The passage inside was pitch black, with not a single ray of light visible. Ye Linshan conjured a small flame to illuminate her surroundings. The walls were carved with eerie, bloody scenes; the figures in the murals exuded madness, and beneath their knives lay people begging for mercy, yet they seemed utterly blind, slicing open their bellies with blades.
Animal limbs, human bodies, all sorts of combinations—the hollow, despairing eyes of the victims held not a shred of will to resist.
"A scalpel can save lives or take them, but a doctor's duty is only to heal." Ye Linshan traced the murals on the wall, an indescribable feeling stirring within her.
She finally reached the end. Outside the cave entrance, the temperature was unbearably high, and a blazing red glow illuminated everything. A massive fiery egg spun in the air, and inside it lay Huo Feiyan.
Such heat might be unbearable for others, but for Ye Linshan, who wielded the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, walking in felt like nothing. She struck the giant egg fiercely with her Red Lotus Karmic Fire, but it remained utterly unmoved.
"Still too weak?"
Ye Linshan eventually withdrew the Red Lotus Karmic Fire and switched to the Samadhi True Fire. Having reached the Golden Core stage, her attack power was far from trivial. Sweat dripped from her chin to the ground but evaporated before it could touch the surface.
Her eyes were scorched red, yet the egg still refused to crack, instead seeming to grow even sturdier.
This wasn't working. Was fire the wrong approach? Right—this egg was born of fire itself; breaking it by force with flames was naturally no easy task.
Perhaps water would work. "Water Blade."
A knife formed from water struck the blazing egg, but it was utterly useless. The egg remained as solid as ever.
"Master, Master, is that you?" A faint voice echoed in her mind—it was Huo Feiyan, waking from within the shell, her voice weak as a thread.
"It's me. How are you in there? Can you get out?" Ye Linshan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Huo Feiyan awake.
"Alright, I'll try again." Huo Feiyan mustered all her strength and slammed into the shell once more, but it only trembled slightly, not even a crack appearing.
"What kind of shell is this? So hard?" Ye Linshan frowned.
"Thunder Flash." Bolts of lightning struck down, and tiny cracks appeared on the shell. Though small, they were enough for Huo Feiyan. She rammed into it again with all her might, finally breaking through.
"Master, I'm sorry—I failed to protect them." Guilt flickered in her eyes. If not for her carelessness, they wouldn't have been captured.
"It's fine. Let's hurry and save Xiari." Ye Linshan nodded at Ye Yutian, a silent thanks for his help earlier. Even she had nearly been overwhelmed by the heat here, let alone Ye Yutian, yet he had still come down to assist her in cracking the shell. It would be a lie to say she wasn't moved.
"Do you know where Xiari is being held?" Feng Qing tilted his head, asking not to discourage her, but because all these tunnels looked identical. Without knowing Xiari's exact location, finding her would be tough.
"No. Do you know?" Ye Linshan blinked, looking at Feng Qing.
Feng Qing thought for a moment. Based on his years of dealing with these madmen, Xiari was likely on an operating table—but heaven knew which cave held that table.
"I know where she is." Huo Feiyan's expression turned grim, hoping it wasn't too late.
The smell of blood grew stronger, and Ye Linshan's hope dwindled. Such a thick scent likely meant Xiari was in grave danger.
As expected, Xiari lay on an operating table, her intestines spilling out, her arms not even her own, her eyes filled with terror and despair.
"Good. Very good." Ye Linshan clenched her fists. Anyone who dared touch her people would face death.
"My dear friend, you've finally arrived. I've been waiting so long." A man in a white coat entered, his voice clean, his face wearing a harmless smile, but in his hand was a scalpel.
"As a healer, you should save lives, not take them. You're unworthy of being a doctor." Ye Linshan had already calmed down by the time he approached. Now, looking at him, her eyes held no raging fury.
"I thought the murals on the wall would explain everything." The man toyed with his scalpel, his long fingers pale and delicate, refined like a work of art.
"You went to all this trouble to lure me here. What's your goal?" Ye Linshan smiled lightly, her expression relaxed, clashing with the tense atmosphere.
He didn't answer her question but said instead, "Our conversation is best kept from others."
"Lanshan." Ye Yutian looked at her with concern but didn't move.
"You all go out first. I'll be fine. He went through all this effort to bring me here—why would he let anything happen to me?" Ye Linshan shrugged and sat directly on the operating table.
Ye Yutian didn't want to leave. Though this man was dangerous, it wasn't that he couldn't handle him. But since Ye Linshan had her own plan, he didn't want to interfere too much.
"Are we just walking out like this?" Feng Qing's tone carried a mix of frustration and worry.
"Your revenge will come, but not now." Mu Xinlian's face was cold, a restless irritation churning inside her. Having the enemy right in front of them yet being unable to act—it was a terrible feeling.
Ye Yutian said nothing, but as he stepped out of the cave, he spotted a signal unique to the Dark Hall. It was only used in emergencies, meaning something major had happened there.
"Leave Ye Linshan's safety to you. I have urgent matters to attend to and may need to leave for two or three days." Without waiting for their surprised expressions, Ye Yutian vanished like the wind.
"What could be so urgent that it can't wait even a moment?" Mu Xinlian now regretted coming out. With Ye Yutian gone, she had no idea how to answer for it if anything happened to Ye Linshan.
"Hey, do you think Ye Linshan will be okay? What if that madman suddenly lashes out? I'm not sure I can save her from him."
Feng Qing launched into a rambling, anxious monologue. He had thought that with someone as powerful as Ye Yutian around, he could face these lunatics without fear, but Ye Yutian had left at the worst possible time—truly bad luck.
"Go on, what do you want to talk about?"
"Don't you feel any anger or fear?" The man approached her, scalpel in hand, its tip nearly grazing her skin, yet she remained utterly indifferent.