118 Intentions

"So in summary…" Dàilán's father sat in the steaming water and counted on his fingers, "This person defeated that traitor from the Sect, then almost killed you. Instead, he decided to help our group and provided concocted high level medicine for everyone's injuries - including saving my life and the Cultivation of several others who had overdrawn their Essence - then watched over the camp while everyone was healing."

Dàilán nodded carefully, "We are now clearly obligated to a powerful Cultivator. He would be within custom to demand almost anything and to avoid our own cultivation turning on us, we would be obligated to accept - particularly as his actions involve our lives and Cultivation. Instead, he offered us the opportunity to settle in this area - he referred to himself as the local ruler on at least one occasion."

Chénli nodded and spoke up to support her best friend, "That much I can confirm as true, I was there when he made that offer. He said he was concerned about more groups like Grass causing trouble and not being able to be everywhere at once to defend his territory. He suggested that an allied group of strong Cultivators settled in the area would address this weakness."

"So he does want something we can provide," Dàilán's Father rumbled thoughtfully, "while we are not strong enough to be a threat to him at the moment - we have the potential to become a worthwhile ally with time and resources. And we do have connections and resources outside this area that he does not - although currently, there is no doubt they would take advantage of us in our weakened state if we reached out," the others nodded grimly in agreement at this statement as he continued slowly.

"And if we settled here… we would be more inclined to protect this area than cause him trouble - no doubt this is his thinking. But to agree to give an oath of fealty - on your Dao - as our leader?" Her father shook his head in dismay and the young Heiress bit her lip at the dark expression on everyone's faces.

Monitor Leng frowned thoughtfully, "I may not have been assigned to external intelligence in the Sect, but as a Monitor I have seen enough reports to be aware of the general state of this area. It is considered the edge of a dangerous and barren wilderness. The only reason that the Lotus Empire has not expanded in this direction is that it is considered too dangerous to be worth the effort for not enough return. There is no one laying claim to the lands eastward - although no one knows what lies beyond the Fusou."

Dàilán gestured around herself pointedly, "something changed, whether it is an effect of what happened when... the Sect self-destructed or something else. On the mountain where I first encountered him and the forests around it, the Essence Levels are similar to those in this Hot Spring or higher. I saw many high level Essence plants and herbs growing wild and many high level Essence Beasts. If our group - both Knife and Guan - settled in that area and were able to gain time to grow… we could become stronger than we were before. I am almost positive that he is the source of those relics - the pots that kept Essence Herb alive and well despite travel - that the old Field Enforcer sold us. Likely those high level herbs as well."

There was a sound of comprehension from the BloodWitch, who sat upright in the spring, uncaring of how much of her chest was visible above the water, "you think he is the young 'relic hunter' that the old geezer was talking about."

Dàilán nodded, "Lin did mention that was his preferred…" she winced as a warning prickle of pain warned her that she was skirting the edges of her oath, "...profession to introduce himself as, rather than his skills as an Alchemist. And I personally think it is unlikely that there is more than one young strong Cultivator here that no one knows of - although, he appears to be known locally - the villagers referred to him as a 'Mountain Spirit'."

Dàilán breathed a sigh of relief as the twinge of discomfort disappeared - she had nearly slipped up and revealed Lin was Chún's preferred disguise.

There was a moment of silence as the group absorbed this. "Mountain Spirits?" Leng spoke up eventually, shrugging philosophically, "I did hear a few stories about something like that out this way - but these poor villages always have local myths like that. On the other hand, something did remove all of the Grass patrols in this direction and made those false reports via their own communication jades. Senior, your friend, the old Field Enforcer made a report about all the local Grass members being killed, yes? Maybe they disturbed a high level Cultivator in seclusion - especially if they got incautious hunting down rumors of treasure. People like that can be easily offended."

Dàilán drew in a deep breath, "I - when Lin destroyed that Grass traitor… Cǎo Jiàn and I fought for almost a full the kè - and despite almost wounding him to death, the bastard managed to overpower me despite my best efforts. My prior exhaustion and rage played a part, but - Cǎo Jiàn was strong."

The young Heiress worked not to show the rage and helplessness she felt at admitting her humiliation in her expression as she continued, "Lin destroyed him like an afterthought, or a person brushing away an insect."

She felt her lips curving up in a mirthless grin that was echoed by everyone in the Hot Spring, watching her attentively, "Cǎo Jiàn was crushed so utterly no trace of his existence remained only a moment after Lin arrived."

Dàilán shuddered, remembering her first moments of meeting Chún, helpless and close to death, "the weight of the Essence that emanated from Lin, was like being drowned in deep water, immense and pitiless. I do not know his true level and I am aware I am young, but - I have never felt such pressure from anyone's Cultivation - even experiencing the Heart of the Sect or Grandmother at her most furious paled in comparison."

The Head Healer who had been originally attached to Dàilán's small enclave of Knife Sect members frowned from her seat with the BloodWitch and Chénli on the women's side of the spring, splashing water as she lifted a hand to rub her forehead in consideration, "I must confess, I did not sense anything alarming when I met the Dàifu. He seemed a reasonably unremarkable young man, but that in itself should be considered unusual, out here in the middle of nowhere."

She looked around at the others with a rueful expression, "indeed - I was skeptical he would be of any help at all considering his apparent age - I had expected a venerable master Alchemist given the quality of the pill that the Sect Leader had shown me, but given that he had more of the medicine I had already identified as close to master level," she shrugged, "I was desperate enough to take the chance, although I watched his every move and tested the medicine he produced before I permitted it to be used."

The Knife Sect trained healer rubbed her hand down her face before continuing, "there is no denying that his medicines equal the best I have ever encountered. Your Father was dying and half a dozen of your Clanswomen's Cultivation were spent after powering the formations to withstand that blast. But everyone is fine after a single night."

The BloodWitch gave out one of her signature laughs, "ke~ke… everyone knows that powerful Cultivators can choose to appear any age they like," she glared around at the other women and everyone paled slightly and nodded vigorously - Dàilán noticed with a small amount of amusement that Monitor Leng and her Father were doing the same, even though they were not visible from where the Senior Enforcer sat.

Chénli snorted laughter, "and you used to mock those stories about Immortal Cultivators and magic powers that we read for fun, Lan'er. It seems we are in one."

Dàilán resisted the urge to roll her eyes and focused on her Father, "Perhaps I was rash when I agreed that we would settle under his domain - but, consider, Father - we have nowhere else to turn. Little resources and if the remains of Grass or other opportunistic Cultivators find a group of trained female Noble Clan Formation Masters survived the catastrophe, we will be forced into servitude at best."

The Knife Sect member's shifted restlessly, as she continued relentlessly, "any accommodation we could reach with any stronger Clan, Kingdom, Empire or family willing to grant us shelter would render us second-class members of any group for generations to come. No doubt my marriage or concubinage would be only one of many concessions to pay for such an existence - with our being forced to hope they would keep to terms after," she spoke bitterly, "but Lin has already made oath on his Dao to treat me as a leader of our group with equal standing within the lands we claim. Not slaves or worse - and to shelter all of us. Only those who would betray the group would have anything to fear."

Her Father looked taken aback as the BloodWitch spoke up approvingly, "a remarkable concession. If the land is as rich as you say it would make ideal lands for a new Sect. If we can remain undiscovered long enough…"

The other Knife members exchanged vicious expressions and Chénli gave voice to their thought, "we could have a chance for vengeance; against those that brought us so low."

"Which we would not have if we took service with an ordinary Clan or Sect," pointed out Dàilán and her Father nodded slowly, "still, you should have waited."

"I am the only one who both groups will accept as leader, Father," She looked at him firmly, "this needs to be decided quickly before people start to have other ideas; before Cultivators travel this way to see what happened. The Essence in this area is still highly disturbed, but how much longer? If we delay, it might be discovered we survived - especially if, with the initial crisis over, people start playing politics and destroy our chance to act as a united group."

Monitor Leng sat upright, "The Essence disturbances from what happened have cut us off. We cannot contact those outside - but neither can others locate us. If we can find a place to hide - if this Sage can truly change the land to conceal areas, then those that hunt us will think us dead; we can carefully reach out to our allies once we are sure we can do so undetected, but for now - the Sect Leader is correct - it is best we vanish - we are too tempting a target for anyone who wants to finish off the Sect."

"We would follow you Heir, of course," the BloodWitch affirmed coldly, "this latest decision only reinforces you know what you are doing - you have found us a strong ally and protection until we can strike back. None of these things would we have had without your intervention." She looked around fiercely and all of the other Knives spoke out in agreement, leaving her Father looking around with a slightly wistful and stunned smile of amazement.

"I think the other Guan will follow you," he said after a long moment, looking up at his daughter proudly, "I still wish you had let me decide - but I agree that it is your future in question - and you have the right and ability to lead the group. Do you think that I had not noticed that the other Guan now address you as Clan Mistress?"

Dàilán felt her face warm and her Father laughed, "I still say this man has his eyes on more than just your friendship, daughter. I want to speak with him."

"Father!" Dàilán protested, "it is… not like that… he only wishes us to be allies rather than enemies or resentful… I am thinking of the future."

"Heng," snorted her Father coldly, "so quickly you jump to defend this Lin - strange. I have never known you to do that for any man." He broke into a smile after a moment, before becoming much more serious again, "Yes. I must speak with him and find out his intentions."

Dàilán opened her mouth then closed it helplessly as Chénli winked slyly at her while the other women started laughing on their side of the spring.

---

A shi before the Golden Crow's highest flight, Chún walked openly in his Relic Hunter Lin persona, with his Essence carefully shaped to appear similar to a Consumer's with three diantains and a meridian network, at a mortal's pace towards the camp of his - hopefully - new allies. He carried the clothing that the Essence Sprites had made to replace what the Heiress had given him - although the differences in cut and style to the originals were subtle, the change in materials and the now inherent Dao Patterns that had replaced the original Consumer style Formations were not.

"We need to move the group around the base of my original Mountain site as soon as possible," Tai insisted in the link for what had to have been the six or seventh time in almost as many Kè, "this area is rapidly stabilising and is only just within the borders of the area I can affect - either with Dao Patterns or the patrols of Essence Beasts."

"I cannot just order them to start moving," Chún pointed out with what he felt was great patience, for what felt the the hundredth time, "even if they agreed, it is going to take time for them to travel back to the mountain - most of them are mid Earth practitioners at best - and moving a group of people is always much slower than individual travel," Chún considered as the camp came into sight through the trees, "if I can bring it up, I will mention that the mountain site has been concealed from external observation."

The young man looked around, seeing obvious signs of travel between the camp to and from the direction that he had created the hot spring; a moment later, now that he was paying attention he could hear cheerful chatter between groups of people from the camp moving around the immediate area.

"It is a good thing that the population of Essence Beasts in this area is still relatively low," remarked his locus dryly and Chún chuckled, looking around at the tracks he could spot as well as what he could tell via his Essence Sense. The constant overlay of information over his ordinary senses had become something that he had gotten so used to that he never even noticed it unless he thought to deliberately focus on it.

"They are moving around in groups of three or more - and the lower levels are staying close to the camp - the higher levels are moving around further out, but not much. I doubt anything in this area could catch them unawares," indicated Chún, pointing out tracks and various other markers.

There was a feeling of irritation from the link, "my patrols of Essence Beasts have chased away or dealt with several attempts by wandering beasts to enter this area. The majority are becoming restless; they wish to retreat back to their homes instead of staying this far out - it will not be long before they start ignoring my requests and leave regardless - I have asked for much more and for longer than is normally expected. Only the recent upheavals have convinced them to stay out so far from their normal territories this long."

"I will let Dàilán know that my patrols are being recalled," agreed the young True Cultivator, "the camp is in good condition now - they should be able to defend themselves."

There was a palpable sensation of relief in the link, "thank you, True Cultivator. I have released the Essence Beasts with our gratitude."

"I suppose that I will need to be clear that it is unsafe for the group to remain here then," mused Chún, his Essence Senses easily detecting the fluctuations of Essence as several Consumers in and around the camp noted the presence of the low Sky level 'Cultivator' Lin slowly walking out of the tree line.

Dàilán's Cultivation - along with the powerful Essence emanating from the bāwū he had helped to grow and craft - stood out to Chún's Essence Sense against all the other fractured and twisted Consumer Cultivation bases in the camp, being notable for being harmonious and composed of solid Essence with very little damage in comparison to the others. His mouth twisted in distaste at how wrong the higher level Earth and the couple of Sky levels he could sense felt in comparison.

"How can they not tell something is wrong," he wondered silently to Tai as with his 'no one important here' Dao Patterns not being fed Essence, he heard and sensed movement both away and towards him almost immediately - evidently, those assigned to defense moving to intercept him and the rest moving quickly away. Shrugging to himself he stopped and leaned back against the nearest tree trunk.

"They believe this is normal," replied his locus, "the outward signs of damage, such as odd bodily changes and the very Heavens attempting to destroy them - as they replace more of their own Dao with the artificial, broken patterns in their Cultivation Techniques - with Tribulations are considered signs of improvement and success as they survive.

A breath later, a pair of blurs resolved themselves into Dàilán's friend that Chún had been introduced the day before, Chénli - and a much shorter 'girl' with a massive slab of sharpened metal strapped to her back who stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Ke~ke… are you the famous healer sage the leader has been telling us about?"

The overly high pitched, childish tones of the 'small girl' juxtaposed against the most twisted feeling of brokenness he had sensed yet, sent a reflexive impulse to recoil down Chún's spine. With effort, he kept his expression placid, even as Tai's warning rumbled in the link, "that Consumer is old and powerful - she is not the child she appears."

"I would have never guessed," Chún answered, sending exaggerated feelings of sarcasm into the link, eyeing the enormous sword dwarfing the 'waif' making the exaggeratedly cutesy expression.

"I do not know about being famous, or being a sage…" Chún replied, "I am glad to see you are both feeling better though."

The 'tiny girl' made a small sound of derision, "I am sure. Is there a reason you are here?"

"This is - my - territory," replied Chún, narrowing his eyes at this rude behaviour, "perhaps I should be asking you why your group remains within it, now that you are no longer in danger."

"Senior!" Chénli's voice cut across the rising tension, "your behaviour is inappropriate. My Mistress - and your Sect leader - has told everyone to extend the Dàifu every courtesy."

The 'smaller girl' pouted cutely, looking away and crossing her arms; Chún had to exert a physical effort to avoid rolling his eyes. "Since you are clearly here to escort me, I shall proceed," he remarked instead and walked away from the tree towards the camp.

There was no river along this side of the camp, so ignoring the two women - who stared in surprise then followed closely behind him - Chún simply walked past them into the camp, noting with relief that the defense formations felt much less uncomfortable - having evidently been placed in a stand by mode rather than full battle as they had been previously.

Dàilán's location stood out like a beacon to Chún, so he just moved towards it without needing to ask for directions, dipping his head politely at the recurring calls of 'Lin Dàifu' from the people he moved around.

"Dàifu!" a slightly familiar voice called out and Chún looked around to see the young woman he had assisted the previous day at the riverside walking excitedly towards him, "Lin Dàifu! Thank you so much! Your medicine allowed many of my friends to advance their cultivation level - even the ones who had their Cultivation damaged during the battles."

"This is an opportunity," Tai spoke abruptly into the link, "suggest to her that her Cultivation Technique does not suit her; Say your medicine corrected some of this and that is why so many were able to advance."

Chún blinked and stopped, smiling at the young woman, "I had noted some issues with Cultivation when I examined many people here, yourself among them. I am glad the medicine was able to help - although truly, it was only as effective as it was because everyone's Cultivation was unstable from repeated overuse which gave it some space to work. I am afraid more of the same would not be as effective now that your Cultivation has stabilised."

The young lady gasped and Chún heard a number of similar sounds coming from the people around them, "you can help with Cultivation?"

"You should first ask your Mistress and Leader about the Cultivation Technique she has been developing," returned 'Lin Dàifu', "surely it has been noticed she has improved very quickly of late?"

"Sage?" Turning around at the low voiced question from Chénli, Chún noted her slight side to side head movement, "Ah… my apologies, it appears I spoke out of turn. However, I can say with certainty that her Cultivation Technique is superior to anything else practiced by anyone in this camp - my medicines would certainly be much more effective for people practicing it."

"Ah? I see…" answered the young lady thoughtfully, before bowing, "thank you for your guidance Sage."

Chún bowed in return and started moving towards Dàilán again, looking around the camp as he did so. "Lin Dàifu - you should not have said that," remonstrated Chénli in a dark tone from behind him.

"It is the truth," answered Chún placidly, "All of you would be better served to restart your cultivations with the method your Leader has developed. And if your leader is the one with a Cultivation Technique that will benefit everyone, that can only strengthen her position, do you not think so?"

"That…" There was a thoughtful silence broken only by the calm, cool voice of the other woman pacing hin, "Interesting. You seek to strengthen the Sect Leader's leadership position with her Clan as well as any of our sect who might be questioning her youth. Why?"

Looking about at the much tidier, cleaner and more organised camp, with almost everyone they passed showing clear signs of having washed recently and put on clean clothing - looking much more confident than they had the day before - Chún raised a finger, "Firstly, everything I stated was the truth. I was not merely making things up to prop up your Leader."

He raised a second finger, "Secondly, with the exception of her, everyone's Cultivation here is are in a terrible shape - and it is worse the higher level they are."

Stopping just behind a tent where he could sense Dàilán inside, he held up a final finger, "Finally, you are all on the run. How much of your library of Cultivation Techniques were you able to bring with you? Your skilled masters? At the moment the only chance you have of 'leaping over the dragon gate' to gain the strength you need to defeat your enemies is to find techniques that allow you to grow in strength without damaging yourselves - you cannot afford to Cultivate as you have in the past; as your enemies do - you will never overcome them that way. I can assist your Leader with her Cultivation as she has already begun the process. If she is to pass what she develops to the rest of you, all of you will need to change the way you do things."

"There is nothing particularly unusual about the Knife Sect's Cultivation methods,' the older Cultivator retorted tightly, having given up the pretense of being a young girl, "or the Guan's, for that matter - although they are lower ranked than the Knife Sect's by several levels - both groups practice orthodox techniques."

"One of the worst reasons to continue doing something, once a flaw has been identified, is 'because that is the way it has always been done.'" Chún shrugged, "I care little what you choose to do with the truth."

"And did you have a reason to speak all of this in public where anyone can overhear?" came Dàilán's acerbic voice as she appeared around from around the side of the tent. She frowned as she stared up at 'Lin'.

"There was no benefit to keeping it secret at this point," answered Chún flatly, "I am sure there are those who would prefer to preserve the status quo to maintain their comfortable situations - this way it is not possible."

"And you take the blame for it," pointed out the young Heiress.

"Not a particular concern of mine," replied Chún, "this is my land, however close to the borders you are - I will not be dictated to by people who are unhappy at having to embrace change."

Dàilán narrowed her eyes at him, "You have put me in a difficult position," she growled, "I barely understand the Cultivation Technique I am developing from those writings."

Chún grinned at her unrepentantly, "How fortunate that you have encountered someone who - does - understand it then," he dropped his face into a more serious mein, "more importantly, you have already grasped the Essence of the technique," he chuckled softly at the double meaning of his words, "with my assistance, once others in your group begin to learn it from you, you will all rapidly become much stronger - as you have discovered."

Dàilán fell silent, her expression indicating deep thought, even as the Consumer carrying the large sword snarled, "Leader, how can you listen to this nonsense? He dares to walk in here and announce that we have been doing everything wrong for generations? Casting shame on our Sect and all our ancestors - if he truly is a Sage? He truly only looks like a cheap conman to me."

"That might not be the case," interrupted another, male, voice and Chún raised an eyebrow as a slim young man with average looks and a generally distracted air walked out from between another set of tents, "I have been wanting to meet the Esteemed Sage since our leader first mentioned you to us. This humble one is Leng."

He bowed towards Dàilán and Chún and turned to look at the older Consumer, "Senior, It was never discussed directly with me while I was in the Heart, but there was a general feeling of approval from our Ancestors regarding the Heiress' Cultivation - which seemed strange to me at the time as I had thought her to be using the Guan's inferior techniques. Indeed, my own experiences within the Heart of the Sect indicated we have lost a great deal of knowledge over the past millennia. How did you think I was able to guide the others in setting up the camp to be mobile and act as defensive weaponry at the same time? Surely you did not think it was my own genius, Senior Enforcer?"

There was an unhappy huff from the 'small girl' and she turned around, "Since you are here also Monitor, I will go and patrol. I feel the increasing need to hit something," she turned and bowed almost violently towards Chún, "please forgive my intemperate words, Senior. I am merely concerned with how quickly everyone seems to accept you as our saviour - particularly our young Sect Leader."

There was a stress on the word 'young' that provoked an affronted glare from Dàilán and the Enforcer bowed again in her Mistress' direction, "Forgive me Sect Leader, but I must speak my mind. This person has come from nowhere and is promising to provide us everything we will ever need, to give us everything we have ever wanted, just so we will do something we would have done anyway. Nothing in Jianghu works like that. This is not one of your foolish mortal tales of princely Cultivators rescuing princesses. There will be a cost to pay for all of this - I am just afraid it will be more than you can afford to pay."

The astonishing outburst rendered everyone speechless but Tai prompted Chún urgently and he bowed smoothly, repeating his locus' words as they came down the link, "I will never take offence at a retainer doing their duty. And the price is indeed great, but I give a Dao oath that I do not seek to steal neither the life, soul, cultivation or body of anyone in your group."

The tiny Consumer glared at him then subsided, "I do not trust your words, but I will follow my Mistress and trust that her infernal luck will get her out of the mess she has put herself into - again," she glared at him and stomped forward a step, prodding him with a finger, "You hurt her and I do not care who you are 'Lin', No one will find your body." She whirled on one heel and stalked away, muttering to herself and gesticulating wildly.

"You must forgive the Senior Enforcer," came a deeper much more mature voice as a man Chún recognised immediately as Dàilán's father appeared behind his daughter, walking around the tent in the same way, "She is used to using brute force to solve most problems - and several hundred years as a high level Enforcer means she suspects everyone of nefarious motives on first meeting - her behaviour when I first met my wife was much less gentle," he looked reflective for a moment, "perhaps she is mellowing…"

"Father?" Dàilán appeared unusually uncomfortable at her father's sudden presence and the older man rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I understand we have much to thank you for - myself in particular," he remarked steadily, "allow me to affirm the debt. What little we can provide is at your disposal, although you find us at a disadvantage, presently," he gestured around almost ruefully with his free hand, "I owe you everything for saving my daughter. I will not try to shirk that debt."

Chún bowed respectfully, "Your daughter has conducted herself with honor; I see where she has learnt it from - truly a Tiger Father will not have a dog daughter." He winked as Dàilán flushed and Dàilán's father threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"I am quite proud of how she has handled this crisis," he boasted shamelessly and Dàilán looked at the ground, the tips of her ears red. He patted her on the shoulder and she took a couple of steps forward. Chénli moved away from Chún to go to her friend's side, nudging her with a shoulder and grinning at her discomfiture.

Her father's expression became serious and he looked around at the others, "If you could all give me a chance to have a discussion with the Sage Healer, I would be most appreciative." he put his fist in his palm and bowed, shaking his hands outward towards each person.

"That…" Dàilán's head rose and she looked at her father, "Father, I would really prefer…"

"Daughter, I promise I will not jeopardise your agreements with the Sage - however, I am also responsible for the Guan as well as you as a Father - I must speak with Lin Dàifu, man to man."

Dàilán''s eyes widened and she appeared very concerned, "Are you… sure?" She flicked a concern glance at Chún, her eyes pleading with him.

"I understand," Chún stepped forward and bowed, "I am willing to speak with you."

He looked at Dàilán and smiled, handing over a bundle of clothing, pulling out of the spatial space within his Cloak "I believe this belongs to you, Fairy."

Chénli made a choking noise beside her as Dàilán turned her head around and glared at the young True Cultivator. He shrugged and looked at her Father, "I thought it best to be open about the fact that I agreed to repair your daughter's clothing rather than behave as if I was doing something inappropriate."

A muscle worked in her father's jaw even as Dàilán straightened up and accepted the bundle with a nod, before turning gracefully on her heel with Chénli following behind - the pair of them disappearing around the corner of the tent.

"Well," her Father enunciated slowly as Chún looked around noticing everyone else had taken the opportunity to leave, "let us walk." He turned and started walking across the camp in the opposite direction from the one that Chún had entered from.

The two of them walked through the camp in silence until they stepped beyond the camp boundary and outside of the Formations, into the shadow of the hill the camp sheltered behind and began walking up the slope.

They slowly walked up the hill as the sounds and smells of the camp disappeared behind them. Chún held his silence as they reached the crest and the older man turned to look out over the wilderness and the camp below them. The pair of them stood there for a couple of Fēn until Dàilán's father turned his head to fix Chún with a bitter gaze and spoke with a granite voice:

"So, Lin. What are your intentions towards my daughter?"