Chen Han's eyes flashed with icy light. Then he began the final stage of cultivating the Taiji Health Cultivation Technique (Mastery).
Days passed one by one. The door to Chen Han's home stayed shut. If not for the regular light shining from inside each day, his neighbors might have thought he had died in there.
At a glance, two and a half months had passed. Autumn gave way to winter, and snowflakes drifted down from the sky.
The wind and snow howled, cloaking the entire world in white.
The biting wind made people gasp. They huddled their necks inside their collars, afraid to straighten up. There were far fewer people on the road, and only a few ragged beggars could be seen now and then—far fewer than before.
"It's snowing..."
Shen Yue watched the snowflakes drifting down outside and murmured to herself, her mind weighed down with worry.
"I wonder how Big Brother is doing now. Is he eating well? Sleeping well? Is he cold...?"
She had bright eyes and pearly teeth, and fair skin. The youthful innocence on her face seemed to be slowly fading, perhaps because she had been troubled for so long.
But, come to think of it, it was about time. She would turn fifteen in two months, and a year later she would be a grown young woman.
Watching the snow outside, she thought once again of her brother-in-law, who was so hard to read—almost a mystery.
She really wanted to ask what had happened. There were so many questions about Big Brother in her mind, and she had yet to get any answers.
But her elder sister had told her not to ask Big Brother, lest she bring trouble down on him. So she had held back her curiosity.
She thought of that rainy night again, when Big Brother had killed three people in a row. It had been shocking, but now the memory made her heart tremble.
She had not seen Big Brother in a long time, and had not heard a word from him. She was terrified that he might have abandoned them, or that he had already fallen beneath someone else's blade.
The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. In the end, she simply stopped thinking about it.
"Yue'er, come try the porridge your mother made for you."
Shen Yue glanced back at Lu. The same despondent look as always clouded her eyes, but she still forced a smile. "You eat it, Mother. I'm not hungry."
Lu sighed and didn't press her.
Meanwhile, at Li Mansion.
"I say, Muyun, how could you not discuss something this important with me? That was three hundred taels of silver!"
Squire Li looked troubled.
"Father, our benefactor was so badly injured at the time. I was worried, so I didn't think it through..."
Squire Li was so frustrated with her he could hardly bear it. After a long pause, he finally swallowed the hurtful words on the tip of his tongue.
"You... I remember you used to be clever. Why did you go and lose your head over something so important?
"Chen Han fooled you completely with just a few words. He even got you to deceive your own father and do something underhanded!"
"Father, Chen Han isn't the way you think he is. Surely there's a reason for what he did, one he couldn't explain."
Li Muyun lowered her head, but refuted him without hesitation.
Squire Li's anger surged. His face and neck flushed red, and he rarely raised his voice at his daughter. "Li Muyun! Can't you see it? That brat Chen Han came to the Li Family with the intention of playing the long game to land a big fish!"
"Maybe at first he was just trying to find a way to survive, but that brat is very calculating. I'm sure he secretly looked into every member of our family.
"Who knows, maybe the time he saved you was nothing but a play he arranged with someone else, all to win your favor and swindle you!"
"Isn't that going too far, Father? Our benefactor did take the trouble to teach Mubai, didn't he? Otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken Mubai to break through."
Li Muyun's words left Squire Li speechless.
It was true. Just a few days ago, his son, Li Mubai, had broken through and become a Mingjin Martial Artist.
Chen Han deserved most of the credit.
"Whatever you say, the fact remains that he swindled you out of three hundred taels."
Neither of them had anything more to say. After a long silence, Squire Li, his face covered in a full beard, finally spoke.
"Fine. You're grown now, and I can't control you. Since I can't, then go find somewhere else to live."
Li Muyun was at a loss. Her pretty face froze in bewilderment, and she thought she must have misheard him. "Father, what do you mean? Are you saying you don't want me anymore?"
Squire Li's expression suddenly grew complicated. Only after a long pause did he stammer, "The Mu Family in the east of the city approached me in private some time ago."
"The Mu Family..."
The moment she heard that, Li Muyun understood what was going on.
"It's that lecherous young master of the Mu Family, isn't it? Father, don't you know what kind of person he is? He bullies men and women, cheats and shirks responsibility, and even dares to..."
"Ahem..."
Squire Li interrupted her.
His expression was stern, utterly devoid of emotion. "The Mu Family is powerful and wealthy, with the Black Mountain Gang as the great tree at its back. If the Li Family can form ties with them, our commercial strength and martial power will both rise to a new level."
Tears welled in Li Muyun's eyes. Her gaze was full of disbelief. She couldn't understand why the father who had doted on her all her life would say such hurtful things today.
"So you want to use your own daughter as a bargaining chip, selling her to a man without a shred of decency just to secure benefits?"
Squire Li's gaze was cold. "My dear daughter, you needn't look at me like that. Surely this is nothing unfamiliar to you. Which woman from a family of nobles across the generations hasn't been used for her family's sake, married off to royalty to secure benefits? Why should you be any different?"
"That young master of the Zhao Family is indeed a man of poor character, but that can be changed. Rest assured, your future Uncle Zhao has promised me he'll discipline him strictly."
Squire Li seemed amiable toward his family and decent to his servants in ordinary times. But whenever the family's most important interests were at stake, his mind was always utterly rational and cold.
Three hundred taels of silver meant little to him. He felt affection for his daughter, but she too meant little beside the family's legacy, passed down from generation to generation.
He would never allow that legacy to decline on his watch!
Li Muyun pressed her lips together and looked at her father. The figure that had once seemed so tall and mighty now made her unable to bear looking at him.
"I refuse!"
She thought of something Chen Han often taught her little brother: "Take control of your own destiny!"
Everyone's fate was different, and the lives people wanted to lead were vibrant and colorful. Yet in this world, where the waves sifted the sand, how many people could steer their own lives and command their own fate?
So she had to practice martial arts. She had to grow stronger!
Only the strong could take charge of their lives and command their own fate, free from the tide of events and untouched by its relentless waves!
She, too, wanted to become the kind of person her benefactor spoke of—someone who took charge of her life and commanded her own fate.
"You have no choice!"
Squire Li slammed his palm on the table and stood up. He was not moved in the slightest.
Li Muyun jumped at the sudden movement, but then forced her expression back to normal.
What did it have to do with her if others were willing to be used as marriage pawns? She, Li Muyun, would not accept it—not ever!
Her gaze turned resolute. Lips pressed together, she suddenly drew the short knife she kept hidden at her waist for protection and held it to her throat. Her eyes were unwavering, though they trembled.
"Father, since you gave birth to me only to trade me for benefits, then today I'll give this life back to you..."
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