Mystical Journey

Garen scrunched his eyebrows. Kalidor was not trying to hide anything from him, and Garen knew he put a lot of pressure on Kalidor. Ai Fei lowered her head, and she was scared to face Garen. Many thoughts ran through Garen’s mind, but he knew their relationship had ended.

"I still have something to take care of. Have fun, " Garen said.

"Garen, you’re alone, right? Why don’t you join us?" Kalidor got what he wanted, and he stared at Garen with a slight smile on his face. He patted Ai Fei’s butt with his hand, and it looked like he was trying to show his dominance.

"Sorry, I have to go. I will talk to you later." Garen was a bit annoyed, and he hurriedly left the place.

Leaving the two behind, he turned to a street, and a red car slowly stopped before Garen. From inside, Grace opened the door and got off the driving seat.

"Garen, sorry for being late," she said. Grace wore a black suit with a white shirt inside. Her skinny legs were covered with a pair of black stockings, and her long brown hair was silky smooth. She looked cool and pretty with her hair trailed over her shoulders. Grace stood beside Garen, and with both of them having red pupils, they looked unusually like a couple.

"No worries, I’ve also just arrived." Garen looked around, and he barely saw any pedestrians. There were several children playing at the side of the street, and it looked like they were playing hide-and-seek.

"How’s the recent situation?" Garen asked.

"Nothing happened." Grace lowered her head and respectfully answered. She looked like a secretary standing beside her boss.

"They probably knew who I was working for. It’s probably not a wise idea for us to meet in public like this. They will notice," she continued.

"It’s fine. They will eventually know sooner or later. Actually, I wanted them to notice. I wanted to communicate with the Golden Hoop anyways," Garen said with a light tone as he rested his back on the car door.

"I am not alone," he added.

"Also, once they try to communicate with us, I can use ‘Kelly’ as a cover to get in touch with Quicksilver. If they are not trying to avenge their members, they are probably trying to cooperate with me. Don’t worry, even if they come to us, we will not be in danger. The Golden Hoop has been around for a while, and they should know how to approach an unknown opponent. Just carry a gun in case you have to fight," Garen said.

"Got it."

Grace felt like the words he spoke were not from a 16 years old high school student. She thought she was talking to a 30 or 40 years old man, and she had mixed feeling about this.

"Am I talking to a genius?" Grace thought. She was an ordinary girl, and she trained very hard since she was young. Working for a gifted 16 years old teenager left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"What? Get on the car and drive me to the antique shop. Pick me up at 4 p.m. and take me to the dojo after. Don’t screw around, okay?" Garen said.

"I know!" Grace was a bit speechless; she felt like she was the teenager, and Garen was the adult here.

"I have a gun!" she added.

"I know. I know." Garen brushed her off and got into the car. Grace did not know what else she could say, but she remembered how useless her pistol was when Garen jumped on her like a violent leopard, and she felt secured when she was with Garen.

"You should change your expression from time to time. You are young and cute, so why don’t you at least try to smile?" Garen asked. He sat on the passenger seat and relaxed.

"Now try it, smile," Garen said.

Grace tried her best to smile, but she was not even sure if she was actually smiling.

"Never mind. My bad." Garen buried his face into one of his hands.

Grace took a deep breath and told herself not to get angry, but she really wanted to kick Garen in the face. She started the car, and they disappeared by the corner.

Kalidor and Ai Fei walked out of a fast food restaurant by the side, and he pouted his lips towards the direction where Garen disappeared.

"You saw that? Garen never shows anything off. No one knew he had such a pretty lady with him, and he also had a nice car. Damn… That’s a million-dollar car," Kalidor said. He was a bit jealous; his parents would never give him money to buy such a car. He also saw how the cool beauty followed all of Garen’s orders.

Kalidor turned back and looked at Ai Fei. She wasn’t as pretty as the lady that was with Garen, causing anger to boil inside him.

PA!

Kalidor slapped Ai Fei’s behind.

"Hurry up! Let’s go home!" He was almost yelling.

Ai Fei did not say anything. She just followed Kalidor from behind. Kalidor’s temper was getting worse and worse after he argued with his friends. Ai Fei thought she was attractive enough to Kalidor, but she was not sure about that anymore.

Ai Fei watched Garen and the lady leaving as she felt a lost. She was unsure whether she made the right choice, and she was also unsure whether all her efforts were worth it. She followed Kalidor down the street and disappeared by the corner.

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

It was night.

Garen sat in the car and Grace was driving. Silence filled the air, and the light from the streetlights brushed their faces in light. Their pace was slow, and even the carriages were faster than they.

As they drove into a relatively quiet street, someone suddenly appeared in the middle of the way and blocked their path.

"Someone is in front of us!" Grace said in a deep tone.

"It’s one of them…" Garen opened his eyes and looked ahead through the window. There was a man standing in the middle of the road, and he looked thin. The man was wearing a grey-white coat, and his hair was short; he looked like a private detective. Grace stopped the car three meters before hitting him.

Garen opened the door and got off the car. After asking Grace to stay put inside the car, he walked straight towards the man. He noticed the golden earring on the man’s right ear, and it looked the same as the one No.102 had, but the man covered the number with a piece of white cloth.

"Were you the one that killed No.102?" The man spoke first.

"I am here to represent the Golden Hoop, and I hope we can have a chat," he said. His voice was dry, and it sounded like he had not drank water for a long time.

"What? I killed one of your members and you are just trying to have a chat with me?" Garen asked; he was surprised the man did not try to start a fight.

"Well, you can compensate us in a different way, I believe. We have no intention of making our relationship worse, and we already investigated the incident that happened in the Dolphin Antiques. It was our mistake." He raised his hand and apologized.

"Also, we believe that you and the detective are not good friends, since he left you behind at the Silversilk Castle," the man continued.

"True. There’s no point in fighting each other," Garen said as he nodded.

"I come in peace. We don’t really care about what happened before." The man straightened his back and clapped.

PAPA!

Several strong men walked out of the alley after hearing the signal. All of them had daggers or swords in their hands, and they were all laughing. Those men quickly surrounded Garen and his car.

"You can call me No.101. Although the organization asked me not to hurt you, No.102 was my best friend, and I decided to do a private test on you. I want to check if you are good enough for us to cooperate with you. Also, I want to know how you killed No.102." The man in coat smiled.

"Ah!" Garen heard Grace’s scream from the car.

Garen saw that Grace was seized by two strong men, and they were moving towards the river. The other side of the river was apartment buildings, and the embankment was grey.

"What do you want?" Garen said in a cold tone as his eyes narrowed.

"I told you already. It’s just a test," No.101 said while smiling.

"I don’t like being tested like this," Garen turned around as he spoke in a light tone.

Grace screamed again as she reached the edge of the embankment; she was just one step away from falling to the river. Garen turned back and rushed towards Grace, but No.101 blocked his path.

"Move aside," Garen said.

"We will kill your girl if you fail the test, but you have to hurry. I am not sure how long they will keep her by the edge. A weak girl like her won’t be able to handle the pressure for too long,"

No.101 smiled and said. He clapped again, and one of the men walked towards Grace with a dagger in his hand. He put down the dagger by a Sand Gull and slashed the air with his hand while laughing cruelly.

"Do what I say, otherwise, we will have to kill your beautiful girlfriend." No.101 laughed.

"I take it that the Golden Hoop doesn’t really care about me," Garen said and laughed.

"I thought you guys were smarter than this. I guess I am too naive," he continued.

"Don’t worry, Grace. I will avenge you if they decided to kill you," Garen said as he looked at Grace with eyes half-opened.

PONG!

Once these words were spoken, Garen suddenly attempted to seize No.101. His arm size doubled as he used the Strike Stance; it sounded like the air was slashed open. The veins on his hands were visible, and they seemed as big as an adult’s head.

"Die!" The muscles on Garen’s back moved towards his right arm like waves.