Hidden Agenda

"Why do you stop me, Elder Xu?" Elder Su asked in cold tone when the two youngsters had already disappeared to the distance away.

Elder Xu rubbed his chin. "Su Han already died. What do you want to do again?"

"If not for that bastard Lin Xiao, my son wouldn't have died!"

At this moment, Elder Su was grieving badly. Su Han was his most talented son and also the one he pinned his hope on. Without Su Han, he felt as if he was on the verge of collapsing.

When he saw Su Hei attacked Lin Xiao, he thought that Su Hei would be able to settle the score and killed Lin Xiao. Who would have thought that Lin Xiao and Lin Yun instead could injure his son?

He couldn't accept this!

Elder Xu looked at Elder Su and shook his head. "If you really think that way, you wouldn't be able to do anything to him."

"TELL ME WHY YOU'RE SIDING WITH HIM?"

Instead of answering, Elder Xu merely passed him a meaningful gaze. It was as if he was mocking Elder Su yet his appearance still looked as proper as ever. It was hard to know what was inside his mind with that kind of expression.

"Answer…"

Swish!

Elder Xu moved away with agile steps. He shook his head lightly. "Think about what you can give me, Elder Su."

Elder Su's face turned pale almost immediately. At this moment, he finally recalled that the only reason Elder Xu would support him in the past was because he promised to give blessing for Xu Qin and Su Han.

Now that Su Han had died….

Would he give Su Hei?

The difference in age might be large, but for cultivator, it didn't really matter that much. After all, they could live for hundreds of years. While Body Training Stage didn't really increase their lifespan that much, it was still more than 100 years.

What would 10 years of difference stand for?

It didn't really matter that much.

"You…"

"Father, let's go back first," Su Hei suggested. He was holding the excoriating pain within his body. At first, he thought that he was only poisoned by normal poison. But it seemed that the plant was quite dangerous.

He didn't know how bad his luck could get to be hurt by such plant at this point of time.

"Ah? You're wounded! Let's go back!"

No matter how much grievances Elder Su had, he knew that he had to prioritize his son first and got first aid as fast as possible. As for other matters? They could wait for later.

Seeing the elders turned around and leave, the villagers also dispersed. However, the talk about how Su Han died and the conflict quickly spread across the village. In just a few hours' time, almost everyone knew about the matter.

…

"Brother."

While the villagers were busy chatting with themselves, Lin Xiao and Lin Yun were going back to their home. Lin Yun was looking at his brother with uncertain expression. It was as if he wanted to know whether everything was going according to Lin Xiao's plan or not.

Lin Xiao stopped not far from his house. There were no villagers around. After the elders left, no one was in the mood to bother with the two siblings anymore.

"Yes, Yun?"

"That… is that hanging roots…?"

"Oh, it's just old," Lin Xiao replied uncaringly.

Lin Yun sneaked a glance at his brother's expression. He could see a hint of smile on the corner of his brother's eyes, so he could guess that it must be on purpose. Lin Xiao had already traveled using the hanging roots for years, it could be said that he was the most proficient when it came to talking about that hanging roots.

However, there was still something that he was worried about.

"Will Elder Xu help us?"

"Why do you think he'll help us?" Lin Xiao arched his eyebrows. "I'm sure the one who instigate Su Han to come here is that Elder Xu."

The sentence paralyzed Lin Yun for a moment. He looked at his brother with disbelief in his eyes. "What?"

"Isn't it obvious? Su Han might be impulsive, but he's not that stupid. He wouldn't come here just to seek trouble for me if there's nothing special. Something must have triggered him," Lin Xiao replied.

As for what it was, he didn't know. He only had this inkling when he saw Elder Xu stood up for him. The elders were shrewd, so they wouldn't do anything that wouldn't benefit them. Lin Xiao believed that there was something that Elder Xu wanted from him.

But what?

He was poor, very poor in fact. Aside from some quite valuable plants that he kept with himself, there was nothing else that he had.

"Oh…" Lin Yun fell into deep contemplation, wondering why that elder wanted to help them. Now that Lin Xiao spoke about it in the open, he knew for sure that Lin Xiao was correct and that there must be a hidden agenda.

The only question left would be what.

"Anyway, let's move our things into the cave."

"Eh?"

"We only have some valuable plants, right?" Lin Xiao asked back. He was thinking of letting the plants stay there so that when they left in the future, they wouldn't need to worry about bringing anything.

"Right."

Lin Yun stepped inside and looked at his garden with heartache. However, he knew that when a storm was coming, it would be better to be prepared.