Reilei did not enjoy crying in front of Jin, as she wouldn't want him worrying about her. However, she was too overjoyed to control herself properly.
Even the words she uttered out of her mouth were said without really thinking about it. To Reilei, this was a perfect example of one joy scatters a hundred griefs. Jin was her one joy in this life and to see him working hard, plus wanting to take care of her… This was her definition of bliss.
Jin gave a reassuring smile, it may have been because of how he recently completed total fusion with this body, but Izroth felt genuinely happy about what he was doing. Even if he was once the number one cultivator within the Seven Realms, matters of the soul were still mysterious.
It was seen as something that was solely controlled by the heavens and so while one could have a deep and unfathomable understanding of the soul, there were still many unknown mysteries surrounding it. Even someone like Izroth barely scratched the surface of the subject.
"How could you not be allowed to be happy? If you do not deserve to be happy, then this is a world that does not deserve you" When he spoke those words he meant that in a figurative way as well as a literal way.
Reilei couldn't help but giggle when she heard Jin say those words. She shook her head slightly, "In the end, if I had to do everything over again and be born into a different kind of life, I would be unable to do so. If there is a chance that life does not include you, Jin, I do not believe I could ever truly be happy" she pulled out a handkerchief from her purse to wipe her tears away.
A light shade of pink invaded her cheeks. "Making your mother cry so much in one day… How cruel, Jin…" Reilei pouted but that lovely smile did not leave her face for a moment.
Reilei was just embarrassed by the fact that she showed such an unsightly thing to Jin. But, she felt much better after finally being able to release all of her various frustrations.
Jin smiled helplessly as he waved over the waitress to pay for their meal. Afterward, both Jin and Reilei stood up from their seats and went outside to begin their trip home.
"Are you sure there's nowhere else you wish to go?" Jin asked as they were turning around the corner.
Reilei placed her index finger upon her chin as if she were thinking of something. "Hmmm… Ah, how about-" just as they were walking down the sidewalk, Reilei suddenly halted her footsteps.
When Jin noticed that Reilei was no longer moving, he turned back to check on her.
Reilei was shaking as she instinctively covered her right wrist with her left hand to try and calm herself down. However, it was not working very well as she could not stop shaking. Reilei even started to have cold sweats as she was reminded of that unpleasant memory.
Across the street hanging out in front of a convenience store were three people. It only took a single glance to realize that it was a group of troublemakers. They were antagonizing anyone that walked by and looked in their general direction. Most people just kept their heads down and continued forward trying not to make eye contact.
Jin frowned inwardly when he saw how afraid Reilei appeared to be out of nowhere. He followed, with his eyes, to the location that Reilei was staring at. When he discovered what, or rather in this case, who Reilei was staring at his heart grew extremely cold.
The three individuals he observed were the same people who used to bully the original owner of this body. There was even one time where the beating was so bad that he was sent to the hospital.
Hospital bills were not cheap and it caused his mother to take on even more burdens in order to pay for it. The police turned the other way on the assault and did not press any charges and till this day they never understood why.
Izroth was no fool, he understood perfectly clear that these were the culprits he was going to eventually have to search for that assaulted Reilei. Even if they never did anything to her, he would still take care of them for wronging the original owner of this body. This would just be killing two birds with one stone.
The three gangsters across the street spotted Jin and Reilei from afar. The one who assaulted Reilei, Rhodes, smirked when he saw them looking over in their direction. He then blew a kiss over at Reilei which made her entire face turn pale.
Jin's current facial expression was calm, but it was the scary kind resembling the calm before a vicious storm. Their fate had already been sealed. Jin rested his hand on Reilei's shoulder, he did not say a word and simply kept that calm look upon his face.
Reilei snapped out it when Jin touched her shoulder and soon realized that she had zoned out just then.
"No… Um… There's nowhere else I wish to go today, just home…" She looked down at the ground, she felt sick to her stomach just looking at those three guys. She just wanted to go home and get as far away as possible from them.
Jin nodded his head, "You've had a long day at work, you shouldn't push yourself and get some proper rest"
Reilei silently nodded her head, such a wonderful and dreamlike day had been shattered by such a simple encounter.
As they began to walk once more, Jin glanced over at the three gangsters and narrowed his eyes. Usually, he had a very carefree personality, however, there were certain lines that could not be crossed. Those three not only crossed it, but they even dared to taunt them after the event.
'Fools…' That was the sole word that crossed Izroth's mind.
…
Reilei and Jin arrived back home not too long after. Reilei did not speak another word on the entire trip back home. Though, she could not be blamed after what happened to her.
When they entered their home, she still forced a smile on her face as she looked over at Jin. "Jin, thank you for such a wonderful day. Today has been the most fun I've had in a long time, you're truly my happiness." She leaned in on her tippy toes and gave Jin a motherly kiss on the forehead.
"I'm a bit tired now so I must rest…" After Reilei said that she went off to her room and closed the door gently.
When the door closed all the way, that calm look Jin's face had finally vanished. It was replaced by a dark expression, one filled with actual killing intent.
"Good… Very good… Let's see how I deal with you all." He went into the room to change into some other clothing before leaving the house a few moments later.
…
Inside of an abandoned warehouse, three individuals were tossing rocks at beer cans. "Hey, did you guys see the look on her face? She was totally daydreaming about me." The one who spoke was Rhodes. He tossed a rock at a nearby can and just barely missed it. "Tch…"
"Daydreaming about you? Hahaha, if that's what you want to call it bro. But hey… Did you notice something a bit different about that Jin brat?" Victor tossed the cigarette he was smoking away since he finished it out before exhaling.
"Yeah, usually that loser doesn't dare to even look at us but he actually had the guts to do so this time. Heh, he just needs to be taught another lesson. It's been too long since we last put him in his place after all. Though, I shouldn't be too harsh on my future step-son hahaha!" Rhodes burst out laughing.
Dan shook his head, "Step-son? Dude, you actually want to get married one day? That's a trap, a trap I tell you. Trust me man, marriage drove my folks crazy".
As the three of them were talking, a shadow was perched upon one of the metal beams running across the ceiling of the warehouse. The shadow was dressed in all black clothing, wearing a masquerade mask that covered up the top half and nearly the whole left part of his face.
'Found you…' Izroth thought to himself as he looked down at the three having a joyous time. Put him in his place? What a joke!
The only reason he bothered to wear a mask was due to the laws of this world. Although he was unafraid of the consequences, it would be unfair to risk dragging Reilei into such matters. This was something he would take care of by himself.
After having fused with all of Jin's memories, Izroth knew all the hangout places of those three pieces of trash. He knew because they used to bring the original owner of this body to all kind of locations and come up with creative ways to bully him, it was often borderline torture.
He dropped down from the metal beam silently and once he reached the group he slowly walked out from that patch of darkness into the open.
As Dan, Victor, and Rhodes were talking to one another, Dan caught something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and noticed that it was someone dressed in all black clothing wearing a strange mask. This was their hideout, even the other local gangs knew not to trespass in this place.
"Heh, looks like we have a lost little lamb here boys" when Dan spoke, Victor and Rhodes turned around to see what Dan was talking about.
Rhodes frowned, "Who the hell are you? Do you know who's territory this is?" He spoke but that person just stood there not saying a word.
Victor thought that the person was just scared stiff. They may have just been some weirdo hopped up on drugs and didn't even understand what was going on around them. "Hey, we're talking to you, are you deaf or something?!"
Victor walked over towards that person with the strange mask and tried to grab onto his shirt collar. However, that would be the last thing he remembered for a while.
Rhodes smirked as he saw Victor marching over to deal with the problem, but before he could even say another word Victor flew back like a ragdoll and crashed into some wooden crates laying nearby. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head, he had lost consciousness!
The eyes of Dan and Rhodes widened when they saw that. What just happened?! All they saw was Victor fly back when he was just about to grab onto that person and teach them a lesson. That person just stood there with his hands behind his back as if he hadn't moved a single inch.
Victor may not have been the best fighter amongst them, but he was still tough as a nail. To be defeated so easily meant that this person before them was probably an expert. But, they did not remember offending anyone who could be associated with such an expert.
After all, even though they were reckless, the three of them understood who they could and couldn't afford to offend.
"You… Who the hell are you?! What do you want?!" Rhodes was frightened by the sudden turn of events. He slowly reached towards his pocket keeping his hand on the handle of the knife, while staring at this person before them.
Dan was also on guard and picked up a rusty old crowbar that was laying on the ground nearby.
Was it a rival gang? But, he did not know any rival gangs with such a strange appearance. But if not, then who was this person and what did they want?
"Vengeance" he said that single word before releasing a monstrous killing intent that resembled an ancient beast awakening from a long slumber. This was vengeance, none of them should be thinking about escaping from this place in one piece.
