The Devil’s Cage

Kieran clearly saw the hand signs in the man’s sleeve and he understood the meaning instantly.

The Reincarnated One?

Kieran wondered.

Other than the Reincarnated One, what else would the man be testing out?

Besides, based on Huai Cuike’s righteousness in this incident, it also stated the Herders weren’t surprised by a Reincarnated One. He didn’t even have the intention to ask about the battle earlier.

It seemed like in this world, a Reincarnated One was not something unheard of before and some sort of rules already formed around them.

The man, proclaimed as Song Shi’s servant, knew the rules well.

Kieran subtly glanced over Huai Cuike. He wasn’t sure whether Huai Cuike was aware of such rules or not, but since Song Shi’s servant kept the signs away from the old man, the rules revolving a Reincarnated One should be rather secretive, not even a veteran Herder knew such secrets.

Kieran also wouldn’t simply create stories around himself, he furrowed his brows naturally and showed confusion on his face.

Seeing the reaction from Kieran’s face, Song Shi’s servant did not react in surprise or shock. He quickly said, “Of course, our young lady might have accidentally offended Sir Royan’s brother, she is very regretful of that and please believe me when I say our young lady didn’t do it on purpose. On top of that, after knowing Roye is good at cooking, our young lady has meticulously prepared a little present, in hopes for Roye’s forgiveness. Fret not, this little present will only allow Roye to further heighten his cooking skills with convenience.”

“Cooking skills?” Kieran turned to Starbeck.

If it was something else, Kieran wouldn’t care as much but if it was related to cooking, he had to care, so did Starbeck.

Having many things that commoners couldn’t even imagine, Starbeck paid very little attention to most of the items out there, but not cooking, because it was something that concerned Kieran.

Unknowingly, Starbeck’s eyes showed curiosity and anticipation, and after Kieran saw the reaction, he nodded.

“I’ll be looking forward to Song Shi’s present,” said Kieran.

“It will not let you down. It will be delivered to you at dawn.”

The servant wearing a gown with a mandarin jacket over it and cloth shoes smiled with assurance.

“Come after 3 in the afternoon. It’s our resting time before that,” Kieran said with a shake of his head.

“Not a problem. I’ll deliver it on time. This is my phone number, please contact me anytime if you have any questions. Our young lady, Song Shi, is keen to form a good relationship with you.”

Song Shi’s servant took out a piece of paper and presented it to Kieran with both his hands.

The piece of paper was two fingers thick, less than 10 cm long, yet the quality of paper was very delicate. It felt like Xuan paper with a layer of coating, the feeling of holding it in hand was nice and it had a nice weight to it.

On top of one side of the paper was a name: Mian Yi; the other side was a phone number.

After Kieran accepted the piece of paper, the servant, named Mian Yi, bowed slightly and left with a smile. He didn’t talk further with Huai Cuike or Hoen, nor did they talk to him.

Although all of them came together, they weren’t as close as they looked.

Mian Yi left the premise, his footsteps finally going away and Huai Cuike sighed.

“I know we worked together more than once, but I can never get used to it,” said the veteran Herder of East Sector.

“Hmm. If it wasn’t for the Dark Moon Treaty…”

Hoen nodded in agreement, the words slipping out of his mouth and he quickly reacted to what he had said. They weren’t in their own base, but Kieran’s restaurant, so Hoen quickly shut his mouth.

Huai Cuike waved his hand though, “It’s fine, Royan is one of us. He is not a stranger to the Dark Moon Treaty. His father is one of the people who disagreed with the treaty back then.”

The words of the veteran Herder of East Sector were not to be doubted and after Hoen heard it, he instantly showed a smile to Kieran, not the courteous one but the kind and warm one.

It seemed like the fake identity of ‘Royan’s father’ that Ed Wong forged was very effective, especially when said character stood against the Dark Moon Treaty.

“Where is your family from?”

“Royan, Roye…Ro… are you from the East? The Dragon City or the Imperial City?” Hoen asked straightforwardly.

“I don’t know. My father didn’t tell us anything about our origin. He just told us to come to Ed Wong when he died,” Kieran replied ‘honestly’.

“Your family retreated from society?”

“I guess it couldn’t be helped. After that incident, most of the Demon Hunter family chose to move away from the current society—I am Hoen, one of the Ellen Family of the Far North.”

Hoen sighed with realization before extending his right hand, Kieran replying with his shake.

The shake lasted for less than a second. Hoen smiled brighter after that.

Hoen was also one of the Demon Hunter family descendants, his family chose to retreat from society as well and the descendants, including himself, hunted monsters and protected the civilians. This similarity made Hoen show more kindness to Kieran. He had obviously treated Kieran as one of his own.

“Royan, you better be careful of Song Shi. Although they have a part of the human bloodline, hence sided with us humans, the name of their family isn’t that good, especially the elder daughter of the family, Song Shi. She has reached a suitable age for marriage, that’s why she left Song Shi Hotel, you have to be careful. Judging from how humble Mian Yi was earlier, Song Shi might have her eyes on you…”

“Ahem! Mind your words!”

Before Hoen could finish, Huai Cuike stopped him with a rough grunt.

“It’s an undeniable fact that Song Shi is an ally to the Herders. They are also kind enough, and other than the occasional pranks, they didn’t do anything malicious. Anything beyond that is not something you should be worried about Royan.”

Huai Cuike drew a conclusion on the topic and pressed the topic away. A few seconds in deep thought later, Huai Cuike asked, “Royan, are you familiar with the term ‘Reincarnated One’?”

Kieran shook his head honestly.

“Then, have you ever experienced anything weird in your dreams?” Huai Cuike continued his question.

Kieran shook his head again.

‘Dream? Are you kidding me?’

Due to his nature of being alarmed and cautious all the time, he had to rest in a very special way, especially in dungeon worlds, where he recovered his energy and stamina with catnaps most of the time. Dreams never happened in his light sleep.

“Then… Nevermind, forget it, it’s inappropriate for me to ask this kind of thing, and even if I did, you wouldn’t tell me either. Remember, don’t ever harm a civilian and keep yourself above your bottom line.”

Huai Cuike originally wanted to ask more but when his words came out, he shook his head in denial.

The veteran Herder then stood up.

“I am looking forward to your performance in the Battle of Winter night.”

Huai Cuike then walked out from the restaurant.

“Come to the South Sector for a visit some time, I’ll introduce you to other Demon Hunter family members,” Hoen smiled and Kieran before he caught up to Huai Cuike.

Kieran saw them off quietly.

Monsters that stood on human’s side.

Reclusive Demon Hunter families.

Reincarnated One.

Kieran had once again learned more about the mystical side of this dungeon world.

Next, he would have to figure out ways to deal with the troubles caused by the mystical side and try his best to maximize his gains.

Ignorance is bliss. The lesser one knows, the safer one is.

Sometimes, the saying wasn’t just to bluff people even though its original intention was messing around.

After Kieran fell into deep thoughts, Starbeck quietly tidied up the messy floor.

He knew Kieran’s habits well, it was best to not disturb him during his thinking.

Similarly, Kieran would also not disturb Starbeck when he was cooking.

Tacit understanding came from mutual respect.

Amy and Teddy saw Starbeck tidying up the place, joining him.

They followed Starbeck, keeping the noise down and putting the things back quietly.

Leaf Dining was returning to its original state in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, it would be a sleepless night somewhere else.

Ai City, South Sector.

Inside an independent villa, Song Shi was smashing her pillow angrily.

A few hits later, the pillow burst.

Feathers danced in her spacious bedroom.

One of the servants quickly cleaned up the flying feathers and when Mian Yi came back from the meeting, he passed another pillow to Song Shi.

Song Shi got stunned.

“Smashing pillows is better than smashing people,” Mian Yi smiled.

His words and smiles got Song Shi’s angry glare in return.

“I am just careless…”

“Careless?”

“If it wasn’t for the protection charm that master gave you, you would have died in that street corner, that light sword would have sliced you in half! Your meat would end up in a pot, feeding the one who killed you. Your skin would probably be knitted into a scarf, curling up on his brother’s neck.”

Mian Yi stopped Song Shi, not only did he stop her, he didn’t hold back in dissing her.

He wasn’t really unhappy with Song Shi. Quite the contrary, Mian Yi had looked after Song Shi since she was young. As the earliest servant in Song Shi Family, Mian Yi had treated Song Shi as his junior.

He wished nothing would happen to his junior but his junior’s attitude would surely cause some big trouble sooner or later.

Therefore, whenever he had a chance, he would use it to teach Song Shi a lesson.

What happened before this encounter was insignificant, but this time, Mian Yi deemed it a perfect opportunity.

“How dare he! I am…”

“Of course he dare! I know you are the daughter, the precious jewel of Song Shi Family, but he might turn out to be a God of Slaughter reincarnated—I don’t know how those fools let a God of Slaughter reincarnate, but since he is here, it proves that he isn’t afraid of anyone, anything, or any kind of existence. Whoever shall step on his tail, or even provoke him, he will show no mercy, like those stories throughout history. Killing one is kill, killing millions is also kill. The God of Slaughter isn’t something you can understand with common sense.”

Mian Yi interrupted Song Shi again.

Song Shi widened her mouth, wanting to argue but couldn’t think of any words to, because she knew what Mian Yi said was the truth.

A Reincarnated One of God of Slaughters, no one understood them better than the monsters, like Song Shi and her family.

Practically speaking, those Reincarnated Ones weren’t really human, they were even more monstrous than real monsters.

At least a monster like Song Shi would show mercy based on mood or hunger, but a God of Slaughter would not!

Their existence was to kill and to kill only!

Slaughtering lives, hundreds of miles of land tained red.

Fortunately, a true God of Slaughter and a Reincarnated One of God of Slaughter were different.

The latter still had chances to turn back, otherwise Song Shi Family would have launched an all out onslaught on Kieran. It would not stop until either one of them was annihilated, and judging from how history panned out, Song Shi Family would probably be the one to perish.

A Reincarnated One of a God of Slaughter wasn’t something anyone could mess around with.

Recalling the earlier scene, if it wasn’t for her father’s protection charm, she might really have ended up like what Mian Yi said, her meat eaten and her skin knitted into a scarf.

Whenever that picture entered her mind, Song Shi trembled in fear.

Mian Yi saw her reaction, heaving a breath of relief.

Finally she understood fear!

Sometimes, fear wasn’t a bad thing, it taught the living to live in reverence.

With reverence, the living would grow quicker! At least they learned their limits, knowing what they could do and what they couldn’t.

“You were too reckless in the past. With the golden name of Song Shi, no one in Ai City and the neighbouring lands would dare to offend you, but you have no idea how big this world is. There are a lot of places that your father cannot reach and there are a lot of existence out there that your father cannot oppose. So you must be careful. This world is much more dangerous than you think,” Mian Yi said after a deep breath.

“I-I… understand!”

Song Shi stubbornly wanted to argue but when she saw Mian Yi’s anticipated gaze, her arguments were lost in her throat, all she could do was sulk and agree.

“Mm, it’s great if you really understand. I tested him before, it seems like he hasn’t recovered his memory but it doesn’t mean you can go step on his tail. I’m saying this because I hope you can mend the relationship and if it’s possible…”

“NO! I don’t want to marry that bastard!”

Song Shi had calmed down but after she heard what Mian Yi said, she was infuriated, angrily tossing the pillow on the floor, stomping on it and going out of her room.

Mian Yi watched her back as she stomped away, sighing.

‘Oh dear, young lady, the Reincarnated One is much scarier and stronger than you can imagine.

If you can really unite with him by marriage, your safety in the future would be secured.

After all, master can’t…’

Mian Yi didn’t tell Song Shi everything, he was afraid that it might be too harsh for her.

He had to find a better way, a milder way, to persuade his lady.

While Mian Yi was thinking about how to deal with Song Shi, he turned his head around all of a sudden. A sense of rage flashed over his calm face and he instantly appeared outside the villa.

A hole on the ground opened up quietly, and someone was swiftly heading towards the hole.

Mian Yi shouted loudly, “Do you really think Song Shi Family is bulliable?”

His voice was as loud as thunder, spreading deep into the hole on the ground.

Bloody Mary was following Mazmu in the tunnel quietly, sensing that Mazmu’s reinforcement was on their way and it was almost out of ways to make its move. However, when it saw Mazmu’s body freeze for a moment, Bloody Mary’s eyes shined brilliantly.

It had heard Song Shi’s name before, but it wasn’t important now.

The important thing was, it had seized the chance to make a move!

While Mazmu was hesitating and doubting, Bloody Mary dived out from the tunnel wall, grabbed the brick that it had prepared earlier and smashed it on to the back of Mazmu’s head.

Bang!

Mazmu had just changed a new body, it never thought it would be ambushed in this underground tunnel, so before he could react, he got knocked out on the ground.

Despite falling unconscious, Mazmu held the cobblestone tightly in his hand.

No, not cobblestone, it was the Philosopher’s Stone.

Mazmu highly believed the normal looking stone was indeed the Philosopher’s Stone.

So, Bloody Mary thought it should go with Mazmu’s strong beliefs.

It dragged the unconscious Mazmu deeper into the tunnel and it didn’t take away the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ in his hand. It let Mazmu keep it in his hand.