Some of these shopkeepers had been with the Shi family for many years now. Some had even been employed since Shi Wenjun’s father’s time so the bond they shared was as deep as blood ties.
Moreover, their bests interests were tied together with the Shi family. If the latter fell from grace, they would lose their jobs too.
“Yeah, let’s report this to the authorities,” the other shopkeepers echoed.
Shi Wenjun was frowning hard as she shook her head. “We don’t have evidence and the names the Chen family are using on their pills are different from ours so reporting them would be useless.”
Shi Wenjun knew this well.
They couldn’t claim that the Chen family was stealing their prescription just because they were selling the same type of pills. That was unless both parties could compare their prescriptions. But even if they turned out to be identical in composition, what would it prove?
That wouldn’t solve the bigger issue.
After all, the perpetrators weren’t caught red-handed in the act.
Shi Wenjun sighed. She knew Wu Chenwei must have stolen their prescription or copied them down without the family realizing it. And this wasn’t done within a single day.
In other words, Wu Chenwei had been plotting against the Shi family a long time ago.
Shi Wenjun thought about ordering Wu Chenwei to be taken out. But even if the man died, that would do little to help with their current predicament.
Furthermore, taking a life would always result in grave consequences, one way or another.
“Everyone, although the Chen family has started selling pills, their medicinal effects might not be as strong as ours. The only thing giving them the edge is their competitive pricing. Let’s lower our prices to stem the loss of demand for now.” Shi Wenjun finally decided on this temporary countermeasure for their crisis.
The shopkeepers nodded. This was their only option now.
In contrast to the Shi family’s gloominess, the Chen family had a much livelier atmosphere.
Sitting at a table where a feast lay was the Chen family’s patriarch and Wu Chenwei, exchanging continuous toasts.
“Young Master Yu, it’s all thanks to your contribution that we managed to defeat the Shi family with one decisive blow,” Chen Wenlin praised as he raised his glass of wine at Wu Chenwei.
The latter looked pleased.
“You’re too kind! But you mustn’t underestimate the Shi family, especially that woman, Shi Wenjun. She still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. We have to make sure that the Shi family is completely wiped out,” Wu Chenwei warned with hints of resentment in his tone.
Chen Wenlin chuckled in response, wondering why Wu Chenwei despised the Shi family so. But he wouldn’t ask this out loud of course.
In this joint operation with Wu Chenwei to capture the pill market, the latter provided the pill prescriptions while Chen Wenlin was responsible for providing funds and the necessary manpower.
Prior to this, only the Shi family was dealing in this business, monopolizing the market. Chen Wenlin had thought about entering the fray but he lacked the most important component–pill prescriptions.
And where did the Shi family’s legacy stem from?
From Chen Wenlin’s perspective, the Shi family’s legacy came from owning over a hundred different pill prescriptions which they accumulated over the course of centuries. Frankly speaking, had it not been for Wu Chenwei, even if the Chen family could overpower the Shi family in their medicine hall business, they would never even think about competing with the latter in the pill trade.
But now, things were different. With the prescriptions in hand, Chen Wenlin was confident that he could wipe out the Shi family within a year. When that happens, his Chen family would become Maple City’s most prominent family.
“Right, Lord Chen, I heard that your daughter used to be engaged to Lin Jin,” Wu Chenwei suddenly asked. He was slightly tipsy by this point.
At the mention of this, Chen Wenlin’s expression changed.
Lately, he had been finding ways to mend his relationship with Lin Jin but the latter wouldn’t give him the time of day, and this was humiliating for Chen Wenlin.
In the past, Chen Wenlin would still have the patience to hold out longer. But as his family grew stronger day by day, Chen Wenlin got more light-headed.
Arrogance gave way to atrocity.
“That was the past. The engagement is off now.” Chen Wenlin waved his hand dismissively.
He knew why Wu Chenwei was asking such a question. It was him who paid the local authorities to get Wu Chenwei out of trouble today.
In other words, he also knew about Wu Chenwei ordering men to torch Lin Jin’s house.
“Lord Chen, I have a grudge against this Lin Jin. If you’re still intent on mending your relationship with him, we may have to discontinue our partnership from now on,” Wu Chenwei threatened.
Chen Wenlin chuckled instead.
“I just wanted to use that Lin Jin, but who knew he’d be such an insolent feller. I’ll be honest with you and say that I can’t stand him anymore. If Young Master Wu would like to deal with him, I’d be more than delighted. Not only will I not stop you, but I’ll also lend you a hand.”
“Wonderful! That’s what I wanted to hear!” Wu Chenwei downed his alcohol in one go. Hatred burned in his eyes. If Lin Jin hadn’t come seeking trouble with him, Shi Wenjun wouldn’t have chased him out today.
A woman divorcing her husband…
This was the greatest humiliation a man could ever experience, or at least that was what he thought.
His dignity was completely torn apart!
Wu Chenwei obviously hated Shi Wenjun, but he resented Lin Jin even more.
“Since that’s the case, Lord Chen, how do you think we should deal with Lin Jin?” Wu Chenwei asked.
Chen Wenlin replied, “This Lin Jin is now successful and a Rank 2 beast appraiser so we can’t target him from within the Beast Appraisal Association. But I heard that he entered the Friar Association and has some minor conflict with Yang Jie in there…”
Chen Wenlin stopped here without continuing on. Equally sly, Wu Chenwei understood what the old man was implying, which made him roar out in laughter. “As expected of Lord Chen. This plan of getting someone else to do your dirty work is brilliant. Let’s now find a way to turn Lin Jin and Yang Jie’s minor conflict into a major conflict. It’ll be best if we can turn them into mortal enemies. That will be terrific!”
Having said that, Wu Chenwei laughed wildly with hints of obnoxiousness in his voice.
“Right, Young Master Wu, I’d like to introduce someone to you. A person who can help us with taking Lin Jin down. My nephew, Chen Cheng! Come and greet Young Master Wu!” Chen Wenlin called out.
***
Once again, Lin Jin came to Zu manor as a guest. Things were different from when he last came.
Previously, only Zu Tianhong and Zu Can received him outside the door. This time, the entire Zu family came out to welcome him, including their Third Elder who still couldn’t speak.
It was a grand sight to behold.
This also showed the Zu family’s respect for Lin Jin.
Zu Tianhong went up to him and said, “Appraiser Lin, we apologize for troubling you with another trip here.”
Lin Jin waved his hand, indicating it was alright.
Zu Can leaned forward and whispered, “Brother Lin, our Second Elder, Third Elder, and even Zu Tianli has been behaving well lately. They stopped going against my father in many situations. My Second Elder and Third Elder are actually nice people but they were just provoked by Zu Tianli.”
Lin Jin nodded in acknowledgment.
Lin Jin continued to ignore the Second Elder who paid him a visit this morning. Still, the old man didn’t get angry and from his behavior. Lin Jin could see that he was sincerely trying to make amends.
And so, why would Lin Jin continue making things hard for the elderly?
He was here this time to help them form a blood pact with the two-headed snake. Lin Jin was only doing this out of respect for Zu Can and Zu Tianhong. As for whether or not he would cure their Third Elder’s inability to speak fully depended on Lin Jin’s mood.
There were no longer any interruptions this time around. The Zu family showed full compliance. After Lin Jin fed the seemingly lifeless snake a pill, for some reason, the two-headed creature sprung back to life.
Just this event alone proved how capable Lin Jin was compared to the other beast appraisers they had hired in the past two days.
The blood contract formation began.
Zu Yuan stepped forward anxiously. Lin Jin took a drop of his blood, then a drop of the two-headed snake’s blood. Combining the blood together, a spell was invoked and the blood pact formed.
Forming blood contracts was a basic skill of every beast appraiser and it was a compulsory subject to study.
Even apprentice beast appraisers had to familiarize themselves with it.
However, even an ordinary act of forming a blood pact became much more entertaining with Lin Jin doing it. And the process was surprisingly smooth.
The previous experts they hired all came across some sort of hiccup, causing them to stumble in the process. For example, some would stutter when muttering incantations, or some would stop abruptly without reason. However, Lin Jin’s blood contract formation process went on swimmingly without a single hitch. It was so flawless in fact that when Lin Jin had completed the procedure, they didn’t even realize it.
“There!”
Lin Jin went over to open the cage, letting the two-headed snake out.
Slightly nervous, Zu Yuan gave his pet beast a command and the two-headed snake slithered over to him, curling up beside his leg.
Zu Tianhong looked delighted.
Although they had to experience some troubles and hindrances, everything turned out alright in the end. A Zu family descendant formed a blood pact with a Rank 2 violent beast. With just a little more time for them to familiarize themselves with each other, and for the family to nurture Zu Yuan, in one year at most, Lin Jin could help the two-headed snake evolve. Then, the Zu family would finally have a Rank 3 pet beast.
