Chapter 63: The World in Turmoil

Li Lin walked along the official road, the whole way quiet and secluded, the mountain forests like a soft carpet.

Time quickly reached noon, and Li Lin sat beneath a tree, eating his dry rations.

Just as the dry rations were nearly finished, the sound of dense footsteps came faintly from ahead.

He took his bundle and long spear, and slipped behind the tree to hide.

In these troubled times, when traveling outside, anyone you met could turn out to be a 'guai'.

Before long, a local army of nearly two hundred men walked slowly past along the official road, kicking up a modest cloud of dust.

The man at the head rode a large bay horse, his gaze sharp — clearly a martial man of considerable strength.

Li Lin saw him and immediately shifted his gaze away.

Sure enough, the man on the big horse turned his gaze over, his eyes full of suspicion.

The man swept his eyes around twice, sensed nothing amiss, and then continued looking ahead.

After the local army had passed, Li Lin stepped out from behind the tree.

This troop should also be heading to reinforce Tang Qibian's border army, and judging by the direction they came from, they should be the local army of Beiliu County.

Because apart from Yulin County, only people from Beiliu County would pass along this official road.

He finished the last bite of his dry rations, then continued walking toward Yulin County.

Halfway there, his expression immediately grew somewhat solemn — he caught a faint whiff of blood, then followed the scent and found some bloodstains on the official road not far ahead, and in the grass beside the road, more than ten corpses.

All male; seeing the few broken-down two-wheeled wooden carts nearby, one could tell this had been a merchant caravan, then robbed by someone.

Li Lin shook his head helplessly — this was just how these times were.

Then he turned and looked back in the direction he had come from.

The blood didn't look fully clotted, so it shouldn't have been long since it happened.

Ordinary people couldn't wipe out a merchant caravan either — which meant the Beiliu County local army that had just passed was most likely the culprit.

But he had no intention of playing the hero.

Because he simply couldn't pull it off.

A local army of nearly two hundred men — with sabermen and shieldmen, spearmen, and archers — was a fully formed military formation.

And there was also a county captain leading them who looked very strong. Li Lin was all alone; going up to make trouble would be no different from an egg hitting a stone.

He tossed the matter from his mind and continued on his way.

Using his Lightness Technique, Li Lin finally made it back to Shangtikou Village before night fell.

The village was, as always, very quiet as evening approached.

The vast majority of people had already gone home, shut their doors, and rested.

He went straight to the altar, and the Tree Immortal Lady immediately manifested.

Li Lin held out his left hand, and the Tree Immortal Lady wrapped both of hers around it.

The familiar feeling of comfort came; once the Tree Immortal Lady had eaten her fill, she returned to the altar to rest.

Li Lin also went back to his own home, cooked some blood rice to fill his stomach, then took a bath and lay down on the bed to sleep soundly.

This time he slept very deeply.

Unlike other places, here with the Tree Immortal Lady present, he felt especially at ease.

By the next day, Li Lin was woken up by Zhao Xiaohu.

"Lin Ge, Lin Ge, are you awake?"

Li Lin got up yawning, walked into the courtyard, looked up at the sky — it was already close to noon.

"What's up?"

"Lin Ge, I've decided to settle down in Shadong Village from now on," Zhao Xiaohu said with a smile. "In two more days, I'll be moving over."

"Decided? What did Uncle Zhao say?" Li Lin asked.

"Father said all three of us in the family are going."

Li Lin beckoned him over: "Come in and we'll talk."

Zhao Xiaohu stepped into the courtyard and said, "Lin Ge, what do you think of this?"

"That's pretty good — that way you'll have someone looking after you in Shadong Village too," Li Lin said with a smile.

"Actually, I don't really want to go," Zhao Xiaohu said, head lowered. "I want to keep following you, Lin Ge."

"If you don't stay in Shadong Village and carry out your duties, you won't get any blood rice in the future," Li Lin said, patting his head and smiling. "Without blood rice, you won't be able to build up your blood qi, and then you won't be able to learn the Yin-Nurturing Heart Method."

Zhao Xiaohu sighed: "I understand, but without someone leading me, I just feel a bit uneasy."

"It's fine. If there's anything you don't understand later, come find me again. Shadong Village is pretty close to here anyway — one round trip is less than half a day's journey. Once you've got the money to buy a horse or a donkey, it'll be even faster."

Zhao Xiaohu could only nod, though his expression was somewhat forlorn.

Over the next two days, Li Lin did his best to teach Zhao Xiaohu, going over with him the techniques of spearplay, fist technique, and the Reviving Spring Health Art.

As for how much he could learn, that depended on Zhao Xiaohu's own comprehension.

Three days later, Li Lin saw off Uncle Zhao's family of three at the village entrance, and promised to keep a good eye on their old house for them, so that when someday they returned, they'd still have a place to stay.

Not long after seeing the Zhao family off, a government office Runner came riding into the village looking for him.

"Li Xunshou, the County Magistrate summons you — please come to the county office to see him."

Li Lin nodded.

He soon arrived at the county town and entered the rear courtyard of the county office.

Then he saw Su Huafang, Bai Liwei, Bai Bufan, Zhao Hao and others were already there.

Huang Yan, seeing Li Lin, smiled and nodded at him, saying: "Everyone except Zhao Xiaohu has arrived. I hereby announce an important matter… According to reliable intelligence we have obtained, Yue Commandery has indeed fallen."

The atmosphere immediately grew solemn.

"The head of the Qin clan of Yuecheng, Qin Tuo, colluded with the Southern Barbarians, seized Yuecheng, murdered the local Prefect, and proclaimed himself king," Huang Yan snorted coldly. "At present, our Jin Commandery has become a frontier."

"How dare he!" Zhao Hao asked, bewildered.

Huang Qi snorted. "Of course he dares... Over half of the imperial court's great army is stationed in the northern border, repelling the Di invaders. The central plains' politics are rotten; our southern border lacks troops. This is the perfect time for warlords to rise."

Many of the Soul Hunters shook their heads and sighed.

They often traveled abroad and naturally knew the true state of the Great Qi.

"But you need not worry too much; Tang Qibian's border army is not to be trifled with either," Huang Qi continued. "Additionally, the imperial court has taken new measures this time. All Soul Hunters will now receive seventy jin of Blood Rice monthly, instead of fifty."

Upon hearing this, none of the Soul Hunters were happy; instead, they all frowned.

Generally, the yield of Blood Rice is quite stable and does not fluctuate wildly.

Now that the monthly quota of Blood Rice has increased, it signifies one thing... a large number of Soul Hunters have died.

That is why so much Blood Rice quota has become available.

Huang Qi observed everyone's expressions and continued, "Just as you suspect... recently, Soul Hunters in the central plains region have gone missing one after another. Yet when I submitted a memorial to inquire about the cause, there was no reply."

The Soul Hunters remained silent.

"Therefore, everyone, be vigilant, preserve yourselves, and help one another."

Afterwards, the crowd dispersed. Huang Qi asked Li Lin to follow him, and they arrived at the Huang Manor.

The rear courtyard of the Huang Manor.

Huang Qing, accompanied by the little girl they had seen in the pavilion last time, was serving tea to her father and Li Lin.

"Li Xunshou, this is a intercepted report we recently obtained. Take a look."

Huang Qi pushed an envelope in front of Li Lin.

Li Lin opened it, read it, and was somewhat surprised: "A plea for help from the Qin family of Feirong County!"

"Yes, our Huang family intercepted it and sent it here," Huang Qi smiled. "You did very well regarding the destruction of the Qin family in Feirong County!"

(End of this chapter)