Four Years Later

In front of Suiri's grave inside the sanctum, there was a thirteen-year-old boy in a wheelchair. This boy no longer had bandages over his eyes but they remained closed. He had hoped that growing older would increase his masculine appeal, but what had increased was the amount of males who sighed at the fact that he was also male. Maybe it was due to this reason why recently whenever he went to Cyrus his disguise would always be overflowing with masculinity. With all the time he had spent in the Primordial Library, his mental age was higher than Bartos' but he was still able to retain a few of his childish aspects.

"Hey Mom. I hope you don't mind me being here."

Since Kate left and Shui settled into the life of researching in the Library and fixing his body among other activities, he had more free time outside of the Library. On this day, as winter neared, Shui just felt the spontaneous urge to come here. The several arrays around this grave proved that this wasn't his first time being here in the past four years, but this would be the first time he spoke at length.

"You know, Grandpa Carlos passed away a couple months ago, so I've been thinking about him more lately. Can you believe it, the old fool could have gotten a spot in this place but he asked to be cremated and have his ashes blown in the breeze instead. He said he wanted his soul to be free in the afterlife. I guess he was always like that. He always wanted to be free but his body didn't allow it. Now he can travel again."

"Kate managed to visit twice. The last time she was here, she was at sixth level in the Soul Realm, but she didn't seem to care about it much despite how much of an accomplishment it was. It might be my fault because it feels like she's gotten much more lax. Then again, I have no problems as long as she's happy. I remember how shocked she was when she saw that Aunt Lilia was pregnant. She really wanted to stay until the baby was born, but her senior disciple came and dragged her back. From what I saw the guy's not bad, a bit too straight-laced but I can trust him to stop Kate from running wild. That girl, she might have gotten prettier but she still likes to tease me way too much."

"Uncle Bartos and Aunt Lilia have been smothering that baby with affection. I knew they felt kind of lonely without Kate so I was extra glad when I found out Aunt Lilia was pregnant, but I bet they would even ignore Kate once she visits again. Heck, they even do it to me sometimes. I wonder how Kate's gonna feel when Uncle Bartos looks her dead in the face and tells her that he always wanted a son. I'm so looking forward to it."

Shui stayed there, randomly blurting out whatever came to mind. In recent times, an oppurtunity to speak like this was very rare for him. He occasionally chatted with Cin but that damn cub loved to brag about which beast spirits it hunted and how females were chasing it. The siblings were obviously out since it was hard for them to speak to him casually because they all admired him from the bottom of their hearts. And as he grew older, his beauty grew so great that even the few older women who approached him thought he wasn't someone they could monopolize and settled with looking from afar.

"And the Patriarch, well, he's been a little weird lately. We rarely see each other these days but whenever we do there's always this awkward atmosphere. I hear he's been visiting here frequently too, maybe his age is getting to him."

"My legs? With all the herbs I've bought they're almost healed. I just need about a week and I'll be back to perfect condition, not that I'll be out of this wheelchair. I still need one more herb to fix my mutated veins but it shouldn't take much longer before I get it. I've gotten much better at handling arrays and I've mastered inscriptions. My soul cultivation's the same but if I focus hard enough I can levitate for a short time. Even without using astral will, with the flip of a switch I can make my wheelchair float in the sky too, it really burns through my spirit gems though."

"Mom, I hope that wherever your soul is, you're happy. You don't have to worry about me, I'll do just fine. I'll live freely like you wanted me to."

Shui left the grave with a clear heart and mind, but a sudden signal that reached him quickly made him switch into serious mode.

'There's an intruder.'

With his growing knowledge of arrays, Shui was always itching to try them out. He had set up a covert protection array around the clan along with a detection array. Since these large-scale arrays also drew a certain amount of support from the nature energy that flowed in the ground to stay stable, the protection array on his wheelchair was weaker than this one.

As the one who created these arrays, Shui was the first to notice that there was a scout within the forest. By linking his senses with the detection array, he could tell that the scout was a man in their late 30s, with a cultivation in late Soul Realm. Unknown to the scout who drew a map of the perimeter of the clan, there was someone watching him. The protection and detection arrays were the only ones that covered the entire clan, but Shui had also drawn a few offensive arrays so it wouldn't be much of a problem if he wanted to capture this man. However, Shui didn't do so because he was wary of whoever sent him.

When the scout left, Shui quickly headed to Lilia's house and took out a 'Talk' talisman.

"Lily, give me information on any local force that's made any significant moves lately."

In addition to working with Ulus, Shui also gave Lily the job of gathering information. Ulus would give this information to her whenever she sent the talismans but Shui told her not to rely on just that since Ulus wasn't very trustworthy. Ever since he was attacked in the ancestral lands, Shui was wary of the Heaven clan being attacked by some outside force along with the Clite clan. His information network couldn't reach the three clans, but outside influences weren't that hard to keep track of.

"For the past month, there's been nothing of mention. However, I've heard in the Workers' Association that the Black Dog Bandits have been secretly moving in this direction."

"Okay, thanks. I might need to talk to you again later so be ready for it just in case."

"Of course, Master."

After their conversation, the talisman crumbled to ash and became one with the breeze. With the information he got from Lily, there was only one suspect. He also knew that the Black Dog Bandits had been quiet from the start of the year which many found eerie. Since they were capable of destroying minor-level forces, they would definitely have a couple Earth Realm cultivators to use against the Heaven clan. And if they were unlucky, there might even be someone in the Sky Realm. Shui had no time to check who was actually behind the scout, all he could do was prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

When he reached Lilia's house, Bartos and Lilia were there along with the baby. Since the baby was born, Bartos spent more time at home, so though it was only a little past noon, he was here looking at his adorable son that was being breastfed. Normally, Shui would also show a smile when looking at that chubby face and big round eyes, but the situation was dire.

"Uncle Bartos, can I speak to you?"

Just the fact that Shui asked to speak with him told Bartos that it was something serious. Lilia could also sense this but she pretended not to notice since the two obviously didn't plan on letting her get involved.

Bartos walked with Shui to his forge before Shui began the conversation while they were under the effect of the sound dampening array.

"Uncle Bartos, I think we're going to be attacked soon."