New and dark light years

Chapter 156 Decisive
Upon hearing such a serious accusation being leveled against them, the faces of the Lingxiao Sect members all changed.

People in the martial arts world have always looked down on government officials, and conversely, government officials also regard people in the martial arts world as one of the sources of chaos.

After all, heroes use their martial arts to break the law.

The man who had spoken earlier stepped forward, stared at Li Lin, and said, "Sir, aren't you going too far?"

"You went too far first, daring to slander me for massacring the village!" Li Lin said coldly, "Young man, there are some things you can't say carelessly."

The seventh junior brother's face turned very ugly.

At this moment, An Dutou arrived with a hundred local militiamen.

Coordinated with the other fifty local militia, they formed a semi-circle and blocked the enemy's path.

The man looked around. Their Lingxiao Sect was indeed powerful, but if they encountered a regular army, they would be in trouble if they really fought.

The shield-bearers and spearmen are alright; they can't break through the formation, but they can run away.

But with archers present, within a hundred feet, they would be sitting ducks.

At this moment, he stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Shangguan, we also heard some rumors outside, which is why we rushed over. My seventh junior brother was worried about his family and may have offended you in his words. I apologize to you on his behalf."

Li Lin snorted: "Who told you that this village is going to be massacred?"

His gaze was cold.

He sensed that a large net was closing in.

The seventh junior brother stepped forward and said coldly, "So what if it's what the chivalrous people say?"

Li Lin looked at the man and said, "Without any evidence, you've concluded that I massacred the entire village based solely on their words?"

The boy was stunned for a moment. He pointed at Li Lin and the surrounding village soldiers and said, "Look at you... so many people have surrounded us. Aren't you here to massacre the village?"

Li Lin laughed: "It seems that the Lingxiao Sect is indeed a traitor colluding with the Qin family of Yue County. Archers, prepare."

His voice, imbued with 'spiritual energy,' echoed in the vicinity.

Fifty archers on a distant mound were ready to draw their bows and nock their arrows.

They were just waiting for Li Lin to give the order to shoot the arrows.

Hearing this, the man became agitated and shouted at the boy next to him, "Seventh Junior Brother, shut up! Don't say anything yet!"

"But……"

"Do you want to kill everyone in our Lingxiao Sect?" the man roared.

Then the man knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Sir, I apologize to you. My seventh junior brother was ignorant. Please forgive him."

The people around exclaimed in surprise.

"Third senior brother, why are you kneeling before this corrupt official?"

"Third Senior Brother..."

"Shut up, all of you!" the third senior brother roared. "Before we went down the mountain, Master told you all to listen to me."

At that moment, everyone fell silent.

Li Lin glanced at the Lingxiao Sect disciples and snorted.

"You're quite sensible." Li Lin nodded. "Now you can tell me who told you that soldiers would be carrying out a massacre here."

The third senior brother clasped his hands and said, "On our way back, we met a man who claimed to be a disciple of the Tianyi Sect in Tianjin. He said that Fuxin Village had been infected with a plague, and the magistrate of Yulin County sent the county constable with local militia to surround and kill the villagers in order to prevent the plague from spreading."

"A member of the Tianyi Sect?" Li Lin asked. "What's his name?"

He called himself An Xin.

Li Lin smiled upon hearing this: "An Xin is the senior disciple of Tianyi Sect, and I am quite familiar with him."

The third senior brother's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

If the senior disciple of Tianyi Sect truly knows this county magistrate, then the person who informed them must be highly suspicious.

Li Lin said, "However, there is indeed a problem with this village."

The third senior brother asked, "What's the problem?"

"The entire village is dead."

Upon hearing this, the boy roared and charged forward.

But the third senior brother, who was kneeling on the ground, reacted even faster. He flipped over and flew backward, pinning the boy to the ground. "Third senior brother, let me go, let me go... I'm going to kill this corrupt official."

"Seventh Junior Brother, calm down."

Li Lin said calmly, "If you continue to let this so-called seventh junior brother bark like a dog, I don't mind reporting to the imperial court and suspecting that your Lingxiao Sect has colluded with the Qin family of Yue County."

Upon hearing this, the third senior brother immediately reached out and pressed down hard on the seventh junior brother's back.

The seventh junior brother was immediately speechless and could only scream incoherently.

"Not bad acupressure technique." Li Lin looked at his third senior brother and asked, "May I ask your name?"

"Xiao Chunzhu." The third senior brother had his two other junior brothers hold down the seventh junior brother, then he stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "May I ask, does Shangguan know why everyone in this village has died?"

“We arrived here an hour ago because this village lost contact with our county, so we came to take a look.”

"Not a plague?"

"I don't know," Li Lin replied.

At this moment, the seventh junior brother, who was being held down on the ground, burst into tears.

“Master Xiao…” Li Lin pointed to the village: “I can allow you to go in and see what’s going on in this village, on the condition that you don’t cause any trouble. Otherwise, I don’t mind killing you all and reporting your Lingxiao Sect’s name to the Zhongshu Gate.”

"No, no, I wouldn't dare." Xiao Chunzhu took a deep breath, then said to the boy lying on the ground, "Seventh Junior Brother, let's go in and take a look."

After saying that, Xiao Chunzhu released the boy's pressure points.

The boy dared not look at Li Lin again, wiped away his tears, and rushed into the village.

Xiao Chunzhu clasped her hands in apology to Li Lin, and then led the others inside.

Li Lin waved his hand, and An Dutou led a hundred local soldiers to follow behind Li Lin again.

They walked into the village, and just as they reached the village entrance, they heard mournful cries coming from inside.

When Li Lin followed the sound of crying, he saw that the 'Seventh Junior Brother' was kneeling in front of a house door.

The other disciples were trying to comfort him.

When they saw Li Lin approaching again, their expressions became somewhat subtle, and they were also very wary.

Li Lin walked over and said, "When we arrived, it was already like this."

"Who did this? Do you have any clues?" Xiao Chunzhu asked.

Li Lin shook his head: "The altar was split in two, which could only be done by a seventh-rank Spirit Hunter! There are too many seventh-rank Spirit Hunters in the more than a dozen counties of Jin County, so it will be very difficult to find the real culprit."

Xiao Chunzhu nodded, agreeing with Li Lin's opinion.

He then said to the boy who was lying on the ground wailing, "Seventh Junior Brother, please accept my condolences."

At this moment, the seventh junior brother suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Lin with resentment: "Why...why didn't you come sooner? If you had come sooner, they wouldn't have died, my family wouldn't have died, they were just about to enjoy their happiness..."

Li Lin narrowed his eyes, slowly backed away, and took a long spear from the local militiaman beside him.

The hundred local militia members also seemed to be getting restless.

Seeing Li Lin's action, Xiao Chunzhu was shocked. He slapped his seventh junior brother across the face and roared, "Are you out of your mind? Why don't you hate those murderers? Why are you pointing the finger at the good people who came to solve the case? Haven't you even learned the basic principles of being a human being?"

"Third senior brother, why are you afraid of this corrupt official? We brothers are not afraid of him, let's..." the seventh junior brother roared, covering his face.

The expressions of the fellow disciples changed drastically.

Xiao Chunzhu suddenly stepped forward and pressed her hands down on her seventh junior brother's head like lightning.

Click.

After a crisp sound, the seventh junior brother's face turned around instantly.

The seventh junior brother's eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets, and his face was flushed red.

A while later, the seventh junior brother fell to the ground, his hands and feet twitched twice, and then he fell silent.

Xiao Chunzhu looked at her fellow disciples around her, her eyes filled with coldness, and said, "Seventh Junior Brother's flesh and blood were devoured by the demon, leaving only bones. Did you know that?"

These fellow disciples nodded without any hesitation.

Then, Xiao Chunzhu clasped her hands and bowed to Li Lin: "County Commandant, thank you for coming to the rescue, but unfortunately we still couldn't save Seventh Junior Brother's life."

(End of this chapter)