Once upon a Christmas eve (2)

"Mao Lu!!! Chàng Bo!!!" A voice yelled spiritedly.

Mao Lu wasn't surprised when he saw Tanaka Kato in front of them, waving his hands excitedly in the air as he called out to them.

He and Bei Lao were standing near a food stall snacking on some Baozi[1]

Actually, Mao Lu had sensed Bei Lao and Tanaka in the area a while ago, and he'd been walking in their direction intentionally.

"What a coincidence, you're here for the Christmas Market too?" Tanaka said as he ran up to them, holding two steaming Baozi buns in his hand. "Ahh well it's obviously easy for you to get here since you live in the Chaoyang area." Tanaka answered his own question as he bit into a steaming dumpling.

He wore a thick furry coat with matching gloves. He looked like a rather cute tanuki.

Tanaka's grin widened as he saw how close Mao Lu and Chàng Bo were standing together. Even their arms were looped. "There must have been some romantic progress." Tanaka thought with increasing excitement. He gave Mao Lu a cheeky glance, wiggling his brows at him.

Mao Lu smiled brightly, "What a coincidence to see you here as well Tanaka." he laughed, "Merry Christmas eve. Since we're here let's all hang out together."

"Of course. Spending Christmas eve with a good friend is a must. If you weren't going to say it I was." Tanaka babbled.

Bei Lao, who was quietly chewing on his Baozi, nodded in agreement.

The four of them soon found themselves sitting at the front of a small cafe.

"Mao Lu you shouldn't even bother having a phone you never answer it." Tanaka said bitterly as he slurped his matcha tea.

"Did you message me?" Mao Lu asked guiltily.

"Hell yeah I messaged you. I wanted to do some Christmas shopping at Tianyi Market but someone left me on read. So I had to go buy Bei Lao's and everyone's presents all by myself." Tanaka pouted, "What's the point of having a best friend if you just ignore me" he grumbled.

Mao Lu felt very guilty, "There's just been a lot going on lately. It's not that I'm ignoring you Tanaka. You know you're one of my bestest friends. I would never ignore you on purpose."

"I know you wouldn't, that's why I'm more worried. What's been keeping you so busy?" Tanaka asked curiously.

Mao Lu sighed, "It's complicated."

Bei Lao had been cradling his cappuccino in his hands quietly, but when he heard this he peered over at Chàng Bo curiously and asked, "Have you been keeping him so busy?"

Chàng Bo raised a perfect brow, "Me?" he laughed a little, "I don't own Mao Lu's time."

Bei Lao ignored Chàng Bo and looked at Mao Lu, "Lu what's really going on? I heard from Fei Bing Bing that Chàng Bo shot someone without hesitation. Zhao Detong even told Tanaka and I that he suspects he's some kind of criminal and that you've been dragged into some nasty business. If that's the case as your friends we'll hear you out and try to help you where we can. If you've got yourself tangled in something bad you don't have to go through it alone."

Tanaka elbowed Bei Lao, "Why are you saying this now, I thought we were gonna bring this up later?"

"Well we came to Chaoyang to see Mao Lu, not just to look at the Christmas Market. Now that we've ran into him here we might as well discuss this." Bei Lao said sternly as he turned to Mao Lu.

"If there's something going on then know that you can trust us. Not just Tanaka and I but also Zhao Detong, Fei Bing Bing, Frank Wang and Fang Kai. We're all here for you Mao Lu." Bei Lao said sincerely.

"I…" Mao Lu didn't know what to say. He'd somewhat anticipated that after what happened at the hotel his friends would have some questions. But he never expected that he'd feel so guilty.

Maybe it was because Bei Lao, such a sincere and serious person was saying this to him. If it was any of the others maybe he'd be able to attempt to lie, but Bei Lao and Tanaka had always been so good to him. He didn't know what to say.

"I…"

"It's against the rules to reveal Gatekeeper secrets, but information about practitioners and the 400 realms is no secret. You can tell these mortals about the existence of Gatekeepers and the 400 realms if you wish. However it may complicate their lives." Gates warned.

Despite the fact that Mao Lu had doubts about Gates, he was used to listening to its words and taking its advice.

Gates was right, telling them about the supernatural would just complicate their lives. He didn't want to do that to his friends.

They were mortals that were too old to start on the path of becoming a cultivator or a mage. The only path where age didn't matter was a Gatekeeper, but there could only be one Gatekeeper in any realm.

One day his friends would die and he would outlive them.

They weren't strong enough to protect themselves against the dangers that existed out there.

For their safety, because they were his friends he couldn't waver and he couldn't tell them about all this. Even if they got mad at him or left his side, he couldn't tell them. Because he cared for them. Ignorance was bliss.

Mao Lu's eyes hardened, "I won't lie to you, so I'll tell you honestly. It is in your best interest if you don't know what's going on with me lately.

It's not that I don't trust you, but I don't want you to get hurt.

Chàng Bo is trustworthy, we're very close and… I love him. He's not the cause or reason for my current predicament. In fact he's helping me a lot."

Tanaka's hands shook over his tea. "Is it really that serious? I thought everyone was overreacting when they were saying you were in some kind of trouble Lu, but if it's like that then maybe you should go to the police or something."

Mao Lu sighed, "It's not something I can go to the police about."

Tanaka was aghast, "Mao Lu for real if the situation is serious you should go to the police. Don't leave it until it's too late. My Dad died getting involved with bad people when I was young. You know that Lu. Don't bottle it up, get help if you can get help."

Mao Lu sighed, "Tanaka it's not that type of situation, it's complicated."

As this conversation went on, Mao Lu sensed Ben Zi heading towards them. For some reason his heart squeezed when he noticed this. Something felt off.

Chàng Bo who had been quietly sitting down, since it wasn't his place to speak in this type of conversation, suddenly felt strange.

The Sovereign system popped up in front of his eyes. His health stat flashed, he didn't even need to press it before the words, "IMMINENT THREAT TO HEALTH. HIGH LEVEL IRREGULARITY INCOMING !!!! " appeared.

Chàng Bo's eyes widened. He looked around quickly and he noticed Ben Zi.

There was something strange about that boy. His steps seemed eerily fast. From far away he was suddenly right behind Tanaka's seat.

His eyes were cold.

Chàng Bo reacted quickly, he leaped over the table just as a malicious smile wrapped around Ben Zi's mouth.

As Ben Zi's hand reached towards Tanaka's neck Chàng Bo had twisted in the air. He drop kicked Ben Zi while at the same time pulling Tanaka out of harm's way.

Tanaka was surprised when he felt himself suddenly being thrown through the air, across the table, and landing in Mao Lu's arms.

Bei Lao's eyes widened in alarm.

Chàng Bo's kick sent Ben Zi hurtling down the road, he collided with crowds of people. Screams filled the air.

"Mao Lu it's an Irregularity!" Chàng Bo shouted.

Mao Lu's eyes widened, he could feel it. The Irregularity had somehow possessed Ben Zi. When? How had it escaped his notice?

Mao Lu turned Tanaka towards him quickly, "Listen to me Tanaka, you and Bei Lao need to run as far away from this place as you can. Now!"

Tanaka shook in confusion, "What's going on?"

From the crowd of shoppers more screams emerged. Many people had been knocked over when Ben Zi smashed into them.

Ben Zi crashed into the ground, he landed at an awkward angle, his wrist had snapped and his neck appeared broken.

A woman, who hadn't been knocked over, ran up to him, "Are you okay!? OMG I'll call for an ambulance right now."

As the women took out her phone,

Ben Zi awkwardly stood up. He snapped his wrist back to place and twisted his neck straight.

She shrieked, "What the hell!!!!?"

He smiled eerily at her. "It's fine, you don't have to call an ambulance for me, but you might have to call it for yourself."

The woman didn't even have time to reply before blood was spurting out of her neck. Ben Zi had slit her throat with his hardened nails.

She fell to the ground dead before she could even think.

"Ahhhhh!!!!!" people screamed. Those nearby Ben Zi began dropping dead like flies.

"Come on Gatekeeper, let me have your body. Let me consume it. Let me consume it all." Ben Zi yelled. His face was contorted, his voice was demonic and deep, it resonated across the street.

People ran away in terror.

"Run now!!" Mao Lu screamed at Bei Lao and Tanaka.

Bei Lao didn't hesitate, he grabbed Tanaka's hand and began running away from the screams.

"What is that thing Gates?" Mao Lu's tone was grave.

"It's a high level Irregularity. It seems to have the ability to jump into a host and possess their bodies." Gates analysed. "You need to seal and expel it, but first you must get it out of its host."

Ben Zi roared as his hands held two decapitated heads.

"And how do I get the Irregularity out of his body?"

"That… The most effective method would be to kill the host."

Mao Lu didn't like that method, "What is an alternative option?"

"I'm not familiar with Irregularities, it's my first experience with this type of creature as much as it is yours. The only other option I can think of… another method could be…well, convincing it to go to another host. How you could do that, I don't know?" Gates answered helplessly.

"I don't want to doubt you Gates. At this moment I can trust you, right Gates?" Mao Lu asked seriously.

Gates was confused, "Of course you can trust me Mao Lu."

"Then I'll go for the second option. I'll try to make it leave the host." Mao Lu said stubbornly.

"What!" Gates shouted, "Don't be stubborn Mao Lu, how the hell will you do that?!"

"I'll think of a way." Mao Lu said just as stubbornly.

At the same time as he came to this conclusion, with a wave of his arms he moved the nearby people away.

A strong gust of wind picked up the scared bystanders, it swept the people several miles away from Ben Zi.

After a few seconds, other then the few corpses, Ben Zi was left standing alone on the street. His body bathed in blood.

"Gatekeeper!!!!!" He roared.

"Yes, that's me. I'm the one you're after. So stop hurting others and face me." Mao Lu said coldly. His voice was neither loud or quiet, yet his is echoed grandly across the road.

As Mao Lu said this a type of madness took over the creature. Ben Zi's eyes turned red. He went on all fours as he galloped like a beast at high speed towards Mao Lu.

Mao Lu had never seen anything like it. He felt like he was in a horror movie, and he felt his confidence being eaten away by fear.

He'd never seen such a monster galloping towards him like that before.

"How can I convince this thing to leave Ben Zi's body without hurting him? What do I do?" Mao Lu wondered.

As he fretted about this the Irregularity became closer and closer.

Mao Lu pulled the forces of the Realm towards it in an attempt to suspend it in the air but it shrugged it off.

Actually it was more like it ate the essence that Mao Lu had thrown at it.

"What!?"

Mao Lu was startled as his attempt to stop it was ignored and Ben Zi was still galloping towards him.

Just as it was about to pounce on Mao Lu a car hurtled through the air and smashed into it, sending it flying.

Chàng Bo had thrown the car. "Why the f*** would you just stand there? Do you want it to kill you?"

[1] Baozi is a popular Chinese street food. It's a steamed bun or dumpling with a filling.