Decaying World

Chapter 142:

"This isn't good. The Tao family is suspected of colluding with Xue Ying, yet to prove their innocence, they sent their full force to participate in the siege. Now, they have pleased neither side." Lu Xuan shook her head slightly.

Before she could finish her sentence, a commotion erupted near the main gate amidst the dense crowd of spectators in the Clear Wind Temple’s front courtyard.

Wang Chengdong of the Wang family sighed. "I mention this only to remind Temple Master Lin that, unless necessary, it would be best to sever ties with the Tao family as soon as possible."

He turned his gaze toward the source of the disturbance. A handsome young man, holding a long sword and carrying a black bundle embroidered with silver beast patterns, slowly walked through the gate.

The young man looked slightly haggard, but his distinctive features were instantly recognized—it was Tao Xuehai, who hadn't been seen for a long time.

Immediately, a wave of greetings calling out "Senior Brother Tao" rang out. The disciples of the Clear Wind Temple had always held a favorable impression of this generous senior brother.

He answered with a simple nod, his gaze sweeping past the crowd to land on Lin Hui, who sat in the main seat.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, his figure flickered. He crossed dozens of meters in a flash, the tip of his toe tapping lightly against the rope at the edge of the ring to borrow force. His body blurred again, and he reappeared several meters before Lin Hui, dropping to one knee.

"Tao Xuehai greets Master!" He lowered his head, the tension in his body instantly relaxing.Though he hadn’t spent much time with Lin Hui, he had clearly felt the man’s kindness—genuine and free of ulterior motives. Now, having escaped the deceit and intrigue of the Inner City and returned here, he could finally let his guard down.

"..." Lin Hui stood up, narrowed his eyes to appraise Tao Xuehai, and waved his hand to signal a disciple to escort him to rest.

But before the nearby disciple could approach, Tao Xuehai raised his head and transmitted his voice.

"Master, there's no need for such trouble. This disciple only returned this once to pay you a visit. Additionally, this year's share of Phantom Dragon Lotus has already been placed in this disciple's quarters in the temple; please remember to retrieve it on time. This disciple still has matters to attend to and must return. The next visit... may not be for a long time."

"You're injured and in this state—why go back?" Lin Hui frowned and replied via voice transmission.

Internal Force voice transmission was simply a matter of controlling Internal Force to condense sound into a beam and directing it to the recipient's ear. The method wasn't difficult, and while pondering Internal Force techniques, Lin Hui had quickly mastered the requisite precision.

"There is someone in this disciple's family who needs care... I have to go back," Tao Xuehai replied in a low voice.

The Tao family possessed immense wealth and strength. The fact that such a major Inner City clan actually needed a junior like him to help with caretaking... one could imagine how dire their situation had become.

"Don't go back. Just stay here. No one will harshly blame a junior like you," Lin Hui advised, unable to bear it.

"..." Tao Xuehai didn't reply. He simply cupped his fists, stood up, bowed, and then turned to leave.

The Tao family was currently teetering in the storm. They had suffered heavy casualties in the multiple sieges against Xue Ying. At such a time, having luckily broken through to the Circulation Realm, he barely had the qualifications to take his older sister and brother to avoid assassination.

Now that the family was in decline—Grandfather had fallen, Eldest Uncle had fallen, and his parents were heavily injured in the siege—although he only possessed the strength of the Circulation Realm, he was precious at a time when many experts were scattering like birds. While his strength wasn't enough to protect people, his speed and movement techniques were sufficient to lead them away from danger!

The crowd watched him leave in silence. No one spoke.

Lin Hui remained silent as well. The Tao family had essentially been crushed by Xue Ying and the forces behind her, and they weren't the only major clan in the Inner City to suffer such a fate recently.

After all, across multiple sieges, more than one Divine Officer and High Divine Officer had been killed or injured. Both sides were fighting with real fury. The fall of every High Divine Officer represented a major clan tumbling from the clouds.

"Let's continue the small competition," Lu Xuan suggested.

On the surface, this was a suggestion, but in reality, it was a subtle reminder to Lin Hui to let this matter pass—it was best not to get involved in the Tao family's affairs. She meant well; representing Liu Wujun, she naturally sided with Lin Hui.

"No matter how arrogant Xue Ying and the others are, they wouldn't go so far as to attack a young child who isn't even a Divine Officer. There's no need to worry about Tao Xuehai's safety," Wang Chengdong reminded him.

"I know..." Lin Hui sighed. Seeing Tao Xuehai's figure flash repeatedly and vanish at the gate, he knew the boy had come specifically to say goodbye and deliver the Phantom Dragon Lotus.

Leaving in front of everyone was a calculated move to cut off any suspicion that might linger on the Clear Wind Temple. Although the method was naive, one could sense his simple, honest desire not to implicate anyone.

"Continue." Lin Hui waved his hand and sat back down.

Everything proceeded as if nothing had happened. As if Tao Xuehai had never come at all.

Soon, the preliminary rounds began. Disciples took the stage one by one to display their sword techniques. Their movement techniques and sword speed were clearly more than a notch higher than those of the Clear Wind Temple of the past.

The representatives of the major clans, who already had intentions in mind, watched with gleaming eyes.

Previously, they had only heard of Lin Hui’s great reputation and formidable strength, but now they could clearly see that the overall power of the Clear Wind Temple had risen by a substantial margin.

Just looking at the moved expressions of these representatives, anyone with a discerning eye knew clearly: the time for the Clear Wind Temple to truly take root had arrived.

After this small competition, it was likely that the remaining major clans would shift from their previously wavering attitudes to sending their elite clan disciples here to study martial arts. The Clear Wind Temple would also thoroughly integrate with the dozen or so surrounding towns—you in me, and I in you.

…

Town Street Side.

Tao Xuehai sped over the eaves, his body never touching the ground. He only tapped the edge of the roof tiles lightly with his toes to borrow force and speed away, like a bird flying at low altitude.

Before long, he exited the town and arrived at the plain near the Mist Zone in the suburbs. This area happened to be near the Wild Wind Plains, where Lin Hui often practiced his sword.

In front of the Mist Zone entrance, a merchant caravan was resting.

The entire caravan—people, carts, and horses alike—was bundled up tightly, all draped in thick brown furs. At the head of the group stood a middle-aged couple. Their faces were stiff and their complexions pale, yet their eyes shone with a sharp, vivid light. It was clear they had used some special disguise technique to conceal their true features.

Seeing Tao Xuehai return, the couple slowly stood up.

"You're back? Is it finished?" the middle-aged man asked in a deep voice, unable to hide the Inner City accent in his tone.

"Mm. In the future, will we really... never come back?" Tao Xuehai turned his head to look at the hazy Xinyu Town in the distance.

"Perhaps one day we will return, but not now. Someone in the Moon Tower is targeting us. Your Eldest Uncle's death was suspicious; they say it was related to Xue Ying, but..." the man replied in a low voice.

Tao Xuehai fell silent.

Everyone in the caravan silently prepared for the various miscellaneous tasks of entering the Mist Zone. After waiting for about another ten minutes, the entire procession began to move slowly again, heading resolutely straight into the Mist.

The Tranquil Incense was lit, propping up spherical cavities one by one. All the cavities linked together like a string of beads, moving continuously forward through the Mist.

The entire team consisted of about a hundred people. Everyone was taciturn, and most were families—couples with children. This was the entirety of the Tao clan. This migration signified their withdrawal from the massive upheaval in the Inner City that was reshuffling the deck under the guise of the Xue Ying incident.

After traveling for about an hour, a low, deep laughter suddenly came from the Mist above.

"Tao Mengzhi, Ruan Yuling... taking so many good things with you—where do you think you're escaping to?"

The caravan stagnated abruptly. Everyone looked up toward the sky, their expressions tense.

The bodies of the couple leading the team lit up with white light as they stared into mid-air.

There, in the Mist, a gigantic, dusty-gray moth was flapping its wings, slowly descending to pounce upon them. The moth was grayish-brown overall, its surface furry with rhythmic tea-colored stripe patterns. Its abdomen was densely packed with over a dozen pairs of legs, and on its back was a massive white platform resembling a trough, where several sparse black shadows stood.

As the moth approached rapidly, its size magnified drastically. By the time it was directly above the caravan, it had become a behemoth over ten meters long and seven or eight meters wide.

From the platform on the moth's back, four figures leaped into the air, scattering to land on both sides of the caravan.

"Yan Long... Chen Changjun... What? Do you really think just because my Tao family is in decline, people like you can pick up scraps?"

Among the couple at the front of the caravan, the man leaped into the air. With a few flashes, he landed on a cargo cart in the middle of the procession, looking around coldly.

"Relying on us alone naturally wouldn't work... Although you husband and wife are injured, you are strictly speaking High Divine Officers. But what if we add them?"

The leading black silhouette chuckled and lifted his gaze to the Mist ahead of the caravan.

There, two tall men clad in strange black-and-white outfits were slowly emerging.

"Clear River Sect...? The Black and White Sabers?! You lot!?" The couple’s expressions changed drastically as they instantly recognized the newcomers’ identities.

…

Inside Clear Wind Temple.

The small competition concluded smoothly, and the new top ten were selected.

Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, Chen Sui, and Wang Hongshi were all still present. The few new additions were old disciples who had made appearances before, such as Ding Shu and Little Hu.

Yes, Little Hu was no longer who he used to be. He had formally completed the Body Tempering of the Seven-Section Swift Sword and possessed deep attainments in the Nine-Section Swift Sword. He had struggled to topple the previous tenth-place holder and successfully advanced.

This made Lin Hui nod slightly, feeling somewhat gratified. His frequent pointers to Little Hu and Little Fatty hadn't been in vain.

Looking at the two of them—now a head taller than before—he felt a momentary sense of daze. Unknowingly, the little brats from back then had begun to grow up, gradually revealing the heroic spirit of youth.

After the rankings were determined came the awards ceremony and the post-competition cocktail party for introductions and networking.

The cocktail party was a method Lin Hui had instituted by combining his past life's knowledge with what he learned from the Inner City. Allowing the representatives of major clans who intended to hire or arrange marriages to interact privately with the top ten disciples resulted in a higher probability of cooperation.

He personally saw off the representatives of the major powers who came to offer support one by one, such as the Rain Palace and the Inspectorate Division; such major powers absolutely could not be slighted.

He had been busy until nightfall before finally returning to the rear manor to rest.

Yet the moment he stepped into the courtyard, he sensed something was off.

Because he had lived here long-term, every detail of the surroundings was etched into his mind. Moreover, due to the Purgatory-aura, he had been constantly monitoring and restraining his perception of the ambient energy lately, fearing that he might accidentally let it leak out and contaminate those around him.

In recent days, he had already noticed that some of the temple disciples were growing irritable even as their strength increased. Their physical fitness was rising inexplicably, and many could not understand why. Lin Hui knew the true source, but he soothed them with a ready explanation—that his exclusive body-tempering secret medicine had been improved—and told them not to worry.

In truth, it all originated from the Purgatory-aura.

Now he could clearly sense that something was wrong. There were two unfamiliar presences in his courtyard.

Whoosh!

His figure blurred as he flashed behind the rockery by the pond—and saw the intruders.

Tao Xuehai was slumped there, holding a pale girl in a purple dress. Both had collapsed beside the rockery; the girl was unconscious and covered in blood.

Beside them lay a note.

With a thought, Lin Hui stirred his Internal Force, whipping up a gentle breeze that lifted the note into his hand.

Changed our names, changed our faces. Praying for peace. Boundless thanks. — Tao.

Lin Hui silently crushed the note, letting the fragments scatter in the wind. Looking at the unconscious Tao Xuehai and the girl, he let out a quiet sigh.

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