New and dark light years

Chapter 474 The thing I feared most still happened.

The entrance to the secret chamber had been destroyed, and a dozen soldiers with long spears were watching the inside menacingly.

As Li Lin approached, he smelled a strong odor of insects.

He took a silk scarf from his clothes and covered his mouth and nose.

It wasn't that he was being pretentious, but rather that because he practiced spiritual energy, he was particularly averse to this insect-like stench.

Unavoidable.

Li Lin looked into the secret room and saw many small Gu people huddled together, trembling.

And most importantly... the insect shells on the surface of these little Gu bodies are not very obvious; they still look like humans.

No wonder the captain was unwilling to harm them.

Most adults with a conscience would not want to harm young children.

Li Lin said to the captain beside him, "Bring them all out. Be careful, don't let them bite you."

The captain hesitated, seemingly wanting to plead for the child, but in the end he said nothing. Instead, he ordered his armored soldiers to go in and drag the child out.

In an instant, the sounds of children crying in terror and shouting in anger filled the air.

A 'mature' Gu master is indeed very powerful, but these children are not; they are not much different from ordinary toddlers.

Before long, all the children were taken to the town square.

The sun was shining down, and they huddled together, watching the soldiers surrounding them with trepidation.

Li Lin counted; there were nine in total. Six boys and three girls.

Two older boys, though frightened, bravely stepped forward, spreading their arms to protect the children behind them.

Both of them were clearly terrified.

Li Lin walked up to them, and the two small Gu people standing there bared their teeth at him.

"Can you still understand me?" Li Lin said calmly. "If you can still understand human speech, then there's still hope for you. If you don't say anything at all, then I'll have no choice but to..."

“We can understand, sir, we can understand.”

The child standing at the front shouted loudly, interrupting Li Lin.

The captain next to him was taken aback and immediately scolded, "Boy, keep your voice down, don't offend the lord."

Although Li Lin has always been perceived as a gentle person, outsiders also regard him as a kind and benevolent official.

But only the 'veterans' who had followed him all along knew how ruthless Li Lin was.

Especially towards barbarians, and... Gu people.

The crown prince has been poisoned, and even the military governor dares to kill him, let alone small children.

The captain meant well, worried that the child might anger Li Lin.

The child who had just spoken was startled; he pouted, wanting to cry but dared not.

Li Lin glanced helplessly at the captain.

The captain immediately chuckled twice and walked to the side.

Li Lin's expression was not good.

Because he has now discovered many things that are not right.

First of all, these children are about the same age, so they could not possibly have been born to the same parents.

Another point is... although there are Gu people, it's clearly strange that all nine children have become Gu people and are gathered together.

Li Lin looked at Xiao Chunzhu standing beside him and said, "Send out scouts and set up sentries near the military town. Do it immediately and don't delay."

Xiao Chunzhu's expression turned solemn, and after bowing, she immediately left.

Li Lin then asked the children, "Where did you come from?"

"Dafeng Village!"

At this moment, the captain next to him immediately said, "There is a village behind this military town, and it is said that there are three or four hundred people here."

"you know?"

"I was born in Gui County when I was young, and came to Jin County with my parents when I was about ten years old."

Li Lin then looked at the children and asked, "How did you get here?"

"We were kidnapped," the child answered timidly.

Li Lin thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

"Who arrested you?" "We don't know the official's name!"

The term "adult" here refers to adults.

Li Lin asked, "What does he look like?"

"He had a long beard and a thin face."

"He speaks very harshly."

"They like to eat children."

At this point, the children's eyes clearly showed fear.

The officers and soldiers nearby paled upon hearing this.

Li Lin pointed to the skeletons that had been cleared away and asked, "Who... killed these people?"

Several children shook their heads vigorously.

"Did you eat it?" Li Lin asked.

The children shook their heads even more violently.

"So how did you guys survive here?" Li Lin pointed around: "It seems there's no food left in the military town."

“We can eat grass and leaves,” the child replied. “After that adult gave us some water, we didn’t want to eat anymore.”

Li Lin's heart stirred. He looked at the carapaces on their faces and realized that they did indeed have the characteristics of some leaf-eating insects.

"And what about your family members?" Li Lin asked.

The child shook his head: "We were captured here and haven't seen our parents since."

At this point, the children's eyes reddened, but they dared not cry.

Li Lin said to the captain beside him, "Since you know the way, take five hundred men and go to Dafeng Village to check the situation. If there are any people there, have the villagers come and identify them."

The captain's face lit up with joy, and he immediately turned and left.

Li Lin looked at the children and asked, "Since you eat leaves, which kind do you like to eat?"

"The grass over there," the child pointed to a corner of the military town, then to a vegetable field not far away, "and the vegetables there too, you can eat them."

Li Lin said to the soldiers not far away, "Go and pick some of the grass and leaves they mentioned, and give them to eat."

After saying that, Li Lin walked to the side and had someone bring him a chair to sit down.

The soldiers moved quickly and soon returned with several bundles of grass and some vegetable leaves.

Put it in front of the children.

These children were very thin, and they seemed really hungry; they actually sat down and grabbed handfuls of grass to stuff into their mouths.

He didn't seem to refuse at all; on the contrary, he looked very happy.

The soldiers around them felt a pang of pity watching the children eat grass.

Several soldiers shared some of their rations with the children, but the children looked at them and showed little interest.

Upon seeing this, Li Lin believed that these children had never eaten human flesh.

Because these things cannot be faked.

He also estimated that if he made the talismans himself, these children should be able to return to their original state.

Before long, they had eaten all the bundles of grass.

Just then, a fast horse galloped in, and the captain returned, his expression grave.

The man approached Li Lin, bowed, and then whispered, "Your Excellency, Dafeng Village is now in ruins. There are many skeletons inside; the dead have been dead for some time."

After speaking, the captain looked to the side and, seeing that the children hadn't heard him, his expression softened.

Li Lin sighed softly.

What he was most worried about happened.

Someone is using living people to refine poisonous insects and mine spirit stones!

“Xiao Chunzhu.” Li Lin’s tone was stern.

"My subordinate is here."

"Take some men out and search...see if there's anything suspicious nearby. Search carefully, understand?"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)