After the hunt

"It's over here!"

"I see them!"

Such voices approached the bodies of Shui and the red tiger. Ryan had come with three Soul Realm cultivators to the place where they laid. After being dragged away by Lily, they split up and he searched in the area for people to help Shui. Other than these three, the rest were either too weak or couldn't be bothered to help. Ryan didn't fully trust these three either, but they were better than nothing.

They saw the blood that was beneath both bodies and the several cracks on Shui's mask, along with sword sticking out of the tiger. It was obvious that a fierce battle had occurred based on the surroundings, but they were all surprised that Shui took care of the beast spirit by himself.

The cloak had covered most of Shui's body so Ryan took it off when he got closer. Shui had used the cloak to hide their presences, so now that he was found it was no longer needed. When he saw the tiger's jaws clamped on Shui, his heart nearly stopped and he hesitantly put his fingers on Shui's wrist to feel his pulse.

'Whew!'

"He's still alive!" Ryan shouted and looked towards the three that followed him.

Of them, the one with the lightest armour took out a bottle with white liquid and gave it to Ryan. This was a common-grade healing potion so it would at least return his consciousness. Though they were strangers, the man was very intrigued by the situation and hoped to speak with Shui. Even those in the early Soul Realm like them could barely deal with beast spirits when they were in their team, much less by themselves. So they were all curious as to how he was able to kill it.

"Thanks, I'll definitely pay you back."

Ryan didn't like having debts to strangers, but he didn't mind if it was for Shui. Meanwhile, one of the three hoped that Shui would croak so that they could cut his share out. This was a beast spirit after all, the money they could get from just one carcass was enough for them to live leisurely for a month.

Ryan poured the liquid in Shui's mouth. Some of it leaked out of his mouth but luckily he was still able to swallow most.

*cough**cough*

Shui coughed up some of the potion along with blood and attempted to get up, but then he was reminded of the teeth inside him.

"Ah, damn it."

There wasn't much strength left in him, but it was enough to rip the tiger off him.

"Mr. Shin, are you okay?" Ryan asked in a worried tone.

Anyone else would have died but with the Statis talisman, Shui could freeze his condition for around an hour.

"I'm fine. Lily?"

"She went to the Workers' Association."

When Ryan said that Lily went to the Workers' Association, someone clicked their tongue while Shui nodded approvingly. Since it was reported to the Association, none of these 'helpers' would be able to interfere rashly. Shui didn't expect to get help in killing the red tiger, he only told them to get help to get them away from the location and so he didn't get stranded in the forest after the battle.

However, as useless as the helpers may be, Shui knew he had to give some leeway.

"I only want the skin and core, you can take the rest."

These were Shui's final words before passing out once more. With this, none of the three had any complaints. They were very suspicious of how he was able to kill the red tiger, but he was obviously in no condition to tell them. Once Shui lost consciousness once more, Ryan was worried as to how he would stop the bleeding from the bite wound, but surprisingly the bleeding had already stopped. Ryan had no idea how this happened, but he just took it as good news and carried Shui and his items back to Cyrus while the other three carried the beast spirit.

...

"Shui, I hope that, you can go anywhere you want and do whatever you please. Please live freely for me, Shui. Take care of your,self...">

"Mom!"

Shui suddenly awoke. It was a dream about that day. The last time he spoke to his mother. He began reminiscing, but the pain from his wounds reminded him of what happened before he passed out.

'Where am I?'

He found himself in a wooden room with a few holes in the roof, not unlike his own shack. Shui found his upper body covered in bandages before suddenly realising that his mask was gone.

"Huh? Where is-"

"Ah! He's awake." A small girl shouted at the entrance to the room.

Her clothes had lost their original colour due to overuse, but her bright smile seemed to refute any hint of despair. The girl seemed to be around the age of five, with short brown hair and big hazel eyes. Shui looked at the girl and wondered.

'Why does she look so familiar?'

And it didn't take long for him to understand why she looked familiar.

"Mr. Shin!"

After the girl, Lily was the next person to appear in front of him. Once he saw her, he had a good guess as to his circumstances.

"Is this your house?"

"Yes, you were injured so I asked Ryan to bring you here."

She came closer to Shui's side and then went on her knees and lowered her head to the floor.

"I'm sorry you had to risk yourself to save us. After you did so much to train us, we were still useless. If only we weren't burdens then,"

"Woah, woah woah," he quickly interrupted her as she went into her self-blaming monologue, "I'm the one who made the decision so I'll take responsibility. Get up."

She slowly raised her head to look at him but her face still showed discomfort.

"But,"

"No buts. A cultivator risking his life is normal. I can take care of myself. Besides, if you keep this up, I'm afraid your sister is gonna hate me."

When he told her that, Lily hastily looked behind her to see a pouting face that obviously looked at Shui like he was a bully.

"Big sister, who is this arrogant little kid? Doesn't he know how to say thanks?"

"Sia, that's not nice. He saved the life of me and your big brother."

'Little kid.'

It was an arrow through the heart to be called 'little' by a five-year-old, but Shui only showed a wry smile. Lily, remembering that his mask had come off apologised once more.

"I'm sorry, your mask broke so,"

"It's fine. I already have the ID and I can just make another. More importantly, get up already."

This time she finally stood up and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Mr. Shin. Don't worry, only my family has seen your face and I won't let rumours spread."

"Thanks. You can stop calling me mister. Now that you've seen my face it just feels weird."

"I'll need to think about it, but I was honestly surprised you know. To think the mature Mr. Shin was almost as young as my little siblings."

"Hah, well I have my reasons."

Now that he no longer had to hide his face, Shui could expose a smile that had both Lily and Sia dumbstruck. Though Sia had her eyebrows furrowed, Lily was in complete appreciation of the sight. Her arms twitched due to her desire to hug him but her firm will restrained her.

'Oh lord, I can't believe this face was hidden until now.'

"Uh, uh, anyways would you like to stay for the night?"

Sia looked shocked when she saw her older sister ask the brat to stay and she quickly expressed her opposition.

"No, there won't be enough food. You should leave."

"Sia! Don't you see he's injured?"

"Uh, er, ah."

Looking at his bandages once more, Sia couldn't refute anymore.

"No, it's fine. My body's doing rather well so I should go."

"But shouldn't you,"

"Nah, I got people I don't want to worry either. Plus, I'm still not old enough to stay past my bedtime."

Lily let out a giggle and then nodded. His wounds had already began healing by the time Ryan brought him so there was no problem for him to walk. When she was treating him, she wondered why he had bandages on his eyes, but since there were no injuries there, she didn't bother bringing it up since it could be a sensitive issue.

"Okay, I'll go for your stuff. You need to go to the association for the parts from the red tiger though."

"Got it."

As Lily went back to the entrance and pulled the hand of her little sister, Shui said one more thing.

"Lily, thanks."

She stopped for a moment and then turned her head.

"It's the least I could do."

The thin smile that blossomed was enough for her to be noticed by any man in the vicinity, but there were still hardships in her future. However, Shui wasn't worried about her. He didn't think she was weak enough to lose that smile easily.