Chapter 45: The Ruthless Hand
One of the stone sculptures was one Linley had recently completed. With his current level of skill, his craftsmanship was already very high. The silver-haired girl was carefully examining every detail of the sculpture.
"Good, truly good."
The silver-haired girl looked thoughtfully at the sculpture, then turned back to Linley. "Brother Lei, I feel your sculptures are even better than the ones my teacher bought, but I can't tell where the difference lies."
Seeing such an adorable girl looking at him like this, Linley felt troubled.
"Miss Danlan, I still need to train," Linley said tactfully.
The silver-haired girl nodded. "Alright, I'll leave right away." Hearing this, Linley secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but the silver-haired girl continued, "But Brother Lei, after you finish training, you have to teach me stone carving."
Linley's face stiffened. "Stone carving is a supreme art. How can it be casually passed on to others?"
Indeed, master-level stone carvers did not easily take on disciples.
"Oh." The silver-haired girl looked very disappointed, lowering her head as she walked toward the courtyard wall, then lightly leaped over it with ease.
"She's finally gone." Linley let out a long breath.
The silver-haired girl's head popped back over the wall. "Brother Lei, focus on your training! Once you're done, I'll come find you again." With that, she disappeared.
...
Lan Dan returned to her bedroom, sat down on a chair, and her face turned cold again, her eyes indifferent and devoid of emotion. If Linley had seen this, he wouldn't have believed anyone could act so convincingly.
"This Linley is wary of others and not easy to approach. That's a bit troublesome."
As a descended angel, Lan Dan was extremely unwilling to have the six of them die together with Linley.
But as an angel, she would not disobey orders.
Step by step.
If she could kill Linley easily, why sacrifice her life?
"Given Linley's kindness to Jenny and Keen, he shouldn't be too guarded against me." Lan Dan had devised this plan based on Linley's interactions with the siblings.
If she could make physical contact with Linley, with her ninth-rank strength, a sudden ambush on Linley in his normal human form would give her over ninety percent certainty of killing him.
But now it seemed Linley was somewhat wary of her.
"Maybe he sensed my strength." Lan Dan shook her head. "This Linley has no curiosity at all. I mentioned my teacher several times, yet he never asked who my teacher was."
Lan Dan had actually prepared a speech long ago to deceive Linley.
Don't be fooled by Lan Dan's youthful appearance; her actual age was probably much greater than Delin Cowart's. But those ten thousand years in the Divine Light Plane hadn't affected her as much as these few decades in the mortal world.
********
"Looking at this silver-haired girl's demeanor and eyes, she seems like that lively, willful princess type," Linley frowned. "But her strength..."
Linley had actually been on guard against the Radiant Church all along.
In Linley's imagination, the Radiant Church should have found out he was here by now. And at this moment, a girl who was at least a seventh-rank warrior appeared. Even if she seemed lively and cute, Linley wouldn't easily trust her.
Trusting people also depended on their strength.
If it were a weak, defenseless little girl, Linley might have been much friendlier. After all, even if she used a weapon, she couldn't harm him in the slightest. But this girl was different.
If she attacked him at close range, she could seriously injure or even kill him.
"Could it be that the person the Radiant Church sent to kill me this time is this girl?" But recalling the silver-haired girl's innocent, naive eyes, Linley found it hard to believe.
That evening.
The silver-haired girl came again. But this time, she pushed a hotel food cart in through the front door.
"Brother Lei, I'm delivering your dinner in place of the waiter." Lan Dan's crisp voice rang out, her face full of smiles. Seeing her, Linley felt a headache coming on.
"It's you?"
"What, can't it be?" Lan Dan puffed out her cheeks, then giggled. "Brother Lei, I brought you dinner. Teach me stone carving, okay?"
"No." Linley refused.
"Stingy." Lan Dan wrinkled her nose. "When I cook for my teacher, he goes along with everything I say. You're such a miser."
"Your teacher is your teacher, not me." Linley wouldn't agree.
Getting close to a strange woman who was at least seventh-rank, maybe even stronger—Linley wouldn't do that. Teaching stone carving required close physical proximity, after all.
And this was exactly the time when the Radiant Church might try to deal with him.
"Remember, I don't want you delivering my dinner." Linley said coldly.
Lan Dan's expression changed. She glared at Linley angrily. "You jerk! You don't know a good thing when you see it. I'll definitely tell my teacher. He'll kill you!"
"Kill me?" Linley looked at the girl's furious expression.
"Of course. My teacher is very powerful." The silver-haired girl said proudly.
"Who is your teacher, to be so powerful?" Linley asked.
The silver-haired girl said proudly, "I'll tell you. My teacher's name is Hedderson."
"Pillar Sword Saint Hedderson?" Linley was startled.
In the entire O'Brien Empire, if there was one person below the War God who was the strongest, it was undoubtedly the Pillar Sword Saint 'Hedderson'. This Pillar Sword Saint had reached the peak of the saint rank many years ago, but in battles against other saint-level experts, he had never lost.
Whether in attack or defense, he was flawless.
Moreover, he was cold and ruthless, with almost nothing affecting his performance. A perfect peak saint-rank powerhouse—because he was too perfect, he was eventually called the 'Pillar Sword Saint'.
"Scared now?" The silver-haired girl smiled proudly. "Don't worry. As long as you teach me stone carving, I won't tell my teacher."
"No wonder." Linley looked at the silver-haired girl. "What rank are you now?"
"I'm already eighth-rank." The silver-haired girl said proudly. "How about that? In the entire imperial capital, there aren't many eighth-rank experts younger than me."
Linley glanced at the silver-haired girl. "Miss Danlan, go back and tell your teacher that I refuse to teach you stone carving. I doubt he'll kill me."
The silver-haired girl was stunned, then softened again, pleading, "Brother Lei, please, teach me." She even moved closer to Linley.
But Linley immediately stepped back three paces, retreating into the living room.
"Miss Danlan, I need to rest. Please leave." Linley directly closed the living room door.
"Hmph."
The silver-haired girl snorted and left.
*******
Over the next two days, the silver-haired girl either bought nice clothes for Linley or pretended to be pitiful, staring at him as if he were heartless for not teaching her stone carving.
On the fourth day.
That morning, Lan Dan came to Linley's courtyard again, just like the previous days.
"Brother Lei, I'm leaving." Lan Dan said, looking very disappointed.
Linley glanced at the silver-haired girl in surprise. Over the past three days, she had given him a headache. And Linley still couldn't determine her true identity.
Was she from the Radiant Church?
Or was she the Pillar Sword Saint's disciple?
But from his interactions with Lan Dan, Linley found her to be genuinely lively and a bit willful. He found it hard to believe she was from the Radiant Church.
"If she's an assassin sent by the Radiant Church, then I'd have to admire her acting skills to death," Linley thought to himself.
Lan Dan looked helplessly at Linley. "Brother Lei, I've always admired my teacher. He loves stone carving. I really want to be able to carve good sculptures. But you won't teach me."
"Without enough time and talent, it's impossible," Linley said, shaking his head.
Lan Dan's eyes lit up. "I have time! And I have talent!"
"Are you an earth-style magician?" Linley suddenly asked.
"No." Lan Dan shook her head, then asked in confusion, "What does that have to do with being an earth-style magician?"
Linley shook his head. "If you're not an earth-style magician, then you don't have the talent to learn this carving from me." Linley wasn't lying. Flat-blade carving required being an earth-style magician.
"You're making excuses." Lan Dan stepped forward, pointing her finger at Linley. "I've never heard that carving requires being an earth-style magician."
"There's a lot you don't know," Linley said with a faint smile.
At this moment, Lan Dan was about two meters away from Linley. She calculated in her mind: "Two meters. In his normal human form, I'm stronger than Linley. I should have a chance to kill him."
Originally, Lan Dan had planned to strike when they were close enough for physical contact.
But Linley wasn't giving her the chance.
"Brother Lei, I know you're making excuses. I just want to ask you one last time: will you teach me stone carving?" Lan Dan looked at Linley with hopeful eyes.
Linley shook his head.
"Sigh." Lan Dan lowered her head in disappointment.
But at that moment, Lan Dan shot toward Linley like lightning. At the same time, a dagger suddenly appeared in her right hand.
Two meters—too close.
An eerie purple light flashed.
Lan Dan only saw a blur of purple sword shadows spinning, entangling her dagger and even threatening to wrap around her arm.
"Hmph."
Lan Dan immediately abandoned the dagger, and her left hand struck directly at Linley.
"Bang!"
Their palms collided. Lan Dan immediately gave chase, but Linley retreated with an ethereal, bizarre speed, reaching the courtyard wall in the blink of an eye.
"Roar~~"
Hei Lu and Bebe stood beside Linley, but before they could attack, Lan Dan immediately retreated.
"You want to kill me?" Linley stared coldly at Lan Dan.
Lan Dan raised her chin and said angrily, "Lei, listen to me. I, Danlan, have never begged anyone like this. Even with my teacher, I've never done this. For three whole days, I tried every way to ask you, but you refused to teach me. Shouldn't I kill you for that?"
"What a tyrannical logic," Linley said, looking at Lan Dan.
Lan Dan was now standing at the entrance of Linley's courtyard. She glared at him. "If you have the guts, come and kill me! My senior brothers will be here soon. If you dare bully me, I'll tell them."
At this moment, Linley had already formed the intent to kill.
Whether this 'Danlan' was really the Pillar Sword Saint's disciple or just pretending, she had just tried to kill him.
But Linley felt a sense of danger.
It was an indescribable feeling, one that warned him... not to go after Lan Dan. If he did, it would be extremely dangerous.
"Hmph, too scared to kill me, huh? Then I'll be going." Lan Dan proudly pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out. Linley didn't chase her. Instead, he sent a soul message: "Bebe, quickly go through the ground to outside the courtyard and take a look."
Outside the courtyard gate.
The other five ninth-rank experts were all waiting there. They had already taken their positions, ready to form the 'Angel Battle Formation' with Lan Dan at any moment.
After Lan Dan walked out of the courtyard, she signaled the other five with her eyes.
The five quietly followed Lan Dan and quickly left.
"Hmph." After leaving the hotel, Lan Dan was very dissatisfied. "If Linley had chased me out just now, the six of us could have killed him in a flash. But he stayed in the courtyard with his two magical beasts. Even if the six of us charged in, with Linley's speed, he could easily escape."
Lan Dan also understood that killing Linley in the provincial city was very unwise. After all, McCansey was not far away in his castle. With McCansey's speed, he could probably fly over in the blink of an eye.
"Milord, what do we do now?" The other five looked at Lan Dan.
"Proceed with the next plan," Lan Dan said coldly. "As for dying together with Linley, that's a last resort. The very last resort." The other five nodded.
Even angels wouldn't sacrifice themselves easily.
"Hmm?" Lan Dan suddenly saw a pair of men and women ahead, protected by many guards. Lan Dan had seen images of Jenny and Keen. "I haven't even gone looking for them, and they deliver themselves to my doorstep." A smile curled at the corner of Lan Dan's mouth.
(Chapter 2 done!)