Chapter 83: Twin Apparitions

A red-tasseled spear, a small bundle containing paper effigies, talisman paper, cinnabar, Vitality Pills, and a few silver notes.

The villages of Yulin County were not far from one another; Li Lin reached Pingzheng Village in just half a day.

Compared to Shangtikou Village, Pingzheng Village was indeed much larger.

And its "infrastructure" was also very good.

The paths in Shangtikou Village were all muddy tracks.

But walking in from the village entrance of Pingzheng Village, the roads were all flagstone—quite fine bluestone slabs at that.

Truly quite wealthy.

Li Lin's arrival drew the attention of many villagers.

But he paid them no mind; instead, judging by the density of yin energy, he went straight to the altar here.

A pig standing upright, with an elephant's trunk, was floating there.

Li Lin cupped his fist and said, "Greetings, Shendu Zhenjun."

The apparition shuffled over, sniffed twice at Li Lin with its long nose, and said, "You smell delicious."

Li Lin instinctively stepped back two paces.

"If it weren't for the sake of Liu Zhe, I'd want to eat you right now."

Li Lin raised an eyebrow. It seemed the Lady was even more formidable than he had imagined.

Both the old apparition from the Qin family before, and this long-nosed apparition now, seemed quite afraid of her.

Moreover, this apparition seemed far more talkative than the Tree Immortal Lady.

"May I dare to ask, Zhenjun, has anything unusual happened here recently?"

"Let me have two whiffs of you, and I'll tell you."

Li Lin thought better of it. The sight of Su Huafang being drained of his essence by the "Lingti" Zhenjun last time had been far too gruesome.

Seeing Li Lin had no such intention, the Zhenjun snorted and returned to the altar.

Li Lin turned around, and immediately saw a group of people walking toward him.

At the head was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly, carrying the air of a wealthy gentleman.

As the man drew near, he immediately cupped his hands and bowed, asking, "Might you be Li Xunshou ahead?"

"Indeed I am." Li Lin cupped his fist and asked, "Might you be Squire Zhao?"

"I am indeed Zhao, I am indeed Zhao." Squire Zhao stepped forward and said very deferentially.

He welcomed Li Lin into his home—a grand residence with five successive courtyards.

Such a residence was rare even in the county town, let alone in a village.

One could see how wealthy the Zhao family was.

In the main hall, after the two exchanged pleasantries for a while, Li Lin asked, cradling his tea bowl, "I hear there's an apparition... causing trouble in this village?"

Squire Zhao nodded.

Then he stood up and said, "Please follow me."

The two came to the fourth courtyard, which was generally where the women of the household spent their time.

Then two maids opened the side chamber on the right.

"Please." Squire Zhao gestured.

The two entered the room. It was very dark inside; all the windows were shut.

Only a single oil lamp burned dimly.

Li Lin also caught a faint stench.

It was not a stench in the physical sense, but the stench of evil qi.

It really was an "apparition"?

"Here."

Squire Zhao came to a bed and carefully lifted the patterned bed curtain.

Li Lin's gaze shifted over, and he saw a person lying on the bed—a woman's figure, but on her face was a man's face, shifting about.

The nose, mouth, and eyes slid up and down, as if playing hide-and-seek.

Li Lin frowned slightly. This was clearly a case of possession by an apparition.

Squire Zhao stood to the side with an expectant look and asked, "Well? Has she been harmed by an apparition?"

Ordinary people could not see that man's face; only a Spirit Hunter could.

Li Lin nodded. "It is indeed an apparition, but the matter is a little strange."

"How so?"

"Who is this woman to you?"

Because he was a Spirit Hunter, he could only see the apparition's appearance, not the original woman's appearance, nor could he judge her age.

"My concubine."

"How old is she?"

Squire Zhao laughed dryly. "Twenty-one!"

Li Lin nodded. "By rights, with a Zhenjun stationed here, apparitions generally can't get in. When did she start showing these signs?"

"About ten days ago."

"Has she been outside the village recently?"

"No."

Li Lin thought for a moment; he couldn't recall anything unusual happening recently either.

How had this apparition gotten into a village guarded by a Zhenjun?

But he did not think much of it; instead, he took a talisman art from his bundle and placed it over the other's forehead.

Soon, that twisting and turning man's face vanished.

In the past, Li Lin would have had no way to deal with this thing, but now it was different.

This was a 'Soothing Heart Talisman'.

Many people thought the Soothing Heart Talisman was used on humans to make them hold fast to their minds.

But actually, that was wrong; the Soothing Heart Talisman was originally used against Apparitions.

It was originally called the 'Soothing Nature Talisman'.

It was also called the Nature-Stabilizing Talisman.

Later, since it was used on people so often, it was simply changed to Soothing Heart Talisman.

All Apparitions are essentially 'nature'; because this talisman can temporarily suppress some weak, low-level Apparitions.

"Is that enough?" Zhao Squire asked quietly from the side.

Li Lin shook his head: "Not yet; we must pull out that possessing Apparition... Do you have a large sheet of paper here?"

"How large?"

"About as tall as a person will do."

Zhao Squire thought for a moment, then asked: "Will straw-paper or bamboo-paper work?"

"That will do too."

Straw-paper and bamboo-paper... were considered relatively low-grade paper; although they could be used for writing, in wealthy households, they were used for wiping one's bottom.

Soon, a servant carried a sheet of paper over, then laid it out on the ground.

Li Lin borrowed a pair of scissors from him as well.

He cut the paper into two paper figures, then used cinnabar to paint the likeness of the Tree Immortal Lady.

Li Lin infused them with Yin Qi.

These two paper figures came to life; one squatted down, pinching Li Lin's foot bones, while the other circled behind him to give him a massage.

They looked just like two gentle wives.

Zhao Squire and several servants watching this scene from the side had very strange expressions.

Amidst their fear, they seemed somewhat envious.

Li Lin coughed lightly, controlling the two Soul-Guiding Paper Figures to move to the bedside.

Under his control, the two paper figures simultaneously extended their 'hands', pressing down on the woman's face on the bed.

Then, pulling at the same time, a yellow, human-shaped mass was dragged out.

Normally, once a possessing Apparition is pulled out, it would be very afraid.

But the Apparition floated in mid-air, its eyes and nose wandering wildly, while its mouth emitted a sinister, giggling laugh.

Hearing that laugh, Li Lin felt something was amiss.

"Run!" Li Lin shouted loudly at the people nearby.

Zhao Squire and the others froze, then tried to flee, but it was already too late.

The Apparition suddenly turned into a cloud of yellow mist and exploded directly.

Darkness so thick one could not see five fingers; Li Lin summoned the two paper figures back to his side.

Then he threw out more than a dozen small paper figures.

These little things were not blocked by the yellow mist from seeing; instead, they ran around the surroundings.

Soon, Li Lin had figured out the situation around him.

The yellow mist covered a very large area; Zhao Squire and several household servants had already fainted.

At the same time, the woman on the bed sat up.

She laughed triumphantly within the yellow mist.

Using the small paper figures, Li Lin saw the other's face.

That old Apparition from the Qin family.

This was not one Apparition, but two.

This was a trap set for him.

Li Lin found it strange; wasn't that old Apparition eaten by Jin Guang, the Taowu Zhenjun of Feirong County?

How was she still 'alive'?

(End of this chapter)