Chapter 308: Visitors from Home

On the third day after all ten branches opened, Lin’s Inn finally unveiled the long-awaited information about various places in Qiufeng Prefecture, displayed on its information board. The information was collected by the beggars adopted by Lin’s Inn in each county and then sent to Qiufeng City and the other nine counties through the delivery gates by the managers of each branch. The content mostly included interesting stories related to business in each county, crop yields, and requests from wealthy families for cooperation. Although the response was far less than that to the guild’s news, it still attracted considerable attention.

Lin’s Inn, which already held an unshakable position in Qiufeng City, rose even higher thanks to the additional information on the board. More importantly, this enhancement also boosted the competitiveness of its branches. Lin Dong believed that with Lin’s Inn’s current strengths—both tangible and intangible—it would be impossible for Fenglin Restaurant to challenge it, even if it tried to make a comeback.

Given Lin’s Inn’s current advantages and strength, it was actually capable of expanding into Lingnan Commandery. Yet Lin Dong had to put off expansion for now.

The most basic requirement for expansion is a stable foundation at home.

Lin’s Inn dominated Qiufeng City, and even if more restaurants opened in the future, it would be difficult for them to steal customers from Lin’s Inn. However, this did not guarantee that Lin’s Inn would remain the dominant force there forever.

The main reasons were the guild’s regulations and the identity of the new prefect. The guild’s restrictions posed various challenges to Lin’s Inn, while if the new prefect was a prince, it would bring two major problems—both of which were significant uncertainties for the inn. Without resolving these issues, focusing all efforts on Lingnan Commandery could lead to trouble on both fronts. With Lin’s Inn’s current financial resources, it could handle emergencies, but Lin Dong didn’t have enough time to juggle both areas. If trouble arose on both fronts, it certainly couldn’t be resolved by simply using delivery gates and staying in the inn.

Of course, while keeping its focus on Qiufeng City, it wasn’t affected by purchasing land and building an inn in Lingnan City first. Lin’s Inn currently had fifty to sixty loyal employees, so sending two or three of them there was no problem.

What gave Lin Dong some headaches was choosing a location for Lin’s Inn in Lingnan City, as well as determining its scale.

In terms of location, the centers of each city are where the wealthy gather. If the Lin’s Inn were built in the city, it would face direct competition from the two major restaurants in Lingnan City that also serve the ultra-wealthy, but this would offset its geographical disadvantage, with the advantages outweighing the drawbacks. The problem lies with guests—traders usually avoid staying in the city, and even if they do, they tend to find lodging first upon entering the city. Building the inn there would mean losing this initial advantage. Given Lin’s Inn’s strengths in accommodation, it’s still not enough to convince guests to travel long distances just to stay there.

After much consideration, Lin Dong’s final decision was to build one Lin’s Inn in the city and another at the city gates. Although the inn system doesn’t allow two Lin’s Inns in the same city, he could decide which one to operate and sell the land of the other later—the loss wouldn’t be too great. It was better than scrambling to find a new location later.

In terms of scale, as a merchant from a prefecture, Lin Dong naturally wanted as large a plot as possible. But whether in the city or near the city gates, it was almost impossible to acquire a satisfactory piece of land without paying dozens of times the normal price.

Although land prices in Lingnan City were high, Lin Dong had over 400,000 taels in cash and more than 3 million taels worth of jewelry. Even at dozens of times the price, two plots of land would cost only 200,000 to 300,000 taels—not really a big problem. But this was an overreaction; at 200,000 to 300,000 taels, it would take over a year of earnings from Lin’s Inn in Qiufeng City to cover that amount. With ten branches—only Lin’s Inn in Xilan City generating 3,000 to 5,000 taels per month, while the others made only a few hundred taels or were even in the red—excluding the unexpected 3 million taels worth of jewelry, this move simply wasn’t cost-effective.

Unable to think of a solution, Lin Dong could only take things one step at a time. Since time was on his side, he would decide based on circumstances. It would be best to buy a larger plot, but if not, he could at least build a four- or five-story inn.

With everything ready, Lin Dong headed to the Military Assessment Institute in Xilan City.

Thanks to the Golden Armor Snake Inner Elixir, over the past two months—although its effects were gradually weakening—Lin Dong had reached the sixth level of the Mental State phase. His last recorded level was only the third level of that phase.

To strengthen control over registered martial artists, according to the rules of Tianwei Pavilion, once an artist makes progress, they must register at the Martial Assessment Institute within a month. With Ren Qingsong’s connections, Lin Dong could delay registration a bit, but having risen three levels in a row without registering would be unexcusable.

Ren Qingsong was overjoyed at Lin Dong’s rapid advancement of three levels in just a few months, which further solidified his resolve not to seek promotion until there was an opening for a prefecture-level Martial Assessment Institute director. He believed that by clinging tightly to Lin Dong, he would surely become a county-level Martial Assessment Institute director before he died.

Accompanied by Ren Qingsong and Master Yang Lai, Lin Dong returned to Lin’s Inn in Xilan City and used the transportation portal to reach Qiufeng City.

Through the storage room, the scene in the courtyard surprised Lin Dong. By the stone table, besides Yun Lan, there was a young man and a young woman. The man wore a green robe, looking handsome and elegant. The woman wore a purple dress; her beautiful face and graceful manner would have drawn attention from 500 to 600 people in Qiufeng City alone.

Both of them were clearly trying to persuade Yun Lan, exchanging words, but all they got in response was Yun Lan gently shaking her head.

Lin Dong had an idea and somewhat figured out their identities. They were disciples of the Tianjian Sect, sent to deliver ancient books—along with advanced spirit swords and materials for alchemy and setting up spirit arrays.

Since they weren’t inn staff, there was no need to worry about suspicion. Lin Dong opened the door and stepped out.

At the sound of the creaking door, the two immediately became alert and turned to look.

Lin Dong nodded and smiled at them.

After assessing Lin Dong’s age and determining he posed no threat, the two gave him a slight nod before turning back to Yun Lan.

Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before walking over with a smile. “Yun Lan, who are these two?”

“They are Mo Jianchen, the fifth disciple of the Grand Elder, and Xue Qinghong, the fourth disciple of the Sixth Elder. By the time they joined, they are my junior brothers and sisters,” Yun Lan introduced them before turning to Lin Dong. “This is Lin Dong, the owner of Lin’s Inn.”

Lin Dong bowed with a smile. “Young Master Mo, Miss Xue!”

The two simply nodded in return, their gaze shifting back to Yun Lan. “Sister Yun, if you refuse to go back, we won’t know what to tell the elders.”

“Yes! You know how the Grand Elder is. If we were to return to the Tianjian Sect alone, we’d surely be punished with wall meditation for three to five months each.”

Yun Lan shook her head. “It’s the same here. I’ll write you a letter later; the Grand Elder shouldn’t blame us.” Mo Jianchen wanted to say more, but Xue Qinghong looked at Lin Dong and said, “Shopkeeper Lin, we have important matters to discuss with Senior Sister Yun. What do you think…” “Alright, go ahead and talk,” Lin Dong said, glancing up at the sky. “Yun Lan, if we eat here, should I go to the kitchen to prepare lunch?” Yun Lan gave a light reply. The two of them frowned simultaneously, turning their gaze back to Lin Dong, unable to understand his attitude. Though somewhat dissatisfied with their indifferent behavior, disciples of a major sect often carried an air of superiority. The fact that they even bothered to speak to a tavern owner showed enough respect. So, Lin Dong smiled at them before heading to the kitchen. After working hard for a while, he prepared four dishes, a soup, a basin of white rice, and placed everything on two trays. Holding one tray in each hand, he went to the stone table, set down the trays, and sat down on the last empty stone bench. “Sorry for the simple meal!” Lin Dong said politely before picking up a bowl of white rice and placing it in front of him. “Let’s eat!” Yun Lan called out, following shortly after. Mo Jianchen and Xue Qinghong were dissatisfied with Lin Dong’s attitude. Even if he didn’t know Senior Sister Yun’s identity, her presence alone should have made him realize she was not someone ordinary. Yet, he took advantage of being the host and sat at the table without permission. Despite their dissatisfaction, since Yun Lan didn’t say anything, they couldn’t say much and simply ate in silence. After lunch, to the surprise of Mo Jianchen and the others, Lin Dong swept all the dishes into the mobile counter. It was unexpected that the owner of a tavern was also a martial artist; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to use the storage spirit ring so smoothly. Still, ordinary people remained ordinary—using the storage spirit ring as a trash container for convenience. Though surprised, Mo Jianchen and the others didn’t ask questions, waiting until Lin Dong left before discussing important matters. After cleaning up the dishes, Lin Dong politely stood up and said, “Go ahead and chat. I’ll go back to my room.” Yun Lan handed Lin Dong a spirit sword in a golden scabbard, explaining, “This sword is called the Golden Leaf Sword. It’s an eighth-tier spirit weapon that can be useful when facing strong enemies.” Lin Dong nodded and took the Golden Leaf Sword. With his current strength, the Ruyi Bench could at most be upgraded to a fourth-tier spirit weapon. Against enemies with powerful abilities and higher-tier spirit weapons, the Golden Leaf Sword would be safer. “Wait!”

Mo Jianchen and Xue Qinghong beside them grew anxious and quickly stood up to stop Lin Dong, who had turned away. “Sister Yun, why did you lend him the sword?” they couldn’t help but ask. Although the Gu Huan Sect was one of the major sects in the Great Han Nation, as it belonged to the alchemy sect, high-tier spiritual weapons were rare. Throughout the Tianjian Sect, there wasn’t a single unused ninth-tier spiritual weapon, and only two eighth-tier ones.

Yun Lan had asked in her letter to bring the Golden Leaf Sword. The elders and disciples of the Tianjian Sect thought it was meant to test how to integrate spiritual arrays into spiritual weapons, but they never expected it to be lent to someone else.

“It’s not a loan; it’s a gift,” Yun Lan said. “If the letter didn’t make this clear, I’ll explain it to the elders.”

“A gift?” The two were shocked by this.

Lin Dong looked at Yun Lan. Just an eighth-tier spiritual sword—would it really cause her trouble at the Tianjian Sect?

Yun Lan slowly shook her head. Given her personality, no matter how close she was to Lin Dong, she would only give him things that already belonged to her. She wouldn’t give away the Tianjian Sect’s treasures for free. But since Lin Dong also had half the credit for figuring out how to truly integrate spiritual arrays into weapons, the Tianjian Sect still stood to gain. Giving him an eighth-tier spiritual weapon as compensation wasn’t too much.

“Sister, this is the Golden Leaf Sword,” Xue Qinghong said, glancing at Lin Dong. Ignoring propriety, she warned, “If Sister wants to give it to a friend, the elders won’t say much, but giving it to the owner of an inn…”

“Yes! Sister Yun, if the elders find out, they’ll likely be upset,” Mo Jianchen added, nodding eagerly.

Yun Lan’s expression darkened as she glanced at the two, her voice tinged with displeasure. “If anyone’s upset, they can come to me.”

The two were terrified and dared not speak. In over a decade, they had never seen Yun Lan speak harshly to anyone. They never thought she would get angry over a spiritual weapon.

“If there’s nothing else, go back to the Tianjian Sect soon. If there’s progress on integrating spiritual arrays into weapons, I’ll send someone to inform you,” Yun Lan said indifferently.

The two turned to look at Lin Dong. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, their gazes turned cold. The complete integration of spiritual arrays into weapons was crucial to the future of the Tianjian Sect. Only the elders and a few elite disciples were aware of this secret. How could this inn owner know about it? If word got out, it could bring unimaginable consequences.

“Go on chatting. I’m going back to my room.”

Lin Dong was completely convinced by these two. He had long given up any hope of persuading the Tianjian Sect to allow Yun Lan to marry him; if he wanted to marry her, he would have to use force and power to take her by force. In short, aside from Yun Cangqiong, his relationship with the Tianjian Sect would essentially remain semi-hostile from now on.

Nevertheless, in Lin Dong’s eyes, Mo Jianchen and Xue Qinghong were still Yun Lan’s junior brothers and sisters. What would happen in the future was another matter. Not only was it not time to turn against them yet, but even if he managed to subdue the Tianjian Sect, he would still need to treat their people politely.

To his surprise, not only were they discriminatory despite his kind gestures, but they even harbored murderous intentions. These two didn’t consider Yun Lan’s attitude from start to finish. For her sake, he had to endure their hostility even though he was angry. But Lin Dong had completely lost interest in this kind of “pushing hot faces against cold backs” situation. After glancing at their murderous gazes, he smiled and turned to leave.

“Stop!” A shrill cry came from behind. Lin Dong turned around and saw Xue Qinghong with a cold gaze and a murderous intent on her pretty face.

“Sister Yun, if he spreads the news about fully integrating spirit artifacts with spirit arrays,” Mo Jianchen said urgently, “it could bring endless trouble to our Tianjian Sect.”

“It was actually him who came up with the method of fully integrating spirit arrays with spirit artifacts,” Yun Lan said calmly.

The two were stunned. After exchanging a glance, their murderous intent remained strong.

Xue Qinghong stepped forward a few steps and whispered, “Sister Yun, I know you don’t want to harm innocents, let alone those who have done good. But this matter is too important—we must not let an outsider know. Please go back to your room first. Mo Senior Brother and I will see him off and ensure he doesn’t suffer at all.”

“If you dare say such things again, don’t blame me for not recognizing you as my sister,” Yun Lan said angrily. “Your purpose here is only to deliver things to me. Other matters are none of your concern.”

“Sis… Sister…”

The two tried to explain further, but Lin Dong, feeling helpless, thought these two either had poor judgment or truly mistook the inn owner for a toad. Even if it was a toad, no one said one couldn’t eat swan meat, right?

With no other choice, he slowly stepped forward, went to Yun Lan’s side, stretched out his right arm, and, to Mo Jianchen and the other’s astonished looks, wrapped his arm around Yun Lan’s waist.

Lin Dong said leisurely, “I’m a bit tired. Let’s go back to our room and sleep.”

Mo Jianchen and the other were stunned, staring fixedly at Lin Dong’s right hand as their breathing became rapid. They wanted to say something, but their throats seemed blocked, causing severe pain.

Yun Lan’s body stiffened as she glared at Lin Dong and said softly, “Do you realize that if this gets back to the Tianjian Sect, it could very well bring you death?”
Lin Dong smiled calmly and replied nonchalantly, “It doesn’t matter. If trouble comes, we’ll deal with it. Don’t forget there’s Old Master Ding here to back us up. For your sake, if anyone from the Tianjian Sect comes to disturb Lin’s Inn, we’ll just knock them out and throw them out.”
“That’s too easy to say!”
Seeing Lin Dong’s indifferent attitude, Yun Lan felt somewhat helpless. After hesitating for a moment, she turned to Mo Jianchen and the other person and said helplessly, “I’m going back to my room to rest. You must be aware of the consequences of this.”
Their faces instantly turned red from the overwhelming shock they couldn’t express in words. This was simply too shocking for them.
Sister Yun, who was revered like a goddess by all her fellow disciples, actually had an improper relationship with this man? And that relationship had gone that far?
How could this be possible?
Puh…
The greater their shock, the harder it was for them to ask for an explanation, making their breathing increasingly difficult. Eventually, the spiritual energy in their meridians became chaotic and out of control. Perhaps because their strengths were comparable, they both spat out blood almost simultaneously.
Not to mention Lin Dong, even Yun Lan was stunned by this scene.
“Sis- Sister Yun…” Xue Qinghong felt somewhat better after spitting out blood, but when her gaze accidentally fell on Lin Dong, her breathing became rapid again.
Yun Lan quickly reacted, stepped forward, and placed her palms on their backs, channeling spiritual energy into them. With Yun Lan’s help, their chaotic spiritual energy was finally brought under control.
Once Yun Lan withdrew her energy, Xue Qinghong eagerly pointed at Lin Dong and said with difficulty, “Sis Yun, your rela- your relationship with him…”
Yun Lan glanced at Lin Dong, who was still in a daze, and nodded slowly.
“What about Senior Feng?”
Xue Qinghong’s words instantly snapped Lin Dong out of his daze, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Senior Feng? What the hell is that?
Yun Lan frowned and said unhappily, “What does he have to do with my affairs?”
“Even if it has nothing to do with Senior Feng,” Xue Qinghong pressed, “the sect master and the elders won’t agree! You’re the heir to the Tianjian Sect’s leadership. According to the sect rules, you must either remain unmarried for life or choose a partner within the sect. With your status, you can’t even leave the Tianjian Sect.”
“Yes!” Mo Jianchen nodded eagerly. “If this gets back to the sect, the elders will be furious and definitely force you to return to the Tianjian Sect for punishment.”

Lin Dong felt somewhat guilty for upsetting someone so much that they ended up vomiting blood. From these words, it was clear that Xue Qinghong and Yun Lan had a close relationship; otherwise, they would have considered the consequences for Yun Lan rather than the impact on the Tianjian Sect.
“As long as you don’t spread rumors in the Tianjian Sect, no one will know. There will always be a way to solve this later,” Yun Lan said helplessly.
“But… but…” Xue Qinghong pointed at Lin Dong, urgently saying, “But how is he worthy of Senior Sister Yun? I know Senior Sister Yun disdains Senior Brother Feng’s arrogance, but you can’t just pick someone you like!”
“Yes!” Mo Jianchen glanced at Lin Dong with disgust and tried to persuade her, “If Senior Sister Yun finds someone worthy of her, even if they’re not a disciple of the Tianjian Sect, even if Yun Lan has to leave the sect because of it, as long as Senior Sister Yun likes them, we younger disciples, though we dare not defy the elders, will surely help her in secret. But this man…”
Lin Dong suppressed his frustration. If it weren’t for the fact that these two truly cared about Yun Lan, he would have been tempted to smash their heads with a bench.
“I know you mean well for me, but you don’t know Lin Dong at all. He simply isn’t…”
Before Yun Lan could finish, there was a sudden noise. Xue Qinghong drew her spirit sword and aimed it at Lin Dong’s throat.
Mo Jianchen was stunned for a moment before also taking out his spirit sword from his storage ring and following suit.
For Senior Sister Yun’s happiness, even if she blamed him or even killed him in anger, this man had to be killed!