Chapter 99: Fate's Encounter

Li Lin charged out first.

The two men opposite were standing side by side resting; seeing a young man leap from behind the grass, they were instantly startled.

Just as they meant to demand an explanation, they saw the long spear thrust toward them, and the two immediately split left and right.

This suited Li Lin's intent perfectly; he feinted with his long spear, sending forth spear shadows that forced the slightly plumper man back.

On the other side, Bai Bufan and Zhao Xiaohu leaped out simultaneously, joining forces against that thin man.

Bai Bufan excelled at short blades, while Zhao Xiaohu wielded a long spear; neither possessed great strength, but together, one close and one far, they complemented each other perfectly.

This thin man wielded a waist knife and was quite skilled; his pupils were dark gray, with faint white light flickering within.

Zhao Xiaohu's spear technique was well practiced; every attack was swift, yet his own blood qi was weak, lacking power.

Each time the thin man blocked, he could deflect the spear tip; logically, he should have been able to counterattack, but whenever that happened, Bai Bufan would rush forward with his two short blades, striking where he must defend.

The thin man retreated step by step, yet he was not in a hurry; he simply waited quietly for an opportunity.

After blocking several spear strikes again, the light in the thin man's eyes surged violently, as if yin qi were about to gush forth.

And at that very moment, Bai Bufan suddenly threw out a cloud of white dust.

The thin man's eyes seemed to be using some kind of technique; they bulged out, unable to close, so he could only watch helplessly as the white dust hit him squarely in the face.

Those two large eyes were directly coated with a thick layer of white powder.

Immediately afterward, he screamed in agony, dropped his waist knife, and rolled on the ground.

This was quicklime; upon meeting water, it boils, causing the man such pain that he wanted to gouge his own eyes out.

Zhao Xiaohu stepped forward two paces and thrust his spear straight into the opponent's heart.

The man gurgled twice in his throat, then fell silent.

After killing the enemy, the two immediately turned their heads, intending to rush to Li Lin's aid, only to see him standing nearby, smiling at them.

Not far away, that fat man lay collapsed on the ground, blood flowing from his throat, his eyes already devoid of spirit.

Zhao Xiaohu said admiringly, "Lin Ge, you are still the most formidable. You killed the enemy all by yourself."

Li Lin waved his hand; looking at the two corpses, he felt somewhat helpless.

They had come here originally to help Beiliu County find all the Spirit Hunters, then give the local magistrate peace of mind; yet the remaining two ended up being killed by them.

Still... Li Lin did not regret it.

Everyone has factions.

Whether it was Su Huafang or Bai Liwei, their relationship with Li Lin was quite good, so naturally he chose to help his acquaintances.

He could hardly help two strangers, could he?

Besides, those two did not look like good people.

Li Lin threw down another small paper man again.

This time, it was to search for Su Huafang and the others.

The small paper man darted happily through the forest; before long, Li Lin knew which direction to go.

When Li Lin, leading the two youths, climbed over a mountain pass, they then heard exclamations coming from ahead.

"Where did these paper men come from? Those remaining two beasts actually know such techniques? Wait until I destroy them."

It was clearly Ding Yingqiu's voice.

Upon hearing that voice, Zhao Xiaohu's expression became excited.

"Wait! These small paper men look very familiar to me."

"Mischievous as they are, they must be Li Xunshou's paper men."

Bai Bufan shouted happily, "Uncle, where are you?"

"Is that Bufan? We are here."

"You are crazy; they are tracking us, yet you actually..."

Li Lin and the other two followed the sound and found the three of them.

They were beneath a huge rock, where there was a cool platform, and they were sitting cross-legged there.

A group of pink small paper men were twisting their hips and dancing nearby.

Seeing the three, Su Huafang and Bai Liwei were naturally delighted.

But Ding Yingqiu looked at Li Lin with a wary gaze, even carrying a hint of hostility.

"Li Xunshou, you are truly... despicable," Ding Yingqiu said, looking at him mockingly. "You claimed on the surface that you were uninterested and did not wish to come, yet now you track us; this trick of the path-finding paper men is truly impressive."

Li Lin smiled helplessly and said, "Ding Xunshou, you misunderstand; I did not track you. Appearing here was purely a coincidence."

Su Huafang said, "I feel Li Xunshou is not that kind of person."

Bai Liwei also nodded.

With the guarantee of those two, Ding Yingqiu's expression became much more normal.

But she still carried some wariness.

Li Lin saw that all three of them were sitting cross-legged and asked, "What is wrong with you?"

"Poisoned," Su Huafang said helplessly. "When we arrived here, we intended to act while hiding our identities, but one person among them recognized me and invited us to drink wine. Who knew they poisoned the wine? We do not know why, but sensing something was wrong, we struggled to escape. Outside this wilderness, we were entangled with them for three days and four nights... They pursued us closely, and we never had a chance to completely purge the poisoned wine; we could only suppress the toxicity with pills."

"Then you sit in meditation to detoxify; the three of us will guard this place for you."

Su Huafang and Bai Liwei immediately closed their eyes and used their yin techniques with full effort to expel the toxicity from their bodies.

Ding Yingqiu continued to look at Li Lin.

Li Lin smiled and said, "If I truly had evil intentions, you could not escape now; rest assured and detoxify."

Ding Yingqiu thought this made sense, so she gritted her teeth and began to focus on circulating yin qi.

About an hour later, the three gradually awoke from their meditation.

Su Huafang sighed and said, "Finally comfortable. I just do not understand why those four suddenly attacked us."

Bai Liwei snorted: "Once I find the other two bastards, I'll make them taste cruel torture — let them beg to live and fail, beg to die and fail."

Bai Bufan said from the side: "Uncle, those two are already dead."

"Dead? How did they die?"

Bai Bufan said proudly: "Li Xunshou killed one, and Xiaohu and I together killed one."

Bai Liwei was stunned for a moment, then rose and patted Bai Bufan's head: "Well done."

Bai Bufan smiled very happily.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaohu approached Ding Yingqiu and asked: "Ding Xunshou, would you like me to help you up?"

"No need!" Ding Yingqiu stood up, looked at Li Lin: "Why have you all come here too? Tell me about it."

She still did not fully trust Li Lin.

Li Lin then laid out the whole story from beginning to end.

After Su Huafang heard it, he clicked his tongue: "That Magistrate Ma is a ruthless one."

Li Lin caught the implication and reacted: "You mean… Magistrate Ma was killing with a borrowed knife?"

"Mm, because when we broke out of the tavern, there were plenty of passersby around." Su Huafang chuckled: "This Beiliu County is Magistrate Ma's turf — would he not know what happened to the few of us? Any casual question to a passerby would clear it up, yet he claims he knew nothing, and just so happened to go to Yulin County for help. Tell me, isn't that strange? Why didn't he ask Xingye County for help? It's clearly closer."

Li Lin stroked his smooth chin: "I think I roughly know why they poisoned you all… Could it be that they thought the three of you were hired by the magistrate to deal with them, the Spirit Hunters?"

Su Huafang looked thoughtful: "That's possible."

Bai Liwei immediately spat: "Son of a bitch, dragged into someone else's feud — what rotten luck."

Hearing all this, Ding Yingqiu realized she had completely wronged Li Lin. She bowed slightly and said: "Li Xunshou, it was this little woman failing to tell friend from foe, wronging you. Hit me, scold me, do as you wish — I won't so much as furrow a brow."

Li Lin waved a hand: "It's nothing. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, we're all colleagues from now on, helping each other out."

Ding Yingqiu nodded heavily: "Alright."

At this point Su Huafang said: "How about Li Xunshou come along too? I feel… this seems to be your fate!"

Ding Yingqiu and Bai Liwei also looked at him.

Li Lin thought for a moment, then nodded: "Alright."

He too had a feeling — as if some unseen force had 'led' him here.

(End of chapter)