Chapter 180: The Storms Gathering Over Jincheng

Su Huafang found a defensible high ground nearby to reestablish the camp.

Then everyone extinguished their torches and gathered together.

Li Lin scattered a circle of Barrier Powder around the camp.

Then he sat inside his tent and waited.

The others remained quietly in their own tents.

Li Lin also placed several small paper figures around the camp to serve as sentries.

The other paper figures were monitoring the Beiliu township army camp nearby.

The moonlight was bright tonight; the paper figures peered cautiously from the grass, watching the silent Beiliu township army camp ahead.

Time passed slowly, but the Beiliu camp showed no movement.

There was also no movement around Li Lin’s camp.

This situation persisted until the next morning.

Seeing dawn break, Li Lin could no longer wait—he controlled the paper figures to enter the Beiliu township army camp.

It was empty.

“Looks like I misjudged—they weren’t targeting us,” Li Lin muttered, rubbing his chin in confusion. “Then who were they targeting?”

A map lay before Li Lin.

Before coming here, he had specifically asked Jiang Jili for a topographical map of Jincheng to carry.

Ordinary people were forbidden from viewing or possessing such military maps, but as Assistant County Magistrate, he had the authority.

The people of Beiliu County were indeed gone; there were no corpses or bones in the camp—meaning they had not clashed with the supernatural beings.

Then… where had they gone?

Li Lin stared at the map, then unconsciously glanced southwest, frowning deeply.

“Wait—this is… Fumian Military Garrison.”

Li Lin’s finger tapped lightly on a certain point.

Seeing the long official road stretching straight to Jincheng, Li Lin felt a sudden dread.

“Everyone, break camp immediately and retreat to Jincheng—hurry!”

Li Lin shouted.

Su Huafang immediately saw Li Lin’s grim expression and knew things had turned sour—he rushed out, bellowing orders for the township soldiers to move.

Li Lin then turned to Xiao Chunzhu and said: “Your Lingxiao Sect’s lightness technique is swift—I need you to ride hard to Jincheng and report to Magistrate Huang that the Beiliu township army has vanished and may have headed for Fumian Military Garrison. He’ll understand.”

“I can’t even meet the Magistrate,” Xiao Chunzhu said helplessly.

Li Lin took off his Spirit-Hunting Jade Token and handed it to him: “Say my name—he’ll see you. Then stay in Jincheng. Don’t leave again until this is over. Return to Yulin County only then.”

“Understood!”

Xiao Chunzhu stood, turned, and dashed out of the tent, then sprinted along the official road using his lightness technique.

The Lingxiao Sect’s lightness technique was famous in the martial world—its hallmark was speed.

Since it required immense stamina, Xiao Chunzhu didn’t care.

He ran with all his strength; the wind behind him whipped up a yellow dust cloud that rose straight into the sky.

From Luofeng Ridge to Jincheng, even on horseback, it normally took an hour—but Xiao Chunzhu made it in half an hour.

He arrived gasping, drenched in sweat, his throat tasting of rust.

It was foul.

Inside the city, though exhausted, Xiao Chunzhu dared not rest—he dragged his numb legs to the Prefectural Office gates.

Several government office runners stood there; seeing Xiao Chunzhu, they were about to curse—but when they saw his constable uniform, they restrained themselves and approached.

One of them asked: “I’ve never seen you. Are you a constable from the county?”

Xiao Chunzhu panted, holding up his Spirit-Hunting Jade Token: “By order of… Assistant County Magistrate Li Lin… I beg to see the… Magistrate.”

“The Magistrate is no mere official you, a constable, can demand to see. Have your county magistrate come himself—”

The runner’s words were reasonable; typically, a county constable had no right to petition a sixth-rank civil official.

But at that moment, a young official stepped out of the office, eyeing Xiao Chunzhu curiously: “Are you one of my sister-in-law’s men?”

“I’m subordinate to Assistant Magistrate Li,” Xiao Chunzhu still gasped.

“Show me the token.”

Xiao Chunzhu handed it over.

The youth was Huang Ying; after studying the token, he nodded: “Confirmed—it’s my brother-in-law’s Spirit-Hunting number. Follow me.”

With Huang Ying leading, the runners stepped aside.

Xiao Chunzhu instinctively straightened his disheveled, sweat-stained constable uniform, took several deep breaths, and steadied his ragged qi.

To meet the Magistrate, he must appear presentable.

In that brief moment, Huang Ying brought Xiao Chunzhu into the courtroom.

Huang Yan, dressed in his sixth-rank civil robe, sat upright on the high seat, fully absorbed in official duties, and didn’t even look up at the sound.

“Father… Magistrate, this constable from Yulin County has come under orders from Assistant Magistrate Li with urgent news.”

“Speak.” Huang Yan didn’t raise his head.

A constable wasn’t worth his time to remember.

“Assistant Magistrate Li says the Beiliu township army may have gone to Fumian Military Garrison.”

Hm?

Huang Yan’s expression froze; then he leapt to his feet, unrolled a topographical map, studied it, and turned pale with rage.

“Jincheng hasn’t given me a single day of peace—every border is a leak, as porous as a sieve.”

Huang Yan slammed his brush violently onto the floor.

Huang Ying frowned: “Magistrate, what’s happened?”

“Your brother-in-law suspects Beiliu County’s Assistant Magistrate Gao Haiya has marched on Fumian Military Garrison to open the gates for the Southern Barbarians… no—for Qin Tuo.”

“Isn’t your brother-in-law exaggerating?”

Huang Yan turned to Xiao Chunzhu: “Tell me everything that happened over the past two days.”

Xiao Chunzhu recounted the entire sequence of events.

He emphasized how strong Li Lin’s intuition was—how he’d kept sending paper figures to monitor the Beiliu camp, and how the suspicion had proven true.

“It seems your brother-in-law was right—the Beiliu township army could only have gone to Fumian Military Garrison,” Huang Yan grunted. “Ying, as Northern Jincheng Garrison Commander, take troops from the barracks and secure the West Gate.”

Huang Ying paused, then bowed eagerly: “Yes, Magistrate!”

Though he had long held the rank of Garrison Commander and could command three thousand troops, he had never led them into battle.

Now, the chance seemed to have arrived.

At that moment, a runner burst in, urgently reporting: “Magistrate—great disaster! Fire beacons have been lit to the west—their location matches Fumian Military Garrison!”

Huang Yan’s face darkened; he roared at Huang Ying: “Go, now!”

Huang Ying startled, spun, and sprinted out of the courtroom.

Xiao Chunzhu bowed deeply to Huang Yan and withdrew from the courtroom.

Huang Yan sat still for a moment, then picked up the gavel and slammed it hard onto the table.

The empty courtroom echoed with the strike.

After a long pause, Huang Yan sighed, head aching: “How many officials in Jincheng are secretly allied with the Qin family? This is my fault—if I hadn’t issued unrestricted passage orders, the Beiliu township army could never have approached Jincheng… Lao Yu, you’re swift—go to the city wall and order the Beacon Commander to light the beacons. Notify every county in Jincheng to close their gates and defend themselves for three days.”

A flat figure emerged from his shadow, then filled out into a normal human form—as if paper had gained flesh and blood.

“Yes, Master!”

The middle-aged man, with a cold expression, left the courtroom.

(End of Chapter)