This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

Time flew by.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

By pouring in both money and effort, Lin Yan’s Skin Smoothing progress grew steadily.

The Martial Arts Tree had reached a height of a little over seven inches.

His progress on the Second-Time Skin Smoothing was seventy percent complete.

’Over three hundred silver for a little more than ten percent progress. Money really doesn’t last.’

Lin Yan pursed his lips. ’By this calculation, to go from the Second-Time Skin Smoothing to the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing—assuming I succeed on the first try and follow the full package of Elixirs, Secret Medicines, and dietary supplements—it would cost at least three thousand silver. And if I were to fail...’

’Fortunately, I won’t fail.’

He withdrew his fist, drew water from the well, and washed his body.

When he returned to Qingtian Town this year, no matter how much Ah Xiu pleaded, he didn’t let her come to his courtyard again.

He had no romantic interest in Ah Xiu, and no matter how liberal the customs in Guangping County were, if she were to take care of his daily needs for too long, gossip was inevitable. He worried it would affect her prospects for marriage.

After washing up, Lin Yan changed into clean clothes. He told Zhang Feng and the others he was going into the county seat, then rode away from Qingtian Town.

After entering the county seat, Lin Yan headed toward his home. Before he even reached his doorstep, a figure rushed past him from behind, hurrying forward.

In the instant the person overtook him, Lin Yan glanced over. ’Isn’t that Housekeeper Yang from my uncle’s home?’

"Housekeeper Yang?"

Housekeeper Yang, who had run ahead, stopped at the sound of his voice. When he turned and saw Lin Yan, he was overjoyed. "Young Master Lin, I was just on my way to find you."

"Has something happened with my uncle?"

"The eldest young master has caused trouble. The master and Nursing Director Li sent me to find you, Young Master. If you weren’t here, I was to go to Qingtian Town to look for you."

Hearing Housekeeper Yang’s words, Lin Yan frowned. The Cai Mansion must have run into a difficult problem.

"Tell me on the way."

"The eldest young master has a favorite girl at the Piaoxiang Building. He went there today only to find out she had been requested by the Young Master Wu. The eldest young master got angry and barged into Young Master Wu’s private room. He didn’t expect that Young Master Wu was hosting a Second-Time Skin Smoothing disciple from the Zhou Family Martial Arts Hall. In his impulsiveness, the eldest young master angered the disciple and is now being detained."

Lin Yan glanced at the bright sun overhead. ’Going to a place like the Piaoxiang Building in broad daylight... he sure is proactive.’

"Is there bad blood between the Cai Family and the Wu Family?"

"Yes. The Wu Family is also in the cloth business, and they’ve always been at odds with our family."

’The two families were rivals, it was a fight over a woman, and it just so happened to involve a Martial Arts Academy Disciple. This was a setup orchestrated by that Young Master Wu.’

’As for whether this disciple from the Zhou Family Martial Arts Hall was being used or was in on the scheme, I’ll know once I get there.’

...

In front of the Piaoxiang Building, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

The Cai Family’s eldest young master, Cai Ming, was kneeling on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He struggled to stand, only to be stomped on the back by a Wu Family servant, pinning him firmly down.

"Dad... Mom..."

He cried out indistinctly, his voice thick with sobs.

Cai Wanlong’s face was ashen, his fists clenched, but he didn’t dare to step forward.

Behind him stood several family servants, all with their heads bowed, none daring to move.

"Master Cai, don’t look at me like that."

The Young Master Wu, Wu Yan, said with a smirk, "Your son barged into my private room and disturbed my honored guest. I’m merely having him kneel to apologize. I’m already giving you a lot of face."

Cai Wanlong trembled with rage but was speechless.

The first wife was already a mess of tears. Several times she tried to rush forward to help her son, but she was held back tightly by Li Min.

"Brother Cheng, is it necessary to be so excessive?"

Li An looked at the young man standing beside Wu Yan with his arms crossed.

Cheng Zonghan, a Second-Time Skin Smoothing disciple from the Zhou Family Martial Arts Hall. He had reached this stage three years ago and was quite well-known among the Second-Time Skin Smoothing disciples in the county seat.

The Zhou Family Martial Arts Hall, like the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall, was one of the six major martial arts halls in the county seat.

Cheng Zonghan glanced at Li An and said coolly, "He ruined my mood for drinking. Making him kneel for half an hour isn’t excessive. If you’re not happy about it, you can come and save him yourself."

Li An was speechless.

He was only at the Single-Time Skin Smoothing stage; it was impossible for him to save anyone from Cheng Zonghan.

"My lord, with Ming’er’s constitution, half an hour will cripple him..." the first wife cried out.

Cai Wanlong knew that, of course, but this time, the Wu Family had trapped them and had him by the throat. What could he do?

The onlookers in the crowd began whispering among themselves:

"The Cai Family has been in business for so many years. Surely they have some connections."

"How can a merchant compare to a Martial Artist? Besides, this Master Cheng is at the Second-Time Skin Smoothing stage."

"The Cai Family is finished. After offending someone like this, how will they continue their business?"

As Wu Yan listened to the discussions, the smile on his face grew wider.

This was exactly the effect he wanted. Once word got out that the Cai Family had offended someone powerful, the merchants who originally worked with them would know that for a stable business, they should turn to the Wu Family.

"My lord!" the first wife continued to plead.

"Wu Yan, this time..."

Cai Wanlong gritted his teeth. He knew what the Wu Family wanted, but for the sake of his eldest son, he had no choice.

"Uncle."

Just as Cai Wanlong was about to speak, a commotion arose from the crowd. The people parted, and Lin Yan walked in.

Lin Yan scanned the scene and walked directly toward the pinned-down Cai Ming.

Cai Wanlong’s eyes lit up when he saw Lin Yan. "Nephew Lin!"

Beside him, Li An’s face also showed pleasant surprise. "Junior Brother Lin."

Only Li Min showed a trace of worry on her face.

A Wu Family servant saw Lin Yan approaching and reached out to stop him. "Who the hell are you..."

Before he could finish, a slap landed squarely on his face.

SLAP!

A crisp sound exploded through the air.

The servant flew sideways. The crowd scrambled to get out of the way as he crashed heavily to the ground.

The entire place fell silent.

The sudden turn of events left many people confused about what had just happened.

Lin Yan bent down, hauled Cai Ming up from the ground, and said flatly, "Get up."

Cai Ming’s legs were so weak he couldn’t even stand steadily. Lin Yan simply picked him up and turned to leave.

Seeing their companion’s miserable state, the other Wu Family servants didn’t dare to block his path. Wu Yan also grew flustered and quickly looked toward Cheng Zonghan.

"Stop."

Cheng Zonghan spoke, sizing up Lin Yan’s attire. "Someone from the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall?"

Lin Yan didn’t turn back, only saying coolly, "Cai Ming was rude first, but he has also been punished. Let’s let the matter drop here."

Cheng Zonghan sneered. He had said he would make Cai Ming kneel for half an hour. If it ended just like this, how could he save face when word got out?

"And what if I don’t agree?"

Lin Yan ignored him and kept walking.

Cheng Zonghan’s expression darkened. He was a man of some status in the county seat’s Martial Arts Community. When had he ever been ignored like this?

"If you want to take him, then let me see what you’re capable of."

With a furious roar, Cheng Zonghan stomped his foot, his body shooting forward like an arrow as he struck with his palm at the center of Lin Yan’s back!

"Look out!"

Li An quickly shouted a warning.

Lin Yan didn’t even turn his head.

Just as Cheng Zonghan’s palm was about to touch his back, he abruptly twisted to the side, his right hand forming a fist, and threw a backhanded Mountain-Splitting Fist!

Fist met palm.

BANG!

Cheng Zonghan felt a tremendous force travel up from his palm, his entire arm instantly going sore and numb. A look of shock crossed his face. ’His fist’s power is actually this strong!’

Before his shock could fade, Lin Yan’s second fist had already arrived.

This fist was even faster, even fiercer.

The whistling fist smashed directly into his chest!

BANG!

Cheng Zonghan was sent flying backward, his back slamming hard against a door pillar of the Piaoxiang Building. The wooden pillar cracked with a KACHA sound, and he slid to the ground a few moments later.

The entire area fell deathly silent.

The Wu Family servants, in particular, looked utterly relieved.

’It’s a good thing we didn’t try to stop him. Even Master Cheng was sent flying. If it had been us, we’d probably be dead.’

Cheng Zonghan sat slumped at the base of the pillar, clutching his chest, staring at Lin Yan in utter disbelief.

’How is this possible? I couldn’t even take two of his fists?’

’It’s not like I haven’t met the Second-Time Skin Smoothing disciples from the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall. I even know the few who are stronger than me. I only acted so tough and refused to give face because I saw that Lin Yan’s face was unfamiliar, which meant he was clearly a new disciple from the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall who had just reached the Second-Time Skin Smoothing stage not long ago.’

’Could this person be a hidden genius of the Yang Family?’

Lin Yan didn’t spare Cheng Zonghan another glance. He was afraid that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to resist killing him.

Ever since he started practicing Martial Arts, aside from Junior Brother Zhao, everyone else he had fought had been killed by him.

Standing on the steps, the smile on Wu Yan’s face was completely frozen.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but as he looked at Cheng Zonghan slumped by the pillar and then at the back of the man who didn’t even turn his head, he couldn’t get a single word out.

Lin Yan walked back, still carrying Cai Ming, and only then did he greet Master Cai and Senior Brother Li.

"Junior Brother Lin, your progress is insane!"

Li An slapped Lin Yan hard on the shoulder, as excited as if he himself had been the one to defeat Cheng Zonghan.

Two fists.

Just two fists.

The long-famous Cheng Zonghan was defeated. Junior Brother Lin’s strength was terrifying.

Li Min’s red lips were slightly parted, still not having recovered from the shock. She didn’t know much about Martial Arts, but she knew that for Master Cheng to act so arrogantly, forcing her husband and Nursing Director Li to endure it, was proof enough of his power.

But her own nephew had taken down such a powerful person in just two punches.

Just moments ago, she had been worried that her nephew would get hurt.

’From Li Min’s perspective, Cai Ming was the first wife’s son. If he were truly crippled, it would be a good thing. But she wasn’t so short-sighted. Today, the Wu Family was trying to humiliate the entire Cai Family, and that was tied to the Cai Family’s business.’

’When she saw Lin Yan appear, she was both happy and worried. Happy because it would be great if Lin Yan could defend the Cai Family’s honor. Worried because if Lin Yan got hurt, it would be a bad thing for both the Cai Family and for her personally.’

’Fortunately, this nephew of hers had more than lived up to expectations.’

’Now, Li Min was incredibly grateful that she had helped Lin Yan back then, for the sake of their family ties.’

’With Lin Yan around, regardless of whether Cai Ming was crippled or not, as long as the master didn’t lose his mind, the Cai Family’s business would be passed on to Jun’er in the future.’

The common folk in the crowd didn’t even dare to look at Lin Yan. Only after Lin Yan and the Cai Family members had left did they burst into excited discussion:

"Who was that person..."

"Someone from the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall? He sent Master Cheng flying with just two punches?"

"The Cai Family... when did they get connected with a figure like this?"

"I... I heard Master Cai call him nephew just now. Is he a relative of the Cai Family?"

"With such a powerful relative, I bet no one will dare to sabotage the Cai Family’s business anymore."

Listening to these comments, Wu Yan’s expression became incredibly ugly. But when he recalled the scene of the man sending Master Cheng flying with two punches, a chill ran down his spine, and he couldn’t utter a single word of rebuttal.

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