Chapter 42: Southeast Province
In the rear garden of the imperial palace, Qiao'an lay limply on a chair, his face pale with a hint of weakness. He closed his eyes and remained silent. The palace attendants beside him could only serve him with care, puzzled: "His Majesty was in such a good mood just now, but after talking with Master Linley for a while, he became like this?"
His Majesty Qiao'an's eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Issue an order: Let Marquis Kifer go to the Central Province and join the Jax Legion. Have Legion Commander Resser assign him a idle post. Unless there are special circumstances, Kifer is not allowed to enter the imperial capital again." His Majesty Qiao'an said indifferently. He truly did not want to see Marquis Kifer again; seeing Kifer inevitably reminded him of Prince Yulin.
What happened today was a deep humiliation in His Majesty Qiao'an's heart. Yet he knew he could not change anything. He could only choose to accept it.
Although the palace attendant was puzzled by the emperor's command, he still replied respectfully, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
His Majesty Qiao'an sat on the chair, and in a daze, he seemed to have aged a great deal.
From the imperial capital to the provincial capital of the Southeast Province, even flying in a straight line like Linley, it was nearly two thousand miles. Midway through the flight, the anxious Linley directly transformed into his Dragonblood Warrior form and sped toward the Southeast Province at maximum speed.
When Linley left the imperial capital, the sun had already reached the edge of the western mountains.
By the time Linley arrived at the provincial capital of the Southeast Province, the entire earth was only faintly lit, and countless commoner families had already begun preparing dinner.
"Whoosh!" Linley, already in his Dragonblood Warrior form, flew above the provincial capital of the Southeast Province. His spiritual energy spread out, easily locking onto the conspicuous, most luxurious castle.
Prince Yulin lived there. "Boss, do you need me to make a move?" Bebe flew alongside Linley.
"No!" Every time Linley thought of his brother Reynold, the anger in his heart surged even higher. Although he had flown at an extremely fast speed along the way, Linley still felt it was too slow. Too slow!
At this moment, there were even bloodshot streaks in Linley's dark golden eyes.
"Yulin!" Linley gritted his teeth and whispered, while the gaze from his dark golden pupils grew colder and more icy.
In the castle of the provincial capital of the Southeast Province, thousands of guards were patrolling and keeping watch everywhere, and beautiful maidservants walked through various parts of the castle.
In a quiet room of the castle, behind the hazy gauze curtains, low panting and seductive moans continuously emanated from within, as two naked bodies intertwined.
After a long while...
With a low roar, the gauze curtains fell silent.
"Your Highness." A soft, sweetly cloying voice sounded.
"My little treasure, you are truly captivating. Far better than my wife." Prince Yulin lifted the gauze curtain, then draped a loose robe over himself and got out of bed. "My little treasure, rest here. I will have someone bring you a meal shortly."
"Thank you, Your Highness." The woman behind the curtain had emerald hair cascading like a waterfall, and her eyes seemed capable of ensnaring souls.
A smug smile curled at the corner of Prince Yulin's mouth.
He was very satisfied with his life.
What benefit was there in being an emperor? As a prince, he had subordinates at his command and women at his disposal. Wasn't this life more enjoyable than that of a god?
"That elder brother of mine, just because I caused the death of that Reynold or whatever, he gave me a scolding." Prince Yulin curled his lips in disdain.
His life was far too precious.
Those ordinary nobles died, and so what? Prince Yulin had a bottom line in his heart—anything that threatened his life, no matter how small the threat, had to be eliminated.
Prince Yulin walked out of the room with satisfaction.
"Your Highness." The two maidservants at the door said respectfully.
Prince Yulin lightly touched the cheek of one of the maidservants and chuckled, "Darling, tonight, you will serve me."
"Yes, Your Highness." The maidservant's face instead showed a hint of delight.
Just as Prince Yulin was feeling that life was too good, a cold voice rang out from above, spreading throughout the entire castle: "Prince Yulin, living comfortably, aren't you?" The resentment and hatred in that voice even made Prince Yulin's body tremble.
"Who!" The guards in the castle immediately raised their weapons, shouting in fear.
"Up there! Ah, it's a demon!" Some guards spotted Linley in the sky.
Prince Yulin felt fear and terror in his heart; he didn't know who was coming for him. The people Prince Yulin had offended were all beneath him. Prince Yulin knew very well that top-tier experts must not be provoked. "Who is this?" Prince Yulin looked up and was so frightened that his face turned pale.
Linley was now hovering above the courtyard where Prince Yulin was. In his Dragonblood Warrior form, blue-black battle qi rolled around him like clouds and mist. Standing in mid-air, Linley indeed looked as terrifying as an abyssal demon.
His dark golden pupils stared down at Prince Yulin below.
Linley only needed to probe with his spiritual energy for a moment, hearing Prince Yulin's conversation with the maidservants and others, to confirm that this person was indeed Prince Yulin.
Linley's body suddenly descended rapidly, and a terrifying airwave spread out in all directions with Linley at the center.
"Boom!"
The surrounding buildings shattered under the impact of the terrifying airwave. Linley landed heavily on the ground, and the stone floor of the courtyard cracked like it had been struck by a boulder.
"Sir, may I ask who you are?" Prince Yulin immediately forced a smile, adopting an extremely humble attitude.
The person before him was a Saint-level expert; Prince Yulin was absolutely certain.
Prince Yulin was very careful with his life, so he never offended Saint-level experts.
"Sir, have you come to see me? Could there be a mistake?" Prince Yulin tried to keep a smile on his face, but at that moment, a guard's voice sounded from afar: "Your Highness, that person is Master Linley. I went to the imperial capital to watch his fight with Master Hedderson."
Many people had watched Linley's fight with Hedderson, including some from the Southeast Province, and that guard naturally recognized Linley.
Prince Yulin hadn't gone that time.
For Prince Yulin, watching experts fight was less enjoyable than playing with a beautiful woman. Fortunately, he was the emperor's brother; otherwise, with this attitude in the O'Brien Empire, a nation that revered strength and where most people worked hard to cultivate, his life would have been miserable.
"Master Linley?"
Prince Yulin's heart trembled. Fear of what might come had arrived! Back when Reynold died in Neil City, Prince Yulin, upon learning of his relationship with Linley, regretted it but it was too late.
"What the hell is my brother doing? Didn't he say Linley didn't know about my involvement in this?" Prince Yulin began cursing Qiao'an in his heart. Linley coldly stared at Prince Yulin.
His brother Reynold had lost his last chance of survival because of Yulin's cowardice. His brother could have lived.
"You know why I'm here, don't you?" Linley's anger could no longer be suppressed.
"Ah, so it's Master Linley!" Prince Yulin quickly said, "Master coming to my place is truly my honor, but I really don't know why you're here."
At this moment, groups of people gathered from all around.
There were Prince Yulin's many women and children, as well as a large number of guards and maidservants, all watching this scene in terror. Even the two level-nine experts whom Prince Yulin had treated as honored guests were now standing in the distance, trembling with fear.
"Master Linley, let's talk this out. I think there might be some misunderstanding about His Highness," the castle steward said tremblingly from the side.
Linley turned to look at the steward, whose face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Misunderstanding?"
Linley walked step by step toward Prince Yulin. Cold sweat poured from Prince Yulin, and his face was drained of all color. The corner of Linley's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a chilling arc.
"Whoosh!" Linley's ferocious black dragon tail suddenly swung, wrapping around Prince Yulin like a whip.
"Ah!" A piercing scream erupted from Prince Yulin's throat, like a woman being violated.
Linley's emotionless dark golden eyes fixed on Prince Yulin: "What are you screaming about? I haven't even used any force, and you're already screaming. If I use force—"
"Mercy! Master Linley, have mercy!" Prince Yulin pleaded in terror.
"Mercy?"
Linley's voice suddenly became low and hoarse. "I show you mercy, but who showed my brother Reynold mercy?" Linley's dragon tail, covered in black scales that reflected a cold gleam, began to tighten, lifting Yulin into the air.
Prince Yulin was tightly constricted by the dragon tail, as thick as a strong man's arm, and was lifted off the ground. As the tail swayed slightly, Prince Yulin screamed in terror: "Ah—"
"Crunch!" Blood stained Prince Yulin's clothes.
"Stop!" Many loyal guards shouted from a distance, raising their weapons. They didn't dare charge forward, but they could still shout.
"Get lost!" Linley, filled with rage, frowned.
"Boom!" A terrifying airwave burst out from Linley in all directions, sending the surrounding guards and maidservants flying. Some unlucky guards crashed into walls, their brains splattering. Others fell to the ground, severely injured.
In an instant, apart from Linley and Prince Yulin, no one was left standing on the ground.
"Boss has really gone berserk," Bebe said quietly, watching from mid-air.
Linley withdrew his gaze from the people around him and turned to look at Prince Yulin, whose face was red and neck swollen from the constriction: "Yulin, don't worry, I'll let you live a little longer... so you can feel the sensation of dying slowly." Linley's voice was very low, but to Prince Yulin's ears, it brought unprecedented terror.
"Master, spare me! I'll do anything you want, give you anything within my power, just don't kill me!" Prince Yulin still tried to beg for his life.
But Linley no longer paid attention to Prince Yulin's words. His mind was filled with the image of his fourth brother, Reynold—the lovely youth, the carefree days of their youth, when he carved his dream, and his brothers accompanied him in the freezing snow for ten whole days and nights.
"Crunch!" A bone-grinding sound came from Prince Yulin's entire body.
His plump waist was squeezed thinner than a young girl's. Prince Yulin's face was bright red, and he could no longer speak. Blood gushed from his mouth.
"Spare... spare..." Prince Yulin looked at Linley in terror.
The maidservants and guards lying in the distance watched this scene in horror as Prince Yulin's waist and abdomen visibly shrank.
"Crunch!" Another sound of bones breaking. Blood continuously flowed from Prince Yulin's mouth, and his face had turned a dark purple.
The internal organs in his body were crushed by the pressure, causing a pain that made Prince Yulin wish for death.
"So soon, you can't take it anymore." This Prince Yulin's endurance was far worse than Clyde's back then.
Suddenly, Linley's dragon tail loosened and retracted. Prince Yulin, with only a breath left, fell to the ground, relieved for a moment. But before he could land—
"Bang!" Linley's right foot viciously kicked Prince Yulin's body.
Prince Yulin's eyes bulged in terror.
His body flew at incredible speed, smashing heavily into the distant wall. The thick wall shattered from the impact, and Prince Yulin's fragile body turned into a pulp of white, red, and other colors mixed together.
"Fourth brother, rest assured, I won't let a single one of those who killed you go unpunished," Linley said lowly in his heart. His cold, dark golden eyes were now covered with a layer of mist.
Linley turned to look at Bebe above.
"Let's go, to Neil City!"
"Whoosh!" Linley shot straight into the air, flying side by side with Bebe toward the southeast at top speed. The thousands of people gathered around fell into a deathly silence, with only Prince Yulin's shattered, pulpy corpse lying in the distance, glaring and conspicuous.
: Chapter one is here!