Chapter 14: Firecrackers Resound in Celebration of a Demon’s Death

The palace-dressed gui floated in midair, her long snake tail gently swaying behind her.

The atmosphere was somewhat tense.

Li Lin immediately stepped back twice, cupped his hands, and said, “I offended the Tree Immortal Lady. That was my fault. What must I do to calm Your Ladyship’s anger?”

The palace-dressed gui narrowed her eyes and said nothing.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

But then she gave a soft snort, turned around, and floated away.

Her snake tail glided through the air with exceptional elegance.

Very quickly, the palace-dressed gui disappeared.

Li Lin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and returned home.

After killing two gui in succession, he had thought he was already very strong.

Yet...

He had struck with all his strength, and the Tree Immortal Lady had not been harmed in the slightest.

So...

He was still weak.

He still needed to train.

Returning to his room, he placed the silver hairpin to one side and collapsed onto the bed.

The next day, he first cooked and ate two bowls of Blood Rice before going to knock on Zhao Xiaohu’s door.

The one who answered was Uncle Zhao.

He immediately welcomed Li Lin inside and said, “That gui thing came to call souls again last night. Xiaohu felt unwell at first, but after midnight, he was fine again. It’s very strange.”

Li Lin smiled.

“I killed that gui last night.”

Uncle Zhao froze.

Then he suddenly sprang to his feet.

“Really?”

“Really. There’s no reason for me to lie to you.”

“Wonderful, wonderful!”

Uncle Zhao excitedly paced around the room in circles.

Rubbing his hands together, he grinned foolishly.

“That wandering gui is finally dead. Finally dead.”

“No, I have to let everyone know about this.”

As he spoke, he was about to rush outside, but then remembered Li Lin.

He quickly added, “Young Li, just treat this as your own home and make yourself comfortable. I’ll go inform everyone else of this good news.”

Then he rushed out.

Aunt Hua emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of rice porridge.

Watching her husband sprint away, she looked utterly confused.

“Why is that rascal running so fast?”

“Something good happened.”

Afterward, Li Lin entered Zhao Xiaohu’s room.

Zhao Xiaohu was asleep.

He infused blood vitality into the white jade token.

A red glow spread out, and faint traces of black qi faded from Zhao Xiaohu’s body.

It seemed he truly was fine now.

Afterward, Li Lin left, politely declining Aunt Hua’s invitation to stay for breakfast.

He went to the Wu family home.

Compared to the Zhao family, the atmosphere there remained oppressive.

There was no helping it.

Xiuniang had died less than ten days ago.

Under normal circumstances, no one could emerge from grief so quickly.

“Patrol Hunter Li, may I ask what brings you here?”

Uncle Wu asked cautiously.

Li Lin had a good relationship with the Zhao family, but only an ordinary relationship with the other villagers.

As a result, most people were somewhat afraid of him.

Someone capable of dealing with gui held a status no lower than that of shamans and ritual specialists.

“Does this belong to Xiuniang?”

Li Lin took out the silver hairpin.

Uncle Wu accepted it.

After examining it for a while, he shook his head.

“I’ve never seen it.”

“Just by looking at it, I can tell it’s expensive.”

“Our family couldn’t afford something like this.”

After hesitating briefly, he asked, “Young Li, why do you think this belonged to... Xiuniang?”

“I went out to eliminate gui last night.”

After some thought, Li Lin decided to tell the truth.

“I got rid of both the wandering gui and Xiuniang.”

Uncle Wu froze.

The look he gave Li Lin contained a trace of resentment.

Or perhaps hatred would be a more accurate description.

But he quickly corrected his attitude.

“Patrol Hunter Li, thank you.”

“By not allowing Xiuniang the chance to commit evil, you’ve helped her accumulate virtue.”

After speaking, he returned the silver hairpin to Li Lin.

Then he staggered back into the house.

In this world, the living suffered greatly.

Perhaps death was the only true release.

Putting the silver hairpin back into his bag, Li Lin sighed and returned home.

Sitting on a chair, he examined the silver hairpin.

Since it belonged neither to the Wu family nor to Xiuniang, then whose was it?

He turned it over repeatedly for a while.

Then his eyes narrowed.

At the very end of the silver hairpin, he spotted several tiny characters.

“Made by the Jin City Silverworks Bureau.”

Hm?

This was silver jewelry produced by a government workshop?

No wonder the craftsmanship was so exquisite.

The price must have been considerable.

But how had it ended up in Xiuniang’s possession?

Just as Li Lin was puzzling over this, the sound of firecrackers suddenly erupted throughout the village.

One string after another.

Without interruption.

The villagers were probably celebrating the death of the wandering gui.

Soon the firecracker sounds drew closer and closer.

Opening the door, Li Lin saw more than a dozen young men.

Each carried a long bamboo pole from which strings of crackling firecrackers hung.

Behind them followed a large crowd of villagers.

Their eyes shone with grateful joy.

Many women also carried wild game, fruits, and vegetables, piling them outside Li Lin’s courtyard gate.

Finally, they bowed to him in thanks.

Only after all the firecrackers had finished burning did the villagers disperse amid laughter.

Li Lin smiled.

He felt that summoning the courage to kill the gui last night had indeed been the right decision.

Walking outside the courtyard, he began carrying the wild game, fruits, and vegetables into the house.

There was quite a lot.

But he accepted them with a clear conscience.

Exterminating gui...

That wandering gui had plagued Shangtikou Village for decades.

He had eliminated it.

Naturally, he deserved compensation.

He did not care whether the reward was large or small.

But if the villagers treated it as something he ought to do for free, then he would not devote much effort to protecting this village in the future.

He had only moved about half the items when he noticed several people approaching.

Looking carefully, he realized it was Wang Tianyou and several of his attendants.

“Young Master Wang.”

Li Lin cupped his hands and smiled.

“What brings you here personally?”

“I’ve brought the spear manual and the spirit-controlling cultivation method.”

“Weren’t they supposed to be delivered by someone else?”

As he spoke, Li Lin invited them into the house.

Wang Tianyou instructed his attendants to wait outside.

Treating himself as one of the household, he found a chair and sat down.

With some irritation, he said, “We’ve uncovered some clues regarding the person who attacked us that day. He likely has ties to the Qin family of Yue City.”

“My family sent me here to investigate.”

“Since I was already coming, I brought your copied manuals myself.”

Li Lin drew in a breath.

“How did one incident end up involving the great clans of four nearby major cities?”

Wang Tianyou came from the Wang family of Dian City.

Ding Yingchun was from Gui City.

And now there was the Qin family of Yue City.

Yet the incident itself had occurred in Jin City.

Tsk tsk.

No matter how he looked at it, the situation seemed extremely complicated.

“It is quite troublesome.”

“I won’t get dragged into trouble, will I?”

Li Lin asked somewhat worriedly.

Wang Tianyou burst into laughter.

“Relax.”

“We aristocratic families haven’t run into trouble yet.”

“It won’t be your turn, you reclusive country cultivator.”

“At present, we’re not even certain whether the Qin family is behind this.”

“But the Ding family has already begun investigating them.”

“In as little as half a year, or as much as two or three years, there will definitely be an answer.”

As he spoke those final words, Wang Tianyou’s expression once again turned sinister.

Li Lin vaguely felt that whenever Wang Tianyou wore such an expression, he seemed to carry a trace of resentment.

Almost like a gui.

But very quickly, Wang Tianyou’s expression returned to normal.

He took two thin booklets from his cloth bag and placed them on the table.

Then he set down three gold ingots.

“This is the compensation we agreed upon.”

He smiled and added, “By the way, when I was outside the village earlier, I heard firecrackers going off everywhere.”

“Is someone getting married in the village?”

“We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

Li Lin pondered briefly before answering,

“I killed a wandering gui last night.”