3

"This is the library?" It wasn't long before Lin Kai found himself in front of a building that was made exactly like the meeting hall. The only difference was that the doors and the windows of the building were open, giving one a clear view of the inside scenery.

Just from the outside, Lin Kai could see rows upon rows of bookshelves which were filled to the brim with books.

"And there aren't any guards here either." Thinking about the Martial Arts Library that was on the opposite side, he shook his head. He thought about going to the martial arts library but looking at the guards that were sitting outside along with a constant flux of people entering and exiting, he put this thought aside. Right now what he needed most was some basic knowledge. Even if he entered the Martial Arts Library, there wasn't anything for him to do. Sure he could read some martial arts books, but doing this will surely raise an eyebrow or two. After all, it would be weird for a scholar preparing for Exams to be suddenly interested in Martial Arts.

"I can try going there after the exam."

Making up his mind, Lin Kai took a deep breath as he stepped forward to enter the library. Compared to the Martial Arts Library, the scenery here was quite lonely. If not for the figures of people that were visible from the outside, he might have thought that this entire place was deserted.

The inside of the library was exactly like the meeting hall. The only difference was that instead of Exquisite chairs and tables, there were shelves of books placed adjacent to the walls. There were two rows of shelves on both sides of the room with long tables and benches placed in between them for sitting. In the center of the library was an extra circular table with numerous seats surrounding it.

Taking a glance, Lin Kai could see small lamps containing a piece of paper with weird diagrams which were placed on every table, giving off a hazy light. And on the seats, there were a number of people sitting quietly, reading their books.

His arrival didn't seem to attract any attention as hardly anyone moved their heads to look in another direction than the book in front of them. The only sound Lin Kai could hear was the occasional breathing and someone browsing through the books.

After observing silently for a moment, Lin Kai came to the nearest shelf before looking at the wooden board that had words carved on it.

"Regions around Qingyun."

Looking at the stacks of books, Lin Kai hesitated for a moment before moving forward. Right now what he needed was some basic knowledge.

"Changes throughout the years."

The next shelf was full of books containing changes in the city.

"Schemes throughout the years."

"Factions throughout the years."

It wasn't until he had almost reached the end of the first row of shelves that he found what he was looking for.

"History of Qingyun."

Looking at the stacks of books most of which were identical, Lin Kai picked the thickest one before taking a seat.

The cover of the book was made up of thick hide. Gently rubbing the book, Lin Kai could feel the passage of time. Upon looking carefully, he could see the words 'Qingyun City' engraved on it.

Knowing the language of this world already upon his arrival was perhaps the only thing Lin Kai was grateful for. Otherwise, no one knew how long it was going to take him to learn a new language from scratch.

Shaking his head, he pulled the nearest chair placed beside him before sitting on it comfortably. After taking a look around and seeing everyone busy, he placed the book on the table and began to read it.

"Qingyun City was formed in the third month of the sixtieth year of the Solar Year."

Looking at the first line of the book, Lin Kai felt his head spinning.

Gritting his teeth, he continued reading.

"The three major families, the Lin family, the Wei family, and the Wu family repelled the spawns of the Blessed One before making this place suitable for living. The battle cost the three families so much that it took more than two hundred years to recover from the aftermath."

"It was fifty years after the establishment of the Qingyun city that the three families together formed a council to oversee the entire city."

"It was only after the constant efforts of the scholars who enriched the council that the fate of Qingyun City changed. From a deserted place with hardly any living conditions to a prosperous city."

Just after these lines was another line of text written - 'To learn more about the council, please read the book, Qingyun Council.'

Lin Kai turned around and pulled out that book before continuing his reading. It took him an hour to finish the book which in the later part was mostly about the people who made contributions and the battles that they fought. It also included the various phenomena that they faced along with a long list of events that occurred after the foundation of the city.

"Ugh." Closing the book, Lin Kai pulled the book about the council. If he guessed right, he was perhaps preparing for the council exam.

"Heh! Who would have thought that I would be reading in another world too." Shaking his head with a bitter smile he started reading the book.

"The Qingyun Council was formed fifty years after the establishment of the city. It was formed to solve various conflicts that arose between the three families, like who is responsible for safety, who is responsible for construction, how are they going to divide the resources, how the market will operate, and many other things."

"So, after a grave discussion, it was decided that only scholars would be allowed to join the council. Even amongst the scholars, only the best were needed. Hence, in the eightieth year after the establishment of the city, the Council Exams were introduced. It was to make sure that only the most competent people who can be trusted with responsibility were selected."

"The Head of the council is the City Lord, selected by a bench of eight Grand Scholars. It is to maintain fairness. And the only condition for becoming the city lord is that the person should not belong to any major family."

Lin Kai clicked his tongue in wonder as he read more and more. Till now, he had considered this world to be a primitive one, but reading about the situation, in terms of law and order, they were perhaps equally if not more advanced than the modern world.

Reading further, he saw the author describe in great detail the function and the power of the council along with a long list of people who were part of the council throughout the years.

Minutes turned into hours as Lin Kai immersed himself in reading about scholars and their importance in Qingyun City. It wasn't until the sound of a gong echoed that he came out of his trance.

"It's already night?" Lin Kai looked outside the window only to see darkness enveloping the world. Every night, the food hall will ring the gong at the time of dinner. Stretching his body, Lin Kai yawned as he stood up and began to place the books back in their respective places.

By now, he already knew what the exam was going to be about.

"If I want to, I can perhaps top this exam." Throughout the time he was reading the books, this thought kept appearing in his head. With the knowledge he had from his world and his thinking, he can come up with some pretty good schemes and plans. Even if they were not revolutionary or ground-breaking, they would be enough to ensure his success.

"But, do I need to?" After making sure he placed all the books back in place, Lin Kai looked around as more and more scholars began to arrive in the library.

Compared to noon, the number of scholars inside the library was increasing at a rapid pace. If noon is the time for the warriors, then the night is for the scholars. Many of the scholars weren't as lucky as him who didn't have to worry about food and clothing. Compared to the warriors, they had to do extra work for the family during the daytime, leaving only the night for them.

In a daze, Lin Kai couldn't even remember when he entered the dining hall and had his dinner. By the time he came out of his stupor, he was already standing in front of his house.

"Forget it, I will leave tomorrow's problem to tomorrow's me." Shaking his head with a smile, Lin Kai walked inside his house before picking up a new paper and writing on it.

.

.

.

"Hmm..." Sleeping on his bed, Lin Kai had a smile on his face, as if he was reminiscing his happiest memories. Occasionally, his body would change posture, dropping the coarse blanket covering his body which he would pick up unconsciously.

"CLANG....."

"CLANG....."

"CLANG....."

"What the fu...?" Lin Kai who wasn't even fully awake, stood up in haste before looking around with his half-closed eyes. Today was his eighth day there was already another family meeting being called this early.

"Something major happened?" It only took a moment for him to come back to his senses as thoughts ran across his mind.

"Go..." Without wasting another second, he splashed the water from the nearby jug onto his face before rushing out of the house. The droplets of water dripping from his chin along with his messy hair and clothes made a stark contrast compared to other people rushing outside.

"What's going on?" After a few minutes, the family hall was already in his sight, but to his surprise, the members of the Lin family present there were just standing outside while whispering to each other.

Halting his footsteps, Lin Kai looked around for a long time, hoping to find a familiar face. And it wasn't long before he saw someone familiar, someone, whom he met just a day ago.

Standing amongst the crowd of people was the figure of a young girl in her late teens. Wearing the sleeveless tunic, the girl's eyes were looking in the direction of the hall.

"Hey..." Pushing aside the people who were crowding the place, Lin Kai approached her before patting her on the shoulder.

"What happened?" Speaking softly, Lin Kai looked in the direction the girl's eyes were stuck. But other than the back of people standing in front of him, he just couldn't see anything.

"....." The girl was standing still without any intention to speak. At this moment, her face was ashen, as if someone drained the blood out of her. Her eyes would sometimes contract, as if in disbelief. Occasionally, he could see her lips trembling, wanting to say something.

"Oi! You there?" Lin Kai shouted in a low voice again but to no avail. It seemed whatever she saw was enough to put her in shock.

Hesitating momentarily, Lin Kai thought for a moment before looking around. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't curious. As for the matter of it being dangerous..!?

With so many Lin family members present here, he doubted there was anything that could hurt him or put him in danger.

At this moment, many children around his age and even younger were rushing through the crowd, making their way toward the front. It only took a second before Lin Kai decided to follow suit. Blending himself amongst the other youngsters, Lin Kai made his way towards the front as the constant whispers around him along with the people standing silently filled him with dread.

Within a few minutes, Lin Kai had already reached the front of the crowd. In front of him were more than ten guards standing, preventing anyone from entering the family hall. At this moment, the sunlight illuminated the scenery inside the hall which was usually shrouded in darkness.

Even though the guards were blocking the entrance and preventing anyone from entering, they weren't blocking anyone's vision. So, just from standing outside, one could see the scenery inside the hall. And this includes the children who were rushing forward with great excitement.

Standing behind the person in the front, Lin Kai poked his head to see what the fuss was all about. But the moment Lin Kai saw the scene inside the hall, his eyes narrowed into slits. Exhaling a mouthful of cold air, Lin Kai's heart almost jumped out of his throat. If he was feeling somewhat sleepy a moment ago, then now he was fully awake.

"Fuck." Controlling his urges to rush back, Lin Kai kept on observing the scene in front of him. Unknowingly his back was covered in cold sweat.

Inside the hall, the ground below was covered in a pool of blood. On top of the pool of blood, ten bodies were hanging via threads. The first thought that came to Lin Kai's mind was that of a puppet show. Similar to the puppets, the bodies in the hall were strung by dense white threads attached to the roof above, which were shimmering like pearls in the sunlight. The bodies which were hung up like fish baits were missing their eyes. In place of their eyes, there were two deep dark, and bloody holes.

But this was not all, other than their eyes which were now gone, their faces were ripped apart, tearing their lower jaw from the upper jaw. Looking carefully, one could see the flesh on their faces was torn in a way that formed an eerie smile. It was as if they were smiling even in death.

Looking further, Lin Kai could see the bodies were riddled with objects that were inserted from all angles. There were sticks... weapons... anything with a pointed edge was just stabbed into the body.

And yet even amongst all these, the most noticeable thing about the corpses was the way their head was tilted. It was as if someone broke them at a particular angle, separating the head from the spine. One could see the bump formed from the spine along with a displaced head which was tilted to one side.

Even though Lin Kai had seen his fair share of bloody scenes in movies and on the internet, this was the first time he had seen such things in person. For a moment, he couldn't even react.

"Blergh..."

"HEY!"

"What the hell kid?"

And just when Lin Kai was frozen on the spot, sudden chaos erupted beside him.

"Fuck, who allowed these brats to come forward. Get them back." A middle-aged man after seeing a young boy throwing up beside him cursed in a loud voice.

"Get back." Before Lin Kai could react, someone grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back, followed by another hand that grabbed him and threw him back. This went on for a while before Lin Kai found himself back in the place near the girl.

"GET OUT AND REPORT TO ME IF ANYONE YOU KNOW IS MISSING." It was at this moment a loud voice echoed throughout the ground silencing everyone.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR!?"

The moment the voice finished, the Lin family members who were gathered there scattered instantly, making the once crowded place deserted. Moments later, only a handful of people were remaining on the ground including Lin Kai.

"Hey, you coming." Looking at the girl who was still standing there in a daze, Lin Kai waited for a second.

"Forget it." Seeing no response, he shook his head before going back to his house. It was not a time to worry about others, he needed to take care of himself first.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't afraid after seeing the scenery of today. Just yesterday the clan decided to increase the patrol and the very next day, ten members of the clan were hung up like puppets in the clan hall.

This was a blatant slap in the face of the Lin clan. It was as if the killer was purposefully taunting them. But if there was one thing that chilled his heart more than seeing the dead members, it was how silently everything was done.

At this moment, Lin Kai wasn't aware of the power hierarchy of this world. But looking at how the Lin family was one of the three major families, the core members must be strong. And to do such an act in the middle of the family, right in the meeting hall, which is guarded most of the time, was enough to show the abilities that the killer possessed.

"If the family is not safe, then maybe I need to get out of here." This thought came to his mind for a moment before it was thrown away. Even if he decided to leave, he had no idea where he was going to go. Not to mention other dangers, just the fact that the killer likes to kill members of the major families outside the city was enough to squash any idea of going out.

"Sigh... This is getting more and more troublesome." With a voice full of worry, Lin Kai began to pace around as his fingertips began to gently brush his throat.