Lin Mu's appearance and abilities along had shown the supervisor that he was not someone to mess with. Not to mention, the way he had just taken out the spirit apples and the gold was enough for him to realize the man didn't even consider them significant.
'There were at least five thousand coins in the bag…' The supervisor guessed using the weight of the bag.
The look on Lin Mu's face also sent chills down his spine, and no thought of failing the given task would ever arise in his heart.
Lin Mu gazed at the man for a coupled of seconds before looking away.
"Good, do it well and you might just be rewarded." Lin Mu said before turning to a certain man.
Yuan Tu was still in shock and couldn't understand how all this was possible. Lin Mu's capabilities had come one after the other, like a downbeat. He felt a shadow over him and looked up to see that it was Lin Mu standing in front of him. His tall figure was like a great tower, unscalable and unyielding.
"The past shall remain in past and the future shall be unrelated. I've decided to let go of the karma of my old life and we shall have nothing to do from now on." Lin Mu stated plainly.
"What…" Yuan Tu could understand Lin Mu's words but didn't grasp the meaning behind them.
In any case, the words Lin Mu had spoken weren't truly for Yuan Tu but rather for himself. He had learned about the karma that would accompany a cultivator throughout their life and knew how big of a weight it could be.
Whether it be good karma or bad karma, both of them had effects that could lead one on either path. It was up to the cultivator to decide how they would go along with it. And here Lin Mu had chosen to neither take revenge nor be benevolent to the man.
He had simply chosen to sever the karma and let bygones be bygones.
'Now that I think of it… if he never forced me to carry that barrow of spirit apples, I might not have been forced out and neither would I have found the ring. Without the ring, perhaps I would have still been in the same position.
So, in a way, karma with Yuan Tu was what started it all for me. It was what sent me on this path and many more that are yet to be revealed.' Lin Mu pondered in his mind.
Having understood this, Lin Mu felt like his mind had been widened and a fog was lifted.
"Let's go, little Shrubby." Lin Mu said before disappearing from the sights of all.
The people could only watch on for a while, speechless.
Unknown to them, Lin Mu had actually not left the town. But rather he had gone to a specific palace close to his heart.
~Sigh~
A long sigh escaped his lips as Lin Mu watched the empty plot of land.
"When did this happen?" Lin Mu wondered as his eyes wandered over the place where his house used to be.
Now, instead of his house, there was just an empty plot of land, with some rubble lying around and weeds growing. Lin Mu looked around and narrowed his brows.
"It's not just this house either…" Lin Mu saw that the houses next to his were also gone.
Doing something like this was unusual, as even if a house was confiscated, one wouldn't just destroy them. Rather, they would just sell it off or rent it to others. There would always be someone to buy them, after all.
"Are you looking for someone?" Lin Mu heard a voice from behind him.
"Oh?" Turning around, Lin Mu saw a man standing there.
"Are you lost, sir?" the man's tone changed upon seeing Lin Mu's face and he became nervous.
While Lin Mu was wearing relatively simple robes, his face and demeanor would easily unnerve commoners.
"Yes… do you know what happened to the houses that used to be here?" Lin Mu questioned.
The man furrowed his brows and saw what Lin Mu was gesturing towards.
"They were destroyed by the officials years ago." The man replied. "But why are you asking that?"
"Someone I know used to live here." Lin Mu plainly spoke. "Why were these houses destroyed? Do you know?" he asked while taking out a gold coin.
The man's eyes glinted at the sight of gold, and a flattering smile appeared on his face.
"Yes, yes! Of course, I do! I've been living here for four years now! I even saw everything happen personally!" The man hurriedly said, the greed for the coin motivating him.
"Go on, tell me." Lin Mu said, flipping the coin between his fingers. "All that you know."
The man nodded his head and began speaking.
"I live right there!" The man pointed to a certain house.
Lin Mu gazed at the house and recognized it.
'Isn't that Old Granny Tuo's house?' Lin Mu identified.
She was one of his neighbors and had helped out his mother a few times when she was still alive. But what Lin Mu didn't understand was why this man was here. He was sure that this man never lived there before, as old Granny Tuo lived there alone.
And when Lin Mu had left the town, the old woman was still alive and well.
But upon hearing the next words of the man, Lin Mu understood why.
"I had just moved to the house after my aunt Tuo left it to me in her will. She had gotten sick and passed away in her sleep. I used to live in the Eastern town before that. My wife and I moved here since it was good for us and had a place for children.
Anyways… a month after I moved in, I heard a loud noise in the morning. Coming out, I saw none other than the town guards along with a lot of soldiers in the street." The man said, intriguing Lin Mu.
