Chapter 51

Hu Sheng turned around and fixed his gaze on Lin Yu, a gentle smile spreading across his face. “It’s been years since we last met. I left in such a hurry last time that I thought I’d come back to see you.”

The morning sunlight slanted across the courtyard but brought no warmth—it was still bitingly cold. Lin Yu patted Chen Lu and told her to leave first. Chen Lu walked away, glancing back with every step, until only Hu Sheng and Lin Yu remained in the yard.

For a moment, neither spoke. The wind blew softly, and the peach tree branches swayed gently in the breeze.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed—like a fleeting memory of their first meeting.

Back then, Lin Yu had just turned eleven. Not long after her birthday, her parents’ deaths had left her and her sister Lin Zhao utterly alone, with nowhere to go.

The two young sisters carried the money their parents had saved through a lifetime of hard work. In the eyes of others, they were like walking chunks of fat, with every stray dog on the street wanting a bite, trying to gnaw something off them.

One day, a middle-aged man claiming to be a creditor came to their door, pestering them. He had no IOU, no proof—just a keen sense that they were young and easy to bully.

Lin Zhao cowered inside the house, covering her ears, too afraid to move. The man outside hurled vicious curses, a cacophony of noise that drowned out everything.

“Open up! You owe me money! Your parents deserved to die!”

“Lin Hui was unlucky to marry a hen that couldn’t lay eggs. You two are probably bastards Ji Yun had with some drifter—not even old Lin’s real kids! If Ji Yun had a clear conscience, why couldn’t she bear a son? What good are two girls? Yet they were pampered like treasures.”

Lin Hui and Ji Yun were Lin Yu’s parents. Her mother was beautiful, having spent years in a music house. She played the zither exquisitely, her melodies lingering for days. Whenever Ji Yun performed, the hall was packed, and countless trinkets and jewels were tossed onto the stage, just to win a smile from her.

There were more wealthy merchants and lords wanting to take her as a concubine than one could count on two hands. Everyone assumed she would bow to money, but she married the honest, penniless Lin Hui instead.

Her father was plain-looking, with a round, plump, auspicious face. Her mother used to say that the most important thing in life was to follow one’s heart.

But a beauty who didn’t match a talented scholar, who didn’t enter a noble household as a wife or concubine—of course, people would gossip. They were jealous.

Her mother had grown used to the insults, but even after she was dead, they still came to provoke, to sling mud on her name. Lin Zhao cowered in the corner, tears streaming uncontrollably, her whole body trembling as she gritted her teeth to keep from making a sound.

Lin Yu, of course, couldn’t swallow this insult. Lin Zhao couldn’t hold her back. Lin Yu slipped out the back door, set up a ladder, and climbed onto the roof. The tiny figure wobbled on the icy tiles, with a basket of broken bricks and stones strapped to her back—leftovers from repairing the back room.

It was said that when spring came, after the repairs, they would hire a stray cat. Lin Yu had been looking forward to it for a long time, but spring never came. Her parents died on a freezing night before spring arrived.

The middle-aged man kept cursing: “Open up! Give me the money! Don’t think you can hide and weasel out of it, you two bitches!”

“Ouch! Where did that stone come from?!” The man rubbed his forehead, looking around, but couldn’t find the source. He didn’t care much, rubbing his swollen head with one hand and planting the other on his hip, continuing to curse.

Every time the man cursed, Lin Yu threw a brick at his head.

After a few throws, the man noticed the person on the roof. He backed away and saw the little girl standing there. Enraged, he tipped his head back and tousled his hair carelessly, eyes blazing with menace.

He yelled, “You motherless bastards! Your parents were cursed by you!”

“Crash!”

A basketful of stone bricks came tumbling down, all landing on the man. He hastily covered his head, crouching and darting around, while the broken bricks hit his back.

“Don’t let me catch you, you little wretch!” The man jumped in fury. How could a burly man like him be beaten by a ten-year-old brat? It would ruin his reputation!

The man was a thug. He whistled to the street, and soon a few familiar men who loved a bit of trouble entered the yard. Four of them took positions at the corners of the house, and they knocked over the ladder, trapping Lin Yu on the roof.

With people on all sides, there was no way down. Lin Yu didn’t show much reaction. She lay down flat on the roof, closed her eyes, and leaned against the basket, basking in the sun.

Lin Yu did nothing—not even resist. But precisely because of that, the men were furious. They couldn’t stand her attitude. “Ha! She’s still in the mood to sleep on the roof?”

“She’s looking down on us! Just wait, I’ll get her down in a bit.”

“Where’s the ladder? Can’t we just climb up?”

“Pfft, that ladder’s been around for who knows how long. It’s falling apart. If someone like us stepped on it, it’d crumble to dust. No way.”

“I’ll just watch what she does. Can she lie up there forever? Anyway, there’s another one in the house. Let’s pick the lock and grab that one—same result.”

“Go find a locksmith. Forget about the little one; catching the one in the house works just as well!”

These men in their thirties and forties gathered under the eaves of an orphaned girl’s house, chattering away, discussing how to deal with the two girls.

“Hey! I say, aren’t you lot going too far? Bullying two little girls like this! I’m calling for help—my husband will be here any moment!”

Lin Yu looked down from the roof. The speaker was Wang Bashi, Hu Sheng’s wife. She stood at the gate holding an iron rod, her tone furious, looking quite formidable.

The men burst out laughing. “Who the hell are you? Talking so tough! Do you know the last person who spoke to me like that got sold to a brothel?”

He leered at Wang Bashi with a wicked grin. “What? You want a taste of that too?”

“Screw your father!” Wang Bashi couldn’t stand the insult. She swung the rod at the men! The ones who had been so cocky moments before suddenly scattered like frightened chickens, flapping their arms and dodging.

“You crazy woman, what are you doing?!”

“Ah! Get away!”

The solid iron rod thudded against their bodies, dull impacts landing on their thick skin. She aimed at their heads, faces, and bellies. One tried to run, but she swept the rod low and knocked his legs out from under him. Before long, they all surrendered, crouching in a corner with their heads in their hands.

“Let me see how nasty your tongues can be now.” Wang Bashi stood before them, her anger barely contained, and swung the rod again!

“Ah!” The rod struck the mouth of the so-called “creditor” who had started it all. He spat out a mouthful of blood—his teeth were shattered.

Lin Yu, watching from the roof, picked up the empty basket, aimed it at the row of men by the wall, and threw it!

Lin Yu was up high, and the men didn’t notice her movement. It came as a complete surprise. The one in the middle—the “creditor”—took the basket square to the head and was knocked out cold!

Blood trickled from his mouth, and foam started to bubble. His broken teeth fell to the ground. The basket left a huge lump on his forehead. He collapsed, utterly pathetic.

Lin Yu’s face remained expressionless. The men had pushed over the ladder, but she didn’t even check how high she was. She grabbed the eaves tiles and prepared to jump!

Wang Bashi was terrified. She dropped the rod and rushed to catch Lin Yu.

Lin Yu leaped. The pain she expected never came. Instead, she landed in a warm, soft embrace. She opened her eyes to see Wang Bashi’s face, and for a moment, all was silent—time seemed to stop.

“Just you wait! Do you know who I am?!” A gruff voice shattered the peace. Lin Yu frowned and looked toward the source—it was the man who had insulted Wang Bashi earlier.

“Tell me then, who are you?” Hu Sheng stepped forward, walking toward Wang Bashi. Seeing him, Wang Bashi’s face lit up with a smile. She gently set Lin Yu down and leaned into Hu Sheng’s embrace.

Her fierce demeanor vanished, replaced by a delicate look. She clung to Hu Sheng and sobbed, “Hubby, you weren’t here, and they all bullied me! Look, my hands are all red…” Tears streamed down Wang Bashi’s face as she wailed.

Lin Yu: ?

Confusion flickered in Lin Yu’s eyes, and the three men in the corner looked as if they’d seen a ghost. Who was this tearful, delicate woman? Where was the formidable warrior who had just seemed like a god of war?!

As if insulted, the men shouted in unison, “We didn’t hit her! She attacked us first!”

Wang Bashi’s eyes were red. “I didn’t… they bullied me.”

Hu Sheng rubbed Wang Bashi’s palm, saying nothing. He just raised his eyes at the men, a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his gaze murderous. “Who do you think you are to be worth my wife lifting a hand? And even if she did hit you—so what?!”

Hu Sheng’s tone was pure provocation. “Go on, tell me. What status do you have? What are you, to dare come and court death in front of my wife?”

By then, Hu Sheng was a somewhat famous astrologer. Who in the neighborhood didn’t know him? The man shut his mouth immediately and shook his head frantically, like a rattle-drum. “I wouldn’t dare… sir, you jest…”

Hu Sheng’s expression remained cold. The man studied his face and didn’t dare speak again. In this day and age, the last thing you wanted was to offend a cultivator.

“Get lost. Don’t let me see you again. If you ever come bothering them again, I’ll…” Hu Sheng’s gaze shifted to Lin Yu.

“I’ll rip you open and burn you as offerings to Lin Hui and Ji Yun.”

Hu Sheng’s tone grew heavier, each word deliberate. “Now get out.”

At his shout, the three men scrambled up, limping, holding their heads and stomachs, and tried to leave.

Hu Sheng: “Is that one on the ground dead?”

“No! No!”

The men hurried back, lifted the “creditor” whom Lin Yu had knocked out, and staggered out. They were all wounded, and the unconscious man was a big brute. They barely made it a few steps before collapsing at the gate in a heap.

The commotion died down. Lin Zhao, who had been crying by the door, burst out and hugged Lin Yu. “Wah… Jiyue, you scared me… are you okay?”

Lin Zhao was terrified. She sobbed so hard she could barely speak, clinging to Lin Yu and soaking her sleeve with tears. Wang Bashi looked at the two girls with pity, stroking their faces again and again. She sighed heavily, her eyes full of worry.

Hu Sheng looked at Lin Yu and finally asked, “What’s your name?”

“Lin Jiyue.”

Hu Sheng’s expression shifted, a flicker of shock in his eyes. After a long moment, he said, “How about I give you a new name from today on?”

Lin Yu stared at him, dazed. “Alright…”

Memories churned, time echoed, and for years afterward, Lin Yu never forgot that day.

In a flash, Hu Sheng had grown old. Now his temples were gray, his skin dark, and deep wrinkles lined his face, so different from ten years ago.

It had only been ten years.

It had been ten whole years.

Lin Yu looked at Hu Sheng’s aged face, lost in thought, and smiled softly. “It’s been a long time. I never thought I’d see you again.”

Hu Sheng stared at the crimson mark of the divine maiden on Lin Yu’s forehead, hesitating, several times on the verge of speaking but stopping. He remembered that when he’d seen her in Jiangnan not long ago, the mark hadn’t been this deep.

Lin Yu noticed his hesitation and knew he had something to say. She spoke first. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Hu Sheng: “You’ve joined the Heaven’s Mandate Tower. I shouldn’t have come to see you, but there’s something crucial I must tell you.”

Lin Yu: “Please, speak.”

“You’re in grave danger.”