Pederson understood everything in his final moments.
He had attended the funeral for Lin Lei's father, after all, and knew that Lin Lei's father was already dead.
The absurdity of it hit him — just moments ago he'd still been hoping to leave alive. Now he understood completely why Lin Lei had done this. A deep sense of unwillingness surged through Pederson's heart. He refused to die like this. At the seventh level of warrior strength, he could have lived another two or three hundred years without difficulty.
His remaining years were supposed to stretch out ahead of him.
"If I die, you won't get away with this either, Clyde," Pederson thought, filled with nothing but bitter hatred toward Clyde as his soul was drawn into the netherworld.
Watching Pederson die, Lin Lei reverted to his normal form.
"Clyde… so the person behind it all is Clyde." Lin Lei's brow furrowed deeply.
Clyde himself was a ninth-level powerhouse. Even fully dragon-transformed, Lin Lei had only just entered the eighth level. He was simply not in the same league as Clyde. Even with a sneak attack, Lin Lei couldn't hope to injure a ninth-level expert. The gap was simply too vast.
And Clyde's power base was formidable.
He was the king of the great Fenlei Kingdom — how could he possibly lack subordinates? Moreover, over the years, as the ruler of Fenlei Kingdom, the foremost of the six kingdoms under the Holy Alliance, Clyde had maintained excellent relations with the Church of Light. His foundations ran far deeper than Lin Lei's.
Whether comparing personal strength or manpower, Lin Lei couldn't compete with Clyde.
"Perhaps my only advantage right now is operating from the shadows," Lin Lei thought, turning over ways to deal with Clyde in his mind.
Derinkoort emerged from the Coiling Dragon Ring and immediately urged Lin Lei on. "Lin Lei, don't waste time! What you need to do right now is destroy every trace that could expose your identity. You need to get back to your estate immediately. If you return too late and they investigate who killed Pederson, suspicion could fall on you."
Lin Lei snapped to attention.
Of course! His only advantage was hiding in the dark. Under no circumstances could he let Clyde become alert to him.
"Destroy the body and erase the evidence," Lin Lei said. He immediately cast dozens of fireballs in rapid succession, the flames enveloping Pederson's corpse. With Lin Lei's current level of spiritual power, the fireballs he created burned at extremely high temperatures.
Pederson's body was consumed with terrifying speed, and a foul stench spread through the air. After a short while, all that remained were a few charred bone fragments and scattered ash.
The unmistakable smell of cremation made Lin Lei frown.
"Lin Lei, your clothes too," Derinkoort reminded him.
Lin Lei looked down. Sure enough — after his dragon transformation, his garments were completely ruined. Lin Lei gathered his belongings, then without hesitation stripped off his outer coat and trousers and incinerated them until nothing remained.
He immediately triggered the mechanism.
The stone door groaned open once more. Lin Lei strode out, then quickly closed it behind him.
It was better to keep the door shut regardless. If left open, the smell of the burning corpse would draw attention before long.
"There should be clothes somewhere in this villa," Lin Lei said, glancing down at his undershirt. A torn undershirt certainly couldn't be worn outside — it would arouse suspicion immediately. Lin Lei stepped into an adjacent room and opened the wardrobe.
Suits of clothing hung neatly inside.
He picked a black set that closely resembled what he'd been wearing when he arrived. After changing, Lin Lei used a wind-attribute spell to disperse the faint traces of blood and cremation lingering on his body.
"Get back early. Can't let anyone get suspicious." Lin Lei leaped into motion, vaulting over the villa's courtyard wall in an instant. Within seconds he was back in the front courtyard.
A handful of noble guests were still milling about, chatting among themselves.
"Ah, Lord Lin Lei — you haven't left yet?" Baron Juno was heading for the exit at that moment. Spotting Lin Lei nearby, he called out warmly.
Lin Lei smiled. "Mm, my stomach was bothering me, so I had to make a visit to the lavatory."
Baron Juno fell into step beside him.
"Lord Lin Lei, I'm a great admirer of your stone sculptures. The three works you first exhibited and auctioned at Pruxus Hall — I was the one who bought them," Baron Juno said proudly. Purchasing those three pieces was perhaps the accomplishment he was most proud of.
Those three works, judged purely on their own merit, were probably worth six or seven thousand gold coins each at most.
But… Lin Lei's status was different now. He was a sculpting master who had created "Awakening from a Dream" — in terms of prestige, he was on par with Pruxus and Hopkinson himself. The first three works ever exhibited by a figure of that caliber — how could their prices be low?
By estimation, because of the works' significance, each of the three pieces in Baron Juno's collection was worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins!
This was probably Baron Juno's proudest acquisition ever. He had already decided to keep these three works indefinitely. He believed that as Lin Lei's achievements continued to grow, so too would the value of his collection.
"Lord Lin Lei, safe travels." The steward at the gate of the Debus Family estate bowed respectfully to Lin Lei.
Lin Lei nodded, said goodbye to Baron Juno, and climbed into his carriage.
"Let's go." Settling inside, Lin Lei gave the order in a calm voice.
"Yes, my lord."
The seventh-level warrior from the Church of Light bowed in acknowledgment and immediately drove the carriage toward Lin Lei's residence.
"About fifteen minutes spent with Pederson," Lin Lei murmured, pulling out his pocket watch to check the time.
The pocket watch had been among the many congratulatory gifts presented after Lin Lei was granted the title of Marquis. He'd taken a liking to its design and carried it with him.
"Fifteen minutes. Baron Juno and the others were roughly the last batch of guests to leave. If they don't investigate too carefully, no one should suspect me," Lin Lei thought to himself. "There's still one issue, though — Pederson said his butler knew he was meeting someone but didn't know who."
Lin Lei's brow creased. "But I can't fully trust that. It's possible Pederson's butler did know Pederson was meeting me. Pederson might have said that specifically to put my mind at ease."