The Decaying World

"I’m sure it’s in this village, but as for the exact location... I can’t pinpoint it!" Zhu Xiang said with a helpless expression.

On the outside, he looked like a middle-aged Daoist in his fifties with a square face.

But those who truly knew him were aware that he had just turned thirty this year.

The reason he looked so old was because he was constantly on the move, suppressing ghosts and demons all over the country. The lack of rest and the immense drain on his energy had caused this premature aging.

The other man, Dai Yunhua of the Thunderclap Palm, was a short, stocky, bald man with extremely thick arms. He was in his late twenties and full of vigor. Combining his Palm Technique with his marksmanship, he had built quite a reputation for himself in the martial world.

This time, because of his relationship with Brother Hao—the two were old friends—he had worried for Brother Hao’s safety and volunteered to join the investigation.

Brother Hao was now the deputy chief of a police precinct in one of Xidong City’s seven major districts.

When the Blood Character Case resurfaced, he initially sent his most capable subordinates, but three of them ended up dead. After that, he had no choice but to take charge personally.

"If you can’t ever pinpoint it, are we supposed to just wait in this village forever?" Dai Yunhua asked impatiently.

"Be patient. In truth, compared to us, the killer hiding in the shadows is definitely more..." The Daoist, Zhu Xiang, didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Suddenly, sand and stones swirled around them, and the air grew hazy.

Amidst the dancing dust and gravel, a semi-transparent phantom shot toward the three of them, aiming straight for the weakest, Brother Hao.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Just then, Brother Hao reacted instantly, raising his gun and firing three shots, all of them precisely hitting the approaching phantom.

The phantom faltered for a moment. In that brief delay, Dai Yunhua also took action, drawing his pistol and firing repeatedly at the phantom.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Amidst the continuous gunfire, the phantom actually grew accustomed to the bullets. Soon, it no longer even hesitated, but turned and charged straight for Dai Yunhua.

"This thing! The bullets are useless!?" Dai Yunhua was startled. This was the first time he’d ever seen a real ghost. He had lived in the city his whole life and had seen a Mutant Body before, but a ghost was a first.

"Get some distance! Dodge first and wait for me to use my magic!" Zhu Xiang roared from the side.

But Dai Yunhua wasn’t convinced. He raised a hand and circulated his power, gathering the Palm Force of his Thunderclap Palm and striking fiercely at the phantom.

"I don’t believe it!"

He had fought cautiously against a Mutant Body before, and now, fearlessly, he struck out with his full power.

Unexpectedly, the phantom suddenly solidified, extending a withered, blackened arm to smash against his Thunderclap Palm.

BAM!

The two palms collided. Dai Yunhua let out a pained grunt and was sent flying backward, rolling over a dozen times on the muddy ground.

For a moment, he felt as if he’d been headbutted by a rabid old bull. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he immediately vomited a mouthful of blood.

The arm he had struck with was in excruciating pain, completely drained of strength.

Just as the phantom lunged for him again, Zhu Xiang suddenly raised his hand and pointed a finger at the creature from a distance.

A flicker of red flame ignited at his fingertip.

He chanted an incantation, clutching a yellow talisman paper with blood-red patterns in his other hand. He strode forward and slapped it firmly onto the phantom’s body.

PFFT.

The phantom shrieked and began to struggle.

But in the next moment, Zhu Xiang slapped a second talisman on it, pinning it to the spot, unable to move.

Zhu Xiang continued to chant scriptures, then quickly pointed again, precisely touching the phantom’s forehead.

This final touch caused its form to completely disintegrate. Within a few short seconds, it vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

Phew!

Brother Hao and Dai Yunhua both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

"That was insane! I’ve seen a Mutant Body before, but it was nothing like this ghost! How is a normal person supposed to deal with that?" Dai Yunhua sighed.

"You didn’t believe it before. Convinced now?" Brother Hao asked casually from the side.

"Convinced, totally convinced... It’s really not afraid of guns or fists, but why is it so scared of the talismans in your hands, Daoist? Could you sell a few of those to us? In this world, you never know when you might run into similar trouble," Dai Yunhua said with a bitter smile.

"These are command talismans. They’d be useless even if I sold them to you," Zhu Xiang said helplessly. He bent down and picked up a black bead that had dropped from the phantom.

"That’s because we of the Taoist School don’t rely on our own power to vanquish demons. Instead, we use talismans to report the situation to the Underworld and the Celestial Court. Then, the ghost-generals and god-generals on duty transmit their power to us, allowing us to imprison and punish these fiends."

"This... in this day and age, there’s really an Underworld and a Celestial Court?" Dai Yunhua asked, astonished.

"This old Daoist doesn’t know for sure either. This is just how we’ve always been taught. Since power is passed down to us, I suppose they must exist..." Zhu Xiang sighed.

"Then, is there any way for ordinary people like us to counter these... problems?" Brother Hao chimed in.

"Difficult." Zhu Xiang shook his head. "Talisman papers, Magic, and Magic Artifacts... only those within our lineage can channel power through them. They’re useless in the hands of an ordinary person."

After a brief discussion, having eliminated the ghost lurking here, the three of them continued their investigation.

But upon investigating, they discovered that in the short time they were dealing with the ghost, three more households in the village had been attacked.

In all three households, the young, able-bodied men were the ones who had met with disaster.

Helpless, the three of them could only go to each family, one by one, to explain the situation and offer comfort. They urged the immediate blood relatives to move near the police station right away for their own safety.

It went well at first. They successfully persuaded the blood relatives of the first two families.

This was the nature of the Blood Character Case: all victims would have a bloody character appear on their foreheads. After it appeared, their immediate blood relatives would also be killed, one after another, within three to five days.

But when they got to the third house, they found only an old man who had collapsed dead. After Zhu Xiang placed a talisman on the body to suppress it, they asked the neighboring villagers but couldn’t find any other blood relatives.

It wasn’t until they asked the village chief that they learned a little more.

"The man’s name was Xie Daxin. His wife died of illness many years ago. Now he only has one son, who works out of town. I think he’s... doing odd jobs, like an apprentice or something. I’m not too clear on it," the village chief said hesitantly.

Brother Hao’s brow furrowed, and he looked at Zhu Xiang.

"Daoist, if the blood relative is far away, will the blood character still take effect?"

"It will. It’s a type of chain curse. Distance doesn’t negate it," Zhu Xiang nodded.

"Then we have to find the Xie Family’s son immediately! Otherwise, if someone else dies, the blood character will just keep spreading," Dai Yunhua frowned.

That was the way of the Blood Character Case. It affected immediate blood relatives, but it could also spread to strangers who rashly touched the body.

Otherwise, the case wouldn’t have been such a headache for Brother Hao. It would have simply ended once the direct bloodline of the original victim had died out.

Having no other choice, the three went around asking about the whereabouts of Xie Daxin’s son.

After asking all around, they finally learned the son’s name and location from a young woman who had a crush on him.

"His name is Xie Tieniu. He should still be in the city, working as a handyman and apprentice at the Songfeng Sword Dojo."

"The Songfeng Sword Dojo?"

Dai Yunhua was slightly taken aback.

"What is it?" Brother Hao looked at his friend.

"That place... I think it was originally a fitness-style sword dojo opened by some run-of-the-mill Swordsman. After that Swordsman passed away, one of his star pupils inherited it, and then it slowly got better. Their Swordsmanship and Martial Arts are pretty decent," Dai Yunhua recalled.

"How do they compare to you?" Brother Hao asked.

"We’ve never fought, so I don’t know. But in a real fight, he’s just a pure Swordsman. He’d be no match for me," Dai Yunhua said confidently, patting the black pistol at his waist.

The three of them immediately prepared to head into the city to find him. They had just picked up the body, but before they even reached the village entrance, a villager called them back.

Because Xie Tieniu himself had just returned.

The moment this Xie Tieniu saw his father’s body, he burst into loud wails. The brawny man, well over six feet tall, threw himself to the ground in a kowtow, his earth-shattering sobs echoing around.

A few villagers were trying to hold him back, preventing him from touching the corpse.

The trio walked up, helpless. After a difficult conversation...

"What? You’re not coming back to the station with us? Where are you going, then? Aren’t you afraid of dying??" Brother Hao looked at Xie Tieniu, unable to understand.

Xie Tieniu had an honest face and a strong build. He sported a trendy buzz cut, and his gray and white short clothes were clean and unpatched. His face didn’t have the sallow complexion of the other villagers; his cheeks weren’t sunken at all. He looked more like a young master from a rich family than an ordinary villager.

In fact, in this day and age, even the young masters of moderately wealthy families might not look so well-fed and spirited.

Even in the city, a single glance down the street would show that ninety percent of the people had sallow complexions. They were short and thin, with an average height under five-foot-three.

"I’m going back to the sword dojo to ask my master to get justice for me!" Xie Tieniu said angrily.

"Master? Who’s your master?" Brother Hao was intrigued. ’Could his luck be so good? Did he find another extraordinary person besides Zhu Xiang?’

"My master is the head of the Songfeng Sword Dojo!" Xie Tieniu had joined the dojo as a basic martial arts disciple later on. The previous master had long since passed away, so naturally, he could only take Lin Hui as his master.

As he spoke, his tone was firm and resolute, clearly showing he had immense faith in his master.

But when the three heard it was just the head of a sword dojo, they knew inwardly that he couldn’t possibly handle the ghosts and other troubles that came with the Blood Character Case.

The three of them tried every which way to persuade him, pleading with him, but that Tieniu was stubborn and completely distrusted them. He quickly packed his things, snatched his father’s body, and took it with him to the sword dojo to beg his master for help.

"Tieniu, Tieniu, don’t be rash! If someone who doesn’t know how to handle it takes this body, a ghost will appear on the first night, a living corpse on the second, and the killer will show up on the third! Even if your master’s Martial Arts are superb, he can’t fight a ghost and a living corpse!" Dai Yunhua pleaded earnestly.

"I don’t care! All of you, get out of my way!" Xie Tieniu wrapped his father’s body in layers of tattered cloth and bedding, then lowered his head and charged out of the house.

Not wanting a conflict, the three had no choice but to step aside.

Helpless, the three of them quickly took the other bodies back to Zhu Xiang’s small Daoist Temple. Only after dealing with them did they follow, heading straight for the Songfeng Sword Dojo on the outskirts of the city.

No matter what, they absolutely could not let the scope of the Blood Character Case expand any further.

「Meanwhile, inside the sword dojo.」

Lin Hui was gently stroking the Ruyi he had just taken out, applying Sword Oil to it.

His physical transformation had reached Great Success, but unfortunately, his trip to Buffalo Village had turned up absolutely nothing.

So he had to return to meditate and sort out his body’s condition.

The Blood Seal was still evolving. And though he couldn’t appraise it right now, he could still call up his own status to check it.

Lin Hui sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Below his field of vision, lines of bloody red text rapidly appeared.

He skipped the other sections and looked directly at the Special Effects column.

Aside from the Special Effects he already had, the new ones that appeared after coming here were the solid foundation he had painstakingly built over the years.

’Special Effects: Divine Power (Your base strength is innately ten times that of a normal person), Body as Light as a Swallow (Your reaction and movement speed are innately far beyond a normal person’s), Sinews of Steel and Bones of Iron (Your muscles and bones surpass copper and iron), Accelerated Recovery (You innately possess a recovery speed far beyond a normal person’s), Immunity to a Hundred Poisons (Ninety-nine percent of all poisons on the market are like seasoning to you, causing minimal harm), Fortune/Misfortune Sense (You have a special sense for the good or bad fortune of current events), Mind’s Eye (Any sneak attack is as obvious to you as an open declaration).’

Without even tapping into his basic Star Power, these abilities, combined with his improved Songfeng Swordsmanship, were the true source of his confidence.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!