Chapter 183: Had Already Prepared

Disheveled hair, tattered leather armor, and a body emaciated to the point of resembling a monkey.

All manner of strange, grotesque weapons.

It was plainly obvious that the army beneath the wall was malnourished.

Both in practical and symbolic terms.

These people stood thirty to forty zhang away from the wall, beyond the range of ranged attacks, holding torches.

Even from this distance, one could feel the… killing intent on them, and a faint, elusive madness.

Jiang Jili’s face darkened; he walked over to Li Lin and asked quietly, “Don’t you feel… something’s off about these people?”

Li Lin nodded: “They’re suffused with yin energy.”

“What does that mean?”

It means they’re very likely connected to the anomaly.

“Impossible!” Jiang Jili said with disbelief. “You’re saying they could all be Spirit Hunters?”

Generally speaking, living people carrying yin energy were mostly Spirit Hunters.

But Spirit Hunters required innate talent… Even the Great Qi didn’t have many Spirit Hunters; how could these barbarians possibly have so many?

I didn’t mention Spirit Hunters at all; I only said they carry yin energy. Li Lin gazed into the distance and continued: So many of them? They can’t all be Spirit Hunters. It must be the anomaly…

“Southern barbarian sorcery?”

“Very likely.”

Then both men turned their gaze forward.

There, soldiers kept arriving, quickly filling the entire area.

More southern barbarian troops continued to emerge from behind.

They remained silent, moving mechanically, not a single sound uttered.

In the night, the clanging and clattering of setting up a temporary camp echoed near the wall.

This placed immense pressure on the militia guarding the wall.

Not just the soldiers—even Jiang Jili’s forehead was slick with cold sweat.

But right now, Li Lin’s gaze wasn’t on them; he unconsciously looked toward the direction of the Zhenjun Temple.

…

The villagers of Minle Village had settled on the open ground behind the temple.

They paid no mind to the dusty ground and sat down directly.

Having run from Minle Village, they were utterly exhausted, barely made it in, and under intense stress, their strength drained further.

Only after sitting down did they realize their entire bodies were trembling, their limbs weak and numb.

After resting awhile, they slowly recovered.

The village chief exhaled; though it was already night, the area around the Zhenjun Temple remained brightly lit. He looked around and said, “Yulin County is certainly livelier than our Beiliu County.”

Many around him agreed; some women began nursing their babies, others pulled out pre-prepared flatbreads from their chests and fed them to the children.

At that moment, four people stood up and walked outward.

Seeing this, the village chief shouted urgently: “You four boys, don’t move around! The officials here said anyone who wanders will be beheaded!”

The four ignored him and quickened their pace.

But after taking a few steps, they stopped.

For ahead of them stood Bai Zhiwei, Ding Yingqiu, Yan Sai, and several others.

“County Lieutenant Li long ago knew you spies would blend in,” Bai Yunfei said with a smile.

The group spread out, surrounding the four.

The village chief cried out: “Officials! They’re just young men from our village, naive and foolish—please spare them!”

He rushed forward and knelt before them, pleading pitifully: “Officials, spare them—they’re still children…”

“Old man, turn around and look—do you really recognize these people?”

The village chief turned—and instantly saw their faces had changed, no longer the ones he knew.

They were four barbarians, with deep-set eyes and thick lips.

The village chief collapsed in terror.

Seeing their path blocked, the four retreated quickly, as if intending to seize the villagers as hostages.

But after retreating just two steps, they realized a stunningly beautiful woman had appeared behind them.

Her left sleeve partially veiled her face; in her right hand rested a pulsing heart.

One of them slumped to the ground, limp.

“Qi’s yin spirit… Drive them out.”

One of the three, taller and with steady eyes, roared: He pulled a white, supple whip from his robe and lunged forward with full force.

Bai Zhiwei stepped in front of him; the others moved to surround the remaining two.

Li Yanjing discarded the still-beating heart with a look of disgust: “Stinks.”

Then she turned toward the city gate, for she could sense Li Lin was there.

The fighting erupted; soon, two of the remaining three barbarians lay dead, the last one had his right arm severed by Bai Zhiwei and now clutched his bleeding stump, gasping for breath.

“Surrender,” Bai Zhiwei said coldly. “You might still live.”

The man chuckled darkly: “Live… We all die. We die sooner, you die later. The Outer Heaven Demon has come—this whole world is his hunting ground. The yin spirit is dead, the White Elephant is dead… We suffer first, but soon it’ll be your turn. Hahaha!”

Then the man clasped his own throat with his left hand, applied slight pressure—and tore out his own trachea.

Blood sprayed as he fell backward, his face frozen in a grotesque smile.

Everyone fell silent.

On the wall, Li Lin watched the enemy’s actions.

A makeshift encampment rose.

Then, southern barbarian soldiers dragged forward a massive altar.

Unlike the Qing stone altars of the Qi, this one was forged from red earth, drenched in blood-red hue, crude and heavy, radiating a wild, primeval aura.

As the red altar touched the ground, the barbarians pushed forward several captives—by their clothing, they were Qi villagers, those who hadn’t escaped or refused to flee.

The villagers struggled and begged, but their heads were still severed.

Blood spurted from their necks and splashed onto the altar.

Then a true lord with a snake’s head—or perhaps a lizard’s head—floated above the altar.

A chilling aura began spreading toward the wall.

Soon, the soldiers on the wall felt a bone-deep chill and instinctively rubbed their arms.

Jiang Jili couldn’t see the true lord—but he guessed.

He instinctively hugged himself, face pale, and said: “County Lieutenant, I leave the rest to you. I’ll fall back to organize logistics.”

Li Lin gave a slight nod.

Frontline combat was not the Assistant County Magistrate’s duty.

At least not until the County Lieutenant died.

At that moment, a man stepped forward from the enemy ranks, holding a bow in his left hand. From over thirty zhang away, he nocked an arrow and drew the string.

Zong!

A strange sound.

The arrow shot forth.

Li Lin’s spear thrust out sharply, striking the iron tip of the arrow— instantly shattering it into dust.

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Li Lin.

Li Lin recognized him too.

The Qin expert who had nearly shot him over half a year ago.

The enemy man stepped forward another dozen zhang and called out: “Whoever blocked my arrow—state your name!”

(End of Chapter)