Chapter 78: The Lady

Li Lin returned to the village of Shangtikou.

He first went to feed the Tree Immortal Lady, then went home.

His house was spotless, not a speck of dust.

Beside it, a paper effigy of the Tree Immortal Lady was chopping firewood inside.

A small mountain of chopped firewood already lay beside her.

Li Lin froze. He hadn’t input any yin energy—how could this paper effigy remain active so long? Logically, it should lose vitality after three or four hours.

But then he understood, for he sensed the Tree Immortal Lady’s “strange energy” on the paper effigy.

So the Tree Immortal Lady had been sustaining its vitality all along.

Seeing Li Lin, the paper effigy of the Tree Immortal Lady immediately dropped the axe and walked over, bowing slightly, then moved behind him and gently rubbed his shoulders with her paper hands.

Massage?

It even gently rubbed its “face” against Li Lin’s.

It seemed unusually affectionate.

Li Lin froze. Paper effigies mirror their master’s nature. If this one was so gentle, could the Tree Immortal Lady’s true nature… also be gentle?

As he thought this, he suddenly felt a chill.

He turned and saw the real Tree Immortal Lady floating midair, staring coldly at him.

Li Lin instinctively stepped back, away from the paper effigy.

A massive serpent tail whipped down, grazing Li Lin’s body as it shattered the paper effigy into scraps.

Hmph!

The Tree Immortal Lady turned and glided away, her long tail swaying.

Li Lin watched the Tree Immortal Lady’s graceful back, unable to suppress a smile.

He returned indoors, made two new paper effigies, had them cook him a meal, then sipped bitter tea while leisurely flipping through “The Daoist’s Detailed Accounts.”

On this trip to Bobai Military Town, Li Lin felt more clearly than ever the weaknesses of the Thunder Strike Spell.

It took too long.

Even with rapid hand seals, it still required several breaths.

If he could shorten it to one breath—even if the power dropped slightly—he could destroy the altar quickly and deny enemies the chance to aim arrows at him.

There would be no danger.

How could he shorten the casting time of the Thunder Strike Spell?

He had been pondering this since returning from Bobai Military Town.

Then he had an idea.

Combine talisman arts with the Thunder Strike Spell.

He already understood the energy mechanics of the Thunder Strike Spell.

If he engraved the spell’s runes onto a talisman, he could pre-draw the paper talisman and, when needed, simply input yin energy and throw it—achieving the spell’s effect in one breath.

The idea was good, but hard to execute.

How to represent the Thunder Strike Spell’s hand seals with lines and characters was a major challenge.

He tried many times at home, exhausting all his materials, but made no progress.

Still, he wasn’t discouraged. He planned to go to the county market tomorrow and buy more materials to test slowly.

Although his idea of combining talisman arts with the Thunder Strike Spell had yielded no progress, it wasn’t entirely fruitless.

At least, drawing talismans had boosted his talisman art proficiency significantly.

He directed two soul-guiding paper effigies to gather herbs from the mountains and brewed a batch of Life-Replenishing Pills and a batch of Beauty-Preserving Elixirs.

With the alchemy furnace, the elixirs not only looked better, but the number of failed batches dropped sharply.

Efficiency improved dramatically.

Indeed, “To do a job well, one must first sharpen one’s tools.”

He packed three vials of Life-Replenishing Pills, then went to the county—not rushing to the market for materials, but first visiting Zhao Hao’s home.

A five-court mansion.

No wonder he was called “Young Master” Zhao.

He knocked, explained his purpose to the gatekeeper, and soon Zhao Hao emerged.

“Brother Li, I never expected it to be you—come in.”

As Li Lin followed Zhao Hao into the mansion, he noticed how empty it felt.

Few servants.

Even the stone path was piled thick with fallen leaves, untouched.

Zhao Hao led Li Lin to the left wing of the third courtyard and smiled: “Sorry, everyone’s out. Only two or three elderly servants remain—I can’t even brew tea for you.”

“No need,” Li Lin said, pulling out the three vials. “Last time you saved my life, I’m poor and have little to offer—these are the only things I can give.”

“What kind of elixirs are these?”

Li Lin paused, then said: “Life-Energy Pills.”

Zhao Hao instinctively leaned back: “Life-Energy Pills?”

He immediately uncorked the vial, sniffed—and felt a cool energy flow through his nose and throat straight into his dantian.

“It really is Life-Energy,” Zhao Hao breathed deeply, resealed the vial, and pushed all three back to Li Lin. “These are too precious. I can’t accept them.”

Li Lin pushed them back: “No matter how precious, they can’t match my life. I’m terrified of dying.”

He had thought carefully before giving this gift.

Not only had Zhao Hao saved his life—requiring a worthy return—but the “Four-Man Pact” alone revealed Zhao Hao’s character was truly solid.

Though this man sometimes spoke grandly, flatteringly—wasn’t that just a mask to protect himself?

Zhao Hao hesitated, then said reluctantly: “Brother Li, I’ll accept these three vials. Should you ever need anything, say the word—I’ll walk through fire and water for you.”

“I do have a favor to ask,” Li Lin said with a smile, seeing Zhao Hao’s puzzled gaze. “This must stay between us.”

Zhao Hao nodded firmly.

Half an hour later, Li Lin left the Zhao residence.

He bought large quantities of talisman paper materials at the market, preparing to return to the village.

But then he suddenly spotted a Daoist priest.

The man carried a faint aura of yin energy.

A Spirit Hunter?

A Daoist priest?

Li Lin recalled the incident during his recent “Runners” mission.

The woman who bore the Baby Ghost had said she was tricked by a Daoist priest.

Could this be him?

County Magistrate Huang Yan had issued a public notice warning citizens of Yulin County to beware of Daoist swindlers—and yet this man had come to Yulin County anyway.

How brazen.

Li Lin quietly followed.

Thanks to his virginity and the Thunder Strike Spell, Li Lin—though cultivating yin energy—had unusually strong yang energy, achieving perfect yin-yang balance. To outsiders, he looked like an ordinary person, with no obvious yin leakage like other Spirit Hunters.

This made stealth and tailing easy.

The Daoist wandered the streets, then soon trailed behind a woman.

The woman looked ordinary, her features plain.

When she reached a quieter spot, the Daoist stepped in front of her.

“Madam, please stop.”

The Daoist bore an aura of celestial grace, strikingly charming.

The woman, startled, blushed slightly: “Why has this Daoist called out to me?”

“You have a Daoic connection!”

Huh?

The woman stared blankly.

The Daoist pulled out a piece of yellow-brown leather and handed it to her: “This is called ‘Immortal Beauty Skin.’ Soak it in water and drink daily. Each day you’ll grow more beautiful. After fifteen days, you’ll rival a celestial maiden.”

The woman eyed it suspiciously, thinking him a fraud.

The Daoist smiled on: “Since it’s fate, I give it to you free. After five days, when you see results, I’ll return.”

The woman was tempted, and took the “brown skin.”

(End of Chapter)