Chapter 98 Chapter 97 You Have to Join In
Hearing Akarnis agree to the deal, Ji Ma felt completely relaxed.
Finally, she had the ability to influence the situation, rather than just watching the benevolent master stretch his dirty hands towards her treasure.
“Then let’s sign a contract,” Ji Ma said. “Half the treasures for you, half for me, and other things will also be split in half, but I’ll choose first. I’m very familiar with the Demon Lord’s treasury. To put it bluntly, the treasures inside could buy the entire Shalin City, every person in it, every ship, every beast, every sword, every prostitute, and every grain of wheat.”
Ji Ma’s words were quite honest, even a bit conservative. She wasn’t worried that Akarnis would doubt whether she understood the Demon Lord’s treasury.
The Shadow King Akarnis coming here personally indicated that he acknowledged he had the ability to open the Demon Lord’s treasury.
“Good.”
Akarnis’s decisiveness exceeded Ji Ma’s imagination.
“I thought you would argue with me for a long time.”
Ji Ma spread a sheet of paper on the table and placed a quill pen and an ink bottle on it.
“I’m very mature.”
“Is that the reason for your white hair at a young age?”
Akarnis flicked his silver bangs and said, “Do you want me to help you shave your head to reflect the light of wisdom?”
Ji Ma didn’t continue the conversation; after all, she wasn’t familiar with Akarnis and could hardly say she trusted him.
She was just happy and made a joke. She picked up the pen and quickly scribbled a few lines of crooked common script on the paper and signed her name.
Akarnis took the pen and said, “Your handwriting looks like a pile of dog poop.”
After that, he signed his name in the signature area: Akarnis De Long, and the writing looked like a puddle of chicken droppings, landing on a pile of dog feces below.
Ji Ma blew dry the light yellow paper, tucked it away, and gave Akarnis a mysterious smile.
The contract was not of much practical binding effect; she just hoped Akarnis was the kind of person who filled in the gaps with imagination and believed that she, as a demon, had some secret means to ensure he couldn’t breach the treaty.
Akarnis asked, “What’s your plan?”
Ji Ma said, “George is being threatened in the competition with the boss and Chamberlain. If you follow him, you can find the entrance to the treasury. Inside is a labyrinth. As for how to get through the maze, it’s complicated. I’ll explain it to you in detail later.”
“Let’s assume you’re a good person and aren’t lying to me. If I successfully navigate the maze, then what?”
“You’ll be standing in front of the real treasury door.”
“So, you plan to persuade me to use my little body to carry out enough gold coins to buy the entire Shalin City in front of your man and the benevolent master’s dogs?”
“No, you just need to trigger the emergency defense system,” Ji Ma said. “The treasury will overdraw its own magic power, releasing magical statues, and magical creatures, and sealing the door. This way, the benevolent master would take at least a month to continue excavating the treasury.”
“You admit George is your man now?”
Ji Ma’s small face twitched, suppressing her anger: “Absolutely not! I just don’t want to waste more words correcting your misconceptions.”
“Oh~~, so you’re planning to lay some eggs.”
Ji Ma pretended she didn’t hear and continued, “This way, the benevolent master won’t be able to revive Shalin City in the short term.”
“That’s it?” Akarnis spread his hands and asked. “Isn’t the treasury still in the benevolent master’s hands? He just has to spend more time breaking that shell; I think I might as well just come over and rob him.”
“It’s simple; just kill his whole family before he gets to open the treasury,” Ji Ma said calmly. “Besides the benevolent master, no one could mobilize an army in a short time to watch over the treasury. By then, we can move in like ants, entering through the secret path to the treasury and moving everything out bit by bit. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry about me reconciling with the benevolent master and selling you out.”
Akarnis looked at her suspiciously: “Can you be of help?”
“If you assume I’m completely useless and can’t help you out,” Ji Ma said, “consider this: it’s better than letting the benevolent master get into the treasury before the Rainbow Festival.”
“It sounds like you lack confidence in your plan to kill the benevolent master’s whole family.”
“I’m a humble person,” Ji Ma replied calmly. “If I guarantee it with a thump on my chest, to reassure you, and then I have to lay everything out about the plan and reveal my capabilities, it’s like showing my underwear—would you show your underwear to others?”
“I can move through shadows and open any lock. My Shadow Blade allows me to steal the identity of anyone it injures.” Akarnis quickly said, glancing at the stunned Ji Ma, “Alright, it’s your turn to show your underwear.”
I really don’t know what this guy is thinking, doing whatever he pleases. Who would tell me their abilities?
Ji Ma said, “I’m still a girl; how can I casually show my underwear?”
She feared she’d anger Akarnis, worried that this capricious guy would stab her. She quickly changed the subject, took out a stack of paper from her bag, and while copying it, said, “This contains shortcuts through the maze and how to trigger the treasury’s emergency defense system.”
Akarnis rarely agreed and said, “Good. I hate having to rely on verbal instructions.”
Five minutes later.
Ji Ma handed the paper to Akarnis, saying, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me.”
Akarnis lowered his head and saw a tangled mess of black lines on the paper. His first reaction was, what kind of strange doodle is this? Is it the secret pattern to open the treasury?
After closely examining it a few times, he barely managed to recognize that it was actually common script.
Akarnis raised his head and said, “Are you planning to let me act alone?”
“Of course.” As the mastermind behind the scenes, how could she go down herself? Ji Ma said, “I can’t sneak; my combat ability is weak, so I can only hide behind and do some shady things. Going with you would only slow you down.”
“That makes sense.” The Shadow King Akarnis lowered his head and continued focusing on deciphering the words on the paper.
A heavy stone in Ji Ma’s heart was set down. Sitting in the chair, she thought about how to trick the male servant later.
Her first concern was the safety of her treasury. The second concern was raising George’s suspicion. His lie detection ability was too strong; as long as George suspected her, her secret would eventually be exposed.
Just say the teacher had diarrhea and took leave, collaborating with Akarnis to deceive him should be enough.
With a loud clap, Akarnis slammed the paper on the table.
Ji Ma was startled into alertness.
“You must come with me,” the Shadow King Akarnis said expressionlessly. “We leave now.”
“The treasury only opens at night when the moon rises.”
“I knew you would agree, so we’ll set out tonight.”
“I haven’t agreed!” Ji Ma said, “George will find out, and our conspiracy will surely be exposed.”
“Don’t worry; your man will just end up having a good time with you in bed.”
“I already said he’s not!”
“Are you going or not?” Akarnis asked impatiently, directly resting his dark short sword against Ji Ma’s neck.
“Why?”
Ji Ma felt a headache. How could she hide it from George? Was the nightmare about to come true?
“To be honest, looking at your handwriting gives me a headache.”
“Then I’ll write again, and I guarantee it’ll be neat and tidy.”
“No, as long as I see the words you’ve written, I feel like throwing up,” Akarnis said.
“But George will notice,” Ji Ma emphasized again.
“Women are such a hassle.” The Shadow King Akarnis shouted towards the door, “Hey, is anyone there?”
The door opened, revealing the male servant, who bent down and showed a flattering smile to Akarnis. “Sir, do you need anything?”
“Don’t let George know she leaves with me. Got it?”
“Understood, I understand.” The male servant said, then stepped back and closed the door.
“Feeling more at ease?”
More at ease? How could that be? That chaste man isn’t a three-year-old child. As long as we meet, as long as I come back a bit late, as long as he gets suspicious and asks one more question, I’m going to be exposed—getting caught is just the first step towards the nightmare coming true. Damn! Why am I stuck with someone like Akarnis, a capricious madman, as an ally?
Ji Ma was a thousand times unwilling, but the pitch-black short sword on her neck was just too sharp.
Since she couldn’t change the situation, it was better to grab the clues about the Demon Lord’s crown fragments sooner.
“I suddenly realized that our cooperation is more effective than 1+1,” Ji Ma said, “Moreover, there’s a batch of extraordinary items in the Demon Lord’s treasury that will benefit our plan.”
A smile appeared on Akarnis’s face. He snapped his fingers, and the dark short sword disappeared, saying, “Then let’s meet in the evening.”
In the evening, Akarnis came to find Ji Ma.
Shalin City was under lockdown.
For Akarnis, there were almost no places in Shalin City he couldn’t go. But bringing someone along and leaving unnoticed was much harder. Akarnis wasn’t yet strong enough to take someone with him into the shadows and leap together.
But if he didn’t regard Ji Ma as a person, it would be much simpler.
Half an hour later.
Outside the city, on the riverbank stained red by the setting sun.
Dazed, Ji Ma crawled out of the wooden barrel, one foot stepping into the river, not caring about wet shoes, doubling over and gagging.
“How’s that? The Free Man’s quick passage, isn’t it fast?”
Beside her, Akarnis had transformed into a tall red-haired bald man, wearing dirty leather garments, yet his skin was not tanned like that of other laborers. As it turned out, his identity was a woodworker, working indoors.
At this concealed riverbank path, a cart filled with empty barrels was parked.
“I… want… to die.”
Ji Ma recalled the incredibly bumpy journey she had just gone through—being stuffed into a wooden barrel, the workers kicking the barrel onto the boat, a series of life-threatening jolts and shakes, and finally being thrown into the water. By the time the lid was opened, she was already on the riverbank. “Damn it, I have money to buy a better ticket.”
“But you have to blame the benevolent master,” Akarnis said. “That bastard said, ‘Crack down on slave raiders,’ hiding behind the slave crime, he hanged a dozen guards who were benefiting from ‘Free Men,’ and they were all the most influential guards, so now the passage has become tortuously long.”
“You still rescue slaves?”
“Only when I’m in the mood,” Akarnis said lightly. “Now, I am among the ‘Free Men’ in Shalin City, fortunate enough to be promoted to a high rank.”
Ji Ma took a deep breath, feeling that even if Akarnis was the head of the “Free Men,” she wouldn’t be surprised. He truly was remarkable; the benevolent master had encountered such a powerful enemy, which was indeed delightful.
The two walked toward the cart.
Akarnis took the coachman’s seat, and Ji Ma wanted to get in too, but he stopped her, pointing to the barrel behind and said, “That’s your seat to avoid exposure.”
Ji Ma’s small face turned even paler.
