Chapter 286 Chapter 284 The Middle-aged Man
Ji Ma enjoyed several days in Malin City. During this time, she was very concerned about George, frequently entering his dreams to indirectly understand his situation since she had slipped away.
It was not good.
On that deep night, George stepped down from the dragon ship alone, his complexion very poor, devoid of the usual calmness, looking as wilted as a frostbitten eggplant. That tall, silver figure was no longer by his side.
This was within Ji Ma’s expectations; even if George rode the head dragon over, it wouldn’t change anything.
The Osuan knight would absolutely not allow his daughter to openly associate with humans; who knows what kind of blow he received from the high elves.
George had originally looked very young, full of vigor and pride. But when she saw him again, he resembled a middle-aged man, having been repeatedly beaten down by life and misfortune, losing his sharp edge.
Upon learning that Ji Ma had left without a word and that the Demon King’s extraordinary material was also missing, George was first shocked, then furious, and finally exhausted. The Lionheart King interrogated him throughout the night, confirming details over and over again; each answer caused his spirit to gradually dissipate.
It wasn’t until the early morning hours that George finally managed to sleep, but he hadn’t slept at all. His tent was occasionally filled with screams and roars.
Subsequently, due to the issue with the Demon King’s extraordinary materials, George faced ostracism from the knights, even dueling with other knights and injuring several of them.
In just one day, losing two beloved women was tough on anyone.
Aggregating information from all sides, there was only so much to be gathered.
Ji Ma felt increasingly uneasy; although rationality told her that now she had “Bald Qiang” to face George, she didn’t need to be so afraid, and she had the leverage to escape. It wouldn’t be like that day in the dream palace, where she was chased by George and frightened into signing a marriage contract.
However, facing George still made her feel terrified, fearing that she might be defeated in an instant.
Nevertheless, she decided to go find George.
It was impossible to avoid him forever; she had a marriage contract with him. Although she now had the ability to tear up the contract, Ji Ma did not want to be hunted down by George after he gathered evidence against her, only to be pursued to the ends of the earth.
So she planned to choose an auspicious day to meet George.
Ideally, the weather would be nice. When the weather was good, George would be in a better mood, and if George was in a better mood, she would suffer less.
Ji Ma waited and waited; during this time, even though George tried every means to call her, Ji Ma did not respond.
During the waiting, Ji Ma was tormented; when lying on the soft silk bed at night, it felt as if a feather was slowly falling within her abdomen, starting out fine.
As time went on, that feather seemed to fall longer, teasing her heart, and Ji Ma couldn’t help but rub her legs.
After a few days, she had to go through some warm-up exercises before sleeping to ease her impulses. Li Anxi Mao, who slept with her, noticed that her owner had recently taken to hugging and clinging to pillows while sleeping.
Finally, she awaited a good day.
George left Leann Port, which was immersed in a festive atmosphere, but none of that mattered to him anymore.
He returned to the temple alone, with no one to send him off and no one to accompany him.
The temple issued orders for him to return as soon as possible for a comprehensive evaluation.
His future destiny hinged entirely on the outcome of that evaluation. He might have to undergo long-term treatment in the temple, perhaps even semi-confinement for treatment, or be forced into retirement to prevent harm to others in the future.
Although George was very confident in himself, the shadows of his recent failures emerged, lingering in his heart.
At that moment, George realized that he was not as self-assured as he had imagined.
He thought about writing to inquire with the higher-ups at the temple, letting them clarify the situation. But first, he felt that this would be an expression of fear. Second, he discovered that ever since Gregory died, he felt a little more fearful regarding the temple or rather, what the future in the temple held.
For many years, George had become accustomed to Gregory’s presence; although he was stern and fanatic, always looking to burn something, George sincerely believed Gregory had his best interests at heart.
George felt ridiculous. Previously, he thought he had no worries about the temple, even dared to defend the succubus, believing it was because he had a clear conscience and his motives were upright. Additionally, he considered himself a prodigy, the first genius in the history of the temple, and people were always very forgiving of geniuses.
But now he realized that one of his sources of reassurance was Gregory, in other words, he had a backing.
This battle truly shattered what he had always prided himself on.
Superhuman talent?
That was given by the Mother of All Beasts. He was a mutant, with a cow horn growing from his head—now the fifth one. George had tried to cut it off, but within half an hour, a new one would grow back.
A success rate of one hundred percent for missions?
Now, he had failed to bring back the Demon King’s extraordinary material. And it was supposed to have been stolen by the succubus Ji Ma. This was simply a huge joke, mocking him; for the first time, George felt fear about reporting back to the temple.
How could he explain this?
Such doubts weighed heavier on George’s mind.
On the fourth night of his solitary journey, it reached its peak.
That day, he ran and jumped forward along a deeply rutted dirt road. The weather was great, the sun shone bright, and in the fields beside the village, patches of seedlings emerged.
George felt genuinely happy deep inside, as at least this village had not been affected by war, and the farmers could still catch the tail end of spring plowing, planting wheat, without having to worry about starvation in the coming year.
However, the farmers working in the fields straightened up, and upon seeing George by the field ridge, they screamed in fear, shouting, “Beastman! Beastman!”
In no time, everyone laboring outside the village ran back into it, slamming shut the wooden doors. Behind the wooden walls, farmers armed with bows and spears nervously watched George from behind.
Some were yelling: “Beastman! In the name of the goddess! If you don’t flee quickly, the knights will cut off your head and hang it up.”
“Do you see the head on that tree over there? Your head will hang there too.”
A gust of wind blew, causing the beastman’s head hanging from an old tree at the village entrance to sway slightly, and a foul odor came wafting through. Among them was a minotaur skull, its decaying head adorned with a cow horn, shiny and black, looking increasingly similar to the one on George’s own head.
At this moment, the minotaur’s head turned, the eye of the bull, infested with maggots, seemed to be glaring at George.
George was slightly startled, raising his hand to cover his cow horn, then lowered it again, remaining silent, turning around to sprint and jump away, leaping a distance of five meters.
Behind him, the human village erupted in victorious shouts.
George pushed off even harder; the armored plates hanging from his skirt rose high and then heavily fell onto his thigh armor, producing a loud sound.
George ran for an hour without pause, reaching the wilderness; the sky darkened, clouds covering the setting sun, and a bothersome drizzle began to fall. In an instant, the drizzle intensified, forming slender white lines.
A rustling sound mixed with rain hit George’s helmet.
George lifted his faceplate, letting the raindrops strike his cheeks. A layer of stubble began to grow on his chin, but George had no leisure to shave it off; he was weary, mentally exhausted.
After nearly ten minutes in the rain, getting drenched, George finally moved, built a makeshift tent for himself, stepped inside, and stripped off his soaked armor.
The inside of the tent was dim, and the wind and rain battered against it, making a whistling sound.
After quickly biting off a few pieces of jerky, George looked at the empty, cold tent and felt extremely lonely.
He couldn’t help but think of Ji Ma and of Eve Frostleaf, who always silently appeared behind him, then recalled the day he boarded the dragon ship.
Indifference, everyone was indifferent. It was like a knife, stabbing into his heart.
George had failed to bring back Eve Frostleaf, and the next day, having spent the entire night without sleep, he could only watch as the dragon ship set sail under the midday sun.
The Osuan knight had told him he would take Eve Frostleaf for a good recovery until she forgot him.
George did not tell anyone about his experience on the dragon ship; just the thought of it made his heart ache. There was also deep disappointment; he could understand Eve Frostleaf’s deliberate distancing from him, but he could not accept that he had actively tried, while Eve Frostleaf remained motionless.
It could only mean that the part of their fate intertwined had come to an end, and afterward, the two would part ways and gradually forget each other.
The rain outside gradually subsided.
George shook his head, closed his eyes, dismissed his thoughts, and prepared to meditate.
Outside, there came the sound of water splashing, gradually growing closer and at an astonishing speed. George opened his eyes, breaking out of his meditative state, quickly grabbing his sword and helmet.
At that moment, a wet, long leg stretched into the tent; the rain-soaked silver threads revealed her snowy skin, with several patches of mud splattered on her calf. In the blink of an eye, the tall silver figure burst into the tent—it was Eve Frostleaf.
George was taken aback, he couldn’t believe that the seemingly indifferent and restrained Eve Frostleaf would actually appear before him.
Upon seeing George, Eve Frostleaf beamed with joy, not bothering with anything else, directly throwing herself at him, and the two embraced tightly.
Not far away.
Ji Ma, dressed in a red hood and carrying a bamboo basket, looked like Little Red Riding Hood:
“The rain has finally stopped.” Ji Ma glanced at the bamboo basket, which contained the dinner she had carefully prepared, “Now, George shouldn’t be too angry.”
