New and dark light years

Chapter 246 Inside Story
Now that things have come to this point, Li Lin feels that there are serious problems with the Xiangjun treasure.

He had previously suspected that Buddhism was behind it.

Then I saw the layout of the Imperial City Guard.

Now another "Star-Picking Tower" has popped up.

He felt that things were far more complicated than he had imagined.

But the more this was the case, the more Li Lin wanted to stay and see what these guys were up to.

As for safety... with stealth abilities, as long as you don't overdo it, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Li Lin shook his head, returned home, and examined the jade pendant again. He found that it had no other function except for a slight glow, so he stuffed it into a bundle under his bed.

The next morning, Li Lin was drinking millet porridge and eating pickled vegetables when Xiao Zhen ran in from the courtyard and said, "Master, those people are here again."

Li Lin got up, went to the window, looked at the pedestrians coming and going outside, and asked, "Which ones are they?"

Xiao Zhen also came to the window and pointed outside, saying, "This, this, and this!"

Li Lin looked over. He hadn't thought anything of it before, but after Xiao Zhen pointed it out, he realized that these people were indeed a bit strange.

"Okay." Li Lin patted Xiao Zhen's head: "You two eat well, I'm going out for a walk."

The two children nodded gently.

Li Lin left the courtyard and went for a stroll outside.

Then he came to the Lanyuelou pleasure boat.

Since it was daytime, most of the girls were sleeping, and only a madam and a yawning woman came to serve him.

"Young master, why have you arrived so early?"

"Come over for a drink when you have nothing to do."

"Shouldn't you go to a restaurant to drink?" the madam asked.

"Drinking here has a unique charm."

The madam chuckled obsequiously, "Oh, young master, you are so refined."

Then he turned and left, saying as he walked, "Quickly, have someone prepare wine and food."

The madam knew perfectly well that people coming to the pleasure boat at times like this were simply looking for some peace and quiet.

She won't be an eyesore in front of others anymore.

Li Lin sat on the second floor of the painted boat and could see the streets along the riverbank to his left.

He sipped his rice wine slowly as he waited.

Sure enough, not long after, he saw the three people that Xiao Zhen had pointed out.

Li Lin glanced at them, pretending not to know anything, and continued drinking.

The three of them tried their best to stay hidden in the shadows, and it would indeed be difficult to find them without prior knowledge.

But now that we're more alert, it's easier to spot their unusual behavior.

Li Lin memorized the faces of the three men. After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he paid the bill and went to wait at the paper mill.

They made dozens more paper figures to guide the soul and stored them in the cubicle, and then casually threw down a few small paper figures as well.

The little paper figures soon left the paper mill.

As evening approached, Li Lin smiled.

The paper figure sent back a message.

The three men who had been monitoring him had now returned to the Tang residence.

He waited in the paper mill's warehouse for a while until it was completely dark before leaving and sneaking off to the Tang residence.

A delicate fragrance permeated the backyard of the Tang residence.

Li Lin came down to the window.

Tang Nan was sitting inside, while a dozen or so men and women stood in front of him.

"Yueyue, you still don't have a chance to get close to that scholar?"

“There was no chance.” The woman named Yueyue said helplessly, “He stayed in the pleasure boat first… that place is not a place for a young lady of a good family to appear, it’s impossible to even get close. In the afternoon, he went into a paper shop and never came out.”

At this moment, a man next to him said, "I asked around, and that paper shop has changed hands. The current owner is that kid surnamed Li."

Tang Nan frowned: "This kid is a bit strange. He bought a detached house as soon as he arrived, frequents brothels every day, and also bought a paper mill. He's too rich. He doesn't seem like a scholar at all, but more like a merchant."

At this moment, Yueyue said, "But I think he really is a scholar. I met him yesterday, and there's no way to fake that scholarly air about him."

The man who had spoken earlier said, "Perhaps an elder in his family is in business."

Tang Nan nodded: "That's certainly possible. That kid has a full forehead and clear eyes; he's clearly a very intelligent person. If someone like that becomes a ghost, he'll be a super ghost. We can't let such a good 'goods' slip by. You guys need to find another way to get him. If a month isn't enough, then six months. Yueyue... if you get close to him, you must put your whole heart and soul into him. You can't give yourself away in the slightest, understand?"

Yueyue nodded gently.

"Everyone except Yueyue, please leave."

After everyone else left, Tang Nan waved to Yueyue.

Yueyue obediently sat on Tang Nan's lap.

While groping her, Tang Nan asked, "Have you had your virginity restored?"

"It's my turn to make up for it tomorrow morning."

"In other words, we can still spend the night together tonight." Tang Nan smiled happily.

Yueyue sighed softly, "Whatever you want, just don't leave any marks on me, so that there won't be any flaws when we're putting on an act tomorrow."

Tang Nan thought for a moment and said helplessly, "That's right, then you should go too."

After saying that, Yueyue left.

Tang Nan sighed, read for a while longer, and was just about to blow out the lamp and go to sleep when his body suddenly froze.

His eyes strained to look behind him, but he dared not move. "Hero... great hero," Tang Nan whispered, "Let's talk this out. I'll give you whatever you want."

As he spoke, cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

Behind him, a young man stood with a black dagger pressed against his back.

This man was Li Lin, who said in a calm tone, "Brother Tang, it's been a long time."

Upon hearing the voice, Tang Nan immediately knew who was behind him.

"Brother Li...?"

Some people have a photographic memory for words, while Tang Nan is very good at remembering other people's voices.

Li Lin sheathed his dagger, turned to face Tang Nan, and smiled, "Aren't you surprised? Quite unexpected!"

Tang Nan's lips curled into a smile, but it was an ugly one.

"Brother Li, what do you mean by this?"

“What could it mean!” Li Lin pointed to the window: “I was squatting outside just now and heard everything you said, not a single word was missed.”

Tang Nan's face immediately darkened, then turned white again.

The reason it's black is... how come no one noticed that such a big, living person was squatting outside? What are the private guards of the Tang family doing?

The reason for Bai's actions was, of course, that... the people involved overheard their entire scheme.

There's no room for even sophistry.

Li Lin sat down in the chair.

Seeing Li Lin's actions, and with Li Lin now further away, Tang Nan's eyes couldn't help but dart around.

He was wondering if he could escape.

At this moment, Li Lin smiled and said, "Don't even think about running away. I can sneak in, and I can also sneak you out and kill you."

Tang Nan gave a helpless bitter smile: "Brother Li, since you know everything, just give me a straight answer as to whether I'm dead or alive."

Li Lin said, "I'll ask you a few questions. If you answer them well, I'll let you go. If you don't answer them well, that's another story."

"Please ask."

Li Lin smiled and nodded: "You're very sensible. I want to know, what exactly is the background of that stronghold outside the city, the one protected by the giant centipede and guarded by Imperial City spies!"

Tang Nan's expression turned even uglier. He hadn't expected that Li Lin would even know that area.

Logically speaking, that place is influenced by the divinity of the 'Thousand-Limbed True Lord', and ordinary people should not be able to approach it without wearing a token.

He looked at Li Lin in surprise and asked, "Can you see that True Lord?"

"can."

Although it was only possible to see it with the help of the Tree Fairy Goddess's mask, it was indeed possible to see it.

Tang Nan took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said, "I am Tang Nan, a subordinate of the Imperial City Guard and a Supervisor of the Lingtai."

Li Lin raised an eyebrow slightly: "I've never heard of any Lingtai Bureau within the Imperial City Guard!"

A glint flashed in Tang Nan's eyes: "Brother Li is also a person in officialdom? This is like a flood washing away the Dragon King's temple."

Li Lin laughed: "Did I say I was a member of the officialdom?"

Indeed, not many people know about the Imperial City Guard's organization and positions, but it's not that no one knows.

But at this moment, Tang Nan had a feeling that this person must be someone from the officialdom.

Bookishness... to put it bluntly, it's the precursor to bureaucratic airs.

Which civil official doesn't have a scholarly air about him?

"I must have guessed wrong," Tang Nan said, bowing.

"Alright, you still haven't told me what that base is."

"Yes... Our Lingtai Bureau is a secret department, known only to a few nobles. This branch in Xiangjun is just a branch."

"What's the effect?"

"Refining True Lord".

Even though Li Lin had already vaguely guessed this possibility, he still couldn't help but be somewhat surprised at this moment.

The imperial court is refining True Lords; he can imagine the entire process involved.

He took a deep breath: "Are all the true rulers in this world created by you?"

Li Lin was very worried about the Tree Fairy.

If this is how Zhenjun came to be, then she must have suffered greatly in her lifetime.

"Pretty much." Tang Nan said with a hint of pride, "Otherwise... with so many True Lords disappearing from this world, why would the imperial court always send down new True Lords? Don't you think so?"

Li Lin narrowed his eyes slightly.

Tang Nan then said, "Of course, this has been the case for the past thirty years. After all, our Lingtai Bureau was only established thirty years ago. The True Lords of thirty years ago were formed naturally for various reasons."

Hearing this, Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

The Tree Fairy Goddess has been living in Yulin County for a very long time. From our conversations, we know that she has lived in Yulin County for over a hundred years.

"Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing this?" Li Lin asked.

“Kill one person, save millions.” Tang Nan looked at Li Lin: “If it were Brother Li, what would you do? I don’t think we are evil people. To some small families, we are evil people. But to the millions of ordinary people of Daqi, what we at Lingtai Bureau did was justified and in accordance with the law. This is the power that the court has given us.”

Li Lin took a deep breath.

Tang Nan continued, "For the sake of the people, we can only make those with the qualifications suffer."

Li Lin smiled and said, "So, that includes me, right?"

(End of this chapter)