"Is everybody okay?!", Lei Zhe shouted as loud as he could. His face was currently ashen after that earthquake. Even if they are not normal people, there could be any accidents.
"Don't worry Zhe, they are here because they were chosen by their Elders, they wouldn't be endangered just by this.", Yun Ju Mei comforted him while she tugged his sleeve.
"Mei...", Lei Zhe then looked at the injured children that have already being tended by their guardians or their Elders.
He barely survived unscathed in that earthquake, unable to point his attention to others and he was already at the 4th Step of Earthly Realm. Who he was truly worried about was Lei Mu. Uncle Xiu is just as strong as he if not stronger, he shouldn't be able to help Lei Mu. Her only hope is Elder Min, yet, Elder Min was yet to be found in these rubbles and shattered rocks created by the earthquake.
"Miss is right, Lei Zhe. It's not anyone's responsibility for this one and these wounds heal themselves.", a near adult tried to comfort him.
Lei Zhe lowered his head while he tightly held Yun Ju Mei's hand, "Mei, can I tell them?"
Yun Ju Mei was startled a bit before replying, "What? Do you mean about the skill?!", she whispered.
Lei Zhe nodded as he stared at Yun Ju Mei's eyes.
"I was already surprised when you told that skill to your teacher but if you told it to these people, they will rely on you. The Patriarch gave this to us for us to preserve our life and it's not like we can use it on them."
"But, we can. We can use it with support."
Yun Ju Mei fell silent, 'He really is kind.'
"...okay"
"Is it really?", Lei Zhe asked again but more cheerful this time.
"Yes", Yun Ju Mei thought, 'Why is he getting cheerful? He is just helping others.'
"You know..."
"What?"
"I didn't form a Soul Connection with you just because you are the best student in the Yun Clan.", Lei Zhe smiled.
"...", Yun Ju Mei's face suddenly flushed red as she turned her head in surprise, "... okay"
Lei Zhe couldn't see it but he knew that Yun Ju Mei was trying not to smile but he was wrong, she was already smiling hard.
His face then turned serious as he faced the crowd and to get their attention, "Everyone!"
"I have something important to disclose!"
Having a strong foundation in his energy, he easily garnered the attention of all the adults.
"The two of us have a skill which can instantly move people one place from another."
A parent then stood up and shouted in anger, "What?! Are you telling me that we could just escape earlier but you chose to keep it to yourself?!"
"Wait! Nobody said that we kept it to ourselves!", Yun Ju Mei was angered by the man's unreasonable attitude.
"Then why didn't you use it earlier?", another man stood up. Even their kids started to think and side with them.
"Why didn't you tell-!", another parent stood up to support but was interrupted;
"Please, contain yourselves!", from Lei Zhe and Yun Ju Mei's back, Elder Min's voice loudly resounded.
Lei Zhe turned around to see the three; Elder Min, Uncle Xiu, and Lei Mu unharmed. His heart suddenly lost a lot of weight in its carry.
"They are trying to inform us right now, so why are you interrupting?!", Elder Min shouted at the crowd before looking at the other Elders while having a disappointed face.
"Teacher Xiu, what happened? Where did you all go?", Lei Zhe tried to ask.
Uncle Xiu then placed his fist on top of Lei Mu's head before complaining, "This kid here is pretty troublesome. She was the one who searched for us instead of the other way around!"
"Ehhh? But earlier, I was worried about you two.", Lei Mu whimpered.
"What? You are just a kid, worry about yourself.", Uncle Xiu rubbed his fist on Lei Mu's head before removing it.
Lei Zhe couldn't help but let out a smile, 'What a lucky girl, it's a good she wasn't a bit affected by the earthquake.', he thought, 'One will never know when the Gods will favor you.'
"Lei Zhe", Elder Min called, "if you can continue."
Lei Zhe nodded as he stared down the crowds again, "Please, listen, I alone cannot perform this skill. If I do, I will be excluding myself in the process."
The crowds came to complete silence.
"This skill will take a lot of energy from both of us. So it would be best to use it only in an emergency."
"However, do note that only those who are at the Earthly Realm can support in using this skill or that person will be included when both of us will be left behind."
"Is that really true?", a muttered voice was heard and was followed.
"So he didn't use the skill earlier to save him trouble?", whispers around the people buzzed the place, "That's just selfish."
A nerve popped out on Yun Ju Mei's forehead, "What's their problem?! That attitude is very unreasonable and obnoxious! We weren't even supposed to tell them these!", she angrily whispered beside Lei Zhe.
"I am sorry for these people's attitude, Miss Mei.", Elder Min sincerely apologize in a whispering manner, "Right now, we are taking a risky move by separating ourselves from the Powerhouses which they have absolute faith in. And now, such an earthquake happened, some of their children were wounded.", he spoke as if he can read right through anyone, "They are currently scared and in fear of losing a loved one."
"But don't they think about us too?", Yun Ju Mei frowned.
Lei Zhe slightly tightened the grip of his hand, "Mei, don't fight the keen and insightful mind of an Elder."
To this, Yun Ju Mei was obedient, "Hm..", she nodded.
Ignoring the people's attitude, Lei Zhe continued;
"And one last thing, we need cooperation with this. To anyone nearby when an emergency happened, do not be afraid of risks, just give your full support and we can instantly use this skill efficiently."
"Can we really trust them?", the buzzing sound from the crowd came back;
"They still haven't shown us proof whether or not they can use it."
"What if they couldn't do it at the time of the emergency?"
"Risking our lives to a pair of kids? I don't think so."
"Why would we lie about this?!", Yun Ju Mei had enough and couldn't hold it in, "We are the ones who are risking the most here! We shouldn't even be telling you this!"
The people weren't appeased by this but instead, it made them into rebuttal:
"What?! Watch your attitude!"
"Just because you're a top student you can speak with your elders just like that!"
"You have an obligation to-!"
Bang!* a loud explosion from afar startled them as they gave their full attention to it, leaving them interrupted.
What they saw was very disturbing. They only noticed now but where is the Sacrifice and why is there such a huge monster on there instead?
Then they saw flashes of lightning and the Sky Snake King. These were the skills of their Patriarchs! For a moment, they all have synchronized thoughts, 'Go!', but it turned out futile in front of that monster.
Fear started to overcome their very being. Only they knew how much they wanted to go home and be safe and sound. And they already have a huge distance from the monster but it was still as big as half the Sacrifice.
Some of them had already fallen down to their knees as it relentlessly shivered.
Only Lei Mu felt no danger, 'Awesome, awesome, awesome! There is a monster that big!?', it couldn't be blamed when she was just a child. Maybe she doesn't know much about what kind of beings like that can do.
If somebody else knew what was inside Lei Mu's head, they would slap her and shout to her how that thing can grab them all from its position, killing them on the spot.
Lei Mu watched like a child in a modern world watching her favorite movie with huge monsters in it and her favorite Powerhouses were fighting against that.
Everyone was losing their mind while she watched for her entertainment. She couldn't be even compared to the Lei Mu who was scared to meet an Elder a month ago.
However, the fear easily subsided as one of the Elders shouted, "Bloodform!"
Bloodform? Isn't that the mythical form exclusive to a special bloodline? It is said to be the strongest form anyone from the clan can have. But can that really be enough? And it proved itself yes as they saw how defenseless the monster is against the Patriarchs in their Bloodform. In their minds, that monster is as good as dead.
"Everybody!", Elder Min shouted, "We still need to continue our way. Accidents may still happen."
Unexpectedly, everybody turned obedient and followed Elder Min.
Lei Zhe was amazed by how much Elder Min can read through those people. Turns out they are really unreasonable because of fear. Now that they saw the people who they have their faith in was stronger than they thought, they thought that then Powerhouses will just be watching their backs.
"Lei Mu, everybody else is moving, come on.", Uncle Xiu called out.
"Hmm, yes!", Lei Mu was hesitant to turn her back to such an awesome scene and before she could turn her back, she saw a person running towards them.
She squinted her eyes and saw this person has black messy hair and black eyes. This was not special but coupled with his dark-hued robes and pale face, the colors were contrasting.
This man was sweating all over while seemingly forcing himself to run through the broken ground, sometimes losing balance and stumbling but still getting back on his feet right after.
'A weird stranger.', she wanted to tell Uncle Xiu but this man strangely waved at her with a smile.
"Lei Mu!", Uncle Xiu found that Lei Mu wasn't still by his side. He too then saw the stranger as he immediately shouted in his head, 'Esseker?!', but shook his head and instead shouted, "Elders, there is a strange man running towards us right now!" while he ran towards Lei Mu.
The man that was waving with a smile had a weird expression when he saw Uncle Xiu and when he reached them, he stopped and panted before asking, "Do you guys know where the Soulless Garden is?"
Uncle Xiu only had his eyebrows frowned.
"Umm, I think it was at the end of this road. It's nearby.", Lei Mu answered.
The man smiled widely again before asking Uncle Xiu, "Have I... met you somewhere before?"
"No", Uncle Xiu shook his head, "This is the first time that we have met."
"Oh really? I felt familiar towards you, strangely enough, but, well then, I am in a hurry.", he waved his hand before running at a speed of jogging. He passed everyone while they stared at him. He looked harmless but weird.
Is he all alone? Inside this forest?
Lei Zhe felt bothered by it that when the man overpassed him, he instinctively followed the man.
"Lei Zhe?", Yun Ju Mei held his hand.
"I think we should go after him, he seemed to have a problem.", he said in a worried tone.
"But if we left these people here, they will mob us.", she whispered but was easily heard.
"Hahaha, don't worry about us anymore miss. I don't think we will ever be in danger, Miss! Please go ahead.", one of the men who shouted angrily earlier said.
"Umm", Yun Ju Mei felt bothered by their sudden change of attitude but remembered what Elder Min had said earlier and just nodded her head, "Alright"
"Let's go."
"Okay", she smiled before the two of them ran and followed the stranger.
'That's a bad idea.', Uncle Xiu thought at the back.