Delivered to the Door, Ninth Royal Uncle’s Might

Since both were twisted in their own ways—one big, one small—it was obvious to Serena that the little deviant couldn’t possibly match the big one. Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan certainly didn’t disappoint her.

No matter how mature or clever, Zed was still just a six-year-old child. Under the pressure of Nolan’s overwhelming presence, he quickly wilted, his little mouth pouting, eyes misting with tears, body shrinking back, and in a child’s unique voice asked, "Uncle Nolan, did you come to see me for something?"

"No," Nolan replied, showing not the slightest trace of guilt for bullying a child. He didn’t see Zed as a child at all—kids like this were anything but normal.

Zed let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked, "If Uncle Nolan doesn’t need anything, can I go now?"

Seeking benefit and avoiding harm is human instinct, even for a six-year-old like Zed.

"No, you can’t."

"Why not?" Zed looked aggrieved, his pretty little face showing a hint of stubbornness.

"No reason. I heard you like blood and killing, is that right?" Nolan observed that maybe this child wasn’t quite as terrifying as Serena had described.

The truly frightening ones were the bodyguards around him. If those guards could be sent away, it wouldn’t be so hard for Serena to ‘retrain’ this child.

"Mhm, mhm!" Zed nodded vigorously, eyes shining. "I love it—I love seeing blood spray, and blood splatter on the ground, pat-pat-pat like plum blossoms. And I love the look on those cowards’ faces when they’re scared."

The more Zed talked, the more excited he became, like he was showing off his favorite toy. Overcome with enthusiasm, he jumped right out of his chair.

"Uncle Nolan, what about you? Do you like it?"

Do you like it?

No one is born loving to kill, nor is anyone born loving blood. Nolan’s gaze grew complicated as he looked at Zed. From Zed’s answer, he could see the child was so naive he didn’t even understand right from wrong, good from evil—he didn’t think there was anything wrong with killing.

When Nolan didn’t answer, Zed grew anxious and rushed forward, tugging at Nolan’s sleeve. "Uncle Nolan, don’t you like it? It’s really fun."

Thud... Instead of an answer, what Zed got was Nolan’s foot kicking him away.

How could a six-year-old withstand a kick from Nolan? Even though Nolan only used a tenth of his strength, Zed still rolled across the floor several times.

The guards outside wanted to rush in, but one murderous glare from Nolan stopped them cold.

"That hurts." Zed pressed both hands against the spot where Nolan had kicked him, his face full of accusation.

He only wanted to share something fun with this handsome uncle—because only this uncle didn’t look at him with fear in his eyes. Zed really liked him.

Serena wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead, feeling embarrassed that Nolan was bullying a child. Unfortunately, Nolan himself seemed perfectly aware he was picking on a kid, and coldly asked, “Does it hurt that much?”

Zed nodded, eyes red, but stubbornly refused to cry.

"That pain is nothing. The people you killed suffered ten times, a hundred times more. Zed, there’s no shame in killing—but wanton slaughter of innocents and cruelty is shameful." Nolan wasn’t some hypocritical old scholar; even his lectures were brutally realistic.

"I didn’t kill innocents—they were all volunteers." Zed protested angrily, his little face serious, with no sign of lying.

If it wasn’t true ignorance, then it was hidden too deeply. If Zed were an adult, Nolan would suspect deception, but since he was just a child, Nolan believed he truly had no concept of right and wrong.

Nolan glanced at Serena, telling her with his eyes that retraining Zed would be a long, difficult road.

Serena silently looked up at the sky...

Can she refuse? She felt Nolan did far better than she ever could—the moment he arrived at Feng Manor, he drove off everyone around Zed and even beat him so badly he didn’t dare fight back.

Damn, not to mention hitting him—she couldn’t even touch Zed. How was she supposed to retrain him?

Zed lay on the floor for a long time, but no one came to help him. He realized the uncle he liked didn’t seem to like him back, so he angrily stood up, turned to the guards outside, and shouted, "Are you all dead? If you don’t come in now, I’ll throw you into the snake pit!"

Despite his small frame, Zed radiated a fierce, intimidating energy. The guards outside hurried in, but instead of attacking Nolan, they knelt before Zed and begged for forgiveness.

With his backup here, Zed felt emboldened. Pointing at Nolan, he ordered, "You—kill him."

Just a moment ago he was an innocent little angel; now he was a murderous demon. In Zed’s eyes, there was no one in this world he couldn’t kill.

"Young Lord..." The guards were troubled.

Normally, if the Young Lord ordered them to kill ten people, they wouldn’t dare spare even half a life. But to kill Ninth Royal Uncle? That was...

"You dare defy me?" Zed’s aura grew even more menacing.

Nolan and Serena exchanged glances and smiled...

This side of Zed matched exactly what Serena had described—a twisted mind. That earlier obedient act just didn’t fit him at all.

With everyone inside Feng Manor, Nolan had no intention of making things hard for the Demon Sect guards. He said, "Your Lord sent him here for treatment. If you keep shielding him, his illness will only get worse. All of you, stand down—I promise your Young Lord won’t die."

At worst, he’d shed a layer of skin. After all, to retrain a little deviant like this, you had to use special methods—reasoning wouldn’t work on someone like Zed; only force could get through to him.

"Uh..." The Demon Sect guards hesitated, torn.

"Stand down. If anything happens, let your Lord come find me." Nolan’s patience was already thin, and after the guards disobeyed him a couple times, he was done.

These guards were all skilled fighters, but if Nolan wanted to kill them, it wouldn’t be impossible.

"Don’t you dare!" Zed shouted, his aura fierce—but the next second his face flushed red and he started coughing violently.

Nolan’s kick had still hurt him.

"Young Lord Zed, remember your place. Right now you’re a patient, not the Demon Sect’s heir." Nolan’s words were both a warning to Zed and to the guards.

The Emperor was wary of the Demon Sect and didn’t want a direct confrontation, and Nolan felt the same—so long as the Demon Sect didn’t provoke him.

But now the Demon Sect had tangled with Serena, which to Nolan was even more unforgivable than offending him directly. Since the trouble started with Young Lord Zed, he’d have to take responsibility. Nolan always believed in fighting violence with violence, evil with evil.

After driving off the guards, Nolan called Zed to his side. Zed snorted, pretending not to hear. Nolan’s face darkened. "Zed, my patience is running out. I’ll count to three. If you don’t come over, don’t blame me for what happens next."

"I won’t."

"Three."

"Hmph."

"Two."

"One..." The word had barely left his lips when Nolan shot out of his chair like an arrow. Before Zed could react, he found himself hoisted off the ground, his feet dangling, the gold collar around his neck choking him.

"Let... let go of me!" Zed kicked his legs desperately, but Nolan was prepared. He gripped the collar at Zed’s neck, holding him at arm’s length so no matter how Zed kicked, it was useless.

Serena immediately glanced at the guards outside. Seeing them all furious but not daring to speak up, she was so angry she wanted to pull out a gun and shoot them.

Damn it, she was a doctor, okay? But if she so much as tried to touch Zed, these people acted like she was a thief. Now that Nolan was swinging Zed around like a sandbag, not one of them dared step up.

Kindness really does invite bullying. If she’d known Nolan was this useful, she would have delivered herself to his door ages ago...