"I am Lin Yan, from a branch of the Third Branch."
After they verified his Token, Lin Yan removed his hand from his sword hilt and confirmed his identity.
"You’ve been in the mountains for five days. Where did you go? Did you run into anyone?"
The lead man asked, his gaze falling upon the bamboo basket on Lin Yan’s back.
"I’ve been to many peaks, but I haven’t seen anyone else."
Lin Yan shook his head. Seeing the man’s eyes on the basket on his back, he explained, "The medicinal herbs in here are what I’ve gathered over the past five days. But... I was thinking I’d dig them up for the Medicine Gathering Clan People the clan sends, to save them a lot of time."
Hearing Lin Yan’s clumsy explanation, the four clan members from the Law Enforcement Hall couldn’t help but twitch their lips.
Although the clan didn’t explicitly permit the Martial Artists guarding the Yantian Mountain Range to enter the mountains, they knew it was impossible to stop them. That was why the Contribution Points awarded for this duty were so low—it was tacitly understood that their harvests from inside the mountains would supplement their earnings.
It was only because Lin Yan was from a branch family and it was his first time encountering the Law Enforcement Hall that he panicked and tried to explain. If it were anyone else from the clan, they wouldn’t have bothered explaining at all.
The Law Enforcement Hall didn’t care about such things, and besides, that wasn’t what they were here to investigate this time.
"Take us to the places where you dug for herbs."
"The places where I dug for herbs? There are too many. May I ask...?"
"Don’t ask questions. Just take us."
Faced with the man cutting him off, Lin Yan fell silent for a breath before finally saying with resignation, "Alright, I’ll try my best to recall."
「Three hours later.」
Lin Yan and the four members of the Law Enforcement Hall appeared at the entrance of Eagle’s Beak Gorge.
When he saw Lin Mingyuan standing at Eagle’s Beak Gorge, along with several unfamiliar faces nearby, a look of surprise crossed Lin Yan’s face. He immediately walked toward Lin Mingyuan. "Brother Yuan, what’s going on?"
Lin Mingyuan didn’t answer, merely looking at the four clan members from the Law Enforcement Hall.
There were far more than four Law Enforcement Hall members at the scene. Besides these four, there were another six.
The ten members of the Law Enforcement Hall exchanged a few words in low voices. Finally, one stepped forward and gave a complicated look at Lin Mingyuan and the young man standing on the other side with his arms crossed.
"So far, we have not found anyone who has secretly entered the Yantian Mountain Range who is not on the registered list."
"Young masters... have you found my nephew and Qian Wanli?"
Zhao Tieshan’s expression grew anxious. His eyes, holding a final sliver of hope, turned to the member of the Law Enforcement Hall who had spoken.
"No."
"Zixuan and Qian Wanli... could something have happened to them?"
Zhao Tieshan’s body trembled as if he couldn’t bear the blow. But with his now-extraordinary Perception, Lin Yan could clearly detect that when the Law Enforcement Hall member answered "No," Zhao Tieshan’s aura had changed, becoming a little steadier than before.
’My enhanced Perception can do this, too?’
Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed. ’In the future, I can use a person’s aura to judge whether their words are insincere.’
Just like Zhao Tieshan right now. The Law Enforcement Hall hadn’t found Zhao Zixuan and Qian Wanli. He appeared anxious and flustered, but deep down, he was actually breathing a sigh of relief.
"Already received news?" Lin Mingyuan laughed.
It was a faint smile. His lips merely twitched slightly, but there was no mirth in his eyes.
"About this matter, we have someone..."
Before Lin Mingguan could finish, Lin Mingyuan moved. He shot forward, and a spear had somehow appeared in his previously empty right hand. The shaft was jet-black, but the tip gleamed with a cold, silver light.
This spear strike was aimed at Lin Mingguan.
As the spear tip passed, the air boomed. It swept up gravel from the ground ten feet away, which was pulverized by the spear’s momentum before it could even scatter.
Lin Mingguan’s pupils shrank. He retreated instantly, simultaneously drawing the Longsword from his waist. With a single swing, his Sword Momentum spread out, the flash of the blade forming a barrier to block the approaching spear.
CLANG!
A deafening roar of metal striking metal erupted.
A visible shockwave exploded outward from the point where the spear tip and sword edge met. Gravel was sent flying, and some of the nearby Skin Smoothing Martial Artists turned pale and scrambled back.
PFFT!
Lin Mingguan spat out a mouthful of blood, his body stumbling backward uncontrollably.
He couldn’t withstand a full-power strike from Lin Mingyuan.
There was a gap in their Realms.
He was only at the Blood Exchange First Transformation, while Lin Mingyuan was already at the Blood Exchange Second Transformation.
After injuring Lin Mingguan with one strike, Lin Mingyuan didn’t stop. He swung his spear and pursued him again. This time, the spear tip was even faster, even more ruthless!
"Lin Mingyuan!"
At the side, Lin Mingchuan could finally no longer hold back and was about to make a move. However, just as his hand reached for his waist, the leader of the Law Enforcement Hall members flashed in front of him, blocking his way.
"The Third Branch will need to give an explanation for this matter."
"What explanation? It’s a fact that the Zhao Family secretly let people in! I refuse to believe we can’t find them if we turn the Yantian Mountain Range upside down!"
"Mingchuan, before I came to the Yantian Mountain Range, Uncle Qi went to the Law Enforcement Hall."
Seeing Lin Mingchuan fall silent at his words, a trace of helplessness also appeared in Lin Mingye’s eyes.
The Law Enforcement Hall had often played the mediator in the struggles between the Third and Fourth Branches. But this time was different. Uncle Qi, who hadn’t left the ancestral hall in years, had shown up at the Law Enforcement Hall, spear in hand.

Comments

Loading...