6 An unforseen but expected interruption

After silently walking another ten minutes they reached the outskirts of town where Silvy started dashing towards the fields after nudging Rebecca's hands goodbye. Jade sighed with relief when she saw the silvery-grey silhouette vanish in the fields.

Looking at Rebecca lost in thoughts she smiled. She raised her hand stealthily over Rebecca's shoulder and slammed down playfully. "Wat'cha thinking?", she said in a loud voice. Twitching from the shock she received Rebecca glared at her best friend. "I was wondering if we still had some ghost chillies left", she said with a sweet voice and a smile that didn't reach her face. Sensing a menacing aura from her friend Jade could feel her face growing pale.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry Becca! I know I shouldn't have been so ... unfriendly to Silvy. I know you love fluffy animals like there's no tomorrow. I promise I won't be uncourteus towards her anymore so please, please don't make me eat your chilly."

Seeing the panicking expression on Jade's face Rebacca started smiling and chuckled. "It's alright Jade. I was just kidding. I wouldn't even be able to cook something spicy today since my dad overdid it with his sichuan cuisine yesterday. He used every single chillie pepper he could find in the house and dyed our dinner red. That and I was too lazy to go out and buy some again. But if you're seriously craving something spicy we do have some spicy hot pot soup base left from yesterday's hell."

Relieved over the fact that her mouth wouldn't be tasting literal hell today Jade hurriedly declined the offer and continued walking forward. It only took the around two more minutes of walking to arrive at Rebecca's house.

It was a normal building, a family house of the upper middle class of society.

"But seriously, you should level up your security! Your dad is the CEO of the biggest company in the country, shouldn't you be living in a high security neighbourhood for rich people? This place looks like any gang could level it in a minute. Even our house is in a better neighbourhood!", Jade said worriedly.

"Nah, don't worry about it. My dad made sure that not even a bomb can scratch our house. It's almost as safe as a bunker. Well, at least our basement is.

Besides, my mom hates those stuck up rich people living in manors large enough to house ten families. It's just a waste of space. So come on in. My mom already prepped everything, so even we shouldn't be able to mess up cooking."

Rebecca answered with a carefree voice while opening the door. They dropped their shoes at the entrance and proceeded straight to the kitchen.

"So, on today's menu we have rice, Japanese style curry and some pork cutlets with some salad. Do you think you can help without making a mess?", Rebecca asked Jade.

Coughing with embarrassment Jade answered: "Well, normally not, but since everything is already cut up it shouldn't be a problem... I think."

"That's good enough for me", Rebecca laughed.

In the end, the kitchen survived the cooking process (even if only barely) and the two of them were sitting down at the dining table, ready to dig in.

However they were only able to take a few bites before a sound interrupted them.

"...oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know..."

Hearing "Hit me baby one more time" by Britney Spears both Rebecca and Jade knitted their brows.

"Not again! I already told them if they interrupted again this year I'm gonna lynch them!", Jade said angrily as she picked up her mobile.

"What is it? I hope you know that if this call doesn't have a good reason I'm going to beat you black and blue.", Jade told the person on the end of the line with an icy voice.

But just a second later her face showed surprise, mixed with a degree of anxiety.

"I hope that this isn't a joke. For your sake. Where is it? Alright, bye."

With a dark look on her face Jade hung up and stood up from the table. She turned around to face Rebecca with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm so sorry Becca... something really important came up with my family... I have to go..."

Rebecca answered with a slightly disappointed look in her face: "Its alright. I already kind of expected it to happen. It did happen every year since five years ago. At least come back to finish the food okay? There's no way my parents and me will be able to finish it all."

Even though it was obvious how dejected she was Rebecca still gave her friend an encouraging smile. This sad smile immediately stabbed Jade through her heart filled with guilt. But even so, she was unable to relent.

Jade nodded and started to tie her shoes. "Dont worry, there's not a thing on earth that could stop me from eating all those delicious dishes. Especially since I cooked it myself. Well, at least part of it. I'm going to be back really soon."

"Oh wait, there's something I've got to tell you first since I dont know when exactly you're back. Its actually quite urgent."

Rebecca suddenly stood up and hurriedly tried to intercept her friend before she could leave.

But Jade shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I really have to hurry up. I promise I'm going to be back before midnight though.", she yelled over her shoulder as she ran out the door, leaving behind a lonely Rebecca who was still stretching out her hand.

She slowly started clenching her hand and embraced the bracelet on her wrist, trying to find some comfort.

"Goddamn it Jade...", she murmured in a low voice. "I swear that you're going to regret it if you break this promise. In more ways than one."

She turned around and walked back into the house, eating the dinner alone since her parents were out of the house in order to give the two girls some privacy.

While Rebecca was "enjoying" a lonely dinner by herself, Jade was racing towards the edge of town. Watching the fields expand in front of her while she was running, she could start to discern the silhouettes of multiple people.

Closing in on the group Jade started searching for a certain someone. She spotted him in the middle of the crowd, giving out commands to the surrounding people.

"Come on you sloths, move your slow asses! It could appear anytime now! I want everyone in position!"

As she saw her dad shouting orders like mad to her other family members Jade could only heave a sigh and walked to him.

"Where is it? Are you sure the reading was correct?", skipping the greeting she immediately came to the point.

Her father Taylor nodded with a serious expression.

"It's real all right, even though your cultivation is higher than mine, your perception is still too low, so you can't feel it but there's a horrendous aura coming from the field."

Jade knitted her eyebrows from both the criticism and the news. "Are we sure it's a beast? If we accidentally attacked an elemental the families will complain. Again."

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Well, if those stuck up elementals would just announce when they would come to a town we wouldn't have to hurry to go on nonsense missions because our radar picked up their signal.

But it should definitely be a beast this time. Its aura is incredibly savage."

He added the last part with a grave expression.

Suddenly an enormous and wild aura filled the field. Almost all the people stopped in their tracks and paled, feeling the massive aura suppressing them followed by a melodious voice ringing in their heads.

"Well, I'm sorry that my aura is too savage, it's just that you're too weak.

And mister commander over there, has no one ever told you how rude it is to gossip behind someone's back?

And you never, ever call a lady a beast!"