Decaying World

Chapter 33 033 A Change of Heart (Part 1)
Several days later, the foggy area.

In the hazy fog, a tall, muscular man with a ponytail, dressed in dirty white tight-fitting clothes, dragged something that looked like a black tree branch into the courtyard of the small house, looking exhausted.

Bang.

He threw the object on the ground, smelled it, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of fried eggs in lard.

With a creak, the wooden door slowly opened, and inside, Daoist Mingde leisurely carried out a bowl, eating a green onion while looking at the things on the ground.

"How did it get into such a terrible state?"

"I don't know. I finally managed to cut it off, and it shrank immediately." Lin Hui shook his head. He had cut off the Faceless Man's right arm, which was still whole and full when he cut it off, with even some transparent blood dripping from it. In just a few minutes, the right arm had withered and shriveled into this state.

"Alright, it was probably due to improper storage." Mingde shook his head. "I'll pass you."

"Thank you teacher."

"Don't rush, this is only the first hurdle. You've already experienced the benefits of cultivating in this mist. Your body tempering has been much faster, hasn't it?" Mingde said with a smile.

"It's strange for a disciple like me. Could this mist actually be beneficial to body tempering?" Lin Hui nodded, his heart filled with curiosity.

“I don’t know, but whether it’s body tempering or internal energy cultivation, the efficiency in the fog zone is much faster than in the fogless zone. This is a result verified by everyone,” Mingde said. “After practicing for so long, you should probably go back and rest for a while. Staying here for too long will cause Ningxiang to need replenishment, and people will also experience mental deviations and all sorts of problems.”

"Yes." Lin Hui nodded respectfully.

The master and his apprentice slowly packed their things, ate some fried eggs, closed the hut, and headed back towards the Taoist temple.

While traveling, Mingde also took the time to teach him small details about swordsmanship.

The swordsmanship of Qingfeng Temple, when applied to actual combat, actually has several levels of mastery.

This difference isn't apparent with the seven-section fast sword training method, but it begins to show with the nine-section fast sword. By the time of the Qingfeng sword, the difference widens rapidly.

Lin Hui listened intently, his understanding of the swift sword growing ever deeper.

"The moves are the same; swordsmanship actually only has a few basic moves. So why do different people produce such different results when they use them? The key is understanding."

Mingde's voice kept ringing in his ears.

"Why do so many masters and predecessors always like to seek martial arts insights from different things? Why don't they all go and study the strongest technique and the strongest style?"

There are two reasons.

"Firstly, everyone is different, and what suits you best is the best."

"Secondly, the strongest style and the strongest path attract even more people. Unless there is a huge gap between the paths, forcibly squeezing in will ultimately come down to a competition of effort and resources. If it's a competition of these, how can ordinary people compete with the upper echelons?"

"So the predecessors chose to take a different approach."

Before long, Mingde stepped out of the fog and returned to the fog-free zone.

Lin Hui followed closely behind.

"So the next step you need to take is to become familiar with the sword technique to a certain extent, and then you can adjust and change it according to your own conditions and state, so that it becomes your own sword technique instead of the sect's sword technique. This is what makes different people's sword styles."

"Fast, slow, timing, and which moves you are better at coordinating your body—these are all things you need to study and understand on your own. Remember, moves are static, but people are dynamic."

Mingde's guidance gave Lin Hui a completely new understanding of the sword techniques he had learned for the first time.

He had tried to practice some network theories from his previous life, but none of them were as reassuring as having his master confirm his direction in person.

By comparing the two, his understanding of swordsmanship and martial arts was rapidly enhanced.

The two returned to the courtyard of Mingde's residence.

"Alright, you've been out for a while, go home and visit your parents. There's been a lot going on lately, so make sure they're at ease," Mingde instructed.

"Yes." Lin Hui nodded and took his leave.

After returning to the Taoist temple, he tidied up, took a bath, changed his clothes, and treated his injuries before heading home with some money.

Before leaving, he glanced at the blood seal. With more than three months left for evolution, he understood that the blood seal would keep regressing according to the initially determined time, and would not change as his understanding and proficiency with the Nine-Section Quick Sword increased.

Quite rigid.

"It's more efficient to evolve each move individually from now on. Nine months is too short; the sword technique itself can't be integrated with my own practice and insights, making it too inefficient. If I evolve each move individually, the newly evolved techniques can seamlessly connect with my own progress, saving a lot of time."

Lin Hui was making plans in his mind as he hurried on his way.

The journey from Qingfeng Temple to his home was not short. It took him half a day to get there by carriage back then, and now, even walking and using his speed, it still took him more than half an hour to reach the town.

Under a gray, overcast sky.

On either side of the blurry yellow mud road ahead, barren fields gradually began to appear.

Some of the snow has melted, and the fields are now a patchwork of yellow, green, and white, creating a rich and beautiful landscape.

Several simple, gray-clad scarecrows stood forlornly in the middle of the field, their tattered clothes twitching in the wind.

Lin Hui felt a little more at ease and continued forward.

Gradually, farmers began to walk along the country paths on both sides, carrying hoes and other farming tools. Birds chirped and frolicked by the fields, and life and vitality slowly returned as the snowfall stopped. Before long, individual courtyards began to appear along the roadside. Some courtyards had mud walls, some had stone walls, and the poorer ones even had only wooden fences.

Lin Hui soon arrived at the gate of a large courtyard with gray and white stone walls. He saw a red Spring Festival couplet pasted on the door: "Bamboo shadows sweep the street without stirring up dust, the sound of spring enters the house and blessings linger."

The horizontal scroll reads: Peace is a blessing.

'This was obviously written by someone who paid someone to write it; the family must be well-off.' Lin Hui felt much better.

He went up and knocked on the door.

咚咚
Before the third knock was even made, the door opened a crack by itself with a bang.

Lin Hui was taken aback, and he could vaguely hear voices coming from inside the room through the crack.

He simply opened the door and went inside.

A flock of little yellow chicks darted around in the yard, but he scared them so much that they scattered into a corner and dared not come out.

The sounds from the other room became increasingly clear.

"The intention was good, but the situation was indeed difficult at the time, and there was only one opportunity."

The voice sounded somewhat familiar, causing Lin Hui to frown slightly.

He took a few quick steps, pushed open the door, and went into the inner room. He saw his parents sitting in chairs, their faces grim, clearly having encountered some difficult decision.

The two were startled when they saw Lin Hui enter and quickly stood up.

"Ahui, why are you back? Isn't it still the holiday season?" Yao Shan walked over quickly, pinched her son's arm, and made sure he was still chubby and hadn't lost weight. She immediately felt relieved.

"You even changed into new clothes. What about the one I made for you last time?"

"Uh..." Lin Hui's voice trailed off, his body having sustained a large gash from the battle with the Faceless Man.

This combat-based body tempering is fast, but it wears out your clothes a bit.

"You little rascal, you didn't even tell us you were coming home beforehand. Your mother and I could have prepared meals for you. You have a big appetite now, and if we don't buy groceries in advance, we won't have enough to feed you," Lin Shunhe said helplessly as he approached.

"Dad's fine, I'll go shopping with you in a bit." Lin Hui smiled, glancing at the other people in the room. Clearly, these were the people whose parents had forgotten to close the door and whose bad mood was the cause of their parents' earlier sullen mood.

Seeing these people, he understood.

No wonder his parents were in a bad mood; he would probably be even worse off in their shoes.

The person who arrived was none other than Lin Chaoyi, the head of the Lin family, Lin Shunhe's biological father, and Lin Hui's biological grandfather.

At this moment, Lin Chaoyi had a kind smile on his face, wearing a clean and tidy light green robe, and leaning on a mahogany cane inlaid with turquoise. His attitude was completely different from his previous disregard for Lin Hui's family.

"It's Lin Hui. Long time no see. Grandpa's here to apologize for my previous attitude towards you." His smile faded, and he sighed. "Before..."

"What are you apologizing for? I don't remember anything about it." Lin Hui glanced at his parents' unpleasant expressions, understood what was going on, and interrupted them directly.

"Don't remember? That's good, that's good. I was just saying," Lin Chaoyi sighed again, "that back then, to be honest, it was because I, as the clan leader, didn't handle that matter well."

“No, you handled it very well. Aren’t we all doing quite well now? You can go back after you’ve seen the situation. You don’t need to worry about things here,” Lin Hui said with a smile.

"Look, you still haven't forgiven me. It's my fault. It's my fault, this old man, for acting so dishonestly back then." Lin Chaoyi lowered his head, his old face trembling. "A thousand faults, ten thousand faults, it's all my fault."

“You’re right. Alright, you can go back now. At your age, you shouldn’t be out in the wind and rain. Just enjoy your retirement.” Lin Hui continued.

puff.

As soon as he finished speaking, his expression changed, and he quickly dodged to the side.

Without hesitation, Lin Chaoyi bent his knees, threw away his crutches, and knelt down in front of him and his parents.

Lin Hui dodged it, and his parents also skillfully dodged it as well, without showing the slightest shock on their faces.

This shocked Lin Hui, and he also understood why his parents looked so distressed and troubled when he got home.

He looked at Lin Chaoyi kneeling on the ground, who was still apologizing and saying things like he shouldn't have done that back then.

"Fourth brother, I'm kneeling before you! It's all my fault, but no matter what, we're still family, blood is thicker than water. Do you know how my heart aches every night when I think about my decision after you all left?" Lin Chaoyi's voice trembled, making him look incredibly pitiful, as if he might collapse and go into shock at any moment.

Seeing this, Lin Shunhe did not hesitate to pull his wife down to kneel down in front of the old man.

"Dad, when you stole my son's opportunity and the fruits of my and my wife's labor for most of our lives, did you ever think that you might be driving us to our deaths?"

His expression was resolute, and he was not fooled by his father's act. He had seen Lin Chaoyi put on an act many times since he was a child.

"You're my son, how could I, as your father, want to drive you to your death?!" Lin Chaoyi's voice rose. "Even tigers don't eat their cubs! Let alone humans?!"

"You know even tigers don't eat their cubs? We've been living here for so long, why didn't you apologize earlier or later, but now that things are looking up a bit, you rush over here? Dad, I've already mastered all your tricks. How about I give you a demonstration first, then foam at the mouth and vomit a lot of blood?" Lin Shunhe raised his voice.

He looked at Lin Hui, who was equally speechless and unsure of what to do, waved to his son, signaling him to handle the situation and tell him to go inside and rest.

(End of this chapter)