Decaying World

Chapter 90 090 Trial of the Sword IV

The next morning, at Qingfeng Temple.

Lin Hui held the reply from the Hundred Flowers Sect, his brows furrowed as he read it carefully.

"Recently, a great change has occurred in Xingdao City. A large number of people, including martial artists, have fled to Tuyue. Not only Qingfeng Temple, but also many acquaintances from Xingdao have come to join us from my Baihua Sect."

Among this group are those unwilling to be subservient to others, who have built their own power bases and recruited skilled individuals. It's highly likely that this type of force in Fu'an Town is deliberately stirring up trouble.

Ou Tianrong wrote in detail in her letter that her Hundred Flowers Sect had recently gained two more Inner Strength Realm elders, both of whom were old acquaintances from the original Xingdao District, which meant that their strength had greatly increased.

This is an opportunity for some forces, but it's a bit of a problem for the local forces in Tu Yue.

The trouble that Qingfeng Temple encountered was said to be caused by the Flying Stone Sect, but the Flying Stone Sect's background is unclear due to the distance and the fact that they haven't shown enough achievements.

The letter contained everything that could be said, and one could clearly feel Ou Tianrong's sincerity towards them.

Lin Hui crumpled the paper into pieces with a whoosh, remained silent for a moment, and then stood up.

At this point, a decision needs to be made based on Xue Meng's reply.

Discard the paper and let it burn in the brazier until it turns into black fragments.

Lin Hui gripped the hilt of the sword again and slowly drew it. Over the past two days, he had been constantly reflecting on sword techniques and reading the notes of his predecessors, which gave him a deeper understanding of the swordsmanship of his sect.

This successfully shortened the time of the bloodstain.

Although it wasn't much, just a little bit, it was a good encouragement for him.

At least it made him realize that he had other channels to assist the Blood Seal and accelerate his strength improvement.

'Unfortunately, the Whirlwind Sword Technique is too difficult to master, and I'm still stuck at the first rank.' This third stage of body tempering is more difficult than Lin Hui had imagined.

The progress was so slow that he couldn't even feel any changes after his body was tempered.

Just as he was pondering this, Wang Hongshi's voice came from outside the door.

"Master, the young master of the inner city has arrived."

"Wang Yueheng? What's he doing here?" Lin Hui was taken aback, then quickly opened the door and went out.

Seeing the person standing silently behind Wang Hongshi, with delicate features, gorgeous attire, and a sachet fragrance, who else could it be but Wang Yueheng?
"Brother Wang," Lin Hui said, clasping his hands in greeting, "what brings you here this time?"

"There are some things I need to remind Brother Lin about." Wang Yueheng's expression was solemn, unlike her previous calm and relaxed demeanor.

"Please come to the study." Lin Hui gestured.

The two entered the study one after the other, waited for the servant to bring them fragrant tea, and then closed the door.

Wang Yueheng finally let out a breath and spoke.

"I'm here to warn Brother Lin about the trouble in Fu'an Town. The troublemakers there are a force called Feishimen. This force has an unusual background; it was founded by a martial artist named Li Chi from Xingdao, and they've gathered many internal energy realm martial artists from Xingdao, provoking surrounding forces everywhere. Furthermore, they have close ties with the New Martial Alliance in the inner city. To be precise, we suspect that members of the New Martial Alliance from Xingdao were invited here."

He paused, his brow furrowed, and continued.

"As you know, after the previous struggles, the New Martial Alliance compromised and gave many seats to martial artists from Xingdao's side. Now that they've pulled this stunt, I'm afraid a storm is brewing and something bad is about to happen."

"Zhou Tianwu from the Flying Stone Sect!?" Lin Hui's heart sank. Recalling Xue Meng, who had gone to handle this incident, he knew something was wrong.

"Is this information accurate?" he asked again to confirm.

“Absolutely authentic! The New Martial Alliance is already actively recruiting Li Chi into the inner city. They're moving very quickly; it doesn't seem like a sudden situation at all. On the contrary, it's as if they were prepared in advance,” Wang Yueheng said in a deep voice.

"So what's the current situation?" Lin Hui said in a deep voice.

"The situation is still uncertain, so it's best for Qingfeng Temple to observe the situation calmly and not act rashly," Wang Yueheng advised.

"It's too late. The Flying Stone Sect severely injured two of my disciples, and they've already come knocking on our door," Lin Hui replied.

"Let's find an excuse to delay for a while. They're just two disciples. A little compensation will suffice if they get injured." Wang Yueheng didn't think that the disciples' serious injuries were a big deal, and her attitude was casual.

This seems to be a habit of many inner-city masters: they don't treat those at the bottom as human beings.

Lin Hui stroked the teacup, closed his eyes, and pondered quietly.

He had many thoughts, but the most important one was how to gain a foothold amidst the onslaught of Xingdao's martial arts forces.

"Brother Wang, do you think I should prioritize forbearance first?"

“That’s right.” Wang Yueheng nodded. “This time, Xingdao has brought countless experts, and you don’t know how many eyes are watching from the shadows. If you act rashly and misjudge your opponent’s strength, you might get injured and be attacked and torn apart by a pack of wild dogs. It would be a losing proposition.”

"That makes sense." Lin Hui understood what the other person meant.

It's not that we won't retaliate, but it's best to wait until the situation becomes clearer and we've ascertained the opponent's true strength before taking action.

He also felt that this was the right thing to do; it would be better to take revenge after clarifying the situation inside the gate.

As for the other seriously injured disciples, once they are properly taken care of, they should be able to...
"Report!" A sudden shout interrupted his train of thought.

A disciple scrambled to the door of the study, only to be stopped by the guards. He then knelt down on the ground.

"Master! Quickly save my master! Save him!"

The person who came was wailing, his voice shrill and mournful.

Lin Hui and Wang Yueheng exchanged a glance, then quickly opened the door and walked out one after the other.

Seeing a man kneeling on the ground at the entrance, covered in blood, it was none other than Ding Shu, the fourth disciple of Xue Meng.

"Master! Hurry! Hurry, my master is here!" Ding Shu looked miserable, his clothes were soaked in blood, and he was in a terrible state. He had obviously fought his way back and managed to escape.

"Where is your master?!" Lin Hui's face turned cold. "Fu'an Town, over there. The experts from the Flying Stone Sect sent men to ambush and surround us. My master covered the rear and told us to leave first. He held off two experts of the same level by himself. He... Waaah..." Ding Shu couldn't finish his sentence and burst into tears.

"It seems the people from Xingdao's side don't take Qingfeng Temple seriously at all," Lin Hui said with a cold expression.

"Brother Lin, calm down!" Wang Yueheng reminded him in a deep voice from behind. In his opinion, standing out at this time would be a terrible strategy that would easily lead to being surrounded and attacked. It was precisely at times like these that one should be more patient.

"Brother Wang, why can't they be the ones to tolerate it?" Lin Hui turned around and glanced at Wang Yueheng.

"It's been a long time since I've killed anyone, and people always take advantage of my youth. Fine, fine. This time I'll go myself and kill as many as I can so that people will know that the reputation of Qingfeng Temple isn't built on empty boasts, but on lives!"

"Brother Lin!?" Wang Yueheng saw the look in Lin Hui's eyes and knew something was wrong; this was a sign of an attack! He had seen too many signs of internal energy masters falling ill in the inner city, and Lin Hui's was somewhat similar.

He immediately spoke up, trying to salvage the situation, but...
call!
A gust of wind howled, causing him and those around him to squint. When they came to their senses, Lin Hui had vanished from the spot, nowhere to be found.

"Since Brother Wang is here, I'll trouble you to stay at headquarters for the night. I'll take some men and be right back." Lin Hui's voice drifted over from afar.

These words made Wang Yueheng's eyelids twitch.

"What a fool!" he exclaimed, slapping his thigh in exasperation.

So what if you're fast?
Wait, that seems really impressive. If I'm quick enough to rush over and rescue them, the other side might not even expect Lin Hui to be so fast. In that case, the conflict won't escalate, and the situation will be much better than I hoped.
At least with Lin Hui's speed, even a Zhou Tian master could escape if he couldn't defeat him.

As long as Lin Hui doesn't do anything foolish and fight head-on.

The problem is, Lin Hui seems to have fallen ill!?
*
*
*
An hour later.

In front of Heilong Pharmacy in Fu'an Town.

A troop of fast horses swiftly arrived through the snow, gradually slowing down before stopping in front of the Black Dragon Pharmacy.

The commotion attracted the attention of passersby, including the portly boss across the street, who immediately perked up, his small eyes fixed on the other side of the street, waiting to watch the show and make a snack for his drinks.

"Here they come! I told you Qingfeng Temple wouldn't sit idly by, would they? Beating someone up like that, even I wouldn't be able to swallow this insult. Let alone these martial artists."

he muttered under his breath.

The owner of the tea shop next door came closer.

"They're all dressed in white, they're quite imposing. The one leading them looks like someone you don't want to mess with. Looks like this is going to be interesting."

"Shh, keep your voice down, they can hear you from this distance! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you." The fat boss shoved the other person away and hurriedly looked around.

"That young swordsman at the head of the group, must be the abbot of Qingfeng Temple? Lin Hui, the Invisible Swordsman?" The tea shop owner, unconcerned, leaned closer again and asked in a low voice.

"Probably. They look very strong. I wonder how they would fare in a real fight? Those three experts fought before, and they really shattered everything they touched. It was quite a spectacle!"

“If they dare to bring men over here, they can’t be weak.” The tea shop owner nodded in agreement.

There was a crash.

At this moment, a tall and strong figure in a pure white fitted robe dismounted and stood in front of the broken gate, looking down at the scattered fragments on the ground.

The figure had a long sword hanging at his waist, and some snowflakes were scattered on his long black hair. His temperament was cold and sharp.

It was Lin Hui who came from headquarters.

Behind him, four elite disciples—Wang Hongshi, Chen Sui, Huang Shan, and Qiu Yiren—were brought along.

"The opponent is very strong. Do you know why we brought you here?" Lin Hui asked in a low voice.

“Gather intelligence, determine the enemy’s location and information. After all, it’s far less efficient for the abbot to come alone and search in all directions than for us to act separately as a group,” Wang Hongshi replied in a deep voice.

“That’s right. No matter how fast I am, I can’t fly from one end to the other in an instant. The distance in between is enough for them to disperse and evacuate. We can’t wipe them all out in one fell swoop. So…”

laugh!
Suddenly, Lin Hui's figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.

The next second, his figure appeared out of thin air next to a house more than 20 meters away.

The sword flashed.

Three disciples in yellow robes with cross-shaped scars, who were hiding by the wall of a house, had just tried to get up when they felt a pain in their throats, choked to breathe, and collapsed to the ground in terror, clutching their necks.

"Three eyeliners."

Lin Hui took a few steps forward and came to the innermost part of the room, in front of a young woman in yellow who was holding some kind of cylindrical tool and preparing to deliver a message.

“Continue,” he said calmly, looking at the other person.

"I...I..." The woman's voice trembled as she tried to pull open a thin line at the bottom of the cylinder, but it slipped from her grasp every time she tried.

His companion's body lay nearby, a bloody hole in his throat, lying on the ground, his eyes wide open in death.

Only she was left.
"Please, please don't kill me!?" the woman cried out, her voice trembling.

She hadn't expected Qingfeng Temple's retaliation to come so quickly and so ruthlessly.

"Where is Elder Xue Meng of our sect?" Lin Hui asked in a deep voice.

"I don't know. No!" The woman cried out, tears and snot streaming down her face. She screamed as soon as she finished speaking, trying to beg for mercy.

But in the next instant, Lin Hui's sword blurred for a moment, then returned to normal.

At the tip of the sword, a tiny drop of blood trickled down.

"You know nothing, what use are you?"

Lin Hui looked at the woman with a new cut between her eyebrows, then turned to examine the marks on the ground.

(End of this chapter)