Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 279 - 272: Confusion Part 2

Chapter 279: Chapter 272: Confusion Part 2

Thud!

In the distance, flesh burst open like blooming flowers, spraying around. A large amount of blood disappeared in midair, and the flesh quickly withered as if something had sucked it dry.

The members of the Radiance Society who had just broken out of the cave all wore tense expressions, fearfully staring at Lin Xin standing before them.

"Are you... not here to assist us?"

An elder said with a trembling voice.

Just moments before, as they had burst out of the cave, the leading Confucian scholar was struck head-on by a sword from this middle-aged man, exploding on the spot.

Lin Xin’s eyes were scattered and then converged, converged and then scattered again, like circles that continually shrank and then expanded.

"No! It seems like he’s under someone else’s control!" the elder exclaimed, realizing something was amiss and shouted loudly.

Bang!

Lin Xin suddenly appeared behind him, and with a slanted slash of his sword, he cleaved the elder in two.

The rest immediately broke down and fled in all directions, but their speed was nowhere near Lin Xin’s. He easily overtook each one, and they were swiftly killed.

From a distance, the fat man saw the members of the Radiance Society being slaughtered in an instant. In a few breaths, all was silent. A shiver ran down his spine, and he hastily jumped down from the broken wall.

"He’s killing his own people! He must be insane!" he cursed hatefully.

But as his round body had just flown out not far, he suddenly felt a chill on his back. Looking back, a red light was shooting toward his back, getting brighter and more blinding.

In a state of sheer panic, the fat man whirled his body, and with a bang, exploded into a cloud of white mist.

The red light flashed through the mist without touching anything solid, then flew back as if it were alive, took a long inhalation, and emitted a piercing breathing sound, instantly sucking up most of the white mist the fat man had turned into.

"Spare me! Spare my life!" the fat man truly panicked now, his faint cries emitted from the mist, but it was to no avail. The remaining mist was wholly devoured and absorbed by the red light. The voices also disappeared.

In the valley of Huagu Valley, Lin Xin gently caught the Red Flower Sword that flew back into his hand. His pupils gradually returned to normal...

He looked blankly at the dried corpses and pieces around him, and after a few breaths, his face turned ugly.

"What exactly... happened here?"

He tried to remember, and to his horror, all that had just occurred was still in his memory.

As memories of the scenes flooded back, his face turned increasingly ashen.

"Was it the illusion...?" he muttered to himself, looking at his injured skin that was covered in bluish-purple mottling.

"The illusion intensified, I had to kill to help alleviate it, but the slaughter will speed up the consumption of my lifespan... rapid decay."

This was a vicious cycle, which is why the Red Leaf Sword Master had said what he did.

"So this is why the illusion is so troublesome..."

Lin Xin looked around and sighed. He had originally come to save people, but now there was no sign of life in the vicinity, clearly not only the enemies were killed, even those he wanted to save were dead.

Looking at the remains of the corpses, it seemed they were all killed by him. Even his cultivation level had gone up a notch in the status bar.

From the original 18% jump to 25%.

Shh!

Suddenly a figure appeared behind him, going from faint to thick, gradually becoming clearer.

Turning around, he saw who the figure was.

"Why is my worthy younger brother here too?" Seeing Lin Xin, Chen Ming was also somewhat astonished, but before he could respond, Chen Ming saw the chaotic scene of corpses around him.

"What... What the hell is this!!? Brother Huang! Miss Zhang! And Brother Long!" His body trembled uncontrollably, as if he couldn’t believe it.

Lin Xin was expressionless.

"It seems they were killed by the enemy. By the time I arrived, our brothers and sisters had been slain... a pity... I was still one step too late."

He murmured a lament, showing a sorrowful look.

"Do not... Do not blame my worthy brother." Chen Ming suppressed his sadness, walked over to a pile of corpse fragments, and crouched down to gently touch a severed hand.

"Regrettably, I heard the Minister speaking and thought I would help as I had just arrived, as a token of my commitment, but unexpectedly..." Lin Xin showed a look of regret, "the enemy was brutal, not even leaving the bodies intact, they must be extremely vicious."

"Chen Ming understands..." Chen Ming replied softly, a flash of indignant grief in his eyes, "For this, the Red Clothes Cult must pay a heavy price to honor the noble spirits of our brothers and sisters!"

"I am willing to assist you." Lin Xin said resolutely.

"Righteousness endures, the Red Clothes Cult is not easy to deal with, and they have the support of the Shape-shifting Cave, we must plan carefully!" Chen Ming stood up, his voice cold. "Thank you, my worthy brother, I will soon have your item ready."

"There is no rush for that, we should deal with the trouble from the Red Clothes Cult first," Lin Xin said earnestly, "Righteousness must prevail, we must make them answer for this!"

"Exactly," Chen Ming stood up, his eyes fierce. "It seems I have been too kind, which led to the enemy’s unyielding tactics. I will not make the same mistake again!"

Lin Xin nodded solemnly.

"I am currently staying at the Kunlin Sword Sect. If the Minister has any news, he can send someone to notify me. My address is Temporary Residence Tower, Number 14."

"Elder Brother Chen, your noble righteousness is overwhelming!" Chen Ming was somewhat moved and quietly took this kindness to heart.

The Radiance Society isn’t one that readily lends a hand without compensation; after all, this identity is only known in secrecy. The real life that everyone else leads comes with its own identity. Undertaking a single task from the society could risk exposing one’s real identity.

Upon his arrival, Chen Ming had harbored suspicions about Lin Xin. However, first, since Lin Xin had no motive to take action, harboring no enmity or conflict of interest with these people, those suspicions waned.

Second, killing everybody so cleanly in such a short amount of time would be impossible. Even an Intent Level master would find this feat highly unlikely.

After giving it some thought, he became relieved instead and turned to suspect the Red Clothes Cult; only the Shape-shifting Cave’s formidable demons, hired by the cult, would be capable of such cruelty.

The summoned demon was known as Wei Longpo, infamous for his brutality and belligerence. It wasn’t impossible for such a massacre to occur in a fit of rage.

Soon, more members of the Radiance Society arrived. Most of them possessed inferior strength, so much so that Lin Xin could easily gauge their power levels.

They were mostly on par with First Grade of the Innate Layer, which would make them formidable against ordinary mortals, but only average in the cultivator’s world of Jianghu.

A vice director arrived later, a purple-haired lady with poor eyesight, who was quite serious. The power she displayed was around the Third Grade, roughly at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Chen Ming himself, presumably, was at the Taoist Master Level—a peak figure of the Intent Level, a Golden Core!

This was the full extent of the branch’s strength, and through introductions, Lin Xin also learned that among those he had killed in a state of illusion, there had been two Intent Level and two Heart Level masters.

An Intent Level master was at least at the Third Grade Foundation Establishment Stage, while a Heart Level was akin to the Second Grade of Qi Cultivation Layer.

This also illustrated the extent of the branch’s decline. A towering Golden Core Daoist Master now had only one higher-ranking Foundation Establishment cultivator to command.

After cleaning up, Lin Xin helped Chen Ming bury the corpses. As for the bodies of the Red Clothes Cult they found later, they were treated as casualties of the demon’s frenzied slaughter and dismissed without a second thought after their possessions were looted.

Lin Xin was also unaware that the woman he killed in an instant was actually a formidable demon.

In the Demon Race, a formidable demon is at least at the Foundation Establishment Stage, which is the Third Grade Intent Level. Generally, those called formidable demons either possess some degree of shape-shifting ability or, even without shape-shifting, hold significant renown amongst their kind.

Days passed quickly, and after attending the funerals of brothers and sisters, Lin Xin took the travel permit and identification papers provided by Chen Ming, along with a new token of membership, and returned to the Kunlin Sword Sect. As for Zhao Ke and others, they stayed behind, lacking any real means of livelihood. They started accepting various tasks distributed by the branch, settling down in a small courtyard nearby.

********************

In the blink of an eye, spring turned to autumn, and half a year passed.

Along the river that embraced the Kunlin Sword Sect, double-decked boats docked quietly, bobbing up and down with the river’s flow.

The sun shone through the clouds, casting a bright but not golden light onto the waters.

Within a certain room on one of the large boats adorned with black birds and beasts on its sides,

two middle-aged men sat facing each other. One held a feather fan, slowly fanning while deep in thought over a chessboard.

The other had an indifferent expression, with a red longsword resting on his knees, its sheath intricately and beautifully engraved with hollow vine patterns.

"No, no more! This move worked against you last time, but now it’s only been a few days? Confess! Have you been brooding over a counter-strategy ever since we last played?" the man with the feather fan eventually capitulated, looking up in disgruntlement.

"Who has so much time to waste on such things? This skill is simple in nature, why ponder it further?" the other man said, shaking his head. "Brother Wang, are you welching now?

"When have I, Wang Jin, ever reneged?" retorted the feathery fan man promptly. "Enough, enough. I’ll give you the barren mountain soil when we return," he continued, showing a pained expression.

"I, Lin Xin, am not a greedy person. I’ll take only one share of the barren mountain soil. I’ve won three times against you, and I ask for only one share. That’s not excessive, right?" The man with the longsword on his knee was Lin Xin, who had been in seclusion at the Kunlin Sword Sect.

For the better half of the year, he didn’t lay a hand on anyone.

Most of the time, the tasks were effortlessly completed using the Nine Morning Melody Rhythm without needing to resort to violence.

Ever since the conflict with the Red Clothes Cult and the Radiance Society erupted over half a year ago, a continuous stream of assassination missions against the cult flowed in, each one being picked up in turn.

Many with grudges against the Red Clothes Cult saw an opportunity for revenge and flocked to the Radiance Society branches, investing everything they had to issue bounties for retribution.

The chaos was mirrored on the other side as well, with both factions fighting viciously. Even with Chen Ming personally participating, casualties were suffered on both sides.

However, the losses were much greater for the Radiance Society.

If not for Lin Xin’s occasional interventions, the branch likely wouldn’t have had a base to call their own by now.

"In recent days, that plump young lady from your house has taken two more tasks, both of Second Grade level. It seems she has succeeded in entering the Heart Level," Wang Jin remarked.

Lin Xin smiled. "I promised her elder to look after her for a year, and now I am simply fulfilling that commitment. The time is about to expire. Once a few more days pass, I plan to leave this place."

"To heal your injuries?" the other man frowned slightly.

Lin Xin raised his arm, revealing veins and bones almost visible through the wrist where the skin was completely rotten away.

"If I don’t leave soon, I am afraid I won’t be able to hold on much longer."

"Stricken with a grave illness yet staying true to a promise for a year... Brother Lin’s character and integrity are truly admirable," Wang Jin said solemnly. "It’s a pity that my Kunlin Sword Sect has strict rules regarding external support; otherwise, I would certainly invite Lin Xin to join our sect."

"Brother Wang, your kind thoughts are fully appreciated," Lin Xin smiled.

These days, he had provided an in-depth foundation in basic martial arts and explained the principles of Cultivation Practice in simple terms to the plump young lady, thus fulfilling the responsibility he initially accepted. He had also come to understand the environment of the Central Prefecture.

The travel documents and identity proof for the plump young lady had already reached his hands, and together with the credentials provided by Chen Ming, he now possessed two sets of identity papers. What he had once desperately sought now came in surplus.

Everything was ready; all that was left was to set off...(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)