Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ Cheadle stared coldly at Hawk, her gaze sharp enough to carve him apart.
Her reaction was not only because Hawk had poked at a sore spot.
It was also because he had used her Twelve Zodiacs title as part of the joke.
That was something she could not tolerate.
Seeing that Cheadle had finally looked over, Hawk let out a breath of relief.
Compared with saving his life, what did a few cutting looks from Cheadle matter?
“About that…” Hawk squeezed out a smile, wanting to solemnly explain the importance of stopping the bleeding first.
But the moment he began, Cheadle’s icy voice interrupted him.
“Move your hand.
I will stop the bleeding first.” “Good!” Hearing that, Hawk moved his right hand away without hesitation, exposing the bloody, hideous wound on his abdomen.
Cheadle crouched down, then removed the white glove from her right hand and gently placed her palm over Hawk’s wound.
Hatsu.
Her pale, slender palm suddenly emitted a soft, hazy emerald glow of aura, visible to the naked eye as it wound around Hawk’s injury.
Under the effect of that aura, the bleeding from Hawk’s wound was clearly suppressed.
After a while, blood no longer flowed from it.
This was a property of Enhancement.
Using aura as a medium, it entered the target’s body and temporarily strengthened the target’s clotting function.
That was how Cheadle helped Hawk stop the bleeding quickly.
Of course, since she could enhance clotting, she could also enhance self-healing.
If the purpose of the ability were self-healing, Hawk’s wound would not only stop bleeding, but also recover more quickly.
Cheadle did not do that because she was not an Enhancer.
Developing an ability outside one’s own category that could enhance another person’s clotting function had required time and effort, but still remained within what she could endure.
As for the ability to enhance another person’s self-healing, even if she wanted it, she did not have the capacity.
Leaving aside whether her current memory capacity and talent could support it, the greatest risk was this: An ability from outside her own category, developed after exhausting vast time and effort, might still fail to produce a result that satisfied her.
That was the biggest problem.
In simple terms, the cost and return were not proportional.
“Feels like I came back to life…” After the bleeding stopped, Hawk relaxed considerably.
Cheadle ignored him.
She took out the trauma ointment she carried with her and smeared it hard over his wound.
“Hss…” Hawk immediately sucked in a breath.
This was definitely revenge.
He wanted to remind Cheadle to apply the medicine more gently, but in the end, he held it in.
Hawk knew that if he said that, there was a high chance he would only receive even harsher treatment.
After a short while, the emergency treatment was complete.
Cheadle walked to the stream and washed the blood from her hands.
Hawk recovered a little and looked up at her back.
“Cheadle, I know the direction you chose is Disease Hunter, but there is no need to waste your talent on other Nen categories.
If I am not wrong, you have developed more than one ability outside your own category by now.” Hearing Hawk’s words, Cheadle suddenly stopped rubbing her hands in the stream.
Then she turned back and gave him a sharp look.
“What right does a grave robber like you, who used his Nen talent for tomb raiding, have to lecture me?” “…” Hawk opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his head in silence.
Where the moonlight could not reach, a trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.
The sudden silence quieted the space under the bridge, making the sound of Cheadle washing her hands seem especially clear.
After washing away the last trace of blood, Cheadle slowly stood and asked expressionlessly, “Who injured you?” “Who else?” Hawk abruptly raised his head, his eyes flashing with grim killing intent.
Seeing his reaction, Cheadle instantly obtained the answer.
Her brow furrowed, and she said in a low voice, “Those people claiming to inherit the will of the old Rimeguard again?
Does that mean they found you?” The so-called Rimeguard had once been a legendary Hunter team established in accordance with the will of a former Hunter Association chairman.
But times had changed.
The current chairman of the Hunter Association was Netero.
Although some influence left behind by the old Rimeguard still remained within the Association, it could no longer create much of a splash.
“No.” Hawk shook his head and narrowed his eyes.
“Strictly speaking, I went looking for them myself.” “!!!” Cheadle’s pupils shrank.
Her voice rose before she could stop it.
“Are you insane?!
You dared go looking for them in your condition?
If your whereabouts are exposed, Kieran will be the first one in danger!” “Relax.
I am not reckless enough to act without making any preparations, and I would never gamble with Kieran’s safety.” Hawk slightly restrained his killing intent and leaned heavily against the wall.
Cheadle stepped forward and looked at him coldly.
“You are always this self-righteous.
Have you forgotten what happened to my…
hmph.
Why did you go after those people?
Do you know how much effort I spent cleaning up the trail for you back then?
Even after Kieran was born, I could only pretend not to know anything about him.” “If the situation had not forced me, do you think…” Hawk met Cheadle’s furious eyes and said word by word, “That a man who developed a Nen ability called Every Mouse Has a Way would go looking for trouble on his own?” “…” Cheadle fell silent.
True.
If circumstances had not forced him, Hawk, whose principle had always been “avoid fighting if you can,” would never have taken the initiative to attack or look for trouble after already finding a place to hide.
Realizing this, Cheadle quickly calmed down and asked, “What was the reason?” “Because…
there is not much time left.
I need a new post-mortem artifact to suppress the cost.
If necessary, using my lifespan as fuel is fine too.” Hawk leaned his head back.
As he spoke about serious matters, none of the usual frivolity could be seen on him.
“Hawk, you…” Cheadle seemed to understand something, and her eyes slowly widened.
Hawk gave a faint, bitter smile and said quietly, “You can guess without me saying it, right?
I took the initiative because I wanted to steal one piece of the Dark Sonata’s score from those bastards.
But I failed.
Ha.
Without Mouse Gem’s help, I really am a useless failure.” “…” Cheadle pressed her lips together and remained silent.
She knew the situation had already grown severe enough that Hawk had to leave Mouse Gem at the temple to help suppress the post-mortem artifact.
Now, seeing Hawk risk himself to steal a new post-mortem artifact made her realize the situation was even worse than she had expected.
Hawk slowly straightened his gaze and looked toward the deep night beyond the bridge.
“The thing I am proudest of in this life is being able to move freely through any ruin or tomb.
The thing I regret most is also that…” The man’s eyes were filled with determination, leaving no room for anything else.
“Cheadle, I do not want to repeat the same mistake.” “If that is truly what you think, then you should not have acted on your own.
Hawk…
your actions have once again placed family in danger.” Cheadle put her white glove back on and said coldly, “In any case, I do not trust your ability to clean up after yourself.
I am going to see Kieran now to prevent any unexpected complications.” “No.
You need to wait until I recover.
Two days.
No, one day is enough!” Hawk pressed his back against the wall and struggled to stand.
Cheadle glanced at him and snorted.
“In your current condition, you cannot use Zetsu.
Even if I gave you three days, never mind full recovery, you would not even regain normal mobility.” The moment she finished speaking, she turned and left the bridge without caring how Hawk reacted.
In the deep night, unseen waves seemed to rise.
At the temple on the mountain peak, the surroundings were as quiet as ever.
There was not even the sound of insects.
Kieran sat in front of the computer, the white glow of the screen reflected in his eyes.
“This search engine is too primitive.” Moving the mouse and clicking around, he sighed lightly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the date and time in the lower right corner of the screen.
April 25, 1993.
23:22.
If Kieran remembered correctly, the story he knew began in 1999.
Although several years separated the present from that timeline, computers and cell phones had already become common at this point.
The development of cell phones, in particular, was flourishing.
Some phones had flashy functions that lacked practicality, while others focused on practical features.
The most representative function was that they could receive signals in the vast majority of places around the world.
Because of that, practical phones were deeply loved by Hunters.
For some reason, compared with cell phones, computer development seemed rather backward.
Maybe it was because Hunters relied more on phones than computers.
“Still cannot find it.” Kieran released the mouse.
He had been searching for the mailing address of the famous actress Aritin Nako, but because of the primitive search engine, he had found nothing.
“Forget it.
Later.” Kieran turned off the computer, picked up a photo beside the keyboard that was wrapped in black threads of aura, then stood and left the room for the main hall.
Arriving in front of the offering table, he casually placed the photo carrying resentful Nen back in its original position, then turned and left.
During this period, Kieran’s Nen ability had gradually grown stronger through training.
Perhaps because of that, he had become more sensitive to the existence of resentful Nen.
In the past, as long as he did not enter the main hall, he would basically ignore the pile of relics on the offering table without thinking.
Now, even when he was merely training in the courtyard, his senses always reminded him of the resentful Nen inside the main hall.
So he planned to spend some time fulfilling the lingering wishes attached to those objects, thereby sublimating the resentful Nen clinging to them.
Of course, he could also abandon or destroy those objects to deal with them, but his subconscious told him not to do that.
After returning to his room, Kieran turned off the light and went to bed.
The next morning.
Kieran woke on time and began his daily training.
Knock.
Knock knock.
Just as he started, knocking came from the front gate.
Kieran froze slightly.
His first reaction was that Hawk had returned, but he rejected the thought in the next second.
If it were Hawk, he would not merely knock.
He would shout at the top of his lungs.
“At this hour…
could it be Monica?” Kieran crossed the courtyard and reached the front gate.
Facing the old wooden door, he asked, “Who is it?” If it was a pilgrim or tourist, he would drive them away with the excuse that the temple was not receiving visitors.
“I am a friend of Hawk’s.” A woman’s voice immediately came from outside.
Hawk’s friend?
Kieran felt a little surprised.
He removed the bar and slowly opened the seemingly fragile wooden gate.
In front of the gate, Cheadle stood there.
She watched the face gradually revealed through the open wooden door and lost focus for a moment.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.