Lin Mo became increasingly anxious as he stared at the wooden door.
His eyes drifted toward the translucent blue screen again.
The words were still there.
1. Kill the Huo Family people at the entrance of your house.Reward: Unknown.
2. Scare the Huo Family people at the entrance of your house.Reward: Unknown.
Lin Mo's expression darkened.
Damn...
It says "people." That's plural.
So there are at least two of them.
His mind immediately began running through every possibility.
Why did they come here?
Did they sense something?
No... impossible.
Could they be after the ginseng?
But why would they go back on their word after giving it to Lin Yu?
One possibility after another flashed through his mind, but none of them gave him any comfort.
And even if he figured out the reason...
There was still one small problem.
He couldn't kill them.
Lin Mo's mouth twitched.
Damn it... I've never even fought anyone before.
For a moment, he couldn't help but laugh at his own miserable situation.
What kind of cultivator had never fought anyone before?
And now his first real opponents were members of the Huo Family.
What a joke...
He quickly pushed those thoughts aside before his imagination could run wild.
There was no point in frightening himself.
Especially not now.
His gaze unconsciously shifted toward Lin Yu.
That stupid disciple of mine...
It was your first time leaving the forest, and somehow you managed to bring all this trouble back with you.
Lin Mo sighed inwardly.
He couldn't even properly blame Lin Yu.
After all, he had been the one who suggested that Lin Yu leave the forest and hone his fighting abilities.
Still...
Couldn't your first journey have been a little more peaceful?
Lin Mo rubbed his aching ribs and quietly grimaced.
He was beginning to regret that suggestion.
At that moment, Lin Yu, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.
"Master... I hope nobody saw what you did back then. People might think I cheated."
He looked at Lin Mo with a small, playful smile.
Lin Mo stared at him for a moment.
Cheat my ass.
They're probably standing right outside the door, listening to every word we're saying.
He glanced toward the wooden door again.
The system had already given him one possible solution: scare them away.
But there was one problem.
How much did they hear?
Did they hear me talking about the system? No... impossible.
And they probably noticed that I'm injured.
Lin Mo's mind raced.
He thought of one idea after another.
Pretend to be stronger?
Threaten them?
Reveal some terrifying technique?
Maybe even walk outside and act as though he knew they were there?
He considered each possibility carefully before finally settling on one.
A simple one.
Perhaps...
Lin Mo straightened his back and deliberately raised his voice.
"Well, if worse comes to worst..."
He paused.
His expression remained completely calm.
"...I can always just kill them."
He made sure every word was loud and clear, as though he were intentionally speaking to someone beyond the wooden walls.
Lin Yu blinked.
Then he smiled.
Master is joking again.
After all, his master had always said strange things with such a serious expression.
Lin Mo, meanwhile, remained perfectly still.
But he knew that words alone carried no real weight.
If the people outside were truly from the Huo Family, they wouldn't simply leave because he claimed he could kill them.
He needed to show them something.
Something convincing.
Something dangerous.
Fuck...
If I use that damn technique again, I might as well die.
He slowly drew in a breath.
Well... I don't have another choice.
Lin Mo glanced at his disciple one more time.
Damn it... I have to scare them away, no matter what.
We don't even know what they want.
He closed his eyes.
His breathing gradually slowed.
Then he raised his right hand and pointed toward the kitchen knife lying on the table several meters away.
It was nothing special.
Just an ordinary kitchen knife.
Move...
Lin Mo focused his mind.
Move...
His fingers trembled slightly.
Come on, you damn knife... move!
The pain in his meridians began to flare again.
Lin Yu noticed his master's strange behavior.
He watched silently as Lin Mo closed his eyes and concentrated on something.
Curious, Lin Yu wanted to ask what he was doing.
But he didn't.
He simply watched.
Then—
The knife trembled.
Lin Yu's eyes widened.
That...
The knife slowly lifted from the table.
His breathing stopped.
I've never seen this before.
But why is Master...?
Before he could finish his thought—
Whoosh!
The knife suddenly shot through the air with tremendous force.
Tang!
It slammed into the wooden door.
The blade sank deep into the wood, trembling from the impact.
Silence filled the room.
Lin Yu stared at the knife embedded in the door, completely stunned.
Then his gaze slowly shifted toward his master.
Lin Mo still hadn't opened his eyes.
His face remained calm and composed.
Only the slight trembling of his fingers betrayed the immense effort behind what he had just done.
Then, in a low and cold voice, he spoke.
"Before I make any more movements..."
He paused.
"...leave."
The words were calm.
But outside the door, they sounded like a threat.
A little earlier...
"Well, we're wasting our time. It's impossible that the sword moved on its own. That kid must have moved it."
A man dressed entirely in black moved silently through the forest, his body almost blending into the shadows.
"I think so too," the man beside him replied. "But we have no choice. We were ordered to follow him and find out whether there is anything valuable to learn."
The two men were the Huo Family cultivators tasked with secretly following Lin Yu.
As they approached deeper into the forest, a small, old wooden house soon appeared among the trees.
The two exchanged a glance.
The first man nodded.
In an instant, both of them accelerated.
Their figures blurred as they silently closed the remaining distance.
Once they were close enough, one of them reached into his storage pouch and took out an unusual artifact.
It looked like a large leaf, its surface covered in faint spiritual patterns.
The second man crouched beside him.
Then, without warning, something strange happened.
His body bent unnaturally toward the ground.
One of his ears suddenly began to swell.
It grew larger and larger until it was almost comically oversized, before pressing itself against the ground as though it were melting into the earth.
The man closed his eyes.
"...I can hear them."
At the same time, his companion circulated his spiritual energy into the strange leaf-shaped artifact.
He slowly moved it toward the wooden house.
The spiritual patterns on its surface began to glow.
Then—
The interior of the wooden house appeared faintly within the artifact.
The man controlling it narrowed his eyes.
There was a tall man sitting leisurely on a wooden chair.
He had black hair, black eyes, and ordinary features.
His expression was completely calm.
There wasn't the slightest trace of panic on his face.
He simply sat there...
...as though he were bored.
The two Huo Family cultivators exchanged another glance.
Then they continued watching.
Neither of them noticed the faint pain hidden beneath the man's calm expression.
And inside the house...
Lin Mo had no idea that two people were already watching him.
As time passed, the two Huo Family cultivators gradually came to a conclusion.
The man inside the wooden house was a fraud.
His cultivation realm was clearly visible to them. There was no way they could have mistaken it.
Yet this man had apparently been telling Lin Yu that he could control swords from a distance.
The two cultivators exchanged a glance.
What a scammer...
He was nothing more than a man telling ridiculous lies to a child.
They couldn't help but feel pity for Lin Yu.
That young man's talent was extraordinary. If he continued cultivating under the guidance of someone like this...
It would be a terrible waste.
"That fool didn't even realize we were here," one of them whispered.
"Yes. Let's report this to the elder. If we're able to recruit that youngster into the family, there should be rewards for us as well."
The two were about to leave when—
A loud voice suddenly came from inside the wooden house.
Even through the walls, they heard every word clearly.
"Well, if worse comes to worst..."
"...I can always just kill them."
Both men stopped in their tracks.
They slowly turned toward each other.
For several seconds, neither said a word.
"...Could he have lost his mind?" one of them finally whispered. "Or is he trying to scare us?"
He immediately pulled out the leaf-shaped artifact again.
"Forget it. Let's go," his companion said with a sigh. "This fool is just bluffing. There's no reason to waste any more of our time."
But the moment he turned around, he noticed something strange.
His companion wasn't moving.
In fact...
His hands were trembling.
"This..."
His voice came out strangely.
"This... this..."
His companion frowned.
"What is it?"
He stepped closer, looking at his companion's face.
"Why are you—"
He stopped.
The man's face had gone pale.
His eyes were fixed on the artifact in his hands.
Something inside the wooden house had just happened.
Something that had completely shattered his previous conclusion.
"What did you see?" his companion asked.
The man swallowed hard.
His trembling fingers tightened around the artifact.
"This... this can't be..."
At that moment, a loud sound suddenly came from the entrance of the wooden house.
Then came a low, calm voice.
"Before I make any more movements..."
A brief pause.
"...leave."
The man holding the artifact froze.
His breathing became heavy.
Then his fingers suddenly loosened.
Clatter.
The leaf-shaped artifact slipped from his hands and fell to the ground.
"What is happening?" his companion asked again.
He looked at him in confusion, only to see his companion breathing heavily, almost gasping for air.
He had heard the voice as well.
But he wasn't concerned.
He's probably just trying to scare us.
We were going to leave anyway.
Those thoughts disappeared the moment his companion finally spoke.
"The... knife..."
His voice trembled.
"The knife... it flew."
His companion stared at him.
"It... flew toward the door and struck it."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the man's expression changed completely.
"We have to leave."
His voice was no longer dismissive.
It was filled with genuine fear.
"Now."
He hurriedly picked up the artifact from the ground and turned around.
"Move!"
His stunned companion still hadn't reacted.
"Quickly!" he shouted again.
Only then did the second man finally snap out of his daze and follow him.
The two Huo Family cultivators disappeared into the forest as quickly as they could.
Neither of them dared to look back at the wooden house.
Inside, Lin Mo remained completely still.
He had no idea that his one kitchen knife had just been enough to make two cultivators flee for their lives.
Lin Mo remained completely still.
His eyes stayed closed.
For the next five minutes, he didn't move an inch.
To anyone watching him, he looked perfectly calm and composed.
But inside...
It was hell.
The system's warnings continued to appear one after another.
[Danger.][Host's meridians are being severed.]
A few moments later—
[Danger.][Severe damage detected.]
Lin Mo gritted his teeth.
He didn't move.
He couldn't.
Just a little longer...
They have to leave...
Another warning appeared.
[Danger.]
The pain continued to spread through his body.
Five minutes.
It felt like five years.
Then, finally—
Lin Mo's body trembled.
His eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Cough!"
He violently spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Master!"
Lin Yu's expression changed instantly.
He rushed to Lin Mo's side and supported him.
"What happened?! Master?"
He quickly pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping the blood from the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.
"Master, are you alright?"
Lin Mo didn't answer.
His eyes slowly closed again.
His body went limp.
He had lost consciousness.
Lin Yu froze.
The hand holding the bloodstained cloth trembled slightly.
"Master...?"