Chapter 26: Incident II

Carrying a heavy heart, Lin Hui went home to inform his parents of the situation, and the next day, he went to the clinic again but still did not see anyone. Only then did he have to return to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

Before leaving, he gave money to a pharmacist at the clinic, asking him to send a message to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple as soon as he heard any news.

Subsequently, he packed his bags and returned to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

During this time, he also tried to contact the two friends his cousin had introduced, but both lived in the Inner City. Although they had contact points in the Outer City, Lin Hui had sent letters and had not yet received a reply.

Lin Hui suspected that the two might have also been involved and injured in the attack that night.

Returning to the Clear Wind Taoist Temple, he focused his mind as much as possible and resumed the monotonous life of diligently practicing the sword style.

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In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

The weather had completely turned to winter. Scraps of snow scattered diagonally with the wind, dusting the roof of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple with a layer of pure white.

As the end of the year approached, the annual celebratory festival, Yuan Dong (Winter Solstice Festival), was about to begin.

The Tuyue people traditionally celebrated the harvest and looked forward to the future at the end of the year. The Yuan Dong Festival was such a holiday.

The temple was also preparing to hold its annual grand competition, or Dabi, to determine the disciples’ rankings and New Year’s prizes.

It was just one day before the Yuan Dong Festival.

Lin Hui pushed open his room door and saw that many people outside were already hanging a kind of black paper flower under various eaves, one of the most common decorative items for the festival.

His living quarters were in a row of side rooms in the front courtyard, shared with over ten other front courtyard disciples.

At this moment, like him, the other front courtyard disciples gradually emerged. Seeing the temple preparing decorations, their faces couldn’t help but soften.

Lin Hui noticed that from where he stood, he could see many rear courtyard students helping with the arrangements outside the front courtyard and the main hall.

The Taoist children were in charge of directing and organizing, while the logistical Taoist priests were already setting up what looked like a martial arts platform on the front courtyard ground.

Sturdy railings were erected, and gray canvas sheets were propped up to shield against the wind, rain, and snow.

Lin Hui didn’t see Daoist Mingde and the other two Masters. After walking around and scanning the area, he finally spotted Mingde and Minchen sitting cross-legged on a corner of the temple roof, drinking wine from skin bags and chatting.

He silently grabbed his sword and went straight outside the temple to find a corner to practice his sword for the day.

As of today, his Seven-Section Quick Sword Body Tempering had successfully risen to the Fourth-Rank.

This put him on the same level as Huang Shan and the others. The Perfected Version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword was undoubtedly superior to others in its Body Tempering effect.

Lin Hui clearly felt his control and precision in the sword style improving naturally.

At the same time, his Light Body special effect was becoming more skillfully used, stabilizing at a rhythm of using it once and pausing for two seconds, which allowed him to maintain the burst indefinitely.

The Sealing Toxin was also smoothly integrating into his practical sword style. The Sealing Toxin was effective for one second with a two-second cooldown, aligning perfectly with the Light Body effect. This allowed Lin Hui to seamlessly incorporate it into the rhythm of his burst special effect.

He named this sudden burst of Light Body combined with the sealing effect: Hidden Strike (隐袭).

This was because when the move burst forth, the speed was so fast that even he couldn’t clearly see the specific sword shadow.

Standing under the familiar tree shade, Lin Hui slowly practiced the Body Tempering Seven-Section Quick Sword.

Ten consecutive repetitions, perfectly executed. After finishing Body Tempering, he moved on to the Nine-Section Quick Sword. Unconsciously, a few young disciples began to gather not far from him.

They were drawn by Lin Hui‘s flawless sword movements and paused to watch.

“This Senior Brother’s sword style looks better than the other Senior Brothers and Sisters in the front courtyard…”

“Indeed. It feels more precise, and every move and stance gives off a sense of inevitability.”

“I have the same feeling. It looks very steady, very accurate, without a single flaw.”

“Who knows this Senior Brother’s name?”

“He is Senior Brother Lin Hui, who was only promoted a few months ago. I know Chen Zhishen; he has a good relationship with Senior Brother Lin Hui. I heard him mention…”

“Senior Brother Lin Hui just got promoted, didn’t he? How come…”

“Shh, he’s stopping. Don’t discuss him in front of him.”

Lin Hui slowly collected his sword. It wasn’t that he was disturbed by the people around him; with his current focus, the faint sounds couldn’t affect his state.

The real reason was that he saw two people approaching from afar.

One was tall, the other short. The tall one was none other than Chen Zhishen, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

He was holding the hand of a young boy who bore some resemblance to him, quickly walking toward Lin Hui, smiling widely.

Still over ten meters away, Chen Zhishen greeted him loudly, still smiling.

“A Hui! You look like you’re doing well. Did you miss me?”

Lin Hui looked at him strangely. He could tell the guy was living comfortably now. The perpetually miserable Chen Zhishen of the past would never have said such a thing.

“Miss you my ass! Did you eat feed and get inflated? Why did you get fat so quickly?”

He saw that Chen Zhishen had nearly developed a double chin, and he had gained at least thirty jin of weight since leaving the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

“What kind of talk is that?” Chen Zhishen‘s smile faltered. “It’s all thanks to Senior Brother Zhao‘s great benefits. Life is easy. I drink a little wine every day, play a few rounds of dice, and occasionally go out on a mission. It’s incredibly comfortable.”

“Then why are you here?” Lin Hui was speechless. Seeing his bloated figure, he knew the guy must have neglected his sword practice.

“It’s not just that. My nephew paid his tuition and entered the temple, so I brought him here to meet you. For my sake, would you mind helping him out if anything comes up?” Chen Zhishen skillfully tossed a silver note over.

Lin Hui accurately caught it, scanned it—one thousand qian.

“Fine, friendly price. But don’t bother me with trivial matters,” he said.

He barely had enough time for his own cultivation; he certainly wouldn’t tolerate the other party constantly seeking him out for minor issues.

“Absolutely,” Chen Zhishen nodded with a smile, then led the young boy closer, smacking him hard on the back of his head.

“Come, call him Uncle! He’s your Uncle Lin from now on. If you run into real trouble at the Clear Wind Taoist Temple and can’t reach me, go find your Uncle Lin, understand?”

“Hello, Uncle Lin.” The young boy was awkward, possessing the kind of simple honesty and sincerity unique to rural folk.

“Mh-hm. What’s your name? I’ll go greet the people I know later,” Lin Hui nodded, his expression softening.

“He’s called Chen Jiahu, nickname Xiaohu (Little Tiger). You can call him Ahu too. Feel free to use him for any chores you need. This kid is strong and a top-notch worker at home,” Chen Zhishen chuckled.

“That’s good. I just happen to need someone to run errands,” Lin Hui nodded with a smile.

Looking at Xiaohu, he involuntarily thought of his cousin Lin Hongzhen just a while ago, who had introduced him to her friends in the same manner. Yet, his cousin was still unconscious.

He had written to his elder uncle a few days ago, and the response was that she was still in a coma. The Cult had given up on treatment and sent her home. It was said that while Lin Hongzhen‘s physical injuries had healed, her mind had suffered trauma, and no one knew when she would wake up.

The Rain Palace Cult had spent considerable resources and money on treatment, and they had done their utmost.

Whether she woke up now depended entirely on fate.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui‘s smile unconsciously faded. Recalling his cousin’s kind interactions with him in the past, he felt a pang of sadness.

Seeing his expression change, Chen Zhishen‘s smile vanished. He asked in a low voice: “Is it about the Green Ink Tower incident last month? I heard about it too.”

Xinyu Town was only so big. The Lin family’s affairs had long spread, so even Chen Zhishen, who still paid close attention to the Lin family, heard about it in the neighboring town.

“The injured person and I are close,” Lin Hui replied. “Life is unpredictable. Let’s not talk about that. Are you staying to watch the competition later?”

“The grand competition? Of course, that’s what I came for,” Chen Zhishen laughed.

“Didn’t you just say you came to see me and introduce your nephew?”

“Can’t you even understand pleasantries?”

The two laughed again and walked into the main hall together.

The Clear Wind Taoist Temple‘s main hall was spacious. Disciples were already registering and escorting outsiders who had come to watch.

The crowd was surging. The registration area included returning older disciples, a few family members, and invited guests from other martial arts halls.

There were easily over a hundred people present.

After accompanying Chen Zhishen to register, the latter took his nephew to greet other acquaintances. Lin Hui returned to his room to adjust his state, waiting for the grand competition to begin.

This time, he had reached Fourth-Rank Body Tempering, and he planned to show some of his skills to improve his standing at the Clear Wind Taoist Temple.

In his view, hiding his true strength only required concealing his trump cards. There was no need to hide his genuine strength. Revealing it would allow him to fight for more resources and better treatment.

By utilizing these greater resources, he could achieve greater growth and continue the cycle, forming a snowball effect that would allow him to grow strong as quickly as possible.

The only prerequisite was not to be too conspicuous and attract too much unwanted attention.

The morning setup was complete. All the disciples were summoned, paying their respects to the Clear Wind Pavilion ancestors in a formal ceremony, lighting the large incense in the great cauldron on the training ground, striking the surrounding bronze gongs, and finally lighting the pile of firewood stacked outside the temple, sending a large flame and smoke skyward.

On the newly erected platform, a young female Taoist child, wearing a pure white robe and two goat-horn braids (羊角辫), held a black paper flower and loudly sang a celebratory song for the Yuan Dong Festival.

The child’s clear voice was sweet and pleasant, as if it could cleanse the soul.

After the song, a troupe hired by the temple took the stage to perform juggling and theatrical plays. For a time, the sounds of gongs and drums made for a lively atmosphere.

After over an hour of festivities, lunch began at noon. Tables and chairs were set up around the platform on the training ground, and a continuous buffet of dishes was served.

Senior Brother Chen Sui, Second Senior Brother Zhao Jiangan, and Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi, whom Lin Hui hadn’t seen for a while, all appeared.

Daoist Baohe raised a cup of wine to bless everyone for the new year, and everyone returned the gesture.

Only after a period of eating and drinking did the main event, the grand competition, begin.

Huishen, Daoist Mingde‘s Taoist child, took the stage to read out the specific rules of the Dabi. Following the competition, there would be exchange matches with guests from other martial arts halls.

The surrounding tables and chairs were quickly cleared away, replaced by wooden tiered viewing stands that were moved in and arranged neatly around the platform.

The logistical Taoist priests prepared sets of standard clean white Taoist uniforms as the unified attire for the competition.

All front courtyard disciples received their uniforms and went back to change.

Ten minutes later, all preparations were complete.

Clang.

With the sound of a gong, the grand competition officially began.

Lin Hui, sword in hand, stood below the stage, calculating the rank he could achieve this time. If he could squeeze into the top ten, he would genuinely secure much better assignments and income than before.

The Clear Wind Taoist Temple would provide extra resources to the top ten elite disciples, with substantial monthly subsidies.

Theoretically, the top ten disciples represented the face of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple and were required to frequently engage in exchange sparring with other martial arts halls. Therefore, resources had to be expended to support their growth.

Being in the top ten elite also meant moving beyond the scope of ordinary disciples and possessing the potential to cultivate the Clear Wind Sword Style to the Ninth-Rank Body Tempering level in the future.

Above the Ninth-Rank Body Tempering level were the renowned experts, similar to the Ming Generation Daoist Masters.

This level of strength required careful consideration even from the elites of the Three Great Powers in the Inner City, as they were at the same strength level.

In fact, Lin Hui had once asked Daoist Mingde about the level above Ninth-Rank Body Tempering.

Mingde‘s answer was simple—from external to internal, internal force is born (由外而内，内生隐力).

Lin Hui‘s temporary goal was set on this Internal Force Realm. He believed that the Internal Force Realm would afford him a good degree of self-preservation.

(End of Chapter)