This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

"I know Mother is really asking if you’ve found a sister-in-law. A few days ago, Brother Monkey’s wife gave birth to a big, healthy boy. Mother was so happy; she held him and didn’t want to let go."

Reading this, Lin Yan shook his head in resignation. His aunt was still pushing him to get married, as always.

He then continued reading.

"Brother, have you found me a sister-in-law or not?"

"Whether you’ve found me a sister-in-law or not, I’ve recently gotten one for myself—that really pretty lady from the Lin Mansion."

"She said that based on our family standing, I should call her Sister-in-Law. She even gave me lots of tasty snacks and fun things."

"Sister-in-Law is the best."

The corner of Lin Yan’s mouth twitched. ’It seems my little brother will call anyone who gives him treats "mother."’

Still, his little brother calling Madam Lin "Sister-in-Law" wasn’t wrong, generationally speaking.

He figured this Madam Lin wanted to forge a deeper bond between their two families.

"Brother, has it snowed over in Qing State yet?"

"It’s snowing a lot at home. Cai Jun and I built a snowman. Cai Jun said he wants to practice martial arts when he grows up, but I told him, ’You can’t even beat me, so what’s the point of you practicing?’ He started crying and tattled on me to Fourth Aunt, and she gave him a spanking."

"Brother, is the Qing State Prefecture City really big? How much bigger is it than Guangping County Town?"

"Do they sell malt candy there? What about the pressed duck from the Wang Family’s shop?"

"Mother told me not to ask so many questions, but I’ve already written them down, so you have to tell me, Brother."

Lin Yan smiled knowingly and turned to the next page.

"Brother, I’m telling you this secretly: Mother has lost weight."

"Mother misses you. During the ancestor worship the day before yesterday, she called out your name and then just froze for a moment."

"Brother, I miss you too."

"Brother, when are you coming home?"

—

After reading the letter, Lin Yan was silent for a long time.

He carefully folded the pages again, placing them inside his robes, close to his chest.

Then he stood up, walked over to his desk, spread out a new sheet of paper, and dipped his brush in ink.

"My dear little brother,

I received your letter.

Your handwriting has improved since last time, but you wrote ’hehe’ all crooked. If you still can’t write it properly next time, just wait and see how I’ll deal with you when I get home.

You asked if the Qing State Prefecture City is big?

It is.

It’s dozens of times larger than Guangping County Town. It takes a whole day to walk from East City to West City. They have malt candy and pressed duck here too, but it’s not as good as the kind back home.

Regarding the Chishui Gang incident, you did the right thing. If you run into trouble in a crowded place with onlookers, you can use my name. If there are no outsiders or witnesses around, you need to be more careful. But... you must never use my influence to bully people. I’ll talk to Brother Zhuang Zheng about this. If I find out you’ve been throwing your weight around, I’ll have him watch you day and night.

Tell Aunt that I’m doing well here in Qing State and she doesn’t need to worry.

You’re fourteen this year. Since I’m not home, you have to take on the family’s responsibilities. In our Lin Family, it’s just you and me left. You need to listen to your mother and not make her worry."

After writing this sentence, Lin Yan thought for a moment and then crossed it out.

’My brother is only fourteen.’ He didn’t want to place too much of a burden on him. ’Let him just be happy and carefree until he’s sixteen.’

"..."

"..."

"Your big brother misses you too."

...

...

「New Year’s Eve.」

For once, Lin Yan didn’t practice his martial arts. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but that he had no time.

Early in the morning, a servant came to inform him that it was time for the ancestor worship ceremony.

After changing into the formal attire of the Third Branch, Lin Yan first headed to their branch’s ancestral hall.

By the time he arrived, a crowd of young people had already gathered in front of the ancestral hall. When Lin Minghai saw Lin Yan appear, he waved him over. "Over here."

"Brother Hai, Brother Song, Brother Cheng, Brother Yuan."

Lin Yan greeted the men standing beside Brother Hai.

"Not bad. I heard all about your exploits even out in the Yantian Mountain Range."

Among the group, Lin Mingsong gave a slight nod, and Lin Mingchen also wore a smile. The most enthusiastic was Lin Mingyuan, who took the initiative to clap Lin Yan on the shoulder.

In Lin Mingyuan’s eyes, Lin Mingchuan had targeted Lin Yan mainly because of him, and for that, he felt a natural sense of guilt toward Lin Yan.

Besides them, Lin Minghai introduced Lin Yan to several other clansmen from the Third Branch. By the time Lin Yan had greeted each of them, a cup of tea’s worth of time had passed.

"Great Uncle and the others are here!"

The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent. Lin Yan also looked behind him to see dozens of middle-aged men walking their way. Leading them was a man in his fifties—the one everyone called Great Uncle, Lin Shoutao, who was responsible for all the affairs of the Third Branch.

"It is time. Open the doors."

Lin Shoutao led the group into the ancestral hall for the ceremony. What made Lin Yan curious, however, was that he didn’t see any sign of Uncle Qi.

"Uncle Qi and the others of the ’Qing’ generation are all at the main ancestral hall worshipping the ancestors right now. We’ll have to head over there in a bit too."

After their worship was complete, Lin Mingyuan noticed the confusion in Lin Yan’s eyes and explained in a low voice, "This is also a way to motivate the clansmen. If you want to enter the main hall to worship the ancestors, you either have to wait until you’ve reached a senior generation, or you have to be like Uncle Qi, with strength that surpasses the entire clan. This is a rule set down by the ancestors."

In the hearts of the people of Shandong Dao, worshipping the ancestors was an event of supreme honor.

But to be qualified to enter the main hall, one had to pour their life into Cultivation. Otherwise, they could only worship from outside the doors, waiting until they grew old and their seniority rose.

’It seems the ancestors truly carved the concept of competition into the very bones of every Lin Family clansman.’

Lin Yan murmured to himself, following the crowd toward the main ancestral hall.

As the five branches converged, the large plaza before the main ancestral hall was filled with people. He even saw Lin Zhaowu and other members from the branch families, though Lin Zhaowu and his group were standing at the very back.

By a conservative estimate, the entire procession numbered over a thousand people, and Lin Yan had been placed in the middle section.