The atmosphere in the car felt heavy between the three of them as Leon follows the directions that Duan Cai had gave him. He was not sure what had happened back at the ruins of what was once Duan Cai's childhood home but he felt as though it was probably Lester to blame. When the car finally came to a stop Duan Cai had quickly climbed out of the car leaving them both behind. Glancing at the rear view mirror he could see Lester was lacking the motivation to remove himself from the car.
"Did you do something to upset him?" Leon asked as he watched the man from the view in the mirror. A slight blush could be seen on Lester's face as the topic was brought up.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Lester cleared his throat as he tried to ignore the topic. It was not that he did not want to respond to the question; he really did have no idea what had gotten into Duan Cai. The man had once been impossible to approach but as time went on it felt as though Duan Cai was beginning to express himself further in ways that he had never done before.
Before either one of them had a chance to speak further about the matter of Duan Cai's temperament changing the house they were parked in front of had it's front windows shatter. Glass flew throughout the air in front of the air as the body of a man was sent hurdling through the air across the street. Before the body of the young man could impact with the other building his figure twisted around so that he landed safely on his feet.
"Where is she?" Duan Cai asked with a tone that shuddered with fury. The cold glare behind Duan Cai's eyes could make any normal person shake on sight but the man in front of him was no normal man.
"Is that how you greet an old class mate?" The man spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground from when he had been sent flying a moment ago.
"Stop stalling and tell me where she is, Amos." Duan Cai shouted at him once more. He could feel his own patience wearing thin. Though it was his own emotion he could not understand it and it only made him feel more uneasy.
"She's safe, no thanks to you of course.. That's all that matters." Amos glared at Duan Cai as he watched him carefully.
"Why would you go against your own Sect to help her? Stealing a kill from the so called phoenix, Juniper, is like requesting your own death." Lester could not help but ask as he and Leon stood outside of the car watching the scene in front of them.
"Are you an idiot too?" Amos grit his teeth at the question as his eyes coldly glared at the both of them. There had never been a plan in his mind to go against his own sect for the sake of someone else, especially for Duan Cai. Going against his own sect only put him out of the frying pan and straight into the fire itself. He did not have a high cultivation level like others and he did not carry an interest in nurturing his gift either so he could only protect himself by using guns which caused his body to be stained with the scent of gun powder.
Walking up to Amos the air felt as if it had gone cold. Duan Cai slowly leaned in to Amos as he whispered to him. "You have until sundown to bring her to my place so that I can be assured she is safe or else you no longer will be."
Amos's body shook slightly at the tone in Duan Cai's voice. When their eyes connected he felt as though a monster was staring him down like he was nothing but prey. He had never felt such fear grip around his heart as he did when gazing into those golden eyes. The feeling was only brief, however, as Duan Cai turned away from Amos and began to back to his car. He knew that he had shaken Amos into listening to him so he did not feel the need to assure himself. If he was wrong about Amos listening to him he would deal with him when the time came. There was only one thing he wanted to ensure and that was the fact that he did not want his mortal body to loose it's final family member to Juniper.
"Do you think he's really connected to where Iris is hiding?" Leon asked as the three of them climbed back into the car with both Duan Cai and Lester riding in the back.
"Do you doubt me?" Duan Cai responded with a simple question that left Leon feeling flustered. He could see the man's gears working in the back of his mind to find a way to respond to the question without sounding coerced into the answer. It was like he could not think of a way to respond and it only made him work harder for a way to respond.
"Of course not, boss!" Leon declared as if he felt the need to declare himself unable to doubt his boss. His sudden action caused a slight laugh to escape Duan Cai as a smile tried to slip onto his face for a brief moment.
Glancing over to his side he could see Lester gazing out the window of the car in silence as if he was trying to avoid the topic all together. Not a single part of him felt the need to ask Lester the question because he already knew the answer when it came to the man he had once saved. Lester was so purely loyal to Duan Cai that it was impossible to even joke about it with him because there was no part in Lester that found his loyalty to be a joke in the slightest. If someone was to question Lester's unwavering loyalty it was like stepping on a landmine and that was something nobody wanted to do.