9: Chapter 9 Second Life, First Glimpse into Martial Arts (Part 8)

Inside were thirty taels of silver and the first volume of the "Wasteland Skin Refining Method," complete in content and capable of cultivating one to the peak of the Ox-Skin Realm.

(PS: This was the complete version of his father's incomplete legacy from the previous life, and it was also the best he could obtain in secret.)

The road to longevity is long, and he would continue to walk it life after life; he could only help this much.

At twenty-six, another five years had passed, and Lin Shi finally broke through to the Ox-Skin Realm.

In this realm, one must allow qi and blood to thoroughly permeate every inch of the skin, letting the qi and blood completely merge into the skin, polishing and evolving it inch by inch.

It polishes the rough, tough skin of the Tree Bark Realm, making it smoother and more resilient.

Much like old cowhide, it becomes impervious to sword slashes and fist blows, capable of exerting a thousand jin of force, making one a match for thirty men.

After updating his identity token, Lin Shi completely took over his father's position and officially became the logistics manager of the Houshan Martial Arts Hall.

And under the arrangement of his parents, he started a family.

His wife, Su Wan, was a daughter from a branch of the Su family; she was gentle, capable of managing a household, and quick-handed. She never complained about Lin Shi returning late from cultivation and kept the home in perfect order.

Steward Lin Zhen and Wang Caixia were also extremely satisfied with this daughter-in-law.

After starting a family, the burden on Lin Shi became heavier, and he became more composed.

He was no longer the youth who only needed to focus on his own cultivation; he was a husband, a son, and would be a father in the future.

In this man-eating chaotic world, he had to support this family and protect his loved ones.

As days passed, Lin Shi became increasingly comfortable in his position as manager.

It was also during the process of managing the martial arts hall's affairs that Lin Shi completely grasped the power ecosystem of Hansha Town.

The entire Hansha Town, while appearing to be managed by the Town Office, was actually a complete closed loop of interests formed by the three martial arts halls, the three major families, and the garrison, all balancing and infiltrating each other.

The Houshan, Liegu, and Benlei Martial Arts Halls were the core military forces in the town, monopolizing martial arts legacies and each occupying a hunting ground and a business territory.

The Wang, Su, and Chen families monopolized the town's herb, ironware, and fur businesses, serving as the town's purse.

The Wang family was tied to the Houshan Martial Arts Hall, the Chen family to the Liegu Martial Arts Hall, and the Su family to the Benlei Martial Arts Hall; they prospered and suffered together.

The Town Office and the garrison were the visible controllers of order.

The town mayor and the garrison captain were both Iron Skin Realm martial artists, directly interfacing with the county government and balancing the power of the three martial arts halls.

The members of the garrison were basically graduates from the three martial arts halls, along with descendants of the three major families, with all sides infiltrating it.

There was no absolute good or evil, no absolute right or wrong; everyone in this chaotic world was colluding and balancing each other for survival and profit.

Just like the Wang family, where his mother Wang Caixia belonged; although they were only a branch family, they relied on intricate relationships to elevate Steward Lin Zhen to the position of logistics manager.

(PS: When Steward Lin Zhen took the position, this job wasn't as good as it is now, but there was still competition for it.)

Relying on this connection, Lin Shi was able to open up the situation after taking over, thanks to the connections of his father, master, the Wang family, and the Su family, allowing him to handle things with ease.

This was the social nuance of a small place: borrowing strength from each other and taking what one needed.

He was slick and thorough in handling affairs; whether it was liaising with the main hall in the county or negotiating with the town's merchants, the garrison, and the other two martial arts halls, he did everything flawlessly.

The martial arts hall's logistics were managed in perfect order by him, and both instructors and disciples were convinced by him.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, nine years had passed.

Lin Shi was thirty-seven.

However, he did not expect that the peaceful days would not last long.

Over these years, the three major martial arts halls had had their wins and losses, but the feud between the Houshan Martial Arts Hall and the Liegu Martial Arts Hall had deepened.

In these nine years, he had a son, now six years old, named Lin An, with the hope that he could live in peace and safety.

In martial arts, he was diligent and never slacked for a single day, but his progress was not great; he had only just broken through to the mid-stage of the Ox-Skin Realm.

He seemed to have reached his limit.

This morning, Lin Shi was drinking tea and handling official business at the logistics office as usual.

The door to the main hall was suddenly kicked open violently, and Liu Quan, the disciple in charge of cargo warehousing, ran in, tumbling and crawling.

His hair was disheveled, his face was pale without a trace of blood, and his body was stained with some mountain soil.

He knelt on the ground with a thud, his voice trembling with a weeping tone: "Lin Shi! Something, something terrible has happened!"

Lin Shi was looking down at the ledger on the table; upon hearing this, his pen paused, and when he looked up and saw his distraught appearance, his brows instantly furrowed.

"What are you panicking about? Has the sky fallen? Speak slowly."

"It, it's our supply transport team from the hunting ground." The disciple's forehead knocked hard against the blue brick floor, his voice trembling continuously.

"They have been out of contact for three whole days! This morning, several hunters who went into the mountain discovered the wreckage of the cargo carts in the Luanshi Ravine on the west slope, along with the corpses of two guards.

The rest of the people and the entire cargo are all gone!"

"What did you say!"

Lin Shi slammed the table and stood up, the purple clay teacup on the table was shaken off and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

The composure on his face instantly faded, replaced by a livid expression of rage.

He barked sternly, every word carrying a chill: "Out of contact for three days! Why didn't you report it immediately when the team missed their schedule three days ago?

Did you have to wait until something happened and the paper couldn't cover the fire before coming to tell me?"

Liu Quan shuddered all over from his angry shout, burying his head lower like a quail, stammering and not daring to speak: "Lin Shi... I, I..."

"You what you!" Lin Shi took a step down, staring at him from above, the anger in his eyes almost overflowing, "Speak, what exactly happened!

Who gave you the audacity to cover up such a life-threatening matter?"

He was scared out of his wits and confessed everything with a weeping tone: "It, it's because Captain Zhang, who led the team, is my distant cousin.

Before, occasionally, due to some things, they would be a day or two late, so I didn't take it seriously.

Plus, if I reported it, you would hold my cousin and me accountable... so I held onto a fluke, thinking I'd wait a bit longer, maybe they would arrive today.

Who knew... who knew this would happen..."

By the end, he was shaking into a ball, his forehead knocking against the floor with loud thuds, begging for mercy: "Lin Shi, spare my life! Lin Shi, spare my life!

It was my foolishness, I was possessed by a ghost; please spare me this one time!"

Lin Shi was so angry that his veins were popping, his chest heaving violently, and his knuckles were white; he wished he could kick this idiot to death.

Truly, a villain racking his brains is not as effective as a fool's sudden whim.

But he knew clearly in his heart that getting angry now was meaningless.

The area around the town was frequently cleared by the three major martial arts halls and the garrison; it was impossible for it to be mountain bandits or robbers. It must be someone deliberately targeting them.

And because the transport team had never had any issues for such a long time, and they were only transporting basic materials, that idiot Liu Quan dared to hide it.

It is very likely that they accidentally discovered something precious in the hunting ground this time, which is why they were ambushed and killed to seal the information.

Thinking of this, Lin Shi's gaze tightened, and he said in a deep voice: "Come here!"