Chapter 31: The Domineering Old Master Lin

After Shen Yi finished asking, he continued to watch him calmly.

So much so that Skinny Monk failed to react for a moment, nearly believing the other party truly wanted an "answer."

A moment later, fury surged up from his heart.

His gaze was baleful, his breathing rapid; from the day he arrived at Cypress Yunxian, no one had ever dared to provoke him like this.

Skinny Monk's five fingers clenched tight, his fingernails stabbing into his palms.

He wished he could split the other's skull open with a single full-force palm strike.

But for some reason, beneath the other's deep, still-as-an-ancient-well gaze, he felt an inexplicable panic; his palm could not be raised no matter what. Could it be that he had grown too comfortable in his mansion and lost his will to fight?

No, it was simply unnecessary to quibble with a dead man—far too unwise.

Having offended the North Cliff Fox Demon, where was there any path to survival for the other party? Why should he act himself?

Thinking of this, Skinny Monk forced out a cold smile again, though it lacked some of its former conviction: "Worthy of a man of the government office. Lord Shen is even more imposing than the county magistrate. It is this old man who has failed to read the room."

Hearing this, Shen Yi nodded, turned as if to leave, then suddenly recalled something and looked back with a touch of concern: "At your age, don't keep twisting your mouth into a smile like that—it's easy to end up with facial paralysis."

"Ugh…"

Skinny Monk instinctively adjusted the corners of his mouth, then his eyelids began twitching violently.

Watching the other's unhurried retreating back, a sudden tightness gripped his chest, and a metallic-sweet taste rose in his mouth.

Butcher Zhang walked over to his senior brother's side, cast him a faintly pitying glance, then strode out of the Lin family residence.

"To think a ferocious tiger demon was hidden right inside the house!"

Old Master Lin, arriving late at last, goggled his eyes as he watched Chen Ji haul the enormous tiger corpse onto a cart and tie it down.

He glanced again at Skinny Monk, who remained in place, lowered his brows and meekly chuckled twice, then hurried after Shen Yi in a few quick steps.

"Lord Shen, please wait!"

His frail body, weighed down by ornate, cumbersome robes, could not run at all; he could only call out repeatedly.

Shen Yi stopped in puzzled confusion.

"I have come to apologize for what happened earlier."

Old Master Lin bent over shamefully, bracing his knees, and stammered: "You saved my daughter, yet I suspected you of colluding with demons to harm her, that she had lost her memory. The reason I sent her home was also to swindle some silver to gamble at the tables…"

Hearing this, Shen Yi's expression stiffened slightly.

"It was I, a merchant, being so dog-blind as to look down on others." Old Master Lin sighed and lamented at length, failing to notice Shen Yi quietly turning his head to look elsewhere.

"You are a good man. Bai Wei was blinded by the demon. If not for Lord Shen today, I'm afraid my Lin family would have been eaten clean by that tiger demon."

"…"

Hearing that name again, Shen Yi fell silent.

Among the many troubles the former host had left behind, only this one was truly fatal.

Either slay the fox demon and silence it forever.

Or get rid of the real Lin Baiwei and from then on make common cause with the North Cliff Fox Demon.

There was almost no third path.

That decisive, clean stroke just now had not only lopped off the tiger demon's head, but also cut off his own retreat.

Shen Yi considered himself an ordinary man, equally prone to gains and losses.

Better to be straightforward, follow his heart's whim—why dawdle like an unweaned child, unable to let go of this or that?

"There's no need for that. Drawing the imperial court's salary and doing one's duty is only proper."

Shen Yi gathered his thoughts, watched Chen Ji drag the cart over, gave a slight nod of his chin in farewell to Old Master Lin.

"Only proper…" Old Master Lin echoed with a nod, yet a bitter taste crept into the corner of his mouth. What a fine "only proper"—if it truly were so, why had he paid the county magistrate so much silver over the years, yet never seen Skinny Monk "properly" take money and do the job?

"Lord Shen, how about waiting until Bai Wei returns, then inviting you to the house for tea? She once studied under a master and knows a bit of martial arts. You two are of similar age, so you should have plenty to talk about."

Hearing this, Chen Ji's brows knit instinctively.

Who in Cypress Yunxian did not know the Lin family's only daughter was as beautiful as a heavenly fairy? Countless fine young men drooled over her. Compared to her, although his own sister was also a modest beauty, in both family background and experience she fell far short.

Wait… why was he even comparing his sister to the Lin family's young lady?

Chen Ji slapped his own forehead. Besides, given Lord Shen's current martial skill, he might not even fancy a woman who had tangled with demons.

"What do you say?" Old Master Lin asked cautiously, looking over.

Shen Yi lowered his gaze to the saber at his waist and said slowly: "That would be fine."

Receiving an affirmative answer, Old Master Lin was overjoyed at once. Although the other's expression was a bit odd, they were all young people—more contact, and who knew, it might just work out!

Chen Ji rolled his eyes. Sure enough, even though everything else had changed, Lord Shen's restless heart would never change.

Just then, the stout steward, now in clean clothes, struggled to lug a large silk bag, huffing and puffing as he set it down on the cart.

Chen Ji needed only to hear the sound to know what was inside.

Judging by how much the cart swayed, there were at least eight hundred taels—converted into a constable's salary, roughly thirty years' worth.

"Please don't refuse. If you won't accept it, I truly cannot get past this hurdle in my heart. Besides, this demon-slaying silver is tacitly approved even by the imperial court."

Old Master Lin cupped his hands again and again.

"I know you like to have fun—copper coins aren't convenient enough, paper notes aren't grand enough—so it's all prepared in ready silver." The stout steward beamed, taking credit.

Shen Yi walked to the cart, lifted the silk wrapping, looked at the gleaming silver inside, and a barely perceptible flicker of envy crossed his calm eyes.

Filthy rich! These people really ought to be strung up on a lamppost.

Two fried pancakes with an extra egg only cost ten copper coins; this silver could wrap the whole vendor's family inside fried pancakes.

"There is indeed such a saying." Chen Ji also sighed. A casual sum of silver from the other man's hand was more than he could scrape together saving for his sister's dowry in a lifetime.

Shen Yi casually rifled through, picked out two ten-tael silver ingots, tossed one to Chen Ji: "Just this much."

He couldn't be raising the Lin family's daughter for nothing—meals still had to cost something.

He pushed the rest off the cart.

Not giving the bystanders another chance to speak, Shen Yi left Old Master Lin standing stunned in place as he strode out of the Lin residence.

Chen Ji clutched the silver ingot in astonishment, then grabbed the cart and hurried after him.

"Lord Shen."

Once they reached the street, Chen Ji finally worked up the courage to ask about what had just happened.

He truly hadn't expected the man to fall out with Skinny Toutuo so easily.

"Use your head before you act next time. Your life isn't something you picked up off the street."

Shen Yi stretched lazily, walked toward the tavern on the corner, and stared at the wooden plaques on the wall: "A pot of hua-diao wine, a roasted goose leg—the left one—and steam a fish…"

Watching his back as he ordered, Chen Ji rubbed his belly.

The way Lord Shen put it, it was as if the other fellow's life had been picked up off the street… Even if it had been, what gave him the right to stick his neck out for strangers?

And he was even treating them to a meal.

Only when Shen Yi walked off with a clay pot and a lotus-leaf bundle did Chen Ji part his lips slightly and ask, puzzled, "Aren't we eating here?"

"Who's 'we' with you?"

Shen Yi turned back, his expression strange: "If you want to eat, go buy it yourself."

Do you even know what it means to keep public and private matters separate?

Two taels and four qian of silver a month, and he wants to treat someone to a meal? He can treat you to a fart, more like.

"…"

Chen Ji pulled out a ten-tael silver ingot, looked at the silver, then looked at the man, his heart full of mixed feelings:

"What a strange fellow."

(End of chapter)