New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1035: Hesitation Kills Trust

"Of course, your help will be rewarded if you chose to help," he added, looking at everyone. "A friend of yours is a friend of mine," Cory said, no hesitation in his voice.

Even if he looked tired, there was no way he would miss out on some action. It went against everything he stood for.

Alex smiled at the teenager, nodding a silent thank you at him.

"I would be damned if I let the friend of a friend down," Winston chimed in, making a thumbs up at Alex.

Rì-Chū looked at Alex with hesitation, unsure following them was a good idea. He had heard the name Zhong Kui from David earlier, when he was shouting over the phone, and he didn't want to get mixed up with a group of that notoriety.

"I'll go. I already told you I don't want to stay here, anyway. If it means I get to follow you back to North America, then count me in," Jin-Sil said, smiling wide.

Ri-Chu heard her words, and his heart gripped.

On one hand, he wanted to tell her to give up on that fool's errand, and let them handle it on their own. But that equated to telling her she shouldn't help her friends.

He knew where that thought train led, if he told her that. She would lose all the respect she had for him, and his chances of anything more than friendship with her would be gone.

So he bit the inside of his cheek, steeled his resolve, and spoke up.

"I'll go too, if you'll have me."

Alex nodded at him too, before looking at the others.

Killian sighed, his body sending him all kinds of alarms about how tired he was.

"I'm not sure I should be helping you on any endeavour that sounds that sketchy. But I'm already neck deep in the bullshit you caused with my grandfather. There is no digging deeper, right?" he mocked.

Alex chuckled.

"You shouldn't speak too fast. There is always a deeper hole to dig yourself into, I believe," he replied in a teasing tone.

"Bloody hell, Alexander. Way to pep talk your troops. I guess I'll grab my shovel then, you beautiful bastard," he chuckled.

Jonathan looked at Alex with a resolute face.

"There is no point in making the trip back home if you'll come back here right away. I'll follow you until this is over," he said, clenching his fists.

Violette nodded at his statement, balling her little hands into fists as well.

Alex was glad he'd brought them all to this hunt. They were reliable, and even past their mandated help, they still offered their help for more.

The only two who had yet to speak were Aapo and Liu-Yan.

Looking at them, and the stares of everyone landing on the two, the pair suddenly felt pressured.

"I would rather go home," Aapo said.

He'd seen enough crap for a lifetime, and knew more was to come. But he needed to rest for

now.

His mind still had to process all that had happened to them today, and he refused to put himself in more danger until that was done.

'I guess he's more of a "think before you act" guy, huh?' Alex mused.

"It's totally fine, Aapo. Like I said, no one is forced. You do not lose my respect for saying no," Alex said, smiling at him.

Aapo felt that was somewhat untrue, as he could feel the disappointment in his voice and the other's gaze. But he was not changing his mind.

As for Liu Yan, the young man still looked unconvinced.

"What group has your friend been taken by?" he asked, his gaze stern.

"Does it matter?" Alex asked, wondering why he wanted to know more before saying yes.

"It always matters. You are asking me to make enemies out of people I know next to nothing about. I want at least a name, so I know who to research when I paint a target over my back. Is that too much to ask?" Liu Yan replied.

Alex looked at him with a frown.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"If you don't want to come, it's fine. We can do this without you," David interjected.

Liu Yan glared at him, but David smirked in response.

"Glare all you want, sparky. You know you don't impress me," David mocked.

"All I'm asking is to know who I'm going up against. How is this an issue?" Liu Yan asked, turning his attention back to Alex.

"It isn't," Alex said with a poker face.

"The issue is that you distrust us. I thought you'd have grown past that point with what we just went through," Kary commented, looking at him with disappointment.

Liu Yan sighed.

"It seems you are the ones who don't trust me. If you did, you wouldn't care about telling me the name of the group that has your friend. You'd know I would help either way. But it seems you think I'll bounce if I know who they are."

The three of them stared at him, and they fell into a silent standoff.

But Alex quickly grew tired of it, breaking the silence first.

"It's the Zhong Kui. I'm sure you've heard of them, given you are of Chinese descent. Does that change your mind? Are you going to help us or not? I don't have time to waste on this standoff," he said, looking at Liu Yan.

The young man took a second to think about the name, but it barely rang a bell in his mind. By Alex's words, and the name, it was a Chinese organization, but he'd never heard of it.

That much, he could attribute to him growing up away from his Chinese family.

He'd spent most his life away in America, studying abroad, so he almost considered himself American at this point. But the name still sounded ominous.

"If I help you, what kind of protection from this group can I expect to need?" he asked.

Alex clapped his hands together.

"Alright! I decided we don't need your help. Too complicated. We will bring you back home. But you'll have to arrange your transport yourself past the border, as the borders to China are closed to us. On this note, let us depart back to the plane. I'm tired and want to rest."

The sudden change in attitude from the man stunned Liu Yan for a second, and before he could raise an objection, everyone was already marching back toward the other side of the

crater.

'Did I just fuck up?'