「The next day.」
During a break from his cultivation, Lin Yan studied the True Understanding of Earth Veins.
The book was incredibly abstruse, but fortunately, his focus was exceptional. After pushing through the difficult opening passages, he became utterly captivated.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Is Junior Brother Lin in?"
A knock came from outside. Lin Yan tucked the book into his robes, got up, and opened the door.
"Senior Brother Zhang?"
Lin Yan looked at Zhang Liang standing in the doorway, his expression puzzled. ’Why would he come to my home?’
’Senior Brother Zhang Liang is a Second-Time Skin Smoothing powerhouse. We’re not close at the Martial Arts Hall, so it’s unlikely he’s here for a social visit.’
"Junior Brother Lin, which room do you live in?"
Zhang Liang’s tone was neutral. Though Lin Yan didn’t understand the purpose of his visit, he answered honestly, "I live in the side room on the right."
"Please take me inside to have a look."
"Senior Brother Zhang, is something the matter?" Lin Yan didn’t move. He wanted a reason.
"This morning, Junior Brother Ge Hui’s body was discovered by the river. You had a conflict with Ge Hui, so the Master sent the two of us to investigate."
Lin Yan was taken aback. "I had my conflicts with Ge Hui, but we were still fellow Martial Arts Academy Disciples. I wouldn’t go so far as to kill him."
"Don’t worry, Junior Brother Lin. You’re not the only one. Others from the Martial Arts Hall who had issues with Junior Brother Ge are also being investigated. We aren’t targeting you personally."
Zhang Liang explained, his expression a little odd.
Now that the investigation was underway, he was discovering that quite a few junior brothers at the Martial Arts Hall had conflicts with Ge Hui.
"If it’s the Master’s order, then I’ll take you inside, Senior Brother."
Lin Yan didn’t protest further. ’Fortunately, I have no secrets in my room. The clothes from my previous kills were burned long ago.’
"I have to follow the Master’s orders. No offense, Junior Brother Lin."
When they came out of the room, Zhang Liang’s attitude had softened considerably. Ge Hui hadn’t been popular among the disciples at the Martial Arts Hall, but still, they were brothers-in-arms; they shouldn’t be killing one another.
Now that Lin Yan was largely cleared of suspicion, Zhang Liang’s attitude naturally shifted.
"Where were you last night, Junior Brother Lin?"
"I was at home last night."
"Do you have a witness?"
"I went to visit the home of the teacher who taught me to read in the early evening. Around 7:30 PM, he came to my house as a guest and stayed for about fifteen minutes."
Zhang Liang nodded. If Junior Brother Lin wasn’t lying, then he could be cleared of suspicion.
The time of death determined by the forensic doctor was right around 7 to 9 PM.
"Thank you for your honesty, Junior Brother. However, you still need to come with me to the Martial Arts Hall to see the Master."
"Alright."
Lin Yan agreed. He was full of questions himself and was also eager to find out who had killed Ge Hui.
The rear courtyard of the Martial Arts Hall.
By the time Lin Yan arrived with Zhang Liang, a dozen or so disciples had already gathered in the rear courtyard. Their expressions were grim and filled with anger. Regardless of their actual relationships with Ge Hui, they had to stand before the Master and present a united front, as if sharing a common enemy.
Lin Yan scanned the crowd and, as usual, found Senior Brother Li An and quietly moved closer.
"Senior Brother Li, what’s really going on?"
"Last night, Ge Hui was drinking on a pleasure boat on the river. Around 7 to 9 PM, he disembarked to go home but was ambushed by the riverside. Someone smashed his head in with a weapon like an iron rod and stole all his silver. According to the Ge Family, Ge Hui was carrying over a hundred taels in silver banknotes, and they’re all gone."
Lin Yan felt a sharp pang of regret. ’Over a hundred taels in silver banknotes... that all should have been mine.’
"Did Ge Hui have that much money?"
"Ge Hui lied to his family, saying he needed money to break through to the Second-Time Skin Smoothing. Ten days ago, his father sold their street-front shop in South City for one hundred and thirty taels and gave the money to him. But according to Senior Brother Hao’s investigation, Ge Hui has been going to the pleasure boats every night for the past ten days and has already spent fifty taels."
Li An lowered his voice. "Quite a few people at the Martial Arts Hall knew about Ge Hui’s lavish spending recently."
Lin Yan had a flash of insight. ’No wonder the Master suspects one of the Martial Arts Academy Disciples was behind this.’
’Ge Hui had conflicts with many people at the Martial Arts Hall. In the past, they were all fellow disciples, and with the hall’s rules in place, things wouldn’t escalate into a full-blown fight.’
’But with silver involved, that was another story entirely.’
A hundred taels of silver might not seem like a lot, and the senior brothers at the Martial Arts Hall were worth at least that much. But every Martial Artist is always in need of silver.
More silver allows for more expensive cultivation methods; there’s never enough to go around.
Soon, the sound of footsteps came from behind a screen, and the crowd, which had been murmuring quietly, instantly fell silent.
Yang Qingfeng emerged from behind the screen of the side hall, followed by Zhang Liang and seven other senior brothers.
Seeing these senior brothers, Lin Yan understood that Senior Brother Zhang hadn’t been lying. He wasn’t the only suspect. The others must have been investigating the remaining persons of interest and had just been inside reporting their findings to the Master.
Yang Qingfeng’s sharp gaze swept over all the disciples, as if trying to peer into each of their hearts. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Ge Hui was murdered, as you now know. In the future, you must all be more cautious when you’re out in the world."
"Yes!"
Lin Yan and the others answered in unison.
Looking at the disciples with their heads bowed, Yang Qingfeng’s heart seethed with anger. He was furious that one of his disciples had been murdered, but he was even more furious at Ge Hui’s own outrageous behavior.
Among the Single-Time Skin Smoothing disciples in the hall, four had conflicts with him. Among the disciples who had not yet succeeded in Skin Smoothing, as many as ten held a grudge against him.
As for outside the hall, the investigation that morning revealed that Ge Hui had frequently relied on his status as one of Yang’s own disciples and a Single-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist to bully the weak.
He had personally gone to the place where Ge Hui was killed, but the murderer had left no clues. The crime scene was on the riverbank near the pleasure boats, an area with a high volume of Martial Artist traffic, making it extremely difficult to screen for suspicious individuals.
Under the circumstances, the only lead was to investigate his enemies—but Ge Hui had far too many.
One may survive a calamity sent by the heavens, but not one of their own making!
Yang Qingfeng’s voice was stern. "Cultivate your character before you cultivate your martial arts! If I discover anyone using their status as a Martial Artist and a disciple of this hall to bully the weak, they will be punished severely and without leniency."
Hearing this, a chill went down the spines of the disciples. They knew the Master was truly furious this time.
After admonishing the disciples, Yang Qingfeng departed. The crowd let out a slight sigh of relief, but their expressions remained grim.
Even those who had conflicts with Ge Hui weren’t foolish enough to reveal their true feelings at a time like this. Even the worst of men have a few friends, and Ge Hui was no exception. If anyone were to mock him now, saying he got what he deserved, those close to Ge Hui would surely relay the words to the Master, which would be asking for trouble.
Li An gave Lin Yan a meaningful look, and the two walked out of the courtyard together.
"Junior Brother Lin, I’m planning to take up an external post."
"You’re taking an external post, Senior Brother?"
Lin Yan was surprised. Senior Brother Li had achieved Single-Time Skin Smoothing two and a half years ago and had stayed at the Martial Arts Hall to train ever since, never choosing to take an external post.
He had thought Senior Brother Li was planning to stay at the Martial Arts Hall and break through to Second-Time Skin Smoothing in one go before considering an external post. ’Why the change of heart?’
Li An gave a bitter smile, his voice low. "I had planned to break through to Second-Time Skin Smoothing before considering a post, but unfortunately, I failed a few days ago. It’ll be at least three months before I can try again. During that time, I have to recover from my injuries, and the expenses will only be higher."
His family’s wealth was about average among the disciples of the Martial Arts Hall, but after failing to break through to Second-Time Skin Smoothing, he had no choice but to think about money.
When a Martial Artist attempts Skin Smoothing and Breaking Through, failure sends their Qi Blood into chaos. Recovery requires medicine, causing expenses to skyrocket, and there’s no guarantee the next attempt will be successful.
There are four stages to Skin Smoothing, and each one is more difficult than the last.
"Junior Brother Lin, as someone who’s been through this, let me give you a piece of advice: don’t be in a hurry to break through. The cost of spending a few more months to polish your Qi Blood is far lower than the cost of recovering from failure. For my body to recover, I need to spend this much."
Li An held out his hand, gesturing a number. Lin Yan’s pupils constricted. ’That much?’
"Failing once costs a hundred taels of silver to recuperate. A second failure, two hundred taels. If you fail a third time... you might as well just give up."
This was the cruelty of the Martial Path. Cultivation was difficult, but breaking through realms was even harder.
’Thankfully, I have the Martial Arts Tree. As long as my Qi Blood is sufficient, I automatically break through to the next Realm.’
’Otherwise, with my family’s financial situation, a single failure would have been impossible to recover from.’

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