Chapter Fifteen The Shadow Approaches

Hearing his father's words, Lin Fan shook his head in denial. "Who says our Lin family is inferior to the Bai family? The Bai family only has four in the Qi Vein stage, and roughly twenty in the Qi Gathering stage."

"But our family also has you, Father, at the Qi Vein stage, and Grandfather is in the early stages of the Channel Opening realm. Even if Grandfather can no longer fight as before, it shouldn't be difficult for him to deal with several Qi Vein cultivators. Our family originally had five in the Qi Gathering stage, but after I gave you those fruits, don’t tell me we haven’t cultivated more Qi Gathering experts."

After speaking, Lin Fan wore an expression of disbelief.

"We have cultivated more, but even so, our Lin family only has ten in the Qi Gathering stage now, still a dozen fewer than the Bai family. If a fight breaks out, won’t we be outnumbered two to one?" Lin Xiong sighed. "Besides, your grandfather’s condition isn’t as good as you imagine. If he can hold off two Qi Vein cultivators, that’s already pushing it, and he’d have to risk his life!"

In truth, Lin Xiong knew better than anyone the extent of his father Lin Batian’s injuries. The reason the back courtyard where his father was secluded was so heavily guarded was precisely to prevent the other three great families from discovering the truth and developing murderous intent.

"This is troublesome—just one more Qi Vein expert and we’d be fine!" Lin Fan fell into contemplation, but then his eyes lit up as he remembered the healing pill he had drawn from the system earlier. He wondered if it could heal his grandfather’s injuries.

Anything produced by the system was of the highest quality; even if it couldn’t completely cure him, it should at least help. In that case, Grandfather could probably hold off three Qi Vein experts. If it really came to a fight, the Lin family might have a real chance.

Listening to his son’s mutterings, Lin Xiong felt a headache coming on. "One Qi Vein cultivator short, and a dozen Qi Gathering experts—how is that nothing?"

"It’s not a problem at all! Haha, Father, look at this!" Seeing his father’s exasperation, Lin Fan laughed slyly, pulling out twelve Body Tempering Fruits from his storage ring and handing them over.

"Mysterious fruits?!" Lin Xiong’s eyes sparkled as he immediately accepted them, surprise and delight lighting up his face. Then he looked up at Lin Fan and asked, "Didn’t you say that mysterious expert only gave you six of these fruits? You ate one, gave me five, so where did these twelve come from?"

Lin Fan replied carelessly, "Ah, I was out in the city today and ran into another mysterious expert, who stuffed these into my hands."

"Hmph, there sure are a lot of mysterious experts around!" Lin Xiong’s lips twitched, a vein popping on his forehead as he glared at Lin Fan.

"Received negative emotion points from Lin Xiong: +333!"

Seeing the message flicker across his mind, Lin Fan grinned. "Not just a lot, but also shameless! They insisted on giving me these powerful fruits, even though I kept refusing. But their enthusiasm was impossible to turn down!"

"Received negative emotion points from Lin Xiong: +666!"

"Get out! Now! This instant!" Lin Xiong’s eyes widened as he appeared in front of Lin Fan, grabbed him by the collar, and tossed him out of the council hall.

"What a violent father!"

Lin Fan did a flip in midair, steadied himself on landing, and walked off into the distance. Watching his son disappear from view, Lin Xiong nodded to himself, feeling that Lin Fan had matured a great deal compared to before, which put his mind at ease.

As for the mysterious fruits, he didn’t press further. After all, everyone has their secrets—even his own son. Family members shouldn’t have to reveal everything; otherwise, secrets would cease to be secrets. If enemies ever captured his family, only death would await him.

For a moment, Lin Xiong drifted into thought, not sure what he was pondering. At last, he sighed and shook away whatever he had wanted to tell Lin Fan. "I’ll wait until he reaches the Channel Opening realm. If he can’t, then so be it..."

Returning to his quarters, Lin Fan glanced at his steadily increasing negative emotion points, feeling quite satisfied. The Bai father and son were truly generous people, still thinking of him even after leaving the Lin family.

But really, he had no self-awareness. Did he not know why they kept thinking of him? He had nearly crippled their son, and when they came to demand justice, all they got was anger and frustration. As the instigator, if they didn’t keep him in mind, that would be the real surprise...

Lin Fan looked up; it was already dusk, and the sun had turned into an orange egg. He felt as though he had forgotten something.

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, pulled the Godbreaker Crossbow from his storage ring, and chuckled, "I haven’t tested this thing’s power yet! The Bai family head, Bai Xuefeng, is a mid-stage Qi Vein cultivator—seems like the perfect target!"

Opening the door and checking to make sure no one was around, Lin Fan returned to his room, deciding to test the crossbow’s power at the Bai family residence that night.

Five hours later, the setting sun had long since been devoured by the night, replaced by a vast, starry sky. Yet this night sky differed from the one in Lin Fan’s previous life, for here, two bright moons hung above.

Creak—

Lin Fan’s door opened as he slipped out quietly, quickly making his way to a patch of grass by the wall.

"Heh, I hope the Bai family head is strong enough!" Lin Fan felt a thrill of excitement as he prepared to climb over the wall and pay the Bai family head a “visit.”

Suddenly, his expression changed. With a swift leap, he darted behind a rockery just as a dark figure vaulted over the wall, heading straight toward the Lin family’s rear courtyard.

Hidden behind the rockery, Lin Fan went unnoticed. Yet he frowned. How dare this shadowy figure trespass in his Lin family? Judging from the direction, it seemed the intruder was heading for the place where his grandfather was secluded.

That area was guarded by several Qi Gathering experts. For someone to sneak in so boldly, their strength must be considerable—at least at the Qi Vein level.

If it were only a Qi Gathering cultivator, the guards would have spotted them immediately. No one would be so foolish as to walk to their own death, especially since the other three great families had sent Qi Gathering experts to test his grandfather before, and none had returned. If the three families sent anyone again, surely they wouldn’t make the same mistake.

Within the city of Xiaobei, the Lin family had few enemies, and even if they had made some, those people wouldn’t risk their lives to check on his grandfather’s condition. Only the three great families would care enough to do so, especially after he had just provoked the Bai family earlier that day. This sudden appearance of a shadowy figure was certainly worth investigating.

"Saves me a trip. I’ll use you as my experiment tonight!" Lin Fan’s lips curled into a mischievous grin. No doubt, this shadow was a Bai family Qi Vein expert.

Abandoning his plan to test the Bai family head, Lin Fan now set his sights on this intruder.

With a silent step, he moved like a ghost, tailing the shadow from a distance, curious to see their true intentions. Although he suspected the intruder was there to check on his grandfather, he decided not to act rashly. If he attacked the wrong person, it would be awkward.

And if the intruder really was from the Bai family, letting him have a look wouldn’t be so bad. According to his father, his grandfather could barely manage two Qi Vein experts in his injured state. If the spy returned to report this and the Bai family launched an attack, Lin Fan could simply give his grandfather the healing medicine tonight rather than tomorrow, even if it only mended a fraction of the injuries.

So long as his grandfather could hold off three or four Qi Vein cultivators—

When the Bai family attacked, well, that would be interesting indeed—

Lin Fan flashed a white, silent, but chilling grin.

Soon, the shadow reached a small courtyard at the back of the Lin estate. Although it was late, patrols still moved through the area—four squads of six guards each.

The gleam in their eyes marked them as elite guards, at least fifth rank in Body Tempering. At the courtyard gate, four guards stood with eyes closed, their breathing deep and steady. Whenever the wind stirred, all four would open their eyes simultaneously, sharp gazes sweeping the surroundings.

"The security is tight. No wonder the Qi Gathering cultivators who came before never returned," the shadow muttered. His eyes darted, and then he bent to pick up a small stone, hurling it into the distance.

In an instant, the stone became a streak of darkness, striking a distant wall.

With a boom, the wall was blasted open, leaving a gaping hole.