Chapter 18

Kida stared coldly at Hawk, her gaze as if she wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.

Her reaction was not just because Hawk had hit a sore spot, but also because he was making fun of her "Twelve Earthly Branches Title."

This was something she could not tolerate.

Seeing that Kida finally looked over, Hawk let out a sigh of relief.

Compared to saving his life, Kida's icy glares were nothing.

"Um..."

Hawk forced a smile at Kida, intending to seriously mention the importance of stopping the bleeding first.

However, he was immediately interrupted by Kida's cold voice: "Take your hand away, I'll stop the bleeding for you."

"Okay!"

Hawk promptly moved his right hand, revealing the gruesome, bloody wound on his abdomen.

Kida crouched down, quickly removed the white glove from her right hand, and gently placed her palm over Hawk's wound.

"Release"

Suddenly, her pale, slender palm emitted a soft, hazy emerald-colored aura, which visibly swirled around Hawk's wound.

Under the influence of this aura, the bleeding from Hawk's wound was noticeably suppressed, and after a while, it stopped completely.

This was the ability of the "Enhancement" type, using "Aura" as a medium to invade the target's body and temporarily enhance the target's "hemostasis" function.

Kida was using this method to help Hawk stop the bleeding quickly.

Of course, if the "healing" function could be enhanced, the "self-healing" function could also be enhanced.

If the ability was applied with the purpose of "healing," not only would Hawk's wound stop bleeding, but it would also heal faster.

Kida did not do this because she was not an "Enhancement" type ability user.

To cultivate the ability to enhance others' "hemostasis" function, despite not being her specialty, the time and effort required were still within her capacity.

As for the ability to enhance others' "self-healing" function, even if she had the intention, she did not have the ability.

Not to mention whether her current "memory capacity" and "natural talent" could support her in achieving this, the biggest risk was—

The non-specialized ability cultivated with great effort and time might not produce satisfactory results.

This was the biggest issue.

In short, the effort and reward were not proportional.

"I feel like I'm alive again..."

After the bleeding stopped, Hawk felt much more relaxed.

Kida ignored Hawk, took out the trauma ointment she carried with her, and forcefully applied it to Hawk's wound.

"Hisss—"

Hawk immediately drew in a sharp breath.

This was definitely revenge!

He wanted to remind Kida to be gentler when applying the ointment, but ultimately held back.

Hawk knew that if he reminded her, Kida would likely be even more ruthless.

After a moment, the emergency treatment was complete.

Kida walked to the stream to wash the blood off her hands.

Hawk recovered, and looked up at Kida's back.

"Kida, although you chose the path of a 'Specialist Hunter' for 'rare and complex cases,' there's no need to waste your talent on other Nen attributes. If I'm not mistaken, the non-specialized abilities you've cultivated are not just one, right...?"

Hearing Hawk's words, Kida abruptly stopped washing her hands in the stream and turned to give Hawk a sharp look.

"Someone like you, who uses Nen abilities for 'grave robbing,' has no right to lecture me."

"..."

Hawk opened his mouth but ultimately lowered his head in silence.

In the moonlight, a shadow of sadness flashed in his eyes.

The sudden silence made the bridge cave much quieter, and the sound of Kida forcefully washing her hands became particularly noticeable.

After washing away the last trace of blood, Kida slowly stood up, her expressionless face asked, "Who injured you?"

"Who else?"

Hawk suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a fierce killing intent.

Seeing Hawk's reaction, Kida instantly understood, her brows furrowed, and she said in a low voice, "Those who claim to be the successors of the 'Old Seirei Team's' will, right? So they found you?"

The so-called Seirei Team was a legendary hunter team established in the past, following the will of the former Hunter Association President.

But times have changed, the current Hunter Association President is Netero, and although there are still some remnants of the old Seirei Team's influence within the Association, they are no longer significant.

"No."

Hawk shook his head, his eyes narrowing, "To be precise, I 'actively' sought them out."

"!!!"

Kida's pupils constricted, and she raised her voice involuntarily, "Are you crazy!!! How can you dare to actively seek them out in this situation!!! If you expose your whereabouts, the first one to suffer will be Moyu!!!"

"Relax, I'm not so reckless as to act without preparation, and I wouldn't joke with Moyu's safety."

Hawk slightly reined in his killing intent, leaning heavily against the wall.

Kida took two steps forward, looking at him coldly, "You always act so self-righteously, forgetting what I... hum, why did you go after those people? Do you know how much effort I put into helping you clean up the mess in the past? Even after Moyu was born, I had to ignore him..."

"If it wasn't for the situation forcing me, do you think—"

Hawk met Kida's angry eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately, "I, who can develop the Nen ability 'Rat's Way,' would actively seek trouble?"

"..."

Kida fell silent.

Indeed...

If it wasn't for the situation forcing him, Hawk, who always adhered to the principle of "avoiding conflict if possible," would not have taken the initiative to act or seek trouble while in hiding.

Realizing this, Kida quickly calmed down and asked, "What's the reason?"

"Because... time is running out, so I need a new 'Posthumous Item' to suppress the cost. If necessary, I'm willing to use my 'lifespan' as fuel."

Hawk looked up, and when discussing serious matters, the usual frivolousness was gone from his demeanor.

"Hawk, you..."

Kida seemed to understand something, her eyes widening slowly.

Hawk's lips twitched slightly, and he said softly, "You could guess, right? I took the initiative to steal one of the 'Dark Sonata' scores from those bastards, but I failed... Ha, without the 'Rat Treasure,' I'm indeed a useless failure."

"..."

Kida pressed her lips together, remaining silent.

She knew the situation was serious enough for Hawk to leave the "Rat Treasure" at the temple to assist in suppressing the "Posthumous Item."

But now, Hawk's willingness to risk everything to steal a new "Posthumous Item" made her realize the situation was even more severe than she had anticipated.

Hawk slowly straightened his gaze, turning his head to look at the deep night outside the bridge cave.

"The thing I'm most proud of in my life is being able to move freely in any ruins or tomb, but the thing I regret the most is also this..."

This man's eyes were filled with determination, leaving no room for anything else.

"Kida, I don't want to make the same mistake again..."

"If you really think so, you shouldn't have acted on your own, Hawk... Your actions have once again put your 'family' in danger."

Kida put on her white gloves, coldly saying, "Anyway, I don't trust your ability to wrap things up, so I'm going to find Moyu to prevent any unforeseen events."

"No, you have to wait for me to recover... two days, no, one day is enough!"

Hawk pressed his back against the wall, struggling to stand up.

Kida glanced at him, snorting, "You don't have the conditions to activate 'Ultimate' right now. Even if you had three days, you wouldn't recover enough to move normally, let alone heal your wounds."

Without waiting for Hawk's reaction, she turned and left the bridge cave.

In the deep night, a ripple seemed to rise.

...

At the mountain temple.

The surroundings were as quiet as usual, not even the sound of insects could be heard.

Moyu sat in front of the computer, his eyes reflecting the white light from the screen.

"The search engine is too outdated."

Moving the mouse, Moyu sighed slightly, glancing at the date and time in the bottom right corner of the desktop—

April 25, 1993, 23:22.

If Moyu remembered correctly, the original plot began in 1999.

Although there were several years between now and the original plot, electronic devices like computers and mobile phones had already become widespread.

Especially in the development of mobile phones, it was a time of diverse and rapid growth.

There were phones with flashy features but lacking practicality, and there were practical phones focused on functionality.

The most representative feature was that they could receive signals in most places around the world.

Because of this, practical phones were very popular among hunters.

However, for some reason, the development of computers lagged behind compared to mobile phones.

Perhaps it was because hunters relied more on mobile phones than computers...

"Still can't find it."

Moyu released the mouse.

He was looking for the mailing address of the famous actress Eritin Nako, but due to the outdated search engine, he found nothing.

"Whatever, I'll deal with it later."

Moyu turned off the computer, picked up a photo wrapped in black aura from the keyboard, and then got up and left the room, heading to the main hall.

In front of the altar in the main hall, Moyu casually placed the photo, which was attached with "resentment," back in its original position, and then turned to leave.

In recent times—

Moyu's Nen ability had gradually grown stronger through practice.

Perhaps because of this, he had become more sensitive to the presence of "resentment."

In the past, as long as he didn't enter the main hall, he would subconsciously ignore the pile of relics on the altar.

Now, even standing in the courtyard for practice, his senses would always remind him of the "resentment" in the main hall.

So he decided to spend some time fulfilling the "wishes" attached to the relics to elevate the "resentment."

Of course, he could also discard or destroy the items with attached resentment, but his subconscious told him not to do so.

Back in the room, Moyu turned off the lights and got into bed.

The next morning.

Moyu woke up on time and began his daily practice.

"Knock, knock knock—"

Just as he started, there was a knock at the door.

Moyu was slightly startled, his first thought was that Hawk had returned, but he quickly dismissed it.

If it were Hawk, he would not just knock but also shout.

"At this time... could it be Monica?"

Moyu crossed the courtyard, came to the front door, and asked through the old wooden door, "Who is it?"

If it were a pilgrim or tourist, he would drive them away with the excuse that the temple was not currently open.

"I'm a friend of Hawk."

A female voice immediately came from outside the door.

A friend of Hawk?

Moyu was slightly surprised, removed the door bolt, and slowly opened the rickety wooden door.

At the front door.

Kida stood there.

Looking at the face gradually revealed by the open wooden door, she was momentarily lost in thought.