‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍At around midnight, he left the room and flew back to the town but he didn't go to the hospital. He went to the house where he was victimized and a group of Ace's men were already patrolling. He isn't sure if they knew it was him that got attacked but they probably did so he can't just move right inside or ask for a report from them. they expect him to at the hospital now. Furthermore it's really late into the night , there is no clear reason nor foolproof excuse that he can provide.

The beast which attacked him is definitely not likely to leave a trace as it's more like a phantom. To anyone with a descent cultivation background, they would know it's dead so what he needs to find out is what is killing the wolves . he flew back into the forest and started to scan the whole place .

Frequently he would see paths made by wolves while trying to hunt pneuma and all the like. Minority were so fresh about less than seventy-two hours ago while others were heavy signaling a large group of hunters. Wolves travel in packs especially when tracking a large prey and a large prey means humans.

Despite the moral ground that Reed is on of protecting everyone, he hates the concept of hurting wolves that are out hunting because they are merely trying to survive and him doing so ,is looking down on one's principles. Basically no one can bring peace to a world of prey vs predator. Killing a prey is wrong but when one kills the predator, it's also denying life. At this point it's only reasonable to let nature be the judge.

He descended downwards and solidified but still remaining as water . He noted some random paw prints. A pack had passed by and it looked to be walking very slowly in multiple directions, without coordination . It was strange as it looked like a single path would be moving in circles and the other moving in and out but later on , running away.

He carried forward before he heard a small cub crying in a distance. He followed the sound and he produced a checker he had seen Ace do. It's like an indirect pulse sensor or atleast that is what Jeruv taught them . Actually Jakhyer has a trick that can make the object being touched link to the checker. There is no such thing as stealth, it's only a state of mind .

It pulsated vehemently and occasionally would blacken. This means that the wolf is about to die.

He walked for a few more miles , he found the wolf in awful health laying next to a bloody tree.The blood could either be its or something else and so he went closer.

Unfortunately as he did that the little wolf ran away with a painful limp to it and still crying.

He floated the leaf and it followed the wolf while he remained to investigate the matter.

He touched the blood using a twig and it seemed rather too sticky and smelled badly akin to urine mixed with heavy metal. When he moved his hand to the blood, it burned his flesh even when he was a liquid. That was trully strange. Maybe the little wolf ingested some of it which is it was weeping so heartfully

He stood up and took note of the position of the tree .

He produced a tracker star to find the first one that followed the cub but it didn't respond meaning the little wolf had lost its pulse and is dead.

He could go and find it but in a place like this, a wolf can't get far without others trying to eat it. It's a heartless practice but there is no other way to quench the need for blood.

Wolves that feed on human pneuma also need blood and flesh like their former ancestors so when a wolf is dying , the living ones will smell the emitted pneuma and eat it along with the body. Civilized wolves can afford to have their government provide meat from livestock and need not to practice cannibalism compared to their ravaging cousins, habitating the forests. Therefore cannibalism is a undoubtedly possible in the forests and never near the pack lands where they will be executed . Furthermore there are foxes here and they show no mercy .

He first heard about it sometime ago when they had Adrian adopted into the school when he was just a child. He is sure that it is not a disease and his current weird idea is that it is caused by a demon. But he is not even sure how to explain what kind of demon work this is, possession is independent and not heritable therefore the possibility of a particular demon-plague is very unlikely .So he assumes it must be a single demon that is going around doing all this but what powerful demon like that is there.One thing he understands is that demons are power hungry and the stronger they are , the more they need fueling . Definitely they have to be near an area of high qi concentration ,then again it would be too raw and uncontrolled for them to benefit

Qi is qi just like water is water but some waters are much more kinetic so need to be directed or managed to avoid misfortunes. That being said means that if one just engulfed Qi, they might kill themselves and since it might not be practical that the civilians are practicing cultivation, then there must be someone or something else that would be helping them to be better able to digest the Qi. One would expect them to kill a lot more rampantly to fuel the state where they are since them being dead mean they can't retain energy for far too long . But the creature that attacked him had a strong magnet ,that too requires a strong qi powerplant

When a wolf dies, it loses a lot of things like retaining and absorbing pneuma so it is through aid that it is able to do so. And the more efficient it is at doing those things or performing abilities of the living, then it means that its power supply is much more stronger.

Suddenly he thought to just stick with Kijad. They might be heading to a place that are hotspots and if Jakhyer approves , he can give himself an identity to make it less uncomfortable with him investigating. This is why he said that he would be watching, what he meant was that he would be tagging along.

He remembered the hospital and recalled that had been gone for a while and he is not really sure who has came to check on him ever since then. Because he is already nearby, he can go to the hospital and play sick again.

****

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Syin laid on his head on the bedroom door, contemplating going out to everyone because he was still tired and wasn't able to sleep. Through the whole night he had been tossing and turning , his mind felt like it was racing but he didn't even know what he was thinking about.

He exhaled deeply and pulled the door . His motions were slow and his goal was to get a fatigue buster as soon as possible but his mission failed when he focused his eyes to the scene in front of him. A huge burst of adrenaline purged through his veins, cooked his blood pumped his muscles and steamed his breath. His palms felt like they had terrains of windstorms and were drilling deep through his metacarpals. All the space in his esophagus was no different from a rush hour highway as oxygen and carbon dioxide were having a smackdown. His teeth seemed to stick together and hie tongue ran backwards,for a moment it seemed he was really going collapse. To add insult to injury, how eyes begun to sting when his heart lept out of his chest and slammed on the floor.

It was suddenly complicated to breathe and move yet painstakingly challenging to remain in one position.

Ryle was standing in confidence, looking like an ice-sculpture but only his hair and half his face was frozen. He stared at Syin who was seeming very tormented and conflicted

Syin looked the other way just before his eye let down a tear .

He walked past him without saying anything.

Ryle grabbed his hand out of perplexion , practically begging Syin to turn .

With reddened eyes , just seconds from a downfall of tears, Syin swallowed the dryness in his mouth while processing the cold from Ryle 's touch that was nothing compared to the heat in Syin's stomach. He closed his eyes and forcefully shrugged his hand out of Ryle's before he blast off like his feet had been banned from the floor

He evaporated with the speed of how much the flame in him was beggining to consume his entirety and though he wanted to turn back and listen to Ryle , something told him that that was going to hurt way much more . He doesn't know what is inside him and he isn't even willing to look for a name for it . All he knows is he wants it gone despite how mercilessly tempting it is to bask .

****

Jakhyer sat on the chair and he gawked at the mirror. He had become impressively a lot more younger and stunning overnight. He seemed like Adrian's cousin than his father and he wasn't really shocked by it because he is always so flushed thanks to Reed.

He reached for the serum and delicately applied it on his hands. It will help make sure he doesn't dry up quickly. His skin despite his age dries up way faster than average ten-day old human baby. This is because of the large volumes of water that Reed uses to keep Jakhyer youthful. Without that , in no time he will be no different from a leaf in the middle of the scorching desert heat or an old tree

Reed emerged from behind and reached for a comb on the dresser then begun to comb his hair. It was silky smooth to touch and his motions were remarkably tender

" From how far will you be watching",

" Every angle. At most hundred feet.", Reed spoke tucking the hair softly behind the ear

He pulled it properly and used a ribbon to locate everything.

" Why was Adrian upset?",

Reed thought that was really a stupid question. If he knew , he would have said so . Furthermore more the first place he came after he left the hospital was here and then he went back to the village. He didn't really have time to examine Adrian's scandals.

He answered with that he had been investigating and figured out the above stated conclusions from the forest, excluding that it's not abnormal for Adrian to be melodramatic

Jakhyer nodded and Reed made another braid parallel to his spine before tucking it inside the bun. He told him that he has an idea where to check for demons as he suspects that could be their breeding zone

" We just need to stop what is giving them the ability to survive", Jakhyer answered and when Reed moved Jakhyer's hair out the way , they looked eyes through the mirror and Reed stared sweetly making Jakhyer avert his eyes.

They agreed and Reed asked how the hair was but Jakhyer just ignored him then he stood to pick up his jacket

Someone knocked

" I will leave first", he spoke and dissolved away .

Jakhyer turned to check but he was already gone so he attended the visitor.

It was Herim. He said that Jakhyer was being called to breakfast but if he would like he can bring the food to his room.

He declined the offer and chose to head downstairs.

" This guy must share his youth secrets ", Herim chuckled noting Jakhyer's gorgeousness.

Herim even sniffed the air after he walked past him