As they drew closer, Lin Yinan could already smell the strong stench of blood.
A short man slowly walked out of the alley, his tattered clothes dripping blood, and he tightly gripped a dagger in his hand.
His face was covered in dirt, making it impossible to see his features, and his clear black and white eyes were unfocused.
Even so, Lin Yinan recognized him at a glance; it was that boy.
He's still alive!
Upon seeing the boy, the two human traffickers on the ground scrambled to their feet as if they had seen a ghost.
Attracted by the two men's groans, the boy walked towards them step by step, holding a dagger.
The human trafficker was terrified, sobbing and saying, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"
The boy crouched down, mustered all his strength, and slashed at one of the men with the knife until that man was completely still. Only then did he turn to the other man.
The blood on the ground quickly gathered into a small stream and flowed into the dark red drainage ditch.
Lin Yinan sighed inwardly, picked up a large bundle from the ground, stuffed some money and food inside, and walked over to the boy.
"He's dead, save your energy."
The boy stopped what he was doing, his sunken eyes losing their usual sparkle, staring blankly at Lin Yinan.
Lin Yinan stuffed the bundle into his arms, saying, "An epidemic is about to break out in the city, you should leave quickly."
The boy dropped the dagger, took the bundle, and turned to leave.
Seeing the dagger on the ground, Lin Yinan picked it up and called out to him, "Take the dagger with you for self-defense."
The boy obediently took the dagger and walked towards the main street without looking back.
The sound of footsteps running and fleeing could still be heard on the street as the boy's figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Not far away, the sounds of swords clashing could be heard as the guards fought the bandits.
Lin Yinan climbed onto the roof of a low house and followed the sound.
Upon arriving outside the city lord's mansion, they saw Su Yunzhi leading the villagers to guard the street entrance, fighting against a dozen or so bandits who were fleeing in panic.
The bandits, desperate to break through, injured several villagers in the process.
Lin Yinan quickly took out his bow and arrows, drew the bowstring taut, and two arrows pierced the air with a sharp whistling sound, hitting two of the more skilled bandits who were the leaders, killing them instantly.
Su Yunzhi was taken aback. Looking up, she saw Lin Yinan standing on the roof, dressed in black, exuding a sharp killing intent, with arrows flashing with a cold light.
This version of Anan felt completely unfamiliar to him.
Lin Yinan gave the bandits no chance to catch their breath, and shot and killed more than a dozen of them in succession.
She glanced around warily, but found no bandits. She slung her bow behind her back, gathered her strength, and floated down from the rooftop. With her long sword drawn, she killed the remaining bandits one by one.
As she wiped the arrows off the bandit's corpse, she asked the villager, "Where's my brother?"
“Your brother is in the city lord’s mansion,” a villager said, snapping out of his daze.
Lin Yinan put away the arrows and turned to leave.
Su Yunzhi called out to her, "Anan, the bandits are hiding in the shadows, be careful!"
Even though he was covered in blood, he still stood tall and slender, with eyes as clear and bright as lake water, and a gentle and refined temperament.
Lin Yinan nodded and walked towards the City Lord's Mansion.
The two of them were destined to be apart, and she didn't want to give him too many wrong responses.
The closer you get to the city lord's mansion, the more corpses you'll find on the road.
Whenever Lin Yinan encountered creatures that weren't quite dead yet and were still struggling, he would decisively draw his sword.
Upon entering the city lord's mansion, she heard the sound of a child crying. The fetus in her womb seemed to sense this and kicked her hard.
Lin Yinan quickly comforted him and quietly touched him a few times.
The city lord's mansion was brightly lit, and guards carrying torches searched everywhere, not letting any escaped.
The child's crying was coming from a side room.
Two large braziers were burning in the side hall. As Lin Yinan walked in, a wave of warmth hit her.
There were seven or eight children sitting or standing on the ground, and her brother Lin Yiheng and Lin Tiezhuang were each holding a younger one in their arms.
When Lin Yiheng saw his younger sister come in, he was stunned for a moment and quickly asked, "Anan, what brings you here?"
“It’s dawn, and seeing that you haven’t returned yet, I came to check. Where did all these children come from?” Lin Yinan glanced at the children on the ground and asked.
Liu Ji said indignantly, "Sister Anan, the city lord is a perverted demon. He cultivates evil and heretical skills and drinks children's blood every day."
Lin Yinan frowned. "A scene from a martial arts novel, is it here too?"
"Where is he?" she asked curiously.
Lin Yuanzhi said, "Young Master Yun's martial arts are not bad. He and his men have joined forces, but they still haven't taken down the city lord. They are still fighting in the back. The guards told us not to go out."
"That's amazing!"
Lin Tiezhuang sighed, "That's right, these children are quite pitiful. The oldest is only seven or eight years old, and the youngest that Heng and I are holding is less than three years old."
As soon as he finished speaking, the child in his arms began to cry loudly.
Lin Tiezhuang frantically circled around trying to soothe the child, remembering how his mother had done it before, but the more he tried, the more the child cried.
Lin Yinan was stunned when she saw the face of the child in his arms. This was the couple's child.
Her heart softened immediately, and she took out a piece of bread from her bosom and handed it to the child. The child was starving and stuffed the bread into his mouth as soon as he got it.
When she turned around, all the children on the ground were looking at her pitifully.
Lin Yuanzhi whispered, "Sister Anan, do you have any more?"
Lin Yinan sighed helplessly, then took out several cakes wrapped in a handkerchief from her bosom and asked Lin Yuanzhi to distribute them to the children.
This is what she asked Qianxia to make, so she can eat it whenever she's hungry.
"Gurgle," Liu Ji clutched his stomach and gave Lin Yinan an awkward smile.
Lin Yinan shrugged; she didn't have any either.
"I'm going out to take a look," she said.
Lin Yiheng cautioned, "Don't go too far, be careful of danger."
After passing through a long corridor, Lin Yinan arrived at an exquisite courtyard with pavilions and towers. Although somewhat desolate, it was clear that the former king had put a lot of thought and money into it.
She was about to walk towards the pavilion when suddenly a figure flashed by, and a cold, large hand grabbed her neck. Through her mask, she smelled a nauseating stench of blood, and her body swayed involuntarily.
"Don't move! Watch your neck!" a bloodthirsty voice said behind her.
"Let her go!"
Yunmo's voice arrived before he did.
Then, Lin Yinan saw him float down from the roof of the main hall with a gloomy face, the sword in his hand still dripping blood.
Noticing the smooth texture of his subordinate's skin, as if realizing something, the city lord's eyes turned sinister, and he chuckled, "What? You were in a hurry all night, and now you're in a rush? Is this your woman? Let me see what she looks like for you?"
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Yinan was caught off guard when a large, cold, pale hand suddenly touched her chest and squeezed it hard twice in a disgusting way.
Yun Mo was so angry that his face turned ashen, his eyes widened in fury, his lips were tightly pressed together, the veins on his hands bulged, and the knuckles of his fingers gripping the sword turned white.
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