[Gold Dimension]

Xiao Yu watched Yu Yan as she just sat quietly on the sofa. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
She just shrugged.
"I think there's a cloud forming over your head again," he told her and walked over to her to poke her forehead.
"Is there?" she asked sarcastically.
He smiled and sat down next to her, "There's a big gloomy cloud hovering above your head," he told her, "If you tell me what's wrong I can make it go away."
"Does Da Yu have to leave us?" Yu Yan asked in a small mumble.

Xiao Yu burst out into a grin of disbelief, "You're sad that someone wants to adopt Da Yu?" he asked.
"Don't laugh," she snapped.
"Da Yu doesn't have to leave," Xiao Yu told her, "I thought it would be best for him to be taken in by someone else rather than staying here so that he doesn't bother you. Since I will be working most of the day, you would have to look after him so I didn't want to trouble you with that but if you want to keep him we can just adopt him ourselves. I haven't officially given him away yet."
Yu Yan pushed back a smile, "Then keep him," she muttered.
Xiao Yu poked her forehead, "Silly. If you wanted to keep him you should've said so." He then poked her forehead again.
Yu Yan then huffed and got up, "If you're going to work then go. I'm going to meet up with Da Dong and Ya Se."
The boy nodded, "I'll see you later then," he smiled at her, picked up his backpack then hurried out the door.

Yu Yan listened to his footsteps as he went further and further away. "Strange, why does he need to work so much for stupid tuition fees?" she muttered to herself.
 

~*~*~
 

"Why is Xiao Yu working so much?" Da Dong asked as the three of them sat at Duan Chang Ren's stall.
Ya Se shrugged before smirking and nudging Yu Yan playfully, "Maybe he's planning to propose to Yu Yan so is working to buy a ring."
Before Da Dong could laugh, Yu Yan hit Ya Se coldly, making the leader of Zhong Ji Yi Ban and Duan Chang Ren gulp. "Stop saying rubbish," she hissed at him, "He's working hard to pay for his tuition fees," she informed.
"Tuition fees?" Ya Se repeated, "Why does he need to pay for them?"
"What about his parents?" Da Dong asked.
"He's an orphan," Yu Yan stated, "His aunt lost her job apparently so he has to pay for them himself."
Da Dong and Ya Se's face fell. "Why didn't he tell us?" Da Dong questioned with a worried look on his face.
"We could have helped him," Ya Se added.
"He doesn't want to bother you," Yu Yan replied.
"That's rubbish," Da Dong spat, "If we're brothers why does he even care about bothering us with something like that? As brothers it's our duty to help him!"
Ya Se nodded in agreement, "Such a small amount of money is no problem for me to pay," he said, "I could pay off the rest of the year for him."

"Ya Se Wang Little Friend," Duan Chang Ren spoke up, "Do you think there could be something else that Little Friend Ding Xiao Yu is going through?"
"Duan Chang Ren, what is Xiao Yu going through that we don't know about?" Da Dong asked rhetorically.
"Out of the four of you, he is the quietest. I'm sure he has things in his heart that he hasn't told even you," Duan Chang Ren replied.
"What are you implying?" Yu Yan asked, "That he doesn't trust us?"
"Oh no, no, no, Little Friend Jiang Yu Yan," he defended, "Think about it from his perspective. Perhaps he doesn't want to worry you?"
"I've been living with him, what wouldn't I know?" Yu Yan asked.
"Living with him doesn't mean you would know what's inside his heart," Ya Se slowly said in thought, "You can't see so you wouldn't know Xiao Yu's facial expressions. So it would be easier to lie to you-"
"Hey! Why are you doubting him?!" Yu Yan snapped, slamming her hand on the counter.
Ya Se was taken aback by her sudden outburst, "I was just hypothesising..." he trailed off with wide eyes from the shock.

"Little Friend Ya Se Wang has a valid point there however," Duan Chang Ren interrupted, "Surely that piano competition he is competing in should cover the cost of the tuition fees alone. He also works three part time jobs, for what is he working so hard for? Ba Le High School's tuition fees aren't that high and the Principal must have reduced the amount if Little Friend Ding Xiao Yu was experiencing financial problems," he explained as he looked at them all seriously.
Ya Se snorted, "That's hard to believe when he loves money," he commented in a mutter.
"What... is he working so hard for...?" Yu Yan muttered as the three fell silent as gears began turning in their minds.
"Yu Yan, do you know anything else?" Da Dong asked.
"He said he'll have to leave Zhong Ji Yi Ban if he isn't able to pay," she answered, "He didn't say much."
"Xiao Yu... just what is going on in your head?" Ya Se grumbled.
 

~*~*~
 

[Iron Dimension, Mojie]

"You guys took your time," Lilith spat, annoyed, as the six of them placed her desired items on the counter in front of her. She eyed Li Xue and Gui Feng who were covered head to toe in bog and sighed as she took their slimy pouch of Frog Nettle Leaves. She then looked at Xia Tian and Lan Ling Wang who look as though they were attacked by dogs and sent through a shredder as their clothes were all torn and their faces were smeared with makeup and their hair was all messy. She raised an eye brow at them, looked at their tired faces and decided it was best to not even ask what happened to them. She took their small jar of Hawk Powder. Lilith then smiled at Jiu Wu and Gui Gui who were clean and in one piece and took their basket of mangoes from them happily.

"Cheers," she smiled at them all in thanks.
"Can you tell us where Gui Long is now?" Gui Feng asked impatiently, "We went through so much trouble for you."
Lilith just giggled at them, "I think you guys should freshen up before I tell you." She turned around and pointed to a door in the back, "There's a bathroom down there."
Li Xue just huffed and stormed past them all into the bathroom.

After everyone had freshened up and changed into a fresh pair of clothes, Lilith treated them to a meal. As they ate, she spoke up. "Gui Long was seen with a mysterious man a few times," she began abruptly.
Xia Tian looked up from his bowl of food, "A mysterious man?" he repeated.
Lilith nodded, "When I first saw Gui Long a couple weeks back, he was very poorly and was in the form of a spirit-"
"That doesn't make sense," Li Xue cut off, "When I saw him, he always had a solid body."
"How's that possible?" Jiu Wu asked, confused.
Lilith shrugged, "I assume that man was giving him some sort of drug that was helping him look healthier. I caught them exchanging tubes filled with chemicals inside once," she replied.
Gui Gui looked worriedly at Jiu Wu, "Do you think that man was helping him get his own body?" she whispered.
"That's impossible," Jiu Wu whispered back, "It would never work."

"Do you know where he is?" Xia Tian asked.
Lilith shook her head, "He disappeared. I suppose that man stopped supplying him with whatever that was."
Everyone's eyes widened, "No, that can't happen," Li Xue muttered, "Gui Long can't just leave me like this."
Gui Gui pursed her lips, "We need to find that man and find out what type of drugs he was supplying Gui Long with, maybe then we'll be able to find him," she guessed.
Worry spread across Xia Tian's face, Gui Long... where are you...?
Lan Ling Wang put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll find him," he reassured.

 

~*~*~
 

[Somewhere in Mojie]

Gui Long stared at the last tube of a glowing liquid he had and leaned against the wall of a dark and quiet alley. He cursed. He was Gui Long so why was he so pathetic? He grunted and crushed the tube inside his clenched fist, "I'm not bowing down to that man anymore," he whispered, "I'm not doing his bidding anymore. Who does he think I am?! I'm Gui Long and I take orders from no one."

He groaned in pain and then looked down at his palm. The broken shards of glass were scattered on his palm and the glowing blue liquid was trickling through his fingers. He stared at his hand until it and the rest of his body became transparent. "How long will I survive alone?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

"Not long I suppose."

Instantly, Gui Long stood up from the wall. A man stood in front of him, standing at a distance to him. His face was covered by a large black hood and covering his body was a large cloak.

"It's you," Gui Long spat.

"It's me," he said with a smirk.

Gui Long turned around to leave.

"I won't let you leave so easily," the man said, "I want to get rid of you Gui Long," he added, "How can I have a minion that secretly takes half of what I am asking from him?"
"I'm not your damn minion!" Gui Long barked angrily.
"You were the moment you agreed to help me," the other man corrected him in a calm manner.
"We both agreed to help each other, I, Gui Long, would never accept being lower than somebody else," Gui Long retorted.
"Well someone broke the deal, no?" The man questioned in a louder voice.
"What do you expect from a demon, stupid pure yi neng xing zhe?!" Gui Long barked angrily, "You should be grateful that I even helped you get down here!"
The man just laughed, "You? A demon?" he repeated in laughter, "You're just a wandering spirit that is alive just by hanging onto a thread. You're not fit to be called a demon," he spat coldly, lifting his arm. His hand then became engulfed in purple wisps of yi neng and he glared daggers at Gui Long.

Confidently, Gui Long stood up and summoned his own fire ball. However, the stronger the fireball he conjured, the weaker and more transparent he became.
"Say goodbye Gui Long!" The man whispered sinisterly, sending his powerful attack towards Gui Long. The purple wave of yi neng spiralled towards him and it destroyed the wall that was behind him. Once the yi neng cleared away it became apparent that...

Gui Long was gone.