No Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law, Much Less Mother and Daughter

Lin Shu closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

When his hand came down, several Evil Coins had already appeared in his palm.

He had originally planned to wait a little longer.

But the situation was different now.

The information Black Charcoal had learned was still incomplete.

He only thought the Little Widow's child might be gravely ill and that she couldn't afford treatment.

So he had his eye on Crazy Old Woman, wanting to devour her entire household.

But Lin Shu knew that there was still plenty of Immortal Aura hidden in this Broken Firewood Courtyard.

If Chang Yi's guess was right, then Old Woman Chen had already been thoroughly drained. There was no reason at all for the Little Widow to stay.

Washing clothes for the neighbors couldn't earn her enough to buy medicine for her child.

Besides... Lin Shu had never smelled the scent of medicinal herbs anywhere in the courtyard.

Tsk, tsk.

Perhaps he wasn't the only one enjoying this Immortal Aura.

"You spent this Evil Coin in a pretty frustrating way."

Lin Shu grumbled to himself.

Back then, the Old Woman had traded an Evil Coin for the lives of that orphan and his widowed mother.

By rights, the debt should have been settled.

But if that orphan and his mother were among the reasons the old woman had died, then the matter took on a different meaning.

"But you'll have to wait a little longer."

Lin Shu's gaze turned cold. He wasn't in the habit of reneging on his debts, but he wasn't some mindless brute, either.

When he'd acted so ruthlessly in Green Willow Alley, seemingly without any regard for the consequences, it was because the White Wolf's mist had been rapidly fading with time.

With his life nearly at an end, how could he spare a thought for anything else?

Besides, those people's identities were all out in the open.

Not to mention anyone else—even Old Yang knew Zhang Zhongping was a Great Martial Master.

To them, Lin Shu was the one lurking in the shadows.

Unfortunately, the situation had now reversed.

If the Little Widow really was enjoying the Immortal Aura in the Broken Firewood Courtyard...

Lin Shu couldn't sense the slightest trace of cultivation on her.

The absence of any trace didn't mean she was safe. The unknown was the most dangerous thing of all.

She was in the dark, while he was out in the open!

"Whew."

With that in mind, Lin Shu made up his mind.

He'd hurry and gather a few more wisps of Azure Qi, so he wouldn't later find himself with no other Immortal relics to encounter and nowhere to spend his Virtue Coins.

Then he'd leave the Broken Firewood Courtyard and return to Green Willow Alley first.

The courtyard wasn't going anywhere, after all.

Whether he was competing for this Immortal relic or settling the Old Woman's affairs all over again, he needed to use his identity with the Blackwater Gang to get to the bottom of things first.

As for the seven Evil Coins left—

Lin Shu gritted his teeth, a vicious look curling at the corner of his lips. He opened his robe again and pressed them against his chest.

The last place he'd felt secure was gone, so what the hell was he waiting for?

The Ghost Moon Bone-Splitting Hand had taken thirteen Evil Coins just to break through from Subordinate Sixth Rank to Fifth Rank.

It was already at Perfection. Those Evil Coins certainly wouldn't be enough to raise it any further.

So the black light formed from the Evil Coins quickly poured into the Wolf Tooth representing the Bright Moon Eye Technique.

[Consumed seven Evil Coins. Evil Immortal not yet formed. Technique altered]

Before the Evil Coins, this Lower Three Grades Immortal Method had no power to resist. The black light tore it apart and reassembled it.

Once again, the image of the Lone Wolf Howling at the Moon Painting surfaced in Lin Shu's mind.

Only this time, what rose with a rumble from beneath the cliff was a blood moon, dazzling and scarlet!

"Hah!"

Lin Shu held his breath and swiftly circulated the Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art to steady his mind.

A glimmer gradually rippled through his clear, dark pupils, as though a pool of spring water reflected the moonlight.

In an instant, it was as if a drop of ink had fallen into the clear pool, turning into red mist that billowed and surged.

The red mist swept over and shrouded his shimmering pupils!

[Qi Condensation Sixth Stage. Red Moon Dharma Eye: Minor Achievement]

This qi-observing technique, which had no offensive power, had quietly gained a few traces of Killing Intent.

Although the Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art could suppress his restlessness, its grade was too low. What was more, this was the second such change in quick succession.

Lin Shu's breathing grew hot and heavy.

Yet he didn't rest as he usually would.

Even after being corroded by the Evil Coins, the eye technique could still observe qi.

At that moment, the drifting Azure Qi throughout the entire Firewood Courtyard had become much clearer. It was like a blurry net draped over the courtyard.

Unfortunately, it was still like duckweed without roots; he couldn't find its source.

Driven by his restlessness, Lin Shu began seizing the Immortal Aura with even more brutal methods.

He didn't want to stay in this wretched place for another moment.

Night gradually fell.

In another room on the other side of the courtyard,

Yun Niang sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze wandering as she stared at the candle on the table.

She clutched the bundle she had already packed.

It was only thanks to her inborn wariness that she had managed to survive in a place like Blackwater City.

Just as when Liu the Third had come to call, Yun Niang had prepared to flee in advance.

She'd felt indebted to this family and hesitated for a moment, which was why she'd been trapped in the courtyard.

After her benefactor returned, he'd shown no sign of anything amiss. But the mere glance he'd given her had brought that feeling of panic surging back.

It was the kind of reaction she had when she sensed danger.

Yun Niang knew, more or less, that it was time for her to leave.

The reason she still hadn't acted—

She pressed her lips together. Her fair face flickered in and out of the candlelight.

What kept echoing in her mind were the words Lord Lin had casually spoken when he chased those two foxes away.

For once, Yun Niang had experienced the safety of being protected by someone.

She'd thought... that perhaps her luck really was finally starting to turn.

"Ah."

Yun Niang rubbed her slightly chubby cheeks, trying to make herself smile.

The only thing she couldn't decide was whether, before leaving, she should warn her benefactor that the Old Woman's granddaughter was a little... abnormal.

As she thought about it, Yun Niang glanced toward the bed.

A small, delicate face lay wrapped in the thick bedding. Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembling gently with each breath.

She looked about three or four years old.

When they'd first met, Yun Niang had felt a powerful urge to protect the child.

Until... two whole years had passed, and the girl still hadn't opened her eyes once. She neither ate nor drank.

The medicinal soup Old Woman Chen had brought back had never actually been fed to the child, yet she remained alive and slept soundly.

So Yun Niang's urge to protect her had taken on a tinge of fear.

"Wait..."

Just then, she sensed that something was wrong. She hurriedly grabbed her bundle and went to the doorway to look.

There was clearly nothing in the sky above the Broken Firewood Courtyard, yet it somehow seemed to shimmer as though it were cracking apart.

At the same time, a faint whimpering sounded by her ear.

It was like a child crying, but there was also a hint of anger in it.

"Hiss!"

Yun Niang turned her head, her eyes widening as if she'd seen something beyond belief.

A small, pale hand gently lifted the covers.

The girl's eyes remained tightly closed, as though she were deep in sleep, but her body slowly climbed out of bed.

Her toes lightly touched the ground. One by one, emerald feathers grew from her ankles and wove themselves into boots.

By the time she stood still, her body had grown into that of a young girl, and a short, emerald-feathered jacket had appeared on her.

Yun Niang watched with her own eyes as those feathers pushed out through the girl's skin—even at her temples and cheeks.

With her eyes still closed, the Green Feather Maiden passed her, stepped outside, and headed toward the Side Room across the way.

"Mm—"

Yun Niang came to her senses in shock. Acting on instinct, she tried to call out and warn the young man in the room opposite.

But before her voice could escape, that inexplicable urge to protect the child surged back into her heart dozens of times stronger!

Her eyes glazed over, and her expression froze.

Meanwhile,

the girl had already walked silently to the door of the Side Room.

With her eyes closed, she raised her head.

The Broken Firewood Courtyard was silent, yet a murderous air was gradually spreading through it.

The wooden door opened of its own accord.

Inside, the young man in the long robe stood with his hands at his sides.

He quietly gathered the few wisps of Azure Qi in his palm and looked outside with a complicated expression.

In the next moment, the girl's shoulders trembled slightly.

A piercing scream, at once as young as an infant and razor-sharp, filled with rage, rang through the courtyard.

"Ah!!!!"