The girl’s eyes scrutinized Li Tan up and down, as if attempting to bore a hole through him. After a brief pause, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, and with a disdainful huff, she sneered, “So many people adore the young mistress—Wang Daocheng from the Wang family, Zhang Jingbian from the Zhang family. Each of them is a promising young man. I just don’t understand why the head of the household chose you, a good-for-nothing, to become the son-in-law.”
Li Tan once again realized how useless he had been back then, to the point of being looked down upon even by a servant girl: “You can certainly suggest that your mistress choose one of those talented young men. I won’t stand in the way at all.”
Li Tan shot the girl a glance.
“Who do you think my mistress is! Oh no—!”
The girl, slightly off guard, slipped forward and fell, but Li Tan casually reached out and steadied her.
“Don’t touch the young mistress’s quilt!”
However, the girl tugged at the quilt she was hugging to her chest, treating the person in front of her not as a human being but something disgusting.
Li Tan felt a bit disheartened. What had he done to deserve this kind of treatment? Everyone seemed to bear a deep grudge against him.
“Fine.”
He stepped aside and let go, but the girl, still unsteady on her feet, immediately fell flat on the ground with a slap. Fortunately, the quilt cushioned the fall; otherwise, she might have ended up with a bruised face and a bloody nose.
Yet, the girl seemed unconcerned about herself. After scrambling to her feet, she cried out in a panic as if witnessing a horrifying tragedy: “The quilt got dirty! What should I do? The young mistress only sleeps with this one!”
She anxiously paced in place before turning her anger toward Li Tan, who stood nearby, and pointed at him furiously: “Why did you let go?”
Li Tan twitched his lips: “Wasn’t it you who told me to let go?”
The girl hugged the quilt tightly and angrily said: “Are you an idiot? Couldn’t you wait until I was steady on my feet before letting go?”
Upon hearing this, Li Tan silently muttered not to argue with women and then strode forward. However, the girl called out to him from behind again.
Li Tan reluctantly stopped: “If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
The girl imperiously ordered him: “The young mistress wants to see you. Follow me obediently from now on.”
Li Tan asked: “Is there anything else?”
The girl disdainfully examined Li Tan: “You’re filthy. Go wash up and change clothes.”
“Got it.”
Li Tan turned his head and continued walking. “That way is the martial arts training ground. You’re going the wrong way!”
The girl shouted loudly.
Li Tan stopped again and turned around to ask: “Isn’t the dining hall next to the martial arts training ground?”
The girl nodded: “Yes. Why are you asking?”
Li Tan resumed walking: “I’m going to eat.”
The girl stared at Li Tan’s back for a moment, then angrily yelled: “Stop right there!”
Li Tan didn’t even turn his head.
“You refuse the good wine and choose the punishment.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she placed the quilt on the redwood chair beside a pillar. Her small, nimble body moved as lightly as a bird, quickly catching up with Li Tan’s pace. Her seemingly frail fist slightly raised, concealing terrifying explosive power. However, Li Tan still walked on without turning his head.
The girl thought disdainfully, “I thought you had some skill to dare defy the head of the household. Turns out you’re just bluffing. This time, I’ll show you how to be taught a lesson.”
Whoosh! A whistling sound filled the air as the girl’s fist slammed toward Li Tan’s back. She could already imagine Li Tan falling to the ground in a pitiful state, crying and begging for mercy in a ridiculous manner in a second.
However, something strange happened. The girl suddenly felt dizzy. When she regained her senses, she realized her punch had struck empty air, while Li Tan had already walked five or six meters away.
“Go back and tell Lin Cui if she has anything to say, let her come find me herself.”
Li Tan, with his back to the girl, called out from afar. Moments later, the girl regained her senses, staring at Li Tan’s retreating figure in confusion, muttering: “What just happened? Why didn’t I hit him? I was aiming precisely. It’s impossible for me to miss. Could it be that I’m too tired lately and my eyesight is failing?”
The young girl wasn’t scheming by nature. She didn’t dwell much on it and, clenching her teeth in anger, muttered: “Damn Li Tan dares to ignore the young mistress’s command.”
With those words, the girl, whose name was unknown, turned back and carried the quilt away.
After parting ways with the girl, Li Tan resumed his path toward the dining hall. As he walked, he slightly turned his head to glance at his reflection in the pond. His old robe bore several tears, all caused by brambles in the hunting district.
Li Tan tidied his appearance slightly and entered the nearby martial arts training ground. At this time, the training ground was empty except for a servant sweeping the floor. The Lin family’s young men had long since completed their training and gone off to play.
Walking slowly, Li Tan crossed the martial arts training ground. A dilapidated shed appeared in his sight, with a plaque hanging by a rope. The plaque was engraved with the words “Dining Hall.”
Below it, a dozen square wooden tables were placed in a disorderly fashion. In the center stood a large pot filled with food, emitting a faint rancid odor even from afar.
Under this not-so-spacious shed, over a hundred people crowded together, scrambling for food like madmen, creating a cacophony of noise.
“Such a vast Lin family, possessing countless riches, yet they can’t even provide a decent meal for the servants?”
Seeing this scene, Li Tan instantly lost his appetite. He gave a mocking laugh and turned to leave, planning to seek out the steward again. However, he had barely taken a few steps when three or five men wielding sticks blocked his path.
The leader among them, Lin Jingwu, disdainfully glanced at Li Tan: “Son-in-law, what brings you to such a place? Don’t tell me you’re here to fight for food with those pigs?”
“Do you have something to say?”
Li Tan asked.
Lin Jingwu smirked, “I don’t have anything to say, but you’ve landed yourself in trouble.”
Li Tan thought for a moment and shrugged: “You’re one of Lin Yuan’s men, right? So, are you here to cause trouble?”
Trouble? No, no, just a warning. You’ve only been here for a day and already insulted the young mistress and disrespected the head of the household. Yuan Young Master wanted to discipline you but, being kind-hearted, couldn’t bring himself to do so. So I have to step in. Son-in-law, this is for your own good.
Lin Jingwu spoke convincingly. In truth, he was one of the men who had joined Lin Yuan in ambushing Li Tan outside the Fallen Immortal Realm. By chance, he had encountered Li Tan and wanted to do something to earn credit.
Li Tan furrowed his brows slightly, somewhat confused whether the man was having a fit or if he had become so useless that even the lowest of the low dared to bully him.
But regardless, all of that was in the past. The current him was no longer the old him. Not wanting trouble didn’t mean he was afraid of it.
Li Tan sneered: “You have ten seconds.”
“Ten seconds for what?”
Lin Jingwu asked carelessly.
Li Tan replied indifferently: “Ten seconds to disappear from my sight.”
“Are you trying to make me laugh to death so I leave on my own?”
Lin Jingwu’s face was full of provocation and disdain.
“How about this? I’ll also give you ten seconds. Just kneel and kowtow ten times.” Before Lin Jingwu could finish speaking, his head suddenly felt as if pierced by hundreds of needles, an intense pain. With a thud, he was hit by a stone casually picked up by Li Tan, his head bleeding profusely. The strange pain vanished, but his head still throbbed painfully.
“Damn it, what’s going on?!”
Still confused about the previous situation, Lin Jingwu glared at Li Tan with bloodshot eyes: “What trickery did you use?”
Without saying a word, Li Tan picked up another stone.
“I’ll let you know just how big the gap between us is!”
Lin Jingwu charged forward furiously, but as his fist swung, the pain of being pierced by a thousand needles returned. Immediately afterward, he was hit again and staggered like a wobbly doll, barely kept upright by his subordinates’ support.
When he regained his senses, Lin Jingwu’s intellect somewhat returned. Clutching his blood-soaked head, he stared at Li Tan warily, growling lowly: “Did you damn well poison me!”
Given his cultivation level, he naturally couldn’t comprehend the concept of spiritual consciousness, so he attributed the cause of his headache to poison.
Amused, Li Tan picked up a few more stones without offering any explanation, and slowly walked forward.
“Damn it, you’re just a useless nobody without any cultivation, why are you acting so arrogant!”
Lin Jingwu was furious, but unlike before, he didn’t rush out directly. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to go first, planning to observe how Li Tan administered his poison.
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