Chapter 104: Decision
Chapter 104: Decision
The instant that Su Chen’s figure appeared in the entrance to the valley, the flock of people slightly shifted.
After waiting for three days, Su Chen had finally appeared.
Indeed, he had not died.
He had entered and left the Scarlet Mountain Range three times. It truly had become like his backyard, and no one could use it to threaten him.
Under normal circumstances, many people would feel fear because of this, unwilling to continue provoking Su Chen.
However, it was very clear that today’s situation was somewhat abnormal. Many people gazed at him not with fear but rather joy in his misfortune.
All of this was because of an old man.
The old man had a face full of white hair, but despite this he appeared very energetic. He looked just like a tiger with white fur.
Upon seeing Su Chen walked out, this old man yelled like thunder, “Su Chen! Where is Lin Yemao?”
Su Chen acted as if he could not see, tilting his head in the direction of the voice. “Who’s speaking?”
Upon seeing Su Chen behave in this way, Su Changche couldn’t help but sigh. When he didn’t know that Su Chen wasn’t blind, he had not detected it, but now that he knew he discovered that pretending to be blind was not an easy matter. People who were blind had one major distinction from those with sight: those with sight had eyes that were lively, full of spirit, and their focus would follow moving objects. However, Su Chen was able to ensure that his eyes always stared dully and fixatedly ahead. He had definitely worked hard to achieve that,
This child had been striving the entire time. However, the entire Su Clan had always been oppressing him!
This left a very bad taste in Su Changche’s mouth.
The white-haired old man replied to Su Chen, “I am Lin Yuanqiao!”
Su Chen laughed. “So it seems Thunder Lin has arrived.”
Lin Yuanqiao was the younger brother of Lin Yuanshan, head of the Lin Clan. Because of his fiery temper and personality, he was sometimes called Thunder Lin.
However, this nickname was not something that juniors had the right to call him.
Lin Yuanqiao’s eyes opened wide. “Impudent!”
As he spoke, he struck out with a palm towards Su Chen.
The entire Su Clan was here, but he had actually made a move just because of a mere “Thunder Lin” from Su Chen. One could clearly see his fiery temperament.
Not even members from the Su Clan were able to respond to this sudden palm strike. However, Su Chen took multiple steps, his figure agilely darting through the air, easily dodging the blow.
It wasn’t until now that everyone was able to react. They all began to yell, “Stay your hand!”
Lin Yuanqiao actually stopped. He opened his eyes wide with shock. “Snaking Mist Steps?”
What Su Chen had displayed was truly the Snaking Mist Steps.
He said to Su Chen in disbelief, “Where did you learn the Snaking Mist Steps from?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Su Chen gently smiled.
Lin Yuanqiao blurted out, “Lin Yemao?”
Su Chen was precisely looking for this thought from him. He laughed, “Didn’t you ask me where Lin Yemao is? I will give you two answers. One is that Lin Yemao and I unintentionally ran into each other in the Scarlet Mountain Range. We hit it off well and became good friends, and we did our best to supply each other’s needs. The other is that Lin Yemao had malicious plans and schemed for my life, chasing after me over a long distance. However, he was defeated and captured……”
“Rubbish!” Lin Yuanqiao began to loudly yell.
He truly had come to find Lin Yemao, but this definitely did not mean that he would admit that Lin Yemao had committed the crime of attempting to kill Su Chen.
This world was not without order.
As long as there was order, there would be basic morals, right and wrong.
If Lin Yemao had intentionally chased after Su Chen to kill him and was captured, then his fate was deserved. Even if the Lin Clan could suppress the Su Clan, which they could not do, then if this matter spread it would still be a blow to the Lin Clan.
Thus, Lin Yuanqiao definitely would not be willing to admit to this crime.
His reasoning was more along the lines of, “Lin Yemao went to cultivate in the mountain range and has yet to return. I heard that someone saw Su Chen with him, so I came to ask” rather than “My clan’s Lin Yemao went to kill your clan’s Su Chen. If he’s fine, then it’s not a big deal. However, if he isn’t, then I’ll go all out.”
Upon hearing Lin Yuanqiao deny it, Su Chen laughed, “That’s why I gave you two different answers. As for which one is more accurate, I leave it to Thunder Lin to decide.”
Upon hearing these words, Lin Yuanqiao also calmed down. “What if I choose the first answer?”
“Then that is to everyone’s happiness. Brother Lin and I are now great friends, and naturally I would not harm him. The Snaking Mist Steps I also obtained from him righteously. However, good friends do not watch over each other, so I am not clear exactly where Brother Lin Yemao went.”
Lin Yuanqiao understood Su Chen’s intentions. This implied that Lin Yemao was still alive, but wanting Su Chen to return him was not going to be possible.
“Then what if I choose the second answer?”
“Then, that’s hard to say.” Su Chen rubbed the back of his head. “For a member of the Lin Clan to chase after me over such a long distance, there must be a price to pay.”
“What price?”
Su Chen coldly said, “Naturally, he must pay with his life!”
Lin Yuanqiao angrily harrumphed, “I believe that there is still a third answer.”
“Thunder Lin, please speak.”
“You and Lin Yemao happened to run into each other in the forest. Because you were greedy for his possessions, you plundered him and schemed to harm him.”
Su Chen laughed. “That poor bastard? All he had was a crappy sword, a broken mirror and a few Origin Stones. His entire fortune isn’t even worth the pair of shoes on my feet. Is he worth my plundering and scheming?”
“So you admit that you have seen him before?”
“I never said that I haven’t seen him before. I even know where he is. I can promise you that he is still living healthily. The question is……” Su Chen’s hands spread out. “Who wanted whose treasure! Second Elder of the Lin Clan, if this matter isn’t cleared up, I cannot release the person to you.”
Su Changche, who had maintained his silence until now, finally spoke up. “What Chen’er says is reasonable. Since he has confirmed that he knows the fate of your grandson, who is completely fine, then next we should be discussing how they interacted, right?”
The entire time, Su Changche was worried that Su Chen had killed Lin Yemao. If that was the case, the Su Clan would’ve been rocked violently. No matter how much Su Chen claimed that the other party had come to kill him, it would’ve been useless. After all, there was no other witness testimony.
However, upon hearing Su Chen say that Lin Yemao was still alive, and was still very healthy, his confidence greatly increased and now he was hounding the Lin Clan to be reasonable. What do you mean, your grandson tried to kill my grandson for no reason?
Put plainly, he still had that attitude of “I won’t act unless there is an incentive”. Upon hearing that Lin Yemao was fine, he jumped out, but before that he didn’t even dare to let out a fart.
This was his temperament.
For people with his temperament, they would only make something already beautiful more beautiful rather than provide help in someone’s hour of need. This was the case even for his own grandsons.
But one had to admit that even if he was just making something beautiful more beautiful, it wasn’t without effect.
Upon hearing Su Changche speak, Lin Yuanqiao was stunned. “What is there to discuss. Hand over the person. As long as he is fine, I will take him away and leave.”
Su Changche coldly laughed, “In your dreams! What do you think my Su Clan is? You can waltz in when you want and leave when you please? Since you want to harm my grandson, then you need to give the Su Clan a justification.”
Lin Yuanqiao became agitated. “You said that Lin Yemao harmed him? He’s the only one that can testify that.”
Su Chen slowly said, “We all know that there are Origin Skills that can be used to detect lies. Although not many people know them, I do know a few. Give me a few days and I will bring him out. At that time, who is telling the truth and who is lying, we will know as soon as we ask.”
Lie detection was an ancient Arcana technique. Su Chen had seen it before in the pile of Origin Skills that Night Charm had given him.
Thus, he also knew that there were definitely people in the Immortal Temple who knew it.
Lin Yuanqiao evidently also knew of these types of Origin Skills. He immediately panicked.
As his expression changed, he suddenly said with smiles, “Please, gentlemen, what need is there? I trust that there must be some kind of misunderstanding going on. Can’t we just resolve this matter by talking things through?”
For someone to go from being in a fiery rage to being tolerant in an instant was quite rare.
Just as Su Changche wanted to speak, Su Chen said, “That’s why I asked which answer you wanted to select. The path is for you to choose.”
Lin Yuanqiao’s eyes lit up. “Naturally, it is the first!”
He finally understood Su Chen’s intentions.
The ladder had already been set up by him, but he didn’t realize it until the other party’s intentions have been revealed.
Su Chen laughed. “That is to say, Lin Clan’s Second Elder, that you believe that Lin Yemao and I have become friends?”
“Naturally!” Lin Yuanqiao replied confidently. “How could friends attempt to harm each other? They would only attempt to help each other!”
“I was also thinking that,” Su Chen nodded his head. “Before, when Lin Yemao and I encountered each other, we built up a rapport through talking and we were friends upon first sight. Thus, I have already invited him to come to the Su residence as a guest for three days. After three days, he will return to the Lin Clan.”
“Three days? No problem!” Lin Yuanqiao naturally could not force him to hand over the person on the spot. As long as he returned in three days, that was good enough.
He thought for a moment, still a bit uneasy, then supplemented, “I trust that Yemao will definitely return without any problem.”
“Naturally. We made a reciprocal deal – I invited Lin Yemao to come to my Su Clan, while he also invited me to tour the Lin Clan’s Beast Garden.”
“What did you say?” Lin Yuanqiao opened his eyes wide.
He finally understood what Su Chen meant.
The price for releasing Lin Yemao was to allow Su Chen to go to the beast garden!