My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 234 A pouch of gratitude

"Young man, who are you? Are you the one who defeated those evil creatures and saved our lives?" One of the survivors asked Yuan, his tone filled with politeness, fearful of inadvertently offending their savior.

Yuan observed the middle-aged man, noticing his wounds and the injured state of the other survivors. Men, women, children, and adults alike, all bore wounds from the goblin attack.

"Well, my intention was only to eliminate those disgusting creatures. But looking at you guys now, I see those beings really did a number on you," Yuan stated, his voice devoid of sympathy towards the injured man.

The man hadn't expected their savior's voice to be so cold, but he nodded in agreement. "Indeed, it is just as you've said. They really did a number on us. They killed the hunters we hired to protect us and slaughtered our horses. If you'd come a little later, only God knows our fate. Those vile creatures would've violated our women and tortured us until we died in misery. Thank you... thank you for saving us, young man."

In their world, goblins were one of the most reviled and malevolent creatures. No one knew their origin or how they came to exist. Unlike other races, goblins only had one gender - male. 

This meant they couldn't reproduce on their own and had to rely on other races such as humans, demi-humans, elves, and dwarves. 

Their most preferred targets were human women, and they typically attacked travelers and small villages with lower populations.

Yuan quickly understood the reason behind the goblin attack on the carriages, seeing the presence of a significant number of females among the survivors.

The middle-aged man looked at Yuan with gratitude and introduced himself. "By the way, I forgot to introduce myself to our savior. My name is Rigurer, the leader of this traveling group. May I be honored to know our savior's name?"

"Well, I don't mind telling you my name—" Yuan began, but he was interrupted by a familiar and beautiful voice from behind.

"Yuan, who are these people? Are they the survivors of the goblin attack?"

Yuan turned to find his wives approaching, their curious gazes taking in the lifeless goblin bodies scattered across the ground, their blood creating a morbid tapestry.

"Why did you guys come here? I would've returned to the carriage after I collected their ears as proof of our subjugation. We can exchange these ears for money at the hunters association in Monbrook city once we get there," Yuan explained to his wives, a hint of helplessness in his smile.

While the low-level goblins wouldn't fetch much, the hobgoblins and the three Goblin Lords were valuable targets. Each hobgoblin could earn him more than ten silver coins, and the Goblin Lords could bring in at least thirty silver coins each. This was an exceptional haul for any hunter, an amount that most could only dream of earning in a day.

"We thought we could help you collect the proof of our subjugation. Since you didn't let us fight, we could at least assist you in gathering the proof," Anna suggested, her expression gentle. She and her sisters had grown restless waiting at the carriage and decided to lend a hand.

"That's right, it will save us a lot of time and we can continue our journey instead of doing it all by yourself," Lily added cheerfully.

Yuan sighed, conceding, "You guys are right. It'll save us a lot of time if you help me collect the proofs."

The middle-aged man stared at the exquisite women surrounding their savior in awe. He was both shocked and disbelieving, as he had never seen such refined ladies before, let alone so many in one place. 

'Who are these beautiful women? Why do they seem so close to our savior? What's their relationship with him?' the middle-aged man wondered, his surprise evident on his face.

The other survivors turned their attention towards the source of the voices and were met with the sight of an incredibly handsome young man and a group of stunningly beautiful women surrounding him.

"Wow! Who are these people and how come they are so beautiful?"

"They are so beautiful and exquisite, like they are some kind of fairies from another world," one person marveled, captivated by the beauty of Yuan's wives.

Another nodded in agreement. "I've never seen such beautiful women before, let alone so many at once."

"The young man they are surrounding is also extremely handsome, and I've never seen anyone this handsome before," a woman confessed, her cheeks tinged with a blush as she found herself entranced by Yuan's good looks.

"Indeed, he is too handsome, and looking at him I feel my heart starting to beat faster. Is this what people call 'love at first sight'?" another woman mused dreamily, her eyes taking on a heart-shaped gaze as she looked at Yuan.

Rigurer observed the reactions of his people and decided to set the record straight. "Keep your voices down. The young man over there is our savior. He single-handedly saved us from the goblins. If he hadn't helped us, only God knows what would've been our fate at the hands of those vile creatures."

The people were taken aback by Rigurer's words, struggling to believe that this slender, handsome young man had single-handedly taken down the goblins and saved them.

"Heh? Leader, are you sure he is the one who saved us from the goblins? He looks so skinny to me."

"It's hard to believe, but given the number of goblin corpses, I can only conclude that he is indeed the one who saved us from our worst nightmare."

"We should be grateful towards him for saving us, instead of doubting him," another chimed in, emphasizing the importance of their savior's actions over their initial skepticism.

"I also agree, we should be grateful for him endangering his own life to save ours," chimed in another survivor, echoing Rigurer's sentiment.

Rigurer smiled, pleased to see his people expressing their gratitude towards Yuan for his heroic actions. The survivors then collectively thanked Yuan for saving them from the goblins.

"Young man, here, take this." Rigurer offered a small pouch to Yuan, containing over 200 silver coins.

Yuan looked at the pouch with a slightly awkward expression. "What is this for?"

"Think of it as our gratitude towards you for saving us. I know it's only a small token compared to the lives you've saved. But given our current resources, it's the best we can offer you for your heroic deed."

"Well, considering your gratitude for saving your lives, I'll gladly accept this." Yuan smiled, taking the pouch from Rigurer. He stored it inside his system storage, leaving Rigurer astonished by the seemingly magical act.

Afterwards, Rigurer returned to his people and began repairing the damaged carriages, aiming to leave the forest before nightfall.

Yuan turned to his wives and suggested, "Let's collect the proofs as quickly as possible and continue our journey."

His wives agreed, using the goblin corpses to efficiently collect their ears. Anna stored the pouch filled with the unsightly goblin ears into her spatial ring.

"All done. Let's return to the carriage and continue our journey. The road is long, and we may encounter more monsters ahead as we keep moving," Grace stated with a practical tone, heading towards the carriage.

Yuan inwardly hoped they would indeed encounter more monsters on their journey, as he needed to earn more SP. He had a lot to purchase, including cultivation techniques, martial techniques, and weapons for Julie and Ava. Additionally, he had long dreamt of buying something special for his two mothers.

As they settled back into the carriage, Julie turned to Lily and said, "Let me handle the carriage from here on. You must be tired after driving for so long."

Lily shook her head. "There's no need. It's better that I handle the carriage since we might encounter many monsters ahead. As a cultivator, my senses are far superior to a mortal's, and I can detect monsters from a long distance."

Rose looked at Julie with a smile and remarked, "It's better that Lily handles the carriage. It will be safer, and we won't have to worry about unexpected attacks from monsters."

Julie nodded in agreement, smiling, and settled beside Yuan, resting her head on his shoulder.

Lily resumed her position as the driver of the carriage, and before long, the carriage was back to its previous speed, barreling through the dense forest.

As the carriage rumbled on, the noise startled smaller wild animals, spreading a tinge of fear among them.

Anna, feeling quite tired, decided to rest her head on her son's lap. Yuan smiled at her and gently stroked her hair. Before long, Anna was peacefully asleep, wearing a sweet smile.

Grace, sensing a moment of closeness, promptly rested her head on Yuan's other unoccupied lap. Yuan couldn't help but smile at his mother's gesture, and he, too, began to gently stroke her hair.

"I love you, darling," Grace mumbled before drifting into a restful slumber, leaving Yuan with a heartwarming smile.

After a while, a translucent screen popped up in front of Yuan, taking him by surprise.

<Ding! A new mission has been assigned to the host!>

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I'm releasing the chapter earlier today because it's Durga Puja, a festival celebrated in Assam. I'll be joining my friends and family to partake in the festivities shortly.