Chapter 534 Growing Suspicion
“Stop blabbering on. Bring me to the women so I can free them,” Jared said icily.
“All right.” Elijah bobbed his head in agreement. Without any further delays, he led Jared to the back of the chapel.
Shane clenched his jaw and followed suit. Similarly, Tristan helped a stricken Megan along.
Behind the chapel loomed an enormous cliff. Its towering height would cause one to feel a sense of foreboding.
Elijah walked to the cliff and rapped his knuckles against it three times. Once he finished the sequence, the cliff wall slid open to reveal a secret door.
Inside the hidden room was a large prison cell that held several young women within it. The moment the cell doors swung upon, the women instantly cowered in fear.
When Elijah stepped closer, piercing screams filled the air.
Upon seeing this, Jared grabbed Elijah by the collar and gave the latter a furious glare.
“I-It wasn’t me! Fabian made me do it,” Elijah blustered when he locked gazes with Jared.
Megan, who was still in a daze, jolted in shock when she caught sight of these women. Though they appeared similar in age to her, their clothes were in tatters, making them look like pitiful beggars.
Slowly, Megan walked over to them. Upon noticing that Megan was of the same sex, the women calmed down.
“What a bunch of animals!” Megan cursed under her breath. How could the Crescent Sect treat them this way?
With Megan’s help comforting the women, they managed to free them all. The moment they stepped foot out of their cell, the women took off in all directions, afraid that they’d be captured again if they lingered around. Before Jared and the rest could react, all of the women had vanished into the distance.
Initially, Jared wanted to enlist some help to send these women back to their homes. Nevertheless, with them all gone, he shifted his attention back to Elijah. “Bring me to your headquarters now!”
Though Elijah hesitated, he eventually nodded in agreement.
“If you try to trick me, I’ll give you a fate worse than death,” Jared threatened when he noticed Elijah’s hesitancy.
“I won’t!” Elijah waved his hands. “The problem lies with the parasite in my body. With it, Fabian can keep track of my precise location. If I return right now, he might get suspicious.”
“I’ll remove the parasite then,” Jared replied.
“Fabian himself obtained this parasite from Mapleton. It’s been in my body for years now. All this time, it has fed on my blood, and we have merged as one. It would be impossible for you to extract it.” Elijah shook his head, unconvinced by Jared’s statement.
“Give me your hand,” Jared instructed.
Although Elijah didn’t know what Jared intended to do, he still stretched his arm out.
When Jared waved his fingers, a red glow emanated from his fingertips. Jared then pointed at Elijah’s palm, sending the light into Elijah’s body.
Immediately, Elijah began to convulse as his face contorted in a grimace of pain. The glow inside of Elijah’s body moved around erratically as if chasing after something.
“Ahh!” Elijah screamed in anguish. Promptly, he spat out a red-colored worm. The moment it came into contact with sunlight, the worm shriveled up, and a peculiar red mist rose from its corpse.
Elijah’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he noticed the dead parasite. He could hardly believe his own eyes.
“All right, the parasite is gone. You can move freely now,” Jared said nonchalantly.
When realization dawned upon him, Elijah collapsed to his knees and bowed before Jared.
All these years, he’d done many unspeakable things while under the influence of the parasite. Despite being haunted by his guilty conscience, Elijah was forced to obey Fabian’s orders, or he’d have to pay the price with his life.
“I didn’t remove your parasite to save you. Whether you live or die depends on your performance,” Jared uttered.
