Chapter 57: Drawing Water with a Bamboo Basket

Li Lin was still monitoring Qin Fu.

He watched Qin Feng leave with a large group, and also saw the only son of the Qin household, a youth named Qin Huan, pacing back and forth inside the residence, looking restless and uneasy.

But he did not enter Qin Fu to cause trouble.

Instead, he followed behind Qin Feng and his group.

The reason was simple: Qin Fu had already been ambushed by him once, so they would surely be on high alert; perhaps Qin Fu had now become a trap.

So secretly following Qin Feng to see what he intended to do was actually the more correct choice.

Qin Feng led a large number of men all the way to a small alley on the western side of the county, turned two corners inside it, and surrounded a commoner's house.

He did not shout any warnings; instead, he directly ordered, "Bring the kerosene and burn the house."

The so-called kerosene was, in fact, coal oil.

Immediately, several buckets of foul-smelling liquid were splashed onto the house, and then a firebrand was thrown over.

The small wooden house instantly erupted with flames shooting into the sky.

Three figures burst out through the thatched roof of the burning house; they landed on the tiled roof nearby and each reached out to brush away the sparks from their bodies.

One of them was Wang Tianyou, accompanied by his three martial arts retainers.

Li Lin saw that Wang Tianyou's face was somewhat pale; he must have been injured.

"Master Qin, to deal with a junior like me you actually have to resort to such underhanded tricks; it seems you are truly desperate."

"Shameless brat, death is at your door, yet you still bark like a dog; next year on this very day will be your anniversary of death."

Qin Feng sneered and leaped onto the roof of a neighboring house.

Meanwhile, several experts of the Qin family also jumped onto the roof, surrounding the opponent on both sides to prevent Wang Tianyou from escaping.

Wang Tianyou looked left and right, realizing that this time he might truly meet his end here; immediately, he pulled with his right hand and drew a soft sword from his waist.

"What does it matter if I die?" Wang Tianyou said with a smile. "My father has seven sons; I am only one of them, so he does not care. Unlike Master Qin Feng, who has already lost two of his three sons, and the remaining one is also in grave danger."

Qin Feng narrowed his eyes: "That bastard hiding in the shadows, is he your man?"

"Haha, I do not know that high expert," Wang Tianyou laughed. "Master Qin Feng, you have sent out all your elite forces; are you not afraid your home will be stolen again?"

"I am not so foolish as to be tricked over and over again," Qin Feng said coldly. "If that bastard dares to enter my residence, he is doomed."

Wang Tianyou's face turned somewhat ugly; his words just now were merely intended to provoke Qin Feng into leaving.

But he did not expect that his own capture was also a scheme, a plot designed to force another person to appear.

Seeing that Wang Tianyou had nothing more to say, Qin Feng waved his hand.

Several experts of the Qin family attacked, while the remaining Retainers of Qin Fu formed a circle around them, blocking Wang Tianyou and others from leaving.

Their strength was not great, but they could still manage to hold someone back for a while.

And as long as they could hold them back for a moment, the Qin experts could force the three of them to stop again.

The two sides fought back and forth on the rooftops, and Wang Tianyou's face grew increasingly pale and green.

Although his silver sword danced with flowing silver light, looking very imposing and strange, the Qin experts had also seen soft swords before and had experience countering them.

As for those three servants, under the siege of several Qin experts, they also began to find themselves in a predicament.

After all, having many people attack few still held a great advantage.

Qin Feng saw that the battle in the field was nearly over and was about to join the fight to end this farce when his body suddenly shuddered; instinctively, he turned around and looked behind him.

Although there was no one behind him, he felt a tense sensation as if facing a great enemy.

"Master, what is wrong?"

A Qin expert nearby asked.

"Someone is staring at me," Qin Feng said, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. "He just leaked a trace of killing intent, which I sensed."

"Roughly in which direction?"

Qin Feng pointed to the position of a flying eave.

That expert immediately used a lightness technique to leap over there, holding a large blade in his hand.

After landing on that roof, the expert searched the area nearby, then shook his head at Qin Feng in the distance.

Just at that moment, all the experts of Qin Fu, including Qin Feng himself, instinctively tensed their bodies and simultaneously looked toward a certain direction.

The spiritual energy there was drawn by yin qi.

Then a green-red lightning bolt formed.

The Qin expert who had gone to the flying eave immediately dodged backward, his face filled with panic.

Fortunately, he dodged quickly.

A green-red lightning bolt struck the flying eave, sending flying stones scattering.

Boom— the sound was deafening.

If a person had been struck and killed, they would probably have been torn into four or five pieces.

At this moment, everyone saw a black shadow dodge to a tiled house even farther away; it was obvious that the Fallen Thunder Incantation had been cast by this person.

"Bastard!" Qin Feng saw this person and his eyes immediately turned red.

His two sons had died at this person's hands.

He leaped forward several times, but when he arrived at that roof, he discovered that the black shadow had already vanished.

"Bastard, if you have the courage to kill my Qin family members, then have the courage to come out!"

He roared while waving his long sword.

Several sword qi slashes crisscrossed the surroundings, chopping off many roof eaves and breaking the roofs of many poor families.

But the black-shadowed figure had indeed already disappeared.

And at this time, affected by this sudden attack, Wang Tianyou and his three subordinates broke through the encirclement and fled.

Qin Feng looked left and right, his eyes red, and let out an angry roar.

Drawing water with a bamboo basket ends in emptiness; how could he not go mad?

Meanwhile, Li Lin had already gone far away.

In fact, he felt somewhat fortunate; just now, a sword qi had flown right past his head.

Moreover, while in his stealth state, he had intended to strike Qin Feng, throwing a long spear from a distance to help Wang Tianyou out of trouble.

But the moment the red frame behind the opponent appeared, Qin Feng reacted immediately and strongly.

Li Lin never believed the stealth technique was an invincible ability; if Zhao Xiaohu could find him while he was stealthed, others might well be able to as well.

Therefore, he had always been cautious.

It was this caution that kept him from getting too close; otherwise, things might truly have been uncertain.

Seeing Wang Tianyou break out of the encirclement, Li Lin also breathed a sigh of relief.

Pressure is best when someone shares the burden.

He landed on the street, then went to the 'Paper Horse Shop'.

By now it was nearing evening, and the Paper Horse Shop had not yet closed.

The shopkeeper sat behind the counter, looking listless.

"Shopkeeper, we meet again," Li Lin said as he walked in.

The shopkeeper gave him an ill-tempered look and said, "Get out, get out, get out! Just seeing you makes me angry."

"I haven't offended you, have I?" Li Lin said with a smile. "I'm here to buy some things; are you not doing business anymore?"

The shopkeeper sighed and said, "What do you want?"

"Cinnabar, yellow paper, white paper, silver, scissors..." Li Lin listed a long string of names.

The shopkeeper looked at him, somewhat suspicious: "You've learned the paper-stuffing technique and talisman art from above that quickly?"

"No, just practicing."

"Indeed!"

The shopkeeper turned around, gathered everything Li Lin needed, placed it on a square cloth, and thoughtfully wrapped it for him: "That will be eight taels of silver."

"That's a bit expensive."

"In my business, I've always treated young and old alike without deception," the shopkeeper snorted. "All these items are of the finest quality; I never pass off inferior goods as superior."

"Very well."

Li Lin paid, took the items, and prepared to leave.

"Qin Feng's Eight Directions Wind and Rain Sword is fast, but his forehead is his weak point; the defense there is not very good."

Li Lin turned, looking at the other with a puzzled expression: "What did you say?"

"Nothing; I just suddenly felt like saying that."

Li Lin left with a thoroughly bewildered expression.

The shopkeeper then stroked his handlebar mustache: "Could it really not be that young man?"

(End of this chapter)