Chapter 48: Do You Think I Dare?
Possibly due to the effect of the stealth technique, the aura drawn by yin energy was heavily concealed.
Only when the lightning was nearly formed did a slight fluctuation of aura appear.
The two men walking ahead suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
But by the time they reacted, the blue-red chain of lightning had already struck down from the sky.
The man standing on the far right had his clothes blasted apart.
One of his arms was even blown off and sent flying.
He collapsed on the spot without even letting out a cry.
Li Lin softly let out a breath.
Against ordinary martial artists, lightning arts were simply too domineering.
That man’s vitality and blood energy had actually been quite strong, yet a single Falling Lightning Incantation had taken his life.
The other man spun around at once.
His gaze quickly locked onto Li Lin within the woods.
With a ferocious expression, he drew the plain saber at his waist and charged over without a word.
This man’s movement technique was extremely fast.
In only three steps, he had already closed half the distance between himself and Li Lin.
At this moment, Li Lin was in the middle of forming the seals for a second Falling Lightning Incantation.
But there was no longer enough time.
As expected, my casting speed is still too slow.
Li Lin could only interrupt the seals.
Pulling out the red-tasseled spear that had been planted beside him, he shook the shaft and thrust forward.
Among all weapons, the thrust was the fastest attack.
Moreover, the red-tasseled spear was sufficiently long, more than half a zhang, over 2 metres (~6.6 ft).
The man opposite instinctively halted and raised his saber to block.
Yet this was precisely the essence of spearsmanship.
As long as the opponent could not get close, the long weapon could dominate the short one.
Li Lin thrust three times in succession, targeting the throat and heart.
All three attacks were blocked by the blade of the saber.
It was obvious that the man’s saber techniques were excellent.
Li Lin shook the spear shaft again and executed a lifting spear technique.
Many people believed a lifting spear attack only moved upward.
In reality, downward attacks were also lifting spear techniques.
The shaft, made from white elm wood, was extremely flexible.
The opponent thought the spear was aiming for his head.
Yet the moment the spear tip lifted upward, it immediately transformed into a downward attack.
The spear tip bent the shaft into a half-arc and stabbed directly into the man’s thigh.
“Ah!”
The man let out a muffled groan and dropped to one knee on the spot.
Not everyone was a berserker capable of continuing to fight wildly after suffering severe injuries.
Moreover, the spear tip was still buried in the flesh of his thigh.
Supporting himself with his saber, the man glared at Li Lin with hatred.
“Friend, we’re neither relatives nor acquaintances. We have no grudges between us. Why ambush me...”
“I’m the Spirit Hunter of Shangtikou Village.”
Li Lin smiled.
The man’s words were cut short.
He fell silent.
Li Lin continued smiling as he asked, “Who sent you to cause trouble in Shangtikou Village?”
The man remained silent.
Li Lin said indifferently, “That’s fine. I can investigate slowly. But once I trace things to your nine generations of relatives, I can’t guarantee what will happen.”
“You dare!”
The man’s eyes nearly split with fury.
Li Lin glanced at the charred corpse lying ahead.
“Do you think I dare or not!”
The man remained silent for a while.
Then he said, “The Qin family of Feirong County.”
As expected, it was them.
Li Lin nodded, indicating that he understood.
Then he said, “Close your eyes.”
The man understood.
Taking a deep breath, longing appeared on his face as he slowly closed his eyes.
In the next instant, the spear pierced through his heart.
His body trembled once before collapsing limply to the ground.
He did not suffer much pain.
Li Lin flicked the blood from the spear tip and began searching the bodies.
The two men were rather poor.
Aside from a few banknotes, they possessed nothing valuable.
Afterward, Li Lin used his spear to flip the two corpses into the grass beside the country road.
He was not worried about the corpses rotting and stinking.
Once night fell, wild ghosts would naturally come and consume their flesh and blood.
He headed toward the village while thinking.
He needed to start retaliating as well.
It could not continue like this, letting people from Feirong County come looking for trouble with him again and again.
Who spent every day purely on defense?
After half a shichen, he returned to the village entrance.
There he saw the Tree Immortal Lady.
The silver hair ornament atop her head swayed gently.
Combined with the three-petaled Red forehead flowers on her forehead, she looked exceptionally beautiful.
She saw Li Lin.
Then she immediately turned around and left.
Running away very quickly, she directly retreated into the altar.
The village was somewhat quiet.
The atmosphere seemed subtly unusual.
Many people looked at him with expressions of relief and relaxation after tension.
What happened?
Li Lin did not ask.
He planned to eat first.
Whatever the matter, filling his stomach came first.
He had not even entered his courtyard when he saw Zhao Xiaohu running over, panting heavily.
“Brother Lin, you’re finally back. You really scared us.”
“What happened?”
Li Lin was puzzled.
He had occasionally spent nights in the county town before.
He had never seen them so nervous.
“Last night, while we were sleeping, we suddenly heard a lot of strange sounds. They were so noisy.”
Fear lingered on Xiaohu’s face.
“Father said they were the sounds of wild ghosts. Fortunately, the noises suddenly disappeared afterward.”
Li Lin suddenly remembered.
The Tree Immortal Lady had come looking for him in the middle of the night.
That was probably when it happened.
Without a True Lord stationed here, the wild ghosts had begun approaching the village.
Fortunately, the Tree Immortal Lady had returned early.
“No one got hurt, right?”
Zhao Xiaohu shook his head.
“The sounds only lasted a short while. We checked this morning. Everyone in the village is fine. Brother Lin, did something happen here? Or could it be that the Tree Immortal Lady...”
Li Lin lightly smacked Zhao Xiaohu on the head.
“Don’t overthink it. Everything’s fine.”
“That’s good. Also...”
Rubbing his head, Zhao Xiaohu cautiously asked, “Is the Tree Immortal Lady actually a huge snake? These past few days, I keep seeing a giant snake tail swaying around the village.”
Oh, this kid can see the Tree Immortal Lady now!
After thinking for a moment, he said, “Go invite your father over. Tell him I have something very important to discuss with him.”
Zhao Xiaohu guessed something.
Excited, he immediately ran off.
Li Lin prepared two cups of tea.
Before long, Uncle Zhao arrived carrying a bamboo basket.
Inside the basket were homemade wine and two small dishes to accompany the drink.
“Uncle Zhao, it seems you’ve already guessed what I wanted to discuss.”
Uncle Zhao nodded.
“Yesterday Xiaohu kept telling me he’d seen a giant snake. I knew then that he’d finally entered the path.”
“That’s right.”
Li Lin said calmly, “Although Xiaohu appears to have rather ordinary talent, he seems to possess something special. It may be related to his mother being a ghost. His growth is much faster than I expected.”
Uncle Zhao’s lips moved slightly.
Taking a drink, he said, “Next he’ll have to go to the county yamen and be officially registered, right?”
“That’s right.”
Li Lin nodded.
“Then he’ll be assigned to a nearby village or town and become a patrol hunter.”
At that point, Zhao Xiaohu would have to become independent.
Yet he was only thirteen years old.
He would not turn fourteen until after the New Year.
After remaining silent for a while, Uncle Zhao asked, “Can he delay registration and continue studying under you instead?”
Li Lin shook his head.
“Spirit Hunters need blood rice. Without blood rice, a Spirit Hunter’s growth will be greatly restricted. The blood rice I receive from the county yamen isn’t enough to support two Spirit Hunters over the long term.”
Actually, it was possible.
He still had Shengxi Pills.
But that matter was too sensitive.
He did not want anyone to know about it.
Even Uncle Zhao, his lifesaver, could not know.
Uncle Zhao said nothing more.
He simply drank in silence.
Only when evening approached and Zhao Xiaohu came over did the boy help his father leave.
Li Lin closed the door.
Then he asked toward the side, “My Lady, I want to learn talisman arts. Do you have any connections for that?”
In truth, the Tree Immortal Lady had already been here for quite some time.
She simply had not spoken.
Besides, Uncle Zhao could not see her.
“Yes.”
Her voice remained as cold as ever.