Lin Xin didn’t know much about the Sect Information, and he had no idea what the Peacock Secret Technique actually was; he could only judge from the tone of the shadow that the Swordsmanship must be extraordinary.
A trace of coldness erged on Kong Yuhui’s face.
"Actually, there was nothing in that wine cup. From the mont the two of you left your residence until you arrived here, my people had already clarified your identities. The reason I lured you here... was for one purpose."
"What purpose!" Lin Xin suppressed his voice and asked. He naturally didn’t believe that any ordinary person would dare to enter that eerie mansion. Kong Yuhui’s words were clearly a bluff.
The shadow at his side also listened intently.
"Zhou Jing!"
Kong Yuhui’s eyes were solemn as he spat out a na.
"Zhou Jing?" The shadow sneered, "Just a Third Layer, and it takes the three of us to join hands?"
Lin Xin was also puzzled, but he didn’t speak up.
At this mont, Kong Yuhui’s voice was low.
"Third Layer? What if I tell you that Zhou Jing’s true cultivation level is the Fourth Layer?"
Instantly, both Lin Xin and the shadow’s breathing paused slightly.
The Inner Strength technique called Return to Origin and the basic Inner Strength thods of the Four Sects were quite similar, all sharing one common characteristic: the threshold from the Third Layer to the Fourth Layer was a very difficult one to cross.
Once having reached the Fourth Layer, one could begin to utilize special Martial Techniques such as emitting Sword Qi. These special techniques greatly enhanced one’s combat abilities.
Fourth Layer... That is to say, if one were not careful, the three people present might not be certain to overco Zhou Jing even if they joined forces.
"What do you want to do?"
The deterrence of the Fourth Layer was massive, and the shadow appeared visibly unsettled. By asking this question, the intention to collaborate was clear.
A hint of ruthlessness appeared on Kong Yuhui’s face.
"Among all the people here, except for Zhou Jing, who else could stop us? As long as we cooperate to eliminate him, and then kill all the others, the Yin Blood we would gain would definitely be the most we’ve obtained from any mission, more than enough for the three of us to split and still have a surplus."
Lin Xin and the shadow didn’t respond imdiately.
Lin Xin was indeed tempted. Although it was taboo for the Four Sects, being ’branches of the sa tree,’ to kill each other, that only applied to the Qi Refinent Realm Disciples.
The rest were unrestrained, as non-official disciples were not considered Sect Disciples and naturally didn’t need to abide by those rules.
It had to be said that Zhou Jing was indeed the biggest threat. To obtain the Yin Blood, one couldn’t bypass this individual.
As for whether or not to kill all the others after killing him, that could be decided later. It was more pressing to remove the biggest threat first.
"What’s the plan?" The shadow was indeed tempted as well.
Kong Yuhui looked towards Lin Xin, who nodded slightly. Kong’s heart then settled.
"On the last day, when we hunt the Yin Blood Bird..." Kong Yuhui’s voice gradually beca lower, suffused with a trace of coldness.
*******************
Returning to his room, Lin Xin carefully checked the room next door. The hair tied to the doorknob hadn’t moved at all, indicating that Cheng Ruofei and the other person inside were still sound asleep.
Strangely, his journey back was completely safe, without encountering any weirdness.
However, thinking it through, if he hadn’t had his Solar Yang Talisman Sword the second night when he encountered Ouyang Qing, he likely would have been the first to die.
Quietly opening the door, Lin Xin looked into his own room.
Moonlight stread in from the window outside the door, bathing most of the room in a pale lunar hue.
Only the bed corner and the decayed cabinet were shadowed.
As he was about to close the door behind him, Lin Xin suddenly felt sothing blocking it, preventing it from shutting.
Just as he was about to turn around, he half-twisted his body and dared not move any further.
A cold shiver rushed fiercely up his spine.
He clearly saw a pale, rotting hand extend from behind him and firmly grasp the door.
Cold sweat slowly trickled down his nose as Lin Xin’s right hand slowly gripped the Solar Yang Talisman Sword, while his left hand clutched the top edge of the door.
At that mont, the hand slowly withdrew.
Lin Xin’s mind raced as he began to apply force with his left hand, slowly closing the door.
Squeak...
In the faint sound of wood scraping, the door nearly shut but seed to be blocked as if soone stood in the doorway, preventing it from closing completely.
Squeak.
Lin Xin tried again, but the door remained obstructed by sothing resembling a human figure, unable to close it.
Sweat began to soak through his undershirt.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Lin Xin drew his Solar Yang Talisman Sword, infused it with a trace of Inner Qi, and stabbed backward.
Hisss!
The dark red burning Longsword sliced through the air, and as the heat wave churned, Lin Xin saw nothing but empty space in front of him.
But the chill that had been in the room swiftly dissipated with the heat of the Solar Yang Talisman Sword.
Lin Xin withdrew his Inner Qi, and the blade’s glow gradually faded.
"This is really mysterious," he muttered, looking around. After experiencing the eeriness twice, he always felt as if soone was behind him at all tis. His scalp tingled, giving him a creepy sensation.
He closed the door, carefully plucked a long strand of hair, and tied it across the gap on both sides of the door. Then he closed the windows and did the sa.
In the past, Lin Xin was not such a cautious person; however, since arriving in this world, everything he had experienced left him with no sense of security. His once carefree and thick-skinned personality had gradually beco cautious and ticulous,
After he had taken these precautions, he stripped off his clothes, put them away neatly, then gripped the Solar Yang Talisman Sword in his hand. Lying down on the stone bed fully clothed, he pulled over the blanket he had brought and closed his eyes to rest warily.
Though his eyes were closed, his other senses remained on high alert at all tis.
Fortunately, the Solar Yang Talisman Sword had saved him three tis in a row from strange encounters, just as it was described in the detailed introduction to formations.
"Little Solar Yang Formation: Generates a small amount of Solar Yang Qi, slightly increasing the temperature of the air within the formation, used for nurturing suitable plants. Can expel Yin evil Qi. The number of uses depends on the materials."
"The focus must be on expelling the Yin evil Qi. Indeed, its power is remarkable." Lin Xin felt slightly reassured, holding the talisman sword, feeling much safer.
"I must raise my cultivation level as quickly as possible, then I can access more formations. With my thod of stacking, I can also create more formation tools!" A strong sense of insecurity fueled his growing thirst for power.
Although the detailed introduction to formations ntioned that formations that don’t require Spiritual Energy to activate are extrely rare, he still needed to try and find so; with his ability to replicate small-scale formations en masse, finding even one could induce a transformative effect.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize when the sky started to brighten slightly. Lin Xin fell into a groggy sleep.
"Junior Brother Lin? Junior Brother Lin! Wake up."
Unknowingly, Cheng Ruofei’s voice faintly reached him from the room next door, mixed with the sound of knocking. The doors of both rooms seed as if they were about to be knocked down.
Groggily waking up, Lin Xin saw that sunlight was already streaming through the gaps in the windows, illuminating the room, with fine dust visible floating in the rays of light.
Slowly rising, Lin Xin shook his head, still feeling half asleep, finding it hard to open his eyes, still laden with sleepiness.
"What’s wrong, Senior Sister Cheng?" Lin Xin quickly got up and walked to the door, gently removing the latch.
Creak.
The door opened, but there was nobody behind it, just emptiness.
"What’s going on, Senior Sister Cheng?" Lin Xin looked around but couldn’t see any trace of Cheng Ruofei.
His heart tightened, and he walked into Jiang Yue’er and Cheng Ruofei’s room, slowing his steps.
As he crossed the threshold, the positions of the beds on the right side of the room ca into view.
To his surprise, both Cheng Ruofei and Jiang Yue’er were not there.
"So who was knocking on the door and calling for just now?"
Lin Xin’s scalp tingled, feeling as though soone was standing behind him.
He spun around quickly but saw no sign of anyone.
"Damn it, it’s like seeing a ghost!" Lin Xin felt faint fear in his heart, quickly clutching the hilt of his sword, and hastily returned to his room, closing the door behind him before opening the door to his own.
Just then, two figures appeared in the courtyard in the distance, unmistakably Cheng Ruofei in a green dress and Jiang Yue’er in a white dress.
The two of them, each carrying a washbasin, were chatting and walking towards him.
Cheng Ruofei also saw Lin Xin opening his door and smiled at him from afar.
"Junior Brother Lin is awake?"
"You two seniors rose early." For Lin Xin, anyone who joined the sect before him could be addressed as Senior Sister. This form of address was not without its mishaps.
The chilling fear he had felt earlier eased a lot as he saw people arriving.
Jiang Yue’er gave Lin Xin a glance, and for so reason, a hint of irritation flashed across her eyes.
"Don’t let catch you..." she murmured softly.
Lin Xin was a bit bewildered.
Cheng Ruofei seed to be just as confused by Jiang Yue’er’s reaction. She glanced at Lin Xin.
The two won took their basins and returned to their own room.
Lin Xin exhaled, feeling sowhat relieved as he heard people’s voices from next door.
This place is getting more and more troubleso.
He quickly found a washbasin, slung the sword over his back, and headed to the courtyard to fetch water.
Past the archway, through the corridors, Kong Yuhui and Ouyang Qing stood by the pond in the large courtyard, apparently questioning a young man dressed like a wealthy scion.
The young man was being harshly interrogated by Kong Yuhui; even from a distance, sweat could be seen streaming down his forehead.
"...If you don’t tell the truth, don’t bla for being rciless with my sword," Kong Yuhui said coldly.
"I really don’t know!" the young man said, panicking. "I just co back every year to worship my grandfather who died here, I truly don’t know anything else."
Lin Xin hurried over.
"What happened?"
"Junior Brother Lin," Ouyang Qing glanced at him then explained in a low voice, "This morning we discovered Shi Lei was missing. We’ve looked everywhere and can’t find a trace of him, so we ca to question this young man whose family used to live here."
"Shi Lei is missing too?!" Lin Xin was taken aback, then he turned to look at Kong Yuhui, rembering his ruthless words from last night.
It must have been his doing, he’s ruthless enough for Yin Blood!
Lowering his eyes, Lin Xin didn’t want Kong Yuhui to realize he was the masked man in black from the previous night.
As for what the other had said about soone monitoring everyone’s residences, it certainly couldn’t be true, even experts of the internal arts could encounter strange happenings without reason; other ordinary people probably wouldn’t dare enter this town.
He just didn’t know who the other shadow figure could be.
Lin Xin’s mind raced with thoughts.
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