East City Qingshui Lane.
The outer area of East City.
Zhou San bought a residence here.
The deeper one is involved in the dark, the more they want to live with the light.
This saying fits Zhou San very well.
East City is the safest area in the county, but given Zhou San’s identity and status, he could only buy a residence near the outer area of East City.
After leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Lin Chen headed straight for Qingshui Lane and quickly found Zhou San’s residence.
Zhou Mansion!
At this moment, the courtyard gate was tightly closed, but Lin Chen’s keen hearing allowed him to detect movements inside the yard, with sounds of things being moved and footsteps.
"Little brother, hurry up, our time is running out. Master Pang’s people said the government office will come tomorrow, and he can only buy us one night’s time."
In the courtyard, a young girl holding a bundle was supporting a woman in her thirties with a charming demeanor, while a young man with a cold face emerged from the main hall, also carrying a bundle.
"Sister, do you really trust Master Pang that much?"
"Little brother, what do you mean by that?"
"I inquired around; our father did make offerings to Master Pang, but what kind of person is Master Pang? There are countless people who curry favor with him, our father wouldn’t even be ranked, so why would he help us leave the city late at night? I’m afraid he harbors ill intentions."
Zhou Ke noticed the drastic change in the expressions of his mother and sister and showed a smug look of having seen through everything: "If I’m not mistaken, once we are out of the city, what awaits us is likely Long Saber under Master Pang’s command."
"Ke’er, what should we do then? It’s all your father’s fault. You’ll be entering the Martial Arts Hall next year. I told him to retire to avoid affecting you, but he wouldn’t listen, and now look at the trouble he’s brought upon us."
"Mother, father was not wrong!"
Zhou Ke interrupted his mother’s complaints: "Without money, how could we proceed in the Martial Path? The problem was that father didn’t investigate that little girl’s background thoroughly. Who could have guessed that a girl from a small village could have connections with those prominent disciples from the Martial Hall?"
"Little brother, who exactly are our enemies?"
"Two people, a man and a woman. I don’t know the woman’s origin, but I found out about the man; he’s from Linhu Village, and that little girl is from Linhu Village, which attracted their intervention."
In Zhou Ke’s heart, he didn’t think his father was wrong. Father was very cautious, never abducting children from the city; even if they were from the town, he would have people investigate their background beforehand to prevent abducting a child from a prominent family in town.
Who could have thought that abducting a child from a village would lead to such events?
Moreover, those two were too ruthless. Usually, as long as there was some background involved, they’d negotiate with Father, and with some silver coins, he’d let them go.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ke’s eyes filled with venom. He didn’t know the background of that female disciple to seek revenge, but the disciple from Linhu Village—after he’s finished training, he’ll certainly exact revenge.
Mrs. Zhou saw the hatred in her son’s eyes and reminded him: "Ke’er, even your father wasn’t a match for that person; don’t think about revenge now."
"Mother, I’m not stupid. Seeking revenge now would be suicidal. Revenge is a long-term plan. We’ll leave through the back door and exit the city at dawn."
"I’ll listen to you, son."
"Little brother, now that father is gone, mother and I are relying on you."
Zhou Ke grinned: "Mother, big sister, don’t worry. Father left me..."
Halfway through his sentence, Zhou Ke’s eyes contracted, and a look of terror appeared on his face as he saw a figure fly over the courtyard wall and pounce towards him like lightning.
Bam!
In an instant, Zhou Ke’s figure flew several yards and hit the wall, fainting, his life or death unknown.
"Ah!"
Mrs. Zhou was about to scream in terror, but her cry ended abruptly as a hand slapped her head.
Blood splattered, and Mrs. Zhou flew out as well, half of her face sliced away.
"No... don’t kill me. I... I can be your servant. I know how my father trained those little girls. I can serve..."
Slap!
The woman’s body flew out, following in her mother’s footsteps.
After slapping the woman to death, Lin Chen looked at the three corpses on the ground with little emotion.
A whole family should be complete.
Since they want revenge, there’s no way I can let them live.
Moreover, from their conversation, he knew these three were fully aware of what Zhou San did and never thought to stop him. Given this, they were not entirely innocent.
There was no burden in his heart when it came to killing these three.
As for the initial shock and fear of killing and seeing blood, Lin Chen found he had no such feelings.
A martial artist naturally has a strong heart.
Looking at the three bodies on the ground, Lin Chen quickly picked up the bundles from the siblings, didn’t check the contents, and vaulted over the wall with the bundles.
Facing three ordinary people, he didn’t use Clear Wind Palm or Water Cloud Palm, just relying on brute force to kill them, unconcerned about leaving any clues.
As for being suspected...
Senior Sister Jiang once said, no one would suspect a genius disciple over a few dead people.
A quarter of an hour later.
Jiang Qing looked at the three bodies on the ground, a bit helpless, as she had taken the wrong path, resulting in some delay.
Someone had acted before her.
Was it Zhou San’s enemy?
After pondering a moment in silence, Jiang Qing didn’t linger and leaped over the courtyard wall, disappearing.
Zhou San meant little to her. She came here merely out of fear that Zhou San’s family would retaliate against Junior Brother Lin’s family.
After Jiang Qing left, Yan He’an’s figure emerged from the darkness.
"Judging by the silhouette, it should be Jingshui Martial Arts Hall’s Jiang Qing. This young girl is indeed decisive, knowing that to weed out, one must remove the roots."
Yan He’an looked at the three bodies on the ground, took a firestarter from his pocket, flicked it, and the spark landed accurately on the window paper, soon setting a big fire in the courtyard.
"Damn it!"
In front of Zhou Mansion.
A few men in black looked at the mansion consumed by a fierce fire, their faces grim.
Master Pang had sent them to escort Zhou San’s family on their journey and take the silver coins Zhou San left behind, but someone had beaten them to it.
"Let’s retreat!"
The leading man in black waved his hand, and the figures vanished into the darkness.
In the city, by the riverside.
Under a willow tree, Lin Chen was tallying his spoils.
The moonlight was dim, but it did not hinder Lin Chen’s ability to see the contents of the bundles clearly.
Upon opening the first bundle, Lin Chen’s eyes lit up.
A stack of silver tickets and a bag of broken silver.
"Ten, twenty, fifty..."
There’s an old saying that wealth comes from arson and murder!
How true the ancients were!
Without counting it all, Lin Chen stuffed both the silver tickets and silver into his arms, then opened the second bundle.
This bundle was from Zhou San’s son, containing a few pieces of clothing with some silver tickets pressed on top. Lin Chen stuffed the silver tickets into his arms and, noticing something, began feeling around the clothes.
Soon, Lin Chen picked up a long robe, and after a bit of searching, pulled a cloth bag out of the robe’s lining.
A silk cloth bag, tied with red silk thread.
Lin Chen had a premonition that whatever was inside this cloth bag would be something good.
When he first opened the bundle and saw the silver tickets on top of the clothes, he sensed something was off.
Normal people tend to hide valuable items in the safest place; the silver tickets are certainly more valuable than the clothes in the bundle.
For him, if he were to pack money in a bundle, it would be compressed at the bottom, not brazenly placed at the top.
Zhou San’s son putting the silver tickets on top suggested only one possibility: there were more valuable items in the bundle. Placing the silver tickets on top hoped that if an accident happened, the other party, upon seeing the silver tickets, might overlook the more precious items hidden in the bundle.
After stuffing the cloth bag into his arms and checking the two bundles to ensure nothing was missed, Lin Chen picked up a stone beside him and threw it into the bundles, sealed them with a dead knot, then submerged them into the river. Watching the bundles sink to the riverbed, he finally got up and left.
PS: I politely request everyone to keep following the story and reading actively; don’t leave it suspended. The major plot is about to unfold, and the young protagonist is set to rise with the wind and soar to great heights.

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