Lin Residence, Ancestral Hall.
On this day, the autumn wind was chilling, and the atmosphere was grim.
Lin Du clutched his fox-fur coat tightly as he stepped inside alone. He had been summoned by his father and felt a sense of unease.
Ever since Steward Lin's death and Ji Xiu's dramatic exit from Feiyan Tower, Lin Du had been on edge for days.
But at the same time, a part of him clung to a sliver of hope.
'If that lowly Groom didn't figure any of it out, then maybe...'
He had just stepped inside, harboring such thoughts.
Suddenly, a staff struck from the side, startling him. He tensed his muscles, intending to fight back, but...
WHACK!
It was just one strike.
Lin Du's body went limp like a pile of mud, and he was knocked straight to the ground.
Instructor Du, his face stern, retracted the staff. He grabbed Lin Du by his fur cloak and dragged him like a dead dog before the ancestral tablets, which flickered in the dim candlelight. He bowed.
