Chapter 1: Lin Xiao
"Lin Xiao you brat, stop right there!"
In a small village near Cai Mountains, it was a lively morning. The sun was still hanging high on the sky above, yet the people were already busy with their activities. In the midst of their daily activities, the yell from the middle aged man could be heard very clearly.
"Hahaha, Elder Mo, didn"t I tell you that you shouldn"t scream so much in case you hurt our ears!"
"Come back here, you brat!"
A young boy around the age of 15 years old ran while laughing. Dressed in simple and crude brown robes, he didn"t look much different from ordinary children in this village. His black hair danced with the win as the boy ran across the village, laughing heartily.
Behind him, a middle aged man was looking at the boy with black lines on his face. He couldn"t believe that this young boy had tricked him again. If only he could spank that naughty boy, he would have done so from a long time ago.
"Elder Mo," a villager called out. "What happened this time?"
"Aish, that brat, Lin Xiao," the elder said with helpless tone. "He"s tricking me with his words again."
The villagers around the elder shook their heads. Who didn"t know that Lin Xiao had his way with words? That naughty kid really loved to trick them if they dared to mess with him.
"Shall I catch him, Elder?" A burly villager asked. He was one of the strongest villager in this small village. While they were all cultivators in this world, they were still at the lowest of the lowest, staying idly at the body training stage. Even then, there were rarely anyone among them who could reach high level.
This burly villager was exactly one of the few of them who had managed to reach high level.
"Forget it," the elder waved his hand. "That Lin Xiao is indeed naughty, but he didn"t cross any lines. Besides, our village need his talent if we wish to get more recognition from Taiyi Sect."
"Yes, Elder Mo."
"Elder Mo is benevolent."
In the vast world, there were countless sects in the world. Or at least, that was what the villagers ever knew because their scope was simply too little. Even the highest martial artist in this village was nothing more than body training 8 stage. When compared to many other cities, they were severely lacking.
This village was one of the few village under Taiyi Sect. They have to pay tribute each year and also send the promising youngsters to join Taiyi Sect during the yearly examination. If the youngsters managed to perform well, of course, the village would gain benefit too.
This was the only reason they could tolerate Lin Xiao"s mischievousness.
Swish!
At this time, Lin Xiao was travelling rapidly to the edge of the village. There were scarcer houses at this area because most of them would not want to live at the edge. There were more dangers here and harder to seek help if they ever need it.
Lin Xiao glanced up and upon seeing a familiar cliff at the edge of the village, he grinned. He jumped off the fence and circled the cliff. A tree was growing at the top of the cliff with its root hanging from above. Lin Xiao grabbed one of them and used it to swing to the other side of the cliff with agile movements.
After running and turning once more, he arrived in front of a secluded house. The house looked worn out and quite bad, but Lin Xiao paid no heed to it. This house was the only place he could call home in this village.
His eyes landed on the figure who was sitting in front of the house.
"Lin Yun! Didn"t I tell you that you shouldn"t go outside of the house?" Lin Xiao called out as he continued to run.
The young man, Lin Yun, turned his head around. He was around the same age as Lin Xiao but had smaller body frame. While Lin Xiao had toned muscle thanks to his daily practice, Lin Yun looked like a young kid who could blow even with the slightest wind.
They didn"t look alike because they were not related by blood, but the two of them were both orphans. Lin Yun"s parents took care of Lin Xiao when the latter was small, so the two of them became brothers.
"Bro, you"re back," Lin Yun called out.
"Yun!"
"I"ll return back inside," Lin Yun said helplessly and stood up slowly. His movement was extremely slow as if it hurt him to move even a little bit.
He looked at Lin Xiao as he walked inside. "Did you trick anyone again, Brother?"
"Just Elder Mo. He"s trying to use my labor for free again," Lin Xiao replied as he watched Lin Yun"s steps with worried gaze. If something were to happen to his brother, he wouldn"t" be able to take it.
"Oh."
Lin Yun obviously knew Elder Mo. He was one of the few elders in this villages. Rather than having one village head to decide on everything, they have three elders here. It was simply because they couldn"t get on agreement if it was only one person who led, so they picked three.
The three of them have different personalities and all, with Elder Mo being the hardest to deal with because he loved to create trouble for the youngsters. As a stingy old man, he always tried to get free labor.
Of course, Lin Xiao would do whatever possible to put himself in the most advantageous situation so that he wouldn"t be cheated.
"Don"t worry, I managed to collect enough copper coins to buy your medicine for this month." Lin Xiao grinned, showing a few copper coins from his pocket that he earned with great difficulties.
Lin Yun shook his head. "There"s no use buying the medicine, Brother. Why don"t you use the money for yourself?"
"Nonsense! I can"t possibly let you get sick all the time," Lin Xiao rejected the notion almost immediately. He walked into the house and pulled the chair. "What did you see this time? Don"t tell me that you see a beautiful girl again."
"Brother!"