Chapter 179: No Movement

After resting for one night, the county militia of Yulin County arrived at the eastern side of Falling Fengling.

Li Lin intended for them to begin clearing the formed little apparitions from here.

The world of apparitions also has its own rules.

Desolate apparitions are the lowest tier of apparitions, appearing in clusters.

The next level up consists of those newly formed little apparitions, which already resemble adolescents.

They are transformed from doll apparitions.

Generally speaking, except for doll apparitions, all apparitions have their own 'territories'.

The more powerful the apparition, the larger its territory; this is a competitive instinct formed to facilitate hunting and absorbing 'blood qi'.

These little apparitions, which had only 'born' not long ago, instinctively cleared the doll apparitions around them, forming one 'void' after another.

Such voids were originally hunting grounds for the little apparitions, but they also provided convenience for the county militia to surround and hunt the little apparitions.

Under Su Bei's coordination, the militia formed a pincer formation.

They were not the main attackers; instead, they used their own blood qi, combined with protective barrier powder, to form a quarantine zone, separating the surrounding doll apparitions, so that once the little apparitions were eliminated, the desolate apparitions would not immediately swarm over and threaten the spirit hunters who were already in a state of exhaustion.

And in the center of the military formation floated a... little apparition.

It still retained its appearance from life, wearing rough short clothes, its face weathered by wind and frost.

Compared to a human, its eyes were gray-white, with no pupils.

"Xiaohu, you go to the back and watch it; this time I will be the main attacker." Bai Bufan waved his two short daggers, and after shouting, charged straight ahead.

Zhao Xiaohu ran to the rear of that little apparition as instructed.

At the scene, besides the three spirit hunters, no one else could see this apparition, but others could feel the cold air seeping out from where the apparition was located.

They watched with admiration as the two spirit hunters fought against 'thin air'.

Perhaps in the Jianghu, the reputation of spirit hunters was not particularly good, being entangled with apparitions and phantoms.

But in the eyes of ordinary people, spirit hunters possessed a special aura.

Because if one truly encountered something like an apparition or phantom clinging to the body, only spirit hunters could step in to help them.

Jianghu heroes... would it be strange if they cared about such matters?

Li Lin stood aside, merely watching.

Why bring only Zhao Xiaohu and Bai Bufan?

Because this matter itself carried the intention of training new recruits.

What is a little apparition... it is the same as the two female apparitions Li Lin killed by himself when he was at Upper Staircase Village.

The kind where he killed one with a single slap.

At that time, Li Lin had only just entered the gate.

The little apparitions here possessed roughly the same strength; it was simply because after Taowu died, too many yin qi stones were scattered and not fully recovered, thus giving birth to so many little apparitions.

A crowd of county militia watched the two spirit hunters engage in a battle of wits and strength against thin air for a while, and then a yin qi stone fell to the ground.

Everyone then knew that an apparition had vanished.

Zhao Xiaohu picked up the yin qi stone and said, "Is this a yin qi stone?"

Bai Bufan walked over, nodded, and said, "Indeed it is; I have seen one at my uncle's place."

Zhao Xiaohu held the yin qi stone and came before Li Lin: "Lin Ge, here for you."

"You two killed it; you two decide how to split it."

"But..."

Li Lin continued to shake his head and said, "I do not lack this thing."

Indeed, he did not lack it; he still had about half a box at home.

Because he had switched to cultivating immortality, he no longer needed yin qi stones; this thing was now Li Yanjing's snack.

Actually, after absorbing Li Lin's blood qi, even Li Yanjing did not particularly like yin qi stones anymore.

"Then Brother Xiao Fan will take it first; you contributed the most just now."

Bai Bufan thought for a moment, smiled, and said, "Alright, I will keep this one for now; I will give it to you for the next one."

"Good." Zhao Xiaohu smiled foolishly, his face covered in a big beard looking strangely cute.

Next, they proceeded in this manner; it went very smoothly, and seven little apparitions were killed in one night.

These little apparitions had just formed and were all too weak.

Time reached dawn; after Li Lin arranged for some people to take shifts, most ate breakfast and then went to sleep.

Li Lin did not rest; he sat in his own tent, feigning sleep.

Due to the Foundation Establishment method, and also due to the 'Lin Yuan' minor spiritual vein, his spiritual energy was now much deeper than before.

The result was extraordinary endurance.

Even without sleeping for three days and three nights, the impact was not very great.

Of course... being able to sleep was best.

He threw down some small paper men; now his small paper men had gradually transitioned from pink to purple.

As his spiritual energy increased, this process became more and more obvious.

These paper men were also more 'intelligent' than the small paper men of the past; their running posture was abstract, but they already knew how to avoid the gaze of outsiders, specifically seeking out hidden places to move.

And now, this group of small paper men had passed through layers of vine forests, arrived at the western side of Falling Fengling, and lay in ambush, staring at the camp of the Beiliu County militia.

It was not that Li Lin had a voyeuristic desire, but rather... he truly felt that something was wrong with Gao Haiya.

This was an intuition.

After becoming a spirit hunter, he trusted his intuition very much.

Time passed bit by bit; by afternoon, most of the county militia had gotten up and started cooking.

By evening, after finishing dinner, they prepared to move to the next location to hunt down those newborn little apparitions.

Li Lin stepped out of the tent and froze for a moment.

Su Bei stood before the tent, bowing with a smile: "Please, County Commandant."

In front of him was a makeshift 'palanquin'.

Li Lin waved his hand: "No need."

To be honest, such a thing is quite ostentatious.

Generally, only those who enjoy appearing superior like to sit on it, carried by others.

Su Bei felt somewhat awkward; he hadn't expected Li Lin to dislike such empty formalities.

Li Lin looked at the local militia resting nearby and said: "Let them rest for another double-hour, then we depart for the next location."

Su Bei nodded; seeing that Li Lin was not angered by this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately withdrew.

Li Lin found a stone nearby to use as a stool and sat down.

Bai Bufan walked over from the side and asked: "County Commandant, do you truly not want the Yin Qi Stones?"

"Just convert my share into silver for me," Li Lin said; he did not mention giving away all the Yin Qi Stones.

In human interactions, appropriately defending and protecting one's own interests makes others respect you more.

If you give away all benefits, others will only think you are a fool.

Besides, he is the County Commandant now; taking only his own share is already conscientious. Had it been any other County Commandant, they would probably... definitely have taken most of the Yin Qi Stones.

After all, they are quite valuable.

Bai Bufan nodded: "After we return, I and Zhao Xiaohu will pool money to give it to you."

Time passed quickly; an entire double-hour went by, and the sky turned completely dark.

The local militia pulled up their simple camp and arrived at the designated location.

There were four apparitions here... not particularly strong either; Li Lin still did not need to intervene.

The local militia quickly surrounded the area.

Zhao Xiaohu let out a breath of relief, looking extremely excited.

Bai Bufan looked at the female apparition floating ahead and exclaimed: "Huh, this apparition looks quite good. County Commandant, don't you know the Art of Raising Apparitions? Do you want to capture her?"

Li Lin shook his head.

Raising an apparition requires feeding it blood qi. With Li Yanjing and the Tree Immortal Lady at home, relying on the Foundation Establishment Method, he could barely support these two apparitions; adding another... his kidneys would likely have problems.

Besides, this apparition clearly possesses little spiritual intelligence and has little potential.

"That's a pity then."

Li Lin smiled; Bai Bufan was simply being lustful.

Zhao Xiaohu glanced over and said: "She's not as pretty as Sister Qiu."

Bai Bufan wore an expression of 'What did you say?'.

Ding Yingqiu was indeed a good person, but she had absolutely nothing to do with being pretty.

At this moment, Li Lin's expression also became strange.

Because according to the message from the little paper man, until now... the camp in Beiliu Town had shown no movement whatsoever.

More precisely, there was no sound at all.

Li Lin frowned and said: "Suspend the plan. Everyone leave this place and set up camp elsewhere."

The night breeze was cool; Su Bei and others looked over.

Li Lin said: "My paper man reached the opposite side; it seems there is some trouble at the Beiliu County camp."

Everyone shivered.

Su Bei asked: "Do we need to rush over to support them?"

"No, we... hide first and see how things develop."

(End of this chapter)