Chu watched the others weep and forced a tear out of his eye.
“Senior brother.”
“Senior brother!”
They began to flock around him and he forced himself to hold them in a group hug. He wanted to flinch away, he wanted to push them, but he needed them. The tribulations were coming, and he needed all the help he could do to deal with the external threats.
These three, these morons, would have to suffice for now.
He did not have other options.
The scrolls left by master fu kung, the ones he has hidden under his bed. He really wanted the ring, but eventually he realized that their master gave the useless item to the useless member. Wang was always the slowest, the weakest, not even the brightest. And that technique…
It was all thanks to those pills provided to him by Su that he managed to catch up with them.
Su was the one that got the pill scrolls, and she excelled at making those mundane herbs into potent pills that nourished the body and mind. She had quite the stash hidden in the apothecary, and it took quite the stealth work to get to them.
But now that he had…
Nothing of that seemed important as the prospect of ascending from this realm became more clear to him.
“Junior brothers,” he said, “I can count on you tonight, guarding my back as we venture forth into our futures?”
“Yes senior brother,” Xiu cried, “I’ll give my life to make you succeed.”
“I will, too,” Len added.
Wang merely nodded.
“I heard Xiu and Wang felt the aura of a cultivator when they fought before,” Chu said, “I truly wish they don’t interrupt me. If you can distract them long enough…”
“You can count on us!” they said in unison.
“So I will,” Chu replied with a wide smile.
- Case 501-6 -
They gathered outside of Chu’s house, waiting for the tribulations to begin.
“Do you think they will come to attack senior brother Chu?” Wang asked, the other two did not seem pleased with him around, but they were less hostile to his presence. “Those enemy cultivators.”
“I hope not,” Xiu grumbled.
“Say, Wang,” Len interrupted, “that technique, the one you used in the duel.”
“Yes?”
“Where did you learn it?” Len’s eyes glinted.
Wang shuffled uncomfortably at the questioning. “I kinda stumbled upon it,” he finally blurted.
“Stumbled upon it,” Xiu scoffed.
“Is this one of those, what do you call them,” Len walked around, checking the surroundings. “One of those inspirations, visions?”
“Inspirations, yeah,” Wang nodded.
The air shuddered around them, and they all went still. The power in the air fluctuated and began to act wildly. “Enemies,” Len said in an alarmed tone.
The enemies wore white robes, long and dragging behind them as they approached. A group of five.
“Move away,” the man at their front demanded.
“Over our dead bodies!” Xiu hissed.
“Insolent frog in a well,” the man scoffed and pushed forward. They moved to block his path.
“You will have to kill us,” Wang spat.
The man watched them for a couple of moments before he gestured for the others. They moved in and the battle began.
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Wang avoided the chi filled punch and tried to attack with an Iron body strike. The man jumped back and kept his distance, eyes wide. “You have some skill,” he said.
Wang took their surroundings as the fights broke out.
Xiu was being strangled by one of the enemies, and Len was fighting two at once. Their leader has vanished. “He Is going for Chu, we must not allow it they-” Len said and was interrupted by another attack.
“I’ll go!” Wang shouted as he moved, the man moved in front of him and became a flutter of long white robes before other attacks landed from behind the fluttering fabric.
Wang felt the hands trying to grab his arms and moved them out of the way before he strengthened his head, headbutting the enemy.
The man stumbled back with a grunt, holding his chest. “Marvelous!” he gave him a wide, mad grin.
“Out of my way!” Wang shouted as he prepared to use the Legendary Twin Tailed Rat King’s Maw. The man felt like something was about to happen and tried to get some distance, arms moved to block a technique he did not know about. Experience.
But even experience did not prepare him for what came next.
The air shuddered as he put his back into the technique, and the man nearly dropped on the ground. The others too were affected, they watched with disbelief, giving Len and Xiu openings they seemed to separately need.
“To Chu,” Wang shouted as he rushed.
“To Chu!” the others followed.
Another shudder broke the power in the air, as the man inside the house walked out with an unconscious Chu on his shoulder.
“Put Chu down!” Len charged, only to drop on the ground a moment later, Xiu fell too, and Wang felt the power that fell on him just before he dropped too, a smug enemy leader was the final thing he saw.
----------------------------------------
Medical Observations: James (264)
The group gathered around Jame’s room just before his scheduled treatment. David watched as the staff gathered with the doctor and got their instructions.
“Only use the sedatives if they get too violent,” he ordered. “Take patient 264 to the treatment room afterwards for his first session.”
The staff members nodded and walked towards the trio.
“Enemies!” Daniel shouted and pointed at the staff members. Things felt pretty tense at that moment.
“I don’t think I should be here,” David admitted to Peter. “Not right now.”
“It is fine, we are used to this,” Peter waved.
“Move away,” the large man at the front said with a tired sigh.
“Over our dead bodies!” William hissed.
“Why do they have to act so dramatic?” the man grumbled and pushed forward. They moved to block his path.
“You will have to kill us,” Josh spat.
David blinked. “They aren’t this aggressive, usually,” he noted.
“No, but they seem to sense something when it’s time for these scheduled sessions.”
The man watched them for a couple of moments before he gestured for the others. They moved in and tried to restrain the patients.
“Stand still,” the nurse in front of Josh shouted as he kept jumping around.
William was caught in a choke, as the nurse tried to get the sedative out.
“He Is going for Chu, we must not allow it they-” Daniel said and was interrupted by another attempt to grab him.
“I’ll go!” Josh shouted as he moved and the man that was trying to capture him almost tripped as he ran in front of him, his nurse garb was torn.
Josh actually tried to headbutt him.
“What the hell,” the nurse laughed nervously and grabbed the syringe.
“Out of my way!” Josh shouted before he… Shouted.
That strange squirrel mimicking shout.
The shout made people watch in confusion which made the others break from the nurses.
“To Chu,” Josh rushed.
“To Chu!” the others repeated.
The nurse managed to get James, he was sedated and carried on his shoulder.
“Put Chu down!” Was the last thing Daniel said as the syringes were finally used, and the rowdy gang calmed down.
“So,” Peter stood up, “shall we?”
-
“Shock therapy,” David looked as James was tied down to the chair, and poles were placed around his head.
“It is a new thing, in our establishment,” doctor Peter responded. “It is said to be quite helpful with such cases.”
David did not know how true that was, but he saw the studies made by other doctors, the results they got. So he nodded.
“Let us start low, three pulses,” Peter commanded the operator. “Then increase the intensity for another three rounds, and finish with another three.”
Nine shocks in total. David thought.
“Ah,” James said, “the tribulations have finally arrived!”
“Go,” Peter ordered and the first pulse was administered.
“Demons of the heart,” James called through clenched teeth. “You are weak, pathetic!”
The second and third pulses were done quickly, with James shaking slightly during the process.
“COME,” he shouted through the mouth guard, “I DO NOT FEAR THE MANDATE OF HEAVENS.”
“I think this increased his delusions,” David told Peter.
“Well, it is only the first session, we cannot expect them to be cured in an instant. Again,” he ordered the operator.
It happened again and again.
“I will not be destroyed by you,” James snarled, the mouth guard almost fell out, “I shall seal the heavens, if I-”
The next pulse came.
“I don’t think he is doing well, doctor,” David frowned. James was now frothing at the mouth.
“Standby, operator.”
The doctor ran to the patient, “get me the kit, now!”
David watched nervously as they tried to bring James back.