Chapter 5.

Slade stomped his left leg on the ground, and off he went. There was no point digging deep into the assumptions while he stood there. The first necessity was saving the girl from drowning.

As soon as his body made contact with the river after the dive, his head went gliding through the surface for a few seconds before he submerged his whole body into the water.

Barely had he spent a minute in the water when he his head popped out of the water, a shawl of flood pouring from both sides of his head. Clutched to his chest was the girl who was barely breathing.

With the girl in his arms, he climbed out of the water and slowly placed her body on the ground, supporting her back with his sturdy arm.

The girl had swallowed a lot of water, and her lush blonde hair had turned into rolls of ropes. She was unconscious. Her face was pale, looming at the near-death omen. Her lips were blue, and she already looked like life was just a puff away, about to be blown off.

"Let's take her to the hospital. She doesn't have much time." The passerby who had called for help cried.

That was the only thing the passerby could think of. Slade, on the other hand, didn't really pay attention to the passerby. He slowly prodded the body of the girl to the front.

Gently, Slade started to pat the back of the girl. He didn't need to add too much pressure, or else he would hurt her.

The moment he started patting, he could feel some Qi energy traveling across his veins and towards his palm. His eyes were shut as he needed to concentrate in order to be able to channel the energy to the palm.

Just a little outflow of energy will be enough to heal a girl who fell into water.

By the time he had given her at least least three pats, the girl suddenly came alive and puked some water.

She was breathing heavily and was also confused as she tried to understand what was happening to her.

The confusion was not only caused by the fact that she had just been revived from drowning. When someone meets themselves at a point of near-death experience, the brain is thrown into a frenzy.

The energy that Slade had passed into her body met the brain in shock and suddenly made the brain static and unresponsive. Although her body had moved, the brain's signal was not normal yet. Hence, the confused state.

But in a few seconds, everything went back to normal in her mind, and she became aware of her surroundings again.

Suddenly, the girl burst into tears. She seemed to be aware of her situation.

"You don't have to cry. You are now safe." Slade assured her, trying to soothe her. She had just had a near-death experience.

The girl jumped up on her feet and started to run towards the river again. Slade was confused at first, but he quickly caught up on the fact.

He quickly ran to her and seized her arm, stopping her from hurling herself at the river again.

Hold on, was she trying to jump into the river again? Slade couldn't help but wonder.

"Let me go! I want to die!!!" The little girl was screaming as she fought Slade. In fact, in order to make Slade back down, she was biting his hand, too.

After the series of die-hard trainings that Slade had gone through under the tutelage of Niel, her bite felt like tracing a straw across his hand. Her bites only tickled Slade's hand.

He was much more worried about why she was struggling to throw herself into the river. Although she was about 18 years of age and was considerably fiesty, her strength was chaff compared to Slade's.

"Die? What are you doing?" Slade was trying to persuade her. "Don't jump. You're safe now. Nothing will harm you." He tried to make her see reason.

No matter how much he tried to talk her out of it, she was fighting really hard! She just wanted to commit suicide!

When Slade realised that she would not be talked out of this gently, he slowly placed two of his fingers on her neck and stroked her nape. When he did that, a current went from his fingers into her neck, and suddenly, the girl felt drowsy.

In the blink of an eye, she fell into a deep sleep.

"Candyce! Candyce!!" A voice was heard calling.

Slade looked and saw an old man running towards the scene. The man looked old, but his skin was rich. His dressing was simple but held some distinct aura.

When the old man got there, he dropped the polythene bag in his hand to the floor. The content rolled away. He ran to the girl and hugged her, holding her warmly.

"Why did you do it, Candyce? I thought you agreed to forget about him? Was that not the reason why we are here today?" The old man complained to the sleeping girl.

When the man finally soothed himself and noticed Slade and Mamita, alongside the passerby, he got up on his feet.

"Thank you so much for saving my daughter." He bowed humbly to Slade.

Slade shook his head, not willing to take the respect. It was an elderly man. It was not ethical for an elderly man to bow to him.

"As humans, we shouldn't just stand by when someone needs help. I'm just doing the basics." Slade replied humbly.

Suddenly, he recalled what the man had just said.

"What were you talking about earlier? I don't mean to pry, but it looks serious." Slade knew boundaries. Even though he had just helped the girl, it doesn't mean that he was entitled to know every detail.

"No, I'm willing to share." The old man corrected. "Candyce is my only daughter. There was this guy she was dating. She loved him so much, but he recently broke up with her. She couldn't handle the breakup well since he was her first and only love. Ever since the break up, she has been suicidal." The man sighed.

"I decided to take her out today for fresh air. While she was little, she loved playing by the river, and I would take her with me to fishing. I thought it would be a great idea to bring her here. For some bonding, to help distract her from the gloomy thoughts. Who could have thought that she would -" The man couldn't bring himself to completing the sentence.

"She said she was thirsty, and I had just gone to a convenience store to buy some soda. As soon as I heard a scream from this direction, I came running down." He sniffled. "Thank you so much for saving my only girl."

"You're welcome, sir. She will be asleep for a while. Don't wake her up. It'll help her mental state of mind, too." After Slade said this, he bowed to the man.

Slade walked away from the man and went to Mamita.

"Sorry for keeping you here, Mamita." Slade apologized.

"Don't be silly. You just did something great." She scolded, a warm smile filling her face. Seeing her smile warmed Slade up.

He held her and started to lead her away. As Slade walked away, the old man watched him, observing him very intently.

"Excuse me, please." He called at Slade.

Slade had no choice but to stop.

"Can you please tell me your name and who you are?" He asked.

Slade only smiled at the man.

"My name is Slade. And for who I am? I'm just a man trying to make his Mamita happy." Slade smiled again, then turned to leave.

"Hold on." The old man called again.

The old man brought out a book from his coat and a pen. He scribbled on the book for a while, then ripped off a part of the book.

"Here's a cheque of 500,000 dollars. Please accept my gift of gratitude, Mr Slade."