Chapter 157: Decisive

Hearing such a huge accusation thrown at them, the faces of the Lingxiao Sect members all changed.

People of the Jianghu have always looked down on government officials; conversely, government officials view Jianghu people as one of the sources of chaos.

After all, chivalrous men disrupt order with martial force.

The man who had just spoken stepped forward, staring at Li Lin and saying, "This official, isn't this going too far?"

"You were the ones who went too far, daring to slander me for massacring the village!" Li Lin said coldly: "Young man, some words cannot be spoken recklessly."

The face of that 'Seventh Junior Brother' turned very ugly.

At this moment, Captain An had already rushed over with a hundred village militia.

Coordinating with the other fifty village militia, they formed a semi-circle, blocking the way in front of the opponents.

The man looked left and right; their Lingxiao Sect was indeed formidable, but facing a regular army, it would be very troublesome if a real fight broke out.

Shield soldiers and spear soldiers were manageable; if they couldn't break the formation, they could still run.

But with archers present, within a hundred zhang, the few of them would be living targets.

At this time, he stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said, "Official, we also heard some rumors outside, which is why we rushed over urgently. Seventh Junior Brother was worried about his relatives and spoke disrespectfully; I apologize to you on his behalf."

Li Lin snorted: "Who did you hear say there would be a village massacre here?"

His gaze carried a chill.

He felt as if a great net was closing in.

'Seventh Junior Brother' stepped out and said coldly, "What if it was the righteous heroes who said it?"

Li Lin looked at this person: "Without any evidence, relying solely on their words, you have concluded that I massacred the village?"

The young man was stunned for a moment; he pointed at Li Lin and the surrounding village militia and said, "Look at you... so many people have surrounded us, isn't this a village massacre?"

Li Lin laughed: "It seems the Lingxiao Sect is indeed colluding with the Qin family of Yue Commandery to plot rebellion. Archers, prepare."

His voice used 'Spiritual Qi', echoing in the vicinity.

The fifty archers on the distant hill had already prepared to draw their bows and nock their arrows.

They only waited for Li Lin's true order to shoot.

Hearing this, the man panicked and roared at the young man beside him: "Seventh Junior Brother, shut up, don't speak for now."

"But..."

"Do you want to get all of us in the Lingxiao Sect killed?" the man roared.

Afterwards, this man knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and said, "This official, I apologize to you; Seventh Junior Brother is immature, please forgive him."

Several people nearby gasped in shock.

"Third Senior Brother, why are you kneeling before this dog official?"

"Third Senior Brother..."

"Shut up all of you!" This Third Senior Brother roared: "Before descending the mountain, Master ordered you all to listen to me."

Immediately, these few people fell silent.

Li Lin looked at those Lingxiao Sect disciples and snorted.

"At least you know your place," Li Lin nodded: "Now you can tell this official, who told you that government soldiers would carry out a massacre here?"

This Third Senior Brother clasped his fists and said: "On our way back, we met a man who claimed to be a disciple of the Tianyi Gate in Jincheng. He said Fuxin Village had been infected by a plague, so the Yulin County Magistrate sent the County Commandant with village militia to surround and kill the villagers to prevent the plague from spreading."

"Tianyi Gate people?" Li Lin asked: "What was his name?"

"He claimed to be An Xin."

Hearing this, Li Lin laughed: "An Xin is the eldest senior brother of the Tianyi Gate, and I am actually quite familiar with him."

The expression of this Third Senior Brother immediately became somewhat ugly.

If the eldest senior brother of the Tianyi Gate truly knew the County Commandant before them, the person who gave them the information must be very problematic.

Li Lin said: "However, there is indeed a problem with this village."

The Third Senior Brother asked: "What problem?"

"Everyone in the entire village is dead."

Upon hearing this, that young man roared and rushed forward.

But the Third Senior Brother, kneeling on the ground, reacted faster; he flipped backward, flying through the air, and directly pinned this young man to the ground.

"Third Senior Brother, let me go, let me go... I want to kill this dog official."

"Seventh Junior Brother, calm down."

Li Lin said calmly: "If you let this so-called Seventh Junior Brother bark like a dog again, I won't mind reporting to the Imperial Court and suspecting that your Lingxiao Sect has already colluded with the Qin family of Yue Commandery."

Hearing this, the Third Senior Brother directly reached out and pressed heavily on Seventh Junior Brother's back.

That Seventh Junior Brother immediately became unable to speak, only able to make whining noises.

"Not bad acupoint sealing technique," Li Lin looked at this Third Senior Brother: "May I ask your name?"

"Xiao Chunzhu," the Third Senior Brother said; he had his other two junior brothers hold down Seventh Junior Brother, then stood up and clasped his fists: "May I ask, does the official know why everyone in this village is dead?"

"We arrived here one shichen ago; because this village lost contact with our county town, we came to check."

"Not a plague?"

"I don't know," Li Lin answered.

At this moment, the Seventh Junior Brother, pinned to the ground, began to wail loudly.

"Hero Xiao..." Li Lin pointed at the village: "I can allow you to go in and check the situation in this village, on the condition that you do not act recklessly; otherwise, I won't mind surrounding and killing you all, and then reporting your Lingxiao Sect's name to the Secretariat-Chancellery."

"Dare not, dare not," Xiao Chunzhu took a deep breath, then said to the young man lying on the ground: "Seventh Junior Brother, let's go in and take a look."

Having said this, Xiao Chunzhu unblocked the young man's acupoints.

This young man dared not look at Li Lin again; instead, he wiped his tears and rushed into the village.

Xiao Chunzhu clasped his fists to apologize to Li Lin, then also rushed in with the others.

Li Lin waved his hand, and Captain An led the hundred village soldiers to fall back in line behind Li Lin.

They too walked toward the village, and just as they reached the entrance, they heard mournful wailing coming from within.

When Li Lin followed the sound of crying, he saw that 'Seventh Junior Brother' was kneeling before the door of a house.

The other several disciples were all comforting him.

Seeing Li Lin approach again, their expressions were somewhat subtle, and they showed strong wariness.

Li Lin walked over and said, "When we arrived, it was already like this."

"Who did this? Is there any clue?" Xiao Chunzhu asked.

Li Lin shook his head: "The altar was split in half; only a seventh-rank Soul Hunter could have done it! There are far too many seventh-rank Soul Hunters across the dozen or so counties of Jin Commandery; it will be hard to find the true culprit."

Xiao Chunzhu nodded, agreeing with Li Lin's assessment.

Then he turned to the youth lying on the ground wailing and said, "Seventh Junior Brother, bear your grief."

At that moment, Seventh Junior Brother suddenly turned his head, looking at Li Lin with hatred: "Why... why didn't you come sooner? If you had come sooner, they wouldn't have died, my family wouldn't have died. They were so close to enjoying prosperity..."

Li Lin narrowed his eyes, slowly stepped back, and at the same time took a long spear from the hands of a nearby village soldier.

The hundred village soldiers also seemed to begin stirring restlessly.

Seeing Li Lin make this move, Xiao Chunzhu was alarmed; he slapped Seventh Junior Brother across the face and roared, "Are you out of your mind? Instead of hating those murderers, why do you point your spear at the good people who came to solve the case? Have you not even learned the basic principles of being human?"

"Third Senior Brother, why are you afraid of this dog official? We brothers are not afraid of him; together..." Seventh Junior Brother shouted, covering his face.

The several senior and junior brothers' faces changed drastically.

Xiao Chunzhu stepped forward abruptly, his hands striking the head of this Seventh Junior Brother like lightning.

Crack.

After a crisp sound, Seventh Junior Brother's face instantly rotated a full circle.

And Seventh Junior Brother's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, his face turning a deep red.

After a short while, Seventh Junior Brother fell to the ground, his limbs twitched twice, and then he gave no further sign of life.

Xiao Chunzhu looked at the several senior and junior brothers around him, coldness filling his eyes, and said, "Seventh Junior Brother was devoured by the Apparition, leaving only white bones. Do you know this?"

These several senior and junior brothers hesitated not at all; they all nodded.

Then, Xiao Chunzhu clasped his fists and bowed his head to Li Lin: "This County Commandant, thank you for your hard work coming to rescue us; unfortunately, we still could not save Seventh Junior Brother's life."

(End of this chapter)