Once arrangements were made, it was time to wait. Lin Shunhe checked on Little Hu to ensure he was unharmed, then followed You Ying and the others to move chairs and stools into the drill grounds, sitting down to rest.
Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a shichen passed.
The two who had rushed off had not returned, and the impatience in You Ying's eyes was becoming increasingly obvious.
The atmosphere in the entire drill grounds grew more oppressive. The elderly practitioners, sensing the unfavorable situation, had quietly dispersed and fled long ago.
Only a group of white-robed people, Lin Shunhe, Little Hu, and Little Fatty—who had rushed over—remained.
The laborers served tea to everyone, but the hot beverage couldn't suppress the chilling dread permeating the group.
Time passed again. The one shichen limit was approaching.
As he sat in his seat, beads of sweat seeped from Lin Shunhe's forehead. His gaze was fixed on the main gate, and the hand gripping the armrest tightened unconsciously, veins bulging.
"Time is up," a bald, burly man beside You Ying said in a deep voice.
Just as she was about to strike, her finger suddenly trembled. Seeming to sense something, she pointed gently at Lin Shunhe.
Whoosh.
A purple-red jade pendant shot out from Lin Shunhe's waist, landing precisely in her large hand.
"How did Big Brother's protective jade pendant end up in your hands?" The killing intent in her eyes faded rapidly, replaced by confusion.
"So it really is Lord You's own sister!?" Lin Shunhe, who had been so tense that even his hair was standing on end, was completely stunned by the scene. "It’s all a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding!"
Relief washed over him, and he shouted loudly. His mind quickly recalled the powerful figure he'd partnered with through the supermarket profits earlier. As he pieced together the web of connections and backgrounds, he immediately grasped the true identity of the lord standing before him.
"Since you’re Big Brother’s trusted man, that makes you one of us." You Ying flicked her finger, and the jade pendant flew back with perfect precision into Lin Shunhe’s hand.
Then she turned her head to look at the burly man who had grabbed Little Hu earlier.
She struck with her right palm.
Whoosh!
In an instant, a massive, invisible force field solidified the space several meters around the burly man.
This force field rendered the man like an insect trapped in amber, unable to move, unable even to change his expression by a fraction.
Boom!
You Ying's palm smashed down from above. With a loud bang, the entire drill grounds seemed to shake.
The man was smashed into the ground from head to toe, creating a bloody, circular pit.
In the pit, the man's entire body had been smashed into a pulp of flesh and blood; it was impossible to distinguish head from foot.
The palm strike caused everyone around to shudder violently.
Lin Shunhe's face also went pale. But then he saw You Ying smile gently at him.
"Don't be afraid. You are Big Brother's man, so you are my man. I said I would kill someone, so I must keep my word. Since I'm not killing you, I have to find someone to make up the count. He found the wrong person, almost dragged you into this, and almost made me kill you. This is his fault, so he deserved to die."
"...Yes." Lin Shunhe felt a chill in his heart, forcefully suppressing his horror as he nodded and squeezed out a smile. "The Lord speaks reason."
At this moment, outside the drill grounds' main gate, two guards rushed in on horseback, followed by two others also on horseback.
The four dismounted and rushed into the drill grounds.
"Shopkeeper Zhao Dongmu of Zhao's Dry Goods greets Lord You Ying!"
One of them, an old man in a black hat, hurried forward and bowed deeply.
And at this moment, the time had truly just arrived.
The bald man beside You Ying whispered something to her.
"Not bad." You Ying's gaze toward Lin Shunhe instantly became much warmer.
"I like capable people like you." She extended an index finger and tapped gently on Lin Shunhe's forehead.
Pu.
A black imprint, resembling a flower pattern, flashed across his skin for an instant before vanishing.
"Giving you one of my imprints. The protective jade pendant is ruined after one use, but this imprint can be used repeatedly. If any high-level Called Ones see you and try to act against you, they will definitely encounter the imprint I left to protect your body first," You Ying said calmly.
"Many thanks, Lord!" Lin Shunhe was instantly overjoyed, hurriedly bowing in thanks.
"Step down." You Ying nodded, shifting her gaze to the old man in the black hat.
"Take him. We leave."
She stood up. Her tall body tapped the ground lightly, leaping up as gracefully as a bird. In the blink of an eye, she cleared the wall and disappeared outside the drill grounds.
The other white-robed people hurriedly took the Zhao shopkeeper and chased after her closely.
In just a few seconds, only a bloody deep pit remained in place.
Lin Shunhe, Little Hu, and the others watched this scene, momentarily unable to recover from the intense aura of You Ying, who had just left.
It took fully ten seconds before Lin Shunhe touched the center of his brow.
The expression on his face gradually turned excited, carrying a hint of inexplicable meaning.
"Many thanks to Lord Lin for saving my life!" At this moment, Little Hu dropped to his knees before Lin Shunhe, banging his head three times in quick succession.
He was honest, but not stupid. He knew that if Uncle Lin's father hadn't risked death to speak up just now, he would have been gone on the spot.
Little Fatty on the side stared blankly, then followed suit, foolishly kneeling and kowtowing three times.
"It's alright, don't be afraid." Lin Shunhe stepped forward to help the two up. He actually wasn't stupid either; he hadn't truly sacrificed himself to save people. It was just that he had the protective jade pendant on him, giving him enough courage to dare speak up and save them.
And he had three more such protective jade pendants, all gifted by the big shots behind him who were waiting for him to make money and send resources, not wanting him to have any accidents.
The United Supermarket had now expanded to branch stores in more than ten towns; it was long past the two stores he had told his son about—that was just an excuse he gave back then for fear of scaring his family.
In reality, with the big shots joining in, capital and manpower had long ceased to be issues. For the creation of this new model, expanding market share as much as possible at the first opportunity was an important lesson he had summarized over many years.
How could he possibly wait slowly for branch stores to open one by one?
"Go back and rest well, recuperate your spirit. When your master comes, tell him about today's situation. Pause the classes for a while; don't open them," Lin Shunhe instructed.
"Mn!" Little Hu nodded vigorously. Uncle Lin Hui had actually explained this to him, but he thought to himself that he was just a child, and with the Sword Sect made up mostly of elderly men and women, there shouldn’t be any real danger.
He hadn't expected that the big shots from the Inner City would be so brutal…
Early on the morning of the third day.
Lin Hui had just returned to the Sword Sect when he was stunned by the bloody mess on the ground.
Little Hu and Little Fatty were struggling alongside two helping aunties to clean up the flesh and filth on the ground.
This burly man had no family to collect his corpse, so the flesh had been packed into leather bags and thrown into the mist zone long ago for the monsters to deal with thoroughly.
As for the half-meter-deep, bowl-shaped circular pit left in the ground, Weiwei had already hired a professional mason on the side, who was currently mixing the special stone sand for the drill ground floor.
Seeing Lin Hui return at this time, Weiwei felt somewhat reassured and hurried over.
The recent incident had frightened her deeply. When she learned that it was Lin Hui's father who ultimately resolved the crisis, she found herself filled with an inexplicable sense of mystery regarding Lin Shunhe, whom she had always considered to be an ordinary man.
If Little Hu had truly been gone, dead—if someone had died in the already declining Clear Wind Sword Sect—it would likely have collapsed on the spot.
One had to know that those old men and women only paid money to practice casually for exercise. Once they encountered such a dangerous event, they would definitely run faster than anyone else.
After all, anyone who could live to such an old age in the Outer City these days was no simple character; every one of them was shrewd.
Listening to Weiwei describe the entire process, Lin Hui's expression also changed slightly.
He hadn't expected that the Inner City team would actually run over to the Sword Sect, nor had he expected his dad to actively run over with medicine. Before, his dad wouldn't have come over suddenly.
"The medicine Uncle Lin brought is still stored with me. He said he found another channel to prepare the medicine you wanted; there are fifteen packs." Weiwei whispered.
"Fifteen packs..." Lin Hui had originally thought that, without the main ingredient, there was no way he could get any All-Essence Powder for some time. He never expected his father's connections to be so extensive—somehow, he had managed to procure fifteen packs against all odds.
This way, combined with the scorpion tail he hunted himself, the evolution time of the Clear Wind Sword would definitely be shortened significantly!
Internal Force!
At this moment, Lin Hui thought of the danger his father faced, Little Hu nearly being strangled to death, and that Tree Scorpion he couldn't kill no matter what. His desire for the next step in strength reached its peak.
If he had achieved Internal Force and developed a strong enough force field around him, perhaps he wouldn't have encountered this incident.
"Where is Master?" He came back to his senses and asked.
"Dad knows about this. He had a drink with your dad; the two chatted all night yesterday and are catching up on sleep now. Your dad went back too." Weiwei answered.
"I'll go back and take a look first." Lin Hui nodded.
He hadn't expected his own father to be so capable. It seemed the business his father was developing was far from as simple as he had said.
Immediately, he took the medicine and returned quickly to his new home.
He happened to see his dad drinking and eating meat with an unfamiliar old man, bragging about how calm he was in front of Lord You Ying earlier, how his expression didn't change, and his courage remained even when someone was beaten to death in front of him.
Both were quite drunk. The old man just treated it as his dad bragging, and followed suit, boasting about how he once led hundreds of clansmen to tough it out against a high-tier Called One, eventually forcing the person to retreat.
The two had their arms around each other's shoulders, unrestrained, causing Lin Hui, who had already walked to the small hall door, to stop in his tracks.
He stood at the door watching for a long time, watching his dad let go completely, singing loudly and shouting wildly with the old man.
After a good while, he turned around, choosing not to disturb them.
Having experienced such a dangerous event, he understood that his dad was human too and needed to vent psychological pressure. Drinking a little wine, bragging, singing, and shouting with friends was exactly the way to regulate psychological stress.
And the matter with You Ying also made Lin Hui vigilant in his heart.
'Many things cannot be avoided just by evasion... Why must I avoid trouble, rather than trouble avoiding me?'
He returned to his small courtyard, gazing at the mist in the sky, motionless for a long time.
Regarding the You Ying incident, his family nearly encountered danger. He himself avoided it, but the people around him couldn't be controlled; accidents would always happen. The best way was to resolve such matters thoroughly.
At this moment, Ding Ning walked into the courtyard carrying the brewed medicinal soup.
"Young Master, the medicinal soup is ready. Drink it while it's hot."
"Mn." Lin Hui reached out to take it, looked at the gray-black soup, and drank it in one go.
There was still a Hundred Flowers Sect nearby. Leaving them to wander around the periphery was ultimately a hidden danger.
'Only two people died, didn't they? People go missing in the Outer City every year, and the other groups always handle it with indifference when someone turns up dead. But the Hundred Flowers Sect—over just two people—won't let it go, searching relentlessly for so long. It's truly exasperating.'
His heart hardened. He decided that after relying on the medicinal soup to complete the evolution of the Clear Wind Sword and stepping into the Internal Force Realm, he would try to solve the problem once and for all, thoroughly resolving the Hundred Flowers Sect to avoid future trouble.