flstandardbreds Chapter 125 The Lin family should rightfully take the surname Li.
Chapter 125 The Lin family should rightfully take the surname Li.
Cough!
Lin Fan coughed up the dirty water from his mouth and trembled as he struggled to his feet in the muddy wetland.
He leaned on Xiao Yi for support and managed to sit up.
What just happened? He felt his memory suddenly go blank, and he found himself in trouble facing the powerful black dragon.
He had almost used all his strength but still couldn't kill the old man on the black dragon's head. Moreover, after several encounters, he had basically made a judgment based on the strange physical qualities and resilience of the Li family patriarch.
That thing was part of the black dragon's body; even if I cut off its head, it wouldn't make a difference.
As for directly killing the black dragon, that's impossible. It's like how I couldn't even beat the black dragon's little finger even after I tried my best. Not to mention the entire black dragon. That thing is not only huge, it also has a certain resistance to curses. I am still very weak in front of such a being.
"Although I'm very annoyed, Ma Liangcai is right. There are many powerful beings in this world that I can't even imagine."
Lin Fan returned to his most fundamental question: how did he escape? He had no wounds at all, so why was his body so weak?
He was completely naked now, clearly having lost the black knife and the Soul-Suppressing Pearl.
Lin Fan suddenly felt uneasy. He coughed up a mouthful of water and vomited up a lot of the water he had just drunk.
There was no need to search; all that was found was clear water and thick gastric juice.
There is no zodiac clock, and not even dinner tonight.
Lin Fan rubbed his head in frustration. What was going on? What exactly happened?
Unable to defeat the Black Dragon despite his best efforts, Lin Fan decided to slip away unnoticed.
"That's right!" Lin Fan suddenly realized, "I'm not the real body, I'm an avatar!"
The thought of this filled him with bitterness. He hadn't thought there was anything wrong with the clone tactic when he decided on it, but the feeling was completely different when he realized he was a clone.
This feeling of not being himself made Lin Fan feel very awkward.
Lin Fan propped himself up with his little finger. "I need to get my main body home. There are still people waiting for him in the real world. Oh, right, my mom and dad are still waiting for him to come back."
I wish I had a girlfriend; that would give me more motivation.
Thinking about how he'd been single for 18 years, Lin Fan couldn't help but smile knowingly.
You're the Li family patriarch, right? Black Dragon, right? I can take you down with just my little finger.
Lin Fan, the little finger, got used to this body. Because he only had one little finger, his strength was much weaker than his original body. However, fortunately, his weight was also much lighter than his original body. Although his body shape and other features looked the same, he was actually very light.
As a result, Lin Fan's mobility was not much different from before, but he was still no match for the strength of ordinary people.
Lin Fan struggled to lift the scythe and managed a weak swing. Checking his equipment, all he had was a red scythe. He didn't even have clothes; he could only wrap himself in a camouflage cloth, leaving only his head exposed, making him look like a head floating in mid-air at first glance.
Night had fallen, and wolves howled throughout the wetland jungle. Thankfully, he had his mechanical beast with him; otherwise, he might not even be able to defeat wild animals.
The melodious sound of a zither drifted from a courtyard in a magnificent mansion.
The woman's face was covered with gauze, her slender fingers plucking the strings of a zither. The melodious and tranquil tune, paired with her hazy and dreamlike appearance, was captivating. She was none other than Li Quwan, the acting head of the Li family, who was ranked first among the talented women of Xintai and whose name was on the list of beauties.
Li Quwan finally finished her day's work and only had time late at night to take out her beloved seven-stringed zither and play it for a while.
At this moment, she couldn't help but sigh, thinking that she was so talented and beautiful, and had a good family background, yet she still had to work so hard. She thought of those ordinary men and women who could fall asleep peacefully before midnight. How could they sleep?
Unlike her brothers who acted recklessly because of their privileged family background, Li Quwan always believed that she had a clear understanding that the Li family's success did not depend on anyone else, but was accumulated by generations of hardworking people like herself.
After finishing the piece, Li Quwan felt much more relaxed. Even though she was already a second-level martial artist with energy far exceeding that of ordinary people, she still needed to rest for a while.
Just as I was about to go back to my room to sleep, I suddenly saw a mound of earth rising from the ground.
She was not surprised at all and sat down again in front of the seven-stringed zither.
Sure enough, a mound rose high, and a mole-like figure jumped out from it, pulling out a woman who appeared to be unconscious.
Li Quwan scrutinized the woman's face for a moment, then her calm expression vanished instantly. She angrily slammed her seven-stringed zither down, the clang echoing far and wide.
She angrily said, "Li Jinsheng, have you lost your mind? Why did you kidnap her? Do you know that she is my fourth brother's lover? I don't know how your pig brain is formed. My fourth brother has indeed been expelled by the ancestor, but who knows, one day the ancestor might be in a good mood and let him return to the clan. Am I out of my mind to offend him? No, you are the one who is out of your mind."
Li Jinsheng was scolded mercilessly by his master without saying a word, his two front teeth chattering uncontrollably. Unable to perform a proper bow in his current state, he simply lay prostrate on the ground, patiently listening to his master finish his tirade before daring to speak.
“Master, I know I didn’t think this through. I only thought this person would be useful to you, so I brought her here on impulse. I will send her back now.”
Li Quwan frowned. "Wait a minute. You said she's useful to me? How so? Is she related to Fourth Brother?"
Li Jinsheng breathed a sigh of relief and then revealed his thoughts, "Master, this matter has nothing to do with the Fourth Young Master. You should know that Lin Fugui from Bailin Village died unexpectedly some time ago, and his house was burned down. This woman is Lin Fugui's second concubine, and she is pregnant. If we take her back to the Lin family, the Lin family will be completely under your control."
Li Quwan tapped the zither again, producing a piercing noise, though much quieter than before. She said unhappily, "How can you say that? Uncle Lin is a long-time friend of my family. How could my family covet his family's wealth? However, if he is Uncle Lin's orphan, my Li family will certainly take good care of him, teach him, and nurture him to inherit Uncle Lin's family business."
Li Jinsheng quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, the patriarch is right. It was my slip of the tongue."
Li Quwan pondered, her fingers tapping the strings of her zither. Lin Fugui was dead; he had a child who had also perished in the fire along with his legal wife. Right now, Lin Fugui's cousins should all be gathered at the burnt-down mansion, drawn by the smell of the fire, discussing how to divide the inheritance.
The house burned down, but the Lin family's mulberry fields are still there.
The Lin family has been selling cloth very well for the past ten years or so, and the Li family is also envious. Although the two families are strangers to each other, they do not know the secrets of the Lin family's cloth business.
Lin Fugui had a cousin who was the county magistrate of Baishi County, a rather troublesome figure, but he also died. All his other cousins were insignificant scoundrels, a waste of resources for these people.
Now that the only pregnant concubine, the second wife, has fallen into her hands, Li Quwan even felt that it was fate, and that the Lin family should rightfully bear the surname Li!
The Li family is much, much larger than the Lin family, and most of Xintai County is under their actual control. However, this does not mean that the Li family does not want to continue to expand their influence.
We're all decent people; how could someone with more power simply swallow up someone weaker? Even when a big fish eats a small shrimp, there needs to be a legitimate reason, and it must be done gradually.
Li Quwan stared at Sun Ruolan's flat stomach for a while, then asked, "How did you know she was pregnant?"
"It was Old Man Sun who said it himself, so I don't think it's false. He wouldn't dare to lie to my family even if he had ten times the courage."
Li Quwan nodded, "It's alright, we can find a doctor to check it tomorrow. It would be best if it were a young master."
Thinking of this, Li Quwan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Could this be my fourth brother's child?
Then, it suddenly dawned on her: No, he must be my fourth brother's child.
This way, when he grows up to a certain age, he can be told the whole 'truth'—how the Lin family bullied the Li family and separated his parents—and he can be raised to be a proper member of the Li family. Then, when he grows up, the Lin family will also bear the surname Li. He can then remarry into the Li family, and in the years to come, he can follow the example of the Feng and Ma families, with the Li and Lin families complementing each other.
Thinking of this, Li Quwan couldn't help but smile. "Tomorrow I will take Madam Lin home to help the Lin family sort things out."
She looked at Li Jinsheng and said, "As for whether you will be rewarded or punished, I will decide when I return."
Li Quwan had already decided that she would first take over the family fortune for the future young master Lin, and then bring her fourth brother's lover home to prepare for childbirth. She had even planned that if the child was a girl, she would exchange her for a boy from the Li family, since the child would be surnamed Li and she didn't care whose child it was.
Afterwards, she would raise the child herself. When he grew up, he would have both the hatred for his parents and the gratitude for their upbringing. This child would become a loyal pawn in her hands.
Li Quwan muttered to herself, "But what if Fourth Brother comes home? Something might happen. Oh well, let's just take it one step at a time."
Just as Li Quwan was about to have someone properly settle Madam Lin, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Li Quwan frowned slightly. Just now, the ancestor suddenly ordered a team to go out without saying what they were going to do, and they came back so quickly?
No, I have to go and see.
Li Quwan got up, pushed open the door, and went out. She saw the Li family members in black escorting Niu Dadan and Lin Fan over.
Upon seeing Niu Dadan, Li Quwan's smile instantly froze on the spot. "Fourth Brother?"
The perfect plan I just made, before it even started, has already encountered its biggest variable.
Li Quwan felt like she was about to have a heart attack from staying up too late. She tried to calm herself down and comforted herself, "Things are still uncertain. Let's ask the ancestor for his opinion tomorrow."
Then she casually glanced at Lin Fan, who was being escorted along with Niu Dadan.
He was a middle-aged man covered in blood and grime, his clothes tattered and seemingly badly injured. Judging by his age, he was about the same age as Li Quwan's father. He had rather handsome features, and must have been an extremely good-looking man in his youth.
A large, noticeable scar on his face marred his delicate features and added a touch of ruthlessness to his appearance.
The middle-aged man frowned, his feigned ease masking an underlying gloom.
Just one glance at him was enough to strike Li Quwan's heart. His fierce yet refined appearance, his mature yet melancholic air... just like, yes, just like her father!
As a young lady from a prestigious family, countless young men wanted to get close to Li Quwan, but Li Quwan had never liked those frivolous, oily-faced young men.
At that moment, she was absolutely certain that the person in front of her was her ideal type, reminding her of the sweet days when her father was still alive.
At this moment, the Li family's unruly nature awakened within her. She suddenly understood why her fourth brother could abandon his status for a lowly woman. The concepts of replacing Lin with Li, her fourth and eighth brothers, and the position of head of the Li family were all thrown to the back of her mind.
Li Quwan moved on her own and quietly followed the group escorting Lin Fan.
Wetlands, old houses burned down.
After a great battle, the Li family hurriedly left, leaving behind only a pile of broken beasts.
Not a single member of the Li family came up to give them an order; in the eyes of the Li family, these wetland people seemed to not exist.
They all transformed into their original human forms, using the lightly injured to rescue the seriously wounded, while leaving the already dead unattended.
These wetland people, who were originally in groups of three to five, have now returned to their respective blood-soaked warehouses. Their severely wounded companions were given only basic first aid and then left on the ground. Most of the wounded wouldn't survive the night. They were used to it, simply crouching quietly to the side, waiting for dawn.
Lin Fan, nicknamed Little Finger, entered through the main gate this time. He originally thought that the Li family would leave some black-clad people, but he didn't expect the place to be completely empty, and there were naturally no patrolling weasels or hyenas.
Following the previous path, Little Finger Lin Fan bypassed all the houses, from which intermittent painful wails could be heard.
Su Ping wasn't seriously injured, but he still couldn't sleep peacefully. He stared listlessly at the moonless night outside. Suddenly, he saw a head bobbing up and down outside.
Su Ping was so frightened that he didn't dare to make a sound, and was struggling with whether to tell the others. Just then, the head noticed him, turned around, gave him a friendly smile, and put its finger to its lips in a shushing gesture.
Su Ping nodded solemnly, then huddled under the dilapidated wall. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, and utterly exhausted and hungry. He was certainly lucky, but his desperate struggle had resulted in the death of his comrade and his own injuries.
He didn't recognize Lin Fan outside, and he didn't even know who Liu Feng was.
He didn't want to care what happened next; he was so tired and just wanted to rest.
Lin Fan gripped the red scythe in his hand. He had just left two wounds on the Li family patriarch, so the red scythe could sense him and cast a curse on him before the curse power on his body completely dissipated.
However, Lin Fan sensed a powerful, inhuman spiritual force. Forcibly cursing him now might not succeed. This made him frown slightly. Was the Li family patriarch too all-encompassing?
However, this spiritual power was intermittent, and Lin Fan felt that as long as he waited, there would always be an opportunity.
Now he wants to send a small gift to the Li family first.
When Lin Fan reached the vicinity of the animal pen, he sent out his mechanical beast Xiao Yi, which rushed forward and bit open the rotten iron locks on the pen.
This chapter is a combined update, not a single update! Is today's update earlier than usual? The author will continue to work hard!