The old woman was still worried, but Lin Xiao Tian knew that if the siblings didn't see the herbs for themselves, they would never be able to refine qualified pills in the future.
However, the old woman refused, and Lin Xiao Tian had no choice. Fortunately, the siblings were quite clever, especially Lin Ling, who was mischievous. Under her persistent pleading, the old woman finally relented.
Qin Yu Xiang also had no way with her daughter, so she could only instruct the siblings to stay close to Lin Xiao Tian.
Before they set off, Qin Yu Xiang followed Lin Xiao Tian to Black Mountain, and insisted on going in with them at the end.
"Oh… Mom, don't worry, I'm not a child anymore…" Lin Ling stopped Qin Yu Xiang.
In fact, Qin Yu Xiang was too strict with her. The little girl had been looking forward to coming to Black Mountain, and it was a rare chance to escape Qin Yu Xiang's control, so she naturally didn't want Qin Yu Xiang to follow.
"You're still a child? In my eyes, you're always a child. No, I'm still not reassured. Lin Xiao Tian, why don't you bring the herbs out for the children to see? That way, they won't have to take the risk," Qin Yu Xiang looked at Lin Xiao Tian.
Lin Xiao Tian scratched his head, inwardly refusing, but seeing Qin Yu Xiang's worry, he had no choice. After all, Qin Yu Xiang's concern was valid. Entering Black Mountain was indeed risky. If anything happened to the siblings, he would regret it to death.
But before Lin Xiao Tian could speak, Lin Ling was faster and spoke up before him.
"No, I want to go in. Mom, please don't worry about it."
"I'm doing this for your own good!"
"I don't care, I just want to go in and see."
Qin Yu Xiang was furious and turned to look at Lin Xiao Tian.
"Dad, you can't go back on your word. You promised me."
Mother and daughter looked at Lin Xiao Tian at the same time, which left Lin Xiao Tian with no way out.
Whether it was Qin Yu Xiang or Lin Ling, Lin Xiao Tian usually tried to dote on them. Most of the time, when there were disagreements, Qin Yu Xiang had the final say. Now, it was suddenly his turn to decide, and Lin Xiao Tian didn't know what to do for a moment.
"How about this, Dad and I go in first, and after we come out, Lin Ling can go in with Dad. That way, it will be safer," her elder brother, Lin Jiong, always found a solution.
Seeing the hesitant expressions of mother and daughter, Lin Xiao Tian felt much better.
"I think this is good. I'll go in with my son first. Yu Xiang, you can stay here and accompany Lin Ling."
Facing mother and daughter, Lin Xiao Tian finally exerted his authority as the head of the family.
The mother and daughter had no objections. Lin Ling still wanted to go in first, but with three against one, she could only obediently stay behind.
Lin Xiao Tian took Lin Jiong into the mountain. Not long after, Xiao Bai also appeared before him.
"Let me introduce you, this is your Aunt Xiao Bai," Lin Xiao Tian pointed at Xiao Bai.
"Hello, Aunt Xiao Bai. I'm Lin Jiong. Dad mentioned you often before," Lin Jiong politely introduced himself.
Xiao Bai looked at Lin Jiong curiously, then moved closer to Lin Xiao Tian, "He smells a lot like you."
"He's my son," Lin Xiao Tian spread his hands.
"Son?" Xiao Bai didn't quite understand.
This wasn't her fault. Xiao Bai mostly stayed in Black Mountain, and Lin Xiao Tian had never taught her anything about this.
"Xiao Bai, it means family."
When it came to family, Xiao Bai finally understood. Lin Xiao Tian had told her before that he and Xiao Bai were family.
"Hello, son." Xiao Bai imitated Lin Xiao Tian's gesture and patted Lin Jiong's shoulder.
"Xiao Bai, he's my son…" Lin Xiao Tian said with a helpless expression.
In the following time, Lin Xiao Tian took Lin Jiong and began to impart some knowledge about herbs, explaining the situation in Black Mountain, and also showing him some demonic beasts in the mountain.
Of course, Lin Xiao Tian didn't take him too deep into the mountain, but introduced him to some Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts.
Lin Jiong was deeply impressed by the strange and unusual demonic beasts.
Around dusk, Lin Xiao Tian bid farewell to Xiao Bai and took Lin Jiong down the mountain.
Since he had to take Lin Ling into the mountain the next day, Lin Xiao Tian stayed in Jinsha Village.
Qin Yu Xiang had already cleaned the old house thoroughly. Since there were only two bedrooms, Qin Yu Xiang and Lin Ling shared one, while Lin Xiao Tian and Lin Jiong shared the other.
In the evening, Qin Yu Xiang specially showed off her culinary skills, preparing many dishes, all of which were home-style cooking. The siblings were not picky eaters and ate very happily.
Lin Ling kept asking about the situation in the mountain, barely eating her dinner. Qin Yu Xiang told her a few times, but she didn't listen. So, she simply said she would cancel their trip to the mountain tomorrow. The little girl was furious and instantly switched to a food-eating mode, sweeping away all the food in front of her.
"You brat, you ate all the dishes yourself. What will we eat?"
"Didn't you tell me to eat more? Now you're blaming me?"
"You're still talking back. Do you want to go into the mountain tomorrow?"
"Wuwu… Dad, look, Qin Yu Xiang is bullying me…"
…
In the evening, the siblings took a stroll around the village accompanied by bodyguards, while Lin Xiao Tian stayed in the house with Qin Yu Xiang.
"Xiao Tian, a lot has happened here…" Qin Yu Xiang looked up at the ceiling, memories flashing through her mind.
"Yes! That place even used to leak!" Lin Xiao Tian pointed to a spot. "And my room, when it rained, the ceiling was like a curtain of water. Only your bedroom didn't leak."
"Hmph! What do you mean by that? Do you think you were at a disadvantage? Didn't I let you come in when it rained?"
"Yu Xiang, you're the best."
"Hmph! If I had known you were faking then, I would never have let you get into my bed."
"Then you wouldn't have minded letting me get soaked!" Lin Xiao Tian looked at Qin Yu Xiang with a wronged expression.
"Stop it!" Qin Yu Xiang playfully hit Lin Xiao Tian.
…
By the time the siblings returned from their stroll, it was quite late, so they went back to their respective rooms.
Lin Xiao Tian and Lin Jiong returned to the bedroom, which was the one Lin Xiao Tian had stayed in before. After Liang Xu renovated the house, it remained brand new even after so many years.
Lin Xiao Tian stared blankly at the ceiling, while Lin Jiong next to him had already fallen asleep.
But as Lin Xiao Tian looked at the ceiling, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.
His strength had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, and after being tempered in the Thunder Pool, his perception was far beyond that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Naturally, he easily discovered some traces.
For example, a string of footprints on the ceiling.
Although the footprints had been cleaned up, some residual aura on them could not be removed in a short time.
This aura was very faint, and Lin Xiao Tian couldn't discern much. However, there were no footprints on the floor. The fact that someone could leave footprints on the ceiling indicated that they were quite capable.
An ordinary person couldn't walk on the ceiling. There was only one possibility: the person was a cultivator.
Lin Xiao Tian thought of the Apostles from the past. Could it be that a substitute of an Apostle had returned?
But what was he doing here?
Ever since Lin Xiao Tian had come to the Lin family, this house had been in a state of disrepair. If someone wanted to ambush Lin Xiao Tian, coming here was meaningless.
Lin Xiao Tian couldn't figure out the person's intentions, so he could only remain vigilant.