Volume 1 Chapter 5: Tears well up in my sleeves
The bearded man's face suddenly turned red and white. He was about to refute, but he still lowered his head and remained silent.
The woman slowly stepped forward and said, "Brother Qing, why bother with him? Let me change it for you. I think this is the last time."
When Lin Qing heard this, his eyes turned red, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings. He sighed and said, "If that's the case, then whatever happens."
The woman gently rolled up her sleeves, revealing two hands as white as jade. She took off the leather vest and tattered cotton robe on Lin Qing, folded them gently, and handed them to Lan'er, saying, "Your name is Lan'er, right? Your uncle Qing will never need to wear these things again. Please keep them." Lan'er was confused at the moment. She looked at Lin Qing blankly, then at the woman, and just took the robe in a daze, without moving.
The woman's eyes were filled with tears. She turned around and took the clothes from the bearded man's hand, shook them gently, and put them on Lin Qing. The clothes were tailored to fit her perfectly, and the fabric shone with a dark golden glow in the sunlight. There was a strip of black mink fur around the collar, and a golden-red silk ribbon around her waist, with a valuable jade pendant hanging on it.
Lin Qing stood facing the wind. Lan'er thought to herself, "Uncle Qing only told us that he was a man of the world, but we didn't expect that he was the leader of a gang with such a respected status. After taking off his shabby clothes, he seemed like a different person." Lan'er couldn't see his expression behind him, she only felt that his back was unusually tall and mighty, with an imposing aura, yet with a sense of desolation.
The woman slowly turned around and walked under the tree, her fists clenched, her shoulders shaking for a while, as if she was thinking of something extremely sad and resentful, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Qing, since I and the hall masters have found this place today, I must make you give an explanation no matter what. Do you want to hand over the things yourself, or do you want to compete with me?"
Lin Qing shook his head and said, "The Lin family's ancestors left behind a family rule that forbids fellow disciples from killing each other. I will never fight with you."
The woman said bitterly: "For him, I don't care about anything. Don't worry, I won't use any moves from my sect to fight you. Since the day he got into trouble, I no longer consider myself a member of the Kuang Yi Gang." After that, she pulled out a sword from her waist with a "clang" sound, pointed it at Lin Qing, and said angrily: "Where's your sword? Pull it out!"
Lan'er seemed to be stunned at the sight. She came to her senses after hearing a "clang" sound. She ran to Lin Qing, spread her arms and shouted, "You are not Uncle Qing's sister! You are a bad person!" The woman was stunned for a moment, still looking at Lin Qing, and did not answer.
Lin Qing sighed and said, "Lan'er, come here, she, she is my biological sister..."
The woman was Lin Qing's sister, Lin Hongfeng. When she heard the word "sister", she was shocked and slowly lowered the sword in her hand. She looked up at the pear blossoms on the tree, her eyes became gentle, and a smile appeared on the corners of her mouth. She said softly, "Brother Qing, look how beautiful the flowers are."
Lin Qing said, "Yes, when the flowers bloom, I look at them every day. This is the third time. Are you thinking about the magnolia tree in the backyard of your home?"
Lin Hongfeng nodded slightly, staring at the tree in a daze, and said, "Do you still remember our childhood? Daddy taught you the Lin family's martial arts, but only taught me some insignificant self-defense skills. I insisted on watching from the side and pestered Daddy to teach me too. Daddy, who usually loved me so much, got angry and said, 'You are someone else's family after all, how can I teach you the martial arts passed down from our ancestors?' I was so angry that I cried under the magnolia tree. I didn't understand how I, who was also Daddy's child, became someone else's family?"
Lin Qing said: "That's all in the past, why bring it up?"
Lin Hongfeng seemed not to hear, and continued faintly: "Later, you secretly came to me and taught me how to practice martial arts. Daddy taught you during the day, and you taught me at night. Alas, but I was always too stupid and not suitable for martial arts. Often, I would forget everything you taught me the first day the next day. My gestures were completely wrong and I even cut my hand. I was crying quietly under the magnolia tree alone. You came over , bandaged my wound, and said to me: 'What's the big deal if you don't know how to practice martial arts? It won't look good if girls use these crude weapons.' You patted your chest and said that protecting girls and fighting with others were your business, and I just had to dress up beautifully. Later, you climbed up the tree to pick magnolia flowers for me to wear, and fell down. You cried in pain, but I was amused by your weird grin." Speaking of the past, Lin Hongfeng's mouth twitched, as if he was amused by the funny things of the year, but then more tears welled up in his eyes.
Lin Qing said: "You were only nine years old at that time."
Lin Hongfeng went on to say, "We grew up slowly. Although you no longer taught me martial arts secretly and didn't often play with me in the garden, you would always bring me interesting things every time you went out to travel. I would remember every time you made a great contribution to the gang or defeated a martial arts master. I was happier than anything else. Daddy entrusted you with many important matters of the gang. You became more and more famous in the martial arts world. Everyone would give you a thumbs up and call you a 'young hero' when they mentioned you. I was so proud to hear that."
Lin Hongfeng picked up a branch of pear blossoms, but did not admire them. He just held it in his hand and slowly rubbed the petals, saying, "Later, when you were getting married and you had never seen the bride, I realized that the storytellers mentioned things like marriage and going out to the frontier. It was not only in the royal family, but also in the martial arts world. The marriage that Daddy arranged for you was just to win over the power of my sister-in-law's family, because Daddy and Mom's marriage was also arranged by our grandfather. So he naturally thought that if you want to be the next generation of gang leader in the future, you can't do what you like. Even if there are sacrifices, it is justified."
By this time, the pear blossoms in her hand had been completely torn into pieces by her. Lin Qing said with a sad look, "Why do you have to destroy these innocent pear blossoms?"
Lin Hongfeng did not answer, completely immersed in the memories of the past, and said absentmindedly: "At that time, you were depressed all day long, and you put more of your mind on the business of the gang. I felt sorry for you, and even more sorry for my sister-in-law, but deep in my heart, I felt the most sorry for myself. I couldn't stand the thought that one day I would be used as a pawn by my father to expand the gang, and live with a person I had never met, and that person might be just like my brother treated my sister-in-law... You saw that I was uneasy and listless all day long, and asked me if I was sick. I hugged you and cried, and then you understood how scared I was. You touched my head and said: 'You are my most beloved sister, and everything depends on me.'"
Lin Qing seemed to be aware of what the woman was going to say next, and took a step forward and said, "Don't say any more. Why do you keep bringing up all this nonsense?"
Lin Hongfeng looked at Lin Qing and said sadly, "Why do you think these are all messy and unworthy things? Your sister is now living on these things that she can never forget." She continued to talk to herself, "Then one night, you took me out and introduced your friend to me. He didn't say his name, but just looked at me. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. When he smiled, his crescent-shaped teeth were exposed. My heart was pounding like a drum."
When Lin Qing heard this, he said angrily: "He is not my friend!"
Lin Hongfeng glanced at Lin Qing and said, "We gradually became familiar with each other... I still didn't know his name or his background, but I knew that I fell in love with him. However, I became uneasy because I didn't know how he saw me. Until one day, he told me that I was the most beautiful and kind girl he had ever met and that he liked me very much. Only then did I secretly laugh and cry."
When Lin Hongfeng said this, tears welled up in her eyes, but she had a smile on her lips. Her eyes were sparkling and her face was glowing like a girl. "Daddy wanted to form an alliance with the Jade Sword Sect and marry me to them, but I didn't want to. I cried every day and refused to eat, but you never showed up. I hated you for making empty promises to me and for introducing him to me. But the auspicious day finally came and I still had to put on my wedding dress. You suddenly came to me, squeezed my hand and said, 'Silly girl, you will know after you marry him.' I didn't understand what you meant, so I got on the sedan chair in a daze and entered the bridal chamber. I kept crying alone under the veil until the veil was lifted. It was not until the veil was lifted that I knew that the friend you introduced to me, the person I liked, was the third son of the Jade Sword Sect and my husband."
Her expression suddenly became coy, and she whispered, "When he lifted the veil, he saw me crying and laughing. He scratched my nose and said with a smile, 'Did I marry a crazy girl? Crying and laughing.' It turned out that you all knew it a long time ago, but kept it from me alone. At that moment, I really felt that I was the happiest person in the world. I had a husband who loved me the most, and a brother who loved me the most..."
Lin Hongfeng recalled the past in a gentle voice and his expression was as if he was recalling the most beautiful things. Lan'er felt her nose sour as she listened. She looked to the side and saw that the bearded man also had slightly red eyes and lowered his head without saying a word.
Lin Qing clenched his hands tightly and gritted his teeth, saying, "I only regret that I didn't recognize you and promised you to him. I didn't expect that he had such a wicked ambition and was deliberately trying to seize power in the gang and destroy the great foundation of the Kuangyi Gang!" He glanced around and sneered, "My good brother-in-law has the intention to harm me, but why doesn't he dare to show up? Is he afraid, or does he know that he has done something wrong?"
Lin Hongfeng sighed and said, "Brother Qing, you don't have to play dumb with me. Don't you really know? Who slapped him in the chest? Who sent someone to poison his medicine? He, he left us mother and daughter a long time ago!"
The ancestors of the Lin family founded the Kuangyi Gang, which was just a small and unknown gang. The original purpose was to rely on their own kung fu to uphold justice in small places. The major sects in the rivers and lakes fought openly and secretly, and small gangs sprang up like mushrooms after rain. They were prosperous for a while, but they were basically merged in the end. The Kuangyi Gang was passed down for two generations in a precarious situation. The gang was deserted and could hardly hold on. The leader of that generation was called Lin Shanyi. He saw that the power struggle in the rivers and lakes was no more fierce than that in the officialdom. He wanted to be one of the best sects in the martial arts world, otherwise there would be no way out. Although his martial arts were mediocre, he was quite smart. He dispersed the few disciples who had originally been there, and changed his martial arts to business. He traveled all over the country. It was also by chance that he saved up a lot of wealth. One of his two sons was sent to Shaolin to become a disciple, and the other was sent to Shushan to learn martial arts. Although the law was not easily passed on, money could make the gods. He stabbed the gold all the way, and stabbed the two leaders of the top sects at that time and the elders and protectors.
After the two sons returned home after completing their studies, they revived the Kuangyi Gang. Among the descendants of the eldest son, there emerged a martial arts genius named Lin Dongyang. Based on the internal power foundation of Shaolin and Shushan taught by his ancestors, he created his own set of mental methods and martial arts moves. That internal power mental method was the Qianyuan Power that Lin Qing used to test Lan'er's meridians that day. Although it was kept secret and only passed down between father and son, it gradually spread to the world, giving Lin Dongyang a nickname "Qianyuan Wuhen Hand". This Lin Dongyang was Lin Qing's great-grandfather.
After several expansions and operations, by the time of Lin Qing's father, Lin Zhenfei, the gang had become the largest gang in the underworld and was very powerful. Lin Zhenfei was also a good person, and every year he would send Lin Qing to the mountain to pay a visit to the elders of both factions, carrying generous gifts such as gold beads and silver foil . He said that it was to express his gratitude to the two factions for the kindness shown to the ancestors of the Lin family. In fact, on the one hand, he was trying to win over Lin Qing's popularity in advance, and on the other hand, the two factions would feel embarrassed to let Lin Qing return empty-handed after receiving such generous gifts, so they would always let the younger generation of disciples compete with Lin Qing. It was called a competition, but in fact it was just guidance. As a result, Lin's martial arts stood out among his peers when he was a teenager. The older he got, the more experience he gained, and the more advanced his martial arts became.
In order to expand his power, Lin Zhenfei first asked Lin Qing to marry the eldest daughter of the Canglang Gang, and then asked Lin Hongfeng to marry Cao Shujian, the third son of the Yujian Sect. At that time, these were top-notch events in the martial arts world. Cao Shujian and Lin Qing were good friends first, and he often helped to discuss some things and decisions . Lin Hongfeng was not used to living in the Yujian Sect, and Cao Shujian knew that he was a third-rank official and had no chance of becoming the leader, so the two of them had to return to the Kuangyi Gang twenty days a month, and later simply lived in the gang. Cao Shujian and Lin Qing knew each other since they were young, and naturally wanted to make a big career when they joined forces this time. Since he came to the Kuangyi Gang, he has been working diligently and has made a lot of efforts for the gang. When Lin Zhenfei passed away and Lin Qing took over the position of the leader of the Kuangyi Gang, Cao Shujian was already the general manager of the gang, and he and Lin Qing have always been like brothers.
Three years ago, the Kuang Yi Gang suddenly changed. Lin Qing injured Cao Shujian first. That night, Cao Shujian was poisoned to death. Everyone suspected that Lin Qing had ordered someone to do it. Lin Hongfeng led the gang members to mutiny and vowed to avenge her husband. In the Jianghu, it was said that Cao Zongguan was more powerful than his master. Gang leader Lin had long been suspicious of him. It was only a matter of time before he would take action against him. However, no one saw what happened that day, and the change in the Kuang Yi Gang became a mystery.
When Lin Qing heard that Cao Shujian had been poisoned by someone, he was stunned and said, "So... he's already dead." He immediately laughed and said, "Hahahaha, I only regret that I was so kind that day and didn't slap him to death! Now that my wish has been fulfilled, what's there to be ashamed of?"
