New and dark light years

Chapter 508 Want to go to the capital? I can help you!

Ya Jiang had great respect and trust for Li Lin.

Without saying a word, he grabbed the old woman by the collar and lifted her up.

Then came the forceful slaps to the face.

Every slap landed with a loud thud, making you feel the pain just by listening to it.

After being slapped three times, the old woman's face was already swollen and bruised, and there was even blood coming out.

Ordinary people watching from the outside initially pointed and whispered, but then they noticed that something seemed off about the old woman.

After the face was slapped so badly, a large piece of skin actually peeled off.

At first, they thought the dentist had hit too hard and had broken the person's face, but then they saw that the old woman's body had actually straightened up.

His hands were clenched into fists.

Play dead!

This left the audience somewhat puzzled.

While feigning death is indeed a good way to escape punishment, this is a public trial, and it's not appropriate to use this method to evade it.

Ya Jiang snorted and tore off the skin from the woman's face, revealing that the so-called old woman was actually a middle-aged man.

“This person is not Old Lady Zhao; he is wearing a mask.”

"Is there really such a thing as disguise? I thought it was just those martial arts practitioners bragging about it."

"Wait, isn't this Old Lady Zhao? Where did Old Lady Zhao go?"

"Who knows, probably dead."

The man whose face had been ripped off had opened his eyes. He wanted to fight back, but seeing a dozen iron spears pointing at him, he gave up the idea.

The 'assassins' mixed in with the crowd, seeing that things were not going to work, left.

Li Lin slammed the gavel down forcefully, silencing all the noise, and then said, "Put the prisoner in jail first, and at the same time, take control of all members of the Zhao family. If anyone resists, kill them on the spot."

"Yes!"

The officer bowed and left the county government office with a group of armored soldiers.

When the people realized there was no good show to watch, they all left.

However, they continued to discuss it as they walked.

I'd only ever heard of the art of disguise before, but now that I'd finally seen it for myself, I naturally had to brag about it to others.

As for the philanthropic Zhao family... they couldn't be bothered with them.

Li Lin continued to stay in the backyard of the county government office.

It must be said that winter in the Central Plains is not as comfortable as in southern Xinjiang.

Looking around, all you see is a vast expanse of white. At first glance, it's somewhat interesting, but after a while, it becomes quite dull.

And it's quite cold.

Magistrate Qin walked over, first bowing to Li Lin, and said, "Military Governor, could you please enlighten me?"

"Please sit down." Li Lin always had a good impression of polite people: "Ask me anything."

Magistrate Qin sat down, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Do you think there is any hope for this country?"

Li Lin subconsciously raised an eyebrow.

The magistrate Qin came straight to the point with such a direct question, it seems he has something on his mind.

Li Lin pondered for a while. Logically speaking, he could ignore this problem.

Because no matter how you answer, it will be a sensitive topic.

However, his current reputation and situation are already very sensitive. Everyone knows that he doesn't get along with the Zhu family, so it doesn't really matter if people talk about it.

It depends on whether he is willing or not.

Whether or not there is any hope depends on your perspective, Magistrate Qin.

"What is the explanation?"

Li Lin laughed and said, "If you stand from the Zhu family's perspective, then this world... is probably about to be gone. But if you look at it from the perspective of the common people, the so-called world has always been there, it doesn't need to be saved, it just needs to be cleaned up."

Magistrate Qin sat quietly for a while, then asked, "From which perspective does the military governor stand? The Zhu family, or the common people?"

Is there a possibility that I don't want to choose either of these two?

County Magistrate Qin looked at Li Lin in surprise.

Whether Li Lin chose the Zhu family or the common people, it was all within his expectations.

The Zhu family are loyal ministers, while the common people are "rebels." But if things are done properly, it's not impossible for the world to be ruled by the "Li" family in the future.

But he said he didn't want to choose any of them.

This was beyond Magistrate Qin's expectations.

Li Lin said, "To put it simply, I never wanted to oppose the Zhu family, nor am I a great person who speaks out for the people and sweeps away evil from the world. I also have no desire to possess the world's most powerful artifacts. In essence, I am just a nobody who lives a life of mediocrity."

"Then why did you..."

"I've been forced into this position by the times. I'm not a big shot; it's the times that have pushed me to where I am now."

Magistrate Qin was stunned for a while before he said with a wry smile, "Actually, I have been paying attention to your deeds as military governor. Your rise to power was indeed, as you said, forced upon you by others. Your last trip to the capital to receive your title was originally a great thing, but the crown prince forced you to have rebellious intentions, and even the crown prince himself died with resentment."

"There's no need to say that a Gu practitioner died with resentment; rather, it's more accurate to say that he deserved his fate."

Gu people... once they are 'assimilated' to a certain extent, they are no longer considered human.

Even Li Lin's talisman couldn't save them.

From now on, they will only find pleasure in cannibalism.

Magistrate Qin wanted to say something more, but seeing Li Lin's evaluation of the Crown Prince, he knew that Li Lin didn't have a good opinion of the Zhu family either. So he stood up and said, "Thank you for your explanation, Governor. I understand your thoughts."

"You know what I'm thinking?" Li Lin asked curiously, "Then what are your plans?"

"This humble official is willing to follow Your Excellency." Magistrate Qin knelt down and solemnly said, "I am willing to transform into a dragon for Your Excellency... and offer my humble strength."

"Oh, how can I help?"

Magistrate Qin said, "The Zhao family, the Luo family... are all villains of the Zhuxian Society. I have evidence of their evil deeds, which I am willing to present to you, sir."

Li Lin shook his head.

When Magistrate Qin saw this, his expression turned somewhat disappointed.

He thought Li Lin looked down on him.

Li Lin replied, "This isn't how you offer a pledge of loyalty. You need to take men and arrest all the wicked people from these two families. Kill those who deserve it, arrest those who deserve it, confiscate their property, and make them public. Understand?"

Magistrate Qin stood up and said, "I will take care of it immediately."

Li Lin sat in the backyard for a while, and then went to the city tower to rest for the night.

When he woke up the next day, Ji Bo came to report.

"My lord, the rebel general is shouting battle cries down below, and the crowd is growing larger and larger. What should we do?"

"Didn't I say before that we should continue to blockade them?" Li Lin said calmly.

Ji Bo wanted to say something more, but after opening his mouth, he finally lowered his head and said, "Yes, sir."

Shortly after Ji Bo left, a servant came in to report: "Sir, we have arrested a group of people from the Zhao family. Magistrate Qin is also cooperating with our operation and has arrested quite a few people. Would you like to go and take a look?"

Li Lin shook his head: "The Zhuxian Society is nothing but a petty villain. You two interrogate them together and make sure to uproot their secret stronghold here."

With Magistrate Qin handling things, Li Lin no longer needed to get involved.

Otherwise, why would we hire him as a subordinate?
"As ordered."

After bowing, Ya left.

Li Lin then drank some millet porridge.

On a freezing cold day, drinking something hot is very comforting.

Li Lin then sat cross-legged on the bed to practice his martial arts.

Although solo cultivation is not as miraculous as dual cultivation, spiritual energy still needs to be accumulated over time.

Practice whenever you have time; it won't hurt.

Three more days passed. Then Ji Bo came again.

The young man's face showed some anger, but it wasn't directed at Li Lin: "Sir, the Di people are killing people down there."

"Oh, I'll go take a look."

Li Lin put on a coat, went out of the city gate, came to the city wall, and looked into the distance.

Shouts of battle and screams of agony filled the air, extremely piercing.

A cavalry unit, consisting of only about five hundred riders, wearing strange white fur hats and riding not-so-tall gray horses, darted back and forth between the rebels.

They would launch a surprise attack every now and then.

These Di people were skilled in mounted archery, and each volley of arrows accurately hit the outermost groups of the rebel army.

These rebels were poorly equipped; most of them carried wooden guns with crudely made pig iron tips.

Moreover, they had almost no arrows and were unable to retaliate.

They could only watch helplessly as these cavalrymen ran around them, reaping the lives of their comrades wave after wave.

They also had no cavalry, so they couldn't catch up with or stop the enemy.

Fortunately, the Di people had a limited number of arrows. After firing about thirteen volleys of arrows, taking the lives of at least two thousand people, they ran away and stood there.

Because the city wall was located on high ground, and one can see far from a high vantage point, Li Lin could see the expressions on the faces of the Di people.

After practicing cultivation, his field of vision is now much wider, much better than that of ordinary people.

One Di person stood out; his clothing was the same as the other Di people: a woolen hat, a leather coat... and all dirty.

But among that group of people, he has a special quality that makes him stand out at a glance.

Just as Li Lin was looking at this person, the other person suddenly turned his head and looked in Li Lin's direction.

Li Lin understood that the other party had also seen him.

Their eyes met, and then the other person grinned.

It was a sarcastic kind of thing.

Li Lin remained expressionless, simply watching the other person quietly.

Then, the group of Di people left.

Li Lin's gaze shifted downwards; the morale of the rebels had plummeted to rock bottom.

They lacked food and clothing.

Some rebels even went so far as to drag the bodies of their comrades back into the army and cover them up with the crowd.

As for what will happen, everyone else can guess.

But this is not surprising; it is common knowledge that rebels resort to cannibalism when they run out of food.

Ji Bo sighed beside him, "A human tragedy."

Li Lin sneered, "A human tragedy... If only Zhang Zouzhi had acted more prudently, and started developing the local economy after securing a piece of land, things wouldn't have come to this. Look at Yue County and Dian County, they were also occupied by rebels, yet cannibalism occurred there."

Ji Bo said, "My lord, why don't you let me lead men to defeat the rebel army in front of us? They are always staying outside and will affect the morale of our troops."

"There are at least 20,000 people below, and their numbers are only increasing. Are you sure you can defeat them?"

Ji Bo took a deep breath: "My lord, but if we just stay here, we can only watch them starve to death or turn into hungry ghosts and kill each other. This is detrimental to your virtue."

Li Lin asked with a smile, "Are you complaining about me?"

"That's not it, and I wouldn't dare. It's just that you, sir, could have done better, and could have kept them under your control. Why did you..." Ji Bo said, cupping his hands in greeting.

"In other words, we could have starved them to death, but you insisted on sending your comrades, your brothers, your subordinates to their deaths!" Li Lin sighed. "The rebels are lives in your eyes, but what about your comrades? Aren't their lives lives too?"

As a group, no matter how united we are, we will always have different opinions when it comes to truly important matters.

Li Lin believes that, no matter what, one's own people are always more important.

Morality and rules should be applied to our own people, not to sympathize with our enemies.

Ji Bo was stunned; Li Lin's question left him speechless.

Moreover, the surrounding soldiers were all listening; at least a hundred people heard the conversation between the two.

Ji Bo opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

The soldiers around them looked at the two men in completely different ways.

Li Lin shouted, "Someone come here!"

A dozen or so guards stepped forward.

"I hereby announce that Ji Bo is temporarily removed from his post as military commander and is to be escorted to the rear and handed over to the transport commissioner to be taken back to the Jin County military camp. Without my order, he is not allowed to step out of the military camp."

Ji Bo looked up at Li Lin with an incredulous expression.

Several guards came over and dragged Ji Bo away.

Ji Bo didn't shout or yell, but his eyes clearly became very... disappointed.

But in reality, Li Lin was even more disappointed.

Ji Bo is a young man, a year younger than Li Lin.

Once they grow up, they will become important generals under Li Lin, the kind who can shoulder great responsibilities.

Although Xiao Chunzhu was more trusted by Li Lin, in terms of ability, Ji Bo was stronger than Xiao Chunzhu and also stronger than the other military officers.

Yet this capable young man made a foolish mistake on such a matter of principle.

Actually, Li Lin had been thinking about replacing him for three days, but he still gave him a chance and gave him a verbal warning, telling him to think it over carefully.

As a result, three days passed and he still couldn't figure it out.

Li Lin then pointed to a man beside him: "Commander Tang, from today onwards, you will temporarily take over Ji Bo's position and manage his troops. Do you understand?"

"Thank you for your promotion, sir."

The man knelt down, his face full of surprise.

……

Zhang Zouzhi, the King of Da Shun, was stationed at the foot of the city wall of the capital.

There is a high ground here, which is just right for his army to set up camp.

He was sitting in the commander's tent, with the capital city not far away, but they couldn't get in.

Ahead were the Di cavalry, who occasionally roared past the camp, taking away a number of lives.

Meanwhile, in the rear, the military governor Li Lin had completely blocked his retreat.

Now they can neither escape nor get in.

If this continues, he'll only end up dead.

"What should I do?" Zhang Zouzhi sighed, filled with regret.

He had a slight urge to drink, but then he thought of his army, which was almost out of ammunition and food, let alone alcohol.

Just when he was at his wit's end, a voice suddenly came from inside the tent.

"Do you need my help?"

"who is it?"

Zhang Zouzhi jumped up.

Then he saw a woman emerge from the air in the corner.

The other person was dressed in a magnificent purple robe, was very beautiful, and had a very voluptuous figure.

He glanced at her once, and subconsciously swallowed, wanting to have an unspeakable exchange with this woman.

But then he felt something was off, and cold sweat poured down his back.

"Who are you? How did you get here? Guards, come quick! There's an assassin!"

Zhang Zouzhi shouted, but... no one came in at all; it seemed that no one could hear him.

"No need to shout, the people outside can't hear you." The woman sat down, looking down at him, and said, "Do you want to go to the capital? I can help you."

Zhang Zouzhi was about to rush out of the tent, but upon hearing this, he turned around abruptly and asked, "How can I help?"

(End of this chapter)