"Not bad! Not bad at all!"
After a quick survey, Leilin nodded slightly in approval.
The place was small, with hardly any furniture, and thick layers of dust had accumulated in many spots throughout the room. But in a Holy City where every inch of land cost a fortune, even this kind of property commanded an astronomical monthly rent!
Now that he could live here for free, what more could he ask for?
What satisfied Leilin even more was that this property belonged to the Stewart family — Thomas had even gone out of his way to register it in his name.
With their backing, he figured that even during the city-wide searches to come, this place would remain as solid as a mountain.
Leilin was well aware of what he'd done. The Holy City would be in turmoil for some time to come. Without a powerful patron, even just dealing with the searches would be a tremendous hassle.
Otherwise, Leilin wasn't short on valuable possessions — so why would he insist on staying here?
Not wanting to offend them was one reason. But another was to use the Stewart family's name as cover for himself.
As for the consequences — once the plan was set in motion and eventually exposed, the fallout for the Stewart family, and Thomas in particular, would be nothing short of catastrophic. But that was none of Leilin's concern.
Leilin had given today's actions careful thought.
In fact, the moment he'd seen Agnes and her brother dote on the Belinda sisters, the idea had already taken root.
After they helped him enter the Holy City, the Belinda sisters' usefulness had all but run its course. What came next would only be trouble.
In a world of lawless survival of the fittest, being weak and beautiful was the greatest trouble of all.
The situation was perfectly clear. On one side was maintaining his relationship with the Belinda sisters, which would deeply offend Agnes and her brother, along with the Stewart family behind them. On the other was severing ties, earning their understanding and protection. In Leilin's eyes, there was no choice to make.
When your strength was lacking and you still insisted on drawing attention to yourself, you were either a protagonist blessed by the heavens — or you were courting death.
Leilin certainly wasn't weak, but in the Inferno World, and especially here in the Holy City, he was still someone who couldn't afford to be exposed.
Yes — he could show his power, humiliate Thomas soundly, then crush Agnes, and finally climb to prominence by stepping on the Stewart family, making his name known throughout the entire Holy City! Utterly dazzling for a moment!
And then? His background would immediately draw suspicion. The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents would take one look — isn't that the brat I'm looking for? He's practically delivered himself to my doorstep! She'd be overjoyed. And then Leilin would be completely finished.
All for what? In the end, the root cause would be nothing more than two women? Was it worth it?
Leilin and the Belinda sisters hadn't even built any real bond. They were merely traveling companions who'd met along the way. At most, Belinda had shown a vague flicker of affection and exchanged a few casual jokes — and Leilin was supposed to risk everything for that, eventually throwing away his entire future? What a raw deal.
With the Curse of Ten Thousand Serpents bearing down on him and death creeping ever closer, still squabbling over women — that was beyond mere foolishness.
"Right now, what I need most is to hide myself as well as possible. Picking a fight with a local power like the Stewart family is clearly unwise… especially over two women…"
Leilin shook his head.
Rather than clashing with Thomas head-on and letting things spiral completely out of control, leading to his exposure, Leilin had simply chosen the plan with the least impact and the greatest reward.
"Though, Thomas doesn't seem to have realized — his biggest rival for the Belinda sisters isn't me at all. It's his own sister — Agnes."
Leilin stroked his chin, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his lips.
With Agnes looming like a tiger at his side, Thomas's plan was doomed to fail miserably before it even began.
And once Leilin broke through the shackles of his bloodline, he would naturally make Thomas pay a bloody price for today's humiliation.
Thinking of it that way, handing the Belinda sisters over to that woman Agnes for a little while in exchange for a rare admission ticket and a guarantee of safety — that really didn't seem like such an unreasonable trade.
Compared to all that, he had far more important things to attend to.
Without so much as a greeting to the neighbors, who wore expressions of barely concealed envy, Leilin shut the door behind him.
This kind of duplex apartment, complete with a small walled courtyard out front, fit his requirements perfectly.
And when he spotted the little flower bed enclosed within the courtyard walls, a genuine smile finally broke across Leilin's face.
"Not bad! Very much not bad! If no one comes to bother me from now on, that would be even better — but of course, that's impossible…"
Leilin sighed, then looked down at his own palm.
Under the light, cyan blood vessels stood out clearly against his skin. He could even faintly feel life force steadily draining away, leaving a trace of weakness in his body.