Chapter 45: The Grand Elder’s Strategy

Liu Yingfeng had taken Ling’er and left.

Lin Wuming looked at the now-empty room and let out a long sigh.

The day had already been exhausting, and now the night hadn’t granted him peace either—he’d nearly lost his life.

Now that the assassin was dead, he could finally get some proper rest. However…

Lin Wuming looked around at the chaotic mess of a room and the bloodstains—both his and the black-clothed man’s—scattered across the floor.

A headache crept up.

This room… doesn’t look livable anymore…

“Senior Brother, why don’t you come stay in my room?”

He Yingying suggested, her eyes lighting up as she realized the same thing.

“…I guess that’s the only option.”

Lin Wuming nodded helplessly.

He followed his junior sister to her room.

But before resting, there was one important thing he had to take care of.

The wound on his back was still bleeding.

Though his body constitution was no longer that of an ordinary person and it wasn’t life-threatening, he couldn’t just leave it untreated.

There were still some medicinal ingredients left over from treating his junior sister earlier.

Lin Wuming checked them—just enough for his needs—and with some effort, refined a healing salve.

“Senior Brother, let me apply the medicine for you…”

“…Alright.”

The location of his wound made it difficult for him to treat himself, so he agreed without much thought.

He Yingying brought him to the edge of the bed, sat down after removing her shoes, and pulled his clothes up.

With his upper garments removed, the wound was clearly visible—its black-red streak across his otherwise smooth back was jarring to the eye.

But He Yingying was thinking something else:

‘When Senior Brother treated me before, he saw my body. Now that I’m seeing his… does that mean we’re even?’

Shaking off her wandering thoughts, she carefully applied the medicine to Lin Wuming’s wound.

Then, without disturbing him further, she had him lie down to rest.

She made a bed on the floor beside his.

Thinking back to when she was still recovering and he had also slept beside her on the floor, she couldn’t help but feel a strange warmth.

A silly smile appeared on her face, and she remained sleepless for a long time.

***

The next morning arrived quickly.

In the Lin Family residence, Lin Tiancheng paced back and forth in the courtyard, hands clasped behind his back, brows tightly furrowed.

“Patriarch, is something troubling you?”

A calm voice came from beyond the courtyard.

An elderly man slowly walked in and looked at him.

“Sigh…”

Lin Tiancheng sighed the moment he saw the man.

“Grand Elder, you’ve come just in time. Let me tell you everything…”

Lin Tiancheng then explained the full story.

After listening, the Grand Elder frowned and said, “Patriarch, you acted too rashly.”

“You’re right.”

Lin Tiancheng nodded and sighed again.

It had been nighttime, when yin energy was strong and rational thought weak—he hadn’t considered things carefully and had hastily sent the family’s trained assassin to act.

Looking back, he should’ve discussed it further with the elders before making a move.

“So, the assassin still hasn’t returned?”

Lin Tiancheng shook his head.

“Given the time that’s passed, he’s most likely dead. I have no idea what went wrong…”

“But at least he was one of our trained death warriors. He wouldn’t have exposed his identity or implicated the Lin Family. That’s the only comfort I have.”

“That might not be the case.”

The Grand Elder’s expression remained grim as he shook his head.

“Don’t forget, over the past century, the Taixu Hall has grown increasingly active…”

“You’re saying—?”

“How do you know there aren’t forces from Taixu Hall already established in Luoshui City?”

These words sent a cold sweat dripping down Lin Tiancheng’s back.

“If the Liu Family’s young lady is truly a core disciple of the Taixu Hall, she might’ve planted spies around our family after her recent visit. If so, she could’ve had us under surveillance this whole time. It wouldn’t be strange for the assassination to have failed…”

The Grand Elder furrowed his brow.

‘This Patriarch is still too young… If he hadn’t just returned to Luoshui today, he would’ve never allowed such a rash move.’

“Then… Grand Elder, what should we do now?”

Lin Tiancheng’s face was filled with anxiety.

If what the elder said was true, then hadn’t everything already been exposed?

“No need to panic just yet…”

The Grand Elder calmly said…

“That’s only one possible scenario. The facts aren’t certain. Besides, even if she did find out we tried to kill the rising star from yesterday, she may not know that person is Lin Wuming.”

“True… The Wan Yin Conference is a good smokescreen. It’s reasonable that we targeted the ‘genius.’”

“But…”

The Grand Elder added, his tone sharpening again, “don’t forget why Miss Liu might be watching the Lin Family.”

“If she sent people to monitor us, it means she had doubts about what you said. She’ll definitely investigate the youth who was attacked. If they come into contact again…”

Lin Tiancheng’s expression darkened.

“Grand Elder, you mean…”

“Do we have any choice left?”

The Grand Elder let out a bitter laugh.

Even if they backed off now, if the truth got out, did they really think they’d be spared just because the assassination failed?

“But to be safe, we cannot take action directly as the Lin Family…”

“Then what should we do?”

Lin Tiancheng asked.

“First, prevent him from meeting Miss Liu at all costs. Second—‘kill with a borrowed knife.’”

“You mean…”

Lin Tiancheng’s eyes lit up as he caught on.

The Grand Elder nodded with satisfaction.

“Spread rumors that the Wan Yin Conference champion has been assassinated. Then contact the Li Family of Lihuo City, with whom we have good relations. Use the attempted assassination as an excuse to have them publicly invite the champion to Lihuo City as a guest of honor and protector. This will create the illusion that he’s already left Luoshui.”

“That way, Miss Liu will lose interest in someone who’s ‘already gone.’ Even if she suspects we were behind the attempt, the incident will fade from attention. Then, we secretly send people to retrieve him under cover of a merchant caravan…”

“And bring him back before the upcoming family tournament.”

Lin Tiancheng continued, a sinister smile forming.

“If he dies during the competition, we can blame it on bad luck. And if Miss Liu still doesn’t know the truth, we replace him with someone else and carry on with the original plan. Lin Family’s rise to glory is within reach.”

“Even in the worst-case scenario—if she finds out Lin Wuming died in the tournament and realizes it was us who targeted the Wan Yin champion—we can claim they were two different people. Lin Wuming never represented the Lin Family, and he entered the competition on his own. If she seeks vengeance, she’d have to target the ones who killed him during the event, not us.”

“Lin Family might not gain much, but we’ll at least stay safe.”