Mu Lin and a group of young people including Jacques were now sitting inside the town hall’s reception room. The small space was packed with the mayor, the elderly doctor, two local police officers, and curious onlookers who had heard the commotion.
While Mu Lin and his friends were enjoying themselves at a bar, the mayor sent his assistant to summon Mu Lin, saying that someone had come to town looking for him. Mu Lin knew immediately that these were people sent by Douglas. Upon hearing this, Jacques and the other young people, eager to uncover Mu Lin’s true identity, accompanied him to the town hall.
Once at the town hall, Mu Lin was separately invited into an office by a well-dressed young man in a suit. As soon as the door closed, the young man respectfully said, “Master, I am Jackson! The boss sent me here to follow your orders. Do you have any instructions for me?”
Mu Lin recognized this as someone from the Douglas family, though he had never interacted with him before. Knowing this person must be a core member of the Douglas family, he briefly explained his current situation but gave no further details, wanting to test this so-called elite operative from the Douglas family.
After some thought, the young man quickly came up with a solution. Hearing the plan, Mu Lin was completely satisfied with how swiftly and thoroughly the young man had devised arrangements. He then authorized him to handle the matter entirely.
Afterwards, the young man met briefly with the mayor, the police, the doctor, and others before addressing the crowd: “We are deeply grateful to everyone for rescuing our company’s client. Due to special circumstances, we have decided to temporarily keep his name confidential, but we assure you that we will reveal his identity at the appropriate time. We have been searching for him all over Y country and France, and we came here today with little hope of finding him. I sincerely thank you all on behalf of his family and our company!”
As the young man paused, murmurs spread through the crowd. He continued, “To express our gratitude, our company will donate ten million francs to the town government for independent use. Additionally, to thank the young people who participated in the rescue and to compensate for their losses, our client’s family has decided to give each of them five hundred thousand francs. We hope you will accept this gesture.
“To better treat our client, I will now be taking him away. I have already discussed this with the mayor, the police, and the doctor. If you have any future issues, please feel free to seek help from our Douglas Law Firm, and we will do our utmost to meet your needs!”
His words immediately caused a stir among the crowd. “Hey guys, come find me in Paris sometime! If I’m not in the office, I’m sure someone else will be there to help you!” Mu Lin said to the young people, genuinely hoping to recruit this group, especially Jacques and his four friends, into his ranks.
The young man then handed the check to the old mayor before leaving the town with Mu Lin under the cover of night.
Upon arriving in Paris, Mu Lin gradually learned that after the Y country’s five warships were wrecked, the Y government declared it a terrorist attack, coincidentally claimed by the Irish Republican Army, which shifted public attention to them and temporarily relieved the pressure on Y country.
As for Mu Lin’s family in the U country, they had only been under surveillance for the first month. Perhaps seeing the genuine anxiety of Mu Lin’s family, the surveillance team eventually believed that Mu Lin had died and withdrew. The Douglas group, although aware of the Y country’s agents monitoring Mu Lin’s family, ignored them since no further moves were made. They paid no further attention when the surveillance was withdrawn.
Later, although the lack of news about Mu Lin caused some alarm among the women at home, the lower-level staff remained confident in him. Besides, Boston was tightly controlled, so nothing major occurred.
Back in Paris, Mu Lin returned to his villa and decided to call the women back home, assuring them that he was fine and explaining that he needed to stay away for a while longer to handle some affairs, firmly refusing their requests to visit despite their protests.
After careful consideration, Mu Lin decided not to reveal his identity publicly yet. He planned to first teach the Y government and the royal family a hard lesson, then use the people of Lorient to testify on his behalf before making a public reappearance. After all, he was now an internationally influential figure with extensive connections in the U country.
These recent experiences had taught him that strength was the only thing that mattered in any place. Only with real power could one gain reputation, and when one’s strength reached a certain level, practically no one could harm them. Here, the line between the mundane world and cultivators was not so clear. Since his enemies had used cultivators against him, they should be prepared to face his retaliation.
As for the arrangements in Lorient, Mu Lin decided to handle them after returning from Y country, timing it so that these developments would coincide with his return, effectively diverting any suspicions.
This time, Mu Lin did not go through customs or official channels. Instead, he planned to practice his water shunshu (a Daoist technique for moving through water) by traveling directly from Paris to the island of Cézembre.
Reflecting on his previous failure due to his poor skill in water evasion techniques, which had forced him to flee by yacht and become someone’s prey, Mu Lin felt a surge of self-reproach. Back in Country U, despite being near coastal cities like Boston and New York, he had neglected to thoroughly master water evasion techniques, relying instead on his earth-based evasion skills and believing they would be sufficient for any situation. That overconfidence had nearly cost him his life at sea.
Once prepared, Mu Lin ventured into the sea on a dark night.
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