Huang Shan’s voice was as candid as ever, but right now, it sounded like a demonic cacophony piercing Qiu Yiren's brain.

“Yiren, you aren’t being shy, are you?!” Huang Shan’s voice blared like a loudspeaker.

“...” Qiu Yiren’s body began to tremble.

She had never imagined her best friend’s voice could be this obnoxious!

“...” From his seat, Lin Hui watched this scene speechlessly. Realizing that Qiu Yiren had indeed spaced out and hadn’t heard his inquiry, he had no choice but to speak up and repeat himself.

“I asked you: if one wants to request talismans, where in the Rain Palace does one generally go?”

“It’s... it’s on the periphery of the Rain Palace. There are many warehouses specifically for distributing jade talismans; we generally call them Talisman Depots. Individuals have their own request counters, but organizations require larger quantities and must contact different people. Generally, if the demand exceeds ten pieces, a small handling fee is required—roughly one hundred coins.”

Qiu Yiren snapped back to reality and answered rapidly.

“Is there anything else?”

“No. These rules have been in place for years. Only occasionally does the location change if a Talisman Depot moves; otherwise, nothing changes,” Qiu Yiren said quickly.

“Understood.” Lin Hui nodded. “Then, have there been any accidents in the Outer City caused by a jade talisman failing?”

“No. Or rather, even if a jade talisman failed, we would have no way of knowing. Outsiders can't determine whether the talisman was destroyed first, allowing the mist to intrude, or if it failed automatically, leading to the intrusion.” Qiu Yiren understood the implication behind the question, and her expression immediately turned solemn.

“However, doesn’t the Temple Master have family members in the Rain Palace? Asking them directly should be much more reliable than what we hear in the Outer City, right?” Huang Shan asked from the side, confused.

“That will be all. You two may return and rest.” Lin Hui nodded.

“Yes!”

The two women quickly withdrew. As soon as they exited the door, they began a playful chase; Qiu Yiren’s voice, filled with embarrassment and indignation, drifted from the distance before quickly fading away.

Lin Hui stood up slowly and took a stroll, arriving at the wall in the Council Hall where a mural hung. This empty Council Hall was also used for receiving guests on ordinary days.

He noticed that guests often liked to stand here with their hands behind their backs, gazing at the mural.

Originally, he thought they were all art connoisseurs. That was until he stood here himself.

Only then did he realize it wasn't that they understood art; rather, the hall was so empty and devoid of entertainment that this ordinary landscape painting was the only object of interest. With nothing else to occupy them, they would unconsciously wander over to look.

Looking at it this way, perhaps I could do something with this painting. If I wanted to plot against someone, using it as a bait mechanism should allow me to do so unknowingly.

Unconsciously, Lin Hui’s thoughts drifted toward plotting and killing again.

He touched the edge of the mural.

There, a square red seal was stamped: Far Mountain Layman.

“Painted by Song Zhanlong?” Lin Hui recalled seeing a note left by Song Zhanlong in the secret manuals confiscated earlier; the title he had given himself was 'Far Mountain Layman'.

Stroking the material of the mural, the texture—like cloth—made Lin Hui involuntarily recall his previous battle against Song Zhanlong.

Leaving the Council Hall, he returned to the study.

Lin Hui picked up a paper desk calendar sitting on the table, intending to check the date.

This had been a gift from someone tactless during the recent celebration. It was made in the Inner City with exquisite materials. Every page featured a painting of a different beautiful woman; presumably, the giver thought Lin Hui was fond of women and tailored the gift to his tastes.

Little did they know he had only been using that reputation as an excuse to ask for medicine.

Come to think of it, how does Tuyue calculate the days for its calendar?

Because he had never cared about such things before, Lin Hui recalled now that in his memories—from childhood to adulthood—he had never seemingly heard adults discuss this. It seemed the calendar hanging on the wall was just circled day by day, and replaced with a new one when finished.

As for who produced the calendar, he wasn’t clear.

If it were the old Lin Hui, perhaps he wouldn’t be curious. But having awakened the memories of his previous life, he was genuinely curious about how time was calculated in this place.

The calendar of my previous life was centered on the solar calendar. Here, you basically can’t see the sun... Even though the Inner City isolates the mist to create a mist-free zone, you still can't see the sun clearly. So what do they rely on to determine the calendar?

Lin Hui flipped to look at the small print on the back of the desk calendar.

Supervised by the Yin-Yang Decree. April 4th, 3788.

Lin Hui turned the calendar back over. He had never used this thing and didn't even know what year, month, or day it was right now.

“Someone come in,” he called out immediately.

“Young Master.”

Ding Ning, who was outside the door, hurriedly stood up and knocked gently.

Some time ago, when he returned home, his father saw that, as a Temple Master, he didn't even have anyone to take care of him, so he sent Ding Ning, a personal maid, to serve him exclusively.

“Ding Ning, do you know what year, month, and day it is today?” Lin Hui asked.

“It is June 15th, Year 89.” Ding Ning clearly remembered the date very well for some reason.

Lin Hui looked at the desk calendar.

“June 15th, 3789?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Alright, go rest. You don't need to keep watch anymore.”

“Okay. I will rest in the adjoining ear-room. If you need anything, Young Master, you can call directly,” Ding Ning said hurriedly.

“Understood.”

Lin Hui felt that in this place, without someone taking care of things around him, he even had to go to the kitchen to boil his own hot water, which was quite troublesome.

The Outer City was basically similar to ancient China. Lighting relied on oil lamps and candles; transportation relied on ox carts, horse carriages, and manpower. Communication was just letters. As for buying things, if it weren't for his suggestion to his father to create the United Supermarket, one would have to run all over the place to buy various items, which was very inconvenient.

Once I go to the Inner City this time and investigate whether the jade talismans have hidden dangers, I’ll come back and improve my quality of life.

Perhaps he would move to the Inner City in the future, but for now, he would still be living in the Outer City for many years.

So, Lin Hui felt that some things should be improved to make himself comfortable first.

Putting down the desk calendar, he went back to his room to rest.

Early the next morning, just as the mist dispersed.

He changed into a plain white robe with no pattern and tied it with a matching white cloth belt.

“Inner City people favor white. If you want to be inconspicuous, try to wear mostly white when entering the city. It just so happens that the main attire of our Clear Wind Temple is also white.” Ding Ning had settled into her role very quickly and now considered herself a person of the Clear Wind Temple.

While combing Lin Hui’s long hair, she tied it into a bun, inserted a hair clasp made of sky-blue python skin, and then helped him wash his face and arrange his cuffs, collar, and buttons.

“Speaking of which, apart from robes and skirts, what do people usually wear?” Lin Hui asked casually.

“Mainly silk and leather. The wealthy wear precious furs, while the poor mostly wear rat or pig skin. I heard that the noble patrons of the Inner City even wear furs from the mist zone,” Ding Ning answered.

“What about colors?”

“There’s nothing special about colors; there’s a bit of everything. I also heard that people in certain places in the Inner City supposedly only wear scant strips of cloth draped in gauze when they go out. I don’t know if it’s true. Young Master, when you enter the city, could you verify it?” Ding Ning asked carefully.

“I’ve been inside. Some people do that; it depends on personal preference,” Lin Hui replied.

He put on a pair of white short boots made of unknown leather and took a new long sword.

This was a fine sword sent by someone during the last celebration. Since the Clear River Sword was broken, Lin Hui took this one out of the storehouse to use temporarily.

The scabbard was pitch black, and the end of the hilt was embossed with two small characters like a seal: Cloud Pine.

Clearly, like the Clear River Sword, this also came from the Cloud Pine Pavilion in the Inner City.

The price of such a sword would not be lower than one hundred thousand.

Lin Hui picked it up and gave it a few swings. It didn't feel quite right in his hand. After all, he was used to the Clear River Sword; the length, style, and many subtle details were familiar to the extreme. With a new sword in hand, he had to adapt again, which would have a certain impact on his strength.

But for now, he would just have to make do.

It just so happens I’m not short on money now. I’ll make a trip to the Cloud Pine Pavilion and see if I can spend a heavy sum to get a sufficiently good sword.

After tidying himself up, he pushed open the door and looked up at the sky outside the corridor glass.

After the short delay, the mist had dispersed significantly.

“Time to go.”

Whoosh!

In the next second, he vanished from his spot.

Traveling at high speed was a marvelous sensation.

It required total concentration, constantly paying attention to avoid crashing into people or objects.

Therefore, when moving at high speed, Lin Hui generally liked to take open routes. Otherwise, if the speed was too fast, many places that would be considered wide for ordinary people would become narrow for him.

The faster the speed, the less reaction time he had.

Emerging from the corridor, he leaped directly onto the roof.

With a tap of his toes on the black tiles of the Clear Wind Temple roof, he shot out like a sharp arrow.

In mid-air, about five meters up and about to plummet, Lin Hui’s heart suddenly stirred.

Internal Force circulated, and a large gust of airflow immediately billowed around his body.

These airflows blew downward, forcibly reducing the momentum of his fall by more than half.

With a clang, he drew his sword and executed the Wild Wind Sword Technique. Without landing, Lin Hui hovered three meters off the ground, soaring forward.

He drifted for dozens of meters, exiting the Clear Wind Temple’s Black Dragon branch grounds, before lightly tapping on the street surface.

Leaping up once again, he performed the same maneuver, shooting out another thirty-plus meters at extreme speed.

Cycling through this motion, it was practically equivalent to low-altitude gliding.

In less than half a minute, the massive arched gate for entering and exiting the Inner City appeared before Lin Hui’s eyes.

He arrived at the South Ninth Gate.

Lin Hui touched the permits stored in his waist bag. These were batch permits obtained through the Wang family connection via Wang Yueheng. Given the current cooperation between Clear Wind Temple and the Wang family, when Wang Yueheng visited last time, he gave over a hundred of them in one go. They were piled up in the Clear Wind Temple storehouse for the sect disciples to use when entering or exiting the Inner City.

The South Ninth Gate looked the same as always; the characters inlaid in black crystal above hadn't changed a bit.

However, on the ground to the right of the entrance, several irregular small pits looked like traces left by a fight.

People streamed in and out of the small door beneath the main gate continuously. Lin Hui landed and followed a red carriage into the city gate.

The horse pulling that carriage didn't seem to be an ordinary species either. Its body size was at least two sizes larger than an ordinary horse, standing a full three meters tall. Its muscles were majestic, its fur dark red, and its eyes were full of bloodshot veins; it seemed to have a rather violent temper.

Passing through the South Ninth Gate, the cliff on the inner side appeared before Lin Hui once again.

He stood on the cliff again and watched the vast expanse of Inner City buildings in the distance below for a while.

The sky was still a patch of mist, but the mist seemed to be isolated by some force, blocked at a very, very high altitude.

The entire Inner City was like a gargantuan hollow cavity.

This time, Lin Hui intended to go without a guide. He would wander around randomly first, then handle his business.

With his movement speed, he would pick a direction and sprint wildly in one breath to test exactly how large this region was. Anyway, he carried twenty permits on him; offsetting the Inner City radiation would be a breeze. It would be even better if he could see the legendary Moon Tower that reached thousands of floors into the sky...

Using permits so casually... is this what it feels like to have connections?

He turned around and walked toward the cliffside road.

Feels pretty good.