15 Muspelheim[2]

"He really did go all out this time." Khan sighed as he walked towards the dual entry door of the mansion. Just from decorations that surrounded the mansions alone, one could anticipate that the insides should be much more luxurious than this.

Lily and Elder Gabica stood there dumbfounded upon witnessing the sight of the mansion up close. Khan could only shake his head. 'That old man really knows how to spend money like water, It seems like that they did not inherent the attitude of that bastard.'

"Khan?" A curious voice echoed beside Khan, interrupting his soliloquy.

"Why are you smiling so weirdly?" She continued, prompting Khan to cough and tell her that he was just thinking about something, at the side, Elder Gabica had a strange smile on his face as he watched the interaction of the two.

Khan tapped on the Control Panel on the dual entry door. A mechanical sound echoed followed by an LCD lighting up. A dull voice of a woman echoed.

"Entrance disallowed; Requesting Password."

Khan gave a smile and pulled up the paper he received from the Sect Master, reading the words inscribed on it aloud.

"PELEPENSNAMBAWAN" His voice drifted towards the Control Panel of which a voice of confirmation in the same tone echoed.

"Password Confirmed, Saving Current User's data to the database." A whizzing mechanical rang from the inside of the Control Panel, of which a small hole as big as a grain of rice came out.

"Please draw your eyes near the Iris Scanner."

Khan looked at the piece of device and scanned the information that he had in his mind, after finding out that he didn't have the information about the piece of technology before him. He could only sigh and obey the instructions.

Khan squinted his eyes as he felt the ray of the scanner pass on his eyeballs. After a moment of waiting, a confirmation came out followed by a sound of a lock being unlocked.

"Information saved, User is granted Administration Rights, Entrance Allowed."

The two exclaimed in admiration to the sights that appeared before them. The size of the mansion rivaled the great hall that the three had slept back at the Divine Pills Sect.

Only Khan's eyes didn't show any signs of startle. What a joke! Back at those days where he stood at the apex, he could see sights that were much more breathtaking than this.

After a while, the group decided to scatter, Lily and Elder Gabica who were quite familiar about the city decided to buy some ingredients to cook for dinner, while Khan told them that he would stay at the house.

A creaking sound of a door being shout echoed. A glint lit up inside Khan's eyes.

'As if I could stay put here!' His figure flashed, without a sound, he reached the door and crept outside. There, Khan walked along the sidewalk, without any directions in mind. He simply decided to admire the sights in the city.

Seeing the flow of pedestrians, the incessant shouts of hawkers and the honks of the cars around him. Khan could feel a strange sensation that came from his heart.

He decided to follow the flow of people and walked towards where the concentration of people was high. The scents of food and the smokes of coal assaulted his nose. The fragrance tempting his senses as his stomach growled in protest.

Khan strengthened his willpower since he didn't have any money. He could only rely on the two who had some funds to spend. Khan could only sigh and think about his future source of income.

Walking away, his sight became focused on a peculiar banner where the pedestrians around him seemed to avoid. Khan gave a weird smile upon reading the words written on it.

"Come and see your dreams to fruition! No matter what they are, we can make them come true!" The words were written in a style that didn't suit the message that it displayed, Intrigued by this, Khan decided to walk towards the alley behind the banner.

Lily Gabica wore a smile as she walked down the sidewalk. Her heart filled with warmth upon thinking about the meals that she would cook for Khan.

'Since he's the Sect Master's direct disciple, I should try my best to cook something that fits him!' Lily smiled, declaring her resolve to try her best.

'Now that I think about it, It's my first time cooking for someone other than grandpa, and he's a man at that...' When her thoughts reached up to this point, her face became red and eventually reached a boiling point.

'Ahhh!!! What am I thinking?! Stop, Lily, stop!' She slapped both of her cheeks with her two hands, trying to calm herself down. However, noticing the strange gazes from the pedestrians around her. She became even more embarrassed.

Her pace increased until she reached a shop that she frequented. What greeted her inside was an amiable smile of a middle-aged woman, upon seeing her. Lily exclaimed in surprise.

"Sister Margaret!" Lily hugged the woman who also hugged her in return. Although the two had an age gap of about twenty years. Margaret apparently hated being called an Aunt so she forced Lily to call her a sister instead. About this issue, Lily didn't seem to mind and it became a habit of her to call her a sister.

"Lily, you finally came back!" The middle-aged woman spoke in a gentle voice filled with excitement and mirth.

"Yes, Sister. I came here to buy some ingredients." Lily replied with a courteous tone.

"Ingredients? Okay, two sets, right?" Margaret walked behind the counter and pulled a suitcase, opening it with a murmur. She showed the contents to Lily and smiled.

However, upon seeing the flushed cheeks of Lily. She gave an understanding nod, and her smile became sly.

"Ohh... I see it seems like my Lily finally had a man, eh?" She nudged her elbows on Lily's arm and spoke with a teasing tone.

"No, it's not like.. Ermm... It's really not like that... He's just something along the lines of...a benefactor...." Her tone became, even more, lower to the point that it became incomprehensible at the end.

"Hohhh..." Margaret's eyes shone with a mysterious glint, her sly smile deepened even further.

"It's really not like that!" Lily couldn't take it anymore and covered her face with her hands.

"Okay, okay. I understand, here take it. Three sets of ingredients." Margaret decided to stop cornering the poor maiden anymore and presented the ingredients.

"Stop teasing me please, Sister..." Lily accepted the ingredients with a blushed face and retorted.

"Okay, okay. I won't, but still. To make you go red as a tomato like that. He must be something incredible, right? Make sure to bring him here next time!" Margaret sent off the Lily who couldn't bring her teasing anymore and ran with swift footsteps.

Outside, Lily clutched her boiling cheeks. Her lips glossy and her eyes gleamed with a light of anticipation. The beaded sweats on her forehead further enhanced the graceful contour of the maiden. If anyone sees Lily in this state, they would not be able to believe their eyes.

To calm the raging waves of her heart. Lily decided to walk towards the place where she was supposed to meet her grandfather. Back at the mansion, her grandfather decided to buy some books that may help Khan in understanding the intricacies of the City of Muspelheim.

As she slid past the flow of pedestrians with trained and graceful steps. Her eyes constricted in shock, looking towards a certain back alley in a place where the pedestrians seemed to avoid.

There, she saw the back of Khan, walking inside the so-called 'land of dreams'. However, She knew that inside was literally a land of dreams for lascivious men. After all, that place was the one and only, red light district of the entire city!

What did Khan go there for? For Lily, the answer was obvious. Any man who enters that land of dreams will not come out unscathed and remembering that Khan told them that he would stay inside the mansion. Lily became even more ashened.

The seed of admiration that already started to sprout within the depths of the maiden's heart dissipated. She turned her back and walked towards the direction of the mansion, with a sullen and lonely visage.

Upon walking inside, Khan already noticed the atmosphere changing into pink. The lights around him emanated a deep red light imbued with a fatal temptation to any man.

But how could he? Who once stood at the apex be affected? Khan's facial expression remained indifferent. However, within his mind, a weird thought surfaced.

'Could it be that I stepped inside of some kind of a brothel?' Khan's eyes darted to the right. There he saw a young man with about the same age as Khan's current body, handing over a stack of money.

Before the young man stood a young woman who wore almost nothing on her. Exposing the pure white mountainous peaks and the curves of her succulent body.

Because of his young body filled with an inexhaustible drive. It would be a lie if Khan said that he wasn't tempted. However, his heart of martial arts prevented him from making drastic actions. But even so, trying to escape the clutches of temptation created a burden within his exhausted soul.

With a pale countenance filled with sweat. Khan decided to get the fuck out of this damned place. His footsteps as swift as the wind that he disappeared before any woman could approach him.

Walking outside the banner, Khan noticed that he sweated a lot. Paired with his pale and exhausted face. The pedestrians around him gave him a weird gaze that seemed to pierce deep within his soul.

Walking towards the mansion at a fast pace. Khan could only curse in his mind. Arriving at the dual entry door of the mansion. Khan's ears perked up. He could faintly hear footsteps and breathe inside the mansion.

'Damn, they actually arrived before me.' Khan could shake his head and knock on the door.

A few moments later, the same footsteps that Khan heard from the inside arrived before him. With a creaking sound, the door opened and revealed a sight that almost sent him to his grave.

Lily's gaze locked onto his body, her pupils emanating a dangerous light. Seeing that she didn't speak. Khan could only gulp and decided to explain why he came outside.

"Actually, I went outside to catch a breather, being inside such a huge mansion really takes a huge toll on you right?" Khan spouted some bullshit to hide his shameful mistakes.

But he didn't expect that Lily would only stand there and stare at him with a blank expression.

"Lily?" Khan asked with a cautious tone, afraid that he might further escalate the severity of the situation.

"I see, so you went outside to take a fresh breath? I understand. Also, the meals are ready on the table so you go on and eat without me, okay?" Lily gave a lonely smile, tears threatened to spill out from her eyelids. Upon speaking the last part of her sentence, tears already poured down her cheeks.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Khan asked in a questioning tone. But Lily had already moved towards her room and swiftly shut the door with a bang. Leaving Khan standing there feeling dumbfounded and wronged.

'Just what did I do?'