Chapter 46 Treasure trove
“He’s not dead,” Hutrar said.
“What?” Mael snapped, his anger stalling mid-breath.
“Are you blind? He’s right there.”
Mael turned around sharply. His eyes widened in shock.
Chan stood by the open stone doors, completely unharmed, with the massive doors wide open behind him. Everyone except Mael had already seen him.
Chan scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Uh… I’m okay.”
Mael’s face turned red with embarrassment and fury. He looked like a complete fool after his dramatic outburst.
“You! Why didn’t you say anything?”
His voice cracked. “You just stood there and watched me embarrass myself?”
“And you should be angry at Vandal too! What if you had truly died? He led you straight into danger with his greed!”
Chan shrugged casually. “As soon as the doors closed and locked me inside, I saw a lot of treasures.”
“There were ancient weapons glowing with powerful auras, piles of rare spiritual herbs releasing strong medicinal fragrance, chests filled with shining spirit stones, and even a few mysterious manuals floating in the air. It looked like the kind of inheritance that could change one’s fate completely.”
He paused for a moment, then continued, “But out of fear of the unknown, I refused to touch anything. I did not know what kind of traps or curses might be attached to them. Luckily, opening the doors from the inside was quite easy. So here I am.”
Mael looked like he wanted to argue more but could not find the words.
Vandal did not waste any time. The moment the group started walking into the treasure hall, gasps of awe escaped their lips. A dull golden light reflected back at them, reminiscent of gold, lots of gold.
Ancient weapons hummed with restrained power.
Clusters of rare herbs released thick medicinal fragrance into the air.
Spirit stones gleamed from open chests, and several manuals floated quietly, as if waiting to be chosen.
While everyone entered the hall and decided what to pick, he discreetly activated his left eye. After scanning the room quickly, he spotted a plain-looking space ring hidden inside a small crack on one of the pillars. It was placed inconspicuously, clearly meant to be overlooked. Without hesitation, he moved swiftly, picked it up, and slipped it into his sleeve before anyone could notice.
However, Yazmeen noticed everything. She had been quietly watching Vandal the entire time, her suspicion toward him growing stronger. She knew he was definitely not simple.
Just as the group moved deeper into the treasure hall, loud voices echoed from two other tunnels outside. A group of several youths from other clans emerged. They looked much fresher and more energetic compared to the tired and ragged enforcers.
Jaclynn immediately stepped forward and declared loudly, “We are enforcers from the Unseeing Faith Sect. This area belongs to us. You should leave immediately.”
The other youths exchanged glances, then burst into mocking laughter.
“Unseeing Faith? So what?” one of them sneered. “Look at all of you. You are beaten up, tired, and weak. Even if you are from the Unseeing Faith, right now you look like easy prey.”
Another youth stepped forward with an arrogant smile. “The treasure trove does not have the Unseeing Faith name written on it. Since we found this place too, we deserve a share of the spoils. If you know what is good for you, you will cooperate. Otherwise, we do not mind killing all of you and taking everything.”
The atmosphere instantly became tense. The other youths began spreading out, clearly ready to attack if the enforcers refused.
“Jaclynn, stand down and allow them in,” Mael ordered.
“No, that’s a bad move,” Vandal noted as he observed their hesitancy despite their arrogance and threats.
“Why do you say it’s a bad move?” Sabine asked.
“Because their body language tells a different story. They are mostly cowards who prey on the weak and helpless. Notice how, even when they hurled their threat, they avoided meeting Jaclynn’s eyes, and the one who spoke even fidgeted a little,” Vandal explained. In his former life, he had been a business mogul, and he studied human reactions and patterns enough to make successful deals and strike bargains that eventually brought him millions.
“No one here wants to be first in case the person being bullied turns out to be stronger than them.”
“And now he is going to start puffing himself up because Mael has given the impression that we are indeed weak,” Vandal analyzed to Sabine. Yazmeen also listened in, and sure enough, something began to unfold.
“I think we might want to take most of the treasures, seeing as there are nearly a hundred of us and only about seven or six and a half of you.” A few of them snickered upon noticing Jaden only had one arm.
“Damn, you guys really got put through a wringer, huh?” The youth’s brown eyes glinted dangerously as he threw a lewd glance at Yazmeen’s chest.
“I said we will share the treasures with you, so why are you trying to make things more difficult for us?” Mael asked.
Suddenly, the speaking youth activated his water echo without warning, and a compressed sphere of water shot from his palm.
It slammed into Mael’s chest.
He hit the ground hard. The others burst into more laughter.
Hutrar tried to use his echo ability. Flames sparked in his palm, then collapsed into smoke. Vandal stood quietly and noted that the ninety-eight-man group consisted of three leaders, and it was the smallest and shortest leader who had been talking. They seemed to be composed of two clans, judging by the different crests on their robes.
“Vandal, what are we going to do?” Sabine said nervously, gulping at their sheer numbers. One of the leaders was now ogling Sabine as he sauntered toward her, swagger in his step.
“You don’t belong with them,” he said, stopping in front of Sabine. “Come with me. I’ll treat you better,” the echo warrior said with implied meaning. “You scratch my back, I scratch yours. What do you say?”
Vandal glanced across the treasures. There were all sorts of items: resonance fruits, pills, beast echo cores, some gold and silver, and a strange key with a skull-shaped head.
Just then, Chan finally spoke up.
“Leave.”
His smile was gone, replaced by a straight, emotionless face.
“Or I start killing.”