Chapter 85: No Taint Without Cause

Li Lin left Pingzheng Village, turned a corner, and headed for the county seat.

He stayed one night in his new residence, then went to the herbal shop the next morning to buy ready-made medicinal herbs and made some Strong-Body Pills.

He delivered three bottles to the Huang residence first, then found Su Huafang.

Su Huafang’s home was also quite large—a three-court mansion, located near the marketplace, making shopping extremely convenient.

Li Lin sipped tea and studied the man’s complexion: “You’re looking rather weak.”

Su Huafang gave an awkward smile: “You’re mistaken.”

At that moment, a young woman entered from outside, carrying a tray of dried fruit: “Sir, please partake.”

She spoke, then glided away with delicate steps.

Li Lin now looked at the man’s frail state and understood: “You’re truly weak—no wonder you were the famed Lover of Fragrance back then…”

“Just say what you want outright. You didn’t come here to mock me, did you?”

Li Lin placed a bottle of Strong-Body Pills on the table: “These are pills I brewed myself. They enhance physical strength—the County Magistrate tried them and praised them. I’m giving you one.”

Su Huafang blinked in surprise: “I’m half a man of medicine myself—I know plenty of yang-strengthening formulas. I don’t need this.”

“No side effects, and the results are excellent,” Li Lin said after a pause. “Family-secret elixir.”

Li Lin knew people of this era held an inexplicable trust in family-secret techniques.

True enough, upon hearing this, Su Huafang immediately picked up the bottle, uncorked it, and sniffed the medicinal scent inside.

Then he froze: “Licorice, gentian, thunderstone… wait, these herbs are all ordinary—how can the effect be so powerful?”

As an expert, he knew at once: this thing’s efficacy was absurd.

“Thank you,” Su Huafang bowed.

He felt he truly needed it—ordinary yang-strengthening formulas no longer worked for him.

After all, he’d recently taken a concubine; such consequences were inevitable.

“Why be so formal?” Li Lin smiled. “Any recent escort runs?”

Su Huafang stared at Li Lin in surprise: “You’re short on cash? Didn’t you just use up the thirty from last time?”

“Not at all,” Li Lin shook his head. “I actually want to go to Jincheng. After all… it’s safer with company, and I can earn a little extra along the way.”

“Go to Changfeng Escort Agency and find He Yumao—he’ll be glad to have you join.”

Li Lin nodded and stood: “I’ll take my leave—won’t disturb the Lover of Fragrance’s leisure.”

“Get lost,” Su Huafang grumbled with a grin.

Li Lin arrived at Changfeng Escort Agency and met He Yumao.

Though He Yumao was only a escort captain, he held absolute authority within the agency—simply because the chief captain was his wife, and he was a son-in-law who had married into the family.

He Yumao sat on the main seat and said: “We’re indeed organizing a group of over seventy to Jincheng tomorrow.”

“That seems a bit few,” Li Lin frowned.

Generally, ordinary people’s blood qi levels are low; you need many gathered together to deter wilderness Gui s effectively.

At least a hundred people are needed for reasonable safety.

“But our agency has plenty of martial cultivators,” He Yumao smiled.

Martial cultivators have abundant blood qi—one can match the aura of several ordinary people.

Li Lin thought a moment: “What if we recruit more Spirit Hunters to accompany us?”

“We won’t have enough to split.”

That was true.

Fewer people mean less money paid to the agency; Changfeng Escort Agency takes a cut, and Spirit Hunters demand high pay—hiring more would leave too little to divide.

“Then forget it. We’ll talk next time,” Li Lin stood, bowed, and smiled.

“No problem. The mountains are high, the waters long—there’ll be chances to work together again.”

After leaving Changfeng Escort Agency, Li Lin went to the “Yulin Silver Workshop.”

To craft gold ornaments, you must go to the prefectural city—government workshops are strictly ranked.

Prefectural cities have Gold and Silver Workshops; county seats only have Silver Workshops.

The Silver Workshop sat beside the Artisan Bureau… Li Lin entered, explained his purpose, and a craftsman brought out a catalog.

“Sir Li Xunshou, please see—all the silver items our workshop can produce.”

Admittedly, though this was a county-level Silver Workshop, the available designs were numerous and quite beautiful.

Li Lin selected two new dangling hairpins, two silver hairpins, and one silver bracelet.

“Finished within three days,” the craftsman grinned—another big sale.

Li Lin paid the deposit, then returned to his new residence to rest.

Three days was nothing—he could wait.

During those three days, he focused on short-sword techniques, while also practicing talisman arts and paper-folding.

The little paper figures scurrying everywhere seemed frightening at first, but once accustomed, they were rather cute.

Even the four young maids in his household now picked them up to play with briefly before letting them go.

Three days of cultivation brought considerable gains.

On the fourth day, he prepared to retrieve his silver items from the Silver Workshop. As he opened his door, he saw a government office runner gasping at the threshold.

“Sir Li Xunshou, the County Magistrate summons you to the government office—urgent official business.”

Li Lin nodded: “Understood. I’ll fetch my tools and head there immediately.”

The runner bowed, then hurried off to notify others.

Li Lin took his red-tassled spear, Life-Sustaining Pills, and other small items, and rushed to the county government office hall.

There knelt a weeping woman; around her stood Spirit Hunters and even Shi, the village militia captain.

Clearly, something major had happened.

Huang Yan sat on the main seat and gave a slight nod upon seeing Li Lin.

The hall was silent—only the woman’s sobs broke the quiet.

One by one, key figures from the government office arrived, even the rarely seen Assistant Prefect showed up.

When all were present, Huang Yan spoke solemnly: “Guo Shi, repeat your case once more.”

“My husband took over seventy men to Jincheng two nights ago,” the woman wept. “We’ve done this business for over thirty years—never once had an accident. But yesterday, someone fled back in terror, saying something went wrong—my husband and all seventy-odd clients were killed in the wild, their flesh and blood gone!”

Hearing this, Li Lin froze.

A wave of sorrow washed over him.

Ding Junhui had been the same—suddenly killed by a Gui .

Now He Yumao too—just days ago they’d been chatting, and now he was gone.

Encountering a Gui —carelessness meant sudden death.

“Guo Shi, you believe this is murder, not merely an escort agency failure?”

Guo Shi wept: “Our agency has operated for decades without incident. My husband was a steady man… someone must have murdered them outside.”

“Do you have any leads?”

“Yes.”

The woman suddenly turned to Li Lin.

Her eyes burned with hatred: “This Sir Li Xunshou came to my home days ago, discussing a Jincheng escort job with my husband. They didn’t reach an agreement, so he left—and then my husband’s party met disaster. This matter must be connected to him in some way.”

All eyes turned to Li Lin.

Huang Yan looked at Guo Shi, a flash of anger in his eyes, then turned to Li Lin: “Sir Li Xunshou, what do you say?”

(End of Chapter)