Chapter 14: Firecrackers Roar in Celebration of the Demon's Slain

The Gowned Apparition floated in midair, her long snake tail swaying gently behind her.

The atmosphere was somewhat tense.

Li Lin immediately stepped back two paces, bowed, and said, "I offended Lady Tree Immortal; it is my fault. What must I do to appease Her Ladyship's anger?"

The Gowned Apparition narrowed her eyes slightly and said nothing; the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

But shortly after, she snorted, turned, and floated away.

Her snake tail swam through the air, appearing very elegant.

Soon, the Gowned Apparition vanished.

Li Lin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then returned home.

Having just slain two ghosts, he had thought himself very strong; yet... after unleashing his full strength with a single claw strike, Lady Tree Immortal remained completely unharmed.

So... he was still weak and needed more training.

Back in his room, he set the silver dangling hairpin aside and collapsed onto the bed to sleep.

The next day, he first made two bowls of blood rice to eat, then went to Zhao Xiaohu's house to knock on the door.

Uncle Zhao opened the door; he immediately welcomed Li Lin into the house and said, "That ghost thing called out again last night. Xiaohu felt unwell at first, but after midnight, he was fine again; it's very strange."

Li Lin smiled: "I killed that ghost last night."

Uncle Zhao paused, then suddenly stood up: "Really?"

"Really. There is no need to lie to you."

"Excellent, excellent." Uncle Zhao paced excitedly around the room, rubbing his hands and grinning foolishly: "That Wandering Ghost has finally died, finally died."

"No, I must let everyone know about this." With that, he was about to rush out, but then remembered Li Lin, so he said, "Li Xiaolang, consider this your own home; feel free to do as you please. I'll go first to notify the others of this good news."

With that, he rushed out.

Aunt Hua carried a bowl of white porridge from the kitchen; watching her husband sprint away, she looked utterly puzzled: "What's got that rascal running so fast?"

"Something good has happened."

Afterwards, Li Lin entered Zhao Xiaohu's room; at that moment, Zhao Xiaohu was sleeping.

He infused blood qi; the Bai Yu token emitted red light, and the faint black mist on Zhao Xiaohu's body faded away.

It seemed indeed that there was no problem anymore.

Afterwards, Li Lin left, declining Aunt Hua's invitation to breakfast there.

He arrived at the Wu family's home.

Compared to the Zhao family, the atmosphere in the Wu household was still very oppressive.

There was no way around it; Sister Xiu Niang had died less than ten days ago. Under normal circumstances, no one could recover from such grief that quickly.

"Li Xunshou, may I ask what brings you here?"

Wu Shu asked cautiously.

Li Lin had a good relationship with the Zhao family, but his relations with other villagers were merely average, so most people were quite afraid of him.

Someone who could deal with ghosts held a status no less than that of a Shaman.

"Is this Sister Xiu Niang's item?"

Li Lin took out the silver dangling hairpin.

Wu Shu took it, examined it for a while, then shook his head: "I have never seen this. This item looks very expensive; our family could not afford it."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Li Xiaolang, why do you think this item belongs to... Sister Xiu Niang?"

"Last night, I went out to eliminate ghosts," Li Lin thought for a moment and spoke the truth: "I eliminated both that Wandering Ghost and Sister Xiu Niang."

Wu Shu paused; the look in his eyes at Li Lin held some reproach, or perhaps resentment would be more fitting; shortly after, he quickly corrected his mindset: "Li Xunshou, thank you. By preventing Sister Xiu Niang from committing further sins, you have done good deeds on her behalf."

After speaking, he returned the silver dangling hairpin to Li Lin, then stumbled back into his room.

In this world, the living suffer; perhaps death is the only release?

Putting the silver dangling hairpin into his bag, Li Lin sighed and returned home.

Sitting in a chair, Li Lin examined the silver dangling hairpin; since it belonged neither to the Wu family nor to Sister Xiu Niang, whose was it?

He flipped it over and over, examining it for a while, then narrowed his eyes; at the end of the silver dangling hairpin, he saw a few small characters.

'Made by the Jincheng Silverware Bureau'.

Hmm? Was this a silver ornament produced by a government agency?

No wonder the craftsmanship was so exquisite; the price must have been high as well, but how did it end up in 'Sister Xiu Niang's' hands?

Just as Li Lin pondered this, the sound of firecrackers suddenly erupted in the village.

One string after another, unceasing.

This must be the villagers celebrating the death of the Wandering Ghost.

Shortly after, the firecracker sounds grew closer; Li Lin opened the door and saw more than a dozen young men, each holding a long bamboo pole with crackling firecrackers hanging from it, arriving at Li Lin's doorstep.

Behind them followed a large crowd of villagers.

Their eyes shimmered with grateful joy, and many women then piled various wild game, fruits, and vegetables at the entrance of Li Lin's courtyard.

Finally, they bowed to express their gratitude.

Only after the firecrackers had finished burning did the villagers disperse with laughter.

Li Lin smiled; he felt that gathering his courage last night to kill the ghost was indeed the right thing to do.

Walking out into the courtyard, he began carrying the wild game and fruits and vegetables into the house.

There was quite a lot of it, but he accepted it with a clear conscience.

Eliminating ghosts... that Wandering Ghost had troubled Shangtiku Village for decades; since he had destroyed it, he should naturally receive some reward.

Whether the money was much or little did not matter to him, but if the villagers considered this matter a given, then in the future, he would not care much about this village.

He had only moved half the items when he saw a few people approaching from the side.

He focused his gaze and saw it was Wang Tianyou and several of his attendants.

"Young Master Wang," Li Lin clasped his fist and smiled, "How come it's you who has arrived!"

"I brought you the Spear Manual and the Spirit-Taming Heart Method."

"Wasn't it supposed to be handed over by someone else?" Li Lin spoke while inviting the man into his home.

Wang Tianyou told his attendants to wait outside; not treating himself as an outsider, he directly found a chair to sit on and said with a touch of irritation, "We've found some clues regarding the person who attacked us that day; it should have some connection to the Qin family of Yuecheng. My family sent me here to investigate, and thinking of your matter, I came directly with this handwritten copy."

Li Lin hissed in a breath, "How can one single matter involve the powerful families of all four great cities nearby?"

Wang Tianyou was from the Wang family of Diancheng, Ding Yingchun was from Guicheng, and now here came the Qin family of Yuecheng.

And the incident occurred in Jincheng.

Tsk tsk, no matter how you look at it, it seems quite chaotic.

"It is indeed troublesome."

"I won't get into trouble, will I?" Li Lin felt somewhat worried.

Wang Tianyou laughed heartily, "Rest assured, we noble families haven't encountered any trouble yet; it's not your turn, you country hermit. We aren't certain yet if the Qin family is behind this, but the Ding family has also started investigating them; in the short term half a year, in the long term two or three years, there will definitely be results."

As he spoke towards the end, Wang Tianyou's expression turned sinister again.

Li Lin vaguely felt that when Wang Tianyou wore such an expression, he seemed to carry a bit of resentment.

Like a ghost.

But soon Wang Tianyou's expression returned to normal.

He took two thin booklets out of a cloth bag and placed them on the table.

Then he placed three gold ingots on top.

"This is the compensation agreed upon," he said with a smile, "By the way, just now outside the village, I heard the sound of firecrackers ringing out together; is there a wedding or funeral in the village?"

"Just celebrating."

"Celebrating what?"

Li Lin pondered for a moment and said, "Last night I killed a Wandering Ghost."

(End of this chapter)