He was sitting there, a few steps outside his shop while holding a perfectly-crafted small wood statue in his hands. His beard was black with white hairs here and there. Woodcarver Lin had a magnificent air about him, as though he had lived to see many scary things and lost all sense of fear.
He began to think of these villagers; the way they acted as though they were kind and welcoming to him though they still had their level of distrust in him. Aruni village did have a certain enemy they were afraid of, after all; Kuanti village. Led by the Chang' family, Kuanti village had tried to attack them and seize the oasis multiple times, though they were constantly repelled by the Yan family. There was even a time where they sent a spy, though his plans were easily seen through.
He raised his head. He saw a black-robed young man walking towards him. "Hello, Lin Fan. Happy to see that you are coming to visit," he called out in the language of Modu village.
Lin Fan responded. "Yeah, I came to see you. I wanted to ask how you came here, to Aruni village."
Lin Fan was suspicious. This place was too far from Modu village so how did he get here. Did he perhaps stumble upon the strange temple as well?
"Oh? Well, we left Modu village early to search for other ruins out there. We couldn't find anything for most of the day and decided to go back. However, one of us got stung by a scorpion and his legs went numb. Some tried to help while others were more than ready to abandon him. Those ones went ahead on their own, but they didn't get far. Nightfall reached and Karas appeared in their path. They died gruesomely. Those of us who stayed to help tried to run but were wiped out. The scorpion venom was bound to kill if not treated so other than that person, I was the only one left. Before the Kara could kill me, a team rolled out by the Linghun Sect came to the rescue. They were strong; strong enough to repel the Kara but not strong enough to bring back our deceased teammates. They then escorted us here."
Lin Fan was intrigued. "So what happened to the guy stung by a scorpion?"
"He was soon no more. I think his name was Lin Tong."
"Oh." It was over. He thought that maybe he could get a clue who his dad was, or maybe if the woodcarver was actually his dad. He knew that name from his mother's stories; Lin Tong, his father. Yet, he couldn't hide the pain of this discovery putting out his hopes.
"Excuse me," he said as he left.
The pain in his heart was massive. He had never known his dad but it was still painful. He now had nothing but sorrow in his heart. He made up his mind. He would fight against all demonic beasts that put an end to his dad's team.
Then, back at Woodcarver Lin's shop, we see Chief Yan coming out of the shadows, a solemn expression on his face. "Why didn't you tell him?"
The woodcarver looked at the chief, tears in his eyes. "He can't know. He can't know that Lin Tong is still alive or that apart from the one stung by a scorpion, everyone else died. He can't know that the man he was looking for is right in front of him. You know what it will do to his training."
"Yes, you're right. Knowing him, he might get so attached that he might refuse to even head for the sect and if he does, he won't get far in his cultivation. Attachment is a hindrance to cultivation. Oh, and it seems you already knew it was your son. How did you find out?"
Woodcarver Lin now had tears streaming down his cheeks. "Its obvious. He has his mother's hair and eyes."