Chapter 58: It was nothing.
I few minutes passed as they all spent time talking. The two other men stood outside and waited for their friends to come for them. The man who Krista had served punishment to didn't dare go inside at all. He wasn't sure if his punishment was actually over. Nor did he want to know.
They only thoughts he had were telling him to stay away from that woman. The sound of a horn boomed out and they all went outside to greet the people. The vice director was waiting for them at the gate. Zen hit a switch on the wall on the inside of his house next to the door to open the gate for him.
He walked inside and pointed back to the cars outside and then without any words walked up to everybody involved and bowed to offer his deepest apologies. "I'm so sorry about this. Rest assured that every one of them will be punished according to our punishment guidelines." He then looked at Haru for a moment with a hint of worry in his eyes.
"Haru... Do you mind if I talk to you in private?" He asked. Luke and Krista looked at Haru before Luke stepped forward. "I don't think that is..." Haru stopped him.
"Sure why not. He said and then walked over to the middle of the yard so they could be out of hearing range from everyone else. "It is about the director... Um, How should I say this?" He thought for a moment and then looked at the ground. His eyes slowly trailed up to meet Haru's once again.
"I should just go ahead and be blunt. My boss will probably try to kill you. He has a bit of a reputation among the government. Most officials are frightened of him because he is quick to use violence in peaceful discussions. If anybody goes against him. He will use his power to suppress them and then get them to admit that he is right. The only members of the government that aren't wary of him are the ones that are stronger than him."
"Honestly I thought that all cultivators are used to using their powers to suppress people weaker than themselves. I shouldn't even be telling you this but I feel like you are different. Instead of killing us back at the coffee shop, you let us go. And instead of killing everyone here when they decided to break into your house and aim guns at your loved ones you decided to settle for compensation." He said and then looked back at his men waiting for him in the car.
"I respect that. I respect you a lot more than that useless lot back there. I hope you don't harbour any bad feelings between us. I was hoping to give you some inside information in return for your help in the future. I sense that you will end up doing some amazing things and I was hoping that we could be friends to gain some mutual benefit." He let go of any thought of filtering himself as he showed Haru his true intentions.
Haru smiled. If there was one thing he valued above all else it was honestly. If someone is honest it means you can trust them and that was one thing Haru would need. People who he could put his full trust in. People like that are few and far between. Everybody wants to screw someone else over for gain. People who tell you they want to screw you over are much more easily persuaded by new terms.
"Sure." He said with a smile. He didn't really get off on the right foot with this guy but Haru could tell he was being sincere and was probably being bullied by his boss that is why he was willing to put his job at risk by telling Haru sensitive information.
The vice director seemed shocked by how easily Haru agreed to his request. "R-really? That's great. I guess I can tell you a bit more about my boss." He said and then carried on. "Well, the first thing you should know is that he practically runs Shenzhen. Yeah the city does have it's own governors and the like but The director is pulling the strings from behind. Everyone is so scared of him that they don't dare even say no to him. The last person he went against what he said was killed in front of everyone present. His head was ripped from his shoulders." He wants on to explain all of the bad deeds that he had done.
"Hey, I don't need to know about this. I'm not going to help you overthrow him. All I want is for him to leave me alone. If we can come to an agreement I won't even fight against him. If we can't come to an agreement then I will have to make him agree it's as simple as that. I don't care much for politics as long as people don't come to me looking for trouble. I have people I want to protect as long as I can do that I will be happy."
"That's fine with me. But just so you know the director isn't the type of person to back down without a fight first. If he does decide to make a deal with you then he will do everything in his power to get back at you in secret. That could be anything from kidnapping your family or straight up killing them in front of you in hopes to kill you when you are defenceless." The vice director said hesitating a bit midway through but then finishing in a hurry.
Haru thought about it. What if they targeted his mom or dad, Suyin or even his new little sister? "That would be really stupid for him to do. Losing people won't make me defenceless. It will probably just make me have no regrets about killing anyone who tried to stop me from getting to him." Haru's rage began to build just imagining it. His blood began to boil and then he looked at the vice director.
Haru's blood lust was strong enough for it to take physical form. The vice director looked back at Haru seeing a dark cloud of mist gather behind him. His eyes widened as it seemed as though the mist began to form the faces of many people. "What the fu----" He couldn't even finish his sentence.
Haru quickly stopped himself. "Oh, sorry about that. I just got a little angry thinking about that. But as I was saying. I trust you. I hope you can trust me too. I will be relying on any info you can give me. Even if it is just a text message or something when he decides he wants to come and look for me." He said lightheartedly as not to scare him anymore.
He stood still for a few seconds before he regained his senses. " Yeah, Yeah I will be sure to do so." He promised and then began to lay out his own request.
"So what do you want me to do for you then? Haru asked. "Well, I'm not sure if you can help but I am friends with a man who is also a cultivator but he has hit a plateau. He hasn't been able to break through to the next stage for over fifteen years and he is getting pretty old. He doesn't have long to live if he can't breakthrough soon. It would be a shame too. He is well respected and is quite powerful." He began to explain the situation. It caught Haru off guard.
"Wait why do you think I can help? I don't have that much experience with cultivation. I'm not sure I would be able to do anything for him even If I did agree to it. I can't just promise you something that I'm not sure I can help with myself." He was looking for a way out. He didn't want to be responsible for killing an old man by accident.
"Oh, stop being so modest. Even I can see how powerful you are. I can't tell exactly what stage you have reached but I know your cultivation is many times higher than my own, If you can't help then I am afraid nobody can. How about this then? All you have to do is accompany me to see him?"
"I suppose I could do that much at least," Haru said and then waited for him to respond. "Great. He is holding a party for his ninety eighth birthday in two weeks. I got invited by his son so I can bring a guest with me. It's a good thing that I met you today. Even if you did cause a lot of trouble and even injure my subordinates. But that doesn't matter it was their own fault."
Harue and the vice director both laughed. "I will get in touch with you the day before the event. If I don't have to contact you before then that is. I will see you soon." He said before walking away and getting into one of the many cars that lined the street. "Yeah, See ya." Haru waved them off and then walked back over to his parents.
"What did he what with you?" Luke inquired as soon as he got back. "Ah, It was nothing," Haru said and then they all walked back inside.