Chapter 40: Unknown Second

Li Lin watched the wall of fire behind him, and his smile grew more pronounced.

The Jizhangfuzhi in the flames emitted golden light; staring at them, he kept seeing 【Rune+1】.

“This guy’s troublesome—we can only fight him with martial arts, not spellcraft. Let’s spread out…” Su Huafang spoke while monitoring his teammates’ positions: “Li Xunshou, fall back a bit.”

By normal logic, Li Lin’s combat strength should be the weakest among the three; his position at the rear to support was a reasonable judgment.

Li Lin obeyed immediately, stepping back several paces.

At this moment, Su Huafang and the other two had already launched their assault.

All three used close-range weapons: Su Huafang wielded a pair of judge’s pens, Bai Liwei two short knives.

As for Zhao Hao, he used his bare fists.

The three together besieged Zhang Zuoqing, yet could not break through.

The opponent not only excelled in footwork and mobility, but also surrounded himself with a yellow spiritual force that deflected all their attacks.

Many times, their combined strikes were about to land on Zhang Zuoqing—only to be deflected by that force, or to rebound their own bodies away.

Each time this happened, the three’s assault would leave an opening, and Zhang Zuoqing would instantly throw out a yellow rune.

The yellow rune would transform into a cloud of blue flame, or a gust of wind, forcing them back a short distance and breaking their coordination.

【Rune+1】

【Rune+1】

Li Lin watched closely, and his hands began slowly forming seals.

After a while of entangled combat, all four were panting heavily.

There was a way to win—Zhang Zuoqing had underestimated the Spirit Hunters.

Though rune magic indeed suppressed yin energy, the problem was that Spirit Hunters also cultivated martial arts.

These three were veterans; they forced Zhang Zuoqing into steady retreat, denying him any chance to use offensive rune spells.

Yet the three Spirit Hunters could not finish him off either; both sides seemed to have paused intentionally.

And at that moment, Li Lin finally moved.

He had been slowly forming seals, deliberately suppressing signs of yin energy release; now was the final moment.

As he completed the final hand gesture, his internal yin energy erupted, forming a spiritual current above his head that drew lightning from the storm clouds.

The motion was too subtle; Zhang Zuoqing’s attention was fixed on the three men before him, and he never noticed Li Lin.

First came streaks of crimson and blue lightning descending from the sky, then the scream.

Zhang Zuoqing’s clothes exploded instantly, leaving only tattered rags clinging to his body; his face and skin turned pitch black, as if scorched.

“Thunderbolt Rune… a yin-generated Thunderbolt Rune? How is this possible!”

He shouted while retreating, his demeanor almost mad—but his body was paralyzed from the lightning strike, so he moved slowly.

Seeing this, Su Huafang and the others turned in shock to glance at Li Lin, then surged forward together.

Strike while he’s down.

The three closed in—pens stabbed, knives slashed—until Zhao Hao landed a final punch to the chest, sending Zhang Zuoqing flying backward into the city wall, then bouncing back.

He lay on the ground, staring at Li Lin in the distance, his eyes still filled with disbelief.

Then he exhaled one last breath—and died.

Su Huafang shouted: “Let’s go—”

But his words were cut short as a volley of arrows landed behind them, blocking their retreat.

They looked up and saw over twenty men on the wall, each holding a hand crossbow.

Zhang Minsheng stood atop the wall, holding a torch high.

He looked down at Zhang Zuoqing’s corpse and snorted: “Worthless. Said he could suppress all Spirit Hunters—and now he’s dead.”

Then Zhang Minsheng turned to Li Lin: “Young man, you’re impressive. That Thunderbolt Rune was stolen from me by Huang Xiu and given to you barely ten days ago—you’ve already mastered it so thoroughly. No wonder… the Huang family holds you in such high regard.”

Li Lin stared silently at the man, feeling his scalp prickle as several crossbows aimed at him.

He did not want to speak.

“The night air is cold, and the Wicked Ones lurk nearby. Friends, please come inside,” Zhang Minsheng said with a smile.

At the mention of the Wicked Ones, the four Spirit Hunters instinctively glanced at their waists.

The jade tokens remained dark… not a single flicker.

This was strange—they were clearly outside the protective boundary.

Zhang Minsheng frowned.

At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind Li Lin and the others: “Friends, my apologies—I arrived late, but just in time.”

As he spoke, a white-robed man stepped forward under the moonlight.

Behind him, countless torches flared to life, rapidly forming a circular arc of fire that encircled the entire fortress.

Zhang Minsheng’s expression darkened: “Huang Xiu, weren’t you returning to Jingcheng?”

“I said it offhand—did you believe me?” Huang Xiu strode forward, a curved blade slung over his shoulder: “If I hadn’t pretended to leave, you’d never have revealed yourself.”

Huang Xiu walked to Li Lin’s side and clapped his shoulder: “Good work.”

Li Lin raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Huang Xiu sighed: “I didn’t want you involved in this, but your father-in-law—the County Magistrate—said it must be handled fairly. If his son Huang Qi were a Spirit Hunter, he’d have been sent out too. Don’t blame him, alright?”

Li Lin instantly understood: their group had been… bait.

Then over a dozen shield-bearers rushed in, surrounding the four in a protective ring.

Zhang Minsheng looked down and snorted: “Huang Xiu, the True Lord is still in our hands—dare you risk us destroying the altar?”

“Irrelevant. Do you really think we didn’t know the Red Bat True Lord is already under Qin control? Do whatever you want.”

Zhang Minsheng glared at Huang Xiu, eyes blazing with fury.

Huang Xiu smiled: “Gentlemen, please move to the rear. The rest is our affair.”

The four naturally complied, retreating behind the military formation.

There, he spotted someone he knew.

“Zijing, what are you doing here?”

Huang Qi walked over and smiled: “I’m still the local Commandant!”

The Commandant oversaw constables and local troops, subordinate to the County Magistrate.

Li Lin sighed: “Your Huang family really doesn’t shy away from nepotism.”

“That position will be yours soon!”

Li Lin instinctively pointed at himself: “There’s no way it’s me—there are plenty of Spirit Hunters stronger than me.”

“That post isn’t a promotion path for Spirit Hunters—it’s the County Magistrate’s right hand.”

“Then where are you headed? To Jingcheng for the imperial exams?”

“I’m going to Jincheng. The noble scholar I told you about will arrive there soon—I must meet him and serve under him.”

As Huang Qi finished speaking, a barrage of flaming arrows shot into the fortress, filling the sky with streaks of fire.

Everyone turned to watch—the scene seemed almost beautiful.

Yet for the members of the Demon-Slaying Bureau inside, this beauty was death.

Li Lin sighed and asked: “So what’s the full story behind this? Mind explaining?”

Huang Qi nodded: “I can tell you. After you reported the Bo Bai Garrison incident to Father, he sensed something hidden. He reported it to the imperial court, then secretly contacted the Wang and Ding families, recalled my cousin, and combined their resources and intelligence to uncover the Qin family’s arrangements. Then we turned their plan against them—luring Zhang Minsheng here and trapping him.”

“What was their goal?”

“We don’t know exactly—but they’re collecting Wicked Ones,” Huang Qi whispered. “Zhang Minsheng planned to steal this True Lord, kill you, and pin the blame on you to implicate my father.”

“One True Lord?” Li Lin frowned. “Aren’t there two?”

(End of Chapter)