68 Merchan

On the field, heavy snow was falling, but somewhere else under the ground, the temperature was hotter than during summer. A river of boiling lava in the canyon was the source of the heat and the light. Around sixty meters above the canyon, there was a long steel cable bridge made of iron plates and cables. God knows how long it had been roasted for it to have turned the whole bridge into a dull black color, giving it an aged and extraordinary ponderous feeling.

Leopold was lying next to the canyon, curling his body in a peculiar posture. His right hand was strenuously stretched backward, trying to grab the long sword that was pinned to the ground through his calf. From the perspective of the human anatomy, even if he kept his calf immobilized, he still wouldn't be able to exert his power even if he had reached the handle, unless he had decided to give up on this calf.

"Damn it..." Leopold cursed in a low voice and lay down again dejectedly. With the faint light, he was able to see that his wound had turned black, which was a bad sign for any wound.

At this moment, the sound of galloping resounded faintly from the tunnel and became hastier and hastier. A few seconds later, a wagon nearly flew out from the tunnel and dashed onto the steel cable bridge, but it was blocked by a boulder at the end of the bridge. The wooden giant on the carriage pulled the reins at full tilt, causing a dramatic change of direction. The horse neighed in panic and desperation, directly dropping down onto the canyon, along with the dashing carriage.

Then, the other wagons followed one by one, falling into the embrace of the lava river without any hesitation, followed by the blooming of a number of gorgeous and pure red flowers of lava waves. It was such a spectacular scene!

While the last wagon was plunging into the canyon, Han Jin deftly jumped out from it and gazed at the falling wagon. Then, he looked at Leopold and smiled. "Missed me?" he asked.

"You... You must be crazy!" Leopold shouted. He knew where the wagons were from because Han Jin had mentioned it before. "Lord Dismark won't let you go."

"Hmph, Lord Dismark, you think I'm afraid of him?" Han Jin smiled. He bypassed the boulder and walked straight onto the bridge.

"If you want to get revenge on me and Mario, this is enough!" Leopold shouted like a lunatic. "Why are you still doing this to me??"

"Because I'm a good person." Han Jin paused. "If someone offers me a drop of water when I'm thirsty, I will grant him a spring of fresh water in the future. And of course, that's the same for hatred." 

Leopold fell into silence. He stared at Han Jin's back with fright.

Han Jin walked to the middle of the bridge, grabbed an iron chain that was hanging down and forcefully shook the chains up and down repeatedly. On the other side of the bridge, there was horse meat that weighed up to nearly two or three kilograms. Han Jin quietly stared at the chain. As it was falling down, he quickly reached out his hand and grabbed the meat precisely. The river of lava was like a natural oven. It was not difficult to calculate the accurate position and time to roast the meat, as Han Jin had already figured it out after a few attempts.

The aroma of the horse meat wafted out. "Good!" Han Jin made a satisfied smile.

Leopold bit his lips tightly and suddenly lowered his head. An unbearable and excruciating feeling of hunger was torturing him.

Han Jin moved closer to Leopold with the horse meat in hand. "Should I change a place for you today?"

"No, no, I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything..." Leopold was frightened into a ghastly paleness.

"That's good," Han Jin said. He tore down a strip of horse meat, put it into his mouth and silently chewed it. Then he hesitated for a while, tore down a thumb-sized piece of meat, bent down, and passed it to Leopold. "Want some?" he asked.

Leopold protruded his eyes as if his eyeballs were about to pop out of his eye sockets. After a long time, a fire-element magic crystal appeared in his hand. Leopold threw it onto the ground and was about to reach out for the horse meat.

Han Jin suddenly drew his hand back. "Five magic crystals."

"What?? You want to trade such a small piece of meat for five magic crystals?!" Leopold was nearly out of breath due to anger. "Why don't you go rob someone?!" he yelled.

"What else do you think I'm doing?" Han Jin still smiled.

Leopold was speechless. After a long time, he begged, "Just give it to me at the previous price, please. I'm running out of magic crystals."

Han Jin smiled. He put the piece of meat into his own mouth, reached for a leather bag, raised his head, and took a drink. "Are you thirsty?" he deliberately asked.

Leopold violently squirmed his throat, but he still clenched his teeth tightly. In fact, he was telling the truth. Almost all of his magic crystals had been 'bought' by Han Jin. He really couldn't afford paying five magic crystals for a small piece of horse meat.

"How about this." Han Jin suggested in a light voice, "Give me all your magic crystals, I will offer you a hearty meal, and release you."

Leopold turned his head away. He didn't believe it at all.

"I can use a lot of other ways to make you do it, but I didn't. I have been trying to avoid hurting you all this time, do you know why?"

Leopold wanted to burst out laughing and say all kinds of abusive words. This guy had pinned him here with a sword in his calf and called this 'tried to avoid hurting him'?

"Because I am afraid of loneliness," Han Jin answered himself. "You are afraid that I will kill you, so you have tried every means to please me. You talked to me and tried telling me stories about yourself and your family. Ho ho... That's exactly what I want. Otherwise, I would be bored if I stayed here alone! You tried your best, so I am very satisfied and am very touched by you. What I said is true. Therefore, if you agree, I will let you go immediately."

After hearing Han Jin's words, Leopold instantly rolled his eyeballs, as if he were pondering upon something.

"There's not much time for you." Han Jin smiled. "They've set a trap for me this time. Among those wagons, only two or three of them carried items in it. If what I'm guessing is right, they've already followed me down here. Now, I need you to answer me. Do you agree or not?"

"You really won't kill me?" Leopold stared at Han Jin.

"Time's up." Han Jin sighed, then drew out his sword from his waist, holding it over his head.

"Yes, I agree... I agree..." Leopold screamed. He had seen the murderous intention in Han Jin's eyes. Plus, even if he made up his mind to hide his magic crystals, it wouldn't be a threat to Han Jin, so he preferred to bet on it.

"Oh?" Han Jin put down the long sword.

Following a loud sound, about a hundred or more magic crystals dropped onto the ground. "These are all I have left," Leopold said in a heart-wrenching tone.

Han Jin put all the magic crystals into his space ring and threw a lump of horse meat and a water-filled leather bag in front of Leopold. Then, he turned around and walked toward the bridge.

"Hey... My Lord, you said you would release me!" Leopold yelled with both surprise and joyfulness.

"They're coming," Han Jin said in a cold voice before quickly moving his body. After several leaps, he dashed across the steel cable bridge.