Two Tasks

Judging from the power of this palm strike, regardless of anything else, the Internal Cultivation alone has reached level eight. Even if there were a telephone pole in front of it, it could still create a crack.

However, Lin Qingtong did not dodge at all, and took the blow head-on with her shoulder, being forced back three steps by the force of the palm.

"The message has been delivered. Little sister, the choice is yours. Do you want to continue living a mundane and boring life, or do you want to prove your worth, change your future, and forge a brilliant path in life? The choice is in your hands."

Lin Qingtong finished speaking in an orderly manner, showing no signs of injury whatsoever, as if she had never been struck by the palm, and her breathing remained as steady as ever.

Thump!

Auntie Liu slammed the door shut, turned to Liu Qingqing, and cautioned, "Don't be fooled by her. Russia is the Liu School's stronghold; they're masters of deception. She's lived there for years and has long been corrupted and assimilated. What she just said is just empty promises; don't fall for it."

Liu Qingqing looked up and, with an unprecedentedly firm attitude, said to her mother, "Mom, this time, I want to try."

Chapter 218 Two Missions

Waaaaah--

The train whistle gradually faded away with the Doppler effect. Si Ming, Liu Qingqing, Yu Shuying, and Lin Qingtong sat in the compartment. Although it was supposed to be a harem lineup of one man and three women, Si Ming couldn't feel the slightest bit of romantic atmosphere.

Yu Shuying sat by the window, quietly reading a book. This should have been a pleasing picture of a literary young woman reading, but the book she was holding, "Psychology of Psychopathic Criminals," made one feel intimidated.

Sitting next to Yu Shuying was Lin Qingtong. She took off her shoes and socks, stood upside down on the roof of the carriage, and used her inner energy to pull her body up, resisting the pull of True Qi. At the same time, she was doing a sit-up-like movement, changing her body from 180 degrees to 90 degrees.

"Eight hundred and fifty-six, eight hundred and fifty-seven, eight hundred and fifty-eight..."

Counting the repetitions aloud, with each upward thrust of Lin Qingtong's upper body, the outline of her muscles was clearly visible all over her body, from her neck to her arms, back, waist, and legs. Her current posture was exercising every part of her body, and her muscles were different from the blocky muscles of bodybuilders; they were more graceful and elastic. Whenever the corresponding parts exerted force, they would bulge outwards, looking like an eel swimming inside her body.

Seeing this scene alone, Si Ming understood why Yao Bilian called her classmates martial arts fanatics and cultivation maniacs; at least he himself could never do that.

Si Ming sat with Liu Qingqing. This childhood sweetheart rested her chin on her hand, leaned against the window, and admired the scenery rushing past outside, seemingly oblivious to what was so interesting about it.

How did you convince Auntie Liu to let you leave?

He had heard about Lin Qingtong's failed visit three days ago. After that, Liu Qingqing was confined to her home by her mother and grounded. She even got a leave of absence from school under some pretext. He was turned away when he went to visit her.

It seems that Auntie Liu's plan is to stall for these three days until Lin Qingtong leaves, and then release Liu Qingqing. As for the violation of personal freedom, she doesn't care. Family conflicts are usually left unresolved unless complained about. Once this period is over, even if Liu Qingqing wants to sue her, she will accept it.

"I couldn't convince her; in the end, my mom didn't agree."

"Then how did you get out?"

"If I want to get out, I will."

For some reason, these words sounded particularly convincing coming from Liu Qingqing, and Si Ming lost all interest in investigating further.

"Speaking of which, I've never heard you mention your father before." Si Ming glanced up at Lin Qingtong hanging from the carriage ceiling. "Now it seems he must be a very important person."

Liu Qingqing shook her head. "My mother divorced my father when I was very young. My memory is very vague. As far as I can remember, my father rarely came home. I would only see him a few times a year. I didn't even know what he did for a living. I always thought that my mother couldn't stand my father's neglect, so she chose to divorce him."

Si Ming, "If Auntie Liu were someone who couldn't stand loneliness, she would have remarried long ago. Your guess is definitely wrong."

"No, Auntie was indeed very clingy and afraid of being alone before," Lin Qingtong stopped her sit-ups but didn't get down. "In my memory, she was a gentle, virtuous, and petite lady from a respectable family. Because my mother was also a martial arts fanatic, and the kind of person who didn't care about anything else except practicing martial arts, Auntie took care of all the housework. She even raised me single-handedly when I was little. I remember once, my mother was holding me and breastfeeding me while wildly brandishing a big knife in the martial arts training ground, which scared Auntie half to death. From then on, she never dared to leave me in my mother's care again."

Liu Qingqing's face showed curiosity. She had never known that her mother had this side to her, because as far back as she could remember, her mother had always been a career-oriented strong woman, and there was no trace of a "housewife" in her.

Judging from the age difference between the two, Liu Qingqing was not yet born at this time.

"To be honest, when I first arrived and saw my aunt looking like this, I was shocked. Apart from her appearance, she was completely different from the person I remembered. Of course, after what happened, it's understandable that her personality would change so drastically."

Si Ming was very dissatisfied with this rambling and irrelevant approach, and quickly pressed for an answer, "Who exactly is your father?"

Lin Qingtong flipped down from the roof of the carriage and landed steadily on her seat, saying, "Ordinary people may not know, but you as members of the Mohist Knight Guard should have heard of him. He is Lin Xiu, the Floating Life Sword."

Si Ming exclaimed in surprise, "His life was like floating, his death like rest. The former leader of the Shadow Hero Guard! He once single-handedly assassinated the Nation of Valor Field Marshal amidst a vast army, ending a war between Nation of Valor and the Su Kingdom. However, because of this assassination, he was stripped of his Shadow Hero Guard status."

The Su Kingdom was founded by Agricultural School, School of Medicine, and Food School. It has always maintained a close relationship with the Su State. Due to its weak military strength, it immediately sought help from the Su State after being invaded. At that time, Floating Life Sword, who happened to be on a mission in the Su Kingdom, stepped in to help.

However, Lin Xiu got the timing wrong. He carried out the assassination before the Su State declared war on Nation of Valor, which violated the discipline of the Mohist School.

The Mohist School strictly forbids any assassination attempts, except in the event of war. After all, all's fair in war, and once enemies are on the same side, there's no room for mercy. But Lin Xiu happened to arrive two days earlier than planned.

If it were an organization from the Legalist School, they might have shown leniency, saying that merits and demerits offset each other, and lightly let Lin Xiu off the hook for his excusable behavior. However, the Mohist School is an extremely disciplined organization. Violations of discipline must be punished, and no one can plead for leniency. There is also no concept of offsetting mistakes with merits. They directly stripped Lin Xiu of his position as leader of the Shadow Hero Guard.

As compensation, they publicized Lin Xiu's identity and achievements afterwards; otherwise, as a member of the Shadow Hero Guard, no matter how great his contributions were, they could not have made them public.

"Because of his violation of discipline, my father was also barred from joining the Mohist Knight Guard, so he joined the Chivalry Alliance. Later, he sacrificed his life during a mission in Russia... My master was also among the participants in that mission, and out of remorse, he took my elder brother and me as his disciples."

Si Ming asked curiously, "You have an older brother?"

Lin Qingtong nodded and said, "He's five years older than me, but he inherited his father's mantle and didn't learn his master's martial arts; he's just a figurehead. Speaking of which, my older brother used to care for my younger sister a lot; we were so close that I was jealous. I didn't even know who was the real sibling. But it seems like we haven't been in contact for years. Did you two have a fight?"

Liu Qingqing recalled, "I don't remember very clearly, but it seems like we had an argument once, around the day my father sacrificed himself, but I can't recall the specific reason."

Lin Qingtong scratched her head and said, "This is troublesome. I originally wanted you to learn the 'Illusory Moth Killing Art' from your eldest brother, that's Father's mantle. I can't let you learn the 'Wenlin Formless Art' from me, the physique is too much of a difference."

In less than ten seconds, she gave up thinking, "Forget it, let's talk about it when we meet. We're siblings after all, and so many years have passed. It's petty to hold grudges over the past. My brother isn't a narrow-minded person; he's probably already let it go... I guess so."

Si Ming retorted, "You yourself aren't confident either."

"Haha, thinking about it carefully, it seems that my brother has a vengeful nature. When he encounters evil people, he always kills them with One Sword. The 'Illusory Moth Killing Art' was originally an assassination technique, but he used it as a sword-drawing technique. Because of this, his title of Mohist Knight Guard was changed to 'One Sword'." Lin Qingtong seemed to find this very funny, and she laughed so hard that she bent over.

Liu Qingqing said, "I'm better at using a bow."

"It's alright. The 'Illusory Moth Killing Art' doesn't limit weapons. Father used a short sword back then, but it became a long sword in my brother's hands. It's equally effective with knives and hidden weapons. As for bows and arrows... that should work too."

Lin Qingtong's tone was not very certain. After all, knives and swords were melee weapons, and while hidden weapons could be thrown, they were very different from bows and arrows. She herself had never learned how to use them, so she couldn't give a guarantee.

At this moment, Yu Shuying closed the book and asked, "Are you done catching up? If you are, please tell me about the mission for this trip so I can prepare accordingly."