"Two cases here in Xinyu lately. Five over in Raoshan—all during the day," Lin Hongzhen whispered, her face grim.

"Are Uncle and Aunt moving into the Inner City?" Lin Hui asked suddenly.

He knew Lin Hongzhen's parents were merchants in town, better off financially than his own family. With Lin Hongzhen earning decent wages as an apprentice at Shayue Apothecary, moving into the Inner City was actually within reach.

"Soon. Door-Breaching Ghosts have been showing up in a lot of towns lately, so they're planning to move inside the city walls to avoid the risk." Lin Hongzhen nodded. She and Lin Hui had a decent relationship—they'd played together as kids, and she was one of the few clan members the Lin family still bothered with.

"It hasn't been safe lately. Be careful, and stop wandering around looking for trouble," Lin Hongzhen said.

She was about to continue when a girl with twin braids tapped her shoulder in greeting.

"Xiao Qin, it's you!" Lin Hongzhen turned, her face lighting up, and immediately started chatting with the newcomer.

Lin Hui held back the question on his tongue. The girl looked about fifteen or sixteen, dressed in typical Inner City fashion—scanty as hell—a white tube top and a leather skirt that barely covered her thighs. A simple snakeskin belt cinched her waist. A brown, wavy-bladed short sword was strapped to her outer thigh.

He took one last look at the bloodstains in the courtyard, then turned and left without a word.

The girl glanced in his direction, then looked back at Lin Hongzhen.

"Your brother?"

"Cousin from the fourth branch. Honest kid." Lin Hongzhen nodded. "You think he's got a shot at the selection? His family's broke, and you know how things are lately. Staying in Xinyu forever isn't a solution."

"His looks aren't good enough. You know how Shayue picks people—looks first. If you're not pretty, you'd better be offering something valuable..." The girl shook her head. "Honestly, in your Lin family, only Lin Hongyu might get selected based on aptitude. The rest..."

"Lin Hongyu... Don't even mention her name. Makes me angry just hearing it. So what about my cousin—think you could pull him in to run errands for you? He's looking for work right now," Lin Hongzhen asked tentatively.

"Why not just tell him to weasel his way into a staff job at the Chen family?" The girl looked exasperated. "Don't you know the situation inside Shayue?"

Lin Hongzhen smiled awkwardly.

"He's at that age, and we get along pretty well, so I wanted to find him a path forward."

Lin Hui was somewhat famous in the Lin family. His parents were known for doting on their son as if he were their lifeblood. They'd fed him well and couldn't bear to send him out to suffer through an apprenticeship. Only now that he was grown did the urgency hit them.

Most families sent their kids out to learn trades before they turned ten. The Lin family was a big family with plenty of members, and Lin Hui's father had a decent income as a supervisor. Having a son meant spoiling him rotten.

Everyone else saw it as coddling—refusing to send him out to learn a trade.

And now...

Lin Hongzhen shook her head internally. Even she'd gone out as an apprentice to run errands when she was ten. Seven years of grinding, and she'd finally earned the qualifications to join the sect last year, officially becoming an ordinary disciple of Shayue.

In Tuyue, if commoners wanted to get ahead, there were three paths.

Government selection. Shayue selection. Chen family selection.

If none of those worked, you farmed or became an apprentice to learn a trade.

If that didn't work either, you ended up like Lin Hui—selling your body for manual labor, running dangerous routes just to scrape by.

From the perspective of the poor, Lin Hui was the only son of a supervisor—a young master who'd completely escaped poverty. In Xinyu Town, he barely qualified as a rich second-generation.

Lin Hui's father would never willingly let his only son walk a dangerous path.

Lin Hongzhen knew that much.

Xinyu Oil Workshop

In a dark corner reeking of grease, rows of oil drums stood like soldiers in formation.

Lin Hui's father, Lin Shunhe, eyes bloodshot, quietly pressed a heavy gray money pouch into the hands of a pot-bellied old man dressed in wealthy robes.

"Elder Chen, about this recommendation quota for the Inner City...?"

"The goods are solid, and the job's done clean. Brother Lin, rest easy—I've already passed the word along," the old man said, grinning widely.

Lin Shunhe's heart jumped. He gritted his teeth and pulled out another money pouch—this one hemmed with silver thread, kept close to his body. He handed it over.

This was his retirement fund. The savings he'd planned to use to move into the Inner City with his wife for their old age. But right now, he didn't give a damn.

His son had been sitting at home for over a year, doing nothing every day, living in a fog. If this kept up, he'd be ruined for good.

If he could get into the Chen family as an employee, it wouldn't be in vain—all the effort Lin Shunhe had poured into this. Climbing from a bottom-level apprentice to an employee took at least seven or eight years. This under-the-table job and the savings he was burning were buying back those seven or eight years.

Everyone in Tuyue knew the Chen family's benefits were top-tier. As long as you got in, at the very least, you could live in the Inner City and guarantee basic safety.

"You're making me feel like a stranger now. But greasing the wheels up and down the line does cost money. Brother Lin, don't worry—leave this to me." Elder Chen's smile deepened. He cracked open the pouch to peek inside, then weighed it in his hand.

"Just send the person over later. Lin Hui, right?"

"Right, right." Lin Shunhe nodded rapidly.

"Good. I've got it noted." Elder Chen nodded. "It's getting late—I'll go grab my meal. Tomorrow afternoon, bring him to the Chen Family Stronghold's third gate—the one where you can see Haoyi Tower from outside. Don't go to the wrong one."

"We'll definitely be there on time!" Lin Shunhe said hurriedly.

Watching Elder Chen shuffle out of the warehouse with his hands behind his back, the heavy weight in Lin Shunhe's chest finally lifted.

He'd blown through years of savings in one go—even thrown in his retirement fund—but as long as his son could get in and live like a human being, the money... well, he could work hard and save it up again. He could always earn it back.

Lin Hui wandered aimlessly through town after leaving.

The whole of Xinyu Town was pocket-sized—five streets crossing in a comb-like pattern. The so-called "streets" were just ordinary yellow mud roads packed down solid over time.

The town's main industries were a dozen or so workshops. The oil workshop was just one. There were also clothing workshops, leather workshops, grain workshops, fruit workshops, and so on.

Aside from the workshops, there were homes—either square earthen huts or stone-walled courtyards.

The only thing that left a deep mark on Lin Hui was a ruined temple he passed on the roadside.

He didn't go inside. Just stood outside and peered through a gap in the crumbling wall. Nothing was enshrined within—only rows of clay statues depicting children with missing limbs.

The pitch-black statues were crafted with disturbing precision, lifelike. As if rows of real children under three years old were sitting cross-legged inside the temple, faces frozen in laughter.

It was the missing limbs that made the whole scene grotesque as hell.

That's why he didn't dare go in.

Seeing the sky shift toward noon, Lin Hui turned back home. On the way, he stared out beyond the town.

White mist blanketed everything out there. Gray and endless—he couldn't see a damn thing, couldn't perceive anything.

Mist shrouded this entire world. Only by clustering around the giant city could people carve out a mist-free zone and earn the right to survive.

Sighing, Lin Hui quickened his pace. As he neared the Lin family's main compound...

He ran into three or four Lin clan members respectfully seeing off a pot-bellied old man.

Among them, standing front and center, was the Lin family patriarch—Lin Chaoyi.

The old patriarch, over seventy now, was the current head of the Lin family. He leaned on a jujube-red cane, his face ruddy. Silver hair combed neatly back. His usually severe expression had turned unnaturally gentle.

He was carefully holding the hand of a beautiful young woman beside him, speaking quietly to the pot-bellied old man.

When Lin Hui came into view, the old patriarch stopped talking and gave the girl's arm a final pat.

"Then it's settled," the patriarch said with finality.

"But isn't this improper? This is the quota Brother Lin Shunhe secured..." The pot-bellied man was none other than Elder Chen, fresh from the oil workshop.

He hadn't expected that the moment he stepped outside, he'd be ambushed by the Lin family patriarch who'd been lurking nearby. The old man didn't say a word before stuffing an even fatter bribe into his hands. The only request: swap the quota to Lin Hongyu, also from the Lin family.

The patriarch gave more, so Elder Chen was happy to oblige. It was just... this quota had been earned by Lin Shunhe risking his neck for the young master. Switching it like this...

"There's nothing improper about it. We're all the Lin family. I'm the patriarch—I make the decisions for matters big and small." Patriarch Lin Chaoyi said firmly.

"I didn't expect Shunhe to pull it off either. But now that he has, giving such a good opportunity to Little Hui would be a waste. Only by giving it to Hongyu—with her talent and drive—can she develop well in the Chen family and rise high. Then she can turn around and pull Little Hui up. That's the right path. The optimal choice for the entire Lin family."

"But what about Shunhe...?"

"I'll handle him. I'm his father. If he dares disobey, this cane of mine isn't just for decoration." Lin Chaoyi's voice was cold and hard.

Elder Chen glanced at the cluster of Lin family members and shook his head inwardly. The family had clearly been lying in wait, ready to devour Lin Shunhe's opportunity whole.

Ruthless.

But this was the Lin family business. As long as he got his cut, that was enough. The rest had nothing to do with him. Either way, in the end, he'd delivered the quota to the Lin family.

Seeing Lin Hui approach slowly, the patriarch lowered his voice and muttered a few more words to Elder Chen, then saw him off onto the carriage by the roadside.

The group brushed past Lin Hui, shoving him to the side. After seeing the guest off, the old patriarch turned back and sized Lin Hui up—his thin frame, his listless eyes. He let out a cold snort and led the group back into the courtyard.

Lin Hongyu and her father, Lin Shuntao, had also been part of the send-off party. Looking at Lin Hui now, Lin Shuntao felt a flicker of shame about stealing someone else's quota, so he nudged his daughter gently.

"Go say hello to your cousin. Get closer to him from now on."

"If you want to go, you go. I'm not." Lin Hongyu turned her head impatiently. "I have to temper my mind every day—where would I find time to wander around like him? So what if we owe him something? I'll just pay him back double later."

Seeing her father about to push her again, Lin Hongyu's impatience flared.

"Don't push me. He's got no ability. Even if he had the chance, he couldn't hold onto it. Who's he supposed to blame?"

The group returned to the courtyard noisily, leaving Lin Hui standing there, confused and uneasy.

They hadn't spoken loudly. He'd been too far to hear clearly.

Seeing everyone go back inside, he followed. After wandering around for so long, he was tired.

BANG!!!

"What!? You gave Little Hui's quota to Hongyu!?"

A teacup exploded against the wall.

Lin Hui's father, Lin Shunhe, shot to his feet, fury burning across his face. His hands and clothes were soaked with scalding tea.

He trembled all over, glaring at the patriarch—Lin Chaoyi—seated at the head of the main hall. His chest heaved like a bellows.

"That was for my son! A quota I earned with my life!"

He stared at Lin Chaoyi, enunciating every word.

"How dare you!?"

"Are you trying to fucking rebel!?" Lin Chaoyi also shot to his feet, smashing a teacup onto the floor.

"I'm your fucking father! What's wrong with using a bit of your stuff!? What's wrong!? I raised you, and this is how you repay me?"

Lin Chaoyi roared, walking step by step with his cane until he stood directly in front of Lin Shunhe.

"What? You think you're capable now? You dare smash things in front of me? Grown some balls?"

He grabbed Lin Shunhe's arm and beat it directly against his own head.

"Come on! If you've got the ability, if you've got the guts, hit me—hit your father! I'm standing right here. If you dare to lift a hand, then go ahead and do it!"

"Hit me!!" Lin Chaoyi roared, the sound buzzing through the entire hall.

Their arms locked tightly, muscles straining, veins bulging on their dark skin.

Lin Shunhe's face turned purple-red. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at his old man.

His fists clenched tight as death, but he didn't move.

"Hongyu's name has already been submitted! The Chen family has accepted it—so accept it; there's no changing it now. You need to face the facts. Help Hongyu grow strong in the Chen family, and later you'll have a chance to turn around and lift your son up. When that happens, our Lin family will have two people in the Chen family. That's the real victory for our family!" Having silenced his son, Lin Chaoyi softened his tone slightly and began his cold lecture.

Lin Shunhe gripped his fists tightly, staring at his old man's preaching face. The disappointment and grief in his heart nearly overflowed.

From childhood to adulthood, he'd never received any support from this man. Every benefit always went to Hongyu's family. Even his current position as supervisor at the oil workshop was only because he'd accidentally caught the eye of a government official back then.

He'd thought, fine — he's his father, after all. He'd endure it. Life would go on. But he never imagined the old bastard would scheme so carefully, lie in wait, and intercept the quota he'd risked his life to earn for his son.

The more Lin Shunhe thought about it, the angrier he got. The more wronged he felt.

Lin Chaoyi kept rambling on in front of him, spouting nonsense about putting the whole Lin family first, about how the family growing strong as a whole was good for everyone, that he shouldn't harbor resentment just because of a temporary sacrifice...

"Ahhh!!!"

Lin Shunhe suddenly wrenched his father's hand away. He pointed a trembling finger at him, gritting his teeth, his whole body shaking.

"From childhood to adulthood, I've never relied on you for anything! In the past, when you sacrificed me, I endured it. But now you want to sacrifice my son! Fine! From today on, my family of three—Lin Shunhe's family—has nothing to do with your Lin family! No connection whatsoever!"

He roared with every ounce of strength he had, then turned and walked away without looking back at the red-faced Lin Chaoyi.

"You!" Lin Chaoyi pointed at him, so furious he couldn't form a complete sentence. "Unfilial son! You... unfilial son!"

Bang.

The hall door slammed open. Lin Shunhe strode out, vanishing quickly around the corner of the courtyard.

Only Lin Chaoyi remained, standing there gnashing his teeth. But he didn't dare call for anyone—what he'd done was underhanded, after all. If word spread, it would reflect poorly on him and the entire Lin family.

"But what did I do wrong!? I did this for the Lin family—for everyone!" Lin Chaoyi gritted his teeth, panting heavily.