The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)

"Are you sure he is dead?"

"Yes, it was the people from the village who gave Aiden a tombstone. My dad said that his tombstone will not be in our graveyard because he wasn't someone from our village. However, it wouldn't be far from here too, so it must be somewhere nearby."

Mango got extremely suspicious after she heard what Henry said.

"Can we still find that tombstone?"

"I don't know. I should be able to do it. However, no one has been in the village for so many years now, so I'm not sure if the tombstone has been covered by withered grass."

Although Henry said so, Mango still decided to go over and take a look.

"Thank you, Henry. I'll go take a look first."

Zion's voice reached Mango's ears when she was about to walk out.

"Mommy, I want to go too."

He rubbed his bleary eyes as he looked at Mango, as if he had just woken up.

"Zion, don't go there. It's not a place for kids."

"I have to protect you."

Zion's words warmed Mango's heart.

"Don't worry, mommy is fine."

"I don't care. I'm going."

Zion went forward and hugged Mango's thigh. He didn't want to let go at all.

Seeing him like this, Henry smiled and said, "Mrs. Ye, just let him go with you. It's okay, I'll take care of him."

"Are you going too?"

Mango was a little surprised.

Henry nodded and said, "I'll go and have a look. I'm the descendant of this village after all, so I have to see if my parents are right. Besides, I should be more familiar with the terrain here than you. After all, my parents spoke of this place when I was a child."

Mango pondered for a moment before nodding her head after she heard what Henry said.

Zion was so happy, and he went to change his clothes after he heard that she could go with her.

Nevertheless, Mango's brows were still tightly furrowed.

It was impossible for Aiden to be a dead man.

Although it sounded terrifying just now, she still did not believe in the existence of ghosts after she thought about it.

Noah walked over when he saw that Mango had not gone out for a long time. He saw Mango standing in a daze in the pavilion as he strode in.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you still here?"

"I'm waiting for Henry and Zion."

Mango told Noah what Henry had told her.

Noah shared the same thoughts as Mango after hearing what she said.

"There are no ghosts here. Aiden may not have died back then."

"But Henry also said that the whole village made a tombstone for him. How could this happen if he didn't die?"

Noah couldn't explain Mango's doubt.

"Let's go see Aiden's tomb first no matter what the reason is. We might be able to find Nathan too."

"Hm, alright!"

Henry and Zion had gotten ready while Mango and Noah were talking.

Mango found it ridiculously funny when she saw Zion dressed himself up in a very formal manner as if he was about to go on an adventure. "Isn't it hot?"

"Not really"

Zion said as he fanned himself.

Mango smiled and didn't say anything.

Noah held out his hand towards Zion.

"Let's go. Uncle Soo will take you on an adventure, on which well save people."

"Who am I to save?"

"Mr. Ye of course!"

"Ugh, lame."

Zion curled his lips as he wasn't worried about Nathaniel's safety at all.

Mango seriously doubted if this brat was really Nathaniel's son.

On the other hand, Henry couldn't help but feel a little envious looking at them like that.

"You two are so close, unlike my sister and I. Although we're siblings, we are far away from each other. We can only meet each other through video or phone calls."

"You will reunite one day."

Mango patted Henry's shoulder to comfort him.

Lets go.

Everyone began to set off as soon as Noah gave

the order.

Henry remembered the route that his parents had mentioned before after leaving Pickwick Lodge Farm. Then, he took Mango, Noah, and the others with him and set off from the mountains.

"We haven't been here before, and the cemetery we passed by was not here."

Mango asked with some alertness as she looked at this completely unfamiliar place.

Henry smiled and said, "Of course, outsiders have to enter the cemetery from the outside. I heard from my parents that this is the core part of our village. We have cultivated a lot of herbal medicine, so only ou people know how to enter from the hills. Follow me. By the way, put this on your body."

Henry gave each of them a pill while he was speaking.

The pill had a pungent smell of medicine.

Mango asked, "What's the use of this?"

"It's for warding off insects. The climate here is humid, and many poisonous insects are thriving here. This is to ward them off. They will stay far away from us once they smell this scent. It'll be safer for us this way."

After hearing Henry's explanation, Mango asked, "Did your parents tell you this as well?"

"To be precise, I found the prescriptions in their notebooks after their death and made them myself. Since I intended to come back and have a look, I have to keep myself safe and sound. My parents work in the subtropical regions, so they always had these things on them."

Henry looked sad again when he talked about his parents.

Mango did not say anything else. Instead, she looked towards Noah.

Noah nodded.

Only then did Mango finally relax.

It was not her fault that she was extra sensitive. She had to be vigilant here. Otherwise, Nathaniel would not have just disappeared.

Noah understood Mango's feelings and didn't say anything. They put the pill on their bodies and followed Henry into the mountain.

Zion looked extra excited after entering the area.

"Mommy, look! What's that?"

He pointed to a big butterfly and asked.

"Isn't that a butterfly?"

"But it's so big, and it's so beautiful! This is the first time I've seen it."

Zion was about to reach out his hand to grab it as he spoke, but Henry stopped him.

"Don't move. The more beautiful things are here, the more we can't touch them. They are poisonous butterflies. Their wings are coated with poison dust. Your hand will rot once you touch them." "Ah! It's so scary!"

Zion quickly retracted his hand and hid in Mango's embrace.

Mango finally relaxed when he saw that her son still knew the sensation of fear.

"Hey, just follow us and don't run around. Do you understand?"

"Okay."

Zion was a little disappointed, but he couldn't control his gaze as he looked around and exclaimed from time to time.

Mango was afraid that Zion would get lost, so she just carried him.

Meanwhile, Noah was afraid that she would be tired, so he said, "I'll hold him."

"No, I can do it."

Mango didn't want to give Zion to anyone else as she only trusted herself here.

Noah didn't say anything anymore.

After Henry led the group through a small forest, Mango and the rest saw a herb garden.

Although a long time had passed, the herbs still thrived here, and the rich scent immediately made them feel relaxed and happy.

Henry looked at everything in front of him and felt amazed. He then said, "My parents didn't lie to us. There really is a herb garden here."

"Wow, it's so beautiful."

Zion looked at the scene in surprise and quickly took out his phone to take a picture.

"I'm going to take pictures of everything and show it to Rita later. She'll definitely like it."

A smile lifted the corners of Mango's lips.

Zion and Rita shared a very good relationship. Hence, Mango really hoped that they would always be like this.

Noah looked around and said in amazement, "This place is really a priceless treasure. Many herbs here are extinct in other parts of the world. I didn't expect to see them here." "Nathan has bought everything here."

Mango approached Noah and said in a low voice, "In the future, if you need any medicinal ingredients, have Nathan give them to you."

'TH hold you to that."

Noah hurriedly said.

Mango smiled and didn't say anything else.

Henry led them as they continued the journey after everyone was done admiring the herb garden.

However, they soon ran into an area with murky gas clouds floating around.

"Take this medicine."

Of course, Henry was prepared for this.

Nevertheless, Mango still let Noah examine the medicine. She and Zion took the pill after Noah made sure that it was safe to consume.

Henry did not say anything in response to Mango being cautious as he felt that it was normal. If it was him, he would also not easily trust a stranger that he had only known for less than two days.

They walked past the gas clouds, and Zion felt that everything here was amazing.

Mango looked at the cave in front of her and felt that it was somewhat familiar.

"This cave looks almost the same as the one we fell into."

When Henry heard Mango's words, he quickly said, "My parents said that there are many caves in our village that are connected to each other. They said that everyone opened up these caves back then in order to avoid any disasters they may happen. It was left behind by our ancestors. At the very beginning, our ancestors came here to escape the war and live in seclusion. It became what it is now after many generations." "Wait, did you say that these caves are linked?"

Mango suddenly caught hold of the main point.

"That's right."

Henry nodded. He didn't understand why was Mango so agitated.

"Nathan went missing somewhere near the cave. Could Aiden have taken advantage of this to kidnap Nathan?"

"But why didn't Nathan have a chance to warn you?"

Noah's question hit Mango, and she didn't knew the answer to it.

"Let's stop guessing and continue searching for Nathaniel. Guessing is pointless."

Mango and Noah nodded after hearing what Henry had said.

Mango observed the area after they entered the cave. She felt that the surroundings were very clean. At the very least, it was much cleaner than the cave that they had fallen into, and it was also much neater. "Wait, there should be someone living here, or rather, Aiden should be living here instead of the place where we fell into back then. That place may just be one of his warehouses."

Noah and Henry stopped walking after they heard what Mango said.

"What did you notice?"

"Not too much. Although there's food in the cave we fell into, it's obviously not as clean as here. Didn't Henry say that Aiden's tomb is on the edge of the village? Are we there now?"

Mango looked at Henry.

Henry shook his head and said, "No. But it's not far away. It's right behind the cave, and we have to take a detour."

"Let's take a detour then! I'd like to see whether Aiden is human or a ghost."

Mango no longer had any fear now that she had come so far.

Not only did she want to find Nathaniel, but she also wanted to figure out if Aiden was still alive. She even wanted to know the truth of why he wanted to kidnap Nathaniel.