Decaying World

Chapter 116

Lin Hui entered the city of stone pillar forests alongside several ox carts transporting vegetables.

The streets were quiet, filled only with the sound of footsteps and the lowing of cattle and horses. Everyone moved with purpose, checking the small flags on the crossbars beside the stone pillars to confirm their destinations before entering to conduct business.

Lin Hui carefully examined these small flags. Even with his speed, it took him over an hour to find a thick, short stone pillar with simple wooden steps at the entrance in a remote street corner.

Bailing Residence—Raw Medicinal Herb Trading Center

Pushing the door open, Lin Hui saw a wooden table facing the entrance. It was packed with various medicinal herbs, each labeled with small paper slips indicating price and quality.

Behind the table, an old man wearing glasses sat cross-legged, reading a small book.

"Look for what you need yourself. Minimum order is ten portions;

we don't sell single items," the old man recited casually without lifting his head.

"Do you have Spirit-Enriching Reishi?" Lin Hui asked.

"Yes, but the price is rather high. How many do you want? You know the market rate, right?" The old man looked up, asking with some surprise.

"How much per stalk here?" Lin Hui glanced around, noticing a small tea hall on the left where a few people sat sparsely. There were also books on the tables for casual reading.His entry caused two customers near the door to look up. One, a woman wearing a white hat, flashed a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Lin Hui also noticed the difference between himself and the locals.

Almost everyone here had green eyes, and their attire was dominated by gray, brown, and black. Very few wore pure white.

His pure white outfit was obviously conspicuous.

Meow.

A black cat walked slowly out of the small tea hall, brushing past Lin Hui's boots with a lazy demeanor.

"At least twenty stalks. If the quality is acceptable, I can place a long-term order." Lin Hui was curious about how a cat survived the Inner City's radiation intensity.

But this wasn't the time to delve into that. He retracted his gaze and looked at the old man.

"Mm... this amount." The old man held out his hand, gesturing the number eight.

"Eighty thousand? Acceptable."

"Straightforward! Since you are so direct, I also have high-grade Purple Cloud Reishi. Its efficacy is several times stronger than the Spirit-Enriching Reishi. Do you want it?" The old man smiled harmoniously.

"What price?"

"Fifty per stalk."

"Give me one to try," Lin Hui said boldly.

He hadn't expected to find Spirit-Enriching Reishi so easily;

it wasn't at all hard to find, contrary to Wang Yueheng's claim.

Clearly, that guy was intentionally stringing him along.

Or perhaps he just didn't care.

That fellow likely didn't bother searching at all.

He quickly confirmed the delivery time with the old man and paid the deposit. Lin Hui then walked out of Bailing Residence holding the order token.

Before leaving, through the exchange of tokens, he learned the old man's name: Zhao Bingsheng, a Green-Eyed Clansman and the shopkeeper of Bailing Residence.

With his objective achieved, Lin Hui recalled the blue-clothed person he had encountered on the way and had no desire to stay a moment longer.

He immediately departed, leaving the urban district like the wind and retracing his original route without stopping.

Aside from a large detour at the stone bridge section, he passed through the rest of the areas at full speed.

The transaction with the old man was set for five days later. Returning to the Outer City, Lin Hui settled back into his routine.

This trip had opened up a medicine purchasing channel distinct from the Wang family—a significant gain.

However, not two days after his return, news came from the Lin Manor: Lin Chaoyi was fading fast.

"Do you want to go take a look?" his father, Lin Shunhe, asked. He sat in the study of the Clear Wind Temple, looking at Lin Hui, who sat with eyes closed in silence.

"Given the current state of the main branch, what is there to see?"

"True. The family has already split, and we cut ties back then. When we were at our most miserable, they didn't help. Now, there really isn't anything to see," Lin Shunhe said. These words were meant for Lin Hui, yet also seemed to be for himself.

"Once Lin Chaoyi is gone, who in the main branch can shoulder the burden?"

"No one. The situation in every branch is dire. The only one doing reasonably well is the second branch, but they are miserly. The family will fall apart;

I estimate there won't be a Lin clan main branch anymore," Lin Shunhe sighed.

"Send the old man some coffin money," Lin Hui said with some emotion.

Over the past few years, the main branch's situation had gone from bad to worse. Ever since Lin Hongyu caused trouble and brought continuous blows, the main branch had been like a stone ball rolling down a slope, gathering speed. The little foundation they had managed to accumulate was consumed completely by Lin Hongyu's endless demands.

Now, if the patriarch passed away without a backbone to unite the various branches, they would likely split up completely.

"How are things on your end? I have an old friend's daughter here—dignified and elegant..." Lin Shunhe asked.

"Wait a moment. I already have someone I fancy. And I have determined I will marry no one but her," Lin Hui interrupted quickly.

"Hm?" His father paused. How long had it been? He had decided to marry no one else so quickly? Who had such great charm?

He knew his son's temperament well, and upon hearing this, he immediately became curious.

"What is her name?"

"Han Xiaoyue."

"How old is she?"

"I don't know, but she looks very young."

"Where does she live? What is her background?"

"I'm not sure, but she plays instruments and is knowledgeable. Her background is definitely not poor."

"...How come you don't know anything?" His father was speechless.

"This is the token of affection she exchanged with me." Lin Hui decisively took out the red jade Han Xiaoyue had given him.

His father took it and examined it. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, only seeing that it was indeed an item used by a woman.

"Find a time to bring her back so I can take a look. There are many things you are too young to grasp," his father said earnestly.

"Alright."

Seeing that he had muddled through so easily, Lin Hui felt fortunate. The exchange with Han Xiaoyue was indeed worth it.

The father and son chatted for a while longer. When Lin Shunhe prepared to leave, Lin Hui stood up to see him off.

When they reached the gate, both saw a white-haired old man sitting at a window seat on the first floor of the restaurant opposite.

The old man leaned on a cane, his appearance haggard and withered—so thin it looked like a gust of wind could blow him over.

His eyes had been staring fixedly at the Clear Wind Temple. Seeing Lin Shunhe and his son emerge, he hurriedly stood up and cupped his fists toward them from afar, squeezing out a smile full of wrinkles.

Because of the gesture, the cane in his hand slipped down the edge of the table. He reached out hurriedly to grab it, but grasped only air, nearly falling over himself.

"What does he mean by this?" Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. That old man was Lin Chaoyi, only now he was immeasurably older than before.

"Something happened to the main branch recently. Originally, he had been relying on those few orchards to get by, but because of Lin Hongyu's matter, the orchards' produce couldn't be sold, and much of it rotted. He lost his retirement income. By the way, do you know about Lin Hongyu's matter?" Lin Shunhe lowered his voice.

"What happened now? I don't care much about that side," Lin Hui said.

"During the second expedition, she ambushed and killed a fellow team member from a large clan, the Mu family. Then she disappeared," Lin Shunhe sighed. "She ran off easily enough, but the people left in the main branch have to take the blame for her."

"Let them be." Lin Hui withdrew his gaze. Watching Lin Chaoyi stagger as he walked out of the restaurant and approached quickly, Lin Hui moved his Internal Force. A breeze blew out, holding Lin Chaoyi back and preventing him from getting closer.

"The main branch has nothing to do with us anymore," he said indifferently.

"Sigh..." Lin Shunhe didn't reply. He just glanced at Lin Chaoyi, turned, and got into his carriage.

Lin Hui also turned back to the Clear Wind Temple. However, the moment he entered the gate, he glimpsed a servant stepping out from beside his father's carriage, walking toward Lin Chaoyi.

His father was a kind man, and also a nostalgic one;

he had known this for a long time.

With a soft sigh, he returned to the residence to continue his Body Tempering cultivation for the day.

Several days later, Lin Hui successfully took delivery of twenty Spirit-Enriching Reishi and one Purple Cloud Reishi from the Inner City.

Over two million qian vanished just like that.

The old man also frankly stated that he had no more Spirit-Enriching Reishi on hand;

if Lin Hui wanted more, he would have to wait over half a year for the next harvest.

Lin Hui also found time to visit the Myriad Medicine Villa, finding they only had three stalks—their entire inventory.

A total of twenty-three Spirit-Enriching Reishi and one Purple Cloud Reishi was his entire harvest.

With these resources, the evolution time for his Typhoon Sword Technique would likely be shortened significantly.

…

Inner City, Red Rice Association.

Inside the spacious rectangular Assembly Hall, a group of Hall Masters were gathered. Everyone, including the Association Leader Wu Zhaoming, was listening to Hall Master Yuan's account.

"I had already warned them sternly and even announced the name of my Red Rice Association, but that Clear Wind Temple didn't care in the slightest. They attacked without hesitation. Their Temple Master's movement and sword speed were extremely fast, and he used a secret art. Caught off guard, my Internal Force barrier was broken by him..." Yuan Feng lowered his head in shame.

After returning, he had fallen into a coma due to severe injuries. It took several days of treatment to recover, and even now, the sword wound on his stomach still throbbed with faint pain.

"In other words, they robbed our exploration team's Purple Crystals, killed all my Red Rice Association's men, and heavily injured you, a Hall Master? Is that right?" The Red Rice Association Leader, Wu Zhaoming, asked in a deep voice.

"Exactly so!" Yuan Feng nodded hurriedly. "That Clear Wind Temple Master relies on the backing of the Liu family's Liu Wujun and his sister. He was insufferably arrogant and threatened us, saying that if we dared to reveal the matter of the Purple Crystals, he would make us suffer! We couldn't swallow our anger in the moment, so we rose up to resist... but in the end..."

"Liu Wujun... That is trouble." Association Leader Wu Zhaoming sighed. "But being provoked to this extent, if we still don't respond, how will outsiders view my Red Rice Association?"

"Liu Wujun is a High Divine Officer ranked in the top ten, and is valued by the Vice Palace Master. Association Leader, do you think we should mention this to your father?" Vice Association Leader Yan Tan asked softly.

For the Three Sects and Six Associations to become powerful in the Inner City, they naturally each had their reliance. Some relied on strength, others on deep backgrounds. The Red Rice Association was the latter;

its backing was Wu Zhaoming's biological father—Wu Anhai.

This person was also at the High Divine Officer realm, a veteran top-tier High Divine Officer who had reached the point where no further progress was possible, ready to break through to the Palace Master realm at any time.

"No need. This matter cannot escalate to that level. It is best to resolve it according to the rules of the lower levels. This is everyone's unwritten rule," Wu Zhaoming said in a deep voice. "Since the Clear Wind Temple did this, moving against my Red Rice Association members, then we will return the favor. Yuan Feng, since you were no match for him, we will switch to someone else and win it back fair and square."

"Association Leader means?"

"The New Martial Alliance Grand Competition is coming up. I won't move against Lin Hui personally, but crippling the entire Clear Wind Temple will be effortless. As long as he realizes this, we can use fighting to force peace."

"We still have to make peace?" The group of Hall Masters frowned.

"There's no other way. Who asked him to have Liu Wujun as a brother? We can only swallow this loss."

"A mere Internal Force Realm actually..."

Just as everyone was feeling irritable, the gate of the Red Rice Association was suddenly pushed open. A completely plain figure with white hair, white eyebrows, and white clothes, leading two squads of black-armored soldiers with golden eagle insignias, rushed in.

"Wu Zhaoming, tell me the specific details of your conflict with the Outer City's Clear Wind Temple's Lin Hui from a while ago." The all-white figure's voice was cold and hard, completely disregarding the ugly expression of Association Leader Wu Zhaoming.

"So it is Commander Hong Ling. Aren't you investigating Xue Ying's whereabouts? How do you have time to run to my place..."

"Cut the crap. I am following the Lord's instructions in screening all idle personnel related to Xue Ying. According to retrospective information, Lin Hui is suspected of having met with Xue Ying not long ago. A detailed investigation is required;

not a single shred of a possible clue can be let go if we are to catch a trace of Xue Ying. Once I finish questioning you here, I am going to the Outer City immediately," the all-white person said coldly.

"Screening is your business, on what basis... Wait, Lin Hui?" Wu Zhaoming's face was initially ugly, but when he heard that this wasn't directed at his Red Rice Association but came for Lin Hui, his eyes narrowed instantly.

He knew very well that this Hong Ling before him was the government's current Major Case Inspector for the Inner City, specialized in tracking critical clues for major cases, and possessed immense authority.

Moreover, Hong Ling had a very strong background and a tough style. If he went to trouble that troublesome Lin Hui, perhaps...

"That Lin Hui relies on his relationship with Liu Wujun and doesn't put my Red Rice Association in his eyes. Since it is Commander Hong speaking, my Red Rice Association will naturally cooperate fully with the investigation!" He immediately changed his tone, his attitude turning solemn.

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