The giant sword was about to hit them when it suddenly dispersed like it had never existed, and Lin Mu suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Third child, stay your hand."
...
Hearing the familiar voice and feeling the power flowing through the hand on his shoulder, which disrupted the flowing of Qi, thereby dispersing the wind sword and saving Zhao Lee, he knew exactly who it was—and so did everyone present.
"Hey, that's the Lin family Grand Elder, Lin Hai."
"Yes, alongside Lin Tian and Lin Fang."
"You—why is he just arriving now?"
"And just in time to save Zhao Lee. This is too much of a coincidence, right?"
"There is a conspiracy."
The people started to whisper one after another. Even the Zhao family search party breathed a sigh of relief seeing the sword disperse.
Lin Mu turned around and saw Lin Hai alongside his two sons.
Lin Hai was a thin, middle-aged man who gave off an approachable aura, dressed in a scholar's robe, looking like a kind imperial teacher of an empire. But those who were observant would notice a hint of sinister cunning in his eyes.
"Eldest brother, what is the meaning of this? Why did you stop me from killing that bastard?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, veins bulging on his neck and face as if they were about to burst.
"Hey... third child, you have always had a bad temper and do not consider the overall situation," he shook his head and sighed at Lin Mu.
"What do you mean by that?" Lin Mu was not having any of it.
Lin Hai ignored him first, then turned to look at the Zhao party.
The Zhao party leader took the lead, cupped his fists, and bowed.
"Thank you, Senior Hai, for sparing our lives," he said.
Then his teammates followed his example.
Lin Hai gave a curt nod before then turning to Lin Feng.
"I see my nephew survived. Good! It seems your father's misuse of the clan's resources was not in vain," he said in a kind tone, but his mouth broke into a mocking grin at the same time.
Lin Tian and Lin Fang scoffed coldly. Lin Tian even drew his hand across his throat, gesturing at him.
Hearing Lin Hai refer to him, Lin Feng clenched his fists hard, but he clasped his fists and bowed slightly.
"Thank you, Eldest Uncle, for your concerned words. I am indeed fine," he said without any emotion at either Lin Hai's words or Lin Fang and Lin Tian's gestures.
But when he saw Lin Tian's throat-swipe gesture, he secretly thought that things weren't good.
'What is going on?'
'Could it be why they haven't come since the battle began?'
'They may really have set up a scheme. This is going to be troublesome,' he thought, a growing feeling of nervousness flowing through him.
Lin Hai didn't even bother to reply to him. Instead, he turned back to meet Lin Mu's angry eyes.
"You can't kill him, because if you do, the Lin family will be finished. You should know that the Zhao family are not what they used to be, not to mention the Chu family, who has chosen to turn to the Zhao family."
"So even if you kill him, they would still have seven Grandmasters at their disposal. And if they decide to attack all at once, with you being seriously injured, I cannot fight them alone," he said calmly.
"They broke into our home."
"They killed our brothers and sisters as they liked, then proceeded to humiliate the rest as they pleased."
"If we do not retaliate, everyone will think that we, the Lin family, are soft persimmons that can be pinched whenever they like."
"So what if they are stronger? Just fight them! Worst case, we die together."
"Yes, Grand Elder, look around you. It is littered with the blood of our fellow brothers."
"They were too much."
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The rest of the Lin family members agreed with Lin Mu, shouting to kill the Zhao family bastards.
As Lin Mu spoke and the others spoke, the people of the Zhao family turned paler with each word, secretly praying that their elder would show up quicker before Lin Hai changed his mind.
"I understand your words. Even I am angry. But as the Grand Elder, I must consider the overall situation, so I cannot allow you to continue being reckless."
"However, you are right—we must retaliate."
Their eyes lit up, but his next words killed their hopes.
"We must retaliate, and you already have. The culprit, Zhao Lee, has already been crippled. That should be enough justice to comfort our brothers in the underworld."
"But if you kill him, it will mean war."
"A war that could annihilate our whole family."
"Is revenge worth the destruction of the entire family, including your children, your blood brothers, and sisters?" Lin Hai said righteously.
Lin Feng scoffed internally at Lin Hai's attempt to play peacemaker.
But for others, his words were like a bucket of cold water poured on their heads.
"Yes, Grand Elder is right."
"Or Third Elder, perhaps we should just forget."
"I... I don't want to die."
The Lin family members began to wake up one after another and started to persuade Lin Mu.
"Hehe, others came to your house, killed your clan members, and humiliated them. You don't rush up to kill who is responsible but make peace. The Lin family Grand Elder is cowardly."
"Heh, what do you know? It is said that a man who knows the times is a hero. The Grand Elder is clearly a man who knows the current affairs. After all, the Zhao family is clearly much stronger than before."
"Hahaha, what a hero. He is just a coward. What is there to fear? Worst comes to worst, we die together."
"Fool, you only say that because you aren't involved. If you were, you would know that in the face of death, nothing is worth dying for."
Lin Hai's words split everyone watching into two factions: those who despised his actions, calling him a coward, and those who supported him, calling him wise and thinking he made a good decision.
Seeing the members changing their minds, and with the reaction of the crowd, Lin Mu knew there was no hope of killing Zhao Lee and taking revenge.
He sighed dejectedly and was just about to agree to Lin Hai's suggestion when—
"BAM!"