Disappearance I

Rest stop tea stall.

The autumn wind was bleak, the air dry and biting cold.

Inside the crudely erected tea stall of gray cloth and rough wooden stakes, Lin Hui casually found a stool to sit on and had the waiter bring him a pot of hot tea.

He waited quite a while without seeing Chen Chong appear. The fellow had apparently really been frightened. After all, the injury to his waist had merely bled heavily and only needed bandaging. But a wound in the heart—who knew how that could be treated?

As Lin Hui poured himself a cup of hot tea, he idly watched the passing pedestrians, carts, and horses on the street.

"Yaaaiyoo—oh, the wind from Bayan blows cold upon my heart—whose fields are blooming with bitter flowers~~" An old man driving an ox cart passed slowly in front of the tea stall, flicking his whip and singing a mountain song in some unknown local tune.

"Brother Wenxin! Fancy meeting you here—it's truly been far too long~~" Before a silverware shop not far away, a tall man with a white square kerchief wrapped around his head hurried forward to catch up with a burly man ahead of him, greeting him with a smile.

"Mother, I want to eat this! I want to buy it with my own pocket money!" Elsewhere, a little boy with his hair tied into buns stood rooted before a mobile sugar-pancake stall.

Watching the people pass one after another, that immense sense of dislocation Lin Hui had felt earlier welled up inside him again.

"Tonight was so dangerous. With only a single Jade Talisman keeping the dangers outside at bay, the people of the Outer City are under threat at any time. How can they remain so calm? Why aren't they afraid or panicked? How can they still smile like this?"

"If the Jade Talisman were to fail..." Lin Hui unconsciously tightened his grip around his sword hilt.

His mind was filled with tangled thoughts, so he simply closed his eyes and rested to recover his spirit.

Before long, the tea gradually cooled. People had also taken seats at several other tables—traveling merchants, taking advantage of the mist-free daylight to carry Jade Talismans issued by the Inner City back and forth between the Inner and Outer Cities.

Every day, one could see them entering and leaving the Inner and Outer Cities to transport goods.

Lin Hui had sat for a long time and was about to rise, when fragments of conversation from those people drifted faintly over.

"...Another one has disappeared?"

"It's true. Before coming here, I even stopped by the Wang Family's place. There wasn't a single person inside. It looked as though no one had lived there for who knew how long—the Jade Talisman was even missing more than half a corner."

"Isn't that exactly like the Zhou Family?"

"Yeah. The Door-Breaking Ghost only just left a while ago, and now there are mysterious disappearances again. The Outer City is never at peace all year round."

"Forget it. What do you mean, never at peace? Haven't you noticed that all the ones who vanished or met with trouble were destitute households? Have any of those wealthy clans ever had anything happen to them? You really think it's an accident?"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Sigh... Better to move to the Inner City. There's no mist at night, it's safe and prosperous, and the girls on the streets are pretty—and don't even like wearing clothes..."

The group seemed to notice people around them eavesdropping. They lowered their voices and shifted the topic to romance and pleasure.

Lin Hui's brow furrowed slightly as he silently committed the matter to memory. His parents were in town; anything of this sort concerned his family's safety, and he had to remain vigilant at all times.

After sitting a while longer, Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren returned together. They sat down, ordered hot tea, and let out long breaths.

"This weather is dry and cold, and the wind's so strong it's giving me a headache." Huang Shan pulled a miserable face, cupping her tea cup in both hands to draw in its warmth.

"You've worked hard. Would you like some tea snacks?" Lin Hui beckoned to the waiter, who was rubbing a towel.

"So attentive? You need something?" Qiu Yiren raised her head to look at Lin Hui. After partnering with him for this long, she had come to understand his way of thinking somewhat.

Don't bother me if there's nothing to do. He only took the initiative to seek people out when something was up.

Lin Hui smiled. When the waiter came close, he said, "Can't I show some hospitality to the one footing the bill if there's nothing wrong? If Junior Sister Huang is willing, we can keep swapping shifts for the next few days. Waiter, bring some melon seeds and salted peanuts."

"Right away." The waiter answered and turned to leave.

"Are you sure?" Huang Shan's eyes immediately lit up. "You and Senior Brother Chen can get along without a problem?"

"Of course there's no problem. Senior Brother Chen is quite a good person. As long as you get along with him properly, patrolling together is exceptionally worry-free." Lin Hui smiled.

"..." Seeing the strange smile on his face, Huang Shan immediately understood that Chen Chong had definitely suffered a loss at Lin Hui's hands, and her mood instantly brightened.

She pointed at Lin Hui and smiled as well. Everything was understood without a word.

"The same old price!"

"Junior Sister Huang is generous!" Lin Hui raised his teacup but did not drink. Instead, he changed the subject. "Speaking of which, I just heard someone mention that something had happened in the Outer City again recently. Have either of you heard about it?"

"The disappearance cases? I've heard." Huang Shan nodded. "There really are some suspicious points about it. It feels as though the people who disappeared were deliberately selected..."

"Aren't the Zhong Family brothers your suitors? Do they have any inside information?" Qiu Yiren asked softly from the side.

"Information..." Huang Shan thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, they did vaguely mention the Inner City's attitude toward Outer City residents."

She paused, then continued, "They said that over ninety percent of Tuyue's population is gathered in the Inner City. Most production is there too, and it can be self-sufficient. The Outer City is actually considered an abandoned buffer zone. The Inner City doesn't really care much about the safety of Outer City residents. The resources transported in every day—vegetables, meat, and the like—aren't of much use to the Inner City either."

"Does the Inner City have farmland of its own?" Lin Hui asked with a frown.

"Of course, and the yields are very high. Since there's no mist there, people can work at night as well. On top of that, there's Wanfu Meat, so no one goes hungry. The service and entertainment industries are incredibly developed. It's completely a different world from outside the city." Huang Shan spoke softly.

"How wonderful. The mere fact that there's no mist at night would be enough to drive who knew how many Outer City residents mad with the desire to get in." Qiu Yiren sighed.

"Yes. And I've also heard a rumor." Huang Shan looked around, then lowered her voice again.

"Supposedly, the Inner City has a hidden evaluation grade for every Outer City resident."

"Evaluation grade? What is that?" Lin Hui narrowed his eyes.

"Supposedly, it's a system for screening whether residents are useful. If you're evaluated as useless, you'll be mysteriously used up by all kinds of accidents." Huang Shan's voice dropped even lower. "The rumor is that Outer City residents are consumable test subjects for many Inner City organizations and forces. Quite a few people in the Outer City mysteriously vanish every year, but because everyone has lots of children, and because many people are driven out and eliminated from the Inner City to replenish that population, no one notices."

As he listened, Lin Hui inexplicably thought of the hanging Jade Talismans, and a chill suddenly ran through his heart.

He suddenly realized that if the force producing the Jade Talismans truly wanted to screen the population, it would only need to tamper with the Jade Talismans a little to make Outer City residents mysteriously disappear in an instant.

Those Jade Talismans were, in truth, no different from nooses hung around every Outer City resident's necks, liable to tighten at any moment.

"Alright, let's stop talking about such tense and dangerous things. Shanshan, your family should be moving into the Inner City soon, right?" Qiu Yiren changed the subject.

"Mm. I borrowed some money from the Zhong Family and bought a very small house in the Inner City. As long as we can squeeze in and live there, it'll do." Huang Shan nodded.

"And you're still spending money so freely now?"

"I naturally have my own way of making money." Huang Shan smiled mysteriously.

As the three chatted, it was soon time for the afternoon patrol. Since Chen Chong still had not returned, the two women were somewhat puzzled, but they did not ask further. They rose and continued their patrol.

Lin Hui, meanwhile, continued working alone along the previous route.

The days passed one by one.

Chen Chong later returned to patrol duty, but he was always absent-minded and wore an ugly expression.

Senior Brother Chen Sui had also returned, with a bloody gash on the back of his hand. No one knew how he had gotten hurt. Since he did not mention it, no one was in a position to ask.

Soon, the final two days of patrol ended. After the five handed over their shift in town, they returned to Qingfeng Temple together.

Aside from Chen Chong, their interactions during this time had suddenly given Lin Hui three more acquaintances within the temple.

Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and Senior Brother Chen Sui all had a measure of goodwill toward the steady, hardworking Lin Hui. Whenever they ran into each other, they would occasionally greet one another and chat for a few sentences.

This greatly broadened Lin Hui's circle of acquaintances in Qingfeng Temple. Perhaps this was also what Daoist Mingde had hoped to see.

People had to gather into groups before they could build momentum, and only then could they be safer.

After returning to Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui first sent a letter home to assure his family of his safety. Only then did he begin confirming the results of the Blood Seal's evolution.

After a month, the Blood Seal had finally completed its evolution of the Sealing Bug egg's natural patterns.

Outside Qingfeng Temple, beneath a thick old locust tree, the shade was dim and secluded as the autumn breeze whispered through.

Dressed in a grayish-white martial outfit, Lin Hui sat cross-legged on the ground, a thin piece of gray cloth beneath him to keep the dirt from staining his backside.

Not far away, temple disciples were practicing swordsmanship, their blades giving off faint sounds as they sliced through the air.

This was an outdoor training area commonly used by temple disciples. The terrain was flat and the light plentiful, so quite a few disciples and trainees often came here to claim a spot and practice their swords.

Lin Hui counted as one of the old hands here.

As he sat cross-legged, all his attention was focused on the Blood Seal text at the bottom of his vision.

"Sealing Array: Originating from the special three-dimensional structural patterns within a Sealing Bug egg, it can seal a living creature's basic consciousness. Seal duration: one second. Cooldown: two seconds. Sealing method: toxin contact. Evolvable branches: 0."

This was the evolved ability he had just gained.

"Sealing Array..." Lin Hui extended his hand and looked at the tip of his index finger.

The translucent nail at his fingertip had grown slightly sharper and longer. Beneath it was pink nail flesh, with no trace at all of anything resembling poison.

"This Sealing Array toxin only lasts one second. No wonder it only needed a month to evolve. But even if it's only one second, used properly, it should still have a decent effect. The problem now is, how do I use this ability?"

Lin Hui flexed his fingers and swept his gaze across the muddy ground around him. Before long, he locked onto a black ant laboriously climbing a dark green weed.

He reached out, pinched up the black ant, and gently placed it in his palm.

"Seal!" he silently commanded the ant in his heart.

The ant crawled about everywhere, showing no reaction.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Hui recalled that Sealing Bug egg.

"The Sealing Bug egg's sealing method should be to wrap up the target. That counts as contact. In that case, the sealing ability I gained should probably require activation under similar conditions."

With that thought, he extended the index finger of his other hand and lightly tapped the ant. At the same time, he concentrated his mental power on the seal, imagining himself sealing the tiny ant before him.

Buzz.

In an instant, an exceedingly fine transparent current seeped from Lin Hui's fingertip and precisely attached itself to the black ant.

The moment the current touched the black ant, it vanished at once.

At the same time, the black ant instantly froze stiff, completely motionless.

It was like a static black model printed onto the skin of his palm, utterly still.

One second later, the ant swiftly regained its ability to move and began scurrying about in panic.

"It worked... The trigger condition is to activate it with intent at the instant of contact." Lin Hui tossed the ant away, his brows faintly furrowed. "This ability is a little too useless. It's better suited for sneak attacks in hand-to-hand combat. It isn't very practical..."

He stood up and drew the sword at his waist. It was the one Daoist Mingde had given him, which he had named Clear River, meaning that its blade was like a clear river—pure and straight.

Sshk.

He suddenly thrust out his sword, its tip piercing straight ahead and striking the little black ant he had just released with precision.