With an embarrassed smile, the silliest and smallest he could manage, Lin Mo Chen stood up as he brushed the dust from his pants.
He walked as slowly as possible toward the spot, though what he really wanted to do was run in the opposite direction and not stop until he got home.
Very slowly he approached Shan Mingze. He turned what should have been three seconds into almost a full minute, dragging his feet, looking at the stone, looking at the ground, looking at anything but the three of them.
Young Master Shan Mingze's face twisted when he saw him. To him, that slowness wasn't fear, he was mocking him. Watching that young man from the Lin clan approach at a turtle's pace, with that little smile, was like he was laughing at him.
Irritated, he squeezed the fan in his hand until his knuckles turned white.
"Are you making fun of me?" he asked Lin Mo Chen, his voice heavy.
Hearing that, Lin Mo Chen got truly scared inside.
*"Shit,"* his smile froze. *"If this generic villain thinks I'm treating him like an idiot, it's definitely not going to be good for me. This is exactly how beatings in alleys start."*
He suddenly sped up, almost tripping over his own feet, until he was right in front of the group.
He smiled like a servant who'd just broken an expensive vase—polite and a little stupid—and gave a small bow.
"Thank you very much, Young Master Shan Mingze," he said, with the most sincere voice he could fake. "Thank you so much for picking up my rock and bothering to return it to me."
He stretched out his hand to try to grab it and leave, to grab his black stone and disappear from that place forever.
Seeing that, a vein bulged on Shan Mingze's forehead, and with a furious voice, he slapped his hand away, nearly making the stone fall again.
"Do you really think I picked it up to return it to you?" he said condescendingly, looking him up and down like trash. "Are you that stupid?"
Lin Mo Chen was left with his hand in the air, the smile still stuck on his face.
Shan Mingze didn't even look at him again. He turned to look at Lin Xuan, who kept watching the scene in silence, and let out a short laugh.
"Tell me, Lin Xuan," he said, lifting the black stone as if it were proof. "Are all the members of your Lin family this dumb?"
Lin Xuan, who until now had only been watching silently with that puzzled expression, seemed to have remembered something.
He took a step forward, positioning himself slightly in front of Lin Yao Er, and spoke in a calm, mocking way, with that quiet voice that had frozen Lin Mo Chen before.
"The real fool is you, Shan Mingze," he said, looking at the black stone in his hand as if it were the most boring thing in the world. "For arguing with someone over just a rock. And if you think you can treat members of my Lin family however you want, in front of me, then you're even stupider than I thought."
Shan Mingze's face turned red with anger in an instant. Especially when hearing how the crowd that had already gathered around was watching and laughing quietly at him and the situation.
He snapped his jade fan shut with a dry click.
"Do you really believe that, Lin Xuan?" he said in a venomous voice, taking a step toward him. "Do you really think I wouldn't do anything to a cripple like you and a simple nobody from the Lin family?"
Hearing that, Lin Mo Chen raised an eyebrow; they had mentioned him. Him. Without him having done absolutely anything.
*"Excuse me?"* he complained internally, as the silly smile faded from his face. *"I just wanted my ugly stone. Why am I the nobody in this conversation?"*
Shan Mingze snapped his fingers as a signal. Several Shan family servants, who had been following at a distance in gray uniforms, came out from the crowd and surrounded the group in a perfect circle.
Lin Mo Chen, in the grip of the purest and most logical panic he'd felt all day, didn't think twice.
He quickly moved and hid behind Lin Xuan, crouching a little so the protagonist's back would completely cover him.
*If there was going to be a fight, better to use the protagonist as a human shield. After all, he had the aura, he had the luck, and he probably had a ghost master who wouldn't let him get killed in a market like it was nothing.*
Lin Xuan was stunned, not by Shan's guards, but by how shameless this member of his Lin family was, who had just hidden behind him like he was a wall with legs.
He looked down for a second, saw him crouched, and one of his eyebrows rose on its own.
Lin Yao Er, who was holding onto his other sleeve, looked at him as if he were a strange animal that had just appeared in the market. Her gaze made Lin Mo Chen's back sweat; he could feel the clear hostility in it, as if she were wondering what sewer this distant cousin had crawled out of.
Lin Xuan looked away from him, as if deciding that dealing with that was a problem for later, and with a slight smile looked back at Shan Mingze.
"It seems you really are dumber than I thought," he told him calmly. He brought two fingers to his mouth and let out a simple whistle.
To Lin Mo Chen it was as if they had come out of nowhere. From between the stalls, from behind the people, several guards in the Lin family's dark blue robes pushed through and surrounded the circle, led by a middle-aged man with sharp eyes.
The man walked until he stood in front of Lin Xuan and with a slight bow spoke, "Young Master Lin Xuan. Is there a problem?" As he said that he raised his eyes and with an unfriendly look stared at Shan Mingze's guards. He said nothing more. He didn't need to.
Feeling his gaze, Lin Mo Chen could see the fear in those guards. The four guys who a second ago looked ready to smash someone's face now swallowed and took a step back.
Lin Mo Chen, still half-hidden, wondered who this middle-aged man was. Because he clearly wasn't a normal guard.
Seeing this, Shan Mingze's arrogant smile froze on his face, replaced by one of very poorly hidden fear toward the middle-aged man; he squeezed his fan until it creaked.
"Tch!" he snorted, trying to save some pride. He pointed at Lin Xuan with the fan. "If you were a real man, you'd fight one on one, without hiding behind your dogs."
Lin Xuan scoffed, and his smile grew wider.
"One on one?" he repeated, tilting his head. "How can someone your age want to fight someone like me, who's barely fourteen? Aren't you ashamed, Young Master Shan?"
That mockery was the spark. The crowd, already enjoying themselves, mocked Shan Mingze more. Open laughter was heard, a couple of comments about "the elder fighting a kid."
Shan Mingze's face went from red to purple; seeing he had nothing left to gain, he ordered his guards away with a brusque gesture and turned to leave, furious.
Not without stopping first to throw one last venomous look at Lin Xuan.
"Laugh now," he spat at him. "When you go through your coming-of-age initiation and your Lin family sends you to some rural village to die of boredom, you won't have anyone to protect you. We'll see who laughs then."
He left, pushing through the crowd, leaving Lin Mo Chen still crouched behind Lin Xuan, wondering if it was safe to come out yet.
Seeing how the problem had been resolved without anyone breaking his legs, Lin Mo Chen let out a very long sigh that sounded almost like a complaint.
*"I'm almost having a heart attack,"* he murmured to himself, bringing a hand to his chest. *"All this over a stone."*
He looked at the ground and saw it. His black stone. Lying in the dust a few steps away; apparently Shan Mingze had thrown it to the ground as he left, as if it wasn't even worth taking to throw away later.
Mustering what little dignity he had left, which wasn't much, Lin Mo Chen straightened his robe and took a step to go pick it up, pretending it had all been part of his pla... He didn't even get to bend down.
The middle-aged man stood in front of Lin Xuan, unintentionally blocking his path, and with a respectful voice gave a slight bow.
"It has been a pleasure to help the young master and Miss Yao Er," he said. "The Lin family does not tolerate disrespect on our own territory."
Lin Xuan nodded calmly, then the middle-aged guard's gaze drifted. Slowly toward Lin Mo Chen, who was still half-crouched behind Lin Xuan.
Lin Mo Chen's heart, which had just calmed down, suddenly became nervous again, and then he heard the words he would regret for the rest of his life.
"It's a surprise to see Young Master Lin Xuan with a friend," he said, looking him up and down. "Without a doubt a brave young man of our Lin family for standing tall beside Young Master Lin Xuan in this conflict. Not everyone has that courage."
Lin Mo Chen felt his soul leave his body; he wanted to shout at him no. That he wasn't Lin Xuan's friend. That if it were up to him, he would never have breathed the same air as the protagonist in his entire life. That he had just been using his back as a human shield.
But instead, all that came out was a polite and terribly fake smile.
"The captain thinks too highly of someone as insignificant as me," he replied, inclining his head slightly.
The guard simply placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in approval.
"Don't be modest. The family needs more young men like you who aren't blind and see the true value of Young Master Lin Xuan."
He gave him one last pat that almost knocked him to the ground, said goodbye respectfully to Lin Xuan with another bow, made a gesture with his hand, and the guards left, disappearing into the crowd as fast as they had appeared.
Leaving the three alone, in an awkward silence, Lin Xuan looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Lin Yao Er looked at him as if she had just confirmed he was a new species of insect. And Lin Mo Chen, with the guard's hand still tingling on his shoulder, just wanted the earth to swallow him along with his black stone.