Chapter 178 - Why Ask When You Already Know?

Hecathe had no idea what the man was talking about but he was sure that it wasn't something he would be interested in. 

Hecathe drank the coffee without any sugar and the man also let his guard down as he enjoyed the herbal tea. 

"So you guys want to find the relation between her parents and Asgarian?" The man brought up the topic first as he asked. 

"Why ask when you already know?" Hecathe questioned back with a scoff. 

"Are you going against Asgarian?" The man asked as he changed his question. 

"Might as well kill some boredom with it," Hecathe responded without missing a beat. 

"He could kill you three in the blink of an eye," The man spoke with a smirk before he asked, "What makes you so confident that you'd be able to stand a chance against him?" 

Hecathe put the coffee cup down as he took his time while answering this question with yet another question, "What makes you think he stands a chance against us?" 

"...." 

"We can kill him in the blink of an eye as well if we want to," Hecathe spoke with a small smirk as he tilted his head and looked at the man, "The girl that just served you the herbal tea... She wouldn't even need to break a sweat for it. The boy who just served me coffee... His hatred, guilt, and pain drive him to seek revenge and the fire might just be strong enough to burn down all the freaking willows who think spring belongs to them." 

The man laughed as he heard this and asked, "Aren't you going to boast about yourself as well?" 

Hecathe scoffed as he heard this question, "What would be the fun in that? I'm a man who enjoys surprises more than spoilers." 

"I can relate to you on that. The more spontaneous a situation is, the more fun it is." 

Hecathe nodded his head as he agreed with the man and he finally started understanding how he was supposed to deal with a psychopath like this one. 

He was simply supposed to act as if he was one as well, and surprisingly enough, acting like yet another psychopath wasn't too hard for Hecathe. The theory of relatability was really magical in such situations. 

"So what happens when you kill him?" The man asked enthusiastically but didn't wait around for Hecathe's answer as he continued to question, "What happens when you kill him and realize that you've got the wrong guy? What if he isn't the one who killed the great Orgon?" 

Hecathe smiled thinly as he heard this question, "Why not let the answer to that remain spontaneous as well?" 

"Then I'll be forced to say that your answer isn't very promising," The man commented. 

"And your entire existence isn't promising but you don't see me complaining about that, now do you?" 

"..." If it had been someone else listening to Hecathe being so rude to them, they would have most certainly been offended, however, this man actually looked amused and laughed in turn. This reaction clearly spoke a lot about the man. 

"I'll help you," The man spoke as he nodded his head with a chuckle. 

Hecathe smiled in satisfaction as he heard this and leaned his head back as he responded, "Then let's start with a brief history of this house." 

With another nod, the man agreed as he spoke, "I'll give you the answers you want but you better give me a show that is worth it." 

Hecathe smiled as he heard this, "You can trust me with that. I am pretty good at putting on enjoyable shows." 

"This house belonged to the twin brother of Dorka. Dorka was the willow of spring who was killed by the great Alphius."

Hecathe's eyes widened as he heard this and he didn't know if it was more shocking to hear that the willow had a twin brother or if it was more surprising to hear the man referring to Alphius as the 'great' Alphius.

Alphius's father was considered as a great man and hence given the title of the great Edler but as for Alphius, he was mostly seen as an outcast. 

The mecha-suits were perhaps the only people who respected Alphius and as for the rest, although there were a few countable fans, most of the other ability users simply treated him as a villain. 

"The girl that came with you... She's his daughter," The man continued as he revealed, "Her parents were both killed." 

"Who killed them?" Hecathe gulped as he asked a bit too impatiently. 

The man smirked as he spoke, "I would naturally not know that." 

"..." 

"But your guess isn't too far off," The man added with a sigh as he explained, "Asgarian might have been the one behind it and if it wasn't him, it could have been another willow of spring." 

Hecathe's eyebrows creased together as he heard this and he clearly looked to be a bit anxious. 

"The other willows of spring would be interested in killing someone who wasn't even posing a threat to them...?" 

The man shook his head as he denied this and spoke, "That's not it. It's more like insurance. To make sure that there were no troubles caused." 

Hecathe frowned as he heard this and it was clear from his face that he found this a bit hard to completely believe and digest. 

"If he lived, he would be able to take his brother's place. Hence taking a title as another willow of spring and that... Was certainly not what everyone else wanted." 

"Eh?" 

"Her father was a bit different from the others. He had a brother and a sister, both of whom had become willows of spring at one point in their lives. Both of his siblings were like fire while he was more like water. Clear water that hides nothing." 

Hecathe started to understand the situation a bit but he was still not able to say that he liked what he was hearing. 

"He supported the old government. If he were to become a willow of spring, he would have surely drowned the whole system of triple rule." 

"..." 

That oddly sounded exactly like what Hecathe was planning to do. 

"So that made him a threat and he needed to be removed. I don't know who did it but I'm sure it wasn't a solo decision," The man added with a chuckle as if he found this story a bit funny, "Of course, his family also needed to die with him and hence his wife was killed. As for the daughter... She was lucky to have escaped. She probably has her abilities to thank for that." 

Hecathe gulped as he heard this and his eyes immediately widened in realization as he put the pieces together. 

LeiLei had lied to them... 

Or to be more exact, she didn't know it herself that she was the one who saved herself. 

Her body had probably sensed danger and she teleported herself out of the danger zone. 

"She was never thrown out..." Hecathe muttered in disbelief as he looked down at the table, "She was the one who ran far away..." 

The man chuckled as he heard this and nodded as he confirmed it, "There was another body placed as a dummy. The one who did it probably didn't want to deal with a runaway. Especially not when the runaway was such a slippery little child that could travel halfway across the globe in the blink of an eye." 

Hecathe unconsciously nodded his head as he agreed with the man. Even Hecathe would not have wanted to deal with such a kid. 

"As for the rest of the story," The man sighed as he spoke, "There's not really anything interesting to hear about it. In the first place itself, her family's existence was kept as a secret so even after their death, there weren't really people mourning over such a tragedy." 

"The whole incident simply faded away...?" Hecathe questioned with a bit of hesitation. 

"That's right," The man nodded his head as he confirmed this, "Living a life in secret and dying in secret... That was the unfortunate fate that had already been accepted by them" 

Hecathe could already guess why the man had to live in secret and that was perhaps the most disturbing thing about this situation. 

LeiLei's father was Dorka's twin brother and as per the rules, if any of the three willows of spring had a twin sibling, that sibling was to be killed off immediately and their body was to be burned in front of the whole city.

"Those idiots really went out of their ways to create a rule that would come stabbing them on their backs," Hecathe shook his head with a sigh as he commented. 

"Not really," The man shrugged his shoulders as he responded, "The rule is quite smartly made. A bit ruthless but still smart." 

"Hmm?" 

"With a twin in the picture, even if you were to be killed, your twin could always take your place and nobody would ever know," The man spoke with a smirk as he explained, "And there is also a possibility that the one who kills you might just be your power-hungry twin." 

Hecathe's lips twitched as he heard this and he was clearly not amused to know this.