Chapter 15 The Key to the Path of the Strong

Lin Shen stared at Bai Shenfei for a long time without speaking. He didn't quite believe what Bai Shenfei had said.

If there were such things inside Gourd Mountain, why would Bai Shenfei give him the opportunity? Just because he's the brother of Bai Shenfei's senior?

Even assuming that Bai Shenfei was really like what Lin Xiangdong said, his little fangirl, it wouldn't be possible for her to relinquish such an opportunity just based on a request from Lin Xiangdong, right?

Moreover, the reality was very different from what Lin Xiangdong had described; Bai Shenfei was not at all the "little fangirl" he had claimed.

"You don't believe me?" Bai Shenfei interpreted the unusual look in Lin Shen's eyes.

"Whether I believe you or not isn't important." After a pause, Lin Shen sincerely said, "A long time ago, my siblings and I had an agreement that they would carry the glory of the Lin Family, and I would only be responsible for continuing the family's bloodline. Rather than becoming the strongest man under the starry sky, I'd much prefer to see the Lin Family bloodline carried on, especially under these circumstances."

"It's too late," Bai Shenfei listened quietly until Lin Shen finished, then suddenly let out a sigh.

"What's too late?" Lin Shen was taken aback, not understanding the meaning behind Bai Shenfei's abrupt statement.

"If you had said this before I went to the Qi and King families, you could have stayed at the base, but now it's too late," Bai Shenfei said helplessly.

"Why?" Lin Shen still didn't understand what Bai Shenfei meant.

"I already have an agreement with the Qi and King families to take them to Gourd Mountain," Bai Shenfei said.

"You're taking them to Gourd Mountain, what does that have to do with me?" Lin Shen frowned.

"If you hadn't attended the recruitment conference and hadn't displayed such strong abilities, it naturally wouldn't have anything to do with you. But now it's different. Do you think the Qi and King families, with all their elites in action, would leave you behind at the base?" Bai Shenfei spoke.

Lin Shen's expression changed slightly. Just like the Lin Family was on guard against the Qi and King families, they were guarding against the Lin Family as well.

With the other two families' elites fully deployed, there's no way they would leave Lin Shen, impersonating Lin Xiangdong, at the base. Even if they had to coerce him, they would definitely bring him along.

Now Lin Shen had no way to explain that he wasn't Lin Xiangdong. Even if he could make them believe that he wasn't Lin Xiangdong, he couldn't explain his method of overpowering the Supersonic Gunman in a single strike, which would only make the Qi and King families warier and might even lead them to team up and first get control over the Lin Family.

If one thought more sinisterly, it was very possible that the Qi and King families already knew he wasn't Lin Xiangdong and even his impersonation of Lin Xiangdong could be a conspiracy fabricated by the Qi and King families.

It was simply a pretext to take Lin Shen down and forcibly bring him to Gourd Mountain.

After all, Gourd Mountain was originally discovered by the Lin Family, and Mr. Lin Yin, Mr. Lin Zongzheng, and the fourth elder had all gone to Gourd Mountain. If the Lin Family plotted anything, they could also take Lin Shen as a hostage.

But they had not expected Lin Shen to possess such a terrifying power, which made it even less likely for them to leave him at the base.

"Bai, if my fourth brother really asked you to escort me into Gourd Mountain, why did you then tell the Qi and King families about Gourd Mountain?" Lin Shen stared at Bai Shenfei and asked.

"That was also Lin's arrangement," Bai Shenfei seemed to have no intention of explaining in detail.

Lin Shen studied Bai Shenfei for a long time because his view of her expressions and eyes were obscured by the pixelation.

After a while, Lin Shen sighed and said, "It seems like I have no choice but to go this time. Bai, I have only one last question. If there's such a chance in Gourd Mountain that can make someone the strongest man under the starry sky, why don't you want it for yourself?"

"You remembered incorrectly. I said the strongest man under the starry sky, not the strongest under the starry sky. Obtaining that thing is just a possibility; there's a big difference between potentially becoming wealthy and being wealthy from the start," Bai Shenfei's tone was calm yet decidedly firm.

It was clear what Bai Shenfei meant; even if Lin Shen got the thing from Gourd Mountain, he would just possibly become the strongest man, while she, Bai Shenfei, was already stronger than the strongest man, the true strongest under the starry sky.

"Bai, you really are confident. If I haven't misunderstood, you already have that thing, right?" Lin Shen said.

"If there was no confidence, there would be no need to embark on this evolutionary path," Bai Shenfei said lightly. "Do you plan to go to Gourd Mountain as Lin Xiangdong or as Lin Shen?"

"The Qi and King families don't know that my fourth brother went to Gourd Mountain?" Lin Shen looked at Bai Shenfei with skepticism.

Bai Shenfei didn't tell the Qi and King families that both the third elder and fourth elder had gone to Gourd Mountain; there's no way they'd send all their elites to follow Bai Shenfei to Gourd Mountain without such knowledge.

"All I know is that Lin and your third brother have gone to Gourd Mountain, and that's what I told them. I don't know anything else," Bai Shenfei seemed to imply something more in her words.

After a brief moment of thought, Lin Shen grasped the deeper meaning in her words.

The Qi and King families already knew that Lin Xiangdong had gone to Gourd Mountain, but they were unsure whether he had returned; theoretically, they couldn't be certain if the person at the recruitment conference was Lin Xiangdong, unless they knew from the beginning that Lin Shen was impersonating Lin Xiangdong.

"Then I will assume the identity of my fourth brother, and I ask Bai to help conceal it for me," Lin Shen considered before speaking.

Bai Shenfei laughed upon hearing this, "You want to test Ye?"

"You're overthinking it, Bai," Lin Shen neither admitted nor denied.

"This is your family's affair. I am only responsible for escorting you into Gourd Mountain," Bai Shenfei did not say more.

"Then I must inconvenience you, Bai. In public, I can only call you 'junior sister,'" Lin Shen said.

"It's just a title, no matter. Prepare yourself. I have already arranged with the Qi and Wang families, and we are set to depart for Gourd Mountain the day after tomorrow," Bai Shenfei stated, then rose and left the room, vanishing in a blink like a ghost.

"Who was it that immediately turned hostile upon hearing the title 'Little Feifei'?" Lin Shen mused internally, but aloud, he questioned, "What exactly is in Gourd Mountain that has the Qi and Wang families so convinced?"

"It's not that they trust me. Even without me, knowing the news, they would still go. It's just that now they are afraid I will go first, so they must cooperate with me. As for what's inside Gourd Mountain, only by seeing it will we know what it is. The thing at each Mutation Point is different. What's certain is that this thing is the key to the path of the strong. With it, you have the chance to become a true powerhouse," Bai Shenfei explained before walking out of the room and disappearing, swift as a specter.

"The day after tomorrow, huh? I hope it's not too late," Lin Shen glanced at the incubation pod where the three Base Mutation Eggs stripped of the Fire Seed remained still.

After a moment of thought, Lin Shen went to the study, took out paper and pen, and wrote a letter.

Dear Sister:

In the twenty-one years since I was born, though I have not had the joy of being doted on by our parents, I have never felt a moment of loss or unease. You have given me all the most beautiful fantasies of a mother and sister, to the extent that even I feel overly spoiled.

Heaven has been overly kind to me, perhaps exhausting the good fortune of ten lifetimes, allowing me to be your brother in this life.

I believe my second, third, and fourth brothers have all felt the same, being your brother is the proudest thing in our lives.

However, as your brother, there is one thing I am very, very dissatisfied with.

You have given us the best of everything but kept nothing for yourself, still alone to this day to take care of us. Do you want us to be cursed as 'supportive brother demons' by others?

Sister, you are too kind and too selfish, self-centered to the point of not even giving us the chance to offer our support. Your brothers have grown up; they too want to experience the joy of providing for loved ones.

The three older brothers can still use me as a test subject, but whom can I use as one?

I heard from my fourth brother that there was once an outstanding man who wanted to join hands with you in partnership, but ultimately, because you couldn't let go of us, he ended up worlds apart from you.

This is where you are wrong, sister. Do you think your brothers are so incompetent that they cannot even care for themselves?

If there is an afterlife, I hope not to be your brother again because I no longer deserve to receive so much from you.

If there is an afterlife, I hope to be your older brother so that I can return all your doting tenfold.

Sister, by the time you read this letter, I should have already left.

Don't worry, and don't be sad. Give me some time to find some connections below so that we can be siblings in the next life.

Promise me, for the rest of your time, live for yourself. Don't make me owe even more, or I won't be able to pay it back in the next life.

That man, if you still like him, go find him, don't save your brother's face, sleep with him.

Sister, I'll wait for you in the next life—your most beloved little brother, Lin Shen.

After putting the written letter into an envelope and placing it into an iron biscuit box, Lin Shen remembered how his elder sister used to fill this iron box with his favorite things.

If Lin Shen himself couldn't come back this time, his elder sister should be able to find the letter upon returning to the base.

If he could return, he would destroy this letter immediately, not even leaving the ashes behind.

About embarking on an adventure to Gourd Mountain, deep down, Lin Shen wasn't so adverse to the idea; it was only because of the initial promise that made him reluctant to venture out of the base.

Yet there was some urge inside him—denying his interest in what Gourd Mountain held was utterly deceiving himself.

Returning the iron box to its usual place, Lin Shen was lost in thought when suddenly he heard a 'crack' from within the incubation pod.