303 Preparing to Take Her Away

On the empty street in the Iron City.

Lin Ran walked slowly with his hands behind his back. He saw Sun Ge’s team from afar, but he was not flustered because he hid the Black Shadow Saber well.

On the other hand, Sun Ge and the others did not look so good.

In their previous plan, Guyue Dao was going to bring Lin Ran out of the city to get rid of him.

But now that Lin Ran was back alone and Guyue Dao was nowhere to be seen, it was hard for Sun Ge not to suspect that something might have happened to Guyue Dao…

Slowly, the distance between the two of them gradually closed.

When they were two to three steps away, Lin Ran stopped and smiled calmly. “It’s already so late. Why are you still patrolling?”

Sun Ge smiled awkwardly. “Yes, yes, it’s late. Why are you out so late?”

“Don’t you know why?”

Lin Ran asked with a faint smile. He slowly glanced at the men in black behind Sun Ge. “These people have been monitoring the Ye family. Did they not see anything?”

The men in black who were stared at by Lin Ran lowered their heads.

Sun Ge looked embarrassed, but he still braced himself and explained, “You misunderstood. We’re just looking for…”

“Whatever.”

Lin Ran waved his hand and interrupted him. Then, he took off the wooden box on his back and handed it over. “I know you suspect me, so I’ll give you a chance to search now, but if you don’t find anything, don’t bother me again.”

Looking at the wooden box Lin Ran handed him, Sun Ge hesitated.

On one hand, he suspected that Lin Ran might be bluffing, but on second thought, he felt that it didn’t seem like it. After all, Lin Ran was too composed.

Seeing that Sun Ge had no intention of reaching out, Lin Ran opened the wooden box himself.

“Did you see it clearly? Or do you want me to bring you to the Ye family to search again?”

When the men in black heard that they were allowed to search the Ye family, they immediately looked up. Sun Ge smiled and said, “There’s no need. We were rude just now. Shopkeeper Huo, please don’t take offense.”

With that, Sun Ge turned around and made way. Seeing this, the remaining men in black silently retreated to the side.

This confused Lin Ran.

Ever since the two of them had a conflict at the city gate in the morning, Sun Ge had been targeting Lin Ran and believed wholeheartedly that Lin Ran was the thief.

Now that his attitude had changed drastically, Lin Ran couldn’t help but wonder what this guy was up to.

However, with the difference in strength between the two of them, Lin Ran was not very worried. After all, in the face of absolute strength, all schemes were useless.

After taking one last look at Sun Ge, Lin Ran walked through the crowd towards the Ye family. When he entered, he saw Ye Shixiao and Ye Jin pacing back and forth on the first floor with anxious expressions on their faces.

Lin Ran looked puzzled. Before he could ask, Ye Jin turned around and saw him. She was stunned for a moment before looking happy.

“You’re finally back!”

Ye Jin shouted happily and punched Lin Ran. “Where did you go? Even if you want to leave, you should at least tell us!”

“Who said I want to leave?”

Lin Ran said in a casual tone, “I just went to see a friend.”

“Is the person in that carriage your friend?”

When Ye Jin heard this, she revealed a suspicious expression. “You’re a Heavenly Saint martial artist, but you actually have friends in the Great Yong Dynasty?”

“What are you talking about?”

Lin Ran pretended to be angry and said, “I have friends all over the world!”

“But…”

Before Ye Jin could say anything else, Lin Ran interrupted, “No buts. Go pack up first. I’ll take you to Mount Xianyong later.”

Hearing this, Ye Shixiao, who had been standing at the side, suddenly walked over. He didn’t say anything and just looked at Lin Ran with a complicated gaze.

Ye Jin didn’t notice his father’s abnormality. She just looked at Lin Ran suspiciously. “Are you going to get the materials to reforge the sword? Then can’t you go yourself?”

Ye Shixiao said, “He doesn’t know the way. Take him there.”

Ye Jin glanced at her father, and an awkward expression appeared on her pretty face. “Father, actually, I can’t understand the map… If not for him today, I might not have been able to find Mount Xianyong.”

Ye Shixiao’s expression froze. Suddenly, he slapped the table without warning. “What’s wrong with you? You go out when you’re not allowed to go out. Now that I allow you to go out, you don’t want to go out.”

Seeing that her father was angry, Ye Jin hurriedly explained, “Father, that’s not what I mean… I’ll go and get ready.”

Ye Shixiao shouted coldly with a dark expression, “Hurry up!”

“Got it!”

Ye Jin agreed and quickly ran upstairs. However, she did not notice that when she went upstairs, the anger on Ye Shixiao’s face quietly turned into a smile, and his eyes were filled with reluctance.

Only when Ye Jin disappeared from sight did Ye Shixiao retract his gaze. He rubbed the corners of his eyes and looked at Lin Ran. “You’re not taking her to Mount Xianyong, are you?”

“It just so happens that I need to return to the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, so I thought I might as well take her with me.”

Ye Shixiao took a deep breath and smiled dejectedly. “Heavenly Saint Dynasty is a good place. In fact, as long as it’s not the Iron City, it’s a good place.”

Seeing Ye Shixiao’s dejected expression, Lin Ran hesitated for a moment before asking, “We’re leaving soon. Can you tell me the truth now?”

Ye Shixiao thought for a moment and nodded.

Lin Ran asked seriously, “How much of what you told me upstairs is true?”

“Hard to say.”

Ye Shixiao gave a vague answer. Before Lin Ran could speak, he explained, “You have to know that this conspiracy in the Iron City needs generations of people to set up and operate.”

“It was a coincidence that I discovered this scheme. I believe someone else must have discovered this scheme in the past too. However, the fact that the Iron City is still around shows how difficult it is to expose this scheme.”

“I’ve been investigating in secret for more than ten years, but I barely found out anything. Sometimes, I really feel that it’s good to live the rest of my life in ignorance, but when I think of Jin’s mother, I… I…”

At the mention of his deceased wife, Ye Shixiao couldn’t continue.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Some things can’t be done alone.”

Lin Ran sighed and patted Ye Shixiao’s shoulder. “When I come back, let’s expose this scheme together!”