章 3: I DIDN'T DO IT, I WAS KIDDING!!

Jacob swiftly runs out of the cavern and heads south-east towards his house. By the time he got there, the sun had already set and his parents were knocked out.

"I'm home. I hope my parents don't get angry at me again for visiting grandpa Lin".

As Jacob walked up the stairs toward his room, he tried to lightly step on the wooden floorboard, but as he walked, the floorboard constantly creaked.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

"I need a good nap," he thought.

Creak, creak, creak.

"the floor needs to be fixed one of these days.".

The moment Jacob twisted the doorknob, he remembered that he felt heavier than when he was in the cavern initially. He said, "huh, why do I feel like I gained a pound or two?" bewildered, Jacob opens the door and closes it behind his back. Afterward, he looks around the room then pats his entire body before saying, "nothing seems out of the ordinary" in a lazy tone.

Oblivious to the pill bottle in his pocket, Jacob pulls up his plain green colored shirt and pinches his stomach, " I'm not that fat" he mumbles under his breath.

"I really need to lose a few pounds or else I won't get a wife in the future. Mommy said that it's harder to get a wife if I'm fat, but I don't believe her."

Jacob, unaware that he was getting eavesdropped, continues on with his usual routine before going to bed. First, he puts on his pajamas, then he lights a candle and puts it on top of his drawer; afterward, he goes into bed and watches the candle slowly melt while dozing off.

When Jacob finally fell asleep, a man clad in black with a fox mask mysteriously appeared and looked straight at Jacob through the open hole in the left eye of the mask.

"I should whack you for calling me old... huh wait a minute, he still has the bottle that I smuggled into his pants? I didn't think that he would be THAT hard-headed. To not even notice a five-pound bottle that is literally bulging out of his pocket... I regret doing this already."

After picking up the pair of pants from the floor, he takes the bottle from the side-pocket and inspects it before neatly placing it next to the half-burnt-candle.

Whoosh, and just like that, he left the same way that he came.

...

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Mom I don't want to... I don't want to get up. No, I don't want to go to school!"

Half-asleep, Jacob repeatedly puts his clock on snooze until the last second when he can properly think again. Confused, Jacob checks his watch for the time, only to find out that he is an hour late for his first day of school.

"Oh my god, I'm so late for school. I have to hurry up and get dressed before I become later than I already am." Jacob said out loud before getting his clothes and putting them on his bed.

Jacob smiled bitterly, " And here I thought that my first day of school would be perfect, I guess it might be my fault for going to grandpa Lins cavern and staying there for so long. Ugh, I need to get my act together. Not just for me but also for my parents... Oh, and grandpa Lin. Now, where is my candle?... Huh what is this bottle doing here and why does it look so weird?"

Confused, Jacob goes to grab the bottle but abruptly stops halfway before remembering that he has school and he's late. Enlightened, Jacob suddenly puts on his pants and puts the bottle in his envelope bag, along with his books and talismans. Just before putting on his clothes and storming out of the house.

With a big smirk on Jacobs' face, "I wonder where this Sage sect is? I could either go with plan A or plan L, and I'm pretty sure plan L is going to happen anyways.... yeah let's just stick with whatever comes first."

Knowing full well that he was going to get lost, Jacob decides to travel straight ahead and then ask someone for directions toward the Sage sect; but of course, life plays the same tune as fate, methodically aligned with heaven and earth and indecipherable to everyone below the Great Dao.

Having understood his plan, Jacob runs out of his house in the most cliché way possible, with a piece of bread in his mouth and an envelope bag around his shoulder.

Hurriedly, Jacob runs past everything without sparing a cursory glance, only to find out that he actually ran in a circle and ended up back where he started.

" I think I should be there by now... Wait a minute, why am I back home? Huh, is that mo... GOTTA RUN NOOOOW!!!!"

Catching sight of her son, Mrs. Cardona walks towards him, only to watch him running away from her, like if she's going to beat the living hell out of him and more. Unaware of her son's thoughts, she yells at him to return but her words didn't seem to reach his ears as he seemingly flees for his life.

Mrs. Cardona with tears coming out of her right eye, continuously yells toward Jacob with love and affection, "Kenta honey, come back... please. Don't make mommy sad."

Surprised that his usually violent mom wouldn't follow him, he turns back to look and sees his grandfather, the CEO of the second biggest company in the territory of the Sage Sect, behind his mom with a nonchalant expression.

Happiness was written all over his face as Jacob runs straight back and headbutts his grandpa, "I haven't seen you since my 10th birthday, grandpa how have you been?!?"

The grandpa, already prepared ahead of time, as if he was used to his grandson's behavior, grabs him by the head mid-flight and picks him up. Appearing like everything besides his head was made of Jello, he wiggles around while grinning ear-to-ear, "Grandpa have you missed me?? Do you have any presents for me this time? Oh, and by the way, I like prime grade streak. Did you know that it is made from young, well-fed beef cattle and are excellent for dry-heat cooking such as broiling, roasting or grilling?"

The grandpa, surprised, stares straight at Jacob, "I didn't know that YOU would know something as irrelevant as that."

"GRRRRRR, Grandpa... you know that I love food with a fiery passion. Why do you have to be so mean to me? Have I ever done anything wrong to you? I don't hear an answer."

Jacob kept rambling on and on, over and over again; until he finally asked a couple of questions towards his grandpa. The same person that was looking at him as if he was an exotic creature.

Bewildered, the grandpa tilts his head while he continues to hold him by the head, "aren't you supposed to be in school by now?"

Crackle.

Frozen in place, Jacob stares straight at his grandpa, " Um, grandpa how did you know that I got lost and ended up back here, to only find you and mom?"

The grandpa, grinning ear-to-ear, "I didn't know until now. Thanks for telling us what actually happened; nonetheless, I didn't expect the day that I, the CEO of the agricultural department, Galen Christopher Cardona would bring one of my grandsons to school. I don't mind it though. I get to spend some quality time with my favorite grandson."

Exasperated, Jacob says, "I didn't do it, I was kidding around... OH, I know, I forgot my pants...yea that's what happened."