“... and then I was like: ‘what the hell, mam? I’m just here to pick up some toothpaste and canned fish for my freaking cat, okay? I don’t have the time to learn about your God or how much he loves me. My cat’s gonna eat this fucking can up, disappear, maybe break my new favorite mug while looking me in the eyes and ruin my sofa - and, and I’m here telling you dick jokes and stories about my asshole cat - so, he doesn’t care about me enough to steer me in any directions. Between that guy with a crooked eye who can just sleep and make more money in one night than I can ever make in my entire fucking life, and that skinny kid born in a puddle of shit water and already have AIDS when he’s born, my life is pretty insignificant, alright?’”
With the narration of an angry sounding man and the gasps and laughter from an audience in the background, Tze Cha actually saw the image of a tranquil sky in the morning. The winds were blowing, the grass and tree were moving from the flow of the wind, and clouds were slowly moving in the sky, with their shadows cast onto the ground.
“... and to be kinda sorta brutally honest - the more I watch TV and listen to the hot blondes in tight short skirts talking about random shit, the more I feel that, I like the other Gods better! Yeah! If I were more of an asshole, I’d tell the lady: ‘Sorry lady, your God is kinda annoying! Okay? Oh, what’s that? I don’t know, maybe he’s too much of a try hard and a bummer! Maybe I like the good old days where Gods who - you know, who fuck!’ Like that bearded dude with the lightning hands, big fucking horn dog, who kinda fucks everything that moves, and have fucking kids with a whole bunch of fucking things. That’s more like a god I could be down with, you know? I may or may not worship the fucking dude, I may or may not pray to him, depending on what kinds of kinds of things he fucked last night - ”
As the words of the angry sounding man became more and more disrespectful, a sudden change took place in the image before Tze Cha’s “eyes” - several thick bolts of completely black lightning shot across the tranquil sky. Dark red and smoky trails that looked like bleeding wounds of the sky were left by the black lightning bolts, and as Tze Cha’s focus was placed on those tracks, he started to see some destructive dark energy seeping through.
The duration in which Tze Cha stared into Jianmen’s eyes was very short, and he was not able to see anything more. Not that he would like to try to peek longer anyway, since he had figured out almost at the first instant that he did not pierce through Jianmen’s defences, and Jianmen was just showing him a piece of information that he was willing to share.
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The message Jianmen tried to convey to him was received and understood as well - Tze Cha, given his status and his unique position and identity as the last living member of the Omen Dragons, had already some suspicion on the what Josephine Wong and her team were after ever since what happened at Clearwater Municipal Hospital, and all the image did was confirm his suspicion.
“To be honest, and no offence, Tze Cha, I’m a little surprised.” Josephine Wong said as she took the relic from Tze Cha.
“It’s my gesture of goodwill.” Tze Cha blew through his nose gently and said: “Looks like whether I like it or not, we are going to work with each other for the foreseeable future - if we could even have a future, that is.”
“So, you know what we’re trying to do.” Josephine Wong gave Jianmen a grateful look, then said: “And we are very grateful.”
“Only because I am bound here by my oath and covenant. And that there is no escape from them now.” Tze Cha nodded, then took out two dark claws and handed them to Jianmen and Josephine Wong: “Now, our terms haven’t changed - if you need my help, I will get paid. If they find me first, I will lead them to the fight. If they find you, I will be there.”
“A wise and courageous choice.” Jianmen extended his right hand and prepared for a handshake.
“The claw is a signature of a deal, just take it.” Tze Cha put a claw in Jianmen’s hand: “Touch claws just means we’re about to duel in my tradition.”
“Ah, sorry.” Jianmen retracted his hand and put the dark claw in his shirt pocket: “Definitely not gonna do that here.”
“How many have you recruited?” Tze Cha asked.
“I’d say we have a good chance to win.” Jianmen smiled and said.
“Well, try harder.” Tze Cha swung his hand at the space behind him and created a crack in the space: “I’ll be taking some time to rest. Do not wake me unless the situation warrants it.”
“Have a good rest.” Jianmen and Josephine Wong both waved Tze Cha goodbye.
“Remind me again, what did he mean by him being bound here by his oath and covenant?” Josephine Wong let out a long exhale of relief and turned to Jianmen.
“Gods’ contracts, I assume that’s what he meant.” Jianmen told Josephine Wong through a secret energy tunnel so that only Nameless and Vivian could hear his voice: “It’s indeed interesting - that means that he has some contracts with other people that we don’t know about, and defilers could actually do something with those contracts?”