This martial saint is too cautious.

East City, Wang Family.

The head of the Wang family sat at the head of the table with a grim face, flanked by two figures on either side, and several men standing below.

"Master, we have searched the entire Great Fog Mountain three times, but we still haven't found any trace of Steward Li and his three companions."

A man stood in the center with his head down, not daring to look his master in the eye.

Butler Li had been following the head of the family since he began practicing martial arts and had earned the head's deep trust.

Otherwise, after discovering the Purple Velvet Beast, the patriarch wouldn't have assigned Steward Li to capture it; who wouldn't be tempted by such a precious medicine?

"Useless! Butler Li and the other three must have been murdered in the Great Fog Mountain, and you couldn't even find their bodies!"

The head of the Wang family slammed his right hand, and the armrest beside him shattered instantly. He was furious about the death of Steward Li, and even more furious that he had lost his chance to break through the third skin-sharpening stage.

A year ago, he tried skin resurfacing three times, but unfortunately, he failed.

He thought he would have to wait at least several years to make another breakthrough, but then he received news of the Purple-furred Beast's appearance. At that moment, he felt like God was going to make him suffer three more times.

But now, everything is gone.

"Master, please calm down. The Great Fog Mountain is filled with miasma and poison. We cannot send hunting dogs in to search. It is indeed difficult to find it by manpower alone."

The man on the left spoke up, saying, "The person who killed Steward Li must have planned this meticulously and made thorough preparations to destroy the evidence."

"You mean the news about the Purple-furred Beast has been leaked? Isn't it possible that it was accidentally encountered by other martial artists?"

"The chances of encountering it by accident are slim."

The man on the left shook his head slightly: "Due to the miasma, there are very few wild animals in the Great Fog Mountain. No martial artist would go there to hunt for no reason."

The anger on the Wang family patriarch's face subsided slightly, and his eyes swept across the entire room: "The secret of the Purple Velvet Beast is known only to a few people present here. It wasn't an accidental encounter. Are you saying that someone present leaked the secret?"

Upon hearing this, the men standing there trembled.

"Master, the possibility of a leak is extremely small. It is more likely that Steward Li's whereabouts have been being monitored all along."

The man on the left offered his guess: "Master, the more cautious Steward Li is in leading his men out of the city, the more suspicious they will be, especially those families that have a grudge against our Wang family."

The head of the Wang family narrowed his eyes and looked at the man on his right: "Hao'er, secretly investigate the Zhou family and the Qian family for me, and find out which family was behind it."

The man on the right stood up: "Yes."

……

three days later.

Lin Yan left Qingtian Town and entered the city. He had run out of his topical medicine and needed to go to the martial arts school to buy some more.

The secret medicines prepared by the family martial arts school have an expiration date; their effectiveness will be greatly reduced after a month. The master will also prepare secret medicines according to the individual needs of each disciple.

Back in Nancheng, Lin Yan frowned as he looked at the locked gate of the house.

Since moving to the south of the city, my aunt has rarely gone out. Why would she suddenly lock the door today?

"Xiao Lin, your aunt must have gone back to her parents' home. A group of people came to your house early this morning; they are your aunt's relatives."

The neighbor across the street saw Lin Yan standing in front of the door and spoke up.

"Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Zhang."

Lin Yan clasped his hands in thanks and walked towards the Liu family's house.

After his parents passed away, the Liu family tried to take over his house, but his aunt refused. However, Lin Yan knew that since the two elderly people in the Liu family were still alive, his aunt could not really sever ties with the Liu family.

Out of respect for his aunt, he could overlook the fact that the Liu family was damaging his own house. However, if the Liu family tried to use his name or force his aunt to do anything, they had made a mistake.

Fifteen minutes later.

Lin Yan arrived at the Liu family's residence in the north of the city.

The old row of bungalows was now filled with people, some standing and some squatting in the open space in front of the doors. They were all members of the Liu family or their relatives.

"Little brother."

Lin Yan spotted Lin Mo standing alone to one side, head down, counting ants on the ground, and called out to him.

"Big brother!"

Lin Mo looked up and saw that it was his older brother. A smile appeared on his face, and he quickly ran over.

Hearing the commotion, the Liu family members at the door also looked over. When they saw Lin Yan's figure, several of them tensed up at first, but then immediately put on smiles.

"Lin Yan is here!"

"Lin Yan, it's been a long time since you've visited your uncle's house."

Aunt Liu's second brother stepped forward, his face beaming with a warm smile. Lin Yan completely ignored him and simply asked, "Where is my aunt?"

"Third Sister is inside talking to Mother, Lin Yan..."

Lin Yan walked straight past the other person and headed towards the door. Once there, she called out, "Auntie!"

The second son of the Liu family, who was completely ignored, looked sullen, but could only stand aside with a forced smile.

Lin Yan is now a martial artist and a big shot; he can't afford to offend him.

After a while, the door opened, and Liu came out. She was very happy to see Lin Yan: "Yan'er, what brings you here?"

"I just got back and came over as soon as I heard you were here, Auntie. Are you alright?"

Liu shook her head, and at that moment an old woman came out of the house and was about to take Lin Yan's hand, but Lin Yan simply dodged to the side.

The old woman wasn't embarrassed at all, and immediately started wiping away her tears: "Xiao Yan, you don't know, our family has been bullied terribly. Look at your uncle, he was beaten so badly by those gangsters."

"Mother, please don't cry."

Seeing her mother crying, Liu interrupted her and pulled Lin Yan aside, saying, "Yan'er, I'll be back in a bit. You take your little brother back first."

"Don't worry, Auntie, tell me what's going on first."

Lin Yan wasn't in a hurry to leave; he was worried about leaving his aunt alone there.

Seeing her nephew's resolute eyes, Liu pondered for a while and said, "It's nothing serious. It's just that those gangs were charging us a 'peace money' fee, and we couldn't come up with the money right now. I've already paid it, and the matter is resolved."

Lin Yan only listened to half of what his aunt said.

It's certain that my aunt paid the money for the Liu family, but it's not necessarily true that the Liu family couldn't come up with the money.

Based on his understanding of the Liu family, he knew that once he broke through to the level of a martial artist, the Liu family would definitely want to take advantage of him. The most likely scenario was that they wanted to use his name to avoid paying the gang's "peace money" and wanted his aunt to ask him to intervene. However, his aunt obviously did not agree.

When Liu saw Lin Yan pursing her lips, she sighed inwardly. She knew that Yan'er definitely didn't believe everything. Yan'er was becoming more and more intelligent, and could see the whole picture from just a glimpse of something.

This morning, my eldest brother rushed home and said that our mother was sick, so she hurriedly took Mo'er home.

I never expected that my mother was perfectly fine and not sick at all. The reason she lied to me about coming back was because today was the day the Pingshan Gang came to collect their share of the money. My eldest and second brothers deliberately acted tough in front of me and refused to pay the "peace money," even willing to be beaten up, just to force me to ask Yan'er to step in.

But she didn't waver. She knew all too well what kind of people her eldest brother, second brother, and several nephews were. If she gave in today, they might do something even more outrageous next time. If she didn't agree, her eldest and second brothers could push their mother to their doorstep and hang herself.

As a daughter of the Liu family, she could give the money she earned from sewing and washing clothes to her family, which could be considered as showing respect to her mother, but she absolutely could not involve Yan'er in it.

"Oh, so the Liu family is still crying and wailing here."

A mocking laugh came from not far away, and several burly men walked towards them. When they got closer, the leader's expression changed slightly when he saw Lin Yan, and his tone became more serious: "I am Liu Fei, the leader of the Pingshan Gang. May I ask how you are addressed?"

Liu Fei realized that Lin Yan's aura was extraordinary, and that the Liu family hadn't been exaggerating; they really did have a martial arts relative in their family.

However, he was not intimidated. He was collecting money for the gang's safety, and behind him stood the entire Pingshan Gang.

According to the rules of Guangping County, martial artists can only waive their own peace money, and they are not considered to be breaking the rules.

Besides, Liu's relatives couldn't possibly be powerful or wealthy. Being able to get skin smoothed once is already considered a blessing from their ancestors; they couldn't possibly be martial artists who get skin smoothed twice.

There are still a few such skin-sharpening martial artists from common backgrounds in the county every year, but that's about the limit.

Lin Yan completely ignored Liu Fei, and Liu Fei was displeased by Lin Yan's disregard, but he did not dare to provoke a mere skin-grinding martial artist. After letting out a soft snort in his heart, he left with his companions.

"Auntie, now that things are resolved, let's go back together."

Hearing her nephew's words, Liu glanced at her mother and finally nodded: "Okay."

Seeing that his aunt agreed, Lin Yan called to his younger brother, and the three of them left. The Liu family wanted to stop them, but under Lin Yan's gaze, they felt a chill run down their spines. In particular, the old lady of the Liu family was about to cry out, but when Lin Yan's gaze swept over her, she swallowed her tears back.

"Senior Brother Lin?"

Lin Yan had just taken a few steps when a voice came from behind him.

Lin Yan stopped in his tracks, and Zhuang Zheng, dressed in an inspector's uniform, quickly stepped forward: "It really is Senior Brother Lin. I thought I had mistaken you for someone else."

Lin Yan was somewhat surprised to encounter Zhuang Zheng here. What surprised him even more was that Zhuang Zheng was actually wearing the official uniform of a patrol inspector.

The head of the Guangping County Patrol and Inspection Office is a four-times-skin-sharpening expert, while the deputy head, like my senior brother Hao, is a three-times-skin-sharpening expert. To become a patrol and inspection officer, one must be a two-times-skin-sharpening expert.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhuang, on getting your skin smoothed twice."

"I managed to get to the second level of skin smoothing last month by sheer luck, but I can't compare to Senior Brother Lin."

Zhuang Zheng scratched his head and smiled shyly. Lin Yan estimated in his mind that it had only been nine months since Zhuang Zheng joined the martial arts school until last month. He had already undergone two skin resurfacing procedures in nine months, which was quite fast.

Most importantly, Zhuang Zheng even became a patrol inspector.

The minimum requirement to become an inspector is to have undergone secondary skin retouching, but this does not mean that a martial artist with secondary skin retouching can serve as an inspector.

The position of Inspector General is highly coveted, with far more applicants than available positions; without certain connections and networks, one cannot get a chance.

This junior brother Zhuang is no ordinary person.

"Brother Lin, what brings you to the north of the city?"

Zhuang Zheng glanced at the Liu family members not far away, and the Liu family members dared not approach when they saw Zhuang Zheng in his patrol officer uniform.

In their minds, martial artists were big shots, and inspectors were government officials, both of whom were people they couldn't afford to offend.

"I accompanied my aunt back to her parents' home, and now we're heading back."

Upon hearing Lin Yan's introduction, Zhuang Zheng also addressed Liu Shi, saying, "Greetings, Auntie."

"Auntie, this is my junior brother from the martial arts school."

"You two fellow disciples must have a lot to talk about now that you've met. I'll take Mo'er back first."

"Junior Brother Zhuang is on official business and probably won't have time to chat right now. Aunt and I will go back together."

Lin Yan called out to his aunt, and Zhuang Zheng nodded with a smile: "Brother Lin is right. I am on official business now and cannot chat with you for long. Brother Lin, let's get together again when I return to the martial arts school."

"it is good."

Lin Yan left with his aunt and younger brother. Zhuang Zheng watched the three disappear into the street, slowed his pace, and instructed the patrolman beside him as he walked: "Go and find out what happened. Get all the details."

The police officer understood and headed towards the Liu family's house. He then asked several other nearby families and caught up with them after a short while.

"Sir, I've found out. Today, the Pingshan Gang came to collect the Liu family's 'peace money.' The Liu family wanted to use your senior brother's name to avoid paying the peace money, but your senior brother didn't show up. In my opinion, your senior brother doesn't have a good relationship with the Liu family."

Zhuang Zheng nodded. If the Liu family and Senior Brother Lin had a good relationship, Senior Brother Lin would have asked him to take care of them just now.

"There's one more thing. Before your senior brother arrived, the people from the Pingshan Gang spoke disrespectfully to your senior brother's aunt."

Zhuang Zheng's expression remained unchanged: "Let's go."

……

At home, while his aunt was preparing lunch, Lin Yan called out to his younger brother.

"Young man, tell me what happened today, don't miss any details."

Lin Mo nodded, but as his younger brother recounted the story, especially after hearing the Ping Shan Gang members speak disrespectfully to his aunt, a cold glint flashed in Lin Yan's eyes.