Decaying World-Chapter 18

Lin Hui remained alone in the courtyard, watching the dim sky. A strange sense of stability settled in his heart.
He hadn't been sitting long when the courtyard gate was knocked again.
Thud, thud, thud.
He rose to open it.
Standing outside were Brother Huang and his lackey, along with a thin woman with a scarred face.
"Brother Lin, this is the protection fee your family paid before. We've brought it all back, every coin. And this is a small apology gift. We didn't understand the situation clearly before. Sorry, truly sorry." Brother Huang handed over a small money pouch and also held up a bag of kumquats.
Kumquats had seen a poor harvest recently. Prices had risen, making them a relatively expensive fruit.
"Mn, I'll take the money, but the kumquats..." Lin Hui took the pouch, but before he could finish refusing, the bag was shoved into his hands.
"You must take them, you must. We broke the rules first. This is an apology. We hope Brother Lin will show us some leniency at the martial hall. Leniency, please," Brother Huang said humbly.
He was just an ordinary gang member. If he were targeted by these martial artists who had achieved Body Tempering, and one day ended up dead in a ditch from a blow to the head, it would all be for nothing.
So, this bag of kumquats was actually bought out of his own pocket as an apology. He might even have to look after the Lin family more in the future to make amends.
"Alright. I won't spread word of this matter. We'll consider it settled," Lin Hui accepted the kumquats. "Anything else?"
"No, nothing else. This is my sister. She'll be patrolling the area later, so I brought her to recognize your face," Brother Huang patted the back of the scarred woman beside him and spoke politely.
"Mn. If there's nothing else, go back. I won't see you out." Lin Hui didn't want to waste breath on these low-level gang members. He understood their survival methods—bullying the weak and fearing the strong—but understanding didn't mean he wanted to befriend them.
"Right, right, we won't disturb you then." Brother Huang nodded repeatedly.
The courtyard gate closed gently.
Lin Hui held the kumquats and the money pouch, turning to see his mother standing at the door of the inner room, watching him.
He lifted the pouch and the fruit toward her.
"It's fine. People from the Muhua Gang came to return the money and apologize."
Hearing this, Yao Shan's face instantly relaxed, and her gaze fell on the items.
The Muhua Gang people really came to return the money... Only seeing the cash now did she truly, tangibly feel the impact of her son becoming a formal disciple.
It wasn't something ethereal, but an influence that could be converted into real money and benefits.
Looking at her son standing in the courtyard, Yao Shan suddenly felt that the family, which had been barely held up by her husband alone and teetering on collapse, now had an additional pillar.
Though this pillar wasn't thick, it helped stabilize the roof that was shaking and about to fall, allowing this home to continue sheltering her from the wind and rain.
….
Lin Hui stayed home for three days.
He also met with people from the Fuan Gang. They tactfully refunded half of the protection fees. Since they didn't have anyone from Clear Wind Temple in their ranks, refunding half was already considered decent.
This immediately returned a good amount of cash flow to the family.
Sent off by his parents, Lin Hui returned to Clear Wind Temple. He went to see Daoist Mingde first.
After all, his initial entry into the temple had been arranged by Mingde, so after achieving Body Tempering, he had to pay a visit.
Mingde's room was on the outer side of Clear Wind Temple, a detached small courtyard.
He didn't live inside the Daoist temple but had built his own compound right next to it.
When Lin Hui arrived, Mingde was grabbing handfuls of dry rice and scattering them to feed chickens.
A flock of large yellow chickens, so fat they waddled, rolled around the yard like yellow balls, scrambling everywhere.
"Disciple Lin Hui greets Consecrator Mingde." Lin Hui bowed through the fence from outside the yard.
"It's you. Is your father well?" Mingde scattered the last of the rice and looked up at Lin Hui.
"Oh? You finally broke through Body Tempering? Not bad, not bad."
A smile appeared on his face.
"Thanks to the Consecrator's blessings, all is well. Disciple was lucky to break through," Lin Hui said solemnly.
"Breaking through at your age is considered decent. But what follows is the stage where the real gap widens. Have you thought about how to make money? You won't earn much staying in Clear Wind Temple," Mingde said casually.
"I haven't thought about it yet." Lin Hui paused and shook his head.
Mingde opened the gate to let him in, turning to walk toward the inner room as he spoke.
"Now that you've achieved Body Tempering, Old Lin can relax a bit. He's a stubborn mule and refused to let me help him solve his problems no matter what. Now it's good; you're finally somewhat useful."
"Many thanks for the Consecrator's care," Lin Hui said sincerely again.
From that sentence alone, he understood that Consecrator Mingde had been keeping an eye on his family's situation. It was only because of his father's views on favors that he hadn't intervened.
"No need for formalities. Your father helped me plenty back in the day. Come, sit." Mingde found two stools. They each took one and sat by the table in the inner room.
"Since you have no plans, how about I arrange something for you?" He seemed prepared.
"Please speak, Consecrator." Lin Hui said quickly.
"Because of your contract with the temple, you can't go to the great households. But the temple has always cooperated with the town government. They want to transfer people from us, along with other martial halls, to form an Auxiliary Watch to assist the official bailiffs in patrolling the perimeter. The main tasks are catching bandits and thieves, and surrounding and killing the occasional stray beasts and monsters from the mist zone. Of course, for the latter, you only serve as lookouts. Don't worry."
Mingde paused, then continued.
"The work still counts within the Clear Wind Temple contract. The wages, excluding the temple's portion, are an extra ten thousand a month. Room and board are free. Most importantly, we martial artists always need actual combat. Locking yourself away to train bitterly won't make you a master."
"Disciple is willing!" Lin Hui accepted decisively.
Are you kidding? Apart from the temple wages, getting another ten thousand a month—this was definitely a lucrative job. Although it was a bit dangerous, as Mingde said, martial arts ultimately required combat.
"Good. I'll send your name over later. Next, you must practice the Nine-Section Swift Sword more. You'll face real combat out there. Also..."
He got up and went to a wooden cabinet in the corner. Opening it, he took out a sword over a meter long, silver-black, and wrapped with anti-slip cloth.
"This is prepared for you." He placed the sword in front of Lin Hui.
"A top-grade item from Cloud Pine Pavilion. Be careful with it; it's enough to last you a long time. Remember to maintain it and sharpen it regularly."
"This... is too valuable!" Lin Hui was startled. Real weapons were expensive to begin with—the cheapest metal weapon cost ten thousand coins. And this was good from Cloud Pine Pavilion.
Cloud Pine Pavilion was a renowned weapon shop in the Inner City, famous for its superb quality—and equally high prices. By estimation, this sword probably cost a hundred thousand!
He hurriedly stood up to decline.
"What are you panicking for? Consider it a loan. Pay me back when you earn more later," Mingde said, unconcerned. "Alright, don't be wishy-washy. This sword is useless sitting here with me; it'll just rust. Take it and maintain it for me. Even a house falls into ruin if no one lives in it for too long, let alone a weapon."
He brooked no argument, forcing Lin Hui to take the sword, and then gave him some pointers on the key points of practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
The two chatted for ten minutes or so before Lin Hui rose to take his leave.
….
Only when Lin Hui had completely left and walked far away did a long-haired girl walk out of the bedroom.
"Dad, it was just a favor from a long time ago. Do you really need to invest so much capital? That kid isn't some genius, and he doesn't have much potential for the future. Is it worth it?"
The girl looked about fifty percent like Mingde. Her face was pretty; clearly, the other fifty percent was inherited from her mother.
Her figure was curvaceous, especially her legs—long and rounded. Below the waist, she was taut and perky; even a pale green long dress couldn't hide the mature curves of her body.
"Weiwei, back then Lin Shunhe helped me through a crisis. Now, when I try to repay him, he refuses. So I can only repay his son. This is also the result he wants," Mingde said calmly.
"But you didn't need to spend that much, right?" His daughter, Weiwei, said helplessly. "There's no way this will see a return. It's all throwing money into the water."
"This is my principle of conduct!" Mingde's voice rose slightly. "Weiwei, remember this. In this world, there are always some things that cannot be measured by money."
"Yes, yes, yes..." Listening to this old-fashioned rhetoric, Weiwei rolled her eyes speechlessly. She didn't argue with her father anymore.
Such things weren't happening for the first time. Mingde helping his friends had long caused a significant burden on the family. But no matter what they said, it was useless.
….
Lin Hui returned to his quarters. Checking the time, he saw it was still early and the sky hadn't darkened or turned misty yet. He took a wooden sword and went to the front courtyard drill grounds.
He intended to formally learn the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
As for the Blood Seal, it had already officially begun the evolution of that Withered Seal Insect Egg.
The evolution direction was the one-month Sealing Array toxin.
Just one month. He could wait.
Arriving at the front courtyard, the drill grounds were divided into ten zones, most of which were occupied.
Only the spot near the front gate was empty. Perhaps because people were constantly coming and going, causing too much distraction.
Lin Hui carried his sword over, took the spot, stood in the center, and slowly began to practice the Seven-Section Swift Sword.
Not far behind him was Eldest Senior Brother Chen Sui.
In another zone to the side was the genius Huang Shan. Both had evidently been practicing for a while.
Seeing Lin Hui arrive, Chen Sui was unaffected, continuing to practice the Clear Wind Sword methodically.
Huang Shan, however, had some impression of Lin Hui. It was all because Chen Chong had grabbed her butt, and Lin Hui had ended up in a conflict with Chen Chong on account of his friend. She had witnessed the incident with Chen Zhishen from a distance.
Both she and Lin Hui had conflicts with Chen Chong, giving them a point of similarity.
Now, as she watched Lin Hui practice the sword, she saw the Seven-Section Swift Sword unfold as smoothly as flowing clouds and water, exuding an indescribable agility.
Huang Shan's eyes lit up immediately. For some reason, she felt that Lin Hui seemed to practice even better than she did.
After watching for a while, she saw Lin Hui approach the rotating teaching Daoist, Mingxiu, to learn the Nine-Section Swift Sword. Lin Hui quickly picked up the first few moves. However, when he returned to practice on his own, all of his previous brilliance vanished; he moved slowly, like a child dancing.
Huang Shan quickly lost interest.
….
Days passed one by one.
Lin Hui soon obtained the position of town auxiliary patrol mentioned by Mingde. Going to the patrol with him were four others.
Among them, Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren, as well as Chen Chong, were surprisingly on the list.
The last one was Eldest Senior Brother Chen Sui, who was responsible for leading the team.
Clearly, in this team, the Eldest Senior Brother relied on strength, Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren relied on talent, while he and Chen Chong relied on connections.
Lin Hui recognized this clearly.
Because he lacked the Blood Seal, his progress with the Nine-Section Swift Sword was extremely slow. But he didn't panic in the slightest.
Because his Body Tempering speed was maxed out every single day. Every day, he could feel his body becoming more and more agile.
Until two days before they departed for the patrol.
Lin Hui finally waited for the Blood Seal's special effect for the Seven-Section Swift Sword to open.