“And yes, I’m worried about the exact same thing. No amount of sorcery or meditation would keep a person’s heart beating for five centuries unless the hearts that beat in their chests now don’t belong to them, or there’s something else at play that we’re unaware of.” Teivel sighed. “Either way, history is repeating itself—what happened five centuries ago is happening again now.”Darius bit his lip and frowned deeply. Then, he said, “What should we do to prevent the situation from worsening? I honestly have no idea how to proceed from here; I thought I’d eradicated the black-robed people, yet here they are, appearing before me again.”Teivel laughed, but it wasn’t mocking. He said, “They can’t be eradicated—not in the way you think, anyway—because no one could’ve stopped the mastermind after I died. I know my opponent well, and he must’ve thrown himself into expanding his forces after my death. He’s extremely conscientious, and not even his death would put a halt to this organization’s
James stiffened but still tried his best to keep his smile in place. “I haven’t seen your father’s friends in a long while, especially after your parents died. They all had their reasons for leaving.” He took a deep breath; Darius could tell he was upset. James continued, “At the time, I couldn’t accept your father’s death and would’ve appreciated having them around—at least it’d make me feel like he was still alive. I know they weren’t obligated to do anything, but they didn’t even bother attending the funeral. Yet here they are, years later, talking to you about their relationship with your father. I refuse to believe a word they say!” He tried to keep his fury at bay but still couldn’t help trembling. “You can’t trust them fully, so remember to take their words with a grain of salt. After all, there’s no guaranteeing they didn’t befriend your father with a hidden agenda; who knows what they’ve been up to all these years?”Darius had never heard James speak so much before; he was ob
“Don’t worry, they can’t see me. We’ll be fine as long as you don’t join me in mid-air,” Teivel said.Darius exhaled, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the scene before him quietly. There was rat blood everywhere, along with some bits and pieces of flesh. He felt his stomach churning, so he held his breath and levitated, joining Teivel in mid-air. “Sir, I see a mixture of anger and sorrow in your eyes.”Teivel shut his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. I used a secret technique to go through their memories; they’ve been through more than they should’ve before they were put to sleep. They were suffering various hardships when I met them, and when I brought them back with me, the oldest wasn’t even seven. I raised them and taught them to read and write, but I definitely didn’t teach them meditation. I only wanted them to live ordinary lives. Besides, most of them weren’t suited to become enlightened martial artists, which is why I was surprised to see that they’d taken that path. At fi
Teivel needed a quiet place where no one would disturb him. Darius waited until he could no longer sense Teivel before landing on the ground. When he did so, the black-robed people slowly opened their eyes and returned to their senses. Some of them started vomiting when they saw the rat blood and scattered parts around them, but this didn’t affect Darius. He said, “I’m sorry to have stumbled upon your secret like this.” The people settled down and trained their gazes on him. He smiled and said, “I think it’s an issue that needs to be resolved.”The leader of the group stepped forward to block the others from view and said lowly, “Everything’s up for discussion as long as you don’t let Mr. Teivel know about this.”Darius raised an eyebrow. “Unfortunately, he already knows.” The leader became ashen at his words, but rage started to burn in his eyes. However, a few seconds later, it was extinguished, and he slumped, dropping his eyes to the ground. Darius’ lips twitched at this. “If yo
The woman remained rooted to the spot, looking shell-shocked. Darius intended to play along and act like he didn’t know what was happening, but he wanted so badly to laugh at the woman’s terrible acting. Besides, no maid employed by the Reid family would wear thigh-high stockings while working. Still, he knew he had to pretend everything was fine. He put on an angry look and growled, “I’m disgusted by your presence, so you’d better stay away from me!” At his words, the woman’s face became ashen. He tapped his fingers on the edge of the bathtub, wondering whether he’d been too harsh. Would she be able to continue with her act? His lips twitched as he shut his eyes and said, “Remember not to wear anything other than the proper uniform when you come to work next time…no matter how good it looks on you.”Darius sensed her surprise and pleasure at his words and heard footsteps approaching him. He frowned imperceptibly and was about to warn her off when Teivel’s voice blared in his mind. “
Darius raised an eyebrow. He grabbed the woman by the neck and flung her into the bathtub, making her gasp as she tried to catch her breath. He ignored her, put his pants on, and placed a hand on the doorknob. In his mind, the Reid family’s villa was a place for him to relax and be at peace, but it seemed he was wrong. He opened the door to see Erin standing there, and his lips twitched. “I thought you’d be waiting outside.” He didn’t have a shirt on because his wardrobe was outside.Obviously, Erin didn’t expect to see him like this. She flushed and turned away from him but couldn’t bring herself to walk away—it was as if her feet were glued to the floor. Then again, perhaps her brain had stopped functioning and couldn’t tell her legs to move. Either way, she didn’t leave.Darius seemed surprised at this, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he strode past her and into the wardrobe, reemerging when he had a robe on. He asked calmly, “What happened?”Erin quickly regained her composure
Darius pointed at the bathroom as he spoke. “You can check the bathroom if you want. It’s the same as all the other bathrooms, and nothing here can allow me to upload anything online.” He looked at Bruce, who still looked like he had something to say. As an enlightened martial artist, he immediately knew what Bruce was thinking, and his lips twitched. Darius gave Bruce a helpless look and said, “Look, the cameras have nothing to do with me.”Bruce immediately sighed in relief. Darius curbed the urge to roll his eyes and turned to look at the woman while tapping his fingers on the couch’s armrest. The atmosphere became so tense that Bruce dropped his head again, looking at the floor. After a few seconds, Darius said, “Bruce.” It made Bruce shudder and lower his head even more. He couldn’t imagine what Darius was about to say and sweat beaded on his forehead. Darius ignored his roiling emotions and said, “You should look into how this woman sneaked in here and made her way to my room.”
Bruce looked at him calmly. “Perhaps you’ll consider telling me why you’re here if you don’t want to die.”The man burst into laughter. Darius frowned and said, “Bruce, take him away so you can question him later.” Bruce immediately reached out to grab the man, and his speed made Darius’ eyes light up. As expected, Bruce was a martial artist who seemed more proficient than everyone present, including Darius. This made Darius want nothing more than to spar with him, but this obviously wasn’t the right time for that. He tried his best to suppress the urge to pounce on Bruce.At this moment, Edward and Bridget showed up. From their footsteps and breathing, Darius could tell they had run all the way here, which made him raise an eyebrow. He turned to look at the door and said, “Bruce, hold on.” Bruce didn’t know why Darius had suddenly stopped him, but he did as told, and turned to look at Darius, whose brows were tightly furrowed. He’d never seen such a grim look on Darius’ face before a