The Decaying World

「A year and a half later...」

"Daddy... is named... Lin Xiangnan."

"Mommy... is named Fu Yunxin."

"Come on, sweetie, say it with Mommy~~~"

In the bright, spacious nursery, Fu Yunxin, Lin Hui’s mother in this life, stared at him with an expectant look. She was trying to get him to repeat after her and start talking.

Lin Hui gave her a calm glance, then turned away to continue flipping through the book in his hands.

At one and a half years old, he was now about the size of an average three-year-old.

His expression was also completely different from other children. He had never been very expressive, even from birth. Most of the time, he hardly ever cried, only letting out a grunt or two when he needed to eat, drink, or be changed.

"Oh... sweetie, look at Mommy. Come on, be a good boy, say it with Mommy~~~" Fu Yunxin wasn’t ready to give up and continued to coax her child.

"Sigh... Everyone says you have to give your kids a head start, so why is our Huihui so big already and still can’t even talk?" his father, Lin Xiangnan, lamented from the side.

It was strange, really. That hadn’t been his original name. But once he started recognizing written characters, he pointed to the character for ’Hui’ and insisted on it. The couple felt the name must be fated for him, so they indulged his wish and officially named him Lin Hui.

As his parents fretted nearby, Lin Hui continued flipping through the book in his hands. It was a complex volume, dense with text: a bound collection of the city’s newspapers.

Such bound volumes of newspapers were common here, often used by families as primers to teach their children how to read.

This way, while teaching their children to read, parents could also explain basic general knowledge. At the same time, they could catch up on the news and current events themselves—killing three birds with one stone.

As Lin Hui read the headlines, he confirmed his suspicions. ’I don’t think I’ve come to the wrong place.’

Capital Sports University Officially Opens for Public Tours Today

Icefield Society and Northern Women’s University Announce Joint Construction of Large Ice Rink

Famous Movie Star Situ Zuiming Dies in Accidental Fall

These were all relatively normal.

But some of the articles that followed were clearly unique to this place.

Serial Murders in West Creek Village: Entire Family Slaughtered, Leaving a Single Child Survivor.

Beneath the headline was a color photograph of a little girl with twin pigtails, standing and smiling. Her smile was wide and happy, yet unsettling. Her eyes were vacant and devoid of spirit.

An ordinary person might only sense that something was off about the photo, but Lin Hui’s eyes were drawn to a faint purple mark, barely visible on the left side of her neck. That mark...

’Decay Markings...’ He instantly recalled the spots he had seen many times before.

’Those are special markings that only appear on the Decayed. The only difference is that these are purple.’

He continued to read on.

He flipped the pages.

East Mountain Temple’s Daoist Master Caught in Sex Scandal.

The article detailed how an official Daoist from the renowned East Mountain Daoist Temple was juggling five different women, having started a family with each. After joking about his "abundant energy," the article briefly mentioned several troublesome cases he had solved.

These included the Case of the Headless Fiend, the Flying Yaksha Case, and the Nine Dragons Copper Pillar Case, among others.

Though they were all mentioned in passing, it was enough for Lin Hui to get a rough idea of the general situation in this world.

’One thing’s for sure, this world is a lot like the last one. There are all sorts of strange and bizarre events happening out there. The good news is, there’s no supreme ruling class like the Fog People. Here, the ones who deal with these strange incidents are mostly the major Daoist Temples and monasteries.’

In the time since he had learned to read, he hadn’t just looked at these newspapers; he had read a lot of other materials as well.

Some of these materials mentioned that certain Daoist Temples and monasteries worshipped a treasure known as the Insect Scripture.

Daoists and monks worshipped the Insect Scripture, using special Secret Techniques of Cultivation to borrow its power. This was how they gained the ability to fight against malevolent entities.

Typically, institutions that possessed and worshipped an Insect Scripture were famous, essentially acting as the guardian deities of their region. The number of worshippers and offerings they received was immense.

SNAP.

He snapped the book shut. Lin Hui stood up and, still in his split-crotch pants, quietly walked to the window. He scrambled onto the sill in a few quick movements and gazed out at the view.

In the distance, a pear tree was slowly shedding its withered leaves.

’So it’s autumn...’

His young parents watched from behind as he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance. For a moment, they could only look at each other, utterly bewildered.

Ever since their son had started to read, they felt they understood their one-and-a-half-year-old less and less.

Both of them came from ordinary merchant families. Their parents had spent a small fortune to send them to school and see them all the way through university.

As a result, they both developed the high-minded attitude of college graduates and couldn’t bring themselves to do manual labor. Their only option was to pass the exams for a teaching position and become elementary school teachers.

"I think Ah Hui has been cooped up at home for too long," his father, Lin Xiangnan, suggested. "Kids need more sunlight. And they need to make friends. Why don’t I take him out to play?"

"That’s a great idea," Fu Yunxin quickly agreed.

And so, the couple immediately took Lin Hui out to the community square to play with other children.

The residential complex was called the Huayin Community. Most of its residents were families of faculty from the nearby schools, though there were a few student families renting apartments as well.

Lin Hui had no desire to go out, but his body was still weak and undeveloped. He was no match for them, so his parents of convenience grabbed him and hauled him off to the little square.

About a dozen children were in the square, chasing each other and playing with wild abandon.

When the other children saw Lin Hui arrive, looking quite cute, a few of them were drawn over by curiosity.

One of them, a little girl of about three with naturally curly hair, ran right up to Lin Hui. She stared at him, her hand reaching out to squish his cheeks.

Her advance was mercilessly rejected.

"My name is Zhao Lingxiao. What’s yours?" the girl asked. She sniffled hard, and a stream of snot ran from her nose. With a single puff, she blew a snot bubble the size of a fist.

She plucked the snot bubble from her nose—amazingly, it didn’t pop—and proudly offered the "gift" to Lin Hui.

"For you!" she said with great earnestness.

"..." Lin Hui was speechless. He took a step back, clasped his hands behind him, and turned to walk toward the edge of a nearby flower bed.

He needed to find a place to rest.

Besides, even though he had been successfully reincarnated, it didn’t mean he no longer needed to practice his Cultivation.

His foundation in Martial Arts and his Cultivation were all intact; it was only the weakness of his current body that limited his explosive power.

Therefore, his current task was to use Star Power to strengthen his physical body as quickly as possible. For the past year and a half, he had been focused on this foundational work.

Theoretically, he could abandon this body and quickly form a new adult one. But this identity was one he had obtained naturally, guided by the Nether Acupoint, and Lin Hui had no intention of giving it up so easily.

Therefore...

"My name is Zhao Lingxiao! You still haven’t told me yours!" The three-year-old girl grabbed Lin Hui, refusing to let him leave.

"Lin Hui. Can you let go of me now?" Lin Hui said, his brow furrowed with impatience.

Behind him, Lin Xiangnan and Fu Yunxin heard this, and both their eyes lit up instantly.

"He’s fine!?"

"He can talk just fine!?"

Lin Hui couldn’t be bothered to deal with his parents. He shook off Zhao Lingxiao and walked toward a more distant spot.

What he hadn’t expected was that this single outing would convince Lin Xiangnan and Fu Yunxin that socializing was the key to getting him to speak.

And so, they began taking him out every single day. They even decided the little girl, Zhao Lingxiao, was a lucky charm and encouraged the two of them to spend more time together.

Lin Hui couldn’t stand the hassle, but he couldn’t risk exposing his true nature either. He came up with a solution: he simply stopped talking again.

With this adjustment, the couple slowly reduced their outings. Eventually, they all reached a delicate equilibrium.

In the blink of an eye, another three years passed.

He was now of school age. Wanting to give their son a "complete childhood," the couple followed the current trend and decided to sign him up for after-school classes.

The technology level of this world wasn’t high. It was roughly at a stage where electricity existed, but cell phones and computers had not yet been invented. Telephones were also a relatively primitive version.

The country was called the Republic of Zhengshen, and its people were in the midst of an intellectual awakening, brought on by the clash of domestic and foreign ideas.

The government had only recently been established, but it was already plagued by serious internal corruption. Various political parties vied for power, using every trick in the book to snatch up parliamentary seats.

The overall political landscape was reminiscent of a more stable version of the historical Republic of China period.

What was more interesting was that, according to Lin Hui’s research, the entire history of this nation spanned only a little over eight thousand years.

That wasn’t even as long as the lifespan of an older Fog Person.

He had reason to suspect that the civilization here had been rebuilt upon the ruins of a previous, destroyed one.

He just hadn’t yet found any evidence to support this theory.

Beyond the Republic of Zhengshen, there were many other nations, most at a similar level of development. Some were slightly more advanced, while others were even further behind.

What was particularly strange was that the martial prowess here was far inferior to that of the Fog People Realm. People here also relied on things like the Insect Scriptures from monasteries and Daoist Temples, but in this world, the Insect Scriptures were treated more like Magical Treasures. The Daoists and monks themselves were more like Mages—individuals who knew a few specific Magic spells. Their overall influence wasn’t significant, and their status wasn’t nearly as high as that of the Martial Artists and Original Blood wielders from his past life.

Lin Hui surmised that status was directly linked to power. Clearly, the Daoists and monks of this world were far weaker than the Martial Artists and Summoners of his previous life.

He had originally wanted to learn this world’s Magic, but his parents told him it wasn’t taught to outsiders. To learn, one had to be sent to a Daoist Temple or monastery from a young age for a life of arduous Cultivation.

He tried to persuade them to send him there, but they refused.

So, he had to drop the idea.

He only relented because his body was still small, and he intended to let it grow naturally to avoid arousing suspicion. Besides, he still hadn’t fully grasped the situation in this new world.

Otherwise, he could have just forced his Cultivation of the Divine Arts and subtly altered his parents’ perceptions.

’In essence, this should be the Realm where the very source of the Decay is located. The level of power involved must far surpass that of the Fog People Realm. I have to be extremely careful... ’

"Son, look what I brought back for you!"

The gate to the Lin Family residence was slammed open. Lin Xiangnan strode in, a broad smile on his face and a thick stack of flyers in his arms. He had just used his shoulder to barge the gate open.

The Lin Family wasn’t wealthy, but with their teaching salaries and support from both sides of the family, they had managed to buy a spacious, two-courtyard home near the school last year.

They had moved out of the apartment complex they lived in before.

But since it wasn’t far, Lin Hui was still frequently dragged over there to play with his "friends."

"Oh, flyers for after-school classes!" Fu Yunxin’s interest was piqued. She put down her spatula and walked over.

The two of them began sorting through the stack, passing flyers back and forth.

"Son, which one do you want to sign up for?" Lin Xiangnan asked with a smile. Lin Hui was standing in the courtyard, admiring the flowers.

Lin Hui turned, walked over, and casually sifted through the pile of flyers.

Then he tapped his finger on one of them.

"This one."

He said nothing more, turning to walk slowly back to his room to read. His Star Power Body Tempering had reached a critical juncture. By building his foundation from childhood this time around, his innate aptitude was far superior to his previous life’s. The term "peerless genius with one hundred open meridians" was not even close to describing his current state.

Therefore, he had to be meticulous and ensure not a single thing went wrong.

"Alright, alright, this one’s good! Martial arts! It’ll build up his body, and with his studies, he’ll be accomplished in both scholarly and martial pursuits! Hahaha!" Lin Xiangnan pulled out the flyer. On it was written:

Pine Wind Sword Hall—Your Best Choice for a Strong Body and Cultivated Mind!

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