Chapter 153 - 17: Hunting the Killer

Chapter 153: Chapter 17: Hunting the Killer

As long as they didn’t overdo it, he turned a blind eye to how often Zhao Tieshan and his men entered the mountains. Zhao Tieshan returned the favor. The two had a tacit understanding, and nothing needed to be said.

It wasn’t that Lin Yan was greedy for this small perk. Brother Yuan had told him to just turn a blind eye to Zhao Tieshan and his men entering the mountains.

Zhao Tieshan knew how to play the game. Every time he arranged for people to go into the mountains, he sent Lin Yan a portion of the Rare Birds they hunted. ’Would he dare not send any to Brother Yuan?’

’Zhao Tieshan probably sends even more to Brother Yuan, but I doubt it’s as frequent as his deliveries to me. Perhaps they settle up monthly, quarterly, or even annually.’

Although it was a bit of a shame he couldn’t enter the mountains himself, Lin Yan was quite satisfied with his Cultivation progress.

After reaching the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, the growth of his Martial Arts Tree hadn’t slowed down; in fact, it had accelerated. Previously, it took a month and a half to grow an inch, but now it only required one month.

’The Stone Waist Thunder Ridge is taking effect.’

Lin Yan was certain his biggest change was cultivating the Stone Waist Thunder Ridge. The original Stone Waist Barbarian Spine Root Bone was already known to accelerate the growth of Qi Blood, and now the higher-grade Stone Waist Thunder Ridge provided an even greater boost.

’My Bone Tempering Pills are about to run out anyway. I’ll head back to restock and stop by the Hidden Technique Pavilion to pick out another Main Technique. Maybe I can enhance my Root Bone further.’

A month has passed; the incident with Lin Mingyu should have blown over by now.

Even if it hadn’t, and the fourth branch was still investigating, his breakthrough to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing wouldn’t arouse much suspicion at this point.

"Leaving, Young Brother Lin?"

Surprise flashed in Zhao Tieshan’s eyes when he heard Lin Yan was planning to leave. "It couldn’t be that this old brother’s hospitality has been lacking, could it? If it has, Young Brother, you just have to say the word."

"You misunderstand, old brother. I’ve nearly run out of Elixirs, so I need to make a trip back to the clan."

"As long as it’s not because this old brother has been neglectful. I’ll arrange a horse for you, Young Brother Lin."

As Zhao Tieshan watched Lin Yan ride off into the distance, the smile on his face gradually faded. Qian Wanli and Zhou Yuankang came up to him.

"Second Master, why did Young Master Lin leave?"

"He ran out of Elixirs and went back to the Lin Mansion to restock. The round trip will likely take him several days."

Zhao Tieshan spoke slowly. Hearing this, delighted expressions appeared on the faces of both Qian Wanli and Zhou Yuankang. "Second Master, since Lin Yan is gone, does that mean we can resume our business?"

Out of caution, they hadn’t secretly let anyone into the mountains since Lin Yan’s arrival at Eagle’s Beak Gorge.

The losses over the past month had been significant.

"Tell Zixuan to proceed as usual, but this time, no more than five people are to enter the mountains."

"Will five people be enough?"

"Someone from the fourth branch died. Although the body was found, the killer is still at large. We can’t be sure the fourth branch doesn’t still have patrols in there. The more people we have, the higher the risk of exposure."

"Understood. I’ll go inform Young Master Xuan right away."

Qian Wanli eagerly agreed. He could hardly wait.

You had to understand, the stipend the Lin Family paid to Mountain Guardian Martial Artists like them was pitifully small—just thirty taels a month. And while they were allowed to enter the mountains, they couldn’t stay for long.

The Lin Family stationed one of their own disciples at each entrance for the express purpose of monitoring the Martial Artists who guarded them. They had to report for a headcount daily and were not permitted to be absent for more than three days.

The Yantian Mountain Range was vast, and the areas near the entrances had long been picked clean of rare beasts and medicinal herbs. Three days was nowhere near enough time to venture deeper, so their harvests from each trip were meager.

In contrast, when they secretly arranged for people to enter, those people could stay in the mountains for ten days to half a month. That was the only way to make a real profit.

From the profits of each trip, the Zhao Family took a forty percent cut. The ones who actually entered the mountains received twenty percent. The three Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists each took ten percent, and the last ten percent was split among the rest.

"You’re returning to the clan?"

When Lin Yan reached the mountain pass where Lin Mingyuan was stationed and informed him of his trip back to the mansion, Lin Mingyuan frowned. "According to the Lin Clan Rules, you can’t abandon your post after accepting a mission unless there’s a special reason. If you were just going somewhere else, it’d be fine—I could cover for you. But returning to the mansion? I’m afraid that won’t work."

"Brother Yuan, I’ve run out of Elixirs and need to return to the mansion to buy more."

"If you’re out of Elixirs, you just need to send word to the clan, and they’ll have someone deliver them. That excuse won’t fly."

Lin Mingyuan shook his head. Even he was on active duty and wouldn’t dare to leave his post without a very good reason.

"I believe I have a chance to break through to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, and I want to return to attempt it in seclusion."

"Attempting a breakthrough to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing? In that case, there’s no problem. Why didn’t you say so sooner?"

"I wasn’t completely sure I could do it. It would’ve been humiliating if I’d failed."

Lin Yan scratched his head, looking embarrassed. Lin Mingyuan laughed. "Don’t worry. In our clan, it’s extremely rare for anyone who cultivates the Thunder Sound Technique to fail their breakthrough to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing. If they did, what would make the Thunder Sound Technique a Top-grade Cultivation Method?"

A Top-grade Cultivation Method didn’t just offer faster progress in Martial Arts than Mid-grade and Low-grade methods; it also boosted the chances of a successful breakthrough.

For many years in the Lin Family, with only a few special exceptions, no one who cultivated the Thunder Sound Technique as their Main Technique had ever failed to break through to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing.

"Alright. You go on back to the mansion. I’ll find someone to replace you and handle the daily patrols over at Eagle’s Beak Gorge."

According to the Lin Clan Rules, all clan members on a mission—especially a guard mission—were forbidden from leaving their posts without a valid reason. The lightest consequence was a deduction of Contribution Points; a more severe infraction would result in punishment.