Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Most likely, Linley had received some sketchy details and was not absolutely certain. As long as he clenched his teeth and refused to speak, perhaps Linley would believe him in the end.

  “Lord Linley, if I knew, I would’ve told you long ago, and avoided all this suffering. Lord Linley, I beg of you, please investigate this matter clearly.” Tears began to pour out of Patterson’s eyes, and his face was a picture of sincerity. If it weren’t for the fact that Linley had read that letter from his father, he might really have hesitated.

  Staring at Patterson, Linley’s lips began to curve upwards even more.

  Patterson’s heart felt a sudden chill.

  “Good. Wonderful.” Linley’s tail was still wrapped around Patterson. Suddenly, the draconic tail sent Patterson smashing directly, viciously into the stone floor. Fortunately, though, Linley smashed Patterson feet-first, rather than head-first.

  Linley gave full reign to the power of his draconic tail!

  Patterson’s two legs smashed against the stone floor.

  “Crush!”

  The sound of bones splintering instantly, mixed with Patterson’s terrifying, high-pitched howls of agony.

  On Patterson’s left knee, the shattered white bone was visible to the eye, piercing both through his leg and his pants. His right leg, even worse off, simply lay limply on the ground, while blood stained his pants around the ankles in particular.

  “Ahhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!” Patterson was screaming nonstop.

  This level of pain was killing him. Fortunately, though, his organs had been protected by his battle-qi, and so his life was not yet in danger.

  “Demon. Demon.” Patterson was cursing nonstop in his heart. He knew what a tremendous force Linley was using. Based on his strength as a warrior of the seventh rank, he was only just barely able to protect his internal organs with his battle-qi, and couldn’t protect the rest of his body.

  Patterson didn’t want to die.

  Crippled legs?

  Not a problem. With enough money, he definitely could invite an Arch Magus of the ninth-rank of the Radiant Church to use the ‘Song of Life’ on him. As long as he didn’t already die, any wound, no matter how serious, could be healed!

  “Do you remember yet? That woman you abducted?” Linley’s voice was still very calm, not rising in the slightest.

  But the terror in Patterson’s heart was growing.

  “I remember. I remember.” Beads of sweat were flowing down Patterson’s face. Not from pain. From fear.

  Patterson knew very well that in this sealed underground room in which he and Linley were currently in, nobody outside could hear anything, no matter how loud the screams. Perhaps someone directly outside, leaning against the stone door, could just barely hear something.

  But who would be outside of this secret little room, pressing their ears against the stone door?

  No matter how loud he screamed, no one would know.

  “If you said so earlier, wouldn’t you have suffered less?” Linley’s dark golden eyes stared peacefully at Patterson. “Speak, then. Explain what happened to me.”

  Patterson hurriedly nodded. “Lord Linley, that year, that woman was extremely beautiful. I was bewitched, and hatched an evil plot to abduct that woman and bring her back to my place. I wanted that woman to sleep with me, but she was too headstrong. She committed suicide by ramming her head against the stone wall.”

  Stuttering as he spoke, Patterson looked at Linley.

  In Patterson’s opinion, there were very few people who knew what had really happened to that woman. Linley shouldn’t have had any clue.

  “You continue to lie!!!”

  Linley finally grew angry. Those dark golden eyes seemed to slowly turn red. Using his draconic tail, Linley brought Patterson directly before him. Linley all but pressed his face directly against Patterson’s, coldly staring into his eyes.

  Pressed against Linley, seeing Linley’s black scales and the black horn on his forehead, Patterson grew even more terrified.

  “I’m not lying! I’m not lying!” Patterson hurriedly said.

  Linley’s hands, already transformed into claws by the Dragonform, suddenly delivered a mighty slap to Patterson’s face.

  “THWACK!” Five pieces of flesh were ripped from Patterson’s face, and blood began to flow out in a steady stream. Fortunately, Linley wasn’t trying to kill him. Otherwise, he would’ve crushed Patterson’s brain to a pulp with this blow.

  “Sob…sob…sob…” Patterson was in so much pain that his voice changed.

  Linley stared coldly at Patterson. “Patterson, listen closely. I already know very much about what had happened, which is why it’s best for you not to lie to me. Otherwise, the torment you will suffer definitely will not be limited to just this. Let me tell you this. The woman that you abducted was my mother!”

  “Mother?” Patterson was stunned, even forgetting his pain for the moment.

  “I am very clear about what happened that day with my mother, and I have been investigating this entire time. Thus, it’s best if you tell me everything about what happened to my mother. Otherwise…you will definitely die.” Linley’s voice grew even more freezing.

  Actually, no matter what Patterson said, he was still definitely going to die.

  Because Linley’s father had been pursued and heavily injured by Patterson’s men, and had died as a result. Patterson didn’t yet know that the person he had sent people out to hunt and kill was Linley’s father. If he had known…perhaps Patterson would be reacting in a totally different way.

  “Tell me. Who did you give my mother to?” Linley stared at Patterson.

  “You knew?” Patterson’s face turned pale.

  Linley actually knew that he had given the woman away to someone else?

  “Tell me his name, but you’d best not lie to me. If I discover that you have lied to me, I will make your life worse than death.” Linley’s voice was very calm again, not rising in the slightest.

  Patterson hesitated for a moment.

  “There’s no use for me to tell you. You can’t kill him.” Patterson said in a low voice.

  “Can’t kill him?” Linley stared coldly at Patterson. “Patterson, listen to me. All you have to do is tell me who that person is. As for whether or not I can kill him, that’s none of your concern. Do you think you know what my real level of ability is?”

  Hearing these words, Patterson secretly agreed.

  The ‘Linley’ in front of him was too terrifying. The power he had previously displayed had already made others believe he was an absolute genius. But apparently, Linley’s real power was far greater than that of a warrior of the seventh rank. In front of Linley, he didn’t have the slightest ability to resist.

  Patterson began to furiously calculate in his mind.

  Linley didn’t rush him, only fixing Patterson with his dark golden gaze.

  After pondering a long time, Patterson gritted his teeth and looked at Linley. “Linley, I’ll tell you who he is, but you have to guarantee that you definitely won’t let anyone know that I was the one who told you! And, you have to promise you won’t kill me.”

  Linley’s face was still as cold as ever. “Fine. I guarantee that I will not tell anyone that you were the one to tell me. And, I guarantee I will not kill you.”

  Only now did Patterson secretly let out his breath.

  “About twelve years ago, on one occasion, we members of the royal clan of Fenlai went to pay a visit to the Radiant Temple. Within the Radiant Temple, we saw your mother. Afterwards, I sent people to abduct your mother.” Patterson immediately said, “But that wasn’t actually my own intent. I was obeying the orders of another.”

  “Who?” Linley asked.

  Patterson glanced at Linley. He slowly said, “The orders came from my elder brother. The current ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai. King Clayde.”

  “Clayde?” Linley was startled.

  The pride of the Kingdom of Fenlai, the ‘Golden Lion’, Clayde? The wa
rrior of the ninth rank, Clayde?

  “Yes. It was Clayde.” Patteron said with certainty. “But I know that Clayde valued your mother highly. He even told me that no matter what, I couldn’t let this information out, as if I did, I would definitely die.”

  Linley looked at Patterson.

  “He should be telling the truth.” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “I can sense the vibrations of his soul.”

  Linley made up his mind.

  Patterson looked beseechingly at Linley. “Linley, can you spare my life? I guarantee that I definitely won’t say a single word about what happened today to anyone.” Patterson’s eyes were filled with hope.

  “Fine. I’ll keep my promise.” Linley’s draconic tail loosened.

  Patterson’s body dropped to the floor. A look of wild joy appeared on Patterson’s face, and he looked at Linley with eyes filled with gratitude.

  Right at this moment, a black blur flashed by.

  “Crunch.”

  The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, bit Patterson’s neck. Patterson stared with terror at Bebe. He had just escaped from death’s door, but now, he could already seem to feel the call of the Netherworld. Patterson could tell that the little Shadowmouse was the one which was always on Linley’s shoulders.

  Disbelievingly, Patterson stared at Linley.

  “I said I wouldn’t kill you. But I never said my magical beast wouldn’t kill you.” Linley looked coldly at Patterson, whose throat was spurting out blood. “Let me tell you something else as well. Several months ago, there was a man who snuck into your Duke’s mansion. Afterwards, you sent people after him to kill him. And that man…was my father!”

  Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 12, The Investigation

  Just before his death, Patterson finally understood.

  He had, after all, participated in Linley’s father’s funeral. He knew that Linley’s father was already dead.

  The funny thing was, just now, he had been hoping that he could leave with his life. But now, he completely understood why Linley had done what he had done. Deep in Patterson’s heart, he was unwilling to be resigned to dying like this. Based on his prowess as a warrior of the seventh rank, it wouldn’t be too hard to live for another two or three hundred years.

  His life should still be long.

  “I’m dying, but Clayde, your life won’t be much better.” As Patterson’s soul was drawn to the Netherworld, it contained a thread of hatred, hatred for his brother Clayde.

  …..

  After watching Patterson die, Linley returned to his normal form.

  “Clayde. So the man behind this event was Clayde.” Linley frowned deeply.

  Clayde himself was a combatant of the ninth rank. Even if Linley was in full Dragonform, he would be at most an early eighth rank combatant.

  Clayde was on a totally different level compared to him. Even if Linley were to ambush him, he simply could not harm a warrior of the ninth rank. The gap between them was too great.

  And Clayde had tremendous power at his disposal as well.

  As the revered ruler of Fenlai, how could he not have many fighters under his banner? And, having been the ruler for many years of the Kingdom of Fenlai, the leading kingdom amongst the six kingdoms of the Holy Union, he had a very close relationship with the Radiant Church. His roots were extremely deep.

  In terms of both strength as well as forces available, Linley could not compare to Clayde.

  “Perhaps my only advantage right now is that I am operating hidden in the shadows.” Linley constantly pondered how to deal with Clayde.

  Doehring Cowart appeared from within the Coiling Dragon ring. He immediately urged Linley, “Linley, don’t waste any more time here. What you need to do right now is to destroy anything that might reveal you were here. Get back to your own estate immediately, otherwise, if you return too late, when they begin investigating who killed Patterson, they might suspect you.”

  Linley was startled awake.

  Right!

  His only advantage was that he was operating from within the shadows. No matter what, he couldn’t allow Clayde to be on guard against him.

  “Time to burn the evidence to ashes.” Linley immediately generated several dozen fireballs which surrounded Patterson’s body. Based on his current spiritual energy, the temperature of his fireballs was quite high.

  Patterson’s body quickly began to burn, while at the same time, an extremely foul odor began to fill the air. After a while, only a few charred yellow bones and ashes remained.

  That foul odor made Linley frown.

  “Linley, your clothes.” Doehring Cowart reminded.

  Linley looked down at his clothes. Indeed. After having gone through the Dragonform transformation, his clothes had been totally ripped apart. Linley retrieved his things, and then removed his outer jacket and pants without the slightest hesitation. Instantly, he burnt his clothes to ashes as well.

  Linley immediately activated the mechanism.

  “Rumble rumble.” The stone door once more opened, and Linley hurriedly walked out, then closed the door again.

  No matter what, it was best for the stone door to be closed. Otherwise, with the door open, that smell of burnt flesh would quickly draw people’s attention.

  “There should be clothes within this room.” Linley glanced down at his underwear. Clearly, he couldn’t walk out just in his ruined underwear like this. That would definitely arouse suspicion. Linley immediately went to another room on the side, opening up a dresser.

  The dresser was filled with sets of clothes.

  Linley selected a set of black clothes, rather similar to the outfit he had worn to the engagement ceremony. Putting the clothes on, Linley then once more used his wind-style spells to blow away the nearby specks of blood as well as that foul odor of burning flesh.

  “Best to go back early. Can’t let anyone notice anything.” Moving at high speed, Linley leapt straight through the courtyard, arriving at the front courtyard in a matter of minutes.

  At this point in time, there were still a few nobles remaining, engaging in idle conversation.

  “Oh, Lord Linley. You haven’t left yet?” Count Juneau was heading out as well. Seeing Linley not too far away, he warmly greeted Linley.

  Linley smiled. “Right. Just then, my stomach felt a bit queasy, so I went to the privy.”

  Count Juneau walked out shoulder-to-shoulder with Linley.

  “Lord Linley, I must say that I am a big fan of your sculptures. I was the one who bought your very first three sculptures that you exhibited at the main hall of the Proulx Gallery.” Count Juneau said proudly to Linley. The thing which Count Juneau was proudest was most likely the fact that he had been the one to purchase the first three sculptures which Linley had put on display.

  Those three sculptures of Linley’s, just judging from the outside, was perhaps only worth six or seven thousand gold coins.

  However…Linley’s status was now very different. He was the master sculptor who had carved ‘Awakening From the Dream’. In terms of status, he wasn’t too much off from the levels of Proulx and Hope Jensen. How could the price of the very first three sculptures a person such like this exhibited be low?

  Based on his calculations and the implicit value, these three sculptures which Count Juneau had collected were most likely each worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins!

  This was perhaps the collection which Count Juneau was the most delighted over, ever. Count Juneau had decided that these three items needed to be kept in his collection. He believed…as Linley’s future accomplishments became greater and greater, the value of these three sculptures would rise as well.

  “Lord Linley, have a safe trip.” The housekeeper for the Debs clan said respectfully at the gate for the Deb’s clan’s manor.

  Linley nodded. Bidding farewell to Count Juneau, he entered his own carriage.

  “Go back.” Linley gave a calm command upon entering the carriage.

 
“Yes, milord.”

  The Radiant Church warrior of the seventh rank who served as a driver bowed in acknowledgment, then immediately began driving the carriage towards Linley’s manor.

  “I probably spent around fifteen minutes or so with Patterson.” Linley took out his pocket watch and took a glance.

  This was one of the gifts that the many well-wishers of his had sent him upon him being conferred the rank of Marquis.

  “Fifteen minutes or so. Count Juneau and the rest were amongst the last pack of guests to leave. If they don’t investigate extremely carefully, it shouldn’t be possible for them to suspect me.” Linley said to himself. “The other problem is, Patterson said that his housekeeper knew that he was going to meet with someone, but not exactly who.”

  Linley frowned. “But I can’t totally trust his words. Perhaps his housekeeper did in fact know he was going to meet me, but Patterson wanted me to relax and trust him and thus claimed no one else knew.”

  Linley had considered this possibility.

  Patterson’s housekeeper!

  This definitely was a flaw.

  What’s more…if there really was an investigation, people might discover that Linley had disappeared for fifteen minutes at the end. But during that period of time, all the nobles were engaged in casual conversation and were leaving haphazardly. It would most likely be extremely difficult to clearly investigate a single person, given those circumstances.

  “At least no one personally witnessed my meeting with Patterson. The one attendant who did see was killed by Patterson.” Linley said to himself.

  At most, others might suspect him. But there was no actionable evidence against him.

  “Boss, what are you thinking about?” Bebe was lying on Linley’s legs. Raising his little head, he looked at Linley.

  “Nothing.” Linley rubbed Bebe’s little head, having totally calmed down.

  “Milord, we have arrived.”

  Linley pushed open the carriage curtains, then raised his head and stared up at the boundless sky. Right now, the night sky was filled with stars. Linley couldn’t help but feel a carefree joy in his heart, while at the same time, his resolve to kill Clayde grew still more firm. “Patterson died today. Next one up is Clayde.”