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.