From a young age, he had kind of gotten used to it.

Right now, there was nothing he could say that would be right. Talking back would just add fuel to the fire, and degrading himself was even more pointless.

In front of everyone in Plum Garden, Lin Fei and Lin Qingshuang wouldn’t actually get physical with him—it was all just verbal jabs. Lin Qinghen hoped they’d just go through the motions and get it over with quickly. He still had to go back and tend to his fields.

So, he stood there silently, like a block of wood, looking dull and dazed.

But Lin Fei had already called out his name. As the notorious disgrace of the Lin family, Lin Qinghen was still known by some after all these years.

“That’s definitely no way to treat a book boy, Chu Wei. You should apologize to Sister Qingshuang; that’s her brother, after all. How could you just take him to Su Ye Immortal Mountain?” A delicate voice from the group giggled, “Lin Qinghen, huh. Really, seeing is believing.”

“He’s that infamous good-for-nothing…”

“Good-for-nothing? Then why’s he wearing a mask?”

Some people in the crowd knew about Lin Qinghen’s story, while others didn’t, and the discussion grew louder.

Then, out of nowhere, someone reached out with some force, and a twisted leaf flew toward Lin Qinghen, snapping the string holding his mask in place. The mask dropped with a faint sound.

The crowd gasped at the birthmark on his face, and their chatter grew even louder.

Lin Fei, simple-minded as he was, took joy in seeing Lin Qinghen humiliated in public and felt rather pleased with himself. But Lin Qingshuang’s expression turned sour.

Linking herself to the embarrassment of Lin Qinghen was far from honorable.

As for Lin Qinghen, who was the center of all this ridicule, he felt a calmness wash over him, even with a bit of relief.

He had taken a Detoxification Pill earlier, which had faded some of the markings on his face. People would definitely start asking questions if they noticed, and the mask wasn’t a foolproof cover. He was always cautious, so of course, he’d come prepared.

He had smeared a mixture of plant sap on his face, creating a bluish tint nearly identical to his original birthmark.

The parts that had cleared up were around his eyes and forehead, and after the mask fell, his slightly long bangs also concealed the transition spots, making it nearly impossible for anyone to notice anything unusual.

Indeed, being prepared ahead of time proved useful.

The group began talking about his poor talent results from the Soul Testing Stone, and someone, apparently not satisfied with the scene, reached out with another burst of power and pushed him hard.

They were outside the main hall, so it didn’t technically break any rules of Plum Garden.

Lin Qinghen didn’t resist and easily got knocked down, rolling into the flower bed beside him and looking completely disheveled.

The fall took him by surprise, and he coughed several times, trying to catch his breath.

The spirit tool that Yu Yinyin had given him wasn’t something he’d intended to use, and now even less so—it would only complicate things.

In this situation, he really looked utterly helpless. He didn’t even try to say anything, only coughing weakly, appearing completely useless.

“Everyone shut up!” Lin Qingshuang spoke up, her voice filled with obvious annoyance. Her single line immediately silenced the chatter, then she raised her tone and continued, “He is not my brother. I don’t have such a brother.”

With that, she flicked her sleeve and left.

Even Lin Fei, slow-witted as he was, finally realized that his attempts to flatter her had completely backfired. He quickly followed, trying to explain, but Lin Qingshuang’s face didn’t show him any warmth.

“You get out of here too,” Lin Qingshuang’s voice carried across as she scolded him, “If you fail the alchemist examination in a few days, you’ll be no different from trash. Don’t go out bringing disgrace to the Lin family!”

After she left, few people lingered, chuckling as they walked away in small groups.

Seeing Lin Qinghen’s face without the mask, even Chu Wei, who had initially shown some interest in him, took a few steps back, didn’t offer a hand, and quickly left with a slight frown.

Young people, with their pride and shallow judgments, were nothing new.

Lin Qinghen had hidden himself well. He’d masked his true self under a worthless facade for over ten years. Even Yu Yinyin only realized he was not simple when she saw that patch of Round Wheat. Before that, she’d thought he was just a guy with good memory but ultimately of little value.

It was almost impossible for anyone to see through his layers of disguise at first glance.

This was all within Lin Qinghen’s expectations, and he even felt a bit pleased. If he’d known earlier that revealing his face would be enough to make them leave, he wouldn’t have wasted so much time and effort.

He sat up from the ground, caught his breath, then, as if nothing had happened, picked up his mask, brushed the dust off it, and put it back on.

Scholar Mei, who had been watching this whole scene, was still sitting nearby. His age left him somewhat muddle-headed, and sometimes he didn’t even have the strength to move, so he couldn’t do much to help Lin Qinghen.

“Qinghen, Qinghen,” he murmured, “you’re such a smart kid, so why don’t you have a lot of friends like your sister? Why, not even one person is here to help you?”

Lin Qinghen didn’t answer.

There was no need to answer that question.

He was just eager to leave, but as he exited Plum Garden, he paused briefly. At the back gate, there was a large tree, and he looked up at it for a while, but saw nothing.

He frowned but eventually continued on his way, as he was still pressed for time.

Due to his research, he had refined what little spirit energy he possessed down to the last drop. His cautious lifestyle habits made him quite sensitive, allowing him to instinctively detect even the slightest disturbance in the surrounding spirit energy.

Just as he left through the back gate, he felt like someone might be in that tree and thought perhaps someone had come to stir up trouble, so he looked closely. But the tree was empty; there was nothing there.

At that very moment, Yin Jiuxiao, who was sitting on a branch of the tree, slowly blinked.

His main body was still at the inn; today, he had only summoned a shadow.

His unique Spirit and Demon constitution allowed him to split his focus easily. His shadow clone was different from others—it was invisible and traceless, and even Lin Qingshuang and the others hadn’t noticed.

So much time had passed that Yin Jiuxiao had forgotten Lin Qingshuang’s current level of strength.

Upon hearing that she had returned yesterday, Yin Jiuxiao had come today to confirm, to gauge whether his plan could proceed smoothly.

She was indeed talented, reaching Mysterious Level One Star after a single training journey. No wonder Lin Zhongtian was preparing a grand banquet to flaunt her achievements.

But as strong as Lin Qingshuang was, she still couldn’t beat Yin Jiuxiao, even with him currently stuck at a bottleneck.

Not to mention his unique aura, where the demonic energy eroded spirit energy—on an innate level, Yin Jiuxiao completely overpowered her.

In his past life, he had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. His combat instincts were unrivaled, especially against someone as young as Lin Qingshuang.

Having ruled the world in his previous life, Yin Jiuxiao was naturally ruthless. Unable to find any other way to extract his grandfather’s spirit energy, his only option now was marriage.

He had come here to ensure that Lin Zhongtian wouldn’t dare act recklessly under external pressure or arbitrarily cancel the marriage.

However, Lin Zhongtian was unlikely to bind his incredibly promising daughter to him solely because of external pressure. But Yin Jiuxiao was willing to play the long game and potentially encounter the marriage contract along the way.

Marriage didn’t necessarily require a ceremony; it only took a single Marriage Stone.

He could take swift action. As long as he secured the marriage contract, capturing and controlling Lin Qingshuang wouldn’t be difficult. He’d simply restrain her, have the Marriage Stone acknowledge the union, and once he gained his grandfather’s spirit energy, she’d be no match for him.

The marriage contract with the Marriage Stone wasn’t indissoluble. Although it was difficult, it was simpler than breaking an oath to the heavens. By extracting most of Lin Qingshuang’s heart meridian, she would be at his mercy, and he could annul the marriage at will, severing their ties completely.

In his past life, the Lin family hadn’t used this approach because Lin Qingshuang had been too proud to fulfill the marriage contract, resolutely refusing to be associated with him in any way.

But Yin Jiuxiao didn’t care.

If he could handle it quietly, that would be ideal. If not, he’d take the power of both the spirit and demon forces, and even if he couldn’t immediately defeat Lin Zhongtian, that man would never find him.

He knew every twist and turn of his cultivation path and every fortuitous encounter that lay ahead. In a few years, Lin Zhongtian wouldn’t even be on his radar. Why bother with all these convoluted calculations?

Since leaving the Yin family, he hadn’t intended to go back anyway.

The Yin family still had a heritage foundation; the protective mountain array had withstood demonic energy cracks before. Even if Lin Zhongtian sought revenge, he couldn’t destroy the Yin family, nor did he have the sheer contract-backlash strength.

Besides, there were few good people left in the Yin family. Yin Jiuxiao had endured much humiliation there, so he cared little for the lives of the people there.

The once peerless lord, reborn, was now cold-hearted, willing to go to any lengths for his goal.

His shadow trailed Lin Qingshuang, studying her for a while and confirming his plan’s viability. Along the way, he witnessed a rather dull scene.

The pitiful Lin Qinghen, ridiculed by a crowd, didn’t seem like the Lin family’s young master at all, so worthless he wasn’t even worth a glance. Yin Jiuxiao hadn’t heard him utter a single word since he started following him—like a dumb block of wood.

The only reason he hadn’t left was perhaps because of a sliver of empathy. Long ago, he too had been taunted and mocked, shoved around like a stray weed.

But watching someone too weak to resist was hardly entertaining. When the scene finished, Yin Jiuxiao’s sympathy, like a candle in the wind, vanished in an instant, and he had no intention of intervening.

As he was preparing to withdraw, he noticed something interesting when everyone had left. Lin Qinghen quickly stood up from the ground, and an intriguing shift happened.

Once he was up, his thin back straightened, and his entire demeanor changed from the pitiful act he had just played. Swiftly putting on his mask, he brushed his hair back and walked away with purpose.

More importantly, as he stepped out of the garden gate, he seemed to sense something and looked directly in his direction.

Although he hadn’t truly spotted him, those few seconds of staring suggested that he had noticed something.

None of those so-called geniuses had detected Yin Jiuxiao’s presence, but Lin Qinghen had.

Yin Jiuxiao’s gaze filled with intrigue.

Coming to Tong Tian Mansion, he hadn’t expected to encounter two individuals who defied his expectations—a clumsy little crow foolishly selling treasures on the roadside and a silent, hidden ugly duckling.

Very interesting indeed.