Junior Sister

Faced with Lin Yu's bluntness, Chen Yuanye, a martial artist, did not refute him, but instead sighed.

"That's right, I've been utterly defeated!"

"I never expected that three 'Six-Guans' level Yaomo would appear in Chen Family Fortress at the same time... But as a 'Seven-Guans' level expert, I can handle this."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

This guy is actually quite skilled.

According to Senior Sister Shen Bingmiao's information, the Yaomo and Martial Artists in the Prison Mountain Realm are all rated using the "Guan" system.

Initially, this was simply the difficulty level set by the bounties offered by various towns in the Prison Mountain Realm — the Yaomo hunt, with a reward of "one string of coins," was called a "one string" Yaomo.

Martial Artists can complete a "consistent" task alone is naturally Martial Artists of "consistent" strength.

The highest level of this assessment is "Twelve-Guans".

Therefore, a "Seven-Guans" Martial Artists may seem to have only one more string than a "Six-Guans" Yaomo, but in reality, he is two levels stronger.

Because a "Seven-Guans" Martial Artists is someone who can defeat a "Seven-Guans" Yaomo in a one-on-one fight.

So...

Lin Yu knew there must be something fishy about the fact that three "Six-Guans" Yaomo could cause a "Seven-Guans" Martial Artists to be defeated.

Sure enough, the turning point came.

"Although I was ambushed at the beginning of the fight, I still quickly gained the upper hand. However, what I didn't expect was that... that Yaomo actually kidnapped my blood relative to threaten me. This is not the kind of mentality that a 'Six-Guans' Yaomo should have."

Even after a year had passed in these underground caves and deep pools, Chen Yuanye still couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration.

"Even so, I still managed to defeat those three Yaomo and rescue some of my loved ones, but what I didn't expect was..."

"Your family attacked you, didn't they?"

Lin Yu said softly.

Chen Yuanye was quite surprised. "That's right, I was almost exhausted after defeating three Yaomo, and I was just letting my guard down when my beloved siblings and elders suddenly drew their swords and stabbed me!"

"So I had no choice but to flee to this secret room that none of them knew about... But, Heroine, how did you know what happened to me back then?"

"That's not hard to guess."

Lin Yu shrugged and said, "Those villagers from Chen Family Fortress up there, you only need to interact with them a few times to sense that something's wrong with them, as if they've been bewitched by some Yaomo..."

"I even feel like they're all like 'puppet Puppet '."

As Lin Yu spoke, Chen Yuanye let out a long sigh.

"A Puppet... that's quite a vivid description."

"Damn it, Chen Family Fortress has become such a mess. My fellow villagers are probably all dead," Chen Yuanye said with a bitter smile. "And I... I haven't even seen what the mastermind behind this looks like."

Lin Yu nodded, seeing Chen Yuanye's dejected appearance.

"Indeed, Seven-Guans was ambushed and beaten to this state, and can only hide here and eke out a living. Chen Yuanye... you really are a good-for-nothing."

Although Chen Yuanye was making fun of himself, he still looked up incredulously when he heard Lin Yu's words.

"You... you little brat, why are you suddenly speaking so rudely?!"

Although Chen Yuanye didn't intend for Lin Yu to comfort him, who would suddenly kick someone when they're making fun of them?

These young people in the martial arts world these days have absolutely no sense of etiquette!

Lin Yu simply looked at Chen Yuanye with arrogance and began his performance.

"Because you really are trash... The point isn't that you were ambushed by Yaomo, but that you're barely clinging to life!"

"Chen Yuanye, Brother Chen, Senior Brother Chen, if I came here and saw the wall of your last words carved by you, or saw your remains outside, then of course I wouldn't curse you... Losing isn't scary, what's scary is losing in a shameful way."

"We Martial Artists have no reason to back down in the face of Yaomo. I see your injuries aren't too serious; you still have a strong voice and can move, but you lack the courage to go out and continue investigating and fighting—this is even your hometown! Your very flesh and blood relatives have been manipulated and turned into puppets or zombies by Yaomo or some kind of monster!"

"However, all you do is hide here and wait for a passing expert to rescue you. But what if no one comes until you die?!"

Lin Yu's words were like a wake-up call, causing Chen Yuanye's face to flush red with anger. "You young woman..."

But before he could finish speaking, Lin Yu's final shout shut down all of Chen Yuanye's rebuttals.

"--This has truly disgraced Uncle-Master Bai Shiying."

This was also the most important sentence that Lin Yu had been laying the groundwork for.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuanye's anger instantly subsided, and he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.

"You're from our Ming Zhen Martial Arts School... you're my junior sister? Then are you a disciple of Uncle Bai Shiming? Or which other uncle?"

He looked at the girl in front of him and seemed to see the questioning and disappointed gazes of the entire sect and his own master.

"That's not important," Lin Yu said coldly. "The point is, I didn't expect the person I was looking for to be such a piece of trash..."

"I knew I shouldn't have come—my master thinks you've probably perished along with the Yaomo long ago, and he feels terrible about leaving your body exposed in the wilderness. That's why my master specifically sent me to Chen Family Fortress to see if I could find any clues on my way to Willow Town and passing through Double Saw Mountain."

"I was overjoyed to see you still alive in this pool, assuming you had some unspeakable secret or hardship that kept you hidden here... But who would have thought that 'Broken Door Spear' Senior Brother Chen was just... afraid."

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, Chen Yuanye felt his mind go completely blank.

Although Lin Yu did not introduce himself, he did not doubt Lin Yu's identity in the slightest, after all, every word Lin Yu said was reasonable and sincere.

After all, it's more reasonable for one's sect to send someone specifically to find them than for a random expert to suddenly appear and actively seek them out.

But no matter what, Chen Yuanye felt nothing but endless guilt at that moment.

"I have failed my master's trust... I am so sorry!"

Then, as if remembering something, Chen Yuanye asked again, "Wait, junior sister... so the extremely powerful expert who came with you, could he be your master or one of your senior uncles?"

"An expert?"

Lin Yu was unsure who Chen Yuanye was referring to.

To be recognized by him as a "senior martial uncle"... does that mean someone seems much stronger than him?

This definitely isn't Li Nian... Could there be some hidden expert within the caravan?

The mastermind is right beside us?!

Lin Yu's thoughts raced, and he asked the question without changing his expression.

Which expert are you referring to?

"Naturally, it's the one who's been sitting in the car, Unmovable as a Mountain —it's strange, but when I tried to activate it with my Qi Mechanism twice, it didn't react at all!"

Hearing this, Lin Yu finally understood who Chen Yuanye was referring to.

He couldn't help but sigh.

"You're not talking about the 'wrecked body' that the caravan was transporting, are you?"

Upon hearing this word, Chen Yuanye became extremely nervous.

"What?! A mutilated body!"

"You mean... I sensed the remains of a living Martial Artists?!"