Night cleaved the world in two.
One half was the bustling town of Preet, the other the silent Shanni Village.
Hisoka stepped into laughter and merriment, while Morrow leaned against the cycle of life and death.
Then Morrow suddenly shivered.
It felt as though he'd been abruptly targeted by some vengeful spirit, an utterly inexplicable sensation.
Frowning slightly, Morrow thought of the defenseless Nen user inside that mud-brick house.
After a moment's hesitation, he abandoned the idea of barging in directly.
Focus is good, but too much of anything is bad. Someone like you... won't live long, he murmured inwardly before slipping away without disturbing even a single village dog.
Beyond Shanni Village, Morrow found an ideal observation point.
Two massive boulders lay flat, leaving a person-wide gap between them, capped by a slender horizontal stone. From afar, it resembled a crude stone gate.
Leaning against the rock, Morrow tilted his head slightly to peer through the gap at the distant village with its sparse lights.
He intended to wait for the female Nen user to emerge, then make contact alone.
—--
Dawn arrived the next morning.
Dew clung to grass blades as a tangible morning mist hung in the air.
Gradually, the fog dissipated.
Morrow stood motionless as a statue beside the boulders, his Ten resembling a silent, steady river.
Yet when he stirred, a ripple disturbed his calm aura.
During Ten training, simply calming one's mind would render the aura perfectly stable.
Stillness meant stability.
This was easily achieved.
The true challenge lay in maintaining that stability while moving.
Reaching such mastery demanded immeasurable time.
It was a road without milestones, a journey with no visible end.
A Nen user's task was to discard all thoughts of destination, focusing solely on each step forward.
The enhancement from Tree Rings only granted Morrow tireless progress along this path.
It couldn't smooth the road itself.
How to walk this rugged path steadily, how to quicken one's pace...
These were questions every Nen user, Morrow included, must confront.
Morrow wouldn't adopt a "cross that bridge when we come to it" mentality just because of Tree Rings.
He wasted not a single idle moment, treating every step with utmost care.
For when you dissected the Nen power system, its essence became clear: "Paddle upstream or drift backward."
As morning mist cleared and sunlight fell,
A figure emerged from the village, heading toward the distant forest.
By the boulders,
Morrow watched the figure, adjusted his hat brim slightly, and followed.
Same location as yesterday.
The heavily cloaked woman, only her eyes visible, approached a moss-and-vine-covered tree, scraping substances into test tubes.
Morrow observed from nearby.
Waiting until she turned away, he emerged from behind a tree.
"Are you a doctor?" he asked.
"!"
At the sudden voice behind her, Sanbica startled violently. She immediately secured the test tube, then swiftly darted forward like a butterfly, turning mid-air to face Morrow's direction before her feet even touched the ground. Her eyes were filled with wariness and caution.
Simultaneously, she unleashed her aura without restraint, resembling a pufferfish suddenly bristling with spines.
It seemed her alertness wasn't as lacking as one might have assumed.
The intensity of her aura... between Lv.45 to Lv.50.
Based on the woman's reaction, Morrow drew some basic conclusions.
This was precisely why he had deliberately spoken up when her back was turned.
Moreover, this action also conveyed a message to her: I mean no harm, at least on the surface.
To emphasize this, he had even removed his disguise equipment.
"Yesterday, I was here too. I noticed you collecting something, and out of curiosity, I followed you. Then I saw you preparing medicine for a child," Morrow explained proactively, pointing at the large tree nearby before continuing, "You didn't seem to notice me, and I meant no offense. After leaving the village, I thought you might return here today, so I waited for you."
He omitted the surveillance process, but the outcome was largely as he described.
Upon hearing this, Sanbica immediately recalled a type of creature her mentor had warned her to be wary of and blurted out, "Are you a peeping Tom?"
"..."
Morrow froze, instinctively waving his hands in denial. "No, no! Wait, is that the main point here?!"
By the end, his voice had noticeably lost some conviction.
Technically, she wasn't wrong; he had indeed engaged in "peeping."
But adding the word "Tom" made it sound like she was calling him Hisoka, which felt insulting.
Observing Morrow's reaction, Sanbica narrowed her eyes in thought, recalling another type of creature her mentor had cautioned her about. She took a step back and asked warily, "Then are you a stalker?"
"?"
A question mark popped up over Morrow's head.
This girl... something was definitely off with her.
But...
He couldn't refute it.
Morrow fell silent for a moment before abruptly changing the subject. "Were you treating that child's illness?"
"Yes," Sanbica nodded, her vigilance unwavering.
Morrow feigned nonchalance as he asked, "I've never seen that kind of illness before. It looked like the cells' vitality was being eaten away, pretty terrifying. Was it caused by a virus?"
"Yes," Sanbica replied, slightly puzzled but answering truthfully when it came to medical matters. "It's an unknown virus with no prior records. Don't worry, its infectiousness is 'currently' extremely weak."
After explaining the virus, she countered with a question of her own: "Did you really peep and follow me just out of curiosity? Your behavior reminds me a lot of the perverts my mentor often warned me about."
"I..."
Morrow opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.
After a second or two of silence, he sighed as if resigning himself to the situation. "Your instincts are correct. Ah, how rude of me; I didn't introduce myself earlier. You can call me Hisoka. Hisoka is indeed a pervert."
"Mm." Sanbica nodded, thinking to herself that her mentor's warnings had been right all along. Morrow felt a bit better and was about to ask more about the village when he suddenly sensed a sinister aura.
Sanbica noticed it too.
Both of them immediately went on guard, turning their attention toward a large tree where the aura was leaking from.
"Stealing someone else's name is so naughty."
From behind the tree, Hisoka revealed half his body, a playing card pinched between his fingers and pressed against his chin as he narrowed his eyes at Morrow.
Seeing Hisoka appear out of nowhere, bathed in a pink aura, Morrow's heart skipped a beat, his body tensing reflexively.
"See, this guy is the real stalker!"
Without hesitation, Morrow opened all his aura nodes, letting a massive amount of aura flow out. Pointing at Hisoka, he prepared to unleash Shooting Star.
Sanbica also looked at Hisoka, her eyes trembling slightly as she shook her head. "No... you two... you're both the same."
"..."
Morrow's face instantly turned ashen.
Hisoka smiled in satisfaction. "Heh..."
"?"
Morrow's lips twitched. "What are you laughing..."
His good manners made him stop mid-sentence.