Chapter 40: Unaware There Were Two

Li Lin looked at the wall of fire behind him, and the smile on his face became increasingly obvious.

The talismans within the flames emitted a golden glow.

As he stared at them, notifications continuously appeared.

【Talismans +1】

“This guy is troublesome. We can only deal with him using martial techniques. Spells won’t work. Let’s spread out first...”

As Su Huafang spoke, he paid attention to his teammates’ positions.

“Patrol Hunter Li, stand a little farther back.”

Under normal circumstances, Li Lin’s combat strength should have been the weakest among the three.

Having him remain in the rear and wait for an opportunity to provide support was indeed a reasonable judgment.

Li Lin readily accepted the advice and immediately retreated a few steps.

At this moment, Su Huafang and the other two had already launched their attack.

All three used short weapons.

Su Huafang wielded a pair of judge’s pens.

Bai Liwei used two short blades.

As for Zhao Hao, he used his fists.

The three of them attacked Zhang Zuoqing simultaneously, yet they were unable to bring him down for a long time.

Not only was he highly skilled in footwork, with excellent mobility, but a yellow aura surrounded his body and deflected their attacks.

Many times, the combined attacks of the three were about to strike Zhang Zuoqing.

Yet that aura would either redirect the attacks or bounce their bodies away.

Whenever that happened, gaps would appear in their assault.

Zhang Zuoqing would seize the opportunity to flick out a yellow talisman.

The talisman would either transform into a burst of blue fire or become a gust of fierce wind, forcing people back a short distance and creating openings in their coordination.

【Talismans +1】

【Talismans +1】

Li Lin watched very attentively.

At the same time, his hands slowly began forming seals.

After the four had fought for a while, all of them were breathing heavily.

There was no helping it.

Zhang Zuoqing had underestimated the Spirit Hunters.

Although talisman arts indeed countered yin energy, the problem was that Spirit Hunters practiced martial skills as well.

These three were all veterans.

They forced Zhang Zuoqing backward step by step and never gave him a chance to use offensive talisman arts.

However, the three Spirit Hunters could not take him down for the time being either.

Both sides seemed inclined to pause.

And at that moment, Li Lin finally made his move.

He had been slowly forming seals all along.

Deliberately suppressing the signs of yin energy eruption, he had now reached the final stage.

As the last gesture was completed, the yin energy within his body burst forth.

It transformed into a stream of force before his face, guiding the formation of lightning within the thunderclouds.

The movement was far too subtle.

Zhang Zuoqing’s attention was fixed on the three opponents in front of him and he had not noticed Li Lin at all.

First came a chain of blue-red lightning descending from the sky.

Then came the scream.

The clothes on Zhang Zuoqing’s body exploded instantly.

Only a few strips of fabric remained hanging from him.

His face and body had turned black, as though roasted by fire.

“The Falling Lightning Incantation... a Falling Lightning Incantation generated from yin energy. How is that possible!”

He shouted while retreating.

He seemed somewhat deranged.

However, because his body had been struck by lightning and was still numb, he retreated rather slowly.

Seeing this, Su Huafang and the others first turned to look at Li Lin in surprise.

Then they charged forward simultaneously.

Strike while he’s down and finish him.

The three rushed forward.

Pens stabbed and blades slashed.

Finally, Zhao Hao landed a punch squarely on his chest.

Zhang Zuoqing flew backward, crashed into the city wall, and bounced back.

Lying on the ground, he stared at Li Lin in the distance.

His eyes were still filled with disbelief.

Then he exhaled one last breath and died.

Su Huafang immediately shouted, “Let’s go first...”

But before he could finish speaking, a volley of arrows landed behind the four of them, blocking their escape route.

They looked up and discovered more than twenty people standing atop the city wall.

Each held a hand crossbow.

Standing on the wall, Zhang Minsheng held a torch high overhead.

Looking at the dead Zhang Zuoqing below, he snorted.

“Useless fool. He kept claiming he could counter all Spirit Hunters in the world, yet he died just like that.”

Then Zhang Minsheng looked at Li Lin.

“Young man, you’re quite impressive. Huang Xiu took the Falling Lightning Incantation from me and gave it to you. It’s been no more than ten days, yet you’ve already mastered it to such a degree. No wonder... the Huang family thinks so highly of you.”

Li Lin silently looked at him.

Several hand crossbows were aimed at him.

His scalp tingled.

He did not want to speak.

“It’s cold outside at night, and wild ghosts are nearby. Four friends, please come back inside.”

Zhang Minsheng smiled pleasantly.

Upon hearing mention of wild ghosts, the four Spirit Hunters instinctively looked toward their waists.

Their white jade plaques had not lit up.

There was not the slightest reaction.

This was very strange.

After all, they were clearly outside the boundary ward.

Zhang Minsheng frowned as well.

It was at this moment that a somewhat familiar voice came from behind Li Lin and the others.

“Four friends, my apologies. Huang arrived a little late, but fortunately I still made it in time.”

As he spoke, a man in white robes walked forward beneath the moonlight.

Behind him, a large number of torches suddenly flared to life.

Very quickly, they formed an arching fire dragon that surrounded the entire fortress.

Zhang Minsheng’s expression became extremely ugly.

“Huang Xiu, didn’t you return to the capital?”

“I just said that casually, and you actually believed it!”

Carrying a curved saber on his shoulder, Huang Xiu swaggered forward.

“If I hadn’t claimed to be returning, how would you have exposed yourself?”

Huang Xiu walked over to Li Lin and patted him on the shoulder.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Li Lin raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused.

With a helpless expression, Huang Xiu said, “I originally didn’t want you involved in this matter, but your father-in-law... your county magistrate insisted on handling public affairs impartially. He said that if his own son Huang Qi were a Spirit Hunter, he would still have assigned him to participate in this operation. So don’t blame him, all right?”

Li Lin immediately understood.

The four of them had been... bait.

Then more than ten shield soldiers rushed in and surrounded the four protectively.

Seeing the situation below, Zhang Minsheng snorted.

“Huang Xiu, the True Lord is still in our hands. Aren’t you afraid we’ll destroy the altar?”

“It doesn’t matter. Did you really think we didn’t know that the Red Bat True Lord had already fallen under the Qin family’s control? Do whatever you want.”

Zhang Minsheng glared hatefully at Huang Xiu.

His eyes seemed ready to split apart.

Huang Xiu smiled.

“The four of you, please move to the rear. Leave the rest to us.”

Naturally, the four readily complied and retreated behind the military formation.

There, Li Lin saw a familiar face.

“Zijing, why are you here?”

Huang Qi walked over and smiled.

“I’m actually the local County Commandant as well.”

The County Commandant was the official responsible for local constables and military forces, serving under the authority of the County Magistrate.

Li Lin sighed.

“Your Huang family really does promote relatives without avoiding suspicion.”

“Soon that position will be yours.”

Li Lin instinctively pointed at himself.

“How could it possibly be my turn? There are plenty of Spirit Hunters stronger than me.”

“That position isn’t part of the Spirit Hunter promotion path. It’s more like the county magistrate’s right-hand man.”

“Then where are you planning to go? To the capital for the imperial examinations?”

“I’m planning to go to Jin City. The noble and virtuous man I told you about will arrive in Jin City before long. I need to meet up with him and work under him.”

Just as Huang Qi finished speaking, a volley of flaming arrows shot forward.

Countless trails of fire streaked into the fortress.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the scene.

It somehow appeared beautiful.

Yet for the members of the Demon Suppression Bureau inside the fortress, that beauty was deadly.

Li Lin sighed and asked, “So what’s the full story behind all this? Is it convenient to explain?”

Huang Qi nodded.

“There’s no harm in telling you.”

“After you reported the situation at Bobai Military Town to Father, he felt there was something suspicious about it. On one hand, he reported the matter to the imperial court. On the other hand, he secretly sent people to contact the Wang and Ding families. He also temporarily recalled Cousin, gathered the strength and intelligence of the other two families, and finally uncovered some of the Qin family’s arrangements.”

“Then we simply played along with their plan, lured Zhang Minsheng here, and trapped him to death.”

“What was their objective?”

“That part is still unclear. However, they’ve been collecting ghosts.”

Huang Qi lowered his voice.

“Zhang Minsheng planned to steal this True Lord as well. Then he intended to kill all of you and place the blame on you, thereby implicating my father.”

“One True Lord?”

Li Lin frowned.

“Weren’t there two True Lords?”