Scholar Jiang was a prominent figure who had risen from Lakeside Village.
He was also the most powerful person recorded in Lakeside Village's village annals.
Unfortunately, ten years ago, Scholar Jiang's entire family had left Lakeside Village. They had not settled in Poyang City, either, but had moved away altogether.
Lin Chen did not know where they had gone.
There was a rumor in the village that Scholar Jiang's entire family had moved to Raozhou Prefecture.
Just now, the village chief had told him something: when Scholar Jiang had moved away with his whole family, he had left instructions that if the village ever produced an outstanding junior, they must inform him in Raozhou Prefecture.
Lakeside Village was extremely far from Raozhou Prefecture. It was obviously impossible to send someone there with the news, so the best method was to write a letter and hand it to a courier at the Post Station to deliver to the Jiang Family.
The village chief had asked him to write a letter to Scholar Jiang.
He was wondering whether he should write the letter now.
He was pondering Scholar Jiang's state of mind when he had said those words.
Had he merely tossed them out as polite words for the occasion while bidding farewell to his fellow villagers, or did he truly care about Lakeside Village?
Considering that Scholar Jiang had not returned even once in ten years, and that no one from the Jiang Family had returned either, Lin Chen judged that there was a high chance Scholar Jiang had merely been speaking for the occasion.
But a person's attitude toward something could change with age, especially their feelings toward their homeland.
At the time, Scholar Jiang might have said it casually. Now that ten years had passed, perhaps his attitude had changed.
When young, people cursed their hometown for being poor; when old, they longed for a patch of its earth.
The older people grew, the more they missed their native soil and homeland.
Scholar Jiang could not exactly be called old. According to Instructor Yu, he should now be in the prime of life for a Ranked Martial Artist, so it was even harder to judge how his attitude might have changed.
"Scholar Jiang..."
When Father Lin heard his son's words, he fell silent for a moment. Scholar Jiang was not much older than him, and he had come into contact with Scholar Jiang in the village back then.
"Scholar Jiang's ancestors fled famine and came to our village. Even counting him, it's only been three generations. Their family isn't very numerous, and they didn't associate much with the villagers."
Hearing his father's words, Lin Chen became even more certain that Scholar Jiang had said those words casually at the time.
How could he not understand the circumstances in the countryside?
Although it was not as if people were openly exploited or robbed, families with few men would inevitably suffer some bullying in the village.
When it came to irrigating the fields, they always had to wait until after the households with more men.
On top of that, the Jiang Family were outsiders. Scholar Jiang's impression of the villagers could never have been good. No wonder he had left the moment he made his fortune.
As for the benefit he had secured for Lakeside Village's villagers—free martial arts lessons at the Martial Hall—it was probably a decision Scholar Jiang had made to cultivate his own image.
After analyzing it this way, if he wrote to Scholar Jiang, Scholar Jiang might feel bound by those polite words from back then and offer him some help. But it would only be once; there would be no counting on him afterward.
He had to save this letter for a crucial moment. Using it now would be a waste.
For the time being, he would not write to Scholar Jiang.
The next day.
At the break of dawn, Lin Chen rose and began practicing his punches in the courtyard.
Even after cultivating Essence Energy, he would not slack off in martial arts.
Cultivating Essence Energy was merely the entry point into martial arts. There was still a long road ahead.
If he grew complacent now and relaxed his efforts in martial arts, then even with the support of his fate pattern, he would not go far on the martial path.
When Mother Lin saw her son rise so early, her face filled with concern. "Chen'er, you're wearing so little. Won't you catch a chill?"
"Mother, I've already cultivated Essence Energy, and my qi and blood are flourishing. This little bit of cold is nothing to me."
Lin Chen smiled and reassured his mother. With his current qi and blood, he did not need to wrap himself in a padded coat even in the depths of winter, let alone while he was practicing his punches.
By the time Lin Chen finished his punches, Father Lin and his elder brother had also gotten up.
Winter had arrived, and all the fishing boats had stopped going out onto the lake. The villagers were free now.
For villagers whose families had enough grain, the entire winter was a good season. After a year of hard work, they could rest for a month, until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when they would begin another year of toil.
Today was a major day for the Lin Family. Although the village chief would arrange the banquet, Father Lin had still decided to go into town to buy a side of pork, and Lin Liang went with him.
Once the sky began to brighten, the village chief organized the villagers to carry tables and benches from their homes to the threshing ground before the village Ancestral Hall.
The winter sun was warm and mellow. When Lin Chen finished practicing his punches and arrived at the Ancestral Hall, many elderly people were sitting there basking in the sun.
Mother Lin and the village women were busy washing and chopping vegetables. The two large earthen stoves in the Ancestral Hall burned fiercely, and the lard in the great pots gave off an enticing aroma. Many children stood beside the stoves, sucking their fingers and refusing to leave.
"You little rascals, get away quickly. Be careful not to burn yourselves."
Mother Lin thought for a moment, then ladled out a large spoonful of the cracklings left after rendering the meat fat and divided them among the children. Only after receiving the cracklings did the children happily leave.
"Mother, Second Aunt."
"Chen'er, you're done practicing your punches. You're the guest of honor today, so hurry and go entertain the guests."
Second Aunt spoke with a smile. Seeing Mother Lin carrying a basket of radishes, she hurried over to help. "Sister-in-law, take it easy. Let me do it."
Watching Second Aunt's eager manner, Lin Chen was not bothered. He had a fairly good impression of Second Aunt's family; otherwise, he would not have stood up for Lin Hui the day before.
What guests were there?
They were all villagers. There were no outsiders.
His mother had two brothers, but since they did not live in Riverbend Town, the journey alone would take five hours. In the middle of winter, with a banquet being arranged at short notice by the village, Mother Lin had not asked Lin Liang to notify them.
His grandfather, his eldest uncle, and First Aunt's family had not come. After what happened the day before, they would not come either.
What surprised Lin Chen somewhat was that Gu Fei was absent too. After asking Gu Fei's father, he learned that Gu Fei had gone to his maternal grandfather's home with his mother two days ago and would not be back for several days.
When the villagers saw Lin Chen appear, another round of praise erupted.
At first, Lin Chen was quite pleased listening to it, but when he realized that everyone was watching his every move, he began to feel uncomfortable.
He had to restrain himself even from picking his nose.
Half an hour later, the village chief's arrival rescued him.
Carrying incense and candles, the village chief led Lin Chen into the village Ancestral Hall. First, they paid respects to the ancestral forebears, then they offered sacrifices to the Lake God. Once the entire ceremony was complete, it was time for the banquet to begin.
As the guest of honor, Lin Chen did not have to go from table to table to toast, but he could not stop the villagers from coming over to drink with him. By the end of it, even with his vigorous qi and blood, he still drank himself unconscious.
As he collapsed, Lin Chen vaguely noticed several village girls trying to help him up, only to be stopped by Second Aunt.
"Chen'er is a little drunk. Sister-in-law, take Chen'er home to rest."
Second Aunt shouted at the top of her voice. Lin Chen only vaguely remembered hearing her mutter, "Hmph, these girls are quite crafty. Our Chen'er has made something of himself, so we can't let them get their hands on him. Chen'er is going to marry a city girl in the future."
How rarely in life did one get drunk a few times!
When Lin Chen woke that evening, he pretended to still be drunk and did not return to the banquet. He lay on his hard plank bed while his mother prepared hangover soup and thin rice porridge for him.
He did not regret getting drunk.
Martial arts were his pursuit, but the scenery along the way was beautiful too. He was not some emotionless martial arts robot.
The drive that supported him was not only his pursuit of martial arts and transcendent strength, nor merely his desire to change his own and his family's fate. The sense of achievement and vanity he gained were also sources of motivation on his martial path.
If he were asked to stay alone in some remote mountain wilderness, where he could keep breaking through the Martial Arts Realm simply by practicing martial arts until he finally stood at the summit of martial arts, only to grow old in an instant—
He would never choose such a path.
He was not the kind of pure martial arts fanatic who believed that hearing the Dao in the morning made dying by evening worthwhile.
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