Mayton.. How Can It be Mayton?!

''Damn this sly old bastard.''

Mayton muttered to himself.

After the old man's pair successfully hid from the guards, the old man told everything he knew about the harvested souls as he promised before parting ways inside the city. It turned out he didn't know much at all. He only knew that one week later, there will be a market to trade souls set up in the slums of the Flaming Heart City called the fair of souls. Newly acquired souls had a high chance of being sold at the fair of souls.

The location of the fair surprised Mayton at first, but soon he made some deductions. Soul trade was supposedly banned in the empire. How could the fair of souls be set up inside of one of the empire's cities without the tacit approval of the authorities? Clearly, the governor was getting a cut from the fair. It was possible that even people with higher positions than the governor had some stakes in this affair.

''Mayton, everyone wants you to find the noble backing you have in the city you told us about. It has been a day since we checked in to this inn already. We can't stay at inns forever, we need work and a place to stay.'' Zgar said overflowing with desire to progress.

Mayton looked at Zgar and got lost in thoughts. As far as Mayton was concerned, Angeza's departure had only positive effects on this shy little boy. After getting over the initial shock, Zgar returned to his usual shy self except for the determination in his eyes. Mayton didn't ask what was Zgar's decision about Angeza because there was no reason to ask. Actions spoke louder than words, and Zgar's determined attitude was out in the open for everyone to see. Even when they were still on the road, Zgar used all his time to improve his strength and knowledge. He trained his body when he can, and asked questions to experienced hunters when he was resting.

''Hey, Mayton! Do you hear me? Everyone is in the lounge waiting for you!'' Zgar said again, this time louder.

'' I heard you. I'll be there in a minute.'' Mayton absentmindedly answered.

It seemed like they had to forget about this so called noble backing they had. When Mayton asked the old man he hid from the guards about the crest on the pouch, the old man looked strangely and advised him not to seek this noble house out. ''You will face dire consequences if you do'' the old man warned. The old man had no reason to lie to him thus Mayton wasn't willing to seek out this noble family as long as he wasn't forced to do so.

Now, he had two urgent problems to deal with. He had to learn how to read as soon as possible to be able to walk under the sun like normal people and he needed to find a way for the villagers to earn enough money for survival. Since he probably needed money to learn how to read, he decided to settle the second problem first.

He arrived at the lounge while thinking about potential ways to make money.

''Little Mayton, you are finally here! Come, bring us to our benefactor.''

Hearing one of the hunters say this and seeing the expectant looks on other hunters' faces, Mayton understood that this was the wish of every hunter present. He sighed at their naivety. 'Well, I can't babysit them forever. I will just settle them down and then focus on my cultivation' Mayton thought.

''Uncles, are you willing to become servants of others? Are you willing to let all the generations after you be servants of others? If we seek someone's help without anything to offer in exchange, that's exactly what will happen.''

The hunters started murmur after hearing Mayton. They were a simple bunch. They already forgot it was Mayton's own idea to seek help when they arrived at the city.

''Of course we are not! But do we have any other choice? ''

Another hunter answered for the group.

''Uncles, we may be foreign to the city but we have two big advantages, as long as we use them correctly, we might even have our own servants let alone being the servants of others.''

without letting the hunters' excited voices drown his voice Mayton continued;

''Uncles, please be quiet and listen. Our advantages are not having families to take care of and knowing crafts related to hunting like processing meat and leather. I say, for the sake of learning how the business is done in the city, we should visit the tannery mentioned by uncles before.''

After a brief discussion, everyone agreed to this course of action. Since one of the hunters knew the general location and the name of the tannery, they decided to not waste any more time as they set out immediately.

The hunters found the tannery after asking around for a while. This was a small workshop located at the slums. They bought raw hides from hunters, produced leather and sold it to the clothing shops to be processed further. This meant a fancy shop in one of the more expensive parts of the city wasn't needed, so the owner just chose the cheapest location possible which was the slums.

'' Hello there, dear customers! Are you here for selling animal hides? ''

A young clerk welcomed the group. He was accustomed to visits from hunters who came to sell their goods, so he assumed they were here for the same reason too.

''Haha, we are here to see your boss, not to sell hides. You can say people from his father's village came to visit him.'' the hunter who recommended to the group to seek out this shop at the village said as he laughed boisterously.

Before the clerk can answer them, another laugh was heard, as a middle aged man wearing an apron came from the back of the shop. After an exchange of greetings and some small talk, the shop owner finally asked about their reason to visit. When he learned that the village was no more and the hunters were seeking refuge in the city, his attitude towards the hunters changed gradually. First, he felt pity for their plight, then after realizing what the hunters may be after for visiting him under these circumstances, he became slightly colder. It was obvious that he wouldn't go out of his way to help this bunch of refugees.

Thankfully, Mayton wasn't expecting charity from the man in the first place. He just wanted to learn how profitable his business was and how to conduct it without breaking any rules within the city. When they were talking about various things related to the business, a crashing sound interrupted their conversation. A big stone at the size of an ox head was thrown in, shattering the window in the process.

''You cheapskate, do you think we don't know about your recent sales? This is just a warning. If you dare to try deceiving us again, you won't get out of it this easily.''

someone shouted from outside. But when the hunters went out to see who threw the rock, all they saw was a horseman galloping away, leaving a dust cloud in his trail.

While the hunters were looking at the owner questioningly, trying to make sense of the situation, it was clear as day for Mayton. He smacked his forehead as he muttered to himself ''Of course, how could I forget of this way?''

This incident gave him an idea. He needed money, and he needed it fast. So he was going to use the fastest way to earn money. Taking it from the others. Even though he would never rob innocents, he had absolutely no qualms about shaking down some thugs. With his cultivation, it ought to be a walk in the park. He would even get to practice his fighting skills. The more he thought about it, the better this idea seemed. Thus he immediately started to carry out his plan.

'' Uncle, can you tell me where to find these thugs? ''

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Meanwhile, far away from them back in Mayton's now abandoned village, a cute little girl with long blond hair and pure white robes was inspecting the ground. Despite the mud and dirt all over the village, there wasn't a single blemish on her robe.

If you looked closely at the ground she was inspecting, it was possible to see crude gravestones on it. Next to the gravestones stood an abandoned house and a well. This was obviously Mayton's home and the graves were the ones he made for his parents. As for the cute little girl, she was Leyzhen.

''Thankfully it's not him. But for such a remote village to be attacked by soul harvesters someone might have sensed his soul. '' the little girl muttered to herself.

After contemplating the consequences of this scenario for a moment, she decided to not mind it too much. Even if there were others on her targets tail, she was not afraid of some competition. She was confident that since this competitor of hers couldn't catch her target in this village, there was nothing to be afraid of.

''Old man, I know you have been watching for some time already. if you don't come out right now, I'll kill you.'' Leyzhen said coldly without moving.

A few seconds later, an old man with a ragged green robe and a horrifying scar on his neck walked out from behind one of the nearby houses. This old man had a yellowish white beard and wore a pendant with a strange red eye carved on it. He was none other than Old Mert.

''Haha, little lass, I don't mean any harm to you. It's just that don't you think it is a little disrespectful to stand on other people's graves?''

Old Mert may be a rash person, but he was by no means a fool. This little girl was obviously not a simple person. How can a normal girl travel around these desolate areas alone? How can a normal little girl sense him when he was trying to hide?

''Don't worry if you answer a few of my questions I will let you go. ''

Leyzhen was clearly not interested in answering Old Mert. A mid qi gathering phase cultivator like him was beneath her notice. She only called out to him because she thought he might know a few things about her target.

''Little lass, don't push things too far! It's not yet determined who will let whom off!''

roared Old Mert as he leaped towards Leyzhen. At his hands, a faint outline of claws could be seen at first but mid air it disappeared. Actually, Old Mert didn't want to hurt this little girl, he just momentarily lost himself in anger and retracted his attack as soon as he realized it, but Leyzhen wasn't amused. She waved her hand and a brilliant light was emitted from it as Old Mert stopped in mid air abruptly. After a second, he collapsed to the ground.

'' Old man don't force me to kill you. Obediently answer my questions.'' said Leyzhen with an emotionless voice.

Beads of cold sweat could be seen on Old Mert's forehead as he silently cursed at himself for his rashness. He knew that he shouldn't have messed with this strange girl unless forced to but still he couldn't hold himself back after getting provoked. When he returned to the village, he found it abandoned with graves everywhere, this made him furious. Coupled with the emotional instability caused by his cultivation, he attacked the little girl. Thankfully, he was still of some value to her, so his life was spared.

''Are you from this village? Do you know whose graves are those?''

Leyzhen asked as she pointed at Mayton's parents' graves. Hearing her questions, Old Mert felt angry. This little girl was obviously not feeling bad at all about questioning one of the survivors of a disaster about his deceased relatives. Then he thought of a possibility. Who was to say that this girl wasn't the perpetrator of the disaster? All he knew was a powerful cultivator sensed Mayton's abnormality and this girl was powerful alright.

Seeing the angry glare of Old Mert, Leyzhen felt slightly embarrassed. She realized that she caused a misunderstanding and was insensitive. It was not like she was a hateful person, she just didn't know how to speak to someone in Old Mert's situation. She was accustomed to living with Yeqin and learned that showing your emotions was a weakness from him.

''Ehm… I am … sorry for your loss? But mister, you see, I need you to answer my questions. I might even be able to save one of your relatives' life thanks to your answers.''

Leyzhen said, with a considerably meeker voice.

Old Mert was stunned after hearing Leyzhen's change of tone. He wasn't expecting such a drastic change after just a glare. 'Well, she is a little girl no matter how strong she is' thought Old Mert as his expression softened. His suspicions seemed ridiculous to him now. How can such a cute little girl commit such a heinous massacre?

'' Those are my fellow villagers' graves. Actually, they are the parents of Mayton whom you are probably looking for. As for his location, I am not sure too. I just saw a note th… Hey, little lass, are you listening?''

Leyzhen stood there dumbfounded under the puzzled gaze of Old Mert for almost a minute. Then she asked with a hoarse voice;

''Mayton… Did you say Mayton? How can it be Mayton?!''