Going Home

Master Yuan was surrounded by a crowd of powerful nobles and local gentry, all offering their congratulations.

Liu Lie stood beside Master Yuan, thanking everyone on his behalf.

By the time Lin Yi came out, most of the guests had already left.

Liu Lie spotted Lin Yi, his eyes lighting up. He quickly raised a hand and called, "Lin Yi! Come over here!"

Lin Yi smiled and walked over, then gave Master Yuan a respectful salute. "Master Yuan."

"Senior Brother Liu."

Liu Lie turned to Master Yuan. "Master, Lin Yi joined the martial arts school a month ago. He's always worked hard at his training, and he's about to break through to become a Martial Artist."

Lin Yi felt a warmth in his heart.

He knew Liu Lie was trying to introduce him to Master Yuan.

Master Yuan gave Lin Yi a serious look.

His bearing and appearance were both quite exceptional.

To be so close to breaking through after just one month—

Could he have Grade A Bone Structure?

Master Yuan grew interested and was happy to indulge his disciple.

"What grade is your bone structure?" Master Yuan asked.

"Replying to you, Master Yuan, it's Grade B-."

In an instant,

the faint interest in Master Yuan's eyes vanished. A hint of aloofness crossed his face, along with a polite smile. He patted Lin Yi lightly on the shoulder.

"Not bad. With Grade B Bone Structure, breaking through four Martial Passes in such a short time means becoming a Martial Artist is within reach..."

Master Yuan clearly didn't believe him.

To be on the verge of becoming a Martial Artist after just one month—that was the pace of someone with Grade A Bone Structure.

He supposed his disciple had exaggerated Lin Yi's progress to help introduce a friend.

As for Grade B- Bone Structure,

it was uncommon, but over the years Master Yuan had seen plenty of people with it. There was nothing especially remarkable about it.

A wry smile appeared on Lin Yi's face, but quickly faded.

"Thank you, Master Yuan."

Seeing Master Yuan's reaction, a trace of frustration flashed across Liu Lie's face. He was about to say something,

but Lin Yi cut him off with a smile. "Senior Brother Liu, I have some important business today. We can talk again another time."

Seeing that, Liu Lie couldn't say much more.

After everyone who had come to offer their congratulations had finally left,

Liu Lie couldn't help turning to Master Yuan and saying,

"Master, Lin Yi really is quite good."

"His bone structure is good, and he works incredibly hard every day. I've rarely seen a disciple like him."

Master Yuan glanced at Liu Lie. He knew this disciple was stubborn, loyal, and full of the freewheeling spirit of the martial world. He loved making friends.

Over the years, he had introduced plenty of people to Master Yuan.

But only a handful had amounted to anything.

Still, since Liu Lie was his own disciple,

Master Yuan patiently replied,

"Grade B Bone Structure is good."

"But haven't we seen plenty of people with Grade B Bone Structure over the years?"

"Just last year, nearly a hundred people with Grade B Bone Structure came to the martial arts school."

"How many of them became Martial Artists?"

"To break through a Martial Pass and become a Martial Artist is a major trial."

"Even if you do become a Martial Artist, there are no shortage of them among the seven martial arts schools in Jiaqing County. What kind of waves can you make just by becoming one?"

Liu Lie fell silent.

Master Yuan sighed. "Enough, enough. That boy seems sensible and knows his limits. Let him start training in the inner courtyard early, then."

Liu Lie brightened. "Thank you, Master!"

Leaving the martial arts school,

Lin Yi planned to begin his breakthrough through the Martial Passes in earnest.

But before that, he decided to return to the Lin Clan.

Something felt off to Lin Yi.

Two days had passed since he had returned at night to rescue the members of the Lin Clan.

By rights, the Peace Guard in the county should have discovered the bodies long ago.

Even if Lin Yi hadn't been at home, the Peace Guard should have come to question the family.

Yet no one had come to their door so far.

"Brother Yi! You're back!"

As Lin Yi's thoughts wandered,

Wang Yan'er's familiar voice rang in his ear.

"Yan'er." Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.

Wang Yan'er lived not far from his home, and her family's blacksmith shop stood in the most eye-catching spot on the street.

Almost every time Lin Yi came back, he ran into her.

"Brother Yi, you wouldn't believe it. After I came to find you that day, a fire broke out in the alley that night. It burned down several houses. The fire was worst at Aunt Zhao's place next door to yours. She always loved to gossip, but ever since her house burned down, we haven't heard her big mouth for two or three days..."

"And I heard a few Black Wind Gang members died in the alley. They said it was terrifying..."

"I heard there was a Demonic creature in the alley..."

Wang Yan'er said this, pretending to be frightened.

"What about my house?" Lin Yi asked.

"Don't worry, Brother Yi. I haven't heard that anything happened at your house."

"This morning, Uncle Lin and Aunt Chen passed by my place and greeted me."

"From the looks of it, they seemed to be going away for a while."

Going away?

Lin Yi was puzzled for a moment.

Lin Hua had stayed in Jiaqing County all these years. Why was he suddenly leaving now? The family's restaurant had only just opened.

Besides, that night, Lin Yi had been too battered to deal with the Martial Artist's body and the bodies of his subordinates.

People had died at home.

And their neighbor Wang Yan'er had no idea?

Lin Yi asked, "Has the Peace Guard come by?"

"They took a look. When they saw the fire had already been put out, they dealt with the bodies in the alley, said a few words to everyone, and left."

Lin Yi's doubts deepened.

Could it be that the bodies of the men he'd killed hadn't been found?

That was impossible!

From what he knew of his uncle, Lin Hua,

the other man wouldn't have hidden away bodies that had appeared out of nowhere.

In an instant, Lin Yi was baffled.

"What about my house? Has anything strange happened there in the past couple of days?"

A hint of unease crossed Wang Yan'er's face.

"Yesterday, I think Uncle Lin's younger brother came back."

Lin Yi's pupils contracted.

His second uncle, Lin Changgong.

His so-called second uncle was a thoroughly rotten man.

He cheated, swindled, drank, gambled, and whored, with a terrible reputation.

He was nowhere to be seen most of the time. In all these years, Lin Yi had only run into him a handful of times.

His second uncle's sudden return, the bodies the Peace Guard hadn't found, and his uncle's apparent ignorance...

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

Everything was different from what Lin Yi had expected.

In his original plan, once the bodies were discovered,

his uncle's family were all ordinary people and had nothing to do with the deaths.

Still, the Peace Guard would keep a close watch on them.

After that, the Black Wind Gang would have to act with some caution...

It would have given the Lin Clan a protective shield, in a way.

But now, things seemed to be unfolding in a way Lin Yi hadn't anticipated.

Lin Yi said goodbye to Wang Yan'er and hurried toward home.

At that moment, in the Lin Clan's courtyard,

Lin Changgong was lounging beneath the jujube tree, drinking tea.

Lin Changgong had taken over the stone table where Lin Xiuwen used to study.

Lin Xiuwen had no choice but to sit sulkily on a little stool in the corner.

Bang!

The gate was shoved open with a crash.

Lin Changgong looked up at the teenager standing in the gateway, a smile appearing on his face.

"Brother Yi." Lin Xiuwen came running over to Lin Yi, blinking up at him.

"Well, look at that! My dear nephew finally came back." Lin Changgong smiled too.

"Second Uncle." Lin Yi greeted him, then scanned the courtyard and asked, "Why are you back?"

"Where are my uncle and aunt?"

Lin Changgong stood and waved his hand helplessly.

"Ah! It's been so long since we saw each other. Why do you come back and immediately start interrogating your elders?"

"This is my elder brother's home, so it's mine too."

Lin Yi said nothing, simply watching Lin Changgong.

"All right, all right. Stop wearing that cold face. You look exactly like my cousin did when he was young."

The cousin Lin Changgong meant was the man Lin Hua had presented as Lin Yi's father when he adopted him.

Lin Changgong didn't know Lin Yi's true identity, though.

Lin Changgong rummaged in his sleeve, then pulled out a letter and handed it to Lin Yi.

"Your uncle left this for you. I didn't read it, I swear."

Lin Yi took the letter, broke the wax seal, and quickly scanned its contents.

In short, Lin Hua had recently found relatives in Sanyuan Prefecture and wanted to visit his clan. He expected to be back in about a month. He had also left Lin Yi some money so he could finish his martial arts training.

Lin Yi recognized Lin Hua's handwriting and didn't suspect Lin Changgong.

Lin Yi looked up at Lin Changgong.

"What? You don't believe me? He's my own brother. Do you think I'd hurt him?" Lin Changgong knitted his brows.

"No." Lin Yi slowly held out his hand. "The money my uncle left me."