Decaying World

Chapter 20 020 Patrol Part 2 (Xie Yao, Fire Fox Alliance Leader)
"That's how it is after just being promoted. After all, I've only been learning swordsmanship for a few days," Lin Hui said helplessly.

"Alright, alright, he's a descendant of my friend, and he got the position through my connections. The government also gave him an extra spot because of me. It doesn't count against the temple's quota." Master Mingde clapped his hands and explained, "I have a general idea of ​​your abilities. Chen Sui, go and give Yiren some pointers, so everyone can see the difference."

"Yes." Senior Brother Chen Sui nodded, picked up his sword and stepped forward to face Qiu Yiren, clasping his hands in greeting.

"Junior sister, be careful."

"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother." Qiu Yiren nodded, drawing her sword and staring intently at her opponent.

but.
With a crisp hissing sound.

She didn't even see how the person disappeared before the wooden sword in her hand was forcibly knocked away by a great force.

The wooden sword was still whistling and circling in mid-air when a large hand suddenly reached out, grasped the hilt, and stopped it in place.

"You flatter me." Chen Sui looked calmly at Qiu Yiren, who seemed somewhat dazed.

one move.

He defeated the so-called genius with a single move.

"See?" Mingde added from the side. "Someone like Chen Sui has already reached the pinnacle of external martial arts. He has tempered his body to the limit. The main difference between him and the other external martial arts masters lies in his understanding of the moves and his grasp of the timing and state."

"Master, how many other martial arts schools, gangs, and sects have external martial arts masters like Senior Brother?" Huang Shan asked curiously, having recovered some of his strength.

“The yamen used to have an assessment system for the ninth rank of external martial arts. This was based solely on the level of body tempering. It didn’t represent specific strength, and it couldn’t judge comprehension of techniques or anything like that. You can use it as a rough reference,” Mingde explained. “Chen Sui, Zhao Jiang’an, and Mu Qiaozhi are all at the ninth rank of external martial arts with body tempering strength. Their bodies have reached their limit. As for the four of you, Chen Chong is probably at the fourth rank. Huang Shan is at the third rank, Qiu Yiren is at the third rank, and Lin Hui only broke through a few days ago. Judging from his movement speed, he should only be at the first rank.”

"How is this grade divided?" Huang Shan continued to ask.

"It's very simple. Observe carefully. In actual combat, our Nine-Section Swift Sword will involuntarily leave behind subtle afterimages of the sword swing. There is one afterimage flashing by for each grade. It is very clear. Other martial arts have different methods of judgment. But no matter what, if you four encounter a speed-type master who can leave nine afterimages in one go, don't be stupid. Just turn around and run away."

He paused, then continued, "Of course, not all martial arts are graded based on speed and afterimages. For specific judgments, just listen to your senior brother. He will tell you how to act based on the threat level of your opponent."

The group looked at Chen Sui, who shrugged and nodded.

After having lunch together in the afternoon, everyone went back to rest.

Early the next morning, as soon as the fog lifted, Mingde led the five men away from the Taoist temple and headed towards the government office in Xinyu Town.

An hour later, the five men, led by Chen Sui, changed their clothes and began their formal patrol work.

As Mingde said, their patrols mainly target minor cases and petty thieves.

Lin Hui patrolled with them for an hour, taking three breaks in between. He made one move and caught a petty thief who stole someone's purse, but there was nothing else he found.

They encountered no further problems until the very end, and each returned safely to their lodgings to rest.

The accommodation was a designated small building arranged by the government, and food and drink were taken care of.

The group thus completed their first day's basic patrol.

Then came the second day, the third day
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Street scene in Xinyu Town.

Pedestrians come and go, trucks constantly move from the main road to the backyards of various shops, and farmers carry vegetables and rice to the roadside to set up stalls and hawk their wares.

Lin Hui and Qiu Yiren were dressed in gray and white outfits, with a white patrol token issued by the government office tied around their waists.

Both men wore long leather boots and white face masks. At their waists hung their respective weapons—real iron longswords.

The two strolled leisurely along the street, avoiding the mud splattered by vehicles, conducting a rather tedious and casual inspection.

"This job is good, but to be honest, it's a bit too boring." Qiu Yiren yawned, feeling sleepy.

She was a girl who paid great attention to her image, but after patrolling for a long time, she became bored and couldn't help but relax and ruin her image.

“Indeed, at first I thought there really were some fog monsters, but it turns out…” Lin Hui agreed.

These days he has been diligently practicing the Nine-Section Fast Sword every day, no longer practicing the complete set of sword techniques as before, but still practicing one move at a time.

With such practice, his proficiency skyrocketed. Without special effects, his speed was already at the third or fourth rank of a Body Tempering disciple, comparable to Huang Shan and the others, incredibly fast. If he activated the Lightness skill, he estimated he could unleash a speed and movement technique exceeding that of his senior brothers for a short period.

However, while his speed was fast, his swordsmanship was poor. He knew he was unlikely to win against his senior brother in a fight, but the speed difference would allow him to quickly escape the battlefield, making him neither victorious nor defeated. This was the key reason he chose Qingfeng Temple.

"I wonder how things are going on Senior Brother's side. He's with Huang Shan and Chen Chong," Qiu Yiren sighed. She wanted to go check on the other side, but her teammates weren't even familiar with the Nine-Section Quick Sword, so she was definitely the main force. And the main force couldn't just run off and slack off, otherwise Lin Hui would be in trouble if she left.

The two strolled slowly past the shops along the street. This was the central street of Xinyu Town, where small shops were all open for business.

Because of the fog in the mornings and evenings, townspeople are relatively pressed for time if they want to buy everything they need and finish their work during the day. Therefore, most people passing by are in a hurry.

"It should be fine. Although many people have come from other districts recently, they are all experts who entered the inner city, and have no connection with the towns surrounding our outer city. If..."

Lin Hui was about to continue speaking when suddenly, not far ahead, a muffled thud came from the second floor of a two-story gray-white restaurant. A living person crashed through a window and fell heavily from the upper floor.

"You son of a bitch! How dare you bully me!?" A rough male voice roared, followed by a violent clash of weapons.

"Something's happened." Qiu Yiren immediately became excited. This job was too boring, and she could finally find something new to do.

She gripped her sword and rushed swiftly towards the restaurant without the slightest hesitation.

Lin Hui glanced at the restaurant's name—Wanjia Restaurant.

Helpless, he hurried after them.

These patrol assistants were tasked with maintaining order before the actual patrol officers arrived.

They had encountered petty thieves during their patrols before, but they were all weaklings who could be taken down in two moves; they were all ordinary people.

But this time, the noise seemed different. Lin Hui secretly became more vigilant.

The two quickly went up to the restaurant, identified themselves, and were immediately led up to the second floor by the panicked restaurant staff.

Upon approaching, they saw two burly men locked in a fierce battle, weapons at their sides. One of them, bald and dressed in cloth, wielded a thick wooden club covered with iron bars, seemingly employing a set of staff techniques that appeared quite formidable.

The other man, dressed in a gray robe with a black belt around his waist and a full beard, was holding a white single-bladed knife in both hands and was fighting head-on with the other man without backing down.

Qiu Yiren went upstairs, observed two moves, and quickly made a decision.

"They are all ordinary martial artists who haven't undergone body tempering, one for each of them."

"Okay," Lin Hui replied.

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Qiu Yiren flash by and, much faster than the other two, pierce right between them.

Chi Chi.

Two sword shadows pierced the vital points of the two men respectively.

Attacking both of them simultaneously forced them to retreat and defend.

"who!?"

"Governors! Stop right there!" Qiu Yiren shouted, her long sword swirling once more, easily pinning the bearded man to the spot as he hastily parried.

However, the two were vastly different in their agility, speed, and attack methods. The bearded man kept swinging his sword at the wrong point, and several sword cuts appeared on his body in the blink of an eye. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and kept shouting that he would stop fighting.

On the other side, Lin Hui stopped the bald man who was still trying to run away.

"Monk, don't rush off. It would be best if we could avoid fighting."

"I'm not a monk! I—" Before the bald man could finish speaking, he suddenly rushed towards the entrance of the restaurant's stairs.

But his movement speed was nowhere near that of Lin Hui after his body tempering.

After only a few steps, Lin Hui blocked his way again.

The bald man moved again, but was immediately blocked again.

After the two repeated this several times, the bald man finally gave up.

“I didn’t want to fight either, but that guy was too much! He insisted on buying the old ginseng I had! I was so angry that I threw his servants out.”

"Don't tell me these things. Tell the messengers when they come," Lin Hui said firmly.

He stared at the bald man while glancing around.

Inside the restaurant, there were some daring diners watching the commotion, as well as waiters. Several of these people were carrying weapons and needed to be kept a close watch on, just in case.

However, after patrolling for so long, he roughly understood the situation.

The proportion of body-tempering martial artists on the streets is very low. In all the days they've been patrolling, they've only encountered two, and both were from nearby martial arts schools. After they introduced themselves and exchanged a few words of advice, the matter was resolved.

This is what's known as the unspoken rules of the martial arts world; face is reciprocal. This area is Qingfeng Temple's patrol zone, and the other party is showing respect to Qingfeng Temple. When someone from Qingfeng Temple gets into trouble in their patrol zone, the other party will reciprocate by not causing them any embarrassment or trouble.

Lin Hui had thought that by going on patrol, he would encounter skilled opponents and be able to participate in more real combat, but it seems that in the end, it all comes down to personal relationships. This left him quite helpless.

He has now mastered only two killing moves of the Nine-Section Quick Sword, and his body tempering is progressing by leaps and bounds. One day of his training is equivalent to three days for an ordinary disciple, and one and a half days for a genius like Huang Shan.

Moreover, his efficiency is much higher. While others need two hours to temper their bodies and reach their limit, he only needs ten repetitions, taking less than half an hour in total.

This also gave him plenty of time to practice the rest.

"I knew you guys were all in cahoots!" The bald man on the other side became anxious after being intercepted several times, and his eyes turned faintly red.

He roared and swung his wooden stick at Lin Hui, but before he could finish the move, he heard a strange sound of sword light, felt a pain in his hand holding the stick, and could no longer hold the weapon, which fell to the ground.

"Well done!" shouted the bearded man on the other side, his voice filled with delight.

"You guys, hold him down! This guy stole my ginseng!" Three servants in black, armed with short knives and small shields, rushed upstairs beside him.

"Bullshit!! That's mine!!" The bald man was furious upon hearing this. He immediately went to pick up the wooden stick again.

"Stop it, all of you!" Qiu Yiren shouted from the side.

But neither side listened, and it looked like they were about to fight again.

She immediately attacked again, her sword flashing, her nine-section swift sword completely overwhelming these ordinary servants.

These servants were simply strong and knew a little bit of basic swordsmanship; they were easily defeated and knocked to the ground in a few moves.

"We are patrol assistants from Qingfeng Temple! If you make another move, you are disrespecting Qingfeng Temple!" Qiu Yiren shouted.

Lin Hui struck the bald man again with a few more sword strikes, the sword tip hovering in front of his face.

"We must give Qingfeng Temple face, of course. I am Duan Xinde from Feiyun Pavilion. Senior sister, could you please remove your sword from my brother?"

At this moment, three more men and women dressed in white entered the restaurant.

One of them had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, stood 1.8 meters tall, and wore silver and black metal arm armor. He had a strong presence and immediately fixed his gaze on Qiu Yiren, who was controlling the bearded woman.

"Flying Cloud Pavilion?!" Qiu Yiren's eyes flashed. The strength of the Flying Cloud Pavilion's master was even greater than that of her own Qingfeng Temple's treasure and Taoist, which made her feel somewhat less confident when facing the other party.

"A Body Tempering disciple? Your swordsmanship is barely passable. Hand that man over to us, and you can get lost." The man said again, "Also, I said, take your sword away from my brother!"

With a loud bang, the man suddenly attacked, throwing a punch straight at Qiu Yiren's chest.

Although the speed of his punch was not as fast as Qingfeng Guan's movement technique, it was not much different.

On the other side, the other two also stared at Lin Hui, their eyes fixed on him, ready to strike at any moment.

(End of this chapter)