Chapter 15: Hu Ji, Great Capacity

Wang Tianyou walked through the village, looking at the red firecracker debris on the ground, feeling somewhat emotional.

"This person Li Lin actually risked his life to act for the lowly commoners; it seems his character is quite good and worth deep friendship."

A martial artist with deep yin qi beside him said, "Young Master, could that female apparition at the Tudimiao have been killed by this kid?"

"It shouldn't be." Wang Tianyou shook his head and said, "You felt it too; although his yang qi is abundant, his blood qi is very ordinary. He has only been a Spirit Hunter for half a year, so killing a few minor apparitions is normal, but that female apparition at the Tudimiao, he absolutely could not have killed. Besides, there was a man in black... that was an expert even I suffered against; how could he have had a chance! The fact that he managed to escape alive is enough to show his deep fortune."

The martial artist nodded, thinking Wang Tianyou made sense.

The group arrived at the village center; the surrounding villagers, upon seeing them, instinctively moved away, daring not to approach.

Wang Tianyou looked at the green stone forbidden altar before him, clasped his fists, and said, "Lady Tree Immortal, may you appear so we can chat for a while?"

He waited a while, saw no reaction from the altar, helplessly shook his head, and left.

At this moment, Li Lin was sitting at home, flipping through the spear manual he had just received.

【Yu Family Spear Technique +1】

【Yu Family Spear Technique +1】

【Yu Family Spear Technique +1】

This Yu Family Spear Technique was created by a famous general from a previous dynasty known for resisting foreign enemies; it was quite practical whether in battle formations or one-on-one combat.

Because it was a practical spear technique, the names of its moves were all very simple.

'Spear Lift Style', 'Spear Thrust Style', 'Spear Sweep Style', and so on.

Just looking at the names, they seemed unremarkable, but as Li Lin slowly finished reading this spear manual, he realized this was a spear art that was easy to learn but hard to master, with a very high ceiling.

After finishing the spear manual, Li Lin began flipping through the Spirit-Nurturing Mental Art.

【Nourishing Yin Sutra +1】

【Nourishing Yin Sutra +1】

Unlike martial artists, Spirit Hunters need to 'nourish yin qi'.

And the Blood Rice adds blood qi, which is used for self-protection.

Without the nourishment of Blood Rice, the yin qi gathered on a Spirit Hunter's body would eventually turn against them.

After all, living humans cannot have too much yin qi in their bodies.

After finishing, Li Lin sighed, "Wang Tianyou is indeed a man of his word; the mental arts he sent are quite good, he didn't fool me."

Although none were top-tier mental arts, they were not the kind of common goods either.

If purchased with silver, without several gold ingots, one truly could not buy them.

In the following days, life was quite regular.

He practiced the spear technique and fist technique during the day; at night, he used the 'Spring Mind Method' to refine the Blood Rice in the first half, and cultivated the 'Nourishing Yin Sutra' in the second half.

He felt his progress was rapid.

But whether it truly was, he actually had no certainty in his heart, though he could feel himself getting stronger every day.

At the same time, he always felt time was not enough.

Filled days passed quickly.

Then it was time to receive the 'public grain' again.

This time Zhao Xiaohu did not come along; Li Lin came to the county government office alone.

The government office Runner responsible for distributing the Blood Rice saw him and immediately clasped his fists, saying, "Master Li, the County Magistrate said if you come, please go to the rear courtyard to see him."

Li Lin was stunned for a moment, then entered the government office and went to the rear courtyard.

The rear courtyard was not large; trees were planted along the high walls to block the view of outsiders.

On the east side was a pavilion, where a middle-aged man with a black beard wearing official robes stood, surrounded by several 'acquaintances'.

He walked over; Su Huafang nodded and smiled at him first, while the others looked over, most nodding in greeting.

They were all peers; although they didn't meet often, there were no conflicts of interest.

"Greetings, County Magistrate."

Li Lin walked to the front of the pavilion and bowed with clasped hands.

The middle-aged official was the local county magistrate, Huang Yan; he nodded with a smile, "Spirit Hunter Li, no need for excessive courtesy."

Then he looked at the crowd, "Everyone is here... it has been half a year since I last gathered you all, and three are missing; this official deeply regrets it."

Everyone's expressions were somewhat strange.

Zhou Yutong and Zhan Shijun died due to human calamity, while the other, Wu Yihuan, died because of an apparition.

The small town he guarded was invaded by a wandering apparition; as a Spirit Hunter, he naturally had to step forward.

That wandering apparition possessed extremely strange abilities; in the end, both sides perished together.

Wu Yihuan died very miserably; not even bones remained, only a tomb of clothes and a cap.

"The reason for gathering you all this time is that the commandery city plans to hold a Spirit Hunter Assembly in half a month; every county city must send two people to attend. The specific situation is not entirely clear to this official, after all, the Demon-Slaying Bureau has the right to cut off communication and does not share information with civil or military officials." Huang Yan said with a smile, "But I heard it is a good thing; I just cannot decide who to send, so I have invited you all here to decide internally among yourselves."

"Count me in." One burly man stepped forward and said, "My uncle is the Chief Clerk of Jincheng; please do me a favor."

He looked around, a confident expression on his face.

Since he said it like that, naturally no one opposed him.

"Then who is the second person?" Huang Yan asked with a smile.

No one spoke.

After waiting a while, Huang Yan smiled, "Since no one volunteers, then this official will designate a candidate. Spirit Hunter Su, you are the oldest, steady in character, and have supervised and protected the local people in Yulin County for over thirty years, working diligently; this good thing should surely fall to you. Does anyone object?"

After waiting a while, no one spoke up.

Su Huafang stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Thank you, County Magistrate, for your care."

Congratulations, congratulations.

The group congratulated him.

Su Huafang bowed to his colleagues beside him: "Thank you all for letting me have this rare opportunity. If you ever need anything from old Su in the future, please feel free to say so."

Everyone's congratulations became even more sincere.

"Since this matter is settled, I shall not waste your time any further," Huang Yan said, putting on the air of dismissing guests, but then he turned to look at Li Lin and said, "Li Xunshou, you stay behind. Follow me back to my residence. My son has asked me to invite you to our home; he says there is something urgent to discuss."

All the Hunting Spirit People had already dispersed. Su Huafang had originally wanted to chat a few words with Li Lin, but seeing the latter being taken away by the county magistrate, he gave up.

The Huang family was not far from the county government office; after walking out the gate, another hundred or so paces brought one there.

Huang Yan led Li Lin to his own home. Behind them, the main gate closed, and then a clear voice came from ahead.

"Father, you're back! I want you to take me to... Ah!"

A blonde, blue-eyed girl rushed out from behind the Moon-Arched Gate. Seeing a stranger, and moreover a young man, she was startled and immediately covered her face, running back to the rear courtyard.

A Western mare!

Li Lin blinked his eyes.

A Western mare wearing Han-style clothes!

No, now she should be called a Hu Ji.

"Forgive the embarrassment," Huang Yan said with a smile. "This is my eldest daughter. Due to my lack of proper discipline, she is quite noisy."

Although he spoke words of criticism toward his daughter, a slightly doting smile appeared on his face.

"The county magistrate's daughter is truly lively and lovely, beautiful as a golden lotus."

Li Lin praised her very sincerely.

Hearing these words, Huang Yan's expression instead became strange.

He could tell that Li Lin truly thought his daughter was beautiful.

For him, this was actually a rare occurrence.

This was the first time he had seen it; in the past, guests would at most flatter his eldest daughter's beauty out of respect for his face.

At that moment, his smile became more sincere: "My son should be drinking tea in the rear courtyard now; you can go find him directly."

(End of this chapter)