Chapter 555: Checking Out

Led by Lou Wanshan, the group arrived outside a room. With a gentle wave of his hand, Lin Dong caused Lan Xiang to faint suddenly.
“Sister Xian, please take care of the rest,” Lin Dong said, bowing to Lou Wanshan.
Lou Wanshan nodded, glanced at Lan Xiang, and hesitated—clearly wanting the girls from Wanshan Tower to get closer to Lin Dong to strengthen their relationship.
“Sister Xian, don’t worry about falling—just speak freely,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
“Fall?” Lou Wanshan was stunned before looking at Yun Lan in shock.
“Goodbye!” Lin Dong and Yun Lan entered the room, opened the window, and flew away.
Back at the inn, after removing his disguise, Lin Dong returned to his room, activated the inn’s system, opened the map, locked onto Liang Shan and the others, and found an ancient book. He let his spiritual energy flow through his meridians while reading and observing Liang Shan and the others’ movements.
In the middle of the night, the people from Wanshan Tower apparently learned his whereabouts from Jiang Huan and knocked on the doors of Lin’s Inn.
Soon, Liang Shan and the others rushed out. Their reaction upon seeing Jiang Huan disabled was predictable.
Jiang Huan’s disability was undoubtedly a joyous event for the eight members of Liang Shan’s group. But for them, it was a devastating blow to their efforts to rebuild Kongyu Sect. Without Jiang Huan, the highly talented eldest brother, they had no future leader. A weak leader would not only likely lead to the sect’s destruction but might even prevent it from being established in the first place.
After all, to establish a sect, they would need to invite nearby sects to witness the ceremony. If those sects discovered that the new sect’s leader was weak, they might strike before the sect could even be founded, eliminating it at its inception.
The eight members of Liang Shan’s group had tolerated Jiang Huan, and Mu Xue was even willing to marry him after the sect was established, all because Jiang Huan was the foundation of their sect. Without that foundation, everything would be in vain.
As for them, they had survived so far thanks to the life-force bestowed upon them by dozens of elders and thousands of fellow disciples of Kongyu Sect, who had fought to preserve it.
Back in his room, Lin Dong could only see the glowing dots representing Liang Shan and the others. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about or know their emotions. Fortunately, none of this concerned him. He was only concerned whether they would leave that night or become disheartened and give up completely.

Time passed, second by second. The fluorescent dot representing Jiang Huan remained lying on the wooden bed in a guest room. As for the eight men from Liangshan, they didn’t leave either; throughout the night, they didn’t even step out of their room. Unlike Jiang Huan, the eight men sometimes moved in circles and sometimes stayed still, seemingly discussing something.

Early in the morning, Lin Dong left early and made his way to the lobby. It was still early, and the inn’s doors hadn’t been opened yet. A few staff members, led by Ma Chun, were cleaning up the inn for business.

After giving instructions, Lin Dong sat down at the counter. Soon, at Ma Chun’s command, the door panels were removed one by one. In no time, two groups of guests came in for breakfast. After that, more and more guests arrived at shorter intervals. Within half an hour, the entire first floor of the lobby was filled with guests. This success was clearly thanks to the Ling Shi heaters and the fragrant pipes.

While idly flipping through the ledger, Lin Dong heard knocking at the stairs. Looking up, he saw the eight men from Liangshan carrying Jiang Huan down. Each of them had dark circles under their eyes, as if shaded, and their expressions were gloomy; it seemed their moods were at their worst.

Seeing Lin Dong sitting at the counter, the eight men from Liangshan were somewhat surprised. Jiang Huan trembled violently, frantically rubbing against one of his junior brothers’ lower abdomen, seemingly trying to burrow into his pants.

After a brief moment of surprise, the eight men forced a smile and carried Jiang Huan slowly downstairs. “Manager Lin!” Liangshan bowed weakly. “We’re here to check out.”

“Oh! This one…” Lin Dong glanced at Jiang Huan, who was still trying to get into his junior brother’s pants, and smiled. “Isn’t he your eldest brother? What happened to him?”

“Something happened last night. He was brought back by others,” Liangshan said with a bitter smile. “It seems he got involved in a jealous dispute with someone who was actually a highly skilled opponent. And this opponent wasn’t as magnanimous as you, Manager Lin. He destroyed all of Jiang Huan’s meridians, leaving him useless. Not only can he no longer practice martial arts, but he might even have trouble walking. Honestly, it was his own fault.”

Lin Dong nodded and picked up the ledger to check it. Liangshan’s expression darkened as he let out a bitter smile. Having explained in such detail, he had hoped to arouse this Manager Lin’s sympathy and get his help in establishing their sect. But it seemed it was useless after all.

“By the way, where are you planning to go?” Lin Dong asked, looking up while flipping through the ledger to find their registration information.

“Where else can we go? Naturally, we go back to avenge our enemies. At least that way we can keep company with our uncles and elders,” Liang Shan said helplessly.
“No, no! I won’t go back. I’ll never go back, even if I die!” Jiang Huan suddenly shouted. “If you want to go back and die, don’t pull me along! Keep the silver. If you want to die, go die yourselves!”
“How can we face the sect master and the elders without you?” Liang Shan sneered.
“I won’t go back. I’ll never go back! Someone help! There’s a murder! They’re kidnappers—they want to kill me…” Jiang Huan struggled desperately, drawing the attention of all the diners in the hall.
“It’s nothing! This guest has lost his mind. Please forgive us for the disturbance!” Ma Chun immediately bowed in apology.
The diners quickly turned their attention away. Since Ma, the manager, an outsider, claimed he was insane, they naturally believed it.
“Aren’t you planning to revive the sect?” Lin Dong asked. “Although your eldest brother is disabled, there are still other options.”
The eight members of Liang Shan’s group slowly shook their heads. They knew there were other ways, but they were all extremely difficult. Moreover, with their current strength, even if they established a sect, it wouldn’t last long. They were tired and had given up, wanting only to return home.
Jiang Huan wailed like a ghost. Lin Dong, who had been flipping through the ledger with his right hand, suddenly stopped.
“Ten days’ stay: one Jia-class room and three Yi-class rooms. Plus the expenses for these past few days…” Lin Dong picked up the abacus, calculated quickly, and said, “In total, it’s 1,123 taels and 7 qian of silver. Let’s round it up to 1,100 taels. Your deposit was 1,000 taels, so there’s still a shortage of 100 taels.”
“So much?” Mu Xue couldn’t help exclaiming. 1,000 taels of silver was already all their wealth.
“The accommodation costs only 25 taels of silver. The main expense is food…” Lin Dong flipped the ledger over and smiled. “It’s all recorded here. Miss Mu can check if anything is overcharged.”
Mu Xue blushed slightly and shook her head slowly. There was no need to check. After Lin Dong’s explanation, she remembered that Jiang Huan had always eaten spiritual materials and beasts for three meals a day. With Jiang Huan’s extravagant eating habits, it was no wonder it cost over 1,000 taels of silver—thanks to the fact that he didn’t eat at Lin’s Inn every day.
“Shopkeeper Lin, we don’t have that much silver on hand. Could you give us one more day?” Liang Shan asked.
“Give you one more day? To go steal from someone else?” Lin Dong replied indifferently.
The eight members’ faces turned red as they were speechless.
After a long while, Mu Xue weakly said, “We can work as bodyguards for others.”

“Who knows if you’ll come back after you leave?” Lin Dong said casually.
The eight men from Liangshan looked at Lin Dong in confusion. The night before, this shopkeeper Lin had easily given them several thousand taels of silver to help them out in an emergency. How could he now be so petty over just a hundred taels in just a couple of days?
“Eat it!” Lin Dong took out a small porcelain bottle and placed it on the counter.
“Shopkeeper Lin, what is this…” Liangshan was puzzled.
“It’s a specially formulated poison. After taking it, it will cause severe abdominal pain once a month, and another pill must be taken to relieve it. If you pay off the debt, I’ll give you an antidote to eliminate this problem forever,” Lin Dong said calmly. “Only after you take it can I believe you won’t go back on your word.”
Liangshan laughed. “Shopkeeper Lin, it seems you want to control us. But we originally planned to go back and die. A month might be a bit short, but if we hurry, we can still make it.”
“Then will you take it or not?” Lin Dong asked indifferently.
“We will. It’s only right to repay debts!” Liangshan picked up the small porcelain bottle, poured out a pill, held it in his hand, and swallowed it.
With a gulp, he swallowed it.
Seeing Liangshan take the poison, Mu Xue had no other choice. She picked up the bottle, poured out a pill, and swallowed it as well. The other six hesitated, but upon seeing Lin Dong’s mocking gaze, they became angry and each picked up a pill from the bottle—none left out except Jiang Huan.
“Very good!” Lin Dong put the bottle back into the counter, clapped his hands, stood up leisurely, and said, “Come with me to the backyard.”
“To the backyard? Shopkeeper Lin, we only owe you a hundred taels of silver. We didn’t agree to serve you, did we?” Liangshan had initially held Lin Dong in high regard, but after taking the poison, that feeling vanished completely, and his tone turned cold. “These poisons must be quite expensive to make. You’re going to lose money, shopkeeper Lin.”
“I won’t lose money! Because I want to talk to you about establishing a sect,” Lin Dong replied with a smile, stepping out of the counter and walking toward the back door.
The eight men from Liangshan were stunned. Establish a sect?
“He… he said establish a sect?” Mu Xue said in disbelief.
“I seem to have heard him talk about establishing a sect too. What kind of sect?”
The eight fell silent, trying to figure out what kind of sect Lin Dong wanted to establish.
Bang!
“Ow, it hurts so much! You bastards! I’m the eldest brother, and you dare do this to me…”
Before they knew it, Jiang Huan had fallen to the ground.

Everyone seemed to wake up from a dream, their bodies trembling slightly. Not only were their minds fully alert now, but they also suddenly understood why Lin Dong had given them poison to eat. It wasn’t that Manager Lin was heartless; it was that he didn’t want to do good only to end up with a group of ungrateful people.