Chapter 128: Yan Jing

This female apparition seems somewhat different.

Li Lin frowned.

“Li County Wei , I’ve heard your name before,” the female apparition sat upright, slowly combing her hair: “You are a good man, a good official—that’s why I’m speaking with you here.”

Li Lin looked at Huang Ying beside him: “It seems the problem isn’t with her—it’s with you.”

Huang Ying smiled awkwardly.

Li Lin sat down and said: “Since someone is willing to vouch for you, let’s talk.”

“I have no intention of harming anyone,” the female apparition smiled.

Li Lin sighed: “You must have a name. Before we discuss anything, we need a way to address you.”

“My apologies,” the female apparition rose and bowed: “I am Yan Jing, and I’ve lived in this brothel for over thirty years.”

“Over thirty years?”

“Yes,” Yan Jing smiled: “Every so often, I switch bodies and take possession of a new one.”

“Then how can you say you don’t harm anyone?”

“They willingly let me possess them,” Yan Jing sat back down and said: “After spending too long as a brothel girl, when they grow old and lose all desire to live, they give me their bodies and vanish themselves.”

“But this body of yours looks very young.”

“I’m an apparition—I have my own unique abilities.”

Li Lin nodded, accepting her explanation: “So why did you seek me out?”

“You’re the newly appointed County Wei , sharp-eyed and incorruptible—I don’t want to be your enemy,” Yan Jing smiled: “Rather than wait for you to uncover me on your own, I came to you first—it’s a gesture of goodwill.”

Li Lin understood her meaning.

She wanted to continue living in Yulin County under the guise of a prostitute.

“But how can you guarantee you won’t harm anyone?”

“I’ve lived here over thirty years— isn’t that enough?”

Li Lin shook his head: “Though you have blood qi and retain reason, you lack the constraints of an altar.”

Yan Jing fell silent.

“Why not become a True Lord instead of lingering in the brothel?”

Yan Jing frowned slightly, her Meixiang emerging: “But… that would be too exhausting.”

“How is becoming a True Lord exhausting?”

"I'd go hungry," Yan Jing said: "Here, I can eat until I'm full—even to the point of being overfull."

“That’s precisely what worries me,” Li Lin looked at her: “You can eat until you’re full, grow stronger without restraint—how can we trust you?”

Yan Jing cast a mournful glance at Huang Ying beside her.

Huang Ying laughed awkwardly: “Sister Yan Jing, I only promised to introduce you to Brother-in-Law—I never guaranteed he’d accept you.”

“Men’s words are deceitful apparitions,” Yan Jing teared up.

Huang Ying’s awkward laugh grew even more strained.

“So why not become a True Lord?” Li Lin asked with a smile.

“Sigh… can I have a few more days to think about it?”

“Of course.”

Li Lin stood to leave, but suddenly turned and asked: “Was it you who threw Xiao Hu’s Huizi Jue to him?”

Yan Jing froze, her expression shifting.

“So it was you,” Li Lin sat back down: “Why?”

Suspecting the female apparition was merely a sudden insight from Li Lin.

Zhao Xiaohu’s social circle was simple: villagers, Spirit Hunters, and occasionally visitors to this brothel.

And here was an old female apparition—perhaps Zhao Xiaohu was even one of her patrons.

Yan Jing forced a smile: “County Wei , you truly have eyes like a needle—you caught me.”

“Why?”

“He has the talent,” Yan Jing looked at Li Lin: “I know his origins.”

“What exactly is the Huizi Jue?”

Yan Jing smiled: “Want to know? Agree to my earlier condition.”

Li Lin rose and walked away.

“Wait, County Wei , I was wrong just now,” Yan Jing stood up: “I’ll tell you everything I know.”

She feared that if Li Lin left and returned later, he’d come with several Spirit Hunters.

Li Lin sat back down: “Speak.”

“County Wei truly has no pity for delicate flowers,” Yan Jing sighed mournfully.

Li Lin merely smiled faintly.

Isn’t my wife better built than you?

Isn’t my Tree Immortal Lady more elegant and beautiful than you?

“The Huizi Jue… is a cultivation scripture.”

Ah!

Huang Ying gasped beside him.

Yan Jing looked at him: “You didn’t know?”

Huang Ying shook his head, then whispered: “You mean… the cultivation I’ve heard of?”

Yan Jing nodded.

“Could you give me a copy?” Huang Ying asked cautiously.

“You couldn’t learn it,” Yan Jing looked at him: “Only Spirit Hunters might grasp a fraction of it.”

Huang Ying felt crestfallen.

“What about martial artists?” Li Lin asked.

“This is cultivation—do you think it’s like learning martial techniques?” Yan Jing continued: “Those who cultivate are always exceptionally gifted. Martial artists… convert blood qi into yuan qi, which is indeed powerful—but only for killing. The more yang energy they possess, the less they can perceive apparitions.”

“What’s wrong with not seeing apparitions?” Huang Ying asked curiously: “I heard powerful martial artists repel them—they ward off evil.”

Yan Jing sneered: “Living things are part of heaven and earth—do you think apparitions aren’t? Yin and yang in harmony form the true Dao. Spirit Hunters cultivate both martial arts and yin energy, but lack proper scriptures for protection—they’re frail and short-lived. Otherwise, where would martial artists get their arrogance?”

Huang Ying looked at Li Lin: “But Brother-in-Law doesn’t look like a short-lived man.”

“Clans always have their own powerful family techniques,” Yan Jing smiled: “County Wei , why not visit me often? I can assist your cultivation.”

Li Lin ignored her flirtation and asked: “Have you ever heard of anyone who mastered the Huizi Jue?”

“Mastered?” Yan Jing covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed: “The Huizi Jue has existed for ages—no one has ever mastered it. Not even those who entered its threshold have been heard of.”

Li Lin frowned: “That’s contradictory—if no one ever mastered it, how do we know it’s a cultivation scripture?”

Yan Jing paused: “Huh… but everyone says so.”

“Have you practiced it?”

“I’ve read it, of course—learned nothing.”

Yan Jing turned, pulled a book from beneath her pillow, and placed it in Huang Ying’s hands: “This is the Huizi Jue.”

Li Lin glanced at the cover—it was another printed edition.

Huang Ying immediately opened the book and began reading.

Li Lin stood and said: “Yan Jing, either enter an altar and become a True Lord—or become a Spirit Hunter’s spirit pet.”

“County Wei wants to take me in?”

Li Lin shook his head: “Find someone else.”

He feared the Tree Immortal Lady would grow jealous.

“I think there’s a third path,” Yan Jing also stood: “I’m willing to accept your assignments—as a gesture of goodwill.”

Oh?

That does seem like a good solution.

“I’ll go consult with others.”

(End of Chapter)