Xiao Peng saw James look to the shop on his left and head towards the door set in the middle of the transparent glass, through which you could see inside quite clearly.
The shop was medium-sized, consisting of two floors built from cement. The first floor was a café and the second floor was for living.
Xiao Peng could prove this because he saw the clothes hanging on the small balcony. There were two medium-sized front windows, their outer frames made of iron... and a vase could be seen behind the glass of one of those windows.
Xiao Peng looked at his reflection in the café window and felt some bitterness in his heart. He wasn't used to this handsome appearance that this body had. But he ignored everything and stood beside James.
When James saw Xiao Peng standing beside him, he looked at the shop's doorknob and turned it very slowly, hints of fear appearing on his face.
Xiao Peng didn't say anything when he saw James's state, but he thought that the effects of using his power path - which he didn't know - had begun to appear on James.
"Creeeak!"
The café door swung open very slowly but made an unusually loud creak, making James tremble violently. Drops of cold sweat appeared on his face.
There was no bell hanging above the door this time, but James was still trembling involuntarily.
"What's wrong with you?" Xiao Peng spoke, seeing the miserable state his partner was in.
"Don't worry, it's nothing!" James replied, showing a wide smile with his white teeth to Xiao Peng, but it was still trembling.
Since neither of them had entered yet, James pushed Xiao Peng towards the door before him, hiding behind him. Xiao Peng didn't know what had happened to James, who had brutally beaten some mercenaries and had just come out of a fight. Although Xiao Peng didn't know exactly who James had fought, from the power he saw inside the tavern, he realized it was a very powerful fight on another level. But all that James had built up in his mind went away at this moment because of his exaggerated trembling. And the problem was that it didn't affect Steaky's sleep, who just kept sleeping.
"James, let me go!" Xiao Peng shouted, but James didn't listen to him and kept pushing until the two of them entered at the same time, but Xiao Peng's gaze was directed upwards.
At that moment, the lights of four lamps were reflected in Xiao Peng's eyes, so he lowered his gaze and saw many beautiful tables arranged meticulously, each with a glass of water beside it and a rose in another glass. The chairs looked more comfortable than those in the tavern.
And there was an aisle between those tables wide enough for two people to pass through comfortably. And at the end of the room, in the left corner, there was an L-shaped desk, with a plant in a pot in the middle of it, looking beautiful with its precisely trimmed leaves.
There was also a service bell next to that plant, and a glass back shelf filled with household utensils. Behind that desk and to the right of that shelf was a staircase leading to the second floor.
Xiao Peng didn't smell that foul odor from the tavern; instead, the smell was much better and purer because there was no fireplace, but there were pipes emitting warm air from inside them from time to time.
"Very beautiful!" Xiao Peng spoke while walking forward, with James behind him stepping quietly and fearfully as if he had entered a tiger's den.
Xiao Peng moved towards that L-shaped desk, looking around, and didn't see anyone inside this café, which made it really strange.
So he wanted to press the bell to call the waiter, to get a breakfast that would fill his stomach for a while, which is why he hadn't refused James's offer.
Xiao Peng stopped in front of that desk, behind which was the glass shelf, but this glass didn't reflect Xiao Peng's figure.
Xiao Peng didn't care about that, but he glanced at that silver-colored bell that reflected his figure and the lamplights before pressing it.
"Ring!"
The sound of the bell rang throughout the room, but there was no response, so Xiao Peng pressed it again, but again there was no response. So he wanted to try pressing once more when he heard the tapping of heels on a wooden staircase.
"And finally, I must admit the customer service here is terrible!" Xiao Peng declared with full confidence, while looking at James, who seemed to be trembling more than before.
As the sound continued to approach, Xiao Peng looked towards the right side of that glass shelf and was ready to scold this waiter... but James felt more tense. His previous playful, angry, and serious personality had disappeared and been replaced by this appearance.
And at that moment, someone appeared from the staircase door, so Xiao Peng opened his mouth to say angry words towards him, but at that moment he closed his mouth.
The person who appeared was a girl about nineteen years old, her long blond hair reaching her hips, with dark blue eyes. She was wearing a red dress and beautiful earrings on her ears, made of pure gold.
Those earrings might seem less valuable than the ones Xiao Peng saw with that princess, but they were extraordinary for the common class.
Nothing mattered to Xiao Peng now except eating... even when he saw the princess's beauty, he wasn't affected by it, so how would he be affected by this girl's beauty? But he had to admit that she was very beautiful.
"Excuse me, sir, but the café is closed today!" That girl spoke with her lips, which resembled peaches.
"What!? Closed but the door was open?" Xiao Peng replied irritably.
"It wasn't open, it was really locked!" That girl replied gently before saying: "Sorry about this, but the café is closed. I have an appointment today, so please leave!"
"Tch! Do you see, James? Why don't you say something?" Xiao Peng moved his mouth, knowing that James had broken the doorknob.
"What? James! Is James here? Where?!" Upon hearing the word 'James', a friendly look appeared on that girl's face and her cheeks reddened.
'Wait! Don't tell me...' Xiao Peng thought to himself, connecting all the strange actions James had done since they entered the café.
So Xiao Peng turned his body and revealed James, who was hiding behind him with Steaky on his shoulder.
"You traitor!" James shouted angrily, but at that moment the girl jumped from over that desk onto James... making the latter retreat two steps before regaining his balance. This caused Steaky to fly off, but Xiao Peng caught him before he fell to the ground and then placed him on the desk.
"Hey, do you hear me, you traitor?!" James shouted again.
Xiao Peng was trying to respond to James's words, but what that girl did made him doubt this James's identity.
"Jimmy, where did you go! I've been trying to find you, so I had to close the café early today so we could have a wonderful evening." That girl spoke while looking into James's eyes as he hugged her.
'Jimmy? Wonderful evening?' Xiao Peng thought to himself, now knowing why all those people outside were wearing such beautiful clothes. It turned out there was a lovers' night today!
At that moment, he felt he wasn't in the same place as the two people in front of him; he felt as if he were alone.
And he soon remembered something that made him wish he hadn't said he wouldn't form any relationship with a woman from this world that morning, and also when he said he was ready to throw away his emotions and become a block... this was one of the stupid actions and at the same time a smart action.
It would be smart if a smart person thought about it without knowing its deep and hidden meaning beneath that seemingly superficial word that, in his view, didn't deserve his attention, as if it were just a saying someone said to seem like a person with philosophical quotes, but he's just a person who moved to another world and wants to act like the great ones.
And it would be stupid only when a smart person thinks they are deep words contrary to what he thinks, and why?
Because humans aim to pursue things that pique their interest, and they won't let them go easily. But when those things lose their value, what do you think they will do with them?
You will answer and say: That's easy, they will first throw them away, and then they will search for something that piques their interest! But do you think they will choose something of the same type?
Of course not, so they won't even think of looking at that thing! But have you thought about what will happen to that tool when it sees that it has been discarded?
It will suffer from sadness, hatred, anger, and many emotions; they will invade its heart and mind and completely reprogram them.
And after many shocks, that tool will turn into a piece of cold ice, its surface like its core, no difference between them. So don't expect a tool like this to cling to human bonds again.
Thoughts swirled in Xiao Peng's mind, and it seemed that the effects of his ability were worse than he thought, because of that, some of his thoughts from his previous life were liberated, causing a demonic smile to form around his mouth... it was a terrifying smile.
Looking at the lovebirds in front of him, he discovered that there were interesting adventures coming in the future, so he hid the smile and sat on a chair at one of the tables, waiting for the end of the lovers' conversation.
'Loneliness, despite its ugliness, does not deceive you with false illusions like love or human bonds. Love, betrayal, gratitude, anger, all lead to a single path: false illusion. Perhaps I should help James before he falls into one of these illusions, as I don't want weak people as partners, and perhaps I should think of a way to get rid of that girl.' He looked at James and that girl and continued in his mind: 'No, that girl doesn't deserve me taking action to kill her, because I see her death anyway. That girl will die soon.'
"Can you hear me, human?!" The entity said to his human persona... but there was no answer, so he continued and said: "Right! You can't hear me now, you're in a deep sleep!."
…
End of Chapter ~ To be continued...