Chapter 24 - Love or Life

...

Elvira nodded her head in understanding as she stood up from the bedside and looked toward Leon as she asked him,

"Then, what are you planning to do from here onwards? Do you have any clue about how to find the child's parents?"

Leon was stumped for words as the masked woman had told him that she would come to find him to take the child back someday in the future. Though when exactly she would arrive wasn't known yet.

"No, Mother. I don't have any idea about how to find the child's relatives. It seems like... I may have really acted too rashly back then."

Elvira's heart shook a little as she saw the despondent face of Leon as he regretted his actions. She stood there unmoving as she stared at the child while her mind tried to come up with a good countermeasure for the situation.

Suddenly, her eyes gained a new light and a mischievous smile appeared on her glamourous face as she looked toward Leon and spoke to him,

"Leon, you must become a proper adult and it is time for you to act like one as well. You know that you made a rash decision to act on your own back then. Even if the situation called for a quick decision to be made, a person must always be responsible for his own choices. It was your own decision to rescue the child from that place, right? Then morally and logically, she is your responsibility from now on."

Leon became speechless upon hearing his Mother's opinion. Although he wanted to argue about the matter with his Mother, when his sight turned to the vulnerable child sleeping on the bed, away from her parents and guardians, literally left alone in the world... Leon couldn't even mouth the words as he sighed in defeat. Leon tried to prepare himself mentally for the arduous task to come.

"Mother... I don't know how to take care of children. What if I end up doing something wrong? I don't want the child to be hurt somehow due to my own ignorance."

Elvira chuckled to herself as she tilted her head slightly and playfully winked at Leon.

"Don't worry about that. You have your cousins to help you out too, right? Besides, it will definitely be a great learning opportunity for the three of you as well. Someday, you three would have kids of your own too, right?"

Leon wasn't able to refute his Mother's words as he silently nodded in agreement. There were many things he was concerned about though. He had his day full of things like cultivating, training his body, and secretly meeting his wife among other things. How could he possibly take some time out of that to take care of a child?

'That's right! I haven't been to Benica's place yet. The system told me that we would have to do it for at least ten days straight. But with these new circumstances, I'm not sure if taking out time to meet her would be possible or not. What if she suffered from some unknown backlash effect if I ended up not being by her side one day?!' Leon thought to himself as his sight turned towards his Aunt standing next to him and spoke,

"Aunt Paula. Would it be possible for you to watch over her well-being for tonight only? I will take care of my responsibilities properly from tomorrow onwards! In fact, I am feeling very sleepy ever since I came back from the trip today."

His Aunt nodded at him as she walked over to the bed and sat beside the child. She softly brushed the sleeping child's hair with her slim fingers, as she looked at the child's face with a warm and motherly gaze. She then softly spoke to Leon,

"Don't worry. I will be staying with her tonight to take care of her. Your Mother though is busy with her own work, so I would be sleeping alone with the child tonight."

She then looked at Leon very seductively and spoke with a very alluring voice,

"I guess I have to bear with the loneliness tonight. How I wish that someone would accompany me to take care of the child. I guess that it cannot be helped. Good night, Leon. You can sleep now. I will take care of the things for tonight."

...

Leon left his Aunt's room as he decided to get a bit of sleep. He knew that it would be better to sleep now than to fall asleep mid-action.

It was sometime past midnight when Leon woke up from his slumber. As his thoughts started to gather, Leon remembered something and decided to talk about it with the System.

'Hey System? Are you awake right now? I think that this might be a good time to do a Sign-In. As far as I can tell, no one in the house seems to be awake at the moment. Not to mention that it is going to be a sleepless night from the hereafter. Just one thing though. I hope that you can get me something actually useful this time around.'

The System swiftly responded to Leon's query as it responded in his mind,

[Well, I'm here to help, as always. It is possible to Sign-iin since it is a new day already. Just don't forget to harvest the pure Yin energy from your dear wife, alright?]

Leon decided to consult with the System regarding the recent change in his circumstances with the System, in hopes of being able to find a way out.

'About that, I think that it might not be possible to visit her every night from now on. I have some situation here at home that might make me be unable to reach her on time. Is there something we could do about it?'

The System did respond back, however, its tone had a subtle layer of anxiety hidden underneath it this time.

[That's some really troubling news! Are you sure that it is really unavoidable? Daily harvesting for the next 9 days would be the most beneficial way to harvest the pure Yin energy from your wife.]

Leon had no doubts that he had to keep his affair with Benica a secret from his family. However, with the child's responsibilities on his shoulders, he wasn't sure of how the future circumstances would play out.

'I.. just don't think that I am ready for that kind of risk. Her safety is just too important to be left to chances or luck. Tell me what we can do about it. I am sure that there is a way to avoid endangering her, right?'

There was a long pause of silence before the System finally responded again.

[User, I really didn't want to consider this method. But if you really insist so much on using the other method, then it cannot be helped.]

[Listen carefully. The actual method is really simple, at least theoretically. We just have to increase the speed of harvesting the pure Yi energy from inside her. It can be increased from as little as 2 times faster to as fast as 5 times faster!]

[Anything beyond that would overload your body and cause it to explode spectacularly like some great firework. But, even working within the limits of two to five times faster is not guaranteed to be safe. There might be some unknown side effects from using the method too. The side effects are not pre-determined and could be anything from a minor bruise to a major disability!]

[Are you sure that you actually want to take such heavy risks despite knowing all of this? If you want, we can leave the woman alone to deal with her own troubles.]

Leon couldn't help but feel his temper flare at the cold-hearted words spoken by the System as he complained,

'Hey! That was a very cruel statement just now! Besides, I am not such a selfish man to use my wife and endanger her just to save my own butt from some trouble. I told you about this before, right? She means more to me than just a cultivation cauldron. To me, she is definitely as important as my own survival.'

'And if I really have to choose one of us to suffer from some pain, then I would pick myself every time that I am given such a choice. There is just no way that I am going to hurt or abandon my own family.'

Although Leon had clearly stated his intention in front of the System, the System seemed almost infuriated at Leon for risking his survival for someone else.

[Your choice then. If it was left for me to decide, then I would have chosen to save myself before anyone else. But, I am your System. I have no other choice than to assist you in your misadventures...]

Leon decided that he had heard enough of the System's attempts to persuade him as he replied,

'Enough of that. You know that I am not going to change my mind about this. Just Sign-In already.'

[Dong! Congratulations User. You have successfully Signed In!]

[You have received: E-rank Bone strengthening Pill x 10]

Leon couldn't help but be a little disappointed as he compared the previous reward with this one.

'Eh? Just 10? Hey! If you are going to give me something, then give me at least hundreds or thousands of it! Giving me just 10 of these E-ranked pills is really cheating me, you know? Is this stuff even useful?'

The System quickly replied back to Leon,

[Don't look down on them, User. Anyways, the draw from the Sign-In highly depends upon the location and the Darkness energy surrounding that place more than anything else. If you are going to pick a generic place like your room to Sign-In, then this is exactly what's going to happen obviously.]

[Or.. do you mean to say that you actually practice some sick evil art while hiding deep within the recesses of your room? Bravo! That's actually a very ballsy thing to do, User.]

Leon facepalmed himself as he tried to ignore the System's attempt at mocking his intelligence.

'I know what you are doing. Just stop sulking already. I also realize my mistake of Signing In without much effort. However, I must have a talk with Benica before I start to harvest the Yin energy. She deserves to know the circumstances surrounding me after all.'

The System didn't let the chance slip as it continued to mock Leon.

[Are you saying that you are going to tell her how you actually overtook a poor man's lifeless body and fooled his family members all this while, to the point that you fooled that woman into actually copulating with you to use her to your own benefit? You finally grew some balls, alright!]

Leon couldn't bear listening to the System's mockery any longer as he tried to end the conversation.

'I am not stupid enough to talk about all that. I am just planning to explain the situation regarding the child. She must know the reason for my absence after all.'

Leon stopped conversing with the foul-tempered System and stood up from the bed as he put his ear on the door to his room to listen for the noise of activity in the house.

"No one seems to be awake. It is better that I leave right now. Who knows how long this new method of harvesting actually takes."

Leon tried to be as cautious as possible as he made sure that no one was disturbed by his footsteps or actions as he slipped out of the mansion and walked away from the backyard straight towards the forest route.

He started to sprint down the now-familiar path, while his heart throbbed in anticipation and excitement for the night. Not only did meeting with Benica actually healed his tortured soul, but he could even painlessly cultivate while making sweet love to his dear wife.

It was the most awaited part of his day and Leon was prepared to enjoy the moment with all his heart.

Amidst his joyful steps and jolly mood, Leon failed to notice someone getting out of the mansion as the person's eyes followed Leon's departure back.

"Leon... I will surely find out what you are up to nowadays."

The person hid their body in the darkness and started to trail behind Leon, as the two parties traveled through the hidden path toward the Main City.

...

A/N: I would have picked a nice loving chick too...