Chapter 55: Beirut’s Cunning
It was actually Elder Fuerhan who had informed on them—this news had already stunned many. And now the Grand Elder had suddenly struck out, personally killing Fuerhan. This left the entire hall silent for a time.
“I never thought it would really be him!” A low, sighing voice echoed through the hall.
The speaker was Gaisreisen. Linley carefully examined the Grand Elder: “This Grand Elder is actually decisive enough to kill her own son!” Linley was also amazed.
“Big brother, Fuerhan has received the clan’s punishment!” the Grand Elder said coldly and indifferently. “This matter is settled, so I will take my leave.”
“En, go back and rest,” Gaisreisen said, understanding that his sister was feeling terrible inside.
“Wait a moment.” A voice suddenly rang out.
The Grand Elder, who had been about to leave, stopped and turned to look at the man seated in the main seat, Beirut. She said in a low voice, “Lord of the Manor, is there anything else you need?” Her tone was calm and indifferent, but Linley could sense the anger hidden within that calmness!
Her son was dead, and he still wouldn’t let it go?
Linley couldn’t help but look at Beirut. Beirut had a faint smile on his face as he spoke: “According to the rules of your Four Divine Beasts clan, traitors to the family have all their avatars executed, correct?”
“Yes,” the Grand Elder said, looking up at Beirut. “May I ask what the Lord of the Manor means by this?”
“I want to know, how many avatars does this Fuerhan have?” Beirut said with a faint smile.
The Grand Elder was silent for a moment. With her mask on, it was impossible to see her expression, but Linley could see that her body was trembling slightly—she was clearly furious.
“Including his main body, a total of three avatars,” the Grand Elder said in a low voice. “But my son’s main body was only at the Saint realm, so when I killed him, only two divine sparks were obtained. I wonder, Lord of the Manor, are you satisfied with my answer?”
“Sister,” Gaisreisen said in a low reprimand.
The Grand Elder’s attitude and tone were clearly hostile.
Beirut smiled calmly: “It’s fine. I can understand that you’re in a bad mood after killing your own son. But… Gaia, I hope you remember that your son was a traitor to the family, and he deserved to die!” Beirut’s words were merciless.
The Grand Elder’s body trembled.
“Alright,” Beirut said, standing up. “The matter is resolved! Dannington, Pussero, Linley, let’s go. We’re all heading back.”
Linley and the others immediately stood up.
Beirut walked down, glanced at the bloody corpse on the ground, and said indifferently: “Hurry up and dispose of the body. It’s an eyesore here.” With that, Beirut walked out, and Dannington and the others followed.
As Linley left, he glanced at the Grand Elder. She waved her hand, and the corpse on the ground turned to dust.
“Let’s go, let’s go. I never thought Fuerhan would be the traitor.” The other elders were all indignant as they left the hall. In moments, only Gaisreisen and the Grand Elder remained in the hall.
The Grand Elder stood motionless in the center of the hall.
“Sister, Fuerhan was a traitor to the family. He deserved to die!” Gaisreisen walked over and patted the Grand Elder on the shoulder. Once someone became a traitor to the family, all members of the Four Divine Beasts clan would look down on Fuerhan. Even in death, no one would pity him.
“I know.”
The Grand Elder’s voice was low. “But I still feel terrible. En, big brother, I’m going back.” Without saying more, the Grand Elder turned and left. Her son becoming a traitor to the family, and her killing him with her own hands—this matter of Fuerhan was probably the most heartbreaking thing for the Grand Elder in all of the Celestial Mountain Range.
“Haha, satisfying, so satisfying!” Bebe laughed loudly. “I’ve long disliked that father and son. Back then, they were coveting big brother’s Coiling Dragon Ring. I’ve suspected them for a while now. It really was them. They died well! Died well!”
Linley smiled.
He had also suspected Fuerhan, but he didn’t have enough evidence. But why did Beirut dare to do that? Wasn’t Beirut afraid… that Fuerhan might have been wronged? How would Beirut have gotten out of that situation?
Linley had been puzzled about this.
Beirut, Dannington, Pussero, and Linley all sat down around a stone table in front of the house. After thinking it over, Linley voiced his doubt: “Lord of the Manor, how were you so sure that Fuerhan was the traitor?”
Beirut looked at him, a hint of playfulness in his eyes: “You told me!”
“I said at the time that I had no evidence, only suspicion,” Linley quickly said.
“Haha…” Dannington beside him seemed to find it hilarious and burst out laughing.
Linley was baffled. What was so funny? Bebe, who was nearby, spoke up: “Grandpa, did you and the Sovereign really know about this beforehand?”
“How could I have known beforehand?” Beirut said with a laugh. “If I had known beforehand, I would have sent someone to warn Linley long ago. In truth, even before today, I wasn’t completely sure.”
Linley was stunned. Not sure?
“But Lord of the Manor, you even invited Dannington and forcibly used hypnosis. If Fuerhan hadn’t been the traitor, wouldn’t that have been very awkward?” Linley quickly said.
“Haha…” Dannington laughed again. He glanced at Beirut. “Beirut, stop teasing Linley and the others. Let me explain!” Dannington began to reveal the truth.
Linley listened carefully.
“Your Lord of the Manor here wasn’t at all sure whether Fuerhan was the traitor,” Dannington said with a smile. “So he asked me, after I hypnotized Fuerhan, to quickly check his memories first!”
Under normal circumstances, a god’s memories couldn’t be probed. But once hypnotized, with no ability to resist, someone as terrifying as Dannington could easily examine the memories of the hypnotized person.
“The moment I probed his memories, I knew!” Dannington said with a smile. “He was the traitor!”
“But what if he wasn’t?” Bebe quickly asked. Linley also looked at Dannington with confusion.
Dannington smiled and said, “If he wasn’t, it’s simple!”
“Then I would have instantly made Fuerhan regain consciousness,” Dannington said, glancing at Beirut. “After that, I would have praised the Azure Dragon clan for living up to their reputation, saying that even I couldn’t forcibly hypnotize him.”
When Dannington said this, Linley, Delia, and Bebe were completely stunned.
Indeed. A hypnotized person was unconscious. If Dannington had successfully hypnotized him, probed his memories, and then made him regain consciousness, Fuerhan would only have felt a brief dizziness, nothing more.
And Linley, Gaisreisen, and the Grand Elder, who were watching from the side, wouldn’t have known that Fuerhan had been hypnotized for an instant.
“Impressive,” Linley thought to himself.
If Fuerhan hadn’t been the traitor, and Dannington had deliberately said he couldn’t hypnotize him, then Gaisreisen and the Grand Elder would have felt honored. After all, even a super expert like Dannington couldn’t hypnotize a clan elder.
“What a great idea,” Bebe said in admiration.
“Great, my foot,” Dannington said, stroking his mustache. “If Fuerhan really hadn’t been the traitor, the one losing face would have been me, Dannington.”
“Don’t worry,” Beirut said with a laugh. “Your reputation won’t be damaged. Even if you publicly said you couldn’t hypnotize Fuerhan, others would only think it was due to the Azure Dragon clan’s innate talent, not that you lacked skill.”
Dannington raised an eyebrow and smiled.
His strength was recognized by everyone through countless earth-shattering battles. As the number one person under the Sovereigns in the Chaotic Sea, who would dare look down on him?
“Linley, Bebe,” Beirut suddenly said, “after this incident, although the Grand Elder has nothing to say, she’s definitely not reconciled in her heart. I think you should leave the Celestial Mountain Range and come to my place.”
Leaving the Celestial Mountain Range—Linley couldn’t help but turn to look at Delia.
“Great!” Bebe said cheerfully. “The Celestial Mountain Range is a bit boring. I’ve never been to Grandpa’s manor. I want to have some fun there.”
“Delia, what do you think?” Linley looked at Delia and sent a divine sense message.
Delia glanced at Weide in her arms and replied via divine sense: “Weide is still young. It’s better not to take him out. Once Weide can be independent, we can go out and explore.”
“En,” Linley nodded. After communicating via divine sense, Linley made up his mind.
“Big brother, are you going?” Bebe quickly asked.
Linley smiled and shook his head: “Lord of the Manor, Bebe, I won’t go. Weide is still young. Besides, Delia and I live in the great canyon, together with a large group of Yulan lineage clansmen. Life is quite comfortable. As for the Grand Elder… I won’t go to the Blood Battle Valley either. Even if she’s unwilling in her heart, what can she do?”
“En, I won’t persuade you then,” Beirut said with a faint smile and a nod.
“Sigh,” Bebe said dejectedly. “Big brother, you just stay and accompany Delia and your son. I’ll head out first.”
Linley smiled and nodded. He could tell that although Bebe had been staying here, his heart wasn’t in it. “I guess Bebe is worried about Nini,” Linley thought to himself. “But Nisse is still in the Biefu Continent.”
At the Celestial Mountain Range, the send-off included the four clan leaders and a large group of people. After that, Linley’s days returned to a rare peace.
In that peace, Linley spent time with his wife and son and also focused on cultivation.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Linley was reading a book in the house, while his four avatars were all in cultivation.
“Father, the snow is so thick! Come and look!”
Suddenly, a crisp voice came from outside the house. Linley smiled, put down his book, and walked outside. He saw a chubby little child, dressed in thick winter clothes, happily playing with snowballs, while Delia accompanied the child nearby.
“Father, look! That’s the snowman I made,” Weide said, running over as soon as he saw Linley, shouting as he came.
Weide stomped the ground, leaped up, and hugged Linley tightly. “Father, the snowman is over there, look!” Weide’s little face was soft and rosy, as if it would drip water if pinched.
Linley loved Weide very much. Back in the Yulan Continent, when Sasha and Taylor were growing up, he had been in cultivation. He had never spent time with his children.
“Oh, Weide, you made this?” Linley looked over. The snowman was just two balls, one big and one small, with a nose and eyes on the top ball. There were three snowmen in total—two big ones and one small one.
“En,” Weide nodded solemnly. “Father, look, this is you, this is Mother, and this is me.”
Linley couldn’t help but laugh.
“Weide, don’t cling to your father. Get down,” Delia said.
“Oh,” Weide obediently let go of Linley and jumped down, but his foot slipped, and he fell. Delia quickly went to help him.
Linley smiled, then casually strolled on the snow-covered ground, leaving footprints with each step. The snow had stopped long ago, but the ground was still thickly covered. At a glance, everything within sight was silver-white.
“Father, Father,” came Weide’s voice from behind.
Linley turned to look, but his gaze fell on his own footprints nearby. The snow was deeply sunken, yet a patch of green stubbornly emerged from within. The moment he saw that green—
He heard his son calling from afar: Father! Father!
Scenes from the past few years flashed rapidly through his mind: Delia’s perilous situation, his own despair, his escape from that despair, and the peaceful yet happy life of the past few years.
“Boom!”
A point of green light burst forth in Linley’s mind, instantly turning into a green sun that illuminated his entire consciousness.