Chapter 4
Chu He was cultivating.
The Lin Mansion had been suddenly thrown into a state of intense sadness.
“The master of the mansion has died in the lands of Annan following an ambush by the Dog Fang Clan. The Lin family elder headed there to provide backup but ended up suffering grievous injuries. A hundred thousand of Zhennan Military Troop soldiers died a bloody death at the battlefield.”
Howls of anguish could be heard echoing throughout the Lin Mansion.
“Massive changes await the Lin family.”
There was a change in Chu He’s expression.
However, he did not plan to find out more about the situation.
His was nothing but an insignificant odd-jobber. Whatever happened to the Lin family had nothing much to do with him.
This was Lin City, the core of Xia Kingdom. Even if the Lin family was defeated in battle, no one would come here to disturb his check-ins, unless someone was planning to take the initiative to destroy the Lin family.
Chu He positioned his stance and swallowed a pill as he continued cultivating.
Half a month later.
There was now someone else in the book depository other than Chu He for the first time in half a year.
It was a white-haired old man.
His body was rickety. He trembled as he walked in a wooden manner, the scent of death emanated from him.
He looked at Chu He, who was pretending to clean up, and said, “Young man, are you in charge of the book depository?”
“Yes.”
Chu He nodded calmly.
He could tell that this old man was no ordinary man.
Even though the old man had an air of death about him, there was an even stronger aura of power pouring out from him.
This man was a powerhouse. To be more precise, he was a powerhouse whose life was hanging by a thread.
At the very least, his cultivation was slightly more powerful than Chu He’s current status.
Chu He had used the secret technique he had obtained from the checkpoints to investigate the aura of the Lin family powerhouses. There were few people in the Lin family whose aura could be compared to his. Most of them were weaker than he was. As for those stronger than him, Chu He had yet to sense any.
However, one such person had appeared right in front of him now. Even though he was terribly wounded, it could not hide the fact that he was a powerhouse, and that he was someone of extraordinary status.
However, Chu He did not express any sense of awe or respect for the old man.
The old man’s identity and status in the Lin family had nothing to do with Chu He and did not pose any form of threat to him.
The old man nodded back at Chu He and it seemed like he was not interested in a lengthy chat.
He moved a deck chair over and casually picked a stack of books from the book depository. He began to read while shaking his leg, appearing to be quite engrossed in the book.
Chu He frowned.
He could not cultivate with someone else around and it was not a situation he was used to lately.
It looked like the old man did not plan on leaving anytime soon.
Then, things turned out just as Chu He had predicted.
The old man read the stack of books the entire day right until sunset, and still did not plan to leave.
Darkness came.
It was only then that the old man finally stood up, trembling. He nodded at Chu He and left the book depository.
Some time passed.
The old man came to the book depository every morning at the same time. He would retrieve a stack of books and read the entire day.
He would occasionally speak a sentence or two to Chu He.
He always left after the sky turned dark.
This annoyed Chu He tremendously.
The man had thrown his cultivating schedule into complete disarray for the past few days.
Midnight.
After the old man left, Chu He positioned his stance and started cultivating.
He noticed that the higher his current level in cultivation, the less sleep he seemed to require.
He stood next to the bookcases in the daytime when the old man was around. All he needed was to shut his eyes and take a short nap and that was enough to energize him.
All of a sudden.
Chu He was focusing on cultivating when a sharp light flashed across his eyes.
His Golden Nine Turns had been cultivated to the Second Turn, which was equivalent to Precelestial Grandmaster powerhouses in the outside world. In addition to that, he had also cultivated numerous secret techniques for martial arts skills. All he had to do was consciously think about it and not even an ant’s movements could hide from his consciousness.
The next moment, Chu He made a swift movement and vanished from his current spot like a phantom.
“Everyone’s saying that the Lin family elder is on the brink of death and can’t even lift a finger. I wonder if that’s true. Now that we’re here to ambush him, if he really is healthy and well, I don’t think we can make it through this.”
Two men dressed in black garments were sneaking about near the book depository. One of them sounded slightly anxious.
A man’s reputation was as important as shade was for trees.
They were on their way to attack the Lin family elder, the one whose reputation took the entire world by storm a hundred years ago. The man who was the Demi-King of Martial Arts.
Even if the rumors claimed that he was on the brink of death and was in a condition that rendered him immobile, the man in black was still cautious.
If he had the choice, he would never have wanted to take part in this assassination.
“What’s there to be afraid of? The old man from the Lin family is way past his prime and, on top of that, he’s seriously wounded. That is a fact. The only thing that matters is how wounded he is. If it turns out he’s still able to fight back and display some of his abilities, we can find out the severity of his condition even if we can’t complete the assassination. It’ll be considered a job done.”
“Since both our abilities are of the Precelestial Seventh Erudition, we can combine our strength. It won’t be too hard for us to go up against someone with Eighth Erudition abilities. We could still escape from someone with Ninth Erudition. The Lin Mansion is at its weakest right now. Even if we’re discovered, escaping shouldn’t be a problem at all.”
The other man in black shook his head disapprovingly.
“According to the information, that old man should be in the backyard at night. That’s where the Lin family congregates. He’d only be here to read in the daytime. That will be our best chance to make a move. Let’s hide here for the night and we’ll have this in the bag tomorrow.”
The figures got closer to the book depository. They were planning to enter via the main door.
“Wait a minute.”
The first man in black suddenly called out.
“I’m feeling a little jumpy all of a sudden, like something terrible is nearby. You know how it is. My sixth sense has always been on point.”
His eyes swept left and right and his behavior was highly strung.
It was an unsettling sense that only appeared during life and death moments.
He could not help but find it strange.
They were only planning an ambush and had yet to make a move on the Lin family elder.
By right, even if the Lin family elder was still fit and capable, that sense of danger should only kick in tomorrow morning.
Why was he sensing it so early?
Could it be that his sixth sense had become sensitive enough to predict the outcome of the next day?
“You’re feeling jumpy? Is that true? Are you sure this isn’t just a psychological effect of you being scared of the Lins?”
His companion was anxious and doubtful.
The more highly cultivated one was in the martial arts, the stronger his sixth sense.
His companion was quite gifted and had a sixth sense that was more sensitive and accurate than normal.
Most martial artists could only sense people who were of lower level or at the same level as them, the only other time the sense would activate was when imminent death was facing them from an assault of someone of a higher level.
His companion was different. He could predict the murderous intent of any powerhouse who was a level higher than he was.
“Ho! Your sense is rather impressive.”
A calm, clear voice rang out at that moment. The ears of both men in black perked up. It sounded like someone was speaking in a low voice right next to their ears.