Chapter 71: Beautiful Apparitions Are an Extremely Scarce Resource

Li Lin arrived at the north city gate, where he saw Su Huafang and the others already waiting.

Seeing Li Lin, they laughed as well.

Li Lin walked over: "Ready to set off?"

"Alright." Su Huafang said with a smile: "The qi and blood of five Spirit Hunters isn't enough to form a barrier, but I've gone and bought some protective barrier powder, so the road ahead will be much easier."

Bai Liwei couldn't help but laugh: "Old Su, you're the reliable one, always thinking everything through for us."

"Sigh, once you've been running around outside for a few more years, you'll be the same."

But in truth, most Spirit Hunters, even after several years—or even a dozen or more—might never once leave their county seat or travel to another prefecture or province.

Su Huafang was considered rather unusual among Spirit Hunters.

Just as the group was about to set off, they suddenly heard an excited shout from behind.

"Patrol Su, Patrol Bai… it's really you."

Everyone turned and saw He Yumao of the Changfeng Escort Agency leading several dozen ordinary people over.

Su Huafang stepped forward and said: "Weren't you lot planning to stay a few more days?"

He Yumao laughed: "Lucky, just lucky—we happened to run into a group wanting to return to Yulin County."

"Congratulations." Su Huafang cupped his fist and smiled.

"Care to cooperate?" He Yumao pulled Su Huafang aside and said quietly: "Only this time there are fewer people, so the payment we can offer you will be a lot less—ten taels of silver, how about it."

"That works." Su Huafang agreed.

They had to return to Yulin County anyway, so it was on the way—and they'd earn an extra ten taels of silver. Why refuse?

Meanwhile, on Li Lin's side, Bai Bufan walked up to him, suddenly twitched his nose, and said: "Brother Li, you've got a lovely rouge scent on you—did you visit a pleasure house earlier? Why didn't you call me!"

Li Lin was briefly taken aback; it was perfectly normal for him to smell of rouge, since he'd just been to a cosmetics shop.

But by all rights, the smell of blood on him should have been far stronger.

Yet this Bai Bufan couldn't smell it at all.

What was the reason?

Li Lin laughed: "I didn't go."

Bai Bufan didn't believe him.

Li Lin had no choice but to say: "I went to a cosmetics shop to buy some lip rouge."

"Ehh, Brother Li, is there a lady you've taken a fancy to?" Bai Bufan asked curiously: "Is good fortune on the way?"

Li Lin shook his head: "The Tree Immortal Lady asked me to buy it for her."

The moment those words left his mouth, Bai Bufan's expression froze.

And Bai Zhichuan, Zhao Hao, and Su Huafang all looked over as well.

Their faces all carried a hint of envy.

Li Lin was taken aback: "Why are you all looking at me like that? It's creepy."

Bai Bufan walked aside, looking visibly dejected.

Bai Liwei and Zhao Hao could only offer wry smiles.

Su Huafang walked over, pulled Li Lin aside, and said: "From now on you'll need to go build good relations with the Ding family—try to learn their dual-cultivation techniques from them, even if it's only a fragment."

"Why?"

"Are you playing dumb with me?" Su Huafang said with a stern face: "I've treated you with absolute sincerity, yet you won't tell me the truth?"

"I haven't."

"Then speak honestly—do you, or do you not, want to consummate things with the Tree Immortal Lady?"

Li Lin was briefly taken aback and said nothing.

Su Huafang was his own patron; since he'd said as much, Li Lin naturally couldn't lie.

After seeing the Tree Immortal Lady's face, and then thinking of her figure, which was no worse than a foreign woman's… Li Lin was, after all, a normal man—how could he not harbor such thoughts?

Su Huafang smiled and went on: "Don't just talk about you—any Spirit Hunter would want to keep a beautiful female apparition. You think Wang Tianyou really wanted to kill that pretty female apparition during the Earth God Temple incident? He wanted to capture her and take her home, understand?"

"Why?"

"Because that way, a Spirit Hunter can nurture yin qi much faster." Su Huafang sighed: "But pretty female apparitions are extremely rare, so now you understand why Young Master Wang's family was so furious when he failed last time."

Oh, Li Lin took note.

Su Huafang then said: "The Ding family is fond of spellcraft—your Fallen Thunder Incantation could be traded for it. If it has annotations, the Ding family might just be willing to hand over the complete dual-cultivation manual."

Li Lin thought for a moment and said: "Too bad the Ding family is in Guicheng—to go there and back would take at least a month. With what's happened in Yuecheng, the County Magistrate won't allow us Spirit Hunters to be away from the county seat for long."

"There'll be a chance in the future." Su Huafang patted Li Lin's shoulder.

Then he went off again to discuss matters with He Yumao.

A while later, Bai Bufan seemed to pull himself out of his dejection. He came over and asked quietly: "Li Xunshou, teach me, won't you?"

"Teach you what?"

"How to win the heart of a female apparition like the Lady!"

Li Lin thought for a moment and said: "Chat with her often—even if she doesn't talk, don't be afraid. Greet her often, and after enough time it should work out."

That's exactly what he'd done. At first, the Tree Immortal Lady would only have contact with him when she was absorbing his essence; the rest of the time she ignored him completely.

Now they could chat a little, though she was still as sparing with her words as ever.

Bai Bufan nodded repeatedly: "So basically, it's pestering her relentlessly, right? Seems female apparitions and ordinary women aren't all that different."

He felt he had it figured out now; all he was missing was getting to know a pretty female apparition.

Li Lin patted the other's shoulder in encouragement.

Su Huafang quickly finished his talk with He Yumao. He walked back and handed each person a small money pouch.

"Escort Leader He is generous—he's paying us upfront this time."

Ten taels of silver, though not much to look at, was still quite 'lucrative' for a job that required no detour.

Soon, the caravan set off.

The first four nights passed normally, with no problems whatsoever.

But on the fifth night, an accident occurred.

A woman could no longer hold her bladder at night but was unwilling to relieve herself near the crowd, after all, she still had a sense of shame.

So she walked a bit farther, to the inner edge of the protective barrier powder circle, and hid behind a clump of grass to do her business.

She never expected that, because she was too close to the protective barrier powder... her urine was a bit more, it flowed to the side, soaked the protective barrier powder, and even washed out a small gap.

Then she was snatched away by a ghost.

She let out a scream.

Hearing the sound, the five Spirit Hunters immediately became alert and rushed out together to save her.

Su Huafang immediately replenished the protective barrier powder, while Li Lin and the others, their white jade tokens glowing red, chased forward following the screams.

At this moment, inside the protective barrier circle, He Yumao was cursing loudly: "How many times have I said it? Do not stray too far from the crowd. Damn it, some people just don't take my words to heart. If you want to die, go die on your own, don't drag others down."

At this moment, a man was bowing his head vigorously, crying out loudly: "Escort He, have mercy, save my wife. Our two children are too young; they cannot live without her."

He Yumao rushed over, kicked the man down with a single kick, and scolded angrily: "You damn fool, how dare you cry! You can't even manage your own wife, go die, you're a disgrace to men."

Two small children nearby, terrified and trembling, threw themselves beside their father, not daring to move a muscle.

The crowd was unusually silent; no one dared to speak, only the man's sobbing could be heard.

But after a while, several people rushed in from outside the protective barrier powder circle; it was Li Lin and the others.

At the same time, the Bai uncle and nephew were dragging a woman back together.

It was the woman who had been dragged away by the Wild Ghost.

However, seeing this woman, except for the Spirit Hunters, everyone else's eyes were filled with horror.

Including her husband, the man who had been crying so miserably just now.

Because the woman's belly was very, very large, the kind that carries a child for ten months.

(End of this chapter)