Chapter 12: Escape
"I'm free!"
Lin Fan yelled, his voice cutting through the air as he sprinted across the blood-stained courtyard, a wide grin stretched across his face.
The bodies of the guards he had taken down littered the ground behind him, their groans fading as his footsteps thundered forward.
'Don't get too excited yet, boy. You still need to get out completely,' the old man's voice echoed inside his mind.
"I got you, old man," Lin Fan muttered between heavy breaths as he vaulted over a patch of thorny undergrowth, his robe catching on the edge but tearing free without slowing him down.
Ahead loomed the outer perimeter wall.
Without hesitation, Lin Fan gathered his strength, crouched, and launched himself upward.
His hand gripped a loose stone at the top.
For a heart-pounding moment, he nearly slipped—his foot landing awkwardly on the other side—but he rolled forward, hitting the dirt hard.
Pain jolted through his knees and palms, but Lin Fan scrambled up instantly.
A chorus of shouts erupted behind him: