In an instant.
The gate was yanked open.
A thick, powerful hand shot out and clamped around his throat.
Lin Jiu hoisted the dark figure up and slammed him hard into the ground.
A muffled groan rang out.
The dark figure curled up, unable to get up for a long while.
"Again?"
Master Wu lit the oil lamp and walked out, his face full of anger.
Only by the dim lamplight did Lin Yuan get a clear look at the man on the ground.
He was a scrawny man of about thirty, dressed in battered padded armor.
"Who are you?"
"Don't kill me!"
The man clutched his neck and spoke hoarsely.
"I'm not a thief! I came to ask for medicine!"
Lin Yuan lowered his head and nudged the saber beside his foot.
"What decent man climbs over a wall in the middle of the night to ask for medicine?"
Lin Yuan gave Lin Jiu a look.
Lin Jiu stepped half a pace forward and raised a fist the size of a sandbag.
The man immediately shrank back.
"I really came for medicine! Our leader's fever won't break. He needs treatment urgently!"
"Leader? How many of you are there? Who exactly are you?"
The man hemmed and hawed.
Seeing this, Lin Jiu immediately hauled him up and drove a heavy punch into his stomach.
The man's eyes bulged and the veins on his forehead stood out. For a long while, he could not catch his breath.
"Still won't talk?"
Lin Jiu raised his fist again.
"I'll talk! My name is Liu San. I'm a soldier from the Weishui City garrison."
"There are a dozen or so of us. We all fled from Weishui City."
Liu San spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.
Deserters!
They were all horrified!
"I heard some time ago that roving bandits were causing trouble in the north. I never thought it would grow worse and worse."
Worry showed on Master Wu's face.
Lin Yuan also furrowed his brow. As far as he knew, Weishui City was only three hundred li from Blackstone Town.
Now that Weishui City had fallen, those drifting into the vicinity of Blackstone Town were probably not just deserters.
There were roving bandits too!
The three exchanged looks, their expressions exceedingly grave.
"Can you let me go? I've told you everything."
Liu San pleaded desperately.
Lin Yuan narrowed his eyes.
He did not believe this man had sneaked in with a saber just to ask for medicine.
That was merely the story he gave after being caught.
As the saying went, when soldiers passed through, they stripped the land like a fine-toothed comb.
What he had been planning was plain to see.
Lin Yuan waved a hand.
Carrying Liu San, Lin Jiu vaulted over the wall and left.
Before long, a muffled groan came from the distance.
Lin Yuan gazed deeply into the night sky.
Deserters, roving bandits, the Zhao Clan-truly a season of troubles!
Blackstone Town was no longer safe. A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall.
"Pack up. We leave at first light tomorrow."
Lin Yuan made up his mind.
Had fleeing in the middle of the night not been even more dangerous, he would have wanted to set off immediately.
"Where are we going, young master?"
Lin Jiu, who had just returned, did not understand.
"The county seat."
"But Zhao Yan?"
Lin Jiu was a little worried.
Lin Yuan waved a hand.
Sometimes, the most dangerous place was the safest. This was what it meant to be hidden in the darkness beneath the lamp.
"Should we tell everyone to leave with us?"
Lin Jiu suddenly asked, though not out of kindness.
He was thinking that if they really encountered roving bandits, those people could buy them time to escape.
Master Wu fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"We haven't confirmed anything about the roving bandits yet. Saying too much would only stir up panic."
Lin Yuan nodded in firm agreement.
One's homeland was hard to leave. Before the danger truly arrived, they would neither believe it nor leave.
"The county yamen probably received word long ago."
The authorities were keeping it hidden, naturally, because they feared everyone would flee to the county seat.
Perhaps there was another reason too, naturally the same as Lin Jiu's thinking.
If the roving bandits really came, the people outside the walls could more or less buy the county seat time to prepare its defenses and call for reinforcements.
The next day.
Dawn had barely broken.
With Master Wu carrying his medicine chest, they left the clinic as though heading out on a house call.
Before they had left the street, they heard a commotion at the corner.
"Make way."
"Make way, now!"
Several wounded soldiers were supporting a military officer as they hurried toward the clinic.
The officer was drenched in blood, his right sleeve empty and his face deathly pale. He had already lost consciousness.
"This is bad! Go!"
Master Wu lowered his head and hurried into an alley.
Lin Yuan and Lin Jiu followed close behind.
"Who was that?"
Lin Yuan asked in puzzlement.
"Inspector Liu of the Inspection Office. A martial artist at Body Tempering Perfection. He's been stationed at the Black Stone Mine."
Master Wu's expression was complicated.
At those words, Lin Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.
He knew of the Black Stone Mine. It lay a short distance east of Blackstone Town.
The mine produced abundant black stone, tough in texture and an excellent material for building city walls.
It was also where Blackstone Town got its name.
The Inspection Office maintained a permanent presence at the Black Stone Mine, with a standing force of fifty archers.
Inspector Liu himself was a martial artist at Body Tempering Perfection. With strength like that, what on earth had he encountered to end up in such a state!
Deserters? Or roving bandits?
Without stopping, the three turned through several alleys and finally left the town.
They stepped onto the main road, and a man approached from the opposite direction.
Butcher Zhang cast a sidelong glance at the three.
"Master Wu, heading out so early?"
Master Wu helplessly patted his medicine chest.
"Can't be helped. The client's pressing me."
Butcher Zhang's gaze swept back and forth over the three.
"Come back soon, Master Wu."
He turned sideways and stood by the road.
The three walked seven or eight paces farther, but the gaze behind them still burned.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Faint crackles of dry twigs came from the woods on either side of the road.
Lin Yuan's ears twitched slightly.
Lin Jiu raised his head, his expression grave.
Their eyes met.
"Run!"
Supporting Master Wu between them, the two sprinted forward, their soles flying and kicking up a trail of dust.
"Damn!"
"They spotted us!"
"After them!"
Branches thrashed.
More than a dozen men burst out of the woods in an instant, brandishing all manner of weapons as they gave chase with loud cries.
The gang pursued them for two li, but the figures ahead gradually disappeared.
"Fuck, where did those experts come from? How can they run so fast!"
Someone swore.
"Do we keep chasing?"
"Chase my ass!"
"Go back and guard the town entrance! Once Second Master arrives, not even a dog will get out of Blackstone Town!"
Excitement appeared on their faces.
Beneath a crooked-necked tree, Lin Yuan and Lin Jiu braced themselves against the trunk, panting heavily.
"Those men weren't wearing armor."
"Their weapons were a jumble. Most likely roving bandits!"
Lin Jiu wiped away his sweat.
These roving bandits had deliberately blocked the town entrance. Their intentions went without saying.
"Blackstone Town is probably finished."
Lin Yuan spoke in a low voice and sighed.
But they could barely protect themselves now. How could they spare any thought for others?
"We can't stay here. Hurry!"
Master Wu stood rooted to the spot.
His eyes were fixed on Lin Yuan.
This boy had actually carried him along for such a distance!
Could it be...
"You've reached the entry level of the cultivation method?"
Lin Yuan froze, then nodded.
Master Wu trembled all over and seized Lin Yuan's wrist.
A few breaths later, Master Wu wept with joy.
"Good, good, good!"
"For hundreds of years, our Wu Lineage-for hundreds of years..."
"Someone has finally taken this step!"
Lin Yuan turned his hand over and gripped Master Wu's wrist.
"Now isn't the time to talk about this."
Master Wu wiped his face haphazardly and nodded hard.
The main road forked ahead.
The left branch led to Ping'an County, while the right was a narrow path leading straight into dense woods.
Lin Jiu suddenly reached out a hand.
"Wait."
He pressed his ear to the ground. A moment later, his expression changed drastically.
"Someone's there."
The three exchanged a glance, hurried into the bushes, and quietly crouched down.
Before long, a group carrying a stretcher emerged from the narrow path on the right.
Thirteen people in all.
They wore battered padded armor, with standard-issue long sabers at their waists.
The man lying on the stretcher even wore leather armor.
All three caught their breath at once.
Deserters!
"Who's there!"
The man on the stretcher suddenly turned his head, looking warily in their direction.
Shing, shing, shing.
The soldiers drew their long sabers and gradually closed in around them.
Lin Yuan's heart jolted. This man was keen indeed!
The three hurriedly stood up.
"Don't attack. We're doctors."
Master Wu lifted the medicine chest at his waist.
Seeing that they remained unmoved, Master Wu hurriedly opened the chest.
In an instant, a medicinal fragrance spread through the air.
"Bring them over."
The man on the stretcher spoke with a trace of weakness in his voice.
Under the soldiers' watchful eyes, the three slowly approached.