Yao Qing dragged her bloodied sister, Yao Yuanhui, as they struggled to run through the forest.
The sounds of dog barking ca from behind them intermittently, not too distant yet not drawing any closer, as though they were toying with the two.
"Brother...I...can’t run... anymore..." Although Yao Yuanhui also practiced martial arts on regular days, she was ultimately a bit delicate and being a woman, her physical strength wasn’t up to par. Having run for over an hour, she was already exerting herself to the limit.
Both of them had wounds all over their bodies from being mauled by hunting dogs, limbs and hands a ss of blood and flesh. Even though they had applied styptic powder, their wounds continued to bleed non-stop.
"Even if you can’t run, you must!" Yao Qing said anxiously, pulling his sister along as they stumbled forward.
After turning at a small creek, they ran wildly downstream, tripping and falling. The pebbles on the ground scraped their knees and shins raw, the pain unbearable.
After running for several minutes, both of them suddenly paused, slowed down their steps, and looked ahead.
They saw a middle-aged man sitting upright on a large green stone by the stream grassland.
This man had white in his eyebrows and wore a black Taoist robe, holding a thin and long fishing rod in his hand, fishing with his eyes closed.
And sitting there as if he was dead, motionless.
"Could this person also be here to intercept us?!"
Now a jittery Yao Qing, having been blocked along the way, beca suspicious of anyone he encountered, doubting if they were powerful figures sent to kill them.
Seeing this odd person in the wilderness, sitting by the stream fishing—where beasts and venomous insects were rampant—a regular person would at most be there to gather herbs or chop firewood. True anglers would only fish in the regulated safety of a large lake or riverside, not a place like this.
Anyone who could fish here was unlikely to be an ordinary person.
With this thought, Yao Qing’s heart sank.
"Could it be yet another person co to capture us?"
Yao Yuanhui also looked terrified.
"Let’s bypass him."
She could hear the faint sound of barking dogs from behind, indicating the pursuers were catching up again.
"Two young friends."
As they were speaking, they saw the Taoist slowly rise from the green stone and casually place the fishing rod aside.
"You look quite beleaguered, have you encountered any ferocious beasts or venomous insects?" The Taoist smiled, and although his smile appeared gentle, it sohow emitted an overwhelming sense of ferocity, like standing beside a wild beast ready to pounce at any mont.
"Taoist Priest..." Yao Qing kept his guard up, "are you here to fish for fish, or to ’fish’ for people?" He made a play on words.
"Naturally, I’m here to ’fish’ for both people and fish."
The middle-aged Taoist smiled faintly, his reply surprisingly direct.
He was Lin Xin, who had been staying in the wilderness for several days.
At this mont, Lin Xin’s gaze fell on the young girl, Yao Yuanhui, beside Yao Qing.
"I have a predestined connection with this young lady, and I’ve co to take sothing from her. If you have any requests, you may use this as an exchange, and ask this poor Taoist to take care of it for you."
The two shuddered slightly. Knowing their pitiful state, yet still not fearing to invite trouble, the other party made such a peculiar request.
"Could we have encountered bandits?" Yao Qing’s heart tightened, but he quickly asked.
"May I know what Taoist Priest wishes to take from my sister?"
"A little gate like this."
Lin Xin took out a small silver gate from his sleeve, only the size of a palm, dainty and exquisite.
"Ah!"
Yao Yuanhui exclaid in shock.
"You have this thing on you?"
Yao Qing urgently asked.
"Yes... I have it, I found one in the grass along the way.... I thought it was a toy, but then..." Yao Yuanhui was also surprised and perplexed at this revelation. She quickly removed her backpack, and from it, she took out a silver gate exactly like the other one, with the figure of a cyclops carved on its fra, giving it an exotic appearance.
"May I know if I hand this object to you, can you help us escape the pursuers behind us?"
Yao Yuanhui, realizing the significance of the object, guessed that it likely belonged to the man before her and recalling the past marvels associated with it, she understood this was an opportunity.
Lin Xin smiled.
"Of course, I can."
The higher one’s cultivation beca, the more they valued the karma and fate in the unseen world.
To obtain sothing, one must inevitably give sothing in return; he had always tried to uphold this principle to avoid betraying his conscience.
Upon hearing these words, the siblings’ tensions eased slightly.
Yao Yuanhui promptly tossed the little gate toward Lin Xin.
Clap.
Lin Xin caught it, looking slightly surprised.
They had given it to him just like that? Weren’t they afraid he would simply walk away after receiving it?
Glancing at the siblings again, they both looked serious, clearly having not even considered such a possibility.
These two novices.
Lin Xin shook his head with a smile.
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll take the item and just leave?"
He asked directly.
"Uhm..."
Only then did the siblings rember this could happen, and their expressions soured.
But Yao Yuanhui stubbornly insisted.
"We believe the Taoist Priest isn’t that kind of person!"
Even she didn’t quite believe what she was saying.
Lin Xin was at a loss for words.
Suddenly, a frantic barking ca from behind them.
Several n in strong attire, with black hunting dogs, burst out from the woods, their faces wearing smirks.
"Running? Why aren’t you running now? I want to see where on earth you can run to!"
The leader, with stripes of muscle across his face and a Golden Blade in one hand, a dog leash in the other, had a sinister look in his eyes.
"Golden Blade Bear Guo Jing!"
Yao Qing recognized the man’s identity at a glance, shockingly the sa villain who had killed his own mother and maid that night.
His eyes reddened instantly, his fists clenched tightly, and if it weren’t for his sister by his side, he would have dared to fight this man to the death on his own.
"Oh? You still dare to glower at ? If there’s anyone to bla, it’s you for seeing my secret that night!" Guo Jing, the Golden Blade Bear, laughed sinisterly. "Everyone who knew my secret of having three testicles is already dead!"
Lin Xin standing aside imdiately had a strange expression, struggling to hold back his laughter.
Guo Jing...
This guy is also called Guo Jing... and with three testicles...
It was his first ti encountering such a situation, and he suddenly felt a bit of affection for the man.
He felt sowhat reluctant to make a move.
"Attack! Capture the woman alive! Kill all the rest!"
Guo Jing glanced at Lin Xin, disregarded him, and ignoring him entirely, advanced with a group of n straight towards Yao Qing and his sister with a Golden Hoop Blade in hand.
"Taoist Priest!"
The siblings Yao Qing had long been running out of strength, and seeing this, they were terrified and shouted in alarm.
Lin Xin smiled.
He casually plucked a green leafy twig and tossed it forward.
Shoop!
The twig flew out like lightning, reaching the group led by the Golden Blade Bear in an instant.
The Golden Blade Bear was startled, having not anticipated the speed, hurriedly raised his blade to block.
Thud!
In that mont, the twig abruptly disintegrated and burst apart, turning into dozens of grey lights that shot out and blood into a slowly unfolding beautiful flower in midair.
Shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop!
As the flower blood instantly, the n led by the Golden Blade Bear were covered in blood, standing on the spot, each pierced with dozens of wounds on average.
The most robust Golden Blade Bear was struck the most, his body like a sieve, perforated with seventy to eighty blood holes.
The whole man halted in mid-step, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Such... such a powerful hidden weapon..."
He uttered these last words and then collapsed backward onto the ground.
The rest, over a dozen n, along with the hunting dogs, also fell without a single grunt, all dead in an instant, their bodies sprawling in disarray.
The sanguine blood and the sll of rust imdiately perated the entire grassland.
Yao Yuanhui and Yao Qing were both pale-faced.
Looking at the bodies scattered on the ground, both lost the courage to even look up at Lin Xin again.
Before encountering this Taoist, they had assud he was a just and impartial high-ranking figure on the Righteous Path.
Now, witnessing the corpse-littered ground and the previously unseen and bloodily efficient hidden weapon flower, they felt a cold chill rise within them.
’Could it be that they had escaped the wolf’s den only to et a hungry tiger?’
Yao Qing trembled inside. Though inexperienced in Jianghu matters, his eyesight was still sharp.
That earlier display of skill with hidden weapons, he feared, was unheard of in Jianghu.
"Young friends, since the exchange is over, I shall take my leave," said Lin Xin, planning to depart.
Having obtained the Misty Portal here and examining it, he found it has been used only once. His own Misty Portal, due to a fixed channel, couldn’t be used.
This Misty Portal, having two uses left, hinted at the possibility of a new world’s boundary stone.
Pleased with his discovery, he did not notice that his actions had been excessively ruthless, completely out of character for an orthodox monk.
At this point, Yao Qing couldn’t wait for him to leave.
As Lin Xin turned to go, his foot just raised off the ground.
"Taoist Priest, please wait!"
Suddenly, Yao Yuanhui cried out.
"Hmm?"
Lin Xin turned around and saw Yao Yuanhui kneeling before him.
"Please, Taoist Priest, have rcy and save my father and the others."
Yao Yuanhui’s voice was filled with desperation, recalling the horror that had unfolded at the Yao residence that night.
"Save soone?"
Lin Xin could now vaguely sense traces of causality and fate.
Thinking back, it was incredible that a Misty Portal could be picked up from the roadside bushes. This fortune was unprecedented.
He focused again on the girl.
He suddenly sensed a thick, indescribable aura enveloping her.
"Could it be that this woman is the current child of fate?"
He speculated to himself.
The child of fate, the major trends of the world, will always have certain nodes. These nodes can shift the tides of circumstances and propel the grand sche forward, whether these shifts are good or evil, righteous or wicked.
If these nodes fall upon individuals, they beco what’s known as the children of fate.
Entwined with various karmic ties, they are unlikely to die before completing their destined roles because, as nodes, they are caught and moved by the power of the grand trend.
To shake them is to shake the very balance of the world; pulling one strand can move the whole. There would undoubtedly be a backlash from the grand trend.
This is the so-called child of fate.
Now, this intangible force, Lin Xin could already faintly perceive it.
Upon closer inspection, he was certain.
"Indeed, the child of fate. But whether she’s the only one remains to be seen."
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