Cory inspected the stranger carefully. It wasn't the man from the restaurant. It was not that man who belonged to the bronze party. It was a total stranger. "Excuse me, may I help you?" Cory called the person. "I'm in a haste. If you need my attention, you need to speak up quickly." He didn't hide his intentions. The stranger started to move closer to him. Cory's squinted his eyes as the stranger approached him. The closer the stranger approached, the clearer the details were. It was a very old man. Like someone's grandfather. But that was not all. The old man looked tipsy, really drunk. His walk steps gave him away. As Cory stared at the man in confusion, he noticed that there was a mark on the forehead of the man. The mark looked like the mark of a wound but dried, yet it was very obvious. It was as though the healed wound had a highlight. Cory really didn't know how to explain how weird it was. "Sir? Did you lose your way?" Cory asked. Although he was in a haste, yet he would
Cory had been beaten almost to a pulp, yet he didn't retaliate. He could feel pain in every corner of his face. At one point, it felt like his eyes would fly out of his head. The pain scaled altitudes and became even more excruciating. A flying kick came out of nowhere and finally unbalanced him. He fell away, landing on his back. He almost crushed his head against the hard floor, but somehow, his instinct helped him evade the chaos. He was breathing heavily and was hardly able to catch his breath. His body was positioned towarsd the sky, and he could see the dark lining of clouds idling in the well-lit sky. He heard approaching footsteps headed in his direction. He didn't need to be told to know whom it was. Of course it was the old man! The old man who has been beating him all along. He had allowed all these beatings. He had allowed the old man to exhaust his skills and power on him. No matter how hard Cory thought about it, he didn't see himself lifting his hand against such an
Cory turned in the same instance in the direction of the voice. He took a firm stance in case it was another call of battle. But when he saw who it was, he dropped the vigor. Walking towards him was Elaine. She looked quite worried and annoyed at the same time. The fusion of both emotions on her face made her look quite funny. Cory was almost tempted to laugh because of her face, but he couldn't fuel the mirth. His mind was too bothered and boggled to entertain such a light feeling. "Where have you been? Where did you go?" Elaine stopped right in front of him, akimbo. Her face stiffened even more, making it very hard for Cory to hold it in. To distract the odds, Cory looked away from her. When he looked away, his gaze fell on the box of meals. Something hit it at once. "Oh shit! Mara. Her food!" Cory finally remembered. "Now you know? Why did you leave both of us alone? You couldn't even inform either of us before leaving? Is that the right way to -"Cory picked up the box and
Anna had just finished answering a call. She looked a little bit stunned as she let the phone slide down her ear. It was quite obvious she was passing thoughts around quickly in her head. Without uttering a word, she turned around and headed out of the exotically furnished room. She headed through the hallway and into the elevator. The elevator led to another hallway, which led to a very spacious living room. There were several art of marital artists hung in several corners of the living room. Anna did not stop in her tracks until she walked into a group of people. A couple of the board members of the Eagleville mall were present in the mansion, discussing the aftermath of Cory's ridiculous purchase. "Sorry to interrupt." Anna stopped in the midst of the group. All the men lifted their heads at once. None of them seemed to hold contempt against her anymore. Just a couple of hours ago, Cory had announced her as the manager of the mall in the presence of everyone. Wasn't it only ri
Anna and Elaine gasped after what Cory said. Anna especially was stunned speechless. Although she always knew that Cory had a mysterious personality, yet she could never have thought that he was that kind of person. She stepped forward and was about to speak when Lord Theo roared. "What are you waiting for?! Beat that little wench to pulp!!!" Lord Theo's roar. The henchmen quickly regrouped and ran towards Elaine. Elaine was shaking. Her legs became too weak to hold her up. She didn't even know how to react to this. But she could see the pending chaos headed her way. "Father! Father, you can't do this." Anna confronted Lord Theo, trying to make him see reason. "Step aside, daughter. This order is beyond my authority." Lord Theo admitted. Anna couldn't believe her ears. Although she knew that Cory was now the owner of the mall, when did he buy the loyalty of her father? She had no clue. Or could there be something she was missing?When Anna turned around and saw the men advancing
"Did he agree to keep us?" The voice over the speaker asked. "I'll fill you in on the details by tomorrow. For now, let everyone go home and rest." Lord Theo responded. He was still over the phone when he heard a car approaching. He turned away from the door of the penthouse that he had been staring at all along. The Maybach pulled over, and Anna climbed out. At first, when she climbed out, her facial expression held no details. But as soon as she saw her father, her reaction changed. She increased her pace, walking briskly to him. "Where is he? Where is Cory?" She asked, looking quite jumpy and worried. Lord Theo gazed at her for a few seconds. It would seem as though he was thinking about something quickly. He sighed and then walked past her. Anna didn't approve of his reaction, yet she didn't want to leave. She was staring at the door of the house as though she would walk there and knock. She changed her mind and decided to go after her father. One of the henchmen was stand
Cory was standing in front of the large queen sized bed. Up to this moment, he didn't know that such a bed existed in the penthouse. He didn't even know how Elaine was able to find the room. Well, he hadn't really stayed here for too long, so it was natural to keep getting surprised. But that wasn't even his worries at this moment. His worries were enshrined in the little beauty that was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Mara. Mara looked so neat and clean. She was so clean that for the first time ever, Cory felt grateful to Elaine. At this moment, he was beginning to regret what he did to her. "She didn't even eat." He muttered as he stared at Mara.Her long, sleek hair has been stylishly braided into beautiful rounds. He knew that Elaine must have done this. He felt even worse for doing that to Elaine. He brushed the stray thoughts off. He didn't want to dwell on things like that. There was a reason he had gone to Mara's place in the first place. He hadn't gotten the chance to do
"Hiii." Cory walked towards her and squated. His face was covered with a smile. The little girl looked quite cute and innocent. When Cory thought of what those thugs had done to her, it broke his heart into pieces. He could never forgive them. "Cory? Is that you?" Mara asked, pushing her outstretched arms through the air to feel Cory. Cory moved closer until her hand touched him. When she felt his cheek with her palm, she started sobbing. "Aw. Do not cry. Don't cry. You are safe now." Cory promised, pulling her into his broad chest. He hugged warmly. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, not wanting to let go of him. Cory didn't pull away. He had neglected her for too long. He didn't have any right to leave her again, let alone deny her the warm moments. "Forget about everything that has happened to you. No harm will come to you ever again. I will make sure of it. No one would dare stand in your presence for too long, let alone reach out to touch a strand of your hair. I
Anna could not understand what was happening. She had stepped to the front, away from Cory, to look closely at the man walking towards her. How could this be her father? She was about to lose her mind. At this point, she had no idea how she was still able to hold up her peace and not go nuts. This was just enough to make her question her sanity. "What's happening? How could this be ---" Anna turned to the back to ask Cory. She suddenly choked on the words. Turning around, Cory was nowhere to be found. It would seem as though he had vanished into thin air. She quickly rushed back into the hut to look for him but she couldn't find him. She ran outside again. She didn't know what to make of all these that were happening to her. She really did wish that she would have an explanation for it. "Did you see him walk out just now?" Anna asked her father, who had stopped walking right in front of the door of the hut. Lord Theo shook his head softly, taking a deep breath. The man slowly p
Anna choked so hard on her breath that she almost passed out. She had no idea what was happening or what had just happened. She couldn't wrap her head around it, let alone make a meaning of it. But it was real. She could see it right in front of her. There was someone who had just been sliced into several pieces. "Father..." She was having trouble rolling those words over. She couldn't even move closer to the corpse. The head was still hanging in the air. Thud! The head and neck dropped on the floor. She flinched, almost sprouting some unknown wings. She should move forward and touch the corpse. She should fall on the pieces of her father and weep her eyes out, but she couldn't. This was just way too much for her to process. She was trying to understand how this was possible in the whole wide world. How could it ever be possible?She could recall openly that she had left her father back at the mansion. The old man couldn't even move an inch, let alone get to her. She could see
Anna was lost in the moment and couldn't place her own emotions, not even after she had climbed into the car. It was a cab, and Cory had just hailed at the cab. What had just happened in the building was still very much fresh in her mind. There was no way she was going to throw that away or be distracted from it. She took a glance at the corner of Cory's face. Then, the glance intensified, graduating into a keen gaze. Cory, on the other hand, was staring at the front. It would seem as though she was not even there. "Are you not going to explain it to me?" She asked him eventually. Cory still would not look at her. She didn't want to act as though this meant nothing to her. She hated the fact that Cory was ignoring her. She knew that she could not force the words out of his mouth. He had to be willing, else her worries and questions would forever remain unattended to. The manner at which Cory was staring, Anna could deduce that there was something else on his mind. Although they
Anna was lost in the moment. She was just wailing over her own troubles and worries when a sudden voice had come out of nowhere. The back figure of the person walking away from her looked rather too familiar for her to ignore. In fact, she didn't have the luxury of ignoring anything at this point. How could she? Her door had been locked perfectly, and there were even men standing watch outside of the door. She didn't even hear the door open, let alone feel a presence until the words hit her. The recurring facts that ran all over the incident made her push her body up in the bed, as now she was kneeling in bed. "Cory?" She was skeptical as she called his name. She wanted to be sure that she was able to place her confusion and get squared up with the main matter;The real situation was the fact that someone familiar was in the room with her and had asked her to leave with him. Cory hesitated at the door and then turned to look at her again. When their gazes met, he saw a whole la
Standing in front of the heap of dead warlords, Cory shut his eyes and took in all the air of victory around him. He had to be sincere with himself. There might still be a lot of spiritual figures out there in the open waiting to cause another havoc or rain another wave of terror. He had never had any reason to be scared of them. Although one of the reasons why he had come to the island was just to be wary of them. Right now, after killing all these warlords, he couldn't help but come to a conclusion that even if he was running from trouble, trouble would still find him. Henceforth, the determination to carry on with this new level of task overwhelmed him. He had unintentionally unlocked another realm and phase of challenges that he could never let anyone else figure out except himself. All his life, he had learned how to keep such big secrets. How could he be referred to as the Immortal Dao if he didn't know how to be exclusive with some of the things that have been haunting him
Lord Theo, who was already exhausted from the errands and worries affiliated with the plot they were carrying out, raised his head slowly to look at his daughter, who was fired up by what she was saying. "What are you talking about, Anna? Please go back to bed. You need it." The man dismissed causally as though he had expected her to be up by now. At this point, Anna really didn't know what to feel. She wished that she would be able to choose her feelings, but she couldn't. There was a great measure of disappointment in what she was feeling at that moment. And there was something else, too. Something which she couldn't really reach. She wanted to sigh, but because she was huffing and puffing, she was even having a hard time catching her breath. "Answer my question, father." Her voice became even louder this time. She was trying to make it obvious to him that she wasn't here to joke around. She was here to talk about and review what was bothering her the most. It would be a great
Anna's eyes slowly opened. When her eyes opened, she felt fatigue, a pool of fatigue washing all over her body. She shut her eyes again to be certain what the problem could be. She slowly opened her eyes again, confiding in the act of precision and timing. Yet the feeling lingered. The fatigued remained. If there was anything, it even became heavier. She tried to roll in bed to the other side, but she felt extremely weak. She had no idea what was happening to her. Rolling on her stomach, she tried to heave her body to a comfortable position, but nothing seemed to work for her. She fell back on her face in bed and started to grunt. "What the hell is happening to me?" She muttered, seeking to understand what the problem might be. The moment when she rolled from one end of the bed to the other, things were beginning to ease gradually. The fatigue and weariness were beginning to wear off. This time, her mind was clearing out gradually. There was a room in her mind to house as many w
"We must go right away." One of the senators stood up and was headed towards the door. "I'm sorry we can't." The doctor suddenly stepped into the way of the senator. The senator looked so offended and pissed out of his mind. He was staring at the doctor as though the doctor was a piece of garbage who ought not to stand in his presence, let alone lift his gaze to look at him. He scoffed and turned to look at the rest of the senators behind him. "What the hell is wrong with these minions? Is it really our fault that we have indulged them and made them feel so comfortable in our midst?" The senator sounded very judgemental as he rolled those words out. He really didn't care that the doctor could hear him. The senators didn't care about anything at all. They don't care about other people other than themselves. As long as things are going their way, they wouldn't care less to do whatever they thought to be okay. "Now, move out of my way before I rip you into shreds!" The senator thre
Linda and her father were as still as a hill. They couldn't even make a sound. They couldn't see each other. Talking about seeing, Linda's eyes were drooping over her breasts at this point. It seemed as though the poison continued to lower the thread of the eyes down and down until perhaps it would get to the soles of her legs. This really didn't matter to her yet because the room was too dark for either of them to see each other. Before they were looked inside this room by the two hefty henchmen, they had seen clearly that it was super bright outside. It was noon. How come when they were locked in here, it was extremely dark? They had not been taken to an underground location. In fact, the underground location they had just come from was well lit and brighter than this. Although she couldn't use her eyes well, Linda could still tell this much that this was a very dark room. "Why is it so dark in here?" She asked her father, looking in the only direction she could afford. Down.