Decaying World

Chapter 199 The Sound of the Wind
A huge thing?
Lin Hui took the hair, rubbed it carefully, and found it to be very soft.

He grabbed it with both hands and pulled it forcefully to both sides.

吱.
The hair was forcibly stretched longer, but it just wouldn't stop.

'It's a pity the blood mark is evolving; otherwise, a direct identification would reveal what it is.'

He felt a pang of regret and put the black fur away.

Then he looked at Xia Si.

"By the way, how big is that super big thing you mentioned?"

"Well, anyway, when it stomped down, the footprint it left was about the same size as our village." Xia Si gestured with her hands. "The things that usually pass by are also big, but none of them are as big as this one. They're usually about the size of a mountain."

"Do big guys often pass by here?" Lin Hui asked, feeling a little numb.

"Not often, about once a month," Xia thought for a moment and replied.

This doesn't happen often.
Lin Hui is now beginning to understand what kind of life people lead in public fog zones.

Without saying anything more, he led his newly accepted apprentice out of the cave.

Before leaving, Xia Si was reluctant to part with the food she had stored. It was only after Lin Hui told her that there would be plenty more in the future that she reluctantly and carefully covered up the burrow before getting up and leaving.

"Oh, right. You just said that you learned a movement method by imitating the way monsters move? Can you show me?" Lin Hui suddenly thought of something and looked at Xia Si after walking out of the cave.

“Sure,” Xia Si nodded.

He glanced at the surrounding fog and slightly bent over.

Swish!
The next second, she vanished from her spot, leaving only a small circular crater in the ground.

A meter behind Lin Hui, her figure reappeared, half-squatting on the ground, slightly out of breath.

"!!!?" Lin Hui carefully sensed the entire process, and even though he had experienced many shocks before, he couldn't help but be shocked once again.

In that instant, in his perception, Xia Si vanished like a soap bubble, and when she reappeared, she was already behind him.

That wasn't ordinary physical movement, but a strange technique similar to short-distance jumping!

Xia Si must be hiding an even deeper secret!

He never asked how Xia Si, an eight-year-old child, could survive in such a dangerous environment, endure the daily terror of the eerie faces on the walls, and even neatly stack so many heavy wooden barrels all by herself. She didn't even have Ning Xiang, who could create cavities.
There are far too many abnormalities in these places.

No matter how you look at it, Xia Si couldn't possibly be as normal as she appears on the surface.

Her strange movement just now undoubtedly revealed a little bit of her deeper hidden secrets.

"What kind of magic is this?" Lin Hui stood inside the misty cavity, looking at Xia Si who was standing unharmed in the mist, and asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. I just observed the way monsters breathe and tried to imitate it. I discovered that my mind can enter a very comfortable state, and in this state, as long as I leap forward and think about the target location in my mind, I can do it," Xia Si explained simply.

“Okay.” Lin Hui felt that this exploration trip was truly worthwhile.

After all, judging from Tao Xuehai's current situation, he is unlikely to learn the martial arts after the Gale Sword Technique. The subsequent top-level sword techniques still need a disciple with extremely high comprehension to inherit them.

Of course, he doesn't care about inheritance, but if he can cultivate a strong deputy on his side, many things will be much easier. It will also be a guarantee for his future.

"Master, is it alright?" Xia Si noticed that Lin Hui was lost in thought and quickly reminded him.

"Very good. Judging from your performance so far, you are a genius. But my martial arts can only be mastered by an exceptional genius. So, being a genius is just the threshold for you to learn swordsmanship. Remember to avoid arrogance and impatience," Lin Hui said calmly.

"Yes!"

"Alright, let's go back now. I'll settle you in first, and then we'll continue on our way." Lin Hui still planned to explore further, since the best area to set up a safe haven hadn't been found yet.

Having gathered so much intelligence after only arriving at a small village, it's clear that the difference between the fog-covered area outside the boundary wall and the area inside is truly enormous.

"How about I lead the way for you, Master? You don't need to worry about my safety. I'm naturally strong and physically robust. It's hard for me to die," Xia Si said solemnly, patting his chest.

"You're physically strong? How strong can you be?" Lin Hui looked at her with amusement.

puff!
The next second, Xia Si crashed headfirst into the stone wall beside her.

With a crash, the stone wall broke off, shattering into stone dust and debris that fell to the ground from the already damaged break.

Xia Si's forehead was only slightly white, without any damage.

"This disciple is invulnerable to swords and spears. When I was five years old, I fought a monster hand-to-hand and the two were evenly matched. So when I was little, my parents often said that I was not their biological child, but that they had picked me up from outside. But this disciple knows that they were just lying to me," Xia Si said in a deep voice.

"..." Lin Hui really wanted to say, "You might not really be their biological child. No one can fight monsters from the fog zone outside the boundary wall at the age of five and survive... no, fight to a draw."

The more he looked at his second apprentice, the more he felt that he might actually not be human.
Instead, it is a monster larva that looks like a human.

"Alright, then lead the way for me." Seeing Xia Si's expectant and eager expression, Lin Hui had no choice but to nod.

"Okay! So where are you going, Master?" Xia Si perked up, ready to make a good impression. "I want to find a place with lots of monsters, to see how dangerous it is out here. Can you tell me?" Lin Hui asked.

"That's simple. In the past two years, I've been traveling around in search of food. Centered on our Miyin Village, to the south is the Tuyue Boundary Wall, to the north is the territory of the Corruption God Cult, and to the east, after walking for a day, you can reach a large ancient ruin. It's like a maze inside, and it's very difficult to get out once you're in. Finally, to the west is the Jade Sea."

"The Corruption God Cult? What kind of cult is that? I've only heard of the Myriad Flowers Cult and the Benevolent Heart Cult," Lin Hui asked.

“That’s a wild cult illuminated by the corpse of the Rotting Goddess. My father had contact with them before. That area is very dangerous. The corpse of the Rotting Goddess is suspended in the sky by a huge net, and the green light it releases dispels the surrounding mist. Without the danger of the mist, that area is filled with the Rotting Goddess’s toxins—the air, the soil, and the water. Without a special antidote, you’ll be corrupted within half an hour and become a member of the Rotting Goddess Cult, wandering around in that place and going mad,” Xia Si answered logically.

"You mean, the area around the Corruption God Cult is a fog-free zone?" Lin Hui asked, intrigued.

"Yes, a very, very large fog-free zone, filled with all sorts of deadly poisons."

After thinking for a moment, Lin Hui looked around at the hazy fog and decided to go check out the labyrinth ruins area first.

Perhaps we can find the fog-free zone ruins we like there.

*
*
*
Tu Yue, Moon Tower.

The upper level of the towering moon tower.

The third thousandth floor.

At the top of the pristine white tower stands a circular hall shaped like a mushroom umbrella.

The hall was enormous, hundreds of meters high and thousands of meters in diameter, with all four sides open to let the gale-force winds rush through and howl.

At the center, a cylindrical white light membrane isolates the hall into a sealed space.

Inside the space, a huge white, three-dimensional map floated in the center of the air, displaying the inner city of Tuyue City in realistic colors and outlines.

Like a giant three-dimensional sand table, it presents the overall situation of the Tuyue Inner City, which has tens of millions of people.

Eight figures floated in the space surrounding the three-dimensional map of white light.

Each of the eight people wore flowing robes, like long skirts, which trailed more than ten meters long below.

Their faces were all exquisite and perfect, without the slightest flaw, and each had a diamond-shaped colored crystal between their eyebrows, emitting a faint colored light.

This is the Extreme Desire Heaven, one of the two top institutions alongside the Primordial Plain, with different functions and divisions of labor. It is also the top-level organization that only those at the Blood Ancestor level are qualified to enter among the original blood nobles.

The two organizations, second only to the Fog People, rule over everything for tens of millions of people in the entire Tu Yue.

And at the very bottom of this space, on the ground.

On the wide, flat, and smooth white bricks, a nobleman in a white robe with gold trim, led by black-armored guards, was approaching the eight elders.

From afar, the original blood noble looked up at the eight elders floating in mid-air, a hint of awe flashing in his eyes.

She quietly gripped the list in her hand. This was a compilation of information about more than half of the members of the Tu Yue leadership of the Benevolent Sect, which she had organized and recorded. As long as this information was sent to the Extreme Desire Heaven, her future would surely receive a huge influx of resources from the upper echelons.

By then, breaking through to the Palace Master realm will be a piece of cake! Her future is destined to revive her family's decline and restore the glory of her ancestors!

"The Third Elder you wish to see is currently in a meeting, which is estimated to take ten minutes. Please wait a moment," the black-armored guard said gently.

“Okay, no problem.” The former nobleman nodded and, led by the guards, sat down to rest on a row of wooden leather chairs arranged in a corner by the wall.

Seated in a leather chair, with a maid serving him fruit juice and soft, tranquil music filling the air, the hazy, inexplicable incense unconsciously relaxed this former nobleman.

A few minutes later, she drank the apple and plum juice that was served to her, then looked up at the eight elders in the distance.

Those eight figures were like landmarks, a sight that everyone who entered could clearly see.

It's not over yet.

She sighed and decided to order another drink.

"You are... that child from the Bai family?" Suddenly, a magnetic male voice drifted from not far to the right.

The original bloodline noble turned his head and looked in that direction.

She saw a handsome man with short white hair, dressed in a pure white, unadorned, fitted robe, with a sparkling crystal between his brows, smiling as he walked towards her.

"Bai Mingwei greets Elder!" The former Blood Noble's expression changed, and he quickly stood up, knelt on one knee, and bowed to the other party.

She didn't recognize which elder the other person was, but she recognized the materialized mark between his brows, because that was the manifestation of the Blood Ancestor's blood heart.

In other words, anyone who possesses this ability is guaranteed to be a Blood Ancestor in the Moon Tower. And Blood Ancestors are generally elders.

So no matter what, let's pay our respects first.

"Good girl, you've become even more beautiful after ten years. You're so cute." The man walked over and gently pinched Bai Mingwei's cheek.

(End of this chapter)