The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

When Mango and Nathaniel arrived, Bettany was already there. Perhaps she was afraid that someone would recognise her, so she wore a cloak and covered herself completely. If Mango wasn't familiar with

her, she would not have recognised Bettany.

On the other hand, Bettany didn't expect Mango to come as well, so she felt a little awkward.

"Madam, you're here too."

Bettany looked at Mango with some embarrassment. Well, she didn't know why she didn't have the courage to face Mango.

Perhaps it was because both of them were women, or maybe she knew Mango's feelings for Nathaniel. Hence, she knew that Nathaniel might forgive her after she poisoned him. However, Mango could choose not to forgive her, so she was a little nervous.

Meanwhile, Mango could tell what Bettany was thinking. To be honest, Mango was indeed very dissatisfied with what Bettany had done. However, after listening to Nathaniel's explanation, she had put herself in Bettany's shoes. After all, Mango was also a mother. Hence, if she was Bettany, she would probably make the same choice.

She sighed and whispered, "Tell us what you know. Look, let the bygones be bygones. I will explain this to Wisdom."

Mango knew who Bettany cared about the most right now. She didn't want Bettany and Wisdom's relationship to be affected, but she couldn't do anything as she knew the truth now.

A trace of emotion flashed across Bettany's eyes, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

Her son had died, but he still couldn't rest in peace. Wisdom was like another son to her, so she didn't want Wisdom to resent her at all because she couldn't take it. Now that Mango had voiced out her concerns, what else could Bettany say? Why should she hold back now?

"Thank you, Madam. I will tell you everything I know, but I also hope you can help me bring back my son's ashes. This is because I couldn't do it myself, so I had to keep following the king's orders. Alas! But I can't bring myself to harm both you and your husband."

After all, Bettany belonged to Longford County, and she had given up too much for her home as well. Now that the lord of Longford County had finally returned, she could never betray him. But she was also a mother, and she couldn't let anyone else disturb her son's grave. Hence, she could only entrust her hopes to Mango and Nathaniel.

"I promise you that I'll do that."

Mango didn't say anything as this was between Nathaniel and Bettany. Although she was Nathaniel's wife and could agree to Bettany's request, she still thought that it was more appropriate for Nathaniel to answer Bettany. Indeed, Nathaniel understood her and took the words right out of her mouth.

After hearing Nathaniel's promise, Bettany breathed a sigh of relief and had nothing more to worry about.

She then whispered, "I know where Barack is, and I can take you there."

Mango immediately became excited when she heard this.

"Is Barack in Angolla?"

"No, he is here."

After hearing what Bettany had said, Mango was slightly stunned, but Nathaniel wasn't surprised.

"Is he nearby?"

Bettany nodded and said, "Yeah, he is."

Mango was completely shocked right now.

She did not expect Barack to be nearby as she didn't have any news about him at all! Alas! Barack must have been so anxious!

"Where is he?"

Mango looked a little excited as she asked.

Then, Bettany whispered in reply, "Follow me."

After that, Nathaniel tightly grasped Mango's hand. He knew that Mango was eager to see Barack, but he was also afraid that Mango could not accept the current situation after she had seen Barack." "Mango, listen to me. No matter what you see later, you must stay calm."

Mango had imagined the scene when she would meet Barack multiple times. However, when she heard Nathaniel's words, she couldn't help but pause, and her heart ached.

If Nathaniel had said this, that meant that the situation wasn't too optimistic. Thus, she was worried that she couldn't accept the truth. But when she saw the worry in Nathaniel's eyes, a trace of warmth flowed through Mango's heart, and the anxiousness that she had disappeared immediately.

"Alright, I got it."

She said in a low but firm voice.

Nathaniel then said to Bettany, "Let's go."

Bettany brought Mango and Nathaniel out of Longford County. No one stopped them because Nathaniel had given the order. Meanwhile, Bettany kept a low profile, so no one recognized her.

Then, they stopped near Zelle Village after they came out of Longford County.

Mango had been walking on this road for some time, so she was quite familiar with it.

"Why did we come to Zelle Village? Is the chief of Zelle Village still suspicious?"

Mango asked as she felt like she couldn't trust anyone at this point.

However, Bettany shook her head and said, "No, Barack is nearby."

"What?"

Mango's eyes suddenly widened when she heard Bettany's answer.

On the other hand, Nathaniel also frowned slightly.

The road was wide and open, and there were no hiding spots. It didn't seem like Barack would be here, but Bettany had said otherwise.

"Bettany, are you sure he's here?"

"Yes, I am."

Bettany nodded and then led Nathaniel and Mango to a small town near Zelle Village.

There weren't many people in this small town, and it wasn't very crowded either. The families all stayed far from each other, and the region was vast.

After that, Bettany led them to a seemingly ordinary house and whispered, "Barack is here."

Well, Mango had never imagined that Barack would be staying at a place in plain view.

A glimmer of wariness flashed across Nathaniel's eyes after he heard this. He then took out a dagger from his boots and gave it to Mango before saying, "Be careful when you go in later. Protect yourself at all times, okay?"

When Mango heard this, she was stunned for a moment, and she nodded her head.

Bettany glanced at them and whispered, "Nah, you don't need to trouble yourself. I can release the vermin and put the people to sleep. Then, it will be easier for us to move around. If we make too much noise, the people outside will hear us.

Upon hearing Bettany's words, Nathaniel and Mango knew that there were guards guarding this area.

Therefore, they immediately looked around their surroundings. Indeed, this place was an open area, so it would be easy for other people to attack them, but it would be hard for them to defend themselves. "Alright."

Although Nathaniel had some bad memories with vermin, he had to admit that Bettany's plan was the safest right now.

After all, only three of them had come to this area. If there were too many people inside, they would only be digging their graves by carrying out this rescue mission.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel was cautious, so Mango was no longer anxious. She only needed to follow Nathaniel, so she was never nervous around him.

When Bettany saw that Nathaniel had agreed, she took out a small box from her pocket. Mango already knew what was inside. However, when she thought of the vermin, shivers went down her spine, and she started having goosebumps.

On the other hand, Nathaniel had sensed Mango's fear and stood in front of Mango. Therefore, he was completely blocking her line of sight.

After Bettany released the vermin, the three of them waited for a while. About ten minutes later, Bettany whispered, "We can go in now." Nathaniel went in front of Mango, and Bettany guarded them at the end. After that, the three of them walked quickly into the house. The door of the house was unlatched.

When Nathaniel pushed the door open, the smell of food came from inside. It seemed that the family had just finished cooking and had not eaten yet.

There were six people in the room. Right now, three men and three women were all lying on the table, and they were all asleep.

Mango knew how powerful the vermin was, but she decided to ignore it for now. Then, they started searching for Barack. However, there were only four rooms in the house. Mango searched everywhere many times but saw no one other than the six of them.

After that, Bettany whispered, "Madam, Barack is underground."

Mango's expression turned solemn when she heard what Bettany had said.

Was there a basement here?

The people here would only dig up a cellar to store vegetables, so they wouldn't build a basement.

Hence, could Barack be in the cellar?

As Mango thought of this, Nathaniel and Bettany were already walking towards the cellar.

Meanwhile, Mango was so excited that she seemed to be holding her breath. Perhaps she felt emotional because she was going to see Barack soon.

Then, Nathaniel opened the door of the cellar, and a sour and stinky smell instantly came from inside. The smell even choked Mango, who was standing behind Nathaniel, so she immediately stepped back while coughing.

URgh! How could a person stay in the room with such a pungent smell?

Mango covered her nose and tried her best to suppress her sense of smell. She then jumped down with Nathaniel.

Meanwhile, Bettany had scattered some powder on the entrance of the cellar. Mango glanced at the powder, but she didn't know what it was. Hence, she could only believe that Bettany wouldn't harm them. She then turned her head and looked at Nathaniel. He didn't say anything even though he saw what Bettany was doing, so Mango finally relaxed.

Everything would be fine if Nathaniel saw what Bettany had done. After all, Mango believed that Nathaniel would be able to solve any problems that would happen.

When they got into the cellar, Nathaniel whispered, "Watch your step."

Then, Mango turned on the flashlight on her phone. When she saw that there were dry faeces all over her feet, she felt so disgusted that she almost vomited. Suddenly, Nathaniel regretted letting Mango come down with them.

"Mango, why don't you wait up there?"

"No, I want to see Barack."

Mango knew that Nathaniel was worried that she couldn't stand the smell, but she was already halfway through the room. So, how could she return now?

Moreover, their current surroundings were indeed uncomfortable, but her uncle was still in there! Therefore, how could she go back up first?

On the other hand, Nathaniel knew that he couldn't change Mango's mind, but he still wanted to give it a try. Now that he had heard Mango's answer, he could only sigh and shake his head before saying, "Follow me closely. If you feel any uncomfortable later, you have to tell me, okay?"

"Alright."

Right now, the smell of urine made it difficult for Mango to breathe. As she spoke, the scent had already entered her mouth, and it had even reached her digestive tract. Urgh! The smell was so disgusting that she wanted to vomit out the food she ate during the day. However, Nathaniel was worried about her now, and Bettany was still guarding their backs. Therefore, she didn't want to be a useless burden to them.

Therefore, Mango forcefully resisted the urge to vomit and carefully followed behind Nathaniel. She tried her best not to look at the ground beneath her feet as she continued walking. However, the further she strode into the room, the more disgusting the floor was, so she couldn't step anywhere!

Finally, Mango couldn't help but gag as she looked at the ground covered in faeces and vomit. Meanwhile, Bettany's expression was no better than hers.

On the other hand, Nathaniel patted Mango's back as he looked at her in pity.

At this moment, they suddenly heard the sound of chains sliding on the ground. Thus, Mango immediately forced down her urge to vomit, and her entire body tensed up.