The old man once again sat down, tired and disappointed at the failure.
"I should take him back and arrange for his burial," the man said after he rested for a little. "Enough time wasted already."
He pushed his body up as he stood up before approaching Lucifer again.
"Wait a minute. If he is in a coffin, won't the Coffin be destroyed as well? Even after his death, his abilities work, after all. I wonder if his abilities work on himself. If they don't, I can place his hand on his chest," the man muttered as he tested this theory.
He moved Lucifer's hands and placed them on his chest as he observed carefully.
"This won't work on him," he observed as he nodded. "What about his clothes?"
The man once again moved his hand as he made Lucifer touch his shirt, which started decaying.
"So this works on everything as long as he touches using his hand. The only exception is his bare body."
The man bent forward to pick Lucifer up when he suddenly stopped.
"Oh right, I didn't even check if he has any identification. What an idiot I am. Maybe he has the number of his family or his address?"
With that thought in mind, the man started searching. He first checked the pocket which was in Lucifer's shirt, but he didn't find anything.
Next, he moved over to the pocket of his pants.
"Hmm? What's this?"
As he checked the pockets of Lucifer, he found something in each of his pockets.
"Gloves?"
He placed the gloves to the side before he searched more. And only after making sure that Lucifer had nothing else in his pockets, he sat down thinking. He also started observing the gloves.
" With his powers, he shouldn't be able to touch anything without destroying it, so why does he have gloves? Moreover, these don't seem like normal gloves either. If he is able to wear them, could it be that these are unaffected by his ability?" the old man muttered, frowning.
He placed the gloves on the ground before placing Lucifer's hand over the gloves to test his theory. Even though Lucifer's hands touched the gloves, the gloves weren't destroyed. Let alone being destroyed; they didn't even seem to be the slightest bit damaged.
"This... I was right. These gloves are probably made from something that isn't affected by his abilities. That's good."
"How do I make him wear them, though? I can't touch his palm or fingers; otherwise, I'll be affected by his ability too. This is complicated."
The man fell into deep thought as he wondered how he could make Lucifer wear the gloves without touching his fingers, but that seemed challenging.
"I guess I can't do it. I'll have to go with the older plan. I'll place his hand on his chest," the man muttered as he picked up Lucifer and started carrying him carefully as he walked towards his village.
He wasn't worried that anyone would see him with a dead body since it wasn't him who killed the boy. There wasn't any wound on the boy either, so he could just say he found this boy's body when he went into the sea. The boy had drowned.
All he needed was to tell the truth while changing the story of Lucifer's murder with his drowning. Because if he talked about murder, then people would ask why there wasn't any wound.
He couldn't tell them that the boy healed his body with his abilities after his death. That would not only sound crazy, but that would be dangerous as well.
Moreover, if the news of this spread to big cities, many people would come to take away Lucifer and test on him.
His dead body will never find peace. That wasn't what the old man wanted, so he decided to lie. All so that Lucifer could rest in peace without his body being defiled by scientists.
The man's village wasn't far from the beach, but still, he had to stop and take rests in between as he was carrying a boy. He was getting tired regularly.
...
"It's been over a month, but the old man hasn't come back. Do you think he's dead?"
"Who cares. Good riddance."
"Don't say that. Be respectful; he's our elder."
"What elder? He always keeps scolding me whenever I play outside his house. He was a rude old man."
"It's not that. You know it's because his wife and his kids had died because of drowning. Since then, he has been pretty closed. Moreover, you always play outside his house when he is praying for his family's peaceful afterlife. Of Course, he'll get angry."
"Hmph, shut up! Stop taking his side!'
The village of the old man was pretty silent as most of the people were still inside their homes. Only a few kids could be seen sitting outside near the old man's house, talking about him.
"Wait! Look there! It's Grandpa Chi! He is back! But who is he carrying with him? It seems like a kid? But he's not moving?"
"Did Grandpa Chi kidnap a kid? Come, let's call our parents!"
Seeing the old man return in the distance, all the kids started running towards their home as they informed their Elders that the old man had returned and was not alone.
Hearing the news, the adults also stepped out of their houses right when the old man stepped closer to his house.
"Grandpa Chi, wait!"
A manly voice came from behind the old man.
The old man turned back to look at the middle-aged man who was his neighbor.
"Yes, Zhu?" he asked, confused. "Do you need something?"
"Who is the kid in your arms, and where did you bring him from?" The man known as Zhu asked.
"He? I don't know his name, unfortunately. As for his identity, that's a mystery to me as well. And where did I bring him from? That's the only question I can answer. I brought him from the Sea," the old man answered.
"From the sea? What do you mean? Where are his parents?" Zhu asked again.
"I have no idea. I found the boy at the bottom of the S-"
Cough! Cough!
The old man started answering, but before he could even finish his sentence, he heard the sound of someone's extensive coughing.
His face turned pale as he realized that the sound of coughing was coming from near him. It was none other than the boy who was in his arms.
'That boy? He was alive? Did his healing really work?' Shocked, the old man stopped speaking as he looked back at Lucifer.