My Years in the Jianghu with the Prince: A Time of Unethical Conduct

Chapter 154, Recollection Part 21 - The Cliff Fall Adventure 2

Xie Yan tightened her clothes, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the cave.

Once inside, by the light of the fire, Xie Yan discovered that the cave walls were covered with even more dark, dried bloodstains.

But the bloodstains did not extend from the outside of the cave into the cave; rather, they looked more like someone was running out of the downward passage.

Besides the bloodstains, there were also countless scratch marks on the stone walls on both sides.

It's as if someone was trapped here, frantically scratching at the rock wall, leaving behind these scratches.

Holding a tinderbox, Xie Yan squinted and slowly walked deeper into the mountainside, then stopped at the entrance of the passage.

The firelight was dim, barely illuminating the small area at the entrance of the passage.

Xie Yan stretched out her foot, and somehow kicked something, causing her to tumble down the rugged path with a "thump, thump".

For a moment, a series of echoes resounded in the cave.

The cold wind blowing from the passage was even stronger, and it also carried a faint stench.

Xie Yan looked down and saw several broken bones.

The bones were so broken and fragmented that it was impossible to tell what they originally were.

Among those skeletons lay a tattered scroll.

Xie Yan hesitated for a moment, but still bent down and picked up the book scroll.

The book's cover was badly damaged, but a few large characters could still be made out with difficulty.

"The Heart Sutra of Peace?"

Xie Yan's heart skipped a beat.

He opened the book and skimmed through it, confirming that it was indeed a manual of mental cultivation techniques.

It's quite a powerful manual.

"There really is a peerless martial arts technique?"

Xie Yan murmured something, but showed no joy; instead, her expression darkened.

How could such profound classic texts appear in this desolate mountain cave as if they had been casually tossed aside?

And what exactly happened, given the various signs inside the cave?

Xie Yan put the manual back in its original place, then held up the tinderbox and probed downwards.

Upon this exploration, he unexpectedly discovered another precious sword.

The sword had been there for who knows how long; its scabbard was slightly rusty, and it was stuck diagonally into the rock.

The sword is about three feet long, and a totem is engraved on the hilt. It is very heavy and seems to be made of a special material.

Xie Yan reached out and pulled the sword from the ground. The blade flashed a bright light, but it was not damaged in the slightest.

He flicked the blade lightly.

"Om-"

The longsword emitted a deep, resonant sound, and the entire sword trembled slightly.

"Good sword."

This time, Xie Yan did not put the sword back. Instead, she simply picked it up and walked back, seemingly uninterested in what else was below.

So he didn't notice that right after he turned around, a pair of eyes suddenly lit up in the dark corner.

Returning to the cave entrance, Xie Yan casually set her sword aside, then went to the cave entrance to pluck some vines and started a fire in a sheltered spot.

Once his body had warmed up a little, he sat cross-legged against the rock wall and began to regulate his breathing.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes were silently watching everything from the shadows.

Those eyes stared at Xie Yan all night long, until the sky began to lighten and Xie Yan opened her eyes again, at which point they disappeared.

Xie Yan paused in her act of getting up, and looked back as if she had sensed something, but saw nothing.

The fire had long since died down, and Xie Yan, who had stopped practicing her internal energy, once again felt the gusts of cold wind blowing up from the passage.

A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and for some reason, a vague unease lingered in his heart.

After much internal struggle, Xie Yan, having nearly finished regulating her internal energy, decided to leave.

With her long sword slung over her shoulder, Xie Yan pushed aside the vines blocking the cave entrance. Just as she was about to step out, she suddenly heard a noise.

A clanging sound came from the passageway behind him.

Xie Yan turned around and saw a black figure flash past her eyes.

The figure moved extremely fast; before he could even see what it was, it had already disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

Xie Yan stood still, gripping her longsword, and did not give chase, but instead frowned subconsciously.

That shape was definitely not that of an animal.

How can anyone still live in this godforsaken place?

Standing at the exit, Xie Yan hesitated for a moment, then peeked out of the cave.

Just like yesterday, apart from the hazy clouds, all that could be heard was the sound of waves crashing louder and louder.

We couldn't see what was below, nor did we know how long the vines clinging to the rock face were.

A moment later, Xie Yan gripped her longsword, relit the tinderbox, and stepped back into the gloomy passage.

The passage must have been carved out by man; the downward steps were winding and rugged, and it was easy to slip and fall if you weren't careful.

Because she had to be on guard while walking, Xie Yan walked very carefully and moved much more gently.

Even so, he would still occasionally be drawn to things scattered on the steps.

Sometimes they are martial arts manuals, and sometimes they are rare treasures and weapons, as if there is a treasure cave hidden beneath them.

Among them were even a few weapons that Xie Yan found quite familiar.

"Hiss—I seem to remember seeing this in the files. This looks like the knife of Liang Wanchou, the one-armed swordsman."

"This looks like the whisk of the Xuantian Daoist..."

The names that Xie Yan mentioned were all figures who had once dominated the martial arts world.

But why say "a long time ago"?

Because these people either went missing due to being hunted down or to verify their martial arts skills, their whereabouts became unknown.

And these people all shared a common characteristic in the intelligence files collected by Fengyunlou—

There are various indications that they most likely fell off a cliff and died during the fight.

That's why news of their whereabouts being unknown has spread.

After all, there wasn't even a skeleton left, so how could they possibly find anyone?

Xie Yan: ...So you two fell off the same cliff?

He mourned silently for a while, then continued walking downstairs.

This time, he didn't walk far before stepping onto flat ground.

Although I couldn't see clearly, I could still sense that the space in front of me had suddenly widened.

Xie Yan held up the torch she had just made and swept it around.

Suddenly, my gaze was fixed on one spot.

In the dimly lit corner, a dark figure was huddled up.

It was impossible to tell whether she was male or female; she simply had her back to him, remaining motionless like a stone.

The flickering torchlight slowly lengthened the person's shadow.

The next second, a sudden gust of cold wind swept by.

The fire in Xie Yan's hand went out.