Delivered to His Doorstep

"Has this little brother gone mad? That's the young master of the Qin Household, and he actually dared threaten him."

"Now there's a good show to watch. Guess what'll happen to this boy—will he be beaten to death outright, or tortured to death...?"

"Mm, he seems to be Song Wanyan's adopted little brother..."

"Song Wanyan... that person's..."

Whispers from around the martial hall suddenly drifted over, buzzing like flies endlessly stirred into a frenzy.

"Little brother, making a move like this will cause big trouble." Senior Brother Tao's voice suddenly rang out.

He looked at the calm-faced Lin Xiaotian, at a loss for words.

Lin Xiaotian glanced at him and returned a smile in thanks, then shifted his gaze back to the Qin Household's young master, who was clutching his nose as blood streamed out.

At that moment, the fury in the young master's eyes seemed almost tangible.

He shrieked hoarsely, like a resentful wife:

"You dare hit me? You're finished... My Qin Household will make sure you die a miserable death."

Listening to the young master continuously spew filth, Lin Xiaotian shook his head.

"Young Master Qin, now that you know who my sister is, when I ask you for silver, doesn't that give you a reason...?"

"A reason! Screw you! Do you take me for an idiot? Today, I'll... Mm, a reason!"

Lin Xiaotian looked at him with a half-smile and held out his hand.

"Hand over the silver. Young Master Qin is a smart man too. Isn't the reason I gave you quite good? Once you pass the first Initiation test, perhaps Young Master Qin will even have to lend me another twenty taels."

"Hahaha!" Young Master Qin burst out laughing.

"Good, good, good! As expected of that person's adopted little brother—you've got some skill. Fine, I'll give you five taels. This silver isn't a loan; I'm giving it to you."

"I'm not short on such a trifling amount of silver."

"Then many thanks." Lin Xiaotian spoke lightly.

The people around them were dumbfounded. Someone whispered:

"Could this young master have been beaten stupid by him? Who gets beaten and still has to give away silver?"

"I'd say Song Wanyan is the great beauty of the town. This one is clearly no simple fellow, or why else would she acknowledge him as her little brother?"

The whispers rose again.

Young Master Qin swept his gaze over the crowd, wiped away his bloody snot, and said coldly:

"I'm plenty smart. Keep gossiping, and my Qin Household won't spare you."

The murmurs stopped abruptly.

Young Master Qin turned and prepared to leave.

Senior Brother Tao called after him:

"Young Master Qin, weren't you here to learn martial arts? The first Initiation test is about to begin... Why not...?"

Without even turning his head, Young Master Qin waved a hand.

"Stop delaying me and wasting my time."

Senior Brother Tao stared blankly at Young Master Qin's departing back and let out a long breath.

He turned back, his gaze complicated as he looked at the boy before him. Today had brought him far too many shocks.

"You were so sure Young Master Qin wouldn't cause you trouble, and even that he'd give you silver?"

Lin Xiaotian smiled, revealing two shallow dimples.

"Not sure."

Senior Brother Tao's eyes widened again.

"Aren't you afraid Young Master Qin will trouble your sister?"

"Hahaha!" Lin Xiaotian laughed loudly.

"I'm not sure about anything else, but Young Master Qin definitely wouldn't dare trouble my sister."

Senior Brother Tao calmed down and felt that he had just asked an idiotic question.

If he truly intended to cause trouble, Young Master Qin would have done so long ago.

Still, he wanted to hear what this little brother had to say.

"Why wouldn't he trouble your sister?"

Lin Xiaotian gave him a puzzled look before answering:

"You really want to hear me say it myself? Fine. You've also cleared up so many of my doubts."

Senior Brother Tao choked inwardly, feeling as though he had been stuffed up.

"Young Master Qin's thoughts about my sister must have lasted more than a year or two."

"Just look at his unsteady legs and his hollowed-out complexion. You can tell he's addicted to pleasure."

Senior Brother Tao nodded and could not help saying:

"Indeed. Throughout Long River Town, who doesn't know about his lustfulness and his debauchery? He's harmed quite a few women."

"Secondly..." Lin Xiaotian continued.

"With the nature of a playboy like him, he must have harassed my sister before. Yet during the time I've been staying there, I've never seen him come by."

"That means he's being restrained..."

Senior Brother Tao listened with great interest, but after seeing Lin Xiaotian fall silent for a long while without continuing, he could not help asking:

"That's it?"

"Mm, that's it."

Senior Brother Tao made a helpless gesture.

"But you still haven't gotten to the point!"

Lin Xiaotian rolled his eyes at him.

"Senior Brother Tao, hitting him was me handing him a reason, so he could use it as an excuse to go to my sister and try to build some connection."

"He only lost his head in a fit of impulse. If he truly went to my sister to curry favor, even if you gave him ten times the courage, he still wouldn't dare."

"Hehehe." Senior Brother Tao finally caught on and smiled.

"Little brother, this elder brother was slow on the uptake. Mm, indeed. If he truly comes to his senses, he definitely won't dare go."

"Master Qin would truly break his legs."

Lin Xiaotian smiled. He was about to place the silver he had received into Senior Brother Tao's hand when he casually asked:

"Could it be that someone from the Qin Household has had their legs broken before?"

Senior Brother Tao said sentimentally:

"Mm. Another young master of the Qin Household was once beaten to death. That was why the Qin Household began keeping such strict control."

Mm!

Lin Xiaotian's outstretched hand paused.

That was quite a lot of information!

He only paused briefly before placing the silver he had collected into Senior Brother Tao's hand.

"Senior Brother Tao, can I now take the first test—the Initiation test?"

This was not the time to dig into the death of that Qin Household young master. Entering the Martial Dao was what mattered.

Senior Brother Tao took the silver, glanced at it in his hand, and laughed heartily.

"Little brother, of course you can."

"Mm, and I wasn't speaking with you only because of your sister."

Lin Xiaotian waved his hand.

"I know, I know. Matters inside and outside the martial hall all seem to be handled by Senior Brother Tao. How could you possibly fail to distinguish what matters from what doesn't?"

Senior Brother Tao nodded in satisfaction and led him to the stakes.

At that moment, quite a few people were already standing before the stakes.

What person who came to cultivate martial arts did not hope to truly enter the school, rather than merely learn some flashy forms?

Senior Brother Tao looked around at everyone. Then his voice sank as he shouted:

"Listen carefully! I'll demonstrate it three times. Learn however much you can. As long as you can barely complete it within three days, you'll qualify for Initiation."

With a whoosh, Senior Brother Tao leaped up, spread his legs, and planted each foot atop a pillar, pulling himself into an almost perfect split.

Without blushing or losing his breath, he shouted:

"I'll repeat this once more. Watch closely. This Stake Skill is the Entrance Stake Method of our martial hall, centered on the circulation of Blood Qi."

"You must carefully sense the movement of this Blood Qi."

"If you can grasp the marvels of Blood Qi's circulation, and your skeletal foundation is not poor, then you can smoothly enter the school and become a true disciple of the Huang Family Martial Hall."

"Enough talk. Watch carefully."

As his words fell, Senior Brother Tao began to move atop the stakes.

Every form and move flowed with extraordinary smoothness, without the slightest hint of sluggishness, as though he were simply performing an ordinary dance.

Quite a few people even began whispering among themselves.

"It doesn't seem that difficult. It looks simple enough."

"Yeah, none of these moves are hard or complicated. As long as I practice them a few more times, I'm sure I can do it."

As Lin Xiaotian listened to the voices around him, faint smiles appeared on those people's faces.

Even the fathers of those children wore smiles.

Hearing their children's confident words, the worries in the fathers' hearts were blown away like sand in the wind.

For a time, this originally solemn place unexpectedly took on a trace of ease.

Yet Lin Xiaotian did not see it that way.

He had noticed the difference. The movements appeared so smooth only because the one performing them was Senior Brother Tao.

If someone else replaced him, they definitely would not be so smooth. If they could even perform them, Lin Xiaotian would admire them.

Because in his eyes, he could clearly see that many of these movements completely violated the natural limits of the human body.

If one followed those movements exactly, even if their limbs were not broken, they would surely suffer severe damage.

No wonder Senior Brother Tao spoke so gravely... Entering the Martial Dao truly is exceedingly difficult for ordinary people.