Capítulo 36: Lonely Weekend
"What do you mean we can't see 'im? We're friends of his ya know?" A buff middle-aged man was threatening what seemed like a clinic receptionist.
"Sir, even if you were his family, we wouldn't allow you to do so, or, you would be allowed with an appointment from the safe room, only through glass." The woman receptionist appeared without fear.
"Fine then let us do that."
The woman grabbed her head in frustration. "Do you know what happened to this patient?"
One man, who seemed a bit young, stood behind him with a twisted smirk. "I heard he got his skull smashed in."
When the receptionist heard that she finally showed her disgust. "Please leave before I call the security. I don't care if you're here on official duty, get me documents and then you can come back."
The third and last man hit the one who spoke previously on the head. "You idiot. Look what you did. This is why people don't believe us. Keep quiet from now on."
They had no choice but to leave. This particular clinic was a secure facility. They would have problems with the authorities should they continue their requests.
"I'm sorry, third brother."
"You better be. If we're found out, you know what would happen?" Said the biggest one. He was the second brother. He was the one who threatened originally.
The shortest of the three was apologetic. He didn't have to be told of the consequences.
"Second brother, what will we do?" The third brother asked.
"Well, we confirmed we won't be getting any money back from that chum. He cared about his mommy so much, why don't we give her a visit instead." A cruel smile passed his face for a second.
The two younger brothers smiled. "What a brilliant idea. If she has money, we won't have to be ashamed in front of Big Bro anymore."
"Indeed. That kid caused us a headache for the past month by bashing Shi Qiang's skull in. You heard? He probably won't come back from the coma."
"Shit, must have been some crazy kid. Would've almost wanted to see it happen."
"You're the one that made Shi Qiang go nuts in the first place. We told you not to pressure 'im. Big brother did too."
The second brother scratched his head. "Aye. That was a mistake. Shouldn't have threatened him with money. It's his mum's lifeline. I was just impulsive."
"So you make mistakes too, second brother." The youngest teased.
… … …
Grandma Ying laid in the bed with a peaceful, warm, yet lonely look on her face. She was staring at the ceiling. Not that there was much else to look at in this hospital room.
Yet despite this loneliness she was content. Back when her son was still… She worried so much. Scared of someday finding out the horrible things her son did. Scared she wouldn't see him again. Both of these came true to an extent in the end.
Yet when she received the news she feared the most, that boy appeared in front of her. So warm, mature. He witnessed the incident, and wanted to help her. She expected to be taken care of financially, by a kind bystander, but who would've thought that the kid would visit her regularly.
She made a little friend. Perhaps she gained more of a distant grandson than anything. Her mind was always at peace when Karni visited her, she could feel the child's sincerity and worry when he was with her.
Though he was also mysterious. He financed both her medical fees and her son's. Without him, her son would've long been dead.
She quieted her mind for a moment.
Was it alright for her to keep her own son living? Was he even alive? It was more like she was keeping him in a permanent purgatory. Neither living, nor dead. A body without a mind.
The doctors told her there was no hope for his recovery. His mind was completely shattered. She didn't know exactly what happened, only that her son tried to rob a restaurant.
She felt guilty. Those poor people he tried to rob. Thankfully someone stopped him, apparently her son almost killed someone. She knew why he did it as well, and this put her in an even worse mood. He was a criminal so he could pay for her medical bills. He almost killed a child because of this. Because of her.
She wished that he would've at least 'survived'. If he would've gotten crippled she would've worried, but she might have thought of it as a good result. At least he would stop his criminal activities, but he would still be her son.
She chuckled to herself in defeat. If Karni was with her today like usual, she wouldn't be having such a downward spiral of emotions right now. She has gotten so used to his presence. The charming little boy had so many stories to tell about school and friends. As well as his worries for the future.
Listening to him made her forget about everything else. He reminded her of her own son when he was young, so excited about everything.
If only those 'friends' of his wouldn't have gotten to him. He was always fascinated with soul masters. When he became friends with them as a teenager, he was so happy, but he started to change. She wondered if it was her own fault for not raising him to think on his own enough. No. It was her own way of raising him that caused him to look up to them so much. A mistake she realised far too late.
Even she had a few acquaintances when she was young. Either you met incredibly kind soul masters who didn't care who they hung out with, or you found those who wanted to have their 'fun' with you.
These were two very different groups of people. Most normal humans wouldn't have much interaction with soul masters in their life, unless they worked in particular positions in society. Particularly the government.
She knew some of them herself, and much like her own son she didn't choose the right crowd. But that was a long time ago. Like mother, like son. Outside of that, most soul masters you met were normal soul masters as well. Those who could achieve something were always in places far above everyone else.
It was only after her son had already started hanging out with Soul Masters, that she started avoiding them like the plague. It wasn't due to her son, but her own experience. By that time she had already filled his head with Soul Masters. Her son seeked them out.
She could tell when he used to visit her. He never talked about them. They most likely had him around as a toy more than an actual friend. He experienced what she had, but he couldn't walk out like she did.
A knock was heard from the door, and before she even allowed anyone to enter, the door was opened.
Three unknown men entered. There was no nurse in sight, which was unusual.
"Hello, you're Shi Ying, yeah?" The bulky old man at the front said.
While the front man approached her, the two men at the back went to two different locations. One was by the window, while the other by the door. They didn't even try to hide the fact they were looking out in case other people approached.
"Who are you to ask?" The old lady, while a bit shaken, wasn't about to be questioned so rudely. These men had no respect for the elderly.
The bulky man sighed. "No matter, we saw outside this was your room so let's get to the point."
The man grabbed a single chair which was usually used by the nurse while she was checking up on Grandma Ying. He used the usual tough position and turned the chair in an opposite direction and put his hands to rest onto the back of the chair with his legs spread wide.
"This won't take long." He began. "We're, well, you could say we're friends of your son." The man clearly wore a threatening smile.
Grandma Ying's face turned pale. "You're… Soul Masters?" There was now a tinge of fear in her voice.
The man raised an eyebrow. "He talks about us? Wow. If he wasn't as he is right now, I would've broken a limb or two anyway."
Grandma Ying's hands started visibly shaking. Her mind was going wild. 'Oh this son of mine, just what kind of groups of people did you hang out with?'
"Well then, granny, I hope you keep quiet about us. Wouldn't want to hurt an old lady by saying something you shouldn't have."
Shi Ying gulped.
"Well? Promise it. 'I'll keep quiet.' Like that." The man threatened.
He wanted confirmation? People like these always had to establish their dominance early on.
"O- okay. I'll keep quiet." She managed to say, but she was choking on her words a bit.
There was a clear smirk on the man now. "Good. Your son must have gotten his obedience from you."
They have barely begun talking, but it already felt like eternity to Grandma Ying by now.
"It's simple. Your son owes us some money, but you see, since he was beat up like a little bitch by some kid, he can't give it to us. I hope you get what I'm saying." He smiled.
Contrary to what they expected to hear from the old lady though, she focused on a different detail.
"He was beat up by a kid?"
The man's smile disappeared.
"Yeah. So what." Then the smile reappeared. "Don't tell me, you, his own mother, haven't heard?" A small laughter released from him.
"Yeah. He got beat up by a kid. They say he was real crazy, that one. The kid was like a beast. Even when Qiang was already beat up, the kid kept on hitting. Really would like to meet him, he might fit in well with us."
Grandma Ying was silent. Her arms were shaking and her eyes were teary at the moment.
"Though I guess he deserved it. No one told him to go there and be all hysterical, the bastard almost murdered another kid, who tried to protect a worker. Now that would've been a real mess to clean up. You should be thankful to the crazy one." He kept on smirking while saying all this, as if he had nothing to do with it, despite him explicitly saying it.
Grandma Ying was mentally shaken up. There was so much she just learned in these few words. And these people. It was them who sent her son there. Who were they?
"What do you even want!" She hissed, forgetting that they were soul masters for a second.
"We told you. Money. Money that your son owed us."
"You think I have any to give?"
"Not our problem. Your son was supposed to threaten that owner to remind him of what he owed us. He failed such a simple thing, so we had to remind the owner ourselves. Truly useless. He's still in our debt, but he can't pay us. You get us money, and we won't have a problem."
"I don't have mu-"
"I don't care. Hundred thousand federation coins. Get it to us, and we won't trouble you. Simple."
She was speechless. This was an enormous amount of money. Just what was going on with her son. Her medical fees didn't build up to THAT amount of money!
"If you can't, we'll simply increase the interest, like we did with your son. If he would've played us long ago, he never would've been so in debt. What an idiot. You must have truly failed as a mother."
She exploded. "You bastards! You really think I won't tell anyone this? You can't do anything to me here. They would find you out. I'll tell the police everything!"
All three men began laughing. "Didn't you encourage him to hang out with us? He wouldn't shut up about how proud you were at the beginning. Don't blame us for all of this. But sure, go ahead and try. Call the police. See what will happen."
She was confused. She was sure she was safe here. Do they really think they have any power here?
"You noticed there was no nurse here, yeah?" The man started, he wore a cruel, sarcastic smile.
"This is how we got in." He went into his brown jacket and pulled out a badge. It was a police badge.
All life seemed to have left the poor old lady. No wonder they were so confident. Everything clicked. The other two men secretly flashed a little badge as well.
"So you understand right? If you start talking shit. Who do you think they would believe? You? Or a couple of cops." To add to everything, the man enlarged all of a sudden, and tusks appeared out of his head.
Two yellow and a purple soul rings rose around him. Grandma Ying could hardly breathe. There was nothing she could do. These weren't normal cops. They were soul master police. Everyone knew those were higher up in the hierarchy. They were usually involved only when crime involved soul masters. They were the elite force of the civil police department.
The man retracted his show of power. "You are still in the hospital right? I bet you have some money saved. We'll be looking forward to getting your son's debt cleared."
He stood up and put the chair back to where it was. The other two men left as well.
"Have a nice rest. Thanks for your cooperation." The man said once he was outside the door and then closed it.
Not long after, the nurse entered. Grandma Ying was pale all over.
"Is everything okay?"
Shi Ying couldn't answer. She just broke down in tears.
The nurse didn't know what happened, but since those were the cops, she was guessing it had something to do with her son. How could she possibly imagine what Grandma Ying has just been through?
Just what was she to make of all of this. Her son, the crazy kid, the injured kid, these monsters. What can she even do? She needed some answers. She had so many questions.
… … …
A boy with red hair was currently on the floor, bloodied.
"Stand up." A harsh voice was heard from above the boy.
He stood up.
"Ma Fai, is this all you learned in Star Luo City Academy? I'm disappointed."
"No. I can still do more." The boy gritted his teeth.
"Then show me. It must have some excellent education for you to not visit us for a whole month. Come on. Show me."
Ma Fai rose, and tried to attack, but immediately got knocked onto the ground without remorse. He didn't even last three seconds. The elder who was training Ma Fai wasn't even letting him try things out. If anything, it seemed like he hit extra hard on purpose. He huffed.
"What's your soul power right now?"
Ma Fai could hardly breathe. There was blood running from his nose and he was coughing blood as well.
"I've reached rank 19."
The man huffed again. "Good. It's the only redeemable thing about you. Be thankful we even gave someone like you the opportunity to succeed the family."
Ma Fai held his anger. Yes. Someday, when he succeeds, he'll be worthy. Until then, he'll have to take this.
The elder sent him to the infirmary to get healed. The healers weren't gentle either. He was sent to his room to rest afterwards.
He went into the bathroom immediately. Stripped, he glanced at the mirror for a second, before entering the hot bath.
"I'll become a Soul Grandmaster in 3 months at most. I swear it. I'll beat all of those soul grandmasters at school. Especially Wu Siduo and Val Karni. I'll show them. I won't disappoint the elders again.
He was looking forward to returning to school. He really felt like he was growing faster there. He wasn't nearly the best student, and this meant growth. And he wasn't here, which was a bonus. It felt so suffocating at the family home.
Then another face showed up in his mind. A boy who has been growing rapidly beside him and showed great will to fight him every time. He was growing quicker than him.
There was a sombre face on him when he thought of Tie Tiao. He put his head into the water and mumbled. "I'm sorry." No one could understand what he was saying, if they were listening. It was the only time he would even be allowed to think such a thought.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
AzKoPo
AzKoPo I'm editing an additional chapter this week on Wednesday, as the next few chapters have more development, and I don't want them to be like semi-cliffhangers.
Anyway, I know these last couple of chapters are a bit different tonaly, and Karni has been a bit odd with his clashing ideas, but hey, he has to grow mentally as well. Or at least that's the idea. Whether I execute it well? Well, we'll see, I think the end result isn't bad and does well imo.
Unfortunately I don't have any readers outside of this who would check whether everything makes sense or not before uploading, so I as the author might miss something. As in, it might make sense in my head, but not otherwise on paper. But well, that's why upload this in the first place. To become a better storyteller and writer, to get some feedback. This is the first thing I ever wrote after all, haha.
Hope you enjoy!
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