Chapter 135: The Eldest Disciple of the Gu Huan Sect

Lin Dong smiled indifferently and moved swiftly, arriving beside Wang Bin in the blink of an eye amid the astonished gazes of the two guards. Behind him, Ma Chun hurriedly ran to catch up.
“You… you are…” Zhang Shihua stepped back in panic. Though he knew nothing about martial arts, he had seen the speed of those four guards—compared to them, this man’s speed was more than twice as fast.
If his speed was over twice as fast, his strength was undoubtedly more than twice as great as well.
Lin Dong pulled up a bench and sat down, seemingly ignoring Zhang Shihua, and waved his finger at Ma Chun behind him.
With his innate talent as an excellent assistant, Ma Chun’s cleverness was beyond doubt. He stepped forward immediately and said disdainfully, “My master is the eldest disciple of Sect Master Xiao of the Gu Huan Sect. What’s so special about some family in Lingnan Prefecture? If you anger my master, destroying your Duan family in Lingnan is nothing!”
Lin Dong smiled leisurely. What a domineering statement! Although the Gu Huan Sect was small, it was still a sect—its lowest-ranked disciples could break through to the Lingdong stage by age 25. In terms of strength, even the top families in the Great Han Nation might not be able to match them.
Zhang Shihua trembled violently, while the two guards frowned deeply, trying to recall any memories related to the Gu Huan Sect.
Behind them, a gentle voice came softly, “Wang Bin, are you okay?”
“I’m… I’m fine!” Wang Bin had never seen anyone cut off someone’s arm just because of a disagreement. His face was pale, and it took him a while before he looked at Lin Dong. “Young Master Lin, thank you very much for helping me just now.”
“It was no trouble. Please treat me to a drink when you have time,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“Sure, definitely!” Wang Bin nodded eagerly.
On the other side, one of the guards suddenly blurted out, “Gu Huan Sect? The Gu Huan Sect in Xilan County?”
“At least you know something!” Ma Chun sneered at Zhang Shihua. “My master is very busy. Decide quickly whether to keep your left arm or right arm, or you might not keep either.”
“No… don’t…”
Zhang Shihua backed away in terror, stumbled, and fell to the ground.
The two guards grew even more confident. One of them politely said, “We don’t know where we offended your master. Please let us know.”
“I’m not upset over any specific offense. It’s just that I’m annoyed by how domineering the people of Lingnan Prefecture are in our Qiufeng City,” Lin Dong replied calmly.
The two guards felt even more at ease and bowed together. “Although our Duan family can’t compare to a sect, my second young master is also a direct disciple of the Sect Master of the Qinghui Sect. Please forgive us for our past actions. We’ll leave Qiufeng City right away.”

“Qinghui Sect?” Lin Dong looked hesitant, but inwardly he thought, As expected. He never wanted to resort to violence; taking the initiative was to make the other party firmly believe in his strength. Moreover, claiming to be from the Guhuan Sect was to force them to bring out a more powerful sect in return. Any family that could dominate a region would more or less be connected to some sect; otherwise, they couldn’t last long. Seeing Lin Dong’s expression, Zhang Shihua quickly got up after a brief thought. His panicked look had turned into one of arrogance. With his large belly, he stepped forward, pointed at Lin Dong, and sneered, “Brat, a disciple from some tiny sect in a remote county, how dare you act so arrogantly in front of me? And you still have both arms left—does Qinghui Sect know that? It’s one of the major sects in Lingnan Prefecture!” Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. How could the head steward of the Duan family in Lingnan Prefecture even hold such a position? If this Zhang steward weren’t the father-in-law of the young master, the two guards and two more who rushed over upon hearing the commotion would have almost slapped him into next week. Now that there was a chance, this old man didn’t even consider that Lin Dong was the top disciple of a sect—unless his junior disciples were exceptionally talented, he was practically the designated successor as sect leader. As for the sect leader’s direct disciple, at most they could only become elders. A direct disciple of a mid-tier sect was roughly on par with the top disciple of a small sect. If the Duan family was involved, the latter’s status was even higher. After all, if there were only losses and no gains, according to sect rules, not even the sect leader could mobilize the entire sect to oppose another sect, let alone the elders. But the other side was the opposite—according to the rules, as long as it didn’t involve worldly interests and didn’t cross the limits set by Tianwei Pavilion, they had full authority to mobilize the entire sect against the Duan family. The second young master was on equal footing with them, so how dare this family’s head steward act so arrogantly? It was seeking death! Moreover, the strength he had shown just now—facing four opponents single-handedly—proved that as long as he wasn’t an official, killing a few people was beyond the jurisdiction of the Great Han State. “Steward Zhang, if you want to die, don’t drag us down with you,” one of the guards roughly pulled Zhang Shihua behind them and quickly explained the stakes to him. Hearing this, Zhang Shihua was terrified; his legs gave out, and he could no longer support his large belly, collapsing back to the ground, his face turning deathly pale. “Young master, Steward Zhang is usually only in charge of the family’s affairs and isn’t aware of the relationship between Qinghui Sect and Guhuan Sect,” one of the guards said respectfully to Lin Dong. “Please forgive him.”

“The relationship between the Qinghui Sect and the Guhuan Sect?” Lin Dong glanced at the guard and praised, “You’re quite clever.”
The guard quickly bowed and said, “With your praise, young master. Regarding today’s incident, I hope you can show mercy.”
“Enough, all of you, get lost!” Lin Dong waved his hand impatiently.
The four guards, as if pardoned, rushed away, carrying Zhang Shihua under their arms, thanking him endlessly.
In the distance, the guards from Yingfeng Tower finally rushed out from the back door of the wooden platform, guided by their colleague. Yingchunhua no longer had the mood to scold them. She was about to check on Peng Tianan’s injuries when Yi Yi stepped forward and said, “Aunt Ying, should we ask the staff to prepare a private room to thank this young master?”
“Thank him? Right, right…” Yingchunhua slapped her forehead. She had been so worried about Peng Tianan’s injuries that she had forgotten about driving away Lord Zhang.
Yingchunhua knew Yi Yi’s personality well. If she were really mistreated by Lord Zhang, she would probably try to commit suicide the next day. So, she would never allow Yingfeng Tower’s treasure to be destroyed like this. Without this young master, Yingfeng Tower’s thirty-some guards were no pushovers. Driving away Lord Zhang might not be a big problem, but it would offend a prominent family in Lingnan Prefecture, with serious consequences.
Moreover, he was a disciple of a sect. If they could become friends, it would mean gaining a powerful ally for Yingfeng Tower who wasn’t afraid of any family.
Just as Lin Dong was about to refuse, Yi Yi’s voice rang out again, “Aunt Ying, how about this? You go take care of Young Master Peng. The young master said he wanted to hear Yi Yi play the zither. Let Yi Yi greet the three young masters.”
Lin Dong turned to look at Yi Yi. She was dressed in green, with a delicate figure. Though unadorned, she still had a beauty like a peach blossom and eyebrows like willow branches. Compared to her, aside from Yun Lan, who seemed detached from the world with her veil covering her face, Yi Yi was definitely the most beautiful woman Lin Dong had ever seen.
But had he really said he wanted to hear her play the zither?
Lin Dong frowned slightly. When something went against expectations, there was usually a reason behind it. His expression turned displeased.