Li Zhaolin's Resolve [Seeking Follow-ups]

The night was like ink, slowly soaking into the horizon.

Before the last sliver of dim light was swallowed up.

Lu Jing'an stepped over the threshold of the Lu Residence.

Electric lights had already been lit in the courtyard.

The dim, yellow halos swayed upon the bluestone slabs.

They stretched Lu Jing'an's hurried silhouette, making it flicker between long and short.

Lu Jing'an did not pause, walking straight through the corridor toward his father Lu Huaiqian's study.

When he knocked and entered, Lu Huaiqian was reviewing the documents on his desk.

A heavy, worried look was etched between his brows.

Seeing Lu Jing'an arrive, he closed the booklet.

Lu Jing'an recounted these two pieces of vital intelligence to Lu Huaiqian.

After listening, Lu Huaiqian fell silent for a moment.

His knuckles tapped lightly against the hardwood tabletop, producing a rhythmic, hollow sound.

After a while, he spoke slowly:

"Extracting the truth from the Li Family is simply impossible.

It would be a blessing if they didn't use this opportunity to bite back at our Lu Family.

Moreover, even if they did speak, I fear it would be nothing but a trap.

Even if they truly set a snare, it would be difficult for us to grasp any evidence.

When the time comes, they need only claim they were unaware if the bodies had been consumed by the Tiger Demon, and we would be helpless."

This was exactly what Lu Jing'an had thought as well.

Lu Jing'an had only mentioned it in passing; his main focus was the matter of accessing the case files.

Lu Huaiqian did not refuse.

He immediately wrote out a formal, strictly formatted request for the files on the spot.

Although he wrote the document, his tone held no hope:

"The Peacekeeping Bureau has always been arrogant, looking down upon the Public Security Bureau.

They have always refused to listen to orders or summons.

Even if we send someone to deliver this document tomorrow, I fear we won't be able to retrieve the archives."

Lu Jing'an looked at the document, his eyes shining with a determined light:

"Father, rest assured. Acting within the rules, this time there will certainly be a response."

The certainty in his words made Lu Huaiqian pause slightly.

He sighed inwardly, thinking his son was still young after all, and viewed the dealings within government offices too simply.

If it were just a matter of sending a few bribes to break into the Peacekeeping Bureau, he would have already thrown money at the problem long ago.

The Peacekeeping Bureau was not something that could be swayed by money alone.

However, Lu Huaiqian did not point this out to his face.

He figured that once Lu Jing'an failed to retrieve the files tomorrow, he would naturally understand.

After finishing this matter.

Lu Jing'an took his leave and returned to his own room.

Not long after Lu Jing'an returned to his room.

He saw the notification: [Refining Complete].

Lu Jing'an had previously refined the soul of that mysterious Martial Cultivator.

Now was the time to officially check the harvest.

[Refining Complete]

[Obtained Orange Affix: Absolute Protection]

[Obtained one Wang Xiong Memory Bead]

[Obtained 3 Energy Point]

"Another brand-new orange affix."

Seeing the color of the new affix, Lu Jing'an was very satisfied.

Lu Jing'an immediately began to check the information on the new affix he had obtained.

[Absolute Protection] (Orange)

[Note]: This Affix permanently increases defense attributes by 5 points.

Equipping this Affix reduces damage from cultivators of the same level by 80%.

Damage from those one level higher is reduced by 40%.

Damage from those two levels higher is reduced by 10%.

It can be activated actively or passively to trigger one instance of Absolute Protection, lasting for three seconds.

After Lu Jing'an examined the status of the Affix, he was extremely satisfied with its capabilities.

Especially that final Absolute Protection.

Although it only lasted for three seconds.

This protection had no restrictions regarding levels.

That meant this protection was valid against any level.

Even if the opponent was a dozen levels higher than his current self.

Even if they were the supreme existence among cultivators.

He could still block them for three seconds.

After reviewing the Affix.

Lu Jing'an felt even more strongly about the power of his master, Chen Xuan.

To be able to extract such an Affix from a soul.

Wang Xiong must have been a Martial Cultivator who specialized in defense during his lifetime.

With a turn of his thoughts, Lu Jing'an raised his assessment of Chen Xuan's strength to another level.

To be able to dispose of a Martial Cultivator who specialized in protection so cleanly.

His cultivation level likely exceeded what he had previously imagined.

For the Lu Family to have such a retainer was truly a massive stroke of fortune.

Having finished Refining Wang Xiong's soul.

Lu Jing'an began to refine the remaining three souls.

The souls of the two remaining Martial Cultivators and one Smoke Cultivator were not as good as those of Wang Xiong and Lawrence.

The time required to refine all three together was about the same as that for Wang Xiong alone.

Thirty miles outside Yinshan County, deep within the Black Pine Forest.

The moonlight was sliced into fragments by the dense canopy.

Only a few bleak patches of light leaked through.

Barely illuminating the several stiff, standing figures in the forest.

They were silent, like wooden stakes driven into the ground.

Only when the night wind blew, causing their robes to sway slightly, did it add to the eeriness.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, A low, violent tiger roar exploded from the depths of the forest, Startling the roosting crows.

Upon hearing the sound, those still figures shuddered in unison.

Then, they began to move through the forest with a strange and uniform gait.

Their steps were stiff, their movements synchronized, like puppets controlled by invisible threads.

The leader was a short, stout old man, none other than the Li Family Martial Cultivator Elder He.

Yet at this moment, the sharp glint that once resided in his eyes had been completely extinguished.

Only a hollow, deathly gray remained, and his skin took on a pale, greenish hue in the dim light.

Behind him followed Li Zhaolin and several Li Family servants.

Everyone wore a blank expression with unfocused eyes, having clearly become the ghost servants manipulated by the Tiger Demon.

The Tiger Demon hid in the thickest part of the darkness.

A pair of massive demonic eyes flickered with a cruel and playful light.

It was testing these new toys.

With a slight shift of its intent, it drove the ghost servants to probe toward the edge of the forest.

However, just as Elder He and the others were about to step out of the core range covered by its demonic power.

A sudden change!

Deep within the hollow eyes of Li Zhaolin, who was following behind, a trace of extremely subtle yet exceptionally clear ferocity flashed!

The next instant, his originally rigid body arched forward violently.

Like a spring coiled for a long time, he forcibly broke free from that invisible restraint.

He fled desperately toward the edge of the mountain forest!

His footsteps were staggering yet shockingly fast, a complete transformation from the dullness of a moment ago.

"ROAR!"

The Tiger Demon clearly had not expected this dead toy to be capable of resistance.

Filled with shock and rage, an even more intense roar erupted.

The sound wave condensed into a tangible force, rippling outward visibly to the naked eye.

The leaves of the surrounding trees fell in a frantic rustle, and the dust on the ground trembled.

Li Zhaolin, in the midst of his sprint, was struck as if by a heavy hammer.

His brain buzzed, and his vision went black.

A sweet, bloody taste surged up his throat, and he nearly collapsed.

But he bit down hard on his tongue, and under the stimulation of the sharp pain, he relied on a surge of frantic, vicious energy to hold on.

He did not stop; instead, he ran even faster!

At this, even the Tiger Demon in the shadows was stunned for a moment.

It clearly remembered that this human's neck had been pierced by its sharp teeth.

His breath had ceased, and he had been dead beyond any doubt.

Why... could he still move, and even retain his consciousness?

That Li Zhaolin could come back to life now was naturally not due to his own cultivation.

Years ago, while studying abroad, he had stumbled upon a stroke of luck.

By paying a heavy price, he had knocked on the door of a mysterious sect and found a method for resurrection.

He had intended to use it as a final trump card to escape at a critical moment.

He had not expected to be undone by a beast in this desolate wilderness!

After all, this method could only be used once in a lifetime.

While running wildly, Li Zhaolin suddenly felt a cold, sticky sensation in his abdomen.

Accompanied by the jolting of his intense run, it seemed as if something was constantly sliding out and dragging.

He subconsciously glanced down.

By the bleak moonlight, he saw that the hem of his long gown was soaked through with blood.

A shocking, ghastly wound extended from under his ribs to his lower abdomen, with flesh and skin hideously turned outward.

With the rise and fall of his running, clumps of blurred, cold internal organs were uncontrollably and slowly spilling out, hanging down.

They were even dragging along the ground covered in gravel and dead branches!

"Haa..."

A sound like a broken bellows wheezed from Li Zhaolin's throat.

Boundless fear and nausea seized him instantly.

This secret technique could only maintain a broken body for a short time.

With such heavy injuries and his internal organs displaced, even if his true spirit had not dissipated, this skin bag could not last long and would eventually collapse completely.

After the fear came monstrous resentment.

It burned like fire, scorching the little reason he had left.

He hated the Li Family for their poor decisions, and he hated himself for his bad luck.

But the raging, poisonous flame deep within, which was almost setting his soul ablaze, was directed at the Lu Family, especially Lu Jing'an, who had ruined his plans time and again!

"If I cannot live... none of you shall have it easy either!"

A plan of extreme malice sprouted wildly within the half-heart of this dying man.

He swerved abruptly, no longer fleeing in a straight line.

Instead, relying on the vague impressions from his daytime reconnaissance, he stumbled toward a specific spot in the forest.

The Tiger Demon finally snapped out of its astonishment.

Fury at being resisted by its prey, combined with the shame of being fooled, filled its chest.

It let out a low growl, its massive yet agile body leaping through the trees, closing the distance in a few bounds.

Li Zhaolin seemed oblivious to the stench-filled wind closing in behind him.

He charged into a cave half-hidden by vines.

A thick, pungent odor of wild beasts rushed to meet him.

The cave was dim, but in a pile of dry grass in the corner, a furry tiger cub could be vaguely seen, huddled up and sleeping soundly.

It let out faint, rhythmic snores.

A grim, gleeful expression surfaced on Li Zhaolin's face.

Exhausting his final ounce of strength, he whipped a gleaming Browning from his bosom.

Trembling, he aimed the muzzle at the defenseless cub.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ear-splitting gunshots rang out in rapid succession, echoing through the cave with deafening force.

Flashes of gunfire illuminated Li Zhaolin's blood-spattered, twisted, and insane face.

They also illuminated the spray of blood and the sharp, short cries of agony erupting from the grass pile.

All eight bullets were poured out without a single miss.

When the Tiger Demon charged into the cave on a gale of wind, this was the scene it beheld:

Its cub lay in a pool of blood.

Its tiny body was riddled with several horrific, gaping holes.

The dry grass was soaked through with hot blood, and a thick, metallic stench permeated every inch of the air.

"ROAR—!!!"

This time, the roar could no longer be described as mere anger.

It was madness, a soul-shattering impulse for destruction.

The entire cave seemed to tremble under the sound waves, causing loose stones to rain down.

Li Zhaolin tossed the empty pistol aside.

The metal struck the stone wall with a crisp clatter.

He leaned against the cold cave wall, blood gushing from the wound in his abdomen.

His life ebbed away along with his body heat, yet he laughed, his laughter growing louder and louder.

The laughter was hoarse and frantic, echoing through the cave:

"Cough... haha... cough, cough!

Come on!

You wretched beast!

If you have the guts, just swallow me whole.

My Lu Family of Yin Mountain will never stand with a creature like you."

Every word was crystal clear.

He enunciated "Lu Family" with heavy emphasis, dripping with bone-deep spite and the catharsis of success.

"ROAR!!"

His answer was the endless darkness and tearing agony brought by a gaping maw.

The Tiger Demon's fangs easily cut short Li Zhaolin's manic laughter.

Yet, in the final instant before his consciousness was completely swallowed and he sank into eternal chaos.

Li Zhaolin's last lingering perception.

Was the cold, gleeful arc of his own lips, blooming fully amidst the blood.

He knew he had succeeded.

This Tiger Demon, having lost its cub and driven to earth-shattering rage, would inevitably direct its boundless fury and hatred toward the Lu Family.