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Fifth Elder’s face immediately flushed red. He felt like he had been insulted and looked down upon, so he couldn’t help but shout, “You little bastard! Who would want those three melons and two jujubes of yours? Laozi has lived for so long, so what haven’t I seen? Would I take a fancy to your things? Aren’t you looking down upon us a bit too much? Those cultivation methods are supposed to belong to the individuals who possess them. If they were to reveal them and someone plans to seize another’s cultivation method, then that would be a grave matter indeed.”
If the matter wasn’t settled well, the two of them could end up with a deep-seated hatred for each other!
As the head of the family, Fifth Elder naturally shies away from such matters, but……damn it! It’s not like he’s a craftsman or an alchemist anyway, so what damn use could he have for their cultivation methods!
From what he saw of the current situation, Lin Xuanzhi wasn’t hiding the corpse at all. Even if they had doubts in their hearts, no one could reach a final conclusion without any concrete evidence!
But Third Elder was still trying to fan the fire, “You can’t say that. Your cultivation level has improved by leaps and bounds within such a short amount of time, so there are a lot of people within the family who suspect that you’re practicing some sort of evil demonic art. If you take out your manual, you’ll be able to shut their mouths, and make them even more convinced of your talents at the same time.”
“He, to put it bluntly, you’re all just after the cultivation method.” Lin Xuanzhi sneered disappointedly, “It’s not like I can’t give you my cultivation method. But, this craftsman cultivation method would probably be of little use to the Lin family. Third Elder, don’t tell me that you really plan to have Xuanzhi cut off all ties completely with the Lin family, over this one cultivation method?”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting!” Fifth Elder’s heart clutched immediately and he scolded himself for being so stubborn. He quickly said, “We definitely have no such intention. Since Xuanzhi has already been proven to be innocent, then this matter will end here, and no one will ever mention it again!”
Second Elder understood the pros and cons involved in this as well. He grinned as he fulfilled his duty as a peacemaker, and said calmly, “Xuanzhi ah, we were the ones who have been rude this time, since we suspected you based solely on a few words that someone had uttered. But you should understand that the Lin family has always treaded the righteous path to Dao, so we can never co-exist with the devil’s path. When we heard someone say that someone was cultivating the devil’s path in our family, as the elders, we would naturally feel anxious.” This was the way out that Lin Xuanzhi had been waiting for. He knew what was good and bad for him, so he took the way out and spoke in a gentler manner, “Since that’s the case, do the elders still have something else to discuss with me?”
Fifth Elder laughed bitterly, “No, we don’t.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s cold gaze swept over the dumbfounded Lin Yangzhi, “If you had any doubts about my cultivation method, you could’ve just asked me straight out, and I would have explained it to you. But engaging in such trickery behind the scenes…is a bit excessive.”
Lin Yangzhi’s face was flushed with anger, and the colour of his face alternated between green and white. He clenched his teeth, “You must have moved the corpse away. How can you prove that you’ve been in your room the whole day today?”
“If you hadn’t mentioned that, I would’ve forgotten it too.” The corners of Lin Xuanzhi’s mouth curved up leisurely, “I’ve been crafting equipment the whole afternoon today. If you guys hadn’t suddenly crashed into my room which forced me to stop mid-way, I would have probably already crafted a high-grade magic tool by now. If the elders don’t believe me, you could dispatch someone to go collect the debris, and let someone who knows the ropes check it; to see how long it would take through a process of constant crafting before that magic tool could reach that kind of standard!”
Lin Yangzhi said to Fifth Elder, “Head, I’ll bring someone over to check the debris!”
“That’s enough!” Fifth Elder’s face was now completely dark as he shouted, “Before you even got your facts straight, you casually jumped to conclusions and almost slandered Lin Xuanzhi as a result. You’ve really disappointed me this time.”
“Head….” Lin Yangzhi’s whole body stiffened up.
Wasn’t the word ‘slander’ a bit too heavy a word for what he had done?
However, at this moment and in this situation, he had absolutely no evidence to prove that what he had said was the truth!
Wait, no. He still had a Breaking Sky Bird. It was a spy demonic beast, and it had also seen Yan Tianhen fiddle around with the corpse in the cellar!
“My Breaking Sky Bird can act as a witness!” Lin Yangzhi reacted quickly with his wits in this emergency. He released the Breaking Sky Bird that was as big as a fly from his storage bag.
Since the Breaking Sky Bird had sniffed that corpse’s scent, it would be very easy for it to find the corpse again by virtue of the nature of its species’ natural disposition and talent.
After Lin Yangzhi released that Breaking Sky Bird, it soared into the sky, then fluttered its wings as it flew towards the back mountains.
Third Elder’s face changed all of a sudden, and like a condor, he flew into the sky from the cellar and created a sharp gust of Qi with his hand seals, then sent it towards the tiny Breaking Sky Bird with merciless murderous intent!
With a whoosh that penetrated through the air, the Breaking Sky Bird was actually sliced into pieces by the gust of Qi!
Lin Yangzhi’s face turned ghastly pale. All the colour had completely drained from his face, and he felt like he was on the verge of collapsing!
“How audacious of you!” Third Elder immediately shouted in a cold voice, “You actually dared to use such dirty means against your own family member! Lin Yangzhi, don’t think that just because you’ve already been accepted as a disciple at Sky Peak Sect, that the Lin family won’t be able to take charge of you anymore!”
After he saw his own beloved Breaking Sky Bird get killed like that, Lin Yangzhi got so angry that his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
He didn’t understand why the Third Elder who had always found Lin Xuanzhi unpleasant to the eye would actually be the first to revolt at this kind of timing, and kill his Breaking Sky Bird!
That was a spy that his Shifu had gifted to him!
Second Elder shook his head and sighed, then he said earnestly, “Yangzhi, if one obtains honour, everyone else obtains honour; and if one person gets harmed, everyone else gets harmed as well. A single tree can’t make up a forest. Your cultivation level may be very high, but your heart for Dao is not stable. You should go back and proper reflect upon yourself first ba. Otherwise, it would be very easy for stubbles to appear on your cultivation path in the future.”
When he was done speaking, Second Elder was the first to leave this place and had left the Lin Yangzhi, who looked terrifyingly pale, behind.
Third Elder shot Lin Yangzhi a warning glance and left. Before he left, he stared at Lin Xuanzhi for a long while.
After he uttered the words ‘don’t let me get a handle on you’, he walked away with a furious expression on his face.
As for Lin Yangzhi, he had been taken away by the guards of the Law Enforcement Hall to the Reflection Cliff to reflect upon himself.
As the head of the family, Fifth Elder had to stay behind alone to clean up the mess.
Lin Xuanzhi and Fifth Elder looked at each other. Beside them stood a pitiful looking Yan Tianhen who was wiping away his tears.
The corners of Lin Xuanzhi’s mouth curved up slightly as he revealed a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
When Fifth Elder saw that smile, his scalp immediately felt a tingling numbness and he laughed bitterly in his heart for awhile. He said, “Xuanzhi, we’re the ones who let you down this time.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled, then said as if he didn’t think much of it, “I’m actually quite used to this kind of let downs. After all, the Lin family has always been like this. If there comes a day when someone isn’t trying their best to cause trouble for me, I would find that strange instead.”
After he was stabbed with such satire that was neither hot nor cold, Fifth Elder felt like he had been thoroughly humiliated.
He coughed once to conceal his embarrassment, then said very uneasily, “Actually, the blame can’t all be placed on our heads. After all, Tianhen’s and your cultivation speed has been so quick that it’s a bit frightening. And coincidentally, Lin Yangzhi was so assured when he said that he had seen a corpse in the cellar, which was why we had forgotten to verify it at that moment.”
“The Head need not explain anything, Xuanzhi just needs to admit my bad luck.” Lin Xuanzhi said lightly, “But, I do want to know why someone would abruptly say that my unused cellar would suddenly have a corpse that was being refined. Yet after a formidable array of people had come forward, they would discover that the corpse had vanished into thin air. The Head wouldn’t really think that Lin Yangzhi was directing and acting in his own show and had fabricated all these lies ba?”
Anyone with a brain would know that Lin Yangzhi had been tricked today.
But the problem is, who was the one who had tricked Lin Yangzhi?
Frankly speaking, Fifth Elder had always thought that Lin Xuanzhi was the one who had designed a trap and deliberately lured Lin Yangzhi into it to embarrass him. Or, that Lin Xuanzhi really was cultivating the devil’s arts, but he reacted quickly and played around of ‘mantis stalking the cicada while it was unaware of the golden oriole behind’. But Lin Xuanzhi’s performance truly made it seem as if he wasn’t in the know.
A lot more doubts instantly arose in Fifth Elder’s heart.
He frowned and said, “You can tell me any thoughts you may have.”
Lin Xuanzhi looked at the Yan Tianhen leaning against him like a wilted eggplant, then brought him into his embrace with one hand. “Head, Ah Hen and I have never seen a corpse, but it had been discovered by Lin Yangzhi, and he even asserted emphatically that it belonged to us. So why don’t we surmise that someone did place the corpse in the cellar, and it was found by Lin Yangzhi.” His lips curved up and Lin Xuanzhi continued, “But, that person had received news in advance and knew that the location of the corpse had been exposed, so that person dispatched someone over to take the corpse away beforehand. So by the time Lin Yangzhi had brought everyone here, there was nothing.”
“Therefore, when everyone comes, you would still suspect that I was the one who had rigged a scam in the dark and shifted everyone’s attention from the one who was manipulating everything behind the scenes, to me. Secondly….hehe.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled lightly, then looked at Mt. Luojia behind him and narrowed his eyes, “The corpse that’s being refined is still safe and sound in that person’s hands.”
Fifth Elder gazed at Lin Xuanzhi with a profound look in his eyes, “Everything that had happened today occurred because Lin Yangzhi wanted to frame and make false charges against you. As for the rest, both you and I will not think too much about it.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled, “My crafting process was interrupted, so I have suffered quite a bit of a loss. I’ve always been a very timid person, and my younger brother who always gets bullied had been escorted the whole way here, and had even been threatened. Does the Head think that I wouldn’t overthink things under this sort of circumstances?”
Fifth Elder couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching. He glared at Lin Xuanzhi, “Just give it to me straight, what do you want to extort from me this time?”
“Head, using the word ‘extort’ seems a bit too much.” Lin Xuanzhi said lightly, “At most it’s just a little necessary compensation.”
Fifth Elder, “……”
Lin Xuanzhi continued, “Since the Head is so generous and has told me to speak, then I won’t find it embarrassing to be impolite. The amethyst currency card from before has no more money left. I used all the money inside to buy forged stones and materials required for crafting, but unfortunately, a whole pot of them was destroyed just now. As for my Ah Di, the Head has seen today too, he has a dual elemental wood and fire spiritual roots, and I’ve also checked to see that he does have an alchemist fire in him that he can use to refine pills. But since we’re unable to make ends meet, we don’t have the money to buy materials for refining pills, so it is difficult for us to put our skills into practice. Why don’t the Head pass Ah Hen some materials used for refining pills as well?”
Fifth Elder felt like he had practically lost to Lin Xuanzhi.
Giving him this sum meant that several months of the Lin family’s income would be drifting away.
However, when Lin Xuanzhi had said ‘cut off all ties completely with the Lin family’, Fifth Elder’s heart did jump with a start.
A craftsman and an alchemist — these are the two professions that all the major powers fight over to pursue in the Five Continents’ mainlands. He can’t afford to offend even one of them, let alone two! Even if these two rascals are members of his Lin family and are living off the Lin family’s rice!
Fifth Elder once again berated the Lin Yangzhi who had caused him so much trouble thoroughly.
Between pulling them in and pushing them out, was it really necessary to consider which option he should choose?
Fifth Elder threw Lin Xuanzhi a sapphire blue currency card and rolled his eyes, “There’s 100,000 gold inside; all of the profits the Lin family made for this month is in that card. Just buy whatever you want to buy ba.”
Yan Tianhen’s eyes widened considerably — 100,000 gold?! He has never seen that much money before in his life!
—
Zryuu: Less pain today, but it still throbs a bit. So no RSCB chap will be released tmr, but at least I got this one out so no cliffy~
Recruitment Notice: I’m currently recruiting co-translator(s) who would be willing to work on RSCB with me~ If you’re interested, do take the CG’s translator’s test, and if you have any questions, feel free to DM me on discord @zryuu#6056
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