Chapter 95: A New Arrival

The old man was taken away.

In the man's eyes, there was only helplessness, despair, and confusion.

Back at the court, before any punishment could be applied, the little old man confessed.

It turned out he had lost his wife when young, and had never taken another afterwards.

He endured for over twenty years, raising his son to adulthood.

Once his son took a wife, the three of them lived together.

Later the daughter-in-law bore two more grandsons — a perfectly happy family.

But as time went on, the daughter-in-law grew accustomed to living in this little home, and after staying so long, treating him as an elder, she grew careless about the bounds between man and woman.

Occasionally, when changing clothes or bathing, she paid little heed to privacy.

Especially after the little grandson was born, she would openly nurse in front of her father-in-law without a care, successfully kindling the old man's lust — after all, he had held it in for over twenty years.

One day the son went out to work, and the daughter-in-law was in the kitchen stoking the fire and cooking while loosening her collar to nurse. When he came in, she paid no mind, only smiling.

Then... he lost his reason. When the daughter-in-law dared to resist, he struck her on the head with firewood.

The baby's shrill crying drowned out the daughter-in-law's screams.

By the time he had vented his beastly desire, the daughter-in-law had already stopped breathing.

He dared not dump the body elsewhere, so he could only drag it behind the house and bury it — and lacking time, he buried it very shallowly.

That was how the government office Runners easily spotted the freshly turned earth and dug the corpse out.

The case was solved quickly — barely half a day from start to finish.

And the record of how it was solved was handed over to Huang Yan.

After reading it, he laughed and said: "Worthy indeed of a prodigy nurtured by a thousand-year-old clan — his thinking in solving the case is very clear, his issuing of orders comes naturally, he's clearly someone accustomed to being in command."

Huang Qi nodded: "It seems the post of County Lieutenant is something he can fully handle — no need for us to back him up."

"Then you can go ahead and find the Third Imperial Prince," Huang Yan said with a smile.

"From now on, your son can no longer remain at your side for long," Huang Qi's expression carried a touch of loss.

Huang Yan said with a smile: "It's fine... I've already sent a message by carrier pigeon, having your younger brother rush back from Jingcheng."

"That works too — with my brother helping Father, I can set my mind at ease," Huang Qi said with a smile. "Also... Huang Damei's wedding, I won't be able to attend either."

"An unavoidable matter — I think Huang Damei will understand."

Huang Qi gave a soft sigh.

……

After the case was closed, it was already very late.

When Li Lin returned home, he saw the whole family waiting for him.

Including Hongluan.

The rule at this time was that only after the master of the house returned and lifted his chopsticks could the others begin to eat.

Of course, special circumstances were another matter.

After supper and a bath, came another night of tangled passion.

This time Hongluan did not faint into sleep — she only panted heavily for quite a while.

Then she nestled in Li Lin's arms and said: "The Eldest Lady asked me if you have any other women. I didn't mention the matter of the Tree Immortal Lady."

"Mm!" Li Lin smiled slightly: "Well done."

"I'm your wife now, of course I have to side with you," Hongluan said with a grin.

"Then from now on, you take charge of running this household first," Li Lin thought for a moment and said: "During this period, I'll still need to go back to the village from time to time."

Hongluan nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, my lord — I'll run this household well. When the Young Lady marries in, she'll surely see a stable, orderly home."

By the next day, Li Lin had returned to the village.

He came to the altar. The Tree Immortal Lady did not appear, so he said with a smile: "In two or three months, I should be staying in the county town for a long stretch!"

The moment those words were spoken, the Tree Immortal Lady appeared.

Cool and aloof all over, her eyes carrying a hint of reproach.

Li Lin went on: "But I have no intention of abandoning you either. When the County Magistrate leaves, he'll take Taowu Zhenjun with him. He asked me who could take the main seat of the temple, and I recommended you. Because I want to be in the same place as you."

The reproach vanished from the Tree Immortal Lady's eyes, replaced by a touch of tenderness.

Li Lin continued: "We're this familiar with each other, yet apart from your name Liu Zhe, I know nothing about you. For instance, what era are you from..."

The Tree Immortal Lady glared at him, then ducked back into the altar.

Li Lin figured she was feeling shy.

Then he returned home and began to cultivate.

He had recently vaguely realized that as long as he stayed in Shangti Kou Village, his cultivation speed would noticeably improve.

It might be a matter of the heart — because the Tree Immortal Lady was here, he felt at ease.

After all, during cultivation, most of the time one had no ability to fight back at all.

In the county town, he always felt a little uneasy at heart, so the quality of his cultivation was naturally a bit poorer.

After several days of cultivation with undivided focus, the Yin-Nurturing Heart Art had improved greatly, but this also brought an unwelcome side effect.

He felt his body growing somewhat cold.

At first he was puzzled, then he realized: he was no longer a virgin, and had lost a measure of yang qi.

For this reason, he could only reduce the time spent cultivating the Yin-Nurturing Heart Art and increase the time spent cultivating the Spring-Returning Health Art.

At the same time, he ate more blood rice and Life-Growth Pills.

About ten days later, a government office Runner came on horseback to notify him that the County Magistrate was summoning all the Spirit Hunters.

Li Lin arrived at the rear courtyard of the county office. Besides the familiar faces, there were three more people.

Two men and one woman.

They were all young, each with a face full of youthful vigor.

The three of them stood aside, forming their own small group.

Li Lin was almost the last to arrive; he watched for a while and realized that Su Huafang had not yet arrived.

Zhao Xiaohu ran over, smiling as he said, "Lin Ge, I have entered the initial stage of the Spring-Returning Health Cultivation Method. Can you teach me the Yin-Nourishing Cultivation Method now?"

"Extend your hand."

Zhao Xiaohu extended his hand as instructed. After checking his pulse for a moment, Li Lin said, "Indeed, you have entered the initial stage, but it is about a month later than I estimated... Don't keep going to the brothels with Bai Xunshou; it's not very good."

Zhao Xiaohu's face turned completely red. He glanced at the woman not far away; seeing that she seemed not to have heard, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Bai Bufan walked over and said, "Li Xunshou, you cannot blame me. I only took him once; afterwards, he went there secretly on his own."

At this moment, the female Spirit Hunter's gaze finally turned toward them.

Zhao Xiaohu, in his panic, directly covered Bai Bufan's mouth.

At this moment, Su Huafang finally arrived as well.

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Huang Yan, who had been sitting in the pavilion, stood up and said, "Due to reasons everyone knows, the number of Spirit Hunters in Yulin County is insufficient. Therefore, this official has sent a document to the imperial court requesting the dispatch of several Spirit Hunters. The imperial court, understanding our hardships, has sent experts to assist. Three of you, please introduce yourselves."

The first to step forward was a man dressed in black combat attire. He spoke in a gentle tone, "Yan Han, eighth-rank Spirit Hunter."

"Bai Yunfei, eighth-rank." This was a slightly younger man, with a very cold expression, as if everyone present owed him money.

The female Spirit Hunter clasped her fist and smiled, saying, "Ding Yingqiu... ninth-rank."

Ding Yingqiu?

Hearing this name, almost all the Spirit Hunters in their eyes revealed a look of understanding.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Ding Yingqiu's expression became somewhat awkward. She then said, "Everyone might know my older female cousin... Ding Yingchun. We are all one family; it is quite normal for names to be similar."

Ding Yingqiu and Ding Yingchun did indeed look somewhat alike.

And neither was beautiful.

It was merely the temperament cultivated in the environment of a noble family that made her appear not lacking.

However, Li Lin suddenly remembered something. Su Huafang had said he should go to the Ding family to exchange a Dual Cultivation Method.

The Ding family is in Guicheng; going there would take quite a bit of time, so Li Lin had temporarily set this matter aside.

He did not expect that someone from their side would actually come on their own.

At this time, Su Huafang also looked over and smiled, saying, "Opportunities come naturally!"

(End of this chapter)