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Chapter 140




Iron Cliff ended up staying in Hurricane Canyon — before he completed Su Chen’s mission, he wouldn’t leave.
Hadley also demonstrated rare generosity towards Iron Cliff — actually, there wasn’t really much to demonstrate here. The most valuable thing in Hurricane Canyon were the Stoneskins themselves.
The Stoneskins here had dug many caves throughout the canyon, and most of the time they stayed inside those caves.
There were many caves, so there was no shortage of places to live.
Iron Cliff had chosen a cave at the very bottom and was temporarily staying there. After having been cut at by the wind for nearly a whole day, Iron Cliff sighed with relief upon entering the cave.
He was just about to lie down when a few small Stoneskin children appeared near the entrance of his cave.
They glanced around the cave with some curiosity, as if they were looking for something interesting to distract themselves with.
When Iron Cliff saw them like this, he smiled at them and beckoned towards them with his hand.
The small group of children got closer to him.
One of the boys asked, “You came from outside?”
“Yes,” Iron Cliff replied.
“Is the outside big?” another child asked.
“Of course.”
“Is the wind outside blowing hard too?”
“Is it dangerous outside?”
“What do humans look like?”
“I heard they are very bad.”
“Why do you have to listen to what humans say?”
The children asked question after question, until they were talking over each other.
Iron Cliff knew that they had been born in Hurricane Canyon and had never seen the outside world before. They hadn’t even seen a human before.
The only things that they knew about the outside world came from their parents and their elders.
For this reason alone, they were filled with curiosity towards the outside world.
Iron Cliff chuckled and said, “The wind out there is not great. They don’t live in caves, but rather in houses made out of wood and stone. Humans are a bit shorter than us and aren’t as muscular, but they can control Origin Energy and are more creative than us. They are the owners of that land, so if we don’t listen to them then we will have a hard time surviving.”
“Then you can live here,” a young Stoneskin girl said.
Iron Cliff thought for a moment and didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled out some food from his Origin Ring.
This food had come from the human realm.
He placed it on the ground.
The young Stoneskin children gazed at him, their eyes wide with shock.
A youth sniffed it and asked, “Can it be eaten?”
“Of course.” Iron Cliff nodded.
He took a piece of cake and handed it to the young boy, who stared at it intently.
One of the nearby girls grabbed his hand. “Daddy said not to randomly eat someone else’s food.”
Iron Cliff responded, “It’s ok, I was the one who invited you all. Try it.”
His tone was incredibly enticing.
The youth swallowed his saliva. He tried his best to control his urges and respect the teachings of his elders, but the temptations of the outside world were not something that a youth could manage to resist.
In the end, he wasn’t able to hold on and reached out to grab a piece, sticking it in his mouth.
This piece was enough to move the youth to the point of crying.
This feeling was one that was impossible to describe. He felt like he had melted into pure bliss.
The youth stared in disbelief for a moment before disregarding everything else and snatching the cake from Iron Cliff’s hands, stuffing it furiously into his mouth.
He had never experienced the wonders of the human realm before. But now, his senses were under furious assault. He felt like a commoner facing off against a power that could decimate the entire continent. How could he resist?
He had immediately fallen in head-first!
At this point, he wouldn’t stop even if someone told him that the cake was poisoned.
All the other children were stunned when they saw the way that the boy was devouring the food in front of him.
Iron Cliff smiled slightly at them and alluringly said, “You all eat a little bit too. It’s really very good.”
The little girl reached out her finger and dipped it in a little bit of sauce, then licked her finger.
Her eyes turned red as soon as she tasted it, as if she had been badly poisoned. She reached out and immediately grabbed all of the food in Iron Cliff’s hands.
The frenzied actions of their friends didn’t entice the other children to fight for it. Instead, they took a few steps back out of fear.
They glanced at each other, then at their companions wolfing down the food, and finally all of them made the decision to run away, yelling as they left.
“Alright, it seems like I need to prepare some more food,” Iron Cliff said with a slight smile.
He knew what was going to happen next.
Indeed, it took place very quickly.
A large group of Stoneskins appeared once again.
The one at the front was still Hadley.
When he saw the young boy and girl devouring the cake that Iron Cliff had brought, Hadley immediately understood what had happened.
“Cake…… Truly a delicacy.” A reminiscent look flashed across Hadley’s eyes. “When the children told me that Grew and Bair had been poisoned, I had a guess as to what kind of poison it was…… Good food truly is effective, Iron Cliff.”
Iron Cliff shook his head. “I don’t have any crafty schemes in place, Leader Hadley.”
“This isn’t a crafty scheme; you’re just baiting them openly.” Hadley walked over and opened his hand towards him. “Any more?”
“Of course.” Iron Cliff hurriedly pulled out some more cake and other delicacies.
Hadley handed over the cake to the children behind him. “Go on and have some. You guys will like this kind of food.”
Since their leader was the one that was telling them to do so this time, the children obediently ate.
Afterwards…… they fell into a frenzy as well.
The adults ignored the children’s crazed appearance and stared silently at Iron Cliff.
Iron Cliff shrugged. “I have some more food with me as well. I promise that it’ll be better than what I’ve already given you, and you all may have some too.”
“Thank you, but there’s no need. If it weren’t for the fact that Grew and Bair had already eaten some of your food, I wouldn’t have let the others kids have any either…… You know that this will only increase their longing for the outside world.”
Iron Cliff nodded. “You cannot stop them forever. They will leave one day.”
“But they will also return,” Hadley sighed. “The outside world is very glamorous and attractive, but it is also very dangerous. Even though living here is not easy, it at least ensures that they will be safe.”
“That might not be what they want; that might just be what you want.”
Hadley eyed him intensely. “Perhaps that’s the case, but so what? We are just a group of vanquished people who couldn’t make it in the outside world and merely want to live here peacefully. If you want to stay, we welcome you to do so. But if you are here to ask us to throw our lives away for the sake of your master, then forget about it.”
As he spoke, he turned around to leave.
As he walked away, he said, “Don’t use these kinds of tactics to entice the children again. Otherwise, I’ll drive you out.”
“Leader Hadley, you cannot be too stubborn. They have the right to pursue their own happiness!” Iron Cliff yelled.
“At the very least, what I am doing will ensure that everyone survives, while your master only wants all of us to die…… You know how dangerous the Limestone Mountain Range is, right?” Hadley asked coldly.
Iron Cliff was momentarily rendered speechless.
He stared at the other Stoneskins, then suddenly yelled out loudly, “Is that what you all think as well?”
All of the Stoneskins stared at him in shock.
Iron Cliff continued to yell loudly, “You all want to stay tied up in this place like a bunch of cowards, struggling at death’s door? Even if you have an opportunity to change your own fate, you’re all too scared to take this risk?”
None of the Stoneskins answered him.
They just stared at him, silently and coldly.
A trace of anger appeared in Hadley’s eyes. He stared at Iron Cliff angrily and said, “This is your last warning. Don’t say anything poisonous like that ever again. Otherwise, I’ll kick you out right here and now!”