Decaying World

Chapter 34 034 Change of Heart II

Lin Hui nodded and glanced at his grandfather Lin Chaoyi and the two people behind him.

Lin Chaoyi is alright, but the other two are Lin Hongzhen's father, Lin Shunjiang, and the other is Lin Shunchong from the second wife's family.

One of the two looked helpless, while the other had a somber expression, both watching Lin Chaoyi perform with their arms crossed.

At this moment, Lin Chaoyi was so angry at Lin Shunhe's words that he trembled all over, pointing at him but unable to say a word.

"Ah!" X2.
Just then, both of them rolled their eyes back and fell backward to the ground.

The father and son moved in exactly the same way, and immediately foamed at the mouth and convulsed after falling down.

Yao Shan and Lin Shunchong stepped forward to catch the person at the same time, and then shouted anxiously together.

"Father! What's wrong with you!?"

"Honey! What's wrong?!"

"Dad, you can't be hurt!!"

"Honey, why are you coughing up blood?!"

Hearing the chaotic commotion in the living room, Lin Hui put down his luggage in the bedroom, speechless.

You can't hit this old man, after all, no matter how much you sever ties, he's still Lin Shunhe's father. You can't just kick him out either, what if he kneels down outside the door if you throw him out?
A father kneeling before his son is an eye-catching and shocking event, no matter where it is.

Lin Hui listened to the commotion outside, which had escalated to the point where his mother, Yao Shan, was shouting to stop vomiting blood.

Inside the hall, Lin Chaoyi and Lin Shunhe were both trembling on the floor, one spitting out saliva and the other coughing up blood; the situation was quite bizarre.

Lin Hui didn't go out either; it was obvious that his father and Lin Chaoyi were competing to see who had more shamelessness.

If it were him, he definitely wouldn't be as adept at this trick as his father.

He probably would have just thrown the person out, which would have been satisfying, but it would have damaged his reputation.

Having figured this out, he let his father and Lin Chaoyi waste their time there.

He then took off his coat in the bedroom and lay down to rest.

I haven't slept well at all these days in the fog zone. Not only are there too many monsters making too much noise outside, but my master, Mingde, also snores and talks in his sleep, chanting his wife's name dozens of times a night.

As soon as he lay down, Lin Hui felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him, and all the fatigue he had accumulated came rushing out. He fell asleep without realizing it.

A dreamless sleep.

When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, it was already pitch black outside. In the hall outside the bedroom, only his parents' hushed voices could be heard. Clearly, Lin Chaoyi and the others had already left.

Lin Hui stretched, slowly got out of bed, put on his outer robe, opened the door and went out.

Seeing Lin Shunhe mopping the floor, while his mother Yao Shan sewed a large black cotton-padded coat beside him, the two chatted as they worked.

Seeing Lin Hui get up, Yao Shan quickly put down her work and stood up.

"Ahui, you're awake? Are you hungry? I'll heat up some food for you. It's freshly made Jade Bone Chicken Black Velvet Soup."

"Okay, Mom." Lin Hui nodded, then looked at his father. "Dad, when did those guys leave?"

"You left not long after you went to bed. That old bastard saw he couldn't get anything out of us, so he refused to go back to the clan and lingered until it was almost dark before leaving." Lin Shunhe's face showed a mocking expression. "He didn't apologize when he stole our family's opportunity, and now that you're doing a little better, he comes trying to take advantage of us. Bah! No way! I've finally seen what kind of person Lin Chaoyi is! Playing games with me? I'd rather vomit blood than him!"

Lin Shunhe ripped at the gray cloth shirt stained with red chicken blood on the chest, his face flushed with anger.

"Dad, you'd better take it easy. Don't really hurt yourself." Lin Hui said speechlessly.

"It's nothing, it's all chicken blood. I just killed a chicken to help you recover, so I thought I'd use it. I even changed into some cheap clothes," Lin Shunhe said nonchalantly.

Lin Hui gave a thumbs up.

"Dad's still awesome!"

"Awesome? What does that mean?"

"It's strong and powerful."

"You're only finding out now?" Lin Shunhe laughed.

Lin Hui smiled too.

He walked over and pulled up a stool opposite his father to sit down.

"Speaking of which, how are things at the Lin family's main branch? How is my eldest sister? I'm planning to go see her tomorrow, is that alright?"

"Go on, I just secretly slipped your uncle some money. They're spending a lot on their daughter's medical treatment. They're not making ends meet. It's tough for them. It's all that damn Lin Hongyu's fault!" the old man cursed.

"What's Lin Hongyu's situation now? Wasn't she supposed to be engaged to a member of the Chen family? How come she's in such a bad situation after the engagement?" Lin Hui asked.

"The news's out. Lin Hongyu was just played. He was just talking; he didn't even give her a chance to get pregnant," Lin Shunhe mocked. "To be honest, those scions of powerful families in the inner city aren't so easy to win over. From childhood to adulthood, they've been tempted by countless men and women. If it were that easy to get engaged, they would have been devoured long ago. I felt something was off when I first heard the news, and now it seems... heh."

"That makes sense." Lin Hui nodded in agreement.

"That's why Lin Chaoyi is so anxious now. Lin Hongyu was just like that in the Chen family, she couldn't even win him over. Now that she's been dumped and is no longer innocent, her value has plummeted. Plus, Lin Hongzhen was seriously injured in the process, so two of the three investment lines of the Lin family have been cut off. Only one is left."

"There's one more? Who's left?"

"Lin Shunde from the fifth branch has some money and moved into the inner city. I don't know what he's doing there. He's very secretive and doesn't contact the clan much. He only occasionally sends some things back for the New Year," Lin Shunhe replied.

"Forget it, let's not concern ourselves with the Lin family's mess. We're perfectly fine living our own lives," Lin Hui said. "It's just that the house feels a bit lonely. Dad, this house and courtyard you moved to are a bit too big."

"Knowing it's so quiet, why don't you hurry up and find a wife and have more kids?" Lin Shunhe said with a laugh.

No rush, no rush.

That night, the family ate, drank, and chatted until late before going to bed. Lin Chaoyi's incident was just a minor episode. Two days later, he brought people to cause trouble again, but his father, Lin Shunhe, simply refused to see him and pretended no one was home.

After visiting his parents, Lin Hui went to see his cousin and brought her some money and gifts.

Lin Hongzhen had lost a lot of weight compared to before. She lay there as if she were asleep, but she just couldn't wake up.

Lin Hui didn't know who had the power and qualifications to hurt the eldest sister who had already been successfully persuaded, but he knew that it must be someone whose strength far surpassed his own.

Moreover, he later went to see the two friends that his older sister had introduced to him.

Neither side responded; after so long, it was clear they were deliberately remaining silent.

After settling things at home, he returned to Qingfeng Temple.

Lin Hui once again fully immersed himself in the rhythm of tempering his body in the fog zone.

After a while, their peaceful life was disrupted when a new mission came knocking – the emergency braking team from the local police station was assigned a task.

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Xinyu Town Public Security Station.

The group of nine stood scattered in the spacious backyard of the station, listening to the head constable explain the details of the emergency mission.

The head constable's surname was Xu, and his given name was Ansheng. He was the most powerful person in the Xinyu Town government. The entire government's operation revolved around him.

Although the director and deputy director hold high positions, he is the one who actually gets things done.

Like the director, Xu Ansheng also came from an internal martial arts sect, specifically the Fushan Sect, one of the three sects and six gangs in the inner city. Many key positions in the outer city towns were held by internal martial arts masters like him.

This man was tall, over two meters in height, with streamlined, well-proportioned, and powerful muscles. He wore a light blue constable's uniform, and a decorative black tiger-head belt around his waist was extremely conspicuous, an important symbol of his status and official rank.

"The main task this time is to clear out the wandering patients on the outskirts of the town. The rules are the same as before: do not get too close to them. If you encounter them, kill them immediately without hesitation." Xu Ansheng clapped his hands, and someone immediately brought over a plate of silver ingots.

On a wooden plate covered with red cloth, fist-sized silver ingots were neatly arranged, extremely eye-catching.

"This time the funds are plentiful, so everyone just go ahead and do it. The reward will be doubled for every ten people executed."

"Yes!"

All nine people responded.

Lin Hui was among them. He glanced at the others out of the corner of his eye; his senior brother Chen Sui was there, followed by his former second senior brother Zhao Jiang'an, and his former senior sister Mu Qiaozhi. Also present were Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and their fellow disciple Deng Mingchao. Most of them were acquaintances.

Next, Xu Ansheng explained the key areas to be cleaned up.

He had someone bring him a map of Xinyu Town.

A rudimentary overhead map was drawn with white lines on a black board.

"Let me repeat the whole town: it's divided into the central urban area, the outer suburbs, and the boundary zone. This incident happened in the boundary zone, which is mainly inhabited by people suffering from the disease, and some criminals also hide there. So remember, don't hesitate when you act; act decisively when necessary!" Xu Ansheng instructed.

Lin Hui noticed that the others, such as the senior brother, had calm and composed expressions, clearly indicating that they had participated many times and were experienced.

He glanced at the bloodstain again; two months and four days left. He would then be able to fully master the perfect version of the Nine-Section Swift Sword.

Coming to his senses, Xu Ansheng waved his hand, signaling them to set off.

Lin Hui glanced at the destination of this braking team's deployment. It was already far from the city center, far from the suburbs where his home was located, and directly to another border near the fog zone.

That area was specially marked off with white lines, forming a zone comparable in size to the city center.

"Haven't you been to this boundary zone before?" Deng Mingchao leaned closer and whispered.

"Yes, I've only heard of it before, but I've never been there." Lin Hui dug into his memory, but found no relevant information.

“That place is full of sick people and prisoners; normal people certainly can’t go there. However, the town’s black market is also near there, so quite a few people secretly hide and live there. In short, it’s a very troublesome place. Be careful and stay close behind me for a while. I’ll show you around first,” Deng Mingchao said in a low voice.

They were all fellow disciples of the Mingde Sect, so it was only natural for them to take care of their junior brother.

"Okay!" Lin Hui nodded. "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

"We're from the same sect, why be so polite?"

At this moment, the nine members of the braking team followed Xu Ansheng out of the police station and quickly headed towards the target area.

As you pass through the streets and suburbs, the fields on both sides of the road begin to decrease, and normal earthen and stone houses become fewer and fewer, replaced by some dilapidated black wooden houses.

The number of wooden houses increased from a few to many, some of which were clearly newly built. One could also vaguely sense the watchful eyes peeking out from inside the houses, filled with vigilance and fear.

After walking for a while, the muddy path was lined with dense clusters of dark wooden houses.

Ragged people occasionally emerged from between the houses, their eyes blankly fixed on the braking team.

"It's around here. This area isn't big, so everyone hurry up and clear it quickly." Xu Ansheng waved his hand and drew his waist knife.

The nine people dispersed and approached the area formed by the black wooden houses.

"Follow me." Deng Mingchao walked ahead of Lin Hui, sword in hand, and whispered. "Pay attention to the characteristics: bloodshot eyes, a blank expression, and strangely shaped tumors on the body are the targets that need to be targeted."

"What exactly is the illness? Does Senior Brother know?"

Lin Hui followed him; the two of them happened to be among the slowest teams. Looking at this unfamiliar area, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Do you know about 'Wanfu Meat'?" Deng Mingchao paused for a moment, then replied, "Eating too much of that stuff will make you sick."

Lin Hui was taken aback, then fell silent.

Wanfu meat is available for free. Apart from the poorest and most miserable people, who would still use it as their main food source?
No wonder the meals at the Taoist temple never included Wanfu meat, and no wonder my father never gave him a single piece of Wanfu meat when he was a child.

This thing is meant to keep the poorest people alive.

(End of this chapter)