An unforgiving moon betrayed the heartbroken Chen Bohai, revealing his tear-stained face as he joined his grandfather's old friend - now his teacher.
Tan Huizhong didn't speak up about the tear faced sixteen year old boy. On other days, he would scold him for showing his emotions so openly. But, he knew that the boy had been through too much as young as he was. And tonight he was voluntarily leaving his family, something that he had already lost once.
Instead, the old man began their journey. It was going to be a long one.
Tan Huizhong was leading them to his private home, which lay deep in forest next to the capital. It was a three day trip by himself, but with the emotionally wrecked teenager, he assumed it'd take them at least a week. They had no time to rest. Time was of the essence.
The two stayed true to Tan Huizhong's thinking for three days and two nights. They only stopped to use the restroom.
Finally, on the third night, the emotionally wrecked teenager, began to act out. Surprisingly, it was later than Tan Huizhong had predicted.
Now trailing twenty feet behind Tan Huizhong, Bohai was slowly following after the old man. And it was getting on the old man's last nerves.
"They're not gone forever! You can go back to them once you become stronger!" Tan Huizhong finally snapped.
Bohai, who heard him, suddenly stood upright with a face full of confusion.
"Don't act like that! I already know-"
Bohai's stomach cut off Tan Huizhong mid sentence. Revealing the real reason of his decrease in pace. If it wasn't a dark night, one would be able to see Huizhong's ears turning red.
"Lets go find a place to sleep for tonight." Huizhong snapped, due to his embarrassment. "1, 2, 3, not it. You have to pay."
Bohai only smiled in response to the playful old man. He reminded him of Yuan Xiaolian in a way, and he liked being constantly reminded of her. He had already forgotten too many family member's faces, and he didn't want to add hers to that list.
Sometime later, the two arrived at a secluded inn. Contrary to its appearance, it was quite the popular place. Only one booth was open in the entire joint, which the two males immediately headed towards once entering.
The once lively joint, had turned dead silent as the two entered. Despite being aware of everyones presence, and the rooms diameters, Tan Huizhong couldn't spot the reason why everyone become silent.
Behind the bar, a wall full of paper thin posters was exposed. It showcased the people with a bounty of over $100k that hadn't been caught in the past ten years. And while most of them disappeared over time, there was only a handful that remained on the wall. And one of the men who just entered the establishment, strongly resembled one of the never changing faces on the wall - a member of the dreadful Chen family, Chen Bohai.
"Whys everyone staring at us?" Chen Bohai asked his companion. Despite being quiet, the person behind him heard him too. She threw a knife towards the wall, directly at his picture. The two men followed her perfect throw, and were both shocked at what they saw.
"I didn't know you had a bounty?" Tan Huizhong asked, bewildered.
"I didn't know either." Bohai responded in a daze.
"So you really are him?" A female chided in. Her head popped out from the booth behind the duo. She was the one who had thrown the knife at his wanted poster. "I've never met someone with a bounty on their head. I'm Xu Qingling. It's nice to meet you Mr. Chen."
"Uhm. Nice to meet you too I guess?" Chen Bohai replied awkwardly.
"Mind if I join you guys?" Xu Qingling asked, while jumping over to sit besides Bohai. "I recommend the burgers. They're delicious!" She practically shouted, as she raised the menu to block prying eyes. "I can help you two outta here. But I need 100% insurance that you can get me to the capital."
Chen Bohai looked over at Tan Huizhong, who was seemingly lost in thought. But before he knew it, he had nodded his head and agreed to her request! He hadn't even bothered to ask him on his opinion! What the heck was this!
"It looks like we'll be in each other's debt then, Ms. Xu." Tan Huizhong said with a smile.
Xu Qingling replied with a nod, before suddenly throwing knives across the room. Within seconds, five people fell onto the floor lifeless. She glanced back at the two speechless men, and mouthed 'Now!' before throwing five more.
Her distraction didn't last long, as only two out of the five died on the spot. The other three, were able to pinpoint the knives location and found the three troublemakers. Immediately, the entire joint was up against them.
"Ahem. That was all part of my plan." Xu Qingling said in a shaky voice. Tan Huizhong laughed, thinking her fake bravado was adorable. However, Bohai couldn't share the same enthusiasm. He felt as if he'd meet his grandpa real soon. And he wasn't ready to be scolded for meeting him early.
"What're you doing?" Bohai snarled as he pushed Qingling to the side as people came rushing towards their table. Bohai enveloped both of his arms in his aura, using what he had just learned to be called an enhancement skill.
The first person came at him with a sword, however, Bohai managed to slip past him and knock him out with one punch. The second one was a dual wielder, however he was knocked out with one punch as well. No matter who came at him, they were all knocked out with one punch, thanks to an invisible power that was unknown to most of the customers at the establishment.
However, Bohai was only focused on the attacks in front of him. He didn't realize the girl who had offered to help them was half an inch away from killing him.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. If you do that he really won't trust anyone ever again." Tan Huizhong whispered in the girl's ear. He had stopped her attack by using another kind of the Arts, that enabled him to morph his chi to his will and move it away from his body.
Xu Qingling was stunned speechless, but not by appreciation. She wasn't blessed with a Core, and was as normal as one could get. At least in the genetics compartment.
Those that were considered as normal, or weak, had stories of those that had powers. And none of them were good.
Goosebumps formed on her skin, and she realized she had jumped in to "help" the wrong people. Now that she knew that the old man had powers, she could guess that the reason Chen Bohai was succeeding so easily was because of the same reason. For the first time in years, she was genuinely scared.