315: Chapter 315 Mysterious Liquid

"Zhi..." Lin Fan hadn't finished speaking yet when Xu Zhixia was already walking over here.

She put the bamboo basket aside, knelt on one knee, and reached out to flip open Yang Xiaoli's eyelids for a look.

Her pupils were sluggish in response, her lips were purple and dry, and her skin had a layer of grayish-white, which was typical of extreme dehydration combined with malnutrition.

"Help me turn her over."

Lin Fan supported Yang Xiaoli's shoulder with one hand and flipped her over so she was lying flat on her back on the ground.

Xu Zhixia placed her fingers on Yang Xiaoli's wrist and began to take her pulse.

After a few seconds, Xu Zhixia frowned, stretched her other hand over, and pulled open the cuff of Yang Xiaoli's jacket.

Just as that layer of ragged fabric was pushed up, Xu Zhixia's movements stopped.

Su Qingxue leaned over to take a look, her breath catching in her throat.

Yang Xiaoli's entire forearm, extending from the inner side of her wrist all the way to the bend of her elbow, was covered in dense scars.

Some had already formed dark red scabs, while others looked like they had been cut just a few days ago.

If it were self-harm, the cuts would vary in depth and be messy in direction, but the incisions on Yang Xiaoli's arm had even spacing, similar lengths, and standard angles.

These had been cut one by one by someone holding a knife.

Xu Zhixia rolled the sleeve up further.

At the bend of the elbow, something even more shocking was revealed.

Needle marks.

The skin around the pinholes had already turned bluish-black, the veins were bulging, and in some places, traces of subcutaneous bruising and spreading could even be seen.

Song Ya drew a sharp breath and subconsciously took half a step back.

Yang Ningcong poked his head out from behind Song Ya, glanced at it, and then pulled his head back, "Holy shit, what is this..."

Su Qingxue squatted down, stared at those scars for a few seconds, and asked, "What are these?"

Xu Zhixia did not answer immediately.

She checked Yang Xiaoli's other arm as well; it had the same cuts, the same needle marks, and even more of them.

"Bloodletting," Xu Zhixia spoke. "These transverse wounds are used for bloodletting. The depth is controlled very precisely, just enough to cut open the superficial veins without harming the arteries. It won't be fatal, but it can cause continuous bleeding."

She pointed at the bruised patch of pinholes at the bend of the elbow.

"These were left from drawing blood. Judging by the number of needle marks, the frequency is very high."

The stream flowed murmuringly, and at this moment, everyone fell silent.

Su Qingxue's stomach churned.

With so many scars and needle marks, and given that Yang Xiaoli was a woman to begin with, being tortured like this and managing to hold on until she crawled out today was already a miracle.

"How is she now?" Lin Fan asked.

Xu Zhixia let go of Yang Xiaoli's wrist and stood up.

"Her vital energy and blood are both severely deficient, her pulse is deep, thready, and weak, and all her internal organs are on the verge of failure." She looked at Lin Fan and shook her head. "I can revive her; I have a few qi-boosting herbs that can be forced down her throat, but..."

"But what?"

"She won't live long."

"The blood in her body has been drawn to the limit, and the bone marrow's blood production rate falls far short of consumption. Her internal organs have been oxygen-deprived for too long and have already begun irreversible necrosis."

"Even if she were sent back to an ICU in civilized society right now, it would still be a coin toss whether she could be pulled back."

"On this island, all I can do is wake her up to say a few words. After that, even with continuous herbal medicine, she can only last a few hours... three days at most."

Lin Fan was silent for two seconds. "First, bring her ba—"

His words were cut short.

Swish! Swish! Swish...

Several sounds of air being torn apart came from the bushes, and some crossbow bolts were aimed directly at Xu Zhixia.

Lin Fan reacted extremely quickly.

He abruptly leaped up, wrapped his left arm around Xu Zhixia's waist, kicked off the ground with his right foot, and rolled sideways with her.

The two of them tumbled onto the pile of gravel by the stream. Lin Fan's back slammed against a protruding rock, and he let out a muffled grunt, but his posture remained steady as he pressed Xu Zhixia beneath him to protect her thoroughly.

"Get down!" Lin Fan roared at the others.

Just as Lin Fan's voice fell, two more crossbow bolts passed right through the spot where they had just been.

Both embedded themselves into Yang Xiaoli's body.

One pierced into her chest, and the other punctured her neck.

That already dying body jerked violently, and a small amount of blood slowly flowed out from the base of the arrow shaft on her neck.

Lin Fan stood up from the ground, the machete already in his hand.

His gaze locked onto the direction from which the crossbow bolts had flown.

Two figures were shuttling between the tree trunks at a not-so-slow speed.

One of them still had a crossbow slung over their back, the bow limbs shaking back and forth as they ran.

Lin Fan exerted force under his feet and sprinted out.

The explosive power of Triple Enhancement allowed him to close a distance of over ten meters in an instant.

The two figures clearly sensed the pursuit behind them, and their speed spiked further as they bolted in two separate directions.

Lin Fan stopped in his tracks.

If he continued to pursue, only Su Qingxue and the others would be left by the stream.

What if there was a third or fourth person hiding around waiting?

Luring the tiger away from its mountain.

He took one last look at the two figures disappearing deep into the dense forest, clenched his back teeth, and turned to run back.

By the stream.

Su Qingxue had already stood up, her face pale but not panicked.

Song Ya was still lying on the ground not daring to move, and Yang Ningcong was lying flat like a dog, his entire face smeared in the muddy sludge.

Lin Fan strode back in three steps, and the first thing he did was look at Yang Xiaoli.

An arrow had pierced straight through her carotid artery position, and blood had already flowed all over the ground.

Her head was tilted to one side, her mouth half-open; she hadn't had time to let out a single cry, or even time to feel pain.

Xu Zhixia hurried over, reached out to probe the carotid artery, and shook her head.

"There's no saving her."

"Her body was already at its limit, and now that her carotid artery has been shot through, the rate of blood loss..."

She didn't continue.

Even on the operating table of a top-tier tertiary hospital, the rescue success rate for a penetrating injury to the carotid artery was pitifully low.

Let alone here.

Lin Fan had no extra reaction. Yang Xiaoli was dead; this was a fact that could not be changed.

But what secret was hidden in Yang Xiaoli's mouth that made them willing to risk exposing themselves right in front of them just to kill her?

"Lin Fan," Xu Zhixia spoke. "They came for Yang Xiaoli. Their purpose was very clear: to silence her."

Lin Fan nodded. "These people haven't shown their faces for a long time, and suddenly appearing today..."

He scanned his surroundings; the dense forest was abnormally quiet.

Not good. Zhou Kai was guarding the Karst Cave alone. If they targeted him, he wouldn't be able to hold them off.

"Put aside the matter of fetching water for now; let's head right back immediately."

Yang Ningcong immediately scrambled up from the ground, unable to spit out the mud filling his mouth. "Let's go, hurry up and go. This damn place is eerie..."

Lin Fan did not leave immediately.

He squatted down and began searching Yang Xiaoli's body.

His hands felt upwards starting from her feet.

Yang Ningcong watched Lin Fan's movements, the expression on his entire face gradually turning subtle.

"Brother Fan... are you... into this kind of fetish?"

Lin Fan didn't even raise his head. "Shut up."

"Her body is already cold and you're still—"

"I said shut up." This time Lin Fan raised his eyes, and with that single glance flashing over like a blade, the second half of Yang Ningcong's words was swallowed back on the spot.

"She was hunted down by that gang and escaped from the base camp. She might be carrying some things those beasts can't bear to let see the light of day."

Xu Zhixia squatted on the other side and also felt around her waist area.

Lin Fan's speculation wasn't wrong. She might really bring them something useful.

Her fingers felt the inside of Yang Xiaoli's belt, flipped through it twice, but found nothing.

It was the same on Lin Fan's side; apart from mud and gravel, the inner soles of her shoes were completely clean.

His hand slid down to Yang Xiaoli's chest area, and the moment his fingertips touched that layer of tattered lining, he paused.

There was a hard object beneath the fabric.

His hand stopped, and he turned his head to look at Xu Zhixia.

"Zhixia, come over. There is something inside her underwear."

Xu Zhixia walked over and squatted down.

She reached her hand into the already dilapidated lining at Yang Xiaoli's chest, her fingers touching that foreign object.

A sealed transparent soft tube.

About the thickness of a thumb and the length of an index finger.

When Xu Zhixia pulled it out, everyone's gazes gathered over.

"There really... really is something?" Yang Ningcong was full of shock.

The tube was filled with liquid.

The color was very strange, somewhat like blood, but looking closely it didn't look like it. Compared to blood, it leaned more toward a murky dark purple, with fine filamentous substances suspended inside.

The liquid flowed slowly inside the tube wall as Xu Zhixia turned it over. Its viscosity was noticeably higher than water, yet thinner than gel.

"What is this thing?" Yang Ningcong poked his head out from behind Song Ya.

Su Qingxue moved two steps closer, stared at that tube for a few seconds, and asked, "Blood?"

"Not entirely," Xu Zhixia held the tube up into the light leaking through a gap in the leaves, narrowing her eyes to observe. "There are blood components, but other things are mixed in. These filamentous substances... I haven't seen them before."

She turned the tube over, and those filamentous substances wriggled slightly in the liquid before returning to stillness.

"Why does it look like something moved inside?" Song Ya shrank back half a step.

Lin Fan took a look; the things inside indeed moved, and they were still wriggling right now.

Xu Zhixia handed the tube to Lin Fan. "It might be some kind of biological sample, but as for what specifically it is, I can't tell without equipment."

Lin Fan took it, held it between his fingers, and flipped it over. There were no traces of leakage.

Yang Xiaoli hid this thing close to her body, which meant it was very important. But now that she was dead, what exactly was contained in this tube had no answer for the time being.

Lin Fan put the tube away into his own pants pocket.

"Let's head back first."

Several people nodded, and just as they were about to leave, Lin Fan spoke again.

"Yang Ningcong."

Yang Ningcong's footsteps paused, and he slowly turned around with a smile piled on his face. "Brother Fan, what is it?"

Lin Fan lowered his head to look at Yang Xiaoli's corpse on the ground, then raised his head to look at him.

"Carry her on your back."

Yang Ningcong's smile froze on his face.

He lowered his head and took a glance following Lin Fan's line of sight, and his entire face instantly collapsed.

"What?"

"Carry her on your back."

He took half a step back, his two hands instinctively sliding behind his back. "Brother Fan, what are you doing... why carry a dead person?"

"There's no equipment on this damn island. Even if you want to perform an autopsy, Xu Zhixia can't do it!"