Ascending to Immortality by Slaying Spirits

Chapter 18·New and Old Villages
The next morning, Lin Le sat on the tree trunk, welcoming the first rays of the morning sun.

When the warm sunlight shone on him, Lin Le felt his body begin to generate yang energy, which was about half more than before.

"Now we can reach the Blood Qi Furnace much faster." Lin Le nodded slightly.

As his Qi and blood circulated throughout his body, a red mist seemed to rise from Lin Le's arms, as if a layer of gauze was draped over them.

After picking up his luggage, Lin Le continued eastward.

Compared to their unsteady steps on the way there, they walked briskly on the way back.

Around noon, Lin Le arrived at a village.

Watching the rising smoke, Lin Le stood on the hill, thought for a moment, and then walked over.

As he approached, several gazes fell upon Lin Le.

Lin Le narrowed his eyes slightly before quickly returning to normal.

As they approached the village entrance, an old man who was weaving a straw mat stood up and asked cautiously and respectfully, "Young hero, what brings you here?"

"I'm heading to Bailian County, but I'm short on food, so I'm stopping here to buy some snacks," Lin Le said.

"Oh, is that so?" The old man nodded. "Young hero, it's almost noon. How about coming to my humble home for a simple meal?"

"Alright." Lin Le took out a piece of silver. "For the meal, use any extra to buy me some dry food."

"Okay." The old man took the silver coins and nodded.

The old man then took Lin Le to his own home, which turned out to be a brick house.

"Are you the village head?" Lin Le asked the old man beside him as he saw the house.

The old man nodded: "Yes."

"Oh," Lin Le replied, without any further reaction.

He also thought he had some kind of reaction, after all, he had been influenced by the official-centric ideology in both his previous life and this life.

But after killing so many people, he felt it was all just ordinary. What did it matter if he had an official position? He was just an old man he could crush with a flick of his wrist.

Seeing Lin Le's calm demeanor, the old man couldn't help but feel uneasy, knowing that this man was probably from a wealthy family.

But thinking of that gaping maw, the old man steeled his heart. So what if he was a descendant of a wealthy family? Dressed in burlap and without any guards, he was clearly not from a prominent family, just a young man from a modestly wealthy family who had seen a bit of the world.

If we kill him, we probably won't be able to find anything about his family background.

The old man pushed open the door and called inside, "Dazhuang, we have guests. Prepare some hot food for them."

"Okay." A rough voice came, and a strong man walked out of the house. He saw Lin Le, paused for a moment, and then revealed a set of yellow teeth. "Guest, are there any dietary restrictions? I'll be careful."

"There are no dietary restrictions, just avoid anything too spicy, I don't like it," Lin Le said.

"Okay." Dazhuang nodded.

A short while later, Lin Le sat down at a table and watched as Da Zhuang served him three dishes and a bowl of rice.

Lin Le ate slowly, circulating his blood and qi through the Great Food Technique, stimulating his stomach and intestines to digest the food.

After everyone finished their meal, the old man offered them a cup of tea: "Young hero, are you satisfied with this simple meal?"

"It's alright, I'm not too picky about food." Lin Le took a sip of tea. "By the way, is the village head's position comfortable?"

The old man was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It's alright, life has indeed become a bit easier since I became a member of this organization."

“That’s true.” Lin Le suddenly reached out, his fingers like eagle claws, and grabbed the old man’s throat. “After all, how can life not be good when you’re sitting on other people’s corpses?”

The old man's eyes bulged slightly, and a look of panic appeared in them. He felt that things were getting out of his control.

He tried to speak, but Lin Le was gripping his throat, and he could only cough indistinctly.

“I’ve met the village head here before. He’s a very simple and honest uncle. He even gave me some fried rice as dry rations before.” Lin Le looked at the old man indifferently. “I thought you might be his father or something, but after your son came out, I can be sure that you’re not.”

At this moment, Dazhuang also walked in. He was stunned as soon as he entered. He couldn't understand why Lin Le had grabbed his father. Then he realized what was happening and roared, "Let go of my dad!" Lin Le glanced at him indifferently, and then there was a cracking sound as the old man's head snapped to the side.

"Ah!!! You actually killed my father!" Dazhuang's face immediately turned blood red. "Are you even human? My family kindly invited you to dinner, and you dared to kill my father!"

"First of all, I paid, so it doesn't count as your treat." Lin Le slowly walked towards Da Zhuang. "Secondly, you guys weren't up to any good either, were you? You put sleeping pills in the food, do you really think I wouldn't have noticed?"

Da Zhuang was taken aback, glanced at the empty food, and asked with a hint of confusion, "Then how come you're alright?"

*Snap! Whoosh!*
The wind howled, accompanied by nine crackling sounds, as a somewhat delicate fist slammed heavily into Da Zhuang's temple.

Da Zhuang hadn't expected Lin Le to attack suddenly, nor did he expect Lin Le to be so fast. He took the punch squarely.

Bang! Crack!

The sound of bones breaking rang out, and a noticeable dent appeared on Dazhuang's head. He then collapsed limply, with some grayish-white liquid flowing from his ears.

Lin Le withdrew his fist and looked at Da Zhuang's corpse, saying:
"Go ask your father."

It's unlikely that good sleeping potions could be found in such rural villages, and even if they were available, people wouldn't be able to afford them.

While ordinary sleeping pills are somewhat troublesome for martial artists, they can still withstand the effects of their physical constitution without fainting, at the cost of a temporary decrease in combat power.

Moreover, the Great Food Technique can greatly enhance the resistance of the gastrointestinal tract, making it easy to digest ordinary sleeping pills.

To have any effect on him, you'd have to inject it directly into his veins.

Stepping out of the brick house, Lin Le glanced around and then called out, "Hey buddy, come here for a second."

A farmer stopped, looked around, and then pointed to himself: "Are you calling me?"

"Who else should I call? It's just the two of us here," Lin Le said with a smile. "Come here, I want to ask you a few questions."

Seemingly because of Lin Le's confident demeanor, the farmer obediently walked over and asked, "What would you like to ask?"

"How did Hara Muramasa die?" Lin Le asked.

"Eaten by a monster," the farmer answered instinctively, clearly remembering the incident vividly.

However, as soon as he said it, the farmer suddenly realized and added, "Wait, I remembered wrong. He died of a cold."

Lin Le narrowed his eyes: "What monster?"

"No monster, no monster!" The farmer waved his hands repeatedly. "Yutaka Haramura really did die of illness!"

Lin Le had one hand on the farmer's shoulder, a smile on his face, but it was devoid of any warmth, making one feel intimidated: "What monster? Where is it?"

The farmer's heart pounded violently, filled with fear. After struggling for a while, he finally told the truth: "There's a big tiger in that grove of trees."

As he spoke, he pointed to a grove of trees.

"Really?" Lin Le glanced at the woods. "How often does it come out to forage?"

"Once every seven days," the farmer honestly replied. "It's been five days since the last time."

Lin Le narrowed his eyes slightly: "Can it talk?"

"No, but I can write," the farmer said.

"Okay." Lin Le let go of her hand. "Go do your own thing."

"Oh." The farmer left obediently.

After walking a few steps, the farmer couldn't help but turn back to look at Lin Le, only to see Lin Le enter the village head's house, and his pupils couldn't help but shrink.

That new village chief was the one responsible for feeding the monsters. He had previously wondered why Lin Le, an outsider, was walking around the village.

Looking back now
The farmer shuddered, unwilling to think further, since he couldn't afford to offend anyone anyway.

(End of this chapter)