Consequence

"Why not? Xu An shrugged.

"Forget it, can you answer my questions?" Fred brought back the topic.

"After you shut your eyes, Xu An took care of the serpent and took its corpse. Second, after the serpent came out, I healed the goblins and as a way to thank us, they let us free you and use the clinic.

"How we know your story. Well, you keep saying in your sleep, 'Chin Sha, I'll kill you!' over and over again."

"...Are you serious?" Fred asked skeptically.

"Yeah, your expression is twisted in hatred and anger. It's truly ugly to look at," Xu An said as he shook his head.

Fred did not say anything as he silently pondered for a short moment.

Xu An and Morgiana did not disturb him as he was making a decision. They instead talked to each other about how the serpent's carcass was going to split.

The price in the market was enormous and Morgiana played a role too.

"How about 70-30?" Xu An suggested.

"Sure," Morgiana nodded but Xu An was too focused in his mind that he did not listen.

"Too low huh? I guess 50-50 is good," Xu An paused as he shot Morgiana with a perplexed look.

"...hmm? Wait, you okay with it?"

"Yeah, you're the one who did the most damage. I only prevented it from escaping. It would be unfair if I take fifty-fifty," Morgiana replied with a nod. Xu An was touched.

Who thought there was such a person like Morgiana in this world? A great sla– friend he had.

"Since you said so, alright." Xu An smiled.

"Fine, I'll work together with you. How are you going to kill Chin Sha?" Fred came to his decision and asked in the next moment.

"As you know, I'm going to compete against Chin Sha in Death Rush in six days. The loser has to die but there is one rule, which is that the winner can do anything they like to the loser," Xu An gave a glimpse of his plan to Fred and the latter understood.

"So you want to defeat him in Death Rush, giving his life to me so as to kill him?"

"Precisely," Xu An nodded as he continued, "though, I don't know his abilities. This reduced my chance of winning. Fortunately, the both of us were in the dark."

Chin Sha did not know Xu An's abilities either. This could be an advantage and with Fred's existence by their side

"And with you here, my chance of winning increased considerably."

"I'm okay with the idea of telling you his abilities, but if I tell you. Can you win? Despite the fact I cannot sense your cultivation realm, I have a faint feeling you're many times weaker than him," said Fred as his voice filled with doubt.

"It will work out somehow," said Xu An without hesitation and Fred's mouth twitched slightly.

"Work out somehow… Do you not see the situation we're in? Stop joking!" Fred was furious.

"I'm serious. What I want from you is to trust me, that's all," said Xu An with a rather solemn yet playful tone.

Hesitated, Fred diverted his line of sight to Morgiana. The latter nodded as she said, "He can be shady sometimes but he isn't the person who betrays your trust."

Fred pinched his chin as he pondered for a short moment.

In the process, Xu An reacted to Morgiana's words as he asked cluelessly, "I'm shady?"

"Yeah, where did you get that eight thousand Yakhu?* Morgiana's tone intensified as she asked suspiciously. It was as though a mother caught his son doing something bad.

"My little brother gave it to me," replied Xu An the truth but not the whole truth as he continued, "He kicked me out of the clan and the eight thousand Yakhu is, well, you know."

Morgiana nodded a few times as she understood what was going, "I see, but isn't 8K a bit too low?"

Xu An shrugged his shoulders, as he slightly raised his arms, "probably because I'm useless to them these recent years? I mean, it's amazing and kind of them that they allowed me to stay there for two years before kicking me out. Considering I'm like a giant baby, even walking is hard for me."

"That can't be blamed. You get lost when you're 8, trapped in Spatmension Great Forest all alone for two years, fell in a coma for 3 years, and rehabilitated for a year.

"After you're rehabilitated, you're 14 and you get kicked out of the house as you hit 16," Morgiana briefly recalled Xu An's history.

"You remember that? Also, is telling the age necessary?" Xu An wore a puzzled expression. He told her his situation but did not expect much from her. Knowing she remembered it, it somehow touched his heart.

"Isn't that obvious? You kept blabbering about it when you're drunk and it stuck in my head. At any rate, you don't have to think negatively about the clan's decision as to why they kicked you out. In my view at least, it is for the better," said Morgiana as she smiled.

"Getting rid of a burden is indeed for the better," Fred abruptly interrupted but Morgiana glared at him. Fred hurriedly tightened his lip.

"Shut up, you don't know what's going on here. Alright, enough about me. What's your decision, Fred?"

"Okay, I'll trust you and leave Chin Sha to you. I don't lose anything either, but that does not mean I'm willing to wait without doing anything.

"Your cultivation realm is low. Although short observation is futile to detect your realm, close and long observation is enough.

"You need to increase your cultivation realm as fast as possible in the next six days. Though, I don't know a person who could advance that much in a few short days." Fred then sighed as he wore a troubled look.

"Like I said, trust me," Xu An smiled as he said confidently.

Temporarily staying silent, Fred said, "...fine, it's not like we have much of a choice. I'll tell you now about Chin Sha's abilities.

"His most powerful attack is the soul attack. Most cultivators have a rather vulnerable soul and facing Chin Sha is akin to facing a dragon without armor.

"In Death Rush, two people had to advance deeper or higher in a dungeon. Since the stage is the Tower of God. To win, you have to reach the highest floor within the time limit or your opponent dies.

"However, this only applies to ordinary dungeons. The Tower of God is unlike them. The first floor is the hardest, the second floor isn't any better," Fred explained as he paused. Before he could continue, Morgiana asked as she confirmed her guesses in her mind:

"So what Xu An has to do is to survive on the first floor? After that, he must not advance?"

"Yes, I doubt even Chin Sha could survive the first floor no matter how strong his soul attack is. It is just that he most likely attacks you rather than advancing."

Xu An's expression was solemn as he listened the entire time. His mind did not idle either, he thought of many tactics and strategies.

After Fred ended his words, Xu An opened his mouth and was about to utter a sound when the ground shook and a loud thud echoed in the air.

Bam! Bam!

"My white snake! Where are you?!" A little girl's voice yelled as she cried. Simultaneously, she was making a big ruckus.

Xu An and the gang were curious and so, they peeked out through the window and saw a little girl with long white hair. She was holding a wooden bat as she destroyed the stalls on the street.

"My tamed beast is killed! Who killed it?! Darn it!" She yelled as she smashed the bat at the stall and wood fragments scattered to the air before falling to the ground.

Goblins in armor then deployed to arrest this little girl. However, they could not approach her. When they tried to, the bat would hit them on the face and they were knocked back a few meters away as they collapsed to the ground.

Heck, even the head armor they wore was heavily damaged. There were wrinkles and creases as it slightly caved in.

"That girl is going to get killed!" Morgiana was alarmed as her expression was that of worried.

Xu An glanced at her expression and quickly jumped out of the window. Get down as he came in the girl's side.

Before Xu An arrived at her side, he covered his mouth and nose with his scarf. Although the disguise was bad, they could not find him even if he revealed himself the next time.

"Who are you?" The girl asked cautiously as he saw a stranger come out of nowhere and stand beside her side.

However, Xu An ignored her question.

"Wait, hold on everyone. There must be a way out of this without force." Xu An's tone was serious.

The injured goblin raised his body as he touched his right cheek with his right hand. His cheek had a red bump.

"She attacks a guard. If we let this go, others would think we're easy to mess with! Who are you anyway? Are you her brother? Friend?"

"I don't know her, but that doesn't mean I'll let a child get arrested! There must be some sort of misunderstanding here," Xu An replied as he turned around to her.

"Hey you, why did you destroy the stalls? These people are innocent," Xu An asked as he frowned.

He was someone who did not stick his nose into somewhere it doesn't belong but that did not mean he was willing to watch a child get arrested.

He knew what she was doing was bad but she was just a child. Was there a need for the guards to be so strict?

"My tamed beast is gone and when I woke up, I was here! These people must be the ones who killed it! They have Voice Ants!" The girl replied.

Voice Ant was the ant that almost killed Fred and the one which attracted the white serpent.

Xu An's face slightly turned pale as sweat began to flow down across his cheek to his chin.

"What's your tamed beast look like?" Xu An pondered.

"She was a beautiful tamed beast. Scales as white as snow, eyes like a red ruby." Her eyes got watery and Xu An's complexion turned worse as it was pale than before.

He was panicking inside but as a professional spy assassin. He quickly regained his calm.

"It's not certain that she's dead. It could be that she gets caught and you can't detect her presence. There are cages like that," Xu An said as he tried to assure her. Which she believed as her tears stopped flowing down.

Looking at Xu An with teary eyes, she swept her tears with her tiny hands as she asked with a cute voice, "really?"

Xu An was immersed with her red eyes and her sad expression, which was extremely adorable and made Xu An feel like a monster for lying to her.

With a heavy heart, he naturally nodded as he said, "Yeah, she'll be fine."

In the afterlife that is, Xu An silently added.

"I'll help you find her, what do you think?" Xu An asked.

The girl had already had her tears swept with her sleeve and she was excited when she heard Xu An's suggestion.

"Really, big brother? Okay!" She replied in anticipation. Xu An nodded as he smiled.

"But for now," Xu An halted his speech as he looked around. The guards pointed their spears at them as they circled them, he continued, "let's get out of here."

Xu An grabbed her tiny hand and fled as soon as he saw a flaw in their formation.

They rushed to the nearest alleyway as they escaped from the encirclement.

"Chase them!" The goblin with a red bruise on his cheek ordered. It was clear this goblin was the leader.

Morgiana and Fred watched the scene as they did not want to be involved. If there was popcorn, they would eat it while watching Xu An save the girl.

"Hey, are you not going to join him?" Fred asked.

Morgiana rested her chin on the window as she saw Xu An's figure vanish as he entered an alleyway, and replied without raising her chin, "I'm an ordinary human, you know?"

She lied as she still had no trust in Fred. What if Fred was tricking them to believe he was working with them so as to gather information about them?

Should Fred know she could use Qiya and he informed Chin Sha. Her value in Chin Sha's eyes would increase. It might be possible Chin Sha sent some of his men to kidnap her.

"Why doesn't Chin Sha kidnap me by sending his men?" Morgiana abruptly pondered.

After a short pause, Fred answered, "Chin Sha did a background check on you and knowing you're under someone powerful. He had no choice but to banish the idea."

Morgiana grunted in acknowledgment as she asked, "Hey Fred, after you kill Chin Sha. What are you going to do next?"

"...That's something I never thought about."

"I see, why don't you follow us when you complete your goal?" Morgiana raised her head as she retracted her gaze to Fred.

"Follow you? Are you trying to use me?" Fred frowned.

Morgiana shook her head as she replied, "No, what I, or rather we, need people that can be trusted. Narukami is willing to work with you with no hesitation."

"So?" Fred creased his brows.

"Xu An is interested in you, like a lot," Morgiana replied.

Seeing Fred's disgusted expression, Morgiana said to erase any misunderstanding, "No, not in that kind of way."