As the elderly man saw the tears fall down from his granddaughter face his grip seemingly soften. He had never seen her show such emotion for a stranger. He struggled with his decision before sighing and releasing the grip on Relic and the pressure on Jiro.
Cough…Cough….
Relic coughed and gasped for air.
He looked up, confused.
“I don’t know what you did to make my granddaughter care for you so much you but she does. For her sake I will not kill any of you, but understand this, if I even hear about the secret having been leaked, all of you are dead!” He gave Relic one last murderous look before collecting the truffles off the floor. He then exited the room in an angry manner.
“Are you okay?” Mina went to Relic’s side and asked.
“Brother!” Hana also came and embraced her brother with tears still falling.
Relic had a soft smile and patted Hana; he then turned to Mina.
“Thank you, you really saved us.” He gave a short bow.
“No… my grandfather tried to kill both of you. You should hate us.”
Relic shook his head. “I’m sure when you have a family of your own. You will realize he wasn’t necessarily wrong. Good bye for now.”
Relic proceeded to get up with his sister’s help and left together with Jiro.
Mina was left sitting on the floor as she pondered Relic’s strange words.
…..
Relic and Hana quickly hopped on Jiro and ran as far away as possible. When Heaven’s Treasure was no longer in their view did they all release a breath of relief.
Suddenly, Hana embraced Relic from behind and spoke: “Brother, I don’t want to be a cultivator if it means you have to put yourself in danger like that.”
Hana knew Relic was using some of the money he got in order to buy her cultivation resources for her to begin her cultivation Journey. She couldn’t help but feel it was slightly her fault that everything happened like that.
Relic put on a soft smile. He knew exactly what Hana must be thinking.
“Hana, I’m sorry for scaring you. That was definitely my fault. I got a little greedy and tried to do something which I shouldn’t have. ”
He turned his head away from Hana where his countenance suddenly turned dark.
Relic wasn’t mad at that elderly man for what he had done. Thinking about it, that man’s actions were something Relic would have done himself. In order to protect the ones he cared about he could kill as many as necessary to protect them. The only person he was mad about was …himself.
He hated himself for taking such a risk. The secret location of truffles was truly a protected secret and even without disclosing it, he would have been able to make enough money through his wine profession.
“I was such a fool!” he gritted his teeth. “I almost died…”
As the life was squeezing out of him, he began to think about his master and what her life would be like if he wasn’t there. Would her life been worse than before? Would she have to relive all the pain stricken moments she had faced in the past? Would she have died not knowing the love he felt for her?!
The thought was enough to put Relic in a murderous rage and his body began to shake uncontrollably.
Hana quickly held tightly to Relic’s back. “Sister is here for you.” Hana said calmly.
Hana’s embrace immediately calmed Relic down and he exhaled a large breathe.
“Thank you.” He turned and smiled at Hana before getting off of Jiro.
“Brother?”
Sorry, Hana, can you go back first? I have something I need to do.”
“I will come with!”
Relic shook his head.
“This is something I need to do myself. I promise I won’t do anything dangerous.” He could see the worried expression on her face.
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Hana held out her pinky which Relic immediately reponded by holding out his pinky as well.
Their pinkies shook.
“You promised!” she spoke energetically.
Jiro turned and began heading back towards their home.
Relic smiled and waved them good bye.
When they were no longer in his sight he turned and headed towards a rustic home in the distance.
….
Relic soon appeared in front an average looking home. You wouldn’t be able to tell it apart from any of the other houses in this town, except this particular home was by itself in its own area.
On the roof of this house was a sign which read, Mayor.
“You’ve come.”
The door suddenly opened and the mayor’s voice sounded out.
“I’ve something I’d like to discuss.” Relic responded with confidence.
“I see you’ve dropped your childish act. Come in.”
Relic proceeded inside without hesitation.
As soon as he entered the home, the door immediately shut behind him. He proceeded through a short hall and saw a man sipping tea at a round table. By the man’s feet were two dog beasts, one black and one white, that were lazing around on their back and did not even pay attention to Relic’s appearance.
The home really wasn’t too big. It was even more humble than their own residence and there were barely any furniture.
“Are you finally willing to tell me the truth?” the mayor asked.
“You probably won’t believe me.” Relic sighed.
“I’ll be asking the questions and you merely have to answer them truthfully.” The mayor said coldly. He did not think Relic would be capable of lying to him at all.
Relic nodded and sat at the other end of the table.
“First question: what is your full name?”
“Relic Moofu Astor.”
The mayors divine sense completely enshrouded him, measuring if there were any fluctuations to his answer.
“How were you able to defeat that Spirit Beast?”
“During the adolescent years of a Divine Paradise Peacock, their neck is held up by two soft pieces of cartilage. If you apply enough pressure you can dislodge the neck from the body.”
The mayor immediately frowned.
“Who taught you this?”
“My friend.”
“Their name?”
“Jun Po”
“…..” The mayor went silent for a little.
“Does he belong to a sect?”
“Yes, he belongs to the Beast calamity Sect.”
The mayor immediately slammed his fist on the table. The dog beasts acted like they did not hear the sound and continued to sleep soundly.
“You are a liar!”
Relic was shocked by the mayor’s sudden burst of anger. He knew there was no way for him to lie and had no attention of lying. So why was the mayor calling him a liar?
“I’ve come today in order to ask you a favor. I would not choose to lie to you at this point.” Relic replied.
“Jun Po…. Jun Po is my god son and I’m one of the elders of the Beast Calamity Sect. Jun Po is only 6 this year and have never left the sect. What is more, he couldn’t possibly tell you any of this as he isn’t permitted to know about these things until he is older.” The mayor said coldly.
A gleam of light suddenly flashed in Relic’s eye. “You are Cornelius of the twin Heavenly destructors?”
“How did you…”
“Jun Po mentioned your name several times to me in the past. He held you a lot in regard and often said back when you were alive, you could make anyone quiver when they heard your name.” Relic eyes slowly shifted on to the two dogs that looked like defenseless puppies.
Relic seemed to let out a breath of relief and smiled. “Sorry, had I known you were Jun Po’s god father I wouldn’t have tried to hide anything.”
Cornelius was stuck for words.
He had been controlling the conversation the entire time and expected to finally determine all the secrets Relic was hiding from him. Who would have thought the conversation suddenly took a turn and now he was the one confused and unable to speak a word.
“You…who are you really?” Cornelius asked, now a little more cautiously.
“My name is indeed Relic and my home town is Heaven’s Peak. However, the last time I was here was probably over a century ago in my time.”
“Your time?” Cornelius frowned. “Are you trying to tell me you are from another time? From the future?”
“Yes.”
The two stared off. If anyone else was standing in the room they would be able to feel the air of tension.
Finally, Cornelius waved his hand a small yellow crystal appeared in his hand. “I presume you know what this is? “
Relic nodded.
“Good.” He held up his hand and spoke: ”Only the truth can be spoken, if one side lies they will die.”
The yellow crystal glowed bright.
Relic stretched out his hand and touched the yellow crystal. “I agree to the terms.”
The yellow crystal exploded into flames and engulfed their two bodies. Within moments, the flames were gone and neither looked hurt.
“The contract crystal is incredibly rare, but knowing the truth is more valuable to me now.” The mayor said.
“Was everything you said the truth?” He quickly asked.
“Yes.”
The mayor’s mind reeled. The contract of the yellow crystal worked exactly the same as a spirit contract. The difference was that the yellow crystal only allowed one condition and was time limited. The small contract crystal the mayor had would only last 5 minutes at most.
There was no way to lie from the contract crystal. That meant everything Relic said was the truth!
“H-how”
“I’m unsure myself, my last moments before coming here was falling in the ocean. The next thing I knew, I awoke in my younger body.”
“I-Incredible!” He did not dare believe Relic was lying while under the effects of the contract crystal. “I understand now why you were so adamant to not tell me anything. But why have you chosen to tell me now.” Cornelius suddenly asked, no longer having any doubt in his mind.
“There are too many things going on in this town and I no longer feel like I can handle it by myself.” Relic was truly desperate, otherwise he wouldn’t have let someone he didn’t know, know about his secret. “The truth is, this town is fated to be destroyed by evil cultivators.”
“Impossible, there are 8 different formations protecting this town and I keep a regular look out of this place. If a person wants to destroy this place they would need the power of a half step to immortal ascension or above to do so!”
“I’m unsure as well. Cornelius of the twin destructors was someone famed to be as powerful as those half step immortals while only being in the gold world realm. I truly cannot imagine anyone capable of destroying this town either while under your protection.”
Cornelius nodded as he expressed a look of deep thought.
Suddenly, his eyes widened and his pupils constricted.
“I DIE?!!!"