A slap echoed, resounding throughout the area.
Hadian was shocked! He placed his palm on his cheek as he felt it burn from pain.
"Are you an idiot? Do you think your enemy will sympathize with your thoughts and reciprocate your feelings?"
Hadian grew even more stunned. He had just become a slave but he was already being disciplined? He couldn't help but feel that he should live anymore with this insult.
His teeth clattered from immense rage and shame.
What choice did he have other than to exchange his life for his woman? Could it be that he was allowed to make a contract with the other party?
Ridiculous!
Other than doing a leap of faith and hoping for the best outcome, none of the future was in his hands.
His face contorted but he didn't lash out. He knew that there was someone whom he should protect with his entire life was behind him.
"Miss Mulia, I'm disappointed. Is this the man you chose? It's fine if the outcome is beneficial to you but he tried to do something useless like sacrificing himself in vain?"
Hadian turned confused as he heard the former part of the sentence but then his eyes widened.
'What!? This person knew Mulia?'
Behind Hadian, Mulia clenched her fists in helplessness as she looked at her beloved being humiliated but then turned stunned when she heard the blurry figure's words.
The blur that was obstructing from seeing Davis's face quivered and disappeared.
Mulia's eyes froze but then she muttered a moment later, "You... You're that boy..."
Davis's lips curved into a smile, an evil one to be exact.
Mulia felt a chill up her spine when she saw his expression.
Just as Davis tried to reach his hands towards Mulia as if he was going to touch her, a voice echoed behind him.
"This farce has gone for too long, my dear husband."
Davis froze and turned to look back at the approaching Evelynn with an awkward smile on his face. Her words were filled with an abnormal tone, especially at the latter part of the sentence.
He inwardly let out a sigh realizing that he had gone a little bit far with his acting.
"Alright, Miss Mulia, take care, I'll be leaving then..." Davis said in a casual tone as he turned around.
Mulia couldn't comprehend what had happened while Hadian couldn't either.
"Wait!"
Mulia suddenly shouted as she panicked.
"Hmm?"
Davis looked back at her and shot her an inquisitive gaze.
"You... Release him from that slave seal!" Mulia shouted as she pointed towards Hadian, unable to calm herself down. Disbelief was still clouding her mind.
Davis turned amused, "Why should I?"
"You! ...I saved you at that time!" Mulia yelled in grievance. Her eyes were still moist and desperate, different from the time she had faced others calmly and indifferently.
It was as if the latter personality was a facade to distance herself from numerous people.
Hadian currently had a lost expression on his face while still covering his cheek. He looked below him, looking at the fainted Sixth Stage Cultivators and the fleshy remains of the Seventh Stage Cultivators.
He turned to look back at Mulia, not understanding what was going on. If they were friendly, why did all this mess ensue in the first place? Why did he have to sell himself to become a slave? He was absolutely lost.
"Miss Mulia, you were supposed to be dead at that tomb. Don't you know why you're still alive right now?" Davis spoke back, making her realize.
Mulia froze as she finally understood why she and her uncle were the only ones who can escape from that place after the two factions left.
Her hand trembled as she knew that she could no longer use this leverage to ask him for a favor.
Even if she insisted that the reason she was not saved was because of him, would the other party listen to her words? That would only be making it disadvantageous for her as it could be considered rude and nagging.
She knew this point so she didn't know what to do anymore, so she could only cast a helpless gaze to Davis.
"Besides, why should I release him from a slave seal when I haven't even placed it on him in the first place?" Davis spoke as he yawned.
Mulia was stunned.
She instantly probed Hadian with her Soul Sense and really couldn't find any slave seal but for all she knew, she thought that it could be hidden from her weak soul sense.
Hadian's body shook and he instantly checked his Soul Sea. If there were any abnormalities, he could more or less sense it since it was his own. A soul seal is mostly a seal that shouldn't be able to stay unnoticed by the victim unlike the other soul techniques used for tracking.
He blinked and realized there wasn't anything suspicious in his soul sea neither did he felt shackled.
'What's happening?' Hadian couldn't believe his ears nor his soul sense.
Mulia anxiously asked, "Hadian, do you feel some discomfort?"
Hadian paused for a moment before confusedly shaking his head.
Not being able to understand, Mulia hesitatingly questioned Davis with a slight amount of fear, "Did you not really place a slave seal on him?"
Davis shrugged, "I didn't..."
"Then what was that golden speck of light that entered my soul?" Hadian asked with an incredulous expression on his face.
"A slave seal..." Davis spoke and after their expressions changed, he continued, "I broke the technique after it entered his soul sea."
"Impossible!" Hadian muttered as he couldn't believe his ears.
'I fall prey to a freaking feint?' His mouth was utterly agape with disbelief encasing his pupils.
"That's why I said I'm disappointed in you. You gave up even before the fight began, making yourself fall into a pa.s.sive position." Davis coldly spoke.
Hadian's heart shook as he took a step back.
"Not only did you foolishly rely on the enemy's pity, you even considered you were sacrificing yourself for your woman and managed to gain self-satisfaction through it!"
Hadian kept shaking his head, denying Davis's claims.
Davis coldly chuckled, "Well, if you didn't gain self-satisfaction? Why were you content and accepted the outcome, just floating there without even checking your soul if you could do something about the situation?"
Hadian froze as his gaze turned stiff. A feeling of shame welled up within him.
From Davis's words, he realized that it was indeed the case.
'I gave up even before the fight began?' He contemplated these words and he couldn't feel but get angry at himself for his gullibility.
He felt that he was saving her but realized that in the truth that he was just delaying the inevitable.
"That's right! In the same event, you can do nothing with your current cultivation base but just rely on the opponent's pity and mercy for a better future but you had the gall to think that you actually managed to achieve something and be content with it?"
Hadian looked like he had been dealt the final blow to his self-confidence. He collapsed but instantly a frail arm supported him from falling.
He turned his face away from Mulia as shame threatened to engulf him.
He could do nothing to protect her and that was the truth! The irrefutable reality! Even though it was hard to swallow, he understood it.
Mulia embraced him as she spoke in a guilty voice, "It's my fault."
She knew that his thoughts were revolving around her safety. She also couldn't help but inwardly lament, 'If only I hadn't delayed...'