"Dark, so dark...why is it so dark..." Growled Omis as he struggled to make sense of his surroundings. It was as if he plummeted into a sea of black, he was unable to understand where he was and how he had arrived here.

"Why is it so cold?" 

"Wait, where am I?" He asked himself as he was unable to see anything, the odd feeling of floating resurfaced once more.

"What happened? What was I doing before I got here?" He muttered as he tried to remember. 

"I-I was cooking? Addi? Wait who?" The more he tried to remember to more confused he became, his memories were a mess, it all seemed to intertwine with each other. 

Memories of him fighting monsters while raining down thunder and celestial spells on them, and memories of him living an ordinary life with a...with a...family? 

"ARGHHHH!!" As the memories seemed to merge together, he soon found himself unable to differentiate between what was real and what was not. 

The more he struggled to remember, to think about them the bigger the headache. It was as if something or someone was purposefully keeping him from remembering everything.

"Who am I?!" He screamed, his brain felt as if it was being split wide open with thousands of needles stabbing into it causing him to shout in agony once more. 

"ARGHHHHHH!" Unable to prevail under the assault, his conscience finally gave up as he drifted away into blissful slumber.

---------------------------------------------------

Back in the small wooden shop, still collapsed on the floor was Omis's body as he was being held by Addi who had a sword in his hand pointed straight at Omis's neck.

His face was shaken as he maintained the transparent shield surrounding both him and Omis. To an outsider, it would look like if there was nothing around the duo at all. 

The kitchen was eerily quiet, as Addi sat down on the ground with his hand still shaking as he continued to observe his friend for any signs of change. 

Omis's aura continued to grow more chaotic as Addi did his best in trying to contain it creating an extremely strange-looking scene. From an outside perspective, the mood in the shop was quiet and calm, yet when one looked at Addi, they would be able to see his clothes wooshing about wildly, yet there seemed to be no wind in the shop. 

The entire scene created such a contrast that made it look as if, Addi an Omis were existing in an entirely different plane of existence. 

---------------------------------------------------

Right outside of the shop, at the head of the small alleyway. A group of hooligans has gathered around. Their leader, a middle-aged man in the 3rd stage Qi gathering realm asked his subordinate. 

"Are you absolutely sure that that old monster lady is gone?" He asked gleefully.

"Yes, boss! I would not dare lie to you! The old lady has apparently sold the shop to some old man and his grandson." Replied a young man with an ugly monkey-like face. 

Starting at the entrance of the shop, the man who was called the 'boss' stood still for a few seconds as he assessed the risks. 

"I can't see that old demon sitting near the entrance where she always did before. Could she have finally decided to move in from this place?" He muttered. 

"Boss! This is our chance to expand! This damned shop has always stood in our way, give us the order to bring it down!"

"Yes, boss! The guards won't even notice if something was to happen considering how isolated this place is!"

"Just give us the order boss!" 

"Yeah!" 

Shouts of agreements echoed from the group of hooligans, most had a cultivation base of stage 1 Qi gathering with the monkey-faced man the second highest one with a stage 2 Qi gathering making him the second in command. 

Their gang was quite notorious in this part of the capital, they moved only when they were completely confident in their victory and never took unnecessary risks. 

Today was the exception however, this small shop was an essential piece in their plan to expand, yet they were never able to take control of it as the previous owner was a monstrous old lady with a cultivation base reaching the Foundation stage!

They had learned that the hard way, at first they proposed to buy the shop from her hands, yet when she rudely refused some of their companions got too heated and attacked her only for them to be effortlessly slaughtered. 

Now that his second in command brought the news that the monster had moved away, leaving the shop to an old man and his grandchild, presented the opportunity they were waiting for.

Yet his heart was still uneasy for some reason, the shouts of encouragement from his subordinates made him push his unease to the back of his mind as he made his way towards the shop. 

"Listen up! Do not act rashly! We will talk with the owners first and propose a deal to buy the shop from them! Am I making myself clear?" He spoke loudly so all of those present were able to hear him. 

Seeing that no one objected, the boss nodded his head satisfied as he walked towards the entrance. 

*Knock, Knock* 

Knocking on the wooden door, he waited. Behind him, the hooligans stood surrounding the entrance with ugly grins plastered on their faces giving off an evil aura. 

*Knock, Knock, Knock* 

Once again, no response came from inside the small shop as it remained deadly silent. The boss's expression changed a bit as he muttered. 

'Could it be that no one is here?' he asked himself.

*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*

Knocking once again, this time with more force as the small door creaked as if on the verge of collapse. 

Before he could do anything, his second in command, the monkey-faced man jumped towards the door. 

"Ah boss allow me!"  Saying that he gave the door a solid kick as it fell down inside the shop with a bang. 

Facepalming, the boss was unable to say anything as he sighed before taking the first step inside the quiet neat small shop.