Decaying World

Chapter 113 Exploring the Path (by Xie Huoyu_Lord Jun)
Jixianglou.

One of the main buildings of Jixiangju, among the many white buildings in the inner city, is just an ordinary five-story building.

However, the small silver decorations hanging along the edge of the building make it clear to passersby that this place is not cheap.

Lin Hui changed into casual clothes, all in white, with a black jade pendant hanging from his waist, his long hair tied up with a silver hairpin, and two long swords strapped to his back.

"Are you out of your mind? Bringing weapons to a blind date?!" Wang Yueheng, standing to the side, was speechless and felt a headache coming on.

"Why did I come here? Wasn't it to avoid interfering with my sword practice? If that's the case, why should I force myself to do this?"

Lin Hui had a very good reason.

“You’re absolutely right.” Wang Yueheng felt that being straightforward was quite difficult to get along with, but fortunately he didn’t dwell on it. In any case, neither of them intended to really get together with the other, so this was more of a transaction than a blind date.

Thinking about it this way, I immediately felt much better.

"Let's go." He took the lead and stepped into the restaurant.

Compared to Lin Hui's plain white attire, he was dressed like a peacock, with a white robe with silver trim that exposed his chest, dark red metal earrings with flame patterns on his ears, skin as smooth as jade, delicate features with a touch of coquettishness, and long hair reaching his waist, tied in the middle with a silver fluffy headband.

At first glance, it looked like a fox spirit from a storybook had come out.

Even in the inner city, his appearance was quite conspicuous, so much so that ever since Lin Hui met him, he had been subjected to many unfriendly and jealous gazes.

Although Lin Hui really wanted to explain to people that this guy was actually a man, he figured that many people in the inner city probably didn't care about gender at all.

Upon entering the first floor, there weren't many customers in the lobby. Each table had one or two waiters waiting quietly. There was very little noise, and everyone spoke in hushed tones or simply whispered to each other.

The only sounds in the air were the footsteps of the waiters and the soft clatter of chopsticks and plates.

"The agreed location is on the fourth floor. Follow me." Wang Yueheng led the way up the spiral staircase.

"What's her name?" Lin Hui asked from behind.

"Didn't I tell you?" Wang Yueheng was taken aback. "Her surname is Han, and her full name is Han Xiaoyue."

"Okay," Lin Hui said, indicating that he had received the message.

"Also, you need to be mentally prepared. Because of her past injuries, her appearance might be a little different," Wang Yueheng reminded her. "Try not to show anything unusual, stay calm. Anyway, you're not really marrying her; it's just a mutually beneficial arrangement, remember that."

"Okay, don't worry, I have good self-control," Lin Hui said calmly, though a hint of curiosity arose in his heart.

What kind of injury would make Wang Yueheng give prior notice so that he wouldn't lose his composure upon seeing it?
The two fell silent for a moment as they continued their ascent. Along the way, the servants on both sides would stop and bow slightly to them, their gestures gentle and silent.

Someone approached and asked if she needed directions, but Wang Yueheng refused.

"I come here to eat often because of you, and I know this place like the back of my hand," he explained.

"Your words are somewhat misleading. Can you explain yourself more clearly? Look at you, are you deliberately trying to mess with me?" Lin Hui said speechlessly.

His reputation was already bad lately, and then he started hanging out with that Wang Yueheng guy all the time, ugh!
Suddenly he realized something, looked up at Wang Yueheng, whose face was even more beautiful than a woman's.

The other person, realizing something, turned to look at him and also gasped.

The two of them simultaneously moved a few steps away from each other.

"Sorry, I still prefer women!" Wang Yueheng quickly said.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in you. I'm interested in beating you up." Lin Hui's face turned cold.

"Hehe." Wang Yueheng wanted to retort, but realizing that she really couldn't beat him right now, she gritted her teeth and pointed at Lin Hui.

"You wait! I'll fight you once I break through!"

How long until you break through?

"At most five years!"

"Alright!" Lin Hui chuckled to himself. In five years, he would have mastered the Typhoon Sword Technique. By then, he could probably crush Wang Yueheng with a single hand.

We soon arrived at the fourth floor.

Wang Yueheng led the way to a private room that was furthest from the stairs.

He stretched out his finger, a flash of white light appeared at the tip, and he touched the heavy black wooden door.

A series of transparent ripples spread across the door panel, resembling water patterns.

Click.

This appears to be a recognition mechanism; the door unlocks automatically and opens inwards.

The private room was simply furnished.

A rectangular wooden table was placed in the center, with wooden chairs arranged on both sides. The table and chairs were carved with many ornate patterns.

The walls were covered with openwork compartments, which were filled with hundreds of books.

The four corners of the ceiling above were illuminated by a soft yellow light; there were no visible lights, and it was unclear what the source of the light was.

In the corner, there is a two-meter-tall silver mermaid sculpture. The mermaid holds a water jug ​​and tilts it forward, releasing wisps of white smoke.

The moment the door opened, Lin Hui's gaze immediately fell on a person on the left side of the wooden table.

It was a woman with long black hair whose back was to them.

She held a pipa-like instrument in her hand, and was gently plucking it with her head down, producing fragments of melodious music.

The woman wore a long, bright red dress and had fair skin. A dark pattern was faintly visible in her hair at the back of her neck; it was unclear whether it was a tattoo or something else.

Lin Hui knew that many martial arts techniques and spiritual influences could leave marks on one's body, but he really couldn't recognize this one.

Seemingly hearing the noise, the woman put her instrument aside, turned slightly, and looked at the two people at the door.

"Heng'er, have you brought the person?" Her voice was soft, not particularly pleasant, but it carried a strong sense of determination.

What the heck is Heng'er?
Lin Hui glanced at Wang Yueheng, whose face was flushed, and felt like he had been tricked by her.

"Come in and let's talk." Wang Yueheng slammed the door shut and pulled Lin Hui to sit opposite the woman.

As soon as he sat down, Lin Hui got a clear look at the other person's face. He had imagined what the other person might look like, but he never expected that this face would be so ugly!
The left side of the face is passable; you can clearly see the left eye and half of the nose and half of the mouth. But the right side of the face is truly terrifying.

Like a dried-out corpse with no moisture, the skin clings to the muscles, only a thin layer, and from the front, it's just half a face of white bones.

"Were you a little frightened?" the woman said gently. "It's alright, don't be impatient, I'm used to it."

"It is a bit ugly." Lin Hui nodded honestly, ignoring Wang Yueheng's constant poking at him with her foot.

Then, with an expression that said, "You really dare to say that," Old Wang continued.

"But it doesn't matter. We're just getting what we need, so we don't need to care about appearances."

"You don't mind?" The woman was surprised, then looked Lin Hui up and down seriously.

"Why should I care? I need someone to work with, and so do you. We can cooperate when needed. Does your appearance affect our cooperation?" Lin Hui said calmly.

He had seen countless strange diseases while surfing the internet in his previous life, so he didn't really care much about this kind of facial disfigurement.

"Very good." The woman smiled slightly, and the half of her skeletal face twitched, making her look ferocious and terrifying.

"Tools. Yes, that's a very accurate description, I like it."

She held out her hand.

"Let me introduce myself again, this is Han Xiaoyue."

"Lin Hui." Lin Hui reached out and gently shook hands with the other person.

"Then it's settled. From now on, you'll be my fiancé," Han Xiaoyue said.

"Same." Lin Hui nodded.

"Is there a token to exchange? That would make it easier to refuse someone else," Han Xiaoyue continued.

"Here, take this." Lin Hui casually took off the black jade he had brought and tossed it to the other person.

"You're really casual. This jade is only worth a few hundred coins at a roadside stall, right?" Han Xiaoyue said helplessly. She took the black jade and took out a red jade from her waist pouch, placed it on the table, and gently pushed it to Lin Hui.

"This is my personal jade pendant. Remember to keep it safe. I'll take it back after we part ways."

"it is good."

After exchanging tokens, the two fell silent, unsure of what to say next.

After all, they were two people who knew nothing about each other, and both of them were aloof and only liked cultivation.

If it weren't for Wang Yueheng acting as matchmaker, the two of them probably wouldn't be sitting here discussing marriage at all.

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

An awkward situation began to spread.

Wang Yueheng felt itchy all over and extremely uncomfortable.

“I said, you all should introduce yourselves, what you like, and what you usually do,” he couldn’t help but say.

“Cultivation, sword practice, alchemy,” Lin Hui quickly replied. “These are what I like.”

"Cultivating, reading, playing the zither," Han Xiaoyue replied. "That's how I spend my days."

Wang Yueheng looked at the two of them and suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

Aren't they embarrassed?
"Then let's each do our own thing?" Han Xiaoyue suggested.

"Great!" Lin Hui's eyes lit up immediately.

Immediately, one of them sat cross-legged and began to meditate, while the other took out a book from his sleeve and slowly flipped through it.

Both of them acted as if no one else was around, completely ignoring Wang Yueheng as if he didn't exist.

After sitting there blankly for a while, Wang Yueheng felt a chill run down her spine and felt uncomfortable all over.

Left with no other choice, he secretly got up, opened the door, and escaped.

As soon as he stepped outside, he felt refreshed and relaxed.

Thinking back to the two people in the private room, I realized that they seemed to get along surprisingly well.

"I can't take it, I really can't take it. I guess I'm still too far removed from the world of the mentally ill."

Let's go, let's go quickly.

He felt uncomfortable even just being near these two people.

How did they manage to suppress that awkward atmosphere and continue doing their own thing?

After Wang Yueheng left, Lin Hui practiced his internal energy for a while in the private room, but felt that he really couldn't make any further progress, so he had no choice but to give up. When he opened his eyes, he saw a small book in Han Xiaoyue's hand.

The Chronicles of Linsha.

"Could I ask you something about the inner city?" he asked after a moment's thought. "In exchange, you can ask me any questions you like."

"Of course, if you don't want to, that's fine too." He was just probing. There was still a lot he didn't know about the inner city, and if this noble lady from the inner city could explain it to him, he might be able to form a general impression of the inner city more quickly.

Of course, this is on the premise that the other party is interested in exchanging information with him.

"It's alright, we're just chatting. What do you want to know?" Han Xiaoyue put down her book and answered gently.

"You like reading, I wonder if you could tell me how the entire inner city came to be?" Lin Hui asked.

“It came from the beginning.” Han Xiaoyue said, “According to records, in a very ancient era, everything was shrouded in mist, and humankind lived in confusion, making survival extremely difficult.”

(End of this chapter)