Chapter 291 290: Accepting Goodwill

Mu Lin turned to go hail a cab, but Liu Yifang asked, "Mr. Mu, let me give you a ride back?"

"That's too much trouble," Mu Lin said. "I'll just get a cab!"

Xue Xi cut in, "Mu Lin, why are you being so wishy-washy? Yifang has wracked her brains trying to smooth things over with you. Must you make her cry and beg you?"

"What did she do to deserve being tormented by you like this?"

Mu Lin paused. "That's not what I meant..."

"Then what do you mean?"

Mu Lin sighed. "Fine. I'll accept the ride, alright?"

Liu Yifang said, "Why don't you come over to my house for a bit? My grandfather and father really want to talk with you."

'Give her an inch and she'll take a mile!'

Just as Mu Lin was about to speak, Xue Xi glared at him.

He sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll go. It's not like I have a grudge against the Liu Family. No need to make things so awkward."

Liu Yifang felt incredibly wronged as she listened to Mu Lin's reluctant agreement.

'He was the one who kept making excuses, so how did it suddenly become my fault?'

'Still, the fact that he was willing to go was a good thing. There couldn't be better news.'

The car drove all the way to the Liu Family estate. Elder Liu was in the courtyard, sipping tea and gazing up at the stars.

He was filled with regret. 'We latched on to a powerful backer like Mu Lin so early on. Why did we ever let go?'

'Now they'd managed to get on everyone's bad side, caught in an impossible situation. And no one knew what their future would hold.'

Right now, everyone in the Liu Family was trying to find a way to get in touch with Mu Lin, but very few had succeeded.

Because Mu Lin wasn't even in Anhua.

He was back now, but he had immediately been faced with a challenge from Vajra Zhenren.

He had just received news that Mu Lin had actually defeated Vajra Zhenren, which left Liu Yiming utterly dumbfounded.

He had thought Mu Lin was strong, but just conventionally so.

He never imagined Mu Lin would be so much more powerful...

'This was awkward. An incredible number of people wanted to get on Mu Lin's good side. Who the hell was he in comparison?'

He let out a heavy sigh. When he heard a car stop, he looked up and was stunned.

"Grandmaster Mu!" Liu Yiming exclaimed in astonishment.

Liu Qizhou thought to himself, 'Father must be going crazy from thinking about Mu Lin so much. Is he seeing him everywhere now?'

But when he turned his head to look, he lost his composure as well.

'Isn't that Mu Lin?'

'Mu Lin was really here!'

He rushed frantically toward Mu Lin, exclaiming excitedly,

"Grandmaster Mu, I've missed you like crazy!"

The sudden shift in atmosphere made Mu Lin feel very awkward.

"Hello, you two. It has indeed been a long time."

His tone was cold—so cold it stung.

They felt a pang of sorrow, recalling a time when they were practically thick as thieves with him.

Liu Yiming sighed. Still, the fact that Mu Lin had come at all was a statement of his attitude. Whether it was the one they had hoped for, however, was hard to say.

"Please, please, come in," Liu Yiming said hurriedly.

"Yifang, take Mu Lin and Miss Xue to their guest rooms."

The Liu Family villa was enormous and had plenty of guest rooms, so it was no problem to give Mu Lin and Xue Xi each their own.

They even had private en-suite bathrooms.

The accommodations were excellent.

Liu Yiming arranged for the butler to entertain Mu Lin and Xue Xi, then pulled Liu Yifang aside. "You invited Mu Lin to dinner. It seems the results were good?"

"Dinner went well enough," said Liu Yifang. "But it got very dangerous on the way back. Thank goodness Mu Lin was there, otherwise I would have been... violated today..."

"On the way, I ran into a classmate. I'd always thought he was a good person, but I never imagined he'd actually use a Curse Master to try and control me, to make me throw myself into his arms."

Liu Yiming's jaw dropped as he listened. That was entirely too dangerous.

He'd heard of the curse arts lineage; they were all a particularly despicable group of people.

To think that Jiang Ting, who appeared so distinguished on the surface, was actually such a beast in human form.

'Damn it.'

"It's a good thing Mu Lin was there. Otherwise, even an ordinary Martial Artist wouldn't have known how to help you... Though there are always rumors about the curse arts, very few have actually seen them in action, and no one knows how to defend against their attacks."

"The fact that Mu Lin knew what to do reveals the depth of his background. He's definitely not some random nobody; there must be an immense power backing him. We have the home-field advantage; we need to seize every benefit we can from this!"

Liu Yiming said, "Yifang, our family has nurtured you for so many years. It is time for you to repay us!"

Liu Yifang quickly replied, "Grandpa, please don't say that. Mu Lin is a good person, and I already like him quite a bit! If I can help the family at the same time, that would be even better!"

Liu Yiming was very gratified and smiled faintly. "An interesting way to put it! In that case, I'll leave handling Mu Lin to you!"

Liu Qizhou added, "Since Fangfang already has this in mind, I won't offer any more pointers."

"To get on good terms with Mu Lin, the Zhou Family didn't even hesitate to break ties with the Fang Family..."

Liu Yiming was startled. "When did that happen?"

"It's already spread throughout our circles. Patriarch Fang announced it himself on his social media feed."

Liu Yiming's expression shifted drastically. "They're really willing to go all out. That's Vajra Zhenren we're talking about!"

Liu Qizhou's expression shifted slightly. "But their returns are also massive. Golden Light Zhenren is dead, the Yang Family has collapsed, and now the Zhou Family is going to swallow all of the Yang Family's assets."

Liu Yiming felt a visceral pang of regret, thinking, 'If only I had been more decisive back then, a share of those assets would have been mine.'

They quickly dispersed. The butler's entertainment wouldn't last forever, and if Mu Lin saw them huddled together secretively, he would likely feel even more uncomfortable.

After inspecting his guest room, Mu Lin came out.

The Liu Family members hurried over to make pleasantries and invite Mu Lin for tea. Liu Yiming beat around the bush, asking about the affair with Vajra Zhenren and saying how wonderful it was that Mu Lin had won.

Mu Lin knew what they were thinking; in his heart, he had already forgiven them.

'It's just that the Liu Family's power is no longer sufficient to properly protect the Li Family.'

'These days, the Li Family's potential enemies are Grandmasters at a minimum, which is far too dangerous.'

'With Long Qingshan present, the safety of the Li Family is already assured.'

'So there was no longer a need for the Liu Family to frequently intervene.'

It was simply a matter of mending fences. Everyone talked and laughed, and the atmosphere was quite congenial.

It wasn't until quite late that Mu Lin returned to his room.

"Sigh..." Mu Lin let out a long breath. 'Socializing is exhausting.'

Mu Lin decided to take this opportunity to cultivate for a bit.

The commotion earlier in the evening had been too much. His Spiritual Power was greatly depleted and had to be replenished quickly.

After cultivating all night, Mu Lin felt refreshed and full of vigor.

He had consumed a great deal of power, and as he replenished it all at once, he felt a sensation of pushing against the bottleneck to the next realm.

It felt as if he could break through the barrier.

But Mu Lin tried and found the bottleneck was incredibly solid; there was no possibility of breaking through.

This meant he would have to find an unconventional way to proceed. He needed to come up with a plan for this.

Mu Lin pushed open his door just as Liu Yifang was arriving to call him for breakfast.

Their eyes met, and Liu Yifang couldn't help but smile. "Mu Lin, breakfast is ready. Come on, let's eat!"

Mu Lin smiled back. "Alright!"

He figured that the Liu Family's inner turmoil had eased considerably, and they were no longer so awkward in his presence.

'That was good.'

When the members of the Liu Family saw Mu Lin, they beckoned him to sit, and the atmosphere was wonderful.

Xue Xi, however, was a little surprised. She had only learned of Liu Yifang's true identity a short while ago, and she had been greatly astonished at the time.

Now, she was even more so.

Any one of these people was a top-tier figure, yet here they all were, being unfailingly polite to Mu Lin.

'This is insane.'

She sighed in amazement. 'Looks like Mu Lin really is a big deal.'

Liu Yiming asked, "Mr. Mu, is the food to your liking? If not, I can have the chef prepare something else."

Mu Lin smiled faintly. "No need, it's all quite good. I didn't expect it to be this delicious."

Liu Yiming chuckled. "The doors of the Liu Family will always be open to you. You could come here to eat every single day, and it would be no problem at all!"

Mu Lin laughed. "If I can, I certainly will. I won't stand on ceremony!"

Hearing Mu Lin say this, Liu Yiming felt an even greater sense of relief.

"Haha, wonderful!"

As Mu Lin was eating, he sighed.

Liu Yiming tensed up. "Mr. Mu, perhaps... I should have the cook make you something else after all..."

Mu Lin waved his hand. "No, no! It's not that. I was sighing about Miss Liu's situation."