Mortal: I can unlock the card pool by becoming an apprentice to him.

"Are you here for a meal or to stay the night, sir? Our rooms aren't cheap."

The waiter's eyes quickly swept over Lin Mo, and he had already made up his mind. Although he had a smile on his face, he actually regarded him as a poor boy with no money.

Lin Mo wasn't annoyed. He simply lowered his head slightly, feigning unease, and said softly, "I'm not staying at the hotel. I'll find someone."

Looking for someone?

The waiter looked puzzled, secretly wondering whether the young man in front of him was there for fun or if there was something really going on.

Finally, he left with the words "Wait here" and quickly ran back to the back room.

Before long, a middle-aged woman dressed in silk and with a shrewd expression emerged from the back room, lifting the curtain.

"Young man, you look unfamiliar. May I ask who you are looking for at my Yuelai Inn?"

Lin Mo lowered his eyes, still with the reserved demeanor of a country boy, and said in a low voice, "This junior has been entrusted by someone to deliver a message to Manager Liu."

After saying that, he took out the letter that Doctor Mo had given him from his bosom and handed it over.

He had already read the contents of the letter; it was nothing more than ordinary greetings and pleasantries.

However, given Doctor Mo's abilities, he was certain that this letter contained some hidden meaning.

As expected, the shopkeeper named Liu San Niang's expression changed slightly after receiving the letter.

His previously nonchalant gaze instantly turned serious, and he quickly looked Lin Mo up and down.

"So this is the senior. Li Er, please take this young man to the guest room upstairs and serve him the best tea and food. Don't neglect him."

After saying that, he looked at Lin Mo and said, "Young brother, you must be tired from your journey. You should go upstairs with the waiter and rest. I will explain everything to you in detail after I report to him."

Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat, knowing that the code had been matched, but he still maintained a reserved demeanor and replied humbly, "Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper."

The waiter, who was waiting nearby, didn't understand why the shopkeeper had suddenly become so enthusiastic towards this poor young man, but he didn't dare to ask any questions. He quickly and politely said, "Please come with me, sir."

After saying that, he led Lin Mo towards the stairs.

Liu San Niang, who was standing still, glanced around the hall. Seeing that her actions had not attracted anyone's attention, she quietly left the inn.

Mo Mansion.

As the former overlord of Jiayuan City, this place is located on Nanling Street, the most prosperous street in the city.

"What? Father sent a message?"

Inside a two-story building, a beautiful young woman, as lovely as a flower, couldn't help but cover her mouth, her eyes filled with surprise as she looked at the other people sitting inside.

Besides Madam Yan, the fourth wife who now heads the Jingjiao Society, the second, third, and fifth wives of Doctor Mo were all present in the room. The reason why all the women gathered today was that Doctor Mo, who had been missing for a long time, had finally sent back news.

The one who asked the question earlier was Doctor Mo's eldest daughter, Mo Yuzhu.

"good."

The woman sitting at the head of the table was a beautiful young woman in her thirties. She examined the letter several times, confirming that the hidden marks left in the letter were indeed her husband's usual method, before handing the letter to the others.

"Where is he now? Why hasn't he come back yet?"

"Your father didn't reveal his current location, only..."

"Just what?"

Upon hearing this, the others in the room all looked at the young woman, their faces showing anxiety and concern.

"He said he urgently needed a thousand taels of gold and specifically requested that Kun'er personally deliver it to the address he had given him."

The young woman's name, Kun'er, is Zhao Kun. He is Doctor Mo's second apprentice. When he left, he was given the ultimate skill, "Trapping Dragon Skill." Compared to his senior brother, Yan Ge, he is more ruthless and decisive.

"Gold is fine, but using so much at once will inevitably affect normal operations, so Fifth Sister, could you perhaps have those secret agents...?"

The young woman looked at the woman sitting near the door.

"Sure, if An Tuo squeezes a little, he can barely scrape together five hundred taels."

The woman spoke coldly.

"Then there's no problem. Yuzhu, go and call Kun'er here. By the way, don't tell your two younger sisters about this yet, lest they accidentally let it slip and someone with ulterior motives finds out."

The next day, before dawn.

There was a knock on the guest room door.

Lin Mo got up and opened the door, only to see Liu San Niang standing calmly outside, with a boy of about seventeen or eighteen years old beside her.

The young man, dressed in a black outfit, stood tall and straight, with a hint of arrogance in his eyes. He was now openly scrutinizing Lin Mo.

"You're Lin Mo?"

The young man spoke first, introducing himself as follows: "I am Zhao Kun, the second disciple personally taught by Master Mo. You need not be surprised; my master had already taken me as his disciple when we were in Lanzhou, you just didn't know it."

It seems unnecessary for me to know about a character who never even appeared in the original work.

Looking at the sharp-looking young man, Lin Mo couldn't help but mutter a curse in his heart before respectfully cupping his hands and saying, "Greetings, Senior Brother."

"Um."

Zhao Kun gave a nonchalant reply, paused, and then said in an unquestionable tone, "Pack your things now and come back to Jingzhou with me immediately. My master has other plans."

"Yes, senior brother."

Although he didn't understand why this person was so arrogant, Lin Mo remained calm and agreed before turning around and going inside to pack his bags.

Meanwhile, a covered carriage was already parked at the entrance of the inn. Zhao Kun stood with his hands behind his back beside the carriage. When he saw him come out, he only glanced at his luggage before stepping onto the carriage first.

"Let's go."

This trip was brief, and so will this trip.

Lin Mo was taken out of Jiayuan City without even figuring out where the Mo family mansion was.

As the city walls receded into the distance, Lin Mo couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, Senior Brother, what exactly are Master Mo's plans?"

Zhao Kun was resting with his eyes closed at the moment. Upon hearing this, he merely snorted coldly and did not reply.

"Loading the cargo."

Lin Mo mentally borrowed Han Li's catchphrase, shook his head, and leaned against the carriage wall without saying another word.

The Seven Mysteries Gate.

In a small pool on the back mountain, Han Li, Zhang Tie, and Li Feiyu were sitting together.

Since Doctor Mo returned to the valley, Li Feiyu could no longer freely set foot in Shenshou Valley as before, so the three of them had to meet up in this secluded spot in the back mountain.

"My senior brother has been gone for almost two months, why hasn't he come back yet? Could something have happened to him?"

With a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, Han Li lay lazily on the grass, gazing at the drifting clouds in the sky and casually asking a question.

"In the world of martial arts, there's no such thing as a fixed date."

Li Feiyu sat on a rock by the pool and spoke in a seasoned tone.

"However, with his skills, ordinary thieves wouldn't be able to get close to him at all. He was probably held up by something."

"His skills? You mean Senior Brother Lin?"

Upon hearing this, Han Li immediately sat up straight.

In his memory, apart from being quite talented in pharmacology, his martial arts skills were completely unremarkable.

"What? You didn't know?"

Li Feiyu looked at the two of them with a strange expression, full of surprise.

"Know what?"

Han Li and Zhang Tie looked at each other and asked in unison.

"Well, I wasn't feeling well that day, cough cough."

Li Feiyu paused for a moment, and finally vaguely recounted how Lin Mo had almost knocked her out with a single punch.

"Are you sure you're talking about my eldest brother?"

Zhang Tie spoke with an incredulous expression, his thick eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

He had sparred with Li Feiyu several times. Although Li Feiyu's physical strength was not as great as his, he was more agile and his moves were tricky.

If you said that his senior brother could knock Li Feiyu unconscious with one punch, he would be the first to disbelieve it.

"No, would I joke about something like this?"

Li Feiyu looked aggrieved and glared at the two of them.

"So my senior brother was hiding this all along."

Beside him, Han Li's mouth was agape, almost big enough to swallow a whole egg, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Finally, he looked at the plants and trees by the pool and clenched his fists tightly.

"One day, I too will be as unassuming as my senior!"