The Heaven-Cursed Costs Life, But I Have Infinite Life-Chapter 54: The Beast in the Cage, the Cosmic Mouse

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: The Beast in the Cage, the Cosmic Mouse

"Are you the adventurers who took on this mission?" the old man asked with a warm smile.

The group stepped forward, nodding. One of the stage 4 mercenary squad leaders stepped up and asked, "elderly gentleman, what are we here to escort?"

They all glanced at the massive carriage covered in black cloth, their faces filled with curiosity.

"Sorry, but that’s confidential for now," the old man replied with a smile. "Still, the reward won’t be low. Once you deliver it to Azuremoon, you’ll each get 500,000 gold coins."

Their eyes lit up. "Don’t worry, we promise to deliver it safely," they said in unison.

Allen scoffed at the old man’s words. He didn’t believe in freebies dropping from the sky.

Staring at the huge, cloth-covered carriage, he sensed something alive inside.

Curious, while the old man chatted with the others, Allen crept up to the carriage and tore open the black cloth. Several iron bars, as thick as arms, were revealed.

Huh...

Suddenly, a heavy breath echoed through the air. The carriage jolted violently. Allen saw two crimson, lantern-like orbs speeding toward him—huge eyes.

Boom!

The carriage shook so hard that Allen staggered backward. The horses panicked, neighing and darting in every direction.

The driver was startled and fought to rein them in.

"What are you doing?" the old man rushed over, quickly pulling the cloth back down, glaring angrily at Allen.

Boom... boom...

The carriage continued to shake. The beast inside the cage was furiously battering the iron bars. The drivers struggled to control the spooked horses.

The old man’s expression turned serious. Strange energy rippled around him as he murmured soft words, seemingly trying to calm the furious beast.

Soon, the carriage stopped shaking. Inside the cage, the beast grew silent.

The old man finally let out a sigh of relief. Turning to Allen, his expression turned dark. "I remember you took on this bounty quest through the Assassins’ Guild, right? This mission shouldn’t be too dangerous, but you must follow my orders!"

Allen kept smiling and quickly apologized. "Sorry, I was just curious."

"Hmph! Move out," the old man snorted, ordering the caravan to start.

Twelve horses strained to pull the heavy carriage, creaking with the effort. They were moving slowly, so the group could easily catch up just by walking.

Allen and Lilia brought up the rear.

Besides the old man and the six drivers, there were four guards. They looked stern and serious, like well-trained soldiers.

"Allen, what’s inside the carriage?" Lilia asked curiously.

"I don’t know. It looks like a huge beast," Allen said, shaking his head. "The black cloth covers the inside, and it’s pitch dark. I only saw two giant red eyes, like lanterns."

"A huge beast?" Lilia frowned, confused. "I’ve never heard of a monster that big."

Allen had never seen a monster that massive either. The whole caravan felt suspicious.

He looked back at the old man and the four guards. "Lilia, don’t you find their presence familiar?"

"Not really. Those four look like battle-hardened veterans. That’s all," Lilia replied, still puzzled.

Allen frowned, then suddenly realized something. He whispered, "Did you notice they feel a lot like Theron?"

"Ascetic?" Lilia shook her head. "I’m very sensitive to the aura of light, and they don’t have any aura of light."

"No," Allen said firmly. "It’s not the aura of light. It’s a special energy fluctuation, just like that old man turning into a turtle."

"I haven’t fought the old man yet, so I didn’t notice anything special about his presence," Lilia explained.

"Oh, that old man hasn’t shown up for a long time. You don’t think he’s given up on making you his disciple, do you?"

Lilia was surprised. When we got to Ironridge, we didn’t hide our tracks. With Theron’s skills, he should have found us by now.

Allen was also confused. "If he gives up, that’s fine. I don’t want to deal with that old man anymore."

Lilia nodded in agreement.

The caravan moved slowly, taking half a day just to leave the Ironridge area.

Allen and Lilia followed behind, getting bored.

The pace was so slow that they were starting to regret taking this job.

Suddenly, a group of people appeared ahead, blocking the caravan’s path.

The mercenaries and adventurers immediately became alert.

In the wilds, many adventurers had been expelled from the major cities. These wanderers, known as Rogues, often attacked merchant caravans.

But these people didn’t look like Rogues; they looked like Killers.

"My lords," the old man stepped out of the caravan. A smile played on his lips as he pulled a bag of gold coins from his chest. "Our caravan is special. The goods aren’t worth much. Please show some mercy and let us pass."

The leader glanced at the bag of gold but didn’t reach for it. His expression was cold. "We’re not interested in your goods. We want him!"

Pointing at the very back of the line, he said,

"No one dares to touch the codename ’Heavenly King’. Since you chose this name, you must be strong. We are here to challenge you!"

He drew a short sword from his waist, looked at Allen with provocation, and sneered, "Fight now! We don’t care if it’s life or death."

Allen was speechless. He never thought that even after leaving Ironridge, these Killers would still target him.

Seeing that the old man had no intention of stepping in to mediate, Allen slowly walked out of the crowd.

These people were at best stage 5 cultivation. It wasn’t worth his time.

"This guy is mine. If you don’t want to die, get lost!"

Suddenly, a woman’s voice rang out from the dense forest. A figure walked out slowly. She was wrapped in a loose black robe, covering her body completely, with only her eyes visible.

"Black Widow!"

The faces of the Killers changed slightly. They exchanged glances and immediately turned to leave.

They were Killers, but they weren’t fearless. Facing Black Widow, they stood no chance.

Even the people in the caravan were terrified hearing the name Black Widow. They stepped back, putting distance between themselves and Allen to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

"So, you haven’t given up yet?"

Allen looked at Black Widow, showing not a trace of fear.

"Hmph. You better watch out. I swear I will kill you."

Black Widow threatened. She was unsure of her chances against Allen, so she quietly slipped back into the forest.

The caravan members exchanged confused glances.

Weren’t people marked by the Black Widow supposed to die for sure? How did they just walk away?

"Let’s keep moving. Be careful; there are monsters around," the old man said, casting a suspicious glance at Allen but saying no more. He urged the caravan forward.

Squeak... groan...

The wheels strained as they turned, making a loud grinding sound.

Allen and Lilia kept following slowly at the very back of the line.

As dusk fell, the caravan stopped moving and set up camp for the night.

"Allen, this is too slow," Lilia said, growing annoyed. "At this pace, we might not reach Azuremoon in two months. Should we just quit this job?"

Allen also regretted taking this mission. "Let’s wait and see. If it stays this slow, we’ll leave."

He felt this caravan was no ordinary group and wanted to see what their true plan was.

Plus, what exactly was that huge beast inside the cage? Why was it being shipped to Azuremoon?

A campfire was lit around them. The mercenary squad and adventurers kept watch on all sides.

With so many people here, monsters wouldn’t dare to attack.

Allen noticed the old man pull out a large pile of unknown monster flesh. Carefully, he lifted the black cloth and threw the meat into the iron cage.

Crunch...

Sounds of a monster chewing on flesh echoed from inside the cage.

Does that old man have a storage item?

Allen wondered. It seemed this man’s background wasn’t simple.

"Huh! What’s that?"

Suddenly, a gasp rang out from the crowd. A shadow darted forward, snatched a piece of roasted meat from an adventurer’s hand, and stood up on its hind legs by the fire, tearing at the food with its paws.

It was a small beast. Its shape was similar to a squirrel, but its fur was a dark grey color.

"Cosmic Mouse!" someone shouted, rushing to attack immediately.

"Squeak... squeak..." The small creature let out two sharp shrieks before darting rapidly into the dense forest.

"Chase!" A few people cheered excitedly and immediately ran after it.

"Don’t all go. Leave two people to guard the cargo," the old man commanded instantly.

The group hesitated for a moment. Two of them stayed behind, while the other two adventurers chased into the woods.

"Allen, should we go check it out?" Lilia asked eagerly.

A cosmic mouse is an extremely rare and elusive monster. The storage pouch on its body is the core material used to create space storage items.

Just one cosmic mouse is worth at least 5 million gold coins.

"Let it go," Allen said, grabbing Lilia’s arm.

This cosmic mouse appearing was too strange.

Legend says these creatures are timid and hyper-vigilant; they would never appear voluntarily where people are around.

But just now, that cosmic mouse openly stole food, clearly provoking them.

"Allen, that little thing is worth 5 million gold coins," Lilia said, watching the two adventurers disappear into the forest, her eyes full of desire.

"Ahhh..."

Suddenly, two agonizing screams echoed from deep within the woods, followed by silence.

The group’s expressions turned serious. The sounds came from the two adventurers just now.

"What’s going on? Is there a powerful monster in the forest?" The captain of the mercenary squad frowned. Those two were at stage 3 cultivation. Dealing with a single cosmic mouse should have been easy. Even if they couldn’t catch it, there shouldn’t have been any danger.

The old man looked at the nearby guards and ordered, "You two, go in and check."

"Yes."

The two guards replied and disappeared into the forest.

The night was pitch black. Apart from the crackling campfire, the surroundings were dead silent.

Not long after, the two guards emerged, each dragging a corpse.

It was the two adventurers from earlier.