I. Don't. Care

"Brother Tian, what happened to you? Were you caught up in the beast tide? You weren't right? You probably would've been killed. Did you know that quite a few people were killed from it? Where were you? Brother Tian…" Lin Zhou was rapidly asking one question after another as they were walking back without even giving him a chance to respond. Lin Tian could only smile at this chatterbox.

"Brother Tian, why aren't you answering?" Asked Lin Zhou with a perplexed expression.

"You big panda, why don't you take some time to breathe so that I can get a chance to talk?" Smiled Lin Tian.

Lin Zhou's eyes lightened up as he realized his mistake and foolishly rubbed his head, "Sorry, I just got a little excited after seeing you. It was just that I heard about a lot of people got caught up in it, and you were gone all night. So, what did happen?"

Lin Tian stopped walking as he thought about what to say. What did happen? He had a feeling that he should keep his meeting with Jiao Lu a secret, but he also needed someone to read the list of items that Jiao Lu gave him. At the very least he shouldn't talk about it here in the middle of the town.

Lin Zhou also stopped walking after noticing Lin Tian's troubled expression and asked, "Should we go back to your place?"

Lin Tian felt relieved at Lin Zhou's understanding and nodded his head in agreement, "Let's do that." With that said, Lin Tian slapped Lin Zhou on the back and proceeded to walk on ahead with his hands clasped behind his back.

Lin Zhou was slightly stupefied by this. Was this Lin Tian? In the past, whenever they walked together, Lin Tian would always walk slightly behind him with his head down in a deferential manner, but now. Lin Tian's head was up straight, looking ahead.

However, it only took Lin Zhou a few moments before he shrugged his shoulders and thought, "Who cares?" He ran forward to catch up with Lin Tian and smacked him on the back in return. This caused Lin Tian to miss a step and almost fall.

"Dumb Panda."

It only took several minutes for the two to make it over to the Lin family estate. As they approached the main gate, two guards wearing the Lin family crest gave Lin Zhou a salute as he walked by. Lin Tian noticed the slight difference in treatment but chose to ignore it and just walk on by. At least they weren't making things difficult for him. However, just because the guards weren't willing to find trouble with Lin Tian doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't.

Just as the two of them were entering, another group of youths were on the way out. This group was compromised mainly of children or grandchildren of the Lin family elders. At the front of the group was Lin Qin merrily chatting with everyone.

Lin Qin also became aware of them. He couldn't care less after seeing Lin Zhou, but once he saw Lin Tian a half-smile crossed his face as if he found a lost toy.

"Brother Tian, what a surprise!" Exclaimed Lin Qin as he walked over to them and clapped both his hands-on Lin Tian's shoulders, "I was worried. I thought that you wound up as food for some Vicious Beast."

The rest of the youths in Lin Qin's group started laughing at these words. Since when did Lin Qin care about Lin Tian's wellbeing? In fact, he was probably the one person that caused him the most harm.

However, unlike what Lin Qin was expecting, Lin Tian took this in emotionlessly. Perhaps, if this was the Lin Tian of a few days ago then he would probably have had to keep his head down and play along with whatever Lin Qin wanted to do, but he wasn't. He experienced a lot over the past few days, and most importantly, he had hope.

Lin Tian had always felt suffocated by his lack of prospects, but now he had a chance to cultivate. He was inferior to Lin Qin today, but the future was still undecided.

Lin Tian couldn't be bothered with him anymore, so he swiped off the hands from his shoulders as he said, "Thank you for your concern, but I don't have the time to play around with you now." Lin Tian motioned for Lin Zhou to follow him and started to leave.

Lin Qin blocked Lin Tian's path and chuckled, "What's the rush? You were able to find the time to 'play' just a few days ago. I remember quite clearly that we played till you were exhausted on the ground."

Lin Tian ignored Lin Qin's provocations and said, "I have things to do. I won't entertain you any longer."

Lin Qin's face turned into a frown. There was something irksome about Lin Tian not giving him any face. Looks like he needed to kindly remind him of his place.

"Fine, scram for me. I don't have any more time to waste on some bastard child of the Lin family and a thief."

Even though Lin Qin's other provocations didn't work, this one did. Lin Tian clenched his right hand so tightly that blood started to drip from his hand. He wasn't made out of stone. There were a few things that truly bothered him, and these were two of them. He really wanted to lash out at Lin Qin but decided against it in the end. It was better to avoid a fight today. However, even though Lin Tian was able to endure, Lin Zhou couldn't.

"You shut your dog mouth this instant." Shouted Lin Zhou.

Lin Qin smiled again as he got the reaction that he wanted, "Oh, tell me. Was anything I said wrong? Who are his parents?"

Lin Zhou's face turned red as he yelled, "I don't know!"

"You don't know? Well, do you at least know the punishment for someone that steals martial techniques from the Lin family?"

Lin Zhou's face turned several shades darker as he gritted his teeth but couldn't say anything.

"Is the question really that hard? If I remember correctly you were there when my adopted father cut off his finger. Luckily, my adopted father is quite lenient otherwise he would've lost his entire hand."

"Shut up!" Yelled Lin Zhou.

Lin Zhou was never really the type to mince words to begin with, so he did what he was familiar with, fighting. He rushed over to Lin Qin and reeled back to deliver a single punch. Even though this punch wasn't backed up by a martial skill, it was still filled with enough power to kill an ordinary person. However, Lin Qin was not an ordinary person. Lin Qin also struck out with his palm to meet the fist. The difference was clear as night and day.

Lin Zhou was sent back flying after the collision and fell several meters away. He clenched his fist in pain as he struggled to stand up.

"Haha, truly foolish. You just recently broke through to the middle Houtian stage, while I've already been in the middle Houtian stage for a year. A child could've predicted this." Laughed Lin Qin.

Lin Zhou couldn't win at all. Whether it be in words or power, he was outclassed. However, this wouldn't stop him from trying to protect his good brother's name.

Just as he was able to stand up to go for a second round a pleasant voice chimed out, "Why didn't anyone notify me that we were gathering together? I feel left out now."

From a side path, Lin Xue walked over with her face hidden behind a silk fan.

Lin Zhou noticing that it was her showed a relieved expression as he exclaimed, "Big sis!"

Lin Xue slowly walked in between Lin Tian and Lin Qin as she continued, "But you know a bastard child of the Lin family is still a member of the Lin family. That's not something that an adopted child can claim."

It was now Lin Qin's turn to grit his teeth as he said, "Sister Xue, he lost in a fair manner. You can't possibly be thinking of getting even for this, right?"

"You're right, he did lose to you fairly." Relented Lin Xue.

Lin Qin relaxed visibly since he thought that he was out of danger. Beating Lin Zhou was one thing but beating Lin Xue would be a whole different ordeal.

"But, I. Don't. Care." Said Lin Xue. She fully unleashed her cultivation base and directed it at Lin Qin. He quickly fell to his knees like grass bowing to the wind.

It took him everything to just spit out a few words, "Late Houtian stage!"

Lin Xue smiled in agreement. She walked over to Lin Qin and looked down upon him as she said, "I want you to remember this disgrace. This powerlessness. I will make this very simple for you. If you ever dare call Lin Tian a thief again, then I will cut off your hand."

"I won't! Those words will never come from my mouth again!" Shouted Lin Qin as sweat started to appear on his forehead.

Lin Xue nodded her head and released her pressure on Lin Qin. A brief flash of fear flickered across Lin Qin's face as he stood up and took a couple of steps backwards. However, he was quick to regain his demeanor and said, "Let's get going. This will be the last night that we'll have free before leaving for Qingfeng city."

Lin Qin's group quickly scampered off and left the Lin family estate. However, their original excitement had already died down.

After they left, Lin Zhou quickly regained his vigor as he walked over and said, "Thanks, Big Sis."

Lin Tian also gave his appreciation, "Thank you, sister Xue."

"I did nothing much." Nodded Lin Xue. She then turned her attention to Lin Zhou and said, "As for you Lin Zhou, Go Home!"

"Wait, why do I have to go home? I have permission from mother to be out and I have to help Lin Tian with something." Asked Lin Zhou.

"Because you lost. You put off your cultivation for long enough. I'll help Lin Tian with his problem, but you will either walk home or crawl home your choice." Said Lin Xue mercilessly.

Lin Zhou looked wronged. He had permission from his mother, but his overbearing big sister wouldn't give him a break.

"Fine, I'll go home." Relented Lin Zhou. He then turned his eyes to Lin Tian and held a really guilty expression on his face as he said, "Brother Tian, don't take any of his words to heart. We know what type of person you are. After all, it was my fault that you…"

"Haha, dumb panda. I made the choice myself. Go lick your wounds." Merrily laughed Lin Tian as he smiled towards Lin Zhou, "Bring it up again and I'll beat you up till you're black and blue."

Lin Zhou made a relieved expression and nodded his head. He really had a forgiving brother.

"Come on, let's go solve your problem." Said Lin Xue as she begun heading towards Lin Tian's house. Lin Tian hurriedly ran over to catch up to her, leaving Lin Zhou to head home by himself. It took only a few moments for the two to make it to Lin Tian's courtyard and make it inside.

Lin Xue walked over to the candle on the table and lit it using her spiritual energy. She sat down gracefully in the only chair in the house and asked, "What do you need help with?"

Lin Tian though it over for a minute before on deciding on what to say. He took out the scroll that Jiao Lu gave him and handed it over to Lin Xue while saying, "I need to know how I can get my hands on the stuff on this list."

Lin Xue took the scroll from Lin Tian and casually glanced through it. Her beautiful face scrunched up in confusion and looked over to Lin Tian, "Who gave you this? It lists a large number of spiritual herbs and ores."

"I… really shouldn't say. I can only tell you that this is very important to me. Please tell me." Said Lin Tian as he bowed towards Lin Xue.

Lin Xue looked at Lin Tian very closely before sighing, "Okay, you win. Stand back up. You don't need to tell me anything that you don't want to. I would check with old man Bai. He could probably help you with the herbs, but as for the ores, you're on your own."

Lin Tian's face lit up with a smile. He finally had a lead.

"Thank you, sister Xue."

"I didn't really do much." Said Lin Xue as she stood up. However, instead of leaving she deeply bowed to Lin Tian in return, "But can I ask you to forgive me?"