Decaying World

Chapter 4 004 Moving House Part 2

Lin Hui looked towards the inner city.

From a distance, all that can be seen is a huge white stone wall that envelops the entire city.

The white wall was at least several hundred meters high, with its upper half disappearing into the light clouds. The wall surface was smooth and flat, giving it a majestic and imposing appearance.

The entire white wall, from top to bottom and from left to right, appears to have been crafted from a single piece.

"Why are they all going to the inner city?" he asked in a low voice.

"It's all because of the recent gate-breaking ghosts. Everyone with some savings is planning to go to the inner city to take refuge. As long as it's not permanent residency, they can afford to find a place to stay temporarily," Peng Shan replied.

"Didn't the city send anyone to investigate?"

"They've dispatched a lot of patrol teams from the government. They seem to be tracking something."

Peng Shan didn't stay long before he was about to leave. But as soon as he got up, he saw a bullock cart with the Chen family's name on it slowly driving by in the distance.

The curtain at the back of the car was lifted, revealing several young people chatting and laughing inside.

“It’s the Chen family’s convoy selecting people!” Peng Shan said instinctively.

Lin Hui was taken aback, then stood up and looked towards the convoy. He was looking for Lin Hongyu inside, but couldn't see her after scanning several times. He guessed it was another vehicle.

'Chen family.'

*
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The Lin Family Compound.

Lin Chaoyi sat in the head of the family seat in the main hall, looking down at the more than ten family representatives from the branch families.

"Has Hongyu left?" he asked in a low voice.

"Let's go, get in the car. The carriage company outside the Chen family's residence sent someone to pick us up," Lin Hongyu's father quickly replied.

"The fourth brother has moved out, and his old courtyard is now empty. I have a lot of people here and we need rooms. How about these rooms?" Lin Shunchong, the second son, was a sickly, sallow-faced man. He had one leg bent and propped up on a stool, sitting slouching and lounging around.

“Second brother, you have so many people, but I don’t have many in my family? My son is still taking the imperial examinations to get a government job! My three grandsons are also waiting to have a place to live in the future. Why should they all go to your second wife?” A woman chimed in, protesting.

"Your son has been taking the exam for so many years, and he hasn't even made it into the top 500 in the public selection. How can he expect to achieve academic success?" Lin Shunchong, the second wife, said with a sneer.

"Alright, the fourth brother has moved out. Does anyone know where they live now?" Old clan chief Lin Chaoyi interrupted the conversation and asked.

"Who cares? Didn't he say he was cutting ties with his family? Why bother with him?" someone said indifferently.

It's good to sever ties. After the old man passes away, there will be one less person to divide the money. Although no one says it, everyone is secretly happy.

"The fourth brother does have some ability after all," Lin Chaoyi frowned.

"Father, are you worried that the fourth son will make a comeback?" Lin Shunchong said. "He's just an oil mill manager. No matter how capable he is, that's about it. As for his wife and son, his wife is an elderly hired hand, and his son doesn't learn any skills and just loafs around all day. With that background, what are you worried about?"

"I just feel a little sorry that the fourth brother was still capable," Lin Chaoyi sighed. "He was just dragged down by his son."

“That’s true. Apart from him, all the younger generation in our family have arrangements and are settled. The eldest and sixth sons’ families are already arranging engagements. Their families will prosper and flourish in the future. If the fourth son’s family splits off now, they shouldn’t have the nerve to come back and ask for favors when the family becomes successful.” Lin Shunchong laughed.

"Alright, since the fourth son wants to sever ties with the family, the second son, you have acquaintances at the yamen, so just go and change the registration to avoid future disputes. Let's not talk about this anymore. Now let's discuss this. There are already three families that have entered the inner city: the eldest son's family, the fifth son's family, and the twelfth son's family. The purpose of this clan meeting is to encourage everyone to contribute and support the development of these three branches in the inner city." The old clan head, Lin Chaoyi, once again used his traditional skill of sacrificing branches to benefit the main branch.

*
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*
"Father, I want to learn martial arts."

In Lin Hui's new home, the family had just sat down to eat lunch when Lin Hui blurted out a sentence.

"Learn martial arts?" Lin Shunhe looked at his son, his brows furrowing. "What's the use of learning martial arts? I've decided, you'll learn to be a manager with me, first go to the oil mill to get familiar with the environment, and if there's really no other way, you can follow in my footsteps and have a job. But if you want to be a manager, you'll have to work very hard, after all, the final decision still rests with the small government office in town."

"Can managing the oil mill save your life?" Lin Hui asked.

“If you can save up enough money to get into the inner city, then you can,” Lin Shunhe replied.

"The inner city still has to rely on others; if it encounters a gate-breaking ghost, it won't survive either!" Lin Hui said in a deep voice.

"What's the use of learning martial arts!" Lin Shunhe said impatiently. "The guards under your father's command number more than ten, and every single one of them has studied martial arts. Even the worst one has been learning for more than ten years, and look at him now! He's still working as a gatekeeper at the oil mill! His monthly salary is less than a tenth of what your father earns. Tell me, what's the use of learning martial arts?!"

“It’s a good thing that the child has something they want to do; it’s better than them staying at home all the time,” Yao Shan said gently from the side.

“But at his age, he can’t learn anything good in martial arts. Internal martial arts are age-restricted, so he can’t learn them. External martial arts are all short-lived; if he learns them, he’ll die young, which is even worse! It’s better for me to feed him well and let him live off me for the rest of his life!” Lin Shunhe said irritably.

"I only learn the external style, it's fine. I just practice casually to pass the time. It would be even better if I could get a job at the martial arts school," Lin Hui explained.

"Work at the martial arts school?" This question immediately sparked an idea in Lin Shunhe.

He considered it carefully, and his emotions calmed down.

"If you're really good at enduring hardship, working at a martial arts school is an option. I have connections with several martial arts schools in town. The oil mill often hires people from them for escorts, so we have a pretty good relationship. If that's what you're thinking of, then it's a good idea."

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

He knew his son's situation. Although his son was physically weak, his son had a major advantage: he was good at calculations, far surpassing other children his age.

He didn't know where his son learned this ability, but the martial arts school was short of people with strong math skills, so he might be able to get things done there.

Thinking of this, he looked up at his son and saw a seriousness he had never seen before in the boy's eyes. His heart tightened with even more seriousness. "Have you thought this through? You really want to learn martial arts? Let's make this clear: you definitely can't go to the internal martial arts school; those require you to be under ten. You can only go to the external martial arts school. You can practice whatever you want there, but don't you dare hurt yourself!"

"I just want to practice my running speed. I'm not interested in anything else. Don't worry, Dad! I will definitely not train too hard!" Lin Hui replied firmly.

"Good! The idea is clear! That's good!" Lin Shunhe paused for a moment, then agreed. The outer city was becoming increasingly dangerous, so practicing running fast was a way to ensure safety.

Then, several martial arts training grounds he was connected with flashed through his mind.

"Okay, I can arrange three venues for you. Which one would you like to choose?"

"Which three?"

"The Flying Cloud Fist School, the Red Sand Temple, the Copper Arm Kung Fu School, and the Qingfeng Temple, the Fast Sword School. These three places are all long-term major oil suppliers to me, so we have a lot of dealings and good relationships, making it easy to arrange things. As long as your father is still here, you'll get some preferential treatment when you go in. Once you're older and have built up your connections there, I'll hand over the reins. That's how the transition will go," Lin Shunhe planned.

"Which of these three places can I learn the fastest running martial arts?" Lin Hui asked directly.

"Both Flying Cloud Fist and Qingfeng Temple are fast. But practically speaking, I would prefer you to go to Flying Cloud Fist. Although Qingfeng Temple is faster, Flying Cloud Fist is more focused on actual combat, and the master of the school, Shangguan Fei, is much stronger than Baohe Daoist of Qingfeng Temple. Flying Cloud Fist is also better managed than Qingfeng Temple, so your income will be much higher."

"No, I'm going to Qingfeng Temple!" Lin Hui's gaze was firm.

Having witnessed the nighttime fog and the daytime ghostly intruders, he desperately craved survival.

As Peng Shan said, no matter how well you learn martial arts, you still can't beat a disciple from one of the three great families. So just specialize in one thing and survival is the only thing that matters.

“Okay. Then you can do it for now. If a better way comes up later, I’ll figure something out.” Lin Shunhe rarely saw his son’s eyes so determined. He immediately felt that he should strike while the iron was hot and finalize the matter before his son’s enthusiasm dissipated.

He immediately picked up his bowl, ate the food, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door.

"I'll arrange it right away! Shanshan, take a day off this afternoon and help Xiaohui pack his things at home!" After giving these instructions in a hurry, Lin Shunhe pushed open the door and left, quickly disappearing from the road.

"Your father is still as energetic as ever, and he doesn't even eat properly," said Yao Shan, the mother, with a helpless expression.

Lin Hui nodded, about to speak, when he suddenly felt an itch on the back of his right hand.

A thought struck him, and his eyes fell on the back of his hand. He discovered that the itchy spot was precisely where the blood-red pattern was located.

At this moment, the blood-red patterned mark was writhing strangely, as if a liquid crystal screen was embedded in the back of the hand, with the patterns changing and flashing rapidly.

"What's wrong?" the mother asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, nothing." Lin Hui raised his hand and deliberately waved the back of his hand in his mother's line of sight to make sure she couldn't see anything at all.

Now his anticipation for the Blood Seal had reached its peak.

This thing awakened along with him, and perhaps it can really help him break through this unstable environment.

Gently stroking the bloodstain, he lowered his hand again and returned his attention to the dining table.

"Here, stop thinking about it, have a chicken leg." His mother, Yao Shan, just then put a braised chicken leg into his bowl.

The light brown chicken leg, plump and juicy with a glistening sheen, rolled briefly in the dark red mixed grain rice before stopping right under Lin Hui's nose.

brush.

Just then, the bloodstain on the back of his hand suddenly stopped flashing.

The chicken leg in front of him suddenly lit up, glowing red.

A small line of text emerged from the right side of the chicken leg in the field of vision.

Braised chicken legs - a common food for replenishing qi and blood, shelf life 2 days, taste is average.

Evolvable branch: 2'

Lin Hui's eyes widened instantly.

He stared intently at the characters before him, the Chinese characters he knew best. The long-lost sense of familiarity caused his emotions to surge suddenly.

'An evolutionary branch? What can a chicken leg evolve into?!' He was filled with surprise, as well as confusion and bewilderment.

But the changes in the text before our eyes are clearly caused by the bloodstains.

His gaze unconsciously focused on the area where the evolutionary branch could be formed.

brush.

There was another soft sound.

The 2 following the branch opens directly and expands into two dashed lines in different directions.

One line points upwards, linking to a new line of red text: 1—Purgatory Black Wind Chicken Leg.

The dotted line below connects to: 2 - Secret Recipe Chicken Leg for Extreme Cold Weather.

Lin Hui stared at the two lines of dotted lines, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)