Lin Ji pondered to himself that he usually did good deeds and shouldn't be so unlucky.
Although the Ghost King City was famous, located between the capital city and the Liang City, even with the fearsome reputation of the Ghost King, he couldn't afford to be too lenient with his subordinates.
In theory, it would be fine to have a few ghost soldiers in the mountain temple beside the official road, but it shouldn't have gathered so many.
Ghost soldiers were a type of ghost stronger than ordinary spirits.
In fact, any man with vigor wouldn't fear the invasion of ghost soldiers.
But that was just a single ghost soldier.
At this moment in the mountain temple, a dozen ghost soldiers were surrounding three scholars who were already extremely weak.
Two of the scholars had already passed out.
The one in the middle was still conscious, his face full of fear, obviously realizing what was happening.
The moment Lin Ji stepped into the mountain temple, all the ghost soldiers' gazes focused on him.
Suddenly being stared at by a dozen ghost soldiers, even though he wasn't afraid, Lin Ji still felt a bit uncomfortable.
This was the natural taboo living beings had towards the dead.
Just then, the only conscious scholar hurriedly shouted, "The ghosts are fierce, go to Liang City and report to the authorities, summon the officials from the Celestial Inspection Bureau!"
Lin Ji shook his head.
Ghost soldiers acted on instinct, and these ghost soldiers, on the verge of turning into fierce ghosts with their intelligence dissipating, saw living beings as the most delicious food.
It was too late to leave now. The ghost soldiers abandoned the three scholars who were barely breathing and rushed towards Lin Ji.
The dozen ghost soldiers gathered together, their ghostly aura no less than that of ordinary fierce ghosts. In an instant, the entire mountain temple was filled with a dense fog of ghostly energy, overwhelming.
"Ghost soldiers aren't troublesome. But being so close to the Ghost King City, these ghost soldiers daring to harm people so openly on the official road, most likely received orders from a ghost general or even a ghost marshal behind them."
Lin Ji pondered, and with a flick of his hand, his long sword was unsheathed from his waist.
Seeing the ghost soldier charging towards him, he remained calm and nonchalantly struck out with his sword.
"The Dao resides in me, the divine emerges from my heart."
The sword edge shimmered with a green light, and the ghost soldier couldn't hold on for even a moment, directly turning into a wisp of black smoke, its soul dispersing.
The dissipation of one ghost soldier seemed to stimulate the remaining ones.
The ghostly aura in the temple intensified slightly, but the ghost soldiers were still just ghost soldiers.
Even a cultivator who had just entered the first realm of Body Tempering could easily deal with these ghostly beings, let alone Lin Ji, who had long reached the third realm of Spirit Awakening, with his spiritual eyes open, able to perceive evil spirits and naturally restrain ghosts.
In just a few breaths, Lin Ji had cleaned up the dozen or so ghost soldiers in the temple.
The ghosts were gone, but the ghostly energy in the temple had not dissipated. This foul energy was inconsequential to Lin Ji, but for the three unfortunate scholars in the temple, it was enough to make them seriously ill.
So Lin Ji sheathed his sword, then used a hand gesture.
"Nature of Heaven and Earth, disperse the impure energy, reveal the mysterious truth, illuminate the primordial essence."
"Disperse!"
A strong wind rose, sweeping away the impure energy in the temple, dissipating it into the heavens and earth.
After doing all this, Lin Ji turned his gaze towards the scholars.
At this moment, only the conscious scholar was dumbfounded.
He had thought he was doomed, but now he saw this person in front of him was so powerful, easily eliminating all the ghosts in the temple.
"I am Liu Chengru, grateful for your lifesaving grace, are you an official from the Celestial Inspection Bureau?"
"Head Constable of Qingyang County, Lin Ji."
"Head Constable? No wonder," Liu Chengru understood.
Each city and county had demon hunters in office, slaying demons and protecting the peace of the people.
Those who could become head constables were naturally the best among them.
Lin Ji checked the conditions of the other two scholars who were still unconscious.
They had only fainted from fright, and before the ghost soldiers could truly strike, Lin Ji had intervened.
Lin Ji looked at Liu Chengru, seeing his concerned expression, he reassured, "No problem, just a bit frightened, they will wake up in a moment."
"That's great," Liu Chengru breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lin Xiong, if it weren't for you tonight, the three of us would probably have lost our lives to those ghost soldiers."
Lin Ji shook his head, signaling Liu Chengru not to worry.
Outside the temple, the rain continued to pour incessantly. Lin Ji decided to pick up some relatively dry firewood in the temple and start a small fire to ward off the cold.
Before long, the other two scholars also woke up.
These two were named Fang Yishan and Bai Tianming.
Upon learning that they had been saved by Lin Ji, they expressed their gratitude profusely.
The four of them chatted casually in the temple.
During the conversation, Lin Ji learned that these three scholars were the top three in the imperial examination in Xiangzhou.
This trip to the capital for the imperial examination, barring any accidents, these three would most likely achieve top honors.
But that had nothing to do with Lin Ji.
The demon hunters and head constables from various regions were nominally under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate, but in reality, they reported to the officials of the Celestial Inspection Bureau in each state capital.
The civil service system did not extend to the Celestial Inspection Bureau, so even if these three had a bright future ahead, it had nothing to do with Lin Ji.
Even if it did, he wasn't interested in climbing the ranks.
Leaving Liu Chengru and the others to rest, Lin Ji opened his package and took out a small cloth bundle.
This action caught the attention of Liu Chengru and the others.
They subconsciously stopped their conversation and watched Lin Ji's movements attentively.
Lin Ji carefully unwrapped the layers of the tightly wrapped cloth bundle, revealing its contents.
Three sesame-seed-studded pastries.
"Lin Xiong, just three pastries, why be so cautious?" Fang Yishan couldn't help but ask.
When it came to food, Lin Ji's eyes lit up.
"Just pastries? These are the pastries from Lao Li's Pastry Shop next to the Qingyang County yamen. They only bake three batches a day, and it's such a popular item that you can't even buy it if you're not there early in the morning. If you're late, you won't get any."
Lin Ji found a stick, cleaned it quickly, then skewered the pastries and placed them above the fire.
"If I hadn't needed to go on a long journey, I wouldn't have paid a hefty price to have Lao Li specially bake a batch for me. Normally, if you want to buy these pastries, you have to get up early in the morning to wait in line. If you're late, you won't get any."
In the time it took to speak, the pastries from Lao Li's secret recipe, sprinkled with sesame seeds, had already emitted a burnt aroma under the roasting fire.
Liu Chengru swallowed his saliva, but with the dignity of a scholar, he refrained from asking further.
Lin Ji ignored them and ate one pastry in three quick bites, then started roasting the second one.
After devouring two pastries, Lin Ji picked up a gourd filled with water and gulped down two big mouthfuls before sighing contentedly.
He wrapped the remaining pastry in layers and turned to Liu Chengru and the others, saying, "Rest up quickly, we'll be hitting the road at daybreak. There are two small towns on the way to the capital, the nearest one is just over twenty miles away, not too far."
"When we reach the town, take a few days to rest before setting off again. Your bodies have been invaded by ghost soldiers, judging from your weakened state, you'll probably fall seriously ill tomorrow."
"Thank you for the reminder," Liu Chengru and the others quickly expressed their gratitude.
Lin Ji waved his hand, then found a comfortable corner, closed his eyes, and began to restore his energy.
Time passed quickly.
After resting for less than two hours, Lin Ji suddenly opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed.
He was awakened by the cold.
According to reason, after reaching the first realm of Body Tempering, one should be impervious to cold and heat.
But he was awakened by a chill.
Moreover, when he fell asleep, dawn was not far off. By this time, it should have been bright outside.
However, when Lin Ji looked outside the temple gate, it was still dark as night, with heavy rain pouring down.
Something was amiss.
Lin Ji quickly got up, glanced at the three scholars sleeping by the fire, saw that they were sleeping soundly, and didn't disturb them. Instead, he walked out of the mountain temple.
The mountain wind blew in the pouring rain, and raindrops hit Lin Ji's face.
With a hint of a bloody scent.
Lin Ji sighed lightly.
"The Ghost Realm."
(End of Chapter)