Ch. 83 margits shackle

When she saw Patches again…

He was sitting in the innermost grotto of Mengliu Cave.

The ‘innermost’ part here was merely the end of the tunnel, clearly not the innermost point geographically.

On one side of this grotto, light from the outside filtered through a crack in the rock, providing just enough illumination for the space.

The faint sound of flowing water, like the chirping of summer cicadas, drifted in from that same rocky fissure.

Patches was squatting on the ground.

He always favored this posture, legs spread wide apart, looking like a frog with short arms.

Mia was curious—didn’t squatting like that get tiring?

Other people’s legs would go numb after squatting for ten minutes, yet Patches would squat like this at the drop of a hat.

“Are your things still there?”

As soon as she walked in and saw him, Mia asked.

“They are.” Patches huffed. “Over there.”

He pointed to a pile of chests in the corner.

“Anything missing?”

“Not a single thing.”

Mia glanced over there, then turned back to look at Patches.

Patches squatted there motionless, as if he had been frozen in place.

The usual cunning glint was missing from his eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Mia asked with concern.

“Sigh…” He took a slow breath. “Tell me. If a person kills, but not for money or treasure, then what exactly is it for?”

“You mean Nelius?” Mia felt the answer should be obvious. “Perhaps it’s to make themselves stronger.”

“So,” Patches replied, “In the end, it’s still the desires in a person’s heart.”

Patches’ breathing was shallow but rapid, with a two-second pause after every exhale.

It seemed as though countless emotions he didn’t know how to express were welling up in his chest.

A gloomy aura radiated from his entire being.

Is this Patches?

Mia asked herself internally.

With this appearance, was this still that same heartless, shameless Patches who was as thick-skinned as a dead pig?

No…

Even cold-blooded animals with low intelligence have emotional fluctuations.

Patches was undoubtedly human; no matter how foul his personality, he was still human. He would certainly develop feelings for those around him and reminisce about the happy days of the past.

But Mia didn’t know what to say to him.

Patches’ image as a scoundrel had long been like a nail, firmly rooted in Mia’s mind, so seeing him like this…

Precisely because she knew this state wasn’t an act but came from the heart, Mia felt an indescribable sense of strangeness.

To use an exaggerated metaphor…

It was like Dwayne Johnson wearing a bunny girl outfit, performing a cute dance in front of you and acting adorable.

And he even claimed he wasn’t doing it for a bit—this was his true other side!

In short, it was that kind of dissonance.

It seemed Mia would have to get to know the Patches in front of her all over again.

For now, she could only respond with a long, guilty silence.

“The guys who used to be here with me… though they were stupid and hard to talk to, at least we got along pretty well.”

Patches let out a sigh.

“Forget it, forget it. The dead can’t be brought back to life.”

Saying this, he looked at Mia. “Speaking of which, you’ve helped me out big time again. If it weren’t for you, I’d surely have been taught a harsh lesson returning to this cave alone. So, it wouldn’t do not to show my gratitude.”

“Oh?”

Mia raised an eyebrow.

She intended to hear what Patches was going to say next.

“Do you see that chest?”

Patches pointed to a wooden chest placed not far away and chuckled. “Inside is a treasure I’ve always cherished. It’s a rare opportunity, so I’ll give it to you!”

“Are you really willing to part with it?” Mia asked suspiciously.

“Willing… well, I’m actually a bit reluctant, but isn’t life all about people getting what they need from each other? Without you, my remaining property would have been wiped out. Though I don’t know what you really want from me, I figured if I used that item as payment…”

“Oh my!” Seeing Mia standing still, he started shouting exaggeratedly like a child trying to get attention. “As expected, I’m still reluctant! Truly reluctant! So please, while my resolve hasn’t wavered, hurry up and open that chest to take the precious treasure!”

“Hmm…”

Mia nodded slightly.

No matter how she thought about it, it was very suspicious.

Could there be some kind of trap inside that chest?

She kept an eye on Patches with her peripheral vision and then walked over cautiously.

Sure enough, as Mia approached the chest, she caught a glimpse of Patches’ face suddenly filling with anticipation.

Then, when the girl stopped a few meters in front of the chest, Patches’ expression turned anxious.

‘This guy definitely has bad intentions.’

Mia thought to herself.

The girl suddenly took a few steps back.

The staff in her hand flashed.

A blue crystal the size of a fingernail shot out with a ‘whoosh’ and struck the latch of the wooden chest.

Then, bang—

Like a firecracker, the crystal exploded, taking the chest’s latch with it.

Then, the firecracker-like impact caused the lid of the chest to pop open automatically.

*Pfft—*

A cloud of smoke sprayed out from inside the chest.

If Mia had been standing in front of the chest and opened it with her hands, she would have been immediately enveloped by that smoke.

Seeing this, anyone would understand exactly what was going on.

“Patches!!!”

Mia turned around in a rage.

Like a cat with its fur standing on end, she roared at Patches.

I actually felt sorry for you just now!

“Ow, ow, ow, ow—”

Patches screamed because Melina had suddenly appeared behind him and pinned him to the ground.

“You really are a dog that can’t stop eating filth!”

Mia’s face was flushed with anger as she walked over.

“You were trying to trick me again, weren’t you?”

“Why are you getting mad at me!” Patches squirmed like a maggot.

Mia stepped on Patches’ hand, which was still trying to struggle, pinning it to the ground.

“Who else should I be mad at?”

“I really didn’t know there was a trap hidden in that chest, I’m innocent!”

With a grim face, Mia slowly ground her boot down.

“AAAAAAHHH!” Patches let out a most miserable howl.

But even this display was faked.

Mia was confident in her control; her body weight was almost entirely supported by her other foot on the ground. The pressure on Patches’ hand was, at most, the weight of one leg.

She wasn’t using any force at all.

It was probably only about a fifth of Mia’s body weight.

Instead, seeing Patches put on such a deliberate act actually made Mia apply a bit more pressure with her foot.

“This really was an accident! I am terribly sorry, terribly sorry!”

Patches, crying out in pain, shouted with all his might. His facial expression was twisted into a ball, and beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.

Mia scolded him sharply, “I want you to know that there’s a price to pay for tricking people. Not everything can be solved with an apology!”

Suddenly, the young girl paused.

It felt as if something was about to burst forth from her chest…

Mia—

“Stay flat on the ground! What are you raising your head for?”

“Reflect on your actions properly!”

Ah, some kind of incredible aura was emerging.

“Wait, wait!”

Faced with Mia, who for some unknown reason seemed to find pleasure in stepping on Patches—

Patches shuddered.

He hurriedly shouted, “I really do have treasure! As a reward, and as an apology gift, I can give you the treasure!”

Mia leaned over slightly.

She lightly tapped her palm with the stargazing staff.

She questioned him in a deep, cold tone.

“Doing the same thing twice to the same person is meaningless.”

“I know I’m quite annoying, but I’m really not that boring of a person!”