Chapter 8: Joy Breeds a Sudden Change
“I don’t know,” Li Lin said honestly.
“That makes sense. You’re still a virgin and have never been to a brothel.”
Su Huafang immediately explained the matter.
It was actually very simple.
The courtesans in brothels would give a special “first-timer” payment to a handsome young man who visited them and was still a virgin.
It was jokingly referred to as giving a red envelope.
After explaining, Su Huafang laughed.
“In other words, Patrol Hunter Ding is quite interested in you.”
Li Lin shook his head.
“I’ll pass.”
“Didn’t you say before that I need yang energy to improve my vitality and blood?”
“Wouldn’t losing my vital essence be a bad thing?”
“A lone yang cannot flourish. Being a virgin isn’t necessarily such a good thing.”
Su Huafang smiled.
“What I said before was just helping you out of an awkward situation.”
“I know Patrol Hunter Ding well.”
“Once she gets excited, she tends to get carried away.”
“It’s easy for her to make the situation awkward for everyone.”
“But in truth, I’m actually inclined to have you spend some time with her.”
“Why? Because of the dual cultivation technique?”
Su Huafang shook his head.
“The Ding family has quite a substantial foundation.”
“Patrol Hunter Ding is also fairly generous.”
“If you spend some time with her, there’s a high chance she’ll gift you some cultivation methods or medicinal pills.”
“You’ve only just entered the Spirit Hunter profession.”
“You need those things.”
Li Lin understood what he meant.
Still, he shook his head.
“I’m only making a suggestion.”
“As for how you act, that’s still for you to decide.”
Li Lin cupped his fists and smiled.
“Many thanks for the guidance, Senior Su.”
He was not the sort of person with an exaggerated sense of male pride.
The reason he did not want to associate with Ding Yingchun was very simple.
Ding Yingchun was not pretty.
Su Huafang waved his hand, indicating that he did not mind.
At that moment, someone came over and said, “Brother Li, I heard earlier that you’re lacking offensive techniques. I have a boxing manual here that you can take a look at.”
The speaker was the fifth member of the group, Zhan Shijun.
Li Lin asked curiously, “What boxing manual?”
“White Tiger Turning Frame!”
Li Lin looked puzzled.
Su Huafang explained from the side, “It’s a fist art from a martial sect somewhere in the north.”
“A minor style.”
“But its martial intent is broad and forceful.”
“It also comes with a simple movement technique.”
“Taken together, it’s quite decent.”
“It’s far superior to techniques like Arhat Fist and Mountain Splitting Fist.”
Li Lin became interested when he heard that.
What he lacked most right now were offensive methods.
“What do I need to exchange for it?” he asked.
“Not much.”
“It’s only a handwritten copy.”
“Thirty taels of silver will do.”
“Sorry, I don’t have that much money on me right now.”
Zhan Shijun had expected as much.
He had once been a newcomer too.
He knew exactly how poor a Spirit Hunter without a background could be when first entering the profession.
“No problem.”
“Next month, just give me thirty jin of your fifty jin of blood rice.”
15 kg (~33 lb) of blood rice.
One tael of silver per jin of blood rice.
The price was quite fair.
Li Lin said, “Deal.”
Zhan Shijun immediately took a booklet from his robes and handed it over.
“Then this boxing manual belongs to Brother Li now.”
“Many thanks, Brother Zhan.”
Li Lin was not one to stand on ceremony.
He accepted the booklet and began reading it on the spot.
【Boxing Skill +1】
【Boxing Skill +1】
Just by reading through the boxing manual, he had already made “progress.”
He flipped through it quickly.
Before long, he had finished the entire manual and felt he had gained a preliminary understanding of fist techniques.
Just as he finished the last page, Ding Yingchun returned.
Smiling, she said, “All right.”
“Next, we can rest inside the temple for a while.”
“The boundary will last for ten shichen.”
“That’s enough to hold until sunrise tomorrow.”
The four of them stepped into the green circle.
Its range had already enclosed the entire Earth God temple.
Wang Tianyou cupped his fists and smiled.
“Many thanks, Patrol Hunter Ding.”
“I’m being paid to do a job.”
“Young Master Wang doesn’t need to be so polite.”
Ding Yingchun waved her hand.
Then her gaze landed on Li Lin again.
She looked exceptionally interested.
Li Lin ignored her.
After entering the green circle, he resumed reading through the boxing manual from the beginning.
But the experience gained was clearly much lower.
Wang Tianyou led the group to the entrance of the Earth God temple and pointed at a clay statue of a celestial maiden inside.
“That gui is possessing the clay statue.”
“It’ll appear when midnight arrives.”
The Earth God temple was quite clean.
Someone was probably maintaining it regularly.
The group entered and found places to sit.
Putting away the boxing manual, Li Lin asked curiously, “Since the strange entity is residing inside the clay statue, couldn’t we just smash the statue during the day?”
Everyone laughed simultaneously.
But the laughter was friendly.
After all, they had all asked similar questions when they first became Spirit Hunters.
Su Huafang explained, “The reason gui are gui is precisely because they don’t follow normal logic.”
“Even if you destroy the clay statue countless times during the day, it will restore itself by nightfall.”
“If you want to eliminate a gui, you must completely disperse all of its resentment.”
Li Lin nodded.
He understood.
Afterward, everyone chatted while waiting.
When midnight drew near, all of them subconsciously stopped talking.
Because of the boundary formation, the gui that only appeared at night could not see this place.
Naturally, they could not induce hallucinations in anyone.
However, the resentment inside the Earth God temple gradually became denser.
The eyes of the celestial maiden statue had originally been closed.
Now they had begun to open slightly.
Everyone knew the gui was about to appear.
Wang Tianyou said, “Brother Li, please step outside the Earth God temple for a moment.”
“Your yang energy is too strong.”
“If she senses it, she probably won’t dare come out.”
“All right.”
Li Lin did as instructed and retreated outside the temple.
Sure enough, the moment he left, the celestial maiden statue’s eyes opened even faster.
“Everyone, get ready.”
Wang Tianyou spoke softly.
All of them drew their weapons.
Wang Tianyou pulled a flexible sword from his belt.
Zhan Shijun and Ding Yingchun both carried longswords.
Zhou Yutong wielded a pitch-black short blade.
Su Huafang carried a short spear.
Only Li Lin...
Had no weapon.
Soon, the statue’s eyes opened completely.
Its clay body rapidly transformed into soft flesh.
Her eyes were extremely lively.
When she saw the five people standing before her, a look of obvious surprise appeared on her face.
“Attack!”
Wang Tianyou shouted.
In an instant, five spells of different colors struck the female gui.
However, a layer of black energy surrounding her blocked nearly all of the attacks.
Li Lin watched the spells with envy.
Although the female gui possessed a strange defensive technique that blocked the attacks, her body was still blasted backward into the wall behind her.
Logically speaking, gui could pass through walls.
They should not have been capable of colliding with physical objects.
Yet she had genuinely slammed into the wall and let out a shrill scream.
Wang Tianyou shouted again, “Brother Li, get in here quickly!”
Li Lin immediately ran into the Earth God temple.
As he approached, the female gui suddenly became frightened.
The black energy around her rapidly dissipated.
“As expected, it’s extremely effective.”
Wang Tianyou shouted.
His hands rapidly formed seals.
“Seal!”
Several rays of golden light shot from his fingers and wrapped around the female gui.
She immediately fell to the ground.
No matter how she struggled, she could not move.
Success!
Wang Tianyou burst into laughter as he looked at the female gui.
“Just like that?”
Li Lin found it somewhat unbelievable.
All he had done was run inside.
The matter was resolved immediately.
Wang Tianyou laughed.
“This female gui isn’t particularly powerful.”
“It’s just that the yin energy around her is troublesome.”
“It can block most spells.”
“Once she loses that yin energy, she’s no different from ordinary ghosts and monsters.”
So that was it.
Li Lin observed the female gui with great interest.
After all, aside from the Tree Immortal Lady, this was only the second strange entity he had been able to examine from close range.
Naturally, he was curious.
After observing for a while, he realized the female gui was actually very beautiful.
Although her yin energy was heavy...
She truly was a great beauty.
Zhan Shijun suddenly asked, “Young Master Wang, must you kill this strange entity?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be taking her back home and letting my elders decide her fate.”
Zhan Shijun looked somewhat disappointed.
Looking at the female gui, he felt tempted to subdue her.
After all...
A beautiful and useful female gui was extremely rare.
Everyone understood what he was thinking.
But no one exposed it.
Wang Tianyou smiled.
“Thank you all for your help.”
“Let’s rest here until dawn.”
“Once we return to the county seat, I will certainly provide the promised rewards.”
The other five all smiled.
Simply taking a trip and receiving a generous reward afterward.
Anyone would be satisfied with that arrangement.
Yet at that very moment, the roof tiles of the Earth God temple were suddenly pierced through.
Countless shattered tiles shot downward.
Li Lin instinctively rolled away and hid behind a supporting pillar.
His reaction had already been extremely fast.
Even so, a fragment of tile still struck his head.
He touched the top of his head.
His hand came away covered in blood.
Fortunately, only the scalp had been cut.
His brain was unharmed.
Then he cautiously stuck his head out and drew in a sharp breath.
Ding Yingchun was lying on the ground.
Her eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.
A short spear had pierced straight through her chest.
Blood was pouring continuously from the wound.
Although she had not yet truly died, there was little difference between her current state and death.