The Cursed One : The Darkside of The World

The Misunderstanding Has Escalated

 Jin calmly turns to a small and quiet alley, he then jumps onto the rooftop to escape from the chase of Jikan, one of the guards. This time, he is only able to hope Moo Yong can persuade the guards to check the newly incoming person in the past three till four months back as he suggested to unravel the mystery of the missing children.

After escaping from the guard, Jin doesn't have anything to do and only walking around to kill time. He planned to meet Moo Yong when that man is alone. Only Moo Yong can get him into the gate logbook to check the newly incoming people to the city within four or five months back. As much as he wanted to leave this city, his sense of justice stops him from leaving the city before the missing children case being solved.

After walking for a while and the sun has risen high enough, Jin decides to go to the food tavern that he visit last night. He wants to buy some breakfast while also looking for any updated news on the missing children case. Jin still doesn't know if he is now is a fugitive and his sketch has been spread all over the Xian city. He walks into the tavern confidently as usual and sits on the table where he sits last night. A few eyes are staring at him deeply but Jin still doesn't understand what has happened and he just ignore them.

The old servant comes at him to ask what Jin's orders are, he acts normally although he knows if Jin is being looked at by the guards from the sketch that he received from the guards just a moment before Jin has arrived.

"Mister, I only have 5 bronze left. Please give me anything that my money is enough to pay." Jin said honestly while handing over his money.

"Okay, just wait for a moment." The old servant serves Jin as usual because he doesn't want Jin to leave the place as he asked one of the customers to report Jin's appearance to the Xian city guards.

After sitting for a while, Jin is noticing something suspicious about the situation inside the tavern. He can feel the difference between last night's atmosphere in this place which is warm and alive compared to this morning atmosphere which is stiff and tense. His intuitions said if something bad will comes at him.

Jin chooses to go away from the tavern and comes at the old servant which is also the owner of the tavern. "Mister, I am sorry, could you please return my money? I forget that I have some urgent things to do this morning." Jin tries to get his only money back.

"What's wrong, Jin? Your orders are under process cooking, please wait just for a moment." The old servant tries to hold Jin from leaving the tavern.

"I am sorry, Mister. I can not wait any longer. It's okay, I'll just leave it. You can give the food to anyone that in need." Jin still trying to act politely because he is still unsure of what is going on.

"Well, if that is what you want, I can not say anything again." The Old servant said while giving an eye code to a few men inside the tavern. They want to hold Jin by force while waiting for the arrival of the guards.

Jin getting suspicious of the old servant's expression, moreover, he looks at a glance on the top of the cashier table, he sees the sketch of a young man that looks like him. His brain immediately connects everything and he realizes if he is now the fugitive in this city. He knows if the guards can't make someone a city fugitive, just because of breaching the city like he did last evening. The only thing that he can think of as the reason for him to become a fugitive is the missing children case. He guessed that the guard was suspecting him because he is running away when one of the guards, Jikan, was wanted to question him this morning.

"Okay, thank you, mister." Jin said and starts to walk away.

A few men suddenly blocked the exit door to hold him inside. "I am sorry, we can not let you go. We will bring you to the guards." The old servant said.

"This is only a misunderstanding, I just come last evening to this city. Impossible for me to have any relation with the missing children case." Jin tried to defend himself.

"The guards and the Judge are the ones who will decide. Surrender peacefully and don't fight, or you will get hurt." The old servant threatened Jin.

Jin thinks for a moment, he cogitates all the consequences between surrender and runs away. "I am sorry, I can not follow your order." In the end, Jin decides to disobey their request to surrender because he can not hope for the guards to catch the real kidnapper, he thinks if the guards already had all the time and resources required but they did not use it optimally to unravel the case and let it floating for months without clarity. He will end up in prison for too long to wait until they catch the real perpetrator.

"Then, we don't have another choice except to hold you by force." The old servant gives hand-code to 5 men to catch Jin. Another 2 men are standing to help the other 3 to encircle Jin. All of them advance together to catch Jin.

Jin knows if they are not a martial artist from their stances, they are just workers around the tavern. He doesn't want to harm any of them and just moving very fast to pass through them. Everyone inside the tavern can not see Jin's movement and is shocked because they thought Jin has gone out of thin air. They are looking in all directions to find Jin and one of them sees Jin walks normally outside the tavern. All of them suddenly feels languid. They don't understand how Jin can be outside the tavern without anyone noticing by when he moved to pass their siege. "He must be a dark sorcerer. Nothing to explain this impossible phenomenon." The old servant said and everyone inside the tavern agreed.

The rumor of the black sorcerer k********g the children spreads to the entire Xian City very fast, like a fire that burns on the silk. The misunderstanding in the entire Xian city getting bigger and wilder as the citizens add up magical words on their story about Jin. Just in a matter of hours, almost all the citizens become afraid of the dark sorcerer that lurking around the city to kidnap children, although some of the citizens are still using their logic properly and choose not to believe the spreading rumor. Moo Yong and his friends include in this group. They are more believe in Jin's analysis rather than a rumor that no one can provide proof about its credibility.

Because of the wild spreading rumor, Jin is in a difficult situation. He has to cover his face using the clothes to avoid anyone noticing his appearance. Because of that rumor also, he doesn't dare to look for a job to get money to fill their empty stomachs. Jin is starved for a few hours, He never thought that his action to escape from the guard and the food tavern will create a big problem for him. He promised himself that he won't try to evade any problem again in the future. What Jin can do right now is to find Moo Yong and ask for his help to clear his name and to catch the real kidnapper. The problem is, Jin doesn't know where Moo Yong is. That's why Jin is walking all around the city to find him.