When Ashton Todd and Stella Gibson returned to the clan, they were still feeling a bit gloomy.
On this trip, he did the work, but didn’t get a penny in return.
Sitting in the car, he glanced at Stella Gibson beside him, eyes carrying a hint of complaint.
Stella t his gaze, raised an eyebrow,
"What? You were the one who said all the reward goes to , are you going to regret it?"
Ashton Todd wanted to regret it, but his dignity wouldn’t allow it,
"I said I’d give it to you, so I’ll give it to you. I keep my word."
Ashton Todd pretended not to care at all.
Stella, however, burst into laughter, then casually rummaged and tossed a bank card into his lap,
"What kind of person would I be to take your money for nothing? Here, this is your share. It’s fair dealings, it was the rule in the first place."
Ashton Todd held onto the card, knowing there wasn’t much money in it, but still, his eyes lit up.
"You’re the one who didn’t want it, it’s not like I didn’t give it."
Stella humd lightly in response, and the two chatted away as they returned to the village.
Great-Uncle watched the two co back, squinting kindly,
"Stella, you’re back, did things go well?"
"I took care of it. Rest assured, Great-Uncle."
Stella patted her chest, then leaned closer to Great-Uncle, eagerly reminding,
"Great-Uncle, you ntioned earlier that if Ashton Todd worked for the clan, he could take the thousand-year-old corpse soil, right? That still counts, right?"
Great-Uncle squinted at her, his cloudy eyes showing a aningful look for a long mont before countering,
"Do you want to give it?"
Stella nodded,
"I’ve brought him back; just give it to him. It’s not like he’s going to do anything bad with it. If he succeeds, it’ll be a rit for the clan."
Stella knew that dealing with clan rules might not be that easy to talk through, yet she was surprised when Great-Uncle readily agreed,
"Then go take it."
They were both stunned at first, then grinned with delight, Stella especially, hugging Great-Ununcle’s arm joyfully,
"You agreed? Great-Uncle, I knew you were the most understanding! Let’s go right now."
She jumped up to grab Ashton Todd’s arm, almost as if afraid the offer would be retracted if they went late.
Ashton Todd didn’t even have a chance to react, dumbfounded as Stella dragged him to the door, and only then did he belatedly turn back to shout into the house,
"Great-Ununcle, we’re off!"
The location of the thousand-year-old corpse soil was in the clan tomb, akin to an ancestral hall, usually inaccessible. Even if one entered, not everyone could.
Stella was the only girl of this generation allowed to freely enter the clan tomb.
Back when she first brought Greta back to the clan, it was her first ti entering.
This ti, she had another person by her side.
"There’s a special corpse nourishing land in the clan tomb, where the shadow energy is heavier. Don’t wander off once inside, just follow ."
"Alright."
When it cos to serious matters, Ashton Todd has always been reliable.
Stella first led him to bow before the row of coffins in the main hall, then lit incense sticks.
Ashton Todd only felt those incense sticks had a very particular scent; the smoke they produced was dense like a flowing stream, except the stream was rising.
He followed the rising stream of smoke with his gaze, soon realizing sothing was amiss.
The green smoke split into multiple strands above, and these threads of smoke drifted towards the two of them.
Soon, a thread of green smoke circled above Stella’s head before unobtrusively dissipating around her.
The other thread lingered hesitantly above Ashton for a while before finally probing closer, circling around him, and eventually encircling his head as well.
Ashton Todd vaguely guessed what this ant.
Did this an approval?
Then he heard Stella beside him say,
"The ancestors have granted you permission to enter, let’s go."
It was the first ti Ashton Todd had thus closely engaged with the rules passed down through a family lineage. He was born an orphan, alone, with self-taught enlightennt from an old Taoist’s book, having never felt what it’s like to be supported by a family legacy.
The feeling was quite fascinating.
But he quickly ca to terms with it.
Though he had no family legacy behind him, he had a whole orphanage after all.
Maybe that place couldn’t give him confidence, but he could instead beco the confidence for that place.
The process of acquiring the thousand-year-old corpse soil was much simpler than he imagined.
Ashton Todd took a small bottle with the texture he found most fitting, sealed the bottle with a talisman, and patted his backpack,
"Alright, let’s go."
Stella noticed he only took a small bottle and asked,
"Is this enough? Since we’re here, why not take a bit more?"
Ashton Todd just looked at her and chuckled,
"You’re truly a worthy descendant of your ancestors."
Then added,
"This is enough, really. If it’s not, I’ll call you over to get more next ti."
He thought, at worst, it’s just a matter of doing more work for the clan, simple.
Stella looked at him complexly, seeming speechless yet possibly having sothing to say.
After a while, she chose to remain silent, letting him be.
They exited the clan tomb, Stella looked around then suddenly asked,
"Did you bring your stuff?"
Ashton Todd looked at his backpack and nodded.
Then she said,
"As long as nothing’s left behind, let’s leave the village and head back to Sea City while it’s still bright."
Ashton Todd was puzzled,
"Why so urgent? Shouldn’t we thank Great-Uncle first before leaving?"
"No need, let’s leave now, trust ."
As Stella spoke, she grabbed his arm and briskly headed to the village entrance.
At the village entrance, she saw the car that Seventh Cousin used to drive them in, and as she walked over, hands forming a mantra, she made a beckoning gesture.
The next mont, Ashton Todd saw a small rag doll crawl out from under the car, holding a set of car keys.
Stella threw the keys to Ashton Todd, quickly got into the front passenger seat, and signaled him,
"Quick, drive."
Ashton Todd was bewildered; how is this... sneaky-like?
Even using a puppet to steal keys.
But after all, it was Stella’s turf, and Ashton Todd had agreed to follow her lead before coming.
Thus, he obediently got in, started the car.
The car had scarcely turned around to head back the way they’d co, when behind them, Seventh Cousin seed to catch on and hurriedly ran out.
Behind him were several other elders from the clan.
The group saw the two fleeing in the car, shouting out seemingly frantic.
Seventh Cousin especially agitated,
"The thousand-year-old corpse soil is for clan mbers only. If he took it, he’d have to marry into the clan! Don’t let them run!"
Dust kicked up at the back, the sound of the car covering up the voices of Seventh Cousin and others, as Ashton Todd watched them shout through the rearview mirror, he couldn’t help but ask Stella,
"What are they saying? Shouldn’t we stop to explain?"
Stella maintained a calm deanor,
"No need, they’re just reluctant to see go."
"Oh."
Ashton Todd responded, unclear if he believed or not.
The car drove smoothly forward, not knowing how long had passed before Ashton Todd suddenly asked her,
"Stella Gibson, are you..."
Stella turned to him, "Hmm?"
Ashton Todd tightened his grip slightly on the steering wheel, glanced sideways at her, then quickly refocused, pursing his lips to murmur,
"Forget it, never mind."
Though the car’s distance from Seventh Cousin and the others was quite far and the engine noise likely obscured any trailing words... Ashton Todd actually had quite good hearing.
Therefore, he did kinda hear so things.
But, since Stella didn’t say anything, he decided to act as if he knew nothing.
After all, as per their agreent—
He was to follow her lead.
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