Capítulo 11: Starting The Night-Time Vigil
Lin Mu had not expected to meet his old enemy Yuan Tu here. In the past, he would have never expected that a man he called uncle would wrong him. While Yuan Tu was not his actual blood uncle, he was once friends with his father. They were not close friends, but were friends indeed.
Lin Mu saw the look in Yuan Tu's eyes and understood that he was shocked to see him here too. Lin Mu then looked at his physical condition and saw that he had visibly thinned down. It seemed like he had not taken to prison well.
Lin Mu was also wondering when Yuan Tu got out of prison. He had expected for him to stay in the prison for a longer time than this. He definitely did not expect that someone would be willing to bail him out. He did not know what it would cost to bail him out, but knew that it must be a high amount.
Yuan Tu had not expected to see Lin Mu today at all. He knew that Lin Mu had no house to return to so, he should either be living at some inn or somewhere else. He would never have guessed that Lin Mu was actually able to pay the fine and get his house back.
Yuan Tu had gotten out of prison recently and had returned to live at his house in the neighborhood. A couple of days ago some people came to inform him that a vigil was going to be held in view of the recent events that occurred. The people from the neighborhood had also asked him about his absence, but he just told him that he was visiting some family members in the eastern town.
Yuan Tu was frankly shocked upon hearing that some people had disappeared and a spirit beast had apparently attacked as well. Yuan Tu had seen a terrifying spirit beast before, a few years ago. An injured spirit beast had wandered out of the forest and had encountered some hunters.
Out of a team of ten hunters, only three survived. With Yuan Tu being one of them, along with Lin Mu's father. Ever since then Yuan Tu gave up on being a hunter and just worked in the orchards. It was also because of this that he was promoted to the position of a team leader in the orchards.
After the initial surprise faded from Yuan Tu's eyes, he scanned Lin Mu from top to bottom. He could see visible changes in the boy. He had somehow grown a little in the past month and was taller than before. He had also developed slight muscles, and even his face had a glow that was a stark difference from his previous dull look.
Yuan Tu could not help but wonder what the boy had gone through in the past few weeks. He was angry that while he had to suffer all this time; the boy was actually doing much better than before. The one saving grace he had while he was in the prison was that Lin Mu would still be suffering out there being homeless and broke.
But now that he had seen him again, he felt his rage reigniting. He felt like teaching him a lesson right then and there, but knew better to not act on it. He would bide his time and look for the right time. He just decided to not interact with him for now.
Yuan Tu forcefully suppressed his rage and avoided looking at him as it helped him divert his thoughts. He looked at the boy's expression and reached a tacit understanding. Lin Mu saw the look that Yuan Tu gave him and knew what he was thinking.
Seeing him avoid him just made it easier for him. Lin Mu was already a cultivator and was much stronger than before. He had nothing to fear from Yuan Tu. It didn't matter to him if Yuan Tu doesn't interact with him.
While this silent interaction was happening, Xiao Lu witnessed the entire thing and knew that something was off.
Xiao Lu knew that Yuan Tu and Lin Mu had a conflict, but he did not know the exact terms of it. He only knew that a week after Lin Mu's house was seized, Yuan Tu had disappeared as well. When he came back a couple of days ago, he just told everyone that he had gone to visit his family in eastern town for a bit.
Once Lin Mu reached near the three people, the portly man glanced at him and then spoke.
"Now that we're all here, it's time for us to start the vigil."
The portly man then pointed towards a wooden box that was kept near his feet and spoke,
"Every one of you please pick a gong from the box. If you encounter anything suspicious remember to run first and then alarm us all by ringing the gong. We don't want any untoward incidences." The portly man spoke with a serious tone.
Everyone nodded at the portly man's words and then went forward to pick a gong and a small mallet. Lin Mu was the last person to pick a gong up. He looked at the gong and found it to be made of copper. He tapped on it and felt it tremble.
After everyone picked up a gong, the portly man nodded while looking around.
"Okay then, now that everyone has a gong, you can choose a direction and go towards it. Comb out your area and then gather at this square after every hour." The portly man spoke.
Lin Mu chose to go to the northern direction where his house was located. He thought that if he was gonna do this, he may as well guard the area around his house. Senior Xukong also agreed with Lin Mu��s choice.
"There's a higher chance that the person who was following you before would appear near your house. If you're lucky, you can encounter him there and get the information out of him." Xukong spoke in Lin Mu's mind.
While Lin Mu had chosen to go towards the north, the man who brought him went to the west, Xiao Lu went to the east, and Yuan Tu chose to go towards the south, clearly not wanting to see him and staying as far from him as possible.
The portly man did not go anywhere and chose to stay here and keep watch in the central area. This would also help him rally everyone and created a common communication point. Everyone soon split up and walked towards their chosen areas.
"Keep your spirit sense extended, so you can sense anything that happens," Xukong spoke to Lin Mu.
"Yes senior." Lin Mu replied.
Lin Mu first went towards the left-most street. He decided that he would go from the left to the right. He walked around and heard the silence of the night. The night was cold, but at least it was not snowing yet.
While the snow would not bother him that much, he could not tell the same about the other people. Lin Mu had seen that everyone was wearing thicker and warmer clothes, hence he had chosen to do the same. If he did not do that, he would only be rousing unnecessary attention from people.
He had just put on the leather armors he had gotten from the killers before. Putting on the multiple leather armors under his robes made it look as if he was wearing winter clothing. It would also help provide him some extra defense, just in case.
This was the first time that he was actually seeing his neighborhood like this. It was usually boisterous during the day with the people meeting each other and the ladies gossiping and arguing with each other. The children would run around playing with each other and laughing.
The silence of the night made him think about a lot of things he usually would not think of. While he had stayed alone in the hunting shack for a while now, this kind of silence still made him feel strange.
"It's as if the forest is more alive than this place." Lin Mu thought out loud.
Xukong heard Lin Mu's words and felt a little surprised.
'He can already sense it.' Xukong thought.
"You are right, Lin Mu," Xukong spoke.
"What do you mean, senior?" Lin Mu asked.
"What you are feeling right now is the lack of ambient spirit qi. The reason you feel that the forest is more alive is because it is filled with vitality. While this place does have more people, it still lacks the raw vitality and spirit qi." Xukong replied.
"This also why most of the cultivators choose to live in places rich in spirit qi. The cultivation sects are prosperous only because they are built on lands rich in spirit qi. This not only increases the progress of their disciples by multiple folds, it also helps temper their minds." Xukong added.
"Is this why you want me to start my journey soon, senior?" Lin Mu asked.
"Yes, it's part of the reason. Right now, since your cultivation is still low, it would not matter to you as much, but once it rises later, you will feel the difference in the environment. You will be uncomfortable in a place that's lacking in spirit qi." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu took senior Xukong's words seriously and cemented his resolve.
*****
Wu Lim city,
Inside a large mansion situated beside a lake, a thin and scholarly man was relaxing on a lounger in a library.
The library was rather dark, with the only source of light being the lamp that was placed on a table. The thin and scholarly man had his feet up on a lounger and was reading a book. He had a calm look on his face and seemed to be engrossed in the content of the book.
A veiled woman appeared from the darkness and came to stand beside the man. She bowed her head and stood silently.
The thin and scholarly man let out a sigh and spoke without looking away from the book.
"You have something for me I hope?"
"Yes, my lord. It's about the new cultivator." The veiled woman replied.
Capítulo 12: The Slumbering District
The thin and scholarly man nodded and allowed the veiled woman to approach.
"Go ahead." The thin man said.
The veiled woman then produced a scroll in her hand, likely from a spatial treasure, and passed it to the thin man.
"I've taken the liberty to compile all the intelligence we've gathered, my lord. There are some parts you'll find rather, fascinating." The veiled woman spoke with a respectful tone.
The thin man opened the scroll and started reading it with his full concentration. At first, the man's expression seemed rather disinterested, but later it became more interested until finally, it reached the peak of elation.
"Hahaha!" The thin man laughed out loud.
"You've done well, very well. Seems like we have an interesting contender here." The thin man spoke with a joyous tone.
"How do we proceed, my lord? Do we bring him to you?" The veiled woman questioned.
"We know that his senses are sharp and he's been able to detect our people before. We also don't know who's backing him, but considering his strength and talent, I would say it's someone strong."
The man said and paused before continuing,
"Don't approach him for now and just observe him. Try to get a clue about his backer, if it's someone from our 'list', eliminate him. Otherwise, we may have a new pawn to play with." The thin man said.
"My lord, we still have one of our men watching him. He still has the old orders and is following them. He may end up making contact with the boy, which may end in conflict." The Woman added.
The thin man stroked his beard before speaking,
"Hmm, this does make it a little difficult. Try to send a message as soon as possible and if something does happen, try to avoid further conflict. We'll compensate him later."
"As you wish, my lord." The veiled woman respectfully spoke and turned around.
But just as she was about to leave, the thin man spoke up again.
"Just in case, assign one of our higher corps members to him."
The veiled woman seemed to be surprised, but it could not be seen from because of her veil.
"Are you sure my lord? All three of our higher corps members are currently assigned to long-term missions. If we recall any one of them, then all of their progress may go to waste." The veiled woman asked with an unnerved voice.
The veiled woman was rather shocked by her lord's words. She did not expect that her lord would place such a big importance on that cultivator who was still a teen. She knew how much every higher corps member was worth. Each and every one of them was a Core condensation realm cultivator and was trained in reconnaissance and assassination.
Even she herself, who was considered to be the closest person to her lord, couldn't compare in strength with the higher corps.
"Yes, if he is what I think, then it would certainly be worth it." The thin man answered with determination in his voice.
"Who should I assign then, my lord?" The woman asked.
"Assign the second member of the higher corps. His character would suit this mission." The thin man ordered.
"The second member of the higher corps is currently in the Black Dawn kingdom, my lord. I estimate it would take him ten days to reach the designated location." The veiled woman replied.
"It may take a little longer than that, as the current mission is rather sensitive and he will need to sever all ties before returning." The veiled woman added with a little hesitation.
"That's fine. Until he reaches there, you may personally oversee this assignment." The thin man spoke with a calm voice.
"It will be done as you say, my lord." The woman replied respectfully before leaving.
A few minutes later, after the woman was gone, the thin man stood up and withdrew a jade slip out of a spatial treasure. He held it in his hand and let it activate. The jade slip shone for a bit and then buzzed.
"I may have a new solution, elder brother." The thin man spoke.
*****
Back at the Northern town,
Lin Mu was patrolling his neighborhood. So far he had not seen anything strange or unusual. He also had a doubt whether the townsmen who disappeared were taken by the darkly dressed men or someone else.
He had seen the guard follow the townsmen who had entered the town all the way to their houses. He had also seen the guard withdraw a strange contraption from his sleeve.
Because of the darkness, Lin Mu was not able to see what it was but could guess that it was something metallic, as it gave off a glint. He knew that it was not something a guard would carry and was specially made for an unknown reason. The guard was a definite suspect as he had disappeared later as well.
'Perhaps I should have focused on that guard from the start.' Lin Mu thought.
In the blink of an eye an hour went by and it was time for him to return back. He reached the square and saw that three people were already standing there. The only person who was missing was Xiao Lu.
The portly man approached Lin Mu and spoke.
"So did you find anything unusual?"
Lin Mu shook his head as he replied,
"No, everything seemed to be normal. All the houses are silent and everyone is sleeping. Except for a few stray dogs and cats, there's no one wandering out."
"That's good. Now we only have to wait for Xiao Lu to return and report." The portly man spoke.
Fifteen minutes passed by and there was no sign of Xiao Lu. The portly man seemed to be getting nervous now. Five more minutes passed and the portly man was just about to speak something when Lin Mu interrupted.
"Ah, there he comes." Lin Mu spoke.
The three men looked around but could not see anyone there.
"Where?" The three men asked in unison.
Lin Mu then understood their confusion. The men could not see as far as him in the darkness, no wonder they were confused. He then pointed at an alley and everyone followed his finger.
A few seconds after hearing the sounds of someone running, they could see the sprinting figure of Xiao Lu appearing from the alley with four dogs chasing him.
"HELP!!!" He shouted
The man who had brought Lin Mu went forward to help, but before he could even do anything the dogs stopped by themselves. They growled a little and then started yelping, in the next second they scampered away.
Xiao Lu did not see this happen as he was still in a state of panic. He stopped when he couldn't hear the sounds of the dogs behind him. He looked at the people in front of him and asked,
"What happened? Where did they go?"
The rest of the three people along with Lin Mu were confused by this development.
"That was strange, they weren't barking, only chasing." The man who had brought Lin Mu spoke.
The portly man nodded before turning to Xiao Lu.
"Why were they chasing you? Did you provoke them?" The portly man questioned.
Xiao Lu shook his head as he answered,
"No, not at all. They just randomly started chasing me when I was just about to return. I don���t know why."
Lin Mu then realized something.
"Wait, you were shouting all this time right, why didn't the residents wake up? And where's the gong?" Lin Mu asked.
"I threw the gong at the dogs when they were chasing me. As for the residents, I didn't pay attention." Xiao Lu replied.
The portly man seemed to have realized something, and his face turned pale.
"Oh, no! Ring the alarm quick, I fear something bad is happening." The portly man exclaimed.
The other people hesitated and did not understand the portly man's nervousness, but Lin Mu started banging the gong without a second thought.
"ALARM! ALARM! WAKE UP, EVERYONE!" Lin Mu shouted.
Seeing Lin Mu shouting the other's started to do that as well.
Then, the thing that they were dreading all this while happened. Not a single resident woke up nor responded. The four men were starting to gauge the seriousness of the situation by now. It had been five minutes, yet there were no results.
'There's no use, they are probably under the effect of some kind of drug. Go and check out the houses yourself.' Xukong spoke in Lin Mu's mind.
"Let's go and check the houses ourselves." Lin Mu spoke authoritatively.
Strangely enough, no one questioned him right now and just went with the flow. Even Yuan Tu did not oppose him or show any aversion right now.
Lin Mu ran to the closest house and started banging on the door while shouting. But even then, no one responded. The other men tried the same thing, but to no avail.
"We need to break down the door and look inside." The portly man spoke.
Everyone tacitly nodded and agreed to the proposition. The men braced themselves to break the door and were just about to slam, when Lin Mu ripped the door off of its hinges with ease. The four men were left with the jaws hanging upon seeing this feat.
Lin Mu paid no attention to their shock and just rushed inside. He saw the pair of homeowners sleeping on their bed soundlessly. He went ahead and picked up the man that was sleeping and shook him hard.
The four men entered the room and saw Lin Mu shaking the sleeping the man hard.
"Why are they not waking up?"
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