Cheadle and Hawk

Every Hunter has something they seek.

Dreams, status, fame, money, power...

Light was a highly ambitious bounty Hunter, never once considering a pause or rest on his climb toward higher status and renown.

Advance, never stop, stride forward—

That was what he always did.

And personally capturing the infamous "Phantom Troupe" was an extremely important milestone before he crossed the finish line.

To that end, he had left a long-term commission in the "intelligence channels" to investigate the Phantom Troupe's whereabouts.

Now, finally, there was news!

"I got it. Send the 'intelligence' to my email. After I confirm it, I'll transfer the corresponding reward."

With that, Light hung up the phone directly.

Moyu swallowed a piece of meat and looked up at Light.

Hearing the words "intelligence" and "reward," he had a sense of what was coming.

Light raised his phone and grinned. "Hey, time to work."

"Is it urgent?"

Moyu set down his bowl and chopsticks, asking the most pressing question.

Light said, "Every second counts."

Intelligence usually had a time limit, especially when it involved "whereabouts"—action had to be taken immediately.

In other words, he had to leave quickly now.

Moyu nodded in understanding, then pointed at the table. "But I can't finish all this meat by myself."

"Haha, don't worry, I'll finish eating before I go."

Light laughed heartily and fished out a large pork leg from the basin.

Moyu said nothing more and picked up his bowl and chopsticks again.

The two of them buried themselves in their meal.

Soon, Moyu noticed that Light was gnawing through the meat at least twice as fast as before. He must have deliberately slowed down earlier when eating, and the reason went without saying.

Watching Light wolf down his food, Moyu could clearly feel how seriously Light took this "job."

"I've gained plenty from this time. That's enough."

Moyu thought silently to himself.

Even though there was still one last day left in their "sparring" arrangement, given the situation, there was no way he would ask Light to fulfill the "contract."

A moment later, Light finished his share of the meat.

"Sorry about this."

Light stood up after eating and apologized to Moyu. "It came up suddenly. I'll have to owe you that last day of sparring."

"No problem. Make it up when you're done."

Moyu also stood up.

Over this period, he had experienced firsthand what an Enhancer's "stubbornness" meant from Light, so he wisely kept the thought "just forget the last day of sparring" to himself.

Even if he brought it up, it would only be a waste of time.

"Then I'm off. I'll contact you later."

Light left without hesitation, wasting no time.

"Yeah, safe travels."

Moyu nodded slightly.

Light waved a hand back at Moyu and strode away briskly.

The farewell was concise and efficient.

Leaving the Temple, Light walked down the mountain path and pulled out his phone to check flight information.

"It's 20:35 now, and the nearest flight is... 20:50."

Light looked down at his phone screen and muttered to himself, "That's a bit tight."

With that, he put away his phone and did a few stretching exercises on the spot.

"I was planning to come clean with Moyu tonight anyway. Plans always change faster than you expect..."

Before the words faded, Light pushed off the ground with his foot, shooting forward like an arrow from a bow, vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

Inside the Temple, it was as quiet as ever.

Moyu finished off the remaining meat, then gave the table a quick clean-up.

After doing this, he walked to the devastated courtyard, opened his aura nodes, and released the maximum amount of aura.

There was basically no shortcut to increasing the total "potential aura capacity" and thereby extending the duration of "Ren."

Release aura until it's completely depleted, wait for it to recover, then release again—

Repeating this cycle over and over, bit by bit, to raise the total "potential aura capacity."

Two minutes passed.

Moyu lay collapsed on the ground, exhausted, breathing heavily with his eyes closed.

After quite a while, Moyu barely managed to recover a little strength.

"Suddenly feels a bit off..."

Moyu slowly opened his eyes, casually grabbed a small piece of broken blue brick from beside him, and held it up before his gaze.

The night deepened.

Atop the mountain, a dilapidated temple stood in solitude.

The next day.

Dawn broke.

Moyu woke up early, ate a simple meal, and began his daily training.

Without Light as a sparring partner, all he could do now was solidify the foundation of the "Four Main Principles."

Release, recover, release, recover—

The training was monotonous and tedious, and the entire morning passed like that.

At noon, the blazing sun hung high.

Moyu finished his meal and was about to start a new round of training when he was interrupted by commotion outside the temple.

A group of workers carrying various tools and materials arrived outside the temple, shouting loudly at the gate.

Hearing the shouts, Moyu crossed the courtyard and opened the old wooden door.

Seeing a crowd of "fully equipped" workers standing outside the gate, Moyu was momentarily surprised, but quickly realized they were probably sent by Light.

"Hello, we were commissioned by Mr. Light. He said there's a courtyard here that needs repairs."

The lead worker respectfully greeted Moyu.

"That's right. Come on in."

Knowing what was going on, Moyu opened the gate wide and gestured for the workers to enter.

The workers immediately picked up their tools and materials, filed in, and arrived at the devastated courtyard.

The lead worker confirmed the project requirements with Moyu.

After receiving approval, they began construction immediately.

With exceptional efficiency, the entire construction team completed Moyu's requirements in just one hour.

They had somehow sourced sun- and wind-weathered stone, making the repaired courtyard look almost no different from before.

Moyu saw the construction team off, closed the temple gate, returned to the courtyard, and once again marveled at Light's thoughtfulness.

"Speaking of which... Hawk should be back around now, right?"

Looking at the restored courtyard, Moyu suddenly remembered his cheap father.

Back then, Hawk said he'd be back in ten days to half a month. Now, counting the days, eleven days had passed. Maybe he'd return in another two.

He considered giving Hawk a call to ask about the situation.

But recalling Hawk's parting words—"Don't call whether there's something or nothing"—Moyu had to let it go.

Time slowly passed.

The sun set in the west, and night fell.

In a small town just a hundred kilometers from the temple.

Hawk sat leaning against the wall inside a remote bridge tunnel, his right hand pressed tightly against his abdomen, head slightly tilted back as he panted.

Sweat slid down his cheek, dripping into a pool of blood, sending out ripples.

Tap-tap—

Amid the sound of the stream, footsteps suddenly mixed in.

Hearing those footsteps, Hawk's gaze sharpened instantly, but softened the next second.

"You look badly injured, Hawk."

Under the bridge tunnel, the stream babbled softly.

Moonlight slanted onto the water, shimmering brightly.

Suddenly, a frog leaped into the water, blurring the flowing light on the surface.

When the water calmed, a green figure abruptly appeared in the reflection of the bright, flowing light.

The figure stood on the bank, calmly gazing at Hawk, who was leaning inside the bridge tunnel.

"Just a minor wound."

Hawk turned his head to look at the figure.

She wore a green one-piece robe, her figure petite, her features delicate, with thin-rimmed glasses on her face and a steady, composed look in her eyes.

What caught attention was a pair of dog ears nestled among her long green hair.

But upon closer inspection, one could barely tell those dog ears were accessories.

The newcomer was none other than Cheadle Yorkshire, the Dog of the Zodiacs from the Hunter Association, and also a two-star professional hunter specializing in difficult and complex diseases, who held both a physician's and a legal scholar's license. (Click to expand image)

"Minor wound?"

Cheadle stepped into the bridge tunnel and said calmly:

"Just hearing my footsteps, you couldn't help but radiate killing intent. That deliberate reaction is like a beast caught in a trap, only able to make meaningless threats through growling."

"..."

Hawk was silent for a moment, then said in a helpless, teasing tone: "Legal scholar, I'd like to ask, how many years would saving face and acting tough get me in your book?"

"There's no such clause in the law. Besides, I'm just stating the facts."

Cheadle came before Hawk, her gaze falling on his bleeding abdomen. She frowned and said:

"You never showed up, so I guessed something had happened. But... I didn't expect you to be this badly injured. With your abilities, if you were determined to run, even multiple Nen users would be helpless, right?"

"That's true."

Hawk gave a bitter laugh and was about to ask Cheadle to stop the bleeding first, but she cut him off:

"But you were seriously injured. Was it because the enemy had a 'lock-on type' Nen ability? No, if that were the case, you'd most likely be dead already. Strange. Hmm? Could it be..."

Cheadle thought of something, her expression suddenly turning grave as she asked in a low voice:

"Has the 'Post-Mortem Entity' at the temple already grown to the point where you had to leave 'Rat Treasure' there?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. If my left hand weren't so weak right now, I'd definitely give you a round of applause. But more importantly, can you first help me..."

Hawk looked utterly drained.

Cheadle's expression shifted. She had no mind to listen to the rest of Hawk's words, lowering her head slightly and gritting her teeth as she muttered to herself:

"Damn it, has it gotten this serious... I can currently contact one Nen Exorcist, plus the one in the Association, that makes two. But neither of them is skilled at removing 'Post-Mortem Nen.'"

"Um..."

Hawk watched Cheadle muttering to herself, and said weakly: "If it's not too much trouble, could you stop the bleeding for me first?"

Cheadle still didn't react, continuing to mutter under her breath: "Even though I've put out a bounty among the public, the issue of compensation is an unavoidable problem."

"..."

Hawk's eyes were vacant.

He looked down at the alarming amount of blood beneath him, feeling an anxiety like his health bar was about to hit zero.

"Hey, Cheadle, I'm about to die here. Look up at me, will you?"

"@#@..."

The incessant low muttering from someone.

"..."

Hawk's eyelids twitched several times. After a moment's hesitation, he tested the waters at this critical juncture between life and death: "Cheadle, single dog."

"Hm?"

Cheadle jerked her head up, her gaze sharp as she fixed it on Hawk.