In just a short span of time, this Su Lin had slapped him three times. As a young master of the Xia Family, when had he ever been treated like this?
Su Lin kicked Xia Fei flying with a single kick and said indignantly, "I was only giving you a couple of words of discipline, yet you actually tried to hit me—you're simply too violent!"
"Enough!"
"Brat, you've beaten my son repeatedly. Do you really take me, Xia Guodong, for someone molded out of clay?"
"If you don't give me a proper account for today's events, I swear I'll make sure you walk out of the Xia Family estate horizontal!" Xia Guodong said with a grim, chilling expression.
"Who do you think you're trying to scare with that fierce look? It's abundantly clear your son was in the wrong! My father-in-law is clearly still alive, yet your son was about to have him cremated—isn't that straight-up murder?"
"If that sort of thing flies, how about I cremate you right now, you old bastard? How would you like that?" Su Lin curled his lip and retorted without yielding an inch.
Xia Guodong was so furious he felt like kicking a dog; it was his first time ever running into someone with such a sharp and venomous tongue!
"Su Lin, you said my father is still alive—is that true?" Xia Bingyu looked at Su Lin, as if she had just managed to grab onto the last straw of hope!
"Miss Xia, your father's breathing had stopped and his pulse had ceased entirely; he had completely lost all vital signs. This young man is surely just talking nonsense!" The middle-aged man in the white lab coat shook his head.
His name was Li Jimin, a very renowned physician throughout all of Tianjiang. The Xia Family had spent a small fortune this time just to retain him as their personal family doctor.
Xia Bingyu's eyes instantly dimmed. Li Jimin's words still carried a great deal of authority!
"Heh, that's merely the diagnostic method of you beginner-level doctors. As far as I'm concerned, as long as my father-in-law hasn't gone completely cold yet, I have every confidence I can cure him!" Su Lin chuckled lightly and strode over to the hospital bed.
Then, before anyone could even catch a glimpse of his movements, nine black silver needles had already appeared on Xia Guodong—no, on Xia Guoliang, the middle-aged man lying there.
Immediately afterward, with a wave of Su Lin's palm, all nine silver needles began to vibrate in unison, while wisps of spiritual energy poured straight into Xia Guoliang's body through the vibrations!
"Clink, clink, clink!"
The monitors by the bed chimed to life, and Xia Guoliang's heartbeat miraculously resumed!
"How is this possible?!" Li Jimin, Xia Guodong, and Xia Fei all stared in absolute, wide-eyed shock!
"Dad!" Xia Bingyu's face was brimming with joy; looking at her father on the hospital bed, a renewed wave of hope welled up within her!
Su Lin kept his gaze fixed on Xia Guoliang, and when he judged the timing to be just right, he gave him a sharp pat on the stomach and propped him up into a sitting position!
"Blech!"
A mouthful of dark, clotted blood spewed from Xia Guoliang's mouth.
His breathing gradually grew steady and regular.
Only then did Su Lin lay Xia Guoliang back down on the bed, dusted his hands off, and said, "He's all fixed up. He should wake up in about five minutes or so!"
Silence descended upon the entire room!
Everyone present was left utterly stunned by Su Lin's methods!
Raising the dead back to life!
Just what kind of terrifying, unfathomable capability was this?!
"Esteemed young sir, might I ask how you managed to pull that off?" Li Jimin's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree shift into one of deep reverence as he cupped his fists and asked.
"It's simple: you do it like this, then like that, and finally like so." Su Lin shrugged his shoulders and replied.
Li Jimin gave a bitter smile, knowing full well that Su Lin had no intention of filling him in on the details, and wisely chose not to press any further.
"Well, do the two of you have anything else to say for yourselves now?"
"My father-in-law wasn't even dead yet, and you two were already plotting to bury him—you truly have hearts as venomous as scorpions!" Su Lin turned his head and laid into Xia Guodong and his son.
Xia Guodong's expression turned exceedingly unsightly. Clearly, Xia Guoliang should have been dead, allowing his own grand plan to proceed smoothly.
Yet this brat had actually managed to bring him back to life. Damn it all to hell!
"Su Lin, just how on earth did you manage to do that?" Xia Bingyu looked at Su Lin, her eyes filled with boundless curiosity.
This man seemed far, far less ordinary than she had originally imagined!
"Actually, it's nothing much. I've been studying medicine up in the mountains since I was a kid, so my medical skills reached the realm of perfection long ago. Bringing someone back from the dead is hardly anything special!" Su Lin laughed, showing not a shred of modesty.
"Heh, keep on bragging! If your medical skills were really that miraculous, would you still be cooped up living on a mountain?" Xia Guodong sneered with icy derision.
"It seems you don't believe me. Since that's the case, let me take a look at you!"
"Judging by your appearance, you must suffer from severe kidney deficiency. Once you drop your trousers, you probably can't even last three seconds. Not only that, you've got the lingering scent of several different women on you—you must have gone out to engage in some multi-person group sports just a few hours ago."
"Tsk tsk, you clearly can't perform, yet you still insist on playing those kinds of games. You really are an old bastard who's utterly incompetent yet loves to play anyway!" Su Lin looked Xia Guodong up and down, then couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.
Xia Guodong's face cycled between pale green and flushed red; on one hand, it was out of blind rage at having his most sensitive pain points exposed, and on the other, it was sheer, unadulterated shock at Su Lin's uncanny abilities!
The brat had actually hit the nail on the head with every single word!
"Brat, you're ruthless! You just wait!"
Not daring to have any further face-to-face contact with Su Lin, Xia Guodong tossed out a vicious threat and quickly dragged Xia Fei away with him.
Xia Bingyu couldn't help a faint smile from crossing her lips; putting everything else aside, Su Lin thoroughly slapping Xia Guodong and his son across the face today had certainly vented a massive amount of pent-up frustration for her!
"Su Lin, thank you so much for curing my father. I will compensate you for this."
Su Lin, however, merely shook his head. "Forget about compensation. We're husband and wife after all—talking about payment like that makes us sound way too much like strangers."
"Besides, I haven't completely cured my father-in-law yet. He was poisoned with a very deep toxin that has already penetrated right down to his marrow. Rooting it out entirely will be quite a troublesome affair; it's going to require at least two more treatment sessions!"
"My dad was poisoned?!" Xia Bingyu's expression instantly turned heavy as her mind raced, wondering what could be behind this.
"Ahem!"
Right at that moment, Xia Guoliang let out a couple of coughs from the bed and slowly drifted back to consciousness!
Chapter 4: Can't Wait for the Bridal Chamber!
"Dad! You're finally awake!" Xia Bingyu hurried anxiously to the bedside.
"Bingyu, did something happen during this time? I feel like I've been asleep for a very long time." Xia Guoliang's complexion looked substantially better.
"Dad, during the time you were unconscious..."
Xia Bingyu recounted everything that had transpired after he lost consciousness, including how she had gone out to marry Su Lin and his miraculous intervention just moments before.
"Regardless of all that, this matrimonial pact was set in stone by your grandfather before he passed away. You went and fulfilled it, which was entirely the right thing to do." Xia Guoliang listened and nodded, offering no objections whatsoever.
Following that, he turned his gaze toward Su Lin, breaking into a warm smile. "You must be Su Lin. Thank you so much for saving my life."
"Father-in-law, you're being far too formal with talk like that. We're all one family now—what's there to thank someone for?"
"As long as your daughter listens to me in the future and pops out a few big, chubby baby boys for me, I'll be more than satisfied!" Su Lin laughed heartily and openly.
Xia Bingyu shot him a fierce, icy glare, but suddenly remembering something, her expression turned slightly cool. "That's right, Dad—about what Su Lin said regarding you being poisoned..."
Xia Guoliang's expression turned serious as well. "I have my own thoughts regarding this matter. Once I've fully recovered, I will handle it myself; there's no need for you to interfere further."
Xia Bingyu nodded and didn't press the subject any further.
Because Xia Guoliang had just regained consciousness and required proper rest, Xia Bingyu and Su Lin withdrew from his room.
"Wife, I'm hungry." Su Lin rubbed his stomach and announced.
"What do you want to eat?" Xia Bingyu asked coldly and indifferently.
"Hehe, Wife, why don't you whip me up some noodles?" Su Lin asked with a cheeky, cheeky grin.
"Get lost!!" Xia Bingyu snapped in a freezing tone.
If not for the fact that he had just saved her father's life, she probably wouldn't have been able to resist slapping him right across the face.
Meanwhile, inside a bedroom elsewhere in the villa.
"Dad, that scumbag brought in by that bitch Xia Bingyu was completely, utterly arrogant—we absolutely cannot let him off the hook!" Xia Fei clutched his swollen cheek, his face twisted with venomous hatred.
"He's just some hick from the countryside; dealing with him will be a breeze. Right now, the most crucial thing is seizing control of the Xia Group. Xia Guoliang has already woken up, which means our time is running out fast!" Xia Guodong said, his face dark as a thundercloud.
"Dad, do you have any good ideas?" Xia Fei asked eagerly.
"Sales for the Xia Group have seen a severe downturn lately. I'll get in touch with Li Wei right away and have her band together with the other board members to strip Xia Bingyu of her position as chairperson!"
"And what about Young Master Zhang? Hasn't he been relentlessly pursuing Xia Bingyu? You contact him tomorrow and tell him that the Xia Family agrees to this union—they can come over to propose marriage whenever they please!" Xia Guodong let out a sinister, cunning laugh.
On the other side, Xia Bingyu took Su Lin away from the villa and headed to a large shopping mall to have hotpot.
After finishing the meal, Xia Bingyu didn't head straight back home with Su Lin; instead, she took the escalator straight up to the upper floors.
"Wife, where are we heading now?" Su Lin scratched his head in puzzlement.
"Going to buy you some clothes. The outfit you're wearing right now is simply too rustic."
"Ah, I knew my wife was the only one who really cares about me! Come here, give me a kiss!"
Su Lin made a move to plant a kiss on Xia Bingyu's cheek, but she deftly sidestepped out of the way.
Before long, the pair arrived at the men's apparel section, where Xia Bingyu earnestly began selecting clothes for Su Lin.
Xia Bingyu possessed a tall figure, a cold and striking aura, coupled with an exquisite, flawless visage—she was the epitome of a true goddess.
Su Lin, on the other hand, was still dressed in tattered old clothes, with a cloth sack slung over his shoulder, looking for all the world like a country bumpkin who had just come to the big city to find manual labor.
Such a striking juxtaposition naturally drew the gazes of numerous people around them.
"Oh! If it isn't President Xia? Haven't seen you in a few days—how did you fall so far? You've even taken to picking up a migrant worker as your male companion now?"
Suddenly, a woman sauntered over.
She appeared to be around thirty years old, heavily caked in makeup and reeking of thick perfume, dressed from head to toe like an upstart parvenu.
"Li Wei, my affairs are none of your concern. Mind your own business!" Xia Bingyu said frostily.
"My, President Xia certainly has quite the fiery temper! I'm just so, so scared!" Li Wei exaggeratedly patted her own chest, then swept her gaze over Su Lin with a mocking sneer. "I really never would have expected it—President Xia looks so pure and icy on the outside, yet in private she's actually this desperate and starved, not even letting a country bumpkin like this off the hook?"
"Tell me, is this country bumpkin really that good in bed? Good enough to make even President Xia completely lose herself?"
"You..." Xia Bingyu's face flushed bright red with anger.
Li Wei's tongue was truly vicious and venomous to the extreme.
"Yuck, where is this stinky seafood coming from? It's practically choking me to death!" Su Lin fanned the air in front of his nose, displaying an expression of utter disgust.
Li Wei looked around the vicinity, her face instantly turning icy. "Country bumpkin, are you talking about me?"
Su Lin looked at Li Wei as if she were an absolute idiot. "Aside from you, who else could possibly be putting off such a rank stench? Do you even need to ask? What an absolute moron!"
A flicker of panic flashed across Li Wei's expression, and she snapped furiously, "You country bumpkin, if you keep talking nonsense, believe me when I say I'll hire someone to cripple you right now!"
"Nonsense?!"
"If my eyes aren't deceiving me, within the past hour alone, you've been intimate with at least eight different men, haven't you? And you've kept every single drop of their essences bottled up inside your body!"
"Of course, you can't entirely blame yourself for that; you suffer from a severe endocrine disorder that drives your physical desires through the roof, making a single partner entirely inadequate to satisfy you."
"However, because you've kept this up for so long, your body can no longer bear the burden. At best, you'll suffer from incontinence; at worst, complete infertility—so you really ought to show some restraint from now on!"
As Su Lin spoke, he shook his head repeatedly.
The surrounding onlookers, upon hearing this explosive declaration, cast gazes of profound strangeness toward Li Wei.
Moreover, whether due to psychological suggestion or not, despite the heavy perfume Li Wei had doused herself in, they all seemed to catch a distinct whiff of rotting seafood!
"Country bumpkin, I'm going to tear that mouth of yours to shreds today!"
Consumed by rage and humiliation, Li Wei lunged straight toward Su Lin.
Su Lin showed not a shred of fear; with a casual flick of his wrist, a silver needle pierced directly into Li Wei's lower abdomen!
"Ah!"
Li Wei let out a startled shriek as she felt a sudden surge of heat flow downward completely beyond her control!
The spectators standing around had never in their wildest dreams expected Li Wei to suffer from public incontinence right then and there. They instantly clamped their hands over their noses and backed away in waves of utter disgust and disdain!
"You... what did you do to me?!"
Li Wei's face turned beet red as she stared at Su Lin with a mixture of horror and boiling fury!
"You leaked yourself, what does that have to do with me?!" Su Lin wore an expression of pure, unadulterated innocence.
"You just wait, I am never letting you off the hook for this!" Gritting her teeth in sheer mortification, Li Wei knew this was hardly the time to settle scores. Crossing her legs tightly, she bolted from the scene in a hurried panic.
"Wife, everything's taken care of!" Su Lin turned back to Xia Bingyu with a cheeky grin.
"Su Lin, how on earth did you pull that off just now?" Xia Bingyu's lovely eyes were brimming with curiosity.
"Hehe, it was simple—I just sealed off one of that bitch's acupoints. Besides, everything I said just now was the absolute truth. Wife, you should stay far away from that woman from now on!" Su Lin said with a wide smile.
Shortly after, the pair finished purchasing the clothes and headed back together to the Xia Family villa.
Having spent the entire day running around, Xia Bingyu headed straight for the bathroom to take a shower the moment they got back.
Half an hour later, Xia Bingyu emerged from the washroom clad in a silk nightgown, her alluring figure faintly discernible beneath the fabric.
However, the moment Xia Bingyu stepped into her bedroom, her expression darkened instantly.
To her utter disbelief, Su Lin was currently sprawled out across her bed with an eager, unabashed look plastered across his face.
Seeing Xia Bingyu return, Su Lin completely ignored her sullen expression and patted the edge of the mattress urgently. "Wife, hurry up and get over here! I can't wait any longer—it's time to consummate our marriage!"
Chapter 5: Who Leaves Without Paying After the Job is Done?!
"What are you doing in my bed?" Xia Bingyu demanded, her face dark as night.
"We're already married, so naturally the next step is to consummate the marriage and work hard on popping out a big, chubby baby boy for me as soon as possible!" Su Lin stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Who wants to consummate anything with you? Pack up your things this instant and get out of my room!" Xia Bingyu seethed, barely keeping her fury in check.
"Wife, are you trying to force me into a living widowhood here?!" Su Lin pouted with an aggrieved expression!
"I'll say it one more time: get lost!!" Xia Bingyu finally snapped!
Left with no other choice, Su Lin had no choice but to crawl out of the warm, fragrant covers, get dressed, and reluctantly gather his belongings!
Thump!
A bronze token slipped out from Su Lin's cloth sack and clattered to the floor. Its material and craftsmanship looked extraordinary!
"What is this thing?" Xia Bingyu asked out of curiosity.
"This is the Fengyue Token my fourth master gave me—it's the very same emblem you saw carried by the people who picked me up when I came down the mountain. Holding this token grants you the authority to take over the entire Fengyue Pavilion!" Su Lin replied offhandedly.
Fengyue Pavilion?
Xia Bingyu paused for a moment. She did have some familiarity with the Fengyue Pavilion.
It was Longxia's largest upscale pleasure establishment, but it maintained exceptionally strict membership requirements. Aside from top-tier dignitaries and elites, ordinary people found it nearly impossible to even step foot inside!
Not only that, according to rumors on the street, the Fengyue Pavilion wasn't nearly as simple as it appeared on the surface—the waters ran deep.
Yet he claimed a single token was enough to take the whole place over? Was he just playing around?!
Deciding not to press further, Xia Bingyu simply asked coolly, "You said this was given to you by your fourth master. Following that logic, you must have other masters as well?"
"That's right!"
"I have a total of eight masters, and every single one of them handed down their most precious treasures to me."
"This is the Five Emperors Coin my second master gave me; it can ward off evil spirits and divine heavenly secrets!"
"This is the Nine Needles of Guigu my third master gave me; it can save all living souls or take a life without leaving a trace!"
"This is the Azure Dragon Military Talisman my fifth master gave me; it can take command of the entire Azure Dragon Team."
"And this is..."
Su Lin pulled out item after item that his masters had bestowed upon him!
Xia Bingyu stared at the collection, her head practically throbbing with black lines. Eight masters in total, and every single one of them sounded like an absolute deity—who on earth would ever believe such tall tales?!
"Alright, I need to get some sleep. I don't have time to listen to you spin tall tales, so hurry up and get out!" Xia Bingyu urged impatiently.
Su Lin packed his belongings away, and just as he was about to head out, a thought struck him. He walked over to Xia Bingyu, slipped a ring engraved with a black dragon off his own finger, and slid it onto hers!
"What are you doing?!" Recovering her wits, Xia Bingyu hurriedly tried to pull her hand back!
"This is the Black Dragon Ring my seventh master gave me. It gives you command over the Black Dragon Hall, commanding terrifying power both domestically and abroad!"
"With this ring on your finger, any high-ranking figure with an ounce of discernment wouldn't dare lay a finger on you!"
"Since we just got married, consider this ring my engagement gift to you. You'd better take good care of it!" Su Lin explained with a cheerful grin.
Xia Bingyu rolled her eyes in exasperation. If this battered old ring really possessed the kind of cosmic influence Su Lin claimed, she'd eat it!
Without further ado, Su Lin turned and walked right out of Xia Bingyu's bedroom!
Xia Bingyu looked down at the beat-up ring on her finger. Her initial impulse was to toss it straight into the trash, but figuring it was at least a gesture of goodwill from Su Lin, she decided to keep it after all.
Shortly thereafter, Xia Bingyu climbed into bed and settled down to sleep. Having been on her feet all day, she was utterly exhausted!
Meanwhile, Su Lin wandered around the villa for a bit before locating a suitable guest room.
Not only was the room impeccably neat and tidy, but the bed had even been freshly made, emitting a faint, pleasant fragrance!
"Haha, my wife is simply the best—she went out of her way to prepare such a room just for me. It's so big and soft!" Su Lin flopped onto the bed and drifted off into a blissful sleep!
However, not long after, the door to the room was pushed open from the outside, and a young woman reeking strongly of alcohol stumbled inside.
The woman possessed an overwhelmingly sultry and voluptuous figure, and judging by her appearance, she was barely in her early twenties. Her features struck a mesmerizing balance between pure innocence and intoxicating seductiveness—the kind of face that left an unforgettable impression at a single glance!
Due to sheer exhaustion upon entering the room, and failing to notice the lights weren't on, she collapsed directly onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep!
After sleeping for a while, the woman felt something lying right beside her. Mistaking it for her plush stuffed toy, she hitched up her legs and slung them straight across it!
Morning arrived!
Early the next day, just as Xia Bingyu had gotten out of bed, a blood-curdling shriek pierced the air!
Xia Bingyu's expression shifted instantly. She recognized the voice as belonging to Su Lin, and it was coming straight from the adjacent guest room occupied by Lin Feixuan!
"Oh no!"
Crying out in alarm, Xia Bingyu sprinted toward the room at top speed!
Lin Feixuan was a close friend she had met back in Longdu during her childhood, three years younger than her. Two years prior, Lin Feixuan had transferred to Jiangcheng for university and had been staying with her ever since!
Only, she had been far too exhausted last night and had completely forgotten to mention Su Lin's presence to her. She just prayed the two of them hadn't ended up at each other's throats!
Of course, she wasn't particularly worried about Lin Feixuan—after all, she was an active member of the university's Martial Arts Club!
Her primary concern was that Su Lin might have provoked Lin Feixuan, in which case he would undoubtedly receive a severe beating!
Before long, Xia Bingyu reached Lin Feixuan's bedroom door. But the moment she took in the scene unfolding inside, she froze in sheer astonishment!
Right at that moment, Su Lin was lying flat on the bed, clutching the blanket tightly around himself with an aggrieved, wronged expression, looking for all the world as though he had been ravished a hundred times over by Lin Feixuan!