A beautiful woman with a tall, slender figure and thick hair braided into a single long plait that hung all the way to her ankles stepped out from the crowd. She sauntered over to Gerdas, gently patted his shoulder, and said, "Your Highness Verus, let me introduce myself. I am Lin Ying, Gerdas's mother. The one who taught you a lesson just now was my father, Lin Long—Gerdas's maternal grandfather."
Verus let out a stunned groan. He swiftly glanced at Lin Ying, who looked as young as a girl of sixteen yet exuded the charm of a mature married woman, then forced a smile onto his face. "I had never heard that Lord Gerdas had a mother?"
Verus's foolish words made all the easterners in the hall burst into laughter. Gerdas, meanwhile, roared angrily, "You idiot, Verus! Do not let your stupidity become a laughingstock for the entire Ashir Divine Clan! Do I not have a mother? Did I leap out of a rock? My father is the Lord of Retribution, and my mother is Lin Ying, the current head of the Lin Clan!"
"The Lin Clan?" Verus looked helplessly at Gerdas. "Does the Ashir Divine Clan have such a clan?"
Gerdas and Lin Ying exchanged a helpless glance, then shook their heads at the same time. They had already lost their patience with Verus, this foppish young master who knew nothing but eating, drinking, and amusement. Lin Ying said gravely, "We invited you here this time because we need your help. Gerdas's original body has already been repaired, but it has lost too much of its life source. We wish to borrow some of your divine blood and life essence to awaken Gerdas's original body."
Lin Ying raised her long, delicate brows and gave a radiant smile. Yet Sword