Hogg's [Death]

Hogg's corpse had a gaping wound in his chest, the flesh mangled beyond recognition.

Hillman glanced at the guards by the door and said, "A few days ago, the lord took me to the Magic Beast Mountain Range to capture a contracted magic beast. We ran into a Level Seven Money Leopard."

"The Money Leopard was injured, but it was so fast that it still managed to claw the lord."

"Fortunately, we later ran into a pack of Wind Wolves and found a chance to flee for our lives."

"After we returned, the lord..."

"He couldn't hold on!"

"He died yesterday!"

Lin Lei trembled at those words. His lips were deathly pale as he said, "He... died yesterday?!"

Seeing the disbelief on Lin Lei's face, Hillman opened his mouth several times but couldn't bring himself to speak. In the end, he simply nodded.

Lin Lei swayed and nearly collapsed.

Beibei sensed the immense grief in Lin Lei's heart and leapt onto his shoulder, but fell silent, unable to say anything.

He didn't know how to comfort Lin Lei!

Doehring, however, was shrewd with age. He watched Hillman and sensed that something was off about his gaze; several times, Hillman glanced toward the guards at the door.

"Lin Lei, the most urgent thing now is to see to the lord's funeral."

Tears streamed down Lin Lei's face. He held Hogg's icy-cold hand and nodded.

"Father, I just broke through to Level Seven and became the youngest dual-element Level Seven Mage in the kingdom! (Lei Lin is a single-element mage.)"

"I just became the youngest master sculptor!"

"And I even brought back the family's treasured heirloom, the Slaughter!"

"How could you be dead?"

Lin Lei looked at Hogg, remembering his father's past, remembering...

Hillman watched Lin Lei staring blankly at the corpse. His heart ached, but in the end, he held back his words of comfort.

"Young master, stay here with the lord for a while. I'll go see to the guards you brought back."

Lin Lei continued staring blankly at Hogg, holding his hand.

Hillman left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Lin Lei alone with his grief.

The Baruch Family then held a funeral, and the whole of Wushan Town was shrouded in sorrow.

Representatives of the kingdom's major factions, along with Delia and Yale, came to pay their respects.

Only Lei Lin was absent because he was conducting an important experiment, but his father, Jinli'an, attended in his place.

Several days after the funeral, a shadowy figure slipped into Baruch Mansion without a sound. Hillman then led him to Lin Lei's room.

Lin Lei's eyes were bloodshot, his face stricken with grief. He looked at Hillman and asked, "Uncle Hillman, who is this...?"

Hillman said nothing. The shadowy figure removed his hood, revealing Lei Lin's face.

Lin Lei looked at Lei Lin. "Big Brother Lei Lin, you're here!"

Seeing Lin Lei's grief-stricken, lifeless expression, Lei Lin thought, Hogg really does mean everything to Lin Lei.

He's so crushed he doesn't even have the will to keep cultivating!

Lei Lin sighed. "Lin Lei, do you want to know the truth about your father's death?"

Lin Lei froze. A moment later, his eyes were bloodshot, and he asked, word by word, "The truth?!"

"There's more to my father's death?"

As he spoke, he looked at Hillman. Hillman had told him himself that Hogg had died at the hands of a magic beast. Lin Lei didn't believe Hillman would lie to him!

Hillman nodded. "Young master, the lord really didn't die at the hands of a magic beast. I only said that because you were too young."

"I was worried you wouldn't be able to control yourself, so I told you that."

Lin Lei closed his eyes. After taking several deep breaths, he opened them again. "Big Brother Lei Lin, tell me."

"I can take it!"

Lei Lin was silent for a moment before saying, "Lin Lei, before I tell you how your father died, I need to tell you about your mother."

"Your mother didn't die in childbirth while giving birth to your younger brother, Warton. She was kidnapped."

"Your father had been tormented by this for years. But you and Warton were still so young, and he couldn't leave you behind, so he endured it."

"Over the years, you've grown up, and your younger brother Warton's bloodline has reached the threshold for transforming into a Dragonblood Warrior. Your father could finally rest easy."

"Once he no longer had any worries, he began his journey of revenge."

At this, Lei Lin paused. "Then his enemy killed him!"

After saying that, he handed Lin Lei Hogg's Final Letter.

Lei Lin had asked Hogg to write it. The original letter mainly said how happy Hogg was to have two wonderful sons like Lin Lei and Warton.

It then urged them to cultivate diligently, restore the family, and make it rise again.

But after their plans changed, Lei Lin had asked Hogg to add the truth about Lina's death. He left out Paterson and Clyde, and told Lin Lei to cultivate diligently but not become obsessed with revenge.

Most importantly, he had specifically reminded Lin Lei to consult Lei Lin whenever anything came up. Lei Lin had more experience and could be trusted.

After reading it, Lin Lei's face held both murderous intent and tenderness. Tears slipped from his eyes as he asked, "So, who was the enemy?"

Lei Lin patted Lin Lei on the shoulder. "Your enemy is very powerful. You can't deal with him yet."

"Who was the enemy?" Lin Lei pressed on. His gaze was so resolute it seemed ready to become an arrow and pierce the so-called enemy.

Lei Lin shook his head again. "You're not strong enough!"

Lin Lei stared at Lei Lin for a long while before asking, "Big Brother Lei Lin, why are you dressed like this?"

Lei Lin didn't answer.

"Why didn't my father give these things to Uncle Hillman? Why did he give them to you instead?"

Lei Lin still said nothing.

Lin Lei continued, "I know how strong you are. In the Fenlai Kingdom, only the royal family could force you to act this way!"

"So was it my father who killed Prince Paterson, whose death caused such a stir some time ago?"

At this, a look of determination crossed Lin Lei's face. "It was King Clyde, the Golden Lion, wasn't it? Only he could make you say I'm not strong enough."

"And only Clyde could leave you so helpless. After all, your master is Sa'er of the Wild Thunder Guard!"

Lei Lin's lips moved. He looked at Lin Lei for a long moment before finally nodding. "That's right!"

But inwardly, he thought, As expected of the protagonist. How is he so smart? I never noticed before. Have I been looking after him too much all this time?

Lin Lei continued looking at Lei Lin, as though trying to read every trace of expression on his face. Finally, he said, "My father told me to listen to you, Big Brother Lei Lin."

"Since you say I'm not strong enough yet, how strong do you think I need to be?"

"How strong is enough?!"

Lei Lin looked at Lin Lei and said in a low voice, "Level Nine!"

"Once you reach Level Nine, you should be strong enough."

Lin Lei immediately replied, "I'm already Level Nine when I transform!"

Lei Lin: "...You think you can storm the palace and kill Clyde to avenge your father just because you can transform?"