Chapter 18: Chier City
The barren wilderness.
Dozens of people from the convoy lay dead on the ground, their black blood looking grim and sinister. Holmore had been literally crushed apart by Heilu. Jenny and Kin, the siblings who had witnessed this scene from the side, were truly shaken.
"Brother Lei!" Kin exclaimed, while Jenny's face had gone pale.
Lin Lei was about to speak when the old servant in the carriage, Lambert, stared in shock at the dead Holmore: "It's him — the most dangerous assassin in Chier City, Holmore, that old monster who calls himself an apothecary."
"Holmore? Grandpa Lambert, who are you talking about?" Kin looked at Lambert.
Lambert took a deep breath and explained: "Young master, miss, that Holmore is a very dangerous figure in Chier City. Back when I served your mother, the second madam, in Chier City, I saw this Holmore. Baron Weide even spoke to your mother about him. Holmore is an old monster with exceptional skill in poison. Although he's only a sixth-level warrior, he once killed a ninth-level powerhouse."
Jenny and Kin now understood.
Lin Lei, standing nearby, nodded.
"This Holmore cares deeply about money. The fact that he made a move this time means the eldest madam must have hired him," Lambert said with a grave expression. "This time, the eldest madam truly means to kill you."
"With Brother Lei here, what is there to fear?" Kin said confidently, and Jenny too gazed at Lin Lei with assurance.
"Alright, let's set off immediately and reach Chier City as soon as possible," Lin Lei said directly. And so Lin Lei and the others sped up, racing toward Chier City along the desolate road and leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
Chier City.
It was a city of two to three hundred thousand people. The dark red walls stretched far into the distance, though in design Chier City leaned toward elegance and grandeur.
Kin pulled back the curtain of the carriage and gazed at the magnificent city before him, his heart swelling with ambition and his eyes lighting up: "From today onward, I will be the master of this city."
At the city gates.
"A black panther?" The gate guard spotted Lin Lei's mount from afar and immediately widened his eyes. He turned to a nearby guard and said, "Quick — report to the City Lord's wife that the person she mentioned has arrived."
"Yes, sir."
The guard sprinted to a hotel near the city gate and charged up to the second floor. Warriors were standing guard at the stairs, but when they saw it was a city guard, they let him pass.
"Baroness," the guard called out respectfully, dropping to one knee from a distance.
The composed Lady Weide, seated in a chair, turned to look at him: "What is it?"
"Baroness, the powerful warrior riding the black panther that you spoke of has appeared. Behind him is a carriage."
"What?" Before Lady Weide could react, her two brothers cried out in alarm.
Lady Weide frowned: "You may leave."
"Yes." The guard bowed and withdrew.
At this moment, both of Lady Weide's brothers were in a panic. Her eldest brother hastily said, "Sister — they made it to Chier City alive! Could it be that old fool Holmore failed?"
"Hard to say."
Lady Weide furrowed her brow. "Perhaps those rustic siblings and the black panther warrior didn't take the main road from Red Sand City. They might have deliberately taken a detour, causing Holmore and the others to miss them entirely."
Her two brothers nodded at this.
Indeed — it was entirely possible that the other party had cunningly detoured from Red Sand City to Chier City.
"So what do we do now?" Her two brothers looked to Lady Weide.
"Go down. And greet them." A smile crept across Lady Weide's face. "My two poor children have suffered for so many years and have finally returned. As their stepmother, how could I not welcome them?"
With that, Lady Weide descended the stairs.
She had barely stepped out of the hotel when she spotted the imposing man with the greatsword on his back, riding the dashing black panther — and she also saw the familiar Lambert.
"Oh, Lambert, it's been so long!" Lady Weide called out in a loud, warm voice.
Lin Lei, Jenny, Kin, and Lambert all turned to look. Lambert was momentarily stunned, then bowed respectfully: "Greetings, eldest madam."
Lady Weide smiled warmly: "These children must be Jenny and Kin. Jenny is even prettier than before — she looks more like her mother every day. And Kin is no longer the little boy he once was; he's grown quite handsome."
Jenny and Kin still recognized Lady Weide.
Nearly eight years had passed, yet her appearance had changed very little — only a few fine crow's feet had appeared at the corners of her eyes.
"Greetings, Stepmother," Jenny and Kin both bowed.
"There, there. No need to stand on ceremony," Lady Weide said cheerfully. Then she looked at Lin Lei. "And who might this be?"
"That's Brother Lei," Kin answered first.
"Lei?" Lady Weide raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Ah, Mister Lei. I imagine Mister Lei escorted them here to Chier City. I'll be sure to thank you properly on behalf of Jenny and Kin. Come — let's all head back to the castle. Tonight I'm throwing a grand banquet for my two poor children."
The City Lord's castle was square-shaped, with extremely tight security.
"What a useless old man," Lady Weide said after dismissing the messenger knight, but inwardly her fury only grew.
Holmore had been a crucial piece in Lady Weide's plans.
But now that Holmore had failed, Lady Weide felt a wave of agitation.
"With that Mister Lei around, it's going to be hard even to kill Kin," she fretted bitterly. "Poisoning — ordinary poison experts can't escape detection methods. And hiring assassins — how many of them could handle this Mister Lei?"