Those words, spoken abruptly outside the quiet study, made Jia Fu freeze mid-motion — his hand halfway to his aching temples.
His eyes — sharpened to a razor's edge by years of immersion in the sea of commerce — contracted ever so slightly the instant they registered the words "Red Iron Relic Gu" and "twenty-five percent discount."
Suspicion.
A flash of keen, ice-cold suspicion passed through the depths of Jia Fu's gaze.
In his impression, Lin Mu had always been an exceptionally steady young man — one who knew when to advance and when to retreat, who understood propriety.
Having already accepted the token representing the Jia Clan's highest gesture of goodwill, he should have understood what it meant to play the long game.
So why was he rushing here so impatiently — one might even say greedily — to cash in his privilege over such a trivial, short-term gain?
This was... unsightly. Beneath him.
"Brother Lin, what you're saying..."
The smile on Jia Fu's face drew back several degrees.
The commanding presence of a great Southern Border merchant began pressing down on Lin Mu without restraint, his tone carrying a faint note of scrutiny and distance.
"A Relic Gu is a rare and extraordinary thing."
And yet.
Faced with that oppressive, probing gaze, Lin Mu did not retreat. Instead, he leaned into it — naturally, seamlessly.
His eyes began to flicker with visible agitation.
The muscles of his face twitched slightly, as though gripped by some acute and overwhelming embarrassment.
He bit down on his lower lip. Both hands clutched the hem of his robe in a white-knuckled grip, as though he were fighting through an intense internal struggle.
After a long moment —
Lin Mu let out a long, deflating sigh, like air escaping a punctured bladder.
A bitter, helpless smile pressed itself onto his face. His voice came out hoarse.
"Brother... it's not that your younger brother is being reckless or greedy. I simply have no other choice..."
That wretched display shattered Jia Fu's suspicion in an instant.
Merchants valued profit — but they valued the reading of people even more.
Seeing this, Jia Fu's brow furrowed.
He immediately shifted into an expression of concern and protectiveness, stepping forward and clapping Lin Mu on the shoulder.
"Oh? Has Brother Lin run into some obstacle he can't get past? Or has someone dared to give you trouble behind your back?"
"Speak freely — as long as it's within the Southern Border, your elder brother will see it handled!"
Faced with Jia Fu's show of support, Lin Mu seemed to take heart — but he did not speak immediately.
He cast an extremely cautious glance at the empty corridor outside the study.
Then he steeled himself, turned back to Jia Fu with a look that was almost pleading, and gestured toward the hidden door concealed behind the bookshelf at the far end of the room.
Jia Fu watched Lin Mu's expression — the look of a man bracing for an enemy — and felt his curiosity and attention fully engaged.
He gave a nod and stepped forward himself to work the mechanism.
With a low, heavy rumble, the thick hidden door ground slowly open.
The two of them entered the secret chamber, one after the other.
Only then did the tension in Lin Mu's body seem to release — as though a great weight had been lifted. He exhaled a long breath.
He turned to face Jia Fu.
In that instant, every trace of timidity and bitterness vanished from Lin Mu's eyes.
What replaced it was a gaze of absolute sincerity and gravity — carrying even a thread of the resolve of a man who had burned his boats and left himself no retreat.
"Brother."
Lin Mu did not circle around it. He dropped a heavy opening gambit directly.
"You investigated me before — so you naturally know that everything I, Lin Mu, have achieved in Black Blood Stockade today, I owe entirely to Young Master Lin Feng's patronage?"
"That is correct."
Jia Fu nodded. He had indeed dug into Lin Mu's background thoroughly. But his confusion only deepened.
"What does this have to do with Lin Feng? He is the Patriarch's own nephew. Surely even he can protect you?"
Lin Mu followed immediately, lowering his voice, his tone saturated with a deep sense of helplessness.
"Then does Brother know — that Young Master Lin Feng, today at the sealed-bid auction on the second floor, spent everything he had, and still failed to win the Red Iron Relic Gu?"
"I am aware."
As the highest authority overseeing the Three Star Cave, Jia Fu knew the auction results in full. But the confusion in his eyes only grew deeper.
It was at this precise moment that Lin Mu's performance reached its absolute peak.
He straightened his spine in a single sharp motion, met Jia Fu's eyes directly, and spoke in a clear, resonant voice — rich with feeling.
"I know full well that I am of humble station and dull talent. I would never dare covet a divine object like the Red Iron Relic Gu — something capable of reforging a person entirely!"
"The reason your younger brother has come at this late hour — even going so far as to invoke the precious token you bestowed upon me..."
"Is simply to shamelessly beg, on behalf of my Young Master Lin Feng, for one Red Iron Relic Gu!"
What?!
Those words struck Jia Fu like a thunderclap — a heavy blow landing squarely in his chest.
He stared wide-eyed at the slight young man before him, his mind roaring.
Lin Mu's eyes reddened slightly at the rims. He pressed on, his emotions full and unrestrained.
"I have followed the Young Master for a long time. He never looked down on me — he lifted me up at every turn. Everything I am today, I owe to him."
"Today, the Young Master schemed long and hard for that Relic Gu, and still came away empty-handed."
"I cannot bear to watch him grieve over this. And I cannot bear to watch him fall behind in the days to come."
Lin Mu drew a deep breath. A note of bleak, sorrowful resolve entered his voice.
"As the saying goes — a man who breaks his word has nothing to stand on. I have already promised Brother that when the year is up, I will leave Black Blood Stockade and join the Jia Clan."
"Once I leave, I fear there will be no further chance to repay what I owe."
"So... I want to use this token before the caravan departs — to secure one last bright future for the Young Master. To fulfill the debt of gratitude between a servant and the master who recognized him when he was nothing."
Boom.
Those words — righteous, stirring, and deeply moving — demolished the last fragment of Jia Fu's resistance.
Ah. Now I understand.
The thread of suspicion in Jia Fu's eyes dissolved in an instant, replaced by profound shock, admiration — and something that ran even deeper than that. Genuine emotion.
In this brutal world of Gu — where interests tangled like thorns and even blood brothers could raise their hands against each other in a succession struggle — there still existed a servant of such loyalty and feeling?
One who would sacrifice everything, even his own future, simply to repay a debt of gratitude?
Jia Fu's mind raced with the picture taking shape before him.
This boy — to secure Lin Feng's standing within the clan, to repay a debt of patronage that most would consider trivial — he is willing to spend the privilege token I gave him. A token capable of changing the entire course of his life.
He is even willing to risk being seen as greedy and shameless in my eyes — all to sacrifice his own interests and lift his master higher. What nobility of character. What absolute, unalloyed loyalty.
In all my years of reading people, I have never been wrong. A man of such loyalty and righteousness — once he comes to serve the Jia Clan — will be the most steadfast pillar at my right hand in the conquest of the Southern Border.
In that moment, Jia Fu was utterly undone by the towering, luminous image Lin Mu had constructed. His eyes even grew faintly moist at the corners.
"Brother!"
Jia Fu stepped forward and seized Lin Mu's hands in a firm grip, his voice surging with emotion — even carrying a faint tremor.
"Please, none of that! Your loyalty and depth of feeling — heaven and earth themselves bear witness!"
"If your elder brother harbors even one more shred of doubt toward you, I am not fit to stand on the Southern Border's trade roads!"
"I gave you that token — and I will not go back on my word!"
Jia Fu swept his hand through the air with the magnanimity of a man who had made up his mind.
"I do still have stock of the Red Iron Relic Gu. I had intended to hold it for the auction at our next stop — Howling Wind Manor. But today, to honor your loyalty and righteousness, I will make an exception and set one aside for you."
The moment those words landed, a flash of cold, triumphant light passed through the depths of Lin Mu's eyes — and was gone.
But on the surface, he appeared utterly overwhelmed. His voice trembled with excitement. A single tear of gratitude pressed itself from the corner of his eye.
"Brother Jia! This kindness is nothing less than a second birth! Lin Feng and Lin Mu — we will never forget it, not for as long as we live!"
What followed was an exchange of mutual flattery — saccharine, and thoroughly two-faced on both ends.
When it came to the price, Jia Fu — wishing to demonstrate his sincerity in recruiting talent — initially intended to offer the Relic Gu at the caravan's internal price of three thousand Primeval Stones, discounted by twenty-five percent to two thousand two hundred and fifty, essentially half-gifting it.
Lin Mu, however, "righteously" and firmly refused to accept such a generous discount.
"Brother's kindness, your younger brother receives with gratitude — but the caravan has its rules, and I will not put Brother in a difficult position!"
Lin Mu insisted on paying at the floating premium of the sealed-bid price.
Under Lin Mu's "steadfast insistence," the two of them finally settled on a number of exquisite precision — four thousand five hundred Primeval Stones.
This figure sat far below the frenzied heights of the day's sealed bids, making Lin Mu feel he had gotten exceptional value.
At the same time, it preserved the Relic Gu's baseline premium profit margin, sparing Jia Fu any awkward explanations to his clan's upper echelons.
A result that satisfied everyone.
Holding the jade box containing the Red Iron Relic Gu, Lin Mu's expression shifted again — this time to one of mild embarrassment. He rubbed his hands together with a sheepish air.
"Brother Jia... your younger brother's purse is rather thin at the moment."
"These four thousand five hundred Primeval Stones — I'll need to return tonight, report everything honestly to Young Master Lin Feng, and... 'arrange' the funds..."
He asked for one day's grace. He would deliver the payment to the steward tomorrow.
The caravan was not departing until the following evening. And at this point, Jia Fu's faith in Lin Mu's character — and in the name of "Young Master Lin Feng" — was absolute and unshakeable.
"A trivial matter! Take it and report back first, Brother. Bring the payment directly to the steward tomorrow!" Jia Fu waved his hand without hesitation, agreeing without a second thought.
The night was ink-black. The cold wind howled.
Lin Mu, once again cloaked in the concealing black robes, walked the dim path back toward the Silent Stone District.
He placed the jade box — the one bearing Lin Feng's "hope" — alongside the genuine Red Iron Relic Gu already sealed within his Aperture.
Now.
In the vast darkness of the night, Lin Mu raised his head. The black eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his hood sank into deep thought.
"Do I really intend to hand this over so willingly, my dear Young Master Feng?"