5: Chapter 5 Discussions within the Lin Family

"Hmm, this feels good. Is this the power of a Land Immortal? It's more than a hundred times stronger than I was before."

Ding! At this moment, the system's cold notification sound rang out.

"The Daughter of Luck has been executed. Reward obtained: Twin Hands, one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills."

[Reward Introduction: Twin Hands is one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills from the manga 'The Outcast'. Its main functions are divided into the Red Hand (Life Hand) and the Blue Hand (Soul Hand). The Red Hand can reshape the body, while the Blue Hand can manipulate the soul.]

A blue virtual screen appeared in Qin Yi's field of vision.

"Twin Hands, huh? With this ultimate skill, as long as the person isn't dead, I can bring them back to life. Plus, Twin Hands has many functions waiting to be developed. Isn't this much better than those miraculous doctor protagonists?"

Qin Yi was very satisfied with this reward. After testing his combat strength, Qin Yi left the training grounds.

Hai City Bus Station

A dilapidated bus wobbled into the station. The door opened, and Chu Men jumped down, carrying a tattered cloth bundle on his back.

He stood in the station plaza, staring at the high-rise buildings and the bustling traffic before him, his eyes wide with amazement.

"Goodness, is this the world down the mountain? Master was right; the people down here live like they're in palaces..."

Just as he was sighing in wonder, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a girl wearing a short skirt.

The girl was in her early twenties, quite pretty, and was standing on the side of the road waiting for a car.

Chu Men stared straight at her thighs, his eyes practically popping out, as he muttered to himself:

"I didn't expect that just some random person I met down the mountain would be better looking than the village belle at the foot of the mountain. Master said that if I see a beautiful woman, I must win her over..."

Just as he wanted to go up and strike up a conversation, a taxi stopped, and the girl got in and left.

Chu Men swallowed his saliva, thinking: No rush. Master said that the young lady of the Lin Family is the real top-tier beauty; I'll go find her first.

He pulled a yellowed piece of paper from his bosom, on which an address was written—the Lin Family mansion in Hai City.

"Time to go find my wife!" He grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and walked toward the bus stop sign.

In the Lin Family of Hai City, four people were sitting inside the Lin Family mansion at this moment. In the main seat sat an old man with completely white hair and beard; he was none other than the current head of the Lin Family, Patriarch Lin Zhen. He was over seventy, with a gaunt and thin face, prominent cheekbones, and eye sockets slightly sunken from long-term illness. Yet, his eyes still hid a sharp glint, though a trace of unconcealable fatigue and pain would occasionally flash across them.

He wore a custom-tailored moon-white tang suit with dark patterns made of soft satin. The fabric was loose and comfortable, specially prepared for his long-ailing body. The collar was embroidered with extremely faint ink-bamboo patterns. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, revealing wrists with distinct joints; his fingertips would occasionally tremble slightly due to the onset of pain. A blackwood cane inlaid with silver wire rested by his hand, though he rarely actually leaned on it—even while plagued by illness, the demeanor of a family head had not diminished in the slightest.

On the left side below sat the eldest son of the Lin Family, Lin Zhou, the person in charge of the Lin Family on the surface. Over forty, he was handsome and refined, already a Xiantian expert. He wore a deep charcoal-colored dark-patterned suit custom-made in Italy, with a silk white shirt underneath. A black-gold patterned tie clip was fastened at his collar. His posture was straight and upright, his nose bridge high and prominent, and his brows and eyes inherited the contours of Patriarch Lin Zhen, revealing sharpness within his gentleness.

Beside him sat Madam Lin, Liu Wan, who came from a prestigious Jiangnan family. After marrying into the Lin Family, she appeared even more elegant and gentle.

She wore a moon-white silk cheongsam, the skirt embroidered with light gold broken-branch magnolias, with delicate silver threads decorating the edges. The hem of the skirt trailed on the floor, outlining her slender figure. Her black hair was coiled into a dignified low bun, pinned with an ice-variety jade Ruyi hairpin. Jade earrings of the same color on her earlobes glowed with a moist luster. Her skin was as white as jade, her brows and eyes as soft and graceful as the misty rain of Jiangnan, and her temperament was quiet and dignified.

Standing in the hall was the eldest young lady of the Lin Family, Lin Wanqing. In one more day, she would turn eighteen. She was held as the apple of the family's eye. She was born extremely beautiful, possessing that kind of cold, otherworldly, and untainted peerless beauty.

Her skin was as white as snow, like congealed fat, glowing with a delicate, jade-like luster under the lights, without a single blemish.

Her brows and eyes were like a painting, her eyes as clear as autumn water, her pupils pitch black and gentle, yet they revealed an inherent sense of aloofness. When she lowered her eyes, her eyelashes fluttered lightly like butterfly wings, making her look even more stunning.

Her nose was elegant and straight, her lips beautifully shaped and the color of pale cherry blossoms. Her entire face was as exquisite as finely carved jade, yet without a trace of makeup, pure and otherworldly. But at this moment, her face was filled with shock and astonishment.

"Grandfather, you aren't mistaken, are you! When did I get engaged, and I don't even know about it myself?"

"What?" Even the couple sitting on the side, Lin Zhou and Liu Wan, were stunned.

"That's right." Patriarch Lin Zhen spoke, his voice still fairly strong.

"Fifteen years ago, when I was out, I was hunted down by someone. An expert saved my life. I asked how I could repay him, and he said that as long as I arranged a betrothal with my granddaughter, it would be enough. In the future, his successor would return to fulfill the marriage contract. At the time, I was eager to repay the favor, so I agreed without hesitation."

At the time, Lin Zhou and Liu Wan only knew that Patriarch Lin Zhen had been saved by an expert after encountering danger, but they did not know that a marriage contract had been made.

"Grandfather, if you wanted to repay a favor, couldn't you have used another method? Why did you have to do this, just deciding your granddaughter's lifelong matters so casually?"

There was much dissatisfaction in Lin Wanqing's tone.

"That's right, Dad. At that time, Lin Wanqing was so young and didn't understand anything. You didn't even discuss it with us and made the decision on your own. How could you do that?" Lin Zhou also chimed in from the side.

Everyone knew how much he doted on his daughter; he was afraid she would melt if he held her in his hands. How could he let his daughter marry a man he knew nothing about?

"Grandfather, and I already have someone I like. How can you make me face him like this? No, this marriage must be called off."

Who in the family didn't know that the person she liked was the young master of the Qin Family, Qin Yi?

Although the Qin Family was the biggest in Hai City, the Lin Family was also a top-tier family there. The ancestors of the Lin Family were once followers of the ancestors of the Qin Family, so the relationship between the two families was very good.

Qin Yi was only half a year older than Lin Wanqing. The two grew up playing together; they could be said to be childhood sweethearts.

Patriarch Lin Zhen frowned at this moment, feeling a bit troubled. On one side was his granddaughter's lifelong happiness, and on the other was the marriage contract he had promised years ago to repay a favor.

A trace of regret also arose in his heart. Sigh, he shouldn't have been so anxious to repay the favor back then; now he had implicated his granddaughter's future.

He, Patriarch Lin Zhen, was not a person who broke his word, so for a moment, it was difficult for him to make a decision.

"Forget it, let's observe that expert's disciple first. If he is acceptable, it's not impossible to consider. If his character is poor, even if I have to risk being retaliated against by that expert, I will break off the engagement." Lin Zhou could only make a decisive choice at this moment.

He knew that saying this would make his daughter unhappy, but when he thought of Qin Yi—a child he had watched grow up all these years—he felt that Qin Yi's feelings for his daughter were just treating Lin Wanqing like a younger sister. Therefore, for the sake of his daughter's feelings, he could only decide this way for now.