Cultivating Immortality Through a Hundred Lifetimes: I Possess the Heavenly Book of Merit

The dinner has ended.

Lin Shi personally escorted him to the door, his smile remaining gentle and courteous.

"Fellow Daoists, please rest early. I will send someone to pick you up tomorrow to meet Lin Jiu at the family ancestral hall. Of course, there are some things I need your cooperation on before we meet."

He paused, his gaze lingering on Yu Yan's face for a moment, "Fellow Daoist Yu is a smart man, he should know what to do."

Yu Yan nodded without saying anything.

Lin Shi smiled with satisfaction, then turned and left.

The guards remained standing at the entrance, like statues, motionless.

He helped Zhou Yan walk back along the way they had come.

Zhou Yan was limp and weak, with almost all of his weight pressing down on him.

He was still muttering nonsense, things like "good wine" and "another cup."

The two walked through the bamboo forest, crossed the pond, and returned to the door of Zhou Yan's room.

Yu Yan pushed open the door, helped Zhou Yan inside, and placed her on the bed.

Zhou Yan turned over, his back to the door, still muttering to himself.

Yu Yan stood by the bed, watching his back without saying a word.

A moment later, he turned and walked to the door, pushed it open, and glanced outside.

The guards were still standing not far away, their gazes seemingly fixed on this direction.

Yu Yan withdrew his gaze and closed the door.

He walked back to the bedside and sat down on the edge of it.

On the bed, Zhou Yan remained motionless, her back to him.

Yu Yan didn't move either, he just sat quietly.

Time passed little by little.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a soft footstep sound came from outside the door. The footsteps approached from afar, paused at the door for a moment, and then gradually faded away.

Patrolling guards.

Every incense stick's time, a group of guards would pass by the gate.

Yu Yan silently noted down this pattern.

After waiting a while longer and confirming that there was no movement outside, he lowered his head and looked at Zhou Yan.

He moved his body slightly, then slowly turned over.

When I opened my eyes, they were completely clear; there was no trace of drunkenness left.

Sure enough, this guy was faking it, just to lower Lin Shi's guard so that Yu Yan could find out some information.

Zhou Yan looked at him, a smug smile playing on his lips. He opened his mouth, about to speak, but Yu Yan quickly reached out and pressed his hand against his lips.

Zhou Yan was taken aback.

Yu Yan shook his head at him, then pointed to the door and then to his own ear.

Be careful, walls have ears.

Zhou Yan understood and nodded.

Yu Yan withdrew his hand and took out a paper talisman from his pocket.

This is a first-tier high-grade talisman in his mind.

The so-called sound-isolating tactile diaphragm, once activated, can isolate sound within a certain range to prevent eavesdropping.

Although it can't deal with Foundation Establishment cultivators, it's more than enough to deal with Qi Refining stage guards.

He pasted the talisman on the wall and then nodded to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "Old Yu, you were really cautious with that move."

Yu Yan looked at him and slowly spoke:

"Brother Zhou, your acting skills are extraordinary."

Zhou Yan chuckled, a hint of smugness on his face:

"Of course. I'm not that pathetic; I can't control myself when I see alcohol."

He paused, then added:

"But that illusion... I really couldn't resist. But that's because I didn't know Lin Shi'an's intentions, and I wanted to relax a bit in the illusion and observe the situation. I felt something was off about this drinking session from the beginning, so I kept an eye on things."

Yu Yan looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded slightly.

"Brother Zhou, that's a good idea."

Zhou Yan waved his hand: "That's right. Although I can be unreliable at times, I can still be dependable in crucial moments."

As he spoke, the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Old Yu, what do you think of what Lin Shi just said?"

Zhou Yan sighed, "I never imagined the Lin family was so treacherous. Brothers assassinating each other, framing each other—are they still brothers?"

Yu Yan remained silent.

Brothers?

What do brothers matter when it comes to personal gain?

Lin Jiu was willing to have his clansmen murdered for the position of young clan leader. Lin Shi was willing to assassinate his own brother three times for the same position. In such a family, where is there any kinship to speak of?

Zhou Yan looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Old Yu, when you agreed to his request, were you really planning to testify for him?"

Yu Yan shook his head: "It's just a temporary agreement."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Yu Yan remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "Brother Zhou, how much of what Lin Shi said do you think can be believed?"

Zhou Yan thought for a moment, then shook his head:

"Don't believe a single word of it. This man seems all smiles on the surface, but he's actually ruthless. He can even harm his own brother, so what are we two outsiders? After we testify for him, he might just turn around and sell us out."

Yu Yan nodded.

That's what he thought too.

Lin Shi's words sounded reasonable, saying something like "as long as I have that position, I'm not interested in rogue cultivators, and we can be friends in the future." But upon closer inspection, they were all empty words.

He said he would protect them, but with what?

He said he wouldn't kill them, so why should we believe him?

He had planned everything perfectly, except for their lives.

Yu Yan took a deep breath and slowly said, "Brother Zhou, you should understand the current situation by now."

Zhou Yan nodded.

"Lin Shi wants to bring down Lin Jiu, and he needs our testimony. But once we testify, it's like completely offending Lin Jiu's people. Lin Shi says those people will scatter like birds and beasts and won't bother us. But who believes that?"

"Lin Jiu has been operating for so many years, he must have a group of die-hards. Even if Lin Jiu falls, those people won't let it go. They can't touch Lin Shi, but surely they can't touch two rogue cultivators like us?"

Besides, no matter what, we are outsiders. If we admit to the crime of killing the Lin family, they will not let us go.

Zhou Yan broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.

"Then... what do we do?"

Yu Yan looked at him and slowly said, "Brother Zhou, have you ever thought about why Lin Shi insists on us being witnesses?"

Zhou Yan was taken aback, thought for a moment, and tentatively asked, "Because he needs witnesses?"

Yu Yan shook his head:

"No. The jade slip he just took out already contains a lot of evidence. Although he said that the evidence wasn't enough, according to the Lin family's rules, that evidence is enough to make Lin Jiu lose his qualification as the young patriarch."

"Then why does he still...?"

"Because what he wants isn't for Lin Jiu to lose her qualifications," Yu Yan interrupted him. "What he wants is for Lin Jiu to be utterly ruined."

Zhou Yan was stunned.

Yu Yan continued:

"Think about it. Lin Jiu is imprisoned for allegedly murdering a member of his clan. But this charge is currently only suspected. The evidence Lin Shi presented, while proving Lin Jiu's suspicion, is ultimately only circumstantial evidence. Lin Jiu can easily deny it and claim he was framed."

"But what if there are witnesses?"

"If a witness comes forward and testifies that Lin Jiu did indeed send people to murder his clansmen, then the charge will be confirmed. At that point, Lin Jiu will be completely finished."

"Then, we two witnesses disappeared without anyone noticing..."

Zhou Yan gasped after hearing this.

"So... Lin Shi is using us as pawns?"

Yu Yan nodded.

Zhou Yan's face turned very ugly.

He remained silent for a long while before slowly saying, "Old Yu, I'm sorry."

Yu Yan looked at him.

Zhou Yan lowered his head, his voice tinged with guilt:

"It's all my fault for dragging you into this. Now we're both stuck here, unable to escape."

Yu Yan looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Brother Zhou, you don't need to apologize."

Zhou Yan looked up at him.

Yu Yan said slowly, "In the end, this whole thing stemmed from my own greed. If I really didn't want to come, you couldn't have dragged me away. Since I'm here, and things have gone wrong, we'll share the burden together."

Zhou Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't say anything.

Yu Yan patted him on the shoulder and continued, "Besides, we haven't reached the end of our rope yet."

Zhou Yan's eyes lit up: "Old Yu, do you have a solution?"

Yu Yan didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Brother Zhou, have you seen Lin Jiu?"