Moving House, Part Two

Lin Hui looked toward the Inner City.

Far in the distance, he could only see an enormous white stone wall wrapping around the entire urban district.

That white wall was at least several hundred meters high, its upper half disappearing into thin clouds. Its surface was smooth and level, carrying an austere, pristine majesty.

The entire white wall, from top to bottom and left to right, seemed as though it had been forged from a single piece.

"Why is everyone going to the Inner City?" he asked quietly.

"Isn't it because of those Door-Breaking Ghosts lately? Anyone with a bit of family wealth is planning to hide in the Inner City for a while. As long as they aren't settling there permanently, they can still afford to find a temporary place to stay," Peng Shan replied.

"Hasn't the city sent anyone to investigate?"

"They have. The authorities sent quite a few patrols. They seem to be tracking something."

Peng Shan had not sat for long before preparing to leave. But just as he rose, he saw an ox cart bearing the Chen Family name slowly passing along the roadside in the distance.

The curtain at the back of the carriage was lifted, revealing several young people inside chatting and laughing with someone.

"It's the Chen Family's convoy for selecting people!" Peng Shan said instinctively.

Lin Hui froze, then stood and looked toward the convoy as well. He was searching for Lin Hongyu among them, but after scanning it several times, he saw no sign of her. She was probably in another carriage.

"The Chen Family..."

Lin Family Compound.

Lin Chaoyi sat in the patriarch's seat in the main hall, looking at the representatives of more than a dozen branch households below.

"Has Hongyu left?" he asked in a low voice.

"She has. She got on the carriage. The Chen Family Outer Carriage Agency sent people to pick her up," Lin Hongyu's father hurriedly replied.

"Fourth has moved out, and his old courtyard is empty now. My side has a lot of people and not enough rooms, so how about those rooms..." Lin Shunchong of the second branch was a sickly, sallow-faced man. One leg was bent and planted on the stool, his posture neither sitting nor standing, utterly slovenly.

"Second Brother, you have a lot of people, but does that mean my family doesn't? My son still has to take the civil examinations and enter the yamen! My three grandsons are also waiting to have rooms of their own in the future. Why should it all go to your second branch?" A woman beside him refused to accept it and immediately spoke up.

"How many years has your son been taking those exams? He hasn't even made the top five hundred in the public selection, and you still talk about scholarly honors?" Lin Shunchong said with a curled lip.

"Enough. Fourth has moved out. Does anyone know where they live now?" the old clan head, Lin Chaoyi, interrupted and asked.

"Who cares? Didn't he want to sever ties with the family? Why bother with him?" someone said indifferently.

Severing ties was good. Once the old man passed on, there would be one less branch dividing the money. Though no one said it aloud, they were all rather pleased inside.

"Fourth is capable, after all..." Lin Chaoyi frowned.

"Could it be that Father is worried Fourth will rise again?" Lin Shunchong said. "He's just an oil mill steward. No matter how capable he is, that's all he'll ever be. As for his wife and son, his wife is an aging hired worker, and his son has not learned a damn thing. He spends every day eating and waiting to die. With a family like that, what the hell are you worried about?"

"I merely find it regrettable... Fourth is still a decent man..." Lin Chaoyi sighed. "It's just that he was dragged down by that son of his."

"That's true enough. Among the younger generation of our many branches, aside from him, every last one has arrangements and a place to settle. First Elder's and Sixth's families are already preparing betrothals. Once the family flourishes and the clan prospers, it will be just around the corner. If Fourth's family leaves now, then when the family rises in the future, they had better not come back shamelessly begging us to handle matters for them." Lin Shunchong laughed.

"Enough. Since Fourth insists on severing ties with the family, Second Elder, you have connections at the yamen. Go change the registration later, so there won't be any disputes in the future. Let's not mention this anymore. Next, let us discuss this. First Elder's family, Fifth's family, and Twelfth's family have already entered the Inner City—three households in total. This clan meeting is meant to have everyone contribute and support the development of these three branches in the Inner City..." The old clan head, Lin Chaoyi, began displaying his traditional talent again: sacrificing the branches to fulfill the trunk.

"Dad, I want to learn martial arts."

In Lin Hui's new home, the family had only just sat down to eat lunch when he blurted it out.

"Practice martial arts?" Lin Shunhe looked at his son, his brow furrowing. "What use is martial arts? I've already planned it out. You'll learn to be a steward under me and first go to the oil mill to familiarize yourself with the place. If there's truly no other way in the future, inheriting your father's work will at least give you a living. But if you want to become a steward, you'll have to work very hard. After all, the final decision still lies with the little yamen office in town."

"Can managing an oil mill keep me alive?" Lin Hui asked.

"You can save enough money to enter the Inner City. Once you're in the Inner City, it can," Lin Shunhe replied.

"But even in the Inner City, we still have to rely on others. If we run into Door-Breaking Ghosts, we'll still die!" Lin Hui said heavily.

"What the hell is the use of learning martial arts!" Lin Shunhe was growing impatient. "The guard team under me has more than ten people. Which one of them hasn't studied martial arts? Even the worst among them has practiced for over ten years. And where are they now? Aren't they still guarding the oil mill gates? Their monthly wages aren't even a tenth of mine. Tell me, what use is martial arts?!"

"It's a good thing for the child to have something he wants to do. It's better than staying shut up at home all the time like before," Yao Shan said gently, trying to ease the tension.

"But at his age, he won't be able to learn anything worthwhile. Internal martial arts have age limits, so he can't learn those. External martial arts are all short-lived techniques. Learn them, and you'll die early—an even worse fate! It would be better for me to feed and support him well, letting him eat and wait for death his whole life!" Lin Shunhe said irritably.

"I'll learn external martial arts. It's fine. I'll just practice casually to pass the time. It would be even better if I could get work at a martial arts hall," Lin Hui explained.

"Work at a martial arts hall?" Those words suddenly sparked an idea in Lin Shunhe.

He considered it carefully, and his mood eased.

"If you can truly endure hardship, then working at a martial arts hall would be possible. I have connections with several martial arts halls in town. The oil mill often hires people from them to escort shipments, so our relationships are fairly good. If that's what you have in mind, then it isn't a bad plan."

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

He knew his own son's situation. Though the boy was physically weak, he had one great advantage: he was exceptionally skilled with calculations, far better than other children his age.

Lin Shunhe did not know where his son had developed that ability, but several martial arts halls lacked people who were good at arithmetic. If Lin Hui went in to work, it might truly work out.

Thinking of this, he raised his head and looked at his son. Seeing an unprecedented seriousness in the other's eyes, he grew more solemn as well.

"Have you thought it through? You truly want to learn martial arts? Let me make this clear first: you definitely can't go for internal martial arts. They all require you to be under ten. You can only learn external martial arts, and you're only allowed to practice casually. Don't damage your body!"

"I only want to learn something that lets me run away faster. I'm not interested in anything else. Don't worry, Dad! I absolutely won't train bitterly!" Lin Hui answered decisively.

"Good! Your thinking is clear! That's good!" Lin Shunhe paused, feeling that it was indeed true. The Outer City was becoming more and more dangerous. Learning a skill that let him run fast was also a way to ensure his safety.

Several places that taught external martial arts, where he had connections, quickly flashed through his mind.

"How about this? There are three places I can arrange for you. See which one you want?"

"Which three?"

"Feiyun Martial Arts Hall for Feiyun Fist, Hongsha Temple for the Copper Arm Technique, and Qingfeng Temple for fast swordsmanship. All three are long-term major customers I supply oil to, so we have frequent dealings and decent relations. They're easy to arrange. So long as your father is still here, you'll receive some care after entering. Once you get older and build connections inside, I can also hand things over and step back. That will make for a smooth transition," Lin Shunhe planned.

"Of the three, which one can teach the martial art that runs the fastest?" Lin Hui asked directly.

"Feiyun Fist and Qingfeng Temple are both fast. But all things considered, I lean toward Feiyun Hall. Qingfeng Temple may be faster, but Feiyun Fist is more inclined toward actual combat. Its hall master, Shangguan Fei, is far stronger than Daoist Baohe of Qingfeng Temple. Feiyun Hall also runs better than Qingfeng Temple, so you'll earn quite a bit more there."

"No, I'm going to Qingfeng Temple!" Lin Hui's gaze was firm.

After witnessing the nighttime Mist and the daytime Door-Breaking Ghosts, he yearned for the ability to survive with incomparable desperation.

As Peng Shan had said, no matter how strong one became through martial arts, one still could not defeat even a disciple from the Three Greats. He might as well specialize in one thing. Staying alive was the only priority.

"Fine... then you can work there first... If there's a better path later, I'll think of something." Lin Shunhe had rarely seen his son's gaze so resolute. He immediately felt he should strike while the iron was hot and settle the matter before his son's burst of drive faded.

At once, he hurriedly lifted his bowl and wolfed down the food. Then he grabbed his coat and headed out the front door.

"I'll go arrange it right away! Shan Shan, take the afternoon off and stay home to help Xiao Hui pack his things!" After hastily giving those instructions, Lin Shunhe pushed open the door and left, soon disappearing down the road.

"Your father is still so hasty and energetic. He can't even finish a proper meal..." Mother Yao Shan said helplessly.

Lin Hui nodded, just about to speak, when he suddenly felt an itch on the back of his right hand.

His heart stirred. He looked toward the back of his hand and found that the itching was coming from the exact spot where the blood-red pattern lay.

At that moment, the blood-red patterned mark was writhing strangely, as if a liquid crystal screen had been embedded in the back of his hand. The pattern inside shifted and flickered rapidly.

"What is it?" his mother asked suspiciously from beside him.

"N-Nothing." Lin Hui raised his hand and deliberately waved the back of it within his mother's field of vision, confirming that she could not see anything at all.

His anticipation for the Blood Seal surged to its peak.

This thing had awakened alongside him. Perhaps it truly could help him carve out a path through this unstable environment.

Gently stroking the Blood Seal, he lowered his hand again and returned his attention to the dining table.

"Come, stop thinking about it. Have a chicken leg." Mother Yao Shan happened to place a braised chicken leg into his bowl.

The light brown chicken leg was plump and juicy, its surface gleaming with oil. It rolled once through the dark red coarse-grain rice before stopping directly beneath Lin Hui's eyes.

Swish.

At that moment, the Blood Seal on the back of his hand abruptly stopped flickering.

The chicken leg before his eyes suddenly brightened, glowing red.

A line of tiny words extended into view beside the chicken leg.

"Braised Chicken Leg—ordinary food for replenishing qi and blood. Shelf life: 2 days. Ordinary flavor.

Evolvable branches: 2."

Lin Hui's eyes instantly went wide.

He stared fixedly at the words before him. They were the Chinese characters he knew best. That long-lost sense of familiarity sent his emotions surging in an instant.

Evolvable branches? What could a chicken leg possibly evolve into?! He was both delighted and baffled.

Yet the changes in the words before his eyes had clearly been brought about by the Blood Seal.

His gaze unconsciously focused on the words "Evolvable branches."

Swish.

Another soft sound rang out.

The 2 after "branches" opened directly, spreading into two dotted lines heading in different directions.

One went upward, connecting to a new line of red text: 1—Purgatory Black Wind Chicken Leg.

The dotted line below connected to: 2—Extreme Cold Secret Recipe Chicken Leg.

"..." Lin Hui stared at the two dotted lines and fell into thought.