Chapter 95: I Saw Him.

Cui explained everything that happened to Luke whilst they both stood in the doorway. Luke rubbed his chin after she had finished speaking and stood still, lost in thought.

"So he is feeling a little guilty? I still remember the first person I couldn't save. It tore me apart for weeks but it's better that it is happening now rather than on the battlefield. The best thing he can do is accept there is nothing he can do about it." Luke whispered.

The front door was still wide open so they both lowered their tone to try to contain the conversation they were having. The last thing they wanted to do now was to make Jake feel isolated by talking about him behind his back. But the whole thing was quite troubling.

Feeling guilty over something you did is hard to get over but feeling guilty about something that you didn't do can destroy someone's soul especially when a life is lost.

"Thank you for telling me this. I know Haru wouldn't have even mentioned it. Goodnight." Luke chuckled and then began to close the door.

As he turned around he had the fright of his life as Haru was stood in the hallway staring at him.

"Shit! What are you doing? You almost gave me a heart attack!" Luke exclaimed, shocked by Haru's sudden appearance.

"I didn't get to finish my food so I went to get some from the kitchen," Haru said whilst holding a bag of chips and a glass of soda.

"Can you at least let me know when you are going to be behind me? You move like a ghost." Luke mentioned the fact that cultivators can use their Qi to shroud their bodies, making their presence undetectable by ordinary people.

It was a useful skill for eves dropping but it was also a double-edged sword. If they used near somebody who also cultivated they would be discovered much faster than they usually would be.

Haru shrugged his shoulders before going back into the living room and turning on the TV. He sat down on the couch next to the huge ball of white fur laying in one corner.

He then put his hand on the ball of white fur. The sound of heavy breathing emerged before Xue lifted her head and looked at Haru before licking his had and then rolling on to her back.

"I missed you too," Haru said as he petted her.

Around an hour went by before Haru finished eating. He began to feel sleepy which was understandable since he hadn't slept at all the previous night. So he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes.

He awoke to the sensation of something wet being scraped against his face, He immediately started to cough as the scent of beef and stale vegetables coated his face. He opened his eyes to see Xue was now licking his face.

He the recoiled as he noticed her.

"Why do you always do this to me? You know your breath stinks right?" Haru asked the white german shepherd that looked him the eyes as he spoke. She then jumped down from the couch and walked away into the kitchen where the smell of bacon seemed to be coming from.

As Haru entered the kitchen he saw that everyone was already in there. Even Jake was already sitting at the table waiting for breakfast to be ready.

Krista was cooking as Luke tried to make himself useful and hovered around her life a wasp. Zen on the other hand was stood in one corner of the room playing with a puzzle cube like a child.

"How was your trip Haru?" Zen asked as he walked into the room making everyone notice him.

"Tiring." Haru sighed as he cracked his neck. The position he had fallen asleep in had caused his whole neck to ache.

"Why didn't anyone wake me? That couch really isn't comfortable to sleep on." Haru asked whilst holding his neck with one of his arms. The other reached out and pulled one of the chairs at the table out from underneath before he sat down.

"Then don't sleep on the couch. How many times did your father and I have to tell you back home?" Krista asked as she flipped the bacon in the frying ban causing sizzling bits of oil and fat to shoot into the sky. She pulled her hand back in pain as a tiny bit of oil struck her skin.

"Yeah, I know it was a stupid mistake. I won't do it again." He reassured her and then looked back at Zen who was still playing with the puzzle cube.

"What are you doing?" Haru asked. This was the first time he had seen his uncle playing with a kids toy it was a bit of a strange sight for him.

"Well we cleared out the attic yesterday and found some of our old belongings, This was one of the toys I had when I was a kid. I never managed to finish it so I thought I might as well try now, It was been almost thirty years after all. If I can't do it now then it was never meant to be completed." Zen sighed as he found difficulty in the puzzle he was trying to solve.

"Oh, I see. Why were clearing out the attic now though? It seems like a weird thing to do when you have guests staying over." Haru asked.

"Your mother asked if I still had any of the old photo albums that your grandmother made. When I told her they are probably in the attic it was her Idea to clean it out and try to find them. We ended up finding them but I also found this toy so it was worth it." Zen began to explain.

It did sound like Krista. She would always make a fuss out of things being messy and then find a way to clean it.

"Oh, that reminds me. You haven't seen photos of your grandparents, have you? There are even some of your other uncle in there too we can look at them after breakfast if you want to." Zen suggested and then looked back down to his puzzle cube.

"That's a good idea. It would be nice to at least see a picture of them don't you think?" Krista chimed and then finished plating the food.

They then all sat at the table and ate breakfast. Jake seemed like he had gotten over the feeling guilty for the most part and seemed to be in a better mood. It was a good sign. "For a moment I thought he was going to be depressed for the rest of his life. I'm glad he is over it." Haru thought as he finished eating.

After they had all finished Krista walked into the hallway for a few seconds and then came back in holding two leather-bound photo albums.

"Here they are." She spoke softly before placing them on the table.

The made a thud as she dropped them down. By the looks of it, there were hundreds if not thousands of pages inside these photo albums. It seemed almost excessive to have this many photos of one family but from what Haru knew about his grandparents is that they were rich and had to keep up appearances to make sure their wealth was known.

Krista then began to open the first book revealing baby pictures. A young-looking woman was sat in a hospital bed holding a baby with light blond hair. The woman looked almost identical to Krista. She had the same long brown hair.

"Wait why are you showing him this book first!?" Zen asked Krista.

"Because it is funny to see you all embarrassed about having your baby pictures on display." Krista giggled. She always enjoyed bullying her younger brother despite his helplessness to do anything.

Zen just went silent and pretended like he wasn't paying attention, He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him get angry. It had been many years since they had last seen each other but during their short stay at Zen's house, it was pretty evident that the bond that siblings share is something that will last a lifetime.

Haru smiled as he looked down at all of the pictures.

"So this my grandmother?" Haru asked and then pointed to the woman with long brown hair.

"Yep. And before you say anything else. I know that I look like her." Krista got out before Haru could say anything else.

Haru smiled lightly and then began to flip through the pages of the photo album. He looked at all of the photos in the first album but it seemed to be exclusively photos of their children.

As he got to the second album and flipped open the first page. He stopped in his tracks and took his hand away from the book.

The very first photo at the top of the page was the same old man that he had seen at the sect just a day prior. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck began to rise as it seemed obvious now. 'That explains how he knew my mom…' Haru thought as he came to the realisation he had actually met his grandfather before he knew what he looked like.

"What is it?" Krista asked as she watched all of the colour in her sons face fade as he looked down at the photo of her father.

"Um… I don't know what to say…" Haru was at a loss. How would he explain it to her?

"Just say whatever is on your mind," Zen said with questioning eyes.

"Well okay. This man, This man right here." Haru then pointed at the man in the photo.

"Yeah?" Krista asked as everyone else looked at Haru with confusion.

"I saw him yesterday…" Haru whispered.