"Damn, this will take a while to clean. Those bedsheets and my clothes are as good as useless now.

" Lin Mu muttered to himself in frustration.

~Sniff~

~Sniff~

Finally, Lin Mu could feel the stench assault his nose.

'I need to take a bath too now.' Lin Mu thought.

He then laid there for another hour, after which he could finally feel the strange fatigue fading away. He then stood up and stretched.

~Pop~ ~Pop~ ~Pop~

Popping and cracking sounds were heard as Lin Mu stretched. The stiffness in his joints was being relieved with each moment. Lin Mu clenched and unclenched his fist, finding that the movements seem to be slightly better.

Lin Mu did not think much of it and started cleaning up the mess in his room. After he was done with it, he gathered up the bedsheets and his clothes in a ball to be thrown away. Finally, he went to and took a bath to clean himself of the blood and bits of flesh.

Lin Mu didn't even bother heating the water and took the bath with ice-cold water, not wanting to bear the disgusting feeling anymore. Thankfully, his body tempering realm cultivation was very high, allowing him to bear the cold without shivering or with his teeth chattering.

Steam could be seen rising from his body after he was done with his bath due to the difference between his body temperature and the surrounding temperature. It was still snowing right now, and the snowflakes would melt away as soon as they touched his bare body.

Lin Mu quickly switched to a new and clean set of clothes before checking out the area around his house. He knew he had yelled out in pain and was wondering if it was loud enough to escape the confines of his house. He had expected for at least Hei Ping to have heard it as he was standing outside his house.

Fortunately, it seemed like he had not yelled out as loud as he had thought. No one else seemed to have heard him or they would have definitely been wondering what was happening in there and the guards would have been gathered outside his house by now.

~Phew~

"At least I escaped that. It would have been far too bothersome and difficult to explain to them what had happened.

" Lin Mu muttered to himself as he took a breath of relief.

Lin Mu decided to return to his house to continue his cultivation. He did check his dantian and saw that he only had half of his spirit qi for now, as only that much was replenished while he had slept. He thus sat down cross-legged and chanted the severing heart sutra to replenish his spirit qi.

Two hours later, the snow had stopped falling and even the sun had come out from behind the clouds as they had finally scattered away. Lin Mu opened his eyes as he could feel his stomach rumble with hunger.

"What!? I ate an entire spirit beast earlier, how am I still hungry?

" Lin Mu exclaimed with astonishment.

~Sigh~

'This just keeps on getting more confusing.' Lin Mu thought before standing up and going towards the kitchen.

He quickly cooked some beast meat and ate it. But unlike before, this time his stomach was bulging like it should have been.

"It seems like, your earlier hunger and this is different. The previous one seemed to be completely due to the lost immortal's technique, and this one seems to be the normal one that your body feels.

" Xukong spoke inferred.

Lin Mu could feel the vital energy being absorbed by his body and could feel the concentration of it increasing by a minute amount, unlike before when it had stayed the same.

"Hmm, you are right senior. This time I can feel an increase in the vital energy within my body as well.

" Lin Mu replied.

He quickly assimilated the vital energy and just as he finished, an idea popped up in his mind. He went to the kitchen and set up some meat to cook and then went to his backyard and started taking out wood from his ring before lighting it on fire.

Lin Mu prepared some meat to cook on that fire as well. Xukong noticed what he was doing and felt a little confused.

"What are doing?

" Xukong questioned.

"I'm guessing that, since practicing the lost immortal's technique had that effect, I may as well prepare a large amount of cooked meat beforehand. At least I would not have to eat raw meat again, and even if it does not happen, I can still eat it later.

" Lin Mu explained.

"That is… actually smart.

" Xukong praised.

Lin Mu nodded and watched over the cooking meat. After it was done, he stored it in his ring for easy access. He had cooked the meat of two entire steel back wolves and estimated that it should be enough considering the amount he had eaten before.

It had taken him about two more hours to cook it, and he quickly returned to his room to cultivate. The room still had a faint scent of the blood, but it was no longer strong enough to bother Lin Mu.

Soon he was engrossed in his cultivation and the time started passing by quickly.

***

While Lin Mu was busy cultivating something else was happening in Wu Lim city.

In a large manor that was situated beside a small lake, a man was sitting in a room that looked like an office. There were multiple bookshelves to the sides and a large desk at the other end of the room. A scholarly-looking man was sitting at the desk who seemed to have an erudite aura.

The man was reading a letter and had a calm expression on his face. The contents of the letter seemed to be interesting to him, and a peculiar sketch was drawn on the letter. The most unique part being the three patterns of a wing, a tiger claw and a serpent tail in a triangular formation present on it.

Just as the scholarly man was about to reach the end of the letter, the door of the office opened and a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothes walked in. The man walked up to the desk where the scholarly man was sitting and cleared his throat.

~Ahem~

The scholarly man put down the letter and seemed to be caught a little off guard. He looked up at the man standing in front of him and forcibly composed himself before speaking.

"What are you doing here, father?

"

~Chuckle~

"Does a father need a reason to come visit his son? Tell me am I wrong, Wu Hei?

"