Races: Online

Each one of them saw what they were lacking in the other, even if they would never dare admit it aloud. 'He had what I didn't have'—the thoughts weren't as clear cut as that. But it could have been condensed in that one specific sentence alone.

The grass was always greener on the other side, or rather, his life seemed better than mine. 

Albeit neither believed that was important.

Instead, both of them clearly believed they had the upper hand in this situation. 

Even without the physical advantage in the situation, Han Jing could still win the situation if Mou Gu attempted to use another memory sealing talisman. His Mental Fortitude would win him big time and he was positive that Mou Gu would at the most just rough him up.

It was something that made Han Jing confident.

He could have pretended that he didn't know anything at all and play dumb once again—but Han Jing wanted to see how far he had gone. If his skills and stats improved in the Creators' World then it meant that it was affected here on earth as well.

How was his speed compared to a cultivator? Clearly he managed to dodge once but could he do it again? Would Mou Gu's punches hurt a lot. Could Han Jing do more now compared to when he first unlocked his Night Vision?

And yet, Mou Gu was the good guy who just wanted to talk with him.

Maybe it was more of an interrogation.

"It seems like you're aware of what's happening?" Mou Gu frowned  and appeared to have the first onset of wrinkles. "Why are you not surprised at all?

"Why am I not surprised…" Han Jing slowly said. He gave it a thought and considered the other guy's words earlier, but eventually shrugged. "Well… what do you think is the reason for that, Mou Gu?"

"Seriously? You think I'm going to answer that for you?" 

"Yes."

"Through and through, you're still Jing." Mou Gu cursed underneath his breath. He knew he was stronger than Han Jing, but if his old friend got involved with some organization that he wasn't aware of—then it was better to stay safe. "I think you got recruited into some organization and that's why you were away for a couple of days."

"...What's wrong with an organization?" Han Jing raised his brow, realized that he wasn't playing the dumb card, then shook his head. "I mean—what made you think that? I told my mother that I was going out with friends."

"Friends and organization? Same thing to me." Mou Gu replied with a scoff. "The flowers you sold me were enough evidence that you have something or rather have connected with some people who have Earth Spiritual Roots or a Plant Cultivator."

Han Jing blinked for a moment. It was his first time hearing the word plant cultivator although he was slightly familiar with some cultivation terms. He spent a good chunk reading comics filled with cultivation, but he never expected that Mou Gu realized something was up because of the flowers.

Faeran caused him more trouble than good, didn't he?

Well, Han Jing couldn't blame the Wood Elf when he was the one who started selling the flowers that grew around him. He thought they were ordinary flowers, but he should have known that even the regular-looking ones held special functions.

"Oh."

"Oh? Really, is that all you're going to say?" Mou Gu often kept up a cheerful and upbeat demeanor around other people, but Han Jing was close enough for him to become more sardonic than he liked.

"Well… er." Han Jing scratched his head. "I'm not really in an organization or anything." At least not in an organization on earth—because he had that Alliance thing with Faeran, but that didn't count.

The pink-haired cultivator's gaze hardened on him. "You don't have to lie."

"I'm not!"

"If what you're saying is true, then it's better that you pretend that this never happened," Mou Gu said. "I'm unsure how you recovered your memories if nobody has interfered with you at all, but it's not going to work out well for you if you're aware in the first place. I know your tendencies."

"Dude, we literally haven't seen each other for a long time until recently. You can't say that you know me that well to know what I'll be doing." Han Jing couldn't help but cross his arms. While he wasn't itching to get beaten up—he still wanted to test the limits of his ability. "We aren't that close."

"That's where you're wrong. The very fact that we're talking right now means that you're getting involved in this mess when you can very much as well be enjoying your time with your family." 

"I'm not sure why you're trying to bring my family up right now." 

"Live a normal life, isn't that not bad?"

Han Jing stared at Mou Gu and finally grasped what this guy was trying to make him see. He rubbed his face for a moment and tried not to laugh. 

"Not bad? I'm a guy who still lives with his parents—granted, that's pretty economical and other people are surely doing it… but my life isn't as fun and happy as you think it is. You're imagining me as an ungrateful person for not wanting a normal life—yet you've never considered that I'm not happy with my current circumstances at all!"

Mou Gu averted his gaze, but then looked back at him. "Even so…"

"Even so what?" Han Jing dared the guy to say it. "It's still better that I stick with that "normal life" than get involved in this situation that you think I'm not good enough for? I wasn't even bothering you at all until you arrived in my apartment. Heck, I was selling flowers for nearly a month—that's as normal as it could get. What's so wrong with that?"

"Those flowers were unnatural—"

"Why? Did they start cannibalizing your customers or something? Is the plant moving around your diner and causing trouble?" Han Jing asked. He had no idea if that ever happened—while he was positive that it was a no—but if it did, then maybe he could understand why Mou Gu was upset.

"No, but… you just won't get it." Mou Gu sighed inwardly. "You're so convinced that you're right and that I'm wrong that not a single word that I'll say will ever get through your thickheaded skull. I was afraid—no, I didn't expect this to happen at all. You don't know things like I do. Maybe you saw some couple of things that were interesting, but it's not as fun as you think."

"Hey, right back at you!" Han Jing shot back as a reply. "You don't know the things that I know either."

"And what of it? Did you see spirits that interested you? Is the thought of cultivation exciting? Have you seen any actual monsters before I saw you the last time?"

The incident of seeing Han Jing getting caught up in the Veiled World too late made Mou Gu wonder what exactly the guy had seen. There was also that strange power that drew him back there.

Did it have to do anything with Han Jing?

It wasn't the same now.

Mou Gu threw that thought away.

Han Jing's aura was completely normal to him. Ordinary even. That was how he came to the conclusion that it wasn't him who had the green thumbs but someone else. 

"What I saw—it was a black sky that was darker than any normal night. I felt shudders coming down my spine and numerous eyes on me, but that was… not that bad," Han Jing said. "I can handle more than you think."

Mou Gu didn't want it to come to this again.

He wasn't sure if this was going to stick again at all—if Han Jing got out of the memory-sealing talisman's influence then it might occur again… but Mou Gu was willing to take his chances.

It was a good thing that Han Jing was no mind reader.

Mou Gu's gaze flickered one to his bead bracelet as he lowered his staff and sighed loudly. The louder it was—the more suspicious it was, but the two of them at least knew that unpredictability was something they liked to employ. "Handle more? Have you ever tried to seal a dragon before?"

Han Jing fought a Colossal Wyvern before! Well, Han did—but that was almost like the same thing. "What about that?"

Mou Gu raised his left wrist to his forehead. "Those things happen—fighting against a dark dragon trying to invade the world and making sure that they didn't possess your friend. While you were trying to pass your subjects, I was dealing with those issues."

"What?" Han Jing didn't expect him to be that immersed in events like that. "I can't tell if you're being serious or trying to make me chicken out, but I don't care about that. The bigger the monsters are simply means harder they fall."

"This is what I've been telling you about, Jing." Mou Gu took a  step closer to him. "Tendencies like this one ever prevalent ever since we were in first year college—what do they call it? Chuunibyou?"

Han Jing immediately grimaced at those words. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"You had your own power moves—"

"Don't bring it up." Han Jing genuinely thought it was fine to do stuff like those before. He even did it recently last month by recalling them. Still, he was embarrassed when someone else brought it up.

Mou Gu swooped in for the kill.