This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

The 16th of the first lunar month.

The Lantern Festival was over, and it was time to return to work.

Lin Yan made his way to the Tang Mansion. His New Year holiday was officially over, and it was time to resume his post.

"Lin Yan, you’re here!"

In the Tang Mansion courtyard, Zheng Xun waved Lin Yan over. "I’ve got good news for you. Your stipend is going up."

"My stipend is going up?"

Lin Yan was a little surprised. The stipend from the Tang Family, coupled with the discount on medicinal herbs, was already the highest in the entire city. And now they were raising it?

’Does the Tang Family really have so much money they don’t know what to do with it? Are they just spending it to buy a good reputation?’

"The Young Miss is in charge of the Tang Mansion now. She’s dismissed many of the retained Martial Artists these past few days..."

Zheng Xun lowered his voice, filling Lin Yan in on the situation. A gleam flickered in Lin Yan’s eyes from time to time as he listened.

The Tang Family’s Young Miss had a completely different style from the Tang Family’s Patriarch.

The Patriarch, when it came to the retained Martial Artists, would never dismiss them after hiring them unless they made a mistake. You could work until your Qi Blood began to fail. It was practically a job for life.

But since the Young Miss took over, she changed the rules. Being a retained Martial Artist for the Tang Family was no longer a guaranteed lifelong position.

A Single-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist would be dismissed if they failed to break through within three years.

A Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist would be dismissed if they failed to break through within eight years.

As for a Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist... well, there was no time limit. As long as they were willing to remain with the Tang Family, they could stay indefinitely.

From Zheng Xun’s explanation, Lin Yan quickly analyzed the intention behind the Young Miss’s new rules.

She was dismissing the Martial Artists who no longer had any room for advancement in Martial Arts, while the ones who remained were those still pursuing their cultivation, those with the potential to break through to the next Realm.

’It seems the Tang Family wants Martial Artists with potential, not those who have already given up on advancing in their Martial Arts.’

"According to the Young Miss’s new rules, your stipend, Lin Yan, will increase from the original thirty taels to fifty. After two years, it will drop to forty, and after four years, it will go back to the current thirty."

Hearing this, the corner of Lin Yan’s mouth twitched. The Tang Family’s Young Miss was practically forcing the retained Martial Artists to cultivate desperately and break through as quickly as possible.

He even had a malicious thought: ’Could it be that the Tang Family’s medicinal herbs aren’t selling well, and the Young Miss is using this method to push the retained Martial Artists into buying more Martial Arts herbs?’

To maintain the high stipend, you had to break through. To speed up your breakthroughs, you had to spend more money on Qi Blood-nourishing herbs and Elixirs.

’Regardless, the Tang Family raising my stipend is a good thing for me.’

Lin Yan made his judgment. The Tang Family’s stipend was cold, hard cash, and he also got a discount on medicinal herbs. If he wanted to achieve something in Martial Arts, this expense was unavoidable anyway.

The two of them chatted idly for a while before the steward from before emerged from a room and approached Lin Yan.

"Young Master Lin, I imagine you’re aware of the mansion’s new rules regarding retained Martial Artists."

"I heard about it from Brother Zheng."

"Young Master Lin, since you’ve broken through to Second-Time Skin Smoothing, if you choose to join our Tang Family’s caravan as a guard, your monthly silver can increase by another twenty taels."

"There’s no need. I’ll continue guarding the herb field."

Lin Yan refused outright. Although being a guard paid more, it also came with risks. With the Martial Arts Tree, all he wanted to do was cultivate in peace.

The steward was visibly astonished by Lin Yan’s words. In his eyes, Lin Yan was certain to choose to join the guard detail.

’To be able to go from Single-Time to Second-Time Skin Smoothing in such a short time, given his family background, he’s probably spent all his silver coins by now. And he’s so young, he must have aspirations in Martial Arts. There’s no way he’d give up a chance to earn more silver.’

"Since Young Master Lin has made his decision, then from now on, you will be in charge of the herb field."

The steward fell silent for a few breaths before speaking, and after that, he left without any further discussion.

Once the steward was gone, Zheng Xun looked at him with utter disbelief. "Lin Yan, are you stupid? What’s so good about staying in Qingtian Town? Joining the guards not only pays more, but with the Tang Family’s name, no blind fool would dare to rob you. It’s just a few days each month accompanying the caravan on a trip."

He had been trying to give Lin Yan signals the whole time, but it was as if Lin Yan hadn’t seen them at all.

"If you really run into some blind fool of a robber, you can use them for practice. A Martial Artist who hasn’t experienced real combat is incomplete. You’re not practicing Martial Arts just to stay healthy, are you?"

Lin Yan shook his head. "My situation is different from yours. My family background is ordinary. I practice Martial Arts so my family can live a better life, not to fight and kill. I just want to cultivate peacefully like this."

"Peacefully?" Zheng Xun sneered. "Many Martial Artists, in order to break through the Skin Smoothing stages, will deliberately seek out life-and-death battles to find a catalyst for a breakthrough. You’ve lost your ambition."

Lin Yan fell silent. Zheng Xun snorted. "What, did I leave you speechless?"

"Not speechless. I just find it a little hard to believe the word ’ambition’ coming from your mouth."

Zheng Xun: ...

...

「In the main hall of the Tang Mansion.」

As Tang Tang listened to the steward’s report, her lovely brows furrowed slightly. "I thought that for this Lin Yan to reach Second-Time Skin Smoothing in such a short time, he must be a man with a driven heart for Martial Arts. I didn’t expect him to lose his original aspiration right after reaching it. I’m afraid it will be difficult for him to ever step into Third-Time Skin Smoothing."

"Young Miss, Lin Yan comes from an ordinary background. For him, reaching Second-Time Skin Smoothing is already enough to completely turn his life around. It’s understandable that he would seek stability. Not every Martial Artist pursues Third-Time Skin Smoothing or even higher."

The steward had figured it out on his way back.

For a Martial Artist from his kind of background, reaching Second-Time Skin Smoothing already put him ahead of many others. The fact that he hadn’t lost himself and wasn’t indulging in debauchery was already quite commendable.

By cultivating steadily, even if he couldn’t break through himself, he could still raise the next generation.

Tang Tang didn’t continue the topic. Among the retained Martial Artists at the Tang Family, there were two or three others who had broken through to Second-Time Skin Smoothing in a short time, not to mention some of the outstanding Martial Artists from the Tang Family’s own clan. Among them, Lin Yan was not particularly exceptional.

...

After leaving the Tang Mansion, Lin Yan headed for the Martial Arts Hall. He was due to leave for Qingtian Town the next day and wanted to buy some more Muscle Cleansing Secret Medicine.

He was still a street away from the Martial Arts Hall when he stopped and looked ahead.

Not far in front of him, an Inspector from the Inspection Bureau and two Patrol Officers were stopping someone. And Lin Yan recognized the person being stopped—it was Junior Brother Zhuang from the Martial Arts Hall.

Seeing this, Lin Yan strode over quickly.

"Junior Brother Zhuang, what’s going on?"

Zhuang Zheng’s eyes lit up when he saw Lin Yan. "Senior Brother Lin, you’re just in time! These people from the Inspection Bureau are accusing me of murder without any evidence and want to arrest me and take me to their headquarters."

The Inspector from the Inspection Bureau frowned upon seeing Lin Yan and explained, "Several months ago, a citizen reported a murder in their family. According to our Inspection Bureau’s investigation, the deceased, Zhao Chuan, had a financial dispute over a debt with Zhuang Zheng. We are therefore taking Zhuang Zheng to the Inspection Bureau for questioning. If it’s determined that he is not the killer, he will be released."

Zhao Chuan?

’Isn’t that the first guy I killed?’

He had a very deep impression of Zhao Chuan. After all, the man was his "Martial Arts angel investor."

So the Zhuang Zheng who had borrowed fifty taels of silver, whose name was in the ledger he’d found on Zhao Chuan and Zhang Dahai, was really his Junior Brother Zhuang.

’Well damn. Back then I was thinking that by killing Zhao Chuan and Zhang Dahai, I’d done a favor for that Zhuang Zheng fellow. Turns out I did a favor for my own Junior Brother.’

’Oh well. At least the good fortune stayed in the family.’

"Senior Brother Lin, I had no dispute with Zhao Chuan! I did borrow money from him initially, but I paid it back after selling my family’s house. I never saw that Zhao Chuan again, and I have no reason to kill him."

Seeing Lin Yan’s silence, Zhuang Zheng quickly defended himself, a wronged expression on his face.

"When did you pay the money back?" the man from the Inspection Bureau pressed.

"The ninth of the fifth lunar month. I had already sold the house by then and had the money."

"Do you have a witness?"

"Zhao Chuan found out I had sold my house and came to collect the money himself. There were no witnesses."

Zhuang Zheng answered quickly. The Inspector’s brow furrowed. Without a witness, there was no way to determine if he was telling the truth.

But at that moment, Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’Junior Brother Zhuang is lying. On the ninth of the fifth lunar month, Zhao Chuan was already buried by me. He couldn’t have reanimated to go collect the debt.’

"Senior Brother Lin, Junior Brother Zhuang, what are you two doing here?"

A voice called out from a short distance away. Zhao Linyuan appeared, walking toward them.

When the Inspector saw Zhao Linyuan, his expression changed slightly. He had personally witnessed Zhao Linyuan snatching the festive lantern on behalf of the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall during the Lantern Festival yesterday. This man was a genius disciple of the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall.

"Junior Brother Zhao, the Inspection Bureau suspects Junior Brother Zhuang is connected to a murder case. I just happened to run into them."

"Oh? Does the Inspection Bureau have any evidence?"

Zhao Linyuan didn’t even glance at the Inspector. When he saw Lin Yan shake his head, his face turned cold. "Since when can the Inspection Bureau arrest a disciple of my Yang Family Martial Arts Hall without evidence? I’ll have to go ask Senior Brother Hao about this."

"Young Master Zhao, please calm down. It’s not an arrest, we’re just asking Zhuang Zheng to come back to the Inspection Bureau to cooperate with the investigation."

"If you have questions, ask them now. If you want to take him to the Inspection Bureau, then show me some evidence." Zhao Linyuan showed the Inspector no courtesy at all, even though the man was a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist.

Liang Kang’s face turned ugly, but facing Zhao Linyuan, he didn’t have much confidence. ’Although Zhao Linyuan is just a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist like me, that’s only because he hasn’t been cultivating for long. The man is certain to step into Third-Time Skin Smoothing within three years. Offending him is not a wise choice.’

’Besides, Zhuang Zheng is only a suspect; he isn’t necessarily Zhao Chuan’s killer. Although Zhao Chuan hadn’t reached the Single-Time Skin Smoothing Realm, he had practiced the Pile Skill for some time. At the time of his disappearance, Zhuang Zheng hadn’t even joined the Martial Arts Hall yet, so he shouldn’t have been a match for Zhao Chuan.’

’The only reason I’m pursuing this case is because Zhao Chuan was my man, privately handling high-interest loans for me. His disappearance cost me several dozen taels, and I want that money back. My investigation led me to discover that Zhao Chuan had lent a sum of money to Zhuang Zheng. I don’t really suspect he’s the killer, but I do suspect he never repaid the debt. I just wanted to take him to the Inspection Bureau to intimidate him into admitting it.’

’Unfortunately, with Zhao Linyuan stepping in, I’ve lost my chance.’

"I shall take my leave."

Liang Kang left with his two subordinates. Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed again. ’That Inspector clearly has an unusual relationship with Zhao Chuan. If I get the chance...’

Meanwhile, Zhuang Zheng was also watching Liang Kang’s retreating back, his own thoughts unreadable.

"Senior Brother Lin, Junior Brother Zhuang, if you’re heading to the Martial Arts Hall, let’s go together."

Zhao Linyuan didn’t give the matter a second thought. His master was investing everything into cultivating him, so naturally, he had to protect the reputation of the Martial Arts Hall.

’Never mind that the Inspection Bureau has no evidence,’ he thought. ’Even if they did, if they want to arrest one of our own, they have to come to the Martial Arts Hall and get my master’s approval first.’