Decaying World

Chapter 86 086 Experience Two

Turning his gaze away, Lin Hui looked at the three evolutionary branches below his field of vision.

'The Hellfire Sword has a corrupting influence and is likely to attract unwanted attention beyond my level. It's not suitable.'

The Arcane Wind Elemental Sword deals area-of-effect damage but consumes a huge amount of energy. Crucially, it's difficult to remain still for so long in the Windy Lands; one must get up at night to find shelter from the fog, and there are too many variables in the next thirteen days.

Finally, he turned his attention to the Typhoon Sword Technique.

This is the most suitable one; it's clean, pollution-free, environmentally friendly, and powerful. Most importantly, it requires simple evolutionary conditions.

It only takes two seven-year periods, or fourteen years.

"I have medication to take in combination with other treatments, which can shorten the time to a quarter. Adding the remaining thirteen Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, each reducing the time by three months, that's over three years. So, calculating it this way, it would take fourteen years. First, I'll take the Ganoderma lucidum, reducing the time by over three years, then gradually take the medication in combination. I should be able to complete all the evolution within three years."

'This is the limit; it can't be shortened any further,' Lin Hui sighed. He turned to go back.

Suddenly, his body stiffened, and he froze in place.

Behind them, on the right side of the hill, stood a quiet man in a silver goat mask.

The other man was of similar build to him, with a long sword at his waist, wearing a black leather trench coat that revealed his strong chest muscles, and a tuft of golden chest hair fluttering in the wind like a golden red scarf.

“Friend, did I disturb you?” the man in the goat mask said softly. “I just happened to be passing by and heard you sigh, so I stopped to see what was wrong.”

"That reason is far-fetched," Lin Hui said calmly.

"I'm just making up an excuse, just listen to it," the goat-masked man laughed, his voice cheerful. He seemed to be a young man.

"You summoned me, is there something you need?" Lin Hui stared at the other person, seemingly guessing their purpose.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Fang Tiancheng, from the Fang family in the inner city. The Fang family is a prominent clan within the government. Many of our family members hold important positions in the government," the goat-masked man introduced himself.

"So, Brother Fang, you've also come to ask me for a collaboration?" Lin Hui asked.

“Exactly. However, it seems we’re a little late.” Fang Tiancheng laughed, not disappointed, and took off his mask to reveal a handsome, sunny face.

"You don't seem to care at all?" Lin Hui asked curiously.

"Yes, if the cooperation fails, it's the family that suffers the loss. What does it have to do with me personally? Anyway, I get a fixed commission for each trip I make," Fang Tiancheng said with a smile.

“That’s true. It’s better for you people in the inner city. You don’t have to worry about anything and live in fear every day,” Lin Hui said.

"What are you talking about?" Fang Tiancheng was speechless. "Your persecution-induced mentality is a bit off. The outer city is dangerous, but it's not as exaggerated as you're making it out to be, is it?"

"Monsters in the fog, misty nights, and missing persons cases every year—isn't that dangerous enough?" Lin Hui laughed.

"You saw it with your own eyes?" Fang Tiancheng asked in return.

The question surprised even Lin Hui himself.

Seeing this, Fang Tiancheng continued, "I think you've been cultivating too much and have become detached from ordinary life. If the outer city is really that dangerous, how did you grow up to be this big? And how did the people around you, your friends, and your companions grow up to be this big for so many years?"

This question really caught Lin Hui off guard.

“Master Lin, you don’t really understand the lives of the people in the outer city. Perhaps you once did, but you are no longer the same person you were then,” Fang Tiancheng replied. “However, although we can’t sign an agreement, we can try a private collaboration. Master Lin’s agility is indeed outstanding.”

"How do we cooperate?" Lin Hui then confirmed the blood seal and chose to evolve the Typhoon Sword Technique. The writing disappeared instantly, and then he mainly looked at Fang Tiancheng.

“It’s very simple.” Fang Tiancheng quickly described the next plan, which was much worse than the one Wang Yueheng had proposed.

Lin Hui had no objections. Money was just a number to him; as long as he could buy enough medicine, that was enough. Now that his father was making money, their family fortune was growing rapidly every day, so he didn't need to worry about anything.

After finalizing the new cooperation model with Fang Tiancheng, Lin Hui kept replaying the words Fang Tiancheng had spoken when they first met in his mind.

Upon returning to his residence, he secluded himself and consumed all the Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms one after another. Apart from eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he remained in seclusion, cultivating his inner strength and consuming the Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms.

For two consecutive weeks, Lin Hui did not leave the house, until he had eaten all of the Ganoderma lucidum. He was so sick of the sight of Ganoderma lucidum that he felt like vomiting.

But the benefits have also become apparent.

The fourteen-year typhoon sword technique was reduced to ten years and five months from the very beginning.

Then Lin Hui began taking his medication daily as a routine.

During the medication period, he was basically able to move around freely.

Now that there is no imminent danger, and the opponents are all quite sensible, they have become collaborators.

Qingfeng Temple has officially acquired the quota for sending people into the inner city.

Lin Hui took advantage of the break in preparing for the celebration to go home first and visit his mother, father, and stepmother.

After tempering his body and cultivating his inner strength, he recalled what Fang Tiancheng had said earlier. He still couldn't feel at ease.

So he left Qingfeng Temple, and even left Xinyu Town, and wandered aimlessly along the main road far from the town.

Horse-drawn carriages occasionally sped by on the main road, their wheels leaving new tracks in the slowly accumulating thick snow.

On both sides of the main road, one wooden courtyard house after another passed by him. From time to time, the sound of brooms sweeping snow could be heard from these courtyards.

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Hui once again found himself in front of the tall wall of fog.

Ahead, a weary caravan slowly emerged from the fog and passed him on his right.

As Lin Hui watched them, still wondering which faction they belonged to, suddenly more than a dozen men wearing melon-shaped hats and black vests rushed out from a courtyard on the side of the main road.

These men quickly and skillfully rushed to the side of the caravan, helped up some of the obviously injured members, and headed towards the courtyard.

They began to treat the injuries, and then the caravan members offered some of their goods as payment.

Soon, the delivered goods were handed over to the men in black vests in the courtyard.

The two parties exchanged money for goods, demonstrating a level of familiarity that they had done this many times before.

This action attracted not only Lin Hui, but also several other passersby who stopped to watch.

One of the people who was closer saw the fresh look on Lin Hui's face and couldn't help but sigh.

"Are you also here waiting for family and friends?"

Lin Hui didn't reply, but just glanced at him.

This guy seemed to have imagined the specific plot, and sighed again.

"Even though the roads in this foggy area are well-established routes, the caravans still suffer considerable casualties. My eldest son died halfway through the journey, and now my second and third sons are continuing in this line of work. I don't know when they'll finally find relief."

"Why don't you change jobs?" Lin Hui asked after a moment of silence.

"Why change jobs? Every job has risks these days. It's better to do what we know best and have the most experience with. At least this job can feed us for a year." The old man smiled to himself, took out a pipe from his waist bag, lit it, took a puff, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“My family started out farming, but we couldn’t work at night. As soon as it got dark, we had to make time to get home, otherwise it would be too dangerous at night. So the harvest wasn’t high all year round. Then one day, my wife suddenly fell ill, and we didn’t have the money to go to the doctor. She passed away just a few days later.”

From that moment on, my two sons and I understood that life isn't just about surviving; it's also about earning money and living like human beings!

“In this outer city, even if you go out, you can’t go too far. As soon as it gets a little dark, you have to calculate the time to go back, otherwise it would be very dangerous to be left out overnight,” he said softly.

"If you're unlucky and it's windy outside, even a tiny bit of your fur covering will be blown away if the wind blows it off. You'll be gone in a flash." The old man waved his hand, trying to describe how fast things could happen.

"The first time I ran a trade route, I spent the night in a foggy area. I witnessed a veteran in a team get blown open by the wind, and he didn't notice, and then..."

The older brother kept talking, seemingly enjoying Lin Hui's quiet listening, so he kept talking as if he wanted to unleash all the chatter he had accumulated over the years.

Lin Hui listened to him quietly without interrupting.

For some reason, he felt as if he had come to understand the way of survival of the most ordinary people in this world who have the least presence.

Like ants, they risk everything to earn money and secure their own space to survive during the limited safe time they have.

If they are like this, then what about ourselves?
He suddenly felt a little lost. After awakening his memories of his past life, he had been driven forward by a huge sense of crisis.

Now, with the improvement of their strength, that once intense sense of crisis has gradually faded and weakened.

The missing persons case would never involve him, his father was doing quite well, and he had even made connections with the inner city. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

But am I really happy?
Is this really the kind of life I want?

For a moment, Lin Hui felt lost and confused, as if he had lost his purpose.

He watched the caravan, and after removing the goods and the wounded, he quickly took over the new trucks that had been transported from the courtyard, turned around and slowly walked into the foggy area, embarking on his return journey.

'Perhaps we should get to the bottom of the jade talisman matter. Then, using the recruitment quota, we can cultivate some of our own people, stabilize the situation, and then go into the inner city to take a look.'

Compared to the vast inner city, the outer city is like a gray area, a buffer zone between the inner city and the fog zone.

"After watching what I want to see, perhaps I'll quietly find a place I like, get married, have a child, and then live a peaceful life, waiting to grow old. Maybe one day, I'll be like this guy, standing at the entrance to the foggy area, waiting for my child to return home safely."

Lin Hui's mind was filled with complicated thoughts, and for some reason, he looked up at the sky where snowflakes were falling.

The gray sky was also swept by some invisible cold wind, which blew the snowflakes into various diagonal lines and made them fall.

Gazing at the cold wind blowing the snowflakes, Lin Hui felt a strange sensation even though he couldn't see clearly.

He seemed to understand some aspect of the wind. It was like the fate of his family, as his older brother had described—unpredictable, chaotic, and elusive.

"Did the snow bring the wind, or did the wind bring the snow?"

Lin Hui gently caught a snowflake and watched it melt in his palm.

In that instant, a line of text inexplicably appeared below his field of vision.

'Note: Your understanding of the characteristics of natural disaster winds has improved, reducing your Typhoon Sword Technique progress by one month.'

"!!?" Lin Hui was stunned.

Can the evolutionary process be shortened in this way?
(End of this chapter)