Chapter 149: Scapegoating

Seeing Li Lin, Zhang Guangqi immediately rose from the main seat of the courtroom and quickly walked down.

He did not clasp his fists, but instead extended both hands to support Li Lin: "Brother Lin, no need for excessive courtesy, no need for excessive courtesy. We are all one family."

Li Lin was somewhat stunned.

Zhang Guangqi then smiled and said: "I am also a son-in-law of the Huang family, a few years your senior; you may simply call me Brother Qi."

Li Lin understood; Zhang Guangqi must be the son-in-law of one of Huang Yan's younger brothers.

He smiled and said: "I will certainly call you Brother Qi, but since this is the courtroom, it is better to use official titles."

"Yes, yes." Zhang Guangqi looked at Li Lin and exclaimed: "Truly a man of outstanding talent; my father-in-law-in-law was indeed correct in his letter."

Li Lin repeatedly humbly deflected the praise; after the two chatted casually for a while, this meeting was mainly for them to get to know each other.

Since we are all one family, matters will be easy to handle.

When Li Lin returned from the county government office to his home, he saw the Lady Tree Immortal sitting in the main hall, while Huang Qing sat nearby, chatting about daily life with Li Yanjing while embroidering.

The moment he appeared, Huang Qing happily put down her embroidery, ran over to Li Lin, joyfully bowed slightly, and said: "Master has returned; you have worked hard. Would you like to wash up first to cleanse the dust of travel?"

"Very well." Li Lin nodded.

Then he looked into the interior of the main hall.

The Lady Tree Immortal had actually known he had returned long ago; now the entire county town was under the dominion of the Peach Tree Dharma Image.

With a permanent population of over a hundred thousand in a county town, she might not know many secrets, but Li Lin's movements, she knew absolutely clearly.

She looked at Li Lin for a while, then vanished.

She must have returned to the altar.

It seemed she had come here simply to meet Li Lin.

Having seen him, she left.

After returning home, Li Lin rested for two days and also practiced dual cultivation for nearly two days.

Only then did he begin writing the commentary booklet for the Fallen Thunder Incantation.

Just as the booklet was nearing completion, he received an invitation from Jiang Jili.

The meeting was still at the Prosperous Tower.

Li Lin arrived as promised; at noon, the sunlight was perfect, filtering down through the open windows; the autumn light was neither hot nor cold, and even the light on the floorboards carried a refreshing scent.

Jiang Jili had prepared wine and dishes.

Li Lin sat opposite him: "You invited me this time because the thing you promised has arrived?"

Jiang Jili helplessly said: "Only you are so clever; you guessed it."

Speaking thus, Jiang Jili took out a long brocade box from beside him and placed it before Li Lin.

Li Lin opened the box and found a long jade sword inside, unsharpened.

Its color was green like water.

Li Lin picked it up, instinctively gave it a shake, and heard the jade sword make a 'ling' sound, very pleasant to the ear.

"What a fine sword!"

Li Lin did not say this lightly.

There was clearly an aura of 'spiritual energy' on this sword; although very faint, it was indeed present.

Moreover... this sword felt warm to the touch, soft and very comfortable.

Li Lin placed the jade sword back into the box and sighed: "It is a good sword, but unfortunately I do not practice sword techniques."

Jiang Jili said helplessly: "This was sent by my family; I have no power to make the decision."

Li Lin suspected the other party sent the sword deliberately in this manner.

Knowing he did not practice sword techniques, they sent an immortal sword.

Li Lin said: "Then I will accept this sword; thank you, Magistrate Assistant Jiang."

"All previous matters are now settled; from now on, we shall live in peace." Jiang Jili suppressed his expectations and said.

"Good."

Li Lin smiled; he was just about to reach out and pull the brocade box toward himself, when at that very moment, a figure flipped in through the window.

The speed was fast, killing intent surging toward the sky.

Li Lin reacted instantly; he did not have time to see the attacker's face clearly, but directly kicked the table over, sending the entire spread of wine and dishes flying toward the enemy opposite.

At the same time, Li Lin retreated rapidly, rolled once, then quickly rose, creating distance between himself and the opponent.

The table instantly shattered into pieces; amidst the vegetable juice and soup wine, that figure charged forward wielding a waist sword.

The opponent's sword technique was extremely domineering; in an instant, he chopped the several-tens-of-jin heavy table into fragments; this was not something an ordinary person could do.

Li Lin was now prepared; the bone sword in his right sleeve slid into his palm.

Then he advanced to meet the attacker.

After two 'chi-chi' sounds, Li Lin retreated.

The attacker, unbelievably, held his sword aloft, then softly fell to his knees.

"What a fast sword."

Two black holes appeared on his abdomen and two inches below his heart, blood gushing out.

Sleeve-hidden short sword technique.

Although using the magical artifact short sword Sha Gu Zhou, its piercing ability was not poor.

The attacker coughed twice, vomiting a pool of blood; he knew he had not struck a vital point, but moving was almost impossible.

Li Lin wiped the blood from the short sword, then placed it back into his sleeve.

He looked at the attacker: "Who are you? I have never seen you before."

The attacker glared fiercely at Li Lin, then spoke to the terrified Jiang Jili beside him: "Young Master, forgive this subordinate's incompetence; I failed to personally slay your enemy."

Having said that, the attacker collapsed limply to the ground, black blood pouring from mouth and nose, body twitching.

Poison hidden in the teeth again — looks like there's no saving him.

Li Lin looked at Jiang Jili beside him.

Only now did Jiang Jili react. He leapt up abruptly and shouted loudly, "It wasn't me! It wasn't me!"

Li Lin said with a smile, "I know it wasn't you. No need to be so nervous."

Jiang Jili pressed a hand to his wildly pounding chest, walked over, and viciously stomped the attacker once.

"Who sent this assassin?" Jiang Jili asked.

Li Lin didn't answer. Instead, he crouched down and rummaged through the man's clothes for a while, pulling out some silver.

At last he also fished out a token — its face was patterned with cloud motifs, and on the back was written the character 'Jiang'.

Seeing this token, Jiang Jili's expression grew even uglier. "Li County Captain, whether you believe it or not, this really wasn't my doing. My household wouldn't do something like this either."

Li Lin nodded and said, "I know it wasn't your people."

Jiang Jili breathed out in relief and said, "Many thanks for trusting me, Li County Captain."

"It's not that I trust you." Li Lin shook his head. "I just feel that your family's people shouldn't be this stupid — fail to kill the target, and still expose the mastermind. This is clearly a frame-up."

Jiang Jili cupped his fists heavily and said, "Many thanks."

Li Lin looked around. By now many of the diners had been scared off, with only a few bold ones still watching the show.

"As County Deputy, you also have a duty to conduct the interrogation." Li Lin said with a smile. "I'll leave this case to you. I think you'll figure out where the enemy came from on your own."

Jiang Jili nodded heavily. "Leave it to me with peace of mind."

He was now seething with fury, thinking only of finding the person behind this and then killing them.

To dare turn the scheme back on him — seeking death.

Li Lin, meanwhile, took the jade sword brocade box and returned home.

Li Yanjing was there chatting and laughing with Hongluan. Seeing Li Lin return, she was about to say something, but her brows furrowed again.

"Family Head, what is that in your hand?"

(End of chapter)