Cornflower Witch

Chapter 419 Let's Make a Promise
When life is about to end, will we examine our lives from a different perspective and discover those forgotten truths?

Pain emanated from all parts of the body, like hundreds of centipedes crawling, tearing, and biting inside, but the powerful heartbeat stubbornly and arduously overcame this desperate situation, sending the remaining blood to every part of the body to nourish those endangered organs and cells.

The fire pig felt more vulnerable than ever before, and every breath of air felt like a luxury.

But he actually survived, in a way he never imagined.

Who saved him?
He has no relatives, and his so-called subordinates are only loyal to a limited extent. He seeks a powerful backer, and his allies are even less trustworthy.

Pigs that grow fat are meant to be eaten. Although he is not a real pig, as a beastman with similar blood, he is occasionally influenced by this intangible concept, which causes him a sense of sadness and anxiety.

It seems I still have some use, since someone is willing to save me.

The fire pig struggled to open its remaining eye and slowly propped itself up with its only arm. This was probably the advantage bestowed by the 'Blood Law' attribute; its tenacious vitality, along with its heartbeat, slowly spread to all parts of its body, allowing it to recover gradually.

Looking around, Fire Pig saw corpses and wounded everywhere. His four-fingered henchmen were wailing weakly and unevenly. Soon, he also discovered the source of all this.
—The girl standing beneath the black griffin.

The black skirt fluttered slowly in the air currents stirred by the griffin, and her exquisite black hair and figure exuded a dignified charm, which made the fire pig pause in surprise.

It's so beautiful!

Even a rough man like him could feel that pure beauty. It seemed that his defeat was not unjust. Four Fingers had also lost. Thinking of this, his resentment and frustration dissipated a lot.

"Fire Pig, Lord Hedra has a question for you." Four Fingers walked over and told him the current situation.

The mountain-sized figure nodded, no longer ignoring it as before.

"The girl was locked in the basement of the kitchen of the house at 53 Jasmine Street."

"Dragon Eye Treasure..." the fire pig stopped mid-sentence.

"Can you tell me what you will do with me?"

Upon hearing this, Hilti guessed that Fire Pig was worried about punishment from the 'Bionic School', and that the price of such punishment would likely be death. After all, he was just a leader of the underworld who stole the school's treasures. If he wasn't severely punished, what would become of the school's prestige and reputation?

“I will report what happened truthfully,” Hiltiya replied.

"I see..." The last glimmer of hope in the Fire Pig's heart vanished once again.

It seemed death was inevitable. He moved his lips and looked around. The eyes of his four-fingered henchmen held mockery, indifference, greed, and hatred.

Yes, who would want him to live?

The fire pig slowly moved along the ground with one arm and one broken leg. Although the crowd did not understand what he was going to do, they knew that he would not live much longer, so no one stopped him.

He slowly reached the stone table in the cave and leaned against the large, round stone table.

Then, the fire pig slowly stroked the cool stone table with his hand. He had it made himself more than ten years ago, and it was also for the purpose of holding a 'feast ceremony' on this stone table to have a good meal someday.

Unfortunately, he won't need it.

Over the past ten years, he has had many dreams of enjoying a grand feast here, but he always feels sad when he wakes up because the dream ends at the crucial moment. Perhaps it is because he cannot imagine what the legendary 'feast' would be like.

But will he really never see that legendary feast?

Suddenly, a thought flashed into his mind like lightning, making him laugh and feel relieved.

"That 'Dragon Eye' treasure was sealed under the stone table. I've come to unseal it and return it to you," he said, answering his earlier question.

After saying that, he climbed onto the stone table and slowly moved to the center of it, leaving a trail of bloodstains in his wake.

Those present were both surprised and surprised by what Huozhu said, but also felt that it was exactly as expected.

The fire pig hid so many treasures here, there's no reason why the 'Dragon Eye' treasure should be placed elsewhere. And as a stolen treasure, it's perfectly reasonable that it needs to be sealed and hidden.

Hilti didn't stop it at this moment, but just tilted her head slightly and watched the fire pig move.

Reaching the center of the stone table, the fire pig grasped one of its tusks, snapped it off with a sudden burst of strength, and then inserted it into the center of the stone table.

After doing all this, he seemed to have exhausted a lot of energy. He lay on the stone table panting. Although everyone was a little anxious, they did not go up to scold him, after all, the fire pig was indeed in poor condition.

Blood slowly flowed along the patterns carved on the stone table. Then the fire pig propped itself up again, holding the tusk stuck in the stone table in one hand, and hummed an unnamed tune.

The melody was ancient, with a wild and primitive feel, and then a faint red light appeared on the stone table.

The power of the 'Blood Law' attribute spread out and slowly echoed in the hall. Then, the fangs on the stone table emitted a little bit of the power of the 'Beast Fang' attribute, like a key, causing the 'Blood Law' power on the stone table to form special patterns.

Soon, a light blue phantom slowly rose from under the stone table and then appeared.

It was a large piece of lapis lazuli, within which was encased the eye of a Cold Song Dragon.

The lapis lazuli was a pale blue and transparent color, with several neatly cut facets along its edges. Under the light of the flames, it refracted a few sparkles, making it quite beautiful. However, the most eye-catching feature was the enormous pupil within the lapis lazuli. This single pupil was wider than both of Hilti's shoulders, and it remained vertically open, causing any creature that looked into that pupil for the first time to feel fear and weakness in its legs.

【Han Ge Long Eye】(Tier 4 - Dragon Eye): The eye left behind by the deceased Han Ge Long, which retains its own essence. Unfortunately, as time has passed, most of its essence has dissipated, and its rank has dropped to Tier 4.

If you possess dragon blood or are a lizardman, you can obtain information about the abilities 'Cold Breath' and 'Song of the Frosty Dragon' from this treasure through a bloodline inheritance ritual.

After the 'Dragon Eye' treasure appeared, everyone present stared at it greedily.

As one of the superior attributes, the 'Dragon Eye' is exceptionally powerful and rare, which makes the treasures of this attribute far more valuable than those of other attributes. Moreover, the eyes are so well preserved that many ancient rituals require dragon eyes as an essential material.

At this point, everyone thought it was over, and all that was left was to find the missing girl and report back.

But the light on the stone table did not dissipate; the blood-red halo still lingered, flowing across the tabletop, and causing the 'fangs' and 'dragon eyes' on the stone table to emit a strange, resonant halo.

This is?

Many people present were puzzled, but no one took immediate action. They just didn't know why the blood-red light on the stone table was still shining, and why a strange aura was beginning to emanate.

A faint, exotic aroma wafted through the air. At that moment, numerous hazy phantoms appeared to the tune hummed by the fire pigs. They danced and sang around the stone table, holding various objects in their hands: bones, knives and axes, torches, and meat skewers. Their dance was ancient and rhythmic.

On the stone table, illusions of various delicacies began to appear, as if they were all kinds of meat dishes that had appeared since the birth of civilization, steamed, roasted, fried, boiled, and so on.

The strange fragrance emanating from the place whetted the appetites of everyone present, causing their mouths to water and filling their hearts with a sense of anticipation and joy.

The fire pig on the stone table looked at the illusions around it with hazy eyes, and kept humming a tune, its voice carrying a hint of relief and satisfaction.

So this is what the grand feast is like.
How wonderful!
He felt his consciousness slowly fading, and the tune he was singing gradually went out of tune, but it didn't matter anymore. The ritual was proceeding automatically, and his wish had finally come true.

He saw a feast, even though he himself was the feast for others to enjoy.

"What a nuisance." A clear, crisp voice rang out in the dimly lit scene, like a bucket of cold water being poured over it.

The black griffin's sharp claws stomped and crushed the stone table where the ceremony was being held. Then it grabbed the dragon's eye encased in the bluestone, tore it off from the ceremony, and forcibly interrupted the 'feast ceremony'.

Hiltiya stood on the back of the black griffin, her eyes coldly looking down. She commanded the griffin to retrieve the Dragon Eye Treasure. Then the black griffin flapped its wings, and a cold wind swept through, waking everyone present from the drowsiness of the 'Feast Ceremony'.

The ceremony was interrupted, and the fire pig, whose life was about to be extinguished, once again left a faint flame. He slumped down in the pile of stones, looking at the mess on the ground.

If the ritual had continued, his body would have absorbed the power of the 'Dragon Eye' and 'Beast Fang', transforming into delicacies for the 'Feast Ritual' to be enjoyed by those present. However, this process was interrupted by Hilti.

"I hate people who think they're so clever. Why can't you just listen to me obediently?"

If these people had all followed her instructions from the beginning, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

The fire pig won't die, the four fingers won't be seriously injured, everyone can have a relatively decent outcome, and they might not even die.

Although they had recovered the 'Dragon Eye' treasure, Siltia was in a bad mood. Under her cold command, the survivors tied up the fire pig, fed it more potions to keep it alive, and headed to the location the fire pig had indicated to find Anali. Emerging from the sewers, it was evening; the sky was edged with a purplish-red sunset, and the clouds were bathed in the afterglow, creating a particularly beautiful scene.

They found several carriages, one of which carried a fire pig, covered it with a canopy, and then set off for the place he had mentioned.

By the time Hilti arrived at the house at that address and began to knock on the door, dusk had fallen, and the streets were now a cold, almost dark blue.

The knocking continued for a long time until someone finally came and opened the door. It was an elderly maid who looked to be in her sixties, with wrinkled skin.

"Excuse me, who are you?" She was a little intimidated by the large number of people outside and took a few steps back.

“We’re looking for something at this address the Fire Pig mentioned,” Hilti said, blinking as she looked around at the surroundings.

Surprisingly quiet, there were no hidden guards or traps, only this lonely old man.

"Fire Pig? Who's that?" It seems she didn't know the name Fire Pig.

So, Hiltiya changed her question, "Has anyone delivered anything here recently?"

"Yes, but those are just ingredients." She didn't understand why this group of people cared about that.

“There’s something wrong with that ingredient. We need to check it out. You can ask Officer Mok, who’s in charge of this street, for details later.” Hiltiya was very familiar with the police officers.

Upon hearing that it was an arrangement by the police station, the other party felt relieved and quickly perked up.

"I'll take you there now." With that, she led Silti and the others to the back kitchen, where there was a hidden cover that, when opened, revealed the cellar below.

After going downstairs, the girl looked around and saw a lot of stored food, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, smoked meat, dried fish, canned goods, and salted fruit.

Walk into the innermost room, where there is a long wooden box lying horizontally with a lock on it.

Sensing the faint aura emanating from inside, Hilti stepped forward, used her short sword to cut open the lock, and then opened the box.

Sure enough, Anali, who was unconscious, was lying inside. Her hands and legs were tied up, and her mouth was gagged with a towel to prevent her from screaming.

Seeing this, the old maid was astonished and could not believe that there was actually someone hiding here.

Anali was untied and then woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, her body trembled at first, and she prepared to resist and escape, but after seeing what Shiltia looked like, she quickly calmed down.

"Lord Hedra..." She had many questions, but at this moment, Hiltiya wanted to know what had happened from her.

It turns out that on the day she went missing, Anali also visited the exhibition hall, but she was dragged there by an orc classmate.

She said she was a little scared to go alone, so she asked me to come with her.

"After that, we toured the area as usual and then went back."

"On the way, several unfamiliar orcs surrounded me and captured me."

Although Anali put up a fight, she was no match for the strong orcs, and what followed was her unconsciousness and imprisonment.

After understanding what happened, Hilti also sorted out the general outline of the whole incident.

The next step is to figure out how to report this to higher authorities.

Sitting inside the carriage, Hilti comforted Anali, and then the horned girl, having regained her freedom, finally fell asleep peacefully.

A few minutes later, the carriage stopped in an open space on Songzi Street, which was a safe area.

The group put down the fire pig and the Dragon Eye treasure, and Hilti also carried Anali down from the carriage.

As dusk approached, the evening breeze ruffled her hair and skirt, a slight chill seeping into her shoulders and neck, making the young woman exceptionally alert.

"Lady Hedra," Four Fingers asked cautiously and obsequiously, not daring to guess what decision this young lady would ultimately make.

With her fingers gently probing through her hair, Hilti looked at everyone and everything before her, her clear voice carrying on the wind.

"The Dragon Eye Treasure must be returned to the 'Bionic School,' and Fire Pig's previous plans have been truthfully reported in writing."

"Yes," Four Fingers and the others replied.

"However, I will try to save his life." Her words startled everyone present.

“Sir, the ‘Bionics School’ is not…” Four Fingers wanted to remind the girl that even though she was extremely talented, she was ultimately just an apprentice and could not interfere with the choices of those important figures.

“I know, but I’m also confident,” Hiltiya replied calmly.

Indeed, a fourth-tier 'Dragon Eye' treasure is a legendary item that those present would never be able to reach in their lifetime. However, for a mage school, such an item is merely a consumable of a large-scale experiment and is not particularly valuable. As for the thief who stole it, he is equally unworthy of concern.

“Four Fingers,” she suddenly called out the other person’s name.

Si Zhi felt a tightness in his chest, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.

"Lord Hedra."

“I am angry at your scheming and offense. You must do ten things for me before I can forgive you.”

Upon hearing this, Four Fingers let out a long sigh of relief and then knelt down on one knee.

"I will do anything!"

"First, cover up what happened today and assist Fire Pig's men in maintaining peace in each neighborhood." There are many things that police officers find difficult to intervene in, but these underworld bosses can manage very well.

"Yes." Even if Hilti hadn't said it, he would probably have done it anyway, since no one wanted to cause a bad incident at this crucial moment.

"From now on, all matters concerning labor wages and commissions, as well as various gray-market business operations, will have to be reviewed and approved by me."

"This... as you wish." Four Fingers hesitated for a few seconds, but still agreed.

Hilti wasn't surprised by Four Fingers' hesitation, but she had plenty of ways to get him to obey. She just hadn't expected him to agree so quickly.

“A portion of these cuts will be used to provide the most basic food for survival and limited medical care to the most vulnerable workers.”

"Of course, this can only be given to those who truly need it. As for those who want to take advantage of it, they will be given the punishment they desire."

"Take care of those newborn, bewildered infants, support those who have made contributions and are now old, and guide those who are lost and do not know how to move forward."

"What I want is not a baseless, mutually persecuting, short-sighted and chaotic underground environment."

"I hope to see some basic good qualities in you, and if you ask me why I do this, my answer is..."

"When you get used to those hasty and ugly paintings, you will also try to pick up a pen yourself and depict the scenes you like and want to see."

"I hope you won't let me down."

"However, I also know that empty commands are ineffective."

"Then let's make a deal."

“Once you have accomplished what I asked of you, I will promise you a grand banquet, a true ‘feast ceremony’.”

After she finished speaking, layers upon layers of flowers bloomed behind the girl, and in that sea of ​​flowers, abundant fruits and delicacies were displayed, their fragrances seeming real.

The beautiful scene appeared for a fleeting moment in the golden afterglow, then slowly disappeared, leaving a deep impression on everyone's minds.

(End of this chapter)