214: Lin Ying, who doesn't play by the rules

Lin Ying's eyelids felt glued shut, and it took him immense effort to pry them open a crack.

It was quiet all around, with only the rustling of wind through the treetops.

He jolted, suddenly sitting up, his mind a tangled mess.

I… how did I fall asleep?

His memory was like a broken film reel; one second, he was happy about his day's harvest, thinking the bountiful catch would allow him to get several good medicines for his sister, and the next, his eyelids felt heavy as lead, and he collapsed on the spot.

Then, he had a very strange dream.

In the dream, an old Immortal who looked like a Daoist master with a beard longer than a goat's tail said he had an extraordinary bone structure, exceptional talent, and was a one-in-a-million Cultivation genius, insisting on taking him as a disciple.

He even gave him some token and told him to find him in a place called “Maoshan.”

“Nonsense.”

Lin Ying chuckled self-deprecatingly, shaking his still-groggy head.

He knew exactly what kind of person he was. He was just an ordinary poor boy who made a living by hunting; where would he get such Immortaledge (Immortalfate, connection to Immortals)?

It was only recently that Uncle Wang, the boastful third-rate Martial Artist in the village, had been talking incessantly about “Tai Xuan Immortal Sect” and “Cultivators.”

He probably thought about it during the day and dreamt about it at night.

He stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and prepared to pack his things and go home.

His hand, inadvertently, reached into his pocket.

Hmm?

Something hard poked him.

He instinctively pulled it out.

The next instant, Lin Ying froze.

It was a token carved from an unknown wood, smooth to the touch, with two ancient seal characters carved on it—Maoshan.

This… this damn thing was identical to the token the old Immortal gave him in his dream!

Lin Ying's heart pounded furiously, almost leaping out of his throat.

He glanced at the several dead prey beside him, then at the token in his hand, his eyes shifting uncertainly.

Real?

Fake?

What if it's real?

Cultivation… Immortal…

Once this thought emerged, it spread like a prairie fire, unstoppable!

Go!

Must go!

Even if it's fake, if he's tricked, what would he lose?

He took a deep breath, neatly tied up the stiffened elk, pheasants, and wild geese, and hoisted them onto his somewhat slender shoulders.

He remembered the route from the dream clearly.

But, no rush.

First, a trip home.

At home, a gravely ill sister was waiting for him.

…

At the peak of Maoshan, clouds and mist swirled.

Lu Yuchen stood at the Sect gate, waiting and waiting, until the flowers almost withered, but the boy named Lin Ying still didn't come up the mountain.

He calculated with his fingers.

It had been almost an hour already!

“System, get out here!” Lu Yuchen roared in his mind, “Did something go wrong with that Divine Soul Spell for entering dreams? Why isn't that kid here yet?”

“Ding! The protagonist has successfully cast the Spell.”

The System's cold, mechanical voice was devoid of emotion.

“Then where the hell is he?”

“Ding! The target individual left the original location an hour ago and is heading towards… home.”

Lu Yuchen: “…”

He was stunned.

What's going on?

The cooked duck flew away?!

I've prepared the scene for “The Immortal touches my head, tying my hair for eternal life,” why isn't the protagonist following the script?!

No, I need to go see.

A premonition of ill omen rose in Lu Yuchen's heart, and without thinking, he immediately activated the Sect's concealment array.

The entire majestic Maoshan, along with its pavilions and towers, instantly vanished into the clouds and mist like a mirage.

Having done all this, he swayed and silently followed after him.

…

An hour later, outside the mountain range, in a dilapidated small village.

Lin Ying's figure appeared at the village entrance.

He didn't go home immediately but first went to the pharmacy at the east end of the village, exchanged the elk and several wild geese for three taels of silver, and then bought seven or eight doses of herbal medicine.

Only then did he carry the fattest pheasant and quickly walk towards a dilapidated thatched hut at the west end of the village.

Before he even reached his doorstep, a rough shouting sound faintly drifted over.

Lin Ying's heart sank instantly.

He rushed over, taking huge strides!

As soon as he got close, he saw his already dilapidated courtyard gate kicked open.

Inside the courtyard, several strong men in short coats, holding sticks, and looking like ruffians, were surrounding a woman who was already weak.

That woman was his sister, Lin Yu.

At this moment, her pretty face, already pale from illness, showed no trace of color, and her eyes, which should have been lively, were filled with fear and helplessness.

She was now kneeling straight on the ground.

“Lin Yu! I'm asking you one last time! Are you going to pay back that silver or not?!” The leader was a scar-faced man with a fleshy face.

“Brother Wang…” Lin Yu's voice was tearful, almost pleading, “Please, give us a few more days. My brother… my brother went hunting today, and when he comes back, we will definitely find a way…”

“Find a way? With what?!” Another man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks sneered, “Just with your brother? The game he hunts in a month is barely enough to buy your medicine!”

“I think, how about this.” The scar-faced man chuckled, his small eyes brazenly sweeping over Lin Yu's figure, which, though thin, still revealed graceful curves, “If you're willing to have some fun with us brothers, these two taels of silver aren't entirely non-negotiable.”

“You… you are shameless!” Lin Yu trembled with anger.

“Stop it!”

Just then, a roar filled with endless fury exploded from outside the courtyard.

Lin Ying had returned!

He looked at the humiliating scene before him, at his sister kneeling on the ground, pleading bitterly, and his eyes, which always carried a hint of simple honesty, were instantly replaced by endless rage.

He threw the pheasant and herbs in his hand to the ground, charged forward, and fiercely shielded the already tottering Lin Yu behind him.

“Sister! Who told you to kneel?!”

His voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed violence.

“No… no one forced me…” Lin Yu pulled his sleeve, shaking her head desperately.

But her red-rimmed eyes had already explained everything.

“Good! Good! Good!” Lin Ying repeated the word “good” three times, his crimson eyes slowly sweeping over the still-mocking strong men present, his voice chillingly cold.

“You guys, forced my sister to kneel?”

“So what?” The scar-faced man sneered disdainfully, not putting the seemingly thin young man in his eyes at all.

He pointed at the pheasant and herbs Lin Ying had just brought back, a greedy look on his face: “Perfect, you're back. You owe us ten taels of silver, and today, you must pay it back!”

“Ten taels?!” Lin Yu exclaimed, “We clearly only borrowed two taels!”

“Hehe, the remaining eight taels are interest!” The scar-faced man said righteously, “Since you can't pay, how about this: your game and herbs from today will count as one tael of silver, to offset it first.”

“You… you're robbing us!” Lin Ying trembled with anger.

Just then, the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks actually reached out again, trying to touch Lin Yu's pale face!

“Little girl, you're quite pretty…”

“You're asking for death!”

All reason collapsed in that instant.

Lin Ying let out a roar like a wounded beast, and without thinking, he charged forward, wrestling with the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks!

“Stop fighting! Xiao Ying! Don't fight!”

Lin Yu let out a desperate plea, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.