Chapter 109 Blackbeard's Heart
Black Tiger Family's new year banquet this year was still so merry and lively. Although Lin Qi and Arthur's conflict covered the banquet with a layer of faint blood, Lin Qi returning to the family and attending the new year banquet was enough to counteract any unfavorable effect.
So the banquet was still a success. Everyone dispersed after enjoying themselves, but everyone's mood was also a lot more tense compared to the last three years. In any case, young master Lin Qi, who grew up in front of their eyes, was naughty and mischievous since young, was very much conforming to the worldview and life view of Black Tiger Family members, had returned; it was, after all, a huge happy occasion.
As for Arthur who was hit by Lin Qi on new year even until he was badly bruised, basically no one paid attention to him. After all he was only Blackbeard's foster son, no matter his importance or intimacy level, even if Arthur was born as an attractive pretty boy, he was simply incomparable to Lin Qi. Let alone the fact that his pretty face was ruined by Lin Qi, could a one-eyed pretty boy attract anyone's fondness?
Under the attack from countless happy family members, Lin Qi also eventually collapsed from intoxication again and was assisted by female servants to return to his bedroom like Enzo.
Very late at night, Lin Qi dizzily laid on his bed, merely feeling that there was heat constantly flowing from his stomach to his whole body, unceasingly cleansing the meridians in his whole body. This heat even penetrated into his muscles and bones, and into his internal organs, making his whole body burning hot. Sticky sweat continuously seeped out of his body while his body occasionally twitched, bringing with it a kind of exquisite relief.
The tipsy feeling was also thoroughly dispersed by the heat. Lin Qi who had recovered consciousness opened his eyes. Blackbeard who was sweating profusely was standing by Lin Qi's bed while his right palm was pressing against Lin Qi's chest. The heat that Lin Qi enjoyed very much precisely came from Blackbeard's palm.
"Father!" Lin Qi lightly groaned.
Blackbeard rolled his eyes and let his butt fell onto the stool by the bed. He put one leg over the other and lit himself a cigar before strongly inhaling two mouthfuls. Then only he pointed at a bowl of black decoction on the bedside cabinet. Lin Qi held the soup bowl that was as big as his head with both hands and drank the smelly and bitter concoction in one gulp. Heat waves immediately surged out of his abdomen, circulating to his whole body following the meridians that Blackbeard opened for him.
Lin Qi didn't dare to delay. He hurriedly sat cross-legged on the bed, silently circulating 'Black Tiger Energy' cultivation method to draw the heat to his whole body. The surging heat wave was nearly boundless. After circulating three times within Lin Qi's body, it transformed into powerful qi that was stored within his dantian.
Only after cultivating for no less than three hours, could Lin Qi absorb the heat wave. His whole body was light as if he could float with the wind at any time, but the unlimited energy within his body could be felt through one fist, as if killing a bull with one punch was a trivial matter. Although his qi hadn't broken through to middle-stage Earth Knight, its rigorousness was at least tenfold compared to before. The strength of his physical body also received a certain growth.
What made Lin Qi felt more pleasantly surprised was that the meridians within his body were all clear without any obstruction. At least according to his strength now, he couldn't sense which meridian in his body was still blocked. Slightly shaking his body, the joints of the bones all over his body cracked like thunder. Lin Qi took a deep breath before jumping out of bed and bowing slightly at Blackbeard, "Lord Father."
Blackbeard intentionally puffed out a mouthful of thick smoke towards Lin Qi. Lin Qi also wasn't reserved, he took out a cigar from Blackbeard's pocket and lit it. He sat like this with one leg raised on the bedside, puffing out smoke towards each other with Blackbeard.
Blackbeard snorted. He who was sweating a moment ago already recovered; it was as if his sweat had never appeared. His breath that was a little hurried a moment ago had also returned its calmness at this moment. He said with a deep and low voice, "I just spend a little effort to open all the closed meridians in your body up to middle-stage Heaven Knight. Afterwards, as long as you work hard, your qi would be able to go up to middle-stage Heaven Knight without any bottleneck."
Lin Qi strongly nodded without uttering a word.
Blackbeard muttered to himself for a while before shaking his head and saying, "The grudge between Arthur and you, oh…."
Lin Qi indifferently said, "If there's a chance, I must get rid of him."
Blackbeard was silent for a long time. Then he secretly glanced left and right and muttered in a low voice, "He couldn't be any threat to you. You have to know, he is so much older than you, but why is it that until now his qi still hadn't broken through to Earth Knight?"
Lin Qi looked at Blackbeard in astonishment, "I remembered when I was young, you once praised his qi aptitude!"
Blackbeard blinked and said with a cold smile, "That's natural, in front of so many martial brothers of the northern coastline, I naturally had to praise him well. Yet I wasn't casually praising, his qi aptitude is only lacking a little compared to you!"
Coldly laughing, Blackbeard puffed out a mouthful of thick smoke and spoke in a low voice, "But, when he was fifteen, I also did what I did to you today, secretly opening the meridians in his whole body."
Lin Qi looked at Blackbeard in shock. He gritted his teeth and said, "Hey, irrigating outsider's field, you helped him opened the meridians in his whole body, he…."
Blackbeard secretly glanced at Lin Qi and coldly said, "But he isn't my biological son, a wolf cub doesn't grow well, I know this point. So I helped him open the meridians in his whole body, however, once careless, his meridians was opened a little too much by me. To be exact, on his meridians, there were a lot of small holes. He bitterly train everyday, but out of all the qi he cultivates, ninety percent disappear."
Lin Qi blankly looked at Blackbeard. These words truly made him extremely shocked. Until now, Blackbeard was exceedingly good towards Arthur. Lin Qi had wanted to kill Arthur so many times, but Blackbeard always saved him. Because of these things, even Lin Qi was severely punished many times.
Not even in his dreams did Lin Qi expect that Blackbeard had secretly yet thoroughly dispose of Arthur as early as when Arthur was fifteen years of age. It was no wonder that Arthur was so much older, yet his qi cultivation was inferior compared to Lin Qi. Everytime Lin Qi took action against him, the advantage was always with Lin Qi.
"That boy, he wants money, I give him money; he wants women, I give him women. He had damaged his body when he was thirteen, growing up among a mass of women from young." Blackbeard said with a sneer, "After damaging his own body when he was thirteen, even if his meridians weren't broken by me, his qi could never break through to Heaven Knight."
Sighing deeply, Blackbeard narrowed his eyes as cold light flickered past them, making Lin Qi not dare to meet his gaze.
Blackbeard indifferently said, "After all he is an adopted son, after all he is my friend's only son, I have to adopt him, also take good care of him. But he isn't this daddy's seed, for me to take good care of him, doesn't mean he can climb up my son's head, doesn't mean he is qualified to spy and pry into Black Tiger Family!"
Lin Qi silently raised both his thumbs. Brilliant, truly brilliant. Blackbeard adopted Arthur and nurtured him from young with everything he had. People under heaven all said that Blackbeard's morality reached the clouds, that whoever had a brother like Blackbeard wouldn't regret even in death. But heaven knew, Arthur was actually put into a hole alive by Blackbeard.
These means, too brilliant.
Chapter 110 Arthur Was a Memorial
Blackbeard moved his huge body and slowly stood up. Lin Qi also quickly followed suit.
Father and son stood side by side; Blackbeard was still half a head taller than Lin Qi and his body bulkier. But different from the fat Lin Qi, Blackbeard was tall and robust, without any excess fat. His body was like a sculpture of an ancient hero casted with steel, exuding a hint of indestructible and powerful aura.
"Change your clothes, follow me!" Blackbeard muttered. Lin Qi hastily ran to his closet to change his clothes and wore a pair of ankle-high boots.
Blackbeard brought Lin Qi out of the bedroom to a secret door at the end of the corridor. After Blackbeard opened it, a downward spiral stairs made of metal appeared in front of them. They walked down the stairs for nearly one hundred meters before a gloomy and dark corridor appeared before them. Blackbeard softly muttered, "Remember the tricks to open the door and where the mechanisms to shut the traps are located, this is one of the eighteen most important secret passage of the family."
Lin Qi looked around. The secret passage was made completely out of metal, so it was extremely stable. Furthermore, the walls, ceiling and floor were carved with a fine magic formation that was inlaid with magic gems as small as green beans of various colors. With the protection of the magic formation, the secret passage could withstand the onslaught of nearly all natural disaster. Even if people attacked, it would also be extremely difficult to damage it.
"Red-haired Demon was my ally!" Blackbeard's enormous body nearly filled the entire corridor. He walked in front while Lin Qi followed behind. Blackbeard's hand kept moving to and fro while he was walking, constantly pounding the various mechanisms to shut the concealed traps. After the father and son duo walked past a part of the corridor, Blackbeard once again activated the trap mechanisms.
"But Red-haired Demon had been very ambitious all along, I know this. He wasn't satisfied being a pirate captain, he wanted to be like me; not only having an enormous force at sea, but also wanted his force to enter land." With a bitter smile, Blackbeard sighed and said, "But the northern coastline was already crowded enough: if Red-haired Demon also climbed ashore, there wouldn't be enough jobs for so many people."
"If he insisted to do it, it undoubtedly would give rise to chaos in the northern coastline. This kind of chaos would ultimately trigger an underground war." Blackbeard said with wrinkled brows, "Although the underground world wasn't those those public empires or kingdoms, but the manpower and resources that the underground world could maneuver weren't less than a normal kingdom."
"If Red-haired Demon insisted to climb ashore and establish his foothold, a war was inevitable." Blackbeard shook his head and said, "But war…. Lin Qi, when you are in charge of Black Tiger Family in the future, you have to understand, a balanced benefit is the fundamental law of maintaining a lasting existence of the underground world. Once the balance was tipped, an underground war was even more cruel and bloodier that a war between empires or kingdoms."
Lin Qi looked at Blackbeard's tall figure. "So, Red-haired Demon, how did he die?"
Blackbeard smiled faintly and lowered his voice to say, "Naturally by running into the fleet of the alien tribes of Five Dalian Islands at sea, that's how he died. Since he wanted to destroy the many years of stability and balance, he must meet that fleet."
Sighing deeply, Blackbeard shook his head and said, "What a pity, he was such a good thug. Even more unfortunate was, he unexpectedly escaped and brought Arthur to me. In front of so many people, he begged me to adopt his son."
Turning around to rub Lin Qi's head, Blackbeard indifferently said, "Mixing with the underground world, you have to let everyone know that you are a trustworthy person. Of course I am a trustworthy person, so naturally I had to adopt Red-haired Demon's son. Furthermore, I have to give Arthur the best treatment, food and drinks expenses, including maids and bodyguards, they are the best, even better than what my own son has."
"So all the brothers at the northern coastline said that I, Blackbeard, your father, Tiger Lin, am a compassionate and warm-hearted person whose morals reach up to the clouds!" Blackbeard complacently snorted. "In fact, I had always been sincere and considerate in treating Arthur, but that boy was already intelligent enough when be was sent here. He…. was a wolf cub that can no longer be tamed. But I still had to raise him, because as long as he lives well, in everyone's minds, I, your old man, am the great chief of Dunerk Black Tiger Family with high morals!"
Lin Qi understood; Arthur was a memorial, it could even be said that he was the most important layer of clothing on a girl's body. Regardless of whether the clothing was natural of man-made, as long as Arthur lived, Blackbeard's good reputation would be passed on by all big shots of West Continent underground world. A good reputation would often be very useful.
"But Arthur, this ungrateful wretch, is truly a wolf cub that can no longer be tamed!" Blackbeard coldly said, "Ever since making his maid pregnant when he was thirteen, he even intentionally pushed you into a well when he was fourteen, so on his fifteenth birthday, I gave him a lot of wine to drink, then unblock his meridians like I did to you today, spending a lot of effort to help him."
Lin Qi smiled strangely; he was Blackbeard's biological son, so Blackbeard spent an enormous amount of energy to help him unblock his meridians. Henceforth, before reaching middle-stage Heaven Knight, Lin Qi's cultivation wouldn't have any bottleneck. As for Arthur, Lin Qi clearly remembered the time when Arthur nearly pushed him into a well to drown, then Blackbeard unblocked his meridians, one could imagine the result.
"He is already a crippled person, so I had been constraining you all along, you can't truly kill him."
Blackbeard wrinkled his brows and coldly said, "But because he is already a crippled person, I loosened my grip over him these few years; what he did outside, I didn't pay attention too much. But seeing the situation now, he seems to fool around with several quite influential people again."
"Then, old man, what are you going to do?" Lin Qi laughed mischievously.
Blackbeard lowered his voice and said, "The chick has grown up, eventually it has to leave the nest to soar freely. You go to the imperial capital to develop Ironfist Brotherhood, Arthur will naturally return to inherit his father's old territory, his home. Hehe, My own son prospered in the imperial capital, as for Arthur…. piracy are always very dangerous."
Lin Qi thoughtfully nodded. Blackbeard indifferently said, "If one day Arthur turned out to be like Red-haired Demon, killed by the army of those alien tribes, I'll just avenge him. This way, many things would be perfect. But time has to decide, you, boy, have to learn to be patient."
Lin Qi lowered his head while receiving the advice. He suddenly realized, comparing him and his old man, there was still too long of a distance.
Arthur, the memorial, was basically going to be squeezed out the last drop of profit by Blackbeard before letting him die.
Served him right, who told him to conspire against Lin Qi and Black Tiger Family?
After walking for a full hour, a bronze door appeared at the end of the passage.