Dead Men Tell No Tales

After giving it some thought, Chen Fan realized he was about to be dragged into another huge mess—and once again, it involved this little witch. What a cursed fate. He could only pray Wan'er would never find out. The guards' disappearance was absolutely no small matter; it would be difficult not to alert the sect. Should they withdraw now? But this little witch clearly would not stand by and do nothing. Forget it. He would take things one step at a time.

"Where exactly are you taking me on the main peak? Is there some important forbidden ground here?" Chen Fan asked as a thought struck him.

"The most important place on the main peak is the Hundred Herbs Garden. Don't you want to go? I saw that you liked gathering herbs before, so I wanted to bring you here for a look. Maybe we could even swipe a few things to take back..." As Qin Ziyan spoke, her expression suddenly changed.

This is bad. Could the missing guards at the foot of the mountain have something to do with the Hundred Herbs Garden?

Chen Fan realized it as well and hurriedly said, "Come on, let's go take a look." Qin Ziyan moved at once toward a certain direction, and Chen Fan followed, adding, "Be careful. Don't expose yourself."

Qin Ziyan nodded. Her face was solemn now, entirely devoid of her usual playful smile.

The two pushed through layer after layer of trees. This was likely a relatively hidden route Qin Ziyan had chosen. After a while, they saw an open stretch of ground ahead, though they remained concealed within the forest. A little farther ahead lay the Hundred Herbs Garden.

"Don't rush. Let's observe first," Chen Fan said. Both of them spoke in low voices.

"Mm. What could possibly happen to the Hundred Herbs Garden?" Qin Ziyan asked, deeply puzzled.

"Let's see first." The moment Chen Fan finished speaking, a whistling sound tore through the air nearby.

Neither dared make another sound. Holding their breath, they looked over and saw a man in black descending through the air. One glance was enough to tell that he was no ordinary expert. Fortunately, they were still some distance away, and the man had not deliberately scanned his surroundings. After landing, he took something from his robes. It looked like a short flute. He raised it to his lips and blew two short, forceful notes—"woo, woo." The sound was not loud, blending with the insects' chirping until it was hard to distinguish.

He was calling for people. After a moment, seven more figures approached and gathered around him. Every one of them wore black and covered their faces. They were clearly his accomplices.

Chen Fan's fighting spirit surged wildly. He thought again of the men in black. He did not care whether these people were from the same group as those in Blackrock City that day.

Yet a hand pressed down on his shoulder. It was Qin Ziyan. Chen Fan came to his senses and quickly reined in his aura. He had not expected this little devil, normally so reckless in her actions, to be capable of such calm and careful judgment at a critical moment.

Once the eight had gathered, they swiftly headed in one direction.

"This is bad—they're going to the Hundred Herbs Garden!" Qin Ziyan cried, unable to fully suppress her voice.

"These people came prepared. Should we go back and call for help first?" Chen Fan did not dare pursue them. Forget eight people—even one might be more than he could handle. "This is the main peak. There should be elders living on this mountain, right?"

"There are, but by the time we go there and come back, whatever these people intend to do will probably already be done."

Qin Ziyan was not wrong. Chen Fan hesitated, then said after some thought, "Let's follow them first, but we absolutely cannot expose ourselves. We'll find out what they want, then think of a way. If it comes down to it, protecting ourselves is the most important thing."

Who knew where the two of them had found the courage, but they slowly approached the Hundred Herbs Garden. The moment they stepped through the medicinal garden's entrance, they found two men lying on the ground, dead or alive unknown. They were the inner court disciples stationed there tonight. Chen Fan was greatly alarmed. The guards of the Hundred Herbs Garden were all experts above the fifth realm, yet they had been taken down in such a short time.

Chen Fan signaled Qin Ziyan with his eyes. She understood, shook her head, and walked deeper into the garden with a resolute expression. Chen Fan had no choice but to follow.

As they went deeper into the Hundred Herbs Garden, the heaven and earth essence within grew increasingly dense. Waves of floral and herbal fragrance drifted through the air, making it feel as though they had entered an immortal realm. Yet neither had the leisure to savor it. Their eyes kept sweeping over the garden, searching for those people.

"Huh? Where did they go?" Qin Ziyan asked suspiciously.

Chen Fan was equally baffled. The people outside had all been taken down, so why was there not a single person inside? The two continued searching through the garden, their courage gradually growing.

"It really seems like there's no one here. What's going on?" Qin Ziyan began to feel uneasy. "Could they have made a feint in the east while attacking in the west, and gone somewhere else?"

"Probably not." Chen Fan kept thinking. The night-watch disciples at the main peak entrance were gone, leaving only the two here to stand guard. Those people had clearly arranged all of this properly beforehand. Besides, they did not know Chen Fan and Qin Ziyan were here. Who were they putting on a show of feinting east and attacking west for?

As they walked, Chen Fan suddenly seemed to spot something. In the next instant, his face changed drastically. He grabbed Qin Ziyan and pulled her behind him, shielding her as he snapped, "Ziyan, hold your breath. Hold it for as long as you can. Don't speak, don't ask questions, and above all, don't circulate your cultivation. Do you hear me?" Then he held his own breath and said no more.

Qin Ziyan had no idea what was going on, but since Chen Fan had said so, she did exactly as told. Clearly, she was another woman who trusted Chen Fan without reservation.

The two took several more steps. The sight before them made Qin Ziyan's eyes widen in terror, but because Chen Fan had warned her beforehand, she did not dare speak or move rashly.

Cultivators were quite capable of holding their breath. Ordinarily, sustaining it for half an incense stick was not a problem. For someone like Qin Ziyan, whose cultivation had already reached a modest level and whose cultivation method was superior, even half an hour was no great difficulty—provided she did not circulate her cultivation, much less fight.

Several men in black lay on the ground beside them. Looking farther ahead, they found six—no, seven people sprawled along the way, all seeming to have lost their breath entirely. Of the eight, seven had already fallen.

Chen Fan grew increasingly certain of his guess and immediately turned around to retreat.

Just as Chen Fan and Qin Ziyan returned to the entrance, the sole remaining man in black also happened to return and prepared to leave. They saw that he held quite a few precious materials taken from the Hundred Herbs Garden. The man in black saw the two of them as well and was clearly startled. But when he noticed that they seemed to be holding their breath, he relaxed.

Chen Fan also saw that this man was holding his breath. His heart eased slightly as he prepared his next move.

Qin Ziyan had noticed a few clues as well. These people must have tampered with something here. Anyone who did not hold their breath would faint, and it was unclear whether they could even survive. It was simply too dangerous. But how had Chen Fan known? It was unbelievable. Could he have recognized where these people came from? No, that could not be it. If he had, why had he not said anything earlier? But she had no time to think about that now. Since the other party could not circulate his cultivation or fight either, they had a chance to capture him and interrogate him afterward.

Chen Fan had indeed recognized something, but not the origins of these men in black. He had recognized the poisonous gas permeating the Hundred Herbs Garden. If his senses were right, it was related to Spirit-Drunken Incense again. He even suspected that this was Spirit-Drunken Incense itself, or the same kind of poison he had encountered at Golden Wheel Temple. Only, the garden covered a larger area, otherwise even holding their breath might not have helped. He had initially considered the possibility of another poison, but considering the two guarding disciples at the entrance and the seven black-clad men who had collapsed one after another, along with the faint sensation inside his body as though something had been stirred, he was nearly certain. Though the poison was colorless and odorless, having been poisoned by it once before, coupled with his unusual physique, he could basically confirm that this was the same poison he had suffered from before. Even if it was not truly Spirit-Drunken Incense, it was still an extremely terrifying poison.

He guessed that the eight had planned this together. They had forcibly stormed into the garden, fought the two guarding disciples, and lit the poisonous incense. The result was obvious: no one who inhaled it could escape unscathed, while one among them held his breath throughout and did not fight. Though the garden guards had higher cultivation, under the effects of the poisonous incense and while outnumbered, they would surely be defeated quickly. Then the seven black-clad men, while the poison had not fully taken effect, had looted the Hundred Herbs Garden together with the other breath-holding man. Finally, they handed the gains to one person, while the other seven succumbed to the poison one after another.

In other words, the precious medicinal herbs in the Hundred Herbs Garden were their objective. To avoid alerting the enemy, they had used some unknown method to lure away the disciples at the foot of the main peak. Then, relying on the poisonous incense and their numerical advantage, they had caught the guards off guard. By the time someone discovered what had happened, that man would likely have already slipped away like a peach tree in bloom fleeing on the wind. The only price was the sacrifice of seven people. Those seven likely would not survive, leaving dead men unable to testify and no way to find the true mastermind.

Chen Fan had pieced together seven or eight parts of the truth in such a short time. But he did not know that the sole survivor had one final contingency: if captured, he would immediately kill himself. Swordcry Mountain absolutely could not be allowed to uncover the truth.

At this moment, Chen Fan and the man in black faced each other. Qin Ziyan stood behind Chen Fan. In this environment, her combat strength could not be brought out at all, while Chen Fan appeared remarkably calm in the face of danger.

Seeing that neither of them attacked for the moment, the man in black prepared to turn and leave the Hundred Herbs Garden. He was only a few steps from the exit. Once outside this area, in the open surroundings where the poisonous incense no longer worked, he would have no fear of Chen Fan and Qin Ziyan.

At that very moment, Chen Fan flicked his wrist upward. A poison dart appeared in his hand, pinched between two fingers and pointed at the man in black. Its meaning was self-evident: if you dare leave, I will throw it at you. Without being able to use Internal Qi, dodging at such close range would be difficult.

When the man in black saw what Chen Fan had taken out, he first froze. Then a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes as he began studying Chen Fan suspiciously. He looked at the poison dart, then at Chen Fan, and finally at Qin Ziyan.

Seeing his reaction, Chen Fan seemed to suddenly understand something, though he did not make another move right away. So long as that man did not run, there was still a way to keep him here. What he feared was the man being driven into a corner and jumping over the wall—abandoning his breath-holding to circulate his cultivation and fight or flee.

But at that moment, a commotion suddenly rose outside the Hundred Herbs Garden, along with people shouting something. It seemed the sect had finally noticed something and sent people over.

The man in black noticed it as well. But they should still be some distance from the Hundred Herbs Garden, so there was still time to escape. What should he do? He was now riding a tiger and unable to dismount. Tonight's operation had originally gone incomparably smoothly, yet a strange fellow had appeared out of nowhere. Not only had he known to hold his breath to avoid the poison, he had even taken out Venomheart Darts. What did that mean? Was he one of their own?

Unable to make sense of it, he did not dare act rashly. This matter was too important. At worst, the mission could fail, but his identity could not be exposed. The situation fell into a deadlock, while the sect's experts were about to arrive.

Chen Fan suddenly spoke. At the same time, he continuously circulated the Golden Wheel Scripture to purge the poison. "You can go. Leave the things behind." The other two were both shocked by his words.

The man in black was even more confused. Since this fellow knew he needed to hold his breath, why did he dare speak? And why was he circulating his cultivation? But there was no time for him to think further. He directly set down the medicinal herbs, cupped his fists toward Chen Fan, then swiftly departed from the Hundred Herbs Garden.

Qin Ziyan was completely stunned. But she was not stupid. After some thought, she seemed to have realized something and looked at Chen Fan, though it was still inconvenient for her to speak.

Chen Fan gathered up the herbs, and the two quickly left. The moment they exited the Hundred Herbs Garden, scattered points of firelight came toward them. They belonged to inner court experts carrying torches.

Only after they drew close did Chen Fan see that most of them were rather old. They were likely the sect's core disciples, none of whom he recognized.

Then he suddenly saw a face he had longed for day and night. Wan'er!? Damn it, what I feared most had come true...

Having left the poisonous environment, the two no longer needed to hold their breath. Qin Ziyan was about to speak when her face suddenly turned pale, her body went limp, and she fell straight down. Falling would have been one thing, but she just had to fall toward Chen Fan. Helpless, Chen Fan could only catch her in his arms.

Was she pretending, or what? Chen Fan was speechless. But after catching Qin Ziyan, he sensed her condition slightly. She must have inhaled some poisonous gas earlier, though it had not penetrated deeply. Later, Chen Fan had warned her, and she had neither circulated her cultivation nor stopped holding her breath. Though she had temporarily fainted now, it should not be a serious problem.

But in this situation, he was an outer court disciple who had appeared here, while Qin Ziyan lay unconscious in his arms. Could he even explain this clearly? And there was Wan'er—who knew what she would think? It seemed that this time, he truly had brought this upon himself!