Under The Veil of Night

*not long before*

When Neo woke up, the sun had risen high in the sky. Groggily, he propped himself up to a sitting position. He glanced at his side where Mike and Patrick had woken up and was currently eating.

"Where am I?" he asked.

Patrick passed him a can. "This is one of the resting houses in the forest that belong to the Kalin Family. You should eat a bit; it has been tough on you."

Neo glanced at the can in Patrick’s hand. It was a rather old can, but right now he didn’t really care about it. Taking the can from Patrick, he started to eat the content. The meat felt like a jelly, but he forcefully pushed it down his throat.

"We have to find Boss," Neo remarked.

Patrick looked at Neo for a moment. Even at times like this, their attention has been fully focused on one person. It was indeed important for them to search for Kevin, but he knew better that Kevin would be able to fend for himself if he managed to stay alive.

By this point, there was no use trying to search for that young man. The forest is his second home.

"If he’s still alive, he’ll be fine in the forest. There are a lot of resting huts like this one in the forest and we know the exact place for each of them," Patrick remarked calmly. "Also, I have something that I need to tell you."

From the tone that Patrick used, Neo could guess that it must be something serious. After all, it was not usual for Patrick to use solemn and polite tone.

"What is it?"

"It’s about your father."

With that, Patrick told Neo everything he knew about the Old Man. Although he didn’t see the fight by himself, it was apparent that it was a grand battle between Ryan and the Old Man. As he knew the strength of these two, it was not strange that the two of them wounded hard because of a clash.

Neo listened to Patrick’s explanation quietly. Not even once he made a remark. Even though he used to be a playful young man who didn’t care about what he said, right now, he looked so quiet that it was scary.

From the side, Mike eyed Neo carefully. He could recall that there was one time when Neo became like this in the past, which was the death of Ryukalin Clan Head and also his father. It was the first time Neo showed a proper expression and attitude.

"I see," Neo said slowly after Patrick had finished.

"I’m sorry. I can’t do anything to prevent this," Patrick apologized. From the bottom of his heart, he was annoyed at himself. Because he didn’t stay in the clan for a long time, he became a stranger to many of the issues. This made him blind to several problems around him.

Even to the point of letting his close friend die.

Neo raised his head. His body was still tired because of the harsh battle the day before. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to help in the search for Kevin. "Can you take me there?"

"No problem," Patrick stood up.

The three of them departed from the hut and headed to the place where Patrick placed the two old men. Their pace was rather slow because Neo was overly exhausted while Mike’s right foot was shot. When they arrived, Patrick heaved a sigh of relief. The place was still untouched after he moved them.

Neo’s gaze fixated on his father, the Old Man. Although the Old Man looked older than his age, he was still 50 years old, couldn’t be said to be old. Right now, his skin has turned pale with several places were black because of the wounds he sustained during the fight.

"Neo?" Mike asked worriedly.

Neo didn’t answer. His arm was trembling for a bit, but he forcefully pushed his feeling down. Slowly but surely, he stepped forward one step at the time to reach his father.

Crouching down, he stayed silent in front of his father as countless memories began to resurface in his mind.

"Brat! You lie to me about training again, don’t you? Come here, it’s time to train!"

"Hey, do it correctly, if you continue to do it wrongly, I’ll whip you, you insolent brat!"

"Hmph, of course you can never match me, I’m your father!"

Most of the memories he had with his father was him getting scolded. It was not weird considering that he has been skipping his training over and over again. After all, physical strength has never been his forte.

Behind him, Patrick moved his gaze. He looked at Mike for a moment. "I’ll be searching for Kevin. Can you stay here to protect Neo?"

Mike eyed his foot for a brief second. With his foot condition, it would be hard for him to move around, but it was not completely impossible. At most, he would just reopen his wound again.

Nodding his head, a smile appeared on his face. "I can. You don’t have to worry, Elder Patrick."

"Good. Take care of yourself."

"You too, Elder Patrick."

As Patrick departed from the place, Mike scanned the surrounding. He recalled that the storage room was not located that far from here. He might be able to find something to help Neo move his father’s body from this place.

"Mike, where do you want to go?" Neo saw that Mike started to walk away and hurriedly stood up.

"I’m going to the storage room. There might be something we can use to move the body."

"Let me come with you."

"Don’t you want to stay with him?" Mike was rather perplexed.

Neo shut his mouth for a few seconds. He eyed Mike. "Mike, have you ever feel regret about your decision to follow after Boss?"

Mike shook his head. "Never. All my regret is that I’m not strong enough to protect him."

"I see."

"Neo, do you regret it?"

Neo smirked. "Why should I regret it? When my father asked me to follow after Boss, he explained to me about the danger behind following him. He already told me to prepare myself for losing him faster than natural death because dangers are everywhere."

Even though he knew that it was inevitable for clan members to die at any point, it still pained him to see his father die. After all, he spent a long time with his father from his youth, learning a lot of things.

No matter how many times he saw other people die around him, he couldn’t help but feel sad. He knew that there was a high death risk in the clan, but the feeling just washed over him.

He couldn’t get used to the death of his friends.

Neo glanced back at Mike. "My only regret is that I didn’t spend more time with him in the past. But I’m sure that if I tell this to my younger self, I still won’t do it."

Mike saw that Neo’s expression was rather forced. It was clear that this young man was not as calm as he showed outside. He sighed.

"You’ll get over it. We have to move on because we still have a future in this world, no matter whether it is long or short."

Neo’s mouth opened wide. "Mike, I never know that you can think so deep."

"What? That’s not deep!"

"I think they are. Do you perhaps hide your real talent?"

"What are you talking about? Do you have a fever after being knocked out for hours?"

"Hey!"

Just like that, the two of them returned to their usual attitude despite the lingering sadness around them.