Chapter 24: Disappearance II

The sword tip was very steady, not harming the black ant in the slightest. But at the same moment, a trace of transparent airflow, identical to the one before, shot out from Lin Hui‘s finger. It traveled along the sword blade, instantly darted out, and finally surged precisely into the black ant’s back from the sword tip.

Click.

The black ant was motionless again.

After one second, it was terrified and quickly crawled away into the distance.

‘Huh? That works too??’ Lin Hui was surprised. He held his sword and pointed it toward another black beetle.

The beetle raised its large pincers, ready to resist, but froze instantly the moment the sword tip touched it.

A second later, it was scared and fled quickly, disappearing into the grass.

‘It works with a weapon too. That greatly expands the scope of application. Although it only lasts one second, as long as I touch the opponent’s body, one second is enough time for even the weakest Clear Wind Taoist Temple disciple to strike twice! Enough to decide the outcome!’

Lin Hui was overjoyed.

This move, the Sealing Formation Toxin, seemed to paralyze the opponent with gas as its core, but it actually contained a hint of supernatural phenomena.

At least, in both his past and present lives, he had never heard of gas being able to transmit through a solid, non-porous metal longsword, and at such speed.

Pleased, Lin Hui tried several more times, allowing all the small insects on the surrounding grass to experience what it meant to be motionless.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that he retrieved his sword and slowly walked back to the temple.

In this way, besides the Light Body special effect, he had gained another hidden killing move.

Next, he needed to consider what to evolve with the blood-red mark next, so as not to waste its time.

After eating at the dining hall, Lin Hui lay on his bed in his room, pondering carefully.

Unconsciously, his thoughts returned to the scenes of ordinary yet genuine civilian life he had witnessed while patrolling in town.

The normalcy of all this was built upon those seemingly fragile, miniature black-purple jade talismans.

‘Wait, the jade talisman!?’

Lin Hui abruptly sat up, his gaze locked onto the jade talisman stone hanging on the back of his room door.

‘What if I evolve the jade talisman?’

He quickly got out of bed, reached out, and pinched the purple-black stone hanging behind the door.

‘Unknown Jade Stone: Can dispel the night mist and ward off mist creatures. A product designed for high targeting; creator unknown. Evolvable Branches: 1.’

Lin Hui quickly clicked on the evolution branch.

‘1 – Peace Stone: Can dispel the mist over a large area.

Required Resources: One Unknown Jade Stone, one drop of Insect Blood, 20 years of stored energy.

Required Time: 20 years.’

The moment Lin Hui saw “twenty years,” he let go of the jade talisman helplessly. Also, that “Insect Blood”—he had no idea what that was.

‘It seems raising my overall physical energy is still the key…’

He sighed, his gaze turning to the window. An inexplicable, strange impulse rose in his heart.

‘Wait, since my true burst speed now already exceeds that of the Senior Brother and the others, why don’t I try to get close to the mist myself?’

‘If I can get a trace of the mist, perhaps I can analyze it using the blood-red mark to gain some clues.’

‘But before that, I should first find someone who has been inside the mist to ask about the situation.’

As far as Lin Hui knew, within the Clear Wind Taoist Temple, the Senior Brother, the Ming Generation Masters, and the Abbot had all ventured into the mist. Additionally, the government organized skilled individuals every year to form teams and enter the mist for exploration.

Thinking this, Lin Hui felt somewhat eager. He had just gained the benefit of the Sealing Formation from the insect egg. If he could obtain more good things, perhaps…

But then he thought of his rapidly increasing Body Tempering rank.

‘No hurry… No hurry. I’ll have more confidence after I raise my Body Tempering to the extreme, increase my speed to the limit, raise my status within the temple, and acquire sufficient information about the mist.’

Suppressing the impulse in his heart, Lin Hui calmed himself. Sword in hand, he began practicing the Nine-Section Quick Sword again.

This time, he didn’t hesitate and directly used the blood-red mark to evolve the Nine-Section Quick Sword.

‘Nine-Section Quick Sword: Advanced version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword style, one of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple’s combat sword arts. Evolvable Branches: 2.’

This time, Lin Hui didn’t evolve it stance by stance but tried to evolve the entire sword style at once.

He clicked on the evolvable branches.

‘1 – Nine-Section Quick Sword Perfected Version.’

‘2 – Clear Wind Sword Style.’

The evolution effect was what he had expected. Lin Hui didn’t hesitate and directly chose 1.

Immediately, the required resources and time popped up.

‘Required Resources: One metal longsword, nine months of stored energy.

Required Time: nine months.’

‘It’s shortened again!’ Lin Hui was delighted upon seeing this.

Each stance of the Seven-Section Quick Sword previously required fifty days of evolution time. Now, one stance only required thirty days, because the Nine-Section Quick Sword had nine stances, and nine months meant only one month per stance.

“Persevering in physical conditioning is effective after all!” A strong sense of satisfaction inexplicably rose in Lin Hui‘s heart.

‘Many front courtyard disciples spent several years and still haven’t fully mastered the Nine-Section Quick Sword. I only need nine months to completely master the Perfected Version, which is far superior to the average front courtyard disciple. However, geniuses like Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren mastered it in just two months. I am still quite slow compared to them.’

Lin Hui secretly warned himself not to become complacent. The shortening of this time made him suspect that his daily hard practice, which contributed significantly to his proficiency in the Nine-Section Quick Sword itself, might also be a factor.

Immediately, Lin Hui quickly confirmed and started the evolution of the new sword style. The blood-red mark on the back of his hand changed from a rhombus back into a circle.

Light Body, Sealing Formation, and now the start of the Nine-Section Quick Sword evolution—the threefold gains made it impossible for his mind to settle down for a while. He immediately returned to his room to rest and calm his spirit.

---

Time continued to pass day by day. The temperature became increasingly cold, and the weather grew more gloomy.

The disappearance cases in the Outer City were still frequently occurring.

Lin Hui practiced his sword inside the Clear Wind Taoist Temple and unknowingly increased his Body Tempering by another rank, reaching the Third-Rank level.

This was already close to Chen Chong‘s Fourth-Rank and on par with Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren‘s Fourth-Rank. Yes, those two geniuses had also broken through during this time, reaching the Fourth-Rank level.

However, although he had improved, since there was no temporary sparring competition to rank the disciples, no one knew of his progress.

The disappearance cases in the Outer City, however, worried him. He asked for two days of leave to visit his parents at home.

---

Xinyu Town · Lin Shunhe‘s House.

“Father, Mother, I’m back.”

Lin Hui pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Yao Shan collecting laundry in the courtyard. He quickly went forward to help.

“Why are you back!? Isn’t it too early for a holiday?” Yao Shan was surprised to see him.

“I just missed home and wanted to visit,” Lin Hui replied casually. “Where is Father?”

“He went out to check on the shop. Our family has opened a small sundry shop now, mainly selling wild goods, grain, oil, and miscellaneous items. The income is quite good,” Yao Shan smiled as she spoke of this.

“Let’s go, let’s go see it.” Lin Hui grabbed his mother, glanced at the sky, and headed out the door.

Yao Shan couldn’t talk him out of it, so she had to put down her work and lead the way to the small shop.

The two talked as they walked.

“Speaking of which, we really owe a lot to that Muhua Gang person from last time. He and his sister always patrol around our shop, and they stopped collecting the protection fee. They even step in to resolve minor troubles. If you see them, remember to thank them,” Yao Shan instructed.

“Okay, I know. By the way, Mother, have you heard about the disappearance cases happening everywhere recently?” Lin Hui quickly asked.

“Heard about them? How could I not? Your father was terrified when he first heard about the first disappearance case,” Yao Shan sighed. “But later, he went out and asked his old contacts for information, and he felt relieved. Actually, these disappearances happen every year. It’s just that the place we used to live wasn’t nearby, so we didn’t tell you. What your father was initially worried about was the slum area near the outermost ring, which is the most frequent area for disappearances.”

“Every year…” Lin Hui‘s previous suspicion became clearer.

Before long, the two walked toward the town. Following the row of small shops along the street, they quickly found his father Lin Shunhe‘s small shop—Mountain River Sundry Shop (山河杂货铺).

The storefront was small, only wide enough for three people to stand side by side. It was only five or six meters deep, stacked full of goods.

Lin Shunhe was sitting on a chair at the entrance, holding a small book and reading leisurely.

Hearing footsteps, he turned his head to look, initially thinking it was a customer. But as the person approached, his face broke into a joyful smile.

“A Hui, why are you back??”

“I missed home and came back to visit.”

Lin Hui smiled and sat down. After exchanging simple questions about their recent lives with his parents, he quickly changed the subject to the disappearance cases.

“I only managed to find out about whether we were safe or not. If you want more detailed information, here is an invitation. You can check it out,” Lin Shunhe stood up and took out a simple black paper invitation from behind the counter.

“Your elder cousin sent it. It’s specifically addressed to you.”

“Elder Cousin?” Lin Hui was surprised.

“Of course, who else would remember you?” Lin Shunhe laughed. “She organized a small gathering herself. She heard you were working as a patrol auxiliary in town and had entered the Clear Wind Taoist Temple front courtyard, so she sent this for you too.”

“Who will be attending this small gathering?” Lin Hui asked.

“This is a small gathering your cousin is hosting in her personal capacity. The attendees are her close personal friends. The fact that she invited you means she probably wants to give you a hand. If you want to inquire about information, she is with the Sha Yue Cult and has received the Summoning. She is a highly sought-after person in the surrounding area. Friends she approves of will definitely be of great benefit to you. If you can make an acquaintance or two, it will truly be a great opportunity!” Lin Shunhe said seriously. “I was planning to send it to the temple for you in a couple of days, but since you are back, you can take it yourself.”

“Are you saying the disappearance cases are related to the Inner City? So my cousin might know something?” Lin Hui said thoughtfully.

“I didn’t say that; I just suspect it. In any case, Hongzhen and you have a good relationship. She clearly wants to give you a boost, so don’t let her goodwill go to waste,” Lin Shunhe reminded him.

“I understand, Father.” Lin Hui picked up the invitation. A line of small text was written on it: Green Ink Tower Heaven and Earth Private Room, January 11th, 10 AM. Your presence is requested.

“Also, I heard the main clan’s Lin Hongyu is getting engaged to a Chen Family descendant. They are making a huge fuss about it. Someone came to invite us too, but I declined,” Lin Shunhe‘s tone became flat when he mentioned Lin Hongyu.

“Engaged?” Lin Hui chuckled lightly, saying nothing more, only tucking the invitation into his clothes.

(End of Chapter)