Chapter 32: Women of Past and Present All Love Adornment; The Apparition Is No Exception

As for the tea water in Li Lin's home, let's just say it's at a level that is drinkable.

After taking a sip, Bai Liwei said lightly, "Inspector Li, next time I'll have Bu Fan bring you some stir-fried tea."

Li Lin smiled and said, "I apologize; my home only has tea of this level. It is not that I intentionally neglected a distinguished guest."

"It shows," Bai Liwei said after glancing around, "but hardship also forges talent; Inspector Li is far more formidable than we were at your age."

"You flatter me, you flatter me," Li Lin said, waving his hand.

Bai Liwei took another sip of tea and said, "The reason I came to trouble you this time is mainly to thank Inspector Li for saving our lives a few days ago. If you hadn't turned back, both my nephew and I would have perished there."

"I was just saving myself."

"Regardless, you did save us, and that is undeniable. Please drink!"

Li Lin returned the courtesy, and after both men drank a cup of tea, Bai Liwei said, "I heard that Inspector Li is acquainted with the Young Master of the Wang family, Wang Tianyou?"

"Not exactly; I just did some things for him."

Bai Liwei smiled and said, "Then for this period, you had best not go to the county town."

"The Qin family actually dared to come knocking at our door?"

Bai Liwei nodded: "Yes, they even had a confrontation with Magistrate Huang."

"That is truly audacious."

"After all, they were once a prestigious noble family, very arrogant!" Bai Liwei sneered, "But now they are in trouble too. The Wang family, the Ding family, plus the Huang family, are all opposing them; they have their hands full."

Speaking of the Qin family, Bai Liwei's floodgates opened; he spoke endlessly about the Qin family of Yuecheng. Seeing his indignant expression, it was clear he now detested the Qin family greatly.

This was normal, after all... a few nights ago, it was the Qin family that had driven them to a dead end.

After that, Bai Liwei kept attacking the Qin family with coarse language until dusk approached.

"Forgive my rudeness, Inspector Li," Bai Liwei said after gulping down a large bowl of tea; having spoken for so long, he was thirsty too: "Let me nag one more time; for the next few days, you had best not go to the county town until the Demon Extermination Bureau people arrive."

"Rest assured; for these few days, I will stay quietly in the village practicing martial arts."

Bai Liwei laughed heartily, then stood up, preparing to return.

As the two stepped out the door, they saw Bai Bufan and Zhao Xiaohu chatting happily in the courtyard.

Seeing his uncle come out, Bai Bufan asked, "Are we going back?"

"Yes."

Bai Bufan turned to look at Zhao Xiaohu: "This brother, we feel like old friends at first sight. From now on, you are my big brother, and I am your little brother. May I ask your honorable surname, Big Brother?"

Zhao Xiaohu looked too much like a grown-up tough man.

"My name is Zhao Xiaohu, and I am thirteen years old!"

Bai Bufan was stunned; Li Lin could almost hear the sound of his soul shattering.

Then, with a dazed expression, he followed his uncle home, leading the donkey.

Seeing the guests leave, Zhao Xiaohu carried everything the guests had left into the house, then began washing rice and cooking.

Li Lin, meanwhile, was counting the gifts.

It must be said that what the Bai family gave was indeed abundant: ten silver ingots, totaling one hundred taels of silver.

Then there were some jade pendants and ornaments, as well as precious medicinal herbs, such as wild ginseng, polygonum, and the like.

There were also a few pieces of transparent mushrooms.

The total value was not low; it seemed the lives of Uncle Bai Liwei and his nephew were indeed valuable.

People who treat their own lives as treasures are, in Li Lin's opinion, worth deep friendship.

He arranged all these items properly, and then Zhao Xiaohu had finished cooking the rice and dishes.

After eating a large bowl of red rice, Zhao Xiaohu, covered in sweat, went home just before the moon rose.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Lin practiced the Spring Art for a while. Just as he was preparing to bathe and go to bed to rest, he saw a green snake tail poking in through the window.

The scales on the snake tail reflected the moonlight, looking extremely clean and beautiful.

If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would surely be scared half to death.

Li Lin, however, simply pushed the door open with a relaxed expression and stepped out, seeing the Tree Immortal Lady floating in the courtyard with her back to him, her long tail poking into the window from outside.

"Did Your Ladyship summon me?" Li Lin asked.

The Tree Immortal Lady turned her head and pointed toward the mountainside.

Li Lin had a good sense of direction; he immediately judged that the place the Tree Immortal Lady pointed to was Sister Xiu Niang's grave.

"Is someone up there?"

The Tree Immortal Lady nodded.

"Are they not afraid of the Desolate Apparitions?"

"I don't know!"

After saying this, the Tree Immortal Lady drifted away slowly, her snake tail swaying.

Li Lin returned to his room, took out the red-tasseled spear, and then came to the path leading up the mountain.

Once outside, it was the world of Apparitions.

With the altar in the village and the Tree Immortal Lady present, the Desolate Apparitions cannot enter.

Li Lin put on the Apparition-Hiding Robe, squatted down, used the Stealth Technique, and slowly walked up the mountain.

The Stealth Technique was magical; it had the effect of silencing footsteps.

The moonlight was bright enough to make one anxious; after spending more than half a double-hour, Li Lin finally reached the mountainside.

Sister Xiu Niang's grave was right ahead.

He slowly squatted and walked over, and indeed heard the sound of shoveling earth.

Going around a short distance to the back of a large tree, Li Lin peeked out and saw two figures, both wrapped entirely in black clothes, vigorously shoveling the grave mound.

While shoveling, they were also cursing and grumbling.

"Didn't we dig it up the day before yesterday? We even put the fetal membrane inside. How did it get filled in again?"

"No need to guess; it must be the villagers below who filled it. Once we finish our business, I'll go down and slaughter them. If I don't kill a few, I won't feel satisfied."

"There are Spirit Hunters guarding down there."

"I heard it's some rookie. Two strikes and he's dead."

"What if he doesn't die?"

"If he doesn't die, I'll take you to the Red Sleeve Pavilion and have a singing courtesan play the zither for you."

"You said it."

With that, the two stopped talking and dug even harder.

Li Lin waited a while, saw that neither of them was speaking anymore, and felt somewhat disappointed; he had hoped they would chat a bit longer to see if he could overhear some important intelligence.

Afterwards, he moved a bit closer.

He had a feeling that these two seemed not very 'sensitive'; he could sneak up to their sides quite easily.

He did exactly that, slowly approaching from the blind spot on one side of their vision.

After digging for a while longer, one of them suddenly said, "Wait, I can't sense any evil Qi. That fetal membrane isn't down there anymore."

"Who among ordinary people would dare touch this thing?"

"Could it be the Spirit Hunter in this village?"

"Of course. Besides Spirit Hunters and us martial artists, who would dare mess with such an ominous object?"

"Then let's go down the mountain right now, kill that Spirit Hunter, and snatch the thing back!"

"There is a devotee of Taowu Zhenjun in this village!"

"Taowu Zhenjun is too lazy to bother with the affairs of the living; they only block evil objects and are quite dull."

"Then let's go... Ah!"

A scream pierced the silence of the mountain ridges.

One of the black-clad figures was pierced through the heart by a long spear and collapsed softly onto the ground.

The other black-clad figure turned and ran.

Not a shred of fighting spirit.

Li Lin paused for a moment, pulled the long spear from the corpse, and threw it directly.

Hearing the sound of the spear cutting through the air from behind, the black-clad figure dodged immediately. Although he managed to dodge, his speed lagged for an instant, and then Li Lin leaped like a tiger to catch up, clamped both hands on the man's head, and slammed him straight into the ground.

Crack!

Li Lin gave the opponent no chance to react; with both claws exerting force, he twisted the man's head three hundred and sixty degrees.

The black-clad figure's body twitched a few times before falling still.

So weak!

Feels far inferior to Xu Saifeng; they must be just two small minions.

By all rights, Li Lin should have kept one alive for interrogation, but it was night, in the middle of nowhere, and making too much noise might attract Wild Anomalies, which would be disastrous.

Rather than interrogate, it was simpler to just kill them.

Come to think of it, how did these two manage to chat at night without disturbing the Wild Anomalies?

He crouched into a stealth state while checking the dead man's body, then was surprised to discover that the black clothes the fellow wore were actually 'Anomaly-Shielding Robes'.

The other one was wearing an Anomaly-Shielding Robe too.

His own Anomaly-Shielding Robe was a tiny piece, usable only as a small blanket, and it was as thin as a cicada's wing; these two men's Anomaly-Shielding Robes were thick and dense, fashioned into the shape of actual garments.

No wonder... they could move freely at night without being detected by the Wild Anomalies.

I've struck it rich; these are excellent items.

Li Lin immediately stripped the clothes off both men and also found some silver notes.

Then he hid to one side.

He watched as the two corpses were discovered by invisible Wild Anomalies, their flesh and blood vanished, leaving only white bones.

Li Lin, clutching the two Anomaly-Shielding Robes, crouched and slowly 'walked' down the mountain.

Just as he returned to the village, he saw the Tree Immortal Lady waiting at the village entrance on the downhill path; seeing Li Lin return safely, she slowly drifted away.

Li Lin immediately stood up and chased after her, asking, "Lady, thank you for your warning. In half a month it will be the Qixi Festival. I recently got some money; is there any gift you would like? I can buy it for you."

The Tree Immortal Lady stopped; she suddenly turned around, and the silver dangling hairpin on her head swayed, reflecting a dazzling sheen in the moonlight.

"Red Flower Hairpin!"

(End of this chapter)