บท 1: Disappearance Of The Mercenaries
Lin Mu stepped inside the inn, and the eyes that were watching him disappeared. Completely unaware of this occurrence, Lin Mu went to eat dinner. After an hour he returned to his room and recuperated the remaining amount of spirit qi.
After he was done Lin Mu lied down on the bed and entered the Sleepscape. As soon as he appeared in the Sleepscape, he saw the spirit apple tree in front of him. He looked at it and saw a change in it. There were three spirit apples hanging on it, one ripe and two unripe.
Over the weeks, Lin Mu had been plucking the ripened spirit apples from the tree and had stored them in the ring. He had stockpiled a sufficient quantity of spirit apples and would be ready for most emergencies.
Lin Mu could only think of one reason why the number of spirit apples had increased, him breaking through to the mid-stage of the Qi condensation realm. Senior Xukong had already told him that the garden of karma would develop along with its owner. Thus, with this knowledge, he only had more things to look forward to in the future.
Lin Mu then started practicing with the Thousand Armament Blade scripture and engrossed himself in it. A few hours later he heard senior Xukong's voice in his mind, which prompted him to stop. He then let senior Xukong out of the ring.
As soon as Xukong appeared in the Sleepscape, he flew away to observe it. He returned a few seconds later, having completed his survey. He floated in front of Lin Mu and spoke.
"So it has started developing a little now."
"Yes it has, the number of spirit apples has grown by one." Lin Mu replied.
"That's not all, its area has also increased by a minute amount." Xukong added.
Lin Mu was a little surprised but understood. Senior Xukong's senses were much stronger than his and could even find microscopic changes that were hidden from him. He then sat down and waited for senior Xukong to start his lesson.
Lin Mu had been learning Dao script from senior Xukong every day in the Sleepscape. Although he studied every day, it was still difficult for him to learn the Dao script. Senior Xukong had explained to him that Dao script was not just about reading the characters, the characters also contained more intent and meaning in them than he understood. Thus for him to learn even one character took him a long time.
Until now he had barely learned seven characters, and even the understanding of those characters was still kind of shaky for him. He was able to read them and understood some part of its meaning, but the intent was still fuzzy. There were far too many variables that influenced the use of the Dao script, which was why it was so difficult for him to learn it.
Senior Xukong had told him that Dao script was the only universal writing script that was could be understood by every species in the cosmos. Lin Mu was fascinated by this and asked senior Xukong how this was possible if there was no one to teach them.
Senior Xukong explained that Dao script was actually not created by a person but was rather a natural creation of the Heavenly Dao. He told Lin Mu that any species would be able to read it once they reached a sufficiently high cultivation realm.
Dao script was often present on natural treasures and precious materials. It was the imprint of the Dao itself, thus would enable a person to learn it if they spent a sufficient amount of time comprehending and learning it.
Dao script's direct relation to the Heavenly Dao was what made it so important in the construction of formations, refinement of alchemical pills, forging of spirit tools, and creation of techniques. It would still take Lin Mu a long time till he learned enough Dao script to learn from the legacy of the lost immortal.
More time passed by and Lin Mu woke up. He stood up and looked out of the window. It was snowing outside, and the town was covered in a thick sheet of snow. Looking at the people walking outside, Lin Mu could estimate that the snow was at least six inches deep.
While this kind of snow would not bother him, the same could not be said about the commoners as they did not have the same resistance to cold and higher strength as him. A minute later he saw the team of snow cleaners pass by.
The snow cleaners were equipped with shoves and other equipment, which helped them clear out the snow from the streets. Though the most eye-catching were the snowploughs, which were pulled by horses. Although it could not cover the entire street, it still reduced the workload of the snow cleaners.
Having watched enough, Lin Mu went down to cook and eat his breakfast. He walked into the hall and saw that it was surprisingly empty. Most of the mercenaries that should be present here at this time had disappeared to heaven knows where. The only people that were currently sitting there were the other hunters and regulars.
A clerk saw Lin Mu and approached him.
"Do you need anything, sir?" the clerk asked.
Every clerk in the inn now knew about Lin Mu and also knew that he was a cultivator, thus they were always respectful and courteous to him. The other patrons of the inn used to be surprised at this, but had become pretty used to it by now.
"Why is the hall so empty?" Lin Mu questioned.
"The mercenaries were called in for an emergency meeting after what happened last night." The clerk answered.
Lin Mu felt a depressing feeling rising from the pit of his stomach upon hearing the clerk's words.
"What happened last night?" Lin Mu asked.
"You didn't hear? The entire town was in an uproar last night. Two teams of mercenaries disappeared from their camp last night." The clerk replied.
"Two teams? How many people were there in total?" Lin Mu impatiently questioned.
"Around fifteen people." The clerk answered.
"Did no one see them? There are hundreds of people in the camp." Lin Mu stated.
"That's the reason why all the people are scared. They somehow disappeared in the midst of so many people and no one knows how or why. Another thing was that, out of the fifteen mercenaries, three were cultivators." The clerk replied.
"People are scared, hence the town head has advised everyone to be careful and stay inside their homes as long as possible." The clerk added.
Lin Mu was lost in thought after hearing this. An uneasy feeling kept on prodding Lin Mu's mind, as if it was warning him. He was also a little worried, as even cultivators had disappeared. If there was someone or something capable of doing this, they must be very strong.
Lin Mu quickly finished his breakfast and left the inn. There was one big task that he was intending to do today. The task was none other than buying back his house. Two weeks ago he had gone to the town center and had asked the staff working there about his house. They had informed him that while he could indeed buy it back, he would still need to wait until the town head returned from Wu Lim city.
Apparently, all the town heads were ordered by the mayor to present themselves at the city hall as soon as possible. The town head had thus been absent for the past two weeks. Even the workers at the town center felt strange when the town head did not return for so long.
Now that Lin Mu knew that the town head had returned, he wanted to go there as fast as possible. The town center was located in the center of the town, as its name suggested. It was close to where the merchants had set up the market when they had visited the town a month ago.
Lin Mu reached the town center after fifteen minutes and looked up at the tall building. It was the tallest building in the town and also the oldest. He walked in through the main door, at the sides of which two guards were standing.
The guards looked at him and blocked his path. Lin Mu informed them of his purpose here, and they let him inside after asking him to leave his sword outside. He had already known about this, thus did not mind.
Lin Mu walked up to a staffer that was working at a desk.
"What are you here for?" The staffer asked.
"I'm here to buy back my confiscated property." Lin Mu spoke with determination.
The staffer showed a surprised expression but soon became calm.
"And what property is that?" The staffer questioned.
Lin Mu then informed the staffer about his name and the location of the property.
"Please wait here while I go inform the town head." The staffer spoke.
The staffer then stood up from his seat and went up the stairs. Lin Mu had to wait thirty minutes before the staffer returned.
"The town head has given his permission. You can claim your property as long as you pay the fine of 1200 gold coins." The staffer informed.
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