Chapter 1433 - 720: Sensing Something Amiss (2)
Lin Beichen hurriedly helped the old lady up, saying, "A human life is of utmost importance. If I can do what I can to bring the old man back, my ability has indeed improved." However, he also informed the old lady that the old man’s lifespan was only ten years left. Originally, the old man should have lived beyond ten years, but due to this incident, he can only live for another ten years. Upon hearing this, the old lady felt it was already good enough, as it’s better than the old man dying.
The old man, hearing what they said, realized that he had already died once and it was all thanks to Lin Beichen that he was brought back to life. He was immensely grateful, got up from the bed, and deeply bowed to Lin Beichen in thanks. After offering some advice, Lin Beichen left.
To express gratitude to Lin Beichen, the old man and old lady offered incense at home and even sprinkled chicken blood at the doorstep. Because Lin Beichen had told them that although the old man was brought back to life, he still lacked Yang Qi and was overburdened with Yin Qi. Sprinkling chicken blood at the door was necessary to repel the Yin Qi, and they followed his instructions.
The old man had never believed in Daoist Skills and the like, but this time Lin Beichen saved his life, making him a firm believer. He took out all of his lifetime savings to contribute incense to the Daoist Temple as gratitude. The old lady supported him wholeheartedly; they were old and had enough money to buy food, unlike the young who needed to buy various clothes. To them, the saved money was brought weekly to the Daoist Temple to contribute incense.
However, in recent days, the Daoist Temple had items missing for several consecutive days, starting with small objects and then growing larger. Initially, no one paid much attention to it until they needed a particular item one day and found it was gone. Upon realizing this, they inspected other items to see if anything else was missing.
Upon this inspection, they found so many things missing from the Daoist Temple that everyone was shocked and quickly informed Lin Beichen about it.
Lin Beichen also found it strange. He knew the people in the Daoist Temple were all upstanding in character, especially after witnessing how he dealt with people who erred. It was even less likely that anyone would steal things.
So, how did these things go missing?
Lin Beichen walked to the Daoist Temple wall, wanting to see if there was a crack somewhere, allowing people to come and go freely.
No crack was found, but strangely white hair grew on the wall.
It’s known that this wall is made of special material, which wouldn’t grow moss, much less inexplicably grow white hair.
After some investigation, Lin Beichen determined someone was causing trouble.
It seemed someone was harboring ill intentions against the Daoist Temple, stealing repeatedly over these few days just to attract their attention. Well, now Lin Beichen was aware of this issue.
Thinking it through, Lin Beichen believed that it couldn’t be human doing if white hair grew on the wall, surely some creature was responsible.
Thereupon, he changed his mindset and realized that only a Mountain Spirit could do such a thing, thus determining that the troublemaker was indeed a Mountain Spirit.
However, Mountain Spirits are unpredictable in their appearances and actions; there aren’t many records about them in books, only that they are highly agile and possess strong anti-investigation abilities.
To capture it is harder than reaching heaven.
Historically, very few have been able to capture Mountain Spirits; they always seem to escape just when about to be caught.
This rendered Lin Beichen somewhat helpless, but he couldn’t just let the Mountain Spirit run rampant, or it would grow braver in its theft, perhaps even coming to the Daoist Temple to wreak havoc openly in the future.
Thus, he needed to come up with a good plan to capture the Mountain Spirit completely.
The little girl had a Spirit Vein and extraordinary talent. Since Lin Beichen took her as a disciple, she had been cultivating, her Power had already surpassed what was typical for her age, her progress rapid.
Lin Beichen was worrying about how to lure the troublemaker out when the little girl passed by him.
Inspiration struck him instantly.
He thought he could use the little girl’s Spirit Vein to lure the Mountain Spirit out.
Because everyone desires to obtain a Spirit Vein, the Mountain Spirit even more so. It treats the Spirit Vein like a delicacy, too hard to resist. If it absorbs all the Spirit Vein within the little girl, its Power would greatly increase, and even its form might change.
"Come here for a moment," Lin Beichen said to the little girl.
"What’s up, Master?" The little girl blinked her big eyes, looking at Lin Beichen, not knowing why he called her over.
"You also know about the recent events happening in the Daoist Temple, where someone’s been stealing things and even causing white hair to grow on the walls. After my investigation, I found the behind-the-scenes culprit is a Mountain Spirit."
"It is extremely agile, making it very difficult to capture. Therefore, I want your help."
"Huh? How can I help?" The little girl was puzzled, as even Lin Beichen and the others couldn’t deal with the Mountain Spirit, so why ask her for help? She’s just a child.
"Because you have many Spirit Veins on you, and you appear harmless. As long as you lure it out, it’s bound to let down its guard, and then it’ll fall into our trap and be captured."
The little girl thought for a moment, realizing the task was somewhat perilous, but she was Lin Beichen’s disciple. If Lin Beichen hadn’t taken her in when she was running away from famine, she wouldn’t be who she is today. She’d probably have starved to death on the roadside.
Hence, she nodded to Lin Beichen, saying, "Disciple is willing to do this."
Lin Beichen reached out to pat the little girl’s head, feeling she was incredibly sensible, so much so it made his heart ache a bit. Had she not been born in a place ridden with famine, she would now be a happy child, perhaps even still acting spoiled and petty in her parents’ arms.
Lin Beichen calculated the approximate time the Mountain Spirit would appear and took the little girl to lie in wait.
He instructed the little girl to stay honestly in one spot, while he hid away.
When the Mountain Spirit arrived, it sensed the exceptionally dense Spirit Vein aura and drool began dripping uncontrollably.
"Coming here was worthwhile, to have discovered such a superb and pure Spirit Vein. If absorbed into my body, my Power will greatly increase!"
The Mountain Spirit looked around briefly and, finding only the little girl, concluded that the Spirit Vein was emanating from her.
Thus, without a second thought, it rushed to the little girl, intending to absorb her Spirit Vein.
Realizing the fish was on the hook, Lin Beichen rushed out from his hiding place and pushed the little girl aside because he needed to protect her, and couldn’t care for himself, thus he got injured.
Although Lin Beichen wasn’t seriously hurt, he immediately launched an attack on the Mountain Spirit.
"Darn, I’ve been tricked!" exclaimed the Mountain Spirit.
Due to its slow reaction, the Mountain Spirit was hit by Lin Beichen and, knowing it couldn’t win, fled in panic.
Despite repelling the Mountain Spirit, Lin Beichen wasn’t satisfied since he intended to capture it to prevent future trouble, but he didn’t expect it to escape.
He couldn’t help feeling somewhat unwilling.
"Where are you going?"
Just as Lin Beichen was about to leave with the little girl, he discovered she was heading into the mountain forest and inadvertently asked.
"I’m going over there to check." replied the little girl.
Lin Beichen didn’t stop her, knowing that the Mountain Spirit had been hurt and wouldn’t be causing trouble again anytime soon, allowing the little girl to go.
These days, the little girl had been continuously cultivating and hadn’t been out much, so this trip was a chance for her to relax.
The little girl walked into the mountain forest, discovering an old lady lying on the ground.
She gently called to the old lady, wanting to wake her up because the ground was too cold.
But after a long while, the old lady remained unresponsive.
The little girl slowly approached, reaching out to try shaking the old lady awake.
When her hand touched the old lady’s body, she found it exceptionally cold, without a trace of warmth.
A thought suddenly flashed in her mind: Only a dead body would be so cold.
Could the old lady have already passed away? The little girl’s heart tightened, quickly placing her hand under the old lady’s nose to check for breath.
As expected, the old lady had no breath.
Since growing up in a place of famine, the little girl had seen death early on, hence she didn’t display panic, instead remained calm.
She touched the old lady’s body, finding it still relatively soft and not completely stiff, indicating the old lady had died not long ago.
So she returned to the Daoist Temple and truthfully reported the matter to Lin Beichen.