This martial saint is too cautious.

Chapter 84 Reflection (Please Subscribe)

Swords rise!

A silvery-white sword light shot out like a bolt of lightning. Lin Yan did not choose to defend, but instead struck first.

In public, he would employ a defensive counter-attacking strategy.

Once behind enemy lines, eliminate the enemy immediately.

Three sword lights, like dragons parting the water, pierced towards the three people respectively.

The sword light was so fast that it left three silver afterimages in the air, as if the same sword had been broken into three different directions.

The masked man on the left had a cold smile on his lips. If the three brothers fought one-on-one, their strength would only be considered average among those who had reached the fourth level of the Skin-Sharpening Realm. However, the three brothers had practiced assassination and encirclement formations diligently, and they had killed no fewer than twenty fourth-level Skin-Sharpening Realm warriors, including some of the top fourth-level Skin-Sharpening Realm warriors.

"Trying to take on all three of us by yourself? You're asking for it!"

He quickly calculated in his mind that Lin Yan's sword strike seemed fierce, but the sword force was divided into three directions, so the power was bound to be dispersed. The reason why he was closest to Lin Yan was that he deliberately exposed the flaw.

If he could just block that sword with his longsword, the second and third brothers would take the opportunity to attack.

So what if it's sword intent? The three brothers have killed four-times-skin-grinding martial artists who have cultivated sword intent before.

As his thoughts raced, the man held his long sword horizontally in front of his chest, and at that moment, Lin Yan's sword tip was already upon him.

Ding!

The moment the swords clashed and sparks flew, the cold smile on the man's face froze.

The power flowing along the blade was completely beyond his comprehension. What kind of sword intent was this?

The terrifying force caused his tiger's mouth to burst open, almost causing him to lose his grip on the hilt of the sword. His entire center of gravity was pushed backward by the sword.

"This—this is definitely not the sword intent I just comprehended."

He stumbled back three steps before finally regaining his balance.

However, the moment he looked up and saw what was in front of him, his pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints.

"Second brother, watch out!"

The man screamed, but it was too late.

The man called "Second Brother" was the most agile of the three. When Lin Yan forced his eldest brother back with his sword, he moved in like a ghost, raising his long knife and slashing horizontally at the back of Lin Yan's neck.

"Go to hell!"

The man's face, contorted beneath his mask, roared in anger.

The blade was sharp and cold; in the past, four warriors who had been skinned alive had been beheaded by this single strike.

He could already picture Lin Yan's head rolling on the ground.

Young people are still too inexperienced.

However, the next moment, he was completely stunned. Lin Yan's figure disappeared into thin air before his eyes. Before he could react, a chill ran from his spine straight to the top of his head.

He heard his elder brother's shout, but before he could react, Lin Yan's young face appeared less than three feet to his left.

A flash of sword light!

The last thing the man saw when he turned his head was Lin Yan's cold gaze. Unfortunately, his neck and above were empty, and blood gushed out of his cavity like a red fountain.

"Great... Great-level sword intent, this time the three of us brothers are going to be doomed."

That was the last thought that flashed through his mind before everything went dark.

The head flew off, tracing a graceful parabola in the air, and rolled several times after landing, its face still frozen in the astonishment of its final moments.

With a single sword strike, Lin Yan took a deep breath. His Stone Waist and Thunder Spine erupted completely at that moment, his vertebrae crackling like rolling thunder. Just before the blade fell, he suddenly rose into the air, twisted his left foot on the ground, and floated like dust in front of the man who had just been knocked back.

This was the first time he had been ambushed in Qingzhou, how could he not be furious?

Using the Smoke Step technique, he shifted his body to the side and appeared in front of another man. Amidst the man's terrified gaze, he slashed out with his sword.

The sword light fell.

Another head rolled down.

cut!

As the sword flashed, another head rolled to the ground.

From beginning to end, the man didn't even have time to raise his knife again.

Now, only one masked person remains at the scene.

Looking at the long sword in Lin Yan's hand, the masked man felt as if he had fallen into a cold cave. His whole body was covered in goosebumps. His second and third brothers were dead just like that. This was no ordinary person who had just entered the fourth level of the Skin-Melting Realm. Even when facing a Blood-Changing Realm expert, he was no better than this.

"Speak, why did you ambush me?"

"Will you let me go if I tell you?" the other person asked in a deep voice, trying to suppress his fear, but the trembling in his voice betrayed his true emotions.

"No, but if you don't tell, you will not only die, you will die a horrible death."

Lin Yan's longsword hovered in the air. The masked man fell silent, thinking of the employer who had hired the three of them. At this moment, his heart was filled with resentment. If the other party had not given them the wrong information, how could his three brothers have encountered this calamity?

"We three brothers are employed by someone. The person who employs us is the son of the chief of Qingfeng Village. He is currently in the city. I can take you to him."

Where does he live?

"No. 2, Class B Courtyard, Xiao Family Inn, Changping Street".

"He was the only one."

"Yes, just him."

"If I find out you've lied to me, you should know what will happen."

"Don't worry, I would never—"

call out!

A flash of sword light appeared, and the man's head rolled to the ground, his eyes wide open.

After killing the last person, Lin Yan pushed off with his right foot and landed on a nearby tree. From his vantage point, he carefully searched the area to make sure no one was lying in ambush before finally landing back on the ground.

He left no survivors because he never intended to go to the Xiao Family Inn on Changping Street alone.

Regardless of whether the man's words were true or false, there was no doubt that there were people at the Xiao Family Inn; knowing that was enough.

He couldn't be sure if the Xiao Family Inn was a trap.

But even if it's a trap, he's not afraid, because the Lin family is behind him.

Xiao Family Inn.

Ma Sheng paced back and forth in the courtyard. Ever since he received the news of his father's murder, he had secretly returned to Qingzhou Prefecture, hoping to find the murderer who killed his father.

After making inquiries from various sources, he finally discovered something: before his father's accident, he had intercepted a shipment from a caravan. He then followed the trail to the inn and clinic where the caravan had stayed. From the apprentices at the clinic, he learned that the Seven Stars Caravan's shipment had returned. He also learned from the apprentices that the caravan members had mentioned someone: Lin Yan, a member of a branch of the Lin family.

It was thanks to Lin Yan that the escort agency was able to retrieve the goods.

With this information, Ma Sheng was able to deduce the truth.

After my father robbed the goods from the Seven Star Escort Agency, the agency contacted Lin Yan. Lin Yan must have hired a powerful member of the Lin family to take action, which led to the massacre of my father and Uncle Feng.

Faced with the behemoth that is the Lin family, he dared not retaliate, nor did he have the ability to do so.

He wanted to take revenge on Lin Yan.

Even if Lin Yan didn't kill his father with his own hands, the Lin family's experts wouldn't have made a move without Lin Yan's involvement, and given his father's cautious nature, it would have been impossible for him to offend the Lin family.

Just a few days later, her father would have retired from his life of crime and settled down in Laizhou Prefecture with her, her mother, and her younger sister. But all of that was ruined because of Lin Yan.

When he told his mother about his desire to take revenge on Lin Yan, she supported him.

However, Ma Sheng also knew that he was no match for Lin Yan, so he could only find a four-times-skin-sharpening martial artist to deal with Lin Yan.

Others might not have the connections or be able to find such assassins, but as the son of a bandit, he knew the ropes very well. He spent most of his family's savings to hire three fourth-level skin-sharpening experts who specialized in dirty work to assassinate Lin Yan.

"As long as those three people bring me Lin Yan's head today, I will grind his bones to dust and leave Qingzhou Prefecture, never to set foot here again."

boom!

A loud crash came from the courtyard gate, and several figures rushed in.

"It's over!"

Upon seeing the clothes worn by the people who rushed into the courtyard, especially their belts, Ma Sheng suddenly collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that he had been blinded by greed and suddenly thought of avenging his father.

My father has ruined me!

Three-bedroom area.

Lin Yan waited in a pavilion for half an hour before Lin Minghai appeared.

Before Lin Yan could ask, Lin Minghai said directly, "The one who hired those three people was indeed Ma Sheng, the son of the Qingfeng Village chief. Ma Sheng believes that you hired the clan's strongmen to slaughter Qingfeng Village. He couldn't do anything to the clan's strongmen, so he held a grudge against you. As for how your portrait was leaked—"

Lin Minghai's eyes flashed with coldness: "It was a steward who has been in the clan for many years who leaked the information. The clan's law enforcement hall has already begun interrogating this person."

-

Lin Yan nodded; he wasn't surprised that his portrait and information had been leaked.

When he discovered the roster of the four major families in Qingzhou Prefecture at Qingfeng Village, he knew that Qingfeng Village must have some connections to find out information about the four major families.

"The clan has already sent people to Laizhou. You don't need to worry too much about the Ma family's future. If they dare to attack you, the Ma family will not be able to continue to exist."

"Brother Hai, since Ma Sheng knows my identity information, has he hired any martial artists to go to Guangping County?"

Lin Yan was afraid that Ma Sheng was so ruthless that he would send people to Guangping County to harm his aunt and younger brother.

"Well, although that traitorous servant didn't know the origins of your branch clans, Ma Sheng deduced from the Seven Star Escort Agency that you also came from Guangping County in Dengzhou Prefecture. So he hired two three-times-skin-sharpening martial artists to go to Guangping County to prepare to harm your family."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with endless coldness.

His aunt and younger brother are his bottom line!

"Don't lose your composure over such a small matter," Lin Minghai said calmly, glancing at Lin Yan.

"Brother Hai, this is no small matter for me, it involves my family—"

Lin Yan thought that Hai Ge had misunderstood his family's situation and that there should also be three or four skin-sharpening warriors in his clan. He was about to explain when Lin Minghai interrupted him.

"Even traveling day and night, it would take about ten days to get from Qingzhou to Dengzhou. Those two who went to the barracks three times were just hired laborers. They couldn't possibly be traveling at their own pace. They're still far from Dengzhou. Write a letter to your clansmen in Guangping County explaining the situation. I'll send it out using the clan's 'Broken Cloud Hawk,' and they should arrive in Guangping County tomorrow."

Hearing Hai Ge's words, Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief, then took a deep breath to calm himself down.

One must remain calm in the face of important events.

I often say this, but when I actually encounter it, I still can't calm down. My self-cultivation skills are still lacking.

"Brother Hai, can the Cloud-Breaking Falcons in our tribe find their way around?"

Lin Yan didn't doubt the speed of the "Cloud-Breaking Falcon," but he was curious about how the Cloud-Breaking Falcon determined its destination.

"The clan has established outposts in every prefecture of Shandong Province. You don't need to worry about the others. In short, the letter will be delivered to your family before sunset tomorrow."

"Understood, thank you, Brother Hai."

Lin Yan didn't ask any more questions. Judging from Hai Ge's tone, it must involve clan secrets.

"Then I'll go back and write the letter."

"No need to go back. I've sent a servant to get paper and pen. Just write in this pavilion, and have someone send it out as soon as you've finished. It'll save you time."

Lin Minghai waved his hand, and soon a servant brought writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone and placed them in the pavilion. Lin Minghai did not stand in the pavilion to wait, but went outside on his own initiative.

In a short time, Lin Yan finished writing.

"Finished writing?"

"Okay, it's finished. Just send it to Yang Family Martial Arts School in Guangping County."

Lin Yan wrote this letter to his master. Ma Sheng had sent two martial arts masters who had undergone three rounds of skin-sharpening. As long as his master was prepared in advance, he wouldn't have to worry about the safety of his aunt and younger brother.

"Alright, we'll head to Yangtian Mountain tomorrow. Once we get a reply from Guangping County, I'll arrange for someone to deliver the message to you."

"Thank you for your help, Brother Hai."

Lin Yan took his leave and walked outside, pondering that the reason for such a big mistake was that he hadn't nipped the problem in the bud.

We should have been wary when we didn't find Ma Xiong's family in Qingfeng Village.

Fortunately, this time it did not cause irreparable consequences, but we must remember this lesson.

Lin Minghai watched Lin Yan's departing figure with a thoughtful expression on his face, but he wasn't thinking about the two three-times-skin-sharpening martial artists that Ma Sheng had sent to Guangping County.

With the Cloud-Breaking Hawk there, this letter will definitely arrive a few days earlier than those two.

Those two men who went to Guangping County three times were simply walking into a trap.

What he was pondering was just how much strength Lin Yan was hiding.

At that time, Lin Yan asked him about the situation in Qingfeng Village, and he even told him to seek compensation from Qingfeng Village.

I never expected this kid to have such a demanding way of asking for things.

He single-handedly slaughtered the entire Qingfeng Village.

In his eyes, the two chieftains of Qingfeng Village were no different from trash, but they were still veteran fourth-level skin-refining martial artists, plus a group of lackeys. Even Ming Yu and his fellow clansmen who were at the fourth level of skin-refining could not do it easily.

However, he did not receive any reports from his servants afterwards that Lin Yan was injured.

"Go ahead and hide it. I don't believe you can hide forever. When the branch competition comes, are you going to give up the competition just to conceal your strength?"

Even Lin Minghai himself didn't know that he subconsciously assumed Lin Yan would participate in the branch competition, and he forgot what he had said before: the third branch did not need Lin Yan and other branch clansmen to compete for any face.

Guangping County Town.

After Zhuang Zheng finished his roll call at the patrol station, he walked out of the station's gate, glanced at the street, and lingered on a vendor at one corner for a moment before turning left. When he reached the street corner, he turned into an alley and finally stopped there.

Soon, footsteps could be heard.

"Speak, what's going on?"

"My lord, two unfamiliar martial artists entered the city today. After entering the city, these two stayed at the Laiyun Inn. According to the innkeeper, these two inquired about Young Master Lin Yan's situation."

"Inquire about Senior Brother Lin's situation?"

Zhuang Zheng's expression turned cold: "Are these two staying in a private courtyard at the inn?"

"Yes, the two of them chose the courtyard at the very back of the Laiyun Inn, where they could leave directly through the back door."

"I understand. You may leave now."

With a wave of his hand, Zhuang Zheng dismissed his spies, his eyes filled with murderous intent. If he wasn't mistaken, these two should be the two three-times-skin-sharpening martial artists that the remnants of Qingfeng Village had hired to deal with Senior Brother Lin's family, as mentioned in Senior Brother Lin's letter.

Three days ago, his master summoned him and his senior brother Hao to the martial arts school and mentioned the matter of senior brother Lin.

From the moment he learned that two martial artists with three levels of skin-sharpening were planning to harm Senior Brother Lin's family, he had already sentenced them to death in his mind.

On the surface, Senior Brother Hao mobilized the patrol officers to keep watch at the city gates, while in the shadows, he also activated many of the undercover agents he had trained over this period.

Most of these people were not martial artists, but ordinary people from Guangping County, many of whom were peddlers and laborers.

But it was precisely these people who could travel all over Guangping County every day, and who could help him gather a lot of useful information.

Using the information he gathered, he located many gang hideouts, raided them in the dead of night, and has not been exposed to this day.

The idea of ​​training spies came to him because of what his senior brother Lin had said when he left.

Once his cultivation of martial arts techniques is exposed, not only will he be hunted down, but his master and fellow disciples will also be implicated.

The county patrol office, including the people behind the patrol office, and even the Xuan Tian Sect, will not allow him to live. These forces don't care whether he only targets gang warriors or not; his Blood Transformation Technique has already posed a threat to them.

Therefore, for his own sake, as well as for his master and fellow disciples, he had to be careful.

"What a pity—their life force cannot be refined."

Zhuang Zheng had a look of regret on his face. With his current strength and methods, he was confident that he could take down the two three-times-skin-grinding martial artists, but the key problem was that he could not expose the two corpses, otherwise the two withered corpses would cause a stir in the county.

If the bodies of these two are not exposed, the master will have to remain on guard, and Senior Brother Lin will probably not be able to rest easy either.

A warrior who has undergone three skin-smoothing treatments —

To avoid causing unrest in the county, he only targeted martial artists who had undergone one level of skin-sharpening, a few who had undergone two levels, and none who had undergone three levels of skin-sharpening.

"Senior Brother Lin slaughtered Qingfeng Village—I can learn from that. It's not easy to target martial artists in the city, so we can target those mountain bandits and river pirates."

half a month later.

In the Yangtian Mountains, Lin Yan received two letters sent by Hai Ge. After reading the contents of the letters, he was finally relieved.

The two martial artists who had honed their skills three times, sent by Ma Sheng, were killed by their master before they even found out where they lived after entering the city.

The letter from his master was very short, simply telling him not to worry about home, that he would take care of things, and that he could focus on practicing martial arts in Qingzhou.

After reading the letter, Lin Yan opened the second letter.

This letter was dictated by my aunt and written by my younger brother; the handwriting is still very immature.

In the letter, her aunt told her not to worry about home, that she and her younger brother were doing well, and mentioned that Monkey and Zhang Wei would visit every now and then. She then mentioned that Monkey was getting married next month and asked how much of a wedding gift she should give him. Of course, she also hinted at some marriage-urging remarks.

What his aunt didn't know was that her younger brother had secretly added a few more sentences at the very end of the letter.

In his letter, my younger brother mentioned that the Liu family had come to our door several times. His two uncles even carried his maternal grandmother to the front door, crying and saying that she couldn't go on living. This attracted a lot of onlookers who pointed and whispered. My younger brother was so angry that he rushed out and grabbed his cousin, the youngest male member of the Liu family, and gave him a beating.

In his letter, my younger brother said that he dared not hit his maternal grandmother, as that would be unfilial.

I didn't dare to beat my eldest and second uncles because I couldn't beat them.

But beating up that skinny cousin was no problem, and my grandmother doted on him the most. If he beat him, my grandmother would sit up from the wooden board in a panic.

Most importantly, the adults in the Liu family didn't dare to stop them.

In the younger brother's words, "Big brother, you are a martial artist. If they dare to touch me, it is disrespectful to you. We'll have Brother Zhuang arrest them all and put them in jail."

Lin Yan was very pleased that his younger brother was so clever.

But Lin Yan was a little confused when he saw the last sentence.

How did I come to know Junior Brother Zhuang?

Most importantly, Junior Brother Zhuang is an old hand; he's afraid his younger brother will be led astray.

When I return to the clan, I must write back and give my younger brother a few good pointers.

When people are in dire straits, they may take risks to change their fate.

But my younger brother doesn't need that at all. If my younger brother has talent in martial arts, the model he's creating for him is Junior Brother Zhao.

After putting the letter away, Lin Yan glanced inward at his martial arts tree.

By now, his martial arts tree has grown to nearly four feet five inches tall, and he is almost halfway through the fourth round of skin refining.

I have about two weeks left before I have to leave the Yangtian Mountains. If I don't go into the mountains now, I'll miss my chance.

Originally, I didn't go into the mountains because I was worried about my aunt and younger brother. Now that I know they are safe and sound, I feel relieved and it's time to go into the mountains again.

To the west, there is Zhao Tieshan's courtyard.

"Second Uncle, it's been a month already, we can't wait any longer."

Zhao Zixuan looked at his second uncle with a hint of resentment in his eyes.

"Let's wait a bit longer. Lin Yan just entered the mountain today. He's not a three-times-level skin-sharpening warrior anymore, but a four-times-level skin-sharpening warrior. If Lin Yan discovers something amiss, the consequences will be unimaginable."

The sensation after four rounds of skin smoothing is completely different from that after three rounds. Most importantly, if Lin Yan were still only smoothed three times, and something went wrong and he was discovered, he would still have the ability to control Lin Yan. But with four rounds of smoothing—

Zhao Tieshan hesitated for a moment. Out of caution, he wanted to wait until Lin Yan left before arranging for someone to go into the mountain.

"Lin Yan accepted a three-month mission, and more than two months have already passed. Tell them to wait a little longer."

"Second Uncle, the money has already been paid. Besides, the people who went into the mountains this time were looking for Black Cicada. In a while, Black Cicada will go underground. Moreover, the Yangtian Mountain Range is so big that we may not be able to meet Lin Yan after we go in."

Black cicadas are a precious medicine.

It is completely black, like ink, and hides during the day and comes out at night.

The cicada shells, when ground into powder, can be used to make "Hidden Breath Powder".

Within an hour of taking it, the martial artist's aura is completely concealed, and as long as they remain still, even a True Qi expert would find it difficult to detect.

Furthermore, what attracts martial artists even more is the cicada heart; consuming the cicada heart can enhance a martial artist's perception.

However, black cicadas are extremely difficult to catch because they only have a short one-month emergence period each year.

In late spring and early summer, black cicadas emerge from the soil.

Black cicadas emerge from the ground earlier than ordinary cicadas, and by the time ordinary cicadas begin to sing, black cicadas have already retreated underground to hibernate.

Black cicadas are extremely rare, and their lifespan is only one month, so a single black cicada can fetch tens of thousands of taels of silver on the market.

"Second Uncle, we've already received the five thousand taels of silver."

Upon hearing this number, the hesitation on Zhao Tieshan's face finally disappeared: "Arrange for these people to go into the mountains tonight!"

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