Villains: Starting with the Landlady

"Brother Ling, we...we've only just met, it's all too fast..."

"Quickly?" Ling Yun blinked. "I'll book another guest room for you, and that's quick?"

Huang Rong blushed instantly, stood up abruptly, but was pulled back down to sit by Ling Yun.

Just as she was about to explode, Ling Yun gently released her small hand: "Okay, I'm not joking anymore. I just think you're a very interesting person, and I hope we can become good friends."

friend?

Looking at Ling Yun's handsome face with his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, Huang Rong seemed lost in thought and subconsciously turned her face away.

"Waiter, please get me two superior rooms, and also, please fetch a bucket of hot water for this young lady!"

"okay!"

While the waiter was boiling water, Lingyun bought her several long dresses so she could change into them after her bath.

After returning, Lingyun and Huang Rong went to the second floor. Their rooms were next to each other, but Lingyun, being a gentleman, did not go into her room.

However, while Huang Rong was taking a bath, Ling Yun used his X-ray vision to get a good look at her.

With the current ability to see through walls, one can clearly see what's inside. After looking through it, Ling Yun clicked his tongue and thought, "She's still just a young girl; she's so naive."

The next morning, when Huang Rong, having washed away her makeup, stepped out of her room and met Ling Yun, Ling Yun carefully looked her up and down and nodded: "It seems I wasn't wrong, she is indeed a beautiful young girl."

Brother Ling, you are such a good person... Huang Rong looked into his eyes and made a decision in her heart.

"Rongmei, come with me to the woods?" Lingyun remembered that there was still a [chopping wood] questline that hadn't been triggered yet, and wanted to go see if he could encounter some unexpected events.

"Brother Ling, why don't you go first, and I'll come find you later, okay?"

"alright."

Seeing that Huang Rong seemed to have something to do, Ling Yun went to the woods alone first.

Early in the morning, many woodcutters had already gone up the mountain to chop firewood. Lingyun looked around and soon spotted a man whose behavior and appearance were very similar to the woodcutter in the game. He quickly ran over to him.

"Uncle, may I ask you for advice on chopping wood?"

The middle-aged woodcutter was taken aback, then turned around and stared at Ling Yun with a surprised look: "Isn't this the young warrior who killed the black bear? Why are you thinking of learning woodcutting from me?"

"I think chopping wood is not just ordinary physical labor, but also requires the combination of strength and energy. Perhaps I can improve my martial arts skills through chopping wood."

The middle-aged woodcutter praised Lingyun's words and then taught him some wood-chopping techniques step by step. In the end, he even gave him his rusty wood-chopping knife.

Ling Yun took the wood-chopping knife, weighed it in his hand, and immediately realized that it was another quest item.

He stood beside a giant tree, so large that he couldn't encircle it by himself; he estimated that the firewood he cut down would be enough for a family to use for a long time.

Ling Yun held his breath and concentrated, holding the knife in one hand, slightly gathering his strength, and directly unleashed the Meteor Slash!

Under the regulation of the Qi cultivation technique, he combined his Qi and strength into one, and without external interference, this strike was perfect.

The middle-aged woodcutter standing nearby, completely unaware of Ling Yun's next move, assumed he was a little nervous and said with a smile, "Young brother, chopping wood is a basic skill, but it's not something you can master in a day. Just like martial arts, it requires daily practice..."

Before he could finish speaking, the large tree slowly toppled over as the blade flashed!

"Uncle, what did you say?"

Ling Yun felt a certain point in his mind become clearer, and he realized that he could probably greatly reduce the charging time if he wanted to unleash a perfect meteor slash in the future.

However, the consumption was also significant. The Qi Cultivation Technique provided him with internal energy, similar to internal cultivation techniques, and this attack directly consumed about one-third of his internal energy. He transformed the Meteor Slash, which could originally be used for ranged attacks, into a martial art that could also be used for close combat. Even the legendary three-foot qi wall could now be touched by him.

"Uh, that..." The middle-aged woodcutter had never seen anything like this before. He ran to the giant tree and observed it carefully for a moment before he realized that there was nothing wrong with the tree itself, but that it had simply been cut down by Ling Yun with a single stroke!

"Young man, you possess superhuman strength! Wait, this knife..."

He grabbed the wood-chopping knife from Ling Yun's hand and examined it closely. He was certain that it was his own rusty wood-chopping knife.

"This is weird! No matter how strong you are, this kind of cleaver will break!"

Ling Yun remained silent. He had secretly enchanted the knife with the "toughness" attribute, which would have been a heavy burden for Mo Bai, but the enchantment made all the difference.

"Young man, you... sigh, if I let you work freely, you'd probably cut down all the trees on this mountain by yourself in no time. I'm really teaching my apprentice while starving myself! Hahaha!"

The middle-aged woodcutter smiled and patted Lingyun on the shoulder, but Lingyun acted very modestly, showing no arrogance whatsoever: "Uncle, you can have all the firewood from this tree, I don't need it."

"Alright then, young brother, I don't have anything good, except for the [Eighteen Styles of the Woodcutter's Axe] that I learned while chopping wood. I'll teach it to you!"

After saying that, he demonstrated his sword technique in front of Ling Yun. With the support of Ling Yun's now partially mastered Meteorite Sword Technique, this somewhat basic Eighteen Forms of the Woodcutter's Knife was not enough, but it still deepened Ling Yun's understanding of sword techniques.

"Did you understand, young man?"

Ling Yun nodded, and just as he was demonstrating his swordsmanship, earning high praise from the middle-aged woodcutter, a large, fat monk who had been watching him for a long time walked over.

"Amitabha Buddha, benefactor, you have a karmic connection with Buddha!"

Chapter 219 Anecdotes of the Dilapidated Temple

The dignified-looking monk was none other than Master Huilun, who had come from Shaolin Temple to search for outstanding disciples throughout the Central Plains.

After hearing this, Ling Yun subconsciously took a step back. This Buddhism, relying on the phrase "fate," has deceived countless people!

“Master, I feel that I have nothing to do with Buddhism.”

"Not at all. I saw your skill in chopping down the tree just now. You are definitely a Vajra reincarnation with a deep connection to Buddhism!"

"Alright, it seems this monk isn't going to let me off the hook," Ling Yun replied decisively. "No, no, no, Master, I'm the kind of person who can't live without alcohol and partyes every night. If I went to your temple, I definitely wouldn't be able to stay there!"

Huilun smiled slightly: "Benefactor, you may not know this, but I am an elder of the Arhat Hall of Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, named Huilun. The abbot sent me down the mountain to find a destined person to follow me back to Shaolin to cultivate martial arts."

Before Ling Yun could refute, he continued, "Moreover, as a lay disciple, as long as you do not break the precepts within our Shaolin Temple, you can return to your former life after a year when you leave the mountain."

"Does your Shaolin Temple do charity? What's the point?" Ling Yun raised an eyebrow slightly.

“The Buddha said, it cannot be spoken, it cannot be spoken.” Huilun maintained the same smile and demeanor.

"Forget it, Grand Master, I'm used to being carefree. If you make me a monk for a year, I'll go crazy. But I'll still visit your Shaolin Temple sometime in the future."

"Why don't you set off with me now, benefactor?"

"Haha, what a pity that such a beautiful day is not meant to be. It's just that I, Ling, am not destined to have it."

After saying that, he ran straight back to Niujia Village and stopped caring about Huilun's matter.

After Lingyun left, the middle-aged woodcutter shamelessly asked, "Um, Master Huilun, do you think I have an affinity with Buddhism?"

Huilun chanted a Buddhist mantra and clasped his hands together, saying, "If you sincerely burn incense and worship Buddha, you will surely be able to ascend to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss one day..."

After returning to the village, Ling Yun first went to the dilapidated temple and then to the market, but he couldn't find Huang Rong anywhere after searching for a long time. Just as he was wondering about this, the innkeeper's waiter ran over.

"Young Master Ling, the girl you're with wants you to go to the riverbank to find her!"

Upon hearing this, Ling Yun went directly to the riverbank, where he saw a girl in a yellow dress sitting quietly in a daze.

"Brother Ling!" The girl rushed over to him as soon as she saw him.

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When Ling Yun woke up, he found a note on his clothes.

"Brother Ling, you are the kindest person to me all these years, besides my father. I'm going back to find my father now. If fate allows, we'll meet again by the river in Niujia Village. Don't worry about me."

Ling Yun closed the note and sighed.

Huang Rong actually left ahead of time... Ling Yun sighed silently. He had originally planned to spend these few days in Niujia Village cultivating his relationship with her more.

The girl's early departure left Ling Yun distracted. He spent the rest of the time fishing by the river. The other fishermen were astonished to see him catching one golden fish after another, and they quickly spent a lot of money to buy his fish and spots, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't catch anything.

That evening, Ling Yun drank some wine alone and then went to the dilapidated temple.

The accelerated pace of the plot caught him off guard; perhaps the events surrounding the dilapidated temple had also been brought forward.

Sure enough, as he stepped into the dilapidated temple, he heard several men talking quietly in a corner.

"Fifth Master, today's events have been enough to give us brothers a good time for a while!"

"Hahaha, of course!" The man known as the Fifth Master was also very excited. "Here, I'll take 100 taels, and you can each have half of the remaining 40 taels!"

"Thank you, Fifth Master!"

As the group was happily dividing the silver, little did they know that a dark shadow had appeared behind them.

"Who!" The Fifth Master was still alert and was about to ask, but the difference in strength was too great. He was instantly killed by Ling Yun, who was in a bad mood, and his body was thrown into the space.

The other two petty thieves were also terrified and tried to run away, but Ling Yun killed them one by one with a single stroke.

Ling Yun put the corpses of the victims, along with the stolen silver, into his ring. This way, there would be no evidence, and no one would know what had happened.

Including the money from selling fish today, Ling Yun still had more than 300 taels of silver left, which would prevent him from being too strapped for cash when traveling the world in the future.

The next morning, when Ling Yun woke up, he found that Master Huilun of Shaolin Temple was still searching for his destined person, and he did find a few.

Upon seeing Ling Yun, Hui Lun immediately tried to approach, but Ling Yun ran away, leaving the great monk sighing for quite some time.

Perhaps all the good catches had been caught. Lingyun squatted by the river all afternoon, and the sun was almost setting, but he caught nothing but some ordinary fish and shrimp.

Ling Yun also gave up on this plan. Since there was nothing left to loot in the beginner village, he might as well leave the village early tomorrow morning and take his first step into the world of martial arts.

When he returned to the village, he suddenly saw two figures run into the dilapidated temple one after the other, making some clattering sounds.

Ling Yun immediately ran over and saw a cripple holding a sharp blade, interrogating the seriously injured man.

"Chief镖林, if you hand over that treasure, I can release you and your son, hmm?"

"Mu Gaofeng, I don't know what you want..."

"Haha, Chief Escort Lin, don't pretend with me. I don't know. Don't you know about the treasures passed down from your ancestors?"

"Mu Gaofeng, you've already killed my wife. Do you think I would tell you even if I knew?"

"Hehe, even if Chief Escort Lin doesn't think about himself, he should at least think about your only son, hahaha!"

Just as the short man was about to provoke Lin Zhennan with words, Ling Yun kicked the already flimsy wooden door, knocking the short man to the ground.

"Who dares to touch your grandfather!"

Mu Gaofeng got up in a fit of rage, only to see two young men standing at the door.

One of them was tall and handsome, with a sword at his waist, exuding an indescribable heroic and domineering aura. The other was seven feet tall, with a long face, sword-like eyebrows, and thin lips, dressed in a yellow robe, giving him the air of a young swordsman.

"Senior Mu, I am Linghu Chong, a disciple of Yue Buqun, the Gentleman Sword. I extend my greetings to you on behalf of my master!"

The young man in the yellow robe spoke, and Mu Gaofeng's expression changed upon hearing it. He then chuckled, "So you're a esteemed disciple of the Huashan Sect. I'm so sorry for not greeting you sooner! I wonder how your master's health has been lately?"

"My master is in very good health; he's just drinking tea in the village!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Gaofeng lost all his sharpness and looked at Ling Yun: "So you're also from the Huashan Sect?"

Linghu Chong looked at Ling Yun with great interest. He had just seen Mu Gaofeng and Lin Zhennan clearly, so he chased after them, but he didn't expect this unfamiliar young man to beat him to it.

He greatly admired such chivalrous individuals.

"That's right, I'll be a member of the Huashan Sect sooner or later."

Ling Yun said something that could easily be misinterpreted, but Mu Gaofeng clearly didn't think it through. He glanced at Lin Zhennan with some reluctance, and finally cupped his hands in a gesture of respect: "Then I wish Sect Leader Yue great success in his divine skills. I'll be leaving now!"

Linghu Chong made way for him, and Mu Gaofeng dashed away, disappearing from sight.

After Linghu Chong saw him leave, he breathed a sigh of relief and patted Ling Yun on the shoulder: "Little brother, you've got guts! My master hasn't arrived yet. If this dwarf finds out I was bluffing, we'll both be done for today!"

Ling Yun had a good impression of the forthright Linghu Chong, but right now, Lin Zhennan was the most important person.

The two ran up to Lin Zhennan and checked his injuries.

"No need to look anymore, I'm already dying..."

"Senior Lin, please hold on! Lin Pingzhi has been rescued by my master. I'll take you there now!"

Lin Zhennan coughed up a mouthful of blood: "Please...please tell my child that the things in the cellar of the old house in Xiangyang Lane, Fuzhou, are...the heirlooms of my Lin family. They must...must be kept safe. But...but my great-grandfather Yuantu left a will that none of my descendants should look at them, otherwise there will be endless trouble. He must...he must remember this well."

After saying this, Lin Zhennan died of his breath!

"Senior Lin!" Linghu Chong felt a pang of pity, while Ling Yun patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Linghu, let's go find your master first!"

Chapter 220 Huashan Sect

Just as the two finished burying Lin Zhennan's body, they heard a strong voice coming from behind them.