102: Chapter 102 The Storm Is Brewing - Strange Movements in Jinyang

The heavy rain fell for three days and three nights.

On the morning of the fourth day, the rain finally began to ease.

Sunlight struggled to pierce through the gaps in the thick clouds, casting a grey, hazy light over the sodden Tianzhu Mountain Range.

The bamboo forest was saturated, its stalks bowed and leaves drooping; every now and then, a string of water droplets would shake loose, hitting the muddy, waterlogged ground with a "plop," before returning to silence.

The air was filled with the scent of earth, vegetation, and a faint, subtle musk—not the smell of blood, but something more obscure and unsettling, like the scent of iron slowly rusting in the dampness.

When Lin Xuan pushed open his courtyard gate, he stepped into water that submerged his ankles.

He frowned, cast the Wind Control Technique, and hovered three feet above the ground, flying toward Thousand Talisman Peak.

What he saw along the way was vastly different from usual.

The number of patrolling Law Enforcement Hall Disciples had increased again; they moved in groups of five, spaced less than a hundred zhang apart, their expressions as taut as drawn bowstrings.

They were no longer just patrolling; they would stop passing Disciples, carefully inspect their identity jade tablets, and even ask about their destinations, task details, and relationships with fellow Disciples.

Lin Xuan was stopped twice.

The first time, he presented his Hundred Talisman Hall Disciple token and his Talisman-making task voucher for the day; the other party checked them for a long time before letting him pass.

The second time, the questioning Law Enforcement Hall Disciple asked an additional question: "Have you had any private contact or transactions with Disciples from core production areas like the General Affairs Hall, Artifact Refining Peak, or Danding Peak recently?"

Lin Xuan's expression was calm: "I have only exchanged Talisman-making insights with fellow Disciples within the Hundred Talisman Hall; there have been no private transactions."

That Law Enforcement Hall Disciple looked at him deeply, then waved him through.

In front of the Hundred Talisman Hall, the water had been cleared away by a Formation, revealing the dry bluestone ground.

However, on both sides of the hall doors, there were now four guards with heavy, composed auras, all at the Foundation Establishment Stage, their gazes sweeping over every entering Disciple like hawks.

The atmosphere inside the hall was almost frozen.

The chill brought by the temperature-control Formation now felt bone-piercing.

Disciples kept their heads down, walking quickly toward their respective cubicles; no one spoke, and they even avoided eye contact as much as possible.

Cubicle Ding-Wei No. 73.

Lin Xuan activated the sound-dampening Restriction and spread out the purple-patterned paper.

Today's quota was still six Thunder Shield Talismans.

But as he put pen to paper, he could clearly feel that the flow of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within the hall... was somewhat unstable.

It wasn't that the Formation had a problem.

It was a deeper level of disturbance.

It was as if some colossal behemoth was breathing in the distance, and with every inhalation and exhalation, it pulled the Spiritual Qi for hundreds of miles around along with it.

The Hundred Talisman Hall's Spirit Gathering Formation was trying its best to calm this fluctuation, but that palpitation originating from the Origin of Heaven and Earth still seeped in, thread by thread.

The Thunder Spiritual Energy under his pen tip also produced subtle, uncontrollable tremors as a result.

Lin Xuan had to divert more of his focus to suppress and guide this restlessness.

The first Talisman took nearly twice as long as usual to complete, and the quality was only mediocre.

He put down his pen and adjusted his breathing for a moment.

He looked toward the direction of Rising Sun Peak.

Although he couldn't see anything through the hall walls and layers of Formations, he could feel it—the presence of the Golden Sun Grotto-Heaven was growing stronger and stronger.

Like a sun about to break out of its shell, the accumulated energy was nearing a critical point.

Qi Tianyuan's Golden Core Tribulation would be within these next few days.

When the bell for the noon break rang, Lin Xuan had only completed three Talismans.

He walked out of the cubicle to the exchange counter.

There were very few people in the corridor; occasionally a Disciple would hurry past, all with their heads bowed.

There were few people queuing in front of the exchange counter, but the Deacon Disciple's inspection was more cumbersome than usual.

When it was Lin Xuan's turn, the Deacon Disciple not only verified his identity jade tablet and Spiritual Energy imprint, but also took out a strangely shaped bronze mirror and shone it at him.

The surface of the bronze mirror shimmered with a faint, clear light, showing no anomalies.

"That will do," the Deacon Disciple nodded, his voice flat. "What are you collecting?"

"Two stacks of purple-patterned paper, one jar of thunder-patterned cinnabar."

"Five hundred and fifty points in total."

Lin Xuan transferred the points and picked up the Materials, just about to leave, when the Deacon Disciple suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Junior Brother Lin, it hasn't been peaceful in the hall lately. Once you finish your quota, go back early. Do not stay long, and... do not have deep conversations with others."

Lin Xuan paused, looking at the Deacon Disciple.

The other party kept his head down, organizing the ledger as if what he had just said was merely a casual remark.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother," Lin Xuan said in a low voice and turned to leave.

Returning to the cubicle, he continued making Talismans.

But his focus was hard to fully concentrate.

The Deacon Disciple's reminder seemed ordinary, but in these tense times, it carried an unusual meaning.

Was it a well-intentioned warning? Or some kind of probe?

The Talisman-making process in the afternoon was even more difficult.

The fluctuations of Spiritual Qi within the hall were becoming more and more obvious, rising and falling like tides.

When Lin Xuan was drawing the fifth Talisman, the Thunder Spiritual Energy at his pen tip suddenly trembled, clashing with the structure on the Talisman paper—

"Hiss!"

The Talisman paper burned up.

He took a deep breath, cleaned up the ashes, and spread out new paper.

At the beginning of the You hour, the quota of six was finally completed, though the quality of two was barely acceptable.

Lin Xuan did not draw extra Talismans; he packed up early, handed in the Talismans, and left.

As he walked out of the Hundred Talisman Hall, the setting sun struggled to reveal half its face from behind the clouds, dyeing the world in a sickly golden-red.

The light shone on the wet mountains and halls, not appearing warm at all, but instead having a blood-stained, tragic beauty.

He did not return to Emerald Bamboo Peak.

Instead, he took a wide detour to the place he had agreed upon with Chen Hao—a secluded mountain stream behind the Artifact Refining Peak. The spring water here was clear, and it was usually a place where Artifact Refining Peak Disciples would snatch moments of leisure to wash away the soot and smoke.

Chen Hao was already waiting there.

He was squatting on a large rock by the stream, the hem of his crimson Dharma robe soaking in the water, unconsciously tossing a piece of black Ore fragment in his hand.

Seeing Lin Xuan, he stood up and forced a smile onto his face, but the exhaustion and a hint of irrepressible anxiety in his eyes were clearly visible.

"Lin Xuan." Chen Hao jumped off the rock and walked over. "How is it on your side?"

"The quota is done, but it wasn't easy." Lin Xuan walked to the stream and sat down on a rock as well. "The Spiritual Qi in the hall is unstable, and making Talismans is very taxing."

"It's the same on our side." Chen Hao sat down next to him and scooped up a handful of stream water to wash his face; water droplets streamed down his soot-blackened cheeks. "The furnace fires have been affected, and several Senior Brothers almost made mistakes while forging. Master says it's because the anomalies in Heaven and Earth caused by the Golden Sun Grotto-Heaven are getting stronger, and the range of influence is getting wider."

He paused and lowered his voice: "And... three more people have gone missing from the Artifact Refining Peak in the last two days."

Lin Xuan's heart tightened: "Missing?"

"Yeah." Chen Hao nodded, his eyes filled with lingering fear. "They weren't called away by the Law Enforcement Hall; they 'disappeared.' They were working in the workshop the night before, and didn't show up the next day. Those who lived with them said they didn't see them return at night at all. The Law Enforcement Hall came to investigate, but they couldn't find anyone, nor any signs of a struggle. They just... vanished into thin air."

He swallowed his saliva: "Now the Artifact Refining Peak is in a state of panic; no one dares to move alone at night. Master told us to stay in the collective dormitory next to the workshop recently and not to run around."

Lin Xuan was silent for a moment: "What is the progress on the refining of the 'Demon-Probing Needle' and the 'Stealth-Breaking Disk'?"

"We are rushing to finish them," Chen Hao said. "But the supply of raw Materials can't keep up. I heard that several important mining sites of the Sect have strengthened their guards recently, and the transport routes have also been adjusted for fear of sneak attacks. We are waiting for supplies here, and we are anxious as ants on a hot pan."

He looked at Lin Xuan, hesitated for a moment, and lowered his voice even further: "Lin Xuan, I heard... it's not just the Artifact Refining Peak. The Danding Peak, Spirit Beast Peak, and several other production peaks have all had people go missing inexplicably recently. The Law Enforcement Hall has been investigating fiercely, but it seems... they haven't caught any leads."

Lin Xuan watched the stream flowing by, the pebbles at the bottom clearly visible.

Missing.

Not captured, not killed, but missing.

Clean, leaving no traces.

This method was extremely similar to the elite Demon Sect squad that Senior Brother Feng spoke of—the one that "excelled in concealment, assassination, and sabotage."

They had already infiltrated. And were they targeting specific objectives? Or... were they clearing obstacles and creating chaos for some larger operation?

"Chen Hao." Lin Xuan turned his head and looked at him seriously. "You must be careful recently. Except for the workshop and the dormitory, do not go to any secluded places. If you discover any abnormal people or things, do not investigate them yourself; report them to your Master or the patrol team immediately."

Chen Hao was taken aback by his serious tone, then nodded heavily: "I know. I'm not stupid; I won't get involved in that kind of fighting and killing."

But Lin Xuan could see that the excitement in his eyes from being involved in something important had been diluted by the tension of the past few days and the fear brought about by the disappearances.

War and conspiracy were never the hot-blooded games that young people imagined.