This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

The next day.

Xia Mingtang rushed over in a hurry. "Young Master Lin, good news! The Wei father and son were assassinated last night by a mysterious powerhouse."

Lin Yan frowned. "Who was the killer?"

Xia Mingtang: ...

'If we knew who it was, would we still call them a mysterious powerhouse?'

Xia Mingtang grumbled to himself before answering, "It's still unclear. However, the Director of the Sanshan County Inspection Bureau is furious and has sworn to find the killer."

A worried look appeared on Lin Yan's face. "The Wei Family was targeting us at every turn, and now their entire family has been wiped out. Do you think the Inspection Bureau will suspect me?"

Xia Mingtang: ...

The corner of his mouth twitched. He desperately wanted to say, 'Young Master Lin, you're overthinking things. You think far too highly of yourself.'

'To wipe out the entire Wei Family... even if the killer wasn't a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing powerhouse, they would have to be among the absolute elite of Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists.'

"Young Master Lin, you needn't worry," Xia Mingtang could only answer tactfully. "The Sanshan County Inspection Bureau will surely conduct a detailed investigation. They won't wrongfully accuse you."

"Then I'm relieved." Lin Yan nodded and looked at the somewhat silent Xia Mingtang. "Is there anything else?"

"N-no, nothing else."

Xia Mingtang quickly shook his head, took his leave, and departed. Once he was a short distance from the courtyard gate, he spat fiercely on the ground. 'That Young Master Lin truly has no self-awareness whatsoever.'

'The Sanshan County Inspection Bureau could suspect anyone, but there's no way they'd ever suspect you.'

...

「Sanshan County Inspection Bureau.」

Xu Feng was also nursing a major headache. The Wei Family had offended many people, but the father and son were clever. They only dared to offend those weaker than them, none of whom had the power to annihilate the Wei Family.

"Director, we haven't found any suspects among the Martial Artists in the county."

Hearing his subordinate's report, Xu Feng rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't actually care about the Wei Family's survival. If the Wei Family was wiped out, other clans would take over their businesses, and he could even take a portion for himself.

What worried him was that someone might be trying to throw Sanshan County into chaos. The perpetrator's target might not be just the Wei Family; they could move on to attack other Martial Artist Clans.

If Sanshan County fell into chaos, it would inevitably affect tax revenue, which was something he would not allow.

"Director, could it be that the Tang Family sent a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist to do it? According to our investigation, the Wei Family has snatched a lot of medicinal herbs from the Tang Family recently."

Hearing his subordinate, Xu Feng shot him a glare. "The Tang Family can barely fend for themselves right now. How could they possibly send a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist to Sanshan County?"

The subordinate answered sheepishly, "But besides the Tang Family, your subordinate really can't think of any other suspects. It couldn't possibly be Lin Yan, the one the Tang Family sent to Sanshan County who just reached the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing a short while ago, could it? That man doesn't even dare to repeatedly confront the Wei Family."

"What if he's just pretending?"

Xu Feng's eyes narrowed slightly. "Barking dogs don't bite, and biting dogs don't bark. Isn't there still a living witness? Bring Lin Yan to the Inspection Bureau. Have the woman observe him from a hidden spot to see if she can identify him as the killer."

Even though he felt it was impossible for Lin Yan to be the one who killed the Wei father and son, Xu Feng still gave the order.

...

At the Sanshan County Inspection Bureau, Lin Yan walked out of the main gate, and Xia Mingtang immediately rushed up to greet him.

"Young Master Lin, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. The Wei father and son were killed, so the Inspection Bureau thought I was a suspect. It was just routine questioning. They've now confirmed I'm not a suspect."

Lin Yan's expression was calm, but Xia Mingtang couldn't help but grumble to himself, 'The Sanshan County Inspection Bureau really went to a lot of unnecessary trouble. The chances of me, Old Xia, being the killer are higher than Lin Yan's.'

"Of course Young Master Lin wouldn't be a suspect."

"Old Xia, from the way you said that, it sounds like there's a hidden meaning. Do you think I wasn't worthy of their suspicion? Let me tell you... just because I chose not to bicker with the Wei father and son doesn't mean I was afraid of the Wei Family."

Lin Yan glared, and Xia Mingtang quickly forced a smile. "Young Master Lin, you've misunderstood. That's not what I, Old Xia, meant at all."

"Let's go. This Inspection Bureau gives me the creeps."

...

After Lin Yan left, an Inspector who had been standing at the entrance of the Inspection Bureau turned and walked back inside.

"Director, those were Lin Yan's exact words."

Xu Feng listened to his subordinate's report, then turned his gaze to another man. "Jin'an, what do you think?"

"Director, Lin Yan should be cleared of suspicion."

The man known as Jin'an replied with a smile, "This Lin Yan just broke through to the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing, so first off, it's impossible from a strength perspective. Secondly, the woman was watching from the next room, and according to her, there's a height difference of nearly a foot between Lin Yan and the perpetrator from last night. And finally, there's what Lin Yan just said on his way out."

"Could the woman have remembered incorrectly?"

"Director, based on your subordinate's many years of experience, the memory of an ordinary woman in such a situation might indeed be slightly off, but never by a large amount. Even if the height difference between Lin Yan and last night's killer isn't a full foot, it's certainly at least half a foot."

"Hmm." Xu Feng nodded. "Strength and height are difficult to fake. It seems Lin Yan is indeed not a suspect."

Xu Feng nodded. There were indeed Cultivation Techniques in the Martial Arts Realm that could alter one's body shape, but such techniques were not something a Skin Smoothing Realm Martial Artist could learn. His suspicion of Lin Yan had been low to begin with; he only investigated him because he couldn't find any other suspects.

'Deliberately padding the soles of his shoes to hide his true height?'

That was also a possibility, but if they started analyzing things that way, the number of potential killers would be too great. Any Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist in the city could be a suspect.

The murder of the Wei father and son wasn't important enough to warrant such a deep investigation from him.

"Sir, in my opinion, could it have been an old enemy of the Wei father and son? The two of them were violent and tyrannical, so they had plenty of enemies. Perhaps a former enemy grew stronger and returned for revenge."

"That's possible. In that case, carefully investigate anyone who held a grudge against the Wei Family and has left Sanshan County."

...

...

「Half a month later.」

The leaves on the old tree in the courtyard had mostly withered and fallen.

The fifteen Tiger Bone Tempering Pills, "sponsored" by the Wei Family, had all been used up.

Looking at the height of the Martial Arts Tree in his mind, Lin Yan had to admit that you get what you pay for. The effects of the Tiger Bone Tempering Pills were indeed stronger than the Leopard Bone Tempering Pills. The Martial Arts Tree was already approaching a height of three feet and three inches.

In addition to the advancement of his Realm, after he consumed the Martial Arts Fruits provided by the Wei father, son, and their Martial Artists, the white vein on the purple leaf representing the evolution of his Jinghong Sword Technique grew thicker and longer.

His Silk Binding Sword Intent had once again risen to a new level.

By now, Lin Yan understood that when the white vein completely filled the leaf, his Silk Binding Sword Intent would reach Perfection.

...

"Young Master Lin, a letter has arrived from Guangping County."

A servant delivered a letter from outside the courtyard. Lin Yan opened it, and couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath after reading it.

'What extravagance!'

Guangping County was organizing a Cyan Martial Competition. Any Martial Artist under the age of thirty with a Guangping County household registration could participate.

What shocked Lin Yan wasn't the Cyan Martial Competition itself, but the rewards for the top three places.

The first-place prize was the Treasure Medicine Red Blood Golden Lotus. This item was exceedingly precious. Consuming it increased the chances of breaking through to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing by ten percent. Even if not used for a breakthrough, the medicine also had the effect of Bone Marrow Cleansing and Bone Tempering.

The second-place prize was two bottles of Tiger Bone Tempering Pills, twenty pills in total, worth two thousand taels of silver.

The third-place prize was one bottle of Bear Bone Tempering Pills, ten pills in total, worth seven hundred taels of silver.

'Such extravagance.'

But why had he never heard of it before? Could it be that this was the first year it was being held?

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. For a fleeting moment, the thought of participating crossed his mind.

However, after calming down, Lin Yan gave up the idea.

'Participating in the Cyan Martial Competition would inevitably expose my true strength. After that, it would be much less convenient to continue assassinating people in secret.'

From wiping out the Qingshui Gang, to the later Three Heroes Gang, the Wang Family, and now the Wei Family, the reason he was never suspected afterward wasn't because he did a perfect job of destroying the evidence. It was purely because, in the eyes of outsiders, he simply didn't possess the strength to do such things.

Just as Lin Yan decided to put the matter aside for now, he received another letter the next day.

This letter was from his master.

After reading the letter's contents, understanding dawned on Lin Yan. He finally understood why Guangping County had never had a Cyan Martial Competition before, but suddenly had one this year.

The Cyan Martial Competition was jointly organized by the Four Seas Gang and the Inspection Bureau, and the rewards were also provided by both parties.

The two powers jointly holding the competition didn't mean they had shaken hands and made peace.

On the contrary, the two sides were now like fire and water. Skirmishes broke out almost daily. Several Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists had already died, not to mention even more Second-Time and Single-Time Skin Smoothing ones.

There were only so many Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists in Guangping County Town. If the fighting continued like this, neither side could withstand such losses. Moreover, neither the Four Seas Gang nor the Inspection Bureau had the decisive power to eliminate the other.

Rather than continue this stalemate where Martial Artists from both sides were constantly being killed or injured, it was better to compete in a different way.

Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists certainly couldn't be deployed, as that would signify the final, decisive battle. So, they decided to let their young Martial Artists compete instead. The top three places didn't just involve rewards; they were also tied to the division of territory between the two powers.

His master wasn't sure of the exact details of the division; only the inner circles of the Four Seas Gang and the Inspection Bureau knew.

"It seems Master doesn't want me to compete either," Lin Yan mused.

'Although my master didn't explicitly forbid me from participating, telling me these inside details was his way of saying he didn't want me to get entangled in the conflict between the two factions.'

Accepting a prize meant being in their debt.

The rewards were all provided by these two factions. If he actually won one of the top three spots, there would be no way to walk away free and clear.

After writing a reply to his master stating that he would not participate, Lin Yan had someone send the letter, and then he put the Cyan Martial Competition out of his mind.

Compared to the Cyan Martial Competition, he was preparing to head into the mountains again.

The master of the Cyan Pine Martial Arts Hall had already led his disciples into the mountains half a month ago, but they found nothing. Because of this, the Cyan Pine Martial Arts Hall's master wasn't even certain that his five disciples had died in the White Cloud Mountain Range.

The thought that the master of the Cyan Pine Martial Arts Hall couldn't find his disciples' remains even after bringing a search party made the corner of Lin Yan's mouth twitch. 'If I had known they wouldn't even be able to find the corpses, I would have just buried them. I can't believe I wasted time faking the scene.'

After packing some dry rations, Lin Yan didn't hide his movements this time. He spoke a few words to Xia Mingtang and the others, then headed into the mountains openly.

This was a final act of caution. It was to show everyone that he, Lin Yan, didn't sneak into the mountains; he always informed his subordinates before going. That way, even if the master of the Cyan Pine Martial Arts Hall eventually found his disciples' corpses, he would be even less likely to fall under suspicion.