At the foot of the Zuo'en Mountain Range, a solid and imposing city stood tall.
Towering city walls and a massive gate—under the sunlight, they looked especially grand and majestic.
Carved into the city gate were three large characters: Zuo'en City. The walls were lined with banners embroidered with roaring lions, clearly declaring that this was the territory of the Laien Family.
Inside the castle within the city, a middle-aged man with a dignified face, blond hair, and brown eyes stood by the window, his brows tightly furrowed as he stared outside in anxiety.
He was Dao'en Laien, Jason Laien's father, the King of the Southern Realm, and the only known man in the South to possess A-rank Rage Qi.
His sharply defined features carried the weight of long years of hardship, naturally exuding a domineering presence like that of a mighty lion.
"Brother, Jason is nothing but a piece of trash anyway. If he's gone, he's gone. There's no need for you to grieve so much. Don't we still have Kelida?"
Another man of similar age, also blond-haired and brown-eyed, walked over and spoke to Dao'en.
He was Bade Laien, Dao'en's younger brother. Dao'en trusted him greatly and had appointed him as the lord of Chezewo, one of the Southern Realm's three major cities.
However, Bade was an extremely ambitious man who had long coveted the throne of the Southern Realm—a classic example of a beast wearing human skin.
"Of course I understand that," Dao'en said, shaking his head with sorrow. "But no matter what, Jason is still my own flesh and blood. His mother passed away from illness not long after giving birth to him. Before she died, she entrusted me to raise Jason properly—this was her only wish. But now… sigh…"
"Uncle, I'm sorry. I failed to take good care of Jason."
A young man who looked less than twenty years old stepped forward, tears streaming down his face as he spoke.
This youth was Kelida Laien, Jason's cousin—a man who possessed B-rank Rage Qi, courageous and capable despite his young age, and widely regarded as a rising star.
Yet like his father, he harbored deep ambition. For a long time, he had been seen as the future of the sparsely populated Laien Family.
Dao'en also placed great expectations on his nephew. He even gave Kelida the position of lord of Sagosi City, one of the Southern Realm's three major cities—a title that should have belonged to his own son.
He had even planned to pass the throne of the Southern Realm to Kelida in the future. And in order to secure his position completely, Kelida had secretly schemed against Jason again and again, intent on killing him so that he could become the sole remaining heir of the Laien Family and rest easy.
"That's enough, Kelida. Don't blame yourself," Dao'en said, patting Kelida on the shoulder, his tone filled with disappointment and resentment toward wasted potential. "I know my son well. He's unruly, hopelessly stupid—this matter isn't your fault."
"My lord, should we send some men to search for Young Master Jason? Perhaps he isn't dead yet?"
A silver-haired man who looked even older than Dao'en spoke up.
His name was Martin Owen, head of the Owen Family. His family had served the Laien Family for generations, and he was Dao'en's most trusted right-hand man.
"The Zuo'en Mountains are crawling with rage beasts and wild animals," Bade said with a curl of his lip. "Forget rage beasts—even a pack of wild animals would be too much for my nephew. He's probably already bones by now. What's the point of searching?"
"Lord Bade, Young Master Jason is still your own nephew. How can you speak like that?" Martin Owen said bluntly.
Martin had never liked Bade. He always felt that Bade would one day betray them.
"What do you mean by that?" Bade snapped, glaring at Martin. "Are you implying that I wanted my own nephew dead?"
In truth, Bade had long harbored resentment toward the Owen Family.
Their unwavering loyalty to his brother was precisely what stood in the way of either himself or his son becoming King of the Southern Realm.
"I never said such a thing," Martin replied calmly.
"You didn't say it, but that's exactly what you're thinking, isn't it?" Bade shouted, refusing to let it go.
"Enough! Stop arguing," Dao'en said sternly. "Martin, send some men to search. If you find him, that's best. If not, don't go too deep—ensure their safety."
"Yes!" Martin replied respectfully.
In truth, Martin felt that Jason's disappearance in the Zuo'en Mountains was far from simple.
Although Jason was usually arrogant and unruly, he wasn't foolish enough to gamble with his own life.
He would never go to such a dangerous place without reason.
In Martin's eyes, someone had definitely plotted against him—and the biggest suspects were Bade and his son standing right in front of him.
Just then, a soldier entered the meeting hall. After greeting everyone one by one, he walked up to Dao'en and reported:
"My lord, Young Master Jason has returned!"
"What?!"
Everyone exclaimed in unison.
Kelida was the most incredulous of all. He had personally seen that C-rank rage beast lock onto Jason—how could he possibly still be alive?
"With his abilities, even a D-rank rage beast would give him trouble. How could he survive in front of a C-rank one?"
Kelida muttered to himself in disbelief.
Bade also looked at Kelida with a questioning gaze, while Kelida could only stare back blankly.
Soon, Jason was escorted into the meeting hall by several soldiers.
Looking at the familiar faces before him, Jason searched through the memories in his mind, recalling each of their names one by one. When he saw Kelida staring at him in shock, he smiled smugly.
"Father! I'm back! Being able to see you again is truly wonderful!"
Jason spoke pitifully as he walked up to Dao'en Laien.(For the sake of reading convenience, from this point on, the protagonist will officially be called Jason Laien!)
"Cousin, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have taken you to the Zuo'en Mountains. I didn't expect you to disappear in the blink of an eye. Are you alright?"
Kelida was afraid that Jason might reveal the truth himself—if that happened, he would be finished.
So he took the initiative to admit that he had brought Jason to the Zuo'en Mountains, putting on a worried expression.
"This guy… trying to strike first, huh? Fine, I'll play along with you."
Jason thought to himself.
"Yeah, but cousin, you guys ran way too fast. After I got lost, that lion was roaring so loudly—and you didn't hear a thing. That just shows how fast you were running. Almost like you did it on purpose."
Jason said this jokingly, indirectly telling everyone that Kelida had tried to kill him.
"What? You took Jason to the Zuo'en Mountains?" Dao'en said gravely, staring at Kelida. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"