The Legendary Man Chapter 701-Jonathan gave the three of them a stunned look.
When he looked out from the cave earlier and noticed that it was still dark, he had assumed that he had only been out for a short. He couldn’t believe that an entire day had passed.
“Are you surprised that you survived?” Xavion asked with a smile.
Jonathan nodded candidly.
It was indeed a miracle for him to be alive based on the combined efforts of the three men before him.
Meanwhile, Karl had finally narrowed down the location.
“I found it. Killian’s signal is coming from Mapleton. It’s about nine hundred and sixty kilometers away from here.”
“Less than a thousand,” Jonathan murmured as he got to his feet.
“That doesn’t make sense. Stellario should have traveled one thousand and five hundred kilometers in twenty-four hours even with Layla and the kid in tow.”
“Why does it matter?” Xavion said with a grin. “The nearer to us, the better. Once we get the kid back, we can all go home and Karl would have to make his choice.”
No sooner had Xavion spoken than everyone turned to look at Karl.
All the cultivators from the six respectable families had infiltrated Remdik after being attracted by the terms offered by Karl.
Even though they were no fools and knew that the entire situation was a setup, they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to eradicate their peers.
Morris was the perfect example of that.
If Jonathan hadn’t finished him, Xavion and Sirius would have also killed him when he was at his weakest after unleashing the Dragon Mastodon Technique.
At the end of the day, they were just actors in a great drama. The only thing that mattered to cultivators was self-interest, while those who valued loyalty and morality never survived beyond Superior Realm.
With that, the group walked out of the cave and extinguished their fire before leaving.
In the midst of the snowstorm, Jonathan’s voice rang out.
“Why does my head hurt? Which of you hit me? Also, I don’t remember being struck on my thigh.”
“You remembered wrongly,” Sirius replied matter-of-factly.
In the blink of an eye, the four of them disappeared into the night.
Beside a river in Mapleton, Stellario was carving a fawn that had been skinned.
“Kathleen, stop sitting there as if you’re the boss and come help me!”
“You really have no shame in asking a woman to do work,” Kathleen commented flatly with a cigarette between her lips.
She was hugging Killian and Layla with one arm on each side.
The three of them were relatively comfortable with Kathleen sharing the mink coat she wore with Layla. Killian’s eyes were closed after he lost consciousness.
Subsequently, Winston held Killian’s hand to take his pulse before finally shaking his head.
“The kid is weak from exhaustion. Despite maintaining a strong front, he has yet to mature emotionally. All the killing in recent days must have traumatized him.”
“Traumatized?”
Stellario walked up with a tree branch in hand and skewered the venison with it.
“The kid has the guts to stab himself. Do you think he would be traumatized by us? When kids have a fever back in my village, they always recover after receiving bloodletting treatment. We should do the same to him.”
“I dare you to do it!” Kathleen shielded Killian with her fan. “Is any member of the Mallory family normal? You treat your children as vessels for rearing spiritual parasites, but this is just an ordinary kid!”
“Shut up, all of you.” Winston whipped out a red pill from his pocket and stuffed it into Killian’s mouth. “This medication should do the trick.”
“Winston, what in the world did you give him?” Kathleen snapped.
“A hawthorn pill. It’s good for the appetite too. Do you want one?” Winston replied without looking at her.
Even though the three of them had entered a temporary alliance, Kathleen and Winston were still awaiting confirmation from their own families.
Nonetheless, they understood that the blood curse and parasite venom would instantaneously kill Killian in the event any one of them detonated it.
There were only two possible conclusions to the matter.
The first one was where their three families would form an alliance and successfully return Killian to Karl, gaining the Eastern Army’s support.
As for the second scenario, someone would object to the alliance, resulting in Killian’s immediate death. The three allies would then become mortal enemies and turn on each other for the sake of their respective families.
While listening to their conversation, Layla, with Killian in her arms, stared blankly at the fire in front of her.
The thought of her dire circumstances brought her to the verge of tears.
Despite that, she was under no illusion that whatever she did was futile.
She was no different from a puppet whose strings were currently being pulled by others.
“Layla, take this.” Kathleen handed Layla a bowl of instant beef stew. “Eat something. In order to be strong enough to care for Killian, you’ll first have to take good care of yourself.”
Kathleen casually waved her hand and flew Killian toward her in a gentle spiritual energy bubble.
As for the bowl she was holding, it gradually floated up to Layla.
“To be honest, Layla, I envy you for having your own family and child,” Kathleen said while holding Killian in her arms. “That is something we’ll never have. From birth, the talented ones are raised to become cultivators to protect the family and vanquish their enemies. Those who are less talented will go into administration and resource allocation, while the ones at the bottom of the barrel will be sent away to execute the family’s schemes. Even when we come of age, marriage is nothing but a tool to further the family’s interest. By the way, Layla, if our three families form an alliance, you should let Killian become my godson. I like how ruthless that kid is. In fact, I can already see his potential as an adult.”
Layla buried her head in the beef stew, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“And what if you fail to form the alliance?”
“If we fail?” Kathleen smiled faintly at Killian. “I’ll erect a grave for both of you to make amends for letting you down.”
“Thank you,” Layla replied with a smile as she continued wolfing down her food.
Beside them, Stellario carved out a piece of half-cooked venison before sinking his teeth into the bloody piece of meat.
“How can our plan not succeed? You gotta have a little faith in it. United we stand, divided we fall. As long as the Leeson and Henderson families are not idiots, they’ll definitely agree to it.”
While Stellario was speaking, Winston, who was sitting opposite, suddenly brandished his billhook.
Stellario looked in Winston’s direction with the venison shank still in his hand.
“Winston, what the hell are you doing? Has your family rejected the collaboration?”
Winston said nothing. His eyes were trained on the hill across the river.
When Stellario trailed the trajectory of Winston’s gaze, he was greeted by the sight of a figure in a robe standing opposite them.
“Damn it. When is this going to end? I can’t even eat in peace. I’m going to kill you for this!” Stellario cursed while charging across the river.
