Chapter 157: Decisive

Hearing such a heavy accusation leveled at them, the Lingxiao Sect members’ expressions changed instantly.

In the martial world, people always looked down on officials; conversely, officials regarded martial folk as one of the sources of chaos.

After all, heroes disrupt order with force.

The man who had spoken earlier stepped forward, staring at Li Lin: “Sir, aren’t you going too far?”

“You were the ones who went too far—daring to accuse me of slaughtering a village!” Li Lin said coldly. “Young man, some words shouldn’t be spoken lightly.”

The face of the ‘Seventh Junior Brother’ turned grim.

At this moment, Captain An arrived with a hundred village militiamen.

They joined the other fifty militiamen, forming a semicircle to block the opponents.

The man glanced around—his Lingxiao Sect was indeed formidable, but facing a regular army, a real fight would be troublesome.

The shield and spear troops were manageable; they couldn’t break the formation, but they could still flee.

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

He stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said: “Sir, we heard rumors out there and rushed over in haste. My Seventh Junior Brother, worried for his kin, spoke disrespectfully—I apologize on his behalf.”

Li Lin snorted: “Who told you there would be a massacre here?”

His gaze carried coldness.

He felt as if a vast net were closing in.

The ‘Seventh Junior Brother’ stepped forward and said coldly: “What if it was said by righteous martial folk?”

Li Lin looked at the man: “Without any evidence, you believe me guilty of slaughter based solely on their words?”

The youth froze, pointing at Li Lin and the surrounding militiamen: “Look at you all—so many surrounding us. Isn’t that proof you’re here to slaughter?”

Li Lin smiled: “So the Lingxiao Sect truly conspires with the Qin family of Yue Prefecture. Archers—prepare.”

His voice, infused with spiritual energy, echoed through the area.

The fifty archers on the distant hillock had already drawn their bows and nocked arrows.

They waited only for Li Lin’s command to fire.

Hearing this, the man panicked and shouted at the youth: “Seventh Junior Brother, shut up—don’t say another word!”

“But—”

“Do you want to get every single one of us in the Lingxiao Sect killed?!” the man roared.

Then he knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and said: “Sir, I beg your pardon. My Seventh Junior Brother is foolish—please forgive him.”

The others nearby gasped in shock.

“Third Senior Brother, why are you kneeling to this dog of an official?”

“Third Senior Brother…”

“All of you, be silent!” the Third Senior Brother roared. “Before we descended the mountain, our Master ordered you all to obey me.”

Instantly, the group fell silent.

Li Lin looked at the Lingxiao Sect disciples and snorted.

“At least you’re sensible,” Li Lin nodded. “Now tell me—who told you there would be soldiers carrying out a massacre here?”

The Third Senior Brother clasped his fists: “On our way back, we met a man who claimed to be a disciple of Tianyi Gate in Jincheng. He said the Fuxin Village had been struck by plague, and the Magistrate of Yulin had sent a Commandant with village militiamen to exterminate the villagers to prevent the plague from spreading.”

“A Tianyi Gate disciple?” Li Lin asked. “What was his name?”

“He called himself An Xin.”

Li Lin smiled: “An Xin is the eldest disciple of Tianyi Gate—I know him well.”

The Third Senior Brother’s expression darkened instantly.

If the eldest disciple of Tianyi Gate truly knew this Commandant, then the man who gave them the warning must be deeply suspect.

Li Lin said: “But this village has indeed suffered something.”

The Third Senior Brother asked: “What happened?”

“Everyone in the village is dead.”

At these words, the youth roared and lunged forward.

But the kneeling Third Senior Brother reacted faster—he flipped backward and slammed the youth to the ground.

“Third Senior Brother, let me go! Let me go—I’ll kill this dog of an official!”

“Seventh Junior Brother, calm down.”

Li Lin spoke calmly: “If you let this so-called Seventh Junior Brother bark like a dog again, I won’t hesitate to report to the imperial court that your Lingxiao Sect is conspiring with the Qin family of Yue Prefecture.”

Upon hearing this, the Third Senior Brother slammed his palm hard against the Seventh Junior Brother’s back.

The Seventh Junior Brother instantly fell silent, only able to shriek incoherently.

“Excellent pressure-point technique,” Li Lin said, studying the Third Senior Brother. “May I ask your name?”

“Xiao Chunzhu,” the Third Senior Brother ordered his two other juniors to hold down the youth, then rose and clasped his fists. “Sir, do you know why everyone in this village died?”

“We arrived here an hour ago. The village had lost contact with our county, so we came to investigate.”

“Not a plague?”

“Unknown,” Li Lin replied.

Meanwhile, the Seventh Junior Brother, pinned to the ground, burst into loud sobs.

“Master Xiao,” Li Lin pointed toward the village. “I permit you to enter and examine the village—on one condition: don’t cause trouble. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to surround and exterminate you all, then report your Lingxiao Sect’s name to the Central Secretariat.”

“No, no, never!” Xiao Chunzhu took a deep breath, then turned to the youth on the ground. “Seventh Junior Brother, let’s go inside and see.”

With that, Xiao Chunzhu released the youth’s pressure points.

The youth dared not look at Li Lin again—he wiped his tears and rushed into the village.

Xiao Chunzhu bowed to Li Lin in apology, then led the others inside.

Li Lin gestured, and Captain An led the hundred militiamen back to follow him.

As they walked toward the village, they heard wailing cries from within.

When Li Lin followed the sound, he saw the ‘Seventh Junior Brother’ kneeling before a house’s doorway.

The other disciples were trying to comfort him.

Seeing Li Lin approach, their expressions grew uneasy, filled with strong suspicion.

Li Lin walked over and said: “We found it like this when we arrived.”

“Who did this? Any clues?” Xiao Chunzhu asked.

Li Lin shook his head: “The altar was split in two—only a seventh-rank Spirit Hunter could have done it. There are dozens of seventh-rank Spirit Hunters across Jincheng’s dozen counties. Tracing the killer will be difficult.”

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

Then he spoke to the youth sobbing on the ground: “Seventh Junior Brother, control your grief.”

At that moment, the Seventh Junior Brother suddenly turned his head, glaring at Li Lin with hatred: “Why… why didn’t you come sooner? If you’d come sooner, they wouldn’t have died—my family wouldn’t have died—they were about to enjoy peace…”

Li Lin’s eyes narrowed. He slowly stepped back, then took a long spear from a nearby militiaman.

The hundred militiamen stirred, tense and ready.

Seeing Li Lin’s move, Xiao Chunzhu was stunned—he slapped the Seventh Junior Brother across the face and roared: “Are you mad? Don’t you hate the killers? Why are you blaming the man who came to solve this crime? Have you learned nothing of basic human decency?”

“Third Senior Brother, why are you afraid of this dog of an official? We brothers aren’t afraid—we’ll fight him together—” the Seventh Junior Brother shouted, clutching his cheek.

The other disciples turned pale.

Xiao Chunzhu stepped forward swiftly, his hands moving like lightning as he pressed both palms onto the Seventh Junior Brother’s head.

Crack.

A sharp snap echoed—the Seventh Junior Brother’s face twisted a full 180 degrees.

His eyes bulged from their sockets, his face flushed crimson.

After a moment, the Seventh Junior Brother collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, then fell still.

Xiao Chunzhu looked at his fellow disciples, his eyes filled with coldness: “Do you know the Seventh Junior Brother’s flesh was devoured by a gowned apparition, leaving only bones?”

Without hesitation, all the disciples nodded.

Then Xiao Chunzhu clasped his fists and bowed low to Li Lin: “Commandant, thank you for coming to assist. We’re sorry we still couldn’t save the Seventh Junior Brother’s life.”

(End of Chapter)