Chapter 106: 94

Chapter 94 Crab Meat Lion Head (b)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou                                

It did not take long for them to discover the reason for the gloom suspended over the Lin Clan.

Merchants of Qing Shan City had suddenly suspended their businesses with the Lin Clan. The reason they gave was that another agent had offered the same product as the Lin at a cheaper price. The Lins have no choice but to lower their price as well, but when they did, their mysterious rival cut their prices even more.

Patriarch Lin had tried to meet with this person to clear the air. After all, everyone was here to do business, surely there was no need to play such childish games? Moreover, by cutting prices like this, the other part was also going to hurt their bottom line too.

Unexpectedly, the mysterious rival refused to even meet with Patriarch Lin, but sent a message saying: ‘Whatever price the Lin Clan set, ours will always be lower’.

Of course, the Lin Clan tried to resist against this unfairness, but the other side has powerful Core Condensation [1] Masters protecting them. In the end, there was nothing the Lin Clan could do, but try to find ways around the problem.

Hence the miserable atmosphere over the estate.

“What kind of coincidence is this?!” Feng Luo said. “For this to happen the moment Xue Qingge storms off in a huff. That woman must have done something. Humph, though she portrays herself as a noble and indifferent aristocrat, her heart is too petty for words.”

Shiyu said, “We have two choices at this point. Strike back or let things develop as it is. In my opinion, we might as well let the drama play out till the end.”

Lin Fan eyed her for a moment, then said, “I agree, let the play continue.”

Feng Luo, who was still bubbling with indignation, suddenly paused and declared, “You two sure know how to take advantage of a bad situation, ah!”

Wen Xian, “???” Eh? What’s going on? What are you talking about?

For the next few days, Shiyu continued to look after Grandpa and practice her Culinary Cultivation. Lin Fan and Feng Luo too continued to focus on their Cultivation. Now and then, the group of young people would take a break and explore the interesting parts of Qing Shan City. They acted as though the financial situation of the Lin Clan had nothing to do with them.

Meanwhile, the elders of the Lin Clan were scrambling to find a solution to their problem. No matter what they did, no matter how low they set their prices, the rival continued to undercut them. The Lin Clan was losing money every day and eventually, even their allies began to drift away.

The reason for this sudden distancing was not financial alone.

Rumours that the Lin Clan had offended some bigshot began to circulate within the little city. Not only that, this bigshot had vowed to destroy anyone who dared to associate themselves with the Lin Clan. This was the real reason why the merchants began pulling away. In fact, they were not the only ones. People who had once been close associates of the Lin Clan began to distance themselves.

Even within the clan itself, some people chose to flee the sinking ship that was the Lin Clan. Teachers, trainers, even relatives split off from the Lin Clan to establish their own Cultivation Sect.

Privately, Lin Fan sneered at these people.

In fact, the ones spreading the bigshot rumour was he, Feng Luo and Shiyu. [2] Taking a page out of Grand Elder Feng’s tactic, they sought to use this opportunity, kindly provided by Xue Qingge by the way, to weed out disloyal people from the Lin Clan.

[2] After all, it is only in times of trouble that you truly know who your friends are.

His only regret was causing trouble for his poor father. Patriarch Lin seemed to have aged 10 years overnight. Not only were they facing financial problems, of their six Lin Clan Elders, half had also left, taking with them their followers and descendants. Surprisingly though, Grand Elder Lin had chosen to stick with the Lin Clan. Though Lin Zhan and the Grand Elder had worked together for years for the greater good of the clan, they never did seemed to get along as far as Lin Fan could remember [3].

“It’s about time,” said Shiyu as she observed the half-empty Lin Estate. The people here still tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy by training and Cultivating as usual, but the atmosphere of despair shadowed their heavy footsteps.

“En, I shall speak to father tonight.”

The financial issue did not bother this group of young people since they already planned to move the family into Spiritual Beast Mountain Range. In fact, moving the family under such a chaotic cover was perfect. [4] They might even have to thank Xue Qingge later.

After all, if a perfectly fine and financially stable Lin Clan were to suddenly pull up their roots and move out of Qing Shan City, wouldn’t it raise a few eyebrows?

However, it would not be surprising if a clan facing financial ruin and possible destruction from a despotic bigshot, were to suddenly move away under a cloud of disgrace. 

As for the rumours?

Well, they were created to root out future trouble makers. The ambitious and the unfaithful would be the first to abandon a failing family. Coincidentally, they would also be the first to exploit the hidden resources within Spiritual Beast Mountain Range. Rather than bringing these hidden dangers with them, it’s better to use rumours to encourage these rats to abandon ship.

To date, nearly a hundred people have abandoned the family. Good. There is no need to share the family benefits with people who could not stick with family during hard times.

That evening, Lin Fan sought out his father.

[5] “Father?”

[5] Lin Zhan, who had been drooping over a pile of papers, was startled out of his fugue. “Oh, it’s Lin Fan,” the man tried to smile at him. “How are you? And how is Little Shi? We might have to ask her to give us some more recipes. I’ve been thinking about expanding the restaurant business-”

[5] “It’s the Xue Clan.”

[5] “W-what?”

[5] “It’s the Xue Clan’s doing. I declined a marriage proposal from the elder sister,” said Lin Fan flatly.

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[5] “The elder Xue sister? A marriage-” Lin Zhan gathered himself, he was still the Clan Leader of a fairly prosperous clan with several hundred people to look after. He had briefly looked into the Xue Sister’s background while they were his guests and knew enough to tremble as he thought of the implication if his son were to be engaged to that family. On the other hand-

[5] “You have declined it?”

[5] “Yes,”

[5] “I see,” Lin Zhan sighed. “I see no good outcome either way. Perhaps this family is fated to be doomed under my leadership.”

[5] “Father,” Lin Fan’s eyes were very bright as he leaned closer and revealed the plan to move the family to Spiritual Beast Mountain Range.

[5] When Lin Fan finished his explanation, Lin Zhan did not react immediately. When he did speak, it was only to say, “I shall have to discuss this with the elders, of course.” He smiled bitterly, “What’s left of them anyway.”

[5] Lin Zhan bowed and left the Clan Leader to his thoughts.

Later, Lin Zhan sought out the Grand Elder as well as the other two elders and told them about Lin Fan’s plan to move the family.

The Grand Elder said, “Lin Fan is a talented child. If he can offend the Xue Clan today, he could certainly offend more people in the future. His road is destined to be bloody, but we cannot hold him back, nor can we be his weakness. It’s good enough that the child thought of such a way to protect the family, but…”

[5] “The Spiritual Beast Mountain Range of all places,” Lin Zhan said with a grim smile. “It seems we have no choice at this point. We’ll have to trust the next generation to take care of the old one.”

It the end, the choice was already made. They could no longer stay at Qing Shan City, not with the Xue Clan targeting them. Moreover, who knows what other enemies Lin Fan might attract in the future?

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Quietly, the Lin Clan began moving out of Qing Shan City in batches. Shiyu made sure to move Grandpa and her siblings in one of the earlier expeditions. [6] Not the first one, since houses have to be built, but not long after that.

Grandpa’s health has improved a lot by now, he could even walk a little on his own. This miracle surprised many since a lot of famous physicians had already given up Grandpa for the dead. Many within the Lin Clan now saw Shiyu as a genius doctor and made up their minds to maintain a good relationship with this former beggar family.

Since they have the assistance of the Ancient Trees, there was no need for them to go through any of the satellite towns surrounding the Mountain Range. All they had to do was to start walking up from anywhere around the foot of the mountain range until they reached the Ancient Tree line and vegetation would immediately clear away. If there were steep hills and ravines, grass bridges would be formed allowing them to reach their destination safely and smoothly no matter where they started their journey from.

It took them five days to move the whole family. Finally, the Lin Clan Estate at Qing Shan City was locked up and everyone has finally arrived at the secret valley within Spiritual Beast Mountain Range.

Looking down at the beautiful scenery before them, the green grassy fields, the cool winding lakes and clumps of medicinal herbs growing here and there. Those who had been harbouring reluctance in their hearts were on the verge of being convinced that this was the best move for them.

The first thing to do when occupying a space was to build houses. [6] Wood and Earth Element Cultivators were sent here first so that there was at least a roof over everyone’s head. Actually, with Cultivators on the job, the matter of houses was soon solved.

Patriarch Lin knew that Wen Xian and Shiyu both contributed majorly in locating this place and making it safe, so he was very grateful to them. For Shiyu, after her family had been taken in by the Lin Clan without question and given all kinds of advantages and care, she felt they were as close to her as a real family. After all, the beggar family originally was not related in any way, but they became a family to each other in the end. In was the same with the Lin Clan.

Once her family had moved in, Shiyu turned her attention towards the medicinal herbs dotting the background. While others were building more houses or raising foundations, she focused on the medicinal herb field.

The really aged medicinal herbs in her space could not be taken out, but the few decades or couple of hundred-year-old herbs could be said to have been ‘bought from the Capital’ were taken out and planted in neat clumps at a specially allocated site set aside for medicinal herbs. When Lin Fan noticed her working, he headed over to help with the planting too. Together, the two of them created a lush medicinal herb field.

Shiyu also took out the Cinnabar Fruit Tree that had helped her all this while and planted it next to the medicinal herb field. It’s better to let the children of this clan build up their foundation with the fruits of this tree.

As for the Ginseng Fruit Tree? There were now two fully matured trees in her space, both of which she transplanted in front of the house that had been designated for her family. She has Feng Luo and Wen Xian to thank for this house. Through the assistance of Wood Spirit Essence and Feng Luo’s Wood Element and a good eye for design, he grew a bamboo house similar to the Villa at the College. Except, it was three storeys high and much wider to accommodate more rooms. It took him a couple of very busy days to finish raising the house.

While the house was being raised (literally), Shiyu raked up an open space and started a small vegetable garden for Grandpa. The fruits of the Ginseng Fruit Tree could provide delicious and healthy snacks Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu, as well as any of the members of this little community.

Aside from useful plants, Shiyu also grew a lot of aesthetically pleasing flowers in the backyard of the house, making it even more comfortable and pretty. In the future, they might even raise some cats and dogs, or perhaps even some tame spiritual beasts to make the house even more lively.

Once she deemed her house properly ready for living, she looked over to her neighbours’ houses and found that pretty much everyone had already settled in. A nice spacious house surrounded by a lush garden and green hills with the burble of a cheerful little stream in the background, how wonderfully leisurely, ah?

It was unclear whether it was thanks to the environment or the Spiritual Energy, but Grandpa’s complexion got better and better every day.

It was close to July now and nearly time for Feng Luo to return to Feng City. Lin Fan and Shiyu had settled their families at Spiritual Beast Mountain Range. They plan to visit Feng City with him.

[Gumihou: Woo… this has to be one of my favourite chapters~]

[1] Core Condensation: The third stage 

[2] Additional Information for Logistic Purpose: As a way to remind readers events that had happened before in an unobtrusive way.

[3] A little plot reminder: Please check Chapter 15 for reminders of the interaction between the Clan Leader Lin Zhan and the Grand Elder. 

[4] Added Detail for Comedic Purpose: I can’t resist poking fun at XQG, haha. Thank you XQG

[5] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose and Character Development: Also, Lin Zhan is such a great guy, but his name was never mentioned even once here. It was only ‘Lin Fan’s father with barely three paragraphs of text, how unfair, ah?

[6] Additional Information for Logistic Purpose: Shiyu… not that I want to diss your sense of logistic, but moving your grandpa first when nothing has been built yet? Also, ‘after five days, everyone is moved and now admiring the valley > let’s build houses’. Uh, shouldn’t you build the houses first?

The picture is from Miss Crumbs A Lot, please click on the link for the recipe~

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