The punch Lin Xun threw at Lu Ting was as fast as a gale and as fierce as fire.

It was the sixth move of the Marching Boxing, FTSH (flames to scorch the heaven).

Lu Ting was quite familiar with it, for he had fought with it more than once. But this time, he sensed something different.

Lin Xun's attack was much stronger and more intense, like the wildfire burning in the wasteland that could sweep off everything in its way.

Was it the same move he knew?

Suspicion flashed across Lu Ting's brain.

Bang***

Lu Ting had no way but to block the attack with another punch. Two fists crashed with each other, making a depressed shock-wave noise followed by a sudden harsh scream.

The hard impact violently knocked over Lu Ting and blinded him by the pain in his hand as if his fingers were broken. He couldn't help but give out a muffled sound.

Had he decided to exert all his power at the last minute, he would have been badly injured!

How come this little thing was so good at it?

Lu Ting was aghast, as it had never occurred to him that a 12 or 13-year-old boy who was as weak and thin as Lin Xun could defeat him.

"Boy, we are not finished. Next time I will get even with you."

Seeing things were not going well as he planned, Lu Ting fled away the moment he steadied his body, and disappeared in the darkness within a short time of several breaths.

Instead of chasing after Lu Ting, Lin Xun secretly felt relieved. Right after that, he felt a burning pain shooting across the meridians all over his body.

The attack, which successfully beat back Lu Ting, consumed nearly half of his spiritual energy. Normally it would mean nothing, but things were never normal when it came to Lin Xun. As his Spiritual Vein had been ripped off when he was an infant, his meridians were too fragile to afford any intense consumption of the spiritual energy.

The Marching Boxing, which was actually a basic boxing Kungfu widespread in the imperial troops, had its own uniqueness.

Every move of it required the person who practiced it to stretch out as far as one could, and to channel all of the spiritual energy through the meridians and acupoints of the body to one's palms and fingers. By doing so, one's fist could be as hard as iron, his speed as fast as the lightening, and his attack as powerful as the rolling thunder.

However, such intense way of practicing it also needed one's meridians to be strong enough.

As for Lin Xun, it had reached his physical limitation to give full play to the move of FTSH (flames to scorch the heaven).

Standing in the messy courtyard, Lin Xun exhaled a long breath of foul air. He was then lost in thought, going over tonight's fight in his brain.

"It looks like Captain Lian and other guardians in the village do not want me here, but why?"

He wondered.

"Lin Xun, can I come in?" He heard the village head Shiao Tianren asked from outside of the door.

"Uncle Shiao, please come in. I was about to talk with you something urgent." Lin Xun collected his thoughts and promptly opened the door.

"Just minutes ago……"

Before he could speak, Shiao Tianren sighed and waved his hands to stop him, "I already knew about it. It's not your fault."

Lin Xun frowned and continued to say, "Uncle Shiao, I am new here. I know nothing about what's going on in the village. I am surprised things like this happened to me. Would you please shed some light on why?"

Shiao Tianren put his hands behind his back and looked at the big mess caused by the fight, feeling ashamed. It had been a while before he opened his mouth again, "I never thought Lian Rufeng would lay a hand on you, a total outsider. So it seems he has made up his mind to defect to Green-sun Tribe."

Lin Xun looked thoughtful. He had heard of Green-sun Tribe, and he knew it was the place where the villagers traded for daily supplies with their spiritual rice.

Lian Rufeng, as the captain of the village guardians, had been in charge of the trading. He led the guardians traveling between Feiyun Village and Green-sun Tribe and providing protection for the spiritual grain and the goods got back.

"Lian Rufeng is of the highest cultivation in the village, thus he is of high prestige. He used to be different. But since his son Lian Fei was sent to one of the most famous martial arts schools in Donglin Town, he has changed."

Xian Tianren said slowly, "Lian Fei is smart and the most talented boy in the village. In order to help him embark on the journey of martial cultivation, his father Lian Rufeng paid a great price to persuade the Patriarch of Green-sun Tribe to put in a good word for him."

Lin Xun listened with no intention to interrupt, despite that he knew things would not be such easy.

As expected, Shiao Tianren soon unveiled the mystery, "Cultivation is never an easy thing, let alone for a boy from a poor village like Feiyun. The daily expenses alone take a lot to cover. So Lian Rufeng turned eyes on the village's business to make sure his son did not get distracted."

"As you know, he has taken full responsibility in transportation of spiritual grain to trade for daily supplies in Green-sun Tribe. A few years ago, he could bring back goods worth of 300 imperial copper coins each time. But in recent years, he returned with fewer and fewer things, even empty-handed for several times."

Shiao Tianren got a bit angry at this point, "If he embezzles only to cover the expenses for Lian Fei's cultivation, it is completely understandable for me and for other villagers. However, his wrongdoing gets worse and starts to endanger the livelihood of the villagers. He is outrageous!"

Lin Xun then remembered, during his first meeting with Lian Rufeng, the Captain was wearing a pendant carved from "aromatic rosewood", which was worth as much as 10 imperial silver coins, or 1000 imperial copper coins.

Besides, the shoes on his feet were embroidered with spiritual tattoos, making it way more expensive than the pendant.

Lin Xun had found it quite strange. Even though Lian Rufeng reached the Viscera Opening level cultivation, he was no more than a villager from a poor village buried deep in the thousands of mountains. There was no way he could afford such expensive things.

Now it all made sense. He must have feathered his own nest in the past few years.

Shiao Tianren suddenly sighed, "I have warned him many times and asked him to restrain. As long as he does not put villagers' lives at risk, I will not intervene. But he has already been blindsided by money. What a pity he's never the same!"

Lin Xun asked, "Was this the reason why you quarreled with him in the ancestral hall?"

Shiao Tianren nodded, "Yes, it was. The goods he brought back today were less than any time in the recent years. The villagers can't sustain a decent life with such few things. We will have to pinch every penny in the future days."

There was a touch of sadness and grief on his old face.

"He did cross the line."

Lin Xun frowned, but he was in no position to criticize.

"What can we do? He has the highest cultivation in the village, and he knows the routs to Green-sun Tribe as well as the connections. Without him, our lives here will be much harder."

Shiao Tianren sighed in frustration.

Lin Xun mused, "So this means Feiyun village can't survive without Lian Rufeng, and that's the exact reason why he acts so unscrupulously."

Shiao Tianren nodded with a sullen face.

Lin Xun contemplated for a while, and then asked, "Why do you think he sent one of the guardians to test me? Does it relate to the defect he is plotting?"

"That's the thing I am concerning."

Shiao Tianren replied in an extremely worrying tone of voice, "I have this feeling that he must be secretly planning something against Feiyun. If he succeeds, all of the villagers will be affected in a bad way."

The answer confirmed Lin Xun's speculation. He further inferred, "Maybe my unexpected arrival made him suspicious, so he wanted to sound me out in case I ruin his plan?"

"That's pretty much close."

Shiao Tianren looked at Lin Xun, surprised to find such sharp observation from a 12 or 13-year-old boy.

"Very well."

Lin Xun went on with a light heart, "Then I'll have nothing to worry about except this."

"Aren't you afraid that Lian Rufeng will send another man to kill you?"

Shiao Tianren couldn't help but ask.

"Now that this is no longer a secret, I sure will take some precautions against it. As long as I'm not killed, one day I will make them pay more than they can bear."

Lin Xun talked in his usual way, calm and smiling, yet the words he said were vicious enough to make whoever heard them shudder.

This was Lin Xun, who was harmless on the outside but extremely resolved and ruthless on the inside. Otherwise, he could not have survived at all in that dark mine prison.

In there, Master Lu, who had taught Lin Xun never to yield nor stop learning as well as how to survive, was like the warm sunshine. The guards and the prisoners, on the contrary, had showed him what true darkness was and how cruel a man could be.

Shiao Tianren stared at Lin Xun for a while, and then said, "You are not like a 12 or 13-year-old boy."

Lin Xun shrugged his shoulder and laughed, "Believe me. I just turned 13 this year."

Shiao Tianren waved his hand and changed the subject, "Lin Xun, now you have been aware of what we are dealing with, do you still want to stay? If you do so, it's likely your life will be in danger. You must think it through."

Lin Xun answered without hesitation, "I will stay! Why leave? Feiyun is my first home since I set foot in Ziyao Empire. I will not leave until I figure out my next destination."

Hearing this, Shiao Tianren said no more about it. He patted on Lin Xun's shoulder and told him, "Your mind exceeds your peers', so I will not talk you to do anything. If you decide to stay, then you will be seen as my own. I am old and may not be as capable as you are, but I will try my best to protect you."

Then he turned away.

Lin Xun watched him going. In a while, he stretched himself and muttered, "Fearing troubles is not who I am……"

Instead of sitting in meditation as he used to, he sat alone in the darkness and mused for a long time. When he finally got into his feet, he opened the old wooden case in the dim starlight casting through the window.

He put the yellowing scroll and the mystic dark grey inscribing pen on the desk in front of him, took a deep breath and sat down.

That night, after fleeing from Lin Xun's house, Lu Ting left Feiyun and hurried to a small hill dozens of miles away.