Tang Leyin’s appearance was unexpected for Li Tan, but it also saved him a lot of trouble. Without her, if the old man in the black robe had escaped, the hidden force behind everything would likely have killed Li Tan at all costs immediately. If there were cultivators of higher realms stationed there, the situation could have become extremely complicated.
“Anyway, thanks to Miss Tang’s help tonight, to express my gratitude, would you do me the honor of joining me for a meal sometime?”
Li Tan expressed his gratitude while trying to get closer to Tang Leyin. This matter couldn’t be rushed and had to be taken slowly. Tang Leyin was the kind of person who was easy to befriend but extremely difficult to get deeply close to.
“Ah…” Tang Leyin instinctively wanted to refuse, but upon thinking about the many strange occurrences surrounding Li Tan, she changed her mind.
“Alright then, as the gentleman suggested. By the way, may I ask for your honorable names, and why you came here?”
“This shameless man is called Li Tan, and I am Lin Cui. The reason we came back here is actually because of her.” Lin Cui spoke while simultaneously belittling Li Tan, then proceeded to explain the general situation while looking down at the Xiao Xue she was holding.
“You found the entrance switch immediately?”
Tang Leyin covered her mouth in surprise. This was something she herself hadn’t managed to do. Could it be that Li Tan’s perception was sharper than hers?
Such a person absolutely couldn’t have grown up in a remote place like Linjiang.
Therefore, she became even more convinced that Li Tan’s background was not simple. Her sparkling eyes shimmered with curiosity.
Li Tan had spent at least a thousand years accompanying Tang Leyin, so how could he not understand her thoughts? He smiled slightly and said,
“If you have any questions, I will try my best to answer them, but I have urgent matters to attend to now, so I cannot stay long.”
“Okay, then see you.”
Tang Leyin smiled, waved her hand, and left the inn. Li Tan and Lin Cui briefly checked Xiao Xue’s condition, and after confirming she was fine, they headed home.
That night, the sky was as dark as ink. In a corner of the luxurious Lin family estate, a dilapidated house’s window abruptly lit up with lamp light, faintly spilling out pleasant zither music.
“Do you remember your name?”
“Name?” “Yes.”
“Jiang Xin.” Not long after the zither music stopped, a male voice gently asked, and a female voice answered haltingly.
Inside the house, Li Tan sat behind the zither, facing a pretty woman who looked light and somewhat transparent, standing before him—Jiang Xin.
“You’re doing much better. After some time, you should be able to recover some of your memories. Then it’ll be time to go to the Lin family for an explanation.”
Li Tan didn’t feel much sympathy for Jiang Xin’s plight. The reason he had spent so much time intervening was mainly because he couldn’t bear to see Cui Hao’s painstaking efforts go to waste.
After carefully storing Jiang Xin in a soul jade, Li Tan took out the young eagle from the second level of the Huanged Pagoda with a bit of a headache. The little creature seemed to have been bored stiff and cried out in protest continuously.
“If you keep making noise, I’ll cook you into soup.”
Li Tan glared fiercely.
“Gugu!” The young eagle stayed quiet for only two seconds before crying out even louder.
“Ah, I guess I’m afraid of you.”
Li Tan sighed with a bit of a headache. He really didn’t know what to do with this little thing.
After a while, he returned to his bedroom, and the young eagle quieted down again, when suddenly intermittent knocking sounds came from the door.
“It’s unlocked, come in.”
Li Tan thought it was Lin Cui and shouted directly, but to his surprise, it was a small girl who entered.
“Xiao Xue?”
Li Tan looked up in confusion.
“Um, I came to…” Standing at the door, Xiao Xue shyly lowered her head, unable to speak clearly for a long time.
Li Tan then directly finished her sentence.
“You want to thank me?”
“No, ah, yes.” She instinctively denied at first, then paused, her voice becoming more timid.
Li Tan gently said,
“It was just a small effort, not worth worrying about. If there’s nothing else, go back.”
“But…” Xiao Xue seemed very reluctant and hesitated on the spot.
Li Tan thought for a moment and asked somewhat exasperatedly,
“Did Lin Cui send you?”
“Yes, the young miss asked me to come and thank you and admit my mistake.”
As Xiao Xue spoke, she clearly seemed unwilling, muttering under her breath in what she thought was an inaudible voice.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Li Tan shook his head indifferently and said,
“I appreciate the sentiment. You can go back now; there’s no need to repay the favor.”
“Then I’ll leave.”
This time, without hesitation, Xiao Xue almost instantly agreed.
Li Tan thought somewhat disheartened, “Am I really that bad?” but outwardly remained quite open and said it was fine.
Thud, thud, thud. However, at that moment, a noisy set of footsteps came from the courtyard. Through the window, one could see torches rising and falling in a line.
“Li Tan!”
An irate shout exploded. The already fragile door was smashed open with a loud bang, followed by seven or eight guards with clubs entering one after another. The young leader stomped his foot heavily on the door panel.
Li Tan looked somewhat displeased at the unexpected visitors at the door and spoke indifferently.
“Lin Ge?
What do you want at this time of night?”
The young man, dressed in expensive clothes and wearing an expression of noble arrogance, was indeed Lin Ge, the older brother of Lin Yuan, who had previously been crippled by Li Tan’s rage over the Jiang Xin incident.
His purpose for coming here at this hour was quite obvious.
Sure enough.
“Li Tan, you’ve got guts! Daring to cause trouble at the Dan Pavilion—do you want to die and drag the Lin family down with you?”
“What does this have to do with the Lin family?
You’ve got a bird’s beak and just keep spouting nonsense.”
The mocking words slipped from Li Tan’s mouth. Lin Ge completely ignored them, glancing at Xiao Xue, who stood pale and frozen on the spot, and his eyes flashed with killing intent.
“Why were you here so late at night? I bet you’re here to do something indecent with Li Tan?”
“I didn’t… I didn’t…” Xiao Xue seemed very afraid of Lin Ge, barely daring to breathe, her explanation weak and powerless.
Li Tan impatiently cut in.
“What exactly do you want? If you have nothing to say, get lost. I don’t have time to entertain you people.”
“Hmph! I want to see how long you can keep up this arrogance. Men, seize him!”
“Seize me?
On what grounds?”
“Leaving the Lin family without permission and causing trouble at the Dan Pavilion, isn’t that reason enough to arrest you?”
The reason Lin Ge suddenly came to confront him was because of Xiao Xue being brought back.
Unaware of what had happened at the inn, Lin Ge could only assume that Xiao Xue had been secretly rescued by Li Tan. Thus, his original intention to curry favor had backfired, which might provoke the anger of a certain black-robed senior. Therefore, he wanted to send Xiao Xue back as soon as possible and take the opportunity to eliminate Li Tan, whose mysteries were increasing, to nip the problem in the bud once and for all.
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