Bab 25: Questions, Answers, and a Possible Solution
Mayton was feeling better than ever albeit a bit tired after the sealing and consuming the pill Leyzhen gave him. It was like a festering wound on his body got gouged out and then cleared up to heal it.
''That girl… was that you?''
Mayton asked hesitantly. He thought this was a private question hence his hesitancy, but since apparently he, himself, was somehow connected to all this, he wanted to know as much as possible lest he made a wrong choice about his future. He had sympathy for this cute little girl and would be glad to help her if he could, but ultimately they weren't that intimate for him to not think of himself first.
''Yes.''
Leyzhen answered curtly. From her answer, it was easy to deduce she wasn't willing to talk much about herself. Mayton didn't mind her though. He knew that this little girl was the strongest person he has ever come across in both of his lives, except for the old man with tattered black robe maybe. If she was the little girl from the story and Mayton was related to the ancient demon from the story, he might very well be facing a deadly crisis right now. So he took a deep breath and asked the crucial question;
''Am I the ancient demon?''
''Yes and no. You are the reincarnation of one of the three pieces of his soul. That illusory mountain was the will of the demon still persisting after its demise, waiting for the day its soul became whole again. And you don't have to be nervous, I have no desire to harm you.''
'Yeah I can see that you are trying to keep me alive, for now, that is...' Mayton thought. He didn't dare to say it out loud though. He, despite fearing the strange situation of his soul, was more wary of this little girl compared to his own soul being that of a demon's. He was a demonic cultivator anyway, he accepted to end up as a demon the day he started cultivating.
He was wary of Leyzhen, because she made him feel like being under control of her. He hated it when his life abruptly changed in his past life. In a single day, he went from an honorable guard to the enemy of the mankind, and he swore to himself that he would not let others dictate his future in this life, but it seemed like he was now at the mercy of this girl. This reminded him of cultivation which seemed like the only plausible way for him to control his own fate, hence his next question;
''What happened with my cultivation? Did I successfully break through?''
Mayton didn't ask about the possibility he dreaded the most, suffering damage to his cultivation base, simply because of his anxiousness of such a situation.
''You did break through. Don't waste my time with these kinds of questions. You can check your cultivation yourself later. As for your future cultivation, I can guarantee that the risks will be minimal as long as you are by my side.''
Leyzhen said with an unfeeling voice. Mayton long realized that there was something strange going on with this little girl. What kind of little girl can talk about his dead parents without shedding a single tear and then chat with someone partly involved in their demise like everything was normal? She was too mature for her own age. Mayton was even suspecting that she was someone reincarnated with her memories intact just like him.
''Why do you try to keep me alive? In what way am I useful to you?''
Mayton asked with narrowed eyes. Her answer to this question would be the definer of their future relationship. Unfortunately, Leyzhen's answer disappointed him. It was just a short ''none of your business''.
Mayton didn't trust Leyzhen, but it was definitely a reciprocated feeling. Leyzhen, especially after getting betrayed by Yeqin, the person she trusted the most, did not trust anyone let alone someone like Mayton whom she met recently. Thus her lack of enthusiasm for divulging more than necessary information about herself or her goals.
''Alright, enough questions. Your friends have been shouting your name for hours now. Go and meet them. But leave behind that piece of metal*. It has a tracking mark on it. You can keep the traceless talisman, it has no such functions.''
Leyzhen said and went on to continue writing on a parchment, ignoring Mayton's questions about the tracking mark. Realizing that he would be overstaying his welcome if he persisted in asking more questions, Mayton, with a puzzled expression left the room. After all, he didn't hear anyone calling to him. But as soon as he opened the door of the Leyzhen's residence, he saw Ghorzhang and Zgar pacing back and forth as they waited for him.
''What happened?''
All three of them asked at the same time. Mayton, seeing that probably something bad happened in his absence, reassured them of his well being without giving details and asked for the reason of their anxiousness. In less than five minutes they were done telling him the trouble they were in.
'Seems like my fate is intertwined with the House Maiken in one way another' Mayton thought after learning all the details. He got in contact with the members of the House Maiken three times before, each time being under vastly different circumstances. And now it seemed they would meet once more this time as enemies.
''Where is Old Mert? Let me meet him first.''
Mayton immediately went to find Old Mert and discussed the possible solutions together with the other hunters. The first thing Old Mert asked about was the attitude of Leyzhen and whether she would be willing to help them out or not. Mayton dashed his and the hunters' hopes with denying that possibility with his answer, then continued on to tell his encounter with the members of the House Maiken at the gates of the city and his subsequent interactions with them inside the city.
''You met a young woman and someone who looked like her guardian? Could they be...''
While Mayton was ignorant about the latest rumors because of his focus on more important matters, Old Mert after the incident with the House Maiken, gathered every information available to the public about them.
This, of course, included the rumors about the eldest miss running away from her own marriage and then getting caught by the Aras Family, finally marrying Young Master Georg from the Aras Family.
With the timing also matching, there was a big chance of the young woman Mayton met before being the eldest miss of the House Maiken, Herdis. Whatever the outcome, she owed a favor to Mayton as far as Old Mert was concerned, thus he proposed Mayton to go see her and solve this problem peacefully.
''Wait did you say they got caught? And a short time after I met them too… I am not sure about who owes to whom...''
Mayton said absentmindedly, as he thought about the tracking mark on the invitation he got for the fair of souls. He was sure that the governor had a connection with the organizers of the fair of souls, and the governor's soldiers found the eldest miss of the House Maiken just after his visit…
''Either way, you should try to talk with her, or we might not be able to stay in the Flaming Heart City anymore.''
Old Mert said while looking curiously at Mayton's expression.
''Okay, I'll try to talk to her tomorrow morning after checking my cultivation and resting a bit.''
Mayton said and without losing any more time went to his small room, as soon as he entered the room, sat down cross legged on his bed.
In a few minutes, his vision was full of fiery red particles roaming in his body. He could see that their numbers drastically reduced, but from the brightness of them, it was obvious that their quality increased more than enough to make up for it.
Other than that, he also saw that the faint outline of the wall of fire holding the fire qi inside solidified a bit more, signaling his cultivation was becoming closer to the phase that would enable the usage of the dantian.
Then he nervously checked out his glabella and his soul residing in there. What he saw was a seal pulsing with white light, preventing him to see what lay beyond it. This made him feel even warier of Leyzhen. He had a seal planted at his soul by her, and there was no guarantee that the seal was there only to prevent the will of the ancient demon influencing him.
Feeling the urge to increase his strength once more, Mayton went on to rest. It was a tiring day for him and looked like tomorrow would be at least equally tiring if not more.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone