The Gathering

Gu Erin was currently doing his best to keep his sanity, not from pain, or from some great mental attack.

"You Bald Donkey I'll rip your damn head off!"

"Amitabha! I will find a way to exorcise you, Hateful Demoness!"

Besides Gu Erin where the few people Lucy had brought along, each of them looked defeated, the result of trying to mediate between the two. All resulting in them looking so tired that their souls were leaving their body. Gu Erin couldn't blame them, more than once their bickering had nearly broken his partial concentration on the Universal Heart Sutra.

Although this Sutra isn't the most profitable at the moment, its worth would show in a week or so When Gu Erin could recite the Sutra, whenever he was awake, in a near subconscious state.

"Oi Bastard Gu collect your pet monk before I make him even uglier!"

Gu Erin watched in mixed amusement, as Lee Tao's face turned blue and purple with anger. Lucy seemly smug with the state Lee Tao had been worked up into. She continued to fatally strike Lee Tao where no man should.

"I bet you became a monk just so you could have an excuse for being a virgin!"

With those laughing words Lee Tao the famously shameless monk known in his past life for having such a thick skin, said to make elephants jealous, fainted from anger. Gu Erin wanted to cry but had no tears. Was this tigress so shameless, or is Lee Tao not yet mature?

With a now proud tigress and a defeated monk Gu Erin watched with hope as another group entered the plaza like city square. With a sigh of relief and happiness Gu Erin got up from the ground and walked towards the new group, however he did not allow his emotions to cloud his mind.

Yes this was the secondary value of the Universal Heart Sutra, its calming property, the things that Gu Erin desperately needed. His emotions were still raw from his near-death experience and the thought of setting things right. In fact, some might say that his personality from earlier was just an emotional Gu Erin.

Gu Erin felt far more in control now that his emotions took the backseat, and allowed his reason to rule supreme once again.

So, When Gu Erin finally saw his Mother and Father his heart only had a slight ripple. He knew that if he had seen them an hour or so ago he might have even cried in relief. He loved his family, and the responsibility of their death weighed heavily upon him. He had managed to unite their family in his past life. Only to later on lead them to their deaths.

His mother was in her mid-forties, yet the signs of age were coming upon her as doing two jobs took their toll. Gu Chyou had mid-length dark brown hair that stopped just below her shoulders, and her bright smile could have been blinding to any devil.

However, just as she was about to hug Gu Erin, he stopped her. Although he felt great heartache from not properly cherishing this moment with his family, he now had subordinates. His position, could not allow showing any favoritism during this time, or others might feel insecure about their standing. Gu Erin needed to treat everyone equally until their innate talents were shown.

Once Gu Erin had that information, he could start structuring a hierarchy, yes not a democracy or republic, this was going to be straight tyranny, because with such a situation. Not to mention only a relatively small group of people, at the moment, this was the most efficient method. Gu Erin had to become the absolute leader.

"It's good that you listened mother, we'll have to talk later." Gu Erin said evenly as he maintained a distance from her. Gu Erin's hold over his Sutra nearly shattered when he saw his mother's slightly hurt look.

Reinforcing his heart, he looked to his father Gu Yuze, a man near his fifties, heavier set, slightly short, and with a receding hairline. His father was as Gu Erin remembered him; he was still no doubt the man who willingly stayed behind to buy his family more time to escape. Yet, this father of his was looking at him with such a stern gaze that Gu Erin involuntarily felt his heart skip.

"Hopefully Gu Meng Yao listened to me, I'm at least glad you two made it at least." Gu Erin stated with a slight smile.

"You mean she's not with you?" Gu Chyou asked worriedly.

Gu Erin shook his head, "no mother, but I have people looking for her along with the rest of our groups."

"Speaking of-"

But, before Gu Yuze could continue Gu Erin cut him off. "No, sorry pa, but no questions till we're all gathered. I'm not going to repeat myself."

Gu Yuze's expression hardened even more, but before he could continue Gu Chyou grabbed Gu Yuze's hand and squeezed.. With some reluctance Gu Yuze shut his mouth and followed his mother to the side. Gu Chyou was far more aware than others and she had noticed everyone's strange gaze on them. Not finding the situation right she pulled her husband off to the side to wait for her son's explanation.

Lucy who had watched the short situation, gained a lot more information just from that exchange, however she was slightly confused. She had come to expect this Bastard Gu Erin's parents to be slightly similar to Kei Jiahao in temperament to raise such a hateful guy. Yet they looked rather nice, the type of parents one would want. If she hadn't been an orphan she would have wanted parents like that. So, when she saw Gu Erin's lack of care for them she was considering to wear his face as a shoe.

However, she decided against it when she observed Gu Erin further, although he was perfectly still and with that annoying mask on his face Lucy could still see the slight tremble in his hand. It was progressively getting harder to read this bastard, Lucy thought that this bastard Gu Erin should join that bald monk in being a virgin forever. In fact, at that moment an evil and sinister thought flashed by her mind, yes, she would play a good prank on him that would make all the girls around him see him as scum.

While Lucy was starting to scheme, multiple groups started to file into the central square. Gu Erin could see more than one familiar face. With this Gu Erin continued to greet the groups and calm them, and then wait for the next. It wasn't till Lee Shio Ming, Kei Jiahao, and Nu Binu that Gu Erin got the confirmation that all were accounted for.

Herding the large group into the Temple of the Heavens Gu Erin first made sure that nobody was currently within the spire. Unfortunately, there were occupants until Kei Jiahao kindly arranged for them to leave the Temple.

Gu Erin made his way into the center of the crowd and soon a circle formed around him, Gu Erin was unlike any of these people who were lost and confused. However, they somehow were all together so the psychological blow was lessened. Being alone while afraid was a very dangerous state to be in, especially mentally.

So, Gu Erin cleared his throat and called out to the crowd. "Please give me your undivided attention!' He called out, and when silence answered him after a few dying mummers he started again. "I will not accept any distraction or interruption. Questions can be asked afterwards, if the questions are not important I will not answer them."

Hearing the perfect silence Gu Erin continued. "To put it simply forget about your life before this moment. Unless they are loved ones everything is, or will be, gone.." Not willing to lose the momentum under the growing turbulence Gu Erin pushed on. "I will guide you through this, and hopefully you will all survive. I have the answers you will all need. I can guide you to gain power that would make Earth's fiction heroes look like specks of dust."

Gu Erin pointed to Swindler. "First is the green robed man, all you need to do is ask for the free technique given by the Heavens." Then he pointed to Token. "The purple robed figure is where you can ask for your jade token, this will allow you to communicate with everyone in Heaven's mercy as long as you have touched that person and willed their jade token to memory."

Finally, Gu Erin pointed to the Evaluator. "The black robed figure is the evaluator, and he will give you information on your innate talents, if you are lucky you will get a piece of advice from the Heavens itself."

Gu Erin clapped his hands, "are there any questions before you do the three tasks?"

When Gu Erin finally saw a hand raise he had to pause, why was Chan Ai raising her hand with such a serious expression? At that moment Gu Erin felt cold sweat start to run down his back. Because, for some reason, Lucy and Gu Meng Yao were standing behind her. Never had he once thought he would one day be intimidated by a pair of smiles.