Acting

A quiet chamber in the rear courtyard of the Spirit Medicine Hall.

"Has the sun risen in the west? You're actually bringing me a gift?" Yang Yueshan lounged lazily against the backrest.

Yang Zhenshan lifted his teacup, took a slow sip, and got straight to the point.

"Big Brother, I need your help with something."

Yang Yueshan raised a brow, as though he had heard something amusing.

"You? Need my help?" He set down his teacup, leaned forward, and stared at Yang Zhenshan. "Did I hear that right?"

Yang Zhenshan did not take the bait and directly laid out the plan.

As Yang Yueshan listened, the smile on his face gradually changed.

From mockery to amusement, from amusement to greed.

After Yang Zhenshan finished, he leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and said unhurriedly, "Second Brother, you want me to pretend to be a man in black, cause trouble at the Yang Residence, then be defeated by you and display the gap between the Ninth and Eighth Layers before the City Lord and the other family heads?"

Yang Zhenshan nodded. "Yes."

Yang Yueshan smiled.

A deeply meaningful smile.

"Second Brother, do you know what this means?" He held up one finger. "First, I, Yang Yueshan, am still someone of standing in Lin'an City. To be defeated by you in full view of everyone would mean losing all face."

He raised a second finger. "Second, if I put on this act for you and word gets out, how am I supposed to keep my footing in Lin'an City?"

Yang Zhenshan said nothing, merely watching him.

Yang Yueshan withdrew his fingers, lifted his teacup, and slowly took a sip.

"Second Brother, it isn't that I can't help you." He set down his teacup and fixed Yang Zhenshan with a blazing gaze. "We're blood relatives, brothers of the same flesh and blood!"

"You'll have to pay more!"

Yang Zhenshan had expected this. "What do you want?"

Yang Yueshan held up one finger. "Ten percent of the Black Iron Mine."

Yang Zhenshan frowned.

Yang Yueshan continued, "Don't rush. I'm not done yet. From now on, don't inspect the Spirit Medicine Hall's accounts. How much gets handed over each year will be up to me."

Yang Zhenshan's expression darkened slightly.

Yang Yueshan raised a third finger. "Also, the courtyard I have at the Spirit Medicine Hall is too small. Send me three hundred thousand taels of silver or thirty spirit stones. I want to rebuild it."

"After all, you don't want me frequently going to the Yang Residence and getting in your way, do you?"

Yang Zhenshan fell silent.

Yang Yuanshan was stunned by Yang Yueshan's lion's gaping maw. The quiet chamber was so silent that one could hear their own heartbeat.

After a long while, Yang Zhenshan spoke, his tone so calm that no emotion could be heard in it.

"Big Brother, you have quite an appetite."

Yang Yueshan burst out laughing. "Second Brother, since you came to me for help, you should have known this was the price. Those are my terms. Whether you agree or not is entirely up to you."

He leaned back and crossed his legs, looking as steady as a fisherman seated at his post.

Yang Zhenshan looked at him, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes, though his face remained impassive.

The silence stretched on for a long time. The only sound in the room was Yang Zhenshan tapping the wooden armrest with his fingers.

It went on so long that even Yang Yueshan grew somewhat impatient.

Yang Zhenshan suddenly stopped tapping.

"The Black Iron Mine shares are fine. The Spirit Medicine Hall and the courtyard renovation costs are fine as well." After pondering it again and again, Yang Zhenshan slowly said, "But the premise for everything is..."

Yang Zhenshan turned to face Yang Yueshan, his gaze deep.

"You must handle this beautifully. If it succeeds, you are my big brother, and you will receive every bit of what you deserve. But if it fails, or if word leaks out..."

He paused, and a chill entered his voice.

"The bond between us brothers will end there."

The smile on Yang Yueshan's face stiffened slightly before quickly returning to normal.

"Second Brother, don't worry. Your big brother knows what he's doing. I'm doing this for the good of our Yang Family too."

Yang Zhenshan said nothing more and strode away.

Yang Yuanshan followed behind him. At the door, he turned back and glanced at Yang Yueshan, his expression complicated.

On the way back to the residence, Yang Yuanshan could not help asking, "Second Brother, Big Brother is demanding so much. Are you really giving it to him?"

Yang Zhenshan sat in the carriage with his eyes closed, saying nothing.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said blandly, "Give it to him. Why wouldn't I?"

Yang Yuanshan was stunned.

Yang Zhenshan looked out the window, his gaze deep.

"I'll give him whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't botch the job!"

Yang Yuanshan seemed to understand something and said no more.

The carriage rolled slowly onward toward the Yang Residence.

Two days later, night.

In the rear courtyard of the Yang Residence, a black shadow silently swept past and landed atop an old locust tree.

Yang Yueshan narrowed his eyes as he stared at the brightly lit main hall below.

He wore black night clothes, with black cloth covering his face, leaving only a pair of sinister eyes exposed.

Tonight, he had come to put on an act.

As agreed with Yang Zhenshan days ago: break into the residence, injure people, seize the martial skill, then be publicly defeated by Yang Zhenshan, showing the gap between the Ninth and Eighth Layers.

Once it was done, he would receive ten percent of the Black Iron Mine, the Spirit Medicine Hall, and thirty spirit stones.

Yang Yueshan touched the Spirit Blast Stone in his robes, a cold smile curling at his lips.

Acting?

He had not come merely to act.

That copy of the Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal was real—a high-grade Profound-rank martial skill. Not even all of Lin'an City possessed a martial skill of such a high grade.

It had only ever been passed down to the Yang Family's patriarch through the generations.

Yang Zhenshan said it was bait, that he only needed to seize it.

But after seizing it...

A glint of greed flashed through Yang Yueshan's eyes.

Who would not want a high-grade Profound-rank martial skill?

He would find someone to copy it overnight, then return it to him afterward. What could Yang Zhenshan do to him?

As for brotherly affection?

Heh.

It had ceased to exist after the battle for the patriarch's position ten years ago.

He pulled out the Spirit Blast Stone, poured a thread of spiritual power into it, and hurled it with all his strength toward the woodshed in the front courtyard.

Boom!

Flames shot into the sky, and the tremendous blast shook the entire Yang Residence.

"An explosion!"

"Fire!"

"An assassin!"

The front courtyard instantly descended into chaos.

Yang Yueshan leaped down from the tree, moving like lightning as he charged straight toward the rear courtyard.

Along the way, several servants failed to dodge in time and were sent flying with a single palm strike each.

Yang Yueshan was immensely powerful. To make the effect more convincing, he did not care in the least whether these ordinary servants lived or died. With one palm strike, their heads burst like smashed watermelons.

Beneath the firelight, his figure resembled a ghost come to claim lives.

At the entrance to the main hall, Yang Yuanshan rushed out and struck with his palm.

Yang Yuanshan knew of the plan, but he had not been told the exact time of action. Thus, the moment the man in black appeared, he guessed that it was his big brother, so he deliberately held back part of his strength when he attacked.

Yang Yueshan snorted coldly and met the blow with his own palm.

Bang!

Yang Yuanshan flew backward, crashing down thirty feet away and coughing up blood.

Yang Yueshan did not care about any of that. For years, Yang Zhenshan had brought his fourth and fifth brothers to live richly at the Yang Residence, never sparing Yang Yueshan a thought. Now that he had caught this chance, he naturally would not show mercy.

Qi Refining, Seventh Layer, against the peak of the Eighth Layer—the gap was far too great. What was more, someone at the Qi Refining, Seventh Layer could still hold back.

Yang Yueshan did not even spare him a glance and rushed straight into the study.

Bookshelves, hidden compartments, drawers...

Before long, he pulled a thin booklet from a hidden compartment behind a painting.

Mountains and Rivers Sword Seal.

Ecstasy flashed through Yang Yueshan's eyes. He stuffed the booklet into his robes and turned to leave.

Just as he reached the doorway.

A figure blocked his path.

Yang Zhenshan stood with his hands behind his back, calmly watching him.

"You took something from the Yang Family and think you can just leave?"