Lord of Rot

Leech carried Lady Jie Lin the whole way, completely ignoring the shocked stares of the maids they passed.

Lady Jie Lin, for her part, smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, though what she was truly thinking was anyone’s guess.

”Your heart is beating very fast,” Leech said, pulling her tighter into his embrace.

Her body was as light and soft as a ball of cotton, and she smelled faintly of soap.

Lady Jie Lin said, ”Your Knight… his actions frightened me a little. That’s why I…”

”I will punish him,” Leech said.

This was despite the fact that he was the one who had just ordered the death of the plumed Knight.

”No, he did nothing wrong,” Lady Jie Lin said, shaking her head. ”It was just a small matter.”

Killing a Transcendent Knight had become a ”small matter” in her words.

To Leech, it truly was a small matter; an ordinary Transcendent was no longer worthy of his notice. But for Lady Jie Lin to also dismiss it as such would surely chill the hearts of the other three Transcendent Knights.

He pushed open the door to the room. Inside, a maid and Yi Lin were playing with Little Lierde, and the sound of the baby’s gurgling laughter filled the air.

When they saw Leech walk in carrying Lady Jie Lin, the maids were stunned and didn’t know how to react.

Even though they had long known that Baron Porcupine might have a special relationship with their lady, it had always been just hearsay. Seeing it with their own eyes now, how could they not be shocked?

”All of you, leave,” Lady Jie Lin ordered. But being held in his arms, her cheeks flushed, her appearance lacked much of its usual authority and instead held a great deal more allure.

”Yes, my lady.”

The maids left with their heads bowed. Yi Lin was the last to go, and as she brushed past, she softly called out, ”Sister,” then sighed with an ”Ai.”

She was the one who knew how things had come to this, but she was powerless to intervene.

Leech set Lady Jie Lin down and walked to the bedside to look down at Little Lierde. The baby was no longer wrinkled like a newborn. He had black hair and black eyes, having inherited Lady Jie Lin’s eyes, but his lips were more like Leech’s.

He smiled when he saw Leech.

”He will be the future Baron of Waterfall Land,” Leech said, teasing the baby with his finger and letting Little Lierde grab onto his index finger.

Lady Jie Lin moved closer. ”Of course. Because he is our son.”

Leech turned and gently caressed Lady Jie Lin’s cheek.

Through this beautiful face, he saw many things.

Greed, and a lust for power!

He knew Lady Jie Lin could never be his puppet, and he had no intention of controlling her. He hadn’t stationed a single soldier in Longship Castle; the two of them simply maintained a friendly, cooperative relationship.

However, Leech had underestimated her thirst for power.

Even for her own son, and even though it would be ten or twenty years before he grew up, she was unwilling to relinquish power.

Those Transcendent Knights were recruited to build her own entourage. By the time Little Lierde grew up, he would be surrounded by a group of Transcendents who only listened to Lady Jie Lin’s commands. When that day came, even if Little Lierde truly became the lord, it would be meaningless. The Transcendents would act as an iron wall, isolating him from all information and imprisoning him under the guise of protection.

For the sake of power, she had chosen to have a child with Leech. For the sake of power, she could also sideline her own son.

This was the real her; she had never changed. Leech had simply been a little naive.

But Leech would not allow her to raise his child to be a useless waste, or to be imprisoned as a mere mascot.

And those four Transcendent Knights were indeed a cunning test.

Even if the five men behind Leech had been merely ordinary Transcendents, the test would have been considered a victory for Lady Jie Lin. She had ten to twenty years to gather more Transcendents—not to defeat Leech, but simply to isolate him and cut off his knowledge of Longship Castle.

She was convinced that Leech would never completely fall out with her over an illegitimate son.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t expected Leech to choose to display absolutely overwhelming power.

Furthermore, when it came to the child, he was far more decisive and uncompromising, even going so far as to tear up their unspoken agreement.

By declaring his ownership of Lady Jie Lin with such absolute dominance this time, Leech made the entire castle—and by extension, the Knights loyal to her—understand the difference between the strong and the weak.

The outside world would also learn who was master and who was subordinate.

Without this test, the outside world would have had nothing more than baseless speculation.

”You had the chance to be the powerful and perfect mother of a Baron,” Leech said, gently pinching her earlobe.

”I didn’t expect Knight Luk to draw his sword on you. He…”

Lady Jie Lin explained in a fluster.

She truly regretted her impulsive test, her mistaken belief that recruiting a group of Transcendents would be enough to close the gap with Leech.

There was only one chance to test him, and from now on, Leech would be wary of her.

The pity was, before the test, Leech had been like a boundless, unfathomable ocean. After the test, he remained so.

It would be difficult to find another opportunity to test him in the future. The next time might mean death.

Leech wasn’t interested in her explanations. Even if he hadn’t acquired Jonney, the Water Nymph at the bottom of the Shuijian River was a cannon aimed at Longship Castle, ready to fire at any moment. Lady Jie Lin’s ambitions were doomed from the start.

Babies tire easily. In the blink of an eye, Little Lierde had already fallen asleep.

”Little Lierde needs a mother’s love,” Leech said.

This was also the reason he would not harm Lady Jie Lin.

Lady Jie Lin chose to embrace Leech tightly at that moment, but they both knew things could never go back to the way they were.

The plumed Knight’s body had been disposed of cleanly.

When Leech and Lady Jie Lin came out, the bloodstains had been wiped clean, and the body was nowhere to be seen.

The five Knights, dressed like tin cans, stood there, motionless.

The other three Knights, however, were drenched in sweat, not daring to leave.

They knew they were on the same level as the plumed Knight, Luk. If Leech’s men attacked again, they wouldn’t even be able to escape.

”Where’s the body?” Leech asked.

Yi Lin replied, ”I had someone take care of it. We were waiting until…”

”Where is it?” Lady Jie Lin reacted quickly. ”Take us there.”

”Yes, my lady.”

From beginning to end, Lady Jie Lin didn’t spare the three Knights a single glance. Her indifference to the plumed Knight’s death had already chilled their hearts, but now that she was directly handing over the deceased’s body, their loyalty completely shattered.

They already knew they couldn’t defeat Baron Porcupine. Now that she was acting this way, they had even less reason to fight him.

With this thought, the three of them actually relaxed.

Lady Jie Lin wasn’t unaware that her actions would cost her three Transcendent Knights, but her top priority right now was to mend the rift with Leech and regain his favor.

He really would kill.

The three of them arrived at a room. Yi Lin stood guard at the door, allowing Leech and Lady Jie Lin to enter.

Inside the cramped room, on a bed, lay two crossed legs. Another lump, barely recognizable as human, was a mangled mess of plate armor and flesh.

The air was thick with the foul, pungent stench of blood.

”Urgh!” Lady Jie Lin, seeing it up close, couldn’t help but gag.

Leech, of course, wouldn’t let a Transcendent go to waste. Using the Rhino Horn, he extracted its Extraordinary power—a cyan ball of light.

Lady Jie Lin accompanied him through the whole process. She was beginning to vaguely understand why Leech had collected bodies before. This was Leech’s secret, but it was a secret she would rather not know.

’The more I know, the more reason I give Leech to ”silence” me.’

Putting away the Extraordinary extract, Leech turned and said, ”Let’s go.”