The City Falls

Spring Return Hall's Great Hall in the rear courtyard.

It was a very ancient hall, five zhang wide and around twenty zhang deep. A huge black-lacquered table occupied most of its space, with nearly a hundred high-backed chairs arranged neatly around it. The ceiling was of ebony, the floor of polished blue bricks, and more than two hundred portraits hung in a row along the walls—portraits of the successive masters of Spring Return Hall, who were also the heads of the Hua Family. The yellowed paintings made the hall seem ever more ancient and solemn, while a suffocating pressure permeated the air.

On the wall at the center of the far end hung an enormous ink-wash painting, the Wei Ji Gathering Herbs Painting. It depicted an emaciated Daoist, smiling as he picked a Three Yang Fruit—a plant with a single stalk, three blossoms, and three fruits. Daoist Wei Ji was acknowledged by all physicians and pharmacists as the founding patriarch of medicine. Legend said he was a divine being who could soar through the heavens, burrow through the earth, pluck stars, and seize the moon. But legends were only legends. No one knew whether such boundlessly powerful divine beings truly existed in this world. Still, everyone recognized that Wei Ji had passed down the path of medicine.

It was Lin Xiao's first time being permitted to enter the Great Hall. He obediently sat at the end of the table closest to the doors.

All the stewards and physicians of Spring Return Hall had gathered here to discuss how to deal with the trouble Lin Yao had caused.

Lin Shan sat upright beneath the Wei Ji Gathering Herbs Painting. A faint green glint flickered in his eyes. Anyone swept by his gaze shuddered and hurriedly lowered their heads. Even Hua Wuniang, usually the most arrogant and overbearing, along with several Hua Family elder stewards, had lost their former swagger today. Not one dared meet Lin Shan's eyes.

For the first time in their lives, these Hua Family members felt from Lin Shan a majesty identical to that of his master—the previous master of Spring Return Hall and the former head of the Hua Family.

Naturally, some were unconvinced by the authority Lin Shan had suddenly displayed. Several middle-generation Hua Family stewards glared at him indignantly, wearing expressions that said, I refuse to give you face. What can you do about it? In their eyes, Lin Shan was merely an outsider who had "usurped" Spring Return Hall's seat of power because the previous family head had been muddleheaded on his deathbed. There was nothing about him worth fearing.

Lin Yao, his face ashen, sat beside Lin Xiao. His body trembled violently, and Lin Xiao could even hear his teeth chattering.

Lin Xiao could not help shooting Lin Yao a pitying glance. Hanging around with that pack of fair-weather friends and drinking companions, it had only been a matter of time before something happened. He simply had not expected that when it did, it would be such an unspeakably shameful affair.

Perhaps Lin Xiao's pitying gaze provoked Lin Yao. Lin Yao suddenly howled hysterically, "You pity me? You pity me? You bastard whelp, what right do you have to pity me?"

Lin Yao sprang up and suddenly seized Lin Xiao by the throat with both hands, squeezing down with all his strength. Lin Xiao had no experience fighting others. Caught off guard with his vital point seized, he could not draw breath and nearly fainted. He even forgot that his martial cultivation was a hundred times greater than Lin Yao's. Like a child brawling in the street, he instinctively clawed at Lin Yao's face. The two became entangled and tumbled from their chairs, rolling across the floor like two mad puppies.

Lin Yao was five or six years older than Lin Xiao and considerably bigger as well, but drink and women had long hollowed out his body. What strength did he have left? Lin Xiao, on the other hand, worked every day at Spring Return Hall and had built an excellent physique. He had also cultivated a breath of true qi since childhood, and his strength far surpassed Lin Yao's. After they grappled on the floor for a while, Lin Xiao successfully pried Lin Yao's hands from his throat. With a twist, he straddled Lin Yao and raised his fist, ready to smash it down.

Several deep bloody scratches had been gouged across Lin Yao's face. With blood all over him, he looked utterly wretched. Seeing Lin Xiao raise his fist, fear rose in his heart, and he hurriedly roared, "You dare hit me! You dare hit me? Mother~~~ This bastard is going to beat your son to death!"

Hua Wuniang, who had long risen to watch Lin Yao and Lin Xiao fight, shouted angrily. Her body floated lightly into the air, and with a single step she crossed more than ten zhang. Her seemingly casual palm strike swept toward Lin Xiao's back.

Lin Xiao only felt a vicious wind bearing down on his back, accompanied by the roaring whoosh whoosh of rushing force. He was horrified. Instinctively stirring all the true qi in his body, he struck backward with the move "Plucking Chrysanthemums by the Eastern Fence." His palm gently traced a circle behind him, guarding the vital point at his back.

With a crisp smack, Hua Wuniang landed firmly and grabbed the blood-covered Lin Yao from the ground with one hand. Lin Xiao, meanwhile, was sent rolling more than twenty times across the floor before crashing headfirst into the Great Hall's doorframe and finally stopping. The palm strike had dislocated his right shoulder. How could he move it?

The Evergreen Art itself possessed the effects of healing wounds and preserving life. Lin Xiao slumped crookedly against the doorframe, directing a breath of true qi again and again against his swollen, blood-congested shoulder. With a ruthless stubbornness, he ignored everything else and forcibly drove his qi through the meridians that had been jolted shut. A faint crack sounded from his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Lin Xiao slowly lifted his arm and gently moved it.

Deep in his bones, Lin Xiao refused to bow his head to Hua Wuniang and her son!

Like an injured young wolf, Lin Xiao glared fiercely at Hua Wuniang.

Lin Xiao's gaze sent a chill through Hua Wuniang's entire body. Killing intent immediately rose in her heart. What a little bastard. I should have poisoned him along with the rest back then. No rush. This old lady will slowly tend to you. I certainly won't let you have an easy life. Hua Wuniang suddenly hated herself. For the past ten years, she had only tried every possible way to mistreat Lin Xiao in his daily living conditions, yet she had overlooked the matter of pulling up weeds by the roots. That was an unforgivable mistake.

After glaring viciously at Lin Xiao as well, Hua Wuniang sneered, "What a cruel-hearted little brat, tearing his own elder brother into such a state."

Without making it obvious, she turned Lin Yao's body toward the Spring Return Hall higher-ups seated on either side of the long table. The Hua Family elders and stewards immediately began condemning Lin Xiao for being so vicious at such a young age. One middle-generation Hua Family steward even declared with absolute certainty, "This child is born to be a thief! Look at the savage air around him. If he does not become a great bandit chief someday, I'll eat my own head!" He smugly adjusted his topknot, deliberately ensuring that everyone present noticed the flower pinned in it today, made from tiny red gemstones.

Lin Shan watched these Hua Family elders and stewards coldly and could not help sighing inwardly. Master, you were entirely right. The Hua Family has already rotted beyond salvation. Your kindness weighs as heavily as a mountain, Master. Your disciple can only do his best. In any case, I merely need to endure these next two years. Once they emerge from this seclusion, there will be nothing left to fear.

"How difficult it is to revive the Hua Family!" Lin Shan gave a bitter laugh, lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingers, and said coldly, "Enough. There is no need for me to explain how this happened."

Everyone from the Hua Family shut their mouths. The physicians and pharmacists of Spring Return Hall, meanwhile, nodded in agreement. One hot-tempered chief physician even rose and shouted, "Master, it was clearly the eldest young master who struck first and attacked Young Master Xiao's throat!"

Hua Wuniang shot the chief physician a vicious glare and suddenly sneered. "Is Young Master Xiao hurt? Look what Yao'er has been scratched into!"

Just as the chief physician was about to retort, Mr. Wei, the accountant, suddenly coughed and said mildly, "Enough. The two young masters fought. Children do not understand better—why should we adults meddle? We should first discuss how to deal with the Zhang Family. An apology and compensation will not be enough to muddle through this. But whether we should hand over the eldest young master to calm the Zhang Family's fury, well~~~"

"Outrageous!" Hua Wuniang slammed her palm onto the long table. With a muffled boom, the table, three zhang wide and fifteen zhang long, sank flat against the floor. Every one of its legs had been driven into the polished blue bricks by that single strike. Hua Wuniang shouted sharply, "Who dares hand over Yao'er? Do not blame me, Hua Wuniang, for showing no mercy!"

"Outrageous!" Lin Shan also gave a soft snort. "Wuniang, according to the family rules, what is the punishment for anyone who dares roar in the Great Hall?"

Hua Wuniang's face instantly turned deathly pale, many times whiter even than the thick layer of powder on it. Panicked, she cast pleading looks at the Hua Family elders and stewards. Those looks carried no shortage of threat as well: if anything happened to her, they would not fare well either.

A Hua Family elder gave a light cough, glanced at Hua Wuniang, and slowly said, "Hall Master, Wuniang did not mean it. Let us put aside such trifles for now and discuss the greater matter. The greater matter."

Lin Shan smiled darkly. "The greater matter? Very well."

He stepped onto the tabletop on the floor and lifted his foot. Astonishingly, with nothing but a breath of true qi, he sucked the entire table back up. He pushed it forward half a chi, avoiding the square holes in the ground, and the long table stood firmly once more.

Lin Shan moved his own chair forward half a chi without lifting it, swept his gaze across the Hua Family elders and stewards, and said calmly, "Mr. Wei will inform everyone of the Zhang Family's strength."

Mr. Wei's two rat-like whiskers trembled. He slowly rose, cupped his hands toward the Hua Family elders and stewards—especially Hua Wuniang and Lin Yao—and only then pulled a filthy, greasy folding fan from behind his collar. With a stylish snap, he flicked it open. Fanning himself a few times, Mr. Wei said with a smile, "This is news received just now. The old patriarch of the Zhang Family in Guiying City—the father of the current Zhang Family head—was once the chief leader of Three-Three Linked Docks, the greatest waterway stronghold within a thousand li of the Fierce Dragon River in the southern frontier of the Great Yuan Dynasty."

The faces of all the Hua Family elders and stewards changed. Even Hua Wuniang, who had always been spoiled and willful, looked extremely ugly.

Lin Yao in particular still had a drop of blood hanging from the tip of his nose when he collapsed onto the ground. He wailed, "No way? No way? Mother~~~ Father!"

Mr. Wei pursed his lips in a smile and waved his folding fan again. "The Zhang Family currently has two thousand family guards openly under its command. This is a remnant of the old foundation left after Three-Three Linked Docks was destroyed by the Great Yuan Kingdom navy thirty years ago, and their strength is extremely formidable. After all, the Zhang Family made its living as bandits. Even after thirty years, their bandit hearts have not died. They have privately amassed around four thousand soldiers in estates throughout the region."

Four thousand private soldiers gave them the qualification to storm cities and seize fortresses in the northwestern prefectures.

Mr. Wei let out a quiet breath, his rat-like whiskers trembling again. Somewhat helplessly, he sighed, "Of course, there is no need to worry about that. No matter how overbearing the Zhang Family is, could they truly dare lead private troops to attack Guihua City?"

The expressions of everyone in the Great Hall relaxed. That was right. Could the Zhang Family truly dare raise an army? Guihua City was not so easily taken.

Shaking his head, Lin Shan barked icily, "Mr. Wei, continue."

Mr. Wei nodded, and his face instantly darkened. "What worries me is the group of fierce bandits and murderous thieves who retired alongside the Zhang Family's old patriarch. The renown of Three-Three Linked Docks thirty years ago—hmph—was such that they even dared rob the grain ships transporting imperial pay silver for the Great Yuan Dynasty. There are still around one hundred and fifty of those fierce bandits left, each qualified to appear on the black list of the martial world. They are all men who kill without batting an eye."

Lin Yao, howling from the floor, was so frightened that urine sprayed out. He screamed, "They would not make such a huge fuss over one woman, would they?"

Mr. Wei gave a long sigh and shook his head helplessly. "Old Patriarch Zhang has nearly a hundred grandsons, but only this one granddaughter. He usually cherishes her as dearly as the apple of his eye. If not for marrying her into the Wang Family to bolster the Zhang Family's reputation and influence, while also securing a powerful ally to watch over each other in these troubled times, do you think he would have been willing to send his granddaughter here in such a hurry?"

Lin Shan said evenly, "Old Patriarch Zhang's plan was not wrong. A marriage alliance between the Zhang Family and the Wang Family would bring only benefits, not the slightest disadvantage. It is simply unfortunate that Miss Zhang's life was thin, and she encountered you pack of beasts."

Without waiting for Hua Wuniang to speak, Lin Shan continued, "There are now only two paths. One is to preserve Lin Yao's life, in which case Spring Return Hall's foundation will~~~"

Mr. Wei pretended not to understand and asked, "Then, Master, what is the other path?"

Lin Shan narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Discuss this with Old Patriarch Wang. Bind up this pack of animals and send them all to Old Patriarch Zhang for judgment. Then Spring Return Hall will have nothing to fear!"

Mr. Wei smiled and feigned surprise. "Then would Old Patriarch Wang agree?"

Lin Shan said calmly, "Why would Old Patriarch Wang refuse? He has plenty of sons. Losing one Wang Er, then marrying one of his daughters into the Wang Family as a daughter-in-law, and the matter can be muddled through. The Zhang Family will remain the Wang Family's finest ally in the future. Do you think Old Patriarch Wang would begrudge the life of one son?"

"You~~~ Lin Shan~~~ You are willing to sacrifice your own son's life?" Hua Wuniang shrieked, stamping her feet where she stood. "You just want Yao'er dead!"

"If he had not done such a thing, who could make him die?" Lin Shan looked at Hua Wuniang through narrowed eyes and sneered. "He sought his own road to death. There is nothing I can do. If Yao'er is not handed over, and the Zhang Family insists on retaliating against Spring Return Hall, which is more important—Spring Return Hall or Yao'er?"

Spring Return Hall's foundation or Lin Yao's life—which was more important?

Everyone looked toward Hua Wuniang.

Hua Wuniang stood there dumbfounded for a long while. Then she suddenly wrapped Lin Yao in her arms. She cried loudly, "I do not care, I do not care! I cannot bear to give up either Spring Return Hall or Yao'er! Wuwu, Yao'er is Spring Return Hall, and Spring Return Hall will belong to Yao'er in the future. No one is allowed to touch even a single hair on him! No one should dream of laying a hand on my Spring Return Hall!"

Lin Yao hugged Hua Wuniang's leg, weeping bitterly as he howled, "Mother~~~ You must save your son~~~ I do not want to die~~~"

Hua Wuniang embraced Lin Yao and forcefully patted his shoulder, crying loudly, "Rest assured, Yao'er. Mother will not let you suffer any grievance!"

Suddenly, Hua Wuniang shot to her feet. She vigorously wiped the powder and tears from her face, then glared viciously at Lin Shan.

Lin Shan looked at Hua Wuniang and asked icily, "What are you planning now? You can protect him for a time, but can you protect him for a lifetime?"

"How do you know I cannot protect Yao'er for a lifetime?" Hua Wuniang looked at Lin Shan with repeated strange laughter. Twisting her waist, she laughed triumphantly. "Do not think that only you, the master of Spring Return Hall, know certain things! I know them too!"

Lin Shan's face twitched. He abruptly rose and shouted, "What do you know? What could you possibly know?"

Hua Wuniang drew a long breath and said viciously, "Give me the key. I am opening the secret vault!"

"Outrageous! Insolent! You!" Lin Shan's face immediately swelled purple, veins bulging across his forehead. He slammed his palm heavily onto the long table. Amid a roaring whoosh whoosh whoosh, a pale green flame spread across the tabletop. The council table used by Spring Return Hall for nearly a thousand years turned into drifting ash in the blink of an eye.

The moment that palm struck, the entire hall was shocked.

Large beads of sweat seeped from the foreheads of the Hua Family elders and stewards, flowing ceaselessly down their cheeks, gathering beneath their chins into glittering droplets before slowly falling. They stared at Lin Shan in terror. They had never imagined that this outsider, this current family head who had practically married into the Hua Family, possessed such inconceivable divine skill.

There were countless divine arts and secret techniques under heaven, but to strike flames from empty hands—flames capable of instantly burning steelwood, a specialty of the Extreme North Cross Mountains and three parts harder than refined iron, into flying ash—was wholly beyond what martial arts could accomplish. Perhaps only the True Samadhi Fire cultivated by those legendary divine beings who could soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth possessed such godlike might.

"True Samadhi Fire!" More than one person thought of it. Several chief physicians almost groaned the words at the same time.

At that moment, Lin Shan's body seemed to grow incomparably tall, as if he alone filled the entire Great Hall. His aura cowed everyone within it. No one dared speak.

Lin Xiao stood stupidly at the door, gazing at Lin Shan, who seemed to have become an entirely different person, and could not help wondering: Was this still his mild-tempered, kind-hearted father, the man who never dared say a harsh word to Hua Wuniang? Was this still the father who, after the woman he loved most died of illness for no apparent reason, could only hug her urn of ashes and weep secretly at night?

A blur passed before Lin Xiao's eyes, and he seemed to see once again Lin Shan on the night his mother died, clutching her ashes and kneeling in a corner of the Hua Family estate's rear courtyard, weeping tears of blood.

He was so powerful. Why had he always tolerated Hua Wuniang so much?

If Lin Shan had been willing, Spring Return Hall would have become his alone long ago. Why had he kept these Hua Family elders and stewards, idiots as stupid as pigs and incapable of anything?

Lin Xiao's heart was full of doubt. He looked at Lin Shan in confusion. Why was it like this? Judging by the power of that palm strike, Lin Shan could easily have become one of the greatest grandmasters in the world, receiving the reverence of all under heaven, instead of merely being an in-house physician with the title of Divine Healer.

The atmosphere in the Great Hall froze like an iron curtain. Lin Shan breathed heavily, and only after a long, long time did he slowly withdraw the immense aura he had released.

In an instant, Lin Shan became once more that clear-featured, thin, amiable, detached, almost cowardly little old man.

Yet the way everyone looked at him had completely changed.

Lin Shan looked somewhat weakly at Hua Wuniang. His voice suddenly extremely hoarse, he asked in a low tone, "Wuniang, what else do you know?"

Hua Wuniang smiled coldly and said darkly, "Before Father died, he muttered delirious nonsense for a time. I heard it all."

"What did Master mutter in his delirium?" Lin Shan looked at Hua Wuniang very amiably.

"At the time, I treated Father's words as fairy tales." Hua Wuniang looked at the small patch of black ash on the ground and laughed in an odd tone. "Who would have thought they were true? Hmph, hmph. Since these matters are real, what is impossible about this old lady protecting Yao'er for a lifetime?"

"Hehe, hehe, hahaha!" Lin Shan suddenly clutched his stomach and burst into laughter. As he laughed, he pointed at Hua Wuniang and shouted angrily, "Do you think they would look favorably upon Yao'er in his current state?"

Hua Wuniang was momentarily speechless. After a long while, she finally shrieked, "Who cares whether they like him or not? Give me the secret vault key!"

"What are you doing?" Lin Shan shouted. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Hua Wuniang said coldly, "There are spirit medicines in the secret vault. Naturally, there are poisons as well. What do you think I am going to do?"

Lin Shan's expression changed drastically. He shouted, "You are insane!"

Hua Wuniang laughed strangely. "So what if I go mad for Yao'er's sake? Lin Shan, are you giving me the key or not?"

Lin Shan's face shifted, and his right hand instinctively drew farther into his sleeve.

Hua Wuniang sneered. "What did Father tell you before he died? Do you dare disobey me now? Are you worthy of Father, who treated you as his own son?"

Lin Shan fell silent. The Hua Family elders and stewards fell silent. Everyone in the Great Hall fell silent.

A victorious smile gradually appeared on Hua Wuniang's face. Among the nearly hundred people in the hall, only Lin Shan and she knew how terrifying the power of certain things in the secret vault was. With those things, was there any need to fear a mere Zhang Family?

She slowly extended her hand toward Lin Shan and sneered, "The key. Give it to me!"

Lin Shan drew a long breath. Gritting his teeth, he stared at Hua Wuniang, his body trembling faintly.

Hua Wuniang smiled lightly. "Do not forget Father's last words! Do not forget how Father truly died! With Father's cultivation, if he had not tried to save you after you suffered qi deviation, he could have lived at least another fifty years! Everything you have today was given to you by Father!"

Lin Shan opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but not a sound emerged.

Abruptly, several fierce claps of thunder sounded from the sky. The thunder was so loud that the rolling peals shook the roof tiles of the Great Hall, making them rattle wildly.

Crack crack crack crack crack! A violent gust suddenly tore away the Great Hall's roof, and the earth trembled several times.

The boiling roar of countless voices came from far away.

Not long afterward, several Spring Return Hall guards stumbled over in panic. While still a great distance away, they shouted, "Master, Madam, run! The city has fallen! The city has fallen! The Black Blade Bandits have broken in!"

Everyone in the Great Hall was stunned. How long had it been? How had the city already fallen?

Lin Shan's face turned white as paper. He suddenly looked at Lin Xiao, flashed to his side, grabbed him with one hand, and turned to run toward the Great Hall's rear door.

Hua Wuniang shrieked, "Lin Shan, what are you doing?"

But Lin Shan seemed not to hear Hua Wuniang at all. He simply seized Lin Xiao and ran out.