Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

After saying that, the Rat King turned to look at Nian: "Aren't you going?"

"What will happen if I go?" Nian seemed to become incredibly obedient.

"It's highly likely that you and your sister were taken away by Qi Yan together."

The Rat King was absolutely certain about this matter.

Upon hearing Nian's answer, the Rat King and the surrounding delegation members all tilted their heads.

The Rat King asked, "Is this an exclamation of yours, or an expression of agreement?"

"Both are present."

Nian walked up behind the Rat King with a grin, pushed him by the shoulder, and forcibly pushed him out of the tent.

Outside the tent, an ancient chariot engulfed in flames had been prepared at some point. Before the Rat King could react, Nian pushed him onto it.

Then, with a flourish, he leaped onto the chariot, grasped the reins, and gave them a gentle tug.

Four fiery warhorses materialized out of thin air in front of the chariot, their front hooves raised, and they roared, pulling the chariot away into the air.

The refined-looking man and the delegation members who chased after them from inside the tent could only stare blankly at the chariot disappearing into the distance, utterly helpless.

"Old Chen, little sister, look what I found?!"

Qi Yan's unprecedentedly excited tone made Chen, who was starting a fire, look up immediately. Through the dappled sunlight in the forest, she saw Qi Yan running back from the woods, covered in dry branches and leaves, with a wooden stick in his hand.

Chen frowned in confusion: "Is there anything special about this wooden stick?"

Qi Yan was so excited that he exaggerated, waving the stick in his hand and making a series of whooshing sounds as he swung it.

Chen was still puzzled and turned to look at Qi Lin, who was processing wild rabbits, his eyes full of questions.

Qi Lin shook her head, indicating that she didn't understand either.

"You guys!" Qi Yan clicked his tongue. "Didn't you notice? This stick is... SU! LIMITED! LIMITED!"

List:"……"

Qi Lin: "..."

Seeing that the two girls still looked puzzled, they sighed in unison, and squatted to the side, hugging their sticks and feeling sorry for themselves.

"Stop playing around, you're in charge of roasting the rabbit." Chen was too lazy to delve into the reason for Qi Yan's madness. After lighting the fire, he urged, "I'm almost broken apart by you on this journey. I desperately need a rest."

I really don't understand why you choose to go into these remote mountains and forests instead of taking the good roads. You've made me lose my way even with a map.

I wonder how Uncle Lin is doing now. I hope he won't get angry if he doesn't see us soon.

Qi Yan, carrying the stick, obediently walked over and took the rabbit that Qi Lin had prepared, promising:

“It’s alright if he gets angry. As long as I give him this sword as an apology, he definitely won’t mind.”

"What sword?" Chen asked, completely bewildered.

"This!"

Qi Yan once again wielded the stick in his hand with great force.

Chen: "...Naive."

Qi Yan, who had been rebuked, looked resentful, but still refused to put down the stick in his hand. He placed the rabbit on the fire with one hand and began to roast it.

Qi Lin silently examined the stick, quietly noting Qi Yan's hobby in her heart.

Then, her two delicate wolf ears twitched slightly, and she turned her head to look to her side.

A few seconds after Qi Lin reacted, Chen also noticed the footsteps coming from that direction. He turned his head and cautiously stared in that direction, his hand already unconsciously resting on the hilt of the Chixiao sword at his waist.

It wasn't until footsteps echoed through the woods that Qi Yan belatedly realized something was wrong. He turned around, his rear end sticking out, and looked at the group of men in tight-fitting clothes who had suddenly appeared in the woods.

The group of men dressed in black were also somewhat wary when they saw Qi Yan and his companions.

The leader's gaze swept over the three of them, then he subconsciously glanced at the straight stick in Qi Yan's hand, then looked at Qi Lin uncontrollably, and finally looked back at the stick with an inexplicable will.

Qi Yan immediately put on a guarded expression and hid the stick behind his back.

The man in the lead paused for a moment and quickly looked away.

After exchanging glances with his companions behind him, he did not make any contact with the three of them and turned around to leave from the other side.

After they had walked away, Chen removed his hand from Chixiao's head and said in a deep voice:

"They are a group of martial arts practitioners."

"A legendary martial arts master?" Qi Yan's eyes lit up.

"...They can't be considered experts yet," Chen said with a wry smile, "but they're passable. If this group were to ambush and launch a surprise attack, they could pose a threat to some ordinary experts."

"Oh oh oh!"

Qi Yan became even more excited upon hearing this.

Noticing Qi Yan's emotions, Chen reassured him, "I was just saying 'what if,' not that they're actually going to ambush anyone..."

Unfortunately, before Chen could finish speaking, Qi Yan threw the half-roasted rabbit away and took off chasing after the group of people.

"Hey, don't..."

Chen tried to stop her, but found that Qi Yan had already run far away, and the rest of her sentence could only turn into a helpless sigh.

Qi Lin stood up, waved her hand to release a gust of cold wind to protect Qi Yan, shielding him from footsteps and scent, so that he would not be discovered by the group of men in tight-fitting clothes.

After helping Qi Yan make the necessary preparations for tracking him, Qi Lin slowly began to walk.

Seeing that the brother and sister had already made up their minds, Chen had no choice but to set off as well, muttering under his breath:

"Your brother is too impatient."

“That’s normal,” Qi Lin said, unsurprised. “He’s even more impatient when he’s playing games; he skips the score settlement without even looking at it.”

“It’s something he’s capable of doing.” Chen wasn’t surprised at all.

When the two women caught up with Qi Yan again, they found him hiding behind a rock with a stick in his arms, peeking out with half his head to spy on what was happening ahead.

Chen concealed himself as he approached Qi Yan, forcefully pressing down Qi Yan's head, which could be exposed at any moment, and then cautiously peered ahead.

After assessing the situation, Chen was somewhat surprised:

"It really was an ambush!"

Chapter 816 The Tragedy That Was Moved Forward

In the quiet forest, only the wind and the rustling of leaves could be heard.

In the Jiangnan region, where spring has not yet arrived, the wind still carries a slight chill, and the chirping of insects has not yet begun, with only a few birds and animals making low calls.

A group of men carrying knives held their breath, hiding in various parts of the forest, waiting for their target.

Qi Yan and his two companions were also waiting for their target.

The sounds of birds and beasts gradually faded away.

Qi Lin gave the two people beside her a look, indicating that someone was about to appear.

Qi Yan couldn't help but peek out, but Chen pressed his head down again and forced it back down.

He could smell the faint fragrance of Chen beside him, and he could hear hurried footsteps approaching from a distance.

The footsteps suddenly disappeared after a certain distance.

The next second, Qi Yan heard the sound of blades being drawn, branches breaking, and leaves rustling. The whistling of sharp weapons cutting through the air replaced the shouts of killing that he had imagined. Fists and feet clashed and groans of pain from falling to the ground blended together.

"He's a good one," Chen said in a low voice, "but it's not enough."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qi Yan heard the hissing sound of cloth being torn, and a man's muffled groan of pain.

Qi Yan shook his head vigorously, shaking off Chen's hand that was holding him down. He grabbed the edge of the rock in front of him with both hands, and peered out with wide eyes to watch the martial arts drama unfolding before his eyes.

Qi Yan was then stunned.

He saw a familiar Liberian man clutching his shoulder and staggering backward, leaning against a tree so thick that it would take two people to hug it. A thin layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and his face was grim as he scanned the enemies who were closing in on him.

The man had blue hair, wore a mandarin jacket, and had various odds and ends hanging from his waist, giving him the air of a wandering charlatan.

The man's round-framed glasses, which gave him a charlatan-like air, were slightly askew from the fight, but this didn't detract from his charlatan persona. Instead, it added to his classic image of someone who had been exposed as a swindler and then beaten up.

Unfortunately, only Qi Yan was still paying attention to these strange art style issues. Everyone present, including Chen, was staring at the unopened folding fan in the hand of the man from Liboli.

The leader of the men in tight-fitting clothes gave a wink to his companion. Instead of the endless nonsense Qi Yan had imagined, the group attacked again, splitting up in different directions and tacitly assaulting the man from Li Boli.

The man from Liboli clearly had the urge to open his folding fan, but in the end he gave up. He merely used the fan to deflect the blades that were slashing at him, and then nimbly moved away to escape the enemy's encirclement.

The man from Liboli then turned and ran without any hesitation.

But as soon as he took a step, he noticed a tuft of white hair that was being forcibly pressed down behind a boulder in front of him.

Almost instinctively, the Liberian man turned around and began to run in the other direction.

Whether it's to avoid getting involved with the people hiding behind the rocks, or to avoid the other party being someone who is also lying in ambush, the Liberian man is unwilling to provoke them.

"Hey, hey, don't run away, don't run away, we're on the same side."

Qi Yan broke free from Chen's restraint once again, climbing half of his body onto the rock and calling out to the man named Li Boli.

His sudden voice startled the Li Boli man, who slowed down in surprise and doubt. The men in tight-fitting clothes behind him, who were preparing to give chase, became even more vigilant and ready for battle upon hearing his words.

Qi Yan, carrying his stick, huffed and puffed as he turned over the stone, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere, and started chatting casually:

"Tell me what happened? Why were you ambushed and killed? Where is your master, Lian Zixu?"

The man from Liboli was taken aback when the person in front of him suddenly mentioned his master's name.

Upon hearing Qi Yan's words, the group of men in tight-fitting clothes immediately regarded him as a member of the martial arts world.

The leading man immediately stepped forward and said in a deep voice:

"Young man, considering your youth, I'll give you a piece of advice: don't meddle in things that aren't your business. Just leave now, and we can pretend we never saw you."

Qi Yan draped the wooden stick over his shoulder and said with a grin:

"There is nothing in this world that I cannot manage!"

The leader was so intimidated by Qi Yan's imposing manner that he didn't know how to respond.

His gaze wandered and landed on Qi Lin and Chen, who had followed him out from behind the rock.

After a moment's hesitation, the leader clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Chen, saying sincerely:

"Miss, please give me some face, this matter... is not your business."

She was stunned for a moment, then noticed that the leader's gaze kept lingering on her dragon horns and tail, and realized that the other party had recognized her general identity.

In Yan Kingdom, dragons are generally from aristocratic families, and the other party was clearly a person of some knowledge, regarding her as the one with the most noble status among the three.

"It's a pity, he's the captain of the three of us." Chen pointed to Qi Yan.

The leader frowned, looking at Qi Yan with suspicion and uncertainty.

But Qi Yan ignored him and looked at the man from Li Boli with a smile:

"I've arrived so far ahead of schedule, how is your master doing lately?"

Seeing that Qi Yan was always concerned about his master and had a kind attitude, the man from Liboli subconsciously regarded Qi Yan as a descendant of his master's old friend.

Then a look of grief flashed across his face: "My master... was murdered three months ago..."

Qi Yan: "..."

He felt somewhat confused and puzzled.

According to the information he knew, Lian Zixu should not have been killed so early. After all, Yan Rong on the island was still a little girl. According to the original plot, Lian Zixu's tragedy would not have begun until Yan Rong had grown into a beautiful young woman.

"May I ask who you are, young man?" the man from Liboli asked tentatively.

"...Just consider me an old friend of hers."

Qi Yan sighed, put down the wooden stick draped over his shoulder, held it in one hand, and with the other hand forming a sword-finger gesture, slowly stroked the straight stick.

He walked step by step toward the group of men in tight-fitting clothes.

"Consider your lives as interest."

Qi Yan pointed the wooden stick in his hand at the men in tight-fitting clothes.

Everyone on the other side took a half-step back in surprise and doubt, exchanging glances warily as they spoke.