Sleeping Soundly, One Sweet Dream After Another

Lu Feng and Ye Fan ran all the way to the north of Black Wind Town. After confirming there were no pursuers behind them, they headed toward a tea stall nearby.

"What was that poisonous smoke you scattered earlier?" Lu Feng took a few sips of tea and looked at Ye Fan questioningly. He had not expected the latter to possess such vicious methods.

Ye Fan smiled faintly. "That wasn't poisonous smoke, just ordinary medicinal powder for treating illnesses."

"Ordinary medicinal powder?" Lu Feng clearly did not believe him. He had personally seen quite a few people collapse in convulsions, frothing at the mouth.

Ye Fan explained, "They all had residual Crane Immortal Pill toxicity in their bodies. After inhaling my Purple Lotus Clear Serenity Powder, the two substances clashed and triggered the poison. If they're lucky, they'll be fine after vomiting it all out. If they're unlucky, their limbs may remain limp and paralyzed."

Lu Feng understood, then asked, "How did you end up being hunted by so many people from Yin Wind Hall?"

"I had barely been inside Purple Beauty Pavilion for long. I only questioned two or three courtesans before Yin Wind Hall's people noticed me," Ye Fan said with lingering fear. "Thinking about it now, Purple Beauty Pavilion was likely Yin Wind Hall's property from top to bottom. I went into their own home to ask questions. Getting out alive was already a stroke of luck."

"While I was questioning them, they summoned many Core Plate Realm and Five Elements Realm soul masters to surround my private room. If I hadn't relied on all sorts of medicines to restrain them, it would have been difficult to escape."

"In the chaos, I seemed to have injured a rather important person from Yin Wind Hall. I heard them call him something like the 'Young Master.' After I injured him, the number of people chasing me multiplied severalfold."

Lu Feng stared in shock. "You injured Yin Wind Hall's Young Master?"

The Young Master Ling Tian had described as vicious by nature, cruel in his methods, and deeply calculating had been injured so easily?

Ye Fan nodded. "While breaking through their encirclement, I spotted someone among them who looked like he was giving orders. So I threw all the poisons I'd collected over the years at him. He apparently hadn't expected me to do that and instantly pulled the woman beside him over as a shield, but his shoulder was still injured."

"Judging by the toxicity of the poisons I collected, if that Young Master doesn't have Earth Soul Realm strength, he probably won't survive the night."

Though Ye Fan did not understand the art of poison-making, his understanding of poisons ran extremely deep. Even if he could not refine them into poison pills or Poison Powder, he could still directly exploit the properties of various toxins.

Yin Wind Hall's main hall.

Bao Zitu's face was livid as he looked at his son, Bao Yige, who had been carried back. The poison had spread throughout his body, and his life force was faint. In a fit of rage, Bao Zitu killed every subordinate responsible for Bao Yige's safety.

After examining him, Bao Zitu's expression grew even darker.

Even if he expended vital essence and used secret methods to save Bao Yige's life, his strength would certainly be severely damaged.

"Carry the Young Master inside first," Bao Zitu barked. He then picked up brush and paper, wrote a letter, and handed it to an attendant. "Deliver this passphrase to Soul Gate."

After learning that the culprit who had injured his son had fled into Soul Gate territory, Bao Zitu could not personally lead men there due to the rules. He could only negotiate and have Soul Gate hand over the culprit.

Lu Feng and Ye Fan left the tea stall. By then, night had fallen. Black Wind Town beneath the curtain of darkness was even more chaotic and dangerous than it was during the day. They had to reach Soul Gate's core sphere of influence as quickly as possible.

The two quickly headed toward the center of the market in northern Black Wind Town. Fortunately, they encountered no trouble along the way.

"Should we go to an inn or sleep on the streets?" Ye Fan asked.

Considering Ye Fan's obsession with cleanliness, Lu Feng hesitated before saying, "The enemies who are coming will come sooner or later. It's the same wherever we go."

"Then let's go to an inn. At least it's cleaner than an abandoned temple," Ye Fan said with an open smile.

The two arrived at an inn. For safety's sake, neither ate any of the inn's food. They went straight to their rooms, intending to leave at daybreak. As for Crane Autumn Jade, they could only deal with it another day.

Near midnight, Lu Feng finished a round of cultivation and recovered from the exhaustion brought on by unsealing the seven souls. A wave of drowsiness rose within him, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

Had it not been for the exhaustion caused by unsealing the seven souls, Lu Feng would certainly have noticed that this drowsiness was somewhat unusual.

Lu Feng slept soundly, one sweet dream after another.

Yet he vaguely felt his body going numb. A trace of unease stirred in his subconscious, and he abruptly woke.

"What's going on?" When Lu Feng opened his eyes, he found himself somewhere unfamiliar. The layout was utterly different from that of the inn. It looked like a woodshed. Through the window, he saw that dawn had only just broken outside.

"Old Ye... Old Ye..."

Lu Feng called to Ye Fan beside him. Both of them were tightly bound to chairs, their strength completely sealed away, unable to exert even a shred of it.

Ye Fan woke from his stupor. Unlike Lu Feng, he had not slept soundly at all. On the contrary, his head felt so heavy that he wanted to smash it against a wall.

"How did we end up here?" Ye Fan struggled in alarm, but the thick rope around him only tightened further.

"We probably fell into a trap. There's something wrong with that inn," Lu Feng said, secretly regretting his carelessness.

Ye Fan recalled everything about the inn and sensed the state of his soul. Noticing something unusual about the spiritual energy, he cried out, "Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder!"

Lu Feng had just been about to ask when the door was pushed open and a beautiful figure entered.

She was a woman dressed in a black gown and wearing a black gauze veil. Judging by her figure, she was likely not yet of the First Epoch.

"You recognize Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder?" The woman leaned against the doorway, staring intently at Ye Fan.

Ye Fan looked somewhat dazed. Amid the thin morning mist, a beautiful figure stood quietly watching him. Though he could not see her face beneath the black gauze, Ye Fan's instincts told him that she had to be a peerless beauty.

"Yes." Ye Fan nodded somewhat awkwardly.

"What Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder? Did you bring us here? What are you after?" Lu Feng demanded in quick succession.

The woman swept him a cold glance and did not answer.

Coming back to his senses, Ye Fan explained to Lu Feng, "We fell unconscious at the inn because we were struck by Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder. It's a Five Elements Realm-grade poisonous smoke. Colorless and odorless, it blends into spiritual energy. Soul masters who haven't refined Water Essence Qi cannot detect it at all."

A trace of surprise flickered across the woman's icy face. "You really do know Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder. Who exactly are you?"

"An ordinary pharmacist," Ye Fan replied, taking the chance to ask, "Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder is extremely expensive to make. The amount used on us could probably be exchanged for a Low-Grade Source Stone. Was it worth it?"

The woman gave a soft laugh and said proudly, "Soul Gate never counts the cost when doing things. We only care about results. To ensure nothing goes wrong, a little Sorrowful Soul Clear Dream Powder is nothing."

"So we really were brought into Soul Gate!"

Lu Feng wore an expression that was both unexpected and entirely expected.

The woman questioned, "What exactly did you do to Yin Wind Hall for them to be willing to offer three Source Stones as the price for capturing you?"

"Three Source Stones?!" Lu Feng and Ye Fan were both startled.

A woman dressed as a maid hurried over from the distance and said, "Night Hall Master, the Ghost Empress ordered me to bring these two in for questioning."

Ye Yao waved a hand. "I know. Go on ahead. I'll bring them over shortly."

"Yes~" The Maid obeyed and departed.

"You intend to trade us for those three Source Stones?" Ye Fan demanded angrily.

"That is not for me to decide," Ye Yao's cool voice sounded. "If your value is greater than three Source Stones, perhaps the Ghost Empress will change her mind."

"Tell me. Did you steal something from Yin Wind Hall?"

"No." Ye Fan shook his head. "We merely injured Yin Wind Hall's Young Master by accident."

"You?" Ye Yao laughed lightly. "Yin Wind Hall's Young Master is, at the very least, a Half-Step Earth Soul Realm expert."

Ye Fan's expression turned solemn. "If I hadn't encountered him before and exhausted every card up my sleeve, do you think you could have subdued me so easily now?"

"You certainly talk big." Ye Yao snorted disdainfully, disappointment flashing across her face before vanishing. She had thought Ye Fan had stolen some treasure from Yin Wind Hall and had wanted to rob the robber.

"Hm?" Ye Yao suddenly sensed a change in Ye Fan's spiritual energy. She swiftly flicked several silver needles into his body. "I never expected you could even undo my unique Meridian Sealing Pressure Point Strike."

Ye Fan instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. If he had delayed for another Half an Hour, he was confident he could have broken the seal on his strength. He had not expected to be noticed so quickly. He could not help admiring Ye Yao's perceptiveness. The seal had now been reinforced considerably, and with the silver needles piercing his acupoints, breaking free would be difficult.

Ye Fan was also startled by the technique Ye Yao used to flick out the silver needles. He had barely seen their trajectories. He realized that the woman before him was likely no less accomplished than he was in the Medicine Dao.

Lu Feng was secretly trying to break the seal as well, but pharmacists' methods truly gave him a headache. Unless he risked unsealing all seven souls and fought to the death, it would be difficult to break the seal within his body.

The strength Ye Yao had revealed in that fleeting glimpse had reached at least the Earth Soul Realm!

"Honestly tell me how you undid my sealed acupoints, and perhaps I can plead with the Ghost Empress for mercy," Ye Yao threatened, delight glimmering in her eyes.

Ye Fan sneered. "You have your unique meridian-sealing method, and I naturally have my unique acupoint-unsealing method. It isn't that I can't tell you, but only after we leave. Let us go. Once we're out of Black Wind Town, I'll tell you how to undo it."

Ye Yao smiled. "Let you go? Heh, I'm not tired of living yet. No one dares release those the Ghost Empress has ordered captured."

"Since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, come with me to see the Ghost Empress. Whether you can keep your lives will depend on yourselves."

Ye Yao raised her hand in a wave, and the ropes around Lu Feng and Ye Fan snapped apart.

"Follow me. Don't try any tricks, or you won't even make it out of Soul Gate."

Lu Feng and Ye Fan exchanged helpless glances and followed behind Ye Yao. With their strength completely gone, escaping Black Wind Town was out of the question. Any slight abnormal move would likely leave them without even whole corpses.

It's only three Source Stones. Lu Feng silently formed a plan. Once they saw the Ghost Empress, he would play it by ear. So long as Source Stones could solve the problem, it was no problem. Yin Wind Hall could offer three Source Stones as a reward, and he could likewise offer more Source Stones in exchange for their lives.

Though he deeply disliked being captured and brought here, Lu Feng understood that this world was one where the strong devoured the weak. Since his strength was insufficient and he had fallen into a trap, he had to pay the price.

Before long, Lu Feng and Ye Fan were brought to a grand hall. Ye Yao bowed toward the woman seated behind the curtains above and reported, "Ghost Empress, I have brought the people you wanted."