time he called my name. It was so heart-warming yet amusing. It was like we were getting closer to each other as a sense of familiarity filled my senses. With that thought it mind, I approached him in big strides. His eyes were opened but he looked like he was staring so far ahead. They were nk, like a blind person¡¯s eyes. Even so, his right arm waved right at me, beckoning me to approach him. ¡°You made it?¡± I sat in front of him, my heart ached seeing him looked like a blind person. I knew it was just physically temporary, that he could still see me even under that situation, but it still saddened me pretty much. ¡°Of course.¡± His smug smileforted me a bit. He was fine, I told myself. ¡°Then, let me see them.¡± I sat down cross-legged in front of him. I took his right hand and grabbed it with my own hand. After taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and channeled myself to follow Putra¡¯s stream of consciousness. He didn¡¯t resist me, which made everything went smooth. It might took several minutes for me to drift down his stream of consciousness before I finally stopped in a vast ce which looked like an open space between the active volcanoes; minus the dark sky. I couldn¡¯t see the sky at all. It was only darkness as far as I could see. The sources of light came from some small rivers ofva, extending from one side to another side. Putra and I were standing in the middle of what seemed to be a big piece of t rock whereva was flowing around us. Not too far away from him stood couples of weird creatures in various shapes but with one simrity; ugly. Well, what did I expect from monsters, anyway? ¡°Who are they?¡± I asked Putra who was standing proudly, as if he was waiting for me to praise him. ..... ¡°They are the spirit from the volcanoes near the portals in the world. I know they don¡¯t look as good looking as I am, but it¡¯s just because I am more powerful than them. If they can nurture themselves well, they can gain a human form like mine.¡± Putra exined. ¡°Of course, no matter what, I will still be stronger than them by lot.¡± He added quickly. He didn¡¯t even bother to hide the pride in his voice. ¡°Ah.¡± I nodded my head before I patted him on his head. ¡°You did great! Thank you.¡± I smiled at him genuinely. Under the illuminating light from theva around us, his already dark skin turned slightly redder when he blushed. Turning his head away from me, he scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s nothing for me.¡± I smirked, but didn¡¯t say anything further. Looking at the creatures in front of me, I realized the seriousness of this problem. The amount of portals were being represented by the number of creatures appeared in this room. How many days would I need to close them all? I rubbed my forehead, feeling helpless. Asking help from the other geezers would be hard without exposing Putra¡¯s position. Considering their previous attitude towards me, I doubted they would not have any ideas towards Putra. The First Master might be powerful enough to hold her ground against the previous Masters, but I didn¡¯t think I could do the same. I mean, I was sure that I could win and overwhelm them, but not without price. Unless I knew any method to reduce the losses, I wouldn¡¯t want to act harsh. I sighed as I realized theplexity of the matters in my hand. If only I were a bit more stronger... ¡°Woman, what are you doing spacing out like that?¡± Putra¡¯s voice snapped me back to my senses. I smiled wryly hearing him calling me like that. He might be feeling awkward calling me my name. I should teach him to call my name properly as soon as possible. ¡°I¡¯ll sort you outter.¡± I rubbed his head. Watching as his eyes widened in horror, I guessed he caught on to what I was talking about. ¡°Now, where should I start?¡± I instinctively did a series of stretching and warming up, as if I was getting ready for a sportpetition. My eyes darted from one to another creature, thinking on which one I should pick first. ¡°Which one is the worst of all?¡± I asked them. I didn¡¯t care whether they could understand what I said or not, no... it was more like I had not thought about it at all. Only after I said all of those that I realized that there was a chance that they didn¡¯t understand me at all. As soon as the realization hit me, I heard a soft chuckle behind me. Without turning back, I had already known whose voice was that. ¡°Putra, tell me, where should I start?¡± Ignoring his stifled giggling, I went right to the point. ¡°Hm? You¡¯re not going to deal with them all in one go?¡± ¡°Do you think I can do it?¡± I turned back to look at him. If he said I could do it, maybe I would give it a try. ¡°What? You¡¯re not confident with yourself? And here I thought you are invincible.¡± A mocking smirk appeared on his face. ¡°Do you want to try me?¡± I cracked my knuckled with satisfying sounds and approached him with an evil smirk on my face -not that I realized that, though. ¡°Evil woman! Go away!¡± He shouted in horror. Iughed. ¡°I said I would sort you outter. Just wait.¡± I grinned at him. Putra shook his head quickly and his whole body was trembling. Serve you right for taunting me! Ignoring him, I turned my sight back to the creatures and randomly picked one among them. Let¡¯s try one! If it was not as hard as I thought, I would try to work on two or three in one go. Myprehension about theyers of dimension and portals before was proven to be extremely important in this mission. I stood in front of the selected creature. After giving it a thorough scanning, I decided to get into business. What should I do, then? Crossing the dimension to arrive at the specific ce of portals? Wouldn¡¯t it be tooplicated? How many times should I cross over then? ¡°Sit down.¡± I beckoned at the creature in front of me to sit down. Of course, I sat down cross-legged on the spot as well. After sitting down face to face, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. ¡°Show me.¡± Imanded it. I felt a slightly cold and slimy thing touched my hand and it was as if I was doing a VR. There was an image in my head. A lustrous forest with snow on top of it. I was sure I had seen it somewhere but I couldn¡¯t remember. After all, almost all mountain looked the same, so I just ignored it. The scenery in front of me changed as I was pulled even closer to the mountain. It seemed like I was at the foot of the mountain. There was a resort, a luxurious one. However, I couldn¡¯t see any human there. Mist rose from several ces of the resort but I couldn¡¯t detect any malicious intent from it. Instead, there was a sense of indolence in the air. ¡°Huh? Is it an Onsen? Am I in Japan?¡± I looked around me as I realized where I was. Indeed, this was a hot spring resort located in a foot of a mountain. What mountain it was, I had no idea. The creature brought me here which meant the portal was here. But where? Chapter 250 250 Once Upon A Time in A Hot Spring (Jane¡¯s PoV) There was no trace of malicious emotion in the air. It was hard to track the portal if I didn¡¯t know what kind of deviling out from the weakened borderline. Thest time it happened in Merapi Mountain, the thick bloodlust as the part of negative aura was easy to detect. This time, however, I couldn¡¯t detect anything. What was it? Hm, my eyes felt heavy. I felt sleepy. Was it possible for a spirit to feel sleepy? Maybe it was because I worked too much. I might have been using too much spiritual energy to deal with the portals and the devils which caused my lethargic feeling right now. Maybe,ying down for a bit would be okay. Just for a while. But, what was this nagging feeling I felt? It was like... I had something important to do. What was it? ... ... Ah, right. I needed to find the portal. But... maybeter. I could do itter. For now, I should take a rest. Everything could be done after I had my nap. ..... Yes. With that thought in mind, I didy down on the couch in the lobby. I forgot that I was just a spirit and everything I felt was actually unreal. Still, I closed my eyes and felt into a sleep. It was not a deep sleep, since I could still hear my surroundings. It was just my consciousness was drifting away. Was it even possible? I heard some movement around me. Whispers entered my ears but I couldn¡¯t catch what they were saying. It was not all foreign to me yet not so familiar either, which might not be a good sign for me. I couldn¡¯t say that I understood Japanese wholly, but I unconsciously heard them mentioning about ¡®that girl, that girl¡¯. I also heard something sounded like ¡®sleep¡¯ in their conversation. What were they talking about? Amidst those whispering around me, I heard someone was calling out my name, shouting at me to wake up. I told myself to wake up, to obey that urgent voice, but my eyelids felt so heavy. ¡°....WAKE UP!¡± I was jolted awake from that voice. My eyes wide opened and my drowsy mind became clear. The images of countless ghosts and shadows, peeking from every corner of the resort, entered my sight. Even their forms were various, totally different from what I saw in my own country. It was not because of any important reason, but it was because most of them shaped themselves ording to the images in human¡¯s mind. Since every person had different imagination, countless forms of astral creatures were inevitable. Seeing them looking at me with bizarre expression on their unique faces, I thought that I was a rare-type animal which was being shown in an auction. I blinked my eyes, feeling a bit stupefied with the situation I was in as my mind started to process the whole situation I was in. A wave of unfamiliar aura crawled on my skin. I could feel it but somehow it was easy to dismiss it as well. It was like a fleeting feeling yet so powerful to leave an after effect. My mind went hazy and I had the need to sleep again. It was weird yet at the same time so right. At that time, I was wakened up from my stupor. Since something felt weird, then there must be something wrong. Right. The portal! This strange aura must being from the opened portal. Even if I werezy by nature, there was no way I could feel sleepy that fast after a good nap. Also,bined with the ghosts and shadows around me, there was no way this situation was normal. Jumping down from the couch I wasying on, I ignored those ghosts and shadows and ran through the hallway. As my mind became clearer, the aura felt even stronger. It might be because I became sensitive now that I knew the cause. There were many people in the resort, it was just... they were all asleep as if they had just taken sleeping drugs. Some people were seen with their eyes opened, yet it looked misty, as if they were in deep trance, imagining something so good. Yeah, that... and those stupid smiles on their faces. Who knows what they were thinking about? I had been running for several minutes already, passing many rooms and even witnessing some embarrassing situations in some rooms, but I still couldn¡¯t find the portal. Where was it? I knew that I was getting closer to it, but where was it? I pulled open the door where I felt the aura became especially denser without thinking. What I found in front of me left me stunned and red with embarrassment. Yes, the portal was there. I could see it and sense it. But, how could it appear in a male¡¯s hot spring bath?! The picture of several naked men sprawling around here and there in the bath really made my head almost go dizzy. I was stopped at the door for several good minutes, contemting whether I should go inside or not. Brainwashing myself repeatedly that I had seen naked men before seemed to not affect me so much. Still, I knew that I needed to step forward and closed that damn portal! Come on, Jane, you can do this! I encouraged myself. Just pretend they are dolls. They are all sleeping, so there is nothing for you to worry about. With that thought in mind, I braved myself and stepped forward. I was aware that my face was flushing red, but still I took another step. They are sleeping, they are sleeping, they are sleeping... I chanted that in mind repeatedly as I was getting closer to the portal. Wait! Now that I had a better view of the location of the portal, I realized that the portal was not ced vertically like a door. Instead, it looked like a hole in the middle of the hot spring! Ugh, should I go down there? I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. Who made this bath this spacious? One could easily put one hundred people inside and there would still be room for this stupid hole without obstructing anything. ¡°Uugh...¡± My ears caught a small grunt in this quiet ce. Despite it was very soft, I could still hear it. Somehow, there was a trace of sexiness in it. I was quiet familiar with it. Was it my imagination? Was anyone awake? Chapter 251 251 Close That Portal! Now! (Jane¡¯s PoV) I didn¡¯t mean to peek, I swear! I didn¡¯t mean to see! No, I didn¡¯t want to SEE anything! But, why would my head turn to see the source of that damn voice?! Remembering it now... my whole body will automatically flush red in embarrassment and my body starts tingling. Damn it! Maybe the ce I was standing at was the only spot where people could see them clearly, or maybe the both of them was just too bold to do it in a public ce, but my eyes clearly saw two naked men being close to each other. They were so close that it looked intimate in my eyes. When a small ripple formed from their small movement and another breathy sigh escaped from one of them, it really left no choice for me other than thinking ¡®creatively¡¯. Their joined hips movedzily under the water and I was standing there, rooted to my ce with my eyes watching their slow movement. Even through the mist, I could still see their eyes close, but their bodies moved slowly. Breathy gasp or sexy grunt sometimes escaped from their mouths. Because they were the only ones who were moving and making sound at this particr moment where every body was knocked out, it was so clear in my eyes and ears. Watching a real life yaoi action in front of my eyes, I couldn¡¯t really say I was lucky or not. I had the urge to cry for letting my eyes witnessing ¡®the deed¡¯ -not because I found it disgusting, but because I felt guilty for ¡®peeking¡¯ their action without their permission. Their preferences was not my business toment on, as long as they didn¡¯t make a move on my men. Even if they meant to y exhibitionism, it didn¡¯t mean I could take advantage of their situation in this kind of emergency circumstances. However, weren¡¯t they supposed to sleep now? How could they have the consciousness to do the deed? ..... ¡°Jane, you are stupid¡±. A part of myself scolded me inwardly and I realized what I did wrong. Didn¡¯t I have the gift to see what normal eyes couldn¡¯t see? How stupid of me to forget about that! I closed my eyes for a while before opening up again. This time, I released all the restriction I put upon myself, just like when I was in the forest. Clear and vivid flow of aura filled my sight. The color was a mix of earth colors, exuding warmth andziness, making people want to stay still and let the earth embrace them. With this thick aura invading the area, there was no wonder people would surrender to theirziness. However, there was another flow of aura mixed with the aura ofziness. The color looked alluring yet aggressive. It was a mix of romantic red, pink, purple, and a bit orange. Since I had a barrier around me, that thick aura couldn¡¯t touch me, a proof that this aura was not normal. In other words, there was something manipting it behind the scene, like that thing back then in the forest. So, would I meet another creature like that one who emitted thick bloodlust? But, I was afraid it wouldn¡¯t just be one, but two. ¡°What are you doing here? Scram! Don¡¯t take my prey!¡± A voice was heard not too far away from me. To be precise, it came from the portal. It soundedzy but at the same time, a strong warning could be felt from it. I still couldn¡¯t see anythinging out from there, but I guessed it wouldn¡¯t be long before I could see them. ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. We are mates. We should share sometimes, don¡¯t you think? I felt a faint sense of lust here so I came to bring it to a new level. Let¡¯s give those humans a new experience from being lustful! Those who want to sleep can sleep and I can just give them beautiful dream ording to their preference. Those who want to engage in their lust can still do it and I will help them experience azy sexual experience. It¡¯s so hard for us to have this moment toe out and have direct contact with humans, don¡¯t be so stingy.¡± A coquettish voice argued in a long exnation. ¡°Can you hear those beautiful sound of wet bodies got into contact together? Can you hear those lustful moans and sexy grunts? Ooh, it¡¯s so beautiful. I want to join in the fun! How much do you think I can extract from them?¡± ¡°You are going to kill them that way! Don¡¯t you remember thest time you involved yourselves with humans? Both of them died in the most horrible way ever. Their bodies were naked and stunk of their liquid. They died of exhaustion and dehydration as well as you sucked their vital essence right from their bodies during their intercourse. It¡¯s a disgrace for humans to die that way, you know? The woman was used of being an insatiable slut and a witch since she was thest one who died between the three of them, wringing them dry. Only we knew that you yed the two men harder than the woman.¡± The owner of thezy voice argued in contempt. ¡°Not my fault that the woman was so strong. She was stronger than the two menbined. And I could only feast on her after she was aroused to the highest peak. So, I yed with the two men before her eyes, making them fucked each other silly, before I consumed them. Then, I fucked that woman and feasted on her. The three of them were delicious! It was a pity she died easily.¡± The coquettish voice sighed andmented the ident. ¡°It was a miracle that she could hold on after you fucked her for several rounds. I could say she was on par with your favorite concubine.¡± There was a smirked even though I didn¡¯t see it. ¡°That¡¯s why I said it was a pity she passed away so soon. I could make her one of my concubines if she couldst one more round.¡± What the hell had I just heard? ¡°Still, go away! don¡¯t disturb me preying on thesezy humans!¡± ¡°Ohe on, you can still feast on them while I have my fun!¡± ¡°I have no intention to see them writhe in lust while I¡¯m preying on them. Go away!¡± ¡°So stingy! I promise I won¡¯t dirty them! I won¡¯t even take their vital essence. I will only take on their lust energy. Come on!¡± My eyes widened as I heard their n. The n was wicked and cruel, and I couldn¡¯t deny that there was a part of my heart was being mischievous enough it advised me to hide and watch what was going to happen. However, another part of me screamed inwardly, ¡°Someone! Close that portal! Now!¡± Chapter 252 252 I Miss Her (Tom¡¯s PoV) How many days has it been for me to pass my days like this? Training, sleeping, eating, training, sleeping, eating and repeat... I missed having her in my arms to sleep. I missed her smile when she was satisfied with the food. I missed her so much... However, I knew that I needed to harden my heart. I needed to train to be able to protect her, to be able to stand beside her and shield her from any harm. I needed to be strong! I had been training like a mad man ever since I left her side. With Siji as my mentor, actually he didn¡¯t do much. He would just casually toss me into a dimension where I needed to fight back in order to survive. Most of the time, he would do it, but sometimes, after I finally fought my way back in the dimension he threw me in, he would let me meditate and give me some pointer. I honestly thought that I gained more strength with him as my mentor. However, his method was just too cruel! Where did he know about those dimension? Even if I wanted to hide in the astral dimension, I couldn¡¯t tear any door for me to escape. He would either put me in a human world or in astral dimension. The simrity between those ces I was thrown in was I needed to fight and to use my brain to survive. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed since thest time I saw her, since the flow of time in the astral dimension was sometimes different with human world, but it felt like we had been separated for ages. The longing in my heart was suffocating, but my journey had not ended yet. I need to get stronger! ..... But, where am I? I looked around me and noticed that Siji had thrown me into a wilderness again. It was somewhere on Earth, but it was in another dimension. I could still sense the existence of the thin barrier that separated between human¡¯s dimension and astral dimension. Well, since I was sent here, it meant that there must be something that I needed to learn from this ce. I was curious but at the same time had an ominous feeling. What was it? Since I couldn¡¯t shake off the nagging feeling inside, I had no other choice but to walk forward. Anyway, these trees were abnormally huge. How old were they to be this old? It was truly fascinating to witness it with my own eyes for the first time. Which part of the Earth was this ce? Since the trees were gigantic, the canopy was surely enormous as well. It was thick and covered the whole sky until there was no gap to be seen. I had no idea it was at noon or at night since the forest was too dark. If I had not been trained by that monster of Advisor, I was sure I couldn¡¯t see anything in this darkness. Thank you, Siji! But, how far should I walk? This kind of forest should have their own ¡®residents¡¯, right? The damp and cold air was supposed to be their most crowded ces, but this ce was as quiet as graveyard. I couldn¡¯t sense any of them at all. I walked deeper into the forest, not knowing where to go at all. Maybe I should walk for another ten minutes, that¡¯s what I thought. However, more than twelve hours had passed and I had not seen anything rted to my training. I sat down under one of the tree and controlled my breath. It was easy to feel suffocated in this damp forest. Not to mention, I hade out from the astral dimension around three hours ago, which meant any protection I got from the barrier disappeared. Usually Siji made a restriction that I couldn¡¯t cross over, but somehow I could do it. Therefore, I picked my chance to change my surroundings, to enjoy a whole new environment instead of staying in the dull situation in the astral dimension. Since he didn¡¯t restrict it, it meant whatever it was waiting for me could be from either sides. But, wandering around aimless like this was really... boring. If only I could meet or see ghosts around, this journey wouldn¡¯t feel so bad. It was just a pity that, other than these majestic looking trees, I didn¡¯t meet anything. Not even ants or bugs -only trees and bushes. What kind of weird situation I was in? After pondering about it for a while, I decided to return to the astral dimension. Since I couldn¡¯t find anything in the human dimension, I might as well check the other side. Maybe there would be something different there that my eyes couldn¡¯t see here. As soon as my feet crossed over the thin lines, I was greeted with a whole different situation. I was stunned, like... what the hell? It wasn¡¯t that long since I decided to walk in the human dimension and this other side had changed greatly? It was a stark contrast to the super quiet situation from the human dimension. This astral dimension was so noisy and full that I almost thought that I had entered a bustling city. The majestic looking trees had some odd looking decoration on them and there was a huge stage under them. The stage was tall with couples of stairs made of solid wood. The decorations on the stage were even merrier than the ones around me. There was even a huge chair on it -nah, I thought it was a chair but it was actually a huge bed with drapes on it. I was curious. What was going on exactly? Did I miss the party? Turned out I was right on time. Before I asked around, a loud announcement was heard. ¡°The King has arrived! Long live the King!¡± ¡°Long live the King!¡± ¡°Long live the King!¡± ¡°Long live the King!¡± ¡°Long live the King!¡± The thunderous voice reverberated in the forest, creating a rather lively and joyful asion in the air. It was the exact image of how the people weed their honorable and generous King; there was no resentment in their voice nor contempt. They treasured and joyfully epted their King and be happy with their status as the King¡¯s people. Seeing their joyful expression, I was intrigued to find out who the King was. This festive mood was probably the reason why the forest was awfully quiet, but for them to be able to affect even the human dimension, I bet they weren¡¯t ordinary souls or ghosts at all. A soft and long whistling was heard despite the vigorous chants of Long live the King. As seconds passed, it even was able to make those people quiet and finally obediently knelt on the ground. Of course, I followed suit. There was no way I would stand still and expose myself like a sore thumb. I peeked to my left and right and saw the admiration and reverence in those souls eyes as they were staring up ahead towards the stage. They didn¡¯t bow down, like any other people that knelt before their King. It picked my curiosity, of course, but since it worked in my favor, I stayed quiet and observed the surroundings first. The silky drapes on the stage swayed with the wind and out of nowhere, the girls came out and obediently stood near the edge of the stage. Their clothes were so revealing and always to the point of it was transparent. It reminded me of the belly dancers from Egypt but with more in style. Their clothes were all white and they all wore veil on their faces, covering half their faces under their closed eyes. Their hair was tied up in a high pony tail and from the color of it, I could see some westerners. What kind of creature was collecting women from all over the world? As the women stopped moving, I vaguely caught a big shadow behind them before a thin smoke appeared and a man stepped out of it. He stood on the highest stairs with a smile on his intimidating face, but it couldn¡¯t lessen the aura he had on him that could make anyone think that he was absolutely a bad guy. ¡°Rise, my people!¡± His raspy and heavy voice travelled from the stage to the people. idental or not, I thought our eyes met. And I was 100% sure that he knew me. Chapter 253 253 Enjoy Your Watch (Tom¡¯s PoV) It was just a fleeting moment, but I was sure with what I was seeing. The message from his eyes was clear. ¡°So you¡¯re here, huh?¡± After that, he looked away and stared at his people one by one. What a great leader he was! So, what was this celebration for? Something so big that it could affect the human realm, obviously it wouldn¡¯t be a simple one. ¡°Wee to our annual festival. It¡¯s a joyful asion where we can celebrate the uing of Harvest Moon that will be transpiring in any minutes from now. Any females who are willing to participate in this celebration may stand before the stage to receive a charm that will protect you from anyone or any creatures who wish to disturb the celebration.¡± The King said with a smile. A charm? What kind of celebration needed a charm to avoid any disturbance? More importantly, it was given to any females that would partake in the celebration. My initial thought that there would only be some females wanted to join, but I was obviously so wrong. As soon as the King finished saying his piece of mind, I saw many of females moved forward and stood in front of the stage obediently. They looked up excitedly and their whole bodies emitted some kind of different aura. ¡°Some of my girls are willing to partake in this celebration as well.¡± The King smiled at the women behind him and some of them stepped down from the stage and joined the females. ..... In a second, the number of females partaking in the celebration had increased and it triggered the males to let out their celebratory shouts. I felt like I was in a primitive vige deep in the jungle, far from the bustling cities. They didn¡¯t eat humans, right? As I was deep in my own thoughts, the King had given the so-called-charm in a shape of a pendant. The women put it around their neck in instant after they showed their gratitude towards the King. I snapped back and found out that the King was looking up at the sky. It was silent for a good few minutes. Then, he smiled again. ¡°It¡¯s time. You know the rules. Go.¡± He said softly and the males shouted excitedly. The females ran deeper into the forest as they heard the King¡¯s sign to start. They didn¡¯t look like they were threatened, or scared, but they weren¡¯t slow either. I guessed it was like a hunting game, but for whatever reason it was, I still thought there was something to this event. The females had gone for a few moment when the King told the males, ¡°You may depart now. May you get the best.¡± With those words, all the males departed in a sh. I was stunned seeing them disappearing like that. It was like they were fleeing away from something terrible horrifying, yet their shouts sounded like animal in heat in my ears. ¡°Human, why don¡¯t youe up here?¡± The King beckoned to me as I was the only one who stayed in the deserted ce. I looked at him warily, didn¡¯t know whether I should juste up or not. Even though I knew I was strong enough to defeat any astral beings, this creature in a shape of a handsome man in front of me didn¡¯t have any bad intention to me. It was difficult for me to decide the best precautions steps to anticipate anything from him. ¡°You¡¯re a guest here. It¡¯s been a long time since thest time we have a human guest. We don¡¯t attack human guest. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He assured me, but it was hard to be convinced when he had a cunning look in his face. ¡°You can watch the Harvest from here.¡± He pointed at a huge tree near the stage and something stirred in it. It was the mystic projection, how cool was that? I had heard about it before but I had never had a chance to witness it, until I met this King. Humans had LCD and all sorts of technology to create a projection, but this creature here only pointed his finger and the big trunk of the tree became a big projection. I stepped forward and climbed the tall stage. Even though the projection was big, the best seat was indeed from the top of the stage. He had even arranged afy chair for me to sit on and to watch the event. I sat on it warily, but the King went to the huge bed with drapes. The rest of the women that didn¡¯t join the event followed him. ¡°Just watchfortably. I need to enjoy the celebration as well. After all, my women have been waiting for me.¡± He said with a mischievous grin. What did he mean by that? I looked away from him, feeling that it might not appropriate for me to watch what he meant by that. The projection in the tree showed some people were running in various directions. The males were hastily chasing after the females, but what was it for? ¡°Say, human, who brought you here? My n is the type to hide deeper than anyone else. We don¡¯t like any contact with humans because of our traditions which might scare humans away. But, we don¡¯t particrly hate humans as well. We will wee them if they wander to far into our territory, but we will not invite any humans inside. It is a very rare case where human get lost and find us, but in your case, I don¡¯t think you are lost. Which means, you are here because someone has sent you here.¡± The King said calmly. I frowned. ¡°My Advisor sent me here.¡± I said truthfully. Even if I were to say Siji¡¯s name, I doubted it would make any difference. If humans couldn¡¯t get here casually and they didn¡¯t invite humans casually either, it could only mean one thing; a stronger race than them could walk in and even send someone here. There was no doubt Siji was stronger than this King. ¡°Your Advisor? May I know who that is?¡± He sounded wary with my answer. ¡°Advisor of White Army. Siji.¡± I turned my head and looked at him in the eyes calmly. His pupil contracted and his body went stiff for a good second, but then he quickly regained himself. ¡°No wonder. No wonder you cane in easily. That man sent you here, after all. But, here¡¯s the next questions. For what reason? You said that he was your advisor. Are you the new master? I didn¡¯t see that you had that qualification in you when west met.¡± ¡°When west met?¡± I repeated his words with a frown on my face. ¡°Ah, I did tell you that you were going to forget about me, huh? Those two women I got from you are still here.¡± He waved his hand and two tall women stepped forward from the flock of women around him. They still had the veil on their faces, so I couldn¡¯t really tell who they were. ¡°They hold out so long, I like them. They are good harvest.¡± He nodded his head in satisfaction. ¡°Taking them away from you at that time was really a good decision. As expected, their lust is overwhelming that they¡¯re still alive until now.¡± The frown on my face was getting deeper. What was he talking about? ¡°Anyway, enjoy your watch.¡± He gestured for me towards the big projection. Since I had no idea about what was going on, I turned my head and faced the big screen intently. There was still some chasing happen there. ¡°Ah, they always try so hard to find a good ce. Let¡¯s find others who have started their harvest.¡± The King¡¯s voice travelled through my ears and after he said so, the scene in the projection changed quickly, as if someone was flicking the remote to find a good one. It took him just a couple of seconds before he finally found the one he was looking for. The scene on the projection changed and I finally realized what this harvest event means and why he talked about ¡®lust¡¯. Chapter 254 254 The Odd King Warning! Not too explicit NSFW action ahead, a bit smutty maybe, but not that heavy. Parental Guidance is needed. (Tom¡¯s PoV) What kind of celebration is it exactly? What do they ¡®harvest¡¯? I asked myself those questions as I saw what was happening through the projection in front of my eyes. The answer came even more quicker than I thought. Seeing those bodies got entangled to each other even without a thread covering their bodies made my heart stopped beating for a second. The quality of the projection was excellent to the point I could even see theyer of sweat they had on them. I was very familiar with this situation as I loved seeing them on Jane¡¯s body as we made love, however, seeing them on other people body didn¡¯t bring the same effect it had on me when it was with Jane. Call me pervert, but I knew her sensitive spots, how to arouse her, how to bring her to climax, her expression when she orgasmed, and everything about her during our love-making session. And those were what made me difficult to stop wanting her and would always stay hard for her. The scene in front of me, though, was enough to make my ¡®little brother¡¯ stir -only because I was hoping it was Jane and me in the wilderness having a wild sex -but it wasn¡¯t enough to make me lose my mind. As if watching them was not enough, some moans and grunts came from where the King was. There was no need for me to turn around to know why they made that kind of voice. ..... This is not harvest! This is a sex party! The scene changed, but wherever it showed, there would be couples doing it. What kind of rule was this? I had never thought that these astral beings were capable of doing ¡®it¡¯ in such an asion. I knew that they had their own reproduction system, but I had never thought that it could be done in a party. A part of me was surprised with what I had just seen. Maybe it was because as far as I could remember, I only met with wicked and evil beings, pure and otherworldly beings, and mischievous beings. I had even met with those that so unique, that it was hard for me to decide whether they were evil or not. Even so, they came in individually, not in a bunch like these entities. I was also fully aware that each of these entities represented at least one characteristic in them. For example; the bloodlust in vengeful ghosts,ziness in some of lone beings, and greed in some of the shadows being worshiped by humans. Most of them were individual beings who operated based on their own character, even when there were in one ce. Other than the pure souls like the armies or the ones being chosen to be part of the armies, I had never met the others in a bunch like this one. I could guess their main characteristic only by seeing they acted like rabbit in heat. Lust. But, why should I meet them in a group? What kind of astral beings would have a sex party as a celebration? ¡°Human, let me wee you properly to my kingdom.¡± The raspy voice was heard again, almost covering the mad moans and grunts. I was tempted to look back and took a look at him. How could he speak without any hints of being drowned in his lust? ¡°We feed on the lust of humans, and we bath in the sweat of lust. The stronger the lust we get, the merrier the harvest celebration, and the stronger we get. We work hard to trigger humans deepest desire of being held and when they do, we pick the ones with the stronger energy of lust toe to our kingdom and to be feasted on in this harvest celebration. Ny percent of the females you see just now were humans. All of them have decided to stay and be one with us, and the others who are still refusing are here with me. After all, no one can withstand the energy I have.¡± There was proud in his voice. But, that aside, I was seriously eager to know how he could talk that long without any difference in his voice, meanwhile the back sound of his own raspy voice was moans and sometimes screams of orgasms. ¡°We taught human how to explore their lust. We taught humans the thrill of having a sex party. We taught human everything that you know now. We are the biggest colony in this dimension since we all need physical act to make a keep the energy pure, that¡¯s why we need to stick together. And by sticking together, I mean...skin to skin, as much skin as we can.¡± The voice kept reverberating in the air, and thest sentence was uttered in no shame at all. Ah, why was he talking so much? Shouldn¡¯t he enjoy thepany of his beauties? I got the point that his kind was the one that responsible with the increase of raping, sex parties, fetishes, and everything rted to lust -even masturbation, but he should at least pay attention to the women around him, shouldn¡¯t he? Wasn¡¯t he disrespecting their deeds with him talking to me instead of focusing in pleasuring the women? Ah, right. He only needed the lust energy. But, could he maintain himself if he kept talking like that? Was he still hard even after all that talking? Even my stiffness went down after hearing him talking that much. How could he make those women scream while talking to me? He really had some serious skill. ¡°Human, I believe that you are in a training as the new master of White Army. I believe Siji sent you here to let you study about our prowess of igniting and manipting lust. As a human, I also believe that you know very well what harm can lust do to yourself. Unless you were me, it is easy for you to peel off your guard during your consumation with other people, which will lead you to your destruction. Siji must not want to see you end your life that way. Drowning in lust is the least way of died human preferred. But, regarding to lust, you really only have two options.¡± ¡°First, follow your instinct and dive head first into carnal pleasure with anyone you like, or second, withstand the pressure and walk away until you are sure you¡¯re doing it with level-headed.¡± After saying that, he went silent. I turned my head to take a look at the King that had just given me an advice. Unexpectedly, what I saw made me swallow the words I had in mouth back in. Those women were bouncing on top of his body. Some of them were waiting obediently around the bed, but some of them were taking pleasures from the big man. I thought he would be the one who used those women like a sex doll, but from what I was seeing, he was the one that served them with pleasures. His mouth, his hands, ans under his belly were busy making them scream. ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget to make your woman cum before you. Always. There¡¯s no room for negotiations there. Even if I collect lust as our main energy, male human who only knows how to shoot and can¡¯t make their woman finish in pleasure has the worst taste of energy and I usually refuse this kind of energy. Their energy is even worse than the ones who masturbate.¡± He said, but he didn¡¯t pull away from a screaming woman¡¯s crotch. ¡°Is there any kind of human where you can¡¯t feast on their lust even when they are engaging in a lustful situation?¡± I asked while watching the live p*rn actions. ¡°There is. The love making of husband and wife. The love making of people who are tied under the permission of God. No matter how hot they y, we can¡¯t disturb them, let alone feast on their energy. But, once one of them cheats, we can break through that barrier and everything returns to how it is before.¡± Chapter 255 255 Have You Been To Heaven Before? (Tom¡¯s PoV) So, such thing did exist. The sacred marriage was really a form to avoid any bad influence from this kind of wicked entities. But, why did Siji send me here? ¡°Human, I smell a thick fragrance of lust from you. It is so rich and tempting that I really want to collect it from you. It seems like you really have a great time after returning to your body.¡± He snickered and even if my eyes were watching him, I felt like he was behind me, caressing my nape in a flirtatious way. What a devil! I shuddered and jumped away. How dare he touched me that way! ¡°It is unbelievable that the new master of White Army is covered with lust. I thought anyone who involves with our dimension will stay clean and pure. But, it¡¯s good, too. Your kind of people has the tastiest energy of lust once you acknowledge that part of your inner desire. Should we make another deal?¡± The voice sounded so close to me, yet there was no one there. The owner of the voice was still busy making those women scream lustfully. In this world, only those ssified as middle rank devil could do this kind of ... separation. As expected, he was not the usual kind of entities. If I had Jane¡¯s eyes, I might be able to see his true form. After all, Jane was the only one who could see through anything. She didn¡¯t need them to show their true form to be able to recognize them. She was also capable to force them to appear with their true appearance. ..... However, as the General of White Army, I might not be bestowed with the gifted eyes, but I had my own qualification to fit my position. ¡°I have no idea what kind of deal I made with you back then, but I have no intention to create a new deal with you anytime. Also, I¡¯m not the new master.¡± I sneered. ¡°I¡¯m the General of White Army.¡± After saying that, hot air st out off my body. The power of White Army as well as the power of Death Volcano mixed into one beautiful harmony, spiraling in the air like two dancing fire spirits; read and blue. The originally damp forest filled with lustful moans started to warm up bit by bit as the heat spread out quickly. The silky drapes swayed wildly but the moans didn¡¯t stop. It was just getting even hotter. Truly an eye opener! Humans really could be ve to their own lust. Even in a danger, they still continued to fulfill their desire. Only those who were not humans were affected with the heat. Even so, it didn¡¯t look like they wanted to stop at any moment. Truly wicked! ¡°So, you¡¯re the General.¡± The sound came right in front of me. There was no trace of his previous wickedness. His voice was solemn and there was a hint of pressure from him. Was he trying to intimidate me with his power? ¡°No wonder you smell difference from the usual smell of a Master. Here I thought maybe because it¡¯s been a long time since thest Master of White Army came to this ce for training.¡± The damp ce emitted a thinyer of mist and I could make out a silhouette not too far away from me. ¡°It¡¯s the first time for Siji to send a General here.¡± After he said that, he moved so fast and appeared right in front of me. ¡°Sorry for not training you, properly. Now, let¡¯s see what you can do.¡± He said in a low whisper. A wisp of smoke hit my face and I was sure I lost my sight for a couple of seconds. Following that, a sweet smell entered my nose and I unconsciously stopped breathing to prevent myself inhaling it too much. Whatever it was, it must not be anything good. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s quite a reaction you have.¡± The voice came out as a teasing with a hint of surprise in it. It was annoying, but I could sense there was no malice in its voice -which was quite surprising, actually. ¡°But, as long as you¡¯ve inhaled some of it -even if it¡¯s just a little bit, your body will react to it as soon as possible.¡± He said with a smirk. My eyebrows arched knowingly. ¡°What is it? Aphrodisiac?¡± The devilughed heartily. ¡°So you know.¡± Of course, I¡¯m not stupid. I rolled my eyes at him. ¡°So, what if you knew? It won¡¯t change anything. Just wait for it. That¡¯s my masterpiece. Unless you have sex for three days straight, you won¡¯t be able to clear it out of your system. Or...maybe longer? Anyway, the effect will be different for each person but the fastest is usually three days. The best thing about it that the longer you can hold out, the better you will feel. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing you fall under the effect of my masterpiece.¡± His smug voice sounded like a professional seller promoting his product proudly. I chuckled. ¡°I think I need to remind you that...¡± I looked at the silhouette that gradually starting to take a form. ¡°I am the General of White Army. My specialization? Chains and fire.¡± I grinned as my body started to emit thin smokes. ¡°Burning anything unnecessary in my body is just a piece of cake for me.¡± As my body evaporating the aphrodisiac in my body, my surroundings seemed to heat up as well. The thin mist turned thicker and the lustful moans and groans changed into a series of hysterical screams of pain and horror. Sorry not sorry, though. Who asked him to drug me? I was just showing the proof of my position... well, maybe with a little bit of threat to stop him for having any funny thought about me. Anyway, I really had no thought to attack this ce, not when they didn¡¯t do anything bad to me and while they were in a celebratory mood. I am not a spoilsport! But, this creature was asking for it. How couldn¡¯t I give to him when he sought his own doom? Suddenly everything went still, as if someone had pushed the pause button. He must have done so to protect his men from the heat. I could push through and break it and continue attacking the men, but I didn¡¯t have any reason to do so. Since he went out personally to protect those lustful creatures, I could only retract my power back to give him some face. I watched as the silhouette disappeared and the man who was dominating the women quietly released himself from them and approached me solemnly. His topless body slowly got bigger and hairy as he stepped closer to me, to the point he became a hairy giant, like a King Kong. His red eyes peered to me from above. ¡°What?¡± I asked him. ¡°Human, you¡¯re interesting.¡± He said. I was sure he wasn¡¯t trying to speak loudly but his voice was thundering through the forest. ¡°You¡¯re the first man who can break it in the shortest time.¡± I sneered. ¡°Thank you. But, I¡¯m not interested in you.¡± The big creature grunted and lowered his head towards me. His big eyes peered at me and somehow I felt so ufortable. ¡°Human, why were sent to me? I thought you came here to enjoy your humanly lust. After all, there¡¯s no other perfect ce to enjoy your lust other than in the kingdom of carnal desire.¡± ¡°Trust me, I want to know the reason, too.¡± I shrugged, not feeling a little bit intimidated by his huge figure. A bit ufortable, yes, but not intimidated. And, what did he mean by ¡®no other perfect ce¡¯? For me, it¡¯s not perfect unless Jane is here. ¡°Your Advisor knows best what I¡¯m capable at and what my specialty is. You know that as well, right? He wouldn¡¯t send someone here without any good reason. But, I must admit it is really displeasing since he sent you here at this particr time and spoiled our harvest.¡± He growled in annoyance and I could only cough a bit into my hand to ease the awkwardness. Talking about the reason and this man¡¯s ability, I thought I knew the reason why I was sent here. But, for real? Siji would even take care of such matters? Why? ¡°When will he pick you up? I can¡¯t wait to meet him. He should be here at any moment, though.¡± He straightened his body and sat down on the ground, shaking the ground for a bit. After the ground stopped shaking for a bit, something changed to the space around. There was a fluctuation and suddenly Siji appeared with a smile on his face. Looking so innocent while he was the one who tossed me here for whatever reason he had in mind. ¡°Wee, The Advisor of White Army.¡± The King weed Siji, but with his big body and thick hair, I doubted I could see whether he was smiling or not. ¡°Old pal.¡± Siji nodded at him. ¡°Why are you confining him in your space? You¡¯re lucky I didn¡¯tete.¡± The huge creature chuckled. ¡°I know he¡¯s capable of destroying my space, but I also know he wasn¡¯t going to do anything. He¡¯s nice.¡± Siji nodded knowingly. ¡°Well, thank you for your cooperation in teaching him. Please, excuse us.¡± Siji beckoned at me to follow him. ¡°Siji, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re too hard on yourself? Now you want to make this young man to follow your path of refusing the heavenly pleasure?¡± Siji stopped at his track and turned his head slowly. ¡°Have you been to heaven before?¡± He asked solemnly and I almost lost myself there. Chapter 256 256 Upgrade Yourself If You Don¡¯t Want To Drag Her Down (Tom¡¯s PoV) As expected of Siji! Only he could reply with that kind of answer casually to a powerful astral beings. I burst out ofughing for a second before I closed my mouth quickly. It was an irony; asking an evil creature whether he had been to heaven before? Wicked thought, Siji, but I liked it! The creature appeared stunned with Siji¡¯s response and I could see his body was trembling slightly, but I didn¡¯t know whether it was because of anger or something else. ¡°Your mouth is still as sharp as ever. Why did I agree to train any of your men before?¡± The huge creature sighed as his body reverted back to his human form. ¡°You know very well why.¡± Siji smirked. ¡°After you, General.¡± Siji turned his body and tore open the space in front of him. He beckoned at me politely, truly not like himself. I waved cheekily at the man who was watching us helplessly. Seeing their interaction, I knew that these two must have history between them. Most importantly, Siji had the upper hand in their rtionship. As expected of the Advisor of the White Army. He must be strong enough to be able to control that kind of powerful entity. Siji sent me to the ce where he usually trained me. It didn¡¯t take long before Siji came and asked me to sit cross-legged face-to-face. The atmosphere was unusually tense. Did something happen? He must have a brief talk with the King. Otherwise, why did he be so serious suddenly? ..... ¡°General, I have never questioned you after you returned from your practice session. But, this time, it¡¯s different. You¡¯ve done your best in controlling your emotion and strength, and I have nothing to teach you anymore. And, meeting that old fellow is myst training for you. Hopefully you have learned something from him.¡± Siji started. I did. I learned something and it was embarrassing to admit it -at least, it was for me. Siji seemed to catch on the feeling I was trying to hide behind my poker face. He sighed. ¡°That fellow might speak a little too blunt, or vulgar, or even spout unnecessary things. He might even sound righteous when he said those things, and for some people, it can be considered as good lesson, but I really hope you got the essence of this training. The way you are now is great but after the upgrading, you will be better. You don¡¯t want to drag her down, right? Then, upgrade yourself.¡± Despite having a war with myself, somehow I could still find myselfmenting on the rtionship between Siji and that odd King. Siji seemed to know him well, then it should mean that the both of them had known each other for a very long time. I was curious, but I realized it was not the time for me to mind other things. Siji sighed. ¡°Tom, have you ever heard about how people reached the peak of their spiritual power by meditating? They went into seclusion and meditated for months, even years. They detached themselves from any worldly desire. Do you know what happened to them?¡± Of course, I know. ¡°They became big shots, right?¡± ¡°And, do you think you are any different from them? I don¡¯t mean to get involved with your personal rtionship, but... I think it is time for you to realize that you are entirely different than Jane. Not that she doesn¡¯t need to hold back, but the amount of power that the both of you possess is like a vast ocean and a sea. It looks the same but different. Do you understand?¡± Siji looked helpless and I couldn¡¯t help but think that he was right. I was too ignorant with my own power. I thought that I had tried my best to improve myself, that I didn¡¯t want to be a burden to her. Yet, I was too arrogant to admit that my desire for Jane was a huge obstacle for the both of us. I had already sensed that Siji put his nose too much in my rtionship with Jane and honestly, I didn¡¯t feel good about it. However, after knowing the reason why he had done so, I was d that I didn¡¯t confront about it to him. I even went as far as thinking that Siji might have feelings towards Jane and I was ready to fight with him about it -since having Tom around us was more than enough and I didn¡¯t want any other men to stick themselves to Jane. Fortunately, he was a pure Advisor who only thought about the well-being of us and the army. But again, hearing him ntantly saying that I still had one big issue to solve and it rted to my rtionship with Jane made me think hard. Should I distance myself from Jane? or should I just ignore it since Jane was powerful enough and I was more than capable to elicit the true power of the army now? Probably sensing my dilemma, Siji sighed and my attention went back to him. ¡°Upgrade yourself if you don¡¯t want to drag her down.¡± He said before he got up and disappeared, leaving me dumbfounded with his reaction and the hint of disappointment in his voice. I tried so hard to think about it. What came into my mind was my conversation with the lustful devil, about how they would feed on human energy of lust when humans were being intimate to each other. Only the sacred marriage could prevent them from feeding on humans energy, thus preventing them from dying embarrassingly because of exhaustion from having too much sex. Then, what about Jane and me? Only after pondering for a while that I finally understood and face-palmed myself. Was my desire that big towards her that I forgot we were not tied down by the thing called ¡®marriage¡¯? It may sound so simple yet ording to the devil, this sacred thing was the one that could prevent humans from getting fed on by the lustful devils doing their intimate moment. Since I wasn¡¯t married to her yet, I had umted quite an amount of lust energy in me -which had been told to me by the devil before. However, as the General of White Army, it was impossible for the lower level devils toe and take the energy from me -which was why I was still okay even after I met that devil. I had no use of that kind of energy, but it would surely attract more troublesome devils if I didn¡¯t restrain myself. Also, since I am a part of mystical army, any negative eenrgy around me would affect the pure energy that we used in restoring the bnce. It sounded like a bad idea if one day something really bad happpened and the umted negative energy around me distracted me from doing good things. No, I need to let go of myself from these negative energy. Even if it means I can¡¯t touch Jane? I asked myself. The question sessfully reminded me of our sweet time together and I had a huge unwillingness inside my heart to part with them. I sounded like a pervert, recalling those sweet moments with her and the realization hit me hard. No! I need to get stronger! With that determination in mind, I sat crossed legged and focused my mind to sense the universe. It¡¯s time to cleanse my mind! Chapter 257 257 Lazy But Deadly (Jane¡¯s PoV) Amidst my frantic mind, I willed myself to stand on my ground and focused. Siji¡¯s training surely came in handy at this particr time. The thick aura ofziness and lust rolled around my barrier slowly. It couldn¡¯t touch me, but there was something inside me that yearned to touch the flirty aura. I could block the aura, but not the lustful groans and moans around me. Something inside me wanted to respond the aura and drowned myself. It was not a good sign, I knew. I shouldn¡¯t sumb to the instinct, but it grew stronger until I almost mistook it as a need. I took a deep breath and breathed softly. In this kind of situation, sumbing only meant death for me. Turning off my feelings and going numb were my only options, but not my favorite. Blinking my eyes, I realized the next second that the urge had gone. The only thing inside my head was to quickly eradicate the negative aura in the air. The moans didn¡¯t bother me a bit. It was as if there was nothing interesting around me and I was just there to do my mission. My brain took control of my body and nned the whole self-defense and attack at the same time. My feet started moving towards the portal. Even when I plunged myself into the hot springs, it didn¡¯t hinder my movement. As soon as I got closer to the portal, I felt the aura went chaotic. Thezy and flirty creatures seemed to sense my presence and tried to attack me with the thick aura. It was just too bad my barrier was imprable -well, almost. I could see thin cracks appeared on my barrier, spreading slowly to every inch of it. The aura went rampant around my barrier and I knew it was just a matter of time before it copsed. It was a proof that these creatures were not something to be underestimated. Their aura was even stronger than the one in Mount Merapi. It seemed that years of umting the negative emotions from humans didn¡¯t go in vain. They could even use it to attack a spiritual barrier. ..... ¡°Heh, this is the first time I see a human can resist the sound and aura attack. Are you a frigid? Too bad.¡± That flirtatious voice was heard so close and at the same time, I saw a pair of hands trying to pry open the portal. I frowned as I saw a strange creature slowly emerged from the portal. The androgynies look suited him -or her? -best even when it had some features that obviously didn¡¯t look human to me. The flirtatious yet dangerous eyes flickered in interest towards me. The smirk look sexy and hot despite theck of desire in my heart. It looked dangerously beautiful that I might have fallen for it if I hadn¡¯t locked away my senses. It didn¡¯t mean I lost my judging, though. It was just...the desire and pain were being kept somewhere deep inside, helping my mind to feel clearer. ¡°Don¡¯t block my way!¡± A grumpy voice was heard and another pair of hands appeared from the ck portal. The owner of those hands looked like a grumpy old man with a hunch back. The aura around it was dangerously almost unrecognizable that I almost mistook it as a low level demon. It must be the one who spread the strong aura ofziness. The androgynies devil and azy old man look devil had finally made their appearances in the human world. Am I toote? I asked myself about that. ¡°A little girl? Human? But it¡¯s not her real body.¡± The flirtatious devil stared at me curiously. ¡°To be able to cross realm in her spirit form during this chaotic situation, she is not just any girl.¡± Thezy old manmentedzily. ¡°But, I smell something delicious from her.¡± The glint in the flirtatious devil¡¯s eyes changed as it licked the corner of its lips hungrily. ¡°She has umted lust energy around her, ready to be released to the surroundings. Since she is someone¡¯s special, her negative energy is even more delicious than any other humans¡±. ¡°Who are you exining it for? I know about it as much as you do.¡± The grumpy old devil muttered with its harsh voice. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in her. You can take her.¡± It took a turn and walked away from us. I squinted my eyes as I watched it approaching a man who was halfying on the side of the spring pool with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in a deep slumber. Only the rising of his chest was the sign that the man was still alive. But, with the presence of these two demons, I doubted that any man in this ce would be able to keep their life. Their energy would be sucked alive and this ce would soon turn into a mass graveyard for them. As if I would let it happen! Ignoring the mboyant creature in front of me, I ran towards the other entity that was about to extract something from the man. At that time, I totally forgot that I was in my spirit form. But, as soon as I got hold of him, the trace of surprise woke me up from my foolishness. Any worldly items should not be able to hold me back. My full power should be easier to be utilized to the best, and the fast movement was one of them. There was emminent surprise from their odd eyes seeing that I could easily pass the other¡¯s guard and prevent the other from harming a human. Taking advantage of their stunned moment, I summoned my fire and let it burned the skin of thezy devil. The grumpy devil shrieked in pain as its face contorted into a more devilish look. It struggled free from my grasp then jumped back to when itspanion was standing. It bared its sharp teeth at me with a malicious eyes full with rage, hissing towards me while clutching its wounded shoulder. Slowly, the appearance ofzy and grumpy old man changed into a monster. It was a good thing that this spring pool was an open one, therefore, considering its height, it would certainly destroy the ceiling. Yes, thezy devil was so tall that I needed to look up to see its hideous face clearly. ¡°Why are you reverting back to your original form?¡± The seductive devil asked in annoyance. ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree that we couldn¡¯t expose our real form in the human world? Change back to your human form!¡± The monster roared as it pped the ground. The androgynies devil felt annoyed as it thought it was being ignored. Only I knew that it was actually struggling of pain inside its body. That¡¯s right! My fire was burning it slowly inside quietly. Did he think it was easy to put out my fire? It was not an easy feat to put my fire inside something while controlling it to move to my wish. I practiced it more than one hundred times before I could finally grasp the essence of this move. Siji said that it would bring many benefits for me since I tended to hate moving around too much -remember when he even taught me martial arts that only required minimum movement but still deadly? Yeah, we also created several moves for my power to be as quiet and deadly as possible. I was d it turned out well after that. Unfortunately for these two lost devils, they became the first victims of my newzy but deadly move. Chapter 258 258 The Fiery White Bride (Jane¡¯s PoV) The painful roar of the monster made the air around us trembling. The wind howled and swirled wildly, messing with my hair -even when I was still in my spirit form. My surrounding turned chaotic in instant, but those men didn¡¯t show any signs of waking up. It couldn¡¯t be helped since the owner of the aura was currently losing control of itself -thanks to me. Even the voice of itsrade was treated as nuisance by it as it swung itsrge hand towards the other devil. ¡°Damn it! You¡¯re a goner!¡± The androgynus devil spat as it dodged the attack. Its handsome -or beautiful? -face was contorted in displeasure. Its fingers turned into ck sharp ws and it attacked the monster ferociously. I didn¡¯t need to do anything since the other devil was surprisingly vengeful. It didn¡¯t even consider that they were in the same team. Just because the monster had attacked it once, it was triggered and wanted to counterattack. It wasn¡¯t long before the both of them were entangled in a fierce fight. What was I doing at this particr time? I would be stupid if I didn¡¯t use the time to my benefit. Ignoring their chicken fight, I put a barrier around them so that their fight wouldn¡¯t harm humans, then I walked towards the portal and did the same thing that I did in the forest. Since it was the second time I fiddled with the portal, I didn¡¯t find it as difficult as the first one. Soon, the portal was closing down in the speed of the naked eyes. ¡°Shit! The portal is closing down!¡± The lust devil shouted. When I turned around, I saw it had turned into its monster form and was beating down the helplesszy monster. Well, thetter was wounded by my fire so of course, its energy was drained faster than the former. However, I noticed thezy devil¡¯s hand was grabbing the lusty devil tightly. ..... It seemed that it refused to go down alone. Since the lusty devil insisted toe along, then they should die together as well. What a view! As expected of the devil. I watched the one sided match quietly, but soon it was getting boring. They totally forgot about me. Remembering the first time I saw them, I couldn¡¯t believe that I found them frightening. I even questioned their level of intelligence considering how easy I aplished this task. The one in the forest resisted harder than these two, I thought. Then, let¡¯s just end this! It wouldn¡¯t be long before thezy monster died and I wanted to use the momentum. With the lusty devil entangled closely to thezy one, it would be hard to escape my fire. With a flick of my fingers, the small fire inside thezy monster reacted and used the flesh and bones of the monster as its firewood in instant. Thezy monster didn¡¯t even have time to scream as the fire burned it to ashes quickly. The lusty devil -to my disappointment ¨C narrowly escaped from the bright fire. It was surprisingly quiet agile for its big form. Terror filled its big eyes but I was toozy to investigate the source of its fear. ¡°Y-you...¡± It was staggering backward as its finger pointing at me. ¡°How-¡± ¡°The portal has closed down.¡± I took a peek towards the portal. ¡°You don¡¯t have any way to return to your ce. Why don¡¯t you join your friend?¡± I askedzily. Fire appeared on my hand and its blue colour created a rather creepy illumination around me. My finger flicked a bit and it turned green. Then another flick and it turned red. What I didn¡¯t realize that the humans around me were slowly waking up. Since thezy monster had gone, its aura started to dissipate slowly. However, the lusty devil was still here and it was still excreting its aphrosidiac-like aura. It was, of course, affecting the humans and soon my surroundings was heating up. They couldn¡¯t see us, of course, but we could see them perfectly clear. The amount of lust in the air was enough to put p*rn industry to shame. It was so strong that I was sure anyone within the radius would be affected by it even if they just listened to it. With the strong lust in the air, it meant a source of power for the devil. Maybe it felt arge amount of lust in the air, the lusty devil found its courage and charged towards me in attempt to bring me down. But, its movement was so slow in my eyes that I could easily evade it and counterattack it at the same time. My right palm went to its heart -if it had heart -and struck it square. The devil was sent flying with a mouthful of blood spraying in the air. It hit the snow outside the high fence around the hot spring and created a dent on the ground. Just the time to get out from this ce, I thought. I jumped towards where the devil had fallen. It was gathering its power again, preparing an attack towards me. The striking colour of lust moved towards it, swirling around it as it provided power for the devil. ¡°I refuse to bow down to a human!¡± It gritted its sharp teeth, then it released a sharp cry along with its attack. I sighed. ¡°Who asked you to bow down to me?¡± Mist of smoke rose from my body and under my order, it captured the ball of lust aimed at me. I clutched my hand and the ball of power was crushed into nothingness. The csh was quiet powerful towards it since I watched it was sent flying while spraying another mouthful of blood. If it were a human, I was sure its face would be as pale as paper. However, it was pretty much satisfying to me to see its ugly face contorted with the pain. ¡°Since the portal is closed, you can¡¯t linger for too long here either. Let me send you to another ce.¡± I walked towards it slowly with the ball of mes dancing behind my back. The wind was howling around me and white mist rose with the momentum. The ball of mes rose higher, along with the wind and swirled quietly and fast. The faster they moved, the quicker the ring of blue me was created. The white mist covered the top of the ring, as if unperturbed with how the wind was running amok around us. Even the snow was flying here and there, but the white mist didn¡¯t even budge and kept moving as if it had its own will. Well, it was not entirely wrong since it was connected to me and I had full control over it. The white mist thickened and it formed a long scarf covering the top of the blue ring to the snow. I was practically standing below the ring and the mist was around me, like a bride¡¯s veil. Then slowly, the me from the ring descended like a soft waterfall, hueing the white mist into soft blue glow with red streaks here and there. All of these happened in less than one minute, and it was the first time I used it towards anything -or anyone. The devil was trying to escape, but my barrier prevented him to do so. Its desperate struggle looked futile in my eyes. Somehow, it looked annoying that I needed to finish it off as soon as possible. The second when my ultimate attack was ready, I threw it towards it. It was instantly covered from head to toes with the fiery white veil made from my mist and the me of White Army. The fiery white bride ¨C this name was given by Siji after I concluded this move during our training. It looked beautiful, but deadly, he said. The painful scream reverberated through the dim sky and the devil tried to break free from the fiery veil. However, it only got tighter around it as the me burned it slowly. It was pure torture, but towards disgusting creature like it, I didn¡¯t even have an ounce of pity. Turning my back towards the burning devil, I looked towards the resort in front of me. Theziness had dissipated almost all of it but the lust power was still strong. It was another troublesome work, I sighed. I opened both of my palms and my mist started pouring out of my body towards the resort. In a short time, I had covered the whole resort with it. Herees the annoying part.... Chapter 259 259 New Ability Unlocked! (Jane¡¯s PoV) What¡¯s annoying about it? Well, usually it wouldn¡¯t bother me too much -other than it being troublesome for taking my time. However, this was a special case where it was under a special circumstance as well. Just say, you put lots of CCTV in the resort, like..in every corner, while all the people in the resort had just taken aphrodisiac. However, I really didn¡¯t have any other choices. Since I had turned off my feelings, I wouldn¡¯t feel aroused. But, there was no way my brain could erase that view after I saw it once. Just like how their every moves and voices travelled through my senses, I could also see the creatures around them which were feeding on their negative energy greedily. With this amount of lust, it was just a matter of time before a new lust devil would be born. Then, let¡¯s clean up! I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. My mind and fingers controlled the mist in the resort and started attacking those creatures silently. After eradicating those evil creatures, I knocked down those people one by one and extracted the unnecessary negative energy around them as well as the memory of what happened. It required lots of energy to do the physicalbor of several men and at the same time cleaning their souls. By the time I finished the clean up, I felt utterly exhausted. The mist gradually cleared up and the gloomy aura covering the whole resort disappeared. I could feel the soothing energying from deep within the mountain, which was probably the reason why the owner of the resort built this magnificent ce here. ¡°Thank you.¡± A deep sonorous voice was heard from the mountain. A pair of eyes hidden in the snow appeared and looked at me warmly. It was the guardian of the mountain. ..... I smiled back at it and bowed my head. When I straightened my body, the eyes had hid themselves in the snow again. However, the slimy sensation that I felt before I was sent here had returned. This time, I was sent back to where Putra and the other creatures were waiting. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± Putra scoffed as soon as I steadied myself on the uneven ground. ¡°It¡¯s a lot harder than the one in Merapi Mountain.¡± I shrugged. I watched at the one who brought me back and I saw a white Yeti in the ce where the ugly creature was sitting on. ¡°That¡¯s its original form in human world before the portal is weakened.¡± Putra understood the way I was stunned in my ce. ¡°Are you the guardian of thatnd?¡± I asked curiously. The white Yeti nodded. There were no words, but the fact its eyes were beaming brightly was enough for me to understand that it was feeling happy for finally being free from the negative aura. I looked towards the other creatures and wondered how they would look like if they were to be freed from the negative energy. I wondered what kind of wonderful form they had. ¡°Woman, you look fine for someone who imed it was a lot harder than the previous one.¡± Putra¡¯s voice reminded me that I still had to deal with the troublesome portals. Groaning slightly, I was about to rebuke him for saying that I looked fine while I was totally aware that I felt so exhausted just a moment ago. I felt like I couldn¡¯t even summon even a wisp of fire on one of my fingers. However, those words were swallowed back into my throat when the exhaustion from before was nowhere to be felt. I felt perfectly fine, like I had not just done a massive project of cleaning up two big devils and a whole resort from excessive negative energy. Not only I couldn¡¯t feel the exhaustion, I could even feel the brand new limit for myself. I could sense that the size of my consciousness was expanding again and rush of spiritual power was filling me up. Then, a crazy n appeared in my head. What if I tried to take on those portals in one go? I couldn¡¯t do it before but I certainly wanted to try it now. I beckoned the others to walk towards me while I was taking a spot to sit downfortably. Once I was settled, all the ugly creatures had already surrounded me. ¡°Woman, what are you doing?¡± Putra¡¯s voice sounded nervous. ¡°What do you think?¡± I smirked before I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. My mind went clearer and several streams of consciousness poked my mind. I expanded my own consciousness and took hold of theirs. Then, under their guidance, I started to ¡®invade¡¯ their consciousness and let them take me to the own ces. I was looking at different ces in one go -just like when I was in the resort- only this time, I was in five different ces. These creatures guided me through theirnds until I found the weakened portals. Several views of different ces were being shown to me; hidden in the bush, in the volcano under the sea, behind a huge rock on top of a cliff, in a cave near a sea, and in an unknown ind. I really had no idea where these ces were in the map. It was truly an eye opener to experience this kind of VR. I was preparing myself to have a massive loss of power since I used it in arge scale, but I truly didn¡¯t feel anything. Instead, I seemed to open a new door for myself and I could feel my ability was on a whole new level. Unknown ces? It wasn¡¯t a problem once I realized what I could do with my white mist. From the white smoke, it turned into white mist. Now, it could even disintegrate into clear air yet it still maintained perfect coordination with me. I could see everything where it reached no matter how thin it was. Even the most expensive camera and the most sophisticated city couldn¡¯t see as detail as I could. It reminded me of a fantasy movie about dragon in which the dragon¡¯s rider had the ability to see through the dragon¡¯s eyes. It was so clear, only, I had a wider range. Once I spread the mist, it was attracted to each other like mas. In no time, I could sense my own power in the other side of the world and managed to find out where it was. All the five spots were connected by the white mist which slowly thickened and formed a big wall. I took a deep breath. Sweat started to form on my forehead and I was a bit overwhelmed from the dizzying views of those ces. Chattering of the astral creatures around the mist wall started to invade my ears. My ear drums felt like they were about to tear. It was painful to the point I gritted my teeth. ¡°What¡¯s happening? What is this wall?¡± ¡°Something bad must be happening right now!¡± ¡°Hey! Wait for me!¡± ¡°Grrraaahhh!¡± ¡°Kukuku, the one who made this wall must think it can stop me. You need more than a wall to stop me!¡± ¡°Attack! Tear down the wall! Attack!¡± ¡°The humans are just right behind the wall! We¡¯re almost there! Make a hole in this wall!¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen something like this before. When is it?¡± ¡°Rrroaaarrr!!!¡± ¡°Kill those humans! Kill them! Kill them!¡± ¡°QUIET!¡± I shouted in annoyance. The fire in me lit the wall rapidly. The striking red and blue danced in my eyes and those voices were silenced instantly. ¡°One more word, and I¡¯ll burn you to ashes.¡± I told them with gritted teeth. Chapter 260 260 Please, Don¡¯t Die! (Jane¡¯s PoV) My threat seemed to be effective since I couldn¡¯t hear any words from them -whatever they are. The fire kept burning and somehow I could sense the exact ce of where the portals were. I guided my power towards them and covered them with my smoke. The feeling was weird but extraordinary. I felt as if I was there, in five different ces at the same time. My hand was reaching out to the portal, fixing it at the same time. The glow of me was getting brighter as soon as I started it. It didn¡¯t take long before I pulled out my hand and I watched the portal was closing up in the speed of naked eyes could see. All the beings that came out from it wailed and rushed back into the portals. No, instead of rushing back, it was more urate to say that they were sucked back into the portal. Their reluctance were clear in their eyes. Their ws were extended at me, trying their best to hurt me before they got sucked into the portals. However, my protective barrier gave them a taste of my me before they couldy their dirty ws on me. In the end, their desperate wail was the only one echoing in the air. Even the higher level demons couldn¡¯t do anything to me other than red at me. When all the chaos finally subsided, the surrounding area turned serene. There was only some remainder of their negative energy in the air as a reminder that they were here. However, it wouldn¡¯t be long before it started dissipating into nothingness. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have the chance to fully witness it as I was pulled back forcefully. The reason was I suddenly felt drained. My body and power weakened hastily with no reason. I truly felt that I was okay earlier, so what¡¯s with the sudden change? My eyes were closed when I felt the change of gravity around me. My back hit the cold ground and the temperature around me dropped to several degrees. There was a shift of change in the air, but I didn¡¯t know what it was. Other than the thumping sound of my body hitting the ground, the panic voice belonged to Putra calling out my name easily covered the other sounds -if there was any. ¡°Jane!¡± In a sh, I could sense that he was sitting beside me. His voice was too loud for my ears. I felt that my eardrums were about to burst, coupled with the fact that my body felt powerless. I thought that I was going to say good bye soon if not for his loud voice entering my ears. ..... ¡°No! No! No! Please, don¡¯t die!¡± He said between his sobs. His hands were poking my arms, trying to evoke some response from me. If only my body didn¡¯t feel heavy... If only my tongue didn¡¯t feel numb... I would have smacked his head for crying as if he was mourning over my death. I would have scolded him for jinxing me with the word ¡®die¡¯. Sadly, even lifting a finger was painfully difficult for me, not to mention doing what I had in mind. I could only bear with his sobbing and continuous poking on my arm. Normal people would have shaken my body to wake me up but this incredibly adorable creature was poking me carefully while crying out for me not to die. I didn¡¯t know whether I shouldugh or just spank him! Just let him be, let him be. That¡¯s what I told myself repeatedly. It took a lot of effort, but I finally managed to shut his voice out of hearing system. Once his voice was blocked, I could sense the streaming of energy outside my body was wrecking havoc, trying to enter my body in one go. Siji¡¯s training really was really beneficial for my every action. My body automatic defense system prevented such thing to happen in order to avoid the overflowing energy which could lead to fatal result to my own bodyter. I entered my consciousness and sighed when I saw it almost barren from any kind of energy. Sitting down cross-legged, I guided the energy outside to enter my body and focused on healing. The process took surprisingly lots of time. Since I blocked all my senses to focus on healing, I didn¡¯t have any ideas what was going on around me. I thought, since I was in Putra¡¯s space, he must be taking care of me, right? Also, since I felt everything was going smoothly without any disturbance, I should be in perfectly good hands at t this moment. Therefore, I could slowly recover to my peak condition. I had no idea how long the time had passed. By the time I opened my eyes, the familiar looking of the house¡¯s ceiling where we stayed at in City Y filling my sight. When, how, and who moved me, I had no idea. My first reaction was to move my fingers. The slight stiffness in my joints was a proof that I had been unconscious for a long time. Someone must have been massaging it to lessen the stiffness, still I could feel them. After making sure that there was nothing wrong with my muscles -other than feeling slightly difort -I tried to get up and look around me only to find that there was no one in the room. Crossing my legs on the bed, I closed my eyes to do a final check upon my body. Spiritually, I felt awesome. Physically, other than the slight numb feeling, I felt good. The sound of door creaking reached my ears and I opened my eyes to see the guest. My eyes met a pair of odd-looking eyes which were soon brimming with tears. ¡°You nasty woman! Evil! Stupid! I thought you¡¯re going to die! Wuaa~¡± Putra pounced on me and cried out loud while hugging me. His tears soon wet my clothes and I could onlyugh helplessly. My hand went to pat his back softly, trying to console him. His tongue was still sharp as usual. I still had not talked about how he jinxed me, but seeing his tears, my heart softened. Forget it, I would just let him be for real this time. ¡°I won¡¯t die yet. Don¡¯t worry!¡± I told him softly. ¡°Wuaa~ Stop lying, you woman. That woman also said that she wouldn¡¯t die, but she died in the end!¡± Chapter 261 261 Perfection Needs Sacrifices (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) I took a deep breath as I tried to stabilize my self. The whole process of cleansing my body and mind took a lot of time and effort, but it wasn¡¯t in vain. I questioned myself a lot and answered a lot of questions myself. It was a dialog with myself and the universe. As soon as it had done, I could feel and sense everything in full rity. My whole body and mind felt unbelievably light. Was it the peak of cultivation a human could achieve? I had no idea. I only knew that what I was feeling couldn¡¯t be felt by ordinary people. I had just finished thest step of the meditation when my connection with Jane shook in urgency. The image of Jane copsing filled my mind. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. It wasn¡¯t painful but it was ufortable. Something was telling me that something bad had happened to Jane, that I needed to be by her side as soon as possible. So, I got up and crossed the dimension, heading straight ahead where my connection to her brought me. The link between us brought me to a ce I found familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Physically I didn¡¯t recognize the ce, but the aura was familiar. Only after pondering a second, then I remembered. It was that kid¡¯s ce; the Death Volcano. Sure enough, I saw him sobbing near a body that looked like Jane. From our connection, I could sense that Jane was alive. She was nearly a goner but she was alive, nheless. Her breath was weak, but her vitality was charging up slowly. However, if I didn¡¯t have this connection between us, I would have assumed that she was dead by now only by seeing Putra¡¯s reaction. Whatever she did that led her to copse like this must be big. It pained my heart that I was useless to her, that I let her be like this just because of my own stupidity to think that I was already invincible. Turns out I was wrong. I was far from invincible, even after my meditation. I was just a small creature in the universe. I realized that toote and brought harm upon Jane in letting her do anything all by herself. ..... ¡°She is not dead. Stop crying.¡± I smacked his head hard enough to pull himself together and stopped acting like an abandoned child. Putra¡¯s eyes lighted up when he saw me, but he didn¡¯t say anything. I sat beside her, took her hand in me, and gently transferring my energy to her. It took an hour for her vitality to return to a safe level and her breath to gradually get better. Both Putra and I heaved a sigh of relief. After making sure that she didn¡¯t have any physical injury that would make the moving tricky, I picked her up carefully and brought her out from that dimension. Putra followed me out without saying any words, but I could see his worry reflected in his eyes. He was even being proactive with helping out. He pushed the door open, fixed the bedsheet, and prepared afortable room for Jane. Afterying her down on her bed and making sure that she was in afortable position, I put the nket over her and left the room with Putra. We sat in the living room face to face. There was guilt in his eyes now that he was sitting in front of me. ¡°Tell me.¡± I started. Only two words, but he obediently told me everything. I frowned when I heard the story. Jane was so strong that she could take care of those portals all together. She even managed to handle some high level devils on her own. Her power kept developing in every move that she took. Her experience brought her new information which further enhanced her knowledge of the limit of her power. Her level of managing her power was beyond my understanding of her. She looked so calm and a bit mischievous considering her young age, but she was unexpectedly more serious and put more efforts than anyone I know in learning and discovering her limit. Jane was inma for several days. On the next day, I called a nurse to put her on drip. The nurse didn¡¯t say anything and just did what I asked her to do. She even told me to watch on several things and to call her if there was something wrong. ¡°I see nothing.¡± She said before she left. I didn¡¯t ask her to do it, and it was weird that she could catch on what was going on without any prejudice in her eyes. Later on, I found out that she was one of those gifted people. She must have sensed that Jane¡¯sma was not for any medical reason. Or maybe, she saw something that normal people couldn¡¯t see on us. A day before Jane finally woke up, we put away the drip and focused more onto massaging her limbs. I had been doing that for days as it was instructed by the nurse. I didn¡¯t know if it would bring any benefit to her, but at that time, I was practically ready to do anything for her. If I wasn¡¯t tending to her, that I was meditating nearby. Putra would be sitting near the bed to watch on her. I told him that she wouldn¡¯t wake up soon even if he stared at her, but he insisted in doing so. So, I let him do whatever he wanted as long as he didn¡¯t disturb her. Other than this weirdly quiet kid apanying Jane and me, there was no one else in the house -which led me to my next question that has been bugging my head. Where was Sanji? I thought he was just going out and would return soon. But, it had been days and he had note back. Did something happen to him during my absence? It was highly unlikely since he was strong. He might be not as strong as Jane or me but he was one of the strongest exorcists as normal human. He had his own resources and he was smart, there was no way he would be on disadvantages while being Jane¡¯s temporary side-kick. I had tried to contact Siji, to ask for what had happened when I wasn¡¯t here. Siji, being an indifferent creature as ever, just said that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about. He even congratted me on earning a new enlightenment during my previous meditation and said that it was all he could do to help me upgrading myself. The rest of the training depended on me solely. Then, he disappeared. Even if he was the Advisor of the White Army, I had no idea where he went since I couldn¡¯t sense him in the camp where the army stayed. He was acting suspicious but knowing him, my questions wouldn¡¯t get satisfying answers. On the day Jane woke up, Putra was the first person who found out about it. His series of usual cursing and crying even made the Kuntnak nearby jolted in fright. But, I finally understood one thing after hearing his usual tsundere action. He was either feeling guilty or worried about Jane, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t act spoiled and arrogant as usual. He was behaving well, which made me questioned myself in silence for several times whether this kid was still the same Putra Semesta or an imposter. Well, no one could fake the spirit of Death Volcano, so I rejected the idea. Now that Jane had woken up, he had returned to his usual self -even though the first word he said to her was an insult. ¡°That woman also said that she wouldn¡¯t die, but she died in the end!¡± That woman? Who is he talking about? Sitting on the other end of the bed, I looked at the gorgeous girl in front of me. ¡°Wee back.¡± I smiled at her. Her soft smile blended with her aura made her glow beautifully, like the description of angel in the movie or novel. ¡°Wee back to you, too. You¡¯ve leveled up.¡± ¡°Well, things happened. Still, I felt bad that you had to close those portals alone.¡± ¡°It couldn¡¯t be helped. I could challenge myself to a new limit by doing so.¡± She shrugged her shoulders lightly. ¡°And you almost died because of that!¡± Putra interrupted with a re. ¡°Stop saying that. I¡¯m fine now, can¡¯t you see?¡± There was a hint of helplessness in her voice, but she tried to re back at Putra. ¡°Hmph. You¡¯re just lucky. Don¡¯t overly stretch your limit next time, woman, or you¡¯ll die without knowing why!¡± Putra pushed himself to stand properly while scolding her again. ¡°Stop jinxing her.¡± I flicked his forehead lightly. How dare he used that word repeatedly? Didn¡¯t he understand how sacred he was that he might have jinxed her to her death? Chapter 262 262 Perfection Needs Sacrifices (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°Right. I haven¡¯t settled the score with you for jinxing mest time.¡± Jane red at him and put on her angry look. My inner fan boy danced in excitement seeing her adorable look. I coughed into my fist lightly to ease the thumping in my chest. I had promised myself not to touch her before we officially and legally were together. I didn¡¯t want any impurities to affect our connection and power as Master and General and led to our own destruction. ¡°Okay, it¡¯s enough. Putra, you should stop saying that word.¡± I warned him softly. ¡°Can you stand up? I¡¯ve bought some food for us.¡± Jane thought for a bit, but then she nodded. Even though still with my help, she was considered to have recovered quite well. In no time, we have sat around the dining table with various food served on it. Putra was still with his usual half grumpy face -there was no excitement on his face seeing that much food. It was the exact opposite with Jane¡¯s expression. Her eyes were practically shining after seeing the table full of delicacies. Most of it was her favorites. ¡°Were you awake when you bought this?¡± She asked me in disbelief. ¡°Of course. I was fully aware of what I did.¡± I replied gently. ¡°But, you bought a lot!¡± ..... ¡°Yes, so what about it?¡± Jane shook her head, as if she was snapping out of something. ¡°No. It¡¯s not really a problem. You¡¯re a man, of course you would eat a lot. But, this is just too much. It¡¯s as if you knew that I was going to wake up.¡± ¡°Well, I had a hunch. I thought that maybe you would wake up before lunch. So, I bought a lot. Come, stop asking and eat.¡± I put some in her te and urged her to eat. Jane squinted her eyes at me, her eyes still had some doubts in them. However, she stopped asking and feeding herself slowly. Our lunch went smooth and gradually the tes were swept clean by us. After having lunch, I helped her to sit in the living room. Putra apanied her while I busied myself in the kitchen to wash the dishes. After that, I went to living room with three bowl of desserts on the tray. Jane was meditating and Putra was keeping a watch on her while flicking the fake flower in the vase. The atmosphere was pretty serene. I was hesitated a bit; should I interrupt this harmonious mood? As if sensing my hesitation, both of them looked at my direction almost at the same time. Since they had noticed my arrival, I continued my steps and put the tray on the table. Putra didn¡¯t even need my invitation; he shot out from his seat and took his share. I ignored him and took Jane¡¯s share and gave it to her. We ate our dessert, had small talk, and passed our afternoon peacefully. We didn¡¯t talk about ghost or anything rted to it. It was as if we were just old couple, enjoying our normal days. After that, she went back to her meditation and Putra flipped through a magazine on the table, pretended that he could read any of human¡¯s letters. Of course, being a good husband, I cleaned up the bowls and tray and headed to the kitchen. She didn¡¯t ask about Sanji at all which was a bit strange. But, I thought she might be tired after waking up from deep slumber, so I didn¡¯t mention anything about Sanji either. Just like that, our night passed by without anyone mentioning about Sanji or any ghosts appeared around us. For the first time, I slept in my own room, not joining Jane in her bed. I could see the confusion in her eyes, but she didn¡¯t ask anything. After closing the door and turning off themp, instead of sleeping, I meditated in my room with Putra sitting in front of me, also meditating. Before the sun arose in the next morning, I got up to clean myself and did light jogging. Putra stayed back to keep an eye to Jane¡¯s situation and the house. I jogged around the viplex and down to the nearest town to buy some supplies and fresh ingredients. I had been doing it since two days after I moved Jane into the vi. Since the sun was not out yet, the streetmps were the only source of light I could get. I passed by some small alleys where I saw countless pairs of eyes were watching me, or some empty houses which didn¡¯t look empty at all. I even met some who were haunting some spots on the road. Of course, I ignored them. They must know that I could see them and they might want to talk to me, but I left them behind calmly. Some of them were brave enough to catch up to me with different purposes; scaring me, asking for help, or ying with me. However, with just a bit of spiritual power seeping through my pores, they screamed and escaped in fright. I also noticed something else. I had always known that Jane¡¯s presence could make any astral creatures ran away. It was like there was a big halo outside the house, as if protecting the house from something. However, as days passed by, the light was getting dimmer and dimmer. When I arrived at home, the protective halo outside hadpletely disappeared, but it wasn¡¯tpletely gone. I could still sense it, it was there, but I couldn¡¯t see it. Our daily routines were simple since Jane was still in recovering stage. My routines was including the morning jogging before everyone woke up. On the third day after Jane woke up from her deep slumber, the protective halo only had little presence. It was close to nothing at all. How did she do it? I confronted her about it. What did she do to control her own power to that extent? ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s my first time hearing this protective barrier. Are you sure it came from me?¡± I nodded firmly. Jane looked at her hand, flipped it over as if she could see the thing I was talking about. How silly of her! ¡°What does this protective barrier do?¡± she asked. I shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the difference so far.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re about to. Soon. I¡¯m heading back now.¡± Putra said before he disappeared, returning to where he was supposed to be. I blinked my eyes in confusion. From her gaze, I knew that Jane was feeling the same. What did he mean by ¡®soon¡¯? But, it was ¡®soon¡¯ indeed. As soon as we snapped out of it, we smelled something that didn¡¯t belong to the house. It was the first time that we smelled it during our stay here. The thick smell of rotten meat and blood started to fill the house. The atmosphere turned heavy in instant. The supposedlyfortable warm room felt a bit hotter to our liking. The originally peaceful mood changed to depressing one. There were shadows lurking outside the window and I heard some noises in the attic. ¡°So, that¡¯s the difference?¡± I arched my eyebrows. ¡°I still need some exnation. Maybe I¡¯ll ask Siji. But...¡± She looked around then her eyes fell onto me. ¡°You or me?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯ll do it. Just sit down and rx.¡± I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed myself to stand up. Walking towards the source of smell, I thought to myself that it had been quite a time for us to face this kind of ghost. We had been focusing in fighting Shadows, or even low level demons. Usually the usual ghost would stay away from us, but maybe the disappearance of the bright halo made them feeling attracted to this vi. Well, since they came to y, I would show them some game. Chapter 263 263 Perfection Needs Sacrifice (3) (Tom¡¯s PoV) One, two, three, four... There were many of them; inside and outside the house. There were even some of them that kepting. It was like an endless stream of ck, white, and grey. And it was still in the morning! I noticed that it was not normal. I remembered the time we first arrived in this vi, the number of these entities were not this much. After we stayed here for some time, especially after the time where the Cloud Army came, most of them disappeared, leaving only the guardian of thend that resided in the back yard of the vi. Now, they came back! They even brought some friends with them! It was either they came to bully us or something was attracting them toe here. With that thought in mind, I became even swifter in taking care of these uninvited creatures. I cleaned up here and there and put my mark there so that they wouldn¡¯te near the house again. However, before I finished cleaning up, someone came and took my share of work. With a thin greyish spear in his hand, he scared those creatures away in instant. His greyish bolts marked some spots that he had passed, a sign that it had been cleared up. His arrival looked so epic that I envied him a bit for that. Capture it in a video, put it in slow motion, and add a fantastic background sound. Moreover, the morning wind swayed his clothes a bit and the greyish spear in his handplemented his heroic action. It was the exact image of every man¡¯s dream! ..... I wasn¡¯t a damsel in distress, but if I were one, I would have fallen in love with him. But, I am a man, so there¡¯s no way it would happen. ¡°Why did many of them appear here?¡± He asked. ¡°How would I know?¡± I shrugged and continued what I was doing. The work finished faster with his help. After making sure that everything was fine, we entered the house only to find Jane was talking to Siji with a serious expression. Whatever they were talking about, it must be really important to her. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± I sat on the chair across her. Siji straightened up his back and returned to his usual stoic face. ¡°Not really.¡± Jane shook her head. ¡°Wee back!¡± She shot a dazzling smile towards Sanji. ¡°I miss you.¡± Sanji went ahead and hugged her tightly. ¡°We miss you, too. I thought it would take a long time to finish your meditation.¡± Jane said as she hugged him back. ¡°Well, it went well. That¡¯s why I coulde out as soon as possible.¡± He pushed himself to take a better look at her. His hands cupped her face while inspecting her. ¡°I¡¯ve heard from Siji what has happened to you. Are you really okay?¡± I convinced myself that I wasn¡¯t jealous. I wasn¡¯t jealous. I wasn¡¯t jealous. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± Jane nodded her head to convince him. Maybe after he was assured that she was fine, he withdrew his hand and put a distance between them. He sat next to me and his expression turned serious. ¡°What is it this time?¡± Jane took a deep breath. Her eyes were clear and she looked serious. The seriousness in her eyes betrayed the youthful look of her face. ¡°There is an invitation for us to go to a Grand Meeting held by the Ten Rulers in three months.¡± I took a deep breath. There¡¯s no wonder her expression turned that serious. We all knew what the Ten Kingdoms were. After the meeting with the Masters of Astral Armies, here came the meeting with the Ten Rulers of mystic world in Indonesia. It didn¡¯t sound as important as the previous meeting with those weird Masters, but it was still vital to us. After all, there would be no human this time. Moreover, these Kings and Queens were the legends that had taken part in the war between human¡¯s kingdoms before. Their power and their influence were unquestionable. There were many small kingdoms every where, but only ten of them were worth mentioning. It didn¡¯t mean the others were weak. It was just these tens were ridiculously powerful. By these facts alone, I knew that we couldn¡¯t take it lightly. Not to mention that this meeting was a super rare one. I mean, mostly they were indifferent towards the others. They were different with how humans were; where humans would often meet up for any important issues or even fight to expand their territories. These astral creatures wouldn¡¯t attack each other or even meet if there was no serious issue. They really just minded their own business in their own kingdoms. ¡°Do you have any idea why we are invited?¡± Since Siji was the one who delivered the message, he must have known something. ¡°Is it rted to when she visited the South Sea?¡± Sanji spected. His thought was aligned with mine perfectly. I also thought that the reason we were invited to the meeting was because of her visit to the Kingdom of South Sea. Siji pondered for a moment. He really looked like he was clueless and he was just acting as the mailman all along. However, knowing this stoic face¡¯s behavior, I really needed to ask such questions to him. There might be a chance that he didn¡¯t deliberately conceal the reason, but he was toozy to say anything unless we asked him properly. ¡°It might be. I really don¡¯t know the reason. Someone came to me before, holding a meter of red silk with ten different energies inside.¡± Siji took out something in a bundle. It was being covered with a ck cloth but anyone could detect the power inside. It was intimidating, with a bit of warning yet soft at the same time. ¡°Is there something written on it?¡± Jane asked curiously. Siji blinked his eyes. Then, he opened the ck cloth covering the bundle in a flick. He looked careless in treating something that could be considered ¡®magical¡¯ in human¡¯s eyes. As expected of the Advisor of White Army. It was either he didn¡¯t care about the importance of the power in the red silk or he looked down on the owner of the power. The beautiful red silk appeared within our sights. The color was bright and vibrant that it looked almost otherworldly. Simr to Jane, I was expecting some words being written on the silk, maybe using creepy font or, on the opposite, beautiful letters. However, once again we were tricked by Siji. He picked up the red silk and flicked it open from its folds. It was clean, without any sign of ink or anything. Personally, I could only feel the power inside. But, once Siji injected some power, various voices, dialects, and tones were ovepping to each other. All of them said one thing; ¡°See the Master of White Army... Seventh full moon... From now... In The Floating Hidden Ind...¡± I was stunned hearing the message. It was an audio message! I thought only human used it. It seemed like those entities were following the trend as well. And I wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so. Looking at Sanji and Jane¡¯s expression, they must be thinking the same. I coughed into my hand to snap them out from their daze. Jane shook her head cutely. ¡°Floating Hidden Ind? So, this time, it¡¯s not a hidden vige, but a hidden ind? Can we even find this hidden ind? Can we get there safely?¡± ¡°She is right. Do you know this hidden ind?¡± Sanji sounded so serious as he shot him a look, as if saying ¡®you must know it, right? Don¡¯t even try to say you don¡¯t know it.¡¯ Honestly, we all knew that Siji was a walking map and book of knowledge. There was only some little things in this world he didn¡¯t know. ¡°I know.¡± Siji nodded, confirming our thought about his ¡®awesomeness¡¯. ¡°But, with your current condition, you can¡¯t go there yet. It¡¯s too risky.¡± ¡°Our current condition? What do you mean?¡± Chapter 264 264 Perfection Needs Sacrifice (4) (Tom¡¯s PoV) The light¡¯s in Siji¡¯s eyes changed and I swallowed hard recognizing those glints in his clear eyes. Herees the coach, I thought. ¡°Tom, I congratte you again for finally realizing the thing that has been holding you down this whole time. You have finally advanced to the point where not many people could achieve easily. Perfection needs sacrifice. I¡¯m sure you all know about it. To achieve the highest peak of bonding within the army, both of you must sacrifice that much. That¡¯s why I had noment about your rtionship so far.¡± Siji looked back and forth between Jane and me. Jane was bewildered. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Jane, after he had finished his training, didn¡¯t you notice any changes in your ability to control your power? It might be too small to be noticed, but once you follow what he did and clean yourself, you can get to a new level. Then, you can clearly notice how far the difference is. You two might want to talk about it.¡± Siji said, ignoring Jane¡¯s confused expression. ¡°Since the main problem lies with Tom, it shouldn¡¯t be hard for you to adjust your self.¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s better if Sanji involves himself in this matter as well.¡± Siji looked at Sanji with a thin smile on his face. Sanji pointed his finger at himself in bewilderment. He looked as confused as Jane. The only one who knew about what Siji was talking about was me. I scratched my cheek while smiling awkwardly. I really had no idea how Sanji would react if I were to tell him to stop being intimate with Jane. It was the sacrifice Siji was talking about. Not only we needed to stop, but also we didn¡¯t even know until when should we do it. Judging from what I had learned before, we could only touch her after we were being recognized byw and universe as her official spouses. However, it was highly impossible! Sure thing, Satu Hidden Vige allowed women to marry more than one man, but I doubted Jane would want to stay there. She could only have one husband which meant that one of us would not be able to touch her at all from this time onwards. It was a difficult decision for either one of us. ..... I shook my head as my thought was being led astray. This was not the time to worry about that. We had a severe matter at hands, I didn¡¯t have time to worry who she would choose as her husband for now. ¡°I got it. I¡¯ll talk to themter. I need to ask you about something else.¡± I waved my hand at the other two and fixed my gaze towards Siji. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this house? It didn¡¯t have these much of ghosts before. Also, there was a big barrier of light outside before, but now it disappeared. Do you have any exnation about it?¡± However, the way Siji was looking at us as we were fools really made me surprised. Did we really miss something? ¡°You really need to improve your observation skill.¡± Siji sighed and he entered the second room where I slept after being ¡®separated¡¯ from Jane. Feeling curious, we got up and followed him. Siji stopped walking at the bed side. Then, he looked at us while hinting at us to see under the bed. Sanji and I crouched down and took a peek at the small gap between the bed and the floor. Our curiosity was answered as soon as we saw a soft glow under it. ¡°What is it?¡± Jane asked us. ¡°We see something.¡± I got up and dusted off my knees. ¡°We need to move this bed away for a bit.¡± ¡°Are you seriously not feeling anything?¡± Siji stared at her in disbelief. Jane blinked her eyes twice, not knowing what to respond. But, I saw her closing her eyes and her aura instantly changed. The simr light of the barrier expanded from her body until it disappeared behind the wall. When she opened her eyes, she changed into her other identity; Master of White Army. It only happened in a matter of seconds, but it was enough to answer my curiosity. When did she learn to control it? ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked as she stared intently towards the bed. As expected, she didn¡¯t need to remove the bed to see what¡¯s under it. ¡°This thing has been here for a long time even before you came here. It is sleeping so the energy it lets out is considerably weak, but it was enough to attract some of negative entities toe. Its pure power is a feast to them. Just by staying near it can give them enough energy to reach a higher level. But, your arrival woke it up. It resonates with your energy because you both have the simr type of energy. I guess you couldn¡¯t feel its presence because of how simr your energy is, but your General is too ignorant. It¡¯s right under his ass but he didn¡¯t realize it.¡± Siji shot me a disappointed look. Fine, I was wrong. I had nothing to say to defend myself. ¡°Initially, your aura covered it. But, since you retracted your aura around the house, its aura leaked out and attracted them.¡± Siji stopped exining while staring at us again. ¡°No wonder there were more of them than the first time we came.¡± Sanji nodded his head. ¡°You mean, the barrier of light that Tom said before was my aura?¡± Jane flipped her hands repeatedly, maybe trying to see this light barrier that we were talking about. Of course, she couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°That... I am sure about it.¡± I answered in a split second. ¡°Are we still speaking the samenguage?¡± The confusion in her eyes were real. ¡°Why do I feel like I understand what you¡¯re talking about but at the same time I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°You see, I don¡¯t know how you managed to do it, but it seems like your consciousness is getting smarter. You thought that you didn¡¯t do anything and you had no idea about the barrier Tom was talking about, but the truth is when Tom improves himself, you will be affected as well. Since he has managed to upgrade himself to a better person, of course you are being upgraded, too. As I said before, it might be small for you that it could go unnoticed. But, this much I can say. You can control your own aura. Be it strong and in full force, or weak, or even disappeared, it¡¯s all in your hands. Once you activate it, you have a natural barrier around you that dispel any negative aura from outside. If you retract it, negative aura will be able to follow you around, not that they can affect you so much. If you want to master it, you¡¯d better have a deep talk with your two boyfriends.¡± Siji pointed out at me and Sanji casually. Such a thorough exnation, even when he said that he could only say that much. I could less or more guess the rest of his mini ¡®lecture¡¯. Jane gave no response as well, but it looked like she knew when to stop asking. Since Siji had decided to only tell her that much, there was no point in forcing him to exin more. ¡°So, what should we do with this thing?¡± Our attention snapped back to the strange object being buried under the bed. ¡°I think we should-¡± Sanji¡¯s voice trailed off. Chapter 265 265 Hope For A Normal Life (Jane¡¯s PoV) I stared at the thing buried under the bed. Since it was covered with a soft glow, I couldn¡¯t see the shape of the thing, but one thing for sure, it wasn¡¯t big. It was just as big as my fist but the energy it was emitted was quiet strong for its size. The question was... what should we do with this thing? Siji said that this thing was sleeping and only awoke when it felt my energy. So, did it mean it had a fate with me? ¡°I think we should take it out.¡± Sanji peered deeper under the bed. ¡°Will it be okay if we take it out of this house?¡± I looked at Siji who had returned to his usual indifferent self. ¡°At most, this house will be a regr haunted house if it is left empty for too long. But, it should be alright since the guardian of thend is still here.¡± Siji answered calmly. Then, it would be okay. Normal house would have one or two ghosts living with the humans, and more than two if it was empty. With that thought in mind, I felt the energy around the object carefully. There was no resistance from it and an image appeared in my mind. It was a long silk shawl. It was in light blue color. It was so light that it looked almost transparent. The image was so vivid that it looked real in my mind. It floated lightly and when I extended my hand, it fell right on it. My fingertips felt the softness of the fabric and my hand closed in, afraid the shawl would slip away from my hand. The smoothness against my palm made me open my eyes in surprise only to find the shawl was indeed in my hand. ..... ¡°Did it just...¡± float into my hand? ¡°Yes.¡± Sanji and Tom nodded their heads, knowing very well what I was about to ask. They had a pretty ridiculous dumbfounded expression on their faces. But, they snapped out of it pretty quickly. ¡°It should not be a surprise anymore but I am still surprised.¡± Sanji said with sparkling eyes. ¡°How did you do it?¡± Tom asked with curiosity stered all over his face. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I shrugged. ¡°It just happened.¡± ¡°I am seriously questioning my intelligence now.¡± Siji sighed and I chuckled hearing hisment. I knew what he meant by that and realized the foolishness in our questions. I inspected the shawl in my head, taking every texture and energy of it into consideration. The energy it emitted really blended with mine easily. How could it happen? I had no idea. Most of the sacred items had their own aura and energy. It was about eptance, but it was never about blending. Since I didn¡¯t have the answer yet, I chose to toss it to the back of my mind as well as the shawl towards Siji who caught it in surprise. ¡°Keep it for me.¡± I told him before turning my heel away and walking out of the room. There were many things happened at the same time that I needed to use every possible chance to process it all. Thinking about the shawl was thest thing in my check list. Going back to the living room, I sat down and waited for the others to catch up. As soon as we all sat down together, I started questioning Tom whom, I supposed, was holding the biggest information. It took us almost two hours to finish talking about everything. The invitation from the ten rulers, our next n, and ... Tom¡¯s result after his final meditation. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t a surprise for me since I had met the devil in charge of lust before. Of course, it would affect our strength, but as a normal human, it was really normal for us to feel sexually attracted to our partner. Would I be okay? I asked myself that question inwardly. The answer was obvious, of course. Why would I be not okay? I was sure I could hold myself. With how busy I was, I really had no time to indulge myself in any sexual desire for now. But, it was a refreshing scene seeing both Tom and Sanji¡¯s expression. They tried hard to control their expression, tried to ept that fact but their contorted expression betrayed their mind. They knew that they must ept it, but it was clear that they felt repulsive with that thought. No matter what they had in mind that made them have secondary thought about their own growth of strength, I had no intention to know about it. Hh, men. I shook my head. ¡°Deal with it. For now, improving myself is the only thing I have in mind. I¡¯ll deal with you two after all this craziness is over.¡± I smiled at the two of them before I got up and left them to deal with the mess inside their heads. ¡°Siji, is there anything anything bigger after this meeting? Do I have to be ready for grand meeting or a grand battle?¡± I asked Siji after I returned to my room. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anything after this one. It will be peaceful in the uing days, unless those from the Devil realm break through the perimeter and bring harm to human, then you are very much free after this.¡± Siji searched through his book from who knew where, as if he had every record for every event happened before. Considering the time he had gone through being the Supervisor of White Army, I was sure that he had his own resources and calction about anything. Then, if it was true as he said, I could finally continue my study? I didn¡¯t have to go here and there again, right? I also didn¡¯t need to cross over the other worlds in every moment, right? I could live normally! Maybe I should really suppress my own ability to the point I couldn¡¯t see ¡®them¡¯ during my daily life to fully enjoy my normal life. ¡°Then, should I start applying for the new semester? It isn¡¯t toote for me to register now. I can take a week off during the grand meeting and return to campus after that.¡± I was seriously looking forward to my university life. Siji was contemting for a while. When he finally nodded his head, I couldn¡¯t hold back the shout of joy escaping my mouth. Finally, I could see a hope for a normal life! I thought I was going to deal with these creatures all of my life! Chapter 266 266 Using A Hammer To Crack A Nut (Jane¡¯s PoV) The discussion was going smooth even though there were some matters need not to be discussed. As long as the three of us could get along, the talking between men should just stay between them. There was no need for me as a woman to interfere with whatever they decided about. After the dealings with the South Sea and the broken portals had finally cleared up, we decided to return and devised a new n for the Grand Meeting. We also broadened our knowledge about ghosts, shadows, devils, and all entities living in the different realms from us. The amount of knowledge was overwhelming. The more we studied, the more we realized that we were just small creatures in thisplex universe. The more we learned, the more we wanted to know. Siji had to drag us out of the house to make us stop reading the old scripts. I looked up a little and shielded my eyes from the bright sun. It was still morning but the sun was shining so brightly it hurt my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not too bright. It¡¯s just you didn¡¯te out often to see it.¡± As if sensing what I had in mind, Siji scolded me. He didn¡¯t act like an Advisor, but as a brother for the most of the time. I frowned while squinting my eyes to see his almost transparent body. He was changing his style of fashion recently. He usually used to wear white robe, like an ancient saint, but now I could see him dress in modern casual clothes; an oversize t-shirt and pants. His long hair was still in pony tail, but it was exactly this style that made him looked like an ancient manhwa character who came out from the manhwa itself. In short, he looked ten times more attractive than his previous style. The reason behind his change? I had no idea. Maybe he took myment about his style seriously and he fell in love with his current style. It was just a smallment from me. I didn¡¯t think he would take it seriously. ¡°Stop ogling over him!¡± Tom covered my eyes with his big hand, totally blocking my sight. His voice sounded like growl. ..... A chuckle escaped from Siji¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯m not interested to be in your harem, Mdy.¡± His teasing voice was pleasant to the ears, but it really made me want to reward him with a pinch. ¡°Really? It¡¯s a pity since you can be a rare collection in my harem.¡± I refuted back lightly with a smirk. Since I couldn¡¯t do anything to him, I might as well tease him back. Another shadow appeared in front of me. Even under Tom¡¯s big hand, I could make out the person who was shielding me domineeringly. ¡°Are you protecting me or him?¡± I reached out and tugged on his clothes lightly. ¡°Him.¡± Sanji answered casually, which earned him a pinch on his waist. A gasp of pain mixed withugher entered my ears, but not once did Tom uncover his hand from my eyes. ¡°When will you let me go?¡± I tugged at his hand. ¡°Until you stop ogling him.¡± Tom answered decisively. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± I pulled his hand away hard and turn to re at him. ¡°You lie. Your eyeballs almost popped out when you looked at him.¡± Tom used me, refused to believe in my words. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± I shook my head in denial. There¡¯s no way I would tell him that I found Siji attractive. I already had two handsome hunks beside me, why should I add one gorgeous soul into the group? His case was entirely different with Tom¡¯s back then. I didn¡¯t want to have another soul boyfriend ever. ¡°We have a guest, guys.¡± Sanji¡¯s voice stopped our bickering as we all looked towards the source of the unpleasant wave of energy. It wasing towards us quickly. Judging from the size and the thickness of color, I could see that it was a low level shadow. After we returned home, we had extra cleaning work to do. I had no idea which bored people tried to send shadows to us. Even if it were just my father, this level of shadows wasn¡¯t enough to make a mess in our house. Siji was having a fun timeughing until his belly ached -as if he could still feel it -at the fact that these many shadows were like ything in our hands. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it.¡± Tom pulled up his sleeve and got ready to ept the shadow. He picked up a broomstick nearby and got into a nice of pose to hit the ball -ah, I mean, the shadow. I saw his energy coating the fragile broomstick in a thinyer. He had a nice control of his own power now. He didn¡¯t even need to expend five percent of power to deal with this shadow. Using his full power when dealing with this level of shadow was like using a hammer to crack a nut. It¡¯s too much! A minuteter, a shrill cry was heard as the shadow was hit back to where it came from. It wasical to see but it was pretty much fun to us. Whether it came back to its master safely or half-dead, it wasn¡¯t our concern. ¡°Actually, I am a bit curious about this person. Is it the same person or a different one? I want to know their reason of sending these shadows to us.¡± Tom casually said while looking at the direction where the shadow disappeared. ¡°You can send one of the men to follow the shadow.¡± Siji suggested. I shook my head. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between that person and me? Personally, I want to face this kind of human head on. I don¡¯t want to bother our men with this trivial matter.¡± Tom and Sanji shot each other a confused look. ¡°Most people won¡¯t bother themselves with trivial matter and will let the henchman to take care of it. Only you will think the other way.¡± Sanji chuckled while rubbing my head. ¡°As expected of our brave Master of White Army.¡± On the other hand, Siji agreed with my opinion. He was nodding his head in satisfaction. ¡°For now, I¡¯ll just wait for a higher level shadow to appear. Whoever this person is, he needs to feel the feeling of being targeted.¡± Chapter 267 267 Inviting The Attackers (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°What if this person doesn¡¯t have any higher level shadows with him?¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible. What kind of Shamans wants to deal with my father but doesn¡¯t have one or two powerful shadows with them? The one who has grudge with my father must have known about my father¡¯s ability, so there¡¯s no way he only has low level shadows.¡± I refuted quickly. ¡°Make sense.¡± Sanji nodded his head. ¡°Even my father said that your father wasn¡¯t someone to be trifled with.¡± Hearing him mention about his father, I had a sudden thought. This person here, didn¡¯t he miss his house? He had not met any of his family ever since he followed me in my journey. It wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t like him apanying me, but wouldn¡¯t his parents ask him toe home? I switched my gaze towards Tom. There was also this man. His mother must have worried about him a lot. After all, after he woke up from his long sleep, he only met his mother for a while before he directly went to find me. Come to think of it, I felt like a witch who charmed young and vigorous men to stay with me. Was I sinned? I shook my head lightly to get rid of the ridiculous thought. I didn¡¯t ask them toe. Even without them, I still had Siji to apany me. However, there was one thing that I was really grateful of from the presence of them. I must admit that the distractioning from these two young and hot studs were enough to keep rational and alive. I couldn¡¯t imagine what I would be if I were to drown myself in studying about spiritual power, energy, and astral world. Their presence was like a brake for me to stop indulging my new attained power. I would question about itter in another asion where we were pretty much free from anything urgent matter. They deserved a nice vacation to meet with their parents and had a good time with them. ..... Tom lightly tapped my head. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± He asked gently. ¡°Nothing.¡± I shook my head, then walked away casually. I thought the next attack woulde in a few days when the bacsh this person was suffering got better. It turned out I only needed to wait for a couple of hour when the next wave of shadows came surrounding the house. They obviously didn¡¯te just from one person. Just how many people hated my father? Not to mention, these shadows were all wicked to the core, higher than the previous ones. ¡°Now, I really want to know the mastermind.¡± I pursed my lips in annoyance. ¡°Then, we will trace them back.¡± Tom smirked. He was cracking his knuckles full of vigor. ¡°Should I help?¡± He asked, knowing fully well that he would be refused. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± Tom growled at him without looking back. These two men always liked topete with one another. I really didn¡¯t need to lift a finger with these two men around. Before Sanji could do anything to disrupt his n, Tom had sprung into action. If any normal person would identally pass by my house, they would probably say that Tom was a lunatic. However, even the densest person would sense that there was something dangerous in the air and would choose to avoid the nearby environment. The rumor of haunted house was enough to keep people away. It didn¡¯t take too long for Tom to wrap things up. The moment the sun was almost going down to hide, the one-sided battle was over. Thin strands of chain-like thing were tying them up together. It looked like they were about to break away from the chain, but knowing Tom¡¯s power, it was impossible for them to escape from the seemingly fragile binding. ¡°Should I call them here? Or should we go there?¡± Tom asked after he took a rest for a while, admiring his work in the process. The sky gradually got darker and the sunpletely disappeared from the view. The three of them were sitting in the terrace under the bright light of themp, watching over those shadows as well as the ghosts which were happilying out from their hiding ce and joined the others who had been roaming the world since the beginning. I pondered for a while before making a decision. ¡°Since they like to use shadows instead using more humanly ways, I won¡¯t hesitate and invite them here. Go ahead!¡± Tom nodded and calmly started his maneuver while sitting down with crossed legs and closed eyes. His thin chain pierced the dark night and disappeared from our sight. We waited while eating some snacks in the terrace, watching the ghosts passing by the front of our house as if they were passersby. I remembered the first time I saw them so many that it was almost as if they were humans, I was startled and shocked a couple of times and it was hard to get used to it. However, now, it looked so normal to me. ¡°People always say not toe out during dusk, especially the children. Turns out they were right. The temperature¡¯s drop can make anyone feel ufortable. Stronger people have the most resilient body, even so, they will drop faster than the ones who don¡¯t go outside during the dusk. The umtion of cold air in their body can lead to numerous disease. Not to mention the negativity in the air will be easily transferred to their body at this particr time. Especially when they are weak to begin with, it¡¯s easy to catch some bad things from the street unintentionally.¡± I sighed. ¡°Aren¡¯t we fine? Of course, I can feel the chill, but other than that, I don¡¯t feel anything.¡± Sanji reached out his hand and tried to sense the air. ¡°It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s just because of cold. Are we normal human? With just the energy of five White Army Men can repel those low level bad things, how can they harm us? Normal human don¡¯t have the privilege that we have. It¡¯s easy for them to be under the influence of negativity. That¡¯s what they should be wary of.¡± ¡°Then, is there any other way for them to protect themselves?¡± Sanji frowned. ¡°It¡¯s easy, actually.¡± My eyes caught the sight of someone I knew passed by the front of the house. ¡°You see, that¡¯s what I called a protection.¡± I nodded towards that person and Sanji followed the direction of my eyes. ¡°Isn¡¯t he your neighbor? That¡¯s the man from the nearest house from here, right?¡± Sanji squinted his eyes and took a good look at that man. ¡°Yes. Can you see the white mist around him? He starts working precisely during the dusk. If he stays at home, he won¡¯t be able to earn money to feed his family. But, his protection is always with him whenever he goes out.¡± ¡°What white mist? I can¡¯t see anything.¡± Sanji said seriously. I looked at him in disbelief. ¡°Under the dark night, the white mist is so eye catching and you say you couldn¡¯t see it? Stop looking, he¡¯s gone already.¡± ¡°I really couldn¡¯t see it. What white mist do you see? And why is that?¡± ¡°Most people forget that they need to pray for protection whenever they go outside. It¡¯s just a simple pray, yet because of their hectic activity, they forget about it. That man, however, knows the importance of the pray. He rarely forgets about it. The white mist is the protection from the pray. It looks soft, but it is actually strong. Its effect is different for each person. But, the least it can do is to protect the prayer for low level creatures that brings negativity and harm. It¡¯s easy to heal a cold, but once negativity has entered your body, it will bring a destruction to the person and his or her family.¡± I shook my head. Sanji nodded his head after he heard my exnation. Seriously? He didn¡¯t see the white mist? I thought it was pretty clear. ¡°I see. The key is actually that simple. It¡¯s so simple that many people disregard it. It¡¯s a pity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why, tell your family to pray before they go outside. But, seriously, you didn¡¯t see the white mist?¡± Peering into his eyes, I only found confusion inside. It was a sign that he really didn¡¯t see it. ¡°Never mind.¡± I turned my body back at Tom who was still struggling with the ¡®invitation¡¯. ¡°Are they refusing my invitation?¡± I asked him. ¡°A little bit.¡± Tom responded with his eyes closed. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± ¡°Nah, just stay still. I¡¯ll be done soon.¡± He said calmly. True to his words, in less than two minutes, I could see something was being pulled from the dark night towards us. Tom¡¯s thin chains returned with several spirits being tied up on the other end of the chains. ¡°Deliverypleted.¡± Tom stood up while smiling excitedly as soon as those spirits stopped right in front of me. These are the spirits of living people! Chapter 268 268 Mysterious Force Behind The Shamans (1) (Tom¡¯s PoV) These people really made me exerted more strength to ¡®invite¡¯ them. The problem was that I needed to make sure they were alive before and after I invited them. Their resistance made it harder for me to make it happen, so I could only use more strength to subdue them. There were some side effects, of course, but it was better than nothing. At least, they wouldn¡¯t die. Jane was staring at these spirits who were beaten ck and blue. She had not said anything yet, but one of the spirits started to curse her. ¡°Evil woman! You¡¯ll be cursed by your ancestors for doing forbidden magic! How dare you kidnap us! How much did you pay this man? Wait until I have my hands on you! I¡¯ll make sure to make all of your body rot, and you¡¯re going to suffer even after your death!¡± I shook my head in annoyance and helplessness. If Jane were the one who picked them up, I was sure she would have burn them alive. There was no expression in her face. She looked straight at the man¡¯s face and without breaking their eye contact, her hand pointed towards the shadows. With a flick of her wrist, 3 shadows flew off the group and headed towards the man. Another flick and the shadow lets out an ear-piercing scream, then the man followed with painful scream. ¡°No! No! No! Please, don¡¯t!¡± He begged pitifully. ¡°Now, do you know the meaning of being evil?¡± She asked coldly. The man broke out in cold sweat. He must have cursed himself inwardly for being a fool. His impulsive mouth carelessly spewed out some rubbish and ended up making him miserable. Who asked him to have such a foul mouth? ..... The power to make even a spirit felt pain was extremely dangerous, but somehow applying it to some trash like this man felt oddly satisfying. ¡°These three were sent by you, right?¡± She approached him with slow steps, felt like an impending danger for the man. Her aura thickened. Even as her ally, I could feel the weight of her supremacy mixing with the air. She changed from the ordinary girl into a powerful leader in a second! That¡¯s the woman I love! I cheered inside my heart. How could a person that I loved was an ordinary person? She must be extraordinary! I knew that it was not the right time to idolize my own girlfriend, but what could I do? Every time she asserted her dominance towards someone or something, the pride in me felt overloaded that I almost wanted to kneel before her and state my loyalty. Then, I remembered that I was already her General -and her boyfriend. I was her closest person both in two worlds and I was sure I would be the most loyal person to her! No matter what happened, there was no way I would do something bad to her. ¡°H-how do y-you know?¡± The man was shivering with wide eyes. He might never expect that she could connect these shadows with him correctly. I have always known that Jane was different. Even if the three of us learned about the other worlds at the same time, we were bound to be different. It wasn¡¯t because of her identity as the Master of White Army, but she was just special. She looked like she could see more than what we could see. She might not realize it, though. However, even if she didn¡¯t realize it, sometimes she chose not to exin. And as expected, she didn¡¯t respond to the man¡¯s question. The smirk was all that she gave him. ¡°Do you want to tell me why you attacked me?¡± She asked. ¡°Or, were you targeting my father instead of me?¡± The way she tilted her head while asking was seriously cute and somehow looking dangerous at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t even know who you are. Why would I attack you?¡± The man responded. ¡°So, you¡¯re targeting my father.¡± She nodded her head. ¡°Who asked you to do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He responded stubbornly. ¡°Oh?¡± Jane raised her pretty eyebrows. From the way she moved her fingers, I bet she would do something to the man¡¯s spirit. However, before she could do anything, ten or so thin greyish needle like things pierced into the man¡¯s spirit. Another loud scream reverberated in the night sky. It was painful to hear, I couldn¡¯t imagine what he felt as the one being stabbed. ¡°Don¡¯t bother using your power. If he doesn¡¯t want to speak, I can do the torture for you.¡± Sanji approached her. Hundreds, no, probably thousands of thin greyish needles were rotating behind him. What a show off! ¡°Also, there are other spirits here that need interrogation. Don¡¯t just focus on him. If he refuses to talk, just let him taste my needles first and we can move to the next person.¡± Sanji patted her head while smiling. Ever since we turned into her lovers, it was hard for me to be jealous when he acted so close to her. I couldn¡¯t seem to remember thest time I saw him as a rival. It was just right for him to treat her well. If he didn¡¯t do it, then it would be my fault to let him off. Since he volunteered to use his own power to interrogate these spirits and only let Jane to take the role as the one who asked the questions, there was no way I would let her refuse. Also, it was the first time I saw him use his power up close. We had the same type of power, but the way he utilized his was beyond myprehension. ¡°Good idea.¡± I nodded in agreement before she could refuse him. ¡°Then, go ahead.¡± Jane stepped back to let Sanji work properly. I watched the man¡¯s spirit was being tortured cruelly by Sanji. If his spirit couldn¡¯t hold on, I was sure he would have passed away by the third minute. Jane, on the other hand, had walked towards the other spirits that were being tied by my chain. They were all hanging in the air as they waited for their turn to be interrogated. Ever since that man spouted some nonsense curse towards Jane, I had sealed the other¡¯s mouth just in case they joined in. I only needed to wait for Jane¡¯s cue and I would release the seal to any spirit that she wanted. However, all of these spirits were so stubborn even though they had seen our strength. Were they stubborn or just stupid? I had no idea. Obviously, they had witnessed their friend got tortured to the point the night wasn¡¯t so calm anymore, why didn¡¯t they just confess the person behind the attack? Also, the other ghosts were even running away far away from us whenever they heard the painful screams. It was aical scene, but was it possible the scream scared them away? The interrogation went for almost three hours before one of them finally shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯ll talk! Don¡¯t torture me anymore!¡± Sanji stopped his torture and Jane stopped poking the needles on their body. I sealed the others mouth just in case they interrupted the confession. The three of us approached the man and waited for the man to start talking. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the other, but...¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°I got a message, some cash in an envelope, a picture and some information. The message is a simple one.¡± ¡°Send as many shadows as you can to haunt this man¡¯s house.¡± Chapter 269 269 Mysterious Force Behind The Shamans (2) (Tom¡¯s PoV) ¡°Send as many shadows as you can to haunt this man¡¯s house.¡± That was the order the man received. It sounded reckless and annoying, and there was something wrong with the order. Of course, the message didn¡¯t specify what type of shadow should be sent to fulfill the order, which was probably the reason why they had not sent any high level shadows to the house. Or, maybe the low levels were sent to scout the situation. Whatever the reason was, now that we knew there was someone out there wanting to create a mess in our house, there was no way we would let it happen. Every wickedness needed to be uprooted to avoid further hassle. Jane took out her phone and showed him a picture. ¡°Is this the man you¡¯re talking about?¡± It was her father¡¯s picture. The man nodded his head. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s him!¡± Sending shadows to haunt the house, what did the person behind this action want? Mostly, people would send shadows to create disturbance in a house. It could be a severe illness, bad luck, or even instant kill for the person they hated. However, judging from the way those shadows were invading the front and back yard of the house, they were really harmless, in spite of their insidious appearances. ¡°Are there no more messages after that?¡± ..... ¡°No. There¡¯s no more messages for me after all. I don¡¯t know about the others, though.¡± The man shook his head. ¡°Are you saying the truth?¡± I squinted my eyes and shot him a look full of suspicion. ¡°Of course! I dare not lying to you.¡± The man hastily replied, as if he would be tortured if he werete to answer the question. ¡°There must be someone among you who received another mission from your employer.¡± Jane¡¯s eyes were peering into those spirits¡¯ eyes, trying to find any unnatural expression in their face. BINGO! There was someone who acted unusual after those words were spoken. She averted her eyes and there was a trace of panic on her face. Jane smirked and I knew someone was going to be into deep trouble. Maybe she didn¡¯t realize it, but Jane was a whole different person when dealing with astral issues. She was obviously the youngest in our group, but she turned into a cold-blooded leader when she dealt with shadows. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with her. Can you torture them for a while before you send them back? Thank you.¡± She didn¡¯t ask for my my agreement. She was ordering me politely, even with a smile. After doing so, she walked towards the bench in the garden and sat down elegantly. The one that she asked for and the shadows under her were following her steps under my maniption. Sanji and I exchanged a knowing look. Since the rest of them weren¡¯t needed here, we might as well send them back with a little souvenir. It didn¡¯t take long for us to get rid of the disturbance, and after we cleaned up, we let Jane have her fun in interrogating and torturing the stubborn shaman. Those shamans that we sent off, I hoped they knew the consequences of messing around with us now and learned from it. As far as I knew, no shamans were capable of hurting her. Those shadows were sent only to haunt, not to harm anyone. Jane had also ordered to let them enter the yard as long as they were not causing any casualties. She might have thought that those shadows were just lost and only passing by. Only after we noticed the number increase each day that we started taking action. Why did she order so? She once said that was to create a bnce environment. A clean surrounding was nice, but it would mean the bnce would be broken. Also, the existence of the shadows and ghosts in the yard was meant to make her house felt asmon as the other house. It was to avoid any unnecessary attractioning from ¡®gifted¡¯ people. Tonight was a special asion where no other ghosts woulde around. With how Jane¡¯s aura was soaring, I doubted they would want to get close -those shadows and the shaman must be feeling dreadful being that close to her. Even after I called some of the men back to reduce the pressure, those ghosts didn¡¯t dare to approach the house. ¡°Who do you think the one behind this prank?¡± I asked Sanji who was ying with his sharp thread with his fingers. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s just a prank?¡± Sanji kept his eyes on his palm, but it seemed like his eyes saw through them. ¡°Sending shadows to haunt a ce instead of scaring or harming the people, if it¡¯s not a prank, then it¡¯s spying.¡± I looked up at the night sky with a sigh. ¡°Indeed.¡± Sanji responded. He was acting a bit strange. He didn¡¯t talk muchtely. It was as if he was drowned in his own world. But, anything rted to Jane¡¯s safety would make him more serious than anyone. I knew that he was secretly training himself, just like how I secretly trained myself, but his changes were too obvious to ignore. As the person who once shed with him, I knew him better than anyone. He seemed to talk less and less after the incident with the portal. He might me himself for not being able to help much, but I wasn¡¯t better myself. I left her in his hand out of my own selfishness -and I regretted it so much every day. He had done his best to help her in clearing the first portal when I only appeared on thest minute like a fool. I had done my best to have a truce with my own self, to allow myself a better self-development. I changed as well, of course. But, other than the time when I was the General of White Army, I was still the usual me. But, Sanji changed a lot that I was almost sure he was not the same person anymore. Other than his concern towards Jane¡¯s safety, he was almost like another person. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked him out of my concern towards him. Sanji chuckled and shot me a teasing look. ¡°What? Being unable to touch her making you diverting your attention to me? Sorry, I know that I¡¯m handsome but I don¡¯t swing that way.¡± Hah! Forget what I thought that he was another person. He was the real Sanji! Only he could annoy me with a simple sentence. ¡°Forget that I ask.¡± I waved my hand in annoyance. ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time until I can touch her. You know that, too. The only thing that stand between me and her is the status of our rtionship. What our parents told us about the forbidden sex before marriage is real, after all.¡± Sanji snorted and chuckled. ¡°I nned to take things slowly and ravish her on our wedding night. But your appearance made me lose control of my own self. The girl that I had cherished so much suddenly emitted sexual pheromone in full force with another man in her arms, how could I not snap? I wanted to me you, but I couldn¡¯t. I could only me my own weak will to go back on my own words. This way is also good. Both of us can focus on protecting her instead of being aroused with every teasing touch she makes. I can also feel my power getting clearer and purer to the point it is easier to control. It seems like being abstained from any sexual activity is good for nurturing our spiritual power.¡± Iughed hearing his confession. He was right. After abstaining from touching Jane sexually, I could feel my spiritual power was expanding. It was also easier for me to feel my power and to use it to my own needs. My mind was getting clearer and the bond between me and the Death Volcano was getting stronger. It was even easier to manipte the form of my power and the chain to my own will. All this time, the only thing that blocked me from advancing further was my own rtionship with my girlfriend. Not the rtionship, but the thing we did in our rtionship. This kind of rules sounded too personal, but it was to our own benefits, after all. My train of thoughts was abruptly stopped when a shrill cry was heard from where Jane was. My body went on auto pilot as I ran towards her without observing the source of cry first. As my eyes and brain caught up with my body, I saw Jane being enveloped in her light smoke as the shadows and the spirit of the shaman were attacking her like madmen. I clenched my fist towards them and my loosened chain wrapped them up again tighter. There was another cry and suddenly, the chain broke. My fingers went numb as the bacsh, but I quickly summoned another chain -thicker this time -and tried to wrap them up. The key word is ¡®tried¡¯. I failed as they evaded it quickly and floated higher. The thick ck smoke emitted from their bodies made them look like they were about to blend with the night sky. ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked as I stood outside her barrier of smoke. Clearly she was still on her guard. She nodded. ¡°Someone is manipting them right now.¡± She sounded cold as her eyes kept following the movement of the shadows and their master. ¡°Well, well, well. Isn¡¯t it the young girl Jane Harris? Long time no see, Jane, and you¡¯re already this big. Your father must be proud of you following his steps to deal with the other world.¡± It should be apliment but there was no trace of sincerity in it. Instead, it sounded so sarcastic to my ears. Also, that was not the shaman¡¯s voice. Jane must have done something that made the mastermind behind the shaman came forward. But, that shaman was in her spirit form, how could a spirit get possessed? Chapter 270 270 Mysterious Force Behind The Shamans (3) (Tom¡¯s PoV) The fact that someone was possessing a spirit was a proof that whoever behind this action was not an ordinary person. He was even more capable than these shamans. The question was if this person really was more capable than these shamans, why would he pay them to haunt our house? Why would he do that? Did he have so much money and had nothing to do to the point he paid other people to prank on someone? Ah, he might be just another shaman being paid by the true mastermind. Judging from how he knew her, this person must be someone she knew. ¡°Who are you? Why did you send these shadows here?¡± I asked him or her, whoever this person was. It was hard to identify the gender since the voice changed from a man to a woman randomly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know who I am-.¡± Clich¨¦, I said inwardly, but didn¡¯t interrupt him. ¡°-Because you don¡¯t know who I am, as well. Hahaha.¡± This man -or woman-, is he trying to crack a joke? What ame joke! ¡°Uncle, I don¡¯t remember who you are, but could you, please, tell me the reason behind your action? Why did you send shadows to haunt my house?¡± ¡°To disturb your father¡¯s peaceful life, of course. How dare he came out of seclusion and got a wife? He, who embraced the path of shaman, should abandon the worldly desire and devote himself to the path of immortality!¡± ..... ¡°Jane, this person is lunatic.¡± I whispered to her helplessly. What immortality? Was that word even exist in real world? This person was being delusional and a mad man didn¡¯t know any boundaries. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that your father isn¡¯t here. Then, I¡¯ll curse you in his stead. He cane to me if he wants to lift the curse. Girl, just say to your father that as long as he kneels in front of me and begs for my forgiveness, I will stop disturbing your life.¡± ¡°Uncle, you¡¯re sick. Go get treated before it affects other people. You should get your head checked up.¡± Jane sounded so done with this pointless conversation. It was easy for us to struck down that shaman, but the mastermind would run away if we did so. No matter what we did, that man would still escape. Therefore, instead of using our power, we just let him talk. ¡°Young girl, your mouth is poisonous. Did your parents teach you to say that to a person?¡± ¡°Are you a person?¡± Jane inquired with an expression of ¡®are you stupid?¡¯ very clear in her face. ¡°Uncle, just in case you forgot, to curse someone you need to make one of your shadows to affect her, or us. But, do you see any of your shadowsing into contact with any of us? Are you blind?¡± I reminded him out of my good heart but half-mocking him in the process. The mysterious man went silent as he looked towards us for a while. I arched my eyebrows, taunting him to do what he said he would do to us. ¡°Well, it seems to me that you spoke the truth.¡± Is this man¡¯s brain okay? ¡°But, I don¡¯t see any issue here. It may take longer time than usual but it doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t.¡± His grinned was so creepy and his threat was even stronger than before. A person who could curse a Master of Astral Army? He sounded pretty confident with himself. Perhaps, he was stronger than what we thought. ¡°Then, I shall excuse myself.¡± The man waved his hand and the puppet shaman fell down like a broken kite. The mysterious man came and went quietly without any trace. From the beginning to the end, he had shown his might but we ignored it. Now that he has gone and I sent back the shadows along with their master, the house returned to its tranquility state. Jane was looking at the sky silently. Both Sanji and I didn¡¯t want to interrupt whatever it was running inside her head and just let her be. She was walking down the path in the garden towards the side garden in slow pace. She would asionally look up and sigh, or lost in thought while looking down on the pebbles. It had been going on for near ten minutes and honestly it made me worry. I suspected that she had a n in her mind and she didn¡¯t even consider us in whatever she was thinking about. It was like she was lost in her own world, the one that she created where everything that had happened was her responsibility. ¡°Jane?¡± I tried to call her, with an intention to remind her that she still had us with her, to back her up and to help her anytime she needed us. She seemed to snap out of her trance, and maybe she just realized that we were behind her the whole time. She looked back at her with a realization in her eyes. ¡°Did you forget about us?¡± I joked with her. The way her eyes widened in shock made me realize that what I had been specting about was true. She did forget about us! ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She hastily approached us with an apologizing smile on her face. Her arms spread wide to hook on our arms and pulled us towards the door at the same time. ¡°Let¡¯s get inside. It¡¯s getting chilly here.¡± Sanji and I exchanged a knowing look and let her drag us into the house. The warmth of the house sent the chilly sensation away as soon as we stepped inside the house. As usual, we treated our Queen as best as we could give her before we sat face to face to talk about what had happened. Jane didn¡¯t seem tired, but I personally felt her exhaustion from the way the light in her eyes changed. We had not had the time to talk deeply about the invitation from the Kings, yet we were attacked by a mysterious force who imed he could hurt her; a Master of White Army. He didn¡¯t sound like he was bluffing, and we knew that we must not underestimate him. He could control someone¡¯s spirit, it was a clear sign that this person was strong enough to face us. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have any clue regarding the identity of this mysterious person. ¡°Sanji, aren¡¯t your father best friend with mine? Do you think he knows about this person?¡± Jane suddenly looked up after contemting for a while, her expression clearly showed that she was grasping onto a glimmer hope that was Sanji¡¯s father. ¡°I¡¯ll try and ask him, then.¡± Sanji said so, but I saw something in his eyes that wasn¡¯t resemble an excitement for finally finding a clue. Chapter 271 271 Forbidden Skill (Jane¡¯s PoV) Dear God, when would I get a chance to live like a normal person? I thought that after the issue about the borderline had been solved, I would finally have time for myself. Siji had even given me a confirmation that I could return to my study and continue my college life that has been postponed for months. I had been learning things that normal people wouldn¡¯t learn in their whole life and I had been in constant touch with death and all I wanted was to quickly have a normal life. I had not even started to think about what to do with the invitation from the ten rulers, but here I was, getting a threat from an unknown man who felt resentful with my father¡¯s worldly affairs. I mean, why now? Why didn¡¯t this person confront my father ever since my father stopped ¡®learning¡¯? It must be around twenty years ago. It was a long time ago. What was he thinking? Also, his ability to manipte spirit was not something new to me. I mean, I had not learned about it since Siji said that it was one of the forbidden skills for its maliciousness, but I had read it somewhere and I was sure Siji had talked about the evilness of this skill. It wasn¡¯t impossible to do it and to be honest, I was quite curious as to how it worked. Of course, Siji wouldn¡¯t let me approach this skill in any means. Seeing someone using it openly made me surprised and at the same time triggered the curiosity in me. Should I ask Siji to teach me? Could he do it? Judging from the way he talked about it, I was certain that he could do it. That Advisor of mine was too OP but he was too humble at the same time. Or, should I say that he was toozy? Maybe it was because he was too old that he finally had enough of the world. His judgment was never wrong but sometimes he was over protective to me. Was it because of his trauma? After all, he experienced the change of Master for tens of decades already. Even if he was an astral citizen now, he could still feel the pain of losing someone. But, was being over protective helpful for me? However, how long would it take for me to master this skill if Siji were to agree to my request? How many months would I spend in seclusion to be able to be proficient at it? These questions were haunting my mind that I lost myself in contemtion. Should I or should I not? Would he allow me or not? I knew for sure that I could only satisfy my curiosity by asking him directly, but to be honest, I wasn¡¯t ready for the change in his face when he answered my questions. ..... Were there any possibilities for me to deal with that mysterious person without knowing about this forbidden skill? I might sound arrogant but I didn¡¯t think that I couldn¡¯t take him or her down even without the skill. Then, if I were to ignore my curiosity towards this forbidden skill, I needed to use every means necessary to hunt this person down before he made a move. Then, how? I¡¯ve entered into the mind of a shadow before. Should I take a peek into the previous shaman¡¯s mind? Hm, should I ask Tom to bring me to that shaman? But, I was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t let me do it. As long as I didn¡¯t know the danger of hunting down this man, I wouldn¡¯t want to implicate any of them. Tom and Sanji needed time to recuperate and train themselves for the uing Grand Meeting. Siji and I were more than enough to deal with that man. That¡¯s what I thought. I would ask Siji to put them into training mode and gave them a tight schedule for their training. It would be enough to keep them in their ces and ignore me. Then, I would find another way to visit the shaman and break into her mind to find her employer. I was lost in my own mind, nning a strategy to leave these two boys behind and heading towards that mysterious man, eager to find the answer to the identity of this man with my father. However, soon I realized that the two boys that I was trying hard to shake off was patiently waiting for me. Only a cautious call from Tom made me aware of their understanding of my own self. Anyway, I still didn¡¯t want them to follow me. Smiling widely to hide the guilty feeling inside, I looked back at them and urged them to go inside. We had a talk about the possible identity of that man. I even thought that I finally had a lead since Sanji¡¯s father was close friend of my own father. However, after a short conversation with his father, I knew that his father knew nothing about this mysterious man. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask your father directly?¡± Tom suggested. I shook my head. Obviously asking my father was the quickest solution, but I also put the effect into a consideration. After finding out his daughter was attacked, there was no way my father would stay still. I was cutting off any psosibilities for them to meet again. Just let my father apany my mother in Ennd for several weeks or months until they were ready toe back. ¡°What if it were an ex lover? Not to mention this man or woman has some loose screws in her head. Will you take any responsiblity if my mother feels hurt after that?¡± I gave him a long nce, questioning him with an absurd possibility. But, who knew? After all, even I didn¡¯t know whether that person was a man or a woman. Tom let out an awkwardugh and shook his head, indicating that he didn¡¯t dare. I sighed. ¡°I will face this personter. For now, I will think about my new campus life. I have to return there within this month.¡± I put down the cup in my hands on top of the table and looked at Sanji who was still as cool as the first I saw him. ¡°What about you? Do you have any n to return to the campus and teach?¡± ¡°No, I have another n to do. But, I will still have time to pick you up from the campus.¡± Sanji shook his head. ¡°Hey, I can do that. You can just go mind your own business since you have another n.¡± Tom butted in quickly. ¡°Jane, will you return to my mother¡¯s house?¡± His eyes were sparkling expectantly. ¡°I¡¯m not that crazy. I¡¯ll find another ce to stay. After all, that room is yours.¡± I shook my head after shooting him a dirty re. ¡°Why don¡¯t you live in my house? You¡¯ve been there before.¡± Sanji suggested. ¡°Also, you know I have spare room for you there.¡± He was right. But, living with one of them would make the other feel being left behind and I did¡¯t want that. Therefore, again, I shook my head. ¡°No way! If she lives with you, I will move to your ce, too.¡± Tom stated his stance fiercely. ¡°I¡¯ll find another dormitory. If I were to live with one or the two of you, I am afraid it will be hard for you guys to hold back. Instead of betting into it and saying that you can do it, let¡¯s just live separately to maximize our training.¡± I was close to give myself a standing ovation foring up with such genius idea. Seeing the stun look on their faces, I was sure they must not think about it. ¡°B-but, we are living together for months now. I mean, after that enlightment, we are living together just fine. We are fine right now, right? Why should we live separately?¡± Tom was adamantly refusing that idea of me living alone. ¡°I agree with him.¡± Strangely, Sanji agreed with him this time. ¡°Then, tell me, were you guys fine sleeping alone in your own room? Or did youe upstairs to my room, trying to get in but couldn¡¯t do it since my door was always locked?¡± Chapter 272 272 Keep Our Hands To Ourselves (Jane¡¯s PoV) With an using re, I looked at them. The awkward expression and the way they looked away and refused to meet my eyes were the obvious sign that what I said was right. ¡°Fine. I still can¡¯t get used to the feeling of not sleeping with you and having you within my reach.¡± Tom was the first one to submit and confess. His face was flushed in embarrassment as he had to admit the deepest wish in his heart. ¡°Me too.¡± Sanji added with a blushing face. These two men were seriously cute but I couldn¡¯t let myself being swayed by them. Previously, any cute acts would lead to a forey and a long sex. But, ever since we promised to stop it and focused on improving ourselves, they had not touched me at all, except the light kisses on the forehead and cheeks and holding hands during movie or book time. I had always locked my room other than the time when we were in City Y. Back to my own home, it was just a habit due to the familiar ce. Turns out it was the right decision. I woke up when I heard someone twisted on the door knob. Since there was no attempt to forcefully open the door, I let it go and tried to g back to sleep. Then, it happened again. Since there were only the three of us in the house, and the White Army wasn¡¯t being rmed of the intruder, I could only assume that one of them would be taking the responsibility of this suspicious act. Then, I started noticing other things, such as the difference of footsteps and the whispers or the sigh before he left the door. The intruder wasn¡¯t only one, but two people. Comparing with the way they sighed or whispered, the conclusion wasn¡¯t wrong at all. It was really the two of theming into my doorstep in different time of the night. I didn¡¯t intend to bring this up and just let them be, actually. But, our current circumstances allowed me to bring it up as an excuse to live separately from the both of them. Also, it wasn¡¯t like we broke up. We just lived separately. Why did they have to make it sound like a permanent decision for life? ¡°Guys, deal with it. We have talked about it before and we all agreed to keep our hands to ourselves. Don¡¯t you dare break your promise.¡± I warned them with a stern face, trying my best to look serious. ..... If I didn¡¯t discipline them, they would think that I could be swayed with how maniptive they were. It was truly harder for men than women to let go of their sexual desire, especially after they tasted the one they really liked. As the only woman between these two healthy men, I should be the one who hold the anchor and warned them. After all, it was for our sake, not for the others. As Siji said, something needed to be sacrificed for a perfection. Seeing the both of them mmed down their mouths tight, I ended our conversation and went upstairs to my room. A good night bath and a serious conversation with Siji would be next in my schedule for today. Sanji and Tom didn¡¯t need to know what I was talking about with Siji. The night was getting colder and darker and the night activity of the night creatures and entities were getting hectic. Looking out the window, I was contemting of what I should ask Siji,posing a series of questions about the topic I needed him to answer as well as preparing a counter if he refused to answer. Only after I thought that I was ready then I called upon him. ¡°Siji.¡± ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± As usual, he came in a beat of heart. ¡°That... that was the forbidden skill I asked you before, right?¡± ¡°...¡± He took a second to answer and the hesitation was clear in his expression. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± ¡°You can do it, too, right?¡± Again, the hesitation almost made him turn his head away. ¡°Yes, Mdy.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not something shameful. Why are you hesitating?¡± I asked him in curiosity. Siji sighed. ¡°I know what you want to say and what you want to ask, Mdy. I¡¯m hesitating because I don¡¯t like where this is going.¡± As expected, he still didn¡¯t approve me learning about that skill. ¡°What¡¯s the name of the skill again? I can¡¯t remember it.¡± ¡°Soul possession.¡± He said. Even the name was cool! How could I not feel attracted towards this skill? As the name was indicating, it was not about a mere bodily possession. It was a soul possession. ¡°Should I learn it by myself, or you¡¯ll teach me by yourself?¡± ¡°Mdy, this matter isn¡¯t as easy as possessing a body. It is a skill to integrate one¡¯s soul into another, in the form of spirit or soul. It¡¯s like that movie that I saw before, a mutant, I think? The process is painful for the first timer since you have to tear your soul to fix the other soul. If you can do it perfectly with your soul, possessing a spirit is a lot easier. But, the agony of tearing up your own soul is not something ordinary people can bear. And I can¡¯t bear to see you taste the same agonizing pain.¡± Siji¡¯s exnation truly made me speechless. It was easy to understand and an impulsive one would say that it was easy, but I knew for sure how painful it was to experience that. After all, I¡¯ve been stabbed repeatedly to make me focus and able to ignore the bodily pain. I couldn¡¯t imagine the torture if I were to master this skill. If it was a self-inflicted pain, I was sure I would stop before it was too much to bear. But, to learn this skill, even if I felt that I was already on the gate of hell, I needed to grit my teeth and not lost any focus. Just imagining it could make my hair stand on end. It was pure torture. ¡°Now you know why I don¡¯t want to talk about it?¡± Siji must have noticed the change in my expression. I swallowed the lump in my throat hard. It was truly unexpected. I thought it was just a matter of enchantments and not a self-abuse in the name of mastering a great skill. How na?ve I was! ¡°Then, is there any consequences after one is performing this skill?¡± ¡°No matter how good someone at this skill, attaching and detaching their soul like that, of course it will feel hurt. It¡¯s just that the master is getting better at controlling the pain than when she or he started learning it. They will need at least one to five minutes to adjust themselves after detaching from someone.¡± Chapter 273 273 Giving Me A New Start (Jane¡¯s PoV) I fell into contemtion as I heard his answer. As expected of a great skill! Even when it still had an interlude for five minutes and as anything could happen in five minutes, the user of this skill needed to have a good hiding skill to cover the w of this skill. That night, I had a long talk with Siji. It was either about the Soul Possession, or about my next schedule in both worlds. I went to sleep past midnight but with satisfied mind as my curiosity was answered by Siji. As I have alreadyid the rule and where I was standing, the two men in my house showed me how hard they tried to obey the rules to achieve our goals. It took me a while to realize that all this time they were not really trying hard for some reasons only they knew about. Only after that night confrontation did I understand the true self-restraint action. I didn¡¯t want to make it even harder to the both of them, so I hastened my n to return to college. The next week, we were already on our way to G City. It only took 4-5 hours by car, and when we arrived there, I had already booked a room for me while Tom and Sanji went back to their houses. It might be my luck that I managed to find a good dormitory near the campus. On the next day, I moved into my new dormitory with my two ¡®guardians¡¯ at my tow. After checking the room, I went to the campus to submit my registration. It was still two months before the new term, but it¡¯s better to clear things up first so that I still had time to do a self-training without any worry. The two months I used to control my own power and aura to the point I was the same with any normal person out there. After finally getting a good control of it, I returned to the time when I first saw ghost. The only difference was I could ignore it smoother than before without showing any apparent change on my face or my eyes. I could even calmly walk through their ghostly body instead of turning away and choosing another path. It was a whole new point of view of being normal for me! The new term started and I could feel my new life went along with it as well. It felt nice walking out from the dorm and walked towards where the college was. It reminded me of my days back then when I was still a young girl with crafty mind that couldn¡¯t decide whether I wanted attention or not. It was such an embarrassing time of my life, yet it filled with many life changing events that made me who I am today. ..... ¡°Done reminiscing?¡± A familiar voice surprised me from having a nice and beautiful moment along with a big hand enveloping my own hand in a firm hold. Looking at the owner of the voice, I smiled and looked at the way our hands filled the gaps of each others¡¯ fingers. At that time, he was floating next to me, sometimes ahead of me, but now I could walk with him hand in hand on the same path that we took together. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not much to remember, after all.¡± I looked ahead and noticed some eyes were looking at us as we spoke. No, not ghosts¡¯ eyes. I mean, human eyes. After all, I wasn¡¯t the only one on the road to campus. Moreover, Tom wasn¡¯t ugly either. I still remembered the time when we had a date in Y City and almost the eyes of the girls were directing at the both of them. This time, it was the same. Fortunately, Tom was the only one here with me. I had no idea where Sanji was, but I was sure he would control himself well in the campus area. After all, he was a lecturer here. He needed to preserve his dignity as one, especially since he was rather famous back then. ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m pretty much sure that I saw someone here flirting with a senior back then. But, to save you from any embarrassment, I¡¯ll keep quiet about it.¡± Tom raised his head proudly, as if he was winning something from me. ¡°Thank you for the concern.¡± I didn¡¯t bother to conceal the sarcasm in my tone. Tomughed. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m d I¡¯m finally able to apany you to study for real.¡± Hisugh turned into a big grin and from the way his eyes sparked with happiness, I didn¡¯t have the heart to say what I had in mind. He really looked like a fool grinning like that. A handsome grinning fool. Right before we entered the area of Engineering Faculty, he released my hand and waved goodbye to me. Maybe he still had something in his heart that wouldn¡¯t let him to enter his old study building. I thought he would walk with me into the building and greeted his old teachers, but it was all just a wishful thinking. Seeing that he wouldn¡¯t walk any further ahead, I waved at him before I entered the building. Only after I stepped inside the building then he turned back and walked away. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± Another voice surprised me and again, a big hand took my hand into his smoothly. Obviously, I thought high about him. I thought he wouldn¡¯t do such thing to a student to preserve his dignity, turned out I was wrong. Look at that brilliant smile! Look at that firm grip! Obviously, he didn¡¯t give a damn about his reputation! He was no less shameless and domineering than Tom. From the way they hold my hand and their body stuck close to mine, it was as if they were announcing to the world that I had them by my side! My left and right hands were upied, there was no space for other people to squeeze into our rtionship! What were they afraid about? ¡°You scared me! Were you in this together?¡± I looked at him suspiciously. Sanjiughed. ¡°Baby, it¡¯s the first time we are here after we are officially dating. Of course, I don¡¯t want to lose to him. We want to give you a new start for your new college life.¡± ¡°Did you reim your position here?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to, but they begged me toe back after getting a news that I had returned.¡± He shrugged his shoulders. He sounded like he was boasting, but knowing how good he was in his field, I knew that he wasn¡¯t lying. Even so, I was sure it wasn¡¯t to the point of begging him toe back. ¡°Okay, Mr. Lecturer. Now, would you mind to let my hand off? We¡¯re getting some nasty stares here.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but whisper to him while taking a peek towards the pairs of eyes around us. ¡°Don¡¯t mind them.¡± He smiled and walked with me towards the office of Civil Engineering Department. ¡°I¡¯ll apany you to report your return, just in case you can¡¯t find the office.¡± It wasn¡¯t that far, really. He made it sound like the office was on the other end of the building where in reality, it was just on the next corner. It was even less than fifty meters from the main door. ¡°I appreciate the thought, but I can find my own way well.¡± I smiled sarcastically at him and pulled my hand from his grasp. ¡°Not that easy.¡± He tightened his hold and half-dragged me towards the office, ignoring my protest. The rest of what happened made me dumbfounded. Anyway, I sessfully reported back to the chief, but the way Sanji talked to the other lecturers about really made me wish I could disappear. Well, technically I could cross realm and disappeared from their eyes. But, it would be too much, right? I had my ears full from the teasing and blessinging from the Elders in the office. It was a wonder how I could get out of there without being crazy. Stupefied and embarrassed maybe, but not crazy. Was this the new start he was talking about? Tom made sure the people on campus knew our rtionship and Sanji did the same with the people in higher position. What a great start! I told myself bitingly. ¡°Jane?¡± A soft voice filled with uncertainty snapped me back to my senses. Chapter 274 274 Legal Guardian (Jane¡¯s PoV) Turning my head to look at the source of the voice, I was startled as a body hit mine in a hug. Excited squeals pierced my eardrums as my body shook the way her body moved. ¡°It¡¯s really you! I¡¯m so d you came back! Where have you been? You¡¯ve never contacted me after you took a leave. How dare you!¡± ¡°Mi-Mia, easy!¡± It wasn¡¯t easy to talk with her arms encircling my neck in a tight hug. ¡°Let me see you! You¡¯re getting taller! No wonder it didn¡¯t feel asfy as it used to be.¡± Mia pushed herself a length away and looked at me from top to bottom repeatedly. I could onlyugh helplessly at herment. The shy and nice Mia turned so chatty in a year time, what did I miss? ¡°Wee back, Jane. Mia has been missing you this whole time.¡± Senior Dino, looking more mature than before, greeted me with a warm smile. He approached me calmly, unlike his old self who would jump on people casually. Seeing the both of them truly brought back some memories. I wonder what changed them? ¡°Thank you, Senior. It¡¯s nice to be back again.¡± ..... ¡°Hey, you chose to speak to him first? I asked you first, why didn¡¯t you respond to me?¡± Mia protested with a pout. ¡°She would, if you let her go first and asked your questions one by one.¡± Sanji pried her hands from my body forcefully with a threatening smile on his handsome face. Mia looked too stunned to protest and the way she was looking at her hands while stepping back from the force was tooical. Her eyes went to look at her hands to Sanji then to me repeatedly in confusion. Was it hard to get the clue? ¡°Baby, she has a protector now.¡± Gently, Senior Dino pulled his girlfriend towards himself. A helpless smile mirroring mine was stered on his attractive face. ¡°Sir Sanjaya is her protector?¡± Mia looked so cute being clueless like that. She used to hide this side of her and chose to ask it quietly when it was just the two of us. Now, however, she let it out and I couldn¡¯t help but think that she resembled the protagonist in a Japanese manga of clumsy and a little bit foolish girlfriend of a cool and smart President of Student Council. ¡°Yes.¡± Senior Dino nodded and indicated at the way our fingers were still intertwined to each others. He also nodded at Sanji who was emitting cold air around his body. As the person who was the closest to him, I wasn¡¯t spared at all. ¡°Ah!¡± Mia¡¯s eyes widened as the realization hit her. In a split second, her surprise look changed into a sheepish smile with teasing glint in her eyes. ¡°You and I are going to have a lo~ng talk.¡± I seriously wanted to know what happened to her to change drastically. ¡°Well, we¡¯re leaving now. See you.¡± Senior Dino didn¡¯t wait for our response as he started to drag his girlfriend a bit forcefully but still gently nheless. ¡°Call me! I still use the same number!¡± Mia shouted. Her head was trying to look back in every step she was taking. Reluctance was clear in her eyes, but she couldn¡¯t overpower Senior Dino¡¯s strength. ¡°Okay!¡± Only after I replied then she walked properly with a big grin on her cute face. ¡°Now, let¡¯s check on the announcement board. I heard that there¡¯s something big for this semester. By the way, that¡¯s a lively friend you have there.¡± Sanji¡¯s voice lost the excitement he had before the both of them came. ¡°Trust me, she wasn¡¯t anything like that before. She was a cute and shy girl back then and I¡¯m curious for the reason of her changing.¡± I said. ¡°Also, you don¡¯t need to put your guard around them. He has Mia already.¡± Sanji smiled, but somehow I felt like he was hiding something from me. ¡°It¡¯s never wrong to be more guarded. Here we are.¡± My attention was diverted before I could argue. My eyes caught an interesting looking pamphlet on the board. It was an activity held by the Students Council of Civil Engineering Department in the name of ¡®bonding through the ages¡¯ where all the students -seniors and juniors ¨C would form a random group together and go through several trials together. From the way they described the activity in the pamphlet, it was more like a big scale treasure hunting game for three days straight. Such a big scale of game, who was so generous to provide for everyone? Not to mention all the participants were required to camp in the hunting ground. To rent the whole hunting ground and camping site, themittee must have a lot of money. ¡°Apparently there¡¯s a rich and generous junior this year. He is the sole investor for this event. Actually, that camping site and hunting ground is his family¡¯s asset. His parents were the one who proposed this idea to the Dean and the Dean epted it. So, they made a special change for this semester curriculum and sybus to arrange this three days and nights trip for the whole Civil Engineering¡¯s students.¡± Sanji seemed to know what attracted me and generously gave me an exnation. So, that¡¯s what it was. I noticed the date for the event and the requirements. Even though they said that it was free for all civil engineering¡¯s students, there were still a few requirements that these students need to do to be able to join in the fun. First, all the participants needed to sign an agreement that they would obey the rules in the hunting ground and camping site. Any immoral actions and bringing harms upon others would result in the suspension from the Dean and would be cklisted from the hunting ground and camping site. Second, all the participants needed to submit the form of participation with the sign of their legal guardian or parents. It sounded childish since most of these people were old enough to mind their own business, but since it was an activity for students, it was for the sites¡¯ administration. Third, all the participants needed to attach a letter from a legal medical institution which stated that the participant was in good health and able to follow the whole courses. The deadline to submit the registration form was today before noon. It was just a couple hours away. ¡°Do you want to join in the fun?¡± Sanji asked when I unconsciously looked at him. ¡°Of course. But, who will sign the form for me?¡± I mean, both my parents were having their second honeymoon in Ennd and I didn¡¯t want to disturb their time. ¡°I am your legal guardian here, don¡¯t you know it? Of course I will sign it for you.¡± Sanji pointed at his face with a matter of fact voice. I already knew that he was my fianc¨¦, and my father knew him a lot longer than I knew him, but when did my father appoint him to be my guardian here? ¡°You must be wondering when I became one.¡± He smirked. ¡°After we rescued your father, I had a talk with him and he asked me to take care of you.¡± I blinked my eyes in disbelief. They had a secret talk behind me? I only knew the situation after I rescued him was pretty much in chaos. I only knew my father had a talk with Tom, but with Sanji? When did it happen? ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it. Let¡¯s get you registered before they close the registration.¡± Sanji pulled me into the Students Council¡¯s room and got me a registration form in no time. He was taking advantage of his position as a lecturer to get me registered as soon as possible while the others were taking a long line to submit theirs. Of course, there were nasty stares being directed at me but I didn¡¯t care about it at all. The only stares that I felt conscious was the stare from Senior Mario when he saw Sanji signed the part for the guardian. He looked like he had something he wanted to ask me, but at the same time he felt like we were not familiar to each other to ask anything. It was strange. Even though I wasn¡¯t that close to him, I was sure we sat down and talked to each other more than I did with other people. Why did he act all weird now? ¡°You... Have we met before?¡± Chapter 275 275 Different Life, Different Story (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) What kind of question was that? I was about to retort back when Sanji beat me to it. ¡°Nice pick-up line, Mario. But, you know better not to do that in front of a girl¡¯s legal guardian. Unless, you want to get beaten up.¡± Again, he was emitting cold air around him. Why would he put his guard up against these boys? He was always the friendly young lecturer who had hundreds of admirers among the students, boys or girls. He was on a good terms with almost all the boys in the faculty and I even saw Senior Mario as one of them. Then, why would Sanji change the way he treated them? Also, from the way Senior Mario was looking at me, he didn¡¯t look like he was joking. Was this their new prank? If so, his acting skill must be really good to act all confuse from the first time I stepped into this room. ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t mean that.¡± Senior Mario¡¯s expression came to a realization and he awkwardly shifted his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what it is. Just make sure to stay away from her.¡± Sanji cut him off and gently led me towards the door. He did it gently but there was a little hint of rush in his action. It was as if he couldn¡¯t wait for me to leave the room quickly. There must be something wrong. Senior Dino and Mia¡¯s change might not look too suspicious, but for Senior Mario to ask me that weird question, it really caught my attention. Moreover, from the way Sanji reacted to it, he must know something. ..... ¡°It¡¯s done now. Since we¡¯re done registering you back and there will be no sses for today, let¡¯s go.¡± Sanji returned to his usual warm self, totally different with the ¡®him¡¯ previously. I rolled my eyes at him. ¡°Where to?¡± ¡°A date, of course. It¡¯s a rare chance for me to be left alone with you. Tom will be very busy training himself, so it will be just the two of us for the rest of afternoon.¡± I was sure he didn¡¯t say anything about this date to Tom. Look at that smile! That kind of smile only appeared when he won something with little efforts. It was a cheeky triumphant smile. I bet he had it n so perfectly. Sneaky! Seeing that he was in high spirit, I couldn¡¯t bear to expose himself. As long as he was happy, I didn¡¯t think it would be a hassle to grant him this one date. Thus, we went on a date. We went on a walk, watched movies, and all kinds of date that we could think of. Coming to this city brought back some memories. However, I also noticed that there was something that seemed off. It was the same feeling when I saw the changes in Senior Dino and Mia¡¯s selves, as well as Senior Mario¡¯s strange question. Sanji¡¯s protective behavior got worse even when he looked like he enjoyed our date. I didn¡¯t want to ruin our date, but I really needed to ask him what was going on. My curiosity took control of my mind and without realizing it, I had asked him what I wanted to hear. ¡°Don¡¯t you think my friends were acting weird? It¡¯s either they forgot about me or they had a big changes in their personality.¡± I took a sip of my juice lightly while observing his reaction. As expected, his expression changed. It was just for a second but it was enough for me to confirm my suspicion that he knew something about those changes. I hid my smirk into my ss of juice as I took a sip of it again. Putting down the ss of juice a bit further away from my hand, I looked at him straight in his eyes and smiled, ¡°Do you want to tell what you are hiding from me?¡± Sanji tried to meet my gaze head on, but his wavering gaze failed to convince me that he was innocent. Maybe this matter wasn¡¯t just what meets the eye, but there¡¯s something manipted behind him. This was my first time seeing this case, so I truly had no idea and just waited for him to spill anything about it. ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t work alone. No, scratch that. You are not the one who did it, but you are the aplice. Now, the one mastermind behind it is someone you think so highly. Someone that you can¡¯t refuse. Who might it be?¡± I really enjoyed every change on his face. It was rare the see the wise and mature mask on his face cracked and made him flustered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± His calm voice could deceive me if I didn¡¯t see his face. ¡°Siji.¡± That Advisor of mine appeared as soon as I finished calling his name. Another smirk threatened to appear on my face again after I noticed his pupil dted hearing Siji¡¯s name was called. ¡°Here, Mdy.¡± He was still as polite as ever every time I called him. ¡°What have you done to my friends?¡± I switched my gaze towards the ever-so-calm Siji. Unlike Sanji, Siji had the perfect poker face ever if he wanted to. Even his gaze wouldn¡¯t tter when his eyes met mine when he talked. Well, he wouldn¡¯t lie to me so he was calm with whatever questions I gave him. The only thing was he was very careful and would only answer based on my questions. That¡¯s why I usually chose my words carefully before I asked him something lest I got a different answer from what I expected. ¡°I believed I don¡¯t quite understand what Mdy means.¡± He pretended to be a fool! There was no way he wasn¡¯t rted to this matter. ¡°Then, tell me, is there any way to manipte someone¡¯s memory? Like a forbidden skill or something like that?¡± Siji pondered for a while, as if he was really thinking about such things. I was sure he knew the answer, but he just deliberately dragged this matter -probably going to avoid the topicter-until I grew impatient and decided to skip this question. He might forget that I was an impatient towards some things, but I was particrly patient towards things that I was curious about. If I did grow impatient, I would just use my authority over him to answer my questions. I didn¡¯t like thest option but if it was necessary, I wouldn¡¯t mind abusing my power. Sighing helplessly, Siji straightened his back and started talking about one of the most sacred yet forbidden skill ¨C apparently one that he purposely didn¡¯t teach me for a reason. The name was Mind Maniption -he said something in a foreignnguage for me but then he tranted it. As the name said, it was a skill to manipte mind and it could only be used by spirit or soul. As a human, she couldn¡¯t possibly do it. Even if she detached her spirit and learned it, it would be in vain. In other words, only the dead could use it. ¡°Sanji knew about it, right? How could he know it and I didn¡¯t? You might as well tell me the reason you manipted their memories.¡± Chapter 276 276 Different Life, Different Story (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°It¡¯s because of your special identity.¡± Sanji was the one who answered my questions after being silent for most of the time. ¡°Oh, do you mind to tell me more about it?¡± I turned my head towards him and put on serious expression to make sure he wouldn¡¯t joke around about it. ¡°It¡¯s okay. She needs to know about it, too.¡± Sanji nodded towards Siji and after that Siji left. I arched my eyebrow when I saw Siji left obediently like that. He usually only obeyed my or Tom¡¯s words. For him to obey someone not from the Army, it was almost impossible -he even ignored the Elders and refused to conform to their wish. I couldn¡¯t help but suspect their rtionship. These two must have something going on between them. ¡°The truth is... you¡¯re right. I am his aplice. And as you¡¯ve heard from him, he is the only one who can perform this skill. Why am I the aplice, then? Because, I¡¯m the one who showed him whose mind should be manipted. I¡¯m the one who discussed with him what to do with these people you said your friends. Indeed, they are very good friends to you. And I¡¯m really sorry I had to tweak their minds a bit.¡± Sanji stopped a bit and looked at me more seriously. He might be observing my reaction, too. ¡°I¡¯m sure you still remember your ex, Rizal, right? Well, his departure was the one who triggered your ability, but also it brought aplicated aftermath. Most of his friends were aware of the cause of his death even when his family and the doctors said that it was because of a serious illness. Not to mention his brothers were ¡®attacked¡¯. You know, his friends weren¡¯t stupid. They might not have the ability as we do, but they are smart. Also, Hani was one of those who were on the site when they got the news of his death. Many of them noticed that something was off when they saw the body and Hani was the one who told them that Rizal didn¡¯t die from a natural cause.¡± I frowned. To my disappointment, even if I wished the memory that day was blurry after a year, it wasn¡¯t. There might some tiny little details that I missed but the majority of that ident was still crystal clear in the depth of my mind, locked in a ck chest that I always hoped I couldn¡¯t unlock it at will. Senior Hani was the only one besides Sanji who could see ghosts. He was pretty good, actually. But, as long as I could remember, even if Senior Rizal was brutally murdered, I made sure his soul and spirit, even his ghost wouldn¡¯t have any trace of that brutality. He died peacefully and he had gone to a better ce. No one would find his ghost anywhere unless he had the permission from that ¡®space¡¯ -where ever it was ¨C to visit the human realm. ..... However, I still hadn¡¯t seen the association between Senior Hani and the reason why he let Siji manipted the others¡¯ mind. ¡°I haven¡¯t met Senior Hani today. Did you tweak with his memory too?¡± Sanji sighed. ¡°He was the most difficult to deal with. Even Siji admitted that he had a strong mind. We had no idea how much had changed from his mind after we finished giving him the treatment.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t met him ever since.¡± ¡°Back to our first topic, why did you have to do it?¡± ¡°Right. His friends suspected that you knew something. But you had just awakened your ability. The trigger was pretty strong. Perhaps you didn¡¯t remember it, but after you got your ability, you were like a walking exorcist. Your aura was spilling uncontrobly that it purified some ¡®things¡¯. You were sensitive and I was afraid you couldn¡¯t handle any questions about Rizal. You might say something you¡¯re not supposed to say. Your identity needed to be remained a secret from public. Only several people would have the honor to know about it, but obviously not for many people. They were too wounded to be rational and your identity was too special for them to know. So, we decided to do that. It was better if they forgot about you, that¡¯s what we thought at that time. After all, you said that you¡¯re going to take long days off from college. By the time you returned, I thought these people would have been gone and you wouldn¡¯t notice anything. Who would have thought that you returned this fast?¡± Sanji smiled awkwardly at me. I arched my eyebrows at him. Only for those reasons then they wished these people would forget about me? Didn¡¯t they realize how absurd it sounded? ¡°I know, we sound so ridiculous hoping for things like that. I didn¡¯t expect Mario to really forget about you.¡± Sanji raised his hands showing his helplessness. There was a trace of guilt in his eyes. Since the rted person had admitted his sin, I should be magnanimous and not pursue this matter anymore. ¡°Will it have any side effect?¡± ¡°...It shouldn¡¯t have any necessary side effect as far as I concern.¡± Sanji replied after pondering for a while. ¡°Then, it¡¯s okay.¡± I nodded. ¡°Now that I know about this matter, I will be more careful in talking to themter and act ordingly. You should tell me anything like this before I misunderstand you guyster.¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re sorry.¡± Sanji smiled, but his eyes told me that he was totally feeling remorseful about what had happened. It might be for the best. It was like they were given a different life where a different story was going on. Senior Rizal was an admirable figure. Losing him shook many of his friends. I could understand the way Siji¡¯s mind manipting power. He erased my existence in their memories, making it as if Senior Rizal really died because of natural illness. Mia and Senior Dino were different cases since Mia was originally my friend. They only knew I submitted the permission leave abruptly due to family issue. They wouldn¡¯t remember my rtionship with Senior Rizal. It was quite cruel that none of his friends would not remember the truth of his death, but it didn¡¯t matter anymore. I had avenged him. It was enough that some of these people with me and I myself would remember the tragedy befell upon him. It truly didn¡¯t matter if his friends forgot about him. I wouldn¡¯t, for sure, forget about him. Ever. Maybe, if it were really in different life, Senior Rizal might have different story and different ending. Maybe, he wouldn¡¯t have to die. Maybe... Chapter 277 277 Bonding Through The Ages (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Sanji used his authority as a lecturer to join the activity of Civil Engineering Department. Well, he wasn¡¯t the only one outside the Civil Engineering¡¯s area, actually. Since he was handsome and had many admirers, of course the other lecturers and themittee let hime with us. His victorious smile was quite annoying to see, but I believed he did so to annoy the hell out of Tom. Talking about Tom, that man was sulking when I told him that I was going to have a three days outing ss and Sanji was going to follow me there since he was a lecturer. Since the camping site was locked from any outsider during the event, there was no way he could go there with his identity. He couldn¡¯t find any reasons to be with us and Siji seemed to have ns for him as well. So, even if he found any reasons toe with us, I believed he would still follow Siji¡¯s ns since that Advisor told him that it was beneficial for our next mission in the Grand Meeting. It was unfortunate that he couldn¡¯t join us, but it was for the best. The road to the camping site took nearly thirty minutes by bus. I was separated from Sanji since he went with the other lecturers -he insisted to be on the same bus with me but his identity as a non-civil engineering¡¯s lecturer didn¡¯t allow him to do so. The Dean clearly said before our departure that this trip was meant to create a friendly bonding between students and to clearly understand the role of each person. There would be no meaningless provocation and pressure physically. It should be a rather peaceful trip and for what I saw so far, it was pretty harmonious within the bus I was in. Since Sanji and Siji manipted some of my acquaintances, other than Senior Dino and Mia, I didn¡¯t really know anyone else. It was like I returned to the first time I entered the college. I had to start over in getting to know everyone. No worries, I consoled myself. I should take things slow this time. By the time we reached the camping site, I had made three friends, excluding Mia who was basically almost inseparable from Senior Dino. The first one was the shy junior, Alivia. Even though she was shy -totally the opposite of the stereotype of an engineering student -she was willing to join this event to get rid of her shyness and to gain more self-confidence. What a great purpose! The second one was a bit surprising for me. It was the aloof girl from my year. Her name was Yuni. I wasn¡¯t close to her even when we entered the college at the same time since I thought she was too hard to approach. Also, we weren¡¯t on the same ss so I couldn¡¯t find any reason to get close to her even if I wanted to. She exuded a cold and withdrawn aura which made her look arrogant and unapproachable. This time, however, she proved me wrong. Sitting next to her made me realize that she wasn¡¯t a cold person. She was just shy by nature and didn¡¯t know how to start a conversation. ..... I was the one who started our conversation, of course, and slowly she started to open up. Since I practically had never talked to her before, her memory about me was still intact. After the initial awkwardness, we finally got close due to our same interest. Who would have thought this girl was so fond of supranatural things rted to the history ofnds to the point I wanted to ask her the point of her joining civil engineering. But, when I talked to her about any lesson in civil engineering, her bright eyes turned serious, yet I could discern from her voice that she took her choice of entering the department seriously and joyfully. There was no pressure. She enjoyed both the engineering and the supranatural things almost equally and she put a clear distinction between the both of them. The third one was a senior, her name was Daisy. She was a feminine,dy-like, and friendly woman. Her entire being from head to toe screamed the sexual appeal of a woman. I remembered I used to hear the name of ¡®The Goddess of Civil Engineering¡¯. If Alivia was the opposite stereotype of civil engineering students¡¯ confidence and dare-devil behavior, Daisy -she forbid me to call her Senior -was the total opposite of the stereotype of female students in any engineering departments. The most formal clothes she would wear was culottes pants or pencil skirt and a shirt. Sometimes, when she wanted to be a bit casual, she would wear a pair of sneakers. She would even wear a knee-length body-hugging dress with an outer along with her sneakers. There were also times when she paired the dress with a pair of high heels. She was like a model student, yet she still looked awesome in those attires even when she was carrying her equipment. In other words, she was a femme fatale. Despite her charming appearance, she also had a lovely personality. She was strong yet so girly at the same time. To be honest, her confidence and self bearing attracted me towards her so much and I think both Alivia and Yuni would agree with me on this. After all, for someone who was practically emitting such a strong aura of confidence, that was what the other two were hoping for themselves. After reaching the camping site, I found out that themittee and the owner of the site had prepared lots of tents for us. It was big enough for four people and -intentionally or not -we needed to team up with the others from different year. Since we met the requirements, the four of us agreed to be a team. I thought, it would be great teaming up with great people. So we headed to the camping area with the a package of tent in our hands. Since our team was formed faster than the others, we had the privilege to pick the best spot for us. We chose the ce not too far from the entrance just in case we needed an emergency exit. Then, we set up our tent. Daisy showed us that she wasn¡¯t just a pretty face. She really got skill! How could a perfect woman like her exist? I really wanted to worship her seeing her swiftly connected every piece as if it was perfectly normal and easy for her. The rest of usbined wouldn¡¯t be able to be as fast as her in setting up a tent. She was truly fascinating! After the matter of setting up our tent had done, we decided to take a walk around the perimeter. There were sidewalks and direction board nearby. I even thought that I saw a map on the registration building. We needed to know where the toilet and bathroom as well as other ces in the site. The camping site itself was surrounded by the many tall teak trees. It was easy to get lost inside a teak forest if not for the existence of the sidewalks and the direction boards. Even so, it was still best to be careful. After all, ghost in the forest was different from the ghost in the city. Chapter 278 278 Bonding Through The Ages (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) After getting what we were searching for, we returned to the camp to join in the fun -if watching the girls had a hard time setting up their tents considered as fun, of course. Sitting on a stic tool, we sat back without having any intention to help them while munching on cookies. Why should we help them? Wouldn¡¯t we disturb their ploy to attract the attention of the boys if we did help them? Who would be so stupid to do that? It was really the perfect decision to sit and watch. When the girls finally called out for the boys to help them, I instinctively looked beside me only to find our eyes met -the four of us. An understanding smile appeared on our face as we realized that we were thinking the same. This is getting good, I thought. Aftermunicating mostly with ghost for months, I finally gained a human to human rtionship and it wasn¡¯t even a romantic one. Oh, how I miss this kind of interaction so much! After confirming that we had the same thought, it was getting easier to connect with them. Behind their shy and indifference personality -of course I wasn¡¯t talking about Daisy-, there was the basic behavior of human in the face of several special circumstances; mocking. We didn¡¯t talk about it. We uttered no words, but we all knew what we was going on each other¡¯s head at this moment. In no time, the boys swarmed into the girls¡¯ area to help them. They even donned on various expression and reaction on their faces. It was truly a scene to watch, observing the difference messages their expression and eyes sent to the other people. Watching them behaving like this, I suddenly remembered that Tom has mentioned about it before, about how amusing my reaction back then towards the boys. Indeed. I was ridiculous. But, I wouldn¡¯t me these girls. After all, I already had two men by my side but these girls might not have any boyfriend. So, let them be. I shook my head lightly. If I found it ridiculous because I already had boyfriends, what about these three? I turned my eyes towards Daisy, Yuni, and Alivia who were still quietly munching on their cookies while watching the ¡®scene¡¯ in front of us. ..... The trio might have sensed my stare as they turned their eyes away from the drama in front of us and stared back at me. ¡°What is it?¡± Daisy asked before taking a small bite of her cookie. Smiling, I could only shake my head. ¡°Nothing. I don¡¯t want to sound so nosy.¡± ¡°I am the one who will judge whether you are being nosy or not. Now tell me. What¡¯s inside your head?¡± Daisy didn¡¯t look particrly curious but she made herself clear that she insisted to know. It could be that she was really good at masking her expression, or she was just being dominant at me. Smiling sheepishly, I scratched my non-itchy nose and said, ¡°Well, I was wondering whether the three of you have a boyfriend already. You know, I can see some jealousy in the eyes of others, but your gaze don¡¯t even waver. So, I wonder if it¡¯s because you don¡¯t find it interesting or ...¡± I let my voice trailed off. ¡°I have a fianc¨¦.¡± Daisy didn¡¯t even miss a beat when she answered. She sounded firm and calm, as expected of our goddess. ¡°Me too...¡± The timid Alivia shyly admitted with a blush on her face. ¡°Boys are such a nuisance.¡± Yuni, on the other hands, scoffed with disdain. Did I say that she was shy by nature? Scratch that. She looked like she disdained all boys, yet I was sure she was straight. It was just all these boys probably looked immature in her eyes. Was that the case? ¡°Then, what kind of man do you like?¡± I curiously asked. Yuni drifted her eyes from the bunch of those showing off boys towards the camp of the lecturers. There were several young lecturers and she looked like she was scanning the area, looking for someone. ¡°Someone with Sir Sanjaya¡¯s bearing, but less handsome. Handsome man is too troublesome.¡± She grunted then she looked away without any hints of infatuation, as if she was just telling us amon information. My heart stirred. It was not a secret that many girls fell head over heels to this man. I guessed Yuni was one of them, but I couldn¡¯t detect the fangirling tone in her voice. Or she might have hidden it wonderfully. Or, again, she did mean it when she said ¡®less handsome¡¯. ¡°You don¡¯t like handsome man?¡± I carefully asked her. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t like handsome man? Of course I do. But, for my future partner, I don¡¯t want overly handsome man. It will only bring trouble. Sir Sanjaya¡¯s looks are above adequate. So, nah, I don¡¯t like him that way, if you mean to ask me that.¡± She smirked after replying to my question almost immediately. If Sanji knew that someone was despising his handsome look, I bet he would be stunned for several days until his mind had a nice talk with his heart. He wouldn¡¯t get angry, but it would shock him for sure. I was actually curious with his expression if I ever told him about it. ¡°Fine.¡± I murmured my response. ¡°Now you know the reason, right? Let¡¯s continue watching.¡± Daisy patted my shoulder and continued munching on her snacks. Several minutester, we gathered in the middle of the camping site. The spot was intentionally created for this kind of asion. They received some motivation and had some deep talk with each other. It was cool, but as the sun started to go down, I couldn¡¯t help but notice some energy fluctuation nearby. I had sealed some of my power so that I couldn¡¯t see any of ¡®them¡¯. But it didn¡¯t mean I lost my sensitivity around me. To be honest, I found it easier to feel them during the changes of light to dark. I had started counting the moment I reached this ce but the number kept on increasing after the sun was starting to disappear from the west horizon. After all, I thought there was something odd with this activity. It was true, it meant to create a bond among students, but the fact that this ce was booked when there were many spots that could be opened for public people made me uneasy. Was it just for the sake of advertisement? Or was it for something else? As the one who sat at the back of the rows, I couldn¡¯t help but look back towards the trees behind. I could feel some pairs of eyes were watching us. If I were to open the seal and see the shape of creatures eyeing us with greed, I was afraid I couldn¡¯t control myself and end up beating them. Who knew whether they were the guardian of thend or shadows sent by other people. Chapter 279 279 Bonding Through The Ages (3) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Don¡¯t you think this ce is a little bit creepy?¡± Yuni, who was sitting next to me, whispered lightly. ¡°I¡¯ve been having this strange thought that something is watching us.¡± I wasn¡¯t surprised that this girl was kind of sensitive. After all, she was a girl who found supranatural things interesting. ¡°You¡¯re just overthinking.¡± I smiled at her. Yuni squinted her eyes and looked straight at me. ¡°I noticed you¡¯ve looked behind us for three times already. Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t feel it.¡± ¡°Well, I was just enjoying the view.¡± ¡°What view?¡± ¡°The sun disappearing behind those trees. Come on. Don¡¯t frighten yourself like that. I truly didn¡¯t see or sense anything.¡± Wow, I lied easily. What had happened to me? I didn¡¯t even blink when I said that. Yuni still had that ¡®I don¡¯t trust you¡¯ look in her eyes, but she stopped questioning me. Ignoring the staresing from the woods, I tried to focus on the agenda being told by the Dean. The corner of my eyes caught the sight of Sanji standing not too far away from his tent. He was sipping on his coffee while staring at the woods. Whatever it was hiding among the trees must have caught his attention. ..... Sanji must have noticed my stare as he retracted his gaze and met mine. A thin smile blossomed on his face as he raised his cup to greet me. He then nodded towards the woods, indicating that there was indeed something there. I shook my head. If it wasn¡¯t something dangerous, I would just leave it be. I couldn¡¯t possibly force the guardian of thend to leave thend they were protecting, right? Sanji shrugged his shoulders and returned to his seat in front of his tent. ¡°Do any of you have any questions regarding our schedule for these three days? I believe all of you have one of this copy, so feel free to ask. Also, please keep in mind that Zone F, G, and H are off limits. Do not wander there! I repeat! Zone F, G, and H are off limits, don¡¯t go there!¡± The Field Coordinator warned us in serious tone. I took a look at the map in my hands and found that Zone F, G, and H were Shooting Area, Fishing Area , and Unknown building -there was no name in it. I honestly underestimated the range of this site. I seriously thought that it was just a ce for camping and arge yground for adults. I had never thought that this ce covered for several miles ahead with various facilities -though the most popr ones were the camping site and the Outbound area. The person who owned this ce must be crazy rich to invest in this part of business. But, with thisrge ce, the owner didn¡¯t allow any vehicle toe. How did the costumers go to the shooting area, then? The fishing area was also at the back of the map, near the River Bank and the unknown building. It would be exhausting to walk from the front building to the back of the ce. Upon closer inspection, I found a ce marked as ¡®electric cars parking lot¡¯ in several ces. Of course, they prepared the best for the customers. I shook my head, feeling embarrassed with how narrow my mind was. ¡°Also, don¡¯t venture too far into the woods. It¡¯s safe but we will never know.¡± The Field Coordinator said again and it was responded with a loud ¡®boo¡¯ from the students. ¡°Sir, I have a question.¡± A student raised his hand after the loud boos started to disappear. ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°About tomorrow evening¡¯s agenda, will we really have a night activity? I heard it¡¯s about Dare Night. Is it individual or in a group?¡± ¡°In a group, of course. The group will be the one you chose this afternoon.¡± ¡°But, Sir, we¡¯re all girls. Can¡¯t we have some boys in our group? We can¡¯t stand being frightened too much.¡± A girlined in a whine. Apparently, what she said was what the others¡¯ concern as well, so in no time she gained support from both the girls and the boys. ¡°...We will divide the boys equally into your groups.¡± The Field Coordinator replied after thinking for a while. ¡°Excuses.¡± Yuni murmured in disdain. As the closest person sitting next to her, I could hear her clearly and smiled because I knew what she meant by that. ¡°Do we need boys in our group? I don¡¯t like those boys.¡± Daisy frowned as her eyes scanned the group of young men sitting not too far away from us. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can reject the arrangement.¡± Alivia responded softly. ¡°Hey, Daisy, do you want me to apany you tomorrow night? You can hold on to me if you¡¯re afraid.¡± A shout from the boys area travelled to our ears as a young man stood up and grinned towards Daisy. He must have been eyeing Daisy all this time. ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯m more afraid of you than the ghosts.¡± Daisy responded with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯te out crying then.¡± The young man, Senior... -I believed his name was Randy, but I wasn¡¯t sure- Randyughed and sat back down. There was another chaos followed the announcement, but it went smooth after all. We only needed to re-register our group to themittee and let them work the rest. Daisy even made a bold request that we didn¡¯t need boys in our group. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m a coward. I like watching horror movies, but I can¡¯t watch it alone. Are you guys sure we don¡¯t need a man in our group?¡± Alivia asked carefully. The three of us turned to look at the youngest in our group. ¡°You¡¯re right. We need boys in our group. Just in case the ghost asks for sacrifice, we can sacrifice the boys. What do you think?¡± Yuni smiled even when she was just saying something scary. Alivia widened her eyes in shock after listening to Yuni¡¯s remark. It was kind of funny seeing her being so flustered. It took only several seconds and I almostughed out loud hearing her response. ¡°You¡¯re right. We will sacrifice the boys.¡± She was tainted by Yuni¡¯s scary thought! ¡°I mean, there¡¯s no way it will happen, but the thought that the boys are there to be our sacrifice is kind of encouraging me.¡± Sheughed. Yuniughed when she heard the innocent response from Alivia, but she didn¡¯t say anything and just nodded her head, agreeing with what Alivia was saying. ¡°It¡¯s creepy to think about sacrifice and to make them into sacrifice items will make us as the evil guys. We don¡¯t want that to happen, of course. But, if they slow us down, leave them.¡± Daisy smiled and rubbed Alivia¡¯s head lightly before she turned and continued her steps with Yuni in tow. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nothing scary will happen tomorrow. Everything will be okay.¡± I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her to walk with us again. ¡°Somehow I feel safe when you say that. Thank you.¡± Alivia grinned. What a cutie! Chapter 280 - 280 Bonding Through The Ages (4) 280 Bonding Through The Ages (4) (Jane¡¯s PoV) Since we had decided not to take any boys into our group, we didn¡¯t have to wait for anyone and could n on our strategies for tomorrow¡¯s agenda peacefully. We divided everything ording to our own strength and after we¡¯ve done with the nning, we had a light dinner together. It was supposed to be fun if a couple wasn¡¯t caught trying to enter the woods for their ¡®romance¡¯. It was still the first night, for God¡¯s sake. Why couldn¡¯t they hold themselves properly? ¡°We didn¡¯t. We went separately, I swear.¡± The girl denied the usation strongly. She seemed to be our senior. ¡°I went to the bathroom and bumped into him on my way back. We really didn¡¯t n to go to the woods together.¡± ¡°What were you doing in the bathroom?¡± Amittee member asked her calmly. ¡°What kind of stupid question was that? Do I have to report my every action in the bathroom?¡± The girl gave her a nasty stare, but I must admit this member ofmittee wasn¡¯t someone to trifle with. Even when she was oppressed by a senior, she could still have her poker face and her eyes didn¡¯t even waver for once. ¡°Then, did you use the water?¡± She asked again. I took a peek at her ID card and saw ¡®Jingga¡¯ was written on it. ..... ¡°What? Do you think I¡¯m that dirty not to clean up properly? You¡¯re asking stupid questions, you know that? What year are you in? Tell me. How dare you use me of something I didn¡¯t do!¡± I rolled my eyes hearing her words. She started to find an excuse, then started to attack aggressively towards Jingga. If I had not known, I would say that her reason was perfect without a w. The ce where they were caught was indeed on the same direction where the bathroom was, and it was possible to meet other people on the way. But, she forgot two things -obviously both this girl and her boyfriend was busy nning for their ¡®romance¡¯ and missed some of important announcement. First, themittee member made it very clear that the boys and the girls would be using different bathrooms and they had divided it as well. Girls would be using the ones on the left wing of the camp and boys would be using the ones on the right wing of the camp. Second, the bathroom that she imed she had used was actually broken. There was no water inside so no one could use it. Jingga and the other members must have known about it before hand, that¡¯s why they didn¡¯t bat an eyelid when going with their usation. How did I know that? Well, when we went around to find a toilet, we happened to go into this particr toilet and wondered why there was no sign of it being broken. So, under these two condition, what could possibly be the reason for the boy to go in that direction? And, those who knew that the bathroom couldn¡¯t be used was probably ridiculing her right now. As the person in the center of attention, the girl herself wasn¡¯t aware that her lies had been exposed the moment she answered the ¡®stupid¡¯ questions. I looked back at the boy¡¯s camp and saw the man wasn¡¯t in good situation either. He really went even more aggressive than his girlfriend as he tried to attack themittee member who was interrogating him. His shouts even reached our ears in the girl¡¯s camp. But, he was subdued in no time without any casualties from themittee members. ¡°Since you denied everything, then we have no choice but to send you back. However, since it is already thiste, we¡¯re going to process this case tomorrow morning.¡± Jingga was still as calm as ever and it made me curious about her identity. I wonder what year was she from. They handled everything so fast and the boys came to tell Jingga and the others their interrogation result. It was decided that the both of them would be sent back tomorrow and the Dean would be the one who took them there along with two or three other lecturers andmittee members. However, even when they had decided it, some creatures decided on different things. The cold night wind brought uneasiness into the camp. It was gettingte at night when the lecturers told us to go to sleep, however I noticed the change in the air. It wasn¡¯t much, but I could still feel it since it was different with the energy emitted by shadows. How could I not notice when I was more than familiar with this alluring scent of evil? But, for real? Who would be affected with this thin scent of lust? Who was this creature trying to lure? Judging from how thin it was, it must be nothing to the devil I met in the hot spring. My brain was itchy after thinking about it. Should I act or not? Our surrounding grew increasingly quiet, save from the sounds of crickets and some nocturnal animals. However, I couldn¡¯t fall asleep now that my mind was disturbed with this aura. I looked towards the other three in the tent and found that they had been asleep for some times. There was no change which meant a good sign. They weren¡¯t affected by the aura, that¡¯s good. After making sure the three of them were okay, I got up and took a peek outside the tent. It was totally quiet, as if everyone had already sumbed to their dream. Since the aura didn¡¯t seem to be decreasing, I really didn¡¯t have any choice other than to activate my third eye -that¡¯s what people liked to call it- and to check on the campsite to make sure it was safe. Those guardians of thend didn¡¯t fancy humans who dirtied theirnds with vulgar actions. If I could prevent those troublesome old guys to be provoked by some immoral and poor humans who couldn¡¯t afford a hotel room to do their deeds, I thought I should work a bit. Even if it was caused by their own kind. Chapter 281 - 281 Trouble Comes One After Another 281 Trouble Comes One After Another (Jane¡¯s PoV) As soon as I activated my third eye, I could see some colors of aura mixing with the air. Among those colorful auras, I recognized the aura of lust aggressively attacking humans. Some of them even tried to approach me but quickly got repelled by my own aura. However, I noticed the flow of the aura was getting faster towards several spots in the camping site. It wasn¡¯t good! It would be okay if those people would only have wet dreams, but it would certainly be dangerous if they decided to act on their lust. Just thinking about it made my head hurt. Why would this kind of devil appear in this ce? It¡¯s really troublesome. Going out of my tent, I put a barrier around it before I went towards the source of evil aura. The night sky was getting darker with the fleeting dark clouds. The moon was hiding behind the clouds, leaving only very dim light to shine the ground. If it wasn¡¯t for the lights across the camping site, I doubted I could see the ground clearly. However, this was exactly the right situation to spread evilness. Forest was a ce of various creatures. I knew that fact after going into a wild one before. Compared to that forest, this man-made forest was more tamed. However, it wasn¡¯t free from unseen creatures. No matter what caused the appearance of this creature here, I needed to deal with their troublesome energy first. Walking towards where the energy was flowing rapidly like a stream of water, I noticed it headed towards two tents; one was when the problematic girl from before was, and the other one was at the boy¡¯s area. It was pretty obvious whose tent it was. But, since the both of them were inside their own tent, it should be alright, right? To be more sure that nothing would happen and disrupt our schedule, I waited while observing any changes in the aura and energy around me. Any changes regarding the intensity and density should be noticed immediately to prevent any mishap. Minutester, the flow and the color of the energy really changed. The deep pink color with red hues seemed to be injected new source of energy, making it wilder and fearless. Anyone who got affected with this aura would surely do anything to satisfy their desire. ..... Anything. I massaged my temples lightly, trying to soothe the uing headache. It was really troublesome. I walked back into my tent andid down properly as if I was sleeping. I couldn¡¯t possibly made a move with my own body; what if I was caught and questioned by themittee? Let¡¯s y safe. Pushing out of my own body, I made sure that there would be no harm falling upon my sleeping body. After that, I went out and quickly followed the stream of aura towards the tent I saw earlier. As expected, she ran away. The aura followed her, though, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about losing her. Following the stream of aura, I found myself heading towards a secluded area between the camping area and the forest. There was another trail of same aura went along with the one following the girl. Those two auras then mixed into one and I could imagine how big this creature would be after getting this much energy from these two troublemakers. My guess wasn¡¯t wrong. After walking for several minutes, I finally saw a beautiful androgyny creature whispering in the ears of two humans who were being entangled to each other. Fortunately, I wasn¡¯tte. They could still be salvaged. ¡°Sorry for disturbing your harvest, but you need to let them go.¡± I said to the creature. It was big, it¡¯s no where as big as the one I met in the hot spring. The androgyny creature turned it head towards me in shock, probably it couldn¡¯t believe that I could see it. Once its eyes caught sight of me, I could even notice the confusion in its eyes. ¡°You... you¡¯re still alive?¡± It asked in disbelief. ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Now, do you mind to let them go? You¡¯ve got enough energy, right?¡± The confusion in its face changed into an angry one. ¡°No! It¡¯s not enough. I need more. Don¡¯t disturb me, go away!¡± ¡°Then, you leave me with no other choice.¡± I shook my head and grabbed the air in front of me. The air sucked into a small vortex, and the devil was in no better condition as well. As soon as I pulled the air, it was bound to the air around it and contorted along with it. Well, it should be okay for it to be sucked into the small vortex, but of course it wasn¡¯t the case. I hid my sharp des in the vortex that by the time it went to the other side, it would turn into processed meating straight from a meat chopper. In no time, the devil was gone, along with its horrendous scream. What¡¯s left for me was the residue of its annoying aura. Even when the devil itself had gone, the aura itself could make human go crazy with lust. Then, it all depended on the human itself. Just like these two humans not too far away from me. They were obviously conscious that they should have stopped what they were doing, but since they already had their one foot inside the mud, they might think that they should just jump in it. All or nothing, but obviously in a bad way. I didn¡¯t mean to be a cockblock, but this should stop. I couldn¡¯t knock them out, I didn¡¯t want to let them out in the cold and let people find them tomorrow morning in an embarrassing state. The only thing that could make them return to the camp site was by scaring them. How hard would it be to be a ghost? So, I pretended to be a ghost. It was fun, actually. I just hoped there would be no trouble like this again in the future. Chapter 282 - 282 Ghost! 282 Ghost! ¡°GHOST!!¡± The two humans in disarrayed clothes ran for their lives when the big leaves of the trees made a form of a big creature and stepped towards them. ¡°HELP!!¡± Their shouts would surely wake everyone in the camp site. I was sure their parents would get a notice regarding their vulgar behavior during campus activity. After making sure those two wouldn¡¯te back, I slowly drifted back to the camp. But, now that I was in my spirit form, I could see them clearly. Not too far away from where the ¡®deed¡¯ was almost done, there were two guardians standing behind the trees -the trees couldn¡¯t hide theirrge bodies, of course. Their red eyes were staring right at me and I could sense a confusion in their eyes. There was a Kuntnak nearby, watching me intently the moment I stepped into the scene. Also, there were also some other creatures that I couldn¡¯t identify one by one, but they were all staring at me with different thoughts. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to attack me.¡± I warned them helplessly. A spirit without power and defense was a prey to every astral beings. My show of power was obviously being seen as weak in their eyes, but why would I waste too much of my power to scheme a grandiose performance only to scare those two puny humans? ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you or to drive you away from this ce. As long as you don¡¯t hurt anyone in this ce, I promise I won¡¯t do anything to you. But, if you try to attack me while thinking that you can consume me, I can only eradicate you for your own good.¡± With that being said, a wisp of blue me flickered in the tip of my finger, warning them about what I could do to them. Seeing the blue me which was the characteristics of White Army, those silly creatures stepped back in fear. Sighing, I put the me away and drifted away. ¡°So, you¡¯re the new Master. We¡¯ve heard about your name but just have the honor to meet you now. Greetings, Master of White Army.¡± Those two guardians greeted me. ..... I had no other choice but to stop and faced them again. Nodding my head as a way to ept their greetings, I was seriously considering to walk away or to continue chit-chatting with them. Then, I chose the second option. It wasn¡¯t good to walk on two Elders like that, not to mention they were warm and polite towards me. ¡°Greetings, Elders. I¡¯m so sorry for the disturbance. I hope you don¡¯t get offended with those two youngsters.¡± ¡°If you didn¡¯t show up, I would have kept their souls here as a punishment for dirtying ournd.¡± One of the guardian spoke up lightly. I was even sure he chuckled. ¡°Fortunately, things didn¡¯t go as bad as we thought it would be. It¡¯s all thanks to the Master of White Army. But, Mdy, please enlighten me, for I have a question for you.¡± ¡°What is it about?¡± My vignce shot up when I heard the request. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± ¡°...¡± What was he talking about? ¡°Pardon me?¡± ¡°I mean, why did you use your power to scare them? You can always ask one of us to do that for you. That woman, for example, is waiting for a chance to scare humans away while consuming their fear. But, you took the chance from her. Not that I¡¯mining, I¡¯m just wondering the reason you did so.¡± The guardian pointed at the Kuntnak who was looking at me eagerly now that she was mentioned. I blinked my eyes repeatedly, not sure how to answer that. Should I tell them that I just found it fun to scare people away? That I was enjoying my prank towards the same race as me? ¡°Mdy?¡± I looked up and met those curious gazes. Hah, I really couldn¡¯t lie to them. ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing special, actually. I just wanted to scare them away myself. I mean, why bothered asking for your help when I could toy with them? It¡¯s also a punishment for disobeying the rules.¡± There was an awkward silence in the air. They shouldn¡¯t have guessed that kind of reason woulde out from the mouth of a Master of astral army. I even suspected they thought of me as a petty master. Who would use their power to scare other people, anyway? It was okay if I were a shaman, since that was what shamans usually did. But, my identity was too far different with those of shamans. Pettiness wasn¡¯t supposed to be in my trait. ¡°Then, I¡¯m leaving.¡± I turned around and moved swiftly to run away from that ce. I would just leave it to their own interpretation. After I got in the chaotic camp site, I noticed that some people chose to stay in the tent, ignoring the chaos outside. I took a peek inside a tent which was opened a bit, curious as to why this tent was so quiet. Themp was off, clearly the person inside didn¡¯t care about what happened outside the tent. Hm? It turned out to be Sanji¡¯s tent. He looked like he was sleeping so soundly, but I knew for sure he couldn¡¯t turn off the noisy chattering and screaming outside. He must have just closed his eyes without actually sleeping. ¡°Sanji, you either sleep properly or don¡¯t sleep at all.¡± I talked to him through the opened door. He could hear me, I was sure of that. Sanji opened his eyes and pushed half of his body to rise from his sleeping mat. From the way his eyes were widening, he must be surprised as to why I appeared at this hour and in this form. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Sanji asked in a whisper. ¡°Taking a walk.¡± I shrugged, even though he couldn¡¯t see my shoulders behind the tent door. Sanji moved closer towards the tent and opened the door slowly. ¡°Come in.¡± I blinked my eyes without moving. ¡°Are you alone in this tent?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Sanji nodded. ¡°Come in quickly.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to join in the fun?¡± ¡°Not interested. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re the one behind all of those, right?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Heh, you don¡¯t suspect those creatures but me?¡± I smirked. ¡°Well, there are some points that didn¡¯t match. I still need to hear your side of story toplete it. Instead of going out there to listen to their ramblings, It¡¯s a lot better for me to ask you directly.¡± Sanji returned the smirk with his own sexy smirk. ¡°Fine.¡± I grumbled and drifted into his tent. Only after I entered that he closed the door tightly. ¡°Tom would be pissed if he knew you¡¯re in my tent alone. At night.¡± His teasing smileplemented the nasty glint in his eyes. He truly resembled a naughty fox in a nce. Chapter 283 - 283 Not On My Watch 283 Not On My Watch (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°What can you do to me? I didn¡¯te with my body, there¡¯s no reason for him to be jealous. Unless, you purposely leave the crucial detail from him.¡± Sanji chuckled. He might do that, after all, teasing Tom was always fun for him. As the one who had been holding the neutral force, I couldn¡¯t side with one of them. It was a good thing that he didn¡¯t talk about it further. ¡°So, what happened out there? I heard someone shouted ghost just now.¡± So, I told him what had happened briefly. As expected, his reaction was simr to those astral beings outside when I exined to them the reason I took the matter into my hand to scare the poor couple away. He was stunned and I could only scratch the non existent itch on my face while turning my face away from him awkwardly. Was it that bad? ¡°Jane, I have never thought of you using your power to scare fellow humans. You even went as far as pretending to be a ghost! How bored are you, actually? Why don¡¯t you just release your power like usual instead of holding it in so that you won¡¯t be bored? Surely, you will have more to watch than usual if you do it.¡± ¡°If I release my power, the ghosts will stay away from me and only those of high ranks will have a courage to provoke me. Only when I hide my power then those troublesome creatures won¡¯te and find trouble with me. It will be safer for everyone.¡± I tried to reason with him. Of course, I didn¡¯t tell him that the high rank ones were rare to be seen unless it was under special condition such as the weakening of the borderline or I was nearby a portal or special ces which contained high level of negativity. Or, the high rank devils were bored so they went to the human worlds for a ¡®patrol¡¯. Sanji squinted his eyes at me, peering to my eyes as if he didn¡¯t believe with what I had just said to him. ¡°Fine. But, have you thought about the consequences after scaring them like that?¡± ..... ¡°I know. Their fear is going to attract the other beings and there is a possibility that some of the people here are going to be possessed. Don¡¯t worry. They won¡¯t dare to approach this camp site now that they know I¡¯m here.¡± I nodded. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I nodded again. ¡°I¡¯ve left my trace here and there, so I¡¯m sure about it. It¡¯s not much, but it is enough to repel the low rank ones until morning.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve thought about it well. Well done.¡± Sanji smiled warmly at me and I could only hide the guilty conscience I had inside. Actually, I didn¡¯t think that far. I did leave some traces of my power here and there before I found his tent, but I honestly didn¡¯t consider the possibility of those two might bring fear into the hearts of the others in the camp site. Now that he asked about it, I suddenly had the need to return to the girls¡¯ camp to make sure everything was okay. ¡°I need to return to my tent. Sorry for waking you up. Also, you might want to be on guard, just in case my aura isn¡¯t enough to scare them off.¡± I told him before floating passed the tent and towards my own tent. I ignored the chaos those two created and hastily returned to the girls side only to find that there were wicked auras approaching from the other side of the forest towards the girls¡¯ camp area. Some of the girls were shaking in fear when they heard the exaggerating story from the others. These creatures smelled their fear so they came to join in the fun. Not on my watch, though. I shed towards the nearest tent to the forest area and, this time, seriously putting on a barrier around the site. The auras were different with the others that I met before. I wondered what made them different? Only after I finished putting on a barrier around the whole camping area, then I returned to my tent. The girls in my tent were sleeping soundly, thanks to the barrier I put around the tent. It didn¡¯t only protect them from negative auras, but it also helped them to feel rx. Unless it was something life-threatening, they wouldn¡¯t wake up easily. I returned to my body and slept through the night without any care about themotion outside. When I woke up in the morning, I found that I was the only one inside the tent. Apparently, the other three woke up early and were listening to what happened at night before from the others. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you slept through it. Were you sleeping or passing out? It was a bigmotion yet you were all sleeping like a log.¡± I heard someone was half-scolding my teammates. Who did she think she was to scold people like that? ¡°Did someone get possessed? I don¡¯t see any reason for us to care for something unimportant like that unless someone got possessed and attacked the others.¡± Daisy¡¯s calm voice was heard through the slightly open door. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing, but you should at least wake up to help the others.¡± ¡°Since everything¡¯s fine, why are you barking here in the morning? I¡¯ll wake upter if you¡¯re the one got possessed.¡± Daisy started to sound irritated. ¡°Just remember, I¡¯m not gentle towards possessed person. Now, scram!¡± Even without seeing her expression I knew that she was smiling menacingly. As expected of our Goddess! I walked out of the tent, feeling that it was enough for me for eavesdropping the girls¡¯ fight. Daisy, Yuni, and Alivia were sitting in front of the tent casually while there were two girls standing in front of them, looking agitated. Those two must have noticed my arrival. Their sharp gaze turned towards me as if they wanted to intimidate me with their re. Did they think I would be intimidated by their gazes? I had passed that point in life where I would feel fear from a gaze alone. Instead, I remembered Sanji once told me that if I didn¡¯t control my gaze properly, I would look like I could actually threaten someone, especially my cold stare. It was a promise of terrifying death for the one I was staring at. He even said that it might be because of my experience in facing death during my battle with shamans, shadows, and everything. I¡¯d say he was exaggerating. I had looked up in the mirror and I thought that I looked exactly the same with the me before. I admitted that sometimes I might look psychotic or even cold, but it wasn¡¯t to the point that I would look terrifying. So, this kind of gaze baffled me. I blinked my eyes innocently at them, showing a clueless look on my face as to why they would be so pissed off. ¡°Another dumbzy b*tch acting like she doesn¡¯t need a boy when she actually depends on them so much that she could sleep like a f*cking log.¡± She muttered loud enough for me to hear. Excuse me? What was that? Why couldn¡¯t I understand a word she was saying? Where did that hatrede from? It was still early in the morning, why would these girlse provoking us? My brain felt like it was being electrocuted from how vulgar those words were. Somehow, I felt like I needed to show them how to clean their mouths properly for saying bad things to other people. ¡°Hey, watch your words!¡± Yuni hissed furiously. She stood up and faced them with a re. ¡°Y-yes! That¡¯s not ni-nice of you for saying things to other people!¡± The shy Alivia joined in even though she still looked timid towards people other than us. Of course, I wasn¡¯t the one who would take any form of insult well. Before I knew it, my expression had turned cold. ¡°Bad mouthing people can be very dangerous.¡± I said icily. Honestly, I could just do something to her right at this moment, but what was the difference between the shamans and me? So, even though I was annoyed, I couldn¡¯t do anything to her at this moment. Not that I couldn¡¯t do anything to herter, it was just not the right time. Then, I noticed the change in their expressions. Their arrogance disappeared, leaving only a trace of fear and intimidation on their faces. They stepped back and I noticed their steps faltered a bit. So, I stepped forward, not having an ounce of wanting to intimidate them. It just felt right. But, Daisy didn¡¯t let me. She got up from her seat and stood up between me and them. I didn¡¯t know what kind of expression she had on her face, but I heard a baffling sentenceing from her mouth. ¡°I¡¯m saving you both. Now scram!¡± Chapter 284 - 284 Teamwork (1) 284 Teamwork (1) (Jane¡¯s PoV) After watching those girls leaving our sight, I was met with Daisy¡¯s calm eyes. I thought she was going to confront me about something, but to my surprise, she wasn¡¯t. ¡°Go clean yourself. They will be delivering breakfast soon.¡± I flinched when she reached out to my face, only to find that she was moving a strand of my hair away from my cheek. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll go now.¡± I nodded obediently and went to retrieve my things in the tent before I went towards the public bathroom. ¡°I¡¯m going with you.¡± Alivia chased after me with her own basket and a towel in her hands. I waited until we were a bit far from the tent before I looked at my junior who was walking behind me obediently. It was still early in the morning, so not many of the girls had woken up. ¡°What happened just now? Who were the girls before?¡± Alivia sighed. ¡°I remembered seeing them with the girl from yesterday. You know... who got into a scandal.¡± ¡°And? Why did they look for trouble in our tent?¡± I honestly couldn¡¯t see the rtionship between them. ..... ¡°Actually the girls next to our tent came first and told us about what happenedst night since none of us came out to see the show. We said that we were deeply asleep probably because we felt tired after the long trip here. Then, they came and started to find fault, saying that we could sleep well because the boys were guarding the night and what¡¯s wrong with apanying a boy for a bit during their night patrol? Why would their friend be used of such a scandal when she was just apanying him? Also, they thought that we were pretentious since we refused to ept any boys into our group for the activitiester.¡± Alivia didn¡¯t sound timid and shy at all while telling me the story that I missed. I smirked slightly when I heard their defense against the usation being thrown at their friends. If only they saw what was going on between themst night, I was sure they couldn¡¯t say that they were doing night patrol. Also, who said two most suspected people were assigned to do night patrol? We all knew that they were supposed to be locked up in their tents and the ones who were doing night patrols were the lecturers and themittees. If only they realized how stupid they were. Even those who were involved in the scandal didn¡¯t mention that they were on dutyst night, why would their pig teammate make up such a stupid story to defend them? ¡°I¡¯m sure they just wanted to find a punch bag. Are they stupid to pick on our group? Didn¡¯t they hear about Daisy? Even though she is called as a Goddess, but she wasn¡¯t a pushover. Her reputation didn¡¯te on baseless rumor. Or, maybe it is because our team has more juniors than senior that they came to find trouble?¡± Alivia frowned as she pondered my words carefully. She might have noticed it, too, but she didn¡¯t have the answer. If it wasn¡¯t one hundred percent, then it must be more than fifty percent that the reason they picked our group was not only because we slept through the ordealst night, but because the most well-known quiet girls in the department were in our group. The girls who would usually ignore the dirty talk aimed at them would be the perfect outlet for them to release their anger and annoyance. Again, I pitied their ability to judge someone¡¯s character. How did theye up with the idea that a quiet person was the best to bully? Alivia might stutter and look timid, but I knew she was a time bomb. Yuni was a whole different person. She even might have a psychotic tendency when she was triggered. Why would they think these people were the weakest? Indeed, one needed to speak up when they were being treated badly. It didn¡¯t necessarily have to be regr, but at least, one or two times and it had to be unexpected and leaving a deep impression so that no one would dare to mess with them. I looked at the still silent Alivia and shook my head. Maybe this outing could help her to be more fierce towards those rude people around her. Hopefully, Daisy could rub her confidence and powerful bearing on her. ¡°Shout if something bad happens.¡± I told her before I entered one of the public bathrooms. Alivia nodded and entered the one next to mine. The location of these public bathrooms were the closest to the forest and I could still feel the sinister aura hiding in the woods. Who knew what these creatures were nning to do to us? Fortunately, nothing bad happened and we could return to the camping area safely. No one talked about the incident this morning and we had our breakfast peacefully. After having breakfast, we were gathered in the middle of the camp and led towards the outer area. The most exciting part of the outing began! ¡°Our first schedule for today is Treasure Hunt. Each group will get an envelope with your own mission to do and a map of route. The route is mostly the same for everyone. You will set out as a group and make sure you will also return in a group. The first five groups who can maintain their teamwork and return as one within thirty minutes will receive a gold card. The rest will get silver and copper card ording to their efforts.¡± The Supervisor of the activity, a middle aged lecturer named Sir Fikri, loudly announced while themittee members were handing out an envelope to the groups and a group of workers in this facility was handing out a two ways radio. ¡°Bear in mind that you need to keep your safety first and contact themittee with the radio if something dangerous happens to you or your teammate or the people around you. Of course, we don¡¯t want that to happen, but just in case it does happen, immediately let us know. There will be security guards andmittee members in the checkpoints where you will submit the item you get and get a stamp as a return, so you can stop there and announce your withdrawal from the game. They will send you back here to the camping site if you do so.¡± ¡°Of course, once you withdraw from the game, the whole group will be disqualified as well.¡± The blinding smile on his old face looked mischievous instead of his usual friendly image. Sir, I think you¡¯re enjoying it too much than you should be, I said inwardly. ¡°Ah, I almost forgot to remind you. This morning trial is just a quarter of the real er. So, be prepared. Let¡¯s pray together before we start the game, shall we? Begin.¡± Anyints were swallowed when the word ¡®begin¡¯ was heard. We all bowed our head and prayed for our safety to the one and only God as sincere as we could be. I, at least, was sincere with my pray. I prayed so that no one would get hurt from whatever it was hidden in this ce. A few minutester, we set out with a map in our hands and a list of objects that we needed to bring with us to the checkpoints to get our stamps. Daisy and Yuni led the way and Alivia and I jogged behind them acting as their supports. It was supposed to be a peaceful morning with woods, fresh air, and birds, but the shouts andughs totally ruined it. ¡°What should we find first?¡± Yuni asked while maintaining her breath. ¡°A gold medal.¡± I told her while reading the clues written on the paper. ¡°A what?¡± Daisy stopped in her tracks and turned her head towards me. I stopped jogging and showed her the paper in my hand. It was written ¡®a prize of a champion, loved and wanted by many, a symbol of fortune, hidden beneath the warm nket of green.¡¯ Whoever made this clues must be out of ideas. ¡°It could be a trophy.¡± Alivia shrugged her shoulders after reading the sentence. ¡°We can only check.¡± I sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no number on it. How do you know it is the first?¡± Yuni flipped the paper repeatedly to see if there was something hidden in the paper. I didn¡¯t need to answer, though. Daisy opened the map carefully and scanned the map. ¡°Because the map has the number.¡± She said. I smiled. She was right. There were numbers on the map to mark the sequences of the items we needed to retrieve. The closest to us was the number one mark, which happened to be in the next corner. Since we already had the coordinate, we continued our jogging and only stopped when we reached the ce where it was supposed to be the point from the map. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡± Alivia looked around. ¡°The others have started to look around for their item. Maybe we should, too.¡± Sounds of cheers of excitement and disappointed groaning could be heard from various directions. I bet the ones who was discouraged didn¡¯t read their clues and maps carefully. Even though we were almost at the first checkpoint, it didn¡¯t mean that the first item would necessarily be here. It could be around the checkpoint instead. But, these people were drawn to themotion and assumed that their first item would be here. Howughable! ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I recollected myself and turned myself away from the chaotic scene to enter the woods on our left. ¡°What are we looking for here?¡± Yuni looked around, totally clueless with what we were doing. ¡°Green nket.¡± Daisy jogged ahead of us. Her eyes were fixated towards a certain direction and she gradually moved faster in approaching that spot. But, something shed towards her and I instinctively shouted, ¡°Daisy, stop!¡± Chapter 285 - 285 Teamwork (2) 285 Teamwork (2) (Jane¡¯s PoV) The pair of red eyes, which were the only discernible from its dark pitch and shapeless body, were looking at us eerily. They were sinister, a promise of fear and agony for a very long time. It was not a ghost; it was a shadow. A remarkably evil shadow. It was a good thing that I managed to stop Daisy from approaching that malicious being. It scared me when I thought of the possibility of harm it could cause to Daisy if she made a contact unknowingly with it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Daisy looked at me weirdly. ¡°Ah, I thought I saw a big rat there.¡± It was a lie, of course. How could I say that there was a shadow there? ¡°Rat? Are you sure?¡± I nodded quickly and walked past her in a haste. I needed to get closer to the shadows to ensure their safety. ¡°Stay behind me. I¡¯ll check first.¡± I told them. The wind danced in the palm of my hands. Judging from the way it looked so dark and emitted a bad smell -which was covered by the smell of soil, moss, and mostly woods -I needed to exert more power to provide a full guarantee of security for my teammates. ..... Hah! I nned to have a rather normal life but what was it? It had not even been 24 hours since I stepped inside this ce but I already had to work. Didn¡¯t I tell myself to stay away from the astral creatures? Wasn¡¯t my purpose in learning to control my power to avoid any unnecessary shes with these creatures? Then why did I feel like these creatures that popped were getting stronger from the previous ones? This thought didn¡¯t appear without reason into my mind, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice it. It was like I was being steered toe to this ce and to deal with thisplicated things. Whether someone was deliberately manipting things behind the scene, or it was the will of the Universe, I couldn¡¯t decide for now. If this were the case, even if I wanted to hide my third eyes, I couldn¡¯t do it. That thing aside, this shadow wanted to harm mypanions in my presence? Hah, you wish! I was about to flick my fingers to send wind des towards it, but I noticed a familiar barrier was trapping the shadow. The way it glistened in grey was too familiar to ignore. Was he watching us this whole time? Unknowingly, a smile crept on my face as my eyes scanned the surrounding area, trying to find Sanji¡¯s figure somewhere. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t find him. I wonder where he was at this moment. Since the shadow couldn¡¯t move or attack us, it was safe to assume that I could let my friends roaming around the area to find for clues. ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡± I told Daisy with a smile. ¡°Great.¡± As soon as she got the green light, she dashed towards the area near the shadow which was being confined. I noticed the way it growled as it tried to break free from its cage. Its long ws were trying to prate the barrier only to be sliced by the thin and sharp needle from Sanji. The distance between Daisy¡¯s hand and the shadow was not too distant, and I worried it would suddenly go into rage and break the cage and hurt her. I was ashamed of myself. I should have trust Sanji more. Good thing was Sanji didn¡¯t know I had a doubt of his ability. ¡°I got it!¡± Daisy stood up in excitement. There was a gold medal in her right hand and a piece of newspaper in her other hand. ¡°It¡¯s really a medal!¡± Alivia jumped in excitement as Daisy approached them. Seeing that they were in a safe distance from the shadow made me sigh in relief. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We need to submit it in the first checkpoint to get our first gold card.¡± Yuni waved to us to go to the first checkpoint quickly. The faster we submitted the item, the faster our record would be. Looking back towards the trapped shadow, I noticed the cage was starting to disappear. Sanji seemed to know when he should retract his special power even when I couldn¡¯t see him. As if feeling upset that its prey slipped away, the shadow made a move to attack us. Its dark body shed to where Daisy was, but it might forget about my presence or stupid enough to attack under my watch. Before it could reach its ws towards mypanions, my wind de had sliced through it. The smoke like de disappeared upon contact with its dark body but the effect wasn¡¯t diminish. It was like it was never there but the slice was real. Blood-curling screech prated the air and the birds on the trees flew away in shock. The shadow retreated in a haste while its formless body was scattering away slightly. ¡°What was that?¡± Yuni¡¯s presence right next to me made me startle. She was bewildered and her eyes darted left and right, searching for something. She couldn¡¯t be talking about the shadow¡¯s screaming, right? ¡°What was what?¡± Feigning ignorance was the best option for me. ¡°Did you hear that? I heard a creepy screaming just now. Look! I still have a goosebumps!¡± Yuni showed me her arms but her eyes still darted here and there in alert. So, she really could hear it, huh? ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything. What are you talking about?¡± ¡°No way! It was so loud! The birds also ran away because of the sound!¡± ¡°Yuni, please, don¡¯t scare me.¡± Frowning, I tried to sound as timid and scared as possible. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Daisy and Alivia will be looking for us if we get separated.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her to respond. Dragging her back to the road, we caught up with Daisy and Alivia who were collecting our first golden card from the first checkpoint. They even provided drinks for us, but that wasn¡¯t what made me stunned. ¡°Wee to the first checkpoint. Is everything okay?¡± A middle aged yet beautifuldy weed our arrival while checking on us quietly. I had not seen her before which meant she was one of the personnel of this site. ¡°Yes, everything¡¯s great. I want to exchange our first item with golden card.¡± Daisy took out the medal from her pocket and handed it to them. The process was quick as they tried to keep our record as short as possible. But, I really couldn¡¯t focus on the exchange. My eyes were staring at another pair of gloomy and red eyes right in front of me, wondering why this shadow was standing next to this beautifuldy. Chapter 286 - 286 Teamwork (3) 286 Teamwork (3) (Jane¡¯s PoV) ¡°Human, you can see me.¡± From the way it talked, it seemed like it wasn¡¯t a wild and low level shadow. Also, it seemed to have existed for a long time. I bit my tongue, holding myself not to respond since it would only create amotion. As much as I was curious, I couldn¡¯t openly ask this shadow about anything. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Our second item is waiting!¡± Yuni shouted excitedly as a card with a stamp of first checkpoint was being pocketed by Alivia. I shifted my eyes towards my friends and acted like I didn¡¯t see the shadow. It was toote, I know, but it wasn¡¯t the point. After all, high level shadows weren¡¯t only smart and evil, they were also highly curious about human who could see them. More importantly, I didn¡¯t react strongly like what normal humans would do. It would surely follow me! ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± With a new spirit, I made our way towards the second location. This time, it wasn¡¯t as dangerous as before -it was dangerous because there was an evil shadow, actually- and it only needed our speed and strength to be able to finish it as soon as possible. However, there was one tiny problem. The spot that had the second item only provided two tforms, which meant, there would be a long queue if we weren¡¯t fast enough. And, if we failed on our attempt, we needed to line up again. ..... ¡°Are you sure the second ce will be crowded?¡± Daisy confirmed the information she got. ¡°Uh-hum.¡± I nodded after confirming that the ce we were heading was indeed the same with thedy in the checkpoint said. ¡°Then, let¡¯s go! We need to move faster!¡± Daisy kicked her feet and dashed towards the second challenge spot. As the ones younger than her, we couldn¡¯t possibly lose to her. Couple of minutester, we arrived at the second spot. As expected, there were many teams queueing nearby. There were some of them that had just arrived, and some of them had arrived way long before us. From the way they panted and sweated a lot, I guessed it was something rted to running. Ry? The queue was long, but in no time, we arrived at the front line and received an exnation. ¡°Is it your first try?¡± A man who was wearing a uniform of the camping site with a name tag ¡®Opan¡¯ written on the right breast, asked us with a smile. ¡°Yes.¡± Our heads nodded as we all looked at him eagerly, waiting for him to exin the rules. ¡°Well, it¡¯s pretty simple. Each of you will stand on different ces. I have ced several long shelves on each path with many different items. If the four of you can bring me these items and ry it to your friends before the time runs out, I can give you a stamp. Also, you only have 80 seconds.¡± With that being said, Mr. Opan handed us a piece of paper where there were four items written on it. Cactus toy, a pen, a paper bag, and a pack of melon seeds. ¡°The first runner will pick one item and pass it to the second runner. The second runner will pick one item and pass the two items in her hands towards the third runner and so on. Is that right?¡± Daisy asked, confirming the rules. ¡°...You can say so.¡± Mr. Opan nodded, still with a friendly smile on his face. Somehow I felt that his reaction was a bit off. Did he mean something else? ¡°Okay. We got it.¡± Daisy nodded and turned to face us. ¡°Who wants to be the first runner? Cactus toy, a pen, a paper bag, and a pack of melon seeds. Make sure you remember it.¡± ¡°Should we divide who will take what?¡± Yuni asked. ¡°No. As long as it still on the list and still isn¡¯t in your hand, take it. I doubt they will provide the same items in different path. Alivia, you will be the first runner. Yuni, you will take...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take thest.¡± I told her before she could appoint a role for me. ¡°Great. Then, Yuni will be the second and I will be the third. Jane, are you sure you can do it? Make sure you don¡¯t lose any of it on your way back.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± I nodded my head, trying to assure her that I would be okay. ¡°Okay. We¡¯re ready.¡± Daisy faced the still smiling Mr. Opan. ¡°Great! Let¡¯s start!¡± Mr. Opan arranged for an electric car to take us towards our own spot. ¡°Honestly speaking, Mr. Opan¡¯s reaction when answering your question was a bit off. He might mean no matter what we pick, as long as the items he asks is being delivered by thest runner, he will still give us a stamp.¡± I told them as soon as we got on to the electric car. ¡°Well, there¡¯s no harm in making n B. What do you suggest we should do?¡± Daisy looked at me curiously. ¡°I say, each one of us only have approximately 20 seconds. Count the seconds properly. If you still can¡¯t find the item in the fifteenth second, pick anything. The next runner would change it with the ones from her shelves. If we¡¯re lucky, we could even take two or more items before we pass it on to the next person. Just hope there will be same items from the list in one shelf.¡± ¡°Nice idea. Let¡¯s do it. Fifteen seconds, find it or not, run towards the next runner. We will cover up for you. We need to shorten the time as soon as possible so that the others can search the item properly.¡± Daisy nodded and in a short time, we all agreed that my n B would be closely executed if something wrong happened. As soon as the ry started, I watched from the other side of the field as Alivia tried hard to run as fast as she could. There¡¯s no shyness like any other girls when they ran. She really tried hard. I couldn¡¯t see what she picked but she did a great job not dying her movement. Yuni also shot like an arrow as soon as Alivia passed her the item she had in hand. When it was Daisy¡¯s turn, my body went into full alert. I watched as she picked two items from her shelves before she ran towards me. ¡°Melon seeds! Pen! We still need melon seeds and pen!¡± She shouted on top of her lungs as she ran towards me. Melon seeds and pen! I repeated those words inside my brain. After Daisy passed me the three items from her hands, I pushed my feet off the ground and shot towards the shelves on myne. My heart thumped loudly in my chest and I almost lost count of the seconds I took. Melon seeds! Pen! Melon seeds! Pen! My eyes scanned the shelves for the pack of melon seeds and a pen. It took me a second before I found the pack of melon seeds. I reced the melon seeds with the sword toy in my hands. Two secondster, I found the pen on top of the shelves, almost missed it since it wasn¡¯t on my eyes level. Grabbing the pen in one hand and three other items being hugged close to me, I dashed towards the finish line while counting and hoping that I didn¡¯t miscalcte the time I took. Mr. Opan pushed on the stopwatch button as soon as I arrived in front of him and put the things on the table with a loud thud. Breathing heavily, I stared at him, silently waiting for him to announce whether we passed this challenge or not. ¡°You guys....¡± Mr. Opan shook his head and I couldn¡¯t feel my heart thump even loudly. ¡°Congrattions! You did it on your first try! Seventy six seconds!¡± The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!