Chapter 77: A Foot-Threshold

The one who leaped up was Zhao Hao; his large hand blocked the path the arrow must take.

Hiss!

The arrow struck his palm, but he had blocked it.

Li Lin and Zhao Hao both landed on the ground at the same time, while the others gathered around.

At this moment, Li Lin and Zhao Hao both looked toward the enemy camp; on a certain watchtower there, a man stood, slowly lowering his longbow.

The other party stared straight this way, as if he could see the situation here.

Bai Liwei drew a short knife, pressed Zhao Hao's hand, swiftly severed the arrow's tail, pulled it out, then drew out a golden wound medicine and applied it to the wound.

Su Huafang looked at the several Bai Yu plaques growing redder and redder and said, "Let's go; we have already been exposed."

The few of them quickly retreated and left.

And after they ran far away, that cat-shaped Taowu Zhenjun fixed in midair began to turn, looking at the Southern Barbarian army's camp with a pair of gray-and-white eyes.

The enemy camp began frantically ringing the retreat bell.

On the city wall, Tang Su clenched his fist hard: "It succeeded!"

They saw two green-red flashes of lightning appear, then watched the enemy retreat on a large scale, and knew the crisis of Bobai Army Town had been resolved.

It was just a pity that neither of them was a Spirit Hunter, so they could not see that cat-shaped Taowu Zhenjun slaughtering wildly among the enemy troops; otherwise, they would have been even happier.

Tang Su did not pursue the enemy troops, because he knew clearly that pursuing them out at night was very dangerous; if the soldiers stayed in clusters it would be fine, but if some got scattered, they would easily attract Desolate Wonders, and the appearance of massive bloodshed and corpses at night would trigger a Desolate Wonder riot.

Watching the enemy troops constantly retreating, Tang Su said regretfully, "It's a pity the imperial court is unwilling to equip Spirit Hunters for our border armies; otherwise, how could such an incident as barbarians knocking at the gates occur?"

In his imagination, Spirit Hunters could cooperate with the army to formulate many tactical strategies.

Huang Qi smiled slightly; the imperial court naturally could not allow the border armies to possess Spirit Hunters; otherwise... if the border armies harbored even a hint of disloyalty, combined with the eerie abilities of Spirit Hunters, it would be extremely, extremely troublesome.

Very soon, Li Lin and the others returned.

Because a large mass of red light quickly 'floated' over from the forest.

Tang Su smiled and said, "Let's go down to welcome our great hero."

Very soon, Li Lin and the others returned to the city gate of Bobai Army Town, where the soldiers here looked at all the Spirit Hunters with eyes of admiration.

Originally, in the eyes of ordinary people, Spirit Hunters were already very mysterious and very powerful.

Now they had also led a great victory, so naturally they were even more revered.

Tang Su stepped forward and bowed to Li Lin, saying, "Thank you, Li Xunshou, for not fearing the perilous situation, destroying the altar, and thus creating an opportunity for our army to achieve a great victory; you are truly a hero. I wonder if you have any interest in visiting our Tang family as a guest; at that time..."

Huang Qi squeezed over and interrupted Tang Su's words.

He patted Li Lin and smiled, "Go rest for a night; we will return to the county town tomorrow."

Li Lin nodded lightly.

And Tang Su, squeezed aside, pondered thoughtfully.

Several Spirit Hunters returned together to the barracks.

Li Lin clasped his fists toward Zhao Hao and said, "Young Master Zhao, thank you for your life-saving grace; once we return to Yulin County Town, I will repay you."

That arrow, Li Lin absolutely could not have dodged.

If struck, even if he did not die, he would suffer serious injury.

Zhao Hao smiled and said, "No need to mention it; I said before, before I die, I will absolutely protect you."

Everyone laughed; Zhao Xiaohu did not go out with them but stayed inside the barracks.

Under these circumstances, a thirteen-year-old child like him would be of no use even if he went.

Seeing everyone laugh, he laughed along.

The next day, Huang Qi led several hundred local militia and left Bobai Army Town.

Because he was the Commandant of Yulin County, he could not cross the border.

Pursuing further ahead would enter the territory of other commanderies and provinces.

If he truly pursued over there and someone with ulterior motives impeached him, the one in trouble would not be him, but his father.

At this time, Tang Su had already led several hundred border troops pursuing the enemy along the way; they had set out just as dawn broke.

And Bobai Army Town, as usual, left only a hundred-plus people to guard it.

Before leaving, Li Lin went to take a look at the new altar of Bobai Army Town.

The new 'Taowu Zhenjun' here was a lizardman, not tall, only about half a zhang or so, lying on the altar, lazily basking in the sun.

He looked like he probably had a fairly good temper.

On the way back, Huang Qi again began to urge Li Lin to join the ranks of that 'noble gentleman' and serve.

Li Lin raised his hand to interrupt him: "Some time ago I went to Jincheng and met His Highness the Prince of Lu."

Huang Qi was stunned, then overjoyed and asked, "Then what do you think of him?"

"He is indeed an Imperial Prince with great capacity for tolerating others," Li Lin smiled: "but I do not intend to involve myself in politics."

"You don't need to involve yourself in political affairs; serving under His Highness the Prince of Lu can save the common people from fire and water..."

Li Lin sighed and interrupted the other: "Brother Zi Jing, am I not on the right path by guarding a village here in Yulin? Or is it that only serving under His Highness the Prince of Lu counts as the right path, as serving the country and the people?"

Huang Qi was stunned; he pondered for a while, then smiled bitterly: "Indeed, I was too obsessed."

Although Li Lin rejected Huang Qi's recruitment, Huang Qi held no grudge against Li Lin because of this; on the contrary, he 'admired' him even more.

Six days later, the local militia returned to Yulin County; everyone separated and went back to their own homes.

When Huang Qi arrived home, he saw his gratified father and his mother wiping her eyes.

The Huang family prepared a very large table of dishes to welcome him home and wash away the dust of his journey.

"Qi'er, you did very well this time," Huang Yan said approvingly.

Only the eldest lady of the Huang family was still wiping away tears.

There was no way; caring for one's children is every mother's instinct.

Huang Qi smiled, then looked slightly surprised: "Huang Damei, your complexion... why is it so good!"

Huang Qing paused, instinctively touching her face, feeling it had become much smoother.

Though she was beautiful, her skin quality was actually not as good as her younger sister's.

After all, most Hu Ji had somewhat rough skin; in this regard, she had inherited it from her mother.

"Really?"

The Eldest Lady's gaze turned over as well, then she nodded: "Qing'er's complexion is indeed much better. What face cream have you been using lately to achieve such an effect?"

"I generally don't use face cream..." Then Huang Qing suddenly remembered: "I have been taking the pills Li Shixiong gave me; they are called Youth-Nourishing Pills."

Huang Ling beside her pouted, seeming somewhat disdainful.

However, Huang Yan's brows twitched, and he said: "Pills sent by Li Xunshou are naturally excellent; use them with confidence."

He was the beneficiary; after taking the Body-Strengthening Pills, he had regained the passion of his twenty-eight-year-old prime.

Now the Eldest Lady in the house was thoroughly disciplined by him, and he had firmly re-established his authority over the household.

The Eldest Lady looked at Huang Qing's face with considerable envy; in just a few short days it had become like this, truly tender and pink.

Huang Qing immediately turned to Hong Luan beside her and said: "Go to my room and fetch that unopened bottle of Youth-Nourishing Pills."

Hong Luan immediately turned and left.

Not long after, Huang Qing took the porcelain bottle from Hong Luan's hands and presented it with both hands to the Eldest Lady: "Mother, I have not used this bottle yet; please take it."

"This was given to you by Li Xunshou; how could I possibly accept it..."

Although she said this, the Eldest Lady still unconsciously took it, holding it with great care.

Huang Yan spoke to his son: "I want to test you. Sixty years ago, there was a noble family very skilled in alchemy; do you know which one it was?"

"The Three Wongs and Five Surnames; the Li family of Jin Commandery!"

Huang Yan laughed: "So, as the saying goes, up to the present day, which family's ancestors did not once have a threshold a foot high?"

Huang Ling felt these words were a sarcasm directed at herself and huffed unhappily.

(End of this chapter)