5 One-Sided Reunion

Gu Erin was again focused on his phone, mustering up the courage needed to call his family. Gu Erin had never expected it to be so hard to talk to his own family, but Gu Erin had lived nearly a total of three years with the burden of his family's death, and that was because he was partially responsible for their end.

After another minute of looking at his phone Gu Erin finally realized he was wasting precious time. He had a few places to go and he wasn't even sure about the third, but he was on a timer and every minute counted. Finally with great determination Gu Erin clicked the icon that had his father's name next to it.

Gu Erin brought the phone up to his ear, every ring sounding like an eternity, however, his father never picked up as Gu Erin listened to his voicemail. Gu Erin debated telling his father everything he needed to know during the voicemail but decided against it. This was something that had to be said in the moment.

"Hey dad," Gu Erin started to speak trying not to faulter. "I need you to call me back as soon as possible, its…. It's really important." Gu Erin hung up the phone, taking a deep breath. He had fights with mutated beast that were far less taxing on his mind.

Gu Erin then moved to the next icon, it had his mother's name by it, not giving himself a chance to think too deeply lest painful memories arise Gu Erin called his mother. Unlike his father Gu Erin's mother picked up within an instant as if she had always been waiting for him to call her.

"Hi sweetie!" A cheery voice called out from the other line.

Gu Erin found his heart pounding and his voice choked up, he took a breath and answered. "Hi Mom."

A pause entered the call yet it was quickly broken by his mother, Gu Erin had always been the silent type who preferred being alone rather than interacting with others. So, whenever he did call his mother, she would talk his ear off to make up for all of the time they missed together. Gu Erin had always found this particular behavioral quirk of his mother's annoying, but now listening to his mother continually rant about colleagues and managers, more often than not throwing a snarky comment his father's way. All he felt was a bubbling feeling of warmth well up within him.

"Umm.. Mom?" Gu Erin questioned breaking his mother's tangent on how his younger sister was currently being an ass about her curfew.

"Yes Honey?" His mother, Gu Chyou finally paused, curious about the reason behind his phone call.

"Mom this is going to sound very strange, so I'm going to need you to trust me, can you do that?" Gu Erin asked trying to not let his emotions betray him.

"Okay?" It was a long and drawn out answer, obviously his mother wasn't sure where her son was going with this, but decided to hear him out hoping that something hadn't gone wrong.

"Mom something very important is going to happen tomorrow, when it does, say yes, and remember this is very important. You need to elect to go to a village called Haymire." Gu Erin said with all seriousness.

Silence ensued, all the while Gu Erin held his breath, praying that his mother didn't think he was crazy. No, he could accept her thinking he was crazy, all he wanted was for her to listen to him and take his words to heart.

Finally, his mother answered him. "little Erin are you alright?" She asked her voice no longer carrying the typical cheerful and enthusiastic tone from before. She sounded serious, and very concerned.

"Yes… well no. Mom what I said is very important, please repeat where I told you to go. I know your concerned, but I'll tell you everything tomorrow okay?" Gu Erin again tried to convince his mother to take him seriously.

There was a short pause before Gu Chyou answered him. "Alright little Erin I'll keep this village of Haymire in mind." Her voice was confused, but it was firm enough to make Gu Erin audibly sigh in relief. "But I expect answers." She than said, her voice a deadly serious that he rarely heard from her.

His body subconsciously straightened, as if standing at attention, he would have felt the cold sweat run down his back if he wasn't completely focused on the phone call. Yet no more questions came, so Gu Erin decided to move on to a more important topic.

"Mom I tried to call dad, is he busy?" Gu Erin asked.

"Sigh…" His mother's sigh made him cringe, it wasn't disappointment or exasperation. Just pure rage, like she was trying her best to keep in a scream of pure unbridled annoyance.

This was pretty common in his past life; his father was always busy and it seemed he was more invested in his job than his family. However, this perception of his father was quickly proven wrong because his father was the first to sacrifice himself to buy time for the ones he loved to escape, he did this without any hesitation, and with such determination that it still resonated with him to this day. Gu Erin shook his memories away. That was then, this is now, he will never let that future happen again.

"Your father isn't busy; in fact he was supposed to have the day off as he just got back. Knowing the fink, he decided to work instead of relaxing." Gu Chyou growled.

Again, Gu Erin felt bad for his father, but he wouldn't stick his neck out for him, although his mother was a kind person, she was an absolute demon when it came to family matters. If one were to state that his father had any power in the family, not only would Gu Erin and his sister laugh themselves to death, their father would be right alongside them out of sheer fear that his wife would wring his neck for thinking of contradicting the statement.

"Uh okay, well tell him about what I said, and if you can't get him to accept it, tell him to call me okay? I have to call Gu Meng Yao." Gu Erin said before deciding to end the call before his mother could start the interrogation he knew was coming. "Well, goodbye mom, please keep what I said in mind."

Before she could answer he hung up, yes he felt bad about it after a second, however, he knew that he had far too much to do instead of answering questions repeatedly. That was not the only reason as Gu Erin felt his mind roiling and his heart pounding, that call with his mother had affected him more than he cared to admit.

He was a grand cultivator who had protected the world from invaders, who participated in countless battles, and he couldn't even face his mother without his heart bleeding with countless emotions. They were constantly banging against his mind to be let out. He hated to admit it, but he wanted his mother to know everything. He wanted to unload some of his burden, but he refused to do so. This was his burden to bear. After all it was him who was somehow reincarnated and returned to the past.

He now had to call his little sister, yet he paused. "Perhaps I should have her contact that person." Thinking of that person Gu Erin couldn't help but shudder, she scared him… immensely, and when the Heaven's Mercy descended and he met her in the future she seemed to be the same old person. That however, all changed when he saw her in battle. If he was considered a battle junkie in his past life, she would have been considered a battle glutton, no devil, a complete battle devil.

Back then, shivers traveled down his sweat drenched back, he ran away from her the last time, much to her dismay, but now, he could use that kind of power. He was too naive last time, if he had to manipulate a young girl who had feelings for him to his benefit he would.

His resolve hardened as he called his sister.

***

Jianghai City, Ponzu High School

In the classroom 3-C, three girls were huddled together as they looked at the sitting girl's phone, if one of the other students in the classroom saw what the girls were looking at they would have been confused, and even more so if they heard their conversation.

"I like men to be a little more muscular." Shi Yaner said, looking at the picture on Gu Meng Yao's phone. She was the tallest of the four of them, and she was incredibly athletic, her fit body however couldn't hide her obvious curves. Her long black hair was in a high ponytail, and her face was without makeup, yet no male specimen would hesitate to bow down to her and call her a goddess.

"Oh, come on my brother is pretty hot, I'm sure he'll gain some bulk once he graduates college, how about it?" Gu Meng Yao said, as if she was a sly used car salesman. Her smile was so shameless that her brother would have wanted to find a hole to hide in on her behalf.

Yet her shameless smile still garnered the attention of a few boys in the classroom, that was until her icy glare sent them scampering away. Gu Meng Yao was a traditional Icey beauty, unless you mentioned her brother. Her skin was snow white, peerless like jade, and her angular face was so perfect that angels would be weeping in envy. Although she lacked great assets, most men would call them perfectly modest. She adjusted her long braided hair to her front, trying to ignore the guys who were blatantly staring at her.

"I already told you that I'd marry Gu Erin!" Another girl nearly yelled in complaint; this girl was Chan Ai. If Gu Erin had seen this girl he'd had run away so fast that he would be cursing his parents for not giving him a third leg to run faster.

Chan Ai was Gu Meng Yao's childhood friend; however, she was more like a sister to the Gu siblings. She had a tomboyish look, with short brown hair in a bob cut. However, one couldn't miss the mad glint in her dark blue eyes. She had her own charm, yet every man would notice the same thing about her figure, flat, depressingly so. But her petite frame and bubbly personality would make up for it all.

The other three girls ignored her as if she was air, which only made her pout like a child. "Eh he's handsome, but Meng Yao shouldn't you avoid calling your own brother hot, people might get the wrong idea." Ling Min told her, though her heart wasn't in it. It was obvious that this was a point these girls had always brought up, but was nonetheless ignored.

Ling Min was the most gorgeous out of the group, she had made friends with them because she had been surrounded by her fan group with no escape, and these three had saved her. Her long hair was dyed blond, and her ears were pierced. Her figure was a perfect hour glass shape, she could have easily become a model if her parents hadn't stopped her. Though her black eyes conveyed her genuine worry.

"I can't help that my brother is the greatest!" Gu Meng Yao said passionately, and Chan Ai echoed her statement with a firm nod as if this was the most logical stamen she had ever heard.

Ling Min and Shi Yaner merely sighed, although they seemed exasperated they had given up long ago. When it came to Gu Erin they had given up, yet none of them hated the topic. They were all campus bells, if they had gone over to any other group they would have immediately been treated differently, either kept at a distance, or they would be swarmed. So, this normal and common banter was something they all enjoyed, it was hard for girls like them to get friends that weren't immediately intimidated.

Yet, as the normal two continually watched Gu Meng Yao and Chan Ai flip through Gu Meng Yao's seemingly endless amounts of pictures of her older brother, her phone started to ring. It was a period between classes so it was fine, but they were all surprised by the caller ID, most of all Gu Meg Yao and Chan Ai. Though as soon as the shock faded it was immediately replaced by a type of fanatical excitement that sent shivers down the spines of Ling Min and Shi Yaner.

Without hesitation Gu Meng Yao picked it up and immediately put it on speaker, wanting to share this precious moment with her friends.