Chapter 188: Chapter 183: Bathing with Pomelo Leaves

After washing, Nolan Sterling changed into a brand new fur robe, and under the firelight, his pale complexion seemed even more gloomy.

He stepped out of the palace, slowly strolling along the corridor, a wave of irritation swelling in his heart.

Suddenly, a sound reached his ears.

He paused slightly, and his gaze went towards the corner where a few Beastman guards were hiding, whispering something.

“Did you hear? The Great Hall’s elite force was wiped out this time, and even the Great Hall had to crawl back…”

“Exactly, I heard that the rocks at Cragfall really eat people! A hyena Beastman said he saw with his own eyes: a Beastman was walking, and suddenly stripped naked, jumped into Umbraflow, his legs dissolved, and he was laughing maniacally.”

“Shh! Lower your voice, do you have a death wish?”

Nolan Sterling halted his steps, his expression growing more sinister, his knuckles clenched to the point of whiteness.

He slowly approached the corner, cloaked in shadow, and the two Beastman guards continued their whispers, backs turned to him.

Obviously, they hadn’t noticed anyone had come near.

“Afraid of what? The whole Royal City is talking, I heard even the Illusion Leaf has the Great Hall’s…”

Before the words were finished, a pale, slender hand landed on his shoulder.

The Beastman froze, slowly turning his head to meet Nolan Sterling’s cold eyes.

“Great, Great Hall…”

Nolan Sterling chuckled lightly, his eyes devoid of warmth, “Continue, I’m listening.”

The Beastman’s knees gave out, collapsing to the ground: “Spare us, Great Hall, we were just…”

Before he could finish, Nolan Sterling’s hand turned into a sharp claw, which pierced through his throat in an instant, blood gushing, splattering on the red palace wall.

In the dark night, it appeared especially eerie.

The other two Beastmen saw this scene, and were immediately terrified, collapsing to the ground, faces pale, trembling and not daring to lift their heads.

One of the Beastmen was so scared that he urinated on the spot.

“Drag them away to feed the hyenas.”

Nolan Sterling shook off the blood from his hand, saying with disgust.

About to kill the remaining two Beastmen together.

Suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

Nolan Sterling turned his head quickly, the tips of his claws still dripping with blood.

Standing by the column was Xavier Frost, captain of the Beast King’s personal guards, his sharp hawk eyes staring at him.

Nolan Sterling’s pupils shrank; Xavier Frost was a confidant of his father, coming now…

He subconsciously clenched the bloodstained claw, “Hold on, I’ll change…”

“Now.”

Xavier Frost stepped aside to clear the path, speaking coldly.

Clearly, there was no room for negotiation, nor did he give Nolan Sterling any face.

As the Beast King’s most trusted personal guard, he didn’t need to give face to anyone, including Nolan Sterling, the Great Hall.

Nolan Sterling’s face looked grim, but he couldn’t afford to offend Xavier Frost.

He grabbed a piece of beastskin offered by an attendant and wiped his hand, then made his way to the Beast King Hall.

…

Inside the Beast King Hall, the candlelight was dim, flickering intermittently.

The Old Beast King lay slanted on the throne, nine snow-white fox tails drooping to the ground, displaying utmost laziness.

Nolan Sterling tidied up his robes, ensuring there was nothing amiss, then pushed open the hall door and entered.

Just as he walked in, he heard the Old Beast King ask hoarsely: “What happened at Cragfall?”

Throughout, he didn’t look at him, his attitude exceedingly cold.

Nolan Sterling stiffened his spine, his fingertips subconsciously pinching into his palm.

That year, the third son died in an “accident” and for three full years, his father hadn’t stepped out of the chamber.

Clearly, he too was his son, yet the attitude was worlds apart.

If Kian Sterling weren’t dead, the position his father sat upon would never have been his turn.

The Old Beast King half-closed his eyes, the pale fox tail gently sweeping across the floor, raising a delicate dust, “Speak.”

He dared not lift his head, taking time to consider the tone: “Father, there is indeed something strange about Cragfall…”

“Is that so?”

The Old Beast King suddenly opened his eyes, the golden fox eyes particularly captivating under the dim candlelight, “Then why did only you crawl back from the three hundred elite you took?”

The torch in the corner of the hall suddenly exploded into a spark.

Nolan Sterling’s forehead began to sweat, his voice hoarse: “Cragfall has the curse of The Beast God, so we…”

“Nonsense!”

The Old Beast King slammed the armrest, splintering the wood, “Do you take me for those uncivilized low-level Beastmen?”

Never had he heard of any curse from The Beast God at Cragfall, how come it appeared right after discovering The Salt Lake?

It was clearly someone else’s trick.

The hall fell dead silent.

Nolan Sterling suddenly knelt down: “As a son, I dare not deceive my father! It’s truly…”

He didn’t know how to respond himself, he couldn’t possibly say they fell into a Wolf Tribe ambush and were battered until every single one perished there, right?

Father didn’t think much of him already, if he knew about losing 300 elites and fleeing shamefully alone, he’d think even less of him.

Nolan Sterling’s throat rolled as he prepared to fabricate another explanation.

The hall door was abruptly pushed open.

Moonlight angled in, revealing the slender silhouette of Kian Sterling.

He held a glowing Illusion Leaf at his fingertips, smiling harmlessly: “Father, on my way back, I picked up something interesting.”

The surface of the leaf revealed Nolan Sterling laughing maniacally at Cragfall, performing the Fox Clan’s ritual dance with his face smeared in mud and waste.

Kian Sterling chose to appear at this moment purely to disgust Nolan Sterling and incidentally irritate him.

The Old Beast King suddenly sat up, his cloudy old eyes full of joy.

“Keira?”

The old man’s nine tails all stood on end, rushing forward to grab Kian Sterling’s wrist, “That scoundrel reported you dead years ago, said you were swallowed by a Saber-toothed Tiger without even your bones remaining, leaving me heartbroken for three years…”

He suddenly paused upon feeling the pulse gate, “You’re Sixth-rank now?”

Though being a Sixth-rank Beastman isn’t much, Keira is young, and achieving Sixth-rank at such an age is quite rare.

Especially since Keira has been wandering outside these years, lacking in resources for both cultivation and training compared to The Royal City.

No one knows how much suffering he endured.

Thinking this, the Old Beast King felt even more distressed.

He completely forgot that Nolan Sterling’s strength was also Sixth-rank, and actually mid-stage Sixth Rank.

Nolan Sterling’s knuckles turned white, the unsightly scenes replaying over and over in the Illusion Leaf.

Yet Father didn’t spare him a glance and instead wept over Kian Sterling’s face.

Father, oh Father, you are as partial as ever.

How could it not make him resentful?

“It’s great that Third Brother could return.”

Nolan Sterling’s nails dug into his palm as he gazed at Kian Sterling, forcing a gentle and warm smile on his face: “I wonder about the Illusion Leaf…”

Though the scenes recorded in the Illusion Leaf were disgraceful, making him feel embarrassed.

But it could convincingly prove that Cragfall was indeed cursed by The Beast God.

In that case, Father wouldn’t be able to blame him.

“Hmm?”

The Old Beast King then noticed the Illusion Leaf in Kian Sterling’s hand.

The Illusion Leaf showed Nolan Sterling laughing incessantly, appearing frantic, tearing at his clothes and performing bizarre gestures, the scenes being quite ludicrous.

The Old Beast King was shocked, his whiskers trembling thrice.

“This…”

He turned his head to glance at his eldest son, “Nolan, are you possessed?”

The Illusion Leaf is an extraordinarily special plant in the beast world that can record past scenes.

Nolan Sterling choked on a mouthful of old blood stuck in his throat: “Father, I was cursed by The Beast God!”

Kian Sterling timely showed a worried look: “Big Brother insisted that he received advice from The Beast God, saying that the excrement mixed with mud could beautify and nourish.”

As he spoke, his fingertips twirled and took out a second Illusion Leaf, coincidentally showing Nolan Sterling’s face smeared with mud and waste.

The Old Beast King’s whiskers trembled like reeds in the wind, staring at Nolan Sterling’s face covered in mud and waste in the Illusion Leaf, suddenly feeling a bit nauseated from dinner.

Deep down, he began to believe that Cragfall was truly cursed by The Beast God.

Otherwise, Nolan Sterling couldn’t have done such absurd things.

“Cough cough…”

The Old Beast King coughed lightly twice, looking at Nolan Sterling, “Since Cragfall was cursed by The Beast God, you’re not to blame, let this matter go, you can leave now.”

Perhaps due to psychological effects, he felt a faint stench coming from his eldest son.

Even though he looked clean, his face was handsomely fair, he felt an inexplicable stink.

As if what stood before him wasn’t his eldest son but a pile of dung.

Nolan Sterling caught his Father’s deep disdain, instantly choking on a mouthful of old blood, neither able to swallow nor spit it out, feeling utterly uncomfortable.

“Yes, your son will take his leave.”

He bowed his head slightly, concealing the coldness in his eyes and quietly withdrew.

As Nolan Sterling just exited the Beast King Hall, he heard his Father’s voice raised by eight degrees: “Come, prepare fine wine and food for the Third Prince, wait—”

The Old Beast King suddenly called back the Female Slave who was about to leave, “Go and fill the side hall’s bath with the freshest grapefruit leaves, remember to pick more, scatter them across the entire bath.”

Kian Sterling’s expression shifted to be somewhat odd: “Father, why scatter grapefruit leaves when bathing?”

The Old Beast King chuckled twice, “It’s a custom of The Fox Clan of Aetheria, cleansing with grapefruit leaves can dispel bad luck, you survived and returned, naturally you should cleanse well…”

Kian Sterling chuckled upon hearing this, his slender fingers playing with a strand of ink-black hair, “Turns out Father believes in this, but indeed, your son is covered in ill luck…”

He was referring to Nolan Sterling.

Nolan Sterling at the hall door didn’t walk far, just happened to hear this sentence.

Dispelling bad luck? Bathe with grapefruit leaves?

Father is truly of a loving heart.

Despite his face being smeared with mud and waste, Father couldn’t see him beyond the disdain.

Not a word of dispelling ill luck or bathing with grapefruit leaves for him.

Nolan Sterling stood in the shadow outside the hall, his knuckles clenched, his face dark as a specter.

Father’s concern for Kian Sterling gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake.

“Your Highness…”

The personal attendant came finding him worriedly, upon nearing, he saw Nolan Sterling’s face twisted in such terrifying anger.

He stepped back two paces in fright, sensing a dark undercurrent in Prince Like no other, more sinister by far than Cragfall’s curse.

Suddenly, from the side hall came the Old Beast King’s long-lost hearty laugh: “Keira, soak well in the grapefruit water, get rid of the bad luck. Come, Father will bathe you.”

“Father, no need, I’ll do it myself, I’m no longer a child, it would be embarrassing if word got out.”

Soon after, came the sound of Kian Sterling laughing with tears.

Nolan Sterling’s face grew increasingly frightening, as if he could no longer bear to hear it.

He suddenly covered his ears and fled embarrassed, back to his own palace.

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