Chapter 174: Wanted

Seeing Li Yanjing, the Daoist froze, then turned red with anger: “Witch! How dare you steal my treasure!”

He flicked his dust whisk, and it shot straight at Li Yanjing.

Li Yanjing floated backward, smiling: “This little thing’s nice—give it to me.”

Master Xuan Yang failed to strike, and was about to chase after her when he saw Li Lin closing in.

With his treasure stolen, his spirit was unsettled—he dared not engage Li Lin.

He swiftly retreated, roaring: “Good! Good! Li Lin, you brat, wait till I get my chance!”

With that, he spun and leapt away, vanishing atop the rooftops.

Li Yanjing clutched the short sword in one hand, looked at Li Lin, and said: “Let’s go inside.”

Li Lin immediately understood.

The two entered and shut the door at once.

At that moment, Li Yanjing’s face turned ghastly; she cried out in pain, and her right hand, gripping the small swords, suddenly burst open into a cloud of gray mist.

As the small sword tried to fly away, Li Lin lunged and seized its hilt.

The moment he touched it, he felt a strange force tugging at him, trying to drag him upward.

Li Lin immediately channeled spiritual energy into his right hand to strengthen his grip.

At that instant, the small sword, pressed by the spiritual energy, went utterly still, letting Li Lin hold it.

So obedient now?

Li Lin held the small sword before his eyes, studying it.

Earlier, it had gleamed silver—he’d assumed it was made of silver—but now, in hand, the texture felt wrong.

Then his expression turned strange.

“Aluminum?”

It was a short sword forged from aluminum alloy.

Usually, aluminum alloy blades are too soft to be useful.

But… aluminum, under current conditions, is hard to come by.

“Do you recognize this material?” Li Yanjing asked.

Li Lin looked at her and noticed her right hand had not yet healed.

He extended his left hand: “Take more.”

Li Yanjing gazed at the peach tree overhead, hesitating.

“Don’t worry—the Tree Immortal Lady isn’t unreasonable.”

Li Yanjing nodded, then extended her tongue and lightly licked the center of Li Lin’s palm.

That subtle sensation returned again.

Unlike the Tree Immortal Lady’s cold, focused demeanor, Li Yanjing’s face flushed slightly as she licked, her eyes gliding with the seductive charm of a courtesan.

Fortunately, Li Lin’s will was firm—he didn’t embarrass himself.

After finishing, Li Yanjing gently traced her red lips with her left hand and said: “I’ll return to the altar to rest and fully heal—I’ll need about two days before I can emerge. Be careful during this time.”

Li Lin gave a slight nod.

Then Li Yanjing vanished.

Li Lin returned to the study with the aluminum alloy sword, examining it closely.

He noticed faint patterns etched along the blade—familiar, somehow.

He took a long box from the shelf beside him and removed the jade sword from within.

He placed the two swords side by side, ready to compare their patterns, when suddenly the jade sword emitted a white glow.

As he wondered what was happening, the aluminum alloy sword began to ‘melt,’ turning into a silver-white liquid that swiftly flowed into the jade sword.

Then, on the jade sword’s hilt, new silver markings appeared.

It seemed to have gained a peculiar texture.

Eaten?

Li Lin picked up the jade sword, puzzled.

He tried channeling spiritual energy into it again—just as before, the jade sword showed no reaction.

But… Li Lin felt a strange, faint connection to the sword.

Subtle, intermittent, like an illusion.

Li Lin fell into thought.

…………

At this moment, Master Xuan Yang landed in the back courtyard of a common house, piled high with firewood and dry branches.

He hid among the dry branches, sat cross-legged, and began cultivating.

Then he spat out a stream of black blood.

His body felt somewhat better.

“Li Lin, you brat—if I don’t avenge this, I’ll never call myself a man again.”

Master Xuan Yang had come with full confidence.

The higher-ups of the Zhuxian Society already knew that the Yulin County constable had killed their members.

But the Zhuxian Society’s main operations were in the Central Plains, and their true experts operated there.

In the Southern Frontier, they rarely interfered.

Only because Qin Tuo’s rebellion caused massive civilian casualties—his methods resembled the legendary Outer Demon—did they send people to investigate.

The Fomen brothers Lian Hua and Lian Ji were also dispatched.

Normally, they should have been draining the blood qi of the Nanman tribes to strengthen themselves.

But recently, the Nanman region had deteriorated: the land turned to desert, the population dwindled, and the few survivors were mad, clustering together—making them hard to target.

So they turned their attention to the common folk of Yulin County.

At first, they only fed on blood qi from nearby villages, going to Fuxin Village—until the True Lord there discovered them.

That True Lord was blunt: seeing his protected villagers slaughtered, he charged without hesitation.

He refused to listen to their explanations.

Master Xuan Yang had no choice but to summon his immortal sword and destroy the altar.

Without the altar, the villagers naturally perished.

This drew… Li Lin to investigate the site.

They immediately went into hiding in Yulin County and informed another member of the Society.

Yulin County had many people—easy to find suitable blood qi sources.

After draining a few people’s blood qi, they unexpectedly drew out Li Lin.

At the time, Master Xuan Yang was away on business, and the two monks died.

Had he been there, he could have saved the two monks—and killing Li Lin wouldn’t have been difficult.

After all, they were three.

Not like now—he fought alone, and even his immortal sword had been stolen.

Thinking of how he’d labored for over twenty years doing the Society’s dirty work to earn this sword, only to lose it before even using it three years, filled him with anguish.

Then he spat another mouthful of black blood.

“Once I’ve healed… I’ll go after your family. Hehehe!”

He laughed coldly, swallowed a pill, and resumed his cultivation.

Feeling his body recover rapidly, he marveled at the potency of the Society’s elixirs—when suddenly, loud noise came from the front.

“Officers, what do you want?”

A humble voice rose.

“Have you seen a disheveled Daoist?”

“No!”

“No? Let us search inside.”

“By all means, officers.”

Then footsteps sounded.

The footsteps moved through the house, then entered the back courtyard.

Master Xuan Yang assumed they’d just look and leave—but then he heard the sharp sound of blades piercing the dry branches.

“Search thoroughly—not a single suspicious spot left unexamined! Who dares assassinate the County constable? They’re asking for death!”

Master Xuan Yang held his breath, hoping the government office runners would just glance and leave.

But soon, someone approached the pile of dry branches where he hid.

Then came the sound of a blade stabbing downward.

He leapt up from the branches.

“Ah! Found him! A disheveled Daoist! Signal the others!”

Immediately, a frantic gong rang out.

Extremely noisy.

(End of Chapter)