Chapter 513: True Person's Thunder Punishment

"My name is Chen Niu!"

A small brown-clad ghost appeared out of thin air. Once it saw it was Lin Jue, it became vigilant.

"Go to Yixian and Shu Village for me, and see if anything has happened there."

"!"

The small ghost immediately stared at him solemnly.

If this person wasn't holding a Dharma seal, but just an ordinary Chen Niu talisman, it definitely wouldn't pay him any mind!

A moment later, the small ghost disappeared.

The Xiao Xiao Shimei then asked: "What's wrong?"

"Does the Xiao Xiao Shimei remember that yesterday, Fellow Daoist Jiang said the Northern Imperial army had already fought their way into Huizhou?"

"Naturally I remember!" The Xiao Xiao Shimei nodded, also understanding, and looked at the empty village below. "Is Third Third Shixiong suspecting that the army has reached the county or hometown, or that bandits are taking advantage of the chaos, and someone is... or is committing arson, killing, and looting in Third Third Shixiong's hometown?"

"Exactly!"

The village below was just like that.

Just after saying this, Chen Niu appeared again.

The small ghost looked solemn, pointing over there:

"Shu Village and Heng Village are fighting a war!"

This was its miraculous power—

Although Huizhou was far away, wherever there was a Chen Niu talisman or Dharma seal, it could arrive in an instant, no matter how far away. Of course, its true body was in the Dharma seal most of the time; what was summoned by the Chen Niu talisman usually was just its phantom clone, a type of spell, not that it had truly traveled ten thousand *li*. However, Fuqiu Peak, Shu Village, and Heng Village in Huizhou all had Chen Niu talismans, and by utilizing the spiritual charm of the seals on the talismans, it could arrive there in an instant, though that talisman would be ruined.

"These soldier-scum!"

Lin Jue frowned deeply, feeling somewhat angry.

Chen Niu said it was a war, but how could he not know what was going on?

Shu Village and Heng Village were not cities or strategic passes; what value did they have for fighting a war? And it was the middle of the night; in an age where many people suffered from night blindness, why run into a village to fight a night battle?

It must be because the clan and village culture in Huizhou was developed, the villages were wealthy, and there were no city walls or garrison troops. After these soldier-scum fought their way to Huizhou, they couldn't resist the temptation and, disregarding the Imperial court's strict orders, acted recklessly.

"How does Third Third Shixiong know?"

"I suddenly felt a strange sensation in my heart just now, and suddenly thought of it!" Lin Jue said quickly, also glancing at the scene below. "These two have finished exorcising the yaoguai; shall I take the Xiao Xiao Shimei back to Huizhou for a turn?"

"That's fine!"

With a peal of thunder, the thunderclouds headed southeast.

Originally, Lin Jue didn't intend to interfere in such human wars, but now that evil people were committing evil acts, it was naturally different.

From Qinzhou to Huizhou, it looked very far, but under the thunderclouds, it was actually less than half an hour.

As Lin Jue expected, and as Chen Niu said, at this moment Shu Village was slightly better, with only the army marching in under the moonlight, while Heng Village was already full of torches and firelight, with shouting and pleas for mercy.

The Captain sat on his horse at the village entrance, the army holding torches to block every intersection, while the General was singing and dancing in a camp in the distance.

Arson, killing, and looting by the army were not surprising in this day and age, and were hard to avoid, because the purpose of many armies fighting wars—the reason those soldier-scum fought so hard—was for this plundering and reckless behavior after breaking through a city.

It was very difficult to suppress this bestial nature during life-and-death struggles—people had just escaped from the gates of hell, risking their lives every day for your fame and fortune, relying on this one release; why should you say they can't? Therefore, this was something many famous generals and emperors throughout history could not do. In fact, the reason many famous generals and emperors were good at fighting was precisely because they utilized this point, promising their subordinates that they could recklessly burn, kill, loot, and rape after breaking through a city, turning their soldiers into beasts to fight desperately.

In the past, Lord Luo personally led the army and could constrain it to a decent degree, forbidding the trampling of green seedlings and wanton killing, which was already a strict military discipline that could be praised in history books. However, now that he had ascended the throne as Emperor and did not personally lead the expedition, these armies naturally lost their constraints.

Fortunately, there were military orders to constrain them, providing at least some limitation, so they didn't completely unleash their bestial nature and commit acts like slaughtering the village.

There was another sentence that made them very vigilant:

"Stop! Stop! Don't you know about True Person Lin in the capital? Don't you know this is True Person Lin's hometown? You are acting recklessly here, aren't you afraid True Person Lin will bring down thunder and strike you?"

Hearing this voice amidst the chaos, many soldier-scum who were smashing doors, breaking windows, and looting money paused.

This was the Yu Dynasty, and among the soldiers and generals who followed the dragon, who hadn't heard the legend of True Person Lin?

Even the Captain was somewhat afraid upon hearing this, but it was only somewhat afraid.

It was precisely because True Person Lin's reputation was so great that evil people feared him, good people respected him, and many people regarded him as a divine being, pinning their hopes on True Person Lin in times of crisis. Therefore, it was common for victims to use True Person Lin's thunder as a threat when these soldier-scum committed evil acts.

Yet it had never happened.

Moreover, at this moment, the evil thoughts in their hearts had already arisen, their bestial nature had been born, and gold, silver, treasure, and satisfying release were all right in front of them, with their brains heated; how could it be so easy to hit the brakes?

"Dare to use True Person Lin to scare me? Drag him over!"

"You dare? Do you think I'm lying to you? True Person Lin is truly a person from here, and my late father even had a friendship with him!" That was an old man of fifty or sixty. In this day and age, at this age, he was already gray-haired and near the end of his life. Leaning on a cane, like his late father, he didn't fear yaoguai, ghosts, life, or death. His brows were filled with anger, and he gritted his teeth, "You people are causing such chaos, there will definitely be divine retribution!"

"Still dare to talk nonsense! True Person Lin is clearly from the capital!"

"How could this old man deceive you villains? True Person Lin is originally from Huizhou! He was born in the neighboring Shu Village! When he was young and went out to seek the Dao, my late father even gave him help!"

Many soldiers holding sabers stopped upon hearing this.

The Captain heard him speak with force, raised his brows and glared, and couldn't help but feel some fear in his heart. But upon second thought, he felt something was wrong, and the fire and evil energy that had just subsided immediately rose again.

"A pack of lies! Shu Village is surnamed Shu, you are surnamed Wang, and True Person Lin is surnamed Lin; how could he be from Shu Village! Besides, True Person Lin is a divine being who descended from the sky, having lived for who knows how many hundreds of years; where did he come from to have a youth?"

"You can go ask the villagers, or go to Shu Village to ask!" The old man pounded the ground with his cane, "In this old man's house, there is still the talisman paper gifted by True Person Lin back then. After burning it, you can lead people to find that True Person. You people stop now, take the gold and silver you looted, and leave; it's still not too late!"

"Take me to see it!"

The Captain still didn't believe it, but he was also shaken.

But after following the old man into the house to look, he discovered that, not to mention whether a piece of talisman paper could distinguish whether it was left by True Person Lin, there wasn't even this talisman paper—

It was a fine rosewood box containing an empty small jade bottle and a piece of ash. It was said that the empty small jade bottle was also the immortal pill gifted to them by True Person Lin back then, with only the bottle remaining, and the so-called talisman paper that could point to True Person Lin was that piece of ash.

The old man was immediately shocked.

Because he had just opened it to look two days ago, and the talisman paper was placed inside perfectly well; why had it become ash at this time?

Poor old man, he only needed to burn this talisman to know True Person Lin's current residence, but he didn't know that burning this talisman could also let True Person Lin know.

The Captain was furious!

With a *clink*, the long saber in his hand was already out of its sheath.

Just at this moment, he suddenly heard a rolling thunder sound.

"Rumble..."

That thunder sound was low and deafening, making his whole body tremble.

At this moment, the more guilty a person was, the more frightened they were.

The Captain ran out holding his long saber and looked, only to see that many soldiers with bulging chests showed expressions of terror, and the bright moon in the sky could no longer be seen. The burning ancestral hall in the village reflected a continuous dark cloud overhead that didn't know how far it stretched and was still rapidly expanding, with thunder snakes flashing inside.

Was what that old scoundrel said true?

The Captain was suddenly somewhat terrified.

"No, no, no, it's just a coincidence, the weather is just changing." The Captain comforted himself repeatedly, and also comforted his subordinates.

Just at this moment, he looked up and saw a Daoist figure faintly illuminated in the clouds as the thunderclouds and lightning bloomed.

"There is someone on the clouds!"

"Is it an immortal?"

"Don't be afraid! We also have immortals protecting us!"

"It's True Person Lin..."

The crowd below was clamoring.

And at this moment, the Daoist on the clouds was already filled with anger.

The village below was one he had visited before, those roads were ones he had walked, those houses were in his memory, and even that burning ancestral hall was where he had once lived. These soldiers looting and plundering silver and money wasn't enough; they were actually killing and committing arson. How could he endure this?

"Fellow Daoist Thundercloud, there is a group of evil people below right now. Since you can distinguish good from evil, please separate those who are guilty of killing the innocent and have deep sins, and punish the evil and promote the good, so as to warn other soldiers and bandits in this area!"

The crowd only saw the figure above the thunderclouds point downward—

Immediately, an incomparably bright lightning bolt descended, splitting into countless layers and landing in a house courtyard.

A soldier who was committing violence immediately fell to the ground!

The lightning disappeared in an instant, but it seemed as if light and shadow remained in the night sky. After a breath, a heaven-shaking thunderclap was heard.

Then the next lightning bolt descended.

Did True Person Lin really come?

The villagers in the village were all staring blankly upward, while the Captain and soldiers were the opposite, their eyes filled with terror.

In the face of life and death, where was there any bestial nature, where were there any evil thoughts? They all disappeared completely, leaving only fear.

Someone immediately dropped their weapons and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

Someone knew they were deeply sinful and fled in a panic, their gold, silver, and soft belongings falling all over the ground.

Someone looked for a cellar to hide in.

Someone was reciting the names of the gods they used to worship.

The Captain quickly flipped onto his horse, riding away in terror. Every time he jolted, he thought of the evil deeds he had committed along the way, just wanting to run faster.

However, the next lightning bolt was looking for him.

"Boom!"

The Captain on the horse immediately stiffened, emitting black smoke, and fell down.

But this lightning was truly strange; the person on the horse's back was struck dead, but the horse beneath him just fell to the ground, and it wasn't long before it climbed back up.