The Decaying World

"In that case, I suppose people like us live more comfortably," Lin Hui said, following Qimei’s line of thought.

"That’s a given. It’s why there are so many of us. But not just anyone can be accepted by a Calamity. Even if you want to fuse, it depends on whether you have the qualifications—the strength," Qimei said with a smile.

"That’s true..." Lin Hui nodded. From what he had seen, those who could actively fuse with a Calamity were almost all paragons from their respective regions.

Looking at the scissors in Qimei’s hand and the artificial grapes nearby, a new question suddenly occurred to him.

"If being a Fusionist has so many benefits, why do those people risk their lives to resist or flee? Surely there must be many extremely powerful individuals among them, right?"

"One reason is a matter of principle. Another... is autonomy." Hearing this, the smile on Qimei’s face slowly faded.

"Autonomy?"

"Yes. After we fuse, everything about us is inevitably influenced by the Calamity. All we can keep is our sense of self. For everything else, whether we like it or not, we can only go with the flow." Qimei seemed to be reminded of something, and his smile vanished completely.

In truth, Lin Hui had already achieved his purpose for coming here. He now knew the type of Calamity behind Xue Shi, how to deal with it, and what situations he might face in the future.

But seeing the expression on Qimei’s face, a new curiosity arose within him.

’Since I’m also destined to become a Fusionist, what is the real, day-to-day life of a powerful one like Qimei actually like?’

With this curiosity in mind, he didn’t make a move to leave.

He just waited.

He waited for Qimei to come to his senses, and then they continued chatting idly.

Before long, however, Qimei looked up at the sky.

The "sky" here was really just the subtle shifts in the torrent of the Wind Calamity outside.

The blue-glowing torrent of the Wind Calamity surged ceaselessly above the complex of buildings.

To Lin Hui, it looked completely unchanged, but Qimei genuinely seemed to be able to discern subtle details within it.

"Alright, my good disciple. If there’s nothing else, go and attend to your Cultivation. You can also go hunt for resources. Our sanity requires a great deal of cognition to replenish what’s consumed, much like how mortals need to eat and drink. Although you’ve just had a big ’meal’, you must prepare for future consumption."

Qimei said with a slight smile.

"After all, staying lucid comes at a price. And the stronger you are, the higher that price becomes."

"Then, I will take my leave."

Lin Hui clasped his fist in a salute, bowed, and then departed.

"You may come and go from this place as you please, and even stay the night. This is the Jiuxiao Sect’s residence, which I, as your master, specifically established. But remember, while your own homeland is still safe, you should spend more time there," Qimei added as a final reminder.

Lin Hui understood his meaning, acknowledged it seriously, and flew out of the courtyard.

He didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he flew a circuit around the Jiuxiao Sect’s residence, visiting each of the buildings one by one.

The Scripture Hall was empty, yet the faint sound of a woman’s voice lecturing on scriptures occasionally drifted through the air.

In the Hall of the Medicine King, the Pill Furnace’s fire blazed fiercely, burning automatically without any fuel. Wisps of medicinal fragrance filled the surroundings. It was also empty.

Some special buildings flickered with a deep blue fluorescent light. He didn’t know their purpose, and they too were empty inside, yet the sounds of people talking and chatting would occasionally echo from within.

Lin Hui couldn’t understand the language being spoken. He simply stood in the hall of one building and listened for a while, but even after a long time, he detected no repeating loops.

Finally, he arrived before a massive, rotating, blue-glowing wheel.

The wheel resembled a giant teleportation array leading to some unknown place.

It was composed of three nested, overlapping rings of blue and gold.

The three wheels each rotated at different speeds and in different directions.

Not far from the edge stood a stone stele with white characters carved onto a black background, recording the name of this place and its history.

Lin Hui couldn’t read the script, but he quickly remembered something. He closed his eyes and recalled the memories that had been instilled in him by the Blood Seal.

A vast amount of memories concerning the Jiuxiao Sect surfaced from the depths of his Heart and Spirit. Among them, knowledge of the script and language they used re-emerged, beginning to systematically integrate with Lin Hui’s own linguistic framework.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again and looked at the stele. As expected, he could now understand its meaning.

’Celestial Reversal Wheel: Established in the 1792nd year of the Wind Calendar. Can be used to connect to the home Realms of various Disciples.’

Below the formal inscription were rows of other, somewhat hastily scrawled messages. Some were blurred and indistinct, while others were still barely legible.

Lin Hui walked closer and read down the lines.

’...Zhenyu Realm: Destroyed in year 53 of the Disaster Energy’s appearance.’

’Xie Xiangrong Realm: Destroyed in year 119 of the Disaster Energy’s appearance.’

’Dongxiang Qian Realm: Destroyed in year 201 of the Disaster Energy’s appearance.’

’Chen Xueping Realm: Destroyed in year 32 of the Disaster Energy’s appearance.’

Line after line of Realms, apparently named after the Sect’s Disciples, had their records of destruction listed on the stele, all carved in very small script.

Lin Hui reached out and gently stroked the top-right edge of the stele. That spot had already been worn incredibly smooth by countless others who had made the same gesture.

"Do you wish to connect your world to this place?" a wizened voice suddenly asked from beside him.

Lin Hui glanced to the side and saw that an old man in black robes had appeared at some point, sitting cross-legged by the Celestial Reversal Wheel.

He was draped in a wide cloak that seemed to be woven from some kind of black feathers—or perhaps it was more like a rain cape. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, from a distance he looked like a giant black bird crouching on the floor.

"Who are you?" Lin Hui asked.

"Don’t forget to leave your own name... otherwise, before long, you won’t remember where they are, or what they were..." The old man seemed not to have heard him, continuing to mutter to himself.

Lin Hui didn’t speak again. He just watched him, listening to his muttering.

After listening for a while, he realized the man was just repeating the same few lines over and over, and he lost interest.

Tentatively naming the old man Elder Hei, he finally flew toward the exit of the residence.

This Jiuxiao Sect residence was about the size of a small town, but only Qimei and Elder Hei were present. The rest of the place was completely empty.

It wasn’t possible to freely enter and exit from above just anywhere, either. Invisible, transparent barriers had been placed over many areas, forcing one to follow the rules and use the main gates.

Lin Hui flew out of the residence and looked back at the settlement adrift in the torrent of the Wind Calamity.

The central, oval platform, suspended and encircled by hollowed-out mountain peaks, resembled a massive, weary eye. It was often blurred and obscured by the swirling torrent of the Wind Calamity.

Suddenly, a profound sense of loneliness welled up from the bottom of his heart and flowed through his entire body.

In that moment, he suddenly understood why Qimei was so fixated on rebuilding the Jiuxiao Sect...

’Perhaps... aside from the Jiuxiao Sect, he has no other memories left to lose...’

Turning around, Lin Hui resolutely flew out of the rift. With a backhanded gesture, he cast a Wind Disaster Seal, which slowly closed and sealed the rift shut.

*

*

*

After Xue Shi disappeared, Lin Hui spent some time driving all the Wind Calamity monsters he had released into the Celestial Realm.

He then returned to the Human Realm. It seemed that after Xue Shi’s disappearance, the constant stream of strange incidents began to rapidly subside.

Bizarre events became fewer, and cases of monsters mutating from the "decay" also started to decline.

Only then did Lin Hui understand that "decay" didn’t necessarily mean something would turn into a monster with bloody eyes and a bloody body.

He remained in the New Republic for another two years. After confirming that the number of "decay" monsters was steadily decreasing, he captured some of the creatures that had previously mutated and observed them closely.

He discovered that the monsters, left to their own devices, were slowly molting and decomposing, growing weaker and weaker.

He could observe the "decay" energy on the monsters gradually dissipating. It wasn’t vanishing, but rather scattering, no longer condensing into a mass inside their bodies.

Having lost their condensed "decay" energy, the monsters seemed to have lost their ultimate power source. They quickly turned into skeletal remains and returned to the earth.

To see if the "decay" had truly returned to normal, Lin Hui went back to his home country and lived a secluded life with Wu Anning at the deep-mountain sword dojo.

He would occasionally go out secretly on patrol, and he would visit his parents for gatherings during holidays and festivals.

His previous listless and lifeless state was completely gone.

The only troublesome thing was that the medicine meant to shorten the Blood Seal’s duration was still ineffective on him.

He could only wait for time to pass.

「In the blink of an eye, another fifteen years had passed.」

The New Republic’s development was in full swing. Its national strength grew by the day, and the people’s lives were visibly improving.

There were more and more food options, and clothing became increasingly vibrant and colorful.

The vehicles on the streets gradually transitioned to various types of automobiles, rather than being dominated by ox-carts, horses, donkeys, and mules.

On ordinary days, Lin Hui would occasionally go out, leaving the world to travel to the Black Domain, check on the situation in the Celestial Realm, and practice his Sword technique.

He spent most of his other time in the mortal world, enjoying this final period of peace.

Having lived through this once before, he understood that the time left for his family and disciples was short...

"Is this the place, Dad?"

Outside the Pine Wind Sword Dojo, on a stone path in the mountain forest, a father and daughter dressed in ordinary tourist-style canvas camouflage clothing were climbing up the trail.

"Mm. Ahead is the secluded home of my master, the one who taught your old man Martial Arts and Swordsmanship back in the day. For all these years, I’ve come here to meet with him every New Year." The tall, burly man now had a hint of worldly weariness on his face. He was Xie Tieniu, who had left the dojo to make his own way in the world all those years ago.

The once straightforward and single-minded Tieniu now had a much calmer demeanor.

The fourteen-year-old girl beside him, with a round, youthful face, was his daughter, Xie Huaiyin.

"I brought you here this time because if you’re lucky enough, you might be able to become his disciple too and learn Swordsmanship. Then..."

"What era are we in, Dad? No matter how good your Swordsmanship is, who can block planes, missiles, and artillery shells with just a sword?" the young Xie Huaiyin said with a sigh of resignation.

"I was injured on the battlefield back then, and my Swordsmanship skills dropped drastically. But Master is different..." Xie Tieniu sighed.

Every time he spoke of this, a look of deep regret would cross his face.

’If only I had stayed and learned properly from Master back then, perhaps...’

His daughter, Xie Huaiyin, remained unconvinced. As a member of the new generation who grew up watching all sorts of modern weapons on television, she found it hard to understand why her dad revered a melee weapon to such an extent.

The two continued on their way, the father with the mood of a pilgrim, the daughter feeling like she was just on a hike with her old man.

Before long, they passed through a mountain hollow and crossed a lush field of rapeseed flowers.

Ahead, they finally saw a small, greyish-white courtyard compound.

The compound was surrounded by high walls covered in dark green vines. In the middle of the wall was a half-open gate, where a tall, well-built woman with short hair was standing with a gentle expression, welcoming guests into the courtyard.

"That’s your Auntie Xuezhen!" Xie Tieniu immediately spotted another beautiful woman ahead of them, also preparing to enter the small courtyard.

The woman had a mature and gentle aura. She wore a pure white tunic and trousers, with Pearl earrings, and a white Longsword hung at her waist.

It was none other than the perennially unmarried Core Disciple, Liu Xuezhen.

After joining the dojo all those years ago, she had initially pursued Lin Hui to no avail. Later, she refused her father’s arrangements and chose to live on her own.

After the New Republic was founded, she also entered government service. Having climbed the ranks step by step, she had long since reached a position second only to her father, becoming the number-two figure in her family.

And perhaps due to their Cultivation of Swordsmanship, after fifteen years of trials and tribulations, these people had mostly changed only in their demeanor; physically, they seemed to have only matured slightly.

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