I'm not a goblin Frankenstein's monster.

Chapter 135 Hidden Cave (4k)

Xia Lin had just returned to the baron's stables when she encountered an unexpected visitor.

Upon seeing Xia Lin enter, Tom's greasy, fat face immediately broke into a slightly fawning smile, and he quickly approached her.

"Listen, Xia Lin. To thank you for keeping that—uh, that little secret for me last time, I've specially reserved a lucrative job for you."

"Go to Sweet Creek Village next to Sham Shui Po and purchase the vegetables and supplies needed for the kitchen for the next few days."

Tom patted Xia Lin on the shoulder, "I'll add 20% to the account book. The difference is enough for you to have a good time at a high-class pub in town all night."

99

Xia Lin frowned.

As a covert investigator, what he needs most right now is to find out about that secret gathering, not to drive a horse-drawn carriage to the countryside to eat dust.

"Tom, that sounds tempting, but I still have to brush the horse's mane." Xia Lin waved her hand dismissively and turned to decline the task.

"Hey! Trust me, friend, this is a rare and lucrative job." Tom was getting a little anxious and grabbed him.

"You must understand, this is a task personally assigned by the Madam! It's to prepare for that important aristocratic gathering in a few days! The supplies must not be compromised!"

Xia Lin stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Baroness? An important gathering? Alice was just worried about finding a way to sneak into the party, this was like a godsend.

Xia Lin immediately turned around, his face breaking into a warm, brotherly smile, and grasped Tom's rough, chubby hand.

"Brother Tom, I'll take this acquisition. Not only will I guarantee the quality and quantity, but I also won't take a single penny of the price difference."

Xia Lin stared intently into the fat chef's eyes, a plan forming in her mind: "But in exchange, when the party is held in a few days, you have to bring me in as a maid to serve food or carry plates."

Tom's fat face twitched violently, and he tried to pull his hand back as if he'd been electrocuted: "Are you crazy?! The Baroness is extremely strict about this party; even servants who get close to that area get their legs broken!"

"That depends on whether you help or not." Xia Lin released her grip and said casually, "Oh, by the way, you had so much fun playing in the haystack last time, Butler Bourne probably doesn't know yet—"

Tom's face instantly turned ashen, like a wilted eggplant.

After a tense internal struggle lasting more than ten seconds, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Fine! You opportunist! I agree!" Tom wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"But you must swear to the gods that you will not let this slip! Otherwise, we will both be hung on the city wall to dry in the wind!"

The next morning.

Xia Lin drove a cargo wagon bearing the baron's crest on the muddy dirt road leading to Sweet Creek Village.

As the carriage entered a dense forest path, the tranquility was broken by a few gruff whistles.

Five men dressed in tattered leather armor and carrying weapons emerged from the bushes and swaggered into the middle of the road.

Xia Lin reined in the horses and glanced at the five uninvited guests.

Clearly, this was a gang of bandits roaming the countryside.

One of the henchmen, missing half a front tooth, looked at the emblem on the carriage and hesitantly leaned close to a burly man wearing an eyepatch, whispering in his ear, "Boss, this is a carriage with noble markings. Are we really going to rob it?"

"What's there to be afraid of!"

The one-eyed leader spat, his greedy one eye fixed on Xia Lin, who was all alone. "This place is so far from the city. If we kill a lowly errand boy, do you think the noble lord will send an army to seek revenge on us?"

Kid, get down here! Hand over all your valuables!

Sitting in the driver's seat, Xia Lin didn't even bother to say a word.

He, a person from a society governed by the rule of law, no longer felt any pity for such scum who committed murder and robbery, unlike he did in the early days of his transmigration.

He suddenly drew his longsword from under his seat, and with a burst of speed, he leaped from the carriage into the bandits' ranks like a cheetah pouncing on its prey.

A surge of power rose from his legs, passed through his chest and abdomen, and poured down his arms onto the sword blade.

The body's muscle memory was instantly awakened.

*Sizzle*

There are no fancy lights or shadows, only extreme efficiency.

With a single, precise strike, he sliced ​​open the throat of the foremost thug.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the hilt of the sword slammed into the temple of the second robber. With a sickening cracking sound, the man collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.

Xia Lin then ducked to dodge a long sword that came slashing down. The sword, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, pierced through the heart of the third person.

The whole process took less than five seconds; it was ruthless, brutal, and the cuts were clean.

After witnessing Xia Lin's terrifying combat power, the two surviving bandits surrendered without hesitation.

"Clang!"

The one-eyed leader and the skinny bandit Jack were so frightened that they dropped their weapons to the ground.

"Gods above—this isn't a groom, he's a butcher from the army camp!" The two men's knees buckled, and they fell to their knees with a thud.

"Spare me! Spare me!"

Xia Lin flicked the blood off the blade, used the tip to lift the one-eyed leader's chin, and said calmly, "No problem. Hand over all your money. As long as you give me all the money, I'll let you go. I mean what I say!"

Upon hearing that there was a way out, the one-eyed man nodded frantically, like pounding garlic, and hurriedly pulled out his money pouch from his pocket, handing it to Xia Lin with trembling hands.

Xia Lin took the money bag and weighed it.

Amidst the crisp metallic clanging sound, there were approximately twenty gold coins.

Some of them even had dried, dark red bloodstains on their surfaces, clearly indicating that these people had killed countless innocent people to steal them.

Thinking of this, Xia Lin's eyes turned completely cold.

"Here you go." Xia Lin took a gold coin out of his purse and tossed it to the one-eyed man.

The one-eyed man hurriedly caught the gold coins, thinking they were a reward from this "merciful" killer for his travel expenses. A grateful smile, a sign of relief at surviving a close call, appeared on his face: "Thank you! Thank you for the reward—"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Dare to hoard gold coins?! You're asking for death!"

"I hate being lied to the most!"

Xia Lin looked coldly at those unseeing eyes and said indifferently.

The skinny bandit named Jack next to him was completely terrified by the cruel and unexpected beheading scene.

A yellowish liquid flowed down his trouser leg.

"My lord! My lord, please don't kill me!" Jack kowtowed frantically, screaming like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

"He hid some more! Boss, he hid two gold coins in his butt! That's the money he saved to make a comeback! I swear I'm not lying to you! But please don't ask me how I know."

'

"Oh?" Xia Lin raised an eyebrow.

Woody, perched on Xia Lin's shoulders, burst into laughter: "Oh, Xia Lin, you've really ruined the romance between two tough guys."

Xia Lin ignored Woody's complaints, simply holding the still-dripping longsword, and took a step closer to Jack with a blank expression.

"No, no, no! I have a secret! I'd trade a treasure for my life!" Seeing that Xia Lin showed no sign of stopping, Jack cried out in terror, "There's a hidden cave nearby. I found several adventurers' equipment and weapons in there before! There's definitely more good stuff inside! I'll take you there! Please don't kill me!"

Xia Lin stopped and stroked his chin. Since there was plenty of time on this trip, it wouldn't hurt to investigate further.

He nodded, found a piece of thick hemp rope on the carriage, tied Jack's hands tightly in front of him, and held the other end of the rope in his own hand.

"You lead the way. If your short legs can outrun my sword, you're welcome to try and run away."

The two walked through the forest for about an hour, one after the other, and finally arrived at the entrance of a dark cave hidden by vines.

Accompanied by a cold, musty smell wafting from the depths of the cave, the two entered.

Along the way, Xia Lin indeed found several scattered skeletons on the ground, with tattered leather armor hanging on the skeletons and rusty longswords lying next to them.

Unfortunately, due to the passage of time, these items have long since weathered away and have no value for recycling.

The further you go, the narrower the cave becomes, and a chilling "squeak" can be heard from above.

Xia Lin looked up and, by the light of the torch in his hand, saw a dense swarm of vampire bats hanging upside down from the cave ceiling, their scarlet compound eyes looking particularly eerie in the darkness.

Charlin unceremoniously shoved the torch into Jack's bound hands, dealing with this annoying social creature.

"Raise it higher, you go first." Xia Lin coldly gave the order, then stepped back a few steps, perfectly blending into the shadows.

Jack, his face contorted in despair, ran forward frantically, torch in hand. Sure enough, a swarm of startled bats descended upon the bright heat source like a dark cloud, instantly biting Jack and drawing bloody gashes, causing him to scream in agony like a pig being slaughtered.

Taking advantage of the bats' attention being focused on Jack, Xia Lin crouched down and quickly passed through the bat habitat.

Then, he drew his longsword and, as easily as swatting flies, swiftly sliced ​​the greedy bats hanging on Jack's back in two.

"Keep going." Xia Lin kicked Jack, who was lying on the ground and almost dried up.

Sure enough, something unusual happened deep inside the cave.

Xia Lin discovered obvious signs of human excavation on the rock face.

He looked closer and found a dusty copper trough embedded in the wall, its opening connected to some kind of ancient alchemical ignition device.

He ordered Jack to bring the torch closer.

"Hula one"

A line of fire quickly spread along the wall, illuminating most of the basement, which was about half the size of a basketball court.

Just as the flames lit up, a sudden "crackling" sound of bones grinding together rang out.

A skeleton soldier covered in green moss and wielding a broken iron sword crawled up from a dark corner, its eyes glowing with eerie green soul fire, and headed straight for Xia Lin.

Xia Lin dodged the slash to the side and skillfully rewarded his opponent with a slash, the enormous force of which completely shattered the skeleton soldier's fragile cervical vertebrae.

The skull, now without a jaw, rolled to the side.

"This is truly bizarre," Woody the Raven muttered in his ear. "How could skeleton soldiers suddenly appear in these secluded caves, which neither form large-scale battlefield altars nor have natural accumulation points of negative energy?"

The answer was soon revealed.

By the light of the fire, Xia Lin could see an extremely narrow passage ahead. Deep inside the passage, at least four or five skeleton soldiers were swaying and trying to squeeze out.

The space is too small. If we rush in rashly, not only will we not be able to use our swords effectively, but we also risk being surrounded and having our kidneys ripped out.

Xia Lin's eyes darted around, and his gaze fell on the excellent bull and horse covered in blood—the bandit Jack.

"Same as always." Xia Lin wrapped the rope around her wrist twice, kicked Jack, and said, "You go in, and remember to lure one out each time."

Forced by Xia Lin's gleaming sword, Jack had no choice but to grit his teeth and step into the passageway.

The rest is much easier.

As "living flesh and blood," Jack has a fatal attraction to these mindless undead.

Every few steps Jack takes forward, a skeleton will furiously brandish its weapon and chase after him.

Just as the skeleton was about to chop down Jack's butt, Xia Lin, who was standing outside, would suddenly yank the rope, pulling Jack out of the tunnel like a radish.

Immediately afterward, the lured skeleton would peek out and crash head-on into Xia Lin's longsword, which he had been charging up for a long time.

Bones shatter and splatter; a single strike is fatal.

"This feeling... it's starting to feel more and more like when I was lure fishing by the river in my past life!"

Xia Lin felt the occasional tugs from the rope and actually found himself quite interested in playing with it.

Repeating this process, in just over ten minutes, Xia Lin had dealt with another five or six skeleton soldiers.

To his surprise, when the last skeleton fell, a glowing orb appeared above its skeleton!

Thank you for the gifts of nature!

However, Xia Lin was currently immersed in the pleasure of "fishing". He was thinking that after he had collected all the remaining soldiers in the village, he would quickly do a "ten-draw".

But after waiting for a while, he found that the rope in his hand had not moved for a long time and felt unusually light.

Xia Lin frowned and suddenly pulled the rope over.

Upon closer inspection, the cut at the end of the rope was extremely clean, clearly indicating that it had been severed by a sharp instrument!

Deep inside the passageway.

Jack the robber was running wildly through the darkness like a frightened mouse.

He was a seasoned veteran, and he had long guessed that Xia Lin, this killing god, would definitely not let him live after he had used him.

He used his memory to cut the rope with the dagger he had been hiding in the sole of his shoe.

"As long as I get to that ventilation shaft at the other end of the tunnel, I'll be free again!" Jack was extremely excited, his adrenaline was surging, and he didn't even feel bad about the bat bite on his back.

Finally, he saw a light ahead at the corner.

"It's the exit! Great!" Jack rushed over with joy, freedom seemingly within reach.

But when he actually got close, his steps abruptly stopped.

That wasn't sunlight coming through a vent at all, but two enormous, ghastly green will-o'-the-wisps, dozens of times brighter than any skeleton he had ever seen before!

"It's over————"

This was the last thought that flashed through Jack's mind.

In the darkness, a terrifying sound of wind tearing through the air suddenly rang out.