41 Chapter 36: Too much change causes stagnation

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*VOOM*

Hai, Kryn and Bing Qing were more or less spat out from thin air into Hai's office.

Keeping his barriers around the girls, Hai looked around and quickly confirmed that they arrived safely.

He put Kryn down and took off the blindfold and headphones.

Kryn blinked her eyes after some minutes of darkness but when she let the light enter her eyes, she was instantly marveled.

"Fish." She commented while looking with sparkling eyes at the sea outside the office.

"Urgh…" A weak groan escaped Bing Qing's mouth as she started to sloppily move her arms and legs to get up.

"Elena." Hai called to seemingly air.

*CREAK*

The door opened and Elena entered.

"Young master…" Elena instantly felt her heart ache when her eyes landed on Hai.

He might be able to trick everyone inside this room, but she knows.

She can see how he is barely holding himself from plopping down on the couch and just sitting there.

"Start the evacuation plan. We depart in 10 minutes at most." Hai stated while walking towards his desk.

"Young master." Elena called out again.

<Damn it. That thing, god, divine or superior being, whatever was that is really annoying.> Hai's thoughts echoed inside her mind while he picked his tablet and tapping a few times in it.

His thoughts suddenly halted when he felt a familiar and soft sensation on his back.

Turning his head, he saw Elena hugging him.

"Young. Master." Elena called with emphasis on those two words.

Hai stopped what he was doing and stood still simply looking at her.

Kryn looked harder to the fishes as she felt she shouldn't interrupt whatever is going to happen now. Bing Qing also shut her mouth after getting up; she doesn't know what she is doing here but she knows that she shouldn't meddle now; one shouldn't interrupt an angry woman.

Hai looked at those deep amethyst eyes that were burning with clear rage and his brain started working at top speed to understand why she is angry, and with him, no less.

*SIGH*

Seeing that her young master was trying to figure out the reason for her anger, Elena visibly sighed.

Hai is many things.

He is a good boss.

A good man.

A good lover/ husband.

A good fighter and mage.

But one glaring flaw he has is that no matter how much he hides it beneath his cleverness and relaxed façade, he always carries everything himself.

No matter how one makes their way into his heart, he always carries everything himself.

He might give tasks to someone and even let them know about his plans or some part of them, but never ever has he shared his burden with someone.

And again, he is doing it.

Hai is evacuating them while thinking of ways to continue his plans and not getting caught by their pursuers.

Elena is angry or more annoyed than normal as he is again carrying everything on his back without sharing it with anyone.

He has her, his staff and even Hong Li-Wei.

Then why is he carrying everything alone?

Looking into his eyes, Elena saw that Hai simply stopped thinking and waited for her to talk.

*SIGH*

Sighing again, Elena was reminded that no matter how calm, mature and confident her young master may act, he is still a human and as such, he also has flaws and can commit mistakes.

She embraced him tighter.

"Young master. Why are you carrying everything alone? Why do you torture yourself by carrying a burden that you are barely able to even lift?"

"…" Hai stayed silent.

At this moment, his mind relaxed. He forgot about the danger they are currently in.

He forgot about Ye Chen, the world and even Nirvana.

He simply focused on Elena and her words.

Indeed, why?

He never thought too much about it and simply found it to be normal.

However, now that he looks back, has Hai ever trusted someone enough to share even a sliver of his burden?

Elena released him and held his shoulders.

She turned him around and looked straight into his eyes.

"I know you have secrets that you don't tell me nor anyone, young master. I also have mine's and I know you respect me. So I will respect you, BUT, you need to learn to share your burden. Otherwise, sooner or later, you will be crushed down by its weight." She said while caressing his face.

Hai only closed his eyes and faced the ceiling.

Several thoughts are passing through his head. It looked like a chaotic and turbulent sea made of thoughts.

No matter how calm and smart he is, even him can't simply calm it down immediately and understand what there is for him to understand, but for now, he got the essential.

Elena didn't show any reaction while hearing his thoughts.

This time, Elena slight narrowed her eyes.

By now, she is starting to get the gist of what those "runs" entail and she isn't liking it any bit.

*SIGH*

Sighing, Hai opened his eyes and looked at hers.

"Sorry." Was all he said.

A simple but powerful word.

Hai knows that he wouldn't simply change 180º degrees just from Elena's words.

He wouldn't be able to say everything he wants to say to her or all the ones he cares about out of nowhere like this.

It is simply impossible and unrealistic.

But her words helped him realize that the first step to change, for the better this time, is to start with his mentality.

Until now, he has been unconsciously pushing away the idea that someone could truly walk side by side with him and share his burdens.

He said that he wasn't some edgy lord nor a dramatic person that thinks they suffered more than anyone else, but hasn't he been acting like one all this time?

He is someone who has regressed back 5 times by now if he counts all of his runs. He obviously isn't in the best state of the mind as having to relive 20 years of his life over and over again will obviously affect anyone.

So he unconsciously adapted himself to all those changes that yet stayed the same and he changed himself.

He changed himself to be the only constant he had and that was always with him even after the resets.

He changed himself to be stagnated, to be unaffected by those changes.

It's a strange concept yet Hai unconsciously did it and hadn't noticed it until now.

After calming his thoughts, he looked at Elena and smiled bitterly.

"Sorry hon. It looks like I wasn't as open as I thought I was with you. I do indeed have some secrets and I won't be able to share them with you now." He said and put his tablet down.

He tapped one last time and the thing went off.

Elena simply waited for him to finish.

Taking a deep breath, Hai steeled his resolve and looked at her in the eyes.

"I will start to change my mentality. I want to confide you with my secrets but I can't do it right now. I will selfishly ask for your help in this change and when I am ready, I will share my burdens with you. I… promise." Hai almost wavered at the end but he clenched his fist and said it.

No matter how much he was tortured or how many times he redid his runs, Hai had never broken a single promise.

A joyful smile bloomed on Elena's face as she heard his words and she nodded.

"I will wait for this day." She whispered to him and stepped back.

She took a deep breath and her expression calmed down.

"What should we do, young master?" She returned to her usual maid's behavior.

Hai looked at her for a second before smiling.

"Bing Qing." He exclaimed with a smile while turning to her.

Said woman flinched when he suddenly called her out of nowhere like that.

"What is it?" She questioned but her question was also laced with a small bit interest.

*CLAP*

Clapping his hands, Hai flashed a smile.

"Currently, you are f*cked." His words made their way to her ears and she looked at him with a stupid face.

"Basically, your disciple, Ye Chen made some deal or something with a being that he shouldn't. Now, you can be sure that after what happened there, he will never again be the same and I seriously doubt that it is going to be in the positive side of the spectrum." He started to tap on his phone.

"…" Bing Qing opened and closed her mouth repeatedly but couldn't say anything. And although she said nothing, it's undeniable that what Hai said is the truth.

She saw how her "disciple" changed more drastically recently.

But what he did a few minutes ago…

Bing Qing shivered remembering Ye Chen's words and the last minutes of his fight with the young man in front of her.

That thing wasn't Ye Chen. No, that wasn't even human nor any other race known.

"…" Now that she started to analyze the battle they had against Hai, she felt dumbfounded.

He was with a child in his arms and they even fired bullets at them.

They relentlessly attacked him despite him carrying a child.

How did they feel nothing wrong with it?

The more Bing Qing thought about those things, the more she found it odd and a glaring incongruity in their actions.

But more than anything, she felt like trash, scum, a worthless woman.

She looked at Kryn and saw the young girl looking at the fishes outside with an awed expression and her conscience started to gnaw her heart.

Did she really help an armed battalion to try to capture such a girl? No, capture is off the mark. Did she aid in nearly assassinating a child with no remorse whatsoever?

Her face darkened more and more with the passage of time.

She was disappointed in Ye Chen's behavior and actions but was she any different?

The more she thought about it, the more she noticed how wrong and how odd things were.

She had never tried to correct his behavior even when he went against her teachings and values again and again.

She never tried to correct him and only solved the problems he created. She even used means she would never use because of her beliefs.

The more she thought, the more her behavior seemed strange, forced and too inclined to help Ye Chen, more than a master should be.

While Bing Qing was questioning her life choices, Hai was silently looking at her while talking with his aunt through a message app.

Others probably can't see, but Hai was smiling while seeing a whitish aura surrounding Bing Qing slowly tearing itself apart.

'So it's possible to make the heroines also realize it.'

While Hai was talking with her, he laced his words with mana and intent before speaking. Then, when Bing Qing heard his words, his intent made her mind spun and think back to specific situations.

His voice invoked emotions in her that were normally contained or in small quantities due to the world's will probably suppressing them.

Hai decided to test if just like his staff, he could make a heroine realize the incongruities of this world.

And it seems he was right.

The world's will seems to be directly interfering with the characters' perception sometimes so they will act for the protagonist's sake even if it goes against their values or beliefs.

Hai kept his smile, happy that his experiment was successful. Then, he turned to look at his phone.

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: So, now you are going to accept my offer? (T_T)

Hai smiled wryly seeing this emoji.

He could somehow already imagine his aunt hitting his head for refusing her offer early just for him to accept it in the same day.

[Handsome Prick]: Yes. (⌐■_■)

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: …

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: You shameless brat…

[Handsome Prick]: This student thanks sect master for her praise.

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: I should have taught you manners.

[Handsome Prick]: You can't teach someone what you don't know, aunt.

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[Narcissist Gorgeous Lady]: SHUT UP!

[Handsome Prick]: I will be waiting for whatever mean of transport you will send to us. Also, add a lemonade, I'm thirsty after talking with someone with such a dry sarcastic sense. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ (You)

[Handsome Prick]: Love ya!

At the other side of this exchange, Chang Hua softly snorted reading Hai's shameless messages but a smile could be seen on her face.

"Jia."

Someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Chang Hua and bowed.

"Yes, milady." A woman with pink hair answered her in a respectful tone.

"Please go pick up that shameless nephew of mine."

Jia, the pink haired woman bowed deeper and then vanished while smiling slight at her milady's current mood.

It has been some years since she smiled so genuinely.

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A/N: Hello there, I hope you are having a wonderful day!

So, what do you guys think about this chapter? Hai's change has finally started. I should be giving more development to the heroines by now but don't worry, it wouldn't be just them or Hai, I'll mix both to give proper focus to everyone.

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