A knock on the door grabbed his attention, Cheng kept the glass down and answered, "Come in."

Yibo and Zhan walked in and they were not surprised to see Cheng already half-drunk, Cheng didn't expect them but he still signaled them to sit down.

"There is something I need to tell you," Zhan said.

 "If it's anything about the teacher stuff then..."

"No, it's not about that," Zhan said, "it's something else."

Cheng leaned back and took a sip and Zhan told him everything about the ritual and how he got attacked and then injured.

Cheng had a frown on his face by the end, "Is your wound okay now?" was the first question he asked and Zhan nodded, Cheng seemed relieved, "Okay, so you told me all this for what?"

Yibo spoke from here, "We think that these ritualists may or may not be related to the cult of Mithras."

This grabbed Cheng's attention he looked at them with a jerk, in the meantime, Zhan called in Darian, "Tell us Darian what did you find out?"

Darian spoke, "The ritual that they were performing is actually a ritual or a form of worship towards the goddess Ankh."

"Elaborate. "Yibo said.

 "In our religion, to please god some offer regular prayers, donate and many more things but some people want fast results and to gain something you need to lose something some people lose time while waiting for God to fulfill their wish and some...go for the sacrifice option...these people were doing the sacrifice ritual

It is the most brutal form of worship that's not demonic hence it's safe if done correctly but even the smallest of mistakes can be proved fatal."

After he was done there was silence in the room, before Zhan said, "Thanks for your information, Darian you can leave now."

Darian left and once he left Cheng spoke, "They are different."

Zhan and Yibo looked at him, "What?"Yibo asked.

Cheng spoke, "These people you are talking about are not from the cult of Mithras..."

"How are you so sure?" Zhan asked.

Cheng clenched his fists and close his eyes before he took a deep breath and drank half a bottle of alcohol in one go, before he said, "They are not the cult of Mithras I am sure...you have to trust me..."

Yibo spoke, "We trust you Cheng we just want to know how are you able to distinguish between them?."

Cheng suddenly got up, he kept his hand on his hand and groaned as if he was fighting something that was threatening to come out, Zhan got up as well and went to his brother, "It's okay if you don't want to say anything."

Cheng shook his head, "I know because these people who were doing rituals are religious while The cult of Mithras is...Demonic...pure demonic."

~~~~~

Screams of terror and horror echoed in the dark small room.

His hands were tied and he tried his best to block out everything. But he couldn't.

In the end, all he could were those haunted eyes and mutilated body parts.

Cheng once again opened his eyes, his body was covered with sweat but he did not scream instead his body felt heavy very heavy he cannot move it at all.

His hands seemed to be bound and there was strong fore on his chest.

But when he looked down he saw that small monkey-like creature was lying on him.

Sleeping.

Cheng sighed and sat up as he held the child, of course, it was Simon, who seemed to have woken up by the sudden movement he rubbed his eyes and smiled, "Good morning brother."

Cheng looked outside and it was still dark he asked with annoyance, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was lost and I stumbled in your room."

"Why are you out of your room in the first place?"

"My father punished me with fifty sit-ups and now my legs hurt and I was looking for him but I couldn't find my father."

Cheng sighed, "I will take you to him."

Simon hugged him in return, "No, brother I am more that comfortable here, with you."

Cheng took a deep breath, "Kid, you need to go to your father okay he will take care of you, better."

"But I want to stay here with you."

"No, get out," Cheng said with a firm and cold voice he thought that it was enough to scare Simon, as the child was looking at him with his twinkling eyes but suddenly his eyes became wet and he pouted.

Cheng's eyes widened and he got scared that Simon was going to cry and when two tears slipped from his two eyes Cheng quickly grabbed, "Okay, okay, I am sorry I will not send you back. Now stop crying because your father will kill me if he sees you cry."

Simon cried a little more, "You like my father more than me brother, you hate me is that why you are not taking me as your disciple?"

Cheng rocked him back and forth and nearly cried he didn't know how to make a child understand, "I don't hate you kid."

"You don't even know my name..."Simon pretended to cry harder but he was laughing on the inside.

"I am sorry, Simon...I know your name is Simon and I don't hate you, you are an adorable child but I don't like kids who cry so stop crying if you want me to like you."

"Okay," Simon said in his timid voice and sniffed, while Cheng grabbed a cloth and wiped his tears he was going to keep the cloth away but Simon snatched it and blew his nose into it before giving it back to Cheng.

He was clearly disgusted and used his thumb and index finger to grab the cloth and keep it away.

While Simon once again smiled at him.

"Go back to your room."

But instead of listening, Simon lay beside him, and that's when Cheng noticed that Simon was holding that hideous black book.

"What's that book about?" Simon gave the book to him and when he opened it, it was blank, which made him even more confuse,"Why are you carrying a blank book?"

"It's not blank." Simon said.

"It is blank."

Simon got up, "It is not blank it is given to me by the goddess."

Cheng looked at him, suddenly he felt like Simon does not look like a child anymore, there was something in his eyes, something so deep and enigmatic that for a moment scared Cheng.

"Which goddess?"

Simon spoke, "Goddess Ankh."

Cheng looked back at the book, and he saw the same blank white page, "Where did you get this book from?"

"Temple of Nirvana." Simon said and smiled, "Would you like to read it?"

Cheng sighed, this was getting weird, for Some reason Cheng felt like he was talking to an adult, he knows children are special, they are dear to both gods and demons.

"How can I read it when it's blank."

Simon smiled, "I can make you read it, would you like to read it?"

"How can I read it?" Chen asked again and Simon grabbed a knife from the beside table, "Kid that's dangerous..."

But before he could continue Simon slit his hand, till the blood came out, and he raised his hand to Cheng "Here."

It was Cheng's turn to completely freak out now but he didn't show it on his face, he was going to refuse, and for that, he opened his mouth but Simon kept his hand in his mouth and let him taste the blood, Cheng pushed him back and stood up, "Have you gone mad?"

Simon didn't mind being pushed down he showed Cheng his hand and Cheng saw that Simon's hand was healed before Simon picked the book and gave it to him.

Cheng was so baffled that he forgot to breathe what the hell is going on?

But when Simon opened the book and put it on the bed, Cheng could see the words written on it.

Cheng's hand went cold and his face became pale as he slowly picked the book, he saw that the book was named as the favored one.

Just the name and everything was enough for a prodigy like Cheng to understand what was going on, but the shock that he felt froze his body as he looked at Simon, unable to understand what to say.