Chapter 19: Chapter 18 - Give and Take

CHAPTER 18

Give and Take

The next few minutes felt like forever.

In his whole sixteen years of life, Tianjue had never been in such a situation. It was a completely foreign and new experience for him.

Bulky men ‘attacked’ him and Jihoon from all sides, competing to touch them, shouting things that couldn’t be heard through the music blasting. Between them, there were also a few women. They shrieked and batted their eyelashes at him, trying to get his attention.

But then, Tianjue noticed something—these seemingly crazed men and women’s actual goal was actually... the jewelries on him and Jihoon. Their movements were a cover for their accomplices, who stealthily touched their jewelries, examining their worth.

One hand reached for Tianjue’s spatial storage necklace.

He swiftly blocked the hand. Glancing to the right, he saw a random man holding a girl’s wrist, staring at the girl with a fervent gaze.

Tianjue blinked. He moved his grip to the stealer’s wrist, then activated his hovershoes. He took off into the air, pulling the poor stealer up with him.

Tianjue glanced at the stealer.

The stealer was a woman.

Tianjue stiffened. His face paled as his eyes quickly searched for that figure in the sea of humans below—to no avail.

At this moment, a beam of light illuminated him and the stealer. The music in the nightclub dropped.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” a man’s voice boomed through the speakers. “This night we have a unique couple with us!”

Then the person continued rambling on something in Hindi—excitedly. Tianjue could activate the built-in translator of his earpieces, but at this moment he had no interest to do so.

Right now, everyone’s attention was on him and the stealer girl. Some gossiped and pointed at them, some clapped. But they were all happy to see the entertainment.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” people roared.

Kiss? Hell no! Tianjue shivered, letting go of his grip out of reflex. The stealer girl shrieked and fell onto the group of stealer, her accomplices, below.

“Tumhaaree himmat kaise huee!” a strawberry-blonde-haired man shouted in Hindi as he rose into the air, pointing at Tianjue menacingly.

Wasn’t this ‘guy’ Elanor Dubois? Tianjue blinked. What was this girl doing? Shouldn’t she be helping him??

Elanor didn’t seem to recognize him, though, and kept on the act.

“How can you discard the girl just like that? Don’t worry, girl—I will uphold justice for you!” she shouted heroically.

Pale silvery pink light spread out in a ring, enveloping an area of a few meters radius, with Elanor at the center. Then it disappeared.

“Look!” several people shouted, pointing at Tianjue.

It turned out that the silvery-pink light hadn’t completely disappeared—just take one look at Tianjue, and you’d understand.

His whole body glowed with that mesmerising silvery-pink light, as if someone had dumped a bucket full of silvery-pink glitter on him. Furthermore, if one looked more closely, one would find that his irises and pupils’ color had turned the same silvery-pink.

“Bow down and apologize to the girl!” Elanor commanded.

Tianjue, as if controlled by a mysterious force, turned into the direction of the girl below. But then, his eyes flashed with a brilliant golden light.

The next thing the crowd knew, their vision became white, blinded by a sudden explosion of light. For a moment, the place was in chaos. Everyone screamed, panicking.

At this moment, a wave of dark-red light engulfed the area, repelling the golden light blinding everyone.

“Honored guest, we are truly graced by your arrival here.” a deep voice echoed in the spacious room.

The way it echoed was very strange. Sometimes it was faint, sometimes loud—unreal, yet real.

And with every ripple of the voice, the nightclub’s music grew louder and louder, drowning the crowd’s screams of panic. Until eventually, everyone seemed to forget the earlier incident. They danced to the rhythm of the remixes, singing and shouting in joy. ‘Peace’ was thus successfully restored.

Meanwhile, on a floating VIP lounge up above the crowd, Yuriel could be seen leisurely sitting on the leather sofa with her legs crossed, holding a crystal cup filled with an unknown honey-gold liquid.

Dark-red fog suddenly swirled in front of her, materializing into three figures which she recognized as: Tianjue, Elanor, and... A stranger.

He was tall. Like, tall. Taller than Tianjue, who was already quite tall for his age. And he also had a wonderful figure, with a harmonious body proportion and well-defined muscles. His bronze-like skin silently rippled with a powerful dark-golden light, like a ferocious ancient beast ready to burst with unimaginable strength any time. He had some glittering red-gold fabric draped loosely over him, exposing a big part of his chest, and he had his long dark-brown hair neatly combed behind his back.

Oh. And did I mention that he was insanely handsome and cool?

“Erhm!” Tianjue cleared his throat.

Yuriel blinked, then looked at him innocently.

Cyan light flashed, and another figure appeared—Jihoon. As soon as he locked his eyes on the stranger, he was entranced. This was...

Following his gaze, Yuriel found herself once again staring at the stranger—at his muscles, to be exact.

Tianjue cleared his throat once again, louder this time.

“Is your throat dry, Brother Tang?” the stranger smiled.

His pair of sharp bronze eyes stared into Tianjue’s, faintly shining in the darkness. Tianjue had to admit it—this young man was... a bit cool.

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“Perhaps.” he said, voice flat and eyes cold.

The stranger still just smiled, though his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He waved his hand, and a glass of honey-gold liquid floated toward him.

“No need, I’ll get a glass by myself.” Tianjue said.

The glass reached the stranger’s hand. The stranger smiled wider.

“Who said this is for you?” he said, his deep voice annoyingly magnetic.

Lee Jihoon snorted. Elanor giggled.

The corner of Tianjue’s eye twitched. He quickly went and sat next to Yuriel. He glanced at the glass in the girl’s hand. He took it. He drank from it.

Yuriel stiffled a laugh. Tianjue’s expression softened.

“Alright, Twin Stars of Cosmos—what do you want from me?” the stranger asked.

“Who said we’re here for you?” Tianjue raised his eyebrows at the guy.

“You are.” the stranger shrugged.

“Eh? So you’re that Asura’s inheritor or something?” Elanor blurted from the side.

The air stilled. The stranger—the Asura God’s successor, Vikram Mahavir Gaur—locked his eyes on Elanor’s thin figure.

“Aphrodite’s last disciple? Interesting.” he muttered.

“How did you know?!” Elanor subconsciously took a step back.

“How did you know I am the Asura Sovereign’s successor?”

Elanor quickly pointed at Yuriel, though her eyes were still trained on the tall, muscular guy in front of her.

The muscular guy turned at Yuriel and Tianjue, eyes flashing with an eerie red light. Seeing this light, the pupils of Jihoon’s eyes contracted.

“Twin Stars of Cosmos, what exactly do you want from me, for you to bring both the last disciple of Aphrodite and the Master of Technology with you here?” Vikram Gaur asked once again.

Tianjue casually sipped the honey-gold liquid from Yuriel’s cup, shrugging. He just glanced at Yuriel with a tender look, as if saying, ‘I know nothing. I’m just here to accompany my girl.’—which was pretty much true.

Yuriel smiled at him, understanding what he was indicating. She glanced at Vikram, locking her gaze with his.

“We’re here to ask you for a favor…” she said slowly. “In exchange for a favor from us.”

Vikram’s dark eyes flickered with that familiar, eerie red light. Strangely, he didn’t say anything. He crossed his arms instead, pondering about something for a moment.

“Follow me.” he said after a while.

Dark-red fog swirled into existence to his left, forming an oval portal leading into pitch-black darkness. Without further ado, Vikram strode into it.

“Let’s go.” Yuriel said smilingly, taking the lead of ‘stepping into the unknown’—quite literally.

Where Yuriel went, Tianjue naturally followed. Jihoon and Elanor subconsciously exchanged a glance—but quickly turned their heads away, snorting coldly. In the end, Jihoon went in first.

Soon, the floating VIP lounge was empty.

***

Stepping out of the portal felt like stepping into a whole different world.

First of all, it was heaven for the ears. It was so silent… So silent that the only sound they could hear was their own breathing, heartbeat, and footstep.

Second, it was dark. The portal didn’t lie—it indeed led them to somewhere totally dark.

Snap! The sound of fingers snapping echoed, followed by a whooshing sound. And out of a sudden, light rushed in through their pupils.

Tianjue glanced around, taking in the surroundings.

Torches were stuck between the protuding rocks of the cold rocky walls, illuminating the spacious cavern they were in. Intricate carvings covered the rugged wall, and across them, directly carved from the cavern wall, the huge statue of an ancient being loomed above a stone altar.

The huge statue was muscular and topless, with wild hair spread behind it and six arms each holding different kinds of terrifying weapons. Across its skin, ancient patterns were carved. One particular pattern was the complex rune at the center of its forehead, which looked like a broadsword.

Without being told, the moment they laid their eyes on it, they immediately knew what being the statue depicted—the Lord of the Asuras.

Suddenly, the cavern floor at the center of the cave cracked open, rocks surging up one after another. After noisily morphing for a few seconds, a set of stone table and chairs were formed.

“Please—sit.” Vikram gestured at the table and chairs, then went first and sat on the head seat.

Tianjue quickly took the seat to his right, then stared at Jihoon. The guy got his code—he took the seat to Vikram’s left. And so, the two seats nearest to the successor of the Asura God were taken.

Yuriel sat naturally next to Tianjue. She rested her head on a hand, looking at him with a small smile on her face.

Vikram cleared his throat, drawing the others’ attention to him.

“So, Twin Stars of Cosmos, what will you do for me in exchange for my help?” he started.

“We will help you control your power,” Yuriel smiled. “Completely.”

Vikram narrowed his eyes slightly. He studied Yuriel’s eyes, as if trying to find the slightest bit of lie in them. But all he saw was the void-like color of her eyes, black. A cold chill involuntarily ran down his spine.

“And what do you want me to do in exchange for that?” he asked.

“Cooperate with us in curing the victims of the Asura Demon Poison.” Yuriel said.

There was a hint of seriousness in her voice, as if she was telling Vikram that he had to agree—there was no room for discussion.

And it wasn’t like Vikram had a choice, either. His time was running out...

“Deal.” he said.

“Wonderful!” Yuriel smiled wider, warmth returning to her face. “There are a total of three people that you’ll have to cure, with one being poisoned the most severely.”

Three? The others looked at her. Wasn’t it only Jihoon’s grandpa?

Yuriel ignored the others’ stares and continued, “That’s a matter for later, though. Now, Tianjue and I will help you take complete control over your Asura power. But first, meditate—stabilize your natural power and mind.”

Vikram glanced at her, then nodded. “Alright. I will leave this place to you—I will returned when I’m done.”

A gust of dark-red smoke, and he was gone.

“Are you sure he’s worth trusting?” Jihoon asked.

Yuriel shrugged. “All I know is: his heart is good.”

“If you say so, then it must be true.” Tianjue smiled.

Elanor suddenly giggled. The others stared at her.

“What?” she pursed her lips, then gestured at the Twin Stars of Cosmos, saying at Jihoon, “Just look at them—so lovey-dovey. They’re—"

“Shut up!” Tianjue and Yuriel snapped in unison.

They ended up being the ones who shutted up. Face burning fiercely, they both looked down.

“Pfft—!” Jihoon and Elanor couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

They exchanged a glance in the process, which quickly made them shut up, too...

***

Meanwhile, in a secret cultivation cavern.

Vikram sat cross-legged on top of a circular stone altar-like platform. Dark-red energy swirled around him. At times, it was as thin as gauze. But other times, it surged madly like the roaring ocean.

“Om—!”

A low hum shook every inch of the cavern. It sounded so ancient, and terrifying, akin to the unceasing snore of a primordial being. Unsettling, dangerous, yet... Quiet.

Through the dark-red smoke-like energy surging in the cave, one could see deep red light twinkling in the dark, pulsing through the intricate patterns carved on the cavern walls, floor, and ceiling.

At this moment, Vikram’s lips moved ever so slightly, muttering a chant that sounded a lot like the ‘Om Shanti’ mantra.

As if to prove this speculation, the dark-red energy surging about trembled, then gradually, it revolved around Vikram in a certain rhythm.

This continued for quite a long while, the pulsing red light on the cavern walls dimming little by little. Until it eventually disappeared.

Vikram’s eyelids snapped open.