Chapter 421
Chapter 421
Carrying Mauve on his back, Simon arrived at Heavenly Village. He approached the first hut without a moment's hesitation. The hut looked old, and its main door was in a tattered condition. One could clearly see how tough it was to live around the area. Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.
A short while after Simon knocked on the door, the voice of a Marlingtonian rang out. “Who is it?”
The Marlingtonian's heavy accent was difficult to understand. Nonetheless, it wasn't difficult for Simon to guess what he was saying. With a grim voice, Simon explained, “I'm an outsider who has been poisoned by parasites. I'm here to see Marlington King for a cure.”
After Simon had spoken, a brief silence ensued before the door to the hut opened.
A thin middle-aged man emerged, looking unassuming in the grey shirt he wore. Nevertheless, the man seemed to possess decent spiritual energy. After he gave Simon and Mauve a glance, the tension on his face eased. It was clear to him that the two had not come with ill intentions.
Thereafter, he said, “Come on in.”
Simon nodded in response.
Mauve, who was sprawled on Simon's back, expressed her gratitude at once. “Thank you, mister!”
However, the man didn't say another word.
Upon entering the house, Simon put Mauve down on a chair. The hut's spartan interior came as a shock to the city-dwelling Mauve.
I can't believe such terrible living conditions still exist in the world.
“Have you been poisoned by a parasite?” asked the man after he gave Simon a glance.
The latter nodded accordingly.
The man continued, “Marlington King will not easily agree to treat anyone from outside the village. Anyway, I'm just an ordinary resident of Heavenly Village and not a member of Heavenly Cave. Let me examine your condition first. If I can't cure you, I'll then take you to Heavenly Cave. That said, there's nothing more I can do if Marlington King refuses to help you.”
“Thank you, mister,” Mauve said gratefully.
The man subsequently took Simon's pulse. After a long while, his expression drastically changed, giving Mauve a shock.
She asked, “What is it, mister?”
The man gave Mauve a look. “I understand now.” He then turned his attention to Simon and continued, “The poison is inside you because you sucked it out of her blood, isn't it?”
Simon nodded to confirm.
“It makes sense now. As someone who isn't married, this young girl possesses the purest form of negative energy which coincidentally nourishes the golden silkworm. After you sucked it out, it was then soaked in the positive energy within you. The amalgamation of negative and positive energy
allowed it to evolve into something more powerful—the golden king silkworm. The golden silkworm by itself is already a handful. Now that you have the golden king silkworm within you, I'm afraid even Marlington King might not be able to save you.”
The words caused Mauve's face to lose all color. With her eyes turning red, she sobbed, “This is all my fault, Simon.”
Simon's expression darkened at the same time. He had no intention of dying, for there was still a lot in life he wanted to do.
“Can you take me to Marlington King?” Simon asked the man.
“I have no authority to see him, but I can take you to his subordinates and get them to convey your intention to the king.”
While Simon nodded in acknowledgment, Mauve said, “Thank you, mister.”
With that, the man got to his feet and suggested, “There's no time to lose. Let's go.”
When Simon got to his feet, Mauve attempted to follow suit but was stopped by Simon instead. “You should rest here.”
However, Mauve was adamant in her decision. “I must go and plead with Marlington King to save you.”
Stunned by her words, Simon knew that there was no stopping the determined girl. Thus, he carried her on his back without another word.
As they stepped out the door, Mauve asked the man, “Mister, we still don't know your name after everything you have done for us. I'm Mauve Lief and he's Simon Sandler.” After throwing Simon a glance, the man broke into a smile. “You can call me Baryl.”
“Hi, Baryl!” Mauve greeted at once, bringing a smile to Baryl's face.
Heavenly Cave was situated right behind Heavenly Village. To access it, one had to cross a long suspension bridge made out of metal chains.
Beneath the bridge was a bottomless abyss, one that looked as if it came right out of a fantasy storybook.
One had to be brave to cross it, for it wasn't one to be attempted by the faint hearted. The moment one took a step, the entire bridge would begin to sway with one's weight.
Baryl warned, “Watch yourselves.” Thereafter, he took a gentle step forward. Without saying a word, Simon followed with Mauve on his back. Every step he took was a steady one.
“Close your eyes if you're scared,” he suggested.
At the same time, he wondered why he cared so much about Mauve.
Mauve had gotten used to Simon's frosty tone. Thus, the special concern he showed wasn't lost upon her.
“I'm not afraid!” she replied softly in Simon's ear. “As long as I'm with you, I'm not scared of anything.”
While speaking, her warm breath inadvertently bathed Simon's ears, causing him to blush and snap with a frown, “Keep your distance from me.”
Giggling cheekily, Mauve teased, “Are you feeling shy, Simon?”
A snort was all he responded with.
Soon, the three of them crossed the metal suspension bridge.
Right before them was a huge entrance to a cave with the words “Heavenly Cave” carved on top of it.
There were also two disciples standing guard on both sides of the entrance.
When they saw Baryl approaching, one of them barked, “Baryl, what are you doing here at this hour?”
Baryl broke into a faint smile as he explained, “I have a special patient here with me. There's a golden king silkworm in his body. If he doesn't get treated in time, he will be done for.”
“That's what they get for trying to trespass on Marlington. They deserve it entirely. Besides, his survival has nothing to do with Heavenly Cave!” the guard reprimanded Baryl.
It was then that Mauve struggled to come down from Simon's back and appealed to the guards, “Dear sirs, I beg you to let us see Marlington King. Otherwise, my friend is going to die,” Mauve begged, with tears dropping like rain. The pitiful look on her face was enough to melt even those whose hearts were
made of stone.
Unfortunately, the guards were unmoved, so Mauve's pleas simply fell on deaf ears. “Get out of here. You reap what you sow!”
Left without a choice, Mauve attempted to drop to her knees but was pulled back up by Simon instead.
He approached the guards and demanded, “I want to see Marlington King.”
“Did you not hear what we just said?” the guard retorted.
All of a sudden, Simon grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. “No I didn't,” Simon asserted.
The other guard roared, “Insolence!” Immediately after, he unleashed a punch toward Simon's face.
Unfortunately, Simon slammed a kick into him, sending him flying backward.
After that, he threw the guard he was holding to the ground before demanding again, “Can you now inform your king about it?”
The guards glowered at Simon before turning around to flee.
Meanwhile, a grim look descended upon Baryl's face.
Simon quickly noticed it and apologized, “I'm sorry.” Despite his frosty demeanor, he was still a reasonable person. Hence, he felt a sense of regret toward Baryl, for it was the latter who had brought
them there.
Having two of its disciples beaten up, Heavenly Cave would definitely blame Baryl for the incident.
As for Baryl, he knew how cold Simon was and could tell that the apology didn't come easily. With that thought in mind, he eked out a wry smile. “The men of Heavenly Cave behave strangely because they have been cut off from the outside world for too long. You teaching them some manners would do them some good. It's just that Marlington King might not be happy about it.”
“If Marlington King refuses to save me, I will wipe Heavenly Cave clean. We might as well all die together.” A vicious glint flashed across Simon's eyes.
He was, after all, born a murderous demon.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Mauve and Baryl turned pale.
“Baryl, you should go home,” Simon suggested.
However, Baryl shook his head as he appealed, “You can't do this.”
His words brought silence upon Simon.
At the same time, Mauve put on a pitiful expression as she held Simon's hand. “Simon, let's not kill anyone, all right?”
After frowning at Mauve, he shoved her hand aside. “Don't stick your nose into my business.”
Exasperation filled him then. This is how I have been all along until she keeps getting in my way.
All of a sudden, he felt the urge to kill her but quickly cast the thought aside, for he just couldn't bear to lose her.
Meanwhile, six men soon emerged from Heavenly Cave.
Obviously, Marlington King wasn't among them.
Among the six were the two disciples from earlier.
The other four were elite fighters of their sect.
As second-generation disciples, they relied on consuming ice silkworms to generate ice energy from their bodies.
All of them had achieved Nascent Soul cultivation level. In fact, the most senior among them had achieved final stage Celestial Soul, while the other three were of Celestial Soul level.
As Heavenly Cave had existed for countless years, they possessed a strong foundation of warriors. Among them, these four men were only second-generation disciples. Under Marlington King's command, there were still four elders, eight Golden Guards, six direct disciples, and three hundred ordinary disciples in total.
All of them put together made for a formidable force.
The most senior of the four, Untainted, gave Simon an icy look and said, “Were you the one who beat
up our disciples and demanded to see Marlington King?”
Simon replied candidly. “Yes, I am.”
“How dare you come to Heavenly Cave and stir up trouble!” The moment he finished, Untainted gave his hand a flick.
A flying centipede burst out toward Simon's eyes like lightning.
However, Simon caught it between his fingers and threw it back. “You can have this back!”
Untainted's eyes glistened as he commented, “Well, well, we have a skilled adversary here.”
Truth be told, he couldn't tell Simon's cultivation level initially, but after his first attack, he had gotten his answer.
“All of you, stay out of this. I want to see how good he is,” Untainted declared.
However, Simon replied solemnly, “Let's not waste any time. The four of you should attack at the same time. If I win, take me to Marlington King. If I lose, my life will be yours to take.”
“Insolence!” Untainted was enraged, while the other three were equally infuriated.
After giving Untainted the side-eye, Simon sneered, “I'm not being insolent. It is you who have overestimated yourself.”