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Along the way, Lin Pingzhi devoted himself to practicing the Nine Yin Manual, and by the time he reached Hengyang, he had perfected the first level of the manual and began training in the second level. His lightness skill, Spiral Nine Shadows, allowed him to create two illusory figures. While his speed could not match the legendary Tian Boguang, he was certainly more formidable than most others. He had also made some progress with the Nine Yin Divine Claw and the White Python Whip. At this time, the martial arts world was not as vibrant as during the Northern and Southern Song periods. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's crackdown on the jianghu led to a significant loss of martial arts knowledge, and what people learned now was merely a shadow of the high-level skills from that era. Ren Woxing's once-feared Star Absorption was nothing more than a remnant of Transforming Energy. The Nine Yin Manual, however, was still considered a top-tier skill during the Northern and Southern Song periods; in Lin Pingzhi's time, it was undoubtedly superior to all other sects' martial arts. Although he had only reached the second level, he was already on the threshold of becoming a first-rate martial artist. While he could not yet rival Yu Canghai, he could easily defeat several of his disciples in just two or three moves, surpassing even Linghu Chong.
To avoid drawing attention, Lin Pingzhi continued to disguise himself. This time, however, he felt more confident and did not pretend to be a hunchbacked beggar, which meant he did not provoke Mu Gaofeng. Unaware of the Lin family's plight, Mu Gaofeng failed to seize Lin Zhen Nan and his wife from Qingcheng Sect before they were tortured to death. Lin Pingzhi hid in the shadows and waited for Yu Canghai to attend the Liu Family Golden Basin Cleansing Ceremony before infiltrating Qingcheng Sect's temporary residence. He killed an innocent disciple stained with blood from his family's Fortune Escort Agency and rescued his parents.
Although Lin Zhen Nan and his wife were severely injured, they were not at death's door. Lin Pingzhi took them to a hidden place and taught them the healing methods from the Nine Yin Manual. After seven days, both recovered their health.
"What a miraculous healing method!" Lin Zhen Nan exclaimed in amazement. "Pingzhi, how did your martial arts improve so quickly? Did you have some kind of fortuitous encounter?"
Lin Pingzhi recounted how he had received a precious gift from a divine being. Hearing this, Lin Zhen Nan and his wife were astonished and even knelt down to express their gratitude. Then, with a serious expression, Lin Zhen Nan instructed his son and wife: "This matter must remain secret from anyone else to avoid bringing trouble upon Pingzhi."
Mrs. Lin nodded repeatedly. The Lin family possessed an Evil-Repelling Sword Manual that had already attracted Qingcheng Sect's covetous eyes; if word got out that their son had obtained such a divine technique, would they not become even more frantic?
The three of them agreed on a story: Lin Pingzhi encountered a reclusive master while fleeing who took pity on him and accepted him as a disciple, teaching him profound martial arts!
The family headed to Luoyang to seek refuge with Mrs. Lin's family, the Luoyang Golden Blade Wang Yuanba. Upon learning that his disciple had been killed and the Lin couple rescued, Yu Canghai was furious and began hunting for them. However, Yue Buqun and other sect leaders had already been keeping an eye on Yu Canghai. Yue Buqun also desired the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual but found Yu Canghai's shameless actions—killing an entire family for a martial arts manual—despicable. They publicly reprimanded him. Yu Canghai dared not pursue the Lin family openly any longer and resorted to covert actions instead. Yet all those he sent were eliminated by Lin Pingzhi; by the time he intended to act personally, the Lin family had already entered Luoyang within Wang's territory. The leader of the Golden Blade Sect was not someone whose destruction could be taken lightly.
The Wang family had long coveted the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual but took a gentler approach by marrying their daughter to Lin Zhen Nan; surely they could uncover its whereabouts through this connection. For over ten years, due to Lin Zhen Nan's performance, they believed there was nothing significant about the manual and abandoned their pursuit; however, Qingcheng Sect's actions reignited their interest. Now that the Lin family had sought refuge with them, they thought it would be easy to gather information about the manual.
Indeed, they managed to learn its secrets; unaware of his father-in-law's intentions, Lin Zhen Nan regarded them as benevolent hosts and inadvertently revealed ancestral teachings. With assistance from the Wang family members, Lin Zhen Nan obtained the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual but fell silent upon reading its contents. No matter how high one's martial arts skills were, what good was it if it came at such a cost? Who could endure becoming a eunuch? The Wang family abandoned their ambitions. However, someone did not give up: Yue Buqun successfully stole the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual.
Without Lin Pingzhi's involvement, The Smiling Proud Wanderer continued its course. Although Yue Ling Shan did not fall for another man, Linghu Chong was still expelled from Huashan Sect and subsequently met Ren Yingying while releasing Ren Woxing from captivity. Caught between two women without knowing what to do led him to anger Ren Woxing further when Ren Woxing severely injured Yue Ling Shan. Linghu Chong severed ties with Ren Yingying and devoted himself entirely to Yue Ling Shan’s side while being manipulated by Yue Buqun as the Five Mountains Sword Sects merged under Yue Buqun’s leadership as its first headmaster. Chaos ensued in the jianghu as Ren Woxing’s Sun Moon Holy Cult clashed with Yue Buqun’s Five Mountains Sword Sect resulting in countless casualties; even other sects became embroiled in this conflict.
In this battle between good and evil, Lin Pingzhi rose rapidly; wielding a long whip and claw techniques, he defeated Qingcheng Sect’s leader Yu Canghai and executed Xiang Wen of Sun Moon Holy Cult, gaining widespread fame. Both Yue Buqun and Ren Woxing perished together while preserving their reputations. Ultimately, Sun Moon Holy Cult was eradicated by righteous forces; Ren Yingying vanished without a trace thereafter. Three years later, Linghu Chong married Yue Ling Shan; Fortune Guard Agency reopened with young chief escort Lin Pingzhi at its helm making it an entity no one dared provoke.
Lin Pingzhi married the daughter of a martial arts family in this life. Although his wife never appeared by name in the original story, she was beautiful, gracious, gentle, and virtuous, giving Lin Pingzhi two sons and a daughter.
In the middle of the night, Lin Pingzhi woke up with a start. Turning to see his wife sleeping soundly, he let out a sigh of relief. It turned out to be just a nightmare, but it was far too vivid! Lin Pingzhi closed his eyes, recalling the events of the dream, which depicted a life completely different from his current one. In the dream, he had not obtained the Nine Yin Manual and could only disguise himself as a hunchbacked beggar. He had provoked Mu Gaofeng, leading to his parents' deaths at Mu Gaofeng's hands. He had no choice but to join the Huashan Sect, where his master was a hypocrite who coveted the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual. After obtaining it, his master sought to kill him to silence him. Fortunately, he managed to escape; however, to save his own life, he had to marry his enemy's wife—the only person he felt he had wronged. Later, in pursuit of revenge and while practicing the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual, he became neither male nor female and committed many wrongs. Ultimately, he ended up imprisoned beneath West Lake, living out his life in solitude.
"Thank you, Deity," Lin Pingzhi expressed heartfelt gratitude. If it weren't for the divine gift of the Nine Yin Manual—superior to the Evil-Repelling Sword Manual—he might have faced a fate like that in his dream.
"Darling, what are you doing?" Lin Pingzhi's wife opened her drowsy eyes and asked sleepily.
"Nothing," Lin Pingzhi tightened his embrace around her. "Go back to sleep."
Nightmares are just dreams; his current life is happy. The nightmares serve as reminders for him to cherish what he has.
He closed his eyes again, and his breathing became calm.
……
On New Year's Day, Mom Han prepared four Tangyuan for everyone and made a bowl of noodles for each person as well, symbolizing prosperity. After their meal, the family set out for Chongshan Temple to burn incense and pray—a yearly tradition. Hanno and Dad Han did not believe in Buddhism, but Mom Han was a devout believer who made this pilgrimage every New Year's Day. Hanno and Dad Han accompanied Mom Han up the mountain as a form of exercise. Chongshan Temple was not the largest temple in D City but was the closest and most historically significant temple to the Han family. Established during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty (65-74 AD), it boasted over seventeen hundred years of history but covered a small area with its main structures facing south: Guanyin Hall, Three Great Halls, and Great Hero Hall—solemn and spacious.
On New Year's Day, many people went to the temple to offer incense; private cars and taxis filled the roads at the foot of the mountain. The path up was crowded with pedestrians, making it impossible for cars to drive through. The family got out at the mountain gate and walked up along the path paved with blue bricks. On either side of the path were tranquil woods. Standing halfway up the mountain and looking down revealed fields like brocade and mountains like indigo; looking up showed red walls and green tiles hidden among trees; eaves curled upward with intricate brackets; halls shone brightly while temples stood solemnly; smoke from incense curled around while flags fluttered gently. The sound of bells echoed like enlightenment ringing in their ears; as they ascended further, they felt increasingly clear-minded.
Upon reaching the summit, Mom Han went off to burn incense while Dad Han and Hanno headed to the dining hall to secure seats and buy meal tickets. By the time Mom Han completed her rounds with incense offerings, it was already noon, so they naturally had lunch together in the dining hall. The vegetarian dishes served were rather bland; however, the pickled vegetables and spicy condiments made on-site were very flavorful—enough for Hanno to eat two large bowls of rice.
After lunch, they strolled around at the top of the mountain before heading back down. Even on New Year's Day, Footbridge remained lively—no, even more so! From one end to another lined stalls selling scratch-off lottery tickets; many people gathered around these stalls scratching tickets in hopes of starting their new year with good fortune without caring how much they spent on tickets—each stall had at least seven or eight people scratching away. The Han family squeezed into one stall where Hanno pulled out two Zhang Da bills and bought one of each type of ticket available before starting to scratch: two yuan—nothing; five yuan—one ten-yuan ticket; two yuan—still nothing; ten yuan—nothing; twenty yuan—this one’s good! He won one hundred yuan… After scratching all his tickets, there were wins and losses overall; Hanno ended up making fifty yuan profit. It seemed that next year would bring good fortune!
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