Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

The hand was still drawing circles on her waist, slowly and gently, making her waist feel itchy, and she wanted to get away.

Qin Yumo bit her lip, her ears turning bright red. She dared not look at him or move, her whole body stiffening like a piece of wood softened by hot water.

Lin Mu looked at her and withdrew his hand.

Although there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of one's own wife, it always feels like they're not close enough together.

The feeling wasn't one of distance or unfamiliarity, but more like a thin layer of ice that hadn't completely melted. Stepping on it would reveal tiny cracks, but it wasn't cracked enough to be solid enough to step on.

He lifted the covers, preparing to get out of bed, but revealed Qin Yumo's fair back, with a faint pink tinge showing through.

Lin Mu glanced at the talent, then stepped naked onto the blue brick floor, a chill creeping up from his feet.

Qin Yumo turned around, screamed in surprise, quickly turned her face away, pulled the blanket over her head, and curled up into a ball.

Lin Mu glanced back at her huddled under the covers and couldn't help but chuckle. Without saying anything, he picked up the clothes draped over the screen, put them on, tied his belt, walked around the screen, glanced at the skeleton and mythical beast still soaking in the tub, ignored them, pushed open the door, and went out.

Qin Yumo peeked out from under the covers, glanced at the closed door, and then at the empty bedside, as if she hadn't fully recovered from the shock of last night and this morning.

She leaned against the pillows, staring blankly at the bed canopy for a long time before slowly sitting up. The blanket slipped off her shoulders, revealing several faint red marks on them.

She glanced down, her face flushed again, and she quickly pulled the blanket up to wrap herself up tightly.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on her slightly damp eyelashes. She couldn't quite describe her feelings, only that something seemed to be quietly melting in her chest.

Lin Mu stood in the courtyard, the sun warming him, the warmth spreading from his shoulders to his feet.

He stood in the courtyard, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his skin, and the gloom in his heart brought by the tree demon's thorns vanished.

Perhaps it was because Qin Yumo's level was so much lower than his, giving him an inherent sense of suppression, that made the little brother's performance last night quite outstanding.

Not only was he unharmed, but his fighting power also increased dramatically, completely melting away the thin, indistinct curtain. He felt refreshed and invigorated, as if he had been recharged.

He stretched, his joints cracking twice, and he felt completely relaxed, even the sunlight seemed extra warm.

Madam Qin was already waiting in the courtyard. When she saw him come out, she greeted him with a smile, carrying a bowl of hot porridge and a small dish of side dishes: "Are you hungry? Come and eat." Her tone was as warm as if she were entertaining her own son.

Her eyes were full of eagerness, and she kept saying "Hurry up and eat it while it's hot," while her hands were busy setting out chopsticks and pulling out chairs, as if she wanted to feed him herself.

Chapter 212 Black Market Transactions

Lin Mu understood that people are like that; they admire the strong and powerful. Only by becoming strong themselves can they live a good life; they cannot wait for others to give them handouts.

Grandpa Qin also came out of the house, holding a teacup in his hand. He sat on the stone bench in the courtyard, glanced at Lin Mu, nodded, and asked with a hint of cautious probing in his tone, "Lin Mu, what level are you now? That master in plain clothes, and the one who writes poetry... you're one of them, right?"

Lin Mu sat down on the stone bench, took the porridge handed to him by Madam Qin, took a sip, and found that the temperature was just right, the rice grains were soft and cooked to perfection.

He put down his bowl, glanced at Old Master Qin, and said casually, "I'm level 36 now, that's all me. But I like to keep a low profile and don't want people to know."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Just keep my whereabouts a secret."

Old Master Qin loosened his grip on the teacup, his heart churning. He recalled the time of their marriage; this young man was indeed only level one, and hadn't even learned healing magic. How long had it been? Less than half a year and he was already level 36.

He was a man of great talent in plain clothes, and he was also the one who wrote those two poems that even His Majesty praised.

Old Master Qin recalled how he had risen through the ranks of the Imperial Guard to become a squad leader, a rise so smooth that it seemed unreal to him.

He initially thought it was his own achievement, but upon closer reflection, he realized that everything from the selection of the squad leader to the distribution of supplies seemed to have been paved for him by someone behind the scenes.

Then there's Yu Mo, a subordinate, whose treatment is even better than that of a regular Jinwu Guard, making many people envious.

He initially thought it was luck, but later he gradually realized its significance.

And Chunxing, that girl with the quick tongue, said that Commander Yang once squatted on the ground to help Lin Mu pick up sesame cakes.

A demon-sealing commander squatting on the street picking up pancakes for a young man—this wasn't just politeness, it was clearly respect.

This also explains that Lin Mu, who came out of the secret passage alone, is his son-in-law.

As Old Master Qin pondered these thoughts, he held his teacup without drinking for a long time, as if he wanted to put those thoughts into the bowl as well, let them cool down, and then swallow them.

After a moment of silence, he changed the subject to another matter: "By the way, you probably don't know yet, but things have been quite unsettled in Fengmo these past few days. For some reason, the monsters here have rioted. Several Imperial Guards have died, and many miners have been injured. I heard that things are also chaotic at the Overlord's Hall; the monsters have somehow all swarmed together and almost blocked the entrance."

Lin Mu listened without saying a word, simply holding the bowl of porridge and sipping it slowly, lost in thought.

Old Master Qin glanced at him and said, "Commander Yang has been extremely busy these past few days, constantly investigating. I heard it's because the tree demon died."

He shook his head after speaking, "I don't know if it's true or not. This tree demon has been around for so many years, who can kill it? But thankfully, the imperial court's efforts to strengthen the seal have never stopped, so there hasn't been any major chaos in the mining area. The monster riots come and go quickly. I just received the news this morning, and it's not so serious now."

Lin Mu nodded, but didn't reply, and lowered his head to drink his porridge.

Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, Old Master Qin stopped asking and lowered his head to drink his tea.

Madam Qin stood aside, smiling without saying a word, then turned around and went back to the kitchen to bring out a plate of pickled vegetables.

Qin Yumo hasn't come out yet. She was up until midnight last night, and Lin Mu knows she won't be able to get up anytime soon.

After finishing his meal, Lin Mu put down his bowl and asked casually, "Do you know the Lin family of the Demon Sealing Sect?"

Old Master Qin paused, glancing at Lin Mu as if surprised by his question. After a moment of silence, he said, "I know. The Fengmo Lin family made their fortune using the Void Gathering Spirit Pearl."

He put down his teacup, as if recalling something. "That thing isn't something anyone can make. It's said to be a craft passed down from the Lin family ancestors. The empty spirit-gathering pearls they make are low-cost, and once filled with experience, they're just as useful as those from the manor's furnace. The Lin family used to sell them to outsiders, but it's said that the imperial court intervened, and the Lin family stopped. I heard that they now only distribute them to family members, and outsiders basically can't get them."

Old Master Qin glanced at him, as if he had guessed something: "You want to buy out all the Spirit Gathering Pearls?"

Lin Mu did not deny it. Old Master Qin thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "If you really want to get it, you can't buy it through official channels. But it occasionally circulates on the black market. I heard there's a lame old man who sells secondhand goods in an alley on West Street. He can sometimes find things that you can't get elsewhere. If you go there, don't say I told you."

Lin Mu nodded, memorized the words "the lame old man from West Street," and didn't ask any further questions.

Old Master Qin didn't bring up the matter again, and lowered his head to drink his tea, as if those few words were just casual remarks.

After finishing his porridge, Lin Mu put down the bowl, stood up, said he was going out for a bit, and headed towards the west street of Fengmo City.

The West Street of Fengmo City is narrower than the main street, and the shop doors on both sides are much older.

Lin Mu paused at the street corner, glanced at the signs on both sides, and, not seeing any obvious target, slowly walked along the street.

He stopped in front of a grocery store with a faded old cloth sign hanging on it. The door was half-closed and the inside was dimly lit, as if it hadn't been open for business properly for a long time.

He didn't rush in. He stood at the door for a while, as if confirming that this was the place he was looking for, before pushing the door open and going inside.

The room was filled with old goods: ironware, pottery jars, and dusty old books, scattered haphazardly. Behind the counter sat a lame old man, head down, wiping an old copper kettle with a rag. He didn't look up when he heard the door open.

Lin Mu stood in the shop for a while, rummaged through a few secondhand items, then walked to the counter and said in a low voice, "I heard you have things here that can't be found elsewhere."

The lame old man didn't stop moving, as if he hadn't heard.

Lin Mu didn't urge him, but stood there waiting, as if he had made up his mind to wait for him to speak.

After a while, the old man put down the copper kettle, raised his eyelids to look at him, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Do you have an intermediary?"

Lin Mu shook his head: "No, it's just that I have a past relationship with Lin Hao from the Lin family. He gave me some Spirit Gathering Pearls before, and I've used them all up. Every time I wanted to buy some from him, he wouldn't accept money. I felt bad about always owing him a favor, so I found a way to buy some myself."

The old man stared at him for a while, then asked again, "Do you have any proof?"

Lin Mu took out the Spirit Gathering Pearl given to him by the young master of the Lin family from his Qiankun bag and placed it on the counter.

The old man picked it up, examined it from all angles, and held it up to the light for a moment before putting it down. As if confirming that it was indeed from the Lin family and that the man before him was reliable, he asked, "How many do you want?"

Lin Mu said, "1500 million experience points."

The old man didn't speak. He lowered his head and fiddled with the abacus for a while. After the abacus beads clattered for a while, he looked up and said, "150 beads with 10 experience points each, that'll cost 50 gold coins in total. A deposit of 2000 is required. Come back in two days to collect it."

According to Lin Hao, the cost of 1500 million experience points is only 30 gold coins, or even less. However, Lin Mu knew that people would definitely make a profit when selling to the public, so he did not haggle and took out 2000 gold coins from his Qiankun bag and placed them on the counter.

Lin Mu didn't linger any longer, turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Two days later, on Tucheng West Street.

The lame old man sat behind the counter. He didn't look up when he heard the door open, as if he didn't need to confirm who it was.

Lin Mu stopped in front of the counter and placed a Qiankun bag containing the final payment on the counter.

The old man then put down his work, checked the Qiankun bag, and pushed open the wooden box. Inside were 150 empty spirit-gathering beads neatly arranged, their milky white light gleaming faintly in the dim shop.

Lin Mu took them over and checked them. Finding no problems, he put them one by one into his Qiankun bag.

After leaving the gate, I turned a few corners to make sure no one was following me, and then returned to the courtyard.

Meanwhile, these two days happen to be the days when Grandpa Qin and Qin Yumo take their turn to rest.

Qin Yumo behaved like a virtuous wife and loving mother, serving tea and water, making beds and folding blankets, doing laundry and cooking, doing everything with such efficiency that she seemed like a completely different person.

Chapter 213 The Divine Water of Trading

She didn't utter a single complaint about the violent driving that night, and even served Lin Mu comfortably for the next few nights, at most saying, "Go easy."

But every time she saw the skeletons and mythical beasts soaking in the big wooden tub, her eyes always held a hint of undisguised envy.

Lin Mu knew how important the cultivation of skeletons was for a Taoist priest.

When she serves Lin Mu rice, she asks him if it's enough; when she makes him tea, she asks him if it's too hot; when he leaves, she stands at the door to see him off; and when he comes back, she hands him a damp cloth to wipe his face.

Sometimes, when Lin Mu watched her bustling around, he felt it was all a little unreal, yet he also felt that it wasn't so bad.

Chunxing hasn't been going out to sell sesame cakes these past few days.

To be honest, the family no longer relies on selling pancakes for a living, but she and Madam Qin always feel that they can't be idle and they feel uneasy if they don't do something.

Lin Mu knew that this was a consequence of the family's dramatic changes; they hadn't fully relaxed yet.

He also knew that all of this was largely because he had taken the teleportation ring.

If that incident hadn't happened, the Qin family wouldn't have been raided, Old Master Qin wouldn't have been exiled, Qin Yumo wouldn't have gone to the Fengmo mining area to mine, and Chunxing wouldn't have been living in a drafty, dilapidated house selling pancakes with Madam Qin.

He didn't think he had done anything wrong; it was just that life is unpredictable and this was their fate.

But Qin Yumo has been quite sensible these past few days, behaving like a well-behaved little wife, so Lin Mu decided to give her something.

That afternoon, the sun was shining warmly. Qin Yumo was sitting in the yard shelling beans when Lin Mu moved a chair over and sat down next to her. Leaning back, he asked casually, "What level are you now? Have you summoned any skeletons yet?"

Qin Yumo paused in her bean-making, her voice low: "I've started practicing, but I haven't found a move yet."

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow, leaned back in his chair, and said with a hint of teasing, "Oh? Why don't you recruit them? Didn't you say back then, 'With my talent, I'll be able to summon skeletons next year? You should understand what that means.'"

He repeated the original quote verbatim, his tone clearly sarcastic.

Qin Yumo paused for a moment, then lowered her head and continued peeling beans.

She understood the meaning behind Lin Mu's words, but she had no right to refute or lash out.

The arrogance of the past has long been worn away by the dust and dirt of the Sealed Demon Mine, leaving only silence.

She was silent for a moment, then spoke calmly, as if stating something insignificant: "The sacred water my father prepared for me was all taken away when our house was ransacked. Without the sacred water, the skeletons I raise are too weak, and summoning them is useless. I'm not reconciled."