"Is your schoolwork busy, A'Lin?" Wang Dawei asked somewhat reservedly. He reached out and held the restless Wang Songguo.
"It shouldn't be too busy." Wang Lin was slightly unsure. Based on the enrollment schedule of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, he had already skipped class for two months.
If he were to be expelled, the issue wouldn't be whether his schoolwork was busy; the schoolwork itself would be gone.
"Then could you please help Songguo..."
Crunch, crunch...
Wang Dawei's words were interrupted halfway through by a series of crisp chewing sounds. He looked at the black-robed figure standing beside Wang Lin in astonishment.
"Go inside the courtyard and wait for me."
Wang Lin said to Wu Yun. He handed the remaining pine nuts in his hand to Wu Yun. Wu Yun, clad in a black robe, obediently walked into the courtyard.
"Uncle Wang, please continue?" Wang Lin was helpless. Wang Dawei wisely didn't inquire about the newly appeared black-robed person.
In his opinion, among the occupants of Wang Lin's courtyard, the only normal person was Wang Lin himself. Not to mention the two adults, the other youth, about Wang Lin's age, was even more frightening in Wang Dawei's eyes. Once, he saw that youth walking through the wall in the middle of the night, like a ghost.
"Phew." Wang Dawei exhaled. Distracted by Wu Yun, the reservation on his face deepened. He said with a hint of embarrassment.
"Could I ask you to help Songguo with his enlightenment)? I have a gift for the teacher." Saying this, Wang Dawei seemed afraid that Wang Lin would refuse and took out a very old but obviously well-maintained Rank 3 carving knife.
"Uh..." Wang Lin looked at the carving knife, stunned for a moment. That Rank 3 carving knife clearly looked like one used by a woman.
The style was very similar to the one Meng Hongchen lent him.
The moment the carving knife was taken out, Wang Songguo became anxious. Tears even welled up in his eyes, and he shouted loudly: "No, Dad, that was Mom's..."
Saying this, Wang Dawei hurriedly covered Wang Songguo's mouth, sternly saying: "Adults are speaking, children must be quiet."
Tears were welling up in Wang Songguo's eyes. Wang Lin looked at the scene with a sense of helplessness.
Wang Dawei was only a Rank 2 Soul Engineer. This feminine carving knife was clearly left behind by the deceased mistress of the Wang family.
A Rank 3 carving knife was a treasure that most lower-level Soul Engineers would use for a lifetime. This was the most precious item the Wang family could offer.
That Wang Dawei would take out such a treasure as a enlightenment gift for Wang Songguo was entirely due to Wang Lin's status as a student at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
As one of the continent's top Soul Engineer institutions, one way for junior students at the academy to earn money was by providing enlightenment instruction for children who awakened Martial Souls.
The fee was extremely high, starting at a minimum of one thousand gold soul coins. Even then, it was highly sought after and difficult to obtain because students who could attend the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy generally received subsidies from the academy and the state for their daily expenses, and the academy covered the soul tool metals for practice. They essentially never lacked money.
Few students would waste time on enlightenment. The time spent making one soul tool was worth more than the fee.
"Okay, I accept, Uncle Wang." After some thought, Wang Lin agreed and reached out to take the carving knife.
"Thank you, thank you!" Wang Dawei's face immediately showed gratitude. He was about to press Wang Songguo to kowtow to Wang Lin.
Wang Lin was startled and quickly stepped forward, grabbing Wang Songguo: "Uncle Wang, it's just enlightenment. No need to kowtow. If Little Songguo has the talent to enter the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in the future, he'll be my schoolmate. Kowtowing wouldn't be appropriate."
"Good, but he still has to call you 'Teacher'." The sturdy man quickly nodded, then pushed Wang Songguo: "Hurry up and call him 'Teacher,' or I'll spank you."
Wang Songguo looked very unwilling, his slightly red eyes fixed on the carving knife in Wang Lin's hand.
"Well, Uncle Wang, I haven't returned to the academy yet. The teaching time will be arranged after I check the curriculum schedule back at the academy. Just leave Songguo here for now. I want to talk to him for a couple of minutes."
Wang Lin said quickly.
"Okay." Wang Dawei quickly nodded, left Wang Songguo behind, and hobbled back into his courtyard.
"If you study well and meet my requirements, how about this carving knife as your reward?"
Seeing Wang Dawei leave, Wang Lin spoke to Wang Songguo. Although Wang Lin frequently "robbed" Wang Songguo of his pine nuts, he always followed through on the things he promised Wang Songguo.
So, this "bad guy" was a "bad guy" with credit in Wang Songguo's eyes.
"You mean it, bad guy?"
Wang Songguo, almost seven years old, immediately widened his eyes, looking at Wang Lin in disbelief. Wang Lin nodded seriously and reached out to pat Wang Songguo's small bald head.
"Of course it's true. But are you still calling me 'bad guy'?"
"Teacher!"
Wang Songguo immediately shouted. The "bad guy" had once said, when snatching his pine nuts, that a man can bend and extend as needed.
"Good, very spirited!" Wang Lin nodded in satisfaction, then reached out his hand to Wang Songguo.
This action had been performed countless times in the past, and once just now. Wang Songguo immediately understood Wang Lin's intention, widening his eyes and looking at Wang Lin in disbelief.
He seemed to be asking: I called you 'Teacher,' and you still want to rob me?
Wang Lin said nothing, just looking at Wang Songguo. Finally, the seven-year-old child gave in, extending his hand toward Wang Lin's palm.
Pinching a small handful of pine nuts, Wang Lin smiled and returned to the courtyard, occasionally tossing a nut into his mouth and crunching it.
Wu Yun was currently standing beneath the jujube tree in the center of the courtyard, eating the pine nuts in her hand, just like Wang Lin.
Wang Lin ignored Wu Yun. He looked around the courtyard but didn't see Zhang Peng or Zhang Jian. This time of day was usually when Zhang Peng took Zhang Jian to practice cultivation.
"Wu Yun, you stay in this room. If you feel bored, you can go out and kill a few people."
Wang Lin pointed to the remaining room and said. Wang Lin did not impose too many restrictions on Wu Yun. Unlike typical Evil Soul Masters.
Wu Yun, who awakened her Martial Soul at age fifteen, had her own moral framework. Although she was crazy, surprisingly, she had her own bottom line.
She only killed people who were involved in raping women or those who visited the underground brothel.
The former were self-explanatory—they deserved to die. As for the latter, in Wang Lin's view, they also deserved to die. Wang Lin didn't believe that people who visited a place like the underground brothel were unaware of what it was like.
Moreover, Wu Yun handled the two groups differently. She directly tortured the former to death. The latter she sent to the pink-lit establishment to receive customers, then slowly tortured them to death.
The latter included the madam and the "girls" Wang Lin encountered. Wang Lin, being kind-hearted, couldn't bear to see them suffer, so he gave them all a quick end.
Although Wang Lin had suppressed Wu Yun's manic emotions with magic, Wu Yun's fundamental nature had not changed. If she were let out, the victims Wu Yun targeted would likely still be tortured to death.
The method of death was somewhat cruel. Hmm, Wang Lin didn't care. He never reserved his sympathy for the aggressors.