“Hmmm…What time is it?” Jin thought as he woke up feeling a little groggy. However, he noticed that the place that he was woken up in was more than just a little different from where he fell asleep. There was no bed beneath him, there were no windows displaying the urban view outside nor were any of his belongings around him.
The shirt that he was wearing was not his and was instead a straitjacket. Jin noticed that there were chains and high level restrictive inscriptions binding him. He tried to look around but he could not even move a single inch. He felt constricted, unable to breathe normally.
Eventually, he became more aware of his surroundings. The walls were cold and the only other light source other than a dimly lit candle in the corner of his room was light filtering in from under the door.
Jin struggled as he panicked due to the drastic change of environment but it was all to no avail. “What is this place?!” Jin tried to talk but he was muted by a mouthpiece that robbed him of speech.
“What is with this darkness?!” Jin tried to comprehend what was happening it but the more he thought about the situation he was in, the more desperate he became. Jin tried to use his chi but it was to no avail.
Suddenly, he realised that this body was not actually his! Jin had tried to harness the Dantian point of this body, only to find that the chi was completely different from his usual chi. All chi fell under one category but every person’s chi was unique as if it had a personality like their users. For example, some might be light and peaceful like Milk’s healing maiden chi while some chi might make you feel determined to succeed like Bu Dong’s and Bin Yong’s chi.
On the other hand, some could be dark and cold, similar to the one Jin felt generating from ‘his’ Dantian point. However, this was not just any dark and cold chi. It was not pitch dark but rather crepuscular in nature, as if the darkness crawled up his skin and kissed his neck, only to bite down like a sharp fang ready to sink into your pulsating carotid artery. Its coldness crippled your senses, making him numb for the fang of darkness to take over while the cold continued to wash over him. Jin knew that this chi could leave wounds deeper than mere flesh.
It was only then Jin realised he could hear the thoughts of someone else.
“Patience. The day will come when the Twelve receive their retribution. Hmmph. Hmm Hmm He He He~!” He had a grimaced look under his mouthpiece as if he noticed Jin with him and Jin couldn’t help but shiver from the thought of someone so skilled in observation.
———
“JIN! WAKE UP!” Yun shouted at the top of her lungs and somehow that woke Jin up, cold sweat had soaked the clothes he was in. He was panting heavily after that weird dream he had just experienced. Jin hurriedly touched his entire body to make sure that he was able to move around.
“What happened to you? Why are you touching yourself? Was it a nightmare or was it…” Yun gave Jin a naughty smile but to Yun’s surprise, Jin sighed in relief.
“No, just a bad nightmare… I think.” Jin responded, unsure of what to make of what he had just experienced. Was that really a dream? Why did it feel so real then? Was he lucid dreaming?
“Oh… Cause you overslept for nearly the entire day. It’s already evening.” Yun pointed at the alarm clock at him and Jin was flabbergasted. “It’s already 6 pm?! What about the shop?” Jin was a little jumpy when he realised that he had slept for more than 12 hours and missed nearly a whole day’s worth of work.
“Do not worry too much! I was actually planning to let you sleep over a little anyway while I managed the shop for you. Though I did not expect you to sleep over by more than 7-8 hours.” Yun said as she shook her head in disappointment.
“Sorry, I did put on my alarm though.” Jin turned on his phone to check, only to realise it was turned off.
“Yeah, I turned it off for you when I got back from the shop after my dinner break. It was definitely working since my ears are still hurting. Even when I tried to shake you to wake you up you were not responding.” Yun was a little frustrated.
“…Is that why I feel pain in my cheeks right now?” Jin asked as he rubbed his cheeks to soothe the pain he was feeling.
“Well, I tried to use some force to wake you up.” Yun started to snigger as she shrugged her shoulders.
“And you can see, even without you, I was able to run the shop successfully. Although some people did ask about you.” Yun said proudly but it made Jin feel a little disappointed.
“But I was slower since I was working at the cash register as well as serving the food. Had to ask Milk to come and help with serving the food for a while. Didn’t know it was that hard.” Yun tried to cheer him up, hoping that he did not think too much about the whole issue.
“In any case, anything important happened when I was gone?” Jin asked and Yun, remembering something important, widened her eyes in realisation and shook Jin’s bed even more.
“Yes! Yes! Xiong Da came by and asked for you. Apparently, he wants you to be the witness of the duel against Ji Ao. However, you were not around so he announced that he would conduct the battle at your shop if possible.” Yun said vividly.
“But I do not have an arena prepared for a cultivator versus cultivator fight. All I have are random monster arenas.” Jin replied to Yun as he yawned. It looked like the nightmare he had did not allow him to have a proper rest at all.
“Hmmph, maybe create a variant of that the arena battles? Perhaps monsters fighting beside them to increase the Xiong Da’s winning chances?” Yun suggested.
“Or let them fight two monsters each and both of them then meet each other on the last final stage duelling for the win?” Yun added on to her suggestion.
“Then if Ji Ao loses to the monsters, he would be later shown as the inferior one? But that way Xiong Da won’t get to fight him.” Jin thought to himself whether if that was really a good idea.
“Maybe allow both of them to be resurrected at the last stage? During the final stage, they are not allowed to be resurrected. However, fighting against the monsters would probably give them a slight edge for the final fight but the rewards are hidden until they killed the monsters. But seeing how Ji Ao is usually the cunning one, he would probably just kill himself at the start and he will resurrect with full health waiting in the final fight. Such act would most likely lower his reputation among the crowd too.” Yun replied.
“I see. If that’s the way, I believe the crowd, which I assume his love crush Ruo Ying will be among the spectators observing how Xiong Da had grown as he fights against the monsters. Also, the judge would see that this would most likely be an unfair fight against Xiong Da since Ji Ao was already waiting there for him. They will grow to respect him even more if he can win against this Ji Ao.” Jin thought this was an ingenious idea to bring Xiong Da’s reputation up among his friends and customers in the shop but it was a risky gamble. If Ji Ao decides to fight against the monsters fair and square, all of this conjecture would not happen.
“Trust in Xiong Da, he had practised hard and you have helped him a lot. Both you and I also have seen how much effort he has put in for over the past few weeks.” Yun reaffirmed Jin’s decision.
“Alright then, but let’s take some precautions since we are ‘performing’ for the crowd.” Jin grinned a little and Yun felt excited to see the outcome how all this unfold.
They were looking forward to the battle and both were rooting for Xiong Da from the depths bottom of their hearts.
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