Lin Xin's forehead turned cold, feeling his heart beat intensely.
In the darkness, two people stood one in front of the other, the shadow merely sneered, walking over and sitting down on a chair to the side.
"Did Elder Brother mention anything before his passing? To actually hand over the manual to a greenhorn like you."
Lin Xin's mind raced, immediately realizing what this person was referring to, and also understanding the identity of this shadow.
The once-missing Elder Uncle from Red Pine Sect, none other than his master's junior, Bo Yunzi. It was said that he was one of the two great masters left from the glorious times of the Red Pine Sect.
"Hehe... So it's Elder Uncle Bo Yunzi?" His heart trembled slightly, but he forced himself to remain calm, "If you want the Secret Technique, I will give it to you. If you had asked openly and honorably, as an Elder Uncle, would I dare not to offer it to you?"
He knew well that this Bo Yunzi was a tyrant who killed without blinking, who had once harmed the old man during a disagreement and left arrogantly. It was said that he had committed numerous bloody crimes in many places, a true bandit of the rivers and lakes!
How much time had passed, and yet he was again faced with such a life-threatening situation... Lin Xin finally understood why so few people lived in the wilderness in ancient times... without the strength to protect oneself, living alone in the wilderness was essentially courting death...
Swallowing hard, the more dire the situation, the more he needed to stay calm. He quickly tossed the Secret Technique in his hand to Bo Yunzi.
"Quite straightforward of you." Bo Yunzi seemed surprised that this fellow was so spineless, directly handing over the sect's most valuable possession.
Smack.
With one hand, he caught the manual, flipped through it casually, and under the faint moonlight, his face became increasingly ugly.
Lin Xin didn't dare to move an inch, feeling as if a sharp knife was pointed directly at his chest, the blade almost touching him, as if any movement would cause him to wound himself.
Watching Bo Yunzi's expression turn more and more unsightly, his heart gradually rose with tension.
Bo Yunzi had a gaunt face, dressed in a black-robed Daoist robe, his long hair tied into a bun typical of a Daoist, his appearance almost no different from a Daoist Master. But as he perused the manual, his facial expression twisted increasingly.
"Very good, very good...!! Worthy of Elder Brother, not forgetting to deal me a blow even in death! How splendid!!" Bo Yunzi's face suddenly turned fierce.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, he thrust out a palm, lightning-fast towards Lin Xin's chest. A nauseating, foul wind surged, letting out a strange howling noise within the room.
Lin Xin's mind went blank, wanting to dodge but feeling his body stiff and unresponsive.
Am I going to die... ? So this is dying??...!
His mind seemed to be struck by electricity, thoughts almost freezing in place. He could only watch the black palm get closer and closer to his chest.
Bang!!
Suddenly, a large piece of the door appeared out of nowhere, blocking fiercely in front of Lin Xin's chest.
The overpowering palm force instantaneously shattered the yellow-brown door into several fragments, two of which slammed hard into Lin Xin's chest. He felt a dull pain in his chest, and his body was thrown backward uncontrollably.
"Big Senior Brother!!!"
In the moonlight, he saw a slender figure flash before him, and the glint of a silver sword was drawn from its scabbard.
Clang!!
Bo Yunzi's palm was heavily struck by the sword light, actually making a dull woody sound.
"Huh? The Return to Origin Technique? Does our sect really still have disciples who can practice it?" Bo Yunzi showed a hint of surprise and stepped back a few steps, looking at the girl standing in front of him.
The one blocking in front of Lin Xin was An Ying, who had been cultivating in the room. She was now dressed in a tight-fitting gray cloth sleeping outfit, holding a bright longsword horizontally in front of her.
"If you want to harm Big Senior Brother, I'll fight you!" An Ying's face turned pale, whether due to the moonlight or some other reason.
Bo Yunzi let out a strange laugh, seemingly dismissing her. He glanced at Lin Xin, who had fallen to the ground, knocking over a heap of debris.
"Red Pine Sect really has declined..." He shook his head, his figure swiftly shooting out of the broken wooden door like an owl of the night, silent and traceless, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Lin Xin felt a dull pain in his chest but, miraculously, was not gravely injured. He struggled to rise from the ground, watched as Bo Yunzi turned and left, and waited until he had completely vanished into the night. He waited a while longer, listening carefully to the surroundings to make sure there were no sounds. Only then did he let out a deep breath of relief.
Strangely enough, the manual on the ground was not taken; it was simply left lying there.
Just as he was about to go pick it up, he noticed something unusual with An Ying by his side.
Turning around, he saw An Ying's face deathly pale, with a line of scarlet blood trailing down the corner of her mouth.
"Junior Sister, what's wrong with you?!" Lin Xin was startled, rushing to support An Ying, only to feel her body was extremely limp and hot.
"It's... it's nothing... I just feel very dizzy..." An Ying's eyes started to roll, her lips even turning a shade of pale blue.
Thud.
An Ying collapsed to the ground. Lin Xin felt dizzy himself, his body weakened, unable to support An Ying. He remembered the stench of the foul wind brought on by Bo Yunzi's palm.
"Poison...!"
He was suddenly terrified on realizing how quickly the poison had taken effect, and that mere exposure to the air could cause such deep poisoning.
This damn world... it's just too unsafe....
Lin Xin felt a wave of helplessness. Had he only been here for a few days? Yet he had encountered so many troublesome issues. Personal safety couldn't be guaranteed.
Just before completely losing consciousness, he vaguely seemed to see a tall and thin figure carrying two people into the door.
"If Red Pine Sect is only relying on you few, you probably won't even know when you're removed from the records!"
He could barely hear this sentence before Lin Xin finally fell completely into unconsciousness and slumped onto An Ying with a thud.
*******************
In a daze, Lin Xin woke up from his unconsciousness.
"I'm not dead?"
His heart lightened; he was still on the floor of his own room, with An Ying lying on the other side of the floor, drool flowing from her mouth and puddling on the ground, looking as though she was sound asleep.
"Get up!"
A familiar voice came from beside him.
At the sound, Lin Xin felt goosebumps all over his body and jumped up from the ground, warily looking behind him.
The morning light shone through the wooden window, landing precisely on a black-robed Daoist sitting on the bed.
This Daoist had a lean face with narrow eyes, giving off a somewhat gloomy feeling. It was none other than Bo Yunzi who had attacked them last night!
"Master... Uncle, so it was you," Lin Xin tried to steady his voice and squeezed a smile on his face.
With a mental shift, he immediately realized why he and An Ying were unharmed; clearly, this Daoist uncle had saved them.
Seeing that Lin Xin had understood, Bo Yunzi nodded.
"My good-for-nothing senior brother has brought our sect to such a state and then comfortably went to his death, leaving behind this mess."
He scanned Lin Xin from top to bottom.
"You have some foundation, but not a bit of combat experience. For trash like you to become the eldest senior... it's really..." He shook his head in resignation. "I never imagined that one of the former four great sects... would fall to such straits."
Lin Xin's face turned bright red with the scolding but had no way to refute. He did indeed possess the foundation of the original Lin Xinru, but he himself was a modern person who had never engaged in a fight with anyone. It was pretty good that he had remained calm without getting scared to death.
However, listening to Bo Yunzi's words, he also faintly felt something was off about him. His eyes seemed lifeless, his complexion pale without a trace of color; he was clearly injured.
"I'll be staying here for a few days, go buy some medicinal herbs for me," Bo Yunzi commanded unceremoniously. "Don't even think of running away. Your Lin Family is at the foot of the mountain; you might escape but your home cannot."
Lin Xin blinked and finally heaved a heavy sigh of relief in his heart. Knowing that this master uncle still cherished the old affection for the sect, they were relatively safe.
****************
Fifteen days later...
Under the thick clouds as white as cotton, on the summit of Red Pine Mountain within a square courtyard of a martial hall, two young disciples were practicing the most basic thrusts of swordsmanship, holding their longswords with precision.
A black-robed Daoist sat under the eaves, holding a cup of tea, slowly sipping, while two young men who looked like attendants stood beside him.
Swish!
The girl in the center of the courtyard, dressed in a bright yellow practice uniform, managed to produce a faint whistling sound with every thrust of her longsword.
The man on the other side, however, was unremarkable. His sword thrusts barely made any sound, and his black practice uniform was dotted with dusty footprints everywhere.
Lin Xin felt his wrist go limp, but seeing Bo Yunzi sitting beside him, he forced himself to keep going.
Since the attack, Bo Yunzi seemed to have decided to settle down here, supervising their practice of the Red Pine Sword Technique during the day, and offering pointers now and then. At night, he would seclude himself in the room where their master lived, not to be seen.
Although both were practicing swordplay at the same time, Lin Xin clearly felt that Bo Yunzi's gaze was almost always on An Ying beside him, the look of admiration and satisfaction was so apparent that even a fool could see it.
As soon as his gaze fell on Lin Xin beside, it became very impatient. The footprints on Lin Xin's body had come from this.
Sigh...
He cursed silently, unsure how to explain. With the foundation of his current body, such a discrepancy should not occur, but ever since he had passed out that day, his eyes seemed to be seeing double, slightly blurry.
As time went on, it had gotten worse over the past few days, causing his basic skills to regress instead of improving.
"The Red Pine Sect, established for hundreds of years, must not fail in your hands," Bo Yunzi said indifferently, stroking his long beard. "Back then, I left to seek my path due to a divergence of beliefs with my senior brother. Now, upon my return, to see Red Pine reduced to this state only proves that my methods were the right ones."
He paused, then continued.
"Our sect has two external skills and one inner strength practice. One is the Red Pine Sword Technique that you all know, and the other is the Poisonous Sand Palm that I specialize in."