Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Just past midnight, all was quiet, and the courtyard houses on Dongxinglong Street were immersed in the deep night.

Suddenly, a loud baby's cry broke the silence without warning.

First came the girl's voice, and then the boy was also drawn in. The two of them seemed to be competing to see who could shout the loudest, their cries getting louder and louder.

On the kang (heated brick bed) in the main room, Lin Yan, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and lost in thought, suddenly opened his eyes.

A glimmer of clarity flashed in his eyes, only to be replaced by a more obvious bewilderment.

Almost simultaneously, the door to the north room was gently pushed open, and Wang Yuling and Lin Gang, wearing coats, quickly walked in. They showed no signs of sleepiness, clearly having been paying attention to the commotion.

"Young Master," Wang Yuling called softly, her gaze already fixed on the two swaddled babies wriggling and crying on the kang (heated brick bed).

Lin Yan looked at them, then at the child whose face was red from crying, and subconsciously asked, "You were sleeping so well, why are you crying again?"

Wang Yuling had already nimbly walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), reached out to feel the baby girl's forehead and the back of her neck, and then gently pressed the bottom of the swaddling clothes, and she knew what was going on.

"Young master, babies are like that. Their stomachs are small and can't hold food, so they need to be fed about every three hours. We also need to check if they're wet or uncomfortable."

"Three hours?" Lin Yan repeated subconsciously.

"Oh, oh," he realized what was happening and quickly stepped aside to make way for the best spot on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed). "Then you guys come on over."

Wang Yuling nodded and checked the diaper first.

Sure enough, both children's diapers were wet. She skillfully began to change them, while Lin Gang went to the kitchen to prepare goat milk.

This time, Lin Yan stood a little closer and carefully observed Wang Yuling's every step:

How to unwrap the baby without letting the child get cold, how to wipe with a warm, damp cloth, how to fold a new diaper so that it fits snugly without hurting the child... He felt that this kind of practical operation, which required balancing gentleness, speed and cleanliness, was more difficult than understanding a complex set of techniques.

During the diaper change, the boy launched another "water arrow" attack. This time, Lin Yan was prepared. With a slight movement of his true energy, an invisible vortex swept away and dried the moisture, leaving no place dirty.

Wang Yuling smiled and continued with her work.

After the diaper was changed, the crying subsided slightly, but the little one's mouth was still opening and closing as if sucking. Just then, Lin Gang came in carrying a bowl of warm goat's milk.

This time, Lin Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I... want to give it a try?"

Wang Yuling was somewhat surprised, but she immediately handed over the baby bottle and carefully picked up the slightly calmer baby girl, adjusted her position, and signaled to Lin Yan that they could begin.

Lin Yan took the bottle and, imitating Wang Yuling's previous actions, carefully brought the nipple to the baby girl's mouth.

His hand was steady, but perhaps the angle was not right, or perhaps the child was not used to his feeding method. The nipple brushed against her lips, and the little girl pouted, as if she was about to cry again.

Lin Yan immediately stopped, recalled Wang Yuling's actions, and slightly adjusted the tilt of the nipple and the timing of insertion.

On the second attempt, the girl finally managed to take it into her mouth and began to suckle it.

Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief, watching intently as the small throat gently moved with each swallow, a strange sense of satisfaction replacing the previous flustered state.

After feeding the girl, he tried feeding the boy under guidance, and this time it went much more smoothly.

Feeding, burping, re-swaddling... After all that busy work, it was already one in the morning. The two children fell into a deep sleep again, their little faces still showing the satisfaction of being full.

Lin Yan handed the baby bottle to Lin Gang, watching as Wang Yuling carefully settled the baby and tucked him in. Silence returned to the room.

"You guys go and get some rest. I'll keep watch for the rest of the night."

Lin Yan said to the two of them.

Wang Yuling and Lin Gang exchanged a glance, bowed in agreement, and left, gently closing the door behind them.

Lin Yan's thoughts stirred slightly, and a ripple appeared in the space. Xiao Zenian, dressed in a plain-colored robe, was already bowing and standing inside the room.

"Young Master, what are your orders?" Xiao Zenian bowed.

Lin Yan briefly recounted how he found the infant in the mountains, then asked, "Elder Xiao, do you Nascent Soul cultivators have the means to trace the origins and ascertain the blood relationship between these two children?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zenian smiled calmly: "Young Master, this is a minor technique called 'Bloodline Tracing Technique.' It only requires one drop of blood from each of the two individuals."

Lin Yan nodded, gently lifted the thin blanket covering the child, and carefully unwrapped the baby.

Xiao Zenian stepped forward, a jade needle as thin as a cow's hair appearing between his fingers. With gentle yet swift movements, he quickly touched the fingertips of both infants.

Crimson blood beads instantly seeped out.

Before the child could react, Xiao Zenian pointed his fingers, and two beads of blood rose into the air. He rapidly formed hand seals, and mysterious spiritual patterns lit up in the air, forming a slowly rotating pale golden magic seal. The blood beads precisely disappeared into the center of the seal, like ink drops falling into still water, rippling outwards with layers of shimmering light.

Just then—

"Wow--!"

"Whoa—!"

Perhaps it was the pain of the needle finally arriving, or perhaps it was an unsettling feeling in the air, but the two little ones burst into tears almost simultaneously, their little faces turning red, and tears of grievance welling up instantly.

The loud crying was particularly jarring in the quiet of the night.

The door was immediately pushed open, and Wang Yuling hurriedly walked in, her face showing concern.

She glanced at Elder Xiao, who was casting a spell, and at the strange magical seals in the air, then at the heartbroken child, and whispered to Lin Yan:

"Young Master, the children might be difficult to soothe in a short time. Shall I take them back to the side room to settle them in? You can talk to me then."

Lin Yan looked at the sobbing child, then glanced at Xiao Zenian who was completely focused on the magic seal, pondered for a moment, and nodded, saying, "Alright. Thank you for your trouble."

Wang Yuling responded, skillfully and gently wrapped the babies in swaddling clothes, held the two crying little ones in her arms on either side, coaxed them softly, and left the room.

The room fell silent again, with only the faint light of the magic seal flowing in the air and Lin Yan's deep gaze fixed on it.

"Young Master," Xiao Zenian said slowly, maintaining his spell, "You can leave this matter to me. If you have other matters to attend to, you don't need to wait here."

Lin Yan shifted his gaze from the Dharma Seal to the deep night outside the window.

"No need, I'll go with you!"

After saying that, the two figures quietly disappeared into the darkness outside the house.

The night was as dark as ink, and Lin Yan and Xiao Zenian moved silently through the undulating contours of the Yanshan Mountains, as fast as ghosts.

Xiao Zenian held the pale golden bloodline seal in his hand, guiding the direction of the flowing light.

Finally, the light of the seal stabilized, pointing towards a dark village at the foot of the mountain. The two landed outside the village, concealing their presence as if they were part of the night itself.

At the eastern end of the village, a low mud-brick house stood with its walls mottled. It was just past midnight, and all was quiet except for a dim kerosene lamp shining from the main house in the courtyard, from which faint, hushed, drunken arguments could be heard.

"Dad, do you think... this matter is really over just like that? I can't shake this feeling of unease," a woman said in a hoarse voice.

"What are you afraid of!" another, even grufferning voice interrupted. "Leave them in that old mountain forest, they'd probably be bones by now! Who's going to look for them? The army? They're dead, who cares about two worthless brats!"

"That's right, two thousand yuan... We split it, but lately I keep dreaming about the second son's eyes staring at me..." The woman's voice was somewhat timid.

"Shut up!" the man called "his father" growled. "You can't keep your mouth shut after a little bit of drinking! Remember, the kids are with their maternal grandmother! The money was entrusted to us by my second son's wife before her difficult childbirth! If you let anything slip again, I'll skin you alive!"

Outside the courtyard, Lin Yan's eyes turned completely cold when he heard "throw that old mountain forest," "money-losing goods," and "two thousand yuan."

He glanced at Xiao Zenian, who nodded slightly, confirming that the bloodline connection had finally anchored on the person in the house—the children's uncle.

No need to listen anymore.

Lin Yan drifted into the courtyard like a wisp of smoke and went straight to the window. Inside the house, a man whose face vaguely resembled the child's, but whose expression was full of snobbery and malice, sat at a small table.

Lin Yan reached out through the window and made a grabbing motion in the air.

The burly uncle inside the house felt an irresistible force seize his head, his vision went black, and all his consciousness was instantly dragged into an endless vortex.

Soul Search.

Fragments of chaotic memories are forcibly seized and unfolded: the smiling face of the younger brother (the children's father) in his military uniform; the somber expressions of the soldiers when they arrived and the envelope containing the compensation money; the pale face of the sister-in-law fainting after hearing the bad news; the midwife rushing out in a panic, shouting, "Twins! A difficult birth! They can't be saved!"; the coldness of the funeral hall; the greedy eyes of three men gathered in the deceased's room, staring at the stack of money, arguing and dividing the spoils; and finally, that cold morning, carrying two swaddled babies into the deep mountains...

The final shot freezes on the swaddled baby being placed in an old wooden tub and discarded in a pile of fallen leaves. The three men hurried away without looking back.

Lin Yan withdrew his hand. Inside the house, the "uncle" rolled his eyes back, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed to the ground. Although he was not dead, his soul had been severely damaged, and he was in a daze. The other person was so frightened that he was scared out of his wits. Before he could even scream, Lin Yan casually struck his acupoints with two fingers, and he froze on the spot, his eyes filled with fear.

"Young Master?" Xiao Zenian approached silently.

Lin Yan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was only a bottomless, chilling aura in them.

"really,"

His voice was eerily calm.

"Sometimes, even the closest of kin can be more venomous than jackals."

His divine sense instantly enveloped the entire village, accurately locking onto two other courtyards—the homes of the children's two uncles.

"They are not worthy of being human, much less worthy of being relatives."

As Lin Yan finished speaking, he pointed his fingers like a sword and lightly slashed through the air.

Two faint yet incredibly sharp whooshing sounds rang out. Invisible flying swords formed from condensed spiritual energy, carrying the cold killing intent of Nascent Soul cultivators, shot out in two directions like the sigh of death, disappearing into the vast night.

A minute later, the divine sense feedback came. In these two courtyards, all those involved in the abandonment and division of spoils, regardless of age or gender, were instantly killed by sword energy piercing their brows or heart meridians while they were asleep or silently awakened, without even being able to utter a muffled groan.

Clean and neat.

Lin Yan turned and stepped into the mud-brick house. Without even glancing at his uncle and aunt, who were slumped on the ground like mud, he flicked his fingers and shot out two beams of spiritual light, ending their sinful lives.

With a quick scan of his mind, he found the stolen money hidden in the kang (heated brick bed), rice jar, and roof beam.

With a wave of his hand, all the money—both banknotes and coins—was swept up by an invisible force and stored in his space.

Lin Yan coldly addressed the empty room.

"This money was earned with their lives; it's their lifeline. You have no right to touch a single penny of it."

After doing all this, he walked out of the house. Xiao Zenian stood quietly to the side, his expression calm, showing no objection to the young master's decision.

"Let's go," he said calmly.

Two figures silently disappeared into the darkness.