Chapter 95: New Arrivals

The old man was taken away.

The man’s eyes were filled with helplessness, despair, and confusion.

Back at the courtroom, the little old man confessed before any torture was even used.

It turned out that his wife had died when he was young.

Afterward, he never remarried.

He endured hardship for more than twenty years while raising his son.

After his son married, the three of them lived together.

Later, his daughter-in-law gave birth to two grandsons.

It had originally been quite a happy family.

But as time passed, the daughter-in-law grew accustomed to living in the small household.

After living together for so long and regarding him as an elder, she became less guarded about the boundaries between men and women.

Occasionally, while changing clothes or bathing, she paid little attention to privacy.

Especially after the younger grandson was born, she would breastfeed openly in front of her father-in-law without the slightest concern.

This successfully stirred the old man’s lust.

After all, he had been suppressing himself for over twenty years.

One day, while the son was out working, the daughter-in-law was cooking in the kitchen and breastfeeding while her collar hung open.

When he entered, she paid no attention and merely smiled.

Then...

He lost control.

When the daughter-in-law resisted, he struck her head with a piece of firewood.

The infant’s sharp cries drowned out her screams.

By the time he had vented his beastly desires, she was no longer breathing.

He did not dare dispose of the body elsewhere.

He could only drag it behind the house and bury it.

Moreover, there had not been enough time, so the grave was very shallow.

That was why the yamen runners easily discovered the traces of freshly turned earth and found the body.

The case was solved very quickly.

From beginning to end, it took less than half a day.

The entire case report was also delivered to Huang Yan.

After reading it, he smiled.

“As expected of a prodigy raised by a thousand-year noble family. His reasoning is very clear, and his command of subordinates is completely natural. He is obviously accustomed to being in a position of authority.”

Huang Qi nodded.

“It seems he is fully capable of serving as County Lieutenant. He doesn’t need our support.”

“Then you can head off to join the Third Prince in advance.”

Huang Yan said with a smile.

“From this point on, your son will no longer be able to remain by Father and Mother’s side.”

Huang Qi’s expression was somewhat downcast.

Huang Yan smiled.

“It’s alright. I’ve already sent a message by carrier pigeon and told your younger brother to return from the capital.”

“That works. With my younger brother helping Father, I can rest easy.”

Huang Qi smiled.

“Also... I won’t be able to attend Eldest Sister’s wedding.”

“That can’t be helped. I believe Eldest Sister will understand.”

Huang Qi sighed softly.

By the time the case was closed, it was already quite late.

When Li Lin returned home, he found the entire household waiting for him.

Including Hongluan.

According to the customs of the time, only after the master of the house returned and picked up his chopsticks could everyone else begin eating.

Of course, special circumstances were another matter.

After dinner and a bath came another night of passionate lovemaking.

This time Hongluan did not fall unconscious.

She merely lay there panting heavily for quite a while.

Then she nestled in Li Lin’s arms and said,

“The First Madam asked whether you had any other women. I didn’t mention the Tree Immortal Lady.”

“Mhm.”

Li Lin smiled.

“Well done.”

“I’m your woman now, so of course I have to take your side.”

Hongluan said with a grin.

“Then from now on, take charge of this household.”

After thinking for a moment, Li Lin added,

“I’ll still need to return to the village from time to time during this period.”

Hongluan nodded vigorously.

“Don’t worry, Husband. I’ll take good care of this household. By the time Miss marries in, she’ll definitely find a stable and orderly home.”

The next day, Li Lin returned to the village.

He came to the altar.

The Tree Immortal Lady did not appear.

Smiling, he said,

“In another two or three months, I’ll probably be staying in the county city most of the time.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the Tree Immortal Lady appeared.

Her entire body radiated cold aloofness, and her eyes carried a trace of reproach.

Li Lin continued,

“But that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning you. When the magistrate leaves, he’ll take the Fourfold Wonder True Lord with him. He asked me who should take the chief position in the temple, and I recommended you. Because I want to be in the same place as you.”

The reproach vanished from the Tree Immortal Lady’s eyes.

In its place appeared a hint of gentleness.

Li Lin continued,

“We’re already so familiar with each other, yet aside from knowing your name is Liu Zhe, I know almost nothing about you. For example, what era are you from...”

The Tree Immortal Lady glared at him.

Then she dove back into the altar.

Li Lin felt she was embarrassed.

Afterward, he returned home and began cultivating.

Recently, he had vaguely noticed something.

As long as he stayed in Shangtikou Village, his cultivation speed noticeably improved.

Perhaps it was psychological.

Because the Tree Immortal Lady was here, he felt at ease.

After all, during cultivation, most of the time he had virtually no ability to defend himself.

In the county city, he always felt somewhat uneasy.

Naturally, the quality of his cultivation suffered.

After several days of focused cultivation, the Nourishing Yin Cultivation Method improved greatly.

However, this also brought a rather unpleasant side effect.

He felt that his body had become somewhat cold.

At first he was puzzled.

Then he realized the reason.

He was no longer in possession of a virgin body.

He had lost a portion of his yang energy.

Because of this, he could only reduce the amount of time spent cultivating the Nourishing Yin Cultivation Method and increase the time spent practicing the Rejuvenation Health Preservation Art.

At the same time, he consumed more blood rice and Shengxi Pills.

About ten days later, yamen runners arrived on horseback to notify him that the County Magistrate was summoning all Spirit Hunters.

After arriving at the rear courtyard of the county yamen, Li Lin saw a group of familiar faces.

There were also three new people.

Two men and one woman.

All of them were young.

Each possessed the youthful appearance of someone in the prime of life.

The three stood off to one side, forming a small group of their own.

Li Lin was almost the last to arrive.

After looking around for a while, he noticed that Su Huafang had not yet arrived.

Zhao Xiaohu ran over and said with a smile,

“Brother Lin, I’ve successfully entered the beginner stage of the Spring Renewal Health Preservation Art. You can teach me the Nourishing Yin Cultivation Method now, right?”

“Give me your hand.”

Zhao Xiaohu obediently extended his hand.

After checking his pulse for a moment, Li Lin said,

“You’ve indeed entered the beginner stage. But it was about a month later than I estimated... Stop visiting brothels with Patrol Hunter Bai all the time. It’s not good for you.”

Zhao Xiaohu’s face instantly turned bright red.

He glanced at the woman standing not far away.

When he saw that she did not seem to have heard anything, he let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Bai Bufan walked over.

“Patrol Hunter Li, you can’t blame me. I only took him there once. After that, he kept sneaking off by himself.”

Only then did the female Spirit Hunter turn her gaze toward them.

Zhao Xiaohu became so anxious that he immediately tried to cover Bai Bufan’s mouth.

At that moment, Su Huafang finally arrived.

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Huang Yan stood up from the pavilion and said,

“For reasons that everyone already knows, the number of Spirit Hunters in Yulin County has been insufficient.”

“Therefore, I submitted a memorial to the court requesting that several Spirit Hunters be reassigned here.”

“The court has recognized our hardships and dispatched experts to assist us.”

“The three of you, please introduce yourselves.”

The first to step forward was a man dressed in black martial attire.

In a gentle tone, he said,

“Yan Han, Eighth Rank Spirit Hunter.”

“Bai Yunfei, Eighth Rank.”

This was the somewhat younger man.

His expression was cold, as though everyone present owed him money.

The female Spirit Hunter cupped her fists and smiled.

“Ding Yingqiu... Ninth Rank.”

Ding Yingqiu?

Upon hearing that name, almost every Spirit Hunter present revealed a look of understanding.

Seeing everyone staring at her, Ding Yingqiu looked somewhat embarrassed.

Then she said,

“Many of you may know my cousin... Ding Yingchun. We’re family, so having similar names is perfectly normal.”

Ding Yingqiu did indeed resemble Ding Yingchun somewhat.

And neither of them was particularly beautiful.

It was only the refined bearing cultivated by the privileged environment of a noble family daughter that made her appear fairly attractive.

However, Li Lin suddenly remembered something.

Su Huafang had once told him that he should visit the Ding Family and exchange for one of their dual cultivation techniques.

The Ding Family was located in Gui City.

Making the trip would take considerable time, so Li Lin had temporarily set the matter aside.

He had not expected someone from the family to come here instead.

At that moment, Su Huafang also looked over and said with a smile,

“Fortune comes of its own accord!”