Urban Martial Saint

At the Lin Family Courtyard, the people from the Shen Family had been running around for a day or two and were almost all exhausted. They had just lain down, and most of them fell asleep right away, which showed the state of their spirits.

Despite Shen Anyun’s initial clamor to head straight to the teahouse, the fact was, as soon as she lay down, she was almost asleep, with only Lin Huayu still excitedly chatting beside her.

Just as everyone from the Shen Family was in a drowsy slumber, suddenly, a burst of rapid firecracker noises erupted. The sound was so loud it was startling, with the big firecrackers mixed in, intermittently producing booming sounds. These big firecrackers weren’t just loud—their explosive noise even made the room’s windows and the ground tremble, setting one’s heart quivering with each blast.

The abrupt noise instantly awoke everyone from the Shen Family, especially Shen Anyun, who sat up immediately, looking around frantically as if fearing an attack. However, upon listening closely, aside from the noise of the firecrackers, there were no other sounds, which slightly reassured her.

”Who does this in the middle of the night, setting off firecrackers and disturbing the peace like this?” complained Shen Anyun irritably. At her menopausal age and with her naturally short temper, she would probably have gone downstairs to argue with someone if she hadn’t been so groggy.

Lin Huayu also looked puzzled, glancing in the direction from which the firecracker noises came, and said, ”Who would set off firecrackers in the middle of the night? And the sound is so loud, it’s really strange.”

Shen Anyun curled her lip and said, ”Hmph, setting off firecrackers at this time probably means someone in the family has died!”

Her temper was terrible, and even her words were laced with malice.

”Surely not,” Lin Huayu scratched her head, being relatively kind-hearted; she hadn’t even thought in that direction.

”Then why else would they set off firecrackers in the middle of the night?” Shen Anyun said indignantly, as the sound of firecrackers outside rose again. Just like before, the sound was enormous, with a deafening effect.

These firecrackers seemed to be set off right next to the Lin Family Courtyard, with the massive sound echoing throughout, clearly audible to Shen Anyun. She had thought that a couple of rounds of firecrackers would suffice and that these people would then go away. Unexpectedly, there was no sign of the noise stopping, and it kept sounding nearby.

”Is this never going to end?” Shen Anyun gritted her teeth and angrily said, ”It’s the middle of the night, does nobody care about letting people sleep? One or two rounds I can understand, but this continuous racket, are they looking for trouble?”

”Auntie, don’t be angry,” Lin Huayu quickly tried to calm her, saying, ”Normally no one sets off firecrackers, there must be some issue. Let’s wait a little longer, they probably won’t go on for too long, maybe they’ll stop after a while.”

Lin Huayu’s attempt to soothe her had some effect, and Shen Anyun waited a short while, but the noise of the firecrackers did not stop and she completely lost her patience.

”Have these people gone mad? Are they insane?” Shen Anyun leaped from the bed and ran to the window to look out, bellowing, ”Will this ever stop? Can’t anyone rest at night?”

Lin Huayu was also very surprised, and quickly said, ”Auntie, don’t worry. Shall I ask someone from the house to go out and see, to get them to leave first, how about that?”

”Hurry up, hurry up, I’ll go mad if these firecrackers continue!” Shen Anyun said furiously, ”So this is the living environment of your Lin family, huh? This is supposed to be where the wealthiest people in Shenchuan City live? It’s no match for our Shen Family Manor at all!”

Lin Huayu stuck out her tongue and quickly got up to call someone from outside to deal with the situation.

By this time, members of the Lin Family had also been disturbed by the sound of the firecrackers, and Lin Zhen Nan himself was very surprised. Such incidents had never occurred near the Lin Family. He had just walked to the living room when he saw Old Lady Lin and many other family members sitting there, it seemed they had all been woken by the sound of the firecrackers.

”Mom, why are you up too?” Lin Zhen Nan hurried over and said, ”Were you disturbed by the firecrackers? I’ll send someone to drive them away right now!”

”No need!” Old Lady Lin waved her hand dismissively, saying, ”I was already awake, not sleeping. Hmph, with people from the Shen Family here, do you think I could sleep?”

Old Lady Lin had always been dissatisfied with the Shen Family, and although she hadn’t personally gone out to welcome them that night, in fact, she hadn’t slept at all. Hearing the sound of firecrackers, she just took the opportunity to come out and joined the others from the Lin Family.

Lin Zhen Nan sighed too, knowing that Old Lady Lin had always had no good feelings towards the Shen Family. He had accommodated the visitors from the Shen Family as a courtesy, but the truth was even he himself held some discontent towards them.

”They won’t stay here for too many days; they’ll leave after the business is taken care of,” said Lin Zhen Nan. ”Mom, if you don’t want to see them, how about I take you to my younger sister’s place to stay for a couple of days? You could relax there with her.”

Lin Zhen Nan was referring to his younger sister, Lin Yashi. After Lin Yashi’s recovery from her previous injury, she had been volunteering at Ye Qing’s orphanage and seldom returned home. Despite the explosion that occurred at the orphanage, she stayed there to personally oversee the reconstruction work. Old Lady Lin cherished her daughter and often went to stay with her, which was rather convenient.

”There’s no need,” Old Lady Lin waved her hand, ”If I leave when they arrive, it’ll seem as if I’m afraid of them. Hmph, I’m going to stay right here at home, just to spite them. I want to see just how capable the Shen Family really is!”

Lin Zhen Nan knew Old Lady Lin’s temper and did not say anything more. Hearing the crackling of firecrackers outside, he frowned slightly and said, ”Mom, please sit, I’ll go out and see why someone is setting off firecrackers in the middle of the night.”

”Don’t hurry,” Old Lady Lin gestured with her hand, ”You sit for a while, there’s no need to go out. If someone is setting off firecrackers in the middle of the night, it must be for some reason. Such matters are generally related to weddings or funerals, how can we stop it? Even though the Lin family is wealthy, we can’t bully others just because we have power!”

Lin Zhen Nan hesitated for a moment and said, ”But even for weddings or funerals, they shouldn’t set off firecrackers in the middle of the night; that’s simply causing a disturbance. Besides, if they keep going on like this, how are we supposed to rest?”

”If we can’t rest, then we just sit for a while,” Old Lady Lin said calmly, ”If we can’t rest, neither can others.”

Lin Zhen Nan glanced at Old Lady Lin, knowing that she was referring to the people from the Shen Family. It seemed that Old Lady Lin didn’t want him to go out to find the people setting off firecrackers, mainly because she wanted the Shen Family to be unable to sleep well too.

Lin Zhen Nan also felt dissatisfaction toward the Shen Family, so he didn’t insist on it any further and stayed to chat with the Lin family members.

However, they had scarcely sat down when Lin Huayu called to ask about the firecrackers.

Old Lady Lin snatched the phone immediately and said, ”Huayu, don’t worry. It’s probably a funeral outside, so they are setting off firecrackers. It’s a funeral; we can’t stop them. If you can’t sleep, come and chat with Grandma, hahaha...”

Shen Anyun was by her side and happened to hear the conversation over the phone. Hearing Old Lady Lin’s laughter, she was infuriated and said angrily, ”Who has a funeral in the middle of the night and sets off firecrackers at this time? That’s complete nonsense!”

Shen Anyun’s voice was loud, and Old Lady Lin just so happened to hear it over the phone. Old Lady Lin was certainly not polite to Shen Anyun and replied coldly, ”A funeral is a funeral, if you don’t believe it, go out and see for yourself. Our Lin family is not some martial arts family; we wouldn’t do such domineering things. If it’s really a funeral, then that means someone has died. If we were to stop them, would we still be human?”

Old Lady Lin’s words were a veiled critique, insinuating that the Shen Family was overbearing in their actions. Shen Anyun became furious, grabbed the mobile phone from Lin Huayu’s hand, and said fiercely, ”You old fool, how dare you speak like that? You...”

Lin Huayu, hearing Shen Anyun speak like that, was frightened and quickly snatched back the phone, ”Auntie, please don’t be upset, don’t get angry.”

”Hey, how do you, a junior, speak to your elder?” Old Lady Lin retorted without weakness, ”Well, it’s no wonder, is this the so-called upbringing of the Xihang Shen Family? Pah, that’s just how it is!”

Lin Huayu, sensing that the conversation was going awry, quickly took the phone and said urgently, ”Grandma, Grandma, I’m going to sleep, I’m hanging up now.”

Without waiting for Old Lady Lin to speak, Lin Huayu hung up directly. Shen Anyun, over there ready to give a piece of her mind, was abruptly cut off before she even started.

”That damn old hag, she’s deliberately causing trouble, isn’t she!” Shen Anyun’s eyes widened in anger, ”No, I have to go and give her a piece of my mind!”

”Auntie, please don’t act like this!” Lin Huayu hurriedly intercepted Shen Anyun, ”My grandma’s heart isn’t strong, if you go and argue with her, it would be bad for her health!”

”Her health is not good, so I have to put up with this? I refuse accept this; why should I take her insults?” Shen Anyun ignored Lin Huayu and stormed out the door.

Fortunately, just as she walked out the door, she saw several other people from the Shen Family. She and Lin Huayu stayed in this small building, while the others from the Shen Family stayed in the adjacent small building.

It seemed that the others from the Shen Family were also disturbed from their sleep by the firecrackers, even Brother Jiu was standing in the courtyard, looking in the direction of the firecrackers.

Seeing Shen Anyun march out fuming, with Lin Huayu following closely behind, Brother Jiu couldn’t help but be surprised and asked, ”Anyun, what are you doing?”

Shen Anyun immediately replied angrily, ”Brother Jiu, you don’t know, that damn old woman from the Lin family accused our Shen Family of having no manners, being pushy, and domineering. Hmph, I won’t stand for this; I’m going over there to argue with her!”