Chapter 93: Hidden Qualities

Chapter 93: Hidden Qualities

The woman looks groggily around, seeming to be in a stupor.

Physically, she should be fine. But I bet it's pretty disorienting to be carried around and waking up to all that jostling.

"Where where am I?"

Gong, still moving fast, seems to swallow a bit, trying to come up with words to say.

While she does that, the woman looks down at her arm, flailing beside her. Scars where her arm was torn off from. Her eyes begin to glaze a bit, as she is clearly hyperventilating. It appears she might be thinking about she had gone through, earlier.

We need to stop her from thinking about it.

Luckily, Gong reacts in time and gets her attention.

"Jenn? It's Gong. I have you with me now. We're taking you back to my area to treat you a bit more. You were in an accident with an outside cultivator."

The woman, Jenn, still seems to work to gain her bearings. Her eyes clear a little and she focuses back to the voice. To Gong's face.

She doesn't seem to recognize her for a second, before a flash seemingly goes through hers.

"G Gong? I thought, I thought you"

Gong's lips tremble for a second. Before she forces out some words, with clear difficulty.

"No, I'm sorry. This is all me. I should have brought you closer earlier"

With these mysterious, but meaningful words, the pair fall silent.

If Gong having me rush out here to save her wasn't enough of an indicator that something is between these two, this would show that the situation is far more than it seems.

This might be a classic case of, 'I can't let anyone know who is close to me, or they'll be used against me' type of situation.

I'm sure I'll find out, eventually.

Actually, why am I automatically assuming that it's any of my business?

I'm not entitled to know her life story or any of those things. All this is is just helping a friend to save one of her other friends.

Quickly, we approach one cavern leading into Gong's tunnel system.

I should make clear my position, nonetheless.

"Gong? You really don't have to worry about me. I trust you. I believe that if you think these people are trustworthy, that you wouldn't do anything that could harm me.

"If you say they are worth bringing into the group, I'll typically always believe you."

Stating an expression of trust is a powerful way to build even further trust. I want to show her she doesn't need to resort to things like this. That our bond is deeper than something like that.

I do kind of like it, though.

True to my thoughts, I can hear Gong gulp as she steps back away from me. A look back at her, reveals that she has a slightly reddened face and is biting her lip. Her hand is laying on her cheek, in an enticing way. She turns away from me slightly, so I can't see her face clearly.

But something seems a bit different from the norm.

Her lips are moving and it is only with my scan that I am able to see what she is almost inaudibly whispering.

Ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy

For the briefest moment, I experience a tiny flash of fear. The look on her face seems to be one of pure bliss and want, and brings images of her previous words of self-indulgence.

Keeping me all to herself.

Entrapment. Never leaving.

I just saw something that I really don't think I was supposed to.

Luckily, that look soon goes away, as behind her Jenn calls out and begins asking Gong some questions. She seems to automatically switch gears and turn to help her. I use this opportunity to make up an excuse to head back to the main area.

Gong guiltily looks at me before saying her goodbyes and that we'll catch up later.

I use my scan to quickly get on the path back to the main area, where we live normally. Along the way, I can feel a slight shudder. I brush it off. However, before I get there, Gong runs behind me. I can feel myself tense up, slightly expecting that previous look on her face again.

Betraying my expec thoughts, she actually yells out, "James! The cultivators are back and are blowing up the Demi human areas!"

Ah shit.