This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

Chapter 116: Chapter 8: Things Remain

After the sixth day of the new year, Lin Yan stood in the courtyard, watching the trees planted in the alley last year sprout new buds. A spring breeze blew past, making the branches and leaves sway gently.

’By my calculations, it’s about time to set off for Qing State.’

He wondered how he should bring it up with his aunt.

"Yan’er, what are you doing standing by the door? The food is ready. Go get Mo’er."

Aunt Liu, holding a ladle, saw Lin Yan standing in the courtyard and said with a smile.

"Okay."

Lin Yan walked to the door of the side room and pushed it open.

Lin Mo was facing him, reading a book. He looked up at the sound, an ink stain smudged on his face.

"Brother, you’re back! Is it time to eat? I was so engrossed in my book I completely lost track of time."

’He certainly was engrossed,’ Lin Yan thought. ’So engrossed he didn’t even notice his book was upside down.’

"Go wash your hands. It’s time to eat."

Lin Yan didn’t expose his little brother for secretly reading a storybook. He’d walked in those shoes himself, so there was no need to spoil his brother’s fun.

"Oh."

The moment Lin Mo lowered his head to put the book down, a look of secret delight crossed his face. ’Brother didn’t see me reading the storybook! I’m so clever. I used the book as a cover and fooled even him.’

At the dinner table, once his aunt and younger brother were nearly finished eating, Lin Yan put down his chopsticks. "Aunt, there’s something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I’m going to Qing State to study Martial Arts."

"To Qing State?"

Aunt Liu looked a bit lost. ’Where is Qing State?’

Lin Yan didn’t hide anything, giving her a simple account of the Qing State Lin Family. Of course, he omitted his master’s analysis, only repeating what Qin Yin had told him.

He also didn’t mention his uncle.

’If I go and can’t find him, or if I find bad news, her hopes will have been for nothing. It’s better not to say anything for now.’

Aunt Liu’s hands paused for a moment, then she smiled. "I don’t understand these matters of Martial Arts, so I can’t be of much help. You can make your own decision. I just have to ask, are that Lin Mansion and our ancestors really related?"

"There’s no mistake."

"If there’s no mistake, then you should go. When will you leave?"

’As long as my nephew isn’t just claiming random ancestors, I won’t stop him.’

"In a day or two."

"Brother, you’re going to Qing State? Is it far?"

Lin Mo asked indistinctly, having just stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.

"Very far. A round trip would take about a month."

"That far? Then..."

"Eat your food. Don’t talk," Aunt Liu said, glaring at him.

Lin Mo shrank back, his gaze darting between Lin Yan and his mother. He opened his mouth to speak but ultimately kept quiet.

After the meal, Aunt Liu cleared the dishes, and Lin Yan helped carry them into the kitchen.

"Leave them, I can handle it," Aunt Liu said in a steady voice as she took the bowls. "Go and talk with Mo’er. He might not say it, but I know he’ll hate to see you go."

Lin Yan nodded and walked out of the kitchen.

In the courtyard, Lin Mo was squatting in a corner, drawing something on the ground with a stick.

Lin Yan walked over and squatted down beside him.

Drawn on the ground was a crooked figure of a person. Beside it was the word "Brother."

Seeing the figure with legs thicker than its head, Lin Yan’s mouth twitched. He slapped his little brother on the back of the head in exasperation. "What in the world is this supposed to be?"

"Brother, I’m already sad, and you’re hitting me."

Lin Mo threw the stick on the ground and looked up, his eyes a little red.

"What’s there to be sad about? When I’m gone, no one will be nagging you to do your homework. You’ll be able to read your storybooks for as long as you want. When you get bored, you can go cause trouble with Cai Jun—climbing walls one day, scaling trees the next..."

Listening to the scene his brother described, the redness in Lin Mo’s eyes gradually faded.

’Hmm... What my brother’s saying... actually makes a lot of sense.’

"So you really are thinking about all those wonderful things."

SLAP!

Lin Yan landed another slap without hesitation. "Even though I’ll be gone, you have to write me a letter every month. If your handwriting is still a crooked mess, you just wait and see how I’ll tan your hide when I get back."

"I know."

Lin Mo replied listlessly.

"Remember, after I leave, you need to listen to your mother and not make her worry."

"I’ll remember."

"And another thing," Lin Yan said, his tone growing serious. "If something happens at home that your mother can’t handle, go to the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall to find my master, or go to the Cai Mansion to find Fourth Aunt."

"As for your maternal uncle’s family..." Lin Yan trailed off. Seeing his little brother’s confused expression, he paused for a long moment before saying in a low voice, "Just do whatever your mother tells you."

"Mom would never let me get close to Uncle and the others anyway."

Lin Mo pouted. Ever since they moved, his maternal uncle and his younger cousins had come over to play, but he always ignored them.

...

...

「The next day. Early morning.」

Aunt Liu led Lin Yan into the ancestral hall. "Pay your respects to the ancestors before you leave," she said. "Let them protect you."

"Okay."

Lin Yan readily complied, entering the ancestral hall and respectfully offering incense to the Lin Family ancestors and to his own parents.

Beside him, Aunt Liu also offered incense, praying for the Lin ancestors to keep Yan’er safe and sound.

Finally, her gaze fell upon the spirit tablets of Lin Yan’s parents, and she whispered in her heart, ’Brother, Sister-in-law, Yan’er is so promising now. I’m no longer in any position to find a wife for him. Please, bless him. Let him find a good partner and start his own family soon.’

After finishing their respects, the two of them left the ancestral hall. Aunt Liu came out from a room carrying a bundle.

"I bought you the clothes in this bundle. They should fit you well. And here are a few pairs of shoes. Remember to wear them."

"Thank you, Aunt."

Lin Yan accepted the bundle solemnly. The candle in his aunt’s room had burned all through the previous night.

He knew she had stayed up all night sewing the shoes for him, but he hadn’t tried to stop her. It was a token of her affection.

"Aunt, after I leave, please don’t take in any more mending and laundry jobs. I’m a Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist now, after all. It wouldn’t look good if word got out."

"I know, I know. I’ll just stay home and take good care of Mo’er."

"Little brother, be good at home."

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