Master made his final arrangements

Lin Fan helped Yang Kuan up, and the two fellow disciples walked toward their master.

Yue Shan had also climbed to his feet. He clutched his chest, his expression pained and his face deathly pale. He had probably suffered serious internal injuries.

Lin Fan and Yang Kuan approached Yue Shan, worry on their faces.

"Master, are you all right?"

"Master, how are you feeling?"

Lin Fan and Yang Kuan asked in unison.

Yue Shan shook his head. "Let's talk when we get back."

He refused his two disciples' support and walked out of the training grounds. Lin Fan and Yang Kuan followed, leaving everyone with the sight of three dejected figures retreating.

But no one paid them any attention. Everyone else's eyes rested on Chen Yang and Li Feng on the platform. In their eyes, Chen Yang and Li Feng represented the future of the Mountain Suppression Martial Arts Hall, while Lin Fan and his master and fellow disciple were dispensable.

Li Feng basked in everyone's attention atop the platform, looking forward to a bright future. In the near future, he would surely be just like Chen Yang, crushing all dissent with overwhelming strength.

As his gaze swept over Lin Fan's retreating figure, a trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

Lin Fan, this time, just watch how I toy with you to death!

The master and his two disciples returned to Yue Shan's courtyard. Unable to suppress his injuries any longer, Yue Shan spat out another mouthful of blood. He staggered and was about to collapse to the ground when Lin Fan and Yang Kuan caught him with quick eyes and hands.

"Master!"

The two cries betrayed their alarm.

"Chen Yang, how vicious. He actually ruptured my apertures." Yue Shan forced the words through gritted teeth.

"What! How dare he?" Yang Kuan was both anxious and furious. With his apertures crippled, Yue Shan's seventh-grade cultivation would be greatly diminished, and he would never be able to advance another inch. For a martial artist, this was worse than death.

Lin Fan's killing intent toward Chen Yang had reached its peak. He had blocked his Dao Path, crippled his master, and trampled his dignity. This enmity could not coexist beneath the same sky.

"With his current strength, what wouldn't he dare do?" Yue Shan looked dejected, lost in bewilderment.

He had wholeheartedly sought to uphold the martial arts hall's rules and secure fair treatment for every disciple, yet this was what he had received in return. Apart from his two disciples, not a single person in the entire hall had spoken up for him.

Yang Kuan had never seen his master so utterly dispirited. His heart bled.

"Master, if I don't avenge this, I swear I'm not worthy of being human!" he said through clenched teeth.

"I'll slaughter him!" Lin Fan also declared, his voice filled with ruthlessness.

Seeing his two disciples like this, a trace of comfort appeared in Yue Shan's eyes. He rested his hands on their shoulders. "I'm glad you feel this way, but forget about revenge. You're the only two disciples I have. I don't want you throwing your lives away. He's not someone you can handle."

Tears streamed down Yang Kuan's face at his words. "Master... your disciple is useless."

"You've already done very well, but becoming a martial prodigy isn't so easy," Yue Shan consoled him.

Lin Fan pressed his lips together, his expression exceptionally resolute. "Master, I believe Heaven never fails those who persevere. One day, I'll make Chen Yang kneel and apologize to you, and I'll heal your injuries too."

Yue Shan's eyes grew moist. He patted Lin Fan's shoulder. "Good child, don't let hatred blind you. Come with me."

With that, he led the way toward the building where he lived.

Lin Fan and Yang Kuan waited in the sitting room. Before long, Yue Shan emerged from his room with seven books in his hands.

"These are my cultivation insights on Body Tempering, Bone Forging, Aperture Opening, the Gang-Breaking Fist, the Gale Leg, the Mountain Control Art, and the Mountain Suppression Fist. I hope they can lend you a hand on your martial path." As he spoke, he held the books out to Yang Kuan.

Yang Kuan did not take them, his expression growing even more sorrowful. "Master, I can just ask you whenever there's something I don't understand. Why are you doing this?"

But Yue Shan thrust the books into Yang Kuan's arms. "Take them. I've offended too many people over the years. Now that my strength has declined so greatly, some of them may no longer be able to sit still."

"Master!" Yang Kuan cried in distress. He understood that his master was making his final arrangements.

Yue Shan's face hardened. "A man should stand tall enough to support heaven and earth. What kind of behavior is all this weeping?"

Yang Kuan pressed his lips tightly together, but his tears fell despite himself.

"As the senior disciple, you must take good care of your junior brother and guide his cultivation from now on," Yue Shan instructed Yang Kuan.

Yue Shan turned his gaze toward Lin Fan, self-reproach surfacing in his eyes. "Lin Fan, I originally planned to properly guide your cultivation once you reached the entry level of Body Tempering. Perhaps I won't be able to fulfill my responsibilities as your master. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself."

Lin Fan held his face taut, refusing to let sorrow show. "Master, there will definitely be a chance. I'm still waiting for you to guide me personally."

Yue Shan shook his head, took two banknotes from inside his robes, and tucked one into Lin Fan's robes and the other into Yang Kuan's.

"These are the savings I've accumulated over all these years. Now I can only use them to make some small amends for the responsibilities I've failed to fulfill as your master." Yue Shan's expression grew increasingly bleak.

"Master!" Yue Shan broke down.

Lin Fan pressed his lips tightly together. Looking at the words "one hundred taels of gold" on the banknote, his eyes grew moist.

He had had little contact with Yue Shan, and their bond could not be called deep. Yet Yue Shan was actually willing to give him half his wealth. That care and protection filled him with warmth and moved him in a way he had not felt for a long time.

Yue Shan waved a hand. "Go to Shopkeeper Tang's estate right now and carry out the protection assignment. Lin Fan, remember to bring your friends from the outer courtyard. Go. Don't come back until the Green Snake Bandits have been dealt with." With that, he turned away.

"Master!" Yang Kuan wailed, unwilling to move.

Lin Fan took a long look at Yue Shan's back and cupped his hands. "Master, your disciple will never forget your kindness for as long as he lives. Master, take care!" With that, he pulled Yang Kuan away.

At the courtyard entrance, Lin Fan patted the emotionally shattered Yang Kuan. "Senior brother, don't let Master's care go to waste. Our sorrow will only make our enemies laugh. Only strength can make them pay!" he said earnestly.

Yang Kuan knelt on the ground and knocked his head down with a resounding thud toward Yue Shan's figure, his back turned. "Master, your disciple will remember your kindness until his dying day!"

He spoke through sobs, then wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, stood up, and headed toward the dormitories.

Lin Fan first made a trip to the outer courtyard and found his former roommates, Wang Wu, Meng Lin, Fang Xiang, and Sun Ming. They had all reached minor accomplishment in the Iron Cloth Shirt and entered the outer courtyard.

When the four saw Lin Fan, the worry in their eyes deepened. Yue Shan and Chen Yang's battle had caused such a commotion that they had naturally seen it too. Yue Shan's defeat had given them a bad premonition. Now that premonition was about to come true, and Lin Fan's words confirmed their suspicions.

"Pack your things and leave immediately. Meet at the market." Lin Fan left them with that instruction and departed.

"Yes."

Wang Wu and the others answered together. They had already sensed the gravity of the situation.

Half a quarter-hour later, the six of them gathered at the market, then hurried toward the Tang Family Estate.

On the way, Lin Fan explained the reason to Wang Wu and the others. "My master was severely injured by Chen Yang and may face a reckoning from his enemies. Li Feng has been chosen as the outer courtyard's head senior brother. We have to leave and shelter from the storm, or life won't be easy."

"Damn Chen Yang, damn Li Feng! Fuck his mother!" Wang Wu cursed.

Meng Lin and the others were also filled with resentment, each of them breaking into curses.