It's you again (2)

Cris still couldn't believe what he had witnessed. He was slightly injured due to being knocked away by his uncle's excess power, but that had little to do with his dazed eyes. Not long ago, he had been confident in his uncle's victory and had a clear plan on how to torture the loser, but once the situation he had in mind got flipped on its head, he found it impossible to react to these changes. He had felt the rush of wind from his uncle being flung away, but everything seemed like a dream. Nevertheless, as he noticed a pair of feet approaching him, his mind was dragged back to reality.

"You, you, you-"

"You don't have to be so afraid, I won't kill you. However, it would be troublesome if you caused a mess after I'm gone, so I'll have to be a little cruel."

Once Shui was less than a cale away, Cris finally regained the ability to think properly and tried to back away, but found himself immobile as if his body had been frozen in space. Only his mouth was allowed to move, leaving him with nothing to do but scream for help.

"No, no! Please! Someone help please!"

His cries received no response of course. Cris wasn't a member of the Blue Waves Sect, and anyone who had seen the short battle between Shui and Sigil knew that he was too dangerous to be confronted because of someone like Cris. With no means to resist this powerful suppression, Cris could only wait with clattering teeth as Shui reached in front of him.

As opposed to the vicious and violent scenes sprouting from Cris' vibrant imagination, Shui wore a calm expression and looked straight into his eyes.

"Fear me."

"Uh, uh, ah!!!!!!!!!-"

Cris' screams grew richer in agony and volume, so Shui knocked him out. Now that he had more experience with using soul techniques, it was easy for him to implant suggestions into someone's mind via eye contact, especially when there was such a wide gap between their strengths. Just as he had ordered, Cris would now be tortured by fear of Shui for twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, even during sleep he would have to suffer. It might seem crueler than killing him, but in Shui's eyes it was a fitting punishment for a possible threat to his family.

Meanwhile, among the many spectators, there was a beautiful young lady with night blue hair that stopped at her shoulders. Even the men who had previously been engrossed in the action had to take a glance once they noticed her. However, her appearance was only one factor behind her popularity. She was also related to one of the core elders so she attracted both the romantics and those with ambition. Under normal circumstances, she would wear a mask of indifference to everyone except her beloved senior sister, but at this moment she wore a grave expression as she watched Shui.

"Why the hell is he here?! No, that doesn't matter. I just have to make sure he and Senior Sister don't meet."

"Jade?"

"!"

Frightened like someone afraid of heights waking up on a cliff, Jade flinched and stopped breathing for a moment. Her heart also seemed to take a break due to the sudden shock, so Jade had miraculously slipped into a state of half-death. Many ancestors had to rely on medicines and artifacts to enter this state which would help extend their lives, but she did it so easily it could only be called talent. Unfortunately, this was not the time for her talent to bloom.

"Jade, are you okay?"

Worried, the one who had called her name gently placed her hand on Jade's shoulder. For the first time in her life, Jade was reluctant to turn around and face this girl, but she had no choice. With the best smile she could construct, Jade mechanically turned to face her. There were two hangers-on behind her that she would usually glare at for stealing her precious senior sister's time, but she had no room to do that now.

"Oh, Senior Sister! I didn't expect to see you here."

As she was the direct disciple of the sect master, Cleia rarely spent much time in the outer region of the sect, but she found it odd how shaken Jade was.

"I do rarely come here, but there seemed to be a commotion so I decided to take a look. Would you happen to know what this is about?"

"Ah, it's nothing that you need to be concerned about, just a little quarrel with a vagrant. Rather than see that, how about a cup of tea? I have your favourite leaves and a dessert from the pastry shop that just opened up."

"You mean the one that's always packed or sold out?"

"That's the one."

Cleia was honestly tempted by this offer, but even her sweet tooth couldn't distract her from how suspicious Jade was acting.

"Jade, are you hiding something-"

"Is that you, Cleia?"

Cleia was ready to push Jade until she got a proper answer while Jade was determined to keep up the veil around the truth, however, Shui wasted their efforts. Once he was finished with Cris, he wanted to return to his main reason for coming here, meeting Cleia. He wasn't confident, but he had hoped that this incident would end up attracting her attention, and he was in luck.

As he scanned the crowd, he spotted Cleia along with unexpected familiar faces so he approached despite feeling a little awkward on the inside. In response to his voice, three of the four people he was heading towards looked at him with shock, while the last had a grave expression as if he was her archenemy.

'Jade, what did I do? I thought we ended things on good terms?'

Shui couldn't figure out why Jade was giving him such a wary glare, but there was not a pause to his steps. Once they noticed his intentions, several hidden elders in late Earth Realm and the Sky Realm came to block to him, but they were scarecrows at best. Without even narrowing his eyes in preparation, Shui slipped through the elders as if they were permeable and then froze them in place with soul techniques that forced them to face their fears. If they were attacked then they could use their survival instincts to break free, but since their allies wouldn't know that and Shui did, he could unhesitatingly leave them alone.

"I didn't expect to meet all of you here."

"...Shui."

"That should be me."

While facing his relaxed smile, Cleia found her head lost in the sky above. The fresh and passionate feelings that she once had were now barely an ember, but this reunion still shook her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Suddenly, Jade went in front of her to block Shui from her sight. It was now that Cleia realized that she had been trying to prevent this meeting.

"Jade, do you have to be so hostile? I thought we were at least on friendly terms."

"Hmph, that was just your delusion. The only person I'm close to is Senior Sister."

"The same as always, huh?"

Watching Shui and Jade argue was a familiar sight that comforted Cleia. She had wondered what she would say if they ever met again, and it was time to present her answer.

She laid a soft touch on Jade's shoulder and then stepped up to stand directly in front of Shui who was more charming and mysterious than she remembered.

"Shui, it's nice to see you again."