Chapter 32: Women Throughout the Ages Love Adornment, and Gui Are No Exception
As for the tea at Li Lin’s house... it was drinkable, and that was about it.
After taking a sip, Bai Liwei said calmly, “Patrol Hunter Li, next time I’ll have Bufan bring you some roasted tea.”
Li Lin smiled.
“My apologies. This is the best tea my household has. It is not my intention to neglect honored guests.”
“I can tell.”
Only after looking around the place did Bai Liwei continue,
“Still, hardship also tempers talent. Patrol Hunter Li is far more capable than any of us were at your age.”
“You’re too kind.”
Li Lin waved his hand.
Bai Liwei took another sip of tea and said,
“The main reason for this visit is to thank Patrol Hunter Li for saving our lives a few days ago. Had you not returned, my nephew and I would both have died there.”
“I was saving myself as well.”
“No matter what, the fact remains that you saved us. Please.”
Li Lin returned the courtesy.
After both men drank a cup of tea, Bai Liwei said,
“I heard that Patrol Hunter Li is acquainted with Wang Tianyou, the young master of the Wang family?”
“Not really. I only did some work for him.”
Bai Liwei smiled.
“Then for the time being, you’d best stay away from the county seat.”
“The Qin family actually came looking for trouble?”
Bai Liwei nodded.
“Yes. They even had a confrontation with Magistrate Huang.”
“They’re truly lawless.”
“After all, they were once a prestigious noble clan. They’re arrogant to the core.”
Bai Liwei laughed mockingly.
“But they’re in quite a bit of trouble now as well. The Wang family, the Ding family, and the Huang family are all opposing them. They’ve got plenty to suffer.”
Once the topic turned to the Qin family, Bai Liwei became increasingly talkative.
He spoke endlessly about the Qin family of Yue City.
Judging from his indignant expression, he now deeply loathed the Qin family.
That was only natural.
After all, it was the Qin family that had driven them into a desperate corner that night a few days ago.
What followed was Bai Liwei continuously criticizing the Qin family in crude language until evening approached.
“My apologies, Patrol Hunter Li.”
Bai Liwei drained a large bowl of tea in one gulp.
After talking for so long, he was thirsty.
“Allow me one more word of advice. For the next few days, you’d best stay away from the county seat until the people from the Demon Suppression Bureau arrive.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay in the village and practice martial arts honestly for the next few days.”
Bai Liwei laughed.
Then he stood up and prepared to leave.
When the two stepped outside, they saw Bai Bufan and Zhao Xiaohu chatting happily in the courtyard.
Seeing his uncle emerge, Bai Bufan asked,
“Are we heading back?”
“Yes.”
Bai Bufan turned to Zhao Xiaohu.
“Brother, we hit it off at first sight. From now on you’re my elder brother, and I’ll be your little brother. May I ask your honorable surname?”
Zhao Xiaohu looked far too much like a fully grown, burly man.
“My name’s Zhao Xiaohu. I’m thirteen years old!”
Bai Bufan froze.
Li Lin could almost hear the sound of his soul shattering.
Then, with a blank expression, he followed his uncle home while leading the donkey.
After the guests left, Zhao Xiaohu carried all the gifts they had left into the house and then began washing rice and cooking.
Meanwhile, Li Lin inspected the gifts.
He had to admit that the Bai family had given quite a lot.
Ten silver ingots, totaling one hundred taels of silver.
There were also jade ornaments and expensive medicinal ingredients, things like wild ginseng and fleeceflower root.
There were even several translucent mushrooms.
Altogether, the gifts were worth a considerable sum.
It seemed the lives of Bai Liwei and his nephew were indeed valuable.
Li Lin felt that people who regarded their own lives as precious were worth befriending.
After putting everything away, Zhao Xiaohu finished cooking the meal.
After eating a large bowl of blood rice, Zhao Xiaohu departed for home drenched in sweat, making sure to leave before the moon rose.
After eating and drinking his fill, Li Lin practiced the Spring Renewal Health Preservation Art for a while.
Just as he was preparing to bathe and go to bed, he saw a green snake tail extend through the window.
The scales on the tail reflected the moonlight, appearing exceptionally clean and beautiful.
An ordinary person would likely be frightened half to death by such a sight.
Li Lin merely pushed open the door with a relaxed expression.
He saw the Tree Immortal Lady floating in the courtyard with her back to him.
Her long tail stretched through the window from outside.
“Your Ladyship is looking for me?”
The Tree Immortal Lady turned her head and pointed toward the mountainside.
Li Lin had an excellent sense of direction.
He immediately determined that the place she was pointing to was Xiuniang’s grave.
“Someone is up there?”
The Tree Immortal Lady nodded.
“They aren’t afraid of the wild gui?”
“I don’t know.”
After saying that, the Tree Immortal Lady slowly drifted away, her snake tail swaying behind her.
Li Lin returned to his room, retrieved his red-tasseled spear, and came to the mountain path.
Beyond the village lay the world of the gui.
The village had its altar and the Tree Immortal Lady.
The wild gui could not enter.
Li Lin put on the Gui-Hiding Cloak and crouched down to use his stealth technique as he slowly made his way up the mountain.
The stealth technique was remarkable and could conceal the sound of footsteps.
The moonlight was so bright that it made people uneasy.
After more than half a shichen, Li Lin finally reached the mountainside.
Xiuniang’s grave lay ahead.
He crouched and slowly approached.
As expected, he heard the sound of earth being dug.
After taking a small detour and reaching the rear of a large tree, Li Lin peeked out.
He saw two figures dressed entirely in black vigorously digging at the grave mound.
They cursed while they worked.
“Didn’t we dig this up the day before yesterday? We even put the placenta inside. How’d it get filled in again?”
“No need to think about it. The villagers below must’ve filled it back in. Once we’re done here, I’m going down there for a killing spree. If I don’t kill a few people, I won’t feel satisfied.”
“There’s a Spirit Hunter guarding the village.”
“I heard he’s some rookie brat who just joined the profession. Two slashes and he’s dead.”
“What if you can’t kill him?”
“If I can’t, I’ll take you to Red Sleeve House and have a courtesan musician play for you.”
“You said it.”
After that, neither man spoke again.
They simply dug even harder.
Li Lin waited for a while.
Seeing that neither intended to continue talking, he felt somewhat disappointed.
He had hoped they would chat a little longer so he could overhear some useful information.
Then he moved a little closer.
He had a feeling that these two were not particularly perceptive.
He could easily sneak right up beside them.
So he did exactly that.
Slowly, he approached from a blind spot outside their field of vision.
The two dug for a while longer before one of them suddenly said,
“Wait. I can’t sense any evil qi. The placenta isn’t down there anymore.”
“What ordinary person would dare touch that thing?”
“Could it have been the Spirit Hunter in this village?”
“Of course. Other than Spirit Hunters and martial artists like us, who’d dare touch something so unlucky?”
“Then let’s go down the mountain right now, kill that Spirit Hunter, and take it back.”
“There’s a True Lord being worshipped in this village.”
“True Lords can’t be bothered with the affairs of living people. They only stop ghostly creatures. They’re dumb as rocks.”
“Then let’s go. Ah!”
A scream pierced the silent mountain ridge.
One of the black-clothed men had his heart pierced by a spear and collapsed limply to the ground.
The other black-clothed man immediately turned and ran.
He had no intention of fighting at all.
Li Lin was momentarily stunned.
Pulling the spear from the corpse, he hurled it after the fleeing man.
Hearing the sound of something cutting through the air behind him, the black-clothed man immediately dodged.
Although he avoided the spear, he lost a brief instant of speed.
Li Lin caught up using Tiger Leap Movement Technique.
Locking both hands around the man’s head, he slammed him directly into the ground.
Smack!
Li Lin gave him no chance to react.
With a forceful twist of both hands, he rotated the man’s head a full three hundred and sixty degrees.
The black-clothed man’s body twitched a few times before becoming still.
So weak!
He felt far inferior to Xu Saifeng.
They were probably just two low-level lackeys.
Ordinarily, Li Lin should have kept one alive for interrogation.
But it was nighttime, and they were out in the wilderness.
Making too much noise and attracting wild gui would be troublesome.
Interrogation was less practical than simply killing them.
That said, how had these two managed to talk all night without disturbing the wild gui?
Remaining crouched in his stealth state, he searched the corpses.
To his surprise, the black clothing they wore was actually a Gui-Hiding Cloak.
The other man’s clothing was a Gui-Hiding Cloak as well.
His own Gui-Hiding Cloak was only a small piece, useful merely as a little blanket, and as thin as a cicada’s wing.
The cloaks these two possessed were thick, dense, and tailored into proper garments.
No wonder...
They could move around freely at night without being detected by wild gui.
He had struck it rich.
These were valuable items.
Li Lin immediately stripped the clothes from the two corpses and also found some banknotes on them.
Then he hid off to the side.
He watched as the invisible wild gui discovered the corpses.
The flesh vanished from the bodies, leaving behind only white skeletons.
Holding the two Gui-Hiding Cloaks, Li Lin crouched and slowly “walked” back down the mountain.
As soon as he returned to the village, he saw the Tree Immortal Lady waiting near the village entrance at the foot of the mountain.
Only after seeing that Li Lin had returned safely did she slowly drift away.
Li Lin immediately stood up and caught up to her.
“Your Ladyship, thank you for the warning. The Qixi Festival is coming in half a month. I’ve recently come into some money. Is there any gift you’d like? I can buy it for you.”
The Tree Immortal Lady stopped.
She suddenly turned around.
The silver buyao ornament in her hair swayed with the motion, reflecting dazzling moonlight.
“Red forehead flowers!”