The Return of the Condor Heroes: Starting with a Suicide Note and Conquering All Realms

Lin Yuan's hand, holding the teacup, hovered in mid-air.

The chilling dark golden light in his eyes vanished instantly, degenerating into the murky look characteristic of a sickly person.

A chilling thud came from outside the window.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

That was the sound of flesh and bone slamming unreservedly against the hard bark, accompanied by the heavy, panting breaths of a dying beast.

Lin Yuan put down his teacup and pushed open the wooden door.

A cool night breeze blew. Under the thick peach tree in the courtyard, Yang Guo was wildly swinging his fists.

His knuckles were already a bloody mess, and dark red blood trickled down the rough bark. But he clenched his teeth tightly, forcing all his sobs and roars to be swallowed back down his throat.

The humiliation he suffered in the study during the day, Guo Fu's ridicule, and Huang Rong's aloofness and defensiveness were like rusty saws tearing at the spine of this eight-year-old boy.

Lin Yuan walked over. His steps were unsteady, his breathing erratic, perfectly maintaining the appearance of someone who might die at any moment.

He held a glass of cold water and shoved it directly in front of Yang Guo.

Yang Guo froze. He turned his head sharply, his eyes red like a wolf cub cornered in a dead end, his chest heaving violently.

"Brother Lin..." Yang Guo's voice was hoarse, each word choked with emotion, "I don't want to be a cripple. If they won't teach me, I'll train myself! I, Yang Guo, am no less capable than anyone else!"

Lin Yuan didn't reply. He reached out and forcefully pried open Yang Guo's convulsing fist, shoving the rough teacup into that blood-soaked hand.

"Drink." Lin Yuan's voice was as cold as ice.

Yang Guo tilted his head back and drank the cold water in one gulp. The biting chill went down his throat, barely suppressing some of the anger rising in his heart.

Lin Yuan took back the empty cup, his gaze passing over Yang Guo's thin shoulders and looking at the churning, dark sea in the distance.

"Before a wolf grows its fangs, it will only lie on the ground and play dead when it encounters a hunting dog." Lin Yuan's tone was flat, yet it revealed an iron-like cruelty. "You can't even kill a wild dog now. If you rush in and show your cowardice, you'll only be skinned alive and used as a cushion."

Yang Guo was stunned. Tears of humiliation welled up in his eyes, but were abruptly stopped by those words.

"If you want to eat meat, you must first learn how to hide your teeth." Lin Yuan turned his head and looked directly into Yang Guo's eyes. "I've memorized Guo Jing's Nanshan Fist technique from during the day. I'll teach you it every night at midnight from now on."

Yang Guo's eyes widened in disbelief. How could Brother Lin, whose meridians were completely destroyed, possibly learn Uncle Guo's boxing style after just one look?

"Don't ask," Lin Yuan interrupted him. "If you want to live a decent life, shut your mouth and do as I say."

……

The next morning.

Peach blossoms fell in profusion in the grove. Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, dappling the moss-covered stone path with its fragmented patterns of light.

Lin Yuan, wrapped in a large, old cotton robe, leaned against a tree root like a withered log, basking in the sun. His face was deathly pale, and he would occasionally let out a heart-wrenching cough.

A flurry of footsteps shattered the tranquility.

Guo Fu, dressed in eye-catching red and carrying an unsharpened wooden sword, swaggered in with Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen. The Wu brothers looked arrogant, like two guard dogs patrolling their territory.

Lin Yuan half-raised his eyelids.

Yang Guo was lying on the branch of another peach tree, with a blade of grass between his teeth and his eyes closed, resting.

"Little beggar!" Guo Fu tapped the tree trunk with her wooden sword. "Did you memorize yesterday's Analects? Don't make my mother angry again and cause everyone to hear her rant."

Yang Guo sat up, spat out the grass stalks in his mouth, and looked down at the three of them with disdain.

"I've memorized it." Yang Guo's lips curled into a mocking smile. "How's Miss Guo's practice of the Yue Maiden Sword Technique going? Don't make Uncle Guo sigh again in a bit."

Guo Fu's face flushed instantly. This was her most sensitive spot.

"You're talking nonsense!" Guo Fu stomped her foot in exasperation.

When their master is insulted, the dog naturally barks. Wu Dunru stepped forward, his wooden sword pointed directly at Yang Guo: "Yang Guo! Get down here right now and apologize to your junior sister!"

Wu Xiuwen followed closely: "You're a beggar, and Uncle Guo kindly took you in, but instead of being grateful, you cause trouble every day!"

Yang Guo leaped down from the tree, dusted off his hands, and suddenly laughed.

"My two brothers are right. Aunt Guo's teachings are excellent. As Confucius said, 'It is difficult to find someone who, after a full meal, does not put his mind to anything.'" Yang Guo pretended to be an old scholar, but his eyes were extremely contemptuous. "My two brothers follow their junior sister around like dogs and horses every day, they are indeed very dedicated. That's what you call a good dog protecting its master."

"Who are you calling a dog!" Wu Dunru roared in fury, raising his wooden sword to strike Yang Guo in the face. Wu Xiuwen, not to be outdone, attacked from the side.

Although the two were young, they had a solid foundation, and the wind from their swords seemed to whistle faintly.

Yang Guo sneered. The footwork Lin Yuan had taught him last night flashed through his mind. He shifted his feet and slid half a foot to the left like an eel, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Lin Yuan, who had been leaning against the tree, suddenly burst into a violent cough. He hunched over in pain, his wide sleeves hanging down onto the grass.

Just as he lowered his head.

A pair of dark golden vertical pupils ignited silently in the shadows.

Lin Yuan slightly bent his right index finger, which was hidden in his sleeve. Within his dantian, the power of the "Monarch Flame," tamed by the dragon blood, instantly circulated.

Releasing one's true energy on Huang Rong's territory is tantamount to suicide. He's using the laws of physics. And he has to ensure it leaves absolutely no trace.

A wisp of extremely compressed, dark red heat shot silently from his fingertips into the ground. Its target wasn't the Wu brothers, but the moss-covered flagstone beneath their feet.

The heat precisely cut into the gap between the moss and the stone slab. The moisture in the gap was instantly evaporated by the terrifying high temperature! The surface of the moss looked normal, without even a trace of scorch marks, but its roots had completely detached from the stone slab, becoming a layer of "lubricant" with no adhesion.

Wu Dunru stomped heavily on the stone slab.

The soles of the feet instantly lost all friction.

"Ouch!"

Wu Dunru did an extremely exaggerated split in mid-air, completely losing his balance, and crashed face down onto the hard stone slab.

"Bang!"

A dull thud that made your teeth ache.

Wu Xiuwen rushed forward too fiercely and was tripped by his fallen brother. He flew out and landed with a "plop" in a muddy puddle next to him.

Two mournful cries echoed through the peach grove.

Wu Dunru covered his mouth and looked up, his hands covered in blood. Two bloodied front teeth lay quietly on the stone slab.

Guo Fu was stunned, and the wooden sword in her hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

Yang Guo was also stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "You two martial arts brothers have really mastered the 'Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank' move! You even knocked out your front teeth, you've really gone to great lengths!"

Guo Fu's eyes instantly reddened when she saw Wu Dunru's mouth full of blood. Pointing at Yang Guo, she cried out in a sob, "You used sorcery! You just wait! I'm going to find my mother!"

After saying that, she lifted her skirt and ran crying towards the study to the south. Da Wu and Xiao Wu struggled to their feet, not daring to utter any harsh words, and followed her with their mouths covered.

Yang Guo laughed until tears streamed down his face. He walked over to Lin Yuan and squatted down beside him: "Brother Lin, did you see that? Those two idiots broke their own teeth!"

Lin Yuan did not laugh.

He remained hunched over, slowly raising his head to look at the sea to the east.

The body, modified by dragon blood, has already surpassed the limits of human senses.

The salty sea breeze swept through the peach grove and brushed against his face. In this breeze, Lin Yuan's nostrils twitched very subtly.

He caught a whiff of something.

Extremely faint, yet exuding a nauseating, deathly stillness. It was the unique, foul odor left behind by years of living with poisonous creatures, refining the toxins into one's internal organs, and practicing the Toad Style Kung Fu.

Ouyang Feng.

That madman has come.

……

Night falls.

The sound of waves crashing against the rocks grew increasingly frenzied. On the sea surface, a thick, impenetrable white mist rose silently, like a giant shroud, slowly spreading towards Peach Blossom Island.

Lin Yuan stood by the window of the guest room, looking at the rolling thick fog, a cold, dark golden light flashing in his eyes.

"That smell..."

His long, slender fingers tapped lightly on the windowpane.

"It's getting closer and closer."