A few days later..
Darkness.. It feels so dark.. ! Drowning.. I'm drowning.. ! Duan Cai thought to himself in a panic as he sat in his back yard. Sitting on the grass he was trying to calm his mind enough to cultivate but everything he tried seemed to be useless at the present time. It was like his mind was being sucked into an abyss.
They were not even his own parents and yet he was somehow feeling very cold inside his body. He could not describe what he was feeling but his own eyes seemed to sting and yet he had never cried before. What was this pain and why did it hurt? He had suffered countless physical damage throughout his existence and yet something so minor as losing a few ants that were attached to his mortal body was somehow dealing more internal damage to him than he had ever felt before.
The past few days it had felt like everyone has been on edge trying to avoid him. Were they worried about him? Or were they worried about what he might do in such a situation?
Small golden lights seemed to encircle around Duan Cai while he sat there with his eyes closed. His mind was clouded with many thoughts but he did his best to push them aside. Footsteps could be heard from the side as he heard someone trying to cautiously approach him at a distance. They were obviously trying to check on him without properly approaching him completely.
"Baby boss?" Adele said in a questioning tone as if she was testing the water before further pressing him for attention. As usual she carried a heavy scent of booze and her appearance was one to draw in another person's attention at a glance.
"I'm busy." Duan Cai stated with a slight blush to his face from the woman's appearance as he closed his eyes again in attempt to concentrate on his cultivation.
"Baby boss, you're so serious it's scary!" She blurted out as she flopped her body against his causing him to collapse on his back with her on top of him. Her chest was nearly smothering him in a firm hug as she nuzzled him closely in her grasp.
"Le-Leon!" Duan Cai shouted loudly for help.
"He's working right now.." Adele calmly spoke as she stroked the top of Duan Cai's head as if she was cradling him in attempt to sooth him.
Duan Cai's brow twitched slightly as the woman continued to tightly hold him close to her chest while she was sitting atop his lap in the grass. His face was slightly flushed red as his mind contemplated how to escape the situation he was in while he also felt a slight warmth as it felt inviting and somehow comfortable.
"Do you really need to take advantage of your boss in this situation?" Bullet scoffed as he walked over. His arm reaching out to pull Adele away from Duan Cai.
"I am not!" Adele glared at the man as if she was being wrongly accused for something. "I was simply trying to help given the circumstances.."
"Bullshit you-" Bullet started to scold Adele but was quickly cut off by a sudden shout from Duan Cai that neither of them was expecting.
"It's fine! Just leave!" Duan Cai's voice raised slightly as he felt like if they continued to fight in front of him in that moment that he might lose his temper.
Adele quickly fled at the sight of Duan Cai getting annoyed. It was not something she was use to seeing and she was not sure how to react in the moment. The only thing she could think of was to remove herself before things got worse. Bullet was the only one who stayed in the situation as he simply paced himself over and sat across from Duan Cai.
"What are you doing?" Duan Cai glared at Bullet questioningly. He could not feel any ill intentions from Bullet given his connection to the man but he still felt puzzled by the action.
"Cultivating." A slight sarcastic smirk crept up on Bullet's face as he sat cross legged with his eye closed. A transparent golden chain started to appear as they both cultivated at the same time. The chain seemed to be connected to Bullet as it came from his chest and disappeared in thin air like a ghost. It was the golden chain that connected his soul to Duan Cai's.
Though Duan Cai could read every emotion and thought that Bullet had even before he himself could react on them Bullet was never suppose to be expected to read Duan Cai's emotions in return. It might have been faint in that moment but Bullet was sure that there was something calling out to his own soul. A faint flicker of emotion that was not his own was being sent to him as if a distress signal was calling for help.
Bullet was not certain about what he was feeling but he had heard clearly over time what their connection meant for Duan Cai. If Duan Cai could get his emotions than he would not be surprised if the connection was to be able to reverse itself in some way. As much as he did not like being forced into the situation to work for them but at the moment what he could have swore he felt was so dark and broken that he almost couldn't understand it himself.
"Has she been found yet?" Duan Cai asked without opening his eyes as his mind started to wonder over towards his sister. He had not heard any updates lately about her from the others even though he had ordered them to locate her. It was a matter that was starting to bother him more and more as time went on without her being found.
"She still has not been spotted. It seems as though where ever she is.. she's been able to avoid going to the streets." Bullet slowly opened his eyes to look at Duan Cai with a calm expression. He could sense the slight tinge of worry coming from Duan Cai where his sister was involved.
For Duan Cai there was no way he would not be able to feel his mortal emotions beginning to rise where his younger sister was involved. Among the mortal memories he had been given when he took over the earth boy's body the sister was one among those closest to him. He had grown up protecting the girl because even her own father had been barely able to look after her due to how constantly he gave his life to work. She had spent most of her days locked away at home alone from what she could recall of her own childhood until their families merged together and she began to cling to Duan Cai.
Duan Cai thought he felt nothing personally for the mortal girl because he was not the mortal Duan Cai that had spent all those years looking after her personally, but she was important to the mortal version of himself that he had taken over now so he was determined to find her and ensure that nothing happened to her. He could easily recall the few times over the months that he had met the family that had taken care of his mortal body over the years and the more he thought about it the more uncomfortable he felt. It felt like a part of him had been shattered after they died and now something was missing.