New and dark light years

Chapter 480 Borrowing External Force
An unusual light flickered in the old man's eyes.

Li Lin was very familiar with this kind of radiance; many people in officialdom possessed it.

It is called ambition.

Li Lin looked at him and laughed, "My annotations on paper-making techniques are only worth three hundred taels of silver?"

The old man immediately knelt down on one knee, bowed his head and said, "Of course it's more than that, it's priceless. I just want to take this opportunity to work under your command."

The eleven martial arts practitioners standing beside him all looked at him in surprise.

"Do you have a nickname in the martial arts world?" Li Lin asked.

"An Tushen," the old man said, looking up. "He's known in the martial arts world as 'Drunken Yama'!"

Li Lin laughed and said, "You're just a seventh-rank martial artist, yet you dare to call yourself Yama?"

The strength of these twelve people was no secret to Li Lin.

After all, Li Lin is now a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Although his strength hasn't truly increased, his perspective has changed.

He can 'see' things that many people cannot.

The old man looked up and said, "I am skilled in using poison."

“Oh, no wonder he’s called Yama.” Li Lin nodded, then said, “I don’t lack subordinates, and this matter isn’t worth me copying down another paper-crafting technique. If you’re unwilling, please leave.”

The old man sighed, "It's because this humble person doesn't know what's good for them."

"You can ask the yamen runners for information about Zheng Hu." Li Lin's gaze swept over everyone. "If you do this well and do it beautifully, then I will reward you in other ways, but don't even think about the paper-making technique."

A woman asked, "Sir, may I ask what it is?"

"Pills," Li Lin said with a smile, "Youth-preserving pills, body-strengthening pills, or vitality pills."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Besides his amazing paper-making skills, the Paper Prince was also renowned throughout the world for his alchemy.

Even the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital were trying to obtain the Paper Prince's elixirs.

The twelve people immediately left the backyard and hurried outside.

Even the slightly disappointed 'Drunken Yama' felt the same way.

After the martial arts figures left, Li Lin waved to Xiao Chunzhu, who was not far away.

At this moment, Xiao Chunzhu was feeling quite pleased with herself.

Because he used to be a member of the underworld, seeing these former "colleagues" being so obsequious and even somewhat servile in front of Li Lin made him feel even more that choosing to attach himself to Lord Li before he truly gained power was the right thing to do.

Although that Drunken Yama was only of average strength, his poison skills were extremely wicked, making him a master in the martial arts world. I was no match for him.

But now the adults don't even look at him.

At this moment, Xiao Chunzhu saw Li Lin beckoning, so he immediately jogged over and respectfully asked, "Sir, what is it?"

"Take two thousand men and head straight to Guicheng along the official road!" Li Lin said sternly. "I will write an official document and affix the tiger tally seal. You will then deliver it to the prefect of Guicheng."

"Yes." Xiao Chunzhu turned to leave.

“Come back, don’t rush,” Li Lin said.

Xiao Chunzhu turned back around and gave a somewhat embarrassed laugh.

"If the prefect of Guicheng is unwilling to open the city gates, then you should come back first."

"Probably not," Xiao Chunzhu said softly.

Li Lin snorted: "I estimate that Gui County is corrupt from top to bottom. Even though Tian Wending is so honest, he can't control the affairs of Beishan County."

"Isn't this because he's incompetent?"

“Incompetence is an objective reason, but there are also indirect reasons,” Li Lin said coldly. “If Beishan County is like this, then other counties and prefectures are probably not much better.”

Xiao Chunzhu nodded and said, "This humble official understands."

"Take care of yourself, go ahead."

Xiao Chunzhu cupped her hands in greeting, then turned and left.

……

Four more days passed, and Zheng Hu was staying at an inn in Lang Son County.

He arrived here yesterday.

He closed the door, opened his bundle, and took out a dozen or so small, yellowish-brown spheres.

These small balls have a metallic look, but they occasionally tremble slightly.

Zheng Hu picked up one of the yellowest and brightest ones, a look of joy on his face.

Then he took it in his hand and gripped it tightly.

As he exerted force with both hands, cracks slowly appeared on the hard shell of the sphere.

At the same time, faint screams of a child could be heard coming from within the small sphere.

Before long, a transparent, egg-white-like viscous liquid flowed out of the small sphere. Zheng Hu carefully peeled off the outer shell of the sphere, and soon the 'egg white' finished flowing out, revealing an uneven, transparent substance inside, resembling glass.

Within this transparent substance, there was a very tiny, blurry shadow of a young child.

The child appeared to be crying.

Zheng Hu took a deep breath, put the glass piece into his mouth, and crunched it to pieces.

The faint crying of the toddler disappeared.

Zheng Hu's body trembled for a while, then he immediately went to the bed, sat cross-legged, and began practicing his martial arts.

Soon, white mist rose from his forehead.

But within this white mist, there was a hint of green.

It looked extremely ominous.

About three hours later, Zheng Hu opened his eyes, which were filled with joy.

"Three hours is equivalent to half a year of my arduous training, hahaha..."

But he had only laughed halfway through when he suddenly looked pained and pressed his right hand to his chest.

The pain was so intense that he immediately found a chair to sit down, his face contorted in agony.

Not long after, he opened his mouth, and inside was a black Gu worm, which looked like a centipede, but was covered with fine hairs like a spider.

It also has a pair of wings on its back.

The insect crawled out of his mouth, flapped its wings, flew up, and disappeared through the crack in the window.

Zheng Hu was panting heavily.

Not long after, there was a knock at the door.

Zheng Hu walked over and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

"The person who feeds you."

Zheng Hu immediately opened the door and saw two men enter.

He immediately closed the door.

The two men were of ordinary appearance. They looked around the room for a while, and one of them asked Zheng Hu, "The master asks you why you left Beishan County."

There was a faint blue vertical line on the man's forehead.

"Reporting to the Special Envoy, Li Lin has arrived in Beishan County and has already discovered the situation in Luoping Military Town and Dafeng Village."

"Li Lin?"

Zheng Hu nodded and said, "He is the one who killed the 'Burning Immortal' Gu King that the master placed in the capital."

The two nodded, and then one of them looked at the table and noticed the bundle placed there.

He walked over, checked the contents, and laughed, "Two extra ones, you did a good job."

"It is the duty of even a lowly person to serve their lord."

The man took out the smallest brownish-yellow sphere from inside and handed it to Zheng Hu: "The master said that if you bring enough, he will reward you with one."

Zheng Hu bowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Special Envoy."

He looked very happy.

At this moment, the insects that had flown away earlier flew back.

It landed near the man's ear and fluttered its wings.

The man nodded repeatedly, then looked at Zheng Hu.

"The master said you can stay here for another six months. This is your temporary residence." The man placed a land deed on the table: "After this is over, you can go back to Beishan County and continue your work."

Zheng Hu smiled obsequiously and said, "Your humble servant obeys."

The two men left with the bundle.

The Gu worm then burrowed back into Zheng Hu's mouth.

Then Zheng Hu pressed his chest, his face contorted, and cold sweat poured down his face.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he finally recovered.

He then picked up the small round beads that were on the table.

This thing... is vastly different from the sphere he swallowed not long ago.

It's only a quarter of the size of the previous sphere.

Zheng Hu held the small ball in his hand, his face dark and his eyes filled with resentment.

(End of this chapter)