Chapter 56

The chill grew ever stronger, and a woman dressed in lavish robes appeared beside Li Lin.

Blood dripped from her lips; her eyes were two swirling pools of water.

Li Lin was now clad in a full set of Concealment Robes, and with the Stealth Art, the woman could not see him.

Yet this woman seemed to sense he was here, pacing endlessly within the pavilion.

Li Lin dared not breathe.

Because he "saw" the text 【Stealth Art +1】 constantly refreshing.

While he stealthed in the wilds, countless wild creatures passed nearby without increasing his familiarity—but this one kept increasing it.

Clearly, this thing was extremely powerful.

After a long time, the woman finally left.

The chill in the air vanished.

Li Lin still did not move.

He even closed his eyes.

After a while, the woman suddenly reappeared, launching a surprise return.

She searched the pavilion once more before truly departing.

Only then did Li Lin exhale a long breath.

That was dangerously close.

If he had moved when the woman left, he would surely have been discovered.

Li Lin rolled over and left the pavilion—this place could no longer be stayed in.

Although the woman had not found him, her controller likely already suspected this place.

Indeed, just a quarter-hour after Li Lin departed, several Qin Fu members arrived at the brothel and began searching, eventually reaching the pavilion, where they found traces of dust recently swept away, confirming someone had been here.

But they did not ask whether the person was male or female.

After all, Li Lin had not entered the pavilion through the main gate.

The next day, Qin Wu arrived at the main chamber, looking exhausted: "Big brother, are you there?"

"Come in."

Qin Wu opened the door and froze—he saw his elder brother Qin Feng standing before the bed, face dark with malice.

On the bed lay his "sister-in-law," nearly naked.

He immediately turned to leave.

"No need to go. Come here."

Qin Wu hesitated, turned back, and saw his sister-in-law's belly swelling at an unnatural rate; then her whole body shuddered, and a tiny, horrifying wild creature was born.

These little infant creatures laughed hysterically, flying around Qin Feng and the woman, calling "Papa! Mama!" before slowly dissolving into the air.

"Wangliang Embryo Storage Ritual?" Qin Wu's face twisted with distress as he looked at his brother: "Why use it on your wife? She's Xiao Huan's mother!"

Qin Feng snorted: "The Soul-Tracking Spell failed. She's only useful for this now—otherwise why would I marry a commoner?"

"What about Xiao Huan…?"

"Don't let him know."

Qin Wu nodded.

The woman on the bed gave birth to several more infant creatures, growing weaker and weaker, her once-plump body shrinking to skin stretched over bone, barely clinging to life.

Qin Feng said: "It's disgusting. Take her away and discard her. Be careful—don't let anyone else see. And watch yourself—the wild mongrel hiding in the shadows is still near our Qin family."

"Yes, big brother, I'll be careful."

Qin Wu nodded, walked over, rolled up the bedding, wrapped the woman—now a grotesque thing—into the bundle, lifted her onto his shoulder like a sack, and strode out.

In the air hung infant creatures invisible to others, but Qin Feng saw them; his smile turned sinister: "Children, don't worry. At night, I'll let you go out to play."

Then he opened the door and called: "Old Chou, come here."

A middle-aged man ran over.

"You're the best rider," Qin Wu handed him a sealed letter stamped with gold ink: "Ride hard to Jingcheng. Deliver this to Prefect Fang for the main household in the palace."

The man took the letter, bowed, and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Li Lin, hiding in a tree near the Qin family's back courtyard, saw someone from the Qin household carrying a bundle out the back gate.

He recognized the man—Qin Wu, second-in-command of the Qin family.

The man looked frantic, moved quickly, and avoided crowded areas.

Li Lin dropped to the ground, bent low, and followed.

From the shape of the bundle, Qin Wu was carrying a person.

Li Lin continued tracking.

Qin Wu carried the burden faster and faster, and when he reached the outskirts of the county where few people were around, he began to run.

Li Lin swiftly followed, red tassel spear in hand.

Soon, Qin Wu arrived at a secluded wooden hut.

Li Lin reached the window and pressed his ear to the wall.

Qin Wu carefully removed the woman from the bundle, afraid of breaking the frail creature reduced to nothing but skin over bone.

He held her in his arms, pressed his right hand against her back meridians, and said with tears in his eyes: "Yanzi, don't worry—I'll save you. Qin Feng abandoned you, and now I finally have the chance to rescue you from him. Our family of three will be reunited soon."

As he spoke, his right hand pressed against her back glowed red.

Vast amounts of blood qi flooded into the woman's body; her form gradually regained plumpness.

In contrast, Qin Wu's face turned steadily ashen.

The woman slowly opened her eyes.

"Wu Lang, is it really you..."

The woman's voice carried an air of incredulity.

"Thank heaven and earth, we were still able to save you."

"Stop helping me; your health is more important."

"It's fine. From now on, you hide in this place. Once we find all the enemies who have invaded, I will find a way to kill Qin... Feng..."

The man panted heavily, clearly exhausted; it seemed saving the person had drained a vast amount of his vital energy.

Right now, Li Lin smashed the window with a punch, holding a long spear, and leaped inside.

"You are..."

Ah!

The man and woman screamed in unison, embraced each other, and died.

One spear, two lives.

Li Lin looked at the woman lying on the ground; he realized this woman seemed very much like the female apparition who had run up to the attic to find him last night!

"This feels a bit eerie," Li Lin thought, his hair standing on end.

Don't people only become apparitions after they die? How can this woman shift between human and apparition? When night falls, won't she turn into an apparition again to come find me?

Li Lin scanned the small wooden hut and found the items inside were quite complete.

There was a bed, there were pots, pans, and bowls... naturally, there was also a tinderbox.

He picked up the tinderbox, started a fire, and then threw it onto the bed.

Not long after, the small wooden hut burst into flames.

Li Lin had already left.

A small fire outside the county town caused some commotion, but it did not draw the attention of Qin Fu.

At this moment, Qin Feng had been waiting in the study for a long time, yet Qin Wu had not returned; a vague sense of foreboding arose in his heart.

Not long after, someone knocked on the study door: "Head of the family, we have found Wang Tianyou's hiding place."

"He actually hasn't left the county town yet?"

"We have personnel stationed at the city walls and the city gates; they cannot escape, especially since he is injured."

Qin Feng was overjoyed: "Excellent. Gather the personnel and go immediately to execute the traitor."

(End of this chapter)