HCB Chapter 1367 Cave
Chapter 1367 Cave
Lin Ran rode alongside her, his eyes red and swollen: "Wan'er, I have a feeling something is wrong with this. Although your maternal grandfather specializes in medicine, he also studied under a famous master when he was young. Ordinary people can't get close to him. There are so many disciples in Medicine Valley, how come there's been no movement at all?"
Lin Yiwan frowned: "I'm afraid the other side used a sleeping potion or had an inside accomplice to subdue the disciples of Medicine Valley silently and then kidnap my grandfather."
They hurried along, and as dawn approached, they finally arrived at Medicine Valley.
Medicine Valley is nestled deep in the mountains, its entrance shrouded in mist and filled with exotic flowers and herbs. Normally it resembles a fairyland, but at this moment it exudes a deathly stillness.
The guard at the valley entrance lay unconscious on the ground, with no wounds on his body, clearly having been drugged.
Lin Yiwan and Lin Ran were extremely anxious and rushed into the valley with their guards.
The rare herbs in the herb garden were trampled and scattered, and several century-old ginseng plants were uprooted and thrown on the snow, a heartbreaking sight.
The study was in complete disarray, with tables and chairs overturned, and writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones scattered all over the floor. Sure enough, there was an overturned oil lamp on the floor, with oil spilled everywhere, and several shallow footprints. Judging from their size, they definitely did not belong to a disciple of Medicine Valley.
"Father!" Lin Ran rushed into the study, searching everywhere and calling out repeatedly, but only received empty echoes.
He staggered to the desk, his fingertips tracing the cold inkstone on it, an old object his father had used for decades, now covered in a thin layer of dust, as if silently telling the story of last night's events.
Lin Yiwan squatted down and carefully examined the footprints on the ground, her brows furrowing even more: "These footprints are very deep. The people who came must be martial artists, and there was more than one of them."
She stood up, looked around, and her gaze fell on the windowsill of the study. Tucked in the crack of the windowsill was a piece of dark gray fabric, rough yet unusually tough, unlike ordinary cloth.
"Uncle, look at this." Lin Yiwan handed the fragment of her clothing to Lin Ran.
Lin Ran took it, his expression changing: "This is cloth forged from black iron, impervious to swords and spears. Only ruthless bandits in the martial world would use this kind of material to make clothes."
Just then, a guard rushed over, looking panicked: "Madam, Young Master Lin, something terrible has happened! The bodies of several Medicine Valley disciples have been found at the foot of the Broken Soul Cliff behind the valley!"
Lin Yiwan and Lin Ran's expressions changed drastically, and they immediately followed the guards to the back mountain.
The Cliff of Broken Souls is steep and precipitous, shrouded in mist, with a bottomless abyss below. It is perpetually chilly and devoid of birds and beasts.
The corpses of several Medicine Valley disciples lay on the grass by the cliff, all with knife wounds, the wounds so deep that the bone was visible. The blood stained the remaining snow beneath them, which had long since frozen into dark brown ice shards.
Upon seeing the familiar disciples, Lin Ran's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. He staggered forward, his hand trembling as he reached out to check the breath of one of them, only to find his fingertips touching something icy cold.
Those were his father's disciples, whom he had seen when he visited the Medicine Valley before, but now they were gone forever.
"Father, how dare they!" A metallic taste rose in Lin Ran's throat, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He clenched his teeth tightly, his eyes were bloodshot, and his voice was as hoarse as a broken gong.
Lin Yiwan stood to the side, her eyes filled with coldness, her heart feeling as if a huge boulder was pressing down on it.
My maternal grandfather dedicated his life to healing the sick and never made enemies, yet these people were so cruel that they didn't even spare his innocent disciples.
She gripped the shard of clothing tightly in her hand, her knuckles turning white, a ruthless glint flashing in her eyes.
Suppressing her grief, she instructed the guards, "Search the surrounding area carefully to see if there are any other clues."
The guards immediately dispersed and searched the vicinity. Lin Yiwan walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down; the clouds and mist surged, and the bottom was nowhere in sight.
Just as she was about to turn around, she caught a glimpse of something flashing in the grass by the cliff edge.
She crouched down, parted the grass, and saw a small bronze token inside, with a ferocious wolf's head engraved on it.
"Wolf Head Gang!" Lin Yiwan's pupils shrank, and her hand holding the token trembled slightly.
The Wolf Head Gang is a notorious bandit group that has been entrenched in this area. They have committed all sorts of atrocities, including arson, murder, and robbery. The government has tried to suppress them several times but has failed. No one expected that they would dare to target Medicine Valley.
Just then, a whooshing sound came from the air, and several cold arrows shot towards her!
"Wanwan, watch out!" Lin Ran reacted quickly and pushed Lin Yiwan away.
A cold arrow grazed her hair and landed on the tree trunk behind her, its tip gleaming with a ghostly blue light, clearly poisoned.
Lin Yiwan was still in shock when she looked up and saw dozens of ruthless bandits dressed in gray rushing out of the woods. Each of them was holding a sharp knife, and their faces were full of ferocious smiles and murderous intent.
"Protect the lady and Lord Lin!" The guards immediately drew their swords and charged forward, and the two sides clashed.
The sound of swords clashing echoed through the valley, and blood splattered on the snow, staining patches of white snow red.
Lin Yiwan was, after all, the lady of a marquis's mansion, and she had only learned some rudimentary self-defense techniques. Facing these fierce and ruthless bandits, she found it difficult to protect herself.
Lin Ran stood protectively in front of her, drew his longsword, its blade flashing fiercely, and forced back the three ruthless bandits in just a few moves.
However, the bandits were numerous and fearless. Soon, two of them circled around behind him and slashed at him with long knives.
Hearing the wind behind him, Lin Ran hastily dodged to the side, but the blade still managed to cut a deep gash on his shoulder blade, exposing the bone, and blood instantly soaked through his clothes.
"Uncle!" Lin Yiwan exclaimed in surprise, wanting to step forward to help, but was spotted by a ruthless bandit and forced to retreat repeatedly.
The guards fought desperately, but gradually their strength gave out, and several fell. Lin Ran gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and his swordplay became even more ferocious, but the dizziness from blood loss kept coming, and his movements became increasingly sluggish.
"Back up that way!" Lin Ran spotted a cave at the foot of the mountain wall not far away and immediately roared.
With his last ounce of strength, he deflected the weapon of the bandit in front of him with a single sword strike, and pulled Lin Yiwan towards the cave.
The guards covered the rear, desperately blocking the bandits' path. Several guards were slashed to the ground by the bandits in an attempt to buy time. Lin Yiwan helped the swaying Lin Ran, and they stumbled into the cave.
As soon as Lin Ran entered the cave, he could no longer hold on. His longsword fell from his hand and landed on the ground. He clutched his bleeding shoulder and collapsed heavily onto the cold ground.
Lin Yiwan hurriedly tore off her skirt and trembled as she bandaged his wound, tears streaming down her face.
The sounds of fighting outside the cave gradually subsided, and soon the shouts of bandits could be heard.
Lin Yiwan held her breath and helped Lin Ran move deeper into the cave. In the dim light, she could see that the cave walls were covered with moss, and the depths were pitch black, with no idea where it led. Meanwhile, footsteps outside the cave were getting closer and closer.
Lin Yiwan's heart was in her throat. She covered her mouth and nose tightly, afraid of making a sound, and at the same time dragged Lin Ran deeper into the cave.