Lin Ji chuckled softly, then opened the gate to the courtyard, gesturing for the Daoist Pingxin to enter.
Daoist Pingxin shook his head again, but seeing Lin Ji already walking into the courtyard on his own, he had no choice but to follow.
Leading Daoist Pingxin into his own courtyard, Lin Ji set up a tea table, picked up the teapot, and poured a cup of tea for Daoist Pingxin, brewed at an unknown time.
Daoist Pingxin didn't mind, after finishing the tea in one gulp, he said, "Originally, I thought that the Heavenly Supervisory Bureau oversees the world, from the Heavenly Officials to the Demon Hunters, all ruthless individuals who only know about slaying demons and monsters. Who would have thought there would be someone like you who also cares about the suffering of the people."
Listening to this, Lin Ji poured out the remaining tea from the teapot, replaced it with fresh tea leaves, and started boiling water.
"I'm just a small constable living day by day, unworthy of Daoist's high regard."
"You are worthy," Daoist Pingxin sighed, "If I were in your place, I would probably just throw that little thief into the prison. Even if he argued, I would only see it as a cunning defense to escape punishment, definitely not as noble as Constable Lin's actions."
Saying this, Daoist Pingxin shook his head again.
"If I really did that, the child would sit in prison for a few months, the mother would most likely not survive without anyone to care for her. And when the child comes out, the mother would have passed away, and because of stealing, she would be unable to hold her head up in Qingyang County, and might even take the wrong path in the future."
"Clearly acting justly, yet causing a tragedy in the mortal world, this is truly..." Daoist Pingxin couldn't find the words to describe it, so he just shook his head and sighed.
"Acting justly is not wrong, he stole, so he deserves to be caught," Lin Ji smiled, "Daoist, there's no need to dwell on it, it's just a small matter."
As they spoke, the water had already boiled.
Lin Ji brewed the tea, taking advantage of the time it took to steep, casually said, "I am a constable, tasked with maintaining peace in the region, that's all. The child is unfortunate, I can easily prevent a tragedy with just a few words, why wouldn't I do it?"
Upon hearing this, Daoist Pingxin stood up, bowed to Lin Ji, and then silently turned and left.
Lin Ji was puzzled by this sudden departure.
"Where is Daoist going?"
"My mind is unsettled, I need to find a quiet place to calm down."
As soon as he finished speaking, Daoist Pingxin had already disappeared without a trace.
Lin Ji helplessly looked at the freshly brewed tea.
"If I had known that a cup of stale tea could suffice, I wouldn't have brewed a fresh one."
Late at night.
A rare curfew in Qingyang County.
The entire county was pitch black, with not a soul on the streets.
Even the night patrol constables had been sent back by Lin Ji.
Walking with his hands behind his back, Lin Ji hummed an unknown tune, feeling a sense of vigilance in his heart.
"We are short-handed."
Currently in Qingyang County, the only capable Demon Hunters were him and Guo Yi, Ling Yin and Zhou Qian had already left, and Lu Cong at the First Realm was not reliable.
If only one or two fierce ghosts had come, it would have been manageable.
Just as Lin Ji felt uneasy, a sudden flash of lightning struck on the other side of the county.
Lin Ji leaped lightly onto a rooftop.
Activating his spiritual eye, he saw that area was shrouded in ghostly aura.
"Has Lao Guo encountered them?"
The thunder just now was Guo Yi's Thunder Talisman, a method of the Qingcheng Sect.
The Thunder Talisman transformed its spiritual energy into thunder through incantations.
In terms of power, it was far inferior to the Heavenly Thunder summoned by Lin Ji's Thunder Sword Technique.
But thunder was naturally effective against ghostly beings, so this method was more than enough to deal with fierce ghosts.
Lin Ji stood on high ground, observing Guo Yi's side for a while. After a moment, most of the ghostly aura dissipated, indicating that the fierce ghost had been slain.
"Fast action, but still not enough." Lin Ji furrowed his brows slightly, looking further in Guo Yi's direction.
Several more waves of ghostly aura were surging towards Qingyang County.
"I hope Lao Guo can hold on." Lin Ji muttered to himself.
Just then, Lin Ji suddenly felt a disturbance from another direction behind him.
Turning around, he saw a blaze amidst a sea of ghostly aura.
"Oh, it's the fake boy I saw during the day." Lin Ji raised an eyebrow slightly.
This was unexpected for him. He had thought it was just a play involving a young lady fleeing marriage, but it turned out to be a cultivator with a significant background.
"That fire technique is not simple, it's not ordinary flames."
Lin Ji observed carefully for a while and noticed that the fake boy, who was currently entangled with a fierce ghost, seemed to handle the situation with ease, indicating that he was also a cultivator at the Third Realm.
Every time the flames she used touched the ghostly aura, they would grow stronger, as if treating the ghostly aura as fuel.
"Interesting."
Lin Ji withdrew his gaze and looked into the distance, towards the direction of Liangcheng from Qingyang County.
At this moment, a vast amount of ghostly aura was gathering there, blocking the moonlight in the sky, surging towards Qingyang County.
Lin Ji took a deep breath, his spiritual energy emanating from his dantian, instantly spreading throughout his body.
"Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts."
Watching the countless ghostly beings moving in the distance within the ghostly aura, Lin Ji knew he couldn't delay any longer.
"At the very least, I have to stop them outside the county."
With this thought in mind, Lin Ji's figure flickered and disappeared, reappearing several meters away.
Continuing to advance rapidly, after a short moment, he had already left Qingyang County and arrived on a small road outside the county.
At this moment, the overwhelming ghostly aura was only a hundred meters away from him.
He could clearly see the dense army of ghost soldiers and fierce ghosts constantly moving in mid-air, carrying the gathered ghostly aura, pressing towards him like a great army.
The howls and screams of the ghostly beings were incessant.
It seemed they had already noticed Lin Ji's presence, as in the blink of an eye, several ghost soldiers rushed towards Lin Ji.
Lin Ji's lips curved slightly with a smile, his mind moved, and the long sword in his hand was already unsheathed.
The sword light flashed, cutting down several ghost soldiers.
But compared to the vast number of them, it was just a drop in the bucket.
"First, I'll dispel your ghostly aura."
Lin Ji formed a hand seal.
"Nature of Heaven and Earth, dispel the impurities, reveal the profound mysteries, illuminate the cosmos."
"Disperse!"
A strong wind rose, mingling with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, colliding with the ghostly aura summoned by the countless ghostly beings.
The ghostly aura began to dissipate, but only slowed down their advance.
"It seems I have to take action personally."
Lin Ji took a deep breath, lifted his sword, and charged into the overwhelming ghostly aura.
In the city, the idle ghostly beings had already been cleared out.
At some point, Guo Yi had arrived not far from Zhong Xiaoyan.
"I am Guo Yi, the Demon Hunter of Qingyang County. Thank you for your help, miss." Guo Yi clasped his fists.
Zhong Xiaoyan had just killed a fierce ghost and was feeling proud when she heard Guo Yi's voice.
She was somewhat surprised, "You saw through my disguise?"
"What disguise?" Guo Yi scratched his head.
Zhong Xiaoyan's expression froze.
But now was not the time to discuss this.
Both of them looked towards the Night Parade of One Hundred Ghosts in the distance, which was now not far from Qingyang County.
They also saw Lin Ji charging into the ghostly aura.
"Our county's constable has gone over, let's hurry and go help." Guo Yi said.
"That was my intention."
Thank you to the readers for their support and to those who have given their donations.