Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

"Then why did you give one to the Ghost Clan's young master, huh? Giving the pills to the orthodox forces might be justifiable, but you gave one to a heterodox clan as well. You were helping the evil!" Jarrod retorted defiantly. He was still trying to find fault with Zachary, and he was giving it all he had.

"Ah-ha! Just as I expected. You can't explain it, can you?" Anthony echoed his own voice.

"When it comes to that, I owe you no explanation at all. You two weren't present at the time, so you don't know what happened. You can, however, ask Guardian Patrick who actually witnessed it all. The Ghost Clan's young master blamed me for peeping at him while he was taking a bath and threatening me into giving him a Sun-swallowing Pill!" Zachary replied, glancing in Patrick's direction, who was sitting on the other side.

"Guardian Patrick, did that occur?" Jaxon faced Patrick and asked.

"Yes, it's true. But I don't think it was necessary for him to take such action at the time. The Ghost Clan's young master is a man. Let's face it. The fact that Harley might have seen him taking a bath really isn't a big deal." Patrick was, of course, siding with Anthony on this one.

"Of course. You have your master to support you, right? Why did you fear the Ghost Clan in the first place? You were much too timid." Anthony grabbed at the opportunity, seeing it as an open door to pour ridicule on Zachary.

"And again, yes, you're right. I was so cowardly that I gave him a Sun-swallowing Pill," Zachary admitted in a nonchalant manner.

Every member observing the scene was surprised by his words. How could he possibly bear the humiliation so calmly?

"But everyone, you might have all forgotten one thing. Although my master is a powerful Holy Level warrior, according to the Supernal Continent's rules, any warrior above the Holy Level isn't allowed to interfere in ordinary persons' affairs. The reason why she appeared at that very moment was to stop the Sun-swallowing Beast that had gone mad. Originally, the Sage Level beast should bring benefit to the world, but for some reason, it was used by certain ambitious people in order to hurt the major forces. Therefore, my master took action in order to prevent a disaster, not for my sake whatsoever. It's safe to say that if I had a personal conflict with the Ghost Clan, she wouldn't have gotten involved."

asn't for him, I wouldn't have gone there this time, and I therefore thanked him with a pill as a gift. The second reason was to figure out what kind of person he really is. If he is worthy of trust, perhaps I can try to draw him over to the Xiao Clan and have him work for us. At least, that was my train of thought in this situation. It's possible to say that he isn't much inferior to me in terms of talent. What's more, he doesn't receive any explicit guidance from a famous teacher. He's been capable of becoming what he is today with his own effort and talent alone. To sum it all up, I believe he's a talent worth cultivating," Zachary explained as seriously as he could.

"I must thank you for placing yourself in our position. In fact, I had paid attention to him before, and I was certain I'd found a diamond in the rough. That said, I heard a few rumors later on that he seemed to have some type of relationship with the Ghost Clan, and that perhaps, he had been a disciple of the Ghost Clan in the past. Although he joined an orthodox force later, many doubts about him remain. He is a man worthy of training, but I don't think any orthodox force, including us, is willing to recruit a warrior from a heterodox clan," Jaxon explained in return, after a moment's hesitation.

"You're right. Better safe than sorry. The Xiao Clan achieves what it has today because of your farsighted, cautious and wise strategy. If I may say so myself, I think you might as well consider it from another angle," Zachary suggested, narrowing his eyes and focusing his attention on Jaxon.