Lin Yun and Patriarch He sat opposite each other. After a maid poured their tea, she respectfully withdrew from the small courtyard. A profound silence fell over them. Neither Lin Yun nor Patriarch He spoke; both simply sipped their tea.

After about the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, Patriarch He was the first to speak. "Young Master Lin, I have come today for two reasons. The first is to pay you a visit, and the second is to personally ask for your forgiveness."

Hearing this, Lin Yun feigned confusion and asked, "Oh? Patriarch He, what do you mean by that?"

"Sigh... It is shameful to admit, but I have failed in my duties. Over a dozen of my family’s guards betrayed the He Family a month ago. I have been trying to capture them for some time now, but without success. Rumor has it they’ve joined the Death Row Shelter and become assassins. I also heard that you were the target of an assassination attempt last night, Young Master Lin. I suspect it was their doing," Patriarch He said, his voice laced with false sincerity.

As he spoke, Patriarch He actually stood up, intending to give Lin Yun a deep bow, but was stopped by Lin Yun.

"Young Master Lin, this old man must be going senile to have allowed such traitors to emerge from my own household guards. I am truly ashamed. To think they nearly harmed you... I deserve to die ten thousand deaths for this failure..."

"Have a seat, Patriarch He."

Right from the start, Patriarch He was putting on a self-pitying act for Lin Yun. To look at him, you would think he was genuinely wracked with guilt.

Once Patriarch He was seated again, Lin Yun said lightly, "Patriarch He, the innocent will be proven innocent, and the guilty will be proven guilty. I can still distinguish right from wrong. If this matter truly wasn’t your doing, I will absolutely not blame you. We can wait until I’ve escorted these men back to the Flawless Palace before making a final decision."

As soon as he heard Lin Yun, Patriarch He grew frantic. ’Take them back to the Flawless Palace?’ He knew very well that the mount Lin Yun rode was a Flame Bird from the Flawless Palace.

"This... Young Master Lin, you see, these men are traitors to my He Family. It should be up to the He Family to deal with them. Why don’t you hand them over to me, Young Master Lin? I will certainly give you a satisfactory result," Patriarch He said tentatively.

"A satisfactory result?" Lin Yun murmured to himself.

"Yes, yes, that’s right! I will ensure your satisfaction, Young Master Lin," Patriarch He nodded repeatedly.

Staring at Patriarch He for a long moment, Lin Yun prepared to get back to his old business. When it came to demanding compensation, Lin Yun had done it many times; he was a seasoned pro.

"Since it’s come to this, I won’t make things difficult for you, Patriarch He. One thousand Low-grade Spirit Essence Pills and one hundred thousand Middle Grade Primordial Stones. Then, I will hand these men over to you," Lin Yun said lightly.

"What? One thousand Low-grade Spirit Essence Pills? And one hundred thousand Middle Grade Primordial Stones?" Hearing Lin Yun’s demands, Patriarch He leaped up as if his tail had been stepped on.

You couldn’t blame him for overreacting. The price Lin Yun quoted was simply outrageous. One thousand Spirit Essence Pills—what did that even mean?

That was worth a million Middle Grade Primordial Stones—a hundred million Low Grade Primordial Stones! This was pure extortion! No, even that was an understatement for Lin Yun’s audacity.

"Young Master Lin, I can’t possibly produce one thousand Spirit Essence Pills. You know the price of Spirit Essence Pills. How about..." Patriarch He tried to haggle, but Lin Yun cut him off mid-sentence.

"In that case, forget it. I’ll just take them back to the Flawless Palace. Li Tian, see our guest out." He immediately moved to throw him out. Now that he had something to hold over the He Family, Lin Yun had no fear that Patriarch He would refuse.

"Young Master Lin, you misunderstand. That’s not what I meant. It’s just that my He Family truly cannot produce one thousand Spirit Essence Pills," Patriarch He said.

Lin Yun, of course, didn’t believe him. ’The great He Family, the second-largest in Wind City, can’t even produce a thousand Spirit Essence Pills? What a joke.’

"Do you really take me for a three-year-old, Patriarch He? Since you are so insincere, then forget it. Please, show yourself out." Lin Yun showed Patriarch He no respect whatsoever.

Looking at the young man before him, Patriarch He was both furious and indignant. ’In all my time in Wind City, when has anyone ever dared to speak to me like this?’

The He Family could, of course, produce a thousand Spirit Essence Pills. But to take out so many at once was a painful loss for Patriarch He. After all, this was an amount worth one million Middle Grade Primordial Stones.

As he stood there, conflicted, his old butler spoke up at the opportune moment. "It is naturally no problem for Young Master Lin to ask for compensation, but could we see if those traitors are still alive?"

Hearing the old butler’s words, Patriarch He exchanged a look with him and instantly understood his meaning. He chimed in, "Yes. Young Master Lin, bring those traitors out. The matter of compensation is negotiable."

They wanted to confirm whether these men were actually alive. If Lin Yun had them alive, then a thousand Spirit Essence Pills it was. But if he didn’t have any living captives, then the compensation would naturally have to be renegotiated.

Lin Yun knew what Patriarch He and the old butler were plotting, and Li Tian had anticipated it long ago. At that moment, Li Tian spoke up, "Patriarch He, do you not trust us? If that’s the case, then there’s no need to say anything more. Please leave."

These two old foxes definitely wouldn’t dare to gamble on whether Lin Yun had living captives. If they lost that bet, the price was one they absolutely could not afford to pay. Li Tian had precisely grasped their mentality.

Pinned down by Lin Yun and Li Tian, the situation was now completely under Lin Yun’s control. Patriarch He had no choice but to obey; resistance was impossible.

This wasn’t the first or second time Lin Yun had done something like this. From the Monk and Daoist at the very beginning, to Wang Yi, Patriarch of the Wang Family, and then the Wind Forest Sect, Lin Yun’s experience in such matters was, to say the least, extensive.

’But one shouldn’t think of me as a swindler,’ Lin Yun thought. ’These people all brought this on themselves. They provoked me first, which is why I’m demanding compensation.’

In Lin Yun’s eyes, this was all perfectly reasonable. ’If you have the guts to try and kill me, you should be prepared to face the consequences.’

Looking at Lin Yun and Li Tian, Patriarch He’s expression was grim. ’One wrong move, and the whole game is lost. I can’t afford to gamble now.’

Furthermore, faced with someone as unyielding as Lin Yun, Patriarch He was completely out of options.

"Young Master Lin, I’ll pay the compensation, but it has to be a trade: payment for the prisoners," Patriarch He said.

Hearing this, Lin Yun’s voice grew cold. "Patriarch He, have you failed to grasp the situation? I am the victim here. Did you come here today to negotiate terms with me?"

Lin Yun didn’t give an inch. After a long, conflicted moment, Patriarch He seemed to deflate. He sat back down in his chair. With a flash from the Space Ring on his hand, one hundred Jade Bottles instantly appeared on the stone table. Beside the table, one hundred thousand Middle Grade Primordial Stones materialized on the ground.

"Young Master Lin, there are ten Low-grade Spirit Essence Pills in each Jade Bottle, for a total of one thousand. The hundred thousand Primordial Stones are also here," Patriarch He said, wincing at the loss.

A slight smile touched Lin Yun’s lips. ’Not bad at all. This solves my recent cultivation problems.’ Without a word, he collected the Spirit Essence Pills and Primordial Stones.

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