Chapter 186 - 24: Black Cicada

Chapter 186: Chapter 24: Black Cicada

A sword’s gleam flashed from another part of the dense forest, slicing straight through Lin Chengji’s body.

THUD!

Lin Chengji’s body tumbled through the air and fell. The commotion seemed to startle the Black Cicada in the tree. The cicada’s thin wings had just begun to spread when a long, powerful hand precisely pinned its body.

The Black Cicada let out a piercing SKREE and struggled desperately, but it couldn’t break free from the hand’s pincer-like grip.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

From the Black Cicada’s appearance, to Lin Chengji lunging forward, to the flash of the sword, and finally to the cicada being caught—it all took less than a single breath of time.

The scene fell deathly silent.

Lin Chengji’s three subordinates froze in place, their weapons still held in a defensive posture. Their faces, however, were all frozen in identical masks of horror.

’Brother Cheng... is dead?’

’Brother Cheng was a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist, the backbone of this whole operation.’

’But now, Brother Cheng’s corpse was lying right there, his waist sliced open by a single sword strike. Blood gushed out, staining the ground red.’

And the man who had killed Brother Cheng was now descending from a tree trunk. He clutched the Black Cicada in one hand, his cold gaze sweeping over them.

"Lin... Lin Yan!"

Zhao Zixuan was the first to react. His voice trembled, the words barely coherent. All the color drained from his face, as if he had just seen a ghost.

He subconsciously stumbled back two steps, his legs giving way, and nearly collapsed onto the ground.

"Lin Yan, you dare lay a hand on Brother Cheng! You’ve violated the Lin Clan Rules. According to the rules, your entire branch will be implicated!"

Zhao Zixuan listened to the words of Lin Chengji’s three men with a flicker of derision in his eyes. ’Even now, they’re trying to threaten Lin Yan with the Lin Clan Rules?’

’If Lin Yan was afraid, he wouldn’t have just cut down Lin Chengji with a single strike.’

’Your Fourth Branch has always been scheming against the Third Branch, paying no mind to the rules. Do you really think Lin Yan is going to care about them now?’

’Three idiots!’

"Young Master Lin, save me! They captured me and were going to torture me, all because they knew I’m one of Master Yuan’s men."

Zhao Zixuan cried for help as he shook free of the three men and scrambled to the side. Lin Chengji’s subordinates were jolted from their stupor by Zhao Zixuan’s shameless lies. It was obvious Lin Yan didn’t care about the clan rules. If they wanted to live, their only choice was to fight him to the death.

As for exposing Zhao Zixuan’s lie, the three men shared a tacit understanding and chose to remain silent.

’If we survive, we can deal with Zhao Zixuan ourselves,’ they thought. ’And if we don’t, leaving a vile, shameless rat like him alive will be a thorn in Lin Mingyuan’s side.’

"Get him together!"

One of the three let out a low growl. They exchanged a look and lunged forward almost in perfect unison.

Their long sabers cut through the air, three arcs of light slashing toward Lin Yan from three different directions.

They put everything they had into this attack, holding nothing in reserve. If they couldn’t kill Lin Yan, they would be the ones to die.

Faced with their assault, Lin Yan’s expression remained unchanged. His left hand still clutched the Black Cicada. With a light tap of his toes, his figure flickered like smoke, weaving through the gaps between the three arcs of light.

The three men’s blades struck empty air almost simultaneously, not even grazing the hem of his robes.

’Where is he?’

Confusion filled the eyes of the three men. Lin Yan... had broken through their encirclement and vanished from right under their noses.

"Watch out—"

The man on the right looked toward his companion, his expression twisting in horror at something he saw. But just as his companion started to turn, his head was already tumbling to the ground.

SWISH!

Three swift flashes of a sword, and the three men tumbled to the ground, one after the other.

In three breaths, all three were dead.

Standing a short distance away, Zhao Zixuan was utterly dumbfounded by what he saw.

He knew Lin Yan was strong, but he never imagined he was *this* strong.

Before, when Lin Yan had killed Lin Chengji with one strike, it could have been attributed to a surprise attack. This time, however, it had been a direct confrontation.

These three Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists were like paper dolls before Lin Yan, unable to withstand even a single one of his moves.

’Even my own second uncle, or even my father, probably couldn’t have killed those three so quickly.’

A shiver ran through him. Snapping out of it, Zhao Zixuan quickly plastered a grateful smile on his face. "Young Master Lin, thank goodness you arrived in time! I..."

But before he could finish, he seemed to realize something. He clutched his throat with both hands, his eyes bulging as he stared fixedly at Lin Yan.

"Your death in exchange for the survival of the entire Zhao Family. Don’t thank me."

Lin Yan sheathed his sword without giving Zhao Zixuan so much as a sideways glance, and walked toward Lin Chengji’s corpse.

He hadn’t just arrived at that moment. He had followed them ever since Zhao Zixuan was taken, and he had heard, loud and clear, every word of the treacherous advice Zhao Zixuan had offered in his desperate bid to survive.

’But even if Zhao Zixuan had shown some spine and not tried to frame Master Yuan, I still wouldn’t have let him leave here alive.’

’Secretly letting people into the mountains is a grave offense.’

’If Zhao Zixuan didn’t die, I would be the one held accountable by the clan.’

’Now, I just have one more reason to kill him, that’s all.’

’Honestly, if Zhao Zixuan wasn’t such a selfish person, his death would have been a happy outcome for all.’

’If Zhao Zixuan had killed Lin Chengji, this whole affair would have remained a secret, and the Zhao Family would have been able to survive.’

’But with a temperament like Zhao Zixuan’s, he would never be willing to sacrifice himself for his family. He would rather see his entire clan annihilated in exchange for his own life.’

’Viewed this way, the ancestors of the Zhao Family ought to thank me. I’ve saved them from the complete annihilation of their line.’

Search the corpses. Clean up the bodies.

This time, Lin Yan was even more cautious than before. He found a cave and set the bodies on fire. He threw whatever remains weren’t completely incinerated into a deep pool of water.

Last time, he had hidden the remains of Lin Mingyu and the others in an extremely secluded mountain ravine. The Yantian Mountain Range was vast, so logically, they should have been nearly impossible to find. The fact that they *were* found forced him to be even more cautious now.

After finishing all this, Lin Yan looked down at the Black Cicada in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.

’The Black Cicada... an absolutely fantastic prize.’

’If I had consumed a Black Cicada Heart before those three Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists ambushed me last time, I definitely wouldn’t have remained oblivious until the very moment they struck.’

’The value of this thing doesn’t lie in increasing strength, but in forewarning of danger.’

’In my opinion, its value is even greater than any Treasure Medicine I have ever taken.’

’After all, a Martial Artist can only deal damage if they’re still alive.’

’A dead Martial Artist, no matter how powerful, is just a pile of dust.’