Chapter 6: Sword and Blossom

A sword flashed, and in an instant, Lady Marshall let out a blood-curdling scream.

Thud!

A whole arm fell to the ground.

Lady Marshall’s face turned deathly pale, drained of all color. Her right arm had been severed cleanly at the shoulder, the stark white bone unmistakably exposed.

In the end, Lin Wei had not finished Lady Marshall with a single stroke. Adapting to the jungle law of this world was not something he could accomplish overnight.

His longsword was stained with fresh blood, crimson drops trickling down the blade to its tip, falling with a steady drip, drip, drip.

Lady Marshall, summoning every ounce of strength, tried to master the pain. Pressing her hand to the wound, she looked up at Lin Wei, forcing a grim smile. “Thank you, sir.”

She understood perfectly that Lin Wei had spared her in the deadly balance between life and death. Jon’s orders were clearly not his to ignore.

“Thank me? I just cut off her arm, yet she thanks me... This world, where people devour one another, is even crueler than I imagined.”

A strange feeling welled up in Lin Wei’s heart.

“Go. Leave Tulip Territory.” His expression remained unchanged.

Lady Marshall struggled to her feet. She glanced at her severed arm lying nearby, but in the end did not pick it up. Instead, she bowed to Lin Wei and, stooped and staggering, made her way out.

Surveying the room, Lin Wei saw that the young nobles and girls were utterly petrified.

“My apologies, everyone. If you would, please leave. The Tulip family will now take over this matter entirely,” Lin Wei said with a slight bow to the noble youths. Though he served as a close attendant to the Earl’s heir, his social status was far beneath theirs.

A moment ago, Lin Wei had been a figure of chilling menace—now, suddenly, he was refined and courteous. The young nobles were momentarily caught off guard by his shifting demeanor. Yet, gauging the atmosphere, they hurried to dress, gathered the girls, and hastily fled the room.

With everyone gone, Lin Wei’s attention turned to the immobilized Duveil.

With a swift rip, he tore a piece of curtain embroidered with golden thread and gently draped it over Duveil.

Duveil was unmoved by this gesture. Her jaw, dislocated by Lin Wei, left her unable to speak. But in her eyes, Lin Wei saw a hatred so profound it seemed it could melt him.

He was unfazed, speaking as if recounting something mundane. “Enjoy these next few minutes. After you’re brought to the Tulip family, you’ll find that death might have been the kinder choice.”

From the memories of his body’s former owner, Lin Wei recalled details about the dungeons beneath Tulip Territory—a place reputed to be so terrifying that even children’s midnight cries would fall silent at its mention.

Hearing this, the hatred in Duveil’s eyes turned to terror.

“Oh? So you do know of it... Hm? Someone’s coming.”

Lin Wei sensed the tremor of approaching footsteps.

In mere seconds, several tall, imposing figures appeared before him.

“Lord Nacken?”

At their head was Nacken, commander of the Tulip Guard.

Lin Wei immediately bowed. This was unexpected; he hadn’t thought the Earl would send his personal commander for a female assassin, even one as skilled as this, merely on his son’s behalf.

“You did well.” Nacken, for once, allowed a hint of a smile. He stepped forward and patted Lin Wei’s shoulder. “Young Master Jon told the Earl everything, and the Earl is quite satisfied with you.”

“I am simply fulfilling my duty.”

Having lived two lives, Lin Wei would not be swayed by mere words of praise.

“Very good.” Nacken paid no mind to Lady Marshall’s severed arm and went straight to Duveil, crouching beside her.

Lin Wei followed in silence.

As Duveil saw Nacken, the fear and hatred in her eyes only deepened.

“Beautiful little one, do you recognize me?” Nacken looked at Duveil as if she were a caged animal.

“If I’m not mistaken...”

Nacken abruptly pulled aside the curtain Lin Wei had draped over her, exposing Duveil’s bare, battered body. Her limbs were twisted from Lin Wei’s blows, and a deep shoe print marred her abdomen.

Nacken glanced back at Lin Wei, a meaningful smile on his lips.

But he said nothing, returning his attention to Duveil. He carefully turned her over, his gaze fixed on the small of her back.

“As I thought...” Nacken’s face betrayed no surprise.

Lin Wei, curious, leaned in slightly.

“Lin Wei, look here,” Nacken said, pointing below Duveil’s waist.

Lin Wei narrowed his eyes in confusion. There, just above the base of her spine, was a mark the size of a fingernail—a kind of crest, depicting a broken sword and a blooming flower.

“Sword and Flower.”

Nacken’s finger suddenly pressed hard, his sharp nail digging into Duveil’s flesh. With a swift movement, he gouged out the patch of skin bearing the crest.

Duveil’s face twisted with agony. Unable to scream, her hoarse throat rasped as if torn. Her eyes rolled back, and the successive waves of pain drove her into unconsciousness.

Nacken deftly removed the excess flesh, leaving only a thin layer of skin, and handed the patch to Lin Wei.

“This way, you’ll see it more clearly.”

To him, it was the most ordinary act imaginable.

Lin Wei felt a strange discomfort, but having been a top biologist in his previous life, he was no stranger to blood and gore—sometimes his dissections had been even more brutal.

He took the skin, inspecting it closely, the fresh scent of blood filling his nostrils.

“My lord, this ‘Sword and Flower’ you mentioned... what is it?” Lin Wei asked, frowning as he looked up.

“‘Sword and Flower’... It’s an organization, one that targets the nobility,” Nacken replied, wiping the blood from his hands onto his clothes. “There are always wretches who, while greedily feasting on the blessings granted by nobles, at the same time hold the knife of ambition to our throats.”

A chill ran through Lin Wei’s heart. The line between noble and commoner had never been clearer.