Decaying World

Chapter 102

Chapter 102Click.

At that moment, Liu Xiao opened the door and walked out. Dropping a remark about not finding the way and needing to pick someone up, she ran off.

Lin Hui was helpless;

he could only sit quietly and wait, closing his eyes to circulate his Internal Force for cultivation.

But time passed. He waited and waited, but not only did the guest fail to arrive, but even Liu Xiao had also vanished.

Lin Hui waited another ten minutes or so. Still seeing no one, he stood up, speechless, and went to the window to look down. Where on earth had Liu Xiao run off to? How long does it take to pick someone up?

Is she deliberately pranking people on New Year's?

Walking to the window, Lin Hui looked down at the street. He actually spotted Liu Xiao standing in front of a sweet soup shop at a distant corner.

Standing before her was another girl with her head lowered and a guilty expression, her hand tightly clasping that of a frail, scholarly-looking man.

Liu Xiao’s expression was ugly;

her pretty face was frosty, lips bitten tight, and one hand raised slightly as if to strike. Yet, facing the girl, she never made the move.

Seemingly noticing Lin Hui’s gaze from a hundred meters away, Liu Xiao looked back and waved impatiently."Don't wait. She came with her childhood sweetheart. No chance!"

Separated by a great distance, a sound transmission bored into Lin Hui’s ears.

"..." Lin Hui was speechless. Seeing the resolute expressions of the girl and her boyfriend from afar, he felt like a third wheel breaking up a destined couple. Fortunately, Liu Xiao hadn't tried to forcibly snatch the person.

Suddenly, he remembered the name Yan Wanqiu.

She was a genius Called One with top-tier aptitude who had emerged from a nearby town some time ago. Rumor had it she later entered the Chen clan’s main branch. It seemed she was doing quite well now, even loyally returning to be with her childhood sweetheart.

Waving at his stepsister, Lin Hui left the window, preparing to exit the private room. Suddenly, catching a glimpse of the street from the corner of his eye, he saw a vaguely familiar figure.

The other party sensed his gaze and turned to look in his direction. It was a slender woman with long, yellowish hair, wearing a dark brown hunting outfit. Her features were beautiful, her posture seductive.

It’s her? Lin Hui’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the name.

Meng Xiao.

One of the friends was introduced to him when his cousin Lin Hongzhen first tried to help him network.

Unexpectedly, among the three friends that night—Xiao Qin, Fei Wenyi, and Meng Xiao—Meng Xiao was the only one who didn't give him any face.

After parting on bad terms that night, his cousin met with an accident the very next day.

Come to think of it, regarding my cousin's incident, it’s possible this Meng Xiao also had a hand in it. I couldn't find her before, but now... quite a coincidence.

Although it was said that Lin Hongzhen was implicated by Lin Hongyu, he still hadn't found out exactly who had laid a hand on her.

His network in the Inner City was still too small. As for the Liu family, he had planned to ask after becoming more familiar with them.

But he hadn't expected to run into her directly.

He recognized her, but Meng Xiao did not recognize Lin Hui. Purely because the current Lin Hui looked vastly different from the person that night.

At that time, his physique was nowhere near as well-proportioned and strong, and his aura was far less imposing.

Just right to solve everything together today.

Lin Hui rested his hand on his sword hilt and walked out of the private room. The next moment, he vanished like the wind.

Several nearby waiters hurriedly retreated, terrified of blocking the way and getting slapped to death.

Such things had happened before.

Going downstairs, Lin Hui trailed Meng Xiao from a distance. He didn't attack immediately;

he worried the clues would end with her. It would be difficult to trace the vine to the melon later.

Seeing that Meng Xiao seemed to have a destination as she hurried along the street, he followed.

After half a block, Meng Xiao accelerated and entered a private club.

A sign hung outside: Mingyan Club.

Private clubs like this were usually invitation-only;

they wouldn't receive guests who weren't regulars.

Lin Hui looked at the club, stumped for a moment.

Hesitating for a second, his figure flashed, and he sped past the main gate into the inner courtyard.

Because his speed was so great, the guards didn't notice at all;

they only felt a gust of wind and saw nothing else.

Entering the courtyard, he saw white stone pillars of varying heights. It was unclear what they were used for;

each was about the thickness of a thigh, the short ones over a meter, the tall ones over three meters, uneven and jagged.

Walking further in, Lin Hui faintly heard voices.

"The operation must be canceled. You were too rash this time. The Spirit Birth Hall disciples of the Rain Palace aren't that easy to deal with. You've alerted the snake by beating the grass, affecting the sect's layout here. If you hadn't run fast enough at the end, this branch hall couldn't have been kept." This was a deep, resonant male voice.

"This subordinate is just a bit unwilling. Now that Xingdao is affected by the conflict, with heavy casualties and a large number of experts flooding here, the mix of fish and dragons provides the best cover. Isn't this the perfect opportunity for our sect to act?" Another female voice spoke in a low tone.

"How do you think Xingdao met with such calamity? Those two Mistborn fought, and just the shockwaves blew up a third of Xingdao’s outer city, with casualties reaching hundreds of thousands. And that wasn't the most troublesome part;

the trouble is that the Inner City blockade was broken, and mist entered the Inner City. That is what forced so many Xingdao experts to flee outward," the male voice said composedly.

"However, this is only the periphery. Xingdao’s core Mistborn and Trueblood Nobles are still there. As long as they are fine, everything can return to its original state very quickly."

"So, the so-called chaos... only the periphery is in chaos?" the woman asked.

"Correct. In the eyes of the upper echelon, everything remains stable. Although Xingdao’s Inner City is smaller than here, the Moon Towers still hold a large population. These are the foundation of the Trueblood Nobles," the man answered.

Lin Hui listened intently. He hadn't expected that a random whim to follow Meng Xiao would lead him to overhear such critical intelligence.

Although he didn't know if this intelligence was true or false, judging from their dialogue, there seemed to be no need for deception.

But then he realized the voices had stopped.

"Friend outside, eavesdropping isn't a good habit." The man's voice transmitted from inside.

Lin Hui instantly understood he had been discovered.

He simply walked in openly through the main door.

Inside the club, the first thing that came into view was a giant water tank, over four meters high and seven or eight meters long.

Inside, amidst clear flowing water, there were water plants, colorful fish, and a green-haired man wearing a bright silver robe.

The man stood in the water. There were tiny pores on the sides of his face, occasionally releasing small air bubbles. At this moment, the man was gazing at Lin Hui, his expression placid.

Standing beside him, separated by the glass, was Meng Xiao.

Meng Xiao’s expression was quite surprised. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but was stopped by the man raising his hand.

"Not a Called One, just a martial artist, yet you dare to enter openly and reveal yourself. Quite the courage."

"Meng Xiao, was my cousin Lin Hongzhen injured by you?" Knowing this person's identity was mysterious, Lin Hui couldn't be bothered to waste words lest complications arise. He asked directly.

"Lin Hongzhen?" Meng Xiao paused, seeming to recall. "Are you... Lin Hongzhen's cousin?"

"It's me. I answered your question;

you should answer mine," Lin Hui said seriously.

"I didn't do it, but I did participate." Meng Xiao laughed.

"That's enough." Lin Hui drew his sword and tossed aside the scabbard. "Who did it?"

"What? You want to hack me?" Meng Xiao’s smile became even more brilliant. "The one who did it was Chen Zhaolian of the Chen clan’s main branch. If you have the ability, go hack her too."

"I will verify it." Lin Hui glanced at the middle-aged man in the water tank. The man just smiled with his hands behind his back, showing no intention of intervening.

Chi!

In the next instant, he vanished, and a sword slashed onto Meng Xiao’s neck.

Clang!

A string of sparks ignited from Meng Xiao’s neck. Before she could react, a second trail of sparks lit up on the other side.

One second.

With a pfft, the smile on Meng Xiao’s face froze. Her head flew straight up, hitting the wall and splashing a large patch of bright red.

"You!!?" The man in the water tank finally changed expression. He absolutely hadn't expected that a mere martial artist could kill Meng Xiao, a Called One, with a single sword strike!

"Seeking death!!" The man flew into a rage, smashing the glass with a punch and lunging at Lin Hui amidst a splash of water.

But in the next second, golden sparks exploded all over his body as well.

Yet his fist hit nothing but air, not even touching the corner of Lin Hui’s clothes.

Feeling the faint pain in his body, the man's face changed. He hurriedly retreated, crashing backward through the wall to the open-air courtyard.

"Misunderstanding!" he shouted hurriedly. "Friend, you have a grudge against Meng Xiao, right? I just attacked out of anger a moment ago. I'm not close to Meng Xiao. I am Wanhua Sect Incense Master Yuan San... If you kill me, you will definitely provoke a Wanhua Sect pursuit! Do not—"

Slish!

A sword blade ruthlessly wiped across his neck, tearing open the windpipe, tearing open the blood vessels, spilling a massive amount of blood onto the ground.

The man covered his neck in disbelief, standing dazed on the spot. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

With a thud, he fell backward, his body twitching, and soon breathed his last.

"There's still a Chen Zhaolian. I'll solve it after investigating clearly." Lin Hui looked calm as he stepped forward and began to skillfully loot the corpse.

For the current him, the surrounding towns were his turf. No matter what kind of figure came to this area, they would inevitably encounter the Clear Wind Temple’s properties or subordinate forces.

In the Outer City, as long as one's hands and feet were clean enough after killing, a few more deaths in a region where people died every day were completely normal.

Unfortunately, both were poor ghosts. Aside from a few thousand coins in silver notes, the rest were ornaments that couldn't be sold.

"Meng Xiao, Incense Master Yuan, what happened here?"

At this moment, someone else walked out from inside the club. It was a tall, young man in black robes.

Swish!

A sword flashed, and the man's head fell to the ground, blood spraying.

Lin Hui looked calm as he followed the path the man had come from, walking deeper into the club.

"Husband, what happened? Are the brothers in the sect sparring?" A pale-faced middle-aged woman followed, walking out from the innermost corridor.

But before she could see the situation outside clearly, silver light flashed in her eyes. The next moment, her forehead was struck by a sword, and she instantly lost consciousness.

Thud.

The corpse fell to the ground.

Lin Hui stepped over her body and continued walking inward.

Killing anyone he saw, he left more than ten corpses along the way before reaching the rearmost courtyard of the club.

Liu Xiao was standing in the courtyard waiting for him.

"Done killing?"

She had obviously discovered the commotion long ago.

"Mn. Everyone who saw my face is dead." Lin Hui nodded. Those who could be here were basically birds of a feather. Since he had already acted, he naturally had to be thorough.

"Alright. Burn it." Liu Xiao raised her hand and pointed at the club's wall.

Behind her, several strong women wearing white veils quickly rushed in and skillfully began setting fires everywhere.

Liu Xiao and Lin Hui stood in the backyard, watching them work.

"Yan Wanqiu is very suitable for you. I can't find a better candidate. So... I plan to beat her childhood sweetheart to death to create an opportunity for you."

"!!!?" Lin Hui froze, his expression turning into one of utter speechlessness.

{View Image}

Become a Pledge Member to read chapters in advance.

Join our Discord community to explore exclusive visuals and connect with fellow readers.

Please leave a 5-star rating on Novel Updates!

[Index]

[Next Chapter]