Chapter 12: The Will to Kill Arises

On a bed made of a few wooden planks, Zhao Xiaohu lay with his eyes closed, his face dark as ink.

His breathing was rapid and heavy, audible even from far away.

Li Lin walked over, glanced a few times, and immediately sensed the gravity of the situation.

“How did he end up like this!”

Uncle Zhao sighed: “He opened the window last night.”

Tsk.

Li Lin couldn’t help but speak with a tone of frustrated disappointment: “How stupid is he!”

Although the apparition couldn’t enter this village—thanks to the Tree Immortal Lady’s presence, Li Lin’s vigorous blood qi, and the collective blood barrier formed by over a hundred villagers that blocked most strange entities—

that didn’t mean ordinary people were allowed to gaze directly at apparitions that appeared at night.

Not even from a distance, especially if the entity was actively seeking them out.

It would cause unpredictable phenomena.

Just like now—Xiaohu was the victim.

Uncle Zhao had no reply. No one was allowed to open windows at night; everyone knew this, even three-year-olds remembered it by heart. Zhao Xiaohu couldn’t possibly not know.

Aunt Hua wiped her tears: “He was close to Xiuniang. When he heard her voice, he couldn’t help but open the window to look. I didn’t get there in time to stop him—it’s all my fault!”

Uncle Zhao wanted to rage, but seeing Aunt Hua weeping bitterly and his son’s current state, he could only sigh helplessly.

Li Lin held the Bai Yu tablet and infused it with blood qi.

A red glow appeared, enveloping Zhao Xiaohu’s body.

A faint black mist seemed to drift from Xiaohu’s body, though barely visible.

At the same time, Zhao Xiaohu’s expression eased slightly, and his breathing grew less frantic.

“Li Xiaolang, can Xiaohu be saved?”

“I can’t do it,” Li Lin shook his head. “We must go beg the Tree Immortal Lady again.”

Aunt Hua wept: “We just begged her not long ago. Asking her again now won’t be good for Xiaohu’s body.”

The Tree Immortal Lady is still an apparition. Every time she heals someone, she demands a price—and even after recovery, there are side effects.

Last time, Xiaohu was weak and bedridden for two days. Now that he’s in trouble again, we must call on her once more. Even if she saves him, two consecutive exposures to an apparition’s resentment qi—can Xiaohu even endure it?

Apparitions are things ordinary people should avoid entirely.

Uncle Zhao sighed: “We have no choice but to beg the Tree Immortal Lady again. But I don’t know if she’ll even listen to us…”

“I’ll go ask first.”

“Thank you, Li Xiaolang,” Uncle Zhao said gratefully.

Li Lin stepped out of the house. Outside the Zhao family’s courtyard, many villagers had gathered.

As soon as he appeared, someone asked: “Li Xunshou, how is Xiaohu?”

“Li Xunshou, last night I heard Xiuniang’s voice—is she back?”

Among the crowd stood Wu and his wife.

They could recognize Xiuniang’s voice too, yet they never opened their windows—only Xiaohu did.

“If I didn’t mishear, it was her.”

Aunt Wu’s face was filled with sorrow: “How could this happen? Why did she come back? Why must she harm Xiaohu? She was Xiaohu’s…”

“I’ve heard a saying,” Li Lin said coolly. “When the dead become apparitions, they return first to kill their closest kin. After Xiaohu, it’ll be your entire Wu family.”

Hearing this, the four Wu family members turned pale, their eyes filled with disbelief.

They had treated Xiuniang so well—why would she want to kill them?

Seeing their anguish and refusal to accept it, Li Lin explained: “The apparition isn’t human anymore. You can’t judge her by human standards. Do you understand?”

They seemed to understand. Or perhaps they understood nothing at all.

At that moment, Old Village Chief Zhang shuffled over, leaning on his cane: “Li Xunshou, the time between the wandering apparition’s calls is growing shorter—and now it’s even mimicking Xiuniang’s voice. What do we do?”

The last time the wandering apparition called out was only four days ago.

Li Lin smiled: “She’s always hungry. Now she’s hungrier than ever—she can’t sleep.”

The villagers turned ashen with fear.

“What can we do?” Old Village Chief Zhang’s face was lined with worry. “Last night it was Xiaohu. Tonight it could be any of us. If this continues, in less than half a year, Shangtikou Village will be abandoned.”

All the villagers wore expressions of dread and despair.

“Just keep your windows shut. With the Tree Immortal Lady and me here, those two apparitions can’t get in.” Li Lin walked out as he spoke. “I’ll go ask the Tree Immortal Lady.”

The villagers parted to let him pass.

Li Lin reached the center of the altar. The gowned apparition had already appeared.

Her mask covered most of her face, leaving only a small cherry-like mouth exposed—now slightly curved, as if smiling.

A mocking smile.

Li Lin walked over and asked: “You know about Xiaohu’s condition. Can you help?”

The apparition pointed at Li Lin’s left hand.

Li Lin thought for a moment, then extended his arm.

A long, snake-like tongue licked his palm repeatedly, drawing away tiny red sparks.

The villagers couldn’t see the Tree Immortal Lady, but they saw Li Lin’s blood qi emerge from his palm—and vanish.

They understood: Li Lin was “feeding the apparition.”

Uncle Zhao watched nearby, his face filled with gratitude—and shame.

After a long while, the Tree Immortal Lady stopped feeding. With elegant poise, she pulled out a red silk handkerchief and wiped her lips, then spoke four words.

“Smelly porcelain bottle.”

“What does that mean?” Li Lin pressed.

The Tree Immortal Lady gave him a look as if he were an idiot—and vanished.

Li Lin thought for a moment—and understood instantly.

He hurried back home, opened his wardrobe, took out the two porcelain bottles, uncorked them, and sniffed.

Li Lin trusted the Tree Immortal Lady wouldn’t harm him. Freed from last night’s hesitation, he sniffed freely.

The first one: fragrant.

The second one: stinking!

[Alchemy +1]

[Alchemy +1]

Huh?

Staring at the two sudden lines of text, Li Lin froze. Could he really learn a special skill just like that?

He sniffed again—but no prompt appeared.

He paused, then put the fragrant bottle back in the wardrobe and took the stinking one to Zhao Xiaohu’s house.

Soon after, Xiaohu swallowed two small, pitch-black, foul-smelling pills—and promptly spat out a jet of black mist from his mouth.

After a while longer, he woke up. His complexion was still poor, but he was awake.

This medicine is good.

It can expel apparition qi.

Too bad I don’t know its ingredients. Even though I learned Alchemy, my experience is still too low—I can’t tell what’s in this pill.

But Li Lin’s mind now had a new direction… In the future, when he goes to town, he’ll buy more elixirs and sniff them. The more different ones he tries, the more he’ll level up Alchemy.

With enough experience, he could brew his own pills.

“Again, thank you, Lin Ge,” Xiaohu said from his bed, looking at Li Lin with shame.

Li Lin shook his head: “Rest well.”

Saying that, Li Lin left.

He hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, and the Tree Immortal Lady had drained a good deal of his blood qi—he was tired.

Half an hour later, as he ate boiled blood rice, he pondered.

Maybe I should find a chance to kill those two wandering apparitions.

Letting them roam outside, stirring up fear, isn’t sustainable. After all, Shangtikou Village is now under my protection.

After learning the White Tiger Flip Fist and killing one apparition, his confidence had grown considerably.

“When you carry a sharp blade, the will to kill arises”—this must be what it means.

(End of Chapter)