New and dark light years

Chapter 132 Fifty Autumns in the Mortal World

evening.

Li Lin cut down a dozen or so tree branches with leaves beside the official road and used them to build a simple triangular hut.

He sprinkled a circle of Imperial Powder around the area, then dug a pit in the small house and lit a fire in it.

Then, another piece of cured meat was roasted before the red talisman was taken out and infused with yin energy.

Rouge 'flowed' out from inside.

First it was a cloud of white mist, then it condensed into a human shape.

After she came out, she looked around and laughed, "Looks like you know a thing or two about living in the wild. You don't seem like someone from a noble family."

Li Lin smiled indifferently.

He learned how to make this simple little house by watching videos.

It has some ability to withstand rain... Of course, it's definitely not suitable for heavy rainstorms.

"You brought me out here to ward off the evil spirits, right?" Yan Jing said with a smile. "Now I'm your pet spirit, and it's nighttime, so you can do whatever you want."

She reached out and gently touched Li Lin's arm.

Li Lin placed a piece of cured meat in front of her and asked, "Want some?"

Yan Jing rolled her eyes: "You know perfectly well that I'm a ghost and won't eat this stuff."

"Put yourself in my shoes. You know perfectly well that I won't touch you, so why do you keep trying to tempt me?" Li Lin said with a smile.

Yan Jing sighed softly, "You just think I'm dirty."

Li Lin remained silent and expressionless.

Yan Jing sighed and sat down to the side without saying a word.

Li Lin was too lazy to pay attention to her.

She is now a monster that I have 'raised' myself, and she is harmless to me.

If she wants to harm me, I can sense it.

The reason for bringing Yan Jing along is simple: as a second 'backup'.

Along the way, it's impossible to find a suitable campsite every time. If you camp in the wild and it rains at night, the Imperial Powder will be washed away, and Li Lin will have to rely on stealth to survive.

Even so, Li Lin didn't feel very safe.

There are many peculiar people in this world who can see through stealth techniques; perhaps they exist in the most mysterious and fantastical places.

Therefore... having Yan Jing around would make him feel more at ease.

After Li Lin finished eating the cured meat, just as he was about to go to sleep, Yan Jing approached him again and asked, "What are you planning to do all by yourself?"

Li Lin closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, then said, "Go and seek the destiny of immortality."

"You're actually going?" Yan Jing couldn't help but move closer. "I was just talking to you about it last time."

Li Lin said calmly, "Everyone needs to have some ideals."

"Your ideal is to cultivate immortality?" Yan Jing covered her mouth with her water sleeve: "It's not impossible, but what makes you think that you are an exception, that so many people can't do it, and can't even get started with the Hidden Word Technique?"

Li Lin smiled and said, "Let's give it a try. Anyway, we always need to find something to do."

Yan Jing looked at him with her alluring, watery eyes, then gently shook her head and walked to sit down to the side.

Silent all night.

When dawn broke, Li Lin ate a couple of bites of dry rations and continued on his way.

Five days later, he arrived in Guicheng.

Compared to Yaojin City, Guicheng has a slightly smaller population, but its level of prosperity is about the same.

Li Lin paid a copper coin as a poll tax and entered the city to rest.

Li Lin took a bath at the inn and was about to go to bed when he felt the talisman vibrate, so he infused it with yin energy.

Yan Jing emerged from inside and said, "Someone is watching you."

“I know,” Li Lin nodded.

When he was paying the poll tax, someone on the city wall stared at him for a long time.

"Then why aren't you leaving?"

“That’s a Spirit Hunter too.” Li Lin sat on the edge of the bed and put on his coat. “If I’m not mistaken, they should be from the Ding family.”

"how do you know?"

Li Lin explained, "That person's gaze was not malicious, and as far as I know, the Ding family has a lot of influence in Guicheng. Almost all the Spirit Hunters in Guicheng come from the Ding family. Our patrol officer Ding knows that I am here, and she must have already notified her family by carrier pigeon."

"You told Attendant Ding about this? Aren't you afraid of the trouble?"

"It was bound to happen sooner or later. One person's plan is limited; it's easier to get things done with more people," Li Lin said with a smile. "The clues are very important, but I don't have the resources for them, so I can only exchange them with others."

Yan Jing laughed and said, "You are quite..."

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Yan Jing transformed into a stream of light and returned to the talisman.

Li Lin put away the talisman and went to open the door.

The man in front of him was a young man. When he saw Li Lin, he cupped his hands and said, "May I ask if you are Li Lin, the county magistrate of Yulin County, Jin Prefecture?"

"Exactly."

“My cousin Ding Yingqiu sent a letter by carrier pigeon, saying that County Magistrate Li is our friend and that if he needs anything, he should consult us.”

Li Lin clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "Thank you. If there's anything I can do for you, I'll definitely come and bother you."

The man clasped his hands in a fist salute and then left.

Yan Jing reappeared from the talisman and said, "The Ding family really does have the demeanor of gentlemen."

Li Lin laughed and said, "Because there's no need... They've probably been to the place we're going to many, many times already, and they probably haven't found anything."

"Then you are still going?"

"Just because they didn't find anything doesn't mean I can't find anything."

Yan Jing finally scoffed: "I've discovered that you're incredibly arrogant. What makes you think you can do what an entire family can't?"

Li Lin remained silent; many things didn't require others' approval. But this attitude seemed to make Yan Jing even more unhappy.

Yan Jing shook her head: "I thought you were a gentle and refined gentleman, but I never expected you to be such an arrogant person."

Li Lin smiled.

Seeing that he did not refute, Yan Jing snorted, transformed into a stream of light, and disappeared into the talisman.

Li Lin didn't take it seriously. After resting in bed for two hours, he went to the market to buy some dry food and then continued on his way.

Following the map, Li Lin began searching for the cave outside the city.

Now, all cities, except for the area 'covered' by the True Lord, are wild and untamed worlds.

Especially in the southern regions, trees and vines grow together, forming layers of green barriers on the mountains.

It is very difficult to travel in such a place.

In many places, you either have to take a detour or simply cut a path out with a machete.

Having learned from his previous experience, Li Lin prepared a rather sharp wood-chopping knife this time. With the help of his blood energy, he was able to "cut vines like mud." The wood-chopping knife, wrapped in green blood energy, swung down without cutting down any vines.

And it's quite effortless.

In this way, Li Lin did not travel far during the day.

He looked at the sky and found a shallow cave nearby, just big enough to accommodate three or four people, with a very shallow entrance.

Sprinkle some Imperial Powder inside, light a fire, and then eat cured meat and dry rations.

Yan Jing was also released as a backup.

This time, however, Yan Jing was no longer talkative or chatty. She simply sat to the side, watching the sky outside.

Li Lin could sense her indifference from the 'cultivation of cunning', but he did not sense any malice.

That's enough.

Li Lin had another good night's sleep.

As dawn broke, Yan Jing watched Li Lin stretch and yawn, then hummed softly before returning to the talisman.

Li Lin tidied up, put out the fire, and then scattered more than a dozen paper figures.

The little paper figure was sent out in one direction.

Li Lin continued to use his machete to clear the way.

It was almost noon when Li Lin paused for a moment, then smiled and continued walking in one direction.

After braving thorns and brambles along the way, around noon, Li Lin arrived at the entrance of a cave covered by weeds.

The little paper figures are jumping and dancing here, having a dance competition.

Above the cave entrance, there is a smooth, square stone with three characters faintly written on it.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, much of it has weathered and is no longer clearly visible.

Li Lin picked some weeds from the side, used the willow catkins to float up, and wiped them a couple of times.

The sap from the weeds deepened the engravings, confirming that the characters were indeed engraved in intaglio.

Tai Xuan Cave.

The cave was pitch black. Li Lin lit a tinderbox and went inside.

The entrance has been carved out by human hands, with steps of varying heights made up of the terrain. Although it is a bit troublesome to walk through, it is still better than having no steps at all.

This observation is typical of a cave... Holding a tinderbox, the cave walls are composed of crystalline minerals, reflecting countless tiny points of light.

The passage was winding and uneven, and in many places, Li Lin had to crouch to get through.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn two incense sticks, we finally reached the bottom.

This is a circular space, with a layout very similar to the Goulu Cave Mansion, featuring a stone table, several stone chairs, and a small pond.

But there was no sunlight or moonlight shining down from the sky; it was very dark here.

Nothing else.

Yan Jing appeared, a faint smirk on her face: "It does look like a cave, but there don't seem to be any clues."

Li Lin, however, was in no hurry. He held the tinderbox, looking at it from the left and right.

Then walk to the right, then walk to the right.

Yan Jing crossed her arms over her chest and watched from the side.

After watching Li Lin walk around aimlessly for a while, she couldn't help but say, "No need to look anymore. As far as I know, the Ding family has been pursuing immortality for hundreds of years. They haven't been able to accomplish what they've been doing for over a dozen generations. Why should you be able to do it all by yourself?"

Li Lin still ignored her.

Then he suddenly jumped onto the round table, spun around for a while, and then smiled.

Then he jumped off the round table and placed the four round stools in four different positions.

"What are you doing?" Yan Jing couldn't help but ask.

But just as she finished speaking, a bright light suddenly appeared, so bright that people couldn't open their eyes.

As for Yan Jing, being a ghost, she was so blinded by the light that she almost disappeared.

After she finally managed to suppress her collapsing body and opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself and Li Lin in a brightly lit secret room.

There is a white jade bed, a green jade table, and a glass wine pot.

There is a painting on the wall.

In addition, there was a futon on the ground.

“There really is…” Yan Jing looked at Li Lin in surprise, then said awkwardly, “So you weren’t just talking nonsense.”

Li Lin ignored her and started looking at the painting.

The brushwork of this painting is quite similar to that of the one in Goulu Cave Mansion, but it depicts a Taoist priest standing on a high peak, looking down at all the mountains below.

The poem accompanying the painting in the lower right corner reads:

The illusion passes in an instant, while fifty autumns pass in the mortal world.

(End of this chapter)