Chapter 13: Am I Really Strong?

Although he had already decided to eliminate the wraiths, Li Lin did not act immediately.

Over these two days, he practiced the White Tiger Flip Stance fist technique in his small courtyard.

【Fist Technique +1】【White Tiger Flip Stance +1】

【Fist Technique +1】【White Tiger Flip Stance +1】

He trained with great diligence.

In just two days, the movements shifted from forceful and rigid to roaring with power, each strike and stance faintly emitting a howl.

After completing the set, Li Lin gathered his qi and concluded his practice, then smiled at the two outside the courtyard: “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Outside the courtyard stood Uncle Zhao and Zhao Xiaohu.

Uncle Zhao chuckled: “We’re the ones who disturbed you. Li Xiaolang, this fist technique looks incredibly fierce—truly admirable.”

Before Li Lin could modestly deflect, Zhao Xiaohu spoke up.

“Really? I feel like Brother Lin is just flailing around randomly,” Zhao Xiaohu said honestly.

At this, Uncle Zhao’s face darkened; he shot his son a reproachful look.

Li Lin was helpless.

There was no helping it—the White Tiger Flip Stance was indeed stronger than the Arhat Fist, but… its movements imitated northern big cats, emphasizing raw power and momentum, combined with tiger-leaping footwork; it naturally looked crude, and there was no way around it.

But practitioners knew that although the form was ugly, it was genuinely powerful—forgetting about these monstrous wraiths, if a person took a solid hit, they’d be in serious trouble.

Li Lin looked at Zhao Xiaohu’s thick beard and smiled: “Feeling better?”

Zhao Xiaohu nodded and said: “Thank you, Brother Lin, for saving me. These are just small tokens from my family—don’t refuse them.”

He gestured to the items in his hands.

In his left hand was a slab of cured meat; in his right, a bamboo basket held a cooked chicken, fully prepared.

“You’ve gone to too much trouble.”

Li Lin did not refuse—he had truly expended blood qi to save Zhao Xiaohu.

It would take two or three days of refining blood rice just to recover; accepting a slab of cured meat and a chicken was already cheap.

“Come in and sit a while.”

Li Lin invited the two inside, and served them a meal.

After spending an hour as guests, the father and son departed.

Li Lin shut the door, boiled himself another portion of blood rice, and began refining the blood qi.

He had a feeling the wandering wraith would appear again tonight—after all, she seemed fixated on Xiaohu.

Whether Xiuniang would appear was uncertain, but Li Lin hoped she would.

【Blood Qi +1】

【Blood Qi +1】

Soon, evening arrived, and the village fell silent once more.

Li Lin began cooking, slowly eating his blood rice.

Then, a mournful female voice came from outside.

“Xiaohu, Xiaohu… where are you? I miss you so much.”

Indeed, the interval between the calls had shortened.

Li Lin wasn’t in a hurry—the time until dawn was still long.

He chewed his blood rice slowly, then brewed a cup of clear tea to cleanse the food residue from his mouth.

Only then did he open the paper window and look outside.

Outside the village entrance, two white shadows drifted.

Li Lin took his essential items and left his home.

The moonlight tonight was dim; the entire village was unnervingly quiet, with only occasional coughs emerging from villagers’ homes, quickly stifled.

Li Lin reached the dead tree—Gowned Apparition had already appeared there; she loved to manifest at night.

At night, a sinister thing floating there would frighten anyone who saw it.

Li Lin had once been afraid too, but now his courage had grown—he had killed a wraith before.

He asked: “I want to kill the two wraiths outside—can you lend me a hand?”

Gowned Apparition glanced at him but said nothing.

Can’t she help?

Li Lin turned and walked away—he had known this wraith for half a year and understood her nature.

If she could help, she would respond.

Silence meant refusal.

Li Lin approached the village entrance, drawing close to the two wraiths.

But neither wraith noticed him.

Because of the altar, because of the Tree Immortal Lady, the villagers were all “protected” by her—the wraiths could not see them.

Moreover, the gathered blood qi of the living formed a barrier the wraiths could not penetrate.

Thus, the wraiths could only wander outside.

But their calling ability was indeed troublesome.

If they kept “calling” like this, Shangtikou Village would be completely emptied.

After waiting for the wraiths to drift farther away, Li Lin donned his wraith-concealing robe, crouched down, and slipped out past the village entrance.

Then he hid along the path the wraiths would inevitably pass.

He had observed earlier—the two wraiths moved only along fixed “patrol” routes.

He crouched in the grass, waiting silently.

Not long after, the two wraiths turned back from afar.

They drew nearer.

Logically, Li Lin should have been tense—but for some reason, he felt an extraordinary calm within.

Not a trace of fear.

The two wraiths grew closer; their faces were blurred, unlike the female wraith in the Tudimiao, whose features were clear and beautiful, almost human.

Though their faces were indistinct, he could still tell—one of the female wraiths was Xiuniang.

Li Lin waited silently, like a leopard poised before the hunt, his eyes gleaming with predatory intent.

As the two female wraiths approached, his muscles tightened further.

Finally… the two female wraiths arrived before him, their bodies turned sideways.

The one closest to him was the unfamiliar female wraith.

Then—he moved.

Tiger Rush, Claw Strike.

Spine-Snapping, Tendon-Tearing Claw!

A powerful opening strike, accompanied by a tiger’s roar, landed squarely on the female wraith’s body.

Li Lin had expected, like the Tudimiao female wraith, to instantly shift her from formless to tangible.

Instead, one claw swipe scattered half her body, as if a chunk of mist had been torn away.

Then the woman screamed, and her form began to melt.

Faintly, he heard her whisper: “Xiaohu… my child… come back to Mother…”

Then the female wraith vanished.

Li Lin froze—so easily defeated!

At that moment, “Xiuniang” reacted—she turned to face Li Lin, mouth gaping open, revealing only a pitch-black void, utterly empty, unsettling to behold.

Li Lin reacted faster—he leapt forward with a tiger’s bound, roaring a thunderous tiger howl, then slammed both claws downward in a brutal strike!

White Tiger Carries Corpse!

Both claws struck Xiuniang’s shoulders with crushing force, like ten fingers scraping through tofu, then sliced her cleanly from top to bottom into ten “strips.”

“Xiuniang” stood frozen for a moment, then dissolved into mist and vanished.

And something seemed to fall, emitting a soft *plop*.

So weak!

Whether the “calling wraith” or Xiuniang—they were both pathetically weak.

Li Lin stared at his own hands in disbelief; a thought surfaced in his mind… perhaps, I’m actually quite strong?

At that moment, Li Lin’s Bai Yu plaque began glowing red.

After the two wraiths died, a flood of “wild wraiths” arrived.

Li Lin bent down and picked up the object on the ground—a silver dangling hairpin!

Was this Xiuniang’s possession?

Though merely a silver dangling hairpin, its craftsmanship was exquisite—this was no item a poor family could afford.

He tucked the item away and ran back into the village.

But as he entered the village entrance, a shadow suddenly appeared before him.

Any sudden apparition right before one’s eyes would startle anyone.

Li Lin instinctively lashed out with a claw.

Then he struck something soft and yielding—no resistance, his force effortlessly diverted to the side.

He instinctively stepped back and saw that the Tree Immortal Lady stood before him.

Her figure seemed to sway, like a water-filled balloon trembling when struck.

Then her eyes narrowed, as if she were angry.

(End of Chapter)