Chapter 249 248: You Can't Kill Me

Pan Tianhai roared with laughter. "Let me tell you, my master is Dong Wu, the number one Swordsman in Nanjiang! If you dare touch me, he will never let you get away with it!"

Mu Lin smiled. "No, he's not going to let me go either way. It makes no difference whether you're involved or not."

"Kid, you're thinking too highly of yourself. Someone with your meager talent wouldn't even register on his radar, and he wouldn't kill you for no reason! But if you touch me, that's a completely different story!"

Mu Lin felt a flicker of confusion. 'Are we talking about the same person?'

"This Dong Wu you're talking about... does he have a younger brother named Dong Jia?"

Pan Tianhai said, "Of course. He's my master's only younger brother. He treasures him more than anything."

"Since you know Dong Jia, you must know how important I am to the two of them. Don't kill me. We can still talk about this."

Mu Lin said, "Dong Jia is already dead. I killed him."

Pan Tianhai never imagined Mu Lin would say something like that. He immediately burst into uncontrollable, wild laughter.

"You're completely finished, then! My master will definitely avenge both me and Jia!"

"I'll be waiting," Mu Lin said.

Mu Lin raised his hand and shattered Pan Tianhai's skull. Pan Tianhai instantly went lifeless, falling backward to the ground.

A few breaths after his death, a powerful surge of energy suddenly burst from his abdomen, shooting straight toward the sky.

Mu Lin narrowed his eyes. 'Now this is an interesting trick.'

This surge of energy transmitted the news of Pan Tianhai's death to the one who had set the trap—who was, of course, Dong Wu.

Mu Lin wasn't afraid. He would take it one step at a time, handling problems as they arose. Sooner or later, he would come face-to-face with Dong Wu.

'This sigil woven from True Qi is certainly interesting. It's suffused with a potent sword aura, making it obvious at a glance that this is Dong Wu's handiwork.'

'But isn't displaying it post-mortem a little late? By then, it's too late for regrets, isn't it?'

Mu Lin had no desire to comment further on Dong Wu's eccentricities. Shaking his head, he started walking back.

He sensed Lin Shishi and Hong Rui approaching.

The two sisters were on edge. They had seen too many horrific sights along the path, and their faces were pale.

"Sister, this is terrifying... Let's go back," Hong Rui said, her face ghostly white as she shivered.

"We can't. Little sister, think about it. If we just go a little further, Mu Lin will be waiting for us. But if we stop, or even turn back, other dangers might find us. That would be far too risky."

The thought of Mu Lin waiting for them up ahead eased Hong Rui's heart considerably.

"Okay, let's go!"

Just then, Mu Lin reached their side. "Are you two okay?"

Hong Rui nodded, her face still pale. "We're okay... It was so scary..."

Mu Lin pressed his lips into a thin line. "I'm sorry. These people were after me. You got dragged into this."

Lin Shishi spoke with sincerity. "No, Brother Mu, you've done nothing wrong! The ones at fault are these scoundrels, not you!"

Mu Lin felt a flicker of comfort and smiled. "Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better."

Hong Rui asked, "Brother Mu, did you find the person who poisoned us?"

Mu Lin answered swiftly, "I found him. Not only did I find him, I finished him off. No one will be poisoning you again."

Hong Rui's eyes lit up. She had been terrified.

Hearing Mu Lin's words, her heart finally settled.

Lin Shishi's attention, however, was drawn to the bodies of the Bai Family disciples scattered around them.

Many were already dead. Many more were still alive, struggling.

"More than half of the Bai Family's disciples are dead from what we saw on the way here," Lin Shishi said. "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a clan annihilation. Who could be so heartless?"

Mu Lin was surprised at how calm Hong Rui was. 'Shouldn't she be throwing her guts out?'

A moment's thought, however, made it clear. 'It's not that she's so tough, she just already vomited everything up earlier.'

'Now, in front of me, her stomach is completely empty. There's nothing left to bring up but stomach acid.'

"I don't know, and we don't need to understand the minds of evil men. We just need to kill them."

He pulled out a small notebook, wrote down a list of medicinal herbs, and said to Lin Shishi:

"Go buy these herbs. We might be able to save a few more people."

Lin Shishi's gaze flickered for a moment before she nodded and took the list.

Mu Lin took out his silver needles and moved through the heaps of fallen Bai Family disciples. Whenever he found someone who could still be saved, he administered acupuncture treatment.

For those who had died with their eyes wide in unseeing horror, he gently closed them.

This cycle of life and death still filled him with a profound sense of sorrow.

'What was the point of all this?'

He couldn't help but regret letting Pan Tianhai die so easily.

Treating them one by one, he managed to save several members of the Bai Family.

It was a small recovery against the Bai Family's devastating losses.

After a while, Mu Lin found Bai Jingjing.

He was lying half-dead amidst a pile of bodies. The men who had been protecting him were long dead, but even in death, their hands still gripped him tightly.

This Patriarch of the Bai Family was childish and rash, utterly incapable of leading his family into a better era.

Though their word was law in Songyang, on the scale of the entire Nanjiang Province, their influence was visibly declining.

For Zhao Yang's sake, Mu Lin decided he would help him, at least enough to bandage his wounds.

Mu Lin pulled Bai Jingjing from the pile of corpses and cleared a small patch of ground with his foot.

He laid Bai Jingjing flat, administered the Five-Heart Rejuvenation Needle technique, and restored the circulation of his Qi and Blood.

"Brother Mu, I brought all the herbs!" Lin Shishi called out, sounding pleasantly surprised.

Mu Lin grabbed the herbs and headed for the Alchemy Room in the Bai Family Manor.

Not long after, he emerged, smelling of smoke and fire. He walked over to Bai Jingjing, tossed a pill into his mouth, and poured in a few mouthfuls of liquor after it.

The liquor would help the medicine diffuse and accelerate the circulation of his Qi and Blood. With little energy to spare for Bai Jingjing's care, this was the best emergency solution.

Mu Lin scanned the area. There were far too many wounded. He couldn't possibly save them all by himself.

Lin Shishi called out, "Brother Mu, let me help! Just tell me what to do."

"You want to be my assistant?" Mu Lin asked.

"Yes!" Lin Shishi cried.

Mu Lin smiled. "Alright. Go find some bandages and help wrap the wounds of the lightly injured. Before you wrap them, clean the wounds with diluted disinfectant."

"Okay!" Lin Shishi ran off. After a little while, Mu Lin went over to check on her.

Lin Shishi was doing a pretty good job, so Mu Lin had her bring Hong Rui along to help treat the wounded.

If Lin Shishi could learn, there was no reason Hong Rui couldn't.

However, the most critical cases were still left for Mu Lin to handle alone.

It was incredibly tedious. He didn't even have anyone to hand him instruments, and he had to wipe the sweat from his own brow.

'This is just ridiculous.'

Night gradually fell. Bai Jingjing slowly awoke from his coma, finally pulling his foot back from the Ghost Gate.

Bai Jingjing's gaze fell upon Mu Lin. His whole body suddenly convulsed, and he struggled with all his might to get up.

"Y-Y-You... What are you doing here!"

Mu Lin shot Bai Jingjing a cold look. "Without me, you'd already be dead."

He really couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on the man.

Bai Jingjing was single-mindedly obsessed with killing Zhao Yang, and by extension, had come to hate him as well.

'This kind of person is just...'

Not bothering to engage, Mu Lin continued treating the wounded Bai Family members.

Bai Jingjing's mouth hung open. Mu Lin was actually... saving members of the Bai Family.

'After the way I treated him, he really doesn't care at all?'

Bai Jingjing's expression flickered between dark and light, and he felt a profound sense of inner turmoil.

'I'm a real piece of work.'

He turned his head, hoping to catch his breath, only to find himself staring into the terrifying, dead face of Pan Tianhai.

A sight like that would give anyone nightmares.

Bai Jingjing was both shocked and terrified. "You killed him?"

Mu Lin didn't answer. 'Isn't that a stupid question?' Bai Jingjing thought.

'Of everyone here, only Mu Lin and the two young women are still on their feet.'

'Which means only Mu Lin could possibly have defeated Pan Tianhai.'

"I treated you so horribly at Hidden Sword Manor, so why are you helping me? You could have just left the Bai Family to its fate!"

Mu Lin shot Bai Jingjing a glare. "If you don't have anything sensible to say, then shut your mouth. No one's going to mistake you for a mute!"

Bai Jingjing opened his mouth, stunned, but ultimately let it drop.

"I'm only helping you for Grandmaster Zhao's sake. If it weren't for him, I'd be happy to watch you die."