Lin Shuyou pulled out the mace and rubbed it on the ground beside him, wiping off the red-and-white gunk on it.
"It's not a big deal. Killed him, killed him. Nothing to fuss about."
Chen Lin: "But next, his family might send people over…"
Lin Shuyou: "Then let them come."
As he spoke, Lin Shuyou's face grew solemn.
He was thinking about how to put some procedural justice on this whole thing.
He always read every issue of Brother Xiao Yuan's "Walking River Behavior Regulations" carefully; he used to read it alone, and now he could also discuss it with the child.
The child said there was one very important rule in there: procedural justice—do what's convenient for yourself in the name of the Heavenly Dao, and then nothing will stand in your way.
Plus, Brother Bin had already explained it to him in the car last night: this is Nantong, Corpse Recovery Li's Daoist Field. If you come here and dare to break the rules, that's basically slapping Corpse Recovery Li in the face.
Given Brother Xiao Yuan's usual style, if the old man were a loner, fine, the matter would just end here. But if he had family power behind him, then next step would be to go cancel their household registration.
At this thought, the heavy, contemplative look on Lin Shuyou's face turned into deep self-reproach.
It was all because the child messed around and made things complicated. If they'd just shoved these troublesome matters outside, everyone could've continued their vacation. Now that it's like this, everyone has to make a special trip out to wipe a family out for him—what a hassle.
Watching the change in his expression, Chen Lin thought this was the belated awakening of a hot-blooded youth who had finally realized he should be afraid.
"I'm the one who killed him, it has nothing to do with you. Once we leave Nantong, I'll spread the news. The Chen Family is oppressed, yes, but we still have ways to protect ourselves. My brother is lighting lamps On the River; they wouldn't dare act too openly. As for me, I'll just be careful, hide well, and not let them find me."
Originally, with a Guardian bound to her, she wasn't actually that scared. No matter what, the Guardian could keep her alive. But now the Guardian was badly injured and asleep; she couldn't even go to college anymore.
Lin Shuyou lowered his head to look at her and smiled.
Chen Lin: "You… what are you laughing at?"
Lin Shuyou: "I'm laughing at how stupid you are."
Back in the team, Brother Bin was known as "half a brain," and Run Sheng could occasionally come out with some brilliant insight. Only he and Meng Meng were considered neck-and-neck at the bottom.
Always stuck on the "bottom rung," and today he runs into someone even dumber than him—he found it rare and amusing.
She still hadn't realized that his own strength, and the power backing him, didn't give a damn about this old man or his so-called family behind him.
All the entanglements, confrontations, and standoffs between the Chen Family and the old man's side were, in their eyes, nothing more than kids playing house.
Not to mention that if the old lady reminisced about her youth for a moment, she could wipe out someone's inheritance from thousands of miles away. Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu, whoever stepped out the door, could destroy a whole faction. Even Xiong Shan, who was just here doing odd jobs, had already completed revenge on three of the four families in Old Heavenly Gate before coming here.
Chen Lin: "I'm talking to you about something serious. I don't want, because of me, to drag you and the people around you into this whirlpool."
The girl's tone was very sincere, and her face showed genuine emotion.
Under absolute information asymmetry, it's almost impossible to get the deduction right. For Chen Lin to quickly accept the reality in front of her would be as absurd as the dude or girl on the bunk above you in the dorm suddenly poking their head down and saying: their family is the richest in the country.
The main reason was that Tan Wenbin protected Zhou Yunyun too well, to the point that Zhou Yunyun had no idea what her boyfriend actually did.
Lin Shuyou pressed his lips together and said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have called you stupid. My master and my grandpa used to be even more clueless than you."
Chen Lin: "I…"
Lin Shuyou: "Alright, go back, wash your clothes, then get some rest. I'll clean up here."
Chen Lin didn't leave. She sat on the ridge by the field, hugging her knees, just watching as Lin Shuyou set the trampled crops back upright.
Thanks to Mr. Li's "sent-down" re-education in the countryside, Lin Shuyou was now a dab hand at farm work.
When Li Sanjiang had pitched him earlier, he really hadn't been bragging: in the countryside, a young man who can work, is honest, and looks decent really doesn't lack for potential partners.
Tan Wenbin felt like he didn't need to do anything himself anymore, so he didn't show up; he just headed straight home.
Walking along, he took out his brick-sized mobile and got ready to call the off-establishment squad leader.
The old man's family background was something the old lady and the others definitely wouldn't know—too small fry.
If you wanted information, Jiujiang Zhao was the best one to ask.
He first sent a pager message; after a while, the call came through.
"Hello."
"Immortal Master Erlang, it's me."
"It's so late—what business does Tan Da Ban have with me?"
"Want to ask you about a certain family."
Tan Wenbin described the opponent's moves, especially the scene where the phantom of the axe-bearer appeared, in fairly detailed terms.
"Yin Yang Family?"
"Yeah."
"The Yin Yang Family's been in decline for ages. Among those with any heritage and name in the Jianghu now, one is the Chen Family…"
"Then it's the other one."
"The Lu Family—a Yin Yang Family of Onmyoji good at Soul Nurturing Generals, and fond of doing that Life Chart life-borrowing crap.
I've heard that over the past few years, because of a certain incident, they've been suppressing the Chen Family pretty hard. The Chen Family basically doesn't dare go out anymore. Why, did someone piss off that Li kid?"
"No, Brother Xiao Yuan's asleep."
"Then they still have a sliver of a way out."
"They pissed off Ah You."
"I'll bring people over and kill them all."
"So proactive?"
"Ah You, for better or worse, is the only good person among you lot. I can't just sit back and watch him go dark."
