Chapter 76: The Spirit Hunters’ Home Ground

Following the voice, Li Lin turned his head and saw a young man wearing mountain-pattern armor walking over.

This man had already begun growing a beard, yet his face looked extremely young.

Li Lin estimated that he was no older than twenty-two.

“Brother Tang, why not?” Huang Qi pointed at the wooden pole in the distance with several corpses hanging from it, his expression somewhat angry. “The enemy chieftain humiliates the soldiers of Great Qi like this. Are we supposed to just watch?”

“Brother Huang, please allow me to explain,” the young officer said amiably.

Huang Qi took a deep breath and said, “Please enlighten me.”

“The reason the enemy dares camp outside is likely because they also brought a True Lord with them.” The young officer continued, “Since this Patrol Hunter can break that tall pole from such a great distance, then he can also destroy the enemy’s altar. Once the altar is destroyed, we will no longer need to hold the fortress. After a few days, the enemy will naturally withdraw.”

Huang Qi understood what he meant.

“Don’t alert the enemy, then wait until night and have Brother Kunge launch a surprise attack on the enemy altar?”

The young officer nodded lightly.

“Exactly.”

Huang Qi thought for a moment and said,

“That makes sense. If the enemy learns now that we have someone capable of long-range spellcasting, they will certainly take precautions. Brother Kunge is not the only one capable of long-range spells.”

Su Huafang and Bai Zhiwei also possessed long-range offensive spells.

Their power was simply weaker.

After all, lightning arts were a pure offensive method.

The young officer surnamed Tang revealed an even more delighted smile.

“Wouldn’t that be even better!”

“Then we should discuss it properly. Let’s go down and talk with Patrol Hunter Su and the others.”

The young man nodded repeatedly.

“Excellent, excellent.”

The three of them then descended the city wall and arrived at the military barracks.

At this moment, Su Huafang and the others were resting.

After pushing open the door, Huang Qi said,

“Fellow Patrol Hunters, thank you for making the long journey from the county seat. The gentleman beside me is the newly appointed Thousand-Household Commander of Bobai Military Town, Tang Su.”

Several Spirit Hunters cupped their fists and greeted him in unison.

“Greetings, Thousand-Household Commander.”

Tang Su waved his hands repeatedly.

“I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve it. The fact that you’ve come from so far away to reinforce Bobai Military Town is already a tremendous kindness.”

There was a reason Tang Su was so humble.

Although Spirit Hunters were combat personnel, they actually belonged to the civil official system.

The frontier army belonged to the military officer system.

There was no superior-subordinate relationship between the two sides.

The same applied to Huang Qi.

Although he was a civil official, as County Lieutenant he effectively controlled military forces not much smaller than those under a Thousand-Household Commander.

That was one of the reasons for Tang Su’s politeness.

Huang Qi picked up the conversation.

“Commander Tang hopes that all of you can launch a surprise attack tonight and destroy the enemy altar. That way we can force the enemy to retreat.”

Several Spirit Hunters exchanged glances.

Su Huafang cupped his fists and said,

“County Lieutenant, although we know some spells, they are all yin energy arts. They work well in places with few people. But the enemy consists of a powerful army. Hundreds or even thousands of strong men gathered together generate overwhelming vitality and blood energy, and the altar is located in the center of their formation. The power of our spells would be greatly reduced and would be almost ineffective.”

Tang Su froze.

“There’s such a thing?”

Huang Qi also frowned.

After glancing at Li Lin, Su Huafang said,

“However, Patrol Hunter Li specializes in lightning arts, so the effect on him is not significant.”

Tang Su seemed rather unfamiliar with Spirit Hunters.

“Why is that?”

Huang Qi was also quite curious.

“Lightning arts are supremely yang and forceful. They are hardly affected by blood energy.”

Tang Su looked at Li Lin, his eyes full of admiration.

Huang Qi patted Li Lin on the shoulder and laughed.

“I knew Brother Kunge possessed great talent.”

Li Lin smiled bitterly.

“I only know a few techniques. I wouldn’t call it great talent.”

“You’re far too modest.”

Then Huang Qi looked at Tang Su.

“Since you’re asking Kunge to carry out such a dangerous plan, your frontier army should offer something in return, shouldn’t it?”

“Money? Or a position?”

“Kunge won’t lack those things in the future.”

Huang Qi smiled.

“What I mean is that when Kunge attacks the enemy altar tonight, your men must assist him to ensure he returns safely.”

Tang Su’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Then he smiled.

“Naturally.”

The other Spirit Hunters also looked rather surprised.

Huang Qi then looked at the other Spirit Hunters.

“Of course, I’d also like to ask for everyone’s help.”

Su Huafang and the others naturally smiled and agreed.

Night soon arrived.

Li Lin and the others wore black night-traveling clothes and draped themselves in Gui-Hiding Cloaks as they quietly lowered themselves from the city wall using ropes.

To cooperate with them, the torches and bonfires in this area had been extinguished for the duration of one stick of incense.

After landing on the ground, they immediately slipped into the distant forest.

As they spent more and more time in the darkness, the white jade plaques on their bodies began emitting a red glow.

Moreover, the glow became increasingly obvious.

The group moved very quickly.

They were practically running at full speed.

Soon they arrived in a forest.

Su Huafang immediately opened a porcelain bottle and sprinkled a circle of Boundary-Warding Powder around the area.

The red glow from the white jade plaques gradually faded.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“This should be the limit,” Bai Zhiwei said while looking at the enemy camp in the distance ahead. “If we get any closer, their scouts and Spirit Hunters will probably sense us.”

All Spirit Hunters carried yin energy within them.

During the day it was manageable.

At night it became especially obvious.

Spirit Hunters could sense one another.

Su Huafang smiled as well.

“Now we just wait.”

Everyone nodded.

The reason they had come out together was naturally to protect Li Lin.

If any accident occurred, more people meant more solutions.

The group soon fell silent again.

When hiding near an enemy army, the quieter one remained, the better.

After waiting for about half a stick of incense, the gates of Bobai Military Town suddenly opened.

Then a “fire dragon” charged out.

It was the soldiers from the military town, holding torches aloft as they launched a charge.

This was naturally the feigned attack arranged to cooperate with Li Lin.

The spectacle was extremely imposing.

The enemy’s attention was indeed drawn away.

Large numbers of enemy soldiers immediately emerged from their camp carrying torches as well.

“It’s time. Let’s move.”

The group immediately left the area protected by the Boundary-Warding Powder and rapidly advanced toward the enemy camp.

When they were still about one hundred meters away from the enemy camp, they stopped.

They surrounded Li Lin protectively in the center.

Meanwhile, Li Lin made several leaps and climbed a tall tree.

Through gaps in the leaves and branches of the canopy, he saw the altar in the center of the enemy camp.

At that moment, floating above it was a True Lord that resembled a white cat, except that two large hands grew from its rear.

This happened to be exactly at the maximum range.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Lin immediately began forming hand seals.

With a tremendous Boom!, blue-red lightning descended from the sky.

It pierced straight through the white cat True Lord and struck the altar.

The altar was tougher than expected.

Although countless cracks appeared across it, it still had not completely shattered.

Around the altar, many people turned furious gazes toward Li Lin’s direction.

The eyes of the True Lord also turned red.

It lunged toward this direction.

Some sort of spiritual force instantly locked onto Li Lin.

Li Lin increased the speed of his hand seals.

The white cat True Lord was extremely fast.

But Li Lin possessed the advantage of distance.

A second bolt of lightning descended once again.

The altar shattered.

The white cat True Lord froze motionless.

Its eyes changed from red to black.

On the two large hands behind it that resembled tails, densely packed eyes began growing.

“It worked!”

Li Lin shouted excitedly as he drifted down from the air.

At that moment, an arrow shot out from the enemy camp.

Its speed was astonishingly fast.

Li Lin sensed it.

But he was currently suspended in midair and had no way to evade.

Just as the arrow was about to hit him, a figure leapt upward.