Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 50: Peerless Under Heaven 12

The martial artist took a deep breath, barely managing to maintain a steady voice as he said, “Did… did you bring the heads? We need to check them.”

Lin Dan picked up the bundle she had casually tossed aside, and it was bulging and lumpy, vaguely revealing the shape of facial features, and a strong smell of bl00d wafted from it. The martial artist in charge of receiving her became even more cautious and respectfully took the bundle, carefully examining the seven heads. Fearing that his eyesight was insufficient, he also called out the sub-branch master.

The martial artists who were selecting tasks in the hall gathered one after another, their expressions varied, some doubtful, some solemn, and some indifferent.

“It’s probably just here to swindle the bounty. Someone has done this before.”

“Swindle the Jianghu Alliance’s bounty? Are they not afraid of dying!”

“I think it’s real. This person is indeed Lin Dan of the Eastern Saint Cult, right? Otherwise, who has the ability to kill seven Half-step Grandmasters in one go!”

“Even for her, it’s a bit too outrageous, I don’t quite believe it. You know, she’s only been promoted to Half-step Grandmaster not long ago, and her condition is still very unstable, and she doesn’t have rich combat experience, how can she compare to these veteran masters.”

Amidst the discussions of the crowd, the sub-branch master had already finished examining all the heads. First, he respectfully glanced at Lin Dan, and then he took a piece of cloth soaked in a special liquid and leaped onto the wanted list, wiping away all the names of the seven evildoers.

“May I ask, who are you?” The sub-branch master, with a decision already made, couldn’t help but ask one more question.

“When will I get my reward?” Lin Dan asked back instead of answering.

The sub-branch master’s expression froze for a moment.

Bai Yan held back a laugh and said, “This is Lin Dan, hurry up and give her the reward.”

“Indeed, I still have a lot of debts to pay.” Lin Dan stated frankly.

The sub-branch master’s expression became even more unspeakable; he had never seen a Half-step Grandmaster who was this poor before.

Bai Yan could no longer restrain himself, and turned away to chuckle softly.

Lin Dan didn’t even look at him, but just walked to the list and stood still, contemplating what other business she could take. The martial artists who knew her true identity no longer dared to underestimate her. They all retreated when she approached, creating a vacuum of three zhang wide, and their faces were filled with deep respect.

Another martial artist leaped onto the Jianghu master list next to it and replaced Lin Dan’s nameplate with the nameplate of the Great Elder of Lianyung City, and marked eight words behind it—Suspected to have advanced to the Grandmaster realm.

As soon as the annotation came out, everyone was in an uproar. They had already retreated three zhang, and at this moment, they retreated even further, fearing that they would offend Lin Dan. A Grandmaster, and a living one at that, they would never have the chance to see again in their lives! Who would have thought that a Grandmaster wouldn’t stay in their own sect or city, but would come outside to hunt down evildoers? This was also too down-to-earth!

For some reason, the martial artists who thought of this felt some familiarity with Lin Dan in addition to their respect. A Grandmaster was the highest existence on the Eastern Tang Continent; they owned a city, or even a country, and none of them would come to understand the people’s situation, nor would any of them lower their status and personally eliminate the demons and heretics. They were out of reach, and they were also aloof from the world, but the girl in front of them, though expressionless, had eyes full of curiosity as she looked at the list, and was as simple as a child.

A Grandmaster could be like this! Thinking of this, many people, although still holding a sense of respect, had already let go of their boldness and slightly approached Lin Dan. Lin Dan still stared at the list, not caring about the movements around her. No matter how high her martial arts were, she was just a mortal, and no different from others.

Watching Lin Dan gradually being surrounded by the crowd, Bai Yan’s clear, cold eyes were already filled with warmth, and there was even a twinkling of a smile.

After a while, a martial artist wiped the wall clean and wrote a new list, named the Jianghu Power List. Ranked first was Lianyung City, followed by Yanhuang City… and Lin Dan’s original Eastern Saint Cult had leaped from a heretical, low-level power to a major sect second only to the Xiaoyao Sect. Now it was widely recruiting disciples and rebuilding its prestige. The remaining followers couldn’t find the elusive Lin Dan, so they had to ask He Yufei to return and let her act as the head of the sect.

Everything that the Eastern Saint Cult now possessed was exactly what He Chongling and his son had dreamed of, but unfortunately, they could no longer see it.

Lin Dan retracted her gaze, her expression calm. A bounty hunter standing beside her took the initiative and asked boldly, “Master Lin, which tasks are you planning to take?”

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately pricked up their ears, and the spies sent by the heretical forces all held their hearts up as well. In the three months that Lin Dan had hunted down the seven great evildoers, the heretical forces had almost suffered a devastating blow. They had sent many people to assassinate Lin Dan, but they all became the ghosts under her blade, so that they were completely afraid of her and risked coming to the Jianghu Alliance to inquire about news.

“I’m not taking any more, I’ll leave some business for you all.” Lin Dan shook her head.

The bounty hunter heaved a sigh of relief, and his eyes towards Lin Dan no longer had any fear, but reverence. Where would you go to find a Grandmaster as upright and approachable as Lin Dan! The heretical spies also put down the big stones in their hearts and gradually left the Jianghu Alliance. From then on, they all kept their tails between their legs, fearing that they would be displeased by Lin Dan and be killed with a single strike.

Speaking of which, due to the large amount of money, the Jianghu Alliance took half an hour to count the money, and then spent half an hour to raise the money, but they still couldn’t cash it all out. Lin Dan was alone and couldn’t take too much gold, so she let them give her a bag of gold leaves, and wrote an IOU. In the future, whenever she went to a branch of the Jianghu Alliance in a city, she could withdraw money, as much as she wanted, and the amount would gradually decrease, which was much more convenient.

After leaving the Jianghu Alliance, Lin Dan handed two gold leaves to Bai Yan, and said with pride, “Here, we’re even!”

Bai Yan chuckled, “You can keep it yourself, and from now on, all my expenses will be on your head, until the debt is paid off.” For some reason, he didn’t like the word “even”.

Lin Dan thought for a moment and nodded, “Okay.” So the two continued to head to the next city, without any plan or purpose, wherever they went, it would do, and it was quite pleasant.

On the way, Lin Dan found that all the Jianghu women who came and went were wearing black clothes and carrying large knives, with the same style as herself. She couldn’t help but be dazzled. Bai Yan didn’t find it strange, but his smile was a bit weird. The two walked into an inn and heard a few Jianghu people sighing, “Alas, this is really a different time! In the past, everyone thought it was most elegant to use a sword, but now they think it’s more domineering to use a blade, and the knives in the weapon shops are not enough to sell!”

“Who told Master Lin to suddenly rise up! She is the only woman among the six Grandmasters, and she is also the youngest. Even Emperor Yun, when he advanced to Grandmaster, was already over twenty, but she isn’t even eighteen this year. Give her a few more years, and perhaps she will be able to compete with Emperor Yun!”

“The younger generation is formidable!”

“Truly a monster-like talent!”

No matter how others sighed, Lin Dan’s expression didn’t change at all. The expressionless Bai Yan frowned, as if in worry. When others were envious and jealous, how would they know the pain Lin Dan was enduring. She was being subjected to pain of death by a thousand cuts every moment, and facing death every moment. She could maintain her current state of consciousness, all relying on her iron-like will. If it were someone else, let alone walking and sitting, they probably couldn’t even breathe.

Thinking of this, Bai Yan said in a low voice, “If I were to rank, you would be the first.”

Lin Dan glanced at him and unexpectedly made a joke, “Can I surpass Emperor Yun?”

“Yes.” Bai Yan gazed at her deeply, and a glimmer flashed in his eyes.

Lin Dan nodded carefully, “I hope I will have a chance to fight him one day.” After the words, she took out a map and pointed, “Our next destination is Wencheng.”

Bai Yan’s easy and comfortable expression immediately converged and waved his hand, “You can’t go there.”

“Why?” Lin Dan asked.

“The reason why this city is called Wenchéng is because it’s meant to be taken literally.”

“Wen means plague, so Wencheng is actually a city of plague?” Lin Dan furrowed her brows.

“That’s right.”

“Since it’s a city of plague, why does it always exist? Aren’t there any doctors to treat it? Even if there are no doctors, isolating the patients and preventing the spread of the plague, after a few years, Wenchéng on the map would also disappear.” Lin Dan found it hard to understand.

Bai Yan didn’t want to explain too much, and he put away the map and said slowly, “There is a reason why it exists, so you don’t need to worry about it. That plague is incurable. The medical immortal of the Medical Valley went to see it in the past few years, but there was nothing he could do. To prevent contracting the plague, it’s best for us to take a detour and go to nearby Spring City to have a look. It’s spring all year round and the scenery is beautiful there, you will definitely like it.”

Lin Dan shook her head and said frankly, “The more you don’t want me to go, the more I want to go and have a look.”

Bai Yan’s head ached a little, and he couldn’t help but rub his temples. If it were someone else who was against him like this, he would have probably slapped the person into the wall with a single palm, but this person was Lin Dan, and he couldn’t think of any other way to compromise except for that.

Bai Yan: “…Then go, let’s set off tomorrow morning.”

—

The next day, the two arrived in Wencheng, but they saw people coming and going in the streets and shops lined up, which was actually very prosperous, and it was not at all like the scene of corpses everywhere and stench everywhere as they had imagined.

“Look, Wencheng is just like this, no different from other cities, let’s go.” Bai Yan immediately persuaded.

Lin Dan glanced at him and directly exposed him: “Don’t try to deceive me. The pedestrians on this street, as they walk back and forth, all have their hands tucked in, faces showing fear. Even innocent children hide in their parents’ arms and tremble with fear, not daring to laugh and play loudly. Only the martial artists wearing strong outfits dare to make noise, and when they take a liking to something in the shop, they just take it and leave, without even paying half a silver coin, yet the shopkeepers still have to bow and serve them politely. If this city isn’t strange, then what is? I want to see what exactly is so plague-like about this plague city, whether it’s a natural disaster or a man-made one.”

Bai Yan covered his forehead and sighed in lament, defeated once again by Lin Dan’s intelligence. He should have known earlier that if Lin Dan could see through the tricks of the Never-aging City at a glance, she could naturally also see through the surface of the plague city. Her nature, which hated evil as if it were her enemy, would sooner or later get her into big trouble.