Then there were the later changes in the county town...
He had listened to his father’s words, helping where he could. Although the Zheng Family had now half-abandoned Guangping County Town, his own Escort Agency wouldn’t join the crowd in kicking them while they were down just because they were leaving.
’An elder in the family is like a treasure.’
"Brother Chen, let’s go to the Hardware Workshop first, then head back to the Escort Agency."
"The Hardware Workshop?"
"The Old Escort Leader picked up a lot of chronic ailments from his escorting days years ago. It wasn’t a big deal before, but now that his Qi Blood is declining, they’re starting to show. His right foot can’t be exposed to cold water or chill, so I’m planning to go to the Hardware Workshop and find a tinsmith to make a pair of foot covers for him."
"The Old Escort Leader really suffered a lot back when he founded the Weiyuan Escort Agency..."
On his fifth day back in the city, Lin Yan went out for a meeting.
Junior Brother Zhao was leaving for the Profound Celestial Sect tomorrow, so today Junior Brother Zhuang was hosting a banquet for him and Lin Yan.
The banquet was to be held at Junior Brother Zhuang’s residence.
When Lin Yan arrived, he was welcomed into the main hall by a servant. Zhao Linyuan was already sitting in a chair, drinking tea.
"Junior Brother Zhao, you’re even earlier than me."
"Senior Brother Lin, I came out to get some peace and quiet. There are too many guests at home."
Zhao Linyuan looked helpless. His situation was different from Lin Yan’s. Back then, to quickly break through to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, his family not only mortgaged their Silver Building and other shops, but also borrowed silver coins from many relatives and allied families.
Now that those people were visiting, his family found it hard to refuse them.
Not to mention, he had several older sisters, and their husbands’ families also had relatives. If it were possible to turn someone away, his sisters would have already done it for him. The ones who managed to show up were all people they couldn’t refuse.
Even after this filtering process, the threshold of their home was about to be worn down by visitors.
"It can’t be helped. After all, we’re the only two Blood Exchange Realm Martial Artists in Guangping County Town at the moment. For these local families, meeting us doesn’t guarantee a connection, but failing to meet us would definitely cause them to read too much into it."
Lin Yan smiled. He could understand the mindset of these families in Guangping County Town. A single thought from him or Junior Brother Zhao could decide their fate.
Even if they knew they’d be rejected, they still had to come. They were afraid that he or Junior Brother Zhao might, on a whim, curiously ask which families in the county hadn’t come to pay a visit.
The two martial brothers hadn’t been sitting for long before Zhuang Zheng also walked in from a side hall.
The three martial brothers chatted for a while before heading to the rear hall, where servants had already set up the banquet.
"Senior Brother Lin, Senior Brother Zhao is leaving tomorrow. I arranged this gathering today as a farewell for him."
"I get it. Today’s guest of honor is Junior Brother Zhao. I’m just here as the secondary host. You, Junior Brother Zhuang, are the primary host. Just don’t get the fish head pointing in the wrong direction."
Lin Yan understood the culture of Shandong Dao!
After three rounds of drinks, the three martial brothers were toasting one another. At their Realm of cultivation, it was difficult to get drunk on ordinary wine. As for common medicinal liquors that nourished Qi Blood, they were no longer effective for them. Therefore, the wine Zhuang Zheng had prepared this time was a simple grain liquor with a good taste.
The three martial brothers also chatted about cultivation. Zhao Linyuan mostly spoke about matters concerning the transition from the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing to Blood Exchange, clearly intending his words for Zhuang Zheng.
Lin Yan didn’t say much, just sipped his wine slowly and chimed in occasionally.
As they talked, the conversation shifted from cultivation to interesting anecdotes. Zhuang Zheng recounted some incidents he had encountered as the Director of the Inspection Bureau. As he spoke, the tone suddenly shifted. "Speaking of strange tales, I recently encountered something quite odd."
"Oh? What sort of thing would make Junior Brother Zhuang find it strange?"
Lin Yan interjected curiously. He had a gut feeling that this banquet today from Junior Brother Zhuang wasn’t just a simple farewell dinner.
"A while ago in Liuxia Town, outside the city, a martial arts family was completely wiped out. It was only after I sent people to investigate that I learned this family, publicly known as philanthropists in the town, was secretly committing the most heinous acts of kidnapping and mutilation."
"To think such people existed. Then the one who acted against them can be considered to have rid the public of a menace. There’s no need for you to investigate such a matter, Junior Brother Zhuang."
Zhao Linyuan’s expression turned cold, while Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’It’s likely that Junior Brother Zhuang himself was the one who wiped out that family,’ he thought.
"Yes, I had my subordinates go through the motions."
Zhuang Zheng nodded. ’I killed them myself, so how could I investigate it seriously?’
"However, while investigating this family, I made a discovery. The reason they committed such heinous acts, aside from profit, was because they had somehow unearthed an ancient text. This book mentioned a type of Foreign Bone that, if implanted and nurtured within the body, could allow a Martial Artist to develop a Root Bone. It claimed even a five-year-old child could possess the strength of ten thousand catties."
As Zhuang Zheng finished speaking, a flicker of astonishment crossed Zhao Linyuan’s face. Although it vanished almost instantly, Lin Yan, sitting beside him, caught it clearly.
’Foreign Bone... Junior Brother Zhao’s change in expression... the strange state of his Martial Arts Tree...’
Lin Yan had a faint idea of what Junior Brother Zhuang was about to say.
"This family believed this nonsense. But since they couldn’t find a so-called Foreign Bone, they came up with the ludicrous idea of using human bones instead. Adult bones were too hard to implant, so they used children’s... After taking the children’s bones, they sold the victims to a gang in the neighboring county."
Zhuang Zheng’s gaze never fell on Senior Brother Zhao, but he sighed inwardly. ’The reason I held this banquet at my home was to let that old fellow confirm it one more time. Just now, that old man disguised himself as a servant bringing tea and, after getting close to Senior Brother Zhao, confirmed that he does indeed have a Foreign Bone in his body.’
"Actually, the Foreign Bone isn’t complete nonsense. I’ve also read records of it in the ancient texts of the Lin Family’s Library Pavilion."
Lin Yan picked up where Zhuang Zheng left off. Since he knew what Junior Brother Zhuang was getting at, he naturally had to play along. And upon guessing that Junior Brother Zhao had a Foreign Bone in his body, a terrible suspicion formed in his mind.
"Senior Brother Lin knows about it too?"
Zhuang Zheng looked up, surprise in his eyes. This time, he was genuinely taken aback.
"Yes. It’s recorded in the writings of one of my Lin Family ancestors. Thousands of years ago, there were Exotic Beasts in this world. By taking the Essence Bone of these beasts and nurturing it within the body using a Secret Technique, a Martial Artist could develop a Root Bone. And a Martial Artist with a Root Bone is innately stronger than one without. However..."
"However what?" Zhuang Zheng pressed.
"However, according to that Lin Family ancestor of mine, a Martial Artist’s Root Bone can be stolen. Many Martial Artists who possessed a Root Bone didn’t dare to easily reveal its existence. That’s why I was thinking at the time, maybe there are some geniuses today who also have a Root Bone, but they just don’t announce it, for fear of having it plundered by a powerhouse."
After speaking, Lin Yan added, "Even if these powerhouses’ skeletons are already fully formed and they can’t use the Root Bone themselves, they can still leave it for their descendants."
"What Senior Brother Lin says makes sense. Anyway, if someone were to give me a Foreign Bone, unless it was my own mother and father, I’d have to suspect they wanted to use me to nurture it, only to take away the Root Bone after I’d cultivated it."
From beginning to end, Zhuang Zheng never once looked at Zhao Linyuan. This was as far as he could go with his words. He figured Senior Brother Zhao should be on alert by now.
’If I say any more, I’ll expose myself.’
PS: This Chapter is 10,000 characters, so count it as a bonus Chapter, brothers! Actually, my original plan for this Chapter didn’t involve Lin Yan. My setting was that Lin Yan would only sense something was off much later, discover the truth, and then have his emotions stirred... From your perspective, a certain person is just a gen... genius, like a giant wanting to crush an ant, just doing whatever he wants, brainlessly—does that need an explanation? Including the later explosion of grudges, the opinions of others, and then at the moment the truth is revealed, everyone finds out he was just an impostor. To hell with the so-called genius! The contrast, the harvesting of emotions, the explosion... that whole sequence.
But I saw that everyone’s opinions were too strong, and Jiu Deng almost had a heart attack from the flame I got while writing in the early hours of the morning, so I decided to spoil it a bit ahead of time. To everyone who has a monthly ticket, please toss one over to comfort Jiu Deng’s wounded heart.

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