Chapter 59: Brothers Meet
Several days had passed since Bloomer was granted his title.
“My lord.” The guards at the entrance of the count’s estate said respectfully.
Wharton acted as if he hadn’t seen the guards at all, not even glancing at them as he walked straight into the count’s mansion. The two guards exchanged a look.
“The count has been in a bad state these past few days. He was absent-minded again just now.”
“Yeah, he used to smile at us every time, even greet us. It seems that Bloomer’s proposal at the Martial Arts Hall had a huge impact on the count.”
Bloomer’s proposal at the Martial Arts Hall had already spread throughout the entire imperial capital.
Most people in the capital knew about the situation between Wharton, the Seventh Princess Nina, and Bloomer. In every street and alley, in taverns and restaurants, people could be heard discussing it.
“Wharton, what’s wrong?” A voice sounded.
Wharton looked up and saw it was Hillman’s son, Nader. Wharton shook his head and sighed. Nader understood somewhat: “Is it because the Seventh Princess didn’t come?”
“Yeah.” Wharton nodded.
Wharton and the Seventh Princess often met, and their meeting times and places were fairly regular. But ever since that day at the Martial Arts Hall, aside from the day after the proposal when Nina met him once, he hadn’t seen her for the other three days.
Unable to even see her, Wharton naturally felt terrible.
Nader also felt indignant for Wharton and snorted: “What’s wrong with that Bloomer? Proposing directly to make the Seventh Princess marry him. He’s really sick.”
“Saying more now is useless.” Wharton shook his head.
Just then—
“Count, Count!” A crisp voice sounded from outside the door. Wharton turned to look, and the one speaking was the Seventh Princess’s personal maid, Rose.
“Let her in.” Wharton said immediately.
The guards let Rose run in. Panting heavily, she rushed in front of Wharton and said: “Wharton, the Princess has been strictly ordered by His Majesty to stay in the palace and not leave. Even I barely managed to get out. This is a letter the Princess asked me to give you. Here. I don’t have time to stay. If I’m late getting back, it’ll be bad.”
Rose handed the letter to Wharton, who took it dumbly. Before he could say anything, Rose had already run off again.
“What does His Majesty mean by this?” Nader frowned, feeling a bit aggrieved.
Wharton immediately opened the envelope, took out the letter, and began reading. As he read the contents, a warm current seemed to flow through his heart, filling him with warmth.
A cyan battle qi burst forth in Wharton’s palm, and the letter turned to powder.
“The identity of the War God’s closed-door disciple, and the existence of Olivia… it seems His Majesty is leaning toward Bloomer.” Wharton understood clearly.
If His Majesty hadn’t forbidden Nina from going out, she would often be with Wharton, not with Bloomer.
This ban was clearly favoring Nina.
With a furious snort, Wharton was helpless. Even in his transformed state, he was only at the peak of the ninth rank. What waves could such strength stir up in the imperial capital?
*******
A few days later, outside the imperial capital.
A carriage, several fine horses, and a panther completely black without a single spot of another color. On the panther sat a young man dressed in a simple robe.
“Linley, look.” Sessler, riding a horse, pointed into the distance at a tall mountain with several peaks. “That is the world-famous War God Mountain. The War God Sect is on that mountain.”
“War God Sect?” Linley’s eyes lit up.
The legendary, absolutely dominant force in the empire—the sect founded by the ‘War God’ who stood at the pinnacle of the continent. Linley gazed at War God Mountain in admiration.
“War God…”
The War God ‘O’Brien’ had a life too glorious. He built the vast O’Brien Empire, then fought the High Priest on the Yulan River. That battle made his name and established his supreme status alongside the High Priest.
For over five thousand years, no one knew what level the War God, who had stood alongside the High Priest back then, had reached. But in the O’Brien Empire, the deity people believed in was the ‘War God.’ This shows the War God’s status.
Linley’s heart surged with heroic ambition: “One day, I too will stand at the pinnacle of the continent!”
Linley turned his head and stopped looking at War God Mountain. No matter how good War God Mountain was, it belonged to the War God.
“The imperial capital, Blazing Flame City.” Looking east, he could already see the massive city, the largest on the continent. Blazing Flame City’s vastness could only be compared to the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire.
Blazing Flame City was majestic, simple, and unadorned.
“The capital of the continent’s strongest empire, the gathering place of experts—Blazing Flame City.” A hint of a smile appeared on Linley’s lips. Under the sunlight, Linley and his group entered Blazing Flame City.
That day, no major figures paid attention to this group.
Yet they did not know that this group would stir up unimaginable waves throughout the entire O’Brien Empire.
…
“Haha, as expected of the O’Brien Empire’s capital. Even the main street is this wide.” Barker laughed heartily, and Linley laughed as well.
Linley’s group was walking right down the center of the capital’s main street.
Barker and the others had already dismounted and were carrying their weapons on their backs—those terrifying long-handled battle axes. During the journey, their long-handled axes had been stored in Linley’s spatial ring, as the axes were too heavy for the horses to carry.
“What strong men.”
Many people in the capital moved aside. The five Barker brothers standing together were too intimidating. All around two meters twenty tall, with broad backs and thick waists, they were built like nothing human. And they all carried long-handled battle axes that gleamed with cold metallic light.
Those long-handled battle axes, even if made of ordinary steel, would weigh several hundred jin, nearly a thousand jin. And judging by the axes’ luster, they were clearly not ordinary weapons. Who would dare use such heavy weapons without sufficient strength?
And then there was that panther, completely black without a single spot of another color.
People in the capital had never seen this kind of panther. This was also an ability the Blackstriped Cloud Panther gained upon reaching the Saint Domain—it could easily change the color of its fur.
“Fushi Road.” Linley knew Wharton’s address. The group headed straight for Fushi Road in the eastern district.
“I bet that Lord Bloomer will end up marrying Princess Nina in the end.”
Linley suddenly stopped and turned to look toward a tavern by the roadside. He frowned: “Nina? The Nina that Wharton likes? Wasn’t there someone named Wharton competing? Why is Bloomer being mentioned?”
Linley also knew Bloomer.
Back when Wharton participated in the disciple selection competition, Bloomer was the one who ultimately won.
“Nonsense. I bet Lord Wharton will marry Princess Nina. Princess Nina and Lord Wharton have been together for a long time.”
“That’s not certain. Don’t forget Lord Bloomer’s status. He’s a personal disciple of the War God.”
…
“My lord?” Barker said in a low voice.
Linley was silent for a moment.
Bloomer, that Olivia’s younger brother, had actually become a personal disciple of the War God. And it seemed he had also proposed to the empire’s emperor.
Barker and the others all looked at Linley.
“Let’s go.” Linley said.
Linley’s group arrived at Fushi Road in the eastern district. Every mansion on Fushi Road belonged to nobles, and there were few people on the street.
Walking along the empty Fushi Road, Linley carefully identified the insignia of each mansion.
“It’s the one ahead.” Linley’s eyes lit up.
The two guards, who had been chatting idly, suddenly saw Linley and the others approaching and immediately became alert. Especially when they saw the massive physiques of the five Barker brothers.
“They’re definitely as tall as the count, and even more muscular.” The two guards were somewhat frightened.
“Who are you?” One of the guards mustered the courage to shout.
Gates was the first to speak in a loud voice: “Is this Count Wharton’s mansion?”
“Yes.” The guard nodded.
Hearing this, Linley’s heart surged with excitement, and even his heartbeat quickened. How many years had it been? Wharton had left home at age six, and in a few days it would be exactly seventeen years.
Seventeen years!
Linley smiled and said, “Go and inform him that his elder brother Linley has arrived.” Hearing this, the two guards were surprised. Count Wharton’s elder brother? They had never heard of such a thing.
But the two guards had good judgment. The group before them was terrifying. They didn’t dare say anything. One of the guards said respectfully, “Please wait a moment. I will go and announce you.”
Linley took a deep breath to calm himself.
“Linley, this is your younger brother’s mansion?” Sessler walked over and said with a smile, “It seems your brother is doing well in the capital.”
Linley couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride.
*******
Steward Hiri and Hillman were drinking wine and chatting. A guard ran over quickly: “Lord Hiri, a group of people has arrived outside. The leader says he is Wharton’s elder brother, named Linley.”
“Crack!” The wine glass in Steward Hiri’s hand fell onto the stone floor, shattering into pieces.
“Linley!”
Steward Hiri and Hillman both stood up almost simultaneously. They widened their eyes and looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and joy.
“Go, go. You go and inform the count immediately.” Hiri immediately instructed.
Then Hiri and Hillman rushed outside. Seeing Steward Hiri so flustered, the guard knew it was important and immediately ran toward the training ground.
Hiri and Hillman soon reached the front courtyard. As they entered the courtyard, they slowed their pace and carefully observed.
The five terrifyingly muscular men carrying huge axes made them shudder inwardly. Beside the five men was an old man with white hair and a beard, as thin as a skeleton, whose faint green eyes were enough to make one’s heart tremble.
On the other hand, the three beautiful women beside them were pleasing to the eye.
As for the person at the very front—
“Linley!” Hillman was the first to speak. Steward Hiri was still carefully examining Linley. After a moment of recognition, he exclaimed joyfully, “Young Master Linley.”
Linley, who had been talking with Sessler, turned around.
The familiar face of Grandpa Hiri with his red nose, and Uncle Hillman. Seeing them, Linley felt an uncontrollable surge of emotion welling up from the depths of his heart.
“Grandpa Hiri, Uncle Hillman.” Linley stepped through the courtyard gate, his eyes already moist.
Steward Hiri walked over to Linley, his eyes red: “You’ve grown up, you’ve grown up. Young Master Linley is even taller than before.” Steward Hiri hadn’t seen Linley for a full seventeen years.
When he had taken Wharton away, Linley was only ten years old.
“Grandpa Hiri, you look the same as before.” Linley’s joy was beyond words.
Seeing Linley, Steward Hiri was deeply gratified: “Young Master Linley has grown up. But your face still looks very much like when you were ten.”
When Linley was ten, he was already nearly one meter seventy. His appearance back then was naturally very close to what it was now.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded.
Linley turned to look. A tall figure, as if seen in a dream, appeared before him. His features were seventy to eighty percent similar to Linley’s own. Linley had a feeling that this person should be his younger brother, Wharton.
But Wharton had been only six when he left. The change was too great.
Wharton, however, recognized Linley after just a moment. Linley’s face was still very close to how it had been back then. Wharton opened his mouth, but tears flowed out: “Brother—”
Linley walked slowly toward Wharton, his gaze completely fixed on him.
“Brother—” Wharton also took two steps forward.
“Little Wharton, is it really you?” Looking at the Wharton before him, Linley remembered the chubby, naive little boy from back then. Now, he was a young man two meters twenty tall.
“Brother, it’s me, it’s me.” At this moment, Wharton had completely forgotten about Nina. His heart was filled with boundless excitement. The excitement was beyond his control.
Linley’s trembling hands rested on Wharton’s shoulders as he carefully looked at him. His face was full of smiles, tears glistening in his eyes. Trembling, he said, “Little Wharton, you’ve grown up.”
In his memory, the little boy who used to call him “Brother” in a childish voice had grown up.
“Brother!” Wharton hugged Linley tightly. Holding Wharton, Linley felt an unprecedented surge of emotion. Tears could no longer be held back and streamed down his face. (End of four chapters)