Chapter 508: Sparing the Entire Family

“Manager Lin has made quite a few connections with martial artists, hasn’t he?”
Xin Taqi spoke with a smile, deliberately narrowing his eyes to enhance his imposing presence.
“Indeed, I’ve met quite a number of martial artists,” Lin Dong replied casually, puzzled by the sudden change in Xin Taqi’s attitude.
“The disciples of sects and the offspring of noble families all look down on us merchants. Not to mention helping us act as spies—getting them to even glance at us when buying spiritual materials or beasts is out of the question. Those registered martial artists, or those who break the rules but aren’t sect disciples, are slightly better, but gathering more than a dozen of them isn’t something that can be done just by the time news of Princess Xiangyu’s assassination spreads in the morning and is resolved by evening.”
Xin Taqi gently blew on the floating leaves in his teacup, looking quite pleased with himself. To figure out someone’s true intentions in such a short time with just a few words required remarkable quick wits—something not everyone possessed.
Lin Dong and Ma Chun suddenly understood and were both amused and exasperated. Xin Taqi’s words made it clear: if it wasn’t sect disciples, not noble families, not registered martial artists, and not freelance fighters, then there was only one remaining option.
Bandits!
This Mr. Xin was suspecting that Lin’s Inn was also involved with bandits.
Upon further reflection, Lin Dong understood why Xin Taqi had thought in that direction.
“Mr. Xin, are you interested in coming with me to the neighboring place?” Lin Dong stood up.
“The neighboring place?” Xin Taqi wasn’t quick to respond.
“Yes!”
Without giving Xin Taqi a chance to choose, Lin Dong unleashed his spiritual energy, causing Xin Taqi’s body to fly uncontrollably toward another Lin’s Inn just across a narrow alley.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?”
Unable to move and floating in midair, such a bizarre situation was beyond Xin Taqi’s comprehension. Fear of the unknown made his hair stand on end, and he couldn’t help but scream loudly.
In just a few moments, he found himself in the courtyard of the other Lin’s Inn.
Lin Dong and Ma Chun followed closely behind.
“Not bad!” Lin Dong nodded slightly. The courtyard was dry and tidy, completely unlike the last time he visited when chunks of flesh and blood covered the ground, with a nauseating stench of blood in the air.
Now that his body was free again and he had landed, and seeing Lin Dong and Ma Chun follow, Xin Taqi knew full well that they were behind the strange incident. He slowly stepped further away from them.

“Boss Xin, don’t rush to leave. This is another Lin’s Inn you gave me—shouldn’t you check out how business is going?” Lin Dong asked with a smile.
“Boss Xin, there’s a wall over there. If you really want to leave, you should use the main gate,” Ma Chun said, wearing his signature friendly and enthusiastic smile.
Xin Taiqi was confused. Honestly, this place should belong to him. Why had these two brought him here?
In the kitchen, a worker came out carrying a tray. Seeing Lin Dong and Ma Chun, he was startled and quickly said, “Boss, Manager Ma, what brings you here?”
“Boss, how do you address Manager Lin?” Xin Taiqi exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course, it’s Boss,” the worker replied, looking at Xin Taiqi oddly before shifting his gaze to Lin Dong and the others, unsure if he had said something wrong.
Xin Taiqi shuddered, as if realizing something, and rushed back into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, one of the chefs was idle, while the other carelessly waved a spatula, turning the food in the large pot over and over. One of the chefs was heavily built; just by looking at his belly and clothes, one could easily assume he was a cook. The other was around sixteen or seventeen, still looking youthful. He was startled by the sudden arrival of someone and instinctively stepped back.
Xin Taiqi’s face turned pale. With his sharp eyes, he could tell these two were definitely not bandits.
“Wh-who are you looking for?” the young chef asked cautiously.
Xin Taiqi slowly turned, dragging his heavy steps, and approached Lin Dong.
“Boss Xin, have you tried the chefs’ cooking?” Lin Dong asked with a smile.
“When did you replace them?” Xin Taiqi asked weakly.
“It’s the first day we opened. I thought the chefs you sent weren’t good enough, so I replaced them on my own,” Lin Dong replied calmly.
Xin Taiqi remained silent, his legs trembling slightly.
They had been replaced on the very first day—people from Skeleton Fort surely knew about it. Before entering the city, they would have sent a subordinate to find him first, as he and Liang Feihu had agreed. Otherwise, the bandits entering the city wouldn’t know what to do next without any information. Even he needed to know how Lin’s Inn was reacting before he could plan his next move.

According to Liang Feihu, it’s impossible for a low-ranking leader to act on his own. In that case, the assassination of Princess Xiangyu simply doesn’t make sense. Since no new group of bandits entered the city, if it were the first group, not to mention whether Lin Dong lied and wiped them out on the first day, even if this group encountered Princess Xiangyu outside and had a argument, leading to the King of Qingliu’s wrath, such low-ranking bandits might not confess under torture, but the foot soldiers, who would already confess even when working for a top-tier restaurant, surely would too—they all stayed at the newly opened Lin’s Inn. Once the King of Qingliu learned of this, he would surely target Lin’s Inn immediately. After all, Lin’s Inn could also be considered a top-tier restaurant, and with another Lin’s Inn opening nearby, it could be seen as rival restaurants deliberately trying to suppress Lin’s Inn’s business. Yet this still didn’t rule out the possibility that Lin’s Inn might open another identical inn nearby and carry out some scheme. But after all this time, Lin’s Inn had never closed its doors for a single day, and Lin Dong remained by his side unharmed. All these factors combined led to a possibility that made Xin Taiqi shudder. The assassination of Princess Xiangyu might actually be a deliberate ruse to lure him out. The fact that just one inn could get the King of Qingliu to cooperate so much showed the depth of their relationship. If Lin Dong lied and didn’t wipe out the first group of bandits on the first day, that also didn’t make sense, because then Skeleton Camp wouldn’t have sent in the second group of bandits—so it went back to the first group. After a long while, Xin Taiqi finally regained some strength and asked, “Why tell me so much? With the King of Qingliu’s involvement, knowing that I’m the one causing trouble for Lin’s Inn behind the scenes, and that this trouble even involves vicious bandits, you surely aren’t going to be so naive as to expect me to confess outright, are you? With the King of Qingliu’s power, he might hesitate due to potential negative consequences, but dealing with a single restaurant is no different from crushing an ant.” “Because I need your cooperation,” Lin Dong said calmly, looking at Xin Taiqi without any emotion. “More importantly, I don’t agree with the idea that an entire family suffers just because one person commits a crime. The punishment for colluding with bandits is far too severe.” With a thud, Xin Taiqi knelt on the ground, his hands weakly supporting himself. The anxiety and fear in his heart were replaced by an inexplicable sense of gratitude.

Revenge for revenge—Xin Taqi never resented Lin Dong for turning the tables and putting him in mortal danger. He had always acted in a cruel and cunning manner, framing countless people, and having been schemed against himself, he had gained some awareness. Besides, it was he who had provoked this situation in the first place.

What Xin Taqi didn’t expect was that Lin Dong was willing to give up many benefits to spare his family. He understood that if it were him, faced with someone using bandits to attack him and having the means to kill them, he would never let them off.

“After returning, leave some silver for your family, then send over the recipes for a few of the signature dishes from your restaurant and the land deed here. Also, announce that you’ll hand over all your silver and property to the guild to auction, so they can use it to help those affected by disasters in various places. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Lin Dong asked.

Xin Taqi could only nod weakly, his lips slightly parted as he wanted to ask why Lin Dong didn’t want his wealth. In the end, he gave up. Perhaps the other party disdained ill-gotten gains!

In truth, Lin Dong simply didn’t care about the silver. Although Xin Taqi’s wealth could make him the richest man in some poor, remote counties, it was something he could easily obtain if he really wanted it.

“And then, Boss Xin should know what to do, right?” Lin Dong’s tone suddenly turned cold.

Xin Taqi’s heart sank, and he nodded with a bitter smile, saying, “Master Lin, I’ll explain the whole situation to my family truthfully and ensure they will never oppose Lin’s Inn for the rest of their lives. After that, Master Lin can find someone to perform an autopsy on me.”

Lin Dong nodded slowly. Xin Taqi’s words were exactly what he wanted. He wouldn’t involve Xin Taqi’s family, but since Xin Taqi dared to use bandits to pressure Lin’s Inn, this was no longer just a business competition. If Lin’s Inn failed to handle it properly, guests and staff might even be killed. Given the consequences, even if Xin Taqi were the greatest philanthropist in the Great Han Kingdom, he would still be executed.

“Master Lin, if there’s nothing else, shall I go prepare now?” Xin Taqi’s face was pale, and his legs trembled uncontrollably. He wasn’t a bandit; like ordinary people, he was terrified of death. If it weren’t for his own experiences through hardships, Lin Dong would never have spared his entire family. He would either kneel and beg for mercy or go mad and fight to the death.

The fact that he could still speak clearly was already remarkable.

“I hope to hear good news from Boss Xin soon.” Lin Dong nodded. He wasn’t worried that Xin Taiqi would pack up and run after returning, because he knew there were warriors watching him secretly. Moreover, since Lin’s Inn had close ties with King Qingliu, those the King wanted dead had almost no chance of survival.
Xin Taiqi was a shrewd businessman and a sensible man. He wouldn’t risk his family’s lives from being safe to facing certain death just for a slim chance of survival. The deal simply wasn’t worth it.
“Owner Lin, I take my leave.” Xin Taiqi bowed slightly and trudged toward the exit.
“By the way, Boss Xin, why did you suddenly set your sights on our Lin’s Inn? Logically, our inn poses less of a threat to Junda Restaurant than other larger restaurants.”
Ma Chun asked casually.