Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

The moment Xilun walked in, the noise in the cafeteria noticeably subsided.

Several gazes were cast from different directions—some curious, some scrutinizing, and some simply glancing at the stranger out of habit.

Xilun didn't know them.

They didn't know him either.

But the mere sight of an unfamiliar face in the Link family's dining hall was enough to attract attention.

Xilun paid no attention to the stares.

He went straight to the window and took a dinner from a plump cook—a bowl of thick beef soup, two pieces of dark bread, a dish of pickles, and a small piece of hard cheese.

The portion wasn't large, but it was barely enough to fill the stomach of an extraordinary individual who needed to maintain high-intensity cultivation.

He carried his tray and found an empty table in the corner to sit down.

With his back against the wall and facing the main entrance.

This is the location he chooses whenever he eats anywhere.

The beef soup was delicious; the beef was tender and the broth was rich, with a touch of pepper and rosemary. Xilun tore off a piece of bread, dipped it in the soup, and slowly chewed it.

The buzzing sound in the cafeteria gradually returned.

But he could sense that those gazes directed at him had not completely disappeared.

Someone is watching him.

more than one.

"...Who is that person?"

A young voice came from the table diagonally opposite, deliberately lowered, but to Xiren, whose echo chamber was activated, it was as clear as if it were speaking right next to her ear.

"I don't recognize you... I've never seen you before."

"From outside? How did you get into the cafeteria?"

"I don't know... He doesn't look like someone from our manor."

Xilun chewed on his bread, his expression unchanged.

He listened to the whispers as if they were the wind.

In the Brotherhood in the North District, in the Tusol family mansion, at the Moon Lake trade fair, in the Ironblood Society's underground hall—this kind of voice could be heard in every new place.

Whispering, sizing, guessing, assessing.

He was used to it long ago.

There's still a little bit of beef soup left.

Xilun slowly tore apart the bread, dipping the last piece into the soup.

The chatter in the cafeteria didn't stop.

On the contrary, as time went on, more and more people noticed the stranger dining alone in the corner.

"Did you see it clearly?"

A slightly husky voice came from outside the three tables on the right. The speaker was sitting among a group of young guards, a burly man with short hair and a brass earring on his left ear.

"See what clearly?" his companion asked.

"That man's face." The short-haired man put down his beer glass and nodded slightly in Xilun's direction with his chin. "Don't you think he looks familiar?"

"Does it look familiar?" His companion looked closely for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't remember it."

"I think I've seen him before..." another tall, thin young man sitting opposite interjected, frowning as he recalled for a while, before suddenly slamming his hand on the table.

"I remember now! He used to be very close to Miss, which led to Miss being warned by the First Madam!"

"Which one are you talking about?"

"It seems to be him." The tall, thin young man lowered his voice. "I remember he was very close to Miss Daisy; many people saw them."

"Miss Daisy?"

As soon as the name was mentioned, people at several nearby tables perked up their ears.

Daisy Link.

The eldest daughter of the Link family, nineteen years old this year, is outstanding in appearance and gentle in nature, and is quite famous in the young noble circles of the entire Southern District.

More importantly—she remains unmarried to this day.

To the young guards and collateral relatives of the manor, Daisy was like a moon hanging in the sky.

They couldn't reach it, but everyone couldn't help but take a second look.

"What is his relationship with Miss Daisy?"

"I don't know... but Miss Daisy personally led him in that day and introduced him to the manor."

"An outsider? Who is he?"

"I heard... he's supposedly an extraordinary individual. He hangs out in the North District."

"The North District?" The short-haired man's expression became subtle. "What decent people could possibly come from a place like the North District?"

"Shhh-keep it down."

Whispers spread through the cafeteria, like ripples on water, from one table to another.

Xilun swallowed the last bite of bread and picked up the bowl to drink the remaining soup.

He put down his bowl and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

His expression remained unchanged throughout.

These comments were nothing to him, not even noise. He had heard ten times worse things at the docks and pubs in the North District.

But he noticed something.

In those whispers, one name was repeatedly mentioned—

Daisy.

She was always friendly to Siron, without the hypocritical politeness common in aristocratic circles, and unlike her mother Risa, she didn't look at an extraordinary person born out of wedlock with the eyes of someone looking at an insect.

That's it.

But to outsiders, the fact that a young man from another ethnic group is "getting very close" to the eldest daughter of a family is enough to trigger all sorts of speculation.

Celen doesn't care about these associations.

He stood up, picked up the empty plate, and walked towards the recycling window.

Just then—

"Make way."

A deep voice came from his left.

It's not a request, it's a command.

Xilun turned his head to the side.

The person speaking stood two steps away from him.

This is a tall young man, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and wore a well-tailored dark blue training uniform with the Link family's antler emblem embroidered on his chest.

His face was angular, with slightly high cheekbones, and his dark brown eyes held a certain condescending scrutiny.

But what truly caught Sirendo's attention was the aura emanating from this man.

Second order.

Moreover, he wasn't someone who had just entered the field—his aura was calm and profound, at least at the mid-stage of the second tier, and possibly even higher.

Within the entire Link family, there are probably only a handful of extraordinary individuals of this caliber.

"Are you from out of town?"

The young man's gaze fell on Xilun, looking him up and down, his tone carrying an undisguised disdain.

"Yes," Xilun replied, his tone flat.

"Who gave you permission to enter the cafeteria?"

"David."

The young man frowned slightly.

He seemed surprised that Xilun would call David by his name directly—not "Young Master David," not "Eldest Son," but by his given name.

This is considered extremely disrespectful within the Link family.

But Siren is not a member of the Link family.

He is not obligated to follow the local etiquette.

"David let you in," the young man repeated, as if pondering the meaning of the words. "And who are you?"

"The guests he invited."

Xilun, holding the empty plate, stepped aside, walked around the person, and put the plate into the recycling window.

Then he turned around, ignoring the other person, and walked straight towards the cafeteria entrance.

A low, cold snort came from behind.

"stop."

Xilun did not stop.

He pushed open the wooden door of the cafeteria and went out.

A night breeze blew in, carrying the scent of oak leaves and earth. The gaslight in the courtyard illuminated the gravel path, casting a long, thin shadow beneath his feet.

The cafeteria door slowly closed behind me.

Through the door, he heard a hushed murmur erupt from inside.

"That person—he just left like that?"

"Love told him to stop, but he ignored her?"

"Does he not know who Luo Wei is...?"

"Lovi Garin, vice-captain of the manor's armed guard! A second-tier extraordinary individual! A top-tier expert within the family!"

"Oh no, he's definitely going to be in trouble..."

Xilun walked back along the gravel path.

His pace remained unhurried, and his breathing was steady.

Lovi Garin.

He remembered the name.

A second-tier extraordinary being who secretly loves Daisy—such people are not uncommon in any faction.

Having some skills, harboring some ambitions, and possessing a temperament accustomed to being respected, all these traits combine to create a thorn that could be stabbed at any moment.

But that's about it.

This name doesn't even make the top ten on Xiren's list of threats.

Oin, Balk, the Whisper Choir, "K"—these are the things he really needs to worry about.

As for a deputy captain of the armed guards within a family...

Xilun shook his head slightly.

He walked back to his guest room in the west wing, closed the door, and took a sip of the Tranquility Potion.

Then he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Five minutes later, her breathing became long and even.

He fell asleep.

-

At the same time.

In the cafeteria, Lovi Garin stood there, his face ashen.

His fists were clenched tightly, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged slightly.

"Vice Captain..." a young guard beside him tentatively spoke up, "That person seems to be a guest invited by Young Master David, perhaps... we should just let it go?"

Lo Wei did not speak.

His gaze was fixed on the cafeteria door, as if he wanted to see Xilun's departing figure through that door.

An outsider.

A second-tier extraordinary being—he could sense the other party's aura level, which was at most second-tier.

An outsider of unknown origin swaggered into the Link family's inner dining hall, using the name of young master David.

What he found even more unbearable was that this person was connected to Daisy.

What's the relationship?

he does not know.

But those whispers, like venomous snakes, slithered into his ears, leaving tiny wounds in his heart.

"Miss Daisy and he were chatting and laughing together."

The two people are very close.

Every word is like a thorn.

Lovi Garin grew up in the Link family.

His father was from a collateral branch of the family, and his mother was a maid on the estate.

He trained hard in the manor's training grounds from a young age, becoming a first-tier extraordinary at fifteen and breaking through to the second tier at twenty-two.

Among his peers, he wasn't the most talented, but few could match his diligence and perseverance.

This stubbornness is not only reflected in his cultivation.

This is also reflected in certain things that shouldn't be pursued.

Miss Daisy—

He first met her at the autumn hunting banquet at the manor.

He was nineteen that year, and she was fourteen.

He remembered her wearing a light blue dress, standing under the oak tree, looking up to reach the wind chimes hanging from the branches.

If you can't reach it, stand on tiptoe. When the wind blows, the hem of your skirt flutters gently, like a flower.

From then on, he was never able to get that image out of his mind.

five years.

He worked hard in the armed guards and rose from a regular guard to deputy captain.

He maintained a degree of vigilance and hostility towards every outsider who came to the manor, believing that as long as he became strong and important enough, one day—

But now, an outsider has easily entered a place he couldn't reach in five years.

"Vice-captain?"

"Shut up," Rowe said in a muffled voice.

He picked up the beer glass on the table and downed it in one gulp.

The bottom of the cup hit the table with a dull thud.

"Go and investigate," he said in a low voice to the young guard beside him.

"What's that person's name? Where did he come from? What is his relationship with Master David and Miss Daisy?"

"Yes."

The young guard accepted the order and left.

Luo Wei sat in the same spot, motionless.

The noise in the cafeteria gradually returned to normal, as if the little episode just now was nothing more than a trivial breeze.

But Lowe knew this was not the end.

Far from it.

As night deepened, the lights in the courtyard were extinguished one by one.

The manor fell into the quiet of the night.

Only the occasional footsteps of patrolling guards made a slight, rhythmic creaking sound on the gravel road.

……

The morning sunlight peeked through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin strip of light across the floor.

Xilun opened his eyes.

His breathing was steady and long, and his resonant cavity remained at a minimum level of operation even in his sleep—a habit he had developed in the North District. Even in seemingly safe environments, his body's alertness was never truly relaxed.

Birdsong drifted in from outside the window, mingling with the muffled clanging of metal on the training field in the distance.

The mornings at the manor are much quieter than in the north.

There were no ship whistles at the dock, no drunkards shouting in the taverns, and no creaking of carriages rolling over gravel roads.

The only sounds were the rustling of the wind through the oak grove and the occasional flapping of wings of pigeons passing over the rooftops.

Xilun sat up and twisted his neck.

A slight crackling sound came from my cervical spine.

He glanced down at his right wrist—the black mark lay quietly beneath his skin, like a sleeping snake, motionless.

This is a good thing.

He walked to the window and opened it.

The morning breeze blew in, carrying the crisp scent of dew on the grass, mixed with the faint fragrance of unnamed flowers in the distant flowerbeds.

The manor's courtyard unfolded in the morning light.

Neatly trimmed bushes lined the gravel path, and several stone fountains stood at the intersection of the lawns, their water jets refracting into dappled patterns of sunlight.

Further away is an artificial lake, where a thin mist still lingers, and several white geese glide leisurely across the water.

Compared to the dark and cramped streets of the North District and the air that is perpetually filled with the smell of coal smoke, this place is simply another world.

But Xilun knew that the more glamorous a place was, the dirtier the things hidden in the shadows were.

After washing up, he changed into the clean clothes David had brought him the night before—a greyish-white linen shirt and a pair of dark trousers, well-tailored and made of fine fabric, far better than the old clothes he wore in the North District.

He carefully tucked the Elder's Decree into his robes.

A short gun was tucked into his waistband, and a Soul-Suppressing Nail was hidden in his sleeve.

Even when visiting someone else's territory, you must bring everything you are supposed to bring.

He pushed open the door and walked along the corridor toward the south wing dining hall.