Chapter 14: Firecrackers Explode in Celebration of the Demon

The gowned apparition hovered in midair, her long serpent tail swaying gently behind her.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Li Lin immediately stepped back two paces and bowed: “I offended Lady Tree Immortal—this is my fault. Tell me what I must do to appease her wrath.”

The gowned apparition narrowed her eyes and said nothing; the tension deepened.

But then she snorted, turned, and drifted away.

Her serpent tail glided through the air with great elegance.

Soon, the gowned apparition vanished.

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

He had thought himself strong after killing two ghosts last time, but now—he had unleashed his full strength in one claw strike, and Lady Tree Immortal hadn’t even flinched.

So… he was still weak. He still had to cultivate.

Back in his room, he placed the silver dangling hairpin aside and lay down to sleep.

The next day, he first ate two bowls of blood rice, then went to knock on Zhao Xiaohu’s door.

Zhao’s father opened the door and immediately ushered Li Lin inside: “Last night, that ghost called out souls again. Xiaohu felt unwell at first, but after midnight, he was fine—strange, isn’t it?”

Li Lin smiled: “I killed that ghost last night.”

Zhao’s father froze, then shot to his feet: “Really?”

“Really. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“Wonderful, wonderful!” Zhao’s father paced excitedly around the room, rubbing his hands and grinning foolishly: “That wandering ghost is finally dead—finally dead!”

“I must tell everyone.” He turned to rush out, then remembered Li Lin: “Li Xiaolang, treat this place like your own home. I’ll go notify the others of this good news.”

Saying this, he dashed out.

Wu Shen emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of white porridge, watching her husband sprint away in confusion: “What’s gotten into that fool?”

“Good news.”

Li Lin then entered Zhao Xiaohu’s room, where Zhao was asleep.

He channeled blood qi—the white jade tablet glowed red, and faint black mist faded from Zhao Xiaohu’s body.

Clearly, he was fine now.

Li Lin then left, declining Wu Shen’s invitation to breakfast.

He went to the Wu household.

Compared to the Zhao home, the Wu household’s atmosphere remained heavy.

There was no help for it—Xiu Niang had died less than ten days ago; no one could recover from grief so quickly under normal circumstances.

“Li Xunshou, may I ask what you need?”

Wu’s father asked cautiously.

Li Lin had a good relationship with the Zhao family, but with other villagers, he was merely average—so most feared him.

Those who deal with ghosts hold status no lesser than shamans.

“Is this Xiu Niang’s?”

Li Lin pulled out the silver dangling hairpin.

Wu’s father took it, examined it for a while, then shook his head: “I’ve never seen this before. It looks expensive—we could never afford it.”

He hesitated, then asked: “Li Xiaolang, why do you think this belongs to… Xiu Niang?”

“Last night, I went out to exterminate a ghost,” Li Lin thought a moment, then spoke plainly: “I eliminated both the wandering ghost and Xiu Niang.”

Wu’s father froze. His gaze toward Li Lin held blame—or perhaps hatred was more accurate—but he quickly steadied himself: “Li Xunshou, thank you. You denied Xiu Niang the chance to commit evil—this was an act of virtue for her soul.”

With that, he returned the silver dangling hairpin to Li Lin and staggered back into the house.

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

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

Sitting on a chair, Li Lin examined the silver dangling hairpin. If it wasn’t from the Wu household, nor Xiu Niang’s, then whose was it?

He turned it over and over, then narrowed his eyes—he spotted tiny characters on its end.

“Jincheng Silver Workshop, made.”

Huh? This was made by an official government workshop?

No wonder the craftsmanship was so refined—its price must have been high. But how did it end up in Xiu Niang’s hands?

As Li Lin puzzled over this, the village suddenly erupted in firecracker sounds.

One after another, unceasing and continuous.

The villagers must be celebrating the death of the wandering ghost.

Soon, the firecrackers drew nearer. Li Lin opened his door and saw over a dozen young men, each carrying a long bamboo pole topped with crackling firecrackers, arriving at his gate.

Behind them followed a large crowd of villagers.

Their eyes sparkled with grateful joy, and many women piled wild game and vegetables onto Li Lin’s courtyard gate.

Finally, they bowed deeply to thank him.

Only after the firecrackers finished burning did the villagers disperse, laughing.

Li Lin smiled—he felt his courage in killing the ghost last night had been worth it.

He stepped outside and began carrying the wild game and vegetables into his house.

There was a lot, but he accepted it without guilt.

Exterminating a ghost… that wandering ghost had plagued Shangtikou Village for decades. He destroyed it—he deserved compensation.

Whether the payment was large or small didn’t matter—but if the villagers thought this was their due, he would never care deeply for this village again.

He had only moved half the gifts when he saw several people approaching.

He looked closer—it was Wang Tianyou and his attendants.

“Young Master Wang.” Li Lin bowed and smiled: “What brings you here?”

“I’ve brought you the spear manual and the Spirit-Subduing Heart Method.”

“Didn’t someone else deliver them?” Li Lin asked, ushering Wang Tianyou inside.

Wang Tianyou told his attendants to wait outside, then sat down without ceremony, grumbling: “We’ve uncovered clues about who attacked us that day—it’s tied to the Qin family of Yuecheng. My family sent me here to investigate, and since your matter was on my mind, I came straight over with handwritten copies.”

Li Lin hissed: “How did one incident drag in four major city clans?”

Wang Tianyou was from Diancheng’s Wang family; Ding Yingchun was from Guicheng; now the Qin family of Yuecheng was involved.

And the incident occurred in Jincheng.

Hmph—it all looked messy.

“It’s troublesome indeed.”

“Will I get into trouble?” Li Lin worried.

Wang Tianyou laughed heartily: “Don’t worry. Our clans haven’t been touched yet—this isn’t your turn as some backwater hermit. We’re not even sure if the Qin family is behind it, but the Ding family has already begun investigating them. In six months, at most two or three years, we’ll have answers.”

As he spoke, Wang Tianyou’s expression darkened again.

Li Lin sensed something—when Wang Tianyou wore this look, he carried a faint aura of resentment.

Like a ghost.

But soon, Wang Tianyou’s expression returned to normal.

He pulled two thin booklets from his cloth bag and placed them on the table.

Then he placed three gold ingots beside them.

“This is the agreed compensation,” he said with a smile. “By the way, outside the village, I heard firecrackers going off—did someone get married?”

“Just celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?”

Li Lin paused, then said: “Last night, I killed a wandering ghost.”

(End of Chapter)