Tear A Path 115 Shadow Of A Hero

"Sure you could..." he replied, he couldn't help but smirk as underneath her cold blooded exterior she still seemed to retain the compet.i.tiveness of a child.

"What are you laughing at?" he didn't say anything but she felt a little irritated at his response.

"Nothing...Where's Jeff?... You didn't..." he said, it was a small s.p.a.ce even after the renovation, certainly still no s.p.a.ce for a wrinkly old man to hide.

"I didn't do anything," she rolled her eyes at him, "He said he was going out to get some ingredients for the day."

He wiped the sweat from his forehead at her statement. He then stiffened up abruptly as he'd almost forgot to talk to her about something important. "So... what are you going to do now?"

She looked at the ground as she seriously pondered about her future options. Her finger traced an invisible circle on the surface of the ground. "Well... my employer did just practically dump me... Even if I went back they'd try to kill me to silence me anyway..."

"Yeah..." Zhao Wei thought, in the first place he wasn't planning on letting her go back to Eyisha regardless of the result. He couldn't really let something like forcing a child to be a killer slide right in front of him if he knew.

In the old world things like this were like a myth to normal civilians like himself, it wasn't a part of the world he had any connection with, but having something like it sitting right in front of him was a whole other experience altogether.

"Well you should stay with us for the time being." He decided.

"Aren't you friends with my patron?" She asked indifferently, well in her line of work no one could really be to cautious and this man was too spontaneous for the likes of someone like her who'd seen the darkest parts of the world to be comfortable.

"Meh, friends isn't really the right word to call it... since you're obviously here," She just remembered that just a few hours back she was trying to kill him. Somehow she got dragged into his pace, one moment she was trying to kill him and the next moment he was already trying to figure out how to take care of her, it was honestly a very disorienting process. "Besides, you should be used to hiding right? If they find out you're with me it's not going to be my fault but yours."

"Mmm" she nodded.

"Yeah so for now you can take a room on the second floor..." He said.

"Says the man who owns the place..." a voice spoke from behind them. Jeff had come back and appeared so suddenly they were quite shocked.

"Oh!! Dear G.o.d!! are you a ghost!? Haven't you heard of knocking!?" Zhao Wei spoke while clutching his chest.

"In my own house!? You've been here for less than a day and you've changed everything and suddenly it's not my house anymore!?" He looked at Zhao Wei incredulously.

With a sweet smile Zhao Wei approached him to try and hug him, "It's OUR house."

"When did that happen!!?" He scremed as he tried to fend off Zhao Wei's advances.

Zhao Wei left briefly after chatting, leaving only Thirteen and Jeff in the room.

"So... you've decided my fate?" Thirteen asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Jeff replied indifferently.

"You're the other half aren't you, the dark to the light, the shadow of the hero, the knife that never misses... you must've met him and discussed what to do with me..."

"Pft!! Please... you're not that important, besides I don't deal with that anymore, these days in only cut noodles... you can do what you want just don't mess up my shop." He stated. "As for that boy... touch him and you'll be dealing with the guy who hasn't let go of his weapon."

"But that's if you can even match up to the boy in the first place..." At those words, Thirteen nodded. Even if she wanted to disagree she knew he went easy on her even since the beginning. Looking at the wound on her tail, she wondered what would've happened if he activated his Tantra to the fullest extent instead of just trying to cause a little pain.

Above it, the place he grabbed her tail to pull, all the scales were cracked. The naga's tail was famous for being able to deflect even swords and spears with its toughness alone, and yet with his bare hands he'd caused so much damage. He hadn't even used his Tantra to enhance his strength, either he didn't want to or didn't know how. But if he did, maybe she'd alrwady be without a tail by now.

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Thirteen was right about something though, Jeff did meet somebody.

A few hours back Jeff left the shack after settling Thirteen in. He stepped outside in the strong winds and waited a few seconds. As he stood there his body seemed to become more and more transparent before disappearing altogether. On the sand where he used to stand, there wasn't even an imprint of his weight, if anybody focused on him, they'd find that he never left any prints on the ground.

In Guru's house a knock rang out on his door within 10 seconds of Jeff disappearing from his shack. "I don't want anything you're trying to sell!!" Guru shouted from inside.

"Shut up you old fogey!! Let me in!!" Jeff replied. ", it's about the boy." Instantly the locks on the door were released and he stepped in.