Chapter 94: Home Sweet Home.
Chapter 94: Home Sweet Home.
"This is the exact reason I told you guys to stay back and not run off recklessly. Now you are gonna have to fill out witness statements." Cui sighed and then looked over at the man trapped inside the cube of ice.
He looked worried and confused. Which was understandable for a civilian. It wasn't often that a civilian in china would see magic since it was outright banned. But now he was trapped inside a cube of ice that seemingly appeared from nowhere.
Haru and Jake looked at each other as Cui got closer to the man trapped in ice.
"Jake. Can you restrain this man from inside there? I don't really want to try to get close whilst he still has a gun." Cui asked and then looked back at the man.
"Sure, That's not a problem at all," Jake said happily and then began to activate another spell.
[Restraining Vine.] A faint green light appeared in the centre of his hand and then a long vine emerged from the light, travelling towards the cube of ice. As the vine got closer to the Ice a small hole opened up and then the vine went through before closing it's self back up.
The vine circled around the cube of ice with the man now following it around in circles with his head. He was so confused that he no longer knew where he was.
The vine circling around his head looked like a snake lining it's self up to catch prey which made the man panic even more as the vine suddenly changed direction and headed straight for him. His hands were forced behind his back when the vine wrapped around his body and slowly constricted until he could no longer move.
The force of the vine was so much that he dropped the gun to the floor as his arms were forced together. At that point, it seemed like a good place for Jake to stop constricting the vine. He didn't want to crush the guy to death even if he did probably just kill somebody.
"There. As easy as baking a cake." Jake smiled at his handiwork before releasing the cube of ice causing tiny bits of ice to shatter before raining down to the ground like snow.
"As easy as baking a cake? Do you know how to bake a cake? That seems pretty difficult to be honest." Haru asked as he hadn't heard anyone use that phrase before he assumed it was something personal.
"Of course I know how to bake. It's the most basic skill a man should have." Jake replied.
"Well, That's news to me," Haru said and then turned back to the sound of struggling as the man on the floor began to struggle.
"What was that thing!? Who are you, people!? Why was that boy floating in the sky!?" The man began to wiggle around but it was no use. The vines were well and truly stuck around him.
"This is also why you shouldn't have run off like that. People here aren't used to seeing magic. You could frighten them to death" Cui cautioned and then kneeled down beside the man and handcuffed him.
She didn't have to readjust his body to fit the handcuffs since Jake had already taken care of everything and placed the man's hands behind his back.
"Okay, you can go ahead and remove the vines." She stated.
Jake obliged by holding up his hand towards the vines. [Break] The vines that were previously wrapped around the man's whole body vanished into the air in a cloud of green dust.
"Thank you," Cui replied as flashing blue and red lights entered the alley.
The growl of the engine combined with the siren was enough to deafen a person as it rolled into the alley. Suddenly the sirens were cut as a blinding white light beamed down on Haru, Jake, Cui and the man in handcuffs.
The light then quickly vanished and faded back into the spotlight on top of the police car that had just pulled up.
A gentle click sounded out before the thud of boots on concrete followed behind and two men emerged from either side of the car.
"Captain!" They both shouted in unison and then saluted Cui who had hold of the man's hands. She wasn't a very high stage in cultivation but it was enough to throw around normal people like it was nothing so she was respected by all of her subordinates in the police force.
She looked over to the two officers and then pulled the man up from the floor and back to his feet.
"You two can now take care of this guy. I will write everything up when I get back to my office. But for now, I have to send these two home." She exclaimed and then waited for one of the officers to step forward and grab the mans arm.
"Are you sure ma'am? We wouldn't mind taking these two home whilst you go over everything here." The officer said as he grabbed the mans arm.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I will go sit them in my car. Is there a detective on the scene yet? I want all of the cameras in a four-block radius checked. Make sure that there weren't any accomplices." Cui commanded.
"Yes, there is already a detective on scene I will make sure he gets your message ma'am." The man said and then looked back to his partner who was still holding his salute.
Cui looked at the man who was frozen in place.
"Is he okay?" She asked the officer in front of her.
"Ah, Yeah he is fine. He is one of the newbies who came in with the last batch. You know what the rumours are like back at the precinct. All the newbies look up to you like a goddess." The officer chuckled.
"This again? I swear If I ever find out who keeps telling them stuff like that I will kill them." Cui sighed and then looked back at Haru and Jake.
"Come on. I will take you home now." She sighed once again.
Cui was knowingly breaking the regulation. Usually, they would both have to fill out a witness statement but with the mental state of the man who was shaking in fear, She figured it would only cause more of a headache for herself if she had them fill one out. So she wanted to make her escape before someone who outranked her came along and demanded it.
"I will be back in around half an hour. Make sure the detective knows." She called out to the officers as she walked past them and back out into the main street. Jake and Haru both followed behind her and got into the car without asking anything.
Haru sat down and casually lay back as if nothing had happened. But Jake on the other hand seemed on edge. He checked over his shoulder and looked toward the police tape lining the road with the flashing lights illuminating the storefront.
"Hey, Are you okay? You seem a little pale." Cui asked.
"Um, I just feel weird. I knew what was happening as soon as I heard the gunshot but I didn't really think It would be too serious since you and Haru are here. If I had rushed over to the store instead of chasing that guy I might have been able to save the person who was shot." Jake stammered.
"It's okay. It's not your fault. You have nothing to feel guilty about now stop thinking about it before it destroys your mind. I have seen this happen a million times. It really isn't your fault." Haru reassured Jake but that just changed what he was worried about.
"You have been in a situation like this before? What happened during the time we last saw each other?" Jake asked. He assumed that Haru was talking about his current life
"Um, I mean I have seen it in movies and TV shows. It will slowly eat away at you until all you can think about is the possibility of being more useful. You have nothing to worry about. The sooner you accept it isn't your fault the better it will be." He responded.
What Haru had said would be a hard task for Jake to achieve but he was willing to try. The car fell silent once again. Cui took the silence as an indication to drive so she did.
Around fifteen minutes went by before they made it back to Zen's house.
Cui accompanied them to the doorstep as Haru began to fumble around with the lock on the front door. As he inserted the key the door opened quickly.
"Welcome home!" Luke smiled as he saw his son and Jake standing in the doorway.
There was no response for a moment before Jake pushed his way inside and then went straight upstairs.
"Jake?" Luke asked confused as he disappeared.
"Oh hey, dad." Haru smiled as he saw Luke standing in the doorway. And then walked inside.
"Ahh, It's good to be home," Haru shouted and then walked into the living room
"Please be quiet. Your mom has just put Saki to sleep." Jake warned him.
Luke was just about to close the door but Cui called out just as he put his hand on the door.
"Sorry. But could I talk to you about something?" Cui asked nervously.
"Sure what is it?" Luke inquired into what she had to say.
"It's about Jake," Cui announced and then began to explain what had just happened.