This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

On a flat area halfway up the mountain.

Several crude wooden huts were scattered about. In the clearing outside, a few burly men were gathered around a bonfire, warming themselves.

In a cave not far from the huts, Yan Bin sat cross-legged, his upper body bare. A bloody scab ran down the entire length of his back.

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed. Yan Bin, who was in the middle of healing, suddenly sensed something. He stared at the cave entrance and shouted, "Who’s there?"

The entrance to the cave was silent.

"Since you’re here, you might as well show yourself."

There was no sound. Yan Bin didn’t lower his guard; instead, he grew even more vigilant.

He hadn’t detected any approaching footsteps, but with his keen hearing, he had been able to hear his men outside cursing crudely about the cold weather and the lack of women. But just a moment ago, those sounds had vanished.

’Something must have happened outside.’

However, after waiting for more than a dozen breaths, there was still no movement at the cave entrance. Yan Bin frowned. ’Since I’ve already discovered them, what’s the point of hiding any longer?’

But Yan Bin soon understood why the other party hadn’t appeared. A thick plume of smoke wafted in from the entrance.

’Fucking despicable!’

’To be able to silently take out my men and get this close to the cave, they must be at least a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist, just like me.’

’A respectable Second-Time Martial Artist doesn’t dare to face me head-on and instead resorts to smoking me out.’

As a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist, he naturally wasn’t afraid of thick smoke. He could easily hold his breath for several hundred breaths. But if the other party kept the smoke coming, he would have to go out eventually.

Yan Bin was a decisive man. He threw on his outer robe, grabbed the long saber by his side, and walked toward the cave entrance. As he exited, he maintained absolute vigilance, wary of a sneak attack.

However, no one ambushed him, even as he walked past the bonfire outside the cave. He saw only one person standing before him.

Very young.

Yan Bin was stunned for a moment, then sneered. "Just you?"

Lin Yan nodded. He had considered hiding at the entrance to ambush his opponent the moment he came out, but ultimately decided against it.

’Putting myself in his shoes,’ he thought, ’if I were trapped in a cave and smoked out, I’d be extremely cautious on my way out. And with an old gang veteran like this, who knows if he has hidden weapons? A failed ambush could easily backfire.’

The purpose of the smoke was simply that the situation inside the cave was unknown, and he didn’t want to risk entering. Since he could force the person out, there was no need to take that risk.

Yan Bin narrowed his eyes, sizing up the young man before him. His clothes were ordinary, but his breathing was steady and his eyes were calm. He was also a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist.

"You’re not from the Four Seas Gang."

Yan Bin tightened his grip on his saber’s hilt. This person lacked the ferocious aura of a gang Martial Artist. Most importantly, the Four Seas Gang only cared about territory; they never hunted down gangs that had already given it up.

Lin Yan still said nothing.

Yan Bin’s brow furrowed. This silence made him uneasy, but he quickly suppressed the feeling. ’It’s true he’s a Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist, but he’s so young. How much real combat experience could he possibly have?’

"If you won’t talk, then you can die!"

Yan Bin roared. His long saber flew from its sheath, its blade flashing like a bolt of white silk as it chopped straight for Lin Yan’s face!

The blade tore through the air with a piercing shriek.

Lin Yan executed Stone Waist Barbarian Ridge. His body contorted like the gnarled branch of an old tree, twisting at an exceedingly bizarre angle, allowing the blade to skim right past his body.

Yan Bin’s pupils shrank. ’His body can twist to that extent?’

But he had no time to dwell on it. A flicker of glee even crossed his eyes as he changed his Saber Momentum and slashed horizontally!

’What a young fool. All he knows is showing off, and he’s given me an opening.’

’With his torso twisted at that angle, let’s see how he dodges this next strike.’

Faced with Yan Bin’s second slash, Lin Yan indeed did not dodge. Instead, he chose to punch.

His body remained in its contorted position, but his fist had already landed on the blade.

CRACK!

The long saber, forged from refined iron, snapped in two at the middle!

Yan Bin stood frozen, clutching half a broken saber.

’What kind of fist is that?’

Before he could react, Lin Yan’s second fist arrived.

This punch had no flourish. It was just a straight punch.

But where the fist passed, the air boomed, and an invisible pressure bore down on him like a mountain.

Yan Bin saw Lin Yan’s fist.

But in his eyes, it wasn’t a fist.

It was an overwhelming torrent of fist-shadows.

The fist was like a tidal wave, crashing down on him.

"Fist... Fist Momentum?"

Yan Bin’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

’How could such a young Martial Artist possibly develop Fist Momentum?’

BOOM!

The sound of a sternum shattering was exceptionally clear in the quiet mountain forest.

Yan Bin was sent flying backward, slamming into the cave wall before falling heavily to the ground.

His eyes were unfocused. His breathing had stopped.

’A Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist... was he this weak, or was it because he was injured?’

Lin Yan frowned, a look of surprise on his face. This victory had been too easy.

He recalled what his master had once said: after developing Fist Momentum, Martial Artists with comparable Qi Blood wouldn’t even be able to take a single punch from him.

If it wasn’t that Yan Bin was too weak, then it meant that he, having mastered Fist Momentum, was truly invincible among Martial Artists of comparable Qi Blood.

’Well, he’s dead now. No point dwelling on it.’

Lin Yan searched Yan Bin’s body for a moment, then entered the cave. When he emerged again, his face was wreathed in smiles.

This time, it was a huge harvest.

All in all, the silver coins from the Cyan Bamboo Gang members added up to a full three hundred taels.

As for the Martial Arts Fruit, Yan Bin alone contributed seven years of Cultivation time. Including the others, it was a total of fourteen years.

’I’ve already developed Fist Momentum for Mountain-Splitting Fist. According to Master, Mountain-Splitting Fist is a Mid-grade Technique, and developing Fist Momentum is its peak. There’s no point in practicing it further. I’ll save this Martial Arts Fruit time for now.’

After looting the bodies, Lin Yan tossed them all into the cave. He then dismantled the wooden huts, threw the dry wood into the cave, and simply set it all ablaze to take care of the matter.

...

...

For the next several days, Lin Yan went to Great Mist Mountain daily, but unfortunately, he found very little.

The *True Understanding of Earth Veins* was a book that studied places where Earth Vein Qi flourished. In such places, the vegetation was usually distinctly different from other areas. But it wasn’t yet the season for nature to reawaken, making it difficult to find any traces just by looking at dead leaves and withered branches.

In the end, Lin Yan simply stopped coming. He would have plenty of time when he went to Cyan Mountain Town.

As for silver coins, with the three hundred taels "sponsored" by the Cyan Bamboo Gang, he wasn’t short on funds for the time being.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month.

The Lin Family moved to their new house.

They didn’t make a big fuss, but as the horse-drawn carriage parked at their door was loaded with their belongings, the neighbors inevitably found out.

Facing the neighbors’ curiosity, Madam Liu didn’t hide the fact that they were moving. When they learned the Lin Family was moving to South City, the neighbors’ expressions were complicated.

Their envy was mixed with jealousy, so much so that they couldn’t even bring themselves to offer congratulations.

"Aunt, let’s go."

Lin Yan prompted her as he watched her say goodbye, holding hands with a few elderly neighbors she had been on good terms with.

There were people waiting at the new house.

Lin Yan didn’t have strong feelings, good or bad, about these neighbors.

Xu Ping’s experience had already served as a reminder to him that not everyone had a grateful heart.

Times were tough. Xu Ping was already crippled, and the neighbors, out of selfishness, didn’t want to give money. Logically, he could accept that. But because of this, by helping them deal with the Three Heroes Gang, he considered his neighborly duties from all these years fulfilled.

After they left today, the brokerage would put the house up for sale.

Madam Liu was softer-hearted than Lin Yan. After all, they had lived alongside them for many years. She gave some of the unneeded items they couldn’t take with them to the neighbors before getting on the carriage.

...

「South City.」

Inside the new house.

Zhang Wei and Monkey had arrived long ago. Lin Yan hadn’t informed anyone else about the move. He didn’t have any relatives on his side, and while Madam Liu had plenty on her family’s side, she hadn’t notified them either.

"Stone, congratulations!"

"A house in South City! Now you’re truly Lord Lin."

Zhang Wei and Monkey’s faces showed only happiness, none of that complicated feeling of wanting your friend to do well, but not *too* well.

"Yan’er, why don’t you sit with Xiaowei and the others for a bit? I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare a meal."

"Aunt, don’t trouble yourself. I ordered a table of food from the restaurant. It’ll be delivered soon."

Having earned three hundred taels, and with it being a housewarming celebration, Lin Yan decided to splurge for once, spending two taels of silver to order a full spread of dishes and wine.

The same dishes would have only cost one tael of silver in North City.

This was the difference in price for different locations. He hadn’t become Master Hu, but he was paying Master Hu’s prices.

Madam Liu was about to advise Lin Yan against spending money frivolously, but then she remembered her decision from a few days ago and held her tongue.

Her nephew’s status was different now. She couldn’t keep advising him based on their family’s past circumstances.

Just as Lin Yan was helping his aunt set up the ancestral tablets of the Lin Family, a guest arrived at the door.

"Junior Brother Lin, moving to a new house is such a major event, yet you didn’t even notify me. Are you saying you don’t consider me your Senior Brother?"

Li An’s voice came from the doorway. Accompanying him was Cai Wanlong.

"Senior Brother Li, this was just a simple move."

"Moving into a new home is a major life event. How can you speak of it so lightly?"

Li An had a serious expression. ’This must be the difference in thinking between people of two different eras,’ Lin Yan thought.

In the minds of the people of Guangping County, moving was a major life event, second only to getting married.

"You’re right, my mistake for not informing you, Senior Brother Li."

Seeing Li An’s solemn expression, Lin Yan smiled and apologized, leading Li An and Cai Wanlong into the house.

"Nephew Lin, this is a small token of your uncle’s goodwill."

After entering the house, Cai Wanlong took out a red envelope. Lin Yan took it, and feeling no weight, knew it must contain a silver banknote.

"Thank you, Uncle."

Lin Yan politely accepted it. Li An also gave him a similar envelope and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Lin, I have good news for you. The Cyan Bamboo Gang has been wiped out."

"The Cyan Bamboo Gang was wiped out?"

Li An chuckled. "The day before yesterday, some Martial Artists found a number of bodies on the mountain. Based on their clothes, they were identified as members of the Cyan Bamboo Gang. Some powerhouse must have slaughtered the entire gang. We just don’t know which lord was responsible."

"Then Uncle can save on the toll fees."

Lin Yan feigned surprise. Cai Wanlong was also delighted. With the Cyan Bamboo Gang gone, he no longer had to pay their tolls, saving him a considerable amount of silver.

However, even though he no longer needed his nephew’s intervention, Cai Wanlong had still prepared a generous gift of fifty taels of silver, intending to continue strengthening the ties between their two families.

He didn’t need Lin Yan’s help this time, but who could guarantee he wouldn’t need it next time?

Such a young Second-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist... even if he never reached the Third-Time Skin Smoothing Realm, his strength at the Second-Time Skin Smoothing Realm was more than enough to solve many problems for his family estate.

With Li An and Cai Wanlong present, Zhang Wei and Monkey became somewhat reserved. They could joke around with Lin Yan because the three of them had grown up together, but in their eyes, Li An and Cai Wanlong were important figures.

Fortunately, Li An wasn’t the type to put on airs. And Cai Wanlong, as a merchant, was even better at reading the room. Since Lin Yan had invited these two, he must have a good relationship with them. At the dinner table, Cai Wanlong treated them entirely as peers, and the atmosphere became very lively.