Episode 3.2 Family of Three

Bang! Crack!

The sound of breaking glasses and rolling metal decors clangored in a well-curated room. The atmosphere was so cold and gloomy that anyone would feel chills if they entered it. A tall and muscular man is wearing a pair of black pants and a disheveled shirt. His face was invisible as it was planted on his two opened palms. Loneliness and grief were evident in the slouching back of the man.

"Bai Tingfeng?" Shen Yuan called the familiar figure of the man. Somehow, seeing the man like this feels like there is a burden weighing on his chest. It was natural since this man is– even if he tried to deny it, Bai Tingfeng is his favorite character in the manhua. He made an effort to approach him. However, he couldn't do so as he felt a strong force that held him in place. 

What the hell is going on?

The nine-tailed fox asked himself.

Bai Tingfeng didn't give him an answer, nor did it seem that he heard Shen Yuan. He just kept his head low, looking defeated.

That was when Shen Yuan heard another racket coming from his right.

"It's all because of you, Bai Tingfeng! Fuck you!" cried the voice. It sounded raspy and broken, as if the speaker had screamed for hours that it broke his vocal cords. However, Suki, the celestial fox spirit, could sense an uncanny familiarity from the raging man.

He turned in the direction of the man and saw that another Shen Yuan was charging towards the melancholic Bai Tingfeng.

"Hey, Stop! If you walloped him hard, you might kill him!" he panicked, thinking the other was him.

However, his assumption appears wrong since even though the Shen Yuan before him struck Bai Tingfeng without holding back, the man seemed fine.

In fact, the alpha didn't even bother to stop the lashing omega for a full minute until the man stood up and harshly shoved Shen Yuan to the couch.

'Seriously, what the hell?!' Suki screamed inside his head. There's no way that he is that weak! If he really tried, he could easily eject an adult human's innards with a single push! 

'Is this a memory from the original Shen Yuan?' Suki thought as if that was the only plausible explanation for this blunder.

"You keep placing the blame on me, but did it not hit you that if you only stayed in the country, Yanyan wouldn't have to experience that?" Bai Tingfeng gnashed his teeth. "It was all because of you that my son felt loneliness that he shouldn't feel at his tender age! You should be the one taking care of him and not other people, Shen Yuan! But no! Your freedom and desire to spite your father outweighs my son's importance to you! Now that all these happened, are you happy now?"

'Wait, what does that mean? Did something happen to Bai Shengyan? That Bai Tingfeng's kid?' Nerves started to creep at Suki's entire body. He's got an unsettling feeling that something terrible indeed happened to that child.

On the other hand, tears couldn't help but fall in Shen Yuan's eyes, lying on the couch, with his eyes red and full of complex human emotions. "So that is how you view me as, huh? A cold-blooded prick, Bai Tingfeng?"

"Duh, that's because you left your son when he still needed parental care!" Suki loudly said in the background. But none of the two pay any attention to him. He is getting ticked by this situation now.

The omega wildly stood up from the couch and started throwing punches at Bai Tingfeng. The man just accepted the hits with open arms. "Yes! I am so happy I could die now! But I will not conveniently do that for you. Because I will ensure you will never find happiness in this life!"

After saying that, Shen Yuan coated his fist with a cold blue flame and punched Bai Tingfeng. Everything exploded upon impact, and the next thing he heard was Bai Tingfeng's loud voice.

"Yanyan! No!"

"Argh! What? I know it must be hot, but can't you not yell, Bai Tingfeng!" Shen Yuan said while massaging his forehead. "Wait, I can move now."

The omega, who had just woken up from his slumber, looked at the man beside him and realized that the present situation differed from the one he had seen earlier. They are in a car, not in a room. That was when he realized that he was asleep all this time.

'So that is a dream?' Shen Yuan thought to himself and breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like he is worried that Bai Tingfeng will be scorched by such a puny fire. An S-Class hunter would be able to handle that without any scratch.

Shen Yuan studied the man's face and realized that his face was pale and bullets of sweat cascaded down his forehead. The car's atmosphere inside was deadly silent, and the look he saw from Su Yifan behind the wheel was a mixture of distress and anger.

A dreadful feeling kept poking in the side of the celestial fox's brain. 

"Wait, did anything happen, Bai Tingfeng?" Shen Yuan asked the man, who still seemingly looked as if he was out of it. What could be the reason that made this man so shaken?

'If I am not mistaken, Bai Tingfeng yelled the name Yanyan, right? That is Bai Shengyan, Bai Tingfeng, and Shen Yuan's only child.

The celestial fox's brain cells are working hard to make sense of the fragmented facts before him, and the conclusion is perturbing.

Shen Yuan grabbed the phone held by Bai Tingfeng's trembling hand.

There, he saw the feed flashing on the scene. It is a horrendous scene of a wrecked car. Its door was evidently forcibly detached from the body. Through that gaping opening, he saw people fighting against one another. It was like a scene straight-up came from a sci-fi action film. Superpowers are being thrown at one another. Swords and guns clash against each other.

One group that he saw was wearing a black suit and tie. The one identical to the other bodyguards he came across with. Meanwhile, the other side wears everyday clothing while their faces are covered with pure white masks.

Damn, he was right. Bai Shengyan did have an accident, and it was not just an ordinary accident.

This and his dream makes Shen Yuan uneasy. He must do something to save the kid. That is the prevailing gut feeling that he presently have now.

"Guildmaster, please calm down! You can't-" Shen Yuan heard Su Yifan's yell. Simultaneously, he felt the erratic discharge of overwhelming power radiating from Bai Tingfeng's body. Their car forcibly halted as Su Yifan was utterly overpowered by the chaotic energy coming from Bai Tingfeng. The S-Class alpha was in a complete daze.

"What the hell is happening?" Shen Yuan questioned whoever soul that could answer him.

"The Guildmaster… Mania," Assistant Su did his best to respond despite he was gasping for air. He was crouching in the steering wheel, weak and suffocating.

'Mania?!' That term rang a bell in Shen Yuan's mind. In the manhua, 'Their S-Class Affairs,' every time Bai Tingfeng and Lei Jireh have wild and hardcore sex, it is always related to Bai Tingfeng's health condition, referred to as Mania. A power-related condition that is prevalent among alphas who have awakened powerful abilities and a monumental amount of mana, and it can only be triggered if the alpha is emotionally stressed.

Alphas experiencing Mania enter a berserk state wherein the patient continuously uses his ability until his mana dries up. It is highly perilous for the alpha and anyone around him, with the alpha being susceptible to complications after it subsides and others at risk of being stomped on by powerful alpha awakeners.

Imagine a T-Rex rampaging in a pack of chihuahuas. That is the case once an S-Class awakener like Bai Tingfeng went nuts.

But Shen Yuan is worry-free because Bai Tingfeng's chaotic powers are not affecting him at all. What he is most concerned about is the child who is, at this moment is in danger.

Su Yifan was silently watching the two bosses in the back. Worry is gnawing at him like rats. He wanted to scream at Master Shen to move away from the Guildmaster, but he was choking from the aggressive power emanating from the S-Class monster among the monsters.

'Out of the known S-Class awakeners in C Country, the Guildmaster has the strongest and most violent energy fluctuation ever recorded. There is no way an omega like Master Shen could handle the surge!' Su Yifan tried to give begging eyes at Shen Yuan, wishing the omega would somehow understand that he needed to move away.

And it seemed like heaven was listening to his prayers; he saw Master Shen moving his body away from the alpha.

'That is right, Master Shen, you must move away from the Guildmaster,' the teary-eyed Su Yifan mustered the last of his strength to unlock the car doors. 'Open the door and run away. The other bodyguards will take you to a safe place. Let us- Eh?'

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!

Su Yifan's emotional internal monologue was interrupted by loud, crispy sounds of flesh colliding.

"Damn! Bai Tingfeng! Pull yourself together! You have a son who is waiting for you to save!" Shen Yuan roared as he unceremoniously slapped the consciousness out of Bai TIngfeng. Single slap. A couple slaps. A small family of three slaps. Shen Yuan mightily waved his palms. It doesn't matter to him if his slaps reach a number of extended family or relatives. What matters now is to wake Bai Tingfeng up.

"I knew you were an S-Class awakener, but I never knew you were an S-Class bastard!" the slew of crispy slaps continued, and Su Yifan watched this sight in horror!

'No way! M-Master Shen is too scary!' the alpha, known for being a good fighter inside the dungeon, almost shit his pants witnessing his boss's abuse.

"I swear to the Heavens, if something terrible happened to Bai Shengyan because you are wasting your time, best believe I will grill your bouncy ass in the barbecue!"

'Oh. My. God!' Su Yifan doesn't know if he should worry about the chaotic power of his boss or the fact that Master Shen boldly declared such a brutal threat to a powerful Bai Tingfeng. The assistant's thinking goes off track because of the unbelievable grand actions of the celestial fox spirit. If it was in a normal situation, he would wonder how an omega could move around despite the oppression from an S-Class awakener.

"Arghh," Bai Tingfeng's gruff groan sounded.

Shen Yuan saw that the empty gaze of the man gained focus, and the oppression was ebbing away. Finally, Bai Tingfeng's consciousness is back!

"You okay now?" The celestial fox asked, his eyes spitting fire. "How could you be a Guildmaster when you can't even control your emotions during important situations? Goddamn it!"

"Yanyan… We need to save Yanyan," Bai Tingfeng massaged his temple to ease the physiological effect of Mania.

Shen Yuan looked at the sluggish Bai TIngfeng. "Tsk!' the omega clicked his tongue. "So lame." 

"Assistant Su, can you drive fast to where the child is?" Shen Yuan turned to Su Yifan since his goodwill for Bai Tingfeng was running low every time he looked at the helpless state of Bai Tingfeng. Pity and frustration are such a nasty combination, and the man on the other side of the seat is giving it to him in full!

"I-I can, Master Shen," Su Yifan affirmative answer. However, every vein in his head palpitates upon seeing the man who would drive for them trembling.

"Forget it."

Boom!

Su Yifan gulped a mouthful of saliva, feeling the entire armored SUV shake when Master Shen opened.

Shen Yuan stepped out of the car and closed it with a loud thud. This time, Bai Tingfeng has completely turned sober, "We need to go now and chase after those bastard. We can't waste any time."

"Good to hear that you are in sound mind now," the voice of Shen Yuan suddenly sounded from their front. Obviously, it was directed to the pale man in the back. The omega opened the door of the driver's seat.

"Assistant Su, move while I am still politely asking you, please," Shen Yuan pointed at the passenger seat. In literal translation: get your ass over there, and I will sit here.

Su Yifan gulped and instantly jumped over to the other side without any scuffle.

Shen Yuan soundlessly settled himself in the driver's seat. He looked down and inspected the pedals one by one. "This is the accelerator, and this is the break, right?"

"Y-yes, Master Shen."

Why is Master Shen just asking that now? Didn't he know how to drive since he volunteers himself?

"Shen Yuan, what do you think you are doing? You said you have amnesia, right?" Bai Tingfeng leaned forward despite the minor headache he was feeling.

"Bai Tingfeng, you shouldn't talk to me directly when I am inches away from tearing your face."

"And to answer your question. Yes, I am aware that I have amnesia. But we have muscle memory, and I am betting my luck on that. The two of you are not in the right state to drive. We have a very limited time to spare. Don't tell me you would choose to be choosy in this trying time? Remember the little boy who needs our help, Bai Tingfeng!"

"But you never learned how to drive!"

The celestial fox spirit paused for a moment. His lie was exposed so early. How could he explain that he knew how to drive a little bit as Suki, the celestial fox spirit who possessed multiple people of various occupations for hundreds of years?

"Oh, is that so? I guess it is still fine. At least I know what pedal to press on when I wanted to stop and drive faster, right?"

"Shen Yuan, get out of the driver's seat now. I will call for a different staff to drive."

"No. We will be wasting our time if we do that. Don't worry. I will make sure to make this car fly to catch after those bastards who kidnapped Yanyan. For now, adjust your body because it is inevitable that you will fight against them," Shen Yuan quickly pressed on the ignition and didn't hesitate to start with bone-chilling speed.

Su Yifan instinctively closed his eyes. Seeing everything outside is almost an afterimage.

"You don't have to pray for your safety. If we ever crash, I will see to it that I have a firm grasp on your souls so that you won't immediately ascend to Heaven."

"Shen Yuan!" Bai Tingfeng's roar sounded the inside of the car. For the Nth time.