Mystical Journey

Garen was the gate master of the White Cloud sect, and thus had a lot of underlings. Since he had just laid down his foundation not long ago, he couldn’t be away for too long, for fear of trouble brewing.

On the other hand, Andrela was the senior fellow apprentice of the Celestial Circle Gate, and the master who had long since surpassed the gate master and elders of the sects. He had to go back to sort out some internal affairs.

And then there was the King of Nightmares, the founder of the Siren Group and an internationally wanted criminal with lot of enemies. She had a lot of troublesome things to deal with as well.

The three of them agreed to meet at Hilda City, which was located in the Federation’s bay, on the fourth month. They had also officially settled on the name that was originally a joke: Flamingo.

The King of Nightmares had decided to took the opportunity to spread the Flamingo’s reputation in the dark since there were quite a few witnesses during the battle with the Immortal Palace. The Immortal Palance had abused their power for too long. No one could stand against them except for the Behemoth Gate and the government from the big countries. They could collect enough information as they ran amuck around the world.

Garen took the train and returned to his country following the proper procedure. Once he had entered the country, he immediately arranged a military airplane and flew to Galantia using his authority from the Golden Hoop.

It was currently the first month, which in fact wasn’t that far off from the fourth month. He had to arrange everything in detail to prevent any trouble arising, as this trip towards the Smoke Island might take him a lot of time.

************

Ten days later….

Galantia’s Huaishan Province.

Kachak.

Garen slowly opened the door with a key.

"I’m back." He shouted.

Immediately, rushing footsteps could be heard from far as the father Eisen Lombard and mother Vania came rushing in.

"Why are you back all of the sudden? You should inform beforehand." Mother quickly gave Garen a brand new cotton slippers to wear. "I thought that there’s a thief in the house."

"Mum, did you think a thief would shout I’m back? You’ve such a rich imagination/." Garen smiled as he closed the door and wore the shoes.

The family gathered in the living room.

Mother went to brew some hot coffee, whereas the father Eisen and Garen were sitting opposite each other on the sofa.

"How is it? Did you learn anything in school today?" Eisen looked so much different from before as his face was now smooth and clean since he had shaved his beard. He was wearing a tidy white shirt, a black tie and even applied some hair oil onto his dark purple hair. He was like a successful man. "Living alone outside is definitely different from living in a home, right?"

"It’s alright. I’m still getting used to it." Garen took an apple from the table and started peeling off its skin. "There’s not much difference between the life of a middle schooler and college. Oh right dad, I’ve received an internship offer from a big corporation, I might go there for an internship on the third month. Just a heads up."

"Not bad. This internship is an opportunity given to you or…" Eisen was no longer in the dark about the whole ordeal as he had a clear understanding on in the influence of the White Cloud Gate. He finally witnessed his son’s succession as the Gate Master of the White Cloud Gate since the funeral.

"This wasn't arranged by me. The opponent is much stronger than the White Cloud Gate so there’s no need to be concerned with it." Garen shook his head as he explained.

Mother Vania came in and served three cups of hot coffee.

"Let’s drink something to warm you up first. It’s cold outside."

"Oh yea, where’s Ying Er? Is she still in school?" Garen asked as he lifted the coffee cup and drank from it. The rich aroma of mixing coffee and milk that entered his mouth, albeit slightly hot, made him feel warm and cozy.

"She said that the school was organising an event. She had to go to school and do some preparation as a committee member. She thought that you wouldn’t return so she went out early. You should know your sister well; she would definitely wait for you if she kenw that you were coming back." Mother Vania looked at Garen gently, since Garen was her biological mother whereas Ying Er was Eisen’s biological daughter. Both Eisen and Vania had realized Ying Er’s feeling towards Garen. It was not of a sibling relationship but something more intimate.

Both of them weren’t opposed to such a relationship, since Garen and Ying Er was not biologically related.

"You should rest early Garen, since you came back at such a late hour. Now that most of the stuff has been passed down to the workforce, your mum and I are not as busy anymore. In fact, we have more and more free time as the days pass. Let’s go play hockey tomorrow. It’s not often that we get to hang out together and have a good chat." Father Eisen patted on Garen’s shoulder. "What dense muscles. All thanks to training in martial arts for such a long time!"

"It’s also called body building." Garen laughed. "Oh right dad, mom, I thought you guys were planning to buy a bigger house and move in. What happened to that?"

"There’s no need for that. Although we are rich now, we have already gotten used to the communities here. I have been hanging out with our neighbour madam Davis at the orchestra on a weekly basis. Occasionally we would gather and have a tea. Life is more entertaining when you have company. We don’t know who to mingle with if we actually moved to a new area." Mother Vania shook her head as she explained. "Don’t worry about this. You should think about your marriage."

"Eh, isn’t that too early?"

"Our son has just reached home and he must be tired. There’s no need to raise that topic." Father Eisen cut it off. The parents had realized Ying Er’s unusual affection towards Garen when Garen rejected their offers of introducing women to him. They’ were testing the waters now.

"Yes, yes…"

The whole family had dropped the topic after that, and the conversation slowly moved towards lifestyle matters.

Garen started to feel at ease when he saw that his parents were starting to have more time to enjoy life due to the White Cloud Gate’s arrangement.

He stayed at home for a few days. Everyday, he would accompany his father to play ball and occasionally he would drive to the swimming pool nearby for a swim. He even attended the tea sessions and orchestra as well. His schedule was packed with leisure events for the past few days.

As a core leader of the greatest profit organisation locally, the news of Garen returning was spread throughout Galantia province in a short time span.

Invitations to parties kept coming as time went on. The same went for the visitors who knocked on their door as well. On top of that, most of the visitors had brought along their nieces or daughters over with a smiles on their faces. They were obviously hoping for Garen to fall for one of them.

It was unbearable to such a point where Garen hadn’t bothered to return home and decide to go to his dojo instead. The place was in good shape under the management of his disciples, Simon and Corinne, and the White Cloud Gate had returned to its former prosperity. The White Cloud Gate had expanded its community in a lot of schools within Huishan City and nearby cities as well.

Garen had no need to worry regarding the growth of the White Cloud Gate. Both Simon and Corinne had gone out for an experience exchange and were no longer in the city.

He then went to the Golden Hoop headquarters only to find out that the Eighth Hoop Cyclops Dragon was the only one sitting there. Since both of them didn’t really know each other, Garen chatted for awhile and left the place immediately.

For the next few days, Garen visited the local governors, his third fellow master apprentice and his respective family under the Gold Hoop and White Cloud Gate’s body guard protection.

Afterwards, he went to his uncle’s place.

According to his uncle, Garen had not seen him since the cursed ring’s incident. Since he had treated Garen well in the past, he decided to visit his uncle out of politeness.

***************

Huaishan Pennington Street

Inside a five-story building next to the street.

Tyr was sitting on a rattan chair in a black thick tee shirt as he was looking at the noisy children in the living room as he dangled a tobacco pipe from his mouth.

For the past few days, he had successfully closed a big trade deal, and his business had been getting better and better as the days passed. His place was constantly packed with visitors and all of the elite cousins from his wife’s side even visited him of their own accord. It was obvious that they wanted connections with him. He found himself slightly annoyed, as he couldn’t reject their visits either.

"Lombarth… Lombarth!" He raised his voice.

His son, Lombarth, was happily chatting with a tall girl. He quickly ran to his father when

he heard his father’s call.

"What’s the matter father?"

"Where’s Phelia?"

"She’s playing chess in the basement with some of her friends."

"I knew you can’t count on that girl. Please take care of the visitors for me. Most of them are around your age. The son of Minister Jeter has finally come to visit us. You should accompany him and talk less with these beautiful girls." Tyr suggested.

"Alright." Lombarth was very happy as Garen was not going to fight against him for the properties, and his father had started to nurture him. It seemed like his father is preparing him to become a worthy successor.

Vaeneris Westin and Delai Ando were elite siblings who once tried to snatch Tyr’s property as well. He was a little bit unhappy, he didn’t know why they had come to his house.

Before he left his father alone and walked to the corner of the living room to meet a golden haired man, he walked towards the girl and politely apologised to her.

"Lombarth, you don’t want to talk to these beautiful girls anymore?" Delai Ando’s voice came from a corner. This gloomy person who mixed with the underworld was gently swaying a glass of wine as he tried to act elegant, even though his rough body figure was keeping others at bay. His hand seemed to recover from the injury he had gotten from Garen last time.

Vaeneris was beside him with a feminine smile. He didn’t speak much and just hung out among a few guys and girls, like the stars were surrounding a moon.

"Who’s coming? There’re so many cars down stairs!"

"That car plate number… It’s the governor’s car. Could it be the governor’s cousin?"

"There’re seven V8s opening the path. What a huge scene, each car costs up to millions! Who’s causing all this balze?"

The visitors who were sitting by the window started to gather and look down as they murmured.

The black cars stopped beside Pennington street one by one.

A strong, bald bodyguard swung open the door of the car.

A tall and muscular guy with red eyes emerged from within. He had a simple, short black hairstyle and though his body was very muscular, it was very symmetrical and not bulky in the least. He gave off a strong sense oppression even though he wore a simple tee shirt and jeans.

The man was wearing a golden earring on his left ear. This gave off a slight sense of barbarity. This man was none other than Garen, who had been everywhere recently. With his current social standing, this scene was a must or would affect how others viewed the White Cloud Gate. What made it even more more eye catching, however, was that he was also a member of the Golden Hoop.