Chapter Fifty-Four: He Has Returned

Time quietly slipped away, and the night grew deeper.

Finally, a faint sound of footsteps came from outside the main hall, breaking the stillness of the night.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness, his silhouette gradually becoming clear.

He wore beast-skin garments made of tiger hide, with dark skin, a robust build, and taut muscle lines that seemed to harbor boundless power.

The young man casually surveyed everything inside the main hall, then crossed his arms, leaned against a corridor pillar, let his gaze fall upon Lin Fei, and curved the corners of his lips into a smile: "Let's exchange a greeting first. I am here to take your life."

......

Lin Fei still kept his hands resting before the brazier, his expression as calm as still water.

He had a premonition long ago that returning to this place today would inevitably invite trouble.

Years ago, he had spared a little boy in this very hall, just as he had spared the little girl selling candied haws earlier today.

Lin Fei knew very well in his heart that the little girl would sooner or later be interrogated, and eventually leak his appearance and whereabouts under the other party's threats and lures, yet he still chose not to kill her.

If he had chosen to kill everyone in the know this afternoon, perhaps he would not have encountered any trouble tonight.

However, Lin Fei did not regret his choice.

......

Four hours ago.

In a secluded alley of Yuechi Town, several corpses were quietly transported to a heavily guarded military camp outside the town.

Presiding over the military camp was Zhang Tai, whose face was gloomy as his gaze landed upon the headless male corpse.

This corpse was none other than his own biological nephew.

Although Zhang Tai was merely a miscellaneous-title general with barely a hundred men under his command, making him insignificant in the outside world, within this small town, he was an existence of overwhelming power.

A trusted subordinate observed Zhang Tai's expression and cautiously offered a suggestion: "General, should I dispatch troops right now to encircle and suppress him? We have already extracted the general situation from the little girl. Even if he is a cultivator, since he dares to defy the laws of the Great Tang, we can still kill him just the same."

"No rush," Zhang Tai narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a long moment, and then slowly said, "Do you remember the tragic case of Lin Qingfeng's household from back then?"

"That major incident? Naturally I remember it," the subordinate replied, though somewhat puzzled.

Zhang Tai spoke in a deep voice, "Look at these sword wounds. If I am not mistaken, this perpetrator most likely hails from the Sword Sect."

"So what?"

Zhang Tai continued, "Back then, Lin Qingfeng had a child in his twilight years. That child was said to have been extraordinary since birth—never crying or making a fuss as a toddler, grasping everything instantly upon learning, and hailed as a prodigy encountered only once in a millennium. He also had an intense passion for swordsmanship..."

The subordinate caught the hidden meaning behind the general's words, yet felt that the general was being overly suspicious, as these two matters were completely unrelated. He thus said, "The general is overthinking this. There are countless people in this world who practice swordsmanship. To take a step back, even if he were Lin Qingfeng's son, what of it? He would merely be a commoner. Furthermore, didn't he die long ago?"

"No, he did not die," Zhang Tai exhaled softly, his tone carrying a trace of heaviness.

The subordinate widened his eyes in utter disbelief, "Didn't reports from above state that the entire Lin family was exterminated? General, you used to say the same thing yourself."

"Because the events of that year were too bizarre, the people sent from Chang'an City held a conjecture—a conjecture that dared not be made public." Zhang Tai's gaze fell upon the corpse at his feet, his demeanor turning exceptionally solemn.

"As it turns out, I have discovered that this conjecture might truly become reality." His voice was low, carrying an imperceptible tremor.

"What on earth is the conjecture?"

Zhang Tai's gaze grew profound, and he uttered word by word: "Back then, Yuechi Town had a great cultivator stationed here. That night, no other cultivator could possibly have sneaked in."

"All forty-eight members of the Lin family met their demise, and only the eldest son of the Lin family escaped unscathed, disappearing mysteriously."

"Among the thirty-six victims of that year, the fatal wounds of eight of them bore a startling resemblance to the sword wounds on these corpses."

"And today, that sword cultivator who suddenly launched an attack went to the Lin Manor."

The subordinate was momentarily stunned, after which his pupils abruptly contracted, cold sweat involuntarily breaking out all over his body. His voice carried a trace of trembling: "General... Do you mean to say that today's sword cultivator is the eldest son of the Lin family who disappeared back then? Did he... did he personally murder his own entire family?!"

Zhang Tai violently slapped his subordinate across the forehead and barked in a deep voice, "Shut your mouth! What kind of nonsense are you yelping about, damn it?"

Though the subordinate was left dizzy and disoriented by the blow, he finally steadied his wits and stammered, "General, if today's sword cultivator truly is the eldest son of the Lin family, he would only have been a few years old ten years ago. How could this be possible?"

Zhang Tai let out a cold snort, "Don't those cultivators always talk about severing all emotions and desires, living like neither human nor ghost? For the sake of pursuing their so-called Great Dao, what does patricide and matricide even amount to? Besides, that brat was extraordinary since childhood. A prodigy? To me, he is nothing more than a monstrosity!"

The subordinate cautiously ventured, "There is still no conclusive evidence for this matter. Isn't it a bit arbitrary?"

Zhang Tai did not reply, his complexion growing increasingly gloomy.

The reason why the bigwig from the Academy in Chang'an City had such a speculation back then was naturally because there was an eyewitness, and that eyewitness had vanished from this place long ago.

The profound implications hidden within this were things even he dared not easily fathom, lest he carelessly invite a fatal disaster.

The subordinate's thoughts raced as he lowered his voice: "Even so, he now appears to be a member of the Sword Sect."

Hearing this, Zhang Tai furrowed his brow, remained silent for a long moment, and then said, "We cannot afford to offend the Sword Sect, but there are those who can. The one who recently arrived is among them. Their relationship with the Sword Sect is less than cordial. Make sure to casually drop a few hints about this later."

The subordinate replied softly, "Understood."

As the subordinate stepped out of the camp, Zhang Tai let out a breath, gazed at the headless male corpse, and muttered to himself, "Though I know you are a good-for-nothing wretch, you are still flesh and blood of the Zhang clan after all. Rest in peace; I will secure justice for you."

......

Inside the deep-night residence of the Lin family, the atmosphere was heavy.

The robust man did not rush to make a move. He glanced around the surroundings, seemingly filled with curiosity about everything here.

Having heard many inside stories from Zhang Tai, he now asked with a hint of mockery: "Tsk tsk tsk, did you really kill all these people from the Lin family? You're truly ruthless!"

Lin Fei remained silent.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Liu Heng of Martial Emperor City." The sturdy man paid no mind to Lin Fei's reaction, drawing out his tone with a smile: "Actually, I couldn't care less about whom you killed; those are merely mortals after all. But I heard that you are a member of the Sword Sect, and that piqued my interest."

Lin Fei looked at him and responded indifferently, "Oh?"

"Your name is Lin Fei, a cultivator of the Mortal Realm. You defeated Feng Ning and Feng Qian in the Sword Trial Tournament a few months ago, and you are the personal second disciple of the Sword Sect master," Liu Heng said with a smile, "Did I guess correctly?"

"So?"

"So, I've long found the people of the Sword Sect an eyesore." Liu Heng's smile carried a trace of grimness, his tone revealing killing intent: "Those Tang ants out there wanted to use me as a borrowed knife to kill someone, but I didn't expose them. Having such a wonderful opportunity and reason to step out and butcher you—wouldn't you say this is quite a coincidence?"

The flames within the brazier swayed with the night wind, growing increasingly bright.

Lin Fei slowly stood up and asked, "It seems the relationship between Martial Emperor City and the Sword Sect is not very good?"

Liu Heng suddenly let out a scoff and said, "What foolish nonsense are you talking about? Everyone in the world knows that your master and our City Lord made a Grand Dao pact a hundred years ago. Barring any accidents, it will be a fight to the death between us in the future. And you still expect a good relationship?"

Lin Fei shook his head and said, "The pact you mentioned has nothing to do with the question I asked. That you would hold such a notion is purely because your vision is too shallow and your understanding of martial arts is insufficiently profound. It appears you are not the Emperor of Crimson's disciple."