Well... it was easier for him to get resources --whether it was human resources or network resources-- after joining the organization. He was pulled inside the hidden life of these n.o.bles. This was his good chance, although this came at a high price. As long as he didn"t betray the organization, he would be fine. With that thought in mind, he slightly relaxed.
"Is this all because of the master?" Yao Ying asked curiously.
"Yes," Lin Jian answered wholeheartedly. "Everything is for him."
"Why? Why do all of you trust him so much?" Yao Ying wanted to know more about this master. What made w.a.n.g Luo Hai didn"t feel hesitate to push him into becoming the master"s subordinate? If one didn"t trust his master, one wouldn"t be willing to follow loyally like w.a.n.g Luo Hai. The same loyalty could be seen from Lin Jian"s expression, although probably it wasn"t as extreme as w.a.n.g Luo Hai"s.
"Our goal is in line with his goal. He"s one with high reputation and has a great aspiration. Our master is loyal and cares about the people. We believe under his wings, we can achieve what we are yearning for," Lin Jian said with starry eyes.
"You seem to be really really... idolizing him?" Yao Ying asked hesitantly. What Lin Jian said was too good to be true, in his opinion.
Lin Jian laughed. "You will too... once you met him."
"Am I able to meet him too? Have you ever met him?" The more he heard about this master, the more his curiosity was piqued.
"Of course. Once you get into the inner circle, you probably could. We generally meet with his right-hand man, but he appears once in a while. He"s a busy man, Yao Ying. I have the honor to meet him once and his presence really shook me to the core. He"s beyond charismatic," Lin Jian said.
He only met the man once and the man was able to gain Lin Jian"s heart? Was this master really that great? The more he listened, the more he felt that it was so outrageous. Was this the so-called blind trust? Well... he couldn"t refute what Lin Jian had said because it was his personal opinion, besides he also didn"t know anything about the man at all.
"Oh... okay." It was the only thing that Yao Ying could mutter.
"Any more questions?"
"Who... is the master?" Yao Ying knew that Lin Jian didn"t want to dwell on the details and he should ask about it to w.a.n.g Luo Hai, so he decided to not beating around the bush and asked about the master directly.
"I can"t tell you that," Lin Jian grinned.
"Then why did I join this organization? I don"t even know who the master is," Yao Ying sarcastically said.
Lin Jian roared in laughter. "I swear I"m not teasing you. Your father probably can"t tell you who the master is at first, but he will tell you about the organization. When you are officially joining through the ceremony, you will meet him."
"Er--- drinking the poison isn"t counted as the ceremony?"
Lin Jian shook his head. "No. That"s just a screening process, just to know whether the people will be loyal or not and also whether the people are really serious about joining the organization or not."
"Wow! That"s a really crazy screening process."
"Indeed, but still there are a lot of us who are joining the organization willingly," Lin Jian chuckled.
"What about the official ceremony? Is it some kind of gatherings?"
"Yes."
"When is it?" Yao Ying was excited after knowing there would be a gathering.
"Hmmm... generally it was once a month, but this month"s gathering has pa.s.sed. Probably next month. You will get the notification later. After all, you already drank the poison, so you will definitely get the invitation," Lin Jian explained.
Yao Ying nodded in understanding. He chuckled inwardly. With this much amount of secrecy, it wasn"t his fault for thinking that this was some kind of dark cult. "So... your purpose of bringing me here... is it really only for telling me that this hua lou belongs to both of our families? You can tell me about this everywhere! We don"t have to go here."
"Not really. The important agenda is that I want you to meet my master. He agrees to take you as a disciple," Lin Jian said.
Yao Ying asked excitedly, "Really?"
"Yep... I"m going to introduce you to him, but one thing you should know about our master. It"s..."
*Bang*
*Thump*
Before Lin Jian could finish his words, the door was opened with a loud bang, followed by a falling person! Yao Ying looked at the newcomer and it was an old man with white messy long hair and white long beard. He wore old grayish clothing which showed that he was poor. His face was full of wrinkle, but his att.i.tude was pretty much hyper and vigorous. His face was fully red and he hiccuped for a few times, showing that he was actually quite drunk.
The room was s.p.a.cious and they were quite a distance away from the old man, but they could smell the reeking alcohol from his body. Yao Ying scrunched up his nose because of the strong smell.
The old man was followed by a shopkeeper and a bodyguard. The falling person looked like he was also a part of this hua lou --- another bodyguard perhaps. The shopkeeper was sweating. He was afraid that this old man would offend Young Master Lin. He ordered the bodyguards to catch him, "Quick! Seize him! Don"t let him come in there!"
One of the guards tried to seize him to no avail, while the other one tried to stand up but he winced because of the pain. Before he was able to stand up, the old man kicked him and he fell down once again.
To Yao Ying"s surprise, the old man was quite agile. He easily dodged the bodyguard"s movement sneakily. Even though he couldn"t walk straight and his movement was somehow unbalanced, but from the way he easily pa.s.sed by the bodyguards, Yao Ying knew this old man was high-skilled in martial arts.
"You are all useless! It"s just an old man and you can"t even deal with him!" The shopkeeper couldn"t help but yell in anger. He didn"t want to lose face in front of Young Master Lin. Two big burly bodyguards lost to an old man! Where should they put their face later on? He blamed this to Mama ---the leaders of the courtesans. Why did she call him to take responsibilities for this old man? Granted, previously he thought that this would be an easy job. After all, this was just an old man. Who knew that the old man was very hard to deal with?
Contrary to the shopkeeper"s expectation, Young Master Lin wasn"t angry but instead, he laughed out loud. "If you are able to catch and deal with him, I will be the one who bows to you!" He said in between his laughter.
"Wha--- what?" The shopkeeper was very surprised! "This servant doesn"t dare, Young Master Lin!" Who was he? He was only a lowly slave, a mere shopkeeper. But after taking into account what Young Master had said, he knew that this person was very good at fighting. Could it be that Young Master Lin knew who this old man was? If yes, it was no wonder for him to know that the bodyguards weren"t the old man"s match.
"Young Master, do you know this old man?" The shopkeeper asked politely. While they were talking, the bystanders could see that the old man was only toying with the two bodyguards.
Their fight happened inside the room, so outsiders couldn"t join in the fun. However, they could hear the commotion and some of them came out of their respective room. The highest floor was for higher rank people and they knew that they shouldn"t bother with other people"s trouble --- afraid that it would affect them and their reputation. That was why, after looking for a while, they went back inside their own place. They didn"t want to get involved.
"I know him," Lin Jian answered leisurely.
The shopkeeper complained inwardly. If Young Master knew this old man, then why didn"t he try to stop him from wreaking havoc?!