"Don't move. I've only just stitched up the wound."
Lin Yuan cautioned him.
By the morning light, Lin Jiu carefully studied the young man before him.
His features were fine and his face sharply defined, looking just like Lin Dafu in his youth.
"Young master..."
Lin Jiu struggled to get up.
Lin Yuan reached out and held his shoulder down.
"I know what happened. Just rest and recover."
Lin Jiu's lips trembled, his eyes red.
"The master died unjustly! Hardened soldiers took part in that ambush on Black Wind Mountain!"
Lin Jiu's face filled with fury.
Hearing this, Lin Yuan frowned. Could they have been the county commandant's men?
"If the master hadn't fought with his life on the line, I could never have escaped. The things he entrusted to me are hidden..."
As he spoke, the door opened, and Master Wu walked in carrying a bowl of medicine.
Lin Jiu's expression changed abruptly.
"This is my master, Master Wu. He's one of us. There's no need to hide anything."
Hearing this, Lin Jiu felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
"The things are hidden in Falling Goose Valley outside town. There's a natural cave at the bottom."
Lin Yuan nodded, planning to retrieve them shortly, before a long night could breed more dreams.
He began to feel a little anticipation.
The morning mist slowly dispersed.
The moment Lin Yuan left the clinic, he noticed something wrong.
Four or five unfamiliar faces with vicious eyes had appeared along the street for no apparent reason.
As he emerged, their gazes drifted toward him, seemingly casually.
The atmosphere gradually congealed.
"Boy, avoid their sharp edge for now."
Master Wu's worried voice came from behind him.
Lin Yuan had already made up his mind.
His lips curled.
"I need to avoid their sharp edge?"
He strode forward.
The two assassins closest to him slowly slipped their right hands into their sleeves.
They hurried across the street, heading straight for Lin Yuan.
The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point.
Just as Master Wu rushed out of the clinic in burning anxiety.
Just as the tips of their blades were about to emerge.
Lin Yuan suddenly stopped, raising both hands and cupping them around his mouth.
"Murder! Heavens above! The principal wife is murdering a concubine's son!!!!"
Swish, swish, swish.
Everyone turned to look at once.
The two assassins abruptly recoiled, frozen on the spot.
Before they could react, Lin Yuan opened his throat and howled.
"Father! You died such a terrible death!"
The air went still for a second.
Then everyone surged forward, surrounding Lin Yuan.
Sure enough, no matter the world, watching a spectacle was human nature.
"Damn it!"
The assassins caught in the crowd abruptly paled.
Lin Yuan continued wailing, not caring about his image in the slightest. After all, he was only an eighteen-year-old child now.
"I was an unfilial son! The principal wife drove me out to Blackstone Town twelve years ago, and I didn't even get to see you one last time!"
"You worked so hard to build up a business as big as the Lin Clan Cloth Shop! How could mountain bandits have killed you!"
With a boom.
The townspeople gathered around erupted like a boiling pot.
"Twelve years ago? How old was he back then?"
"The Lin Clan Cloth Shop? Master Lin, whose funeral was yesterday?"
"Isn't he an apprentice at the Wu Medical Clinic? How did he become Master Lin's son?"
Someone recognized Lin Yuan and voiced their confusion.
"Didn't you hear him? The principal wife drove him out."
"Ohhh..."
Understanding dawned on everyone's faces at once.
A middle-aged woman stepped forward to comfort him, her heart aching.
"Child, the dead cannot return to life. Restrain your grief!"
Lin Yuan stole a glance at the assassins and continued.
"My life is so bitter! Just because I'm a concubine's son, I'm not even allowed to join the funeral procession!"
"Outrageous!"
"They've gone too far!"
The onlookers seethed with righteous indignation.
The assassins pushed their way out of the crowd, their faces livid.
"What do we do?"
"Fuck, that little bastard! Let's head back first!"
They exchanged glances and slunk out of Blackstone Town.
Ahem.
Master Wu parted the crowd and squeezed through.
Seeing him, everyone immediately greeted him respectfully.
He had practiced medicine in Blackstone Town for decades and commanded immense respect.
Master Wu looked around and cupped his hands.
"Neighbors, please hear this old man out."
Everyone immediately fell silent.
"I have no children. I have accepted Lin Yuan as my disciple to inherit my mantle!"
As his words fell, congratulations rose from the crowd, and their gazes toward Lin Yuan changed somewhat.
After all, the Wu Medical Clinic was the only clinic in Blackstone Town. Who never suffered a headache or fever?
A long while later.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
Lin Yuan bowed deeply to Master Wu.
Now he had revealed his identity in public, with the prestige Master Wu had built over half a lifetime shielding him.
He had not only resolved today's crisis.
For a short while, Zhao Yan would also have her reservations.
Falling Goose Valley lay in a remote location, overgrown with vegetation.
After searching the valley floor for a while, Lin Yuan found the concealed cave entrance.
He pushed aside the withered vines, revealing a bloodstained bundle.
Lin Yuan opened the bundle, and wild delight immediately spread across his face.
On top lay a stack of thousand-tael silver notes from Datong Bank. A rough count put them at fifty thousand taels!
Beside them sat a white-jade porcelain bottle. When he pulled out the stopper, a rich medicinal fragrance greeted his nose.
Lin Yuan could not tell what it was, but it ought to be something good.
Putting away the bottle, his gaze fell on the sheet of notepaper beneath it.
Curious, Lin Yuan unfolded it. There were only two characters on it.
Wuya.
Lin Yuan frowned. Could this be a clue Lin Dafu had uncovered about the adulterer?
But what did Wuya mean? A place name? Or a person's name?
He returned to the clinic.
Master Wu was seeing patients.
Fortunately, there were not many.
Lin Yuan found a moment to approach him.
After some questions, Master Wu was equally at a loss.
Lin Yuan could only let the matter drop and take out the porcelain bottle instead.
"These are Body Tempering Pills. They can accelerate body tempering. You can't buy them even if you have the money."
Lin Yuan was overjoyed. There were three Body Tempering Pills in the bottle, enough to rapidly improve his strength!
He went to the rear courtyard to check on Lin Jiu. As expected of a martial artist at body tempering major accomplishment, his recovery was astonishing.
After roughly another half-day in bed, he would be able to get up and move around.
Returning to the side room, Lin Yuan swallowed a Body Tempering Pill and began meditating.
As the pill entered his mouth, its potent medicinal power spread, and a scalding current of heat rose in his lower abdomen.
Following the Qi circulation route of the Five Qi Converging to the Origin Art, he guided this heat into his five internal organs.
As he completed each circulation, his proficiency steadily increased.
+1 +1
Lin Yuan discovered to his surprise that the Body Tempering Pill had increased his cultivation speed by another ten percent!
Time slipped by unnoticed as he cultivated.
Night fell.
Following a bout of uncontrollable trembling.
Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes, wisps of white vapor swirling around him.
[Realm: Body tempering major accomplishment] [Martial arts: Five Qi Converging to the Origin Art (Major accomplishment 0/300)]
Lin Yuan clenched his fists. His strength now roughly matched that of a dozen ordinary people.
A thousand jin of strength!
However, the Body Tempering Pill's effects had also run out.
Calculating the time, it had lasted ten hours.
He was just about to resume cultivating.
Suddenly.
Lin Yuan frowned as the faint flutter of clothing reached his ears.
He looked toward the courtyard wall in puzzlement.
Hmm?
Why was there another assassin?
A dark figure landed in the courtyard and crept straight toward the main hall in a crouch.
Lin Yuan froze.
Was he here for Master?
The dark figure drew a long saber and was about to slide it through the gap in the door.