Chapter 254: The Heavy Hammer

Gazing at the water stain climbing up to the second-floor window, Luo Bin found himself at a loss; someone had already breached their defenses, and by the time he climbed up, it would be too late. Rock climbing was not part of the training curriculum.

After a moment of stunned stillness, his short-circuited mind finally caught up: there was no need to fight this wall; taking the stairs around would be faster.

The cultivator, now reacting, strode toward the clinic's main entrance, pushed open the slightly ajar door, and burst into the bustle.

The sound of paper rubbing against pen and the faint crackling of the furnace fire flowed gently; everyone was busy, unaware of what had happened.

The apprentices, who were catching up on paperwork and boiling medicines, looked up at the noise, assuming it was a patient arriving for an emergency night visit, and prepared to select the unlucky soul to wake the doctor. But this person didn't look like he had any ailment, and no patient followed behind him.

The on-duty assistant rose from behind the counter, dropped most of the blank lists, and stepped forward to meet him: "Doctor David is on the second floor; I'll go up right away..."

Luo Bin had no time to explain what had happened; he bypassed him, found the direction of the stairs, and left a crowd of people and their indistinct protests behind.

In his panic, the only thought was that there might be one more potential victim upstairs; whether he could face the intruder who had severely injured a colleague alone was a secondary concern.

In the worst-case scenario, as long as he could delay for a while, preventing the opponent from calmly achieving their goal, even for a few exchanges, the reinforcements, who held the numerical advantage, would arrive. Time was on his side.

"Do not come closer!"

As he shouted these words, the stairs beneath his feet had already reached their end; he stood at the entrance to the clinic's second floor, and his cry echoed back from the unlit, winding corridor, as if a warning to himself.

Worse than encountering multiple enemies was the quiet, dark environment that seemed utterly empty.

But Luo Bin knew those long-conspiring heretics were right here, sharing this limited space, divided by corridors and walls, with him.

A primal fear of the darkness rose, but he overcame that feeling, taking his first step into it, landing on his heel first, then slowly lowering his foot, merging into this atmosphere.

The frantic running had disoriented him, and the vastly different layouts of the two floors made it even harder to judge the exact location of the breached window.

And the room that had been lit outside seemed to have extinguished its light at some point; no light leaked from under any door. This worried Luo Bin greatly, speeding up his exploration; perhaps he was already too late.

Bringing a lantern up might have made him bolder, but it would also directly expose his position, putting him at a disadvantage.

The current situation was almost identical to that of the one just severely injured: the same confined environment, the enemy in the dark, and him in the light.

He had no way to quickly identify potential victims and the enemy's position under such circumstances; someone might already be dead without making a sound, and delaying further would only amplify this "possibility."

Moreover, after days of spying, the opponent had likely figured out the general structure of the floors, giving them an even greater advantage.

So Luo Bin prepared to make a somewhat risky move.

"Father in Heaven, protect your servant." His boot lifted, but this time it did not land gently; instead, he stepped out at a normal pace, creating a clear footstep sound. At the same time, his short sword was drawn.

To ensure the opponent truly heard him, he deliberately took a few more steps, passing door after door, behind which lay unknown dangers.

Few would refuse such an invitation; once the sole obstacle was cleared, they could do whatever they wanted before reinforcements arrived. Undoubtedly, they were not among the "few."

The old wooden axle spun rapidly, emitting a terrifying, shrieking sound like a mournful wail, becoming the first note of their entrance. Clearly, the opponent hoped this would be the last.

A door opened, and the danger lurking behind it struck, closing in before the grating sound of teeth had even faded.

Even though he had expected it, Luo Bin still felt a moment of panic; he struggled to dodge to one side, pushing off the wall to launch himself toward the general direction of the attacker.

His kick struck something; the attacker stumbled backward, collided with the door, bounced off, and lost control, lunging forward. Seizing the opportunity, the cultivator thrust his short sword forward, easily piercing through something.

As the familiar scent of metallic rust filled the air, the pierced body, after one final struggle, quickly grew heavy, collapsed helplessly, and the sharp metal weapon fell, clattering against the wooden floor.

He knew he had won the gamble; the reward was sufficient to match the risk. He had successfully reduced the enemy by one person in the first clash, and the situation looked excellent.

It was just... too simple.

The image of his severely injured comrade flashed through his mind again; even under a siege, relying on such skill alone should not have been enough to quickly incapacitate a well-trained cultivator.

An imperceptible sound of wind came from behind; alert, Luo Bin did not miss this detail and retreated in time, feeling only a sharp gust of air lift his hair as something heavy crashed down.

A deafening boom erupted from beneath his feet; the vibration made his body, in contact with the floor, tingle slightly.

A stinging pain came to his exposed face as tiny, sharp wood splinters burst out and embedded themselves in his skin. Compared to this slight pain, what was more horrifying was the force it represented, swinging down with full momentum, disregarding the arm's ability to withstand it.

And this was not the end; the figure strode forward, closing in, the heavy whooshing sound indicating a second attack was coming without pause.

In the dim light, he could only see the silhouette of a person with unusually long arms, wielding the blunt weapon to its maximum destructive potential; even a knight in full armor would have to prioritize dodging.

There was no time to ponder why such arms could be so resilient, enduring the massive recoil; Luo Bin scrambled to create distance, rolling toward the staircase entrance.

This was beyond what he could handle alone; the huge gap quickly reminded him that his original intent was to draw attention and delay, waiting for reinforcements.

That figure displayed agility disproportionate to its brute force; it did not stall but instead closed in as if completely unaffected by the two swings, raising its weapon from above, granting not a single moment to catch its breath.

【This doesn't make sense...】

Luo Bin, unable to dodge in time, raised his short sword in a desperate attempt to block, wondering if this was his final thought.

The tearing, excruciating pain in the webbing between his thumb and index finger signaled that the force was greater than imagined; the short sword flew from his hand, altering its trajectory only slightly before smashing down beside his ear.

A buzzing tinnitus, carrying a metallic tremor, and the conducted dull pain crashed wildly within his skull; he felt he heard some hoarse, gloomy, cruel low laugh, seemingly satisfied with this destructive power.

That person, or whatever humanoid thing it was, pulled the weapon from the shattered wooden planks; the overly heavy, flat, block-like hammerhead indicated it was originally meant for other purposes, perhaps a stonemason's or blacksmith's tool, more than sufficient for crushing bones.

Luo Bin felt he could now clearly see the opponent's face: a face as pale as if it had been laid out in a coffin for several days, its asymmetrical contours outlined by the light coming from behind.

The opponent also noticed the intervening light source, temporarily set aside the cultivator who had lost the ability to resist, and turned to look.

A girl in pajamas, holding a candlestick, had probably heard the commotion outside and pushed the door open to check. Her expression was still somewhat dazed, as if she had just awakened from deep sleep and hadn't grasped the situation.

One should not hold any expectations for the morality of heretics. Brother Luo Bin made the most correct decision he could think of at that moment; with his last strength, he grabbed the figure's leg and shouted to that girl:

"Run!"