Chapter 98: The Situation Changes

That night, the three slept in a large dormitory room.

Zhao Xiaohu's snoring was very loud, slightly affecting Li Lin's sleep quality.

By the next day, the three had a casual breakfast on the street before arriving at the government office hall.

Magistrate Ma was already waiting there: "Gentlemen, how may this official assist you?"

"Bring out the portraits of the few missing Soul Hunters from your county so I can see them."

"We have no portraits of them here, but we can have the painters from the Punishment Office draw them."

Magistrate Ma immediately sent someone to summon two painters from the Punishment Office.

Not long after, the likenesses of the four local Soul Hunters were drawn on paper.

These two were also skilled in meticulous brush painting; while they might not have captured perfect likeness, at least the form was accurate.

Li Lin memorized the faces of these four, then clasped his fists and said, "Magistrate Ma, we shall go to work now."

"Very well, very well," Magistrate Ma said earnestly, "This county has only four Soul Hunters remaining. Please, Inspector Li, take great care to find them; without them, this county will have not a single Soul Hunter left."

Li Lin nodded lightly.

The three arrived at the city gate, where Li Lin took out a stack of paper figures and threw them onto the ground.

Soon, these small paper figures turned from white to pink, then hopped and skipped outwards, disappearing into the wilderness before long.

"Lin Ge, how did you know those three vanished outside the city?" Zhao Xiaohu asked.

Li Lin smiled, "I just felt that way. Magistrate Ma and the others should have already searched the city, so it is highly likely they went missing outside."

Zhao Xiaohu suddenly realized.

Bai Bufan looked around and asked, "Inspector Li, is there anything I need to do?"

"Not for now, wait first."

Bai Bufan went to the side and chatted idly with Zhao Xiaohu.

Li Lin waited patiently.

About two incense sticks later, Li Lin said, "Found one."

Li Lin immediately rushed in one direction, and the two behind him followed at once.

After running for about half an incense stick's time, Li Lin saw several small paper figures circling a corpse, spinning and performing a strange dance, as if conducting a ritual.

As Li Lin approached, these small paper figures immediately fled to seek another target.

Li Lin looked at the man and froze.

For this man was clearly dead, his face pale!

Li Lin was greatly surprised; he had used the Path-Finding Small Paper Figures on the premise that these four might still be alive.

Yet now he had found a corpse.

Strange, why hadn't the corpse been eaten by the Wild Abominations after several days had passed?

Could it be that this man died this morning?

Li Lin was not very skilled at examining corpses.

However, Bai Bufan approached, looked for a while, and his expression turned very strange: "Inspector Li, this man should have died around dawn, no more than two hours ago. And his wounds..."

Li Lin looked at the dead man's wounds and found they were several short cuts from a sharp weapon.

He did not expect Bai Bufan to possess the skills of a coroner.

Bai Bufan remained silent for a long while before saying, "It seems to be my uncle's Twin Dragons Leaving the Water Blade Technique."

These words truly surprised Li Lin.

Had Bai Zhiwei and the others come to Beiliu County?

What connection did their arrival here have with the disappearance of Beiliu County's Soul Hunters?

Zhao Xiaohu walked over and asked, "Lin Ge, what should be done with this corpse? Should we go back and notify them?"

"You go back and notify them to come collect the body; Bufan and I will wait here for you."

Zhao Xiaohu nodded and immediately ran off.

Li Lin simply found a stone to sit on.

Bai Bufan fell silent as well; his own uncle killing Beiliu County's Soul Hunters... this matter could be either minor or major, it was unknown which it would turn out to be.

After a while, Zhao Xiaohu returned with several government office Runners.

Seeing the corpse, their expressions all turned very ugly.

One of them, appearing to be a Head Constable, glared at Li Lin: "What is going on? Why is the man dead!"

"That is for you to investigate," Li Lin stared coldly at the other, "Or do you think we killed him? If you believe that, we will return to Yulin County immediately, and you find the rest yourselves."

At this moment, Zhao Xiaohu and Bai Bufan had already begun to stand on guard.

Especially Zhao Xiaohu, whose spear was already raised in a ready stance.

He was just waiting for Li Lin to 'order' him, and he would charge to kill.

The Head Constable froze, then lowered his head and said, "Apologies, my words were excessive."

In truth, they did not intend to pin this on Li Lin; they were simply furious seeing a 'brother' dead and lashed out at a random target.

"Leave this man to you," Li Lin waved his hand, "Go!"

He then left with Zhao Xiaohu and Bai Bufan.

The Head Constable watched their backs, slapped himself hard, then roared, "Bring a few people to carry Inspector Lu back."

After walking a while longer, they saw a second corpse.

One of the deceased had his eyes wide open, unable to close them in death, with a black hole in his throat.

The paper figures jumped around on this corpse, even flipping somersaults, but as Li Lin approached, they ran away again.

Bai Bufan could not help but say, "Inspector Li, your paper figures are a bit... eccentric."

"Mm, the paper effigy art I learned from the Daoist priest's side is somewhat different from the paper effigy art of the Central Plains."

Li Lin could only toss the blame onto the Daoist priest's shamanic profession, letting them take the fall.

He couldn't exactly say that these little paper effigies were actually the embodiment of his inner personality.

How embarrassing!

Bai Bufan looked at Li Lin with some suspicion, then went to examine the corpse and said, "Killed by a long sword thrust, and the strike was extremely vicious — after stabbing through the throat, the blade was twisted several times, which is what caused a wound like this."

That really was vicious.

"My uncle, and Inspector Su, neither of them practice swordsmanship." Bai Bufan exhaled, then said, "But Inspector Ding uses a sword — the Ding family's Wind and Thunder Sword Art is quite renowned."

Li Lin nodded.

Zhao Xiaohu walked over and said, "Do you want me to go notify them again to come collect the body?"

"No need. The people of Beiliu County don't conduct themselves properly — ignore them."

Zhao Xiaohu believed it and gave an "oh."

The corner of Bai Bufan's mouth, meanwhile, curved up into a smile.

Li Lin suddenly sensed something again and immediately ran forward.

Then, upon reaching the vicinity of a small grove, he suddenly stopped and made a shushing gesture at the other two.

The three of them then used the trees and underbrush as cover and slowly moved forward.

Li Lin did not use 'Stealth Art' — he simply lightened his footsteps, that was all.

Before long, the three of them entered the small grove and heard cursing and swearing coming from ahead.

"These disgusting paper effigies — how are there so many of them."

"Cut down several already, and another batch pops up."

"And they run really fast, dodging around — so annoying."

Inside there were two Spirit Hunters, in the middle of chasing down and killing several small paper effigies.

Although the paper effigies' speed wasn't all that fast, the terrain here was very complex, and as they ran around, they were rather slippery.

But the two men were ultimately far stronger than the small paper effigies, and after spending some time, they still shredded every last paper effigy into scraps.

The two men leaned against tree trunks, panting.

The thin-faced man said, "That woman surnamed Ding is really troublesome — even though she was poisoned, it didn't affect her at all."

"And that one surnamed Su — once I find him, I swear I'll flay the skin right off him."

Li Lin's gaze sharpened — the surnames matched.

Su Huafang and the others should have arrived here, but for some unknown reason had come into conflict with the local Spirit Hunters.

Li Lin looked at Bai Bufan and Zhao Xiaohu, and made a throat-slitting gesture at them.

Bai Bufan's expression twisted into a savage grin.

(End of chapter)