Chapter 577: Creating a Gap

“Let’s go!”
Jiang Qianchi snorted and strode downstairs.
A group of diners left their dishes unfinished and followed closely behind.
Lin Dong’s mental energy spread throughout Jiang Qianchi’s body, gathering in his chest and arms. In both areas, a strange energy coalesced and refused to disperse. Lin Dong believed that with just a slight touch, that energy would be triggered. Once activated, these three energies would flow through Jiang Qianchi’s meridians toward his heart.
Jiang Qianchi was doomed!
After going downstairs, the group headed straight for the kitchen.
The kitchen was relatively quiet; the chef and apprentices were chatting idly out of boredom. Vegetables and meats were neatly arranged, in abundance but not in chaos. On each workbench, there were fragrant sticks to repel mosquitoes and flies. Of course, this wasn’t enough to completely eliminate them.
In any large restaurant’s kitchen, unless highly effective mosquito-repellent incense was used, it was impossible to keep mosquitoes and flies at bay. But such strong incense wasn’t suitable for lighting in the kitchen.
Upon closer inspection, some flies could still be seen flying around the workbenches. Unfortunately, though the fragrant sticks emitted an odor that repelled them, the cooked food on the benches also had an irresistible scent for them.
When they reached the courtyard, Lin Dong’s mental energy rapidly expanded, covering every corner of the kitchen. Every utensil, every nook and cranny in the kitchen was under his control.
As spiritual energy surged forth, if mosquitoes and flies had thoughts, they would surely realize their bodies were no longer under their control. Then, they would gather together in the air above the center of the kitchen.
In an instant, a strange sphere the size of a glass ball appeared in the air above the kitchen. Under Lin Dong’s control, it flew out through the window without a trace. Soon after, the passages throughout the kitchen were enveloped in a very faint layer of spiritual energy. Flies attracted by the scent couldn’t get in at all.
The group entered the kitchen in a grand procession, drawing the attention of the chef and apprentices.
“Huh…” At a glance, not a single fly or mosquito was visible, which surprised the diners. The kitchen of Lin’s Inn should normally have flies!
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have followed them to the kitchen.
“Look for them! If you can find any flies, I’ll compensate you however much you want,” Lin Dong said calmly.
Jiang Qianchi remained silent, scanning the kitchen a few times before fixing his gaze on the door leading to the second kitchen.
“There’s that one too!” Jiang Qianchi said.

“Let me make it clear first—those are the top chefs at our Lin’s Inn. All the dishes and drinks are the inn’s secrets, and the chefs have terrible tempers; the slightest disturbance will lead to violence,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly. “In other words, it’s best for outsiders not to enter. If they do, they must be prepared to risk their lives. Even if it’s you, if there are flies in the kitchen and you get hurt, I’ll compensate you with the entire Lin’s Inn. But if there are no flies and something goes wrong, don’t blame me. If you want to enter, write a death warrant first.”
“A death warrant?” Jiang Qianchi snorted. “By the time I finish writing that, you’ll have probably fumigated all the flies and mosquitoes out of there.”
“Our Lin’s Inn’s mosquito repellent can keep insects out of the rooms. If you don’t believe it, go catch some mosquitoes outside and try it,” Lin Dong said calmly.
“Well…” Jiang Qianchi was speechless. He would never allow him to enter the second kitchen. If what this Lin manager said was true—that the chefs there were all violent and would attack anyone who entered—he might be killed right away, and then his mission would fail. His death wouldn’t matter, but his family would have no chance of survival.
“What, you have nothing to say? Now you can’t claim it was the flies from Lin’s Inn, right?” Lin Dong said coldly.
“Who knows? Maybe it was one of your servers, annoyed by you, who deliberately put them there. Or maybe some flies fell into the dishes while being delivered upstairs?” Jiang Qianchi, having become an official in a region, wasn’t easy to deal with either. He immediately thought of counterarguments.
“If you insist on being unreasonable, I can’t do anything about it. Goodbye,” Lin Dong turned around. “Whether you want to file a complaint or get angry and try to take action against Lin’s Inn, I’m waiting!”
“Stop!” Jiang Qianchi grew anxious. To protect his family, his only option was to be killed by this Lin manager. If the manager left, who else could he turn to for help?
“Everyone, it’s clear now. Let’s all go back!” Lin Dong bowed to the customers who had followed him.
The customers were at a loss. If they left, their mission wouldn’t be completed; if they stayed, interfering would be too obvious and could easily arouse suspicion.
“You want to just walk away after arguing? Forget it! I won’t let you go, even if I die today,” Jiang Qianchi clenched his fists and charged at Lin Dong.

Lin Dong moved swiftly, easily avoiding Jiang Qianchi, a look of disdain crossing his face. “Stop trying this on me. Don’t think I don’t know—you’re here to extort us at Lin’s Inn. If you’ve got the guts, lift your clothes. I bet you have injuries, either external or internal. The moment I touch you, you’ll fall and then blame Lin’s Inn for attacking you.”

“Nonsense!” Jiang Qianchi shouted.

“Nonsense? Do you dare let me check your injuries?” Lin Dong said calmly.

Jiang Qianchi was speechless. He didn’t dare. Before coming here, he had heard about this manager, Lin—someone trained in martial arts with considerable skill. If Lin really checked his injuries, it would be easy to detect traces of spiritual energy on his body.

“I even suspect you might be sent by some other big restaurant to cause trouble,” Lin Dong said, staring intently at Jiang Qianchi. “Only they would think of such tactics.”

“What other big restaurant? You’re framing me! Framing!” Jiang Qianchi grew furious, extremely annoyed by Lin Dong’s reluctance and caution.

“Hey, I also suspect you might have a grudge against Manager Lin and deliberately came to cause trouble,” said one diner coldly. “Don’t think you can stay here and avoid leaving. Get lost! I trust Manager Lin—you’re just a scammer.”

“That’s right. No matter how much you try to act shamelessly, it won’t work. We all saw it with our own eyes and can testify for Manager Lin.”

The diners agreed, seemingly siding with Lin Dong, but their words also hinted that Jiang Qianchi could act shamelessly, stay at Lin’s Inn, and wait for the right moment.

“Want me to leave? No way. I knew you were all in cahoots. If you don’t give me an explanation today, I’ll stay at your Lin’s Inn. There can’t be no laws in the Great Han Kingdom!” Jiang Qianchi angrily flung his sleeves and turned to leave.

A barely noticeable smile flashed across Lin Dong’s face. This was exactly what he wanted—Jiang Qianchi staying at Lin’s Inn.

Seeing Jiang Qianchi leave, the diners bowed and took their leave one after another.

Once all the diners had gone, Lin Dong didn’t leave either. He focused his mind, enveloping the entire Lin’s Inn.

After waiting for a while, Ma Chun rushed over from the main hall.

“Manager, I’ve brought him here,” Ma Chun said eagerly upon seeing Lin Dong.

“Wait a bit longer!” Lin Dong replied calmly.

Ma Chun nodded firmly, and the two stood in the front yard, waiting quietly.

After nearly half an hour, finally, under Lin Dong’s mental focus, a middle-aged man stepped out of the inn slowly. This man was the only strong individual.

“Let’s go to the lodging building!” Lin Dong waved his hand. His mind could sense that the previous guests, in order not to arouse suspicion at Lin’s Inn, had none paid and stayed overnight. With the only strong man having left and no one arriving outside for now, a gap in time had emerged, perfect for taking action.
The two of them arrived at the lobby. Behind the counter, a flamboyant girl was looking around nervously.
“Sixth Madam, come here!” Ma Chun waved at the girl.
Hearing this, the girl immediately stood up and walked over to Lin Dong and the other man.
“Let’s go! Upstairs.”
The two led the girl up the stairs to the lodging building quickly. Lin Dong’s mind remained focused on the entire Lin’s Inn, never relaxing for a moment.
Knock, knock!
Lin Dong gently knocked on the door of a room marked with the character for “armor.”
The door creaked open. Seeing Lin Dong standing outside, Jiang Qianchi’s expression darkened, only to turn joyful moments later. He was thinking about how to provoke Lin Dong when a voice filled with resentment and surprise suddenly rang out.
“Master…”
“Liu… Liu Fang?” Jiang Qianchi was stunned, looking in disbelief at the girl standing slightly behind Lin Dong.
The girl immediately threw her arms open and rushed toward Jiang Qianchi.
“Don’t come over! Don’t come over!” Jiang Qianchi was terrified and quickly retreated into the room.
“Master!” Liu Fang’s expression grew even more resentful. As Jiang Qianchi’s sixth wife, she was well aware of his tendency to favor new people over old ones. His immediate reaction made her feel disfavored. Given this reaction, it was likely that the future seventh wife was inside the room.
“You can’t touch me now. You really can’t.” Seeing Liu Fang about to cry, Jiang Qianchi hurriedly tried to explain.
“Why can’t I?” Liu Fang pressed.
“Well… this…” Jiang Qianchi couldn’t explain.
“Because someone has placed spiritual energy on him. Any contact with that energy will cause it to become chaotic and rush toward his heart. He will die instantly,” Lin Dong explained for him.
Jiang Qianchi stepped back in horror, staring at Lin Dong in disbelief at how he seemed to know everything.
“Master, how could this happen? How?” Liu Fang screamed, her face filled with concern.
“Time is running out. If you want to live, shut up for now!” Lin Dong snapped at her coldly.
Liu Fang immediately fell silent. Clearly, she cared more about her own safety than Jiang Qianchi’s.
“How do you know there’s spiritual energy on me?” Jiang Qianchi asked.

“The technique is exquisite, but in my eyes, it’s not anything special.” Lin Dong replied nonchalantly. He could tell that the one who had infused spiritual energy into Jiang Qianchi was a peak-level expert. Unfortunately, to Emperor Qian Wei’s surprise, he too was a peak-level expert. Others might not be able to detect the spiritual energy in Jiang Qianchi, but he could.