Special Forces Medic

Chapter 1137: Capturing Lao Jiu

"I can’t possibly tell you about the whereabouts of ’Night Ban’." The Black Doctor refused Xiao Lin’s proposal outright. Perhaps through conventional means they had no leads, but with ’Night Ban’, there might be hope, and ’Night Ban’ itself was tied to even more secrets.

"I really want to know the meaning left behind by that symbol, but I’m more concerned about Troy. If you have a method to slow his further degeneration, I have no objections." Xiao Lin was somewhat angry, frustrated because he had a sliver of expectation. He wanted to find ’Night Ban’, to understand the message Hong Lian left behind, what it truly meant, and who placed that symbol on the freighter. Without needing Qin Lin, he had hoped it was Fourth Master, setting a trap to get his blood, but that wasn’t the case. Someone else left the symbol on the ship. Initially, he thought the fog before him was clearing, giving a sense of nearing the end, only to find it’s the beginning of another fog. The feeling of being a mere pawn deepened. He considered himself to understand the old man thoroughly, but now realized he possibly understood him the least.

Ha ha! Xiao Lin suddenly laughed, which terrified the other two, who turned to look at him. Just then, a thick smoke emerged from the depths of the jungle, engulfing the night sky in a blood-red glow. Troy pointed at the sky, shouting. "The camp is on fire!" No sooner had he spoken than a series of explosions rang out. Amid the blaze, black objects were seen being blasted into the air, resembling meteorites falling around, with sparks igniting the treetops. Soon, the fire spread across the grove, impossible to extinguish.

The three of them sat along the coastline watching the fire that wouldn’t burn for long. Long tongues of flame reached skyward, towards the coastline. When the heat wave met the sea breeze, the winding tongues spiraled and were subdued halfway through. Such a spectacle was rare to behold.

"Where’s Shou Na?" Troy suddenly realized they were one person short among the four of them.

"You didn’t run into Shou?" The island wasn’t large, and while the cave holding Lao Jiu was in the opposite direction of this sea area, wasn’t this time a bit too long? Yelu Shou must have first found Troy’s trail, knowing he was safe before leaving, otherwise, Troy wouldn’t have mentioned Yelu Shou.

Troy shook his head, suddenly standing and running in the opposite direction of the grove. Seeing this, the Black Doctor immediately chased after him. "I’ll find him!" Pushing the Black Doctor aside with such force that he staggered back two steps, freeing from his grip. Turning, Xiao Lin had already lightly landed behind him.

Bang, whoosh! In the distant tranquil sea, a bright light flared up, flickering before vanishing into the sky. "Black Doctor, take Troy back to the ship. I’ll go find Yelu Shou." The three of them simultaneously looked in that direction as two signal flares fired consecutively into the sky, signaling a warning. "Chuck must have encountered something. You two get on the kayak and return to the ship immediately, leave if necessary." Xiao Lin said, then ran toward the cave, disregarding what the two behind him thought. The urgent priority was to find Yelu Shou first.

"But..." Troy wanted to protest, but was quickly dragged away by the Black Doctor. "Let go of me, Black Doctor, you big jerk, how can you leave the boss here alone?"

"Fool, without a ship, we all die here." Indeed, without a ship, even if they left, they’d starve, which would be even more disgraceful.

"How could we starve with so many fish in the sea?" Though saying this, Troy’s tone had weakened considerably.

Throwing Troy onto the kayak, the Black Doctor gave it a strong push before jumping on, paddling toward the distant moored ship.

Running swiftly along the coastline, Xiao Lin watched as the kayak returned at full speed, no longer caring. Taking a breath, he increased his pace another notch. Beneath the night sky, a shadow flashed across the shoreline, leaving nothing behind. The wind speed disrupted the atmosphere’s stillness, whipping up a swirl before quietening.

In a few leaps, Xiao Lin stood at the earlier spot he passed with Yelu Shou. Now, he couldn’t see the surface reflections through the light; the cave veiled by green plants stood silent. There were no signs of a struggle, nor any silhouettes, a foreboding sense instantly arose, Xiao Lin hesitated briefly before entering that batch of trees.

Even if there’s nothing, he had to confirm it himself.

Standing on a protruding rock, Xiao Lin kicked forward, hanging his whole body onto a rock face two meters away. From afar, the cave seemed only two to three meters high, but upon nearing, it turned out to be four to five meters tall, with extremely slippery rock faces. Although green plants grew on the rocks, they were weeds, impossible to use their stems and roots as support for climbing; you’d fall off without securing a grip.

Suspended mid-air, Xiao Lin took a deep breath, gathering the energy within, and propelled himself upward again, landing on another rock face for support. In a few movements, he reached the cave’s edge, the closer he got, the heavier the scent of blood in the air.

Holding his breath, Xiao Lin listened above, but it remained deathly silent. Carefully distinguishing, he leaped and landed in front of the cave. A heavy scent of blood wafted out from the pitch-black entrance, behind him lay a stretch of white sand and waves lapping the shore.

Where did everyone go? Xiao Lin furrowed his brow; entering just less than a meter into the cave, he found a corpse in uniform. Its gun was missing, bullets scattered on the ground, and the dismantled firearm lay not far in front of the body. The phone’s light was dimming, with one bar left; it could die any moment.

Another two corpses, also in uniforms, had died horribly. As Xiao Lin advanced, the bodies increased, their numbers exceeding a squad, maybe even a platoon. Among them, Yelu Shou was nowhere to be found, nor was Lao Jiu. The cave, merely a small size, was traversed quickly. It indeed seemed like a cave of corpses.

Exiting the cave, the sky grew darker, like the calm before a storm. Without finding Yelu Shou, Xiao Lin wouldn’t leave the tiny island readily. In this stillness, sound seemed a luxury; due to the darkness, making it impossible to find any clues. In his anxiety, Xiao Lin darted down the cliff toward the right. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)