Chapter 45: Fate

Su Huafang looked at An Zhijian’s corpse, sorrow visible in his eyes.

Beside him, Zhao Hao said, “Old Su, don’t think about it too much. An Zhijian brought this upon himself. He has no one else to blame.”

Su Huafang said, “I know. It’s just that when you get old, seeing a young person you once knew die before your eyes, especially when it was partly by your own hand, it always feels a little painful.”

Bai Liwei walked over and patted Su Huafang on the shoulder in consolation.

He was old too and understood Su Huafang’s complicated emotions.

At that moment, Zhao Hao added, “An Zhijian’s appearance gives us an excellent excuse. Let’s get our stories straight. When we return and report to the County Magistrate, we’ll say we felt there was something wrong about the incident at Bobai Town, so we came back together to investigate. Then we discovered An Zhijian’s treasonous activities and killed him. How about that?”

Su Huafang and Bai Liwei both nodded.

It was a good explanation. Spirit Hunters were responsible for investigating strange and supernatural incidents in the first place.

Li Lin also smiled and nodded.

Su Huafang walked over to look at the shriveled female heads.

Suddenly, all his sorrow vanished and was replaced by anger.

“That beast An Zhijian truly deserved to die.”

“What is it?” Zhao Hao walked over and asked.

“These were all women of the Han people!”

Li Lin also walked over and examined them for a while.

He found that the heads had already become so shriveled and distorted that their features were impossible to distinguish, let alone whether they belonged to Han people or southern barbarians.

Yet after Bai Liwei and Zhao Hao came over and examined them for a while, they also said, “They really were Han women. What a beast.”

Li Lin was somewhat puzzled.

At least, he could not tell.

In contrast, there was something else that interested him more.

“Tell me, if the soldiers of the military town really were killed by An Zhijian, what was his reason?”

Zhao Hao laughed.

“Why should I care what his reason was? More than a hundred soldiers of Bobai Military Town died, yet he alone survived. He was also the Spirit Hunter stationed here. Whatever his reason, after disappearing for so many days, then showing up again with southern barbarians in tow, it’s already a capital crime. There’s no escaping it.”

Although Zhao Hao had effectively convicted An Zhijian with a single sentence, which seemed somewhat crude, his reasoning was actually quite sound.

After thinking it over, Li Lin decided not to pursue the matter any further.

Sometimes, digging too deeply into certain things did not necessarily lead to good outcomes.

Squatting down, Bai Liwei searched An Zhijian’s body.

Besides several dozen taels of silver notes, he unexpectedly found a handwritten secret manual.

“Soul Refining Body Strengthening Art.”

Bai Liwei read the title aloud.

After opening it and reading for a while, he sucked in a breath.

“What an evil technique.”

Su Huafang and Zhao Hao immediately crowded over.

After reading for a while, Bai Liwei said, “You can have it. I don’t want to cultivate this thing.”

“Techniques themselves are neither righteous nor evil.”

Su Huafang took it and casually flipped through a few pages.

Smiling, he said, “I’ll keep this for now. After we get back, I’ll simplify it for you. Many of the major medicinal ingredients can be substituted with other herbs. If any of you decide to learn it later, come find me and I’ll copy a revised version for you.”

Naturally, everyone agreed.

“Speaking of manuals!”

Zhao Hao suddenly slapped his palm.

He pulled out a handwritten booklet from inside his clothes and said, “Patrol Hunter Li, this is the movement technique I promised you before. We were in such a hurry on the way here that I completely forgot about it. Take it!”

Li Lin accepted it.

It was only a few thin pages.

Written on the cover were the words: Willow Catkin Thirteen Drifts.

He casually flipped through it and discovered that this movement technique was quite interesting.

It specialized in evasion and light-footed movement.

Just from the illustrated postures, it resembled willow catkins spiraling down from the sky.

That was how it got its name.

This was precisely what Li Lin needed.

A qualified Spirit Hunter had to know at least one body technique, one internal art or Nourishing Yin Cultivation Method, and one movement technique.

There was no requirement for those techniques to be especially powerful.

But one had to know them.

Only then could one truly possess the framework of a Spirit Hunter.

“Thank you.”

Li Lin was not the sort of person who took favors for granted.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “The only thing I have is the Falling Lightning Incantation. I’ll teach it to you.”

The moment those words came out, all three men waved their hands repeatedly.

“No thanks.”

“Don’t need it.”

“Are you trying to harm us?” Zhao Hao laughed helplessly.

Li Lin widened his eyes in confusion.

“How am I harming you?”

Su Huafang smiled and explained, “Lightning techniques are extremely rigid and extremely yang in nature. They’re naturally incompatible with yin energy. We Spirit Hunters cultivate yin cultivation methods, so learning lightning techniques is very difficult. If things go badly, it could even lead to cultivation deviation.”

“Then why can I do it?” Li Lin asked in confusion.

“Virgin body.”

The other three all burst out laughing.

Zhao Hao laughed the loudest.

“The Falling Lightning Incantation was taught to you by Ziyue. We all know that.”

“And the fact that you’re still a virgin is something everyone in the county yamen knows too.”

Su Huafang continued, “Haven’t you noticed that the lightning from your Falling Lightning Incantation alternates between blue and red?”

Li Lin nodded.

He had indeed noticed that.

Ordinary lightning was usually blue or cyan.

“Techniques driven by yin energy are mostly red. Techniques driven by yang energy are mostly blue, white, or cyan.”

Su Huafang narrowed his eyes with a smile.

“So being a virgin is actually quite good. At the very least, it lets you learn some special techniques.”

Li Lin became somewhat worried.

“Then after I get married, will I no longer be able to use lightning techniques?”

“Not at all.”

Su Huafang carefully explained, “Almost all cultivation methods and martial techniques strengthen the body. Once your lightning techniques become sufficiently advanced, your own yang energy will naturally be abundant. Just don’t neglect your yin cultivation methods. As long as the two energies remain balanced, there won’t be any problems.”

Only then did Li Lin relax.

He cupped his fists toward Zhao Hao.

“Young Master Zhao, this manual is extremely useful to me. I owe you a favor. If you ever need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Easy enough, easy enough.”

Zhao Hao nodded in satisfaction.

Bai Liwei walked over and said, “It’s about time. We should head back.”

“All right!”

The four men hoisted their heavy bundles and left the fortress, returning fully loaded.

Outside Shangtikou Village, Li Lin bid farewell to the other three and returned to the village.

It was noon.

Many villagers were out working.

When they saw Li Lin, they all greeted him warmly.

Li Lin returned every greeting.

He first went to the altar to greet the Tree Immortal Lady.

Only to discover that she seemed to be absent!

Where had she gone?

Li Lin found it somewhat strange.

Yet when he returned home and looked inside, he found the Tree Immortal Lady floating there.

“Tree Immortal Lady, what brings you here? Sit, sit!”

Li Lin was pleasantly surprised.

As he greeted her, he set down the bundle on his back.

The moment he did so, the Tree Immortal Lady hugged his left arm and began licking his palm with her pink snake tongue, one lick after another.

Feeling waves of comfort, Li Lin suddenly remembered.

Last night had been the agreed day for offering vitality and blood energy, but he had been away on the road.

After absorbing enough essence energy, satisfaction appeared on the Tree Immortal Lady’s beautiful face.

She even shot Li Lin a reproachful glance before slowly floating away.

Li Lin then put away the bundle containing the gold ingots and lay down on his bed, sleeping soundly.

Over the following days, Li Lin continued his usual routine.

Cultivating, then teaching Xiaohu spear techniques and the secrets of the Spring Renewal Health Preservation Art.

Nine more days passed.

Li Lin took four gold ingots and headed to the county town.

He felt that he needed a house in the county town.

He had a feeling that he would frequently need to stay there overnight in the future.

Without a place to stay, living in inns every day would be troublesome.

He first visited a property agency.

The broker showed him several small standalone houses, but none of them appealed to him.

“Sir, if none of these suit your taste, then there’s an excellent old residence in the western part of the city that you might consider.”

“Oh? What’s the catch?”

Li Lin understood that if it truly were an excellent residence, it would not still be sitting unsold.

There had to be some flaw that ordinary people could not accept.

The broker cupped his hands and said, “It’s quite close to the temple of the Fourfold Wonder True Lord, so the yin energy there is very heavy.”

So that was the reason.

After some thought, Li Lin shook his head.

He would not consider that place.

Heavy yin energy was beneficial to Spirit Hunters.

However, Li Lin himself had many secrets.

He did not want to live near the Fourfold Wonder True Lord in case the latter noticed something he should not.

The Fourfold Wonder True Lord was not the Tree Immortal Lady.

He might not be nearly so accommodating.

The broker thought for a while longer before saying, “If you don’t mind a sparsely populated area, there’s also a large estate north of the county town that’s still habitable.”

“How large?”

“A three-courtyard residence.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

When they arrived in the northern district, it truly was a three-courtyard estate.

The structure was in good condition, but it seemed to have been unoccupied for a very long time.

Weeds grew everywhere, and the rooms were filled with cobwebs.

After looking around, Li Lin asked, “It seems quite good. Why does nobody want it?”

“It’s too far from the temple of the Fourfold Wonder True Lord.”

The broker sighed helplessly.

“They say that on nights when the yin energy is heavy, people living here can hear ghosts crying.”

“How much for the deed?”

As a Spirit Hunter, Li Lin could tell that this place still lay within the protection range of the Fourfold Wonder True Lord.

Ordinary people simply carried too much psychological fear of wild ghosts.

Living somewhere sparsely populated made them feel frightened, causing them to imagine hearing things.

The moment the broker heard those words, he became delighted.

“One hundred and thirty-seven taels of silver. We’ll hire people to clean everything up for you. You’ll just have to buy the furniture yourself.”

Li Lin immediately handed him a gold ingot.

“Buy the furniture for me too. Also purchase three or four servants to maintain the place. Whatever seems appropriate. If there’s anything left over, consider it a tip.”

Li Lin only planned to stay here occasionally.

However, the place was too large.

If left unattended, it would quickly fall into disrepair.

With a few servants maintaining it, he would not need to spend time cleaning whenever he came to stay.

“Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir.”

The broker held the gold ingot and smiled so broadly that he could barely close his mouth.

At last, a major customer had appeared.

Of course he was happy.

With the housing issue settled, Li Lin began wandering around the county town.

Previously, every visit had been rushed.

First, he had always needed to hurry back to the village.

Second, he had been poor.

What was the point of wandering around without money?

Things were different now.

With money in his pocket, even his mood felt more relaxed.

He went to the finest restaurant, ordered the best food and wine, and enjoyed a meal.

Then, with a slight pleasant buzz from the alcohol, he strolled to the lakeshore outside the county town.

Many townsfolk were out enjoying the greenery.

Without the threat of wild ghosts during daylight hours, the area was quite lively.

Li Lin slowly walked along the embankment.

The cool breeze was refreshing and pleasant.

Before long, however, rain began to fall.

He took shelter in a pavilion.

Not long afterward, four more people rushed in to escape the rain.

Two women and two men dressed as household guards.

The moment their eyes met, Li Lin froze.

The two women froze as well.

Then Li Lin cupped his fists and smiled.

“What a coincidence. Fate truly works in mysterious ways, Elder Miss Huang.”