Chapter 208: The Combined Effects of Spell Techniques

After the ceremonial procession left Yuecheng, it increased its speed.

By noon, under the shining of the true sun, all the paper men returned to their original forms.

But since they could walk, they simply lacked the sensation of living beings.

Because they traveled on the official road, they would encounter many pedestrians and merchant caravans along the way; seeing the paper men walking on the main road, everyone was terrified out of their wits and scrambled to hide on both sides of the path.

Only after the paper men's procession had gone far away did these people dare to emerge from the grass and regroup.

Zhou Qingqing sat in the paper sedan chair, yawned, and said, "Do the paper men need a rest?"

Li Lin shook his head: "No, go as far as you can."

At this moment, Li Lin was playing with the piece of five-colored divine bone in his hand.

Although he was not meditating, and this situation was not suitable for meditation, the divine bone still increased the rate of spiritual energy recovery to a certain extent.

Li Lin estimated that by evening, he could use the Paper Man Technique again to bring these paper men back to life.

"Benefactor, I still do not know your identity," Zhou Qingqing said, looking at Li Lin gratefully.

Li Lin smiled: "It is better if you do not know."

"Indeed." Zhou Qingqing understood Li Lin's meaning.

Zhou Qingqing took some dried meat from her bundle, gave a piece to her son Xiaohua, then took out a dessert and asked, "Do you want some?"

Li Lin was indeed a bit hungry; he took it and tasted a bite: "The taste is good, not sweet."

"I am quite skilled at making pastries," Zhou Qingqing sighed, "Of course, back when I was in the brothel, this was also one of the methods I used to attract customers."

While eating the dessert, Li Lin asked, "You sent away your three children back then; do you not want to find them?"

"Rather than saying I sent them away, it would be more accurate to say they were quietly taken away by men sent by their respective fathers," Zhou Qingqing said with a smile, "They did not want a woman from a brothel to defile their bloodline."

At this moment, although Zhou Qingqing was smiling, her eyes were full of sorrow.

Li Lin smiled: "Qin Donglai truly misjudged you; he thought too poorly of you."

"Actually, it was not like that; if he had not redeemed me... to survive in the brothel, I would naturally have acted as he imagined, currying favor," Zhou Qingqing said slowly, "But since he redeemed me, I naturally wanted to be a good woman, a good wife, and a good mother. Do you find it ridiculous that a mere brothel woman would want to leave that life..."

Li Lin shook his head.

People's thoughts differ somewhat in different environments.

In the brothel, Zhou Qingqing only thought of making money, earning funds for her funeral and for her old age.

But after becoming Qin Donglai's concubine, her environment changed, so it was quite normal for her ideals to change as well.

Li Lin smiled and said, "Having such thoughts is always good. I also believe you will be a good woman in the future."

"Thank you." Zhou Qingqing smiled gratefully.

Time quickly passed until evening.

Li Lin directed the paper men to the roadside, then hid in the forest beside the official road.

These paper men were now showing some wear and tear, more or less.

Fortunately, Li Lin had prepared in advance; this procession included dedicated paper pack horses and paper wheelbarrows.

The cargo transported on them was entirely paper.

Li Lin first scattered protective barrier powder around the area, then processed certain sheets of paper.

Shortly after, more than a dozen paper men resembling retainers walked over, picked up the processed yellow paper, and distributed it to all the paper men.

Those with damaged paper men would tear off a corner of the yellow paper and paste it onto their own bodies.

Then the damaged spots would be restored to their original state.

Paper men with more damage would tear off more yellow paper, while those with little damage would simply tear off a small piece.

Watching the paper men busy themselves, Zhou Qingqing asked curiously, "Why did they not come back to life this time?"

Now the paper men looked like paper men, unlike in the morning when they looked more like living people.

"That was an illusion technique!" Li Lin explained, "Illusion techniques require spiritual... blood essence to be maintained for a long time; they are a completely different concept from the Paper Man Technique."

Just as Li Lin said, in the morning, Li Lin simultaneously used the illusion technique and the paper-stitching technique.

The illusion technique consisted of several characters he learned from the North Flow Gu Lou Mansion, all painted on the backs of the paper men.

Due to long-term practice, he had now mastered some basic uses of the Immortal Characters and could be considered to have achieved a small success in illusion techniques.

It must be said that techniques related to Immortals are powerful.

These illusion techniques are called illusions, but if truly cultivated to a profound level, they are no longer illusions but the real thing.

After all, when an illusion technique can completely reproduce all the information of a living being or an object... the fake becomes real.

Immortal illusion techniques possess this ability.

But Li Lin could not do it yet; he was still far from it.

He could only barely sustain false information for the paper men for a period of time.

Even so, it was very impressive.

Almost everyone was deceived by his illusion technique.

Zhou Qingqing looked at Li Lin and asked, "I wonder if my son has any chance to become your disciple, Master Squire."

Li Lin smiled but said nothing.

Zhou Qingqing pressed her lips together, her eyes becoming watery: "This humble woman is willing to do anything."

Her stance was actually quite clear.

But Li Lin still shook his head.

He felt nothing for Zhou Qingqing, although her appearance was good and her figure was proper.

But... Li Lin was still unwilling to teach his techniques to others casually.

After all, Zhou Qingqing was not like Uncle Zhao, who had saved his life.

Zhou Qingqing lowered her head in disappointment; suddenly, she was burdened with many thoughts.

Women, after all, are creatures of emotion.

Children do not have so many thoughts; he ate a dry cake, stared at the paper doll with his big eyes for a while, then slowly leaned against his mother's body and fell asleep.

Zhou Qingqing spread out a carpet, placed the child on it, and covered him with a blanket.

Li Lin dug a pit nearby, moved the fire into it, thereby reducing the risk of the flames being spotted from the outside.

At this moment, many small paper dolls crawled down from the large paper doll and began running to the surroundings to stand guard.

These small paper dolls had been following the group all along; Zhou Qingqing simply had not noticed.

Li Lin also spread a carpet beside the fire pit, then lay down to rest.

Zhou Qingqing had been somewhat afraid, but seeing Li Lin sleeping so peacefully, with over a hundred paper dolls standing guard around them, she too felt relieved and lay down to sleep.

Li Lin slept for two shichen, then suddenly opened his eyes.

He walked over and gently pushed Zhou Qingqing.

Zhou Qingqing woke with a start; by the faint firelight, she saw Li Lin squatting beside her, and her face immediately turned red: "Squire... could we change the location? Little Hua is right here; if he hears us, it won't be good."

Li Lin gave her an annoyed glare and said, "Someone is chasing us. I'll give you a black cloth; cover yourself and Little Hua inside it. No matter when you discover something, you must not leave this circle. Understand?"

Zhou Qingqing froze for a moment, her expression growing tense; she bit her lip and nodded gently with a pitiful look.

(End of this chapter)