Chapter 158: Fifty Years in the Mortal World

Li Lin looked at the corpse on the ground, smiled faintly, and thrust his long spear backward; someone immediately took it.

He said, "I am a fair man. I did not intend to kill him just now; I only wanted to capture him for questioning."

"This humble one understands." Xiao Chunzhu clasped his fist, lowered his head, and stopped looking at Li Lin.

The other disciples of the Lingxiao Sect dared not look either.

The hundred-plus village soldiers formed their formation, and the pressure they exerted was still very strong.

They could flee; the village soldiers could not catch them.

But the Lingxiao Sect could not flee; it was right there.

Moreover, the Lingxiao Sect was merely an ordinary sect, with no powerful experts behind it to support it.

If this Commandant truly reported the suspicion that the Lingxiao Sect colluded with the Qin family of Yue Commandery, given the imperial court's current sensitivity to the word "rebellion," there would truly be trouble; there was a high probability it would be branded as treason.

Li Lin looked at this Xiao Chunzhu and said, "Now, can you tell me the specific details of how you encountered those righteous heroes?"

Xiao Chunzhu immediately sighed and recounted the events.

It turned out they had come all the way from Chuan Commandery intending to protect their Seventh Junior Brother and return his family to Chuan Commandery to live.

The Seventh Junior Brother had registered his household in Chuan Commandery and would likely never return; naturally, he also wished to protect his family.

When they arrived in Jincheng, someone approached them, saying that Fuxin Village had been stricken by a plague, and the officials of Yulin County, for the sake of their careers and to reduce trouble, intended to surround the village and kill everyone in it to prevent the plague from spreading.

They believed it.

Because such things actually happened frequently.

To prevent the plague from spreading, entire villages, or even entire counties, were surrounded and not released until the plague passed; this was a very normal occurrence.

After listening, Li Lin nodded slightly and said, "You may go."

Hearing these words, the disciples of the Lingxiao Sect all breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Chunzhu looked at Li Lin, hesitated as if to speak, and finally clasped his fist and left.

After these people had gone far away, Su Bei spoke softly, "Commandant, that person just now seemed to want to tell you something. Could it be very important news?"

Li Lin shook his head: "He probably wanted to secure a future here. I saw jealousy and ambition in his eyes."

"You can tell that?"

"Yes." Li Lin smiled slightly.

"But he is so ruthless; he even killed his own junior brother without a second thought."

"He must have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time." Li Lin said with a smile: "It is clear that the Lingxiao Sect valued this Seventh Junior Brother very much; otherwise, they would not have sent someone to escort him back specifically, nor would they have arranged to take his family there to live. He was likely a talented prospect. What a pity."

Li Lin turned to look at that corpse and shook his head helplessly.

Su Bei felt his scalp go numb.

Li Lin said, "Return to the camp to rest. Tomorrow we will return to the county town."

Hearing these words, all the village soldiers breathed a sigh of relief.

Back in the camp, after Li Lin arranged for soldiers to take turns standing guard, he sat down to rest.

At this moment, he was circulating the Foundation Establishment Method.

Soon, he entered meditation.

However, shortly after, he felt something was wrong.

He vaguely heard someone speaking beside him; he wanted to open his eyes but could not.

Immediately, an inner vision image arose from his divine soul.

It was still a white ocean, and he was floating in mid-air.

Above the ocean, many people were floating and struggling, crying in silence.

The elderly, the young, women, and children.

Every single person was reaching out a hand toward him, as if asking him to save them.

Every pair of eyes carried boundless longing.

Li Lin watched silently; at this moment, his state of mind was strange, incredibly calm, with not a single ripple of emotion.

These people were rolling in the ocean; they looked pitiful, yet he felt no pity whatsoever.

Afterwards, many more people fell from the sky.

Men and women of all ages.

Li Lin even had the leisure to count their number.

Four hundred and thirty-two people!

This number seemed somewhat familiar.

As these people drifted down, their instincts drove them to approach Li Lin and try to grab him, but they all fell into the white ocean.

He waited a while longer, then saw another person with a ferocious face falling from the sky.

He waved his arms and legs, appearing extremely terrified.

But upon seeing Li Lin, he suddenly began to curse loudly.

Unfortunately, there was no sound in this world, and Li Lin could not hear what he was saying.

However, Li Lin recognized this person; it was the 'Seventh Junior Brother' who had died not long ago.

How... how could he be here!

Li Lin felt somewhat strange.

And as this person landed on the ocean, unlike the others floating in the sea, he could actually stand with both feet on the ocean waves, pointing at Li Lin above and continuing to curse loudly.

This made Li Lin quite displeased.

And just at this moment, the silver moon overhead suddenly flashed.

The Seventh Junior Brother's movements froze; he then turned into countless white 'water droplets' and fell into the sea.

At this moment, Li Lin understood: this white ocean was formed after souls shattered.

Those 'souls' still thrashing and struggling in the sea would soon become this new 'seawater' themselves.

Li Lin watched people struggling on the sea's surface; suddenly sensing something, he saw white ice spikes falling again from the round silver moon.

They were heading straight for him.

The momentum was even greater than last time.

He could not catch it!

It would kill a person.

Li Lin steadied his mind and snapped his eyes open.

He had forcibly emerged from that illusion.

Immediately, he felt a headache... because forcibly breaking through the illusion had caused some damage to his divine soul.

He felt a bit like vomiting.

He rose, lifted the tent's curtain, and discovered it was already dawn outside.

Li Lin found it strange: he had not stayed in the illusion for long, seemingly only about the duration of a stick of incense, yet why had time passed so quickly outside?

Then he recalled the painting he had seen last time.

'In the illusion, moments pass; in the mortal world, fifty years.'

Could this refer to such a situation?

At this moment, Su Bei walked over from the side and said, "County Commandant, breakfast is ready."

Li Lin nodded, ate a very simple breakfast with the village militia, and then led the militia back.

Everyone was very happy to be able to return home.

The tragic scene of Fuxin Village had filled them with fear.

Upon returning to the county town, the squad leaders led the village militia to the military camp.

Li Lin went to the county government office to report.

"Reporting to the Magistrate: everyone in Fuxin Village is dead; not a single survivor remains," Li Lin said with clasped fists.

Zhang Guangqi sighed: "This was to be expected. You have worked hard; I will handle the matters from now on. Go rest first."

Li Lin nodded, turned, and left.

At this time, a rift already existed between the two; neither wore a smile when facing the other.

When Li Lin arrived at his home's entrance, Huang Qi and Hong Luan joyfully rushed over, welcomed him into the house, and helped him wash away the dust of travel.

Eating the delicious food prepared by the women of his household, Li Lin sighed deeply.

This was truly a time of peace and happiness.

Then he asked Li Yanjing beside him, "Can you see the souls of the dead?"

"I can see them, but not for very long."

Li Lin leaned back: "What do you mean?"

"After they die, souls do indeed appear," Li Yanjing said, moving close to Li Lin and pressing her soft body against him, "but shortly after, a white hole will suck them in!"

Oh?

Li Lin thought of that white illusion.

"Then why won't you be sucked away!"

Li Yanjing said matter-of-factly: "Because we are Apparitions."

(End of this chapter)