Chapter 244 - 41: Bone Fragment

Chapter 244: Chapter 41: Bone Fragment

The man clearly hadn’t expected the injured Lin Mingye to be so swift. He scrambled to retreat, but he was a step too slow. He had only taken a few steps back when a flash of sword light arrived, and Lin Mingye’s Longsword pierced straight through his chest.

PFFT!

The man’s face instantly went pale. He was still trying to retreat when Lin Mingye’s second strike landed, this one piercing straight through his throat.

Blood spurted from the wound. The man’s eyes were wide as his body slowly crumpled to the ground.

Seeing his companion killed, a flicker of fear appeared in the eyes of the remaining man in gray. He abandoned the fight, turned, and fled deep into the woods.

Lin Mingye tried to give chase, but after just one step, a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder, causing him to falter and stagger.

He looked down at his shoulder. The flesh and blood around the wound were already turning black.

’Bastard... they actually used poison.’

A poison that could break through his Blood Gang and cause his flesh to blacken was clearly potent. He didn’t dare risk giving chase. Instead, he stopped and began circulating his Qi Blood to slowly force the toxin out.

Meanwhile, the man in gray had already fled several hundred yards. Far from showing any grief for his fallen companion, his eyes were filled with excitement.

’Everyone’s dead. I’m the only one left. Now the treasure is all mine, and I don’t have to worry about news of this getting out.’

’As for the Lin Family’s pursuit, that’s nothing.’

’There’s a cave just ahead with a Dark River inside. I can follow it straight to the bottom of the East River. Even if the Lin Family surrounds this entire mountain range with an inescapable net, they’ll never guess I’ve already escaped through an underground waterway.’

As the cave drew nearer, the man couldn’t help but smile.

Suddenly!

A flash of sword light slashed out from his left. The man in gray didn’t even have time to react before his body toppled to the ground.

A breath later, Lin Yan’s figure appeared before the corpse. He stabbed the body twice more for good measure before finally crouching down to search it.

Even though his Perception told him the man was dead, Lin Yan remained cautious. ’What if he’s cultivated a Concealing Breath Technique and is just hiding his presence?’

’I was able to get a Black Cicada Heart to enhance my senses; who’s to say someone else couldn’t have a similar stroke of luck?’

He hadn’t left the man alive for questioning because there simply wasn’t time. Other clan members could arrive at any moment. If there was a valuable treasure involved, too many people would grow greedy, and there was no guarantee it would end up with him.

Besides, Lin Yan was quite certain that if there was a treasure, it would be on this man.

Infighting only ever breaks out when it’s time to divide the spoils.

"What’s this?"

After a moment, Lin Yan found himself staring at a palm-sized Bone Fragment, his eyes full of curiosity.

The Bone Fragment seemed to be from some kind of animal, yet its texture was exceptionally smooth. It didn’t have the coarse feel of ordinary bone; it was more like a polished Jade Slab.

’This group was wreaking havoc on the river... for this?’

Lin Yan wasn’t sure. Logically, it was hard to connect the two.

’Unless... this group knew someone with the Bone Fragment would be crossing the East River Waters by boat, but they didn’t know which boat or even the day of arrival. That would explain why they’re using such a clumsy method.’

But that logic didn’t quite hold up either.

’They weren’t stopping every merchant ship. So how could they be sure their target wasn’t on one of the ships they let pass?’

Suddenly, Lin Yan’s ears twitched. He quickly tucked the Bone Fragment into his robes, his right hand settling on the hilt of his Abyssal Sword as he angled his body to the side.

’Someone’s coming.’

A breath later, the sound of movement cut through the air, and two figures emerged from the dense woods, one behind the other.

A smile spread across Lin Yan’s face when he saw the newcomers. For their part, Lin Minghao and Lin Mingye, who had been in pursuit, also breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing it was him.

"Lin Yan, did you kill this man?" Lin Minghao asked curiously.

"Yes. I saw the signal flare and rushed over. I just happened to run into him here. He was trying to flee in a panic, so I cut him down with one strike."

Hearing Lin Yan’s reply, Lin Minghao frowned. "You should have taken him alive. Now they’re all dead, and we still don’t know what their real purpose was."

"I didn’t expect him to be so weak he couldn’t even withstand a single strike from me."

Lin Yan gave a faint smile. Lin Mingye, who was standing behind him, spoke up. "You can’t blame Lin Yan. He fought me earlier, and I’d already scared him half to death. He was completely focused on running for his life; I doubt he even registered Lin Yan’s Sword Gang."

"You two... I don’t know what to do with you."

Lin Minghao sounded exasperated. The only two potential captives were now dead.

"Did you find any useful clues on the body?"

"I haven’t had a chance to search him yet. You two arrived right after."

Lin Yan shook his head. Hearing this, Lin Minghao walked over to the corpse. He didn’t immediately crouch to search it, however. Instead, he gave it a careful look, confirming that the man’s clothing was intact and showed no signs of having been searched.

’If Lin Yan had searched the body, the robes would be disheveled. But this man’s tunic is still fastened and his sash is tied. It seems Lin Yan was telling the truth.’

"Minghao, Lin Yan is the one who killed him. He should be the one to search the body, right?"

Seeing Lin Minghao about to crouch down, Lin Mingye spoke up, shooting a quick wink at Lin Yan.

These Roving Bandits had acted secretively, and their infighting was a clear sign of a dispute over loot. The body Lin Mingye had searched held nothing of value, which meant it was highly probable that the prize was on this man here. He couldn’t let Lin Yan pass up this chance. If Lin Minghao found the item, getting him to give it up later would be nearly impossible.