The Gaze

He didn't resent others back then. It felt to him that life was unreasonable always and having no skills was his own inadequacy.

It was evening time. After visiting the newly opened exhibition centre and later shopping, they finally arrived at the last stop. At an exclusive members-only club in Xinhai City, right in the urban centre, one where privacy was guaranteed, and wealth determined who was allowed inside.

There was no entrance check for the companions, it appears they visited here before. After passing the security passing, he saw the place, filled with luxury. The interior was dimly lit, refined, expensive without being gaudy.

Private rooms lined the sides, each tailored for different kinds of entertainment—high-stakes gambling, fine dining, live music, business discussions.

Han Chen followed the group into one of the more relaxed lounges, a room designed for casual gatherings among the elite. Low music played in the background, expensive liquor was already on the table, and a few women—socialites, not hired hostesses—sat nearby, engaged in light conversation.

This was a place where young heirs talked, made quiet deals, and measured each other— with information, wealth, and presence.

Han Chen settled into a corner seat along with a few who were busy with their phones. He had no interest in drinking or gambling.

And yet, despite his silence, attention naturally gravitated toward him. Why, well his face was all over the country just last week. Many came to say hello confirming the person. When they heard he was related to Han Family, they felt more weight to his presence.

The night in Xinhai City had started predictably—casual conversations, displays of wealth, and the quiet maneuvering of second-generation heirs. Han Chen mirrored his cousins in their style, just changing the appearance of spiritual armor.

He slipped past people and found a free corner to sit around without being surrounded.

He had already noticed that someone had been deliberately following him—a young man from the Tang Family, Tang Xuemei's older brother, Tang Zhenyuan.

Tang Zhenyuan's attitude had been in borderline confrontational tone at first just after he sat down asking him about his recent achievements. Han Chen didn't bother to reply the same words again.

Han Chen understood why. Earlier, he had trained Tang Xuemei, both in martial arts and academically. It had been a temporary arrangement, something that held no meaning to him at the time. But to her family, especially her protective older siblings, it was different.

But soon he became friendly seeing that Han Chen doesn't fall for it. Tang Zhenyuan already known that her sister had achieved a better score than expected and this success in both martial advancement and academic level comes from this seemingly ordinary looking man. His demeanor was softer and before long, the once skeptical heir was genuinely treating him as a peer.

As the night progressed, Tang Zhenyuan kept him engaged, introducing him to a few others in the room, steering conversations away whenever someone tried to pry too deeply into Han Chen's affairs.

Perhaps he was simply curious about the man. The tension in the room shifted when a minor altercation broke out near the center.

Han Chen had noticed it brewing long before it happened. Han Meiling was wrongly been touched upon and she confronted it boldly against a young man from another influential family.

At first, it seemed like an ordinary disagreement and she asking what's wrong to other party—nothing unusual in a room filled with egos and entitlement. But the young master's tone turned sharper, his stance subtly aggressive as if not expecting his actions to be directly exposed.

Han Chen didn't react. But the Han cousins did. Almost immediately, several members of the Han Family stood up together, moving with unspoken coordination—as if trained to act as a single unit when dealing with external threats.

"We should go together and protest," one of them suggested, his voice filled with the kind of passion that came from always having numbers on your side.

But the other side had been prepared.

The young master's faction had already gathered a martial artist, a genuine Transform Jin warrior, standing quietly beside him—his presence alone enough to intimidate the crowd.

Some of the Han cousins hesitated. Others kept pushing forward out of sheer pride, but initial momentum is lost. Just then, in the midst of it all, someone turned to Han Chen.

"You're just going to sit there? Not caring?" The words hung in the air. A few people conversed earlier turned to see his reaction.

Even Han Meiling, who had been tense, glanced back at him. Afterall this is his newly welcomed cousin.

Her eyes met his.

For a moment, she felt something.

Han Chen didn't move. Didn't shift his expression.

But then—his gaze went past her.

It landed on the Transform Jin martial artist standing at the other side of the room.

And everything changed.

It was nothing visible. No energy fluctuations, no sudden pressure filling the air. But to the trained warrior, it was suffocating.

A silent, unseen force—not just killing intent, but something deeper. Something tracing along his body everypart of it as if drowning him.

It wasn't just the feeling of being targeted. It was the realization that he was already dead if the other person willed it.

Cold sweat trickled down the martial artist's back. The pressure was barely there, almost imperceptible, but the meaning behind it was absolute. A predator acknowledging prey.

Among the crowd who start to bicker again, Han Chen tilted his head slightly, as if confused and uninterested.

"Why make a scene? Let the accused and the wronged settle the matter between themselves."

The Transform Jin martial artist's face visibly stiffened. The young master beside him, unaware of the shift in atmosphere, scoffed. "What kind of joke is—"

Before he could finish, his own bodyguard interrupted. The Transform Jin warrior lowered his head slightly, his expression forcibly neutral.

"That gentleman is correct," he said quietly. "You should settle it with her. I saw what you did, you should apologize too. It's not good to harass women and.... learn.. to correct yourself. "

The room fell silent. The young master blinked. "What man? You're with me—"

But before he could finish, his own martial artist patted him on the shoulder. And then, without another word, he left.

His steps were controlled, his face composed. But no one noticed how stiffly he moved. He was one step away from being dead.

No one noticed the way his back was drenched in sweat. No one noticed the way his breathing had subtly changed.

But they noticed when he disappeared from the venue entirely. And they noticed when, moments later, the roar of a motorcycle engine split the quiet night air.

The Transform Jin martial artist's hands gripped the motorcycle handles tightly as he sped through the empty streets, pushing past traffic at reckless speeds.

He wasn't heading home. He wasn't heading back to his employer. He just needed to leave and relieve himself.

To put as much distance between himself and that gaze. That wasn't normal. That wasn't human. He had met many masters in his life time. For a moment he felt he was in a sea of dead.

It wasn't just killing intent—it was the presence of something that had killed before, killed so effortlessly, so thoroughly, that even a single glance carried the intent of death.

He didn't want to know who Han Chen was. Didn't want to hear his name again. Didn't want to be anywhere near where he existed.

Then, as he turned onto a highway, something whispered in his ear. A voice, impossibly familiar and clear despite the roaring wind. A voice that should not have reached him.

"If any ear hears my name, or suspicion rises, by destiny's threads, I come for my due."

His hands nearly slipped from the handlebars. He almost lost control of the bike.

A shudder crawled down his spine. And then without hesitation, without dignity—he twisted the accelerator to full throttle.

He wasn't just leaving the city. He was leaving the province. Maybe even the country. Maybe even the continent.

---

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With the resolution of spirit increased recently this was what he could do, he just needs to whisper and other party and would hear if anywhere inside his domain if willed.

Meanwhile at the party, people were shocked to see such an agreeable person standing by the side of justice. Loosing momentum, other party told her it was indeed part of his mistake and apologized.

Just a minor conflict that resolved itself.

Han Meiling? She had no idea what had happened. Her cousin who is a scholar convinced a martial artist to be fair? But she never forgot that moment.

Tang Zhenyuan? He only chuckled. "You're an interesting one, Han Chen. you also know witchcraft? ."

The missing martial artist? His name was never spoken again. Losing the support, other party promptly apologized her for inappropriate behavior and Han Meiling also took a step back leaving the other party to their own and not holding him account any more. And Han Chen? He simply finished his tea and left with the others.

The party still continued but, its getting late and some of them even received calls to get back early. Considering the disturbances, rest of them also followed suit.