Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 76: Blood Beast (Continued)

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Blood Beast (Continued)

"Fortunately, now that I have four points of defense, even if the strength of a common blade is weakened, it can’t hurt me." Watching the other party vanish into the darkness with such fast movements, Lin Xin’s expression fluctuated uncertainly.

Ever since he was ambushed while bathing last time, he had discovered that his skin had become increasingly tough. After careful comparison, he concluded that his skin’s surface defense was now comparable to those external skill masters who practiced Qigong, essentially like having an extra layer of the Golden Bell Shield and Iron Shirt. These four points of defense attribute provided him with protection akin to a leather armor.

"I can’t be careless, it seems there might be something here disguised as others."

He composed himself and quickly headed towards the direction from which the scream had come.

After taking several turns, he soon arrived at a wide and open space on the left side of the square.

Torches lay scattered on the ground, still burning slowly. There was a pool of blood remaining on the ground, but no trace of anyone.

Suddenly, more footsteps approached rapidly, and Senior Brother Guang emerged from the darkness, pale-faced, with a extinguished torch in his hand.

Seeing Lin Xin inspecting the scene, a fierce joy flashed in his eyes.

"Brother Lin, have you seen Sister Xiao and the others!?"

Lin Xin turned around and scrutinized him carefully.

"What did you encounter just now?"

Suddenly, he saw Senior Brother Guang’s eyes widen, staring straight behind Lin Xin as if he had seen something extremely horrifying.

Lin Xin swiftly turned around to look behind him.

Swish!

A sharp whooshing sound pierced the air.

Clang!

With a backward strike of his sword, as if he had anticipated it, Lin Xin perfectly blocked Senior Brother Guang’s sudden thrust.

"Trying to deceive me?" He turned back, looking at the startled Senior Brother Guang. Their swords crossed, held in front of them.

Senior Brother Guang’s mouth curved into a strange arc, and he viciously kicked his legs towards Lin Xin.

In an instant, two hot streams of energy slammed into Lin Xin from both sides.

Poof.

Senior Brother Guang’s body dissipated, like a mist of smoke, twisting and exploding, slowly vanishing into the darkness.

All was quiet once again.

Lin Xin, on alert, glanced around before slowly sheathing his sword.

"It was just equivalent to the Explosive Power of the Second Layer’s Return to Origin Formula, a normal sword technique could resolve it. After reaching the Innate stage, my inner strength’s amplification of power has increased, and even a normal Flameless Swordsmanship has surpassed its original power before I reached Innate. This sword didn’t consume much... I should recover quickly." He assessed the consumption.

He carefully examined the spot where Senior Brother Guang had vanished, inspecting the ground, which was smooth and littered only with some fine rock fragments, with not even powdered dust to be seen. There was no need to mention any Blood Beast skull.

After circling around, Lin Xin picked up a torch from the ground, holding it in his left hand, the combined flames of the two torches shining a bit brighter.

"Everyone, gather here immediately!" After thinking for a bit, he suddenly called out loudly towards the space above the square.

The sound echoed slowly across the square, stirring echoes.

But there was no response... the rest seemed to be dead silent. Aside from the echoes of his own shouting, there was no other sound in the entire square.

Lin Xin stood still and waited, placing the torch in the fork of a statue, his one hand secretly readying the Spiritual Light Shield, his other firmly gripping the hilt of his sword, his attention focused on his surroundings.

He waited for what seemed like dozens of breaths.

Gradually, from the surrounding darkness, faint footsteps could be heard.

Lin Xin looked towards the direction of the sounds.

From the dark, a figure covered in blood staggered out; it was Xiao Lingling, with a gash across her cheek and numerous small wounds on her hands and legs, looking utterly exhausted.

On seeing Lin Xin, her eyes first flashed with wariness and panic, then she glanced around.

"Lin... Brother Lin... is that you?" She asked cautiously.

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes at her, about to speak.

Right then, from the shadow to Xiao Lingling’s right, another staggering figure emerged, also covered in blood and with a gash on the cheek as well as small wounds all over.

Surprisingly, this person was also Xiao Lingling!

"You!"

"Who are you!?" The two Xiao Linglings shouted in unison, wary and panicked as they stared at each other.

Lin Xin watched the two Xiao Linglings with a somber expression.

"Brother Lin, I’m the real Xiao Lingling, she’s the fake one! Hurry, kill her!" The Xiao Lingling on the right said urgently and frantically.

"You’re the fake! What kind of monster are you!? Brother Lin, I’m the real Xiao Lingling, please kill her quickly!" The Xiao Lingling on the left hurriedly explained.

The two argued in front of him, each claiming the other was the fake.

Lin Xin’s expression was dark as he just listened to their explanations. The constant buzzing of the two women arguing by his ear was as annoying as the buzzing of wasps.

Strangely, as they quarreled, they even brought up minor incidents they had experienced together with him, with the details being vivid and precise, making it truly difficult to distinguish the real from the fake.

In the midst of the unbearable bickering.

"I know who the real one is," Lin Xin suddenly spoke up.

Both figures started in surprise.

"Who?"

"It has to be her!"

The two Xiao Linglings reacted differently.

Clang!

A silver sword light burst forth, and Lin Xin’s feet exploded with a muffled sound as he shot toward the Xiao Lingling on his left like an arrow.

Hiss...

The blade gleamed with a hint of white light, just a simple thrust using Pine Forest Swordsmanship endowed with the explosive power of Inner Qi at the Fourth Layer level of Innate, piercing ruthlessly into the left Xiao Lingling’s brow.

Pfft.

The Xiao Lingling on the left froze, then her body twisted and turned to smoke, disappearing without a trace.

Lin Xin slowly sheathed his sword and turned to look at the Xiao Lingling on the right.

"Big Brother Lin!" Xiao Lingling was first stunned, "How did you figure out that I was the real one?"

Lin Xin slowly exhaled and looked at Xiao Lingling, a hint of worry flickering in his eyes.

"Don’t worry, I naturally had my own assurance."

"It’s nothing... nothing..." Xiao Lingling felt grateful to the point of wanting to cry, seeing the concern in Lin Xin’s eyes moved her even more. "If it weren’t for you, Big Brother Lin... this time... I would have definitely died here..."

She felt incredibly lucky now for having Lin Xin join her team to enter the cave.

Lin Xin also sighed but there was a hint of indifference in the depths of his eyes. He tenderly said,

"As long as you’re fine, that’s what matters."

He hadn’t told Xiao Lingling the truth.

He had just taken a random guess, thinking if he got it wrong, then he would just take out both. If he was right, all the better. It all came down to luck; after all, he wasn’t very familiar with Xiao Lingling. In such a perilous environment, it was natural to cut through the mess swiftly to ensure his own safety above all else.

Anyway, with two options, neither would pose a threat to him.

Of course, such words he would not explicitly say; since the outcome was favorable, speaking out now would only hurt feelings unnecessarily.

Xiao Lingling might have been weak, but even just for scouting, she was of some use. After all, Lin Xin had considered that spending a month alone in this cave, a person would inevitably need rest, and during those times, someone had to be on guard.

"Let’s go, we’ll find the others," Lin Xin reached out to pat Xiao Lingling’s shoulder, "Dress your wounds up on the road, don’t get an infection..."

Xiao Lingling nodded quickly, now truly feeling a long-lost sense of safety; she looked at Lin Xin as if looking at an angel.

She had always depended on the support of the Spirit Beads Gang to complete her missions, never encountering such helplessness as this time. Lin Xin, who appeared and saved her from danger, had truly become the brightest star in her heart.

The two took torches, one for each, and slowly followed the blood trail on the ground towards the darkness of the square.

The trail of blood scattered along the ground leading to the edge of the square, until it abruptly broke off next to a somewhat loose black bundle on the ground.

They walked up to the black stone wall and looked up.

The stone wall, illuminated by the torchlight, slowly revealed a hanging corpse.

"Ah!" Xiao Lingling suddenly covered her mouth, screaming in shock. "It’s... it’s Senior Brother Ye..."

Senior Brother Ye was one of her suitors in their team.

His corpse was now hanging on the stone wall, with two thick wooden stakes brutally hammered into his eye sockets, protruding out the back of his skull and lodging in the wall, fixing the body in place.

"No need to look anymore, pick up his bundle and take it," Lin Xin exhaled and said quietly.

"Okay," Xiao Lingling, suppressing the fear in her heart, hurriedly picked up the bundle from beneath the corpse.

Lin Xin scanned the surroundings.

"When I shouted earlier, only you showed up; no one else came. We’ve waited so long, it’s likely they’ve all met with misfortune..."

"What should we do?" Xiao Lingling was completely distressed, "Shall we... Shall we go back? Even if we don’t pass this time, we’ll definitely have a chance next time... I’ve heard from the senior brothers, the Trial Sword Conference shouldn’t be this hard... It shouldn’t be..."

"Go back?" Lin Xin shook his head, a glint of cold light in his eyes. "We’ve come this far, so many have died, and we’ve gained nothing. If we just go back like this, would you be content?"

"I..." Xiao Lingling swallowed hard.

"Come on, it shouldn’t be this hard going forward. Otherwise, how could anyone pass normally?" Lin Xin reassured her. She had to find someone to help keep watch; otherwise, in this kind of cave, he wouldn’t dare to rest at ease.

Until he rendezvoused with Cheng Ruofei, Kong Yuhui, and the others, Xiao Lingling was essential. It was inescapable guilt, but he had no choice.

"Alright..." Xiao Lingling, hearing Lin Xin say this, could only clench her teeth and agree. If she left without Lin Xin, her chances of surviving alone were too slim.

The two continued to search for a way out around the stone wall, quickly discovering a dark passage blocked by rocks.

After clearing the passage a bit, Lin Xin took the lead and went in first. Xiao Lingling followed closely behind, struggling to carry two large bundles filled with water skins and dry rations.

Shortly after the two entered the passage...

Another group of people arrived at the entrance of the square.

The Poison Gang walked in slowly with cold expressions.

"Be cautious, everyone. The square isn’t big, let’s split up and search around."

In the darkness, a figure that looked like Lin Xin flashed by, standing in the distance watching the Poison Gang with a cryptic smile curling at his lips.