"Well, you didn't tell him that you were looking for him exactly. You said that you were looking for Sui Han, and he sent you to Sui Han," Xun let out as she started laughing.
Long Chen stopped. Turning back towards Xun, he started walking.
He reached out both his hands and held her soft cheeks.
"You little girl, can't you ever back me?" Pulling her cheeks, he said.
"Uhm, why should I do that for the guy who's bullying me?" the girl said as she said as she tried to free herself.
"Why is it that I feel bullied instead," Long Chen let out as he smiled wryly. He tapped her cheeks gently before he turned back and continued walking towards the entrance of the town.
He reached the house once again, but the old man wasn't standing there.
He walked towards the door of the house, thinking that the old man might be inside.
After knocking on the door, he started waiting for the old man to come out.
Soon, the door opened. It was the same old man who was standing in front of the house and the one who had told him the directions to the kid's house.
"It's you again. What do you need now?" the man inquired as he glared at Long Chen impatiently.
" Of Course, It will be me! I came here to meet you. Who would it be if not me? I even told you that I was here to meet you, yet you sent me to a kid with the same name," Long Chen let out as he smiled wryly.
"You never said you're here to meet me. Also, even if you were, why would I waste my time on you. It's not like you're here to help me. You're probably just another one of the many that came here after reading that crappy book of mysteries by that idiot of a man," the man grumbled.
"How do you know?" Long Chen inquired.
"Why wouldn't I know? That man came here and wrote a book on me. I thought he would believe me and help me; instead, he wrote a book about me, without thinking about how it'll affect me. Now the whole world thinks I'm crazy. People from far and wide come to see this crazy old man after reading the book. You're just one of them. Go back, kid. I don't have the patience to deal with another one," the man said as he shook his head.
He weakly stepped back and started closing the door.
"Wait, I don't think you're crazy! I came here to help you! You're not crazy! You had a grandson, and I know what happened to him! I can help you!" Long Chen exclaimed as he stopped the door from closing.
The old man heard Long Chen's words and went blank. He looked at him as his hands started shivering.
"R-repeat what you just said!" He let out as he stepped back.
"You're not crazy! Your grandson existed, and I know what happened to him! I can even tell you!" Long Chen repeated his words.
"Come, come! Please come inside. I'm sorry for being rude. Finally, there is someone that knows that my grandson existed! It wasn't my imagination! I don't know why they all forgot about him! I don't know why they don't trust me. It is so strange. Come inside and tell me what you know," the man said as he stepped back and allowed Long Chen to enter.
Long Chen entered the room.
The man made Long Chen sat on the bed and served the water, despite him saying no.
"Tell me! Tell me what happened to my grandson?! Where is he?! Why doesn't anyone remember him?" The man started asking Long Chen questions one after another.
"First, tell me one thing. I'll give you all your answers. Did your grandson have a sword one day before he disappeared?" Long Chen inquired.
"That Sword? Ah, right. He had one that he said he brought back from the future. I thought that he was joking with me and found it somewhere. Since he sat too little, I took that sword from him and kept it with me," the man replied to Long Chen.
"Wait a minute! Do you mean that Sword is responsible for this? That Sword is related to my grandson's disappearance?" he inquired as he frowned.
"Yes. That Sword played a more important part in his disappearance than you know. He wasn't lying when he said that he brought that sword from the future. He was telling the truth. That Sword did come from the future. That Sword had a strange magic that gave a person the power to send their consciousness back in time to their younger self. That's what your grandson did. Also, that sword followed after him," Long Chen said as he sighed.
"That's the reason that boy knew about the events that were able to take place in the future. That's why he knew his parents were able to die. In Fact, he came here, especially to save them," he continued.
The more he spoke, the more he shocked the one man.
" What that boy didn't tell you was that the Sword was also cursed. It cursed your grandson, and that's the reason all this happened. Now, I can help you if you bring that Sword to me. There's still time. We can solve the problems before things get worse," He told the old man.
"Can that sword save my grandson?" The old man asked Long Chen.
Long Chen knew that it was impossible to save the old man's grandson, but he didn't want to tell that to the old man. The old man was probably not going to answer if he said that, but he also didn't think about giving him false hope.
"He can't be saved now. The sword gave him the power to go back in time, but it also cursed him that he was going to be wiped from existence. He has already been erased from the past and the future. That's why no one remembers him but you," Long Chen explained.
After telling the truth that mattered, he decided to mix a little lie in between.
"Even though your grandson is gone, you can still save his soul. His soul is trapped in the sword, which won't let him ever go to the afterlife and reincarnate. After a long time, I have finally managed to track the location of the sword. My grandmother was also killed by this sword. His sword is also trapped in this soul," said Long Chen after standing up. He walked closer to the man and held his hand.
" I want to free all the souls trapped inside the Sword, including the soul of my grandmother. I've searched far and wide for the sword before I read the book and tracked it here. Please give that sword to me so I can help them get to the afterlife. If you don't, they'll keep suffering for all eternity. For your grandson and for everyone else, give that sword to me," he told the old man.
"That Sword..." the man muttered blankly, but he didn't reply.
"That Sword what? Tell me where you kept it?" Long Chen asked the man as he frowned.
"I-i don't have it," said the old man as his face turned pale.
"You don't have it? What do you mean you don't have it? Tell me where the sword is! Who has it!" Shaking the man's body, Long Chen asked.
"Y-you can never get it. It's impossible," the old man said as he sighed.
"What do you mean? I'll find that sword from the depths of hell if I have to. Tell me where it is!" Long Chen said, strongly.
He was controlling himself a lot, trying not to scream.