4

"Wait." As if struck by a sudden thought, Lin Kai paused for a moment before nodding his head. "Now that such an event occurred in the family, I doubt the elders and the patriarch will remain passive. They will likely increase security. So, for a moment I don't think I have to worry about my safety."

At this moment, he has no other choice but to put his faith in the family. If not for the fear of suddenly dying outside, he would have run away the minute he saw those dead bodies in the hall.

One could say that it was a stretch to put his faith in the family, but for the moment, this was all he could do. Perhaps, this was his own way of comforting himself in such a dire situation.

"And this damn thing still won't work." Cursing loudly in his mind, Lin Kai thought about the stories he had been writing before gnashing his teeth in anger. Till now, nothing seems to work. He has written so much that he was now out of ideas. Almost all of the novels along with fairy tales have been written by him, but other than black eyes due to the lack of sleep, he did not gain anything.

"And then there's this exam too." Everything was going so fast around him that he was having a headache processing it. Just more than a week ago, he was but a normal man, living in the comfort of his home, and now he was here, in this unfamiliar world... It would be a lie to say that he wasn't shaken. Perhaps the book in his mind was the last thing that kept his sanity, giving him some hope to survive.

"Still better to stay home instead of wandering around." After making up his mind, Lin Kai walked inside his small house without any hesitation and closed the door, leaving only the windows open. Even the windows were almost covered by a thin translucent cloth sheet, only enough to illuminate the area around the desk with light.

"Well, at least the tea here is good." Adding some wood to the embers of the last night's fire, he blew some air before placing a pot of water on it. "And the world truly is magical. Even the dry woods burn for a long time." Trying to comfort himself, Lin Kai focused on the things in front of him.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't shaken by the murders of so many people. First, he was plunged into this unknown world, and before he could even adapt to this world, there were already people dying all around him.

Looking at the flying embers, his eyes were lost until he heard the sound of water boiling.

Filling up his cup, he took a sip before taking his seat in front of the table where piles of papers were placed randomly. At this moment, perhaps only the smell of the ink along with fresh papers can soothe his uneasy mind.

As Lin Kai tried to distract himself from those murders, he began to think about his next course of action.

"Do, I need to end the story in the very first chapter if I want the rewards?" A random thought popped into his mind as he was thinking about how to use the book in his mind.

Sitting silently, Lin Kai kept on sipping the tea, but the thought that just sprouted had now turned into a massive tree. With an itch in his heart, he pulled out a piece of paper as his hands picked up the brush before dipping it in the ink.

However, he didn't immediately start writing. As the tiny drop of ink fell off the brush into the paper, Lin Kai was imagining various scenarios in his mind.

It wasn't until the tea placed beside him was completely cold and the brush was almost dry that he came back to his senses. Taking a deep breath, Lin Kai slowly lowered the simple brown wooden brush as he began to write.

"One upon a time, in a place far-far away, there lived a boy by the name of Red.

Born in a small village located in the distant mountain, he was born and raised as a hunter. He lived his starting life aiming to become the best hunter.

But as fate would have it, a tragedy struck on his eighteenth birthday.

Some hunters while on the hunt, accidentally came across a den and found an animal cub there.

It was a small cub that looked like a cat with emerald eyes.

Elated, they killed the cub before plucking out its green eyes which were still shining dimly. After looking around and making sure they didn't miss anything, they left the cave with bright smiles.

Reaching back to their village, they sold the eyes to the traveling merchant, gaining wealth beyond what the villagers had imagined.

But their happiness didn't last very long. That very night, a shadow crept over the village. And in the darkest of the night, it reaped the life of everyone in the village. Even the merchant along with his crew didn't survive.

Red, who used to wander the forest in the night became the sole survivor of this incident.

Enraged, he decided to take revenge on whatever it was that killed his village.

Wandering across the world, he met numerous experts and gained knowledge. It wasn't until he was thirty years old that he stepped into the realm of Qi condensing."

Writing till here, Lin Kai paused before nodding his head. Every novel that he read in his past life always started with this realm. Maybe he should start with this instead of making his character a god.

The more Lin Kai thought about it, the more he found the idea feasible. After a moment, he even laughed at himself for not thinking about this sooner. Perhaps, it would have saved him a lot of time too.

"Now armed with years of knowledge and newfound strength, Red made his way back to the village. He now knew what the beast that killed all the villagers was.

It was a Henix. A beast with a tiger's body and the curved horns of a goat. Its eyes were the most treasured object as it allowed its owner to ignore the climate changes to a significant extent. Not only that, if a person kept it close to his body, he would always be full of energy. It was especially popular amongst the rich families.

Reaching his village, he began to track the beast. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. It wasn't until two years later that he finally found the beast.

The beast too found the familiar scent of the villagers on him.

Overcome with rage, both of them began to fight each other. Their every move contained strength that shattered rocks and left deep pits in the ground.

But unfortunately, neither of them were able to overcome their opponents. As both the man and the beast lay in their own pool of blood, their hate and unwillingness remained in their eyes.

Both of them finally managed to get their revenge but at the cost of their life. Their body slowly turned into dust with the passage of years, before ultimately disappearing from this world."

"The End."

After Lin Kai finished writing this simple and crude story, he put the pen down and closed his eyes. Moments later, Lin Kai found himself in the familiar space that he had entered countless times during these past few days.

"Come on."

The illusory paper in his hand on which the story was written trembled for a moment before slowly floating forward, towards the book before merging into it.

As Lin Kai looked with great expectation, but the book remained still.

Seconds turned into minutes as his bright eyes began to dim. It wasn't until more than fifteen minutes had passed that he sighed in disappointment before exiting the space.

"Piece of shit." Cursing in a low voice, Lin Kai crumbled the paper before throwing it away. He has done almost everything that he was capable of, but no matter what he did, it just wasn't enough.

"Forget it." Shaking his head, he was still wondering whether to continue or not when someone suddenly knocked on his door.

"Knock... Knock...."

"Now who is it?" With furrowed brows, he stood up before opening the door. However, the minute he opened the door, his eyes almost narrowed into slits as his heartbeat sped up.

"Huh..." But the surprise lasted only for a second before he clasped his hands together, giving the person a bow. "Father..."

Standing in front of him was the current patriarch of the Lin Clan, and the father of the current body, Lin Xun.

Lin Xun didn't immediately reply but looked at him for a long time.

With each passing second, Lin Kai's heartbeat was speeding up. If not for his reason, he would have run away. After all, Lin Xun might be the father of this body, but to him, he was a complete stranger, and not just a random stranger, but a powerful one.

Who knows if he won't snap suddenly and kill him?

"Sigh..." Looking at his son, Lin Xun sighed helplessly as he shook his head. "I didn't believe when she said you lost your memories, but it seems this is the case for now."

"I...." Lin Xun hesitated for a moment as he continued speaking. "If not for the current events, I would have looked for the cure myself."

"Father..." It was with great difficulty that Lin Kai uttered those words. Calling a completely unfamiliar stranger father was not easy for him, but after thinking about it, he still called him out.

At this moment he needed to ensure his safety, much less calling father, even if the man asked him to call him his grandpa, he would do it.

"It is nothing severe, I think I can manage it." Even while uttering these words, he still kept his head down, not daring to meet Lin Kai's eyes.

"Heh..." Giving out a laugh, Lin Xun wanted to raise his hand to console him, but he just couldn't. "You know when I heard you lost your memories, I thought it was for good. I thought maybe... just maybe it will change your behavior."

After a long pause, he just averted his eyes from his son. "Seems like I was wrong. Some things are perhaps deeply rooted in one's blood."

"I just came here to tell you about tomorrow's exam. One of the main guards will escort you to the exam hall safely, so you don't have to worry about anything.

Also, since you lost your memory, let me remind you of our deal."

"If you can not pass the exam tomorrow, you have to follow the family arrangements. We can not have idlers in our family. We have already given you three chances and now this is your fourth and final one."

"Do you understand?"

With each passing word, his voice became a bit hoarse as an invisible pressure began to envelop Lin Kai who was almost sweating.

'God damn it. At least let me adjust to this world first.' Even though he was cursing loudly in his mind, Lin Kai didn't dare to voice it out. He could only nod his head in agreement.

"Good." Lin Xun took a glance around the room before pausing briefly at the piles of paper scattered through the room. Even though he didn't speak, there was a hint of approval in his eyes. It seemed this son of his was truly serious this time.

"Good luck." After one last sentence, his figure blurred before disappearing, leaving Lin Kai who was still watching the ground alone.

"Gone?" Lin Kai didn't dare to speak anything. Who knows if the father of this body was still hiding in the shadow, observing him?

After a few breaths, he closed the door before sitting on his bed. The first few days after his arrival were the most peaceful ones. So much so, that he had almost forgotten that this is a completely unfamiliar world.

"The father too doesn't seem very fond of this guy." Recalling the interaction that just took place, Lin Kai could already see the cracks in their relationship. "Is it because I am a scholar?"

The only thing he could think of at the moment was because of the path that he was taking. Maybe the scholars aren't as impressive as they sound in the papers.

.

.

.

While Lin Kai was immersed in his thoughts, a different scenario was taking place in the current Lin family's patriarch's room.

Inside a dimly lit luxurious room filled with exotic decorations and paintings, the figure of Lin Xun was sitting silently on a bamboo chair. Behind him was a woman whose figure was obscured by vague darkness.

"I can still feel your hesitation." The woman slowly put her hands on his shoulders before rubbing them gently.

"Um..." Lin Xun didn't reply but one could see his face that was full of hesitation. His eyes seemed to be in a haze as he was trying to come up with a decision.

"What is it? Tell me." The hands of the woman slowly moved towards his temples as she rubbed them gently.

"I..." Lin Xun tried to find words, but at this moment, he was having a hard time coming up with anything.

"I don't know." Finally, after exhaling a mouthful of air, he began to speak. "Recently it feels like everything has spiraled out of control. First the offer from the Wei family, then these murders, and now our son losing his memories. Something just doesn't feel right."

After a short pause, he spoke further with some hesitation. "It's as if there is an invisible hand arranging everything."

"You think too much." The woman was still massaging his shoulders gently.

"These are tough times." Shaking her head, she spoke further. "And you don't need to worry about Kai'er. Even if he lost his memories, they will come back eventually. There is no need to be worried about it. You should think about the offer that the Wei family proposed to us. And as for the matter of the killer, I am sure the elders are taking care of it. You don't have to do everything yourself."

"I am not worried about the killer." Shaking his head, Lin Xun shook off her hands as he stood up with clenched fists. Now that the elders of the family themselves were guarding and looking, it was only a matter of time before the killer was caught.

"It is the terms that they are promising to us that have left me worried."

The woman who was standing behind Lin Xun a moment ago took a step forward as she stood by his side. It was only now in this dimly lit room that her appearance was revealed.

The woman was in her mid-thirties, possessing an ethereal beauty that was enough to captivate the hearts of those who saw her. Her skin was smooth and fair, with a gentle rosy hue that adds warmth to her complexion. Her lips were soft and naturally tinted with a gentle pink, and her slender figure was draped in a flowing robe made of a gossamer-like material, adorned with subtle floral patterns. Her cascading midnight black hair flows down to her waist, shimmering like silk in the dim light.

What sets her apart was the cloth that delicately covers her eyes. It was flowing, sheer fabric in shades of deep indigo and adorned with intricate silver embroidery.

Lin Xun Looked at his wife as he sighed helplessly. In times like these, he would always come to his wife for suggestions. And often she would guide him to a proper path.

"What do you think I should do?" Holding her hands gently, Lin Xun asked softly.

This was perhaps one of the most important decisions he was going to make as a patriarch of the Lin family.

"Let us wait for the result of the exam." Smiling gently, the woman continued "Then we will think what we need to do."

"Hmm..." Nodding his head, Lin Xun looked outside, into the direction Lin Kai was. Now the only hope he has was of his useless son passing the exam.