Decaying World

Chapter 141

"What? Something happened to the Lin clan main branch?"

Upon returning to Clear Wind Temple, Lin Hui immediately received the news sent from home.

His father, Lin Shunhe, had already rushed to the main branch and had sent someone to notify Lin Hui to join him.

"Yes, many died. They say Lin Hongyu returned, went mad, and started killing indiscriminately. She cultivated at the Chen clan's main branch; no one could stop her at all," Little Xin said in a grave voice. She felt she should appear more somber and sympathetic.

After all, who knew if Lin Hui still harbored feelings for the main branch? It would be terrible if she left a bad impression.

"When did this happen?" Lin Hui vaguely remembered trading intelligence with Lin Hongyu earlier. He hadn't expected... how much time had passed? To think that...

"About two hours ago," Little Xin answered.

"I understand." Tossing out a few silver qian as a tip, Lin Hui's figure flashed as he rushed out of the main hall. He found Wang Hongshi, issued a few instructions, and then headed straight for the main branch.

Streets and houses flashed past on either side as he recalled memories of his childhood in the main branch.

Surprisingly, he felt nothing regarding the incident. Aside from some worry for his Eldest Uncle, the others left no impression on him.But Eldest Uncle no longer lived at the main branch either. Ever since Lin Chaoyi passed away, the first branch had moved out to avoid the disdain of the rest of the clan.

When Lin Chaoyi stole my opportunity back then, I wonder if he ever thought a day like this would come... Lin Hui lamented inwardly.

Not long after, the outline of the Lin clan's main branch residence appeared in the distance. Many people had gathered outside the courtyard, including officials from the government yamen.

Head Constable Xu Ansheng was tall and sturdy; the iconic black tiger-head belt at his waist remained unchanged.

He was whispering with Lin Shunhe, explaining the situation.

Whoosh!

A breeze blew past as Lin Hui landed beside the two. His abrupt appearance and swift movement technique made Xu Ansheng's eyelids twitch wildly.

Years ago, he had led the Clear Wind Temple disciples of that time on a cleanup mission. Who would have thought times would change so much? The Clear Wind Temple of back then had fallen and risen again. Lin Hui, the unremarkable disciple from before, was now famous, a symbolic figure overseeing several towns in the surrounding Outer City.

Seeing this level of strength, he realized it had likely reached a height he couldn't even imagine...

Xu Ansheng, his expression much more cautious, hurriedly cupped his hands toward Lin Hui. "Temple Master Lin, long time no see."

"Head Constable Xu, sorry for the trouble. What is the situation? Where is Lin Hongyu?"

As soon as he landed, Lin Hui saw blood staining the ground inside the main branch. Lin Shunchong lay there with his eyes wide open, on the verge of death. A gaping hole marred his chest—so clear and brutal that there was no need to investigate the cause.

"The main branch members inside are all dead. Only the first and fifth branches living outside, and your branch, remain," Xu Ansheng sighed. "As for Lin Hongyu, she hasn't been found yet. She likely took what little wealth the main branch had and fled."

"I will have my people help with the search," Lin Hui said in a deep voice. The word "help" immediately moved Xu Ansheng; he understood Clear Wind Temple's stance.

Clearly, compared to Lin Shunhe, who had deeper feelings for the main branch, Lin Hui, the son, had no real attachment and didn't care much about the matter.

"Alright. Sigh, things like this happen every few years. I don't know what's wrong..." Xu Ansheng sighed.

"Are there many cases like this?" Lin Hui froze for a moment and asked.

"Not many, but not few either. And the characteristics are highly consistent," Xu Ansheng replied.

"Alright, let's not chat here. Lin Hongyu belongs to the Chen clan exploration team; have they been notified?" Lin Shunhe interrupted.

"They've been notified, but there's a high chance the Chen clan won't send anyone. What I mentioned just now is related to this: all the previous incidents were connected to exploration teams... Lin Hongyu is considered the youngest among them," Xu Ansheng said.

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, sensing something was wrong, but with so little information, he couldn't draw any conclusions yet.

Now that his Purgatory-aura was spreading, even if there was a problem, he didn't have time to care about these external matters. He needed to be vigilant about whether the Purgatory-aura would attract the attention of local forces.

Furthermore, he needed to carefully test how strong the Purgatory-aura's infectivity was and how it could be transmitted. He didn't want to turn everyone around him into madmen.

After talking with his father for a while, news came from the yamen a few minutes later: Lin Hongyu had been found by the shore of a pond outside the town.

A dozen constables holding sabers and shields approached a blood-soaked woman who was frantically drinking water by the edge, keeping their distance.

The woman wore a dress that should have been white but was now completely dyed red.

Like a famished beast, she lowered her head and gulped down the water, indifferent to the grass clippings and unidentifiable debris drifting on the surface.

Xu Ansheng, Lin Shunhe, and Lin Hui followed a guide to the pond. Catching sight of the scene from a distance, all three unconsciously slowed their pace.

"She has committed a heinous crime. How should she be dealt with? Brother Lin, do you have any suggestions?" Xu Ansheng looked tentatively at Lin Shunhe.

After all, she was a Lin family member, and the Lin family now held immense power and influence; their thoughts had to be considered somewhat.

"Do what needs to be done," Lin Shunhe sighed.

"It looks like she's addicted to drugs." Xu Ansheng was knowledgeable and experienced; he caught dozens, if not a hundred, criminals every year. He had seen plenty of people in the throes of drug addiction.

"Hasn't she been in the Outer City? How could she still have a drug addiction?" Lin Hui asked. "As far as I know, poisons like Violet Silk Grass are rare even in the Inner City, given their high price."

"This..." Xu Ansheng hesitated. "There's only one possibility. Either she was addicted long ago, or someone intentionally got her addicted recently."

Lin Hui fell silent. Lin Hongyu had offended too many people; God knew who got her addicted.

The constables had already surrounded her. All of them were trained martial artists, Body Tempering experts. Those who qualified as constables were invariably tall, strong, and intimidating.

Yet, surrounding a delirious Lin Hongyu, they couldn't take her down for a while. Two were even accidentally injured.

Xu Ansheng's face fell immediately. He drew his saber and joined the fray.

Unexpectedly, even he couldn't quite subdue Lin Hongyu.

After exchanging a few moves, he found Lin Hongyu's strength to be surprisingly great. After several collisions, his hand was numb and painful.

Finally, Lin Hui couldn’t stand watching any longer. His sword flashed, and with a sharp swing of the sheathed blade, he struck Lin Hongyu unconscious, ending the struggle and securing her arrest.

The case was quickly wrapped up. No hidden conspiracy, no elaborate scheme—every line of investigation pointed to a single murderer, driven by a crime of passion. That very day, Xu Ansheng escorted her back to the yamen to await execution.

Lin Hui visited his older cousin Lin Hongzhen, then returned to Clear Wind Temple as if nothing had happened.

The turmoil surrounding Lin Hongyu quickly faded, surfacing only occasionally in idle neighborhood gossip.

Meanwhile, the waves stirred up by Xue Ying in the Inner City grew larger and larger.

The Inner City’s Three Great Powers swiftly issued a wanted notice for Xue Ying. The reward was astonishing: ten Inner City residency slots, a spacious mansion in the Middle Ring, three thousand Feather Bloods, and a set of top-tier Called Divine Art.

The reward was tempting. Inspectorate Division members coming for training discussed it daily, but no one really thought they could get it.

Xue Ying was a brutal killer who had slain even a High Divine Officer and three Divine Officers. With their meager martial strength, even a few hundred of them wouldn’t be enough for her to cut down.

Lin Hui had no other reliable channels for information, so he could only chat with Hong Ling’s Inspectorate Division members from time to time, asking about the progress of the pursuit.

At the same time, he was testing the infection pathways of the Purgatory-aura.

After more than a month of focused research, he finally pinpointed the core of the infection.

He discovered that as long as Internal Force was circulating, it would naturally release a faint Purgatory-aura that spread into the surroundings. This diffusion was extremely subtle and weak, and passing living beings would quickly absorb and digest it, making it almost impossible to detect.

Lin Hui only noticed this minute change after running dozens of experiments.

Focusing on this aura’s diffusion, he used the Typhoon Sword Technique’s Body Tempering method to carefully sense and forcibly restrain it, soon bringing the spread of the Purgatory-aura largely under control.

But although he controlled it here, the parts that had already spread could not be retrieved...

This made him wonder if he should evolve something opposite to hedge against this polluting aura.

Time passed slowly. In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed. The Blood Seal was still evolving the steel sword; it was just a bit away from completion.

The town's surroundings were calm and waveless, but Lin Hui felt a sense of impending storm.

It was now mid-July. Clear Wind Temple began preparing for the mid-year internal small competition to determine the new top ten elite positions.

All disciples temporarily forgot the pain of losing loved ones caused by the Night Mist earlier and devoted themselves to this small competition.

Lin Hui brought out many good things to foster a sense of competition within the sect.

The Wang family sent people to observe. In addition, the town yamen, Rain Palace's Yuanming Hall, the Inner City Inspectorate Division, the Hundred Flowers Sect, and other forces connected to Lin Hui all sent representatives.

Plus, some representatives from large clans who wanted to observe Clear Wind Temple's strength and hire experts to assist their own families.

The entire small competition was held with far more liveliness than Clear Wind Temple had ever seen before.

At the meeting, as the host, Lin Hui sat in the main Grand Preceptor Chair. Beside him were the three elders, including Xue Meng, followed by the Wang family representative, the Rain Palace representative, the representative sent by his father, and Hong Ling's representative from the Inspectorate Division.

Compared to these figures, the likes of Head Constable Xu Ansheng from the town yamen had to be relegated to the third tier, sitting with the representatives of large clans from various towns.

Old members like Chen Sui, Huang Shan, and Qiu Yiren were secretly shaken as they looked at this row of seated big shots.

This was undoubtedly a grand display of Clear Wind Temple’s connections and power. Without anyone noticing, the influence it had accumulated had already reached such a level.

Soon, the host of the small competition stepped onto the stage to warm up the crowd. Taking advantage of this moment, the Wang family representative—a middle‑aged man named Wang Chengdong—cupped his fists toward Lin Hui.

"Temple Master Lin, shouldn't this year's Call quota be determined this time? I came with a mission from Young Master Heng."

"The top five of this small competition will be qualified to enter the city," Lin Hui answered indifferently.

At his current level, ordinary Called Ones were nothing special, barely worth mentioning. They were merely bait to spur and motivate the disciples.

Hearing this, the various faction representatives present wavered inwardly.

Everyone knew Clear Wind Temple had deep ties with the Wang family, close enough to let the Wangs help train Called Ones. But judging from the tone and attitude of this exchange, they realized the relationship went far beyond a simple trade of Call-training quotas.

"That is good. Also, I wonder if Temple Master Lin is aware of the major case that occurred in the Inner City recently," Wang Chengdong said again.

"The Xue Ying case has implicated a full four medium-sized clans. It has been verified that people within these four clans were secretly passing information to her, making the pursuit impossible to complete. Among them is the Tao family of your personal disciple, Tao Xuehai..."

Hearing this, everyone in the VIP seats who had been whispering amongst themselves fell silent and looked at the two.

The Tao family, being implicated and under investigation, wasn't a secret in the Inner City, but few in the Outer City knew. Lin Hui only just found out now.

"My Yuanming Hall has also heard of this matter." The Rain Palace representative was a slender woman wearing a white veil and a silver dress named Lu Xuan. Her exposed, beautiful eyes were bright and moving; the rumor that the Rain Palace had no ugly people was clearly accurate.

Even the three disciples she brought behind her all had handsome faces and well-proportioned bodies.

These three behaved intimately with her, occasionally kissing on the lips. They were clearly either her male favorites or had private, intimate relationships.

People of the Inner City were like this; the atmosphere was open. Men and women alike, once they had power and strength, would begin to live debauched lives.

"It has been determined that the Tao family was wrongly accused, but that is not the trouble. The key lies in the fact that to prove their innocence, the Tao family sent people to participate in the siege against Xue Ying, and they have suffered many casualties recently," Lu Xuan said in a deep voice.

"What is the Tao family's situation now?" Lin Hui asked.

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