"No, this is bad... I need to get her away from me, but how!'
Xiao Ping thought while an idea occurred to him to use his sequence power to cut the connections in her hands, making her lose her grip on the tie.
'I don't know if my powers have returned or not, but I'll at least try. I don't want James to see his girl helping me tie a tie... this will give him a bad impression of me, and our relationship might deteriorate, meaning I won't benefit from him.'
Xiao Ping thought while looking at Madeline's beautiful hands and said: "Cut."
At that moment, he felt the power return to his body... and something very fast shot out and cut the silver thread in Madeline's hand.
"Ah!" Madeline screamed in pain, causing her to lose balance. She stepped on her crimson dress and swayed towards Xiao Ping. She would have fallen on him if James hadn't intervened and pushed Xiao Ping away before she fell into his lap.
"Bam!" A sound came from James's back hitting the floor, with Madeline on top of him.
"Ouch!" Xiao Ping groaned while checking his back pocket, afraid the watch might be broken.
He wanted to curse James, but the scene before him made him silent for a few moments before realizing what he was seeing only happens in fantasy stories.
James was lying in the middle of the living room, with Madeline on top of him. Her crimson dress covered his entire body, leaving only his head submerged under her chest... and he wasn't giving any sign of movement, as if he were dead.
The scene before Xiao Ping resembled the black knight saving the princess from falling! But who caused her to fall? Yes, it was Xiao Ping, making him the cause.
'These lovers never stop showing off in front of me. But who caused this? Yes, it was me, but I was trying to at least preserve my honor... but that girl wasn't satisfied, so I had to use my power!'
Xiao Ping grumbled, then opened his mouth: "Ahem... ahem!" Xiao Ping coughed to tell the lovers that he was still here and hadn't gone anywhere.
"Ah!" Madeline felt embarrassed, her cheeks reddening, and quickly got up from James, running towards her room.
"..."
Xiao Ping's expression remained cold as he watched Madeline forcefully close the door behind her. He turned his gaze towards James lying in the middle of the living room!
James wasn't moving... so Xiao Ping got up and headed towards him. When he reached him, he looked at his face which had turned from white to red.
'Hehehehe, is he trying to appear unconscious? To avoid embarrassment!' Xiao Ping didn't try to hide his smile, and soon opened his mouth: "You! Can you hear me? James! Don't tell me he's dead! Well, this is the best thing that could happen, I'll take advantage of his death and take Madeline for myself!" As he said these last words, he found James grabbing his hand.
'Did I succeed in making him get up? But he... refuses to let go of my hand! This is a problem!'
Xiao Ping spoke to himself before saying: "What are you doing holding my hand? Let go of my hand!" Xiao Ping shouted, asking James to let go of his hand, but there was no response.
"..."
Xiao Ping froze with his cold expression for a full minute, and James still hadn't let go of his hand!
'What is he doing holding my hand all this time?! Is he gay? No... I think he's angry about those words I said about Madeline!'
Xiao Ping was losing patience, so he said: "If you don't let go of my hand now! Don't blame me for breaking your hand!" This was a clear threat, but James was still holding his hand.
'This isn't working! Maybe... no, I think he's upset about what I said about Madeline, and he wants to know what made her lose balance and fall on me suddenly! The entity told me to be careful of James, but I went and provoked him directly.'
Xiao Ping thought, then an idea occurred to him, so he said: "James! If you don't let go of my hand now, I'll make you childless! And then Madeline will get rid of you because you're useless!" Xiao Ping's words struck at James's heart.
Upon hearing that, he quickly got up and released Xiao Ping's hand, but stood by his ear and whispered to him: "I don't know what you did to Madeline to make her fall, and I don't know which sequence you're from. But be careful of thinking anything about Madeline... even if you're my partner, that doesn't rule out me killing you!" James's threat carried very strong pressure, but it was directed only at Xiao Ping and didn't affect anyone else.
Drops of blood came out of Xiao Ping's nose, but he wiped them before they fell on his mouth. Xiao Ping didn't feel fear, and his expression didn't change at all. He just grabbed James's shoulder and said to him: "If you don't want her to die, keep her away from me... As for you, I hope you won't be this rude to me again in the future, otherwise!"
Xiao Ping's words were frighteningly cold.
"Otherwise what?... This warning is for you, if you don't want to lose my partnership, don't do such things with her again!" James replied coldly, his eyes emitting strong killing intent towards Xiao Ping.
Xiao Ping's expression remained unchanged... he just smiled coldly and said: "Otherwise I'll show you something worse than death!" Saying that, he headed towards the kitchen, leaving James to think deeply about his words.
'Something worse than death?' James contemplated Xiao Ping's words and thought about them very deeply. James didn't stand for long, and soon followed Xiao Ping to the kitchen.
Xiao Ping entered through the kitchen door and stood contemplating it a little.
He saw a large wooden shelf surrounding the kitchen, with many shelves holding different things. The right side was dedicated to vegetables and fruits, while the left side was for food items like wheat, sugar, various spices, and others.
In the middle of the shelf, there was glass behind which were many plates and metal spoons, forks, knives... and even metal candlesticks too.
'Truly interesting, this world surprises me every time I learn something new about it. I'm still amazed! There are things in this world that are far ahead of their time!'
Xiao Ping thought before advancing towards the sink next to the vegetable shelf.
He saw foam in the sink basin, evidence that Madeline had washed the dishes but forgot to empty the sink of the used water. So he reached out and pulled the small handle connected to the drain plug.
He heard a light sound from the water being sucked from the sink, and soon that water disappeared.
"Very good, this will do!" Xiao Ping spoke while wandering around the kitchen.
Xiao Ping tried to use his ability and found it had returned, so he looked around the kitchen. He saw faint gray halos inside pipes in the kitchen walls... and knew they were colors specific to gas and water. The first level of the Obscurity Path was "Eyes of Essence," which allows Xiao Ping to see connections in specific colors for everything, and this also includes invisible connections as well as detecting intentions... like knowing if this person has bad intentions towards you or not, and many other intentions. This makes him more of a psychologist than an Obscurity Gazer, but... this isn't everything, as he can cut the specific connections of any living being for a moment only! This ability might seem weak, but as he continues to rise in levels, it will be a terrifying skill.
And of course... power comes with a price! And this is the law of the power path in this world...
The effects that Xiao Ping must face are severe mental and visual strain accompanied by very painful headaches, and also every time he uses his ability beyond his limits, a part of his humanity erodes!
Therefore, Xiao Ping is currently careful not to exceed the limits of his endurance, and stops when he feels he's about to reach his limits!
'Well, the design of the metal pipes needs some modifications! But it's the best thing humans can get in this era!'
Xiao Ping thought while raising his head towards the ceiling, and saw that there was a ventilation opening.
"No... now this has exceeded my expectations!" Xiao Ping moved his head in amazement.
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued