24 Darkness

A few days later.

"What happened, Senior? It's not like you to be here at this time," Rui curiously asks while treating his patients, upon seeing Chen Zoe at his clinic.

"I just missed you, so I came… What else could be the reason?" Avoiding eye contact with Rui, Chen Zoe spoke. He keeps looking outside anxiously as he has been hiding from someone.

"Senior, are you hiding from someone?" Observing Zoe's attitude, Rui asks.

"H-hiding… me? From whom? Don't be so ridiculous…' Before he makes up excuses, a voice completely shakes him.

'Senior Rui, did Master come here?' Long Yuzhen came to look for his master stands at the doorstep of Rui's clinic.

Hearing the voice, Chen Zoe quickly hid himself behind the door and restlessly begged Rui not to expose that he was hiding there.

"Your master…" Rui looks at Chen Zoe as he's about to tell the truth and stands at the door where Zoe was hiding. "Mm… He didn't. What happened?"

"Nothing… I just didn't see him since this morning…" In a worried tone, Yuzhen explains.

"Don't worry, Senior may have gone for a stroll. He often does that." To ease the tension of Yuzhen, Rui speaks.

"Can't he at least inform someone before going somewhere? Anyway, thank you, Senior. Please continue your work. I will be going then." Yuzhen goes back, and Rui glares at Chen Zoe in suspicion as what trouble he did this time? 

"Let's have a talk…" Rui takes Chen Zoe to his room and waits for an explanation of what exactly is happening here.

"Can you stop staring at me like this? I didn't cause any trouble this time…" Sometimes for Zoe, Rui was more terrifying than Xi Shen. Even though he supports his senior in every trouble, he often plays a mother bird role when they are alone.

"Then why are you hiding from your disciple?"

"Because… Because he's been acting so strangely these days."

"Strangely?" Cluelessly, Rui looks at Zoe.

"I think he is trying to take revenge on me."

"Huh!!!" [Rui]

"Nowadays, he's been so attentive to my needs. Making foods that I like to eat, taking care of everything in the household, even he prepares my clothes. I don't have to lift a finger to do anything. Sometimes it feels like I'm living in someone else's house."

"Isn't that a good thing? Why are you taking it in a negative way?"

"At first, I also thought this way, but later I understood what he's exactly doing. He's been feeding me my favorite foods to make me fat and not letting me do anything; he's making me lazy as well. In the name of taking care of my household, he's making me dependent on him. Now I have to seek help from him to find my things." In a serious tone, Zoe explained.

'After all these years, did he find out his own bad habit just now? When will my senior grow up?

But why is this Yuzhen acting so weird? Is he trying to impress his master? But aren't his actions more like a loving housewife rather than a loyal disciple? What if he actually has some feelings for my senior? Isn't the situations like in the novel 'My general'?' Rui tries to understand the situation by himself, but it ends with a weird conclusion.

"Aren't you overthinking? He might be trying to impress you…" Shaking off his naughty thoughts, Rui tries to stand up for Yuzhen. After all, he's been only doing good things for Chen Zoe.

Suddenly, their conversation gets interrupted by a scream from the room where the cub was being treated. They quickly go to look and are stunned by what they see.

The whole room is turning pitch black in the daylight, and the darkness is coming out from the cub's body. Also, the person who screamed is lying on the floor in pain; his half side is completely darkened and it's spreading throughout his body.

"Help… help…" In a begging voice, the man speaks upon seeing Rui and Chen Zoe there.

"Senior…" In an anxious way, Rui calls out after seeing such a scene.

Not only Rui, but Chen Zoe is also felt anxious after witnessing such scene. The darkness coming out from the cub is erasing everything that comes in front of him. (The flowers planted there are all wilted.)

Before it spreads more, Chen Zoe creates his pure blue flames against the darkness. The light slowly erases the darkness; the strength of darkness coming out from the weak cub's body wasn't that strong at that time.

At that moment, Chen Zoe remembers the words of the beast man who claims this cub was a disaster. He hesitates for a moment but still walks toward the cub before deciding to take his sword to end the cub life.

However, surprising Zoe and Rui, the cub calms down right after Zoe's presence catches his small eyes. The cub stands there while looking at Zoe, and the darkness also completely vanishes from the room. Taking courage, Chen Zoe stands on his knees and extends his hand toward the cub.

The cub lets Zoe touch his forehead and loses consciousness right after from exhaustion of using his powers.