Leaving

Although the Contract could control everything, doing so also consumed his mental energy. This was especially true when the Corrupted he had contracted resisted him—the strain on his mind would double. Liao Ji had already discovered this during his earlier experiments with Irin.

So while he could force her to obey with the Contract for a short time, he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. It clearly wasn't a sustainable solution.

Liao Ji decided the best approach was to get Irin to willingly help him.

And now, it seemed, he had at least partially achieved that goal.

"Miss Irin, could you search those Kobolds? You should be able to find quite a few Special Candles on them," Liao Ji asked politely.

Irin glanced at the filthy corpses on the ground, still oozing blood. Then she looked at the young man, who had stopped pretending now that she'd seen through him. He was standing far away from the bodies, covering his nose with one hand and wearing an expression of utter disgust. Irin thought he was just missing a white handkerchief.

Her brow twitched a few times, but she held her tongue.

Candles were a specialty item dropped by Kobold monsters. Before long, Irin had gathered a large bundle and carried it over to Liao Ji.

"And now what, young master?" Irin asked irritably. She couldn't understand what was so special about these worthless candles.

"Thanks for your effort. Now we just have to set them all on fire."

"Set them on fire?"

"That's right. These Kobold candles are made from special materials and burn extremely well. This many should be enough to burn down this entire chamber, along with everything inside." Liao Ji patiently explained.

But that clearly wasn't what Irin was focused on.

"What! You fossil! You're going to burn this place down? And all these precious Relics?!"

The moment she heard what Liao Ji intended to do, Irin bristled like an angry cat. She even changed the way she addressed him.

She grabbed a glass vessel from a shelf. Though it was covered in cobwebs and dust, its shape and texture still revealed its classical elegance.

"Do you have any idea how many people would fight over this if we took it to the black market?"

"And this, and this, and all of these!" Irin pointed in turn at the piles of porcelain, statues, and murals throughout the chamber.

She stood in front of Liao Ji like a tigress guarding her cubs.

"If we sold all of this, we'd get at least hundreds of thousands of Ash Coins. Hundreds of thousands! And you're just going to... burn it?"

Faced with the thoroughly agitated girl, Liao Ji raised a hand to calm her down. He understood why she was upset, but...

"Miss Irin, have you considered that even if all this stuff really is as valuable as you say..."

"It's not 'if'! It definitely is! This is the Great Emperor's 'legacy'!" Irin loudly insisted.

"All right. It's valuable, and it's worth a fortune. But how are you going to turn it into money? By 'turn it into money,' I mean exchange it for those... Ash Coins you mentioned?"

Irin immediately blurted out, "I already told you! We sell it on the black market!"

"Right. But from what you said earlier, Corrupted items are incredibly rare in this era, and they're contraband. If you suddenly bring so many illegal goods to the black market, won't people start watching you?"

"Even if you decide to sell them slowly, don't forget that you weren't the only one on this expedition. Miss Irin, if I'm not mistaken, you were just the scavenger hired to read the map and guide the others, right? And your employers were the real tomb raiders—or, let's call them an expedition team. They had enough firearms to kill you without hesitation, and afterward they even threatened your family. I can't believe they weren't backed by some major organization."

After hearing Liao Ji out, Irin finally calmed down a little. She paused, then said with a look of disgust, "They're called Kalleva. They're a notorious gang in the Black Cave Settlement."

"I see."

"Then what do you think a notorious gang would do if they found out that the members they sent into the underground had all been wiped out, while the scavenger who guided them had somehow survived—and was now selling one precious treasure after another on the black market? What would you do in their place?"

The prospect of all that money had blinded Irin. Liao Ji's words brought her abruptly back to her senses, and a cold sweat broke out across her back.

Her expression fell, and panic crept into her eyes.

"If Kalleva finds out I'm the only survivor... they'll definitely come after me, even if I do nothing." Irin murmured, at a loss.

"Exactly. So there's only one best solution: make Kalleva believe you died with the others. That's why I insist on burning this place down. If it looks like no one survived, then when the gang sends someone to investigate, you'll be completely in the clear."

Irin's eyes grew brighter as she listened. Soon, she was looking at Liao Ji with admiration.

"I didn't expect you to still have such a sharp mind after sleeping for five hundred years."

"Thanks."

The truth was, another reason Liao Ji didn't mind burning the place down was that many of the things here had become nothing more than decaying antiques after five hundred years, just like the Sword of the Great Emperor.

As for the truly valuable items that could survive five hundred years intact, they were in the stone coffin. The five—no, after excluding the one he'd used on Irin, the remaining four small Corrupted Crystals—were already in his possession. So this former resource chamber was of no value to him. He might as well burn it and leave no trace.

Meanwhile, Irin had just been celebrating the prospect of escaping the gang. But when she followed that line of thought further, her face changed again.

"Wait... no, hold on! What about my mother? She's seriously ill and waiting for treatment at a clinic in the settlement. She's in no condition to leave with me. I... I..."

Irin had known that dealing with the gang was risky, but she had still taken the job because her mother, the only family she had, desperately needed a large sum of money for lifesaving treatment.

But now, not only had she failed to receive the payment she'd earned, she had also landed herself in serious trouble with the gang. She could never abandon her mother and leave on her own. But to take her mother with her, she would need to pay an exorbitant medical bill. Her only way to get that money was to sell the Relics, and selling them would bring the gang after her.

Irin felt as though she was trapped in a vicious cycle.

Then another voice interrupted her.

"Miss Irin, I should point out that while you can't take most of the things in this chamber with you, you can at least take the most valuable thing here, can't you?"

"The most valuable thing?" Irin looked around in confusion.

Then Liao Ji pointed to himself.

"As long as your mother is still breathing, I can cure her, no matter how complicated her illness is. You've experienced that for yourself, Miss Irin."

At his words, Irin remembered how he had treated her just a few minutes ago. Her cheeks flushed, and excitement filled her.

"Right, right! How could I forget you, you old f—cough, young master!"

But then she looked uncertain again. Lowering her head, Irin asked cautiously, "Are you sure you can?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, your ability is so powerful. It must take a lot out of you, right? Are you really sure it's all right to use such a precious ability on a scavenger's mother?"

Irin puffed out her cheeks, embarrassed and frustrated that she had to spell it out for him.

It had to be said: after receiving Holy Healing, the girl had regained the youthful radiance she should have had at her age. The good looks that had been hidden beneath the hardships of a scavenger's life now shone through.

Liao Ji could hardly believe that he was seeing a hint of cuteness in Irin.

"First of all, you're no longer a scavenger. Second, you and I have a Contract, and you've become my Corrupted. At least for as long as the Contract remains in force, you're one of mine. You work for me, so naturally I'm responsible for you."

"As for the last part... don't worry. Five hundred years ago, I was a big shot. I may be much weaker now, but using that healing ability four or five times in one day is still a piece of cake."

After hearing Liao Ji promise it himself, Irin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, when the young man said something like "you're one of mine," the girl couldn't help blushing and grumbling inwardly.

But all things considered...

Irin suddenly felt that having someone look out for her seemed... pretty nice.

"All right, Miss Irin. Get to work. I really don't want to spend another second in this godforsaken place."

The young man urged her on, yet made no move to help. Still, since he could treat her mother, Irin obediently got to work.

With considerable effort, she crushed the Kobold candles, extracted their combustible material, and spread it evenly throughout the chamber.

When she was done, Irin picked up Liao Ji and used one of the Kobolds' shovels to climb through the hole they'd come in through.

Before, she would never have believed she could climb through a tunnel more than ten meters deep. Now she could even spare one hand to carry a grown man.

That was the strength the Corrupted gained.

Once they reached the upper level, Irin set Liao Ji down. He took the makeshift torch she'd had time to prepare. Its sizzling flame cast the young man's refined features in flickering light.

"So... does that mean we've cleared the prologue?" Liao Ji muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

Liao Ji casually tossed the torch into the hole and turned away.

The next second, the highly flammable wax oil from the Kobold candles caught fire. With a thunderous roar, flames quickly engulfed the chamber. A wave of scorching heat rushed out of the hole, and the fire lit up the underground cavern in a red glow.

Following behind Liao Ji, Irin watched his dashing back and pursed her lips.

Hmph. She'd done all the work from start to finish, but when it was time to light the fire, he stepped in and did it himself. He hadn't even looked back. What was he trying to prove, acting so cool?

But... it really did look pretty cool. She'd have to try it next time!