3: Chapter 3 The Sword Child's Secret, The Whispers of the Restriction

Footsteps were rapidly approaching the direction of the bamboo forest!

Lin Ye turned his head to glance at the torches flickering in the darkness, then looked toward the Cold Bamboo Pavilion, which was within arm's reach yet separated by a layer of Restriction.

A barrier in front, pursuers behind.

The cursing of Black Sha and Fatty Wang sounded like a death warrant, getting closer and closer.

Lin Ye lay in the grass, his muscles tensed, but his gaze was locked firmly onto the pale blue light membrane of the Cold Bamboo Pavilion. Forcing a Breakthrough? Even Black Sha at the sixth level of Qi Refining might not be able to do it.

Wait.

He suddenly focused, looking at the slender figure guarding the entrance of the pavilion—a Sword Attendant of about fourteen or fifteen years old, clutching a sheathed longsword, nervously peering toward the direction of the commotion.

Concentrate.

Three seconds later, a line of extremely faint, light gray text slowly appeared above the Sword Attendant's head (different from the usual golden Opportunity):

[Opportunity: In 2 hours and 15 minutes, due to his master's passing, he will be forced to open the Immortal Cave Restriction. While organizing the belongings, he will discover the "blood curse secret letter" left by his master in the hidden compartment of the sword case, learning that Zhao Hansong's serious injury was actually caused by a fellow Disciple's ambush. He will be silenced for knowing the truth. Countdown: 02:14:59...]

A chill ran up Lin Ye's spine.

Ambush? Silenced?

These waters were far deeper than he had imagined!

Almost simultaneously, the damaged foundation establishment pill in his bosom became even noticeably hotter. Driven by an inexplicable impulse, he took out the Medicinal Pill and held it in his palm. A faint, extremely pale golden light seeped from the crack on the surface of the Medicinal Pill.

And the pale blue light membrane of the Restriction in front of him seemed to... ripple?

Like a small pebble thrown into a calm lake.

"Lin Ye! Get out here, you bastard!" Fatty Wang's roar was already outside the bamboo forest.

The Sword Attendant gripped his sword hilt vigilantly and looked over there.

Seizing this momentary gap, Lin Ye, holding the scorching foundation establishment pill, slowly moved his hand toward the Restriction light membrane. He did not force contact, just approached.

Hum—

The light membrane emitted a subtle, sigh-like low hum. Immediately after, the small area near his palm faded in color at a speed visible to the naked eye, becoming almost transparent!

"This Medicinal Pill... can affect the Restriction?" Lin Ye was both surprised and suspicious. Was it because it once belonged to some expert, leaving behind certain traits? Or...

There was no time to dwell on it. He turned sideways, like a slippery fish, and silently "squeezed" through the thinning area. The moment he entered, the light membrane returned to its original state.

The footsteps outside the bamboo forest stopped abruptly.

"The Restriction is intact?" Black Sha's suspicious voice came, "That kid couldn't have entered."

"Could he be hiding elsewhere?" Fatty Wang panted heavily.

Lin Ye pressed his back against the bamboo wall, holding his breath as he listened. He had entered, but the Sword Attendant was just five steps away, looking with a puzzled expression toward the direction where the light had just fluctuated.

"Who?" The Sword Attendant's voice trembled as he raised his sword.

Lin Ye quickly sized up his opponent: third level of Qi Refining, face pale, eyes red and swollen, obviously exhausted from worrying about his master's injury. More importantly, the countdown for the gray "Opportunity" (which was actually a fatal calamity) above his head was ticking down second by second.

He couldn't use force. This Sword Attendant was the key, and also a trap.

"Don't shout." Lin Ye lowered his voice, slowly revealing half his face from the shadows, still holding the shimmering foundation establishment pill in his hand, "I mean no harm. I am here to deliver medicine."

The Sword Attendant was stunned. His gaze fell on the Medicinal Pill, sensing that faint yet pure spiritual energy fluctuation, and his guard eased slightly: "Who are you? How were you able to pass through the Restriction?"

"This Medicinal Pill has a history with your master." Lin Ye started making things up, keeping his gaze as sincere as possible, "Sensing that he was seriously injured and in critical condition, I came specifically to deliver medicine to extend his life. The Restriction... was guided by the Medicinal Pill."

He was betting that the severely injured Zhao Hansong could no longer verify this, and that the Sword Attendant was desperate to save his master.

A struggle flashed in the Sword Attendant's eyes as he looked back at the silent inner chamber of the pavilion. His master's aura was getting weaker and weaker, and the alchemist sent by the Sect had not yet arrived...

"You... really have a way to save my master?" His voice was tearful.

"Let me see him." Lin Ye took a step forward, while his gaze quickly scanned the Sword Attendant's entire body, finally fixing on the end of the hilt of the longsword he was holding—there, an inconspicuous gray jade was embedded, faintly echoing the light of the gray countdown.

The secret is in the sword?

The Sword Attendant gritted his teeth and stepped aside: "Master... is inside. If you are lying to me..."

Lin Ye nodded and stepped into the inner chamber of the Cold Bamboo Pavilion.

The smell of medicine mixed with a faint scent of blood rushed toward him. On the couch, a handsome young man with a face pale as paper had his eyes tightly closed, his aura drifting, and the bandages wrapped around his chest were stained with dark red. It was none other than Zhao Hansong.

The countdown for the Opportunity above his head had less than half an hour left.

And the foundation establishment pill in Lin Ye's hand shone even brighter now, even floating slightly on its own, pointing toward an open, empty sword case by Zhao Hansong's pillow.

The Sword Attendant followed behind, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Lin Ye approached the bed, pretending to check the injury, while his gaze searched rapidly. Suddenly, his pupils constricted.

In Zhao Hansong's hand, which hung by the side of the couch with white knuckles, he was tightly gripping a small piece of ice-blue scale—an Ice Scale Python's scale?

No, at the root of that scale, there was an extremely tiny, man-made cut mark!

It wasn't a severe injury from a Yao Beast, but a wound caused by a weapon, disguised as a tear from a python's teeth?

He suddenly remembered the gray "fatal calamity" information about the Sword Attendant: blood curse secret letter, ambush by a fellow Disciple.

"Young brother," Lin Ye maintained his calm and turned to the Sword Attendant, "I'm afraid this injury of your master's was not caused by a Yao Beast, right? Do you know who the last person he met was?"

The Sword Attendant's face turned deathly pale in an instant, his lips trembling, and his hand subconsciously reached toward the gray jade on the hilt of the longsword in his bosom.

Just at this moment.

Outside the pavilion, Black Sha's sinister voice suddenly amplified, as if using some kind of amplification Spell, resounding through the bamboo forest:

"Sword Attendant of the Cold Bamboo Pavilion, listen up! The Utility Disciple Lin Ye has stolen a precious treasure and fled here; it is suspected that he has snuck into your place! Open the Restriction immediately and cooperate with the search! Otherwise, you will be punished for the same crime!"