Decaying World

Chapter 24 024 Missing Part 2

The sword tip remained steady, without harming the black ant in the slightest. At the same time, a wisp of transparent airflow, exactly the same as before, shot out from Lin Hui's finger, followed the sword's blade, and finally accurately struck the black ant's back from the sword tip.

Click.

The black ant stopped moving again.

After a second, it scurried away in terror.

'Huh? This works too?' Lin Hui asked in surprise, and pointed his sword at another black beetle.

The beetle raised its huge pincers, ready to fight back, but froze the moment the sword tip touched it.

A second later, it turned around in fright and ran away quickly, disappearing into the grass.

'Since weapons can be effective too, the applicability is much wider. Although it only lasts for a second, as long as I touch a body, even the weakest disciple of Qingfeng Temple can make two moves in that second! Enough to decide the outcome!'

Lin Hui was overjoyed.

This sealing formation, seemingly using poison gas as its core to paralyze the opponent, actually contains subtle supernatural elements.

At least in both his past and present lives, he had never heard of poison gas being able to spread through a solid, holeless metal longsword, and at such a speed.

Overjoyed, Lin Hui tried several more times, letting the little insects in the surrounding grass experience what it means to remain still.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that he sheathed his sword and slowly returned to the Taoist temple.

In this way, besides the lightness effect, he has gained another hidden killing move.

Next, we need to consider what the Blood Seal should evolve into next, so that it doesn't go to waste.

After eating at the cafeteria, Lin Hui lay on his bed in his room, deep in thought.

Before he knew it, his thoughts drifted back to the ordinary yet authentic scenes of everyday life he had witnessed while patrolling the town.

All of this is based on those seemingly fragile and tiny black and purple jade talismans.

'Wait, a jade talisman!?'

Lin Hui sat up abruptly, his gaze immediately fixed on the jade talisman stone hanging behind his room door.

'What if I evolve the Jade Talisman?'

He immediately got out of bed and reached out to grab the purplish-black stone behind the door.

'Unknown Jade: Can dispel nighttime fog and repel fog creatures. Highly designed for specific purposes; creator unknown. Evolutionary branch: 1.'

Lin Hui quickly clicked on the evolution branch.

'1——Peace Stone: Can dispel fog over a wide area.'

Required resources: One piece of unknown jade, one drop of insect blood, and 20 years of accumulated energy.

Time required: 20 years.

Lin Hui saw a fleeting glimpse of twenty years and helplessly released the jade talisman. He also had no idea what that insect blood was.

'It seems that improving overall physical energy is the key.'

He exhaled and looked out the window. A strange impulse welled up inside him.

'Wait, since my current burst speed has surpassed that of my senior brothers, why not try to get close to the mist myself?'

'If we can get a glimpse of the mist, perhaps we can analyze the bloodstains and obtain some clues.'

'But before that, let's find out from those who have been through the fog.'

As far as Lin Hui knew, the senior disciples of Qingfeng Temple, the elders of the Ming generation, and even the abbot had all ventured into the Misty Mist. Furthermore, the government would organize skilled individuals into teams every year to explore the Misty Mist.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui felt a little tempted. He had just obtained the benefits of the sealing array from the insect eggs. If he could get more good things, perhaps...
But then he thought about how his body tempering level was rapidly improving.

"No rush. No rush. I'll be more confident after I've perfected my body tempering, maximized my speed, improved my standing within the sect, and acquired sufficient information about the mist."

Suppressing his impulse, Lin Hui calmed himself down, took the Qinghe Sword, and began practicing the Nine-Section Fast Sword again.

This time, he didn't hesitate and directly used the Blood Seal on the evolution of the Nine-Section Quick Sword.

'Nine-Section Quick Sword: An advanced version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword technique, one of the practical sword techniques of Qingfeng Temple, with two possible evolutionary branches.'

This time, Lin Hui didn't evolve one move at a time, but instead tried to evolve the entire sword technique all at once.

He clicked on the evolutionary branch.

'1 - The Perfect Version of the Nine-Section Quick Sword.'

'2—Gentle Breeze Sword Technique.'

The evolution effect was exactly as he expected, and Lin Hui didn't hesitate, choosing option 1 directly.
Then the required resources and time will pop up.

Required resources: a metal longsword, and nine months of energy reserves.

Time required: Nine months. "It's been shortened again!" Lin Hui was overjoyed upon seeing this.

Previously, each move of the Seven-Section Quick Sword required fifty days to evolve, but now each move only takes thirty days. This is because the Nine-Section Quick Sword has nine moves, and nine months means each move only takes one month.

"As expected, consistent physical training is effective!" Lin Hui felt a surge of satisfaction.

"The Nine-Section Quick Sword technique—many of the front courtyard disciples have studied it for years without fully mastering it, but I only need nine months to completely master it, and even that's the perfect version. I'm far superior to the average front courtyard disciple. However, geniuses like Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren mastered it in just two months; compared to them, I'm still considerably slower."

Lin Hui secretly reminded himself not to be complacent. The shortened time made him suspect that it might be due to his daily hard practice, which had given him considerable proficiency with the Nine-Section Fast Sword.

Immediately, Lin Hui quickly determined the direction and began to evolve his new sword technique. The bloodstain on the back of his hand changed from a rhombus back to a circle.

The lightness of his body, the sealing, and the recent evolution of the Nine-Section Quick Sword—these triple gains left him unable to calm down for a while, so he immediately returned to his room to rest and clear his mind.

Time passed day by day. The temperature grew colder and the weather became increasingly gloomy.

The number of disappearances in the outer city continues to rise.

Lin Hui practiced swordsmanship at Qingfeng Temple and unknowingly improved his Body Tempering by one rank, reaching the third rank.

This is close to Chen Chong's fourth rank and Huang Shanqiu's fourth rank. Yes, those two geniuses have also broken through during this period and reached the fourth rank level.

However, although he improved, no one knows about his progress because there are no small-scale ranking competitions for the time being.

However, the disappearances in the outer city worried him, so he took two days off to go home and visit his parents.

*
*
*
Lin Shunhe's home in Xinyu Town.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

Lin Hui pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Yao Shan collecting clothes in the yard. He quickly went over to help her.

"Why are you back?! Isn't it not holiday time yet?" Yao Shan was surprised to see him return.

"I just wanted to go home and visit," Lin Hui replied casually. "Where's Dad?"

“He went out to mind the shop. Our family now runs a small general store, mainly selling wild game, grains, oils, and miscellaneous items. The profits are pretty good.” Yao Shan smiled as she said this.

"Let's go take a look." Lin Hui pulled his mother, glanced at the sky, and walked towards the door.

Yao Shan couldn't refuse him, so she had no choice but to put down what she was doing and lead the way to the small shop.

The two walked and talked.

"Speaking of which, we've really had to thank those guys from the Wooden Flower Gang these past few days. They and their sister always seem to be hanging around our shop, and they've stopped collecting protection money. They even step in to solve any problems we encounter. If you see them, remember to thank them," Yao Shan instructed.

"Okay, I understand. By the way, Mother, do you know about the missing persons cases that have been making headlines lately?" Lin Hui asked quickly.

“Of course I know. Your dad turned pale when he first heard about the first missing person case,” Yao Shan sighed. “But he went out and contacted his old contacts before he calmed down. Actually, there are missing persons cases every year. It’s just that we didn’t live nearby before, so I didn’t tell you. What your dad was worried about at first was the slum area near the outermost ring road, which is where the missing persons cases are most frequent.”

“It happens every year.” Lin Hui’s previous speculation became clearer.

Before long, the two headed towards the town. Following the rows of small shops along the street, they soon found the small shop run by the old man, Lin Shunhe – Shanhe General Store.

The shop was tiny, just big enough for three people to walk in side by side. It was only five or six meters deep, and it was crammed full of stuff.

Lin Shunhe sat on a chair by the door, holding a small book in his hand, leisurely reading the pages.

Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and glanced in this direction, thinking it was a customer. But when the person got closer, he immediately smiled with joy.

"Ahui, why are you back?"

"I missed home, so I came back to visit."

Lin Hui sat down with a smile and briefly inquired about his parents' recent situation. Soon, he changed the subject and started talking about the missing persons case.

"I only found out about whether it's safe or not. If you want to know more details, here's an invitation. You can go and take a look." Lin Shunhe got up and pulled out a simple black paper invitation from behind the counter.

"It was sent by your cousin, specifically for you."

"Big cousin?" Lin Hui was taken aback.

“Of course, who else would remember you besides her?” Lin Shunhe laughed. “She organized a small gathering herself, and when she heard that you were an auxiliary patrolman in Ganzhen and had also entered the front courtyard of Qingfeng Temple, she sent you this too.”

"Who are the people attending this small gathering?" Lin Hui asked.

"This is a small gathering your cousin is hosting on her own behalf. All the attendees are her close friends. She probably invited you too because she wants to give you a hand. If you want to find out more, she's in the Sha Yue Sect and has recently gained influence; she's a very influential figure in the area. Friends she approves of can be incredibly beneficial to you. If you could make some connections with her, that would be fantastic!" Lin Shunhe said earnestly. "I was originally planning to send it to you at the temple in a couple of days, but since you're back, you can just take it with you."

"You mean the disappearance case is related to the inner city? So your cousin might know something?" Lin Hui asked thoughtfully.

“I didn’t say that, I just have this guess. Anyway, Hongzhen and you have a good relationship, and she obviously wants to help you out. Don’t let her good intentions go to waste,” Lin Shunhe reminded him.

“I know, Dad.” Lin Hui picked up the invitation, which had a line of small print on it: Qingmo Tower, Tiandijian Private Room, January 11th, 10:00 AM. Your presence is cordially requested.

"Also, I heard that Lin Hongyu from the Zong family is getting engaged to a member of the Chen family. They're making a big fuss about it, and they even sent people to invite us over, but I declined." Lin Shunhe's tone suddenly turned indifferent when he mentioned Lin Hongyu.

"Engaged?" Lin Hui chuckled, said nothing, and simply put the invitation into his pocket.

(End of this chapter)