Chapter 369: Answer
Chapter 369: Answer
The unfamiliarity with the area created the need for a social foothold, or at least a place to start investigations.
Initially, Liam and Grace had planned to fly deeper into the barren border before landing in an empty area, building a temporary base of operations while they learned more about their surroundings.
Yet, the unwarranted attack had offered an alternative, one Liam had decided to pursue on his own. Someone had shown hostility against him, so they had opened themselves to being swallowed whole.
In the past, Liam would have asked for confirmation first. He would have double-checked in case he got that hostility wrong.
Nevertheless, those times were long gone. Liam had tasted the enmity even before landing, and there had been an aggravating factor. He had noticed those looks at Grace, and he couldn’t let them stand.
No one was to treat Grace like that, absolutely no one, especially in front of Liam. If the world didn’t respect his presence, he would make it respect his power.
There was a third issue with that whole development. Liam hadn’t sensed anything beyond the rooting stage, but the hill still featured a force with unclear numbers and prowess.
The decision to attack the hill could look hasty under those conditions. Liam and Grace were just two rooting experts after all.
However, there hadn’t been any blinding anger or hatred. Some would see it as arrogance, but the decision had been a mere matter of cold confidence on Liam’s side.
Liam had held his own against the Church’s teams. He had fought and killed a branching expert. He didn’t have his best poisons with him, but he had gained a rank 3 weapon and far more.
Even if Liam couldn’t win, he was confident he could run away while destroying that place at the same time. He was the son of the Ancestral Snake after all.
As for Grace, she had usually been the one to beat some sense into Liam, but she was also past that point. Single-handedly dealing with the Assassins Guild’s team and bringing back Dominic’s arm had achieved as much.
If Grace’s personal fiend said that they were up to the challenge, she would trust him wholeheartedly and play her role to perfection. Besides, she had been the one to tell Liam to have a higher opinion of himself.
The middle-aged rooting expert was in no position to refuse the scary pair, especially when Liam returned to Grace’s side, easily carrying the two headless corpses on one shoulder.
The fan was still hovering before the man, too, splitting his vision in half, so he could only comply.
"Fellow Daoists, if you would be so kind as to follow me," The rooting expert mustered a fake chuckle.
The fan didn’t retreat, and Liam and Grace didn’t even hint at finding something wrong with that, so the rooting expert could only turn slowly, having to endure that deadly presence pointing at him.
The three, or four, made their way up the hill, climbing an uneven path that avoided the steepest elevations, as if rooting experts had any need for that.
The purpose of that less straightforward climb obviously had to do with the cultivators Liam sensed around him. They were keeping a safe distance, being careful not to be spotted, but that did little when Liam heard their steps.
Liam soon felt observed, one of those sensations coming from right next to him. He met Grace’s gaze, somehow knowing what it meant and being able to reply to it. She had also deduced that predicament, but it was that mutual look that confirmed it.
Grace and Liam were invading an enemy force, so it was only normal to end up surrounded.
An element Liam had predicted soon appeared ahead. A long but narrow, barely noticeable cavity cut through the ground, seamlessly blending with it, making it invisible from a distance.
Liam caught warmth, which gained a shape after the trio entered the cavity and delved deeper into the darkness. It was a narrow tunnel, which eventually expanded, revealing lanterns hanging from the rocky ceiling further ahead.
The tunnel had multiple crossroads. The underground world was quite intricate there, but the group focused on descending, eventually arriving at a crowded, large chamber.
More lanterns hung from the ceiling. Thick, dirty carpets covered the rocky ground, and wooden tables filled the chamber’s sides, occupied by cultivators drinking or wolfing food.
An elevated chair covered in pelts stood at the chamber’s bottom, with two stools at its sides. A burly, bare-chested, square-jawed, short-haired rooting expert sat there, a huge, two-edged great axe connecting the floor to his left shoulder.
The black axe was a rank 2 weapon, a peak rank 2 one, and it was in good company. Two foundation experts sat on the stools, two women, one carrying a sheathed sword, the other with a whip bound to her waist.
Both the whip and sword were rank 2 items, which seemed to be a waste for foundation experts, considering the stronger cultivators at the tables.
Yet, the two women leaned on the armchairs, caressing and offering the bare-chested man drinks and food, reminding Liam of the brothel and explaining the reason behind their privilege.
Naturally, the newcomers claimed everyone’s silent attention, especially when the headless corpses became visible. The rooting expert brought Liam and Grace to the chamber’s center, bowing before the burly man on the pelted chair.
"Boss, these Daoists wished to see you," The middle-aged man exclaimed.
The two women straightened as the burly man in the pelted chair leaned forward, rubbing his chin, waving his hand.
The cultivator in front of Liam and Grace peeked at them while slowly moving to the side, accelerating once a table got closer. That enabled an unhindered inspection from the burly man, which followed a precise order.
The man on the pelted chair merely glanced at Liam, quickly focusing on the floating fan, his gaze lingering longer there, before ultimately falling to Grace.
The burly rooting expert smirked, and Liam read something in that expression, his memories surging and allowing him to notice something else.
’Right,’ Liam recalled. ’The same happened with Melissa.’
The walk through Thornvale had featured a similar situation, with bystanders stunned at Melissa’s beauty, and Liam unable to understand what it triggered in him or what he could do about it.
Yet, Liam even noticed the lack of women now. Except for the two foundation experts on the stools, everyone else was a man.
Moreover, Liam had unknowingly found the answer to his past doubt. At least, he had acted upon it. He had killed when someone treated Grace the way Melissa had been treated.
’Life with you was so bright,’ Liam thought. ’I’ve changed a lot, but I’m still yours, even if you have come to hate me.’
Liam almost lost himself in those fond memories. Melissa was a breath of fresh air in his life, a small but complete and fulfilling world, one he had lost, but that he would find again and hold close forever.
Meanwhile, Liam was in the grim, tension-filled world now. Still, he had found a partner in crime even there, a willing accomplice despite all the impossible dangers, the one making his journey possible, so he wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Liam would hold her close, protect her, and make sure he never lost her.
"Fellow Daoist," Liam called, lifting an arm in front of Grace, attracting that persistent smirk. "I received offense at the hands of the Axe Brigade. Compensate me, or I will suffer its existence no longer."