"Do all you young people talk in such a cheesy way? I've got goosebumps all over..." Lin Huan said with a kind smile, the first gentle expression he'd shown that night.
But that smile lasted less than a second.
Lin Huan's voice took on a serious tone, "No good, something's happened in the ancestral hall."
"Tangtang's presence has disappeared." I, too, sensed something was off in the ancestral hall.
Both grandfather and granddaughter rushed into the ancestral hall, only to stop dead at the scene before us.
All the ancestral tablets on the altar had been knocked over, and someone had desecrated them with fresh blood.
Lin Qianshan and Lin Xintang were nowhere to be seen; only Lin Hang was lying on the ground, his life hanging by a thread.
"Lin Hang." I rushed to him, desperately hoping his life hadn't been ruined.
I stumbled as I crossed the threshold.
Thankfully, Lin Huan steadied me, "Being a mother and still so clumsy, what would have happened if you had fallen on my precious great-grandson?"
Ugh!!
I really wanted to crawl into a hole.
As an elder, Lin Huan was even more agile than I.
"Grandpa, next time I'll definitely be more careful."
I couldn't care less about the embarrassment; I hurried to Lin Hang's side.
Immediately, I knelt down on one knee, propping myself up by his waist, and forcefully shook him a few times, "Lin Hang, Lin Hang..."
Blood...
Under Lin Hang, I saw a pool of blood.
I quickly lifted him up and felt the wound on the back of his head caused by a blunt object, "Grandpa, cousin Lin Hang is seriously injured, struck in the most vulnerable part of the head. The attacker is so malevolent, they wanted him dead, but not to die peacefully."
"Don't worry, he's still breathing, he's not dead yet," Lin Huan remained very composed, checking Lin Hang's pulse, "As long as he's alive, there's a way to save him."
Then, very calmly, he took off the cloth band he was wearing, which was used to heal his own wounds.
I hurriedly took off my coat and removed the Blood Splendor Robe I was wearing underneath, draping it over Lin Hang's body, "In my panic, I almost forgot, I brought the Blood Splendor Robe."
"You're everything a person should be, except for your nerves," Lin Huan sighed, stroking his goatee, "You brought the Blood Splendor Robe, yet you panicked like that."
"Heh heh..." I could only give a dry laugh; Lin Huan was absolutely right.
I've never considered myself particularly capable, always timid and lacking composure.
If it weren't for the fact that grandpa only had two children and Lin Gang was less than an animal, how would it ever have fallen to me to carry on the Lin family?
A smile spread across Lin Huan's face again, "But I quite like you just the way you are, warm-hearted, compassionate, and righteous—the very image of what should be the people of the Lin family's future leader."
Lin Huan's praise made me bashful.
I could tell he genuinely admired and liked me.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been so pleased my tail would have wagged up to the sky.
But at that moment, thinking of Xintang's unknown whereabouts, my heart inevitably clenched tight.
In less than five minutes, the Blood Splendor Robe took effect.
Lin Hang slowly came to, "Ow, my head's so dizzy, where am I? On a pirate ship?"
"You're still in the ancestral hall, did you have a sleepy head?" Lin Huan snorted coldly.
Lin Hang jolted awake completely.
After seeing both me and Lin Huan clearly, he vigorously rubbed his eyes, "Sect Master, Lin Hang greets you."
He prostrated himself on the ground, performing a kowtow.
Even the usually unfazed Lin Huan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth at this goofball's action, "You don't need to go through the formalities, do you remember what happened?"
"I remember, Sect Master, please hurry and save Xintang, he was abducted by Lin Qianshan," Lin Hang pleaded as he clung to Lin Huan's leg.
Lin Huan's face was expressionless, his mood dark enough to drip water.
"Wasn't Lin Qianshan completely drained of his Spiritual Power and rendered useless? You couldn't even handle him?" I said angrily.