Chapter 103: I Killed Him

"Oh," Mu Lin said flatly. "He was nothing special."

Li Yinhe was furious. The sheer arrogance of this guy!

Li Xue, who was shopping, turned to Mu Lin and said:

"Could you just be quiet for a minute? The world is full of masters. If something happens in the future, don't be so reckless. Not everyone is as easy to deal with as Wu Long."

Mu Lin shrugged without a word. 'Li Xue was the one who told me Wu Long was a top master who dominated the underground fighting scene,' he thought. 'And now he's the poster child for an easy fight.'

'His power level sure depreciated fast.'

The old man advanced his cannon, putting him in check.

"If he's dead, he's dead. It has nothing to do with our family. Let's just play. Mu Lin, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you never used to be this much of a gossip."

Mu Lin moved his knight, capturing the cannon.

"I was just curious. But if you ask me, I don't think that guy's skills were that impressive. If he's considered a top master, then the Yang Family is nothing to worry about."

Elder Li suddenly froze. "Wait a minute. It wasn't you, was it...?"

Having spent so much time with Mu Lin, he knew him all too well. Mu Lin wouldn't even bother asking about something unless he'd personally encountered it.

And here he was, keenly assessing the man's combat prowess.

Li Yinhe shot to his feet, his gaze toward Mu Lin changing drastically, as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

Li Xue said casually, "Grandpa, don't be ridiculous. That's completely unrealistic. What feud does the Yang Family have with us? Why would Dong Jia want to kill Mu Lin?"

"That's right. I killed him," Mu Lin said, his voice perfectly calm.

Elder Li... felt his composure slipping. "Are you serious? This is no laughing matter! You can't just say things like that!"

Li Yinhe stomped his foot. "Mu Lin, oh, Mu Lin! Do you have any idea what kind of disaster you've brought upon the Li Family?!"

"The Li Family is finished!"

"Dad, to hear you tell it, the Li Family is always finished..." Mu Lin said. "Dong Jia really wasn't that strong. I killed him easily."

"So I suspect this top master you're all talking about, Dong Hua, is probably more of the same. Don't worry. If he comes, I'll just take care of him too."

Only after hearing Mu Lin say this was Elder Li truly certain that he had been the one to do it.

Mu Lin might be *his* apprentice, but this was still ridiculously impressive.

Li Yinhe stood up. "How dare you talk back to me? You think you're so great just because you know a few flashy moves? So what if you can fight? Can Xue'Er? Can I? Can your aunt, or the Elder?"

Just a few days ago, Li Yinhe had been on the verge of accepting Mu Lin. After all, he could see how his daughter felt about him, and if she was happy, that was enough.

But now, Li Yinhe absolutely could not accept Mu Lin.

It was too dangerous for this kid to stay.

So he'd changed his tune again. The message was clear: this kid needed to go back to wherever he came from.

'How could I not understand what he means?' Mu Lin thought. 'It's not that I don't want to go back. But my master's orders are hard to disobey, you know?'

'Until my master gets back from... wherever he's fooling around, I have no reason to leave.'

'And now that I've provoked the Yang Family, it's even more important that I stay here and stand guard.'

'I can't protect everyone, but I can at least protect Elder Li.'

Elder Li advanced his rook for another check, coordinating with his other knight to checkmate Mu Lin's general.

He'd won.

But he wasn't happy at all. On the contrary, he was deeply worried.

"Why on earth would the Yang Family want to kill you? What's your connection to them?"

Li Xue thought for a moment, then voiced a suspicion that had been brewing in her mind for a long time:

"Grandpa, I think the Wu Family has completely submitted to the Yang Family. And killing Mu Lin was probably one of their conditions."

"Mu Lin has repeatedly foiled the Wu Family's plots against us and even severely injured Wu Long. Knowing Wu Long's personality, it would be stranger if he *didn't* use the Yang Family to get rid of Mu Lin!"

It sounded very plausible.

Elder Li frowned in thought, then slowly nodded. "That makes sense."

Li Yinhe was dumbfounded. "What? He fought Wu Long?"

"Dad, you're always looking down on him, so of course he doesn't tell you these things! He's fought him, twice! Once in the underground parking garage, and once at the Li Group's main entrance. But you're so busy, I guess you didn't notice."

Li Xue had an alternate account that she used to lurk in the Li Group's gossip chat, so she knew everything about these incidents.

But Li Yinhe was disdainful of such gossip and hadn't joined the chat.

"And now this is somehow my fault?" Li Yinhe retorted, feeling deeply wronged. 'Is it a crime to work hard now?'

"But your refusal to trust Mu Lin so easily, *that's* what's wrong."

Li Yinhe let out a long sigh. 'A daughter's heart is no longer her father's once she's grown.' Li Xue was already taking Mu Lin's side.

Elder Li stood up and began to pace. "If Wu Long has pledged his allegiance to the Yang Family, doesn't that make the Yuelong Group even more formidable?"

"And leave our Li Group with even less of a chance to survive?"

There hadn't been any moves from the Yuelong Group yet, but by the time they noticed anything, it would be too late.

The more immediate problem was, "Mu Lin, Dong Hua will definitely come for revenge!"

"Maybe you should go into hiding for a while?"

Mu Lin chuckled. "Hide from what? If they have the guts, let them come."

'These people are so jumpy,' he thought. 'Who knows what this Dong Hua guy is really like.'

Li Yinhe leaned back on the sofa, sighing dramatically. "Something terrible is about to happen to our Li Group..."

Mu Lin was completely unconcerned. Elder Li, having weathered many storms in his life, also had little patience for Li Yinhe's theatrics.

"Yinhe, it's not such a big deal. A few days ago, *that's* when we were truly at the end of our rope. Now the Group has a new investor, and things should be looking up. Why are you still so unhappy?"

Li Yinhe said, "Dad! No matter how capable Zhu Qiyu is, he's still just one person with no backing. If the Yang Family threatens him a few times, he'll probably have to compromise."

"If he pulls his investment then, our situation could become even worse than it was before."

Money had already been poured into several projects. If they went bankrupt in a few days, their debt would be even greater.

Going bankrupt a few days ago might have left them with a little something, but going bankrupt now would leave them with nothing at all.

Mu Lin gathered the chess pieces and put them back in their box.

"Dad, so what you're afraid of are the Yang Family's tactics, right? You feel insecure without a powerful backer."

"Of course! In a world dominated by the three great families, the fact that the Li Family has managed to develop independently this far is already a miracle!"

Mu Lin smiled. "Then why not just find another backer? I can't imagine that would be too difficult. An asset like the Li Group is so valuable, if you offered it to them, I'm sure the powerful families would be fighting over it."

Li Xue had seen Mu Lin get out of a VW Polo earlier, which had already put her in a foul mood. Now, hearing him make such a naive comment was just too much for her to take. She turned and went to take a shower.

Li Yinhe pointed at Mu Lin. "You... you and that brain of yours... It's not that I'm looking down on you, but... do you even have one?"

Mu Lin just smiled. "I've only been here a short while, so it's normal that I don't know these things, right? Why don't you just teach me?"

Li Yinhe couldn't be bothered.

Elder Li said slowly, "It's easier said than done. The great families already have enormous interests, with countless smaller families revolving around them. Even if you went directly to a Patriarch, he might not have the guts to take us in. It could cause a backlash from his existing vassal families."

"Besides, we're outsiders here with no local roots. The only reason we made it this far is by following the principle that sometimes it's better to take the short end of the stick. We deliberately chose the construction industry—the hardest, most tiring, and least profitable sector."

"Even if we were willing to pledge our allegiance, they wouldn't necessarily accept us," Elder Li replied. "Someone like Zhu Qiyu is, after all, an exception."

Mu Lin's eyes narrowed in thought as he and Mrs. Li helped Elder Li to his feet.

'The Zhou Family is the most amicable toward the Li Family, but unfortunately, they have a powerful enemy. Getting close to them would inevitably drag the Li Family into their conflict.'

'The Liu Family? To be honest, I don't even know the first thing about them, so there's no chance to negotiate.'

Li Xue returned to her room, but she wasn't the least bit sleepy. She started chatting with her best friend, Ye Chunshui.

Li Xue: *Sigh.*

Ye Chunshui: What's with the sigh? Your little hubby ignoring you? Did you see that picture I sent? Wear that, and no man will be able to resist.

Li Xue: I think he's dangerous. He might drag the Li Family down to hell with him.

Ye Chunshui: Down to hell? What happened?

Li Xue: He beat up Wu Long, can you believe it? And that's just one of the things he's done.

Li Xue didn't dare mention that he had killed Dong Jia. If she did, the whole world would soon know Mu Lin was the killer.

But plenty of people had seen Mu Lin beat up Wu Long. There was no way to keep that quiet anyway, so she might as well get it off her chest.

Ye Chunshui: No way! Isn't Wu Long a trained martial artist?