Just Friends

All at once, Chen Fan became the target of public condemnation. He hurriedly explained, "Seniors, Hundred Herbs Garden has been infiltrated by outsiders. Please hurry and investigate!"

The sect experts exchanged glances. The leading elder said to the three people on his right, "You three, go take a look. If there is anything unusual, report back at once." The three immediately accepted the order and left.

Four people remained behind: the leading elder, Ye Wan, and two other middle-aged men.

"What is going on? Judging by your attire, you should be an outer sect disciple. Why are you here? Do you know this is a forbidden area of the sect? You have already violated sect rules, and you are also connected to the attack on the sect. We will escort you to the Law Enforcement Hall. You are not permitted to resist. Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy. Is that clear?" the elder barked at Chen Fan, his authority beyond question.

Chen Fan was startled out of his wits. The Law Enforcement Hall was no pleasant place; he had no desire to go there. Why was this little devil woman playing unconscious at such a critical moment? Hah, women truly could not be relied upon. He looked at Ye Wan again. She had been glaring at him with faint anger just moments ago, but upon hearing that he would be taken to the Law Enforcement Hall, her expression stiffened as though she too wished to speak.

There was no other choice. He could only start spinning a tale. "Please calm your anger, Senior. Allow this junior to tell you the truth first. After that, whether you kill me or flay me, I shall leave it entirely to your discretion." He glanced at the elder, and seeing that he did not object, continued, "Today, Junior and Martial Aunt Qin went together to the Sword-forging Room to forge swords. Martial Uncle Hu Lanqiao can testify to this. After the forging was completed, we intended to return, but we suddenly discovered a suspicious person dressed in black, so we followed him directly. We tracked him all the way to the main peak and did not encounter any other disciples. At the time, we were focused solely on the sect's safety and did not consider the sect rules. I ask Senior to forgive this offense."

At that point, Chen Fan watched the elder's reaction.

"Continue," the elder said flatly. Earlier, the sect had discovered that the disciples assigned to guard the inner court that night had neglected their duties, prompting an investigation. They found that those disciples had not appeared all day, so they immediately gathered seven experts and rushed here. That elder was none other than the Third Elder of Swordheart Hall. Because the situation was urgent, they had not yet had time to notify every disciple of the inner court. However, the upper ranks had already been informed and were currently deploying personnel everywhere to stand guard.

"Later, the two of us pursued him deeper and deeper. The night was dark and the wind was high, and we did not know where he had gone. After some analysis, we made our way to Hundred Herbs Garden. Sure enough, that man in black appeared here as well, and he even gathered another seven people. This junior did not dare approach any closer. Martial Aunt Qin went inside once, but she came out quickly and said it was too dangerous within. After that, the two of us kept watch from the nearby forest. The strangest thing was that eight people entered, but only one came out. The moment that person emerged, he fled through the air. Martial Aunt Qin and I were about to return and report to the sect when you seniors arrived." Chen Fan finished in one breath. How was that? Another plain and ordinary yet perfectly reasonable story, right? Chen Fan thought to himself. He only feared Qin Ziyan would wake up and tell another horrifying version of events.

The elder fell into thought after hearing this. Chen Fan noticed that Ye Wan, standing nearby, actually rolled her eyes in utter disdain. Clearly, she did not believe a single word he said.

Truly worthy of being his woman. It seemed that if he wished to lie before Ye Wan in the future, he would first have to weigh the consequences.

Just then, a shout suddenly came from Hundred Herbs Garden. "Something is wrong, Third Elder! Come take a look!"

Hearing the shout, the elder and the others walked forward. Ye Wan deliberately lagged behind. As she passed Chen Fan, he was still carrying Qin Ziyan in his arms. Ye Wan shot him a vicious glare. "Have you held her long enough!?" Her voice was so soft that it was practically only the shape of her lips. Chen Fan looked awkward. At this moment, he could not exactly toss Qin Ziyan straight onto the ground.

After saying that, Ye Wan ignored him and prepared to follow the others. Chen Fan suddenly grabbed her. Ye Wan was immediately startled and looked at him, only to see his lips move as if he had said something. His voice was equally soft, but at such close range, Ye Wan heard him perfectly clearly.

"Ah!" Ye Wan could not help crying out. The three people ahead immediately turned to look. Ye Wan looked toward the elder, yet did not know how to explain herself. After all, doing so might bring Chen Fan no small amount of trouble.

At a critical moment, one still had to rely on a man.

"It is true, Fairy Ye. This junior's words are not false. Martial Aunt Qin truly said so." Chen Fan gave Ye Wan a subtle look, and she immediately understood.

This fellow was truly cunning. But I liked it. Ye Wan promptly said, "He just said that Junior Sister Qin previously entered Hundred Herbs Garden to investigate. When she came out, she said there might be poisonous gas inside. She has already fainted. It would be best if we did not enter rashly for now."

The elder nodded and shouted toward Hundred Herbs Garden, "You few, come out first. We will talk afterward."

Taking the chance, Ye Wan moved close to Chen Fan and pretended to examine Qin Ziyan's injuries. In a low voice, she asked, "Are you sure it is that stuff? And you went in, yet came out completely unharmed?"

Chen Fan gave another awkward smile. It truly was too unbelievable. Fortunately, only Ye Wan had a rough understanding of his bizarre constitution. Otherwise, he would surely have been captured and used for human experiments.

At this time, the three men who had entered Hundred Herbs Garden returned. One of them reported to the Third Elder, "After entering, we discovered two junior brothers assigned to guard the garden lying on the ground without a trace of breath. Both had met with misfortune. After searching, we found another seven corpses dressed in black. Furthermore, several of the highest-quality spirit plants in the garden had all been picked and were nowhere to be found. We also searched the belongings of those men in black but found nothing."

The elder was greatly alarmed upon hearing this, but it also confirmed the "truthfulness" of Chen Fan's words.

Chen Fan sighed softly. Earlier, he had acted in desperation to protect himself and had allowed the elder to send people into the garden to investigate. But judging from the density of the Spirit-Drunken Incense aura he had sensed before, it should not have dispersed so quickly. These three had been inside for quite some time and had done so many things. They had likely been deeply poisoned already, though their Internal Qi cultivation was high, so the poison had yet to flare up. His understanding of this incense far surpassed that of ordinary people. Its greatest characteristic was that after being poisoned, one felt nothing at all. Even as one breathed in and out the world's primordial energy along with it into the dantian, there would be no abnormality. Even high-level cultivators would be powerless to resist once the poison took hold deeply enough. He did not know whether these three could escape this calamity.

Thus, he still gave Ye Wan a look. Ye Wan immediately called out, "Senior Brothers, quickly circulate your cultivation to expel the poison, otherwise—"

Before she could finish, the three men suddenly began showing pained expressions one after another. Then, one by one, they collapsed to the ground. The Third Elder and the others were horrified and hurried over to inspect them, their faces all turning grave.

Ye Wan remained where she was and asked Chen Fan quietly, "What do you think? Can they still be saved?"

Chen Fan shook his head. "Unless they drink my blood, but even then the hope is slim. It seems this really is Spirit-Drunken Incense. Besides, there are three of them."

Ye Wan fell silent in dejection upon hearing this. Naturally, she could not allow Chen Fan to do such a thing. Even if she had known back then that he intended to save her younger sister this way, she would not have permitted it.

"But they should not die." Chen Fan's voice suddenly rose somewhat, and he immediately realized that was not good. The three people turned back to look at him. The Third Elder said, "What did you just say? They will not die? What do you mean?"

Ye Wan was speechless. She glanced at Chen Fan and thought, Hehe, let's see how you make this up now.

"Reporting to Senior, this junior is merely guessing. Martial Aunt Qin is only unconscious at present, and her condition has not worsened. Those Martial Uncles' cultivation is higher than Martial Aunt Qin's, so presumably they will be fine as well." Chen Fan said something even a fool could have said, but Ye Wan knew he must be hinting at something.

The elder and the others continued examining the three fallen men and began injecting primordial energy into them. Ye Wan leaned close to Chen Fan again and asked, "What did you mean just now?"

"I meant they will not die, but the aftereffects will probably be severe."

Ye Wan suddenly understood. If it truly was Spirit-Drunken Incense, then that was indeed possible.

At this moment, the elder and the other two men each carried one person on their backs. He said to Ye Wan, "This poison is exceedingly strange. We cannot neutralize even the slightest bit of it. We must bring them back to the sect as soon as possible..."

As he spoke, the elder looked at Chen Fan and suddenly realized something. He shouted, "You—why are you still holding her? Do you know who she is? Just wait until she wakes up and see what she does to you. Forget it, forget it. We will pretend we saw nothing. Hurry, Wan'er, carry her back."

Those words were simply too shocking. Chen Fan found it amusing inwardly. It seemed even the Third Elder of Swordheart Hall was unwilling to get entangled in matters concerning Qin Ziyan.

"I fear one of these two is delighted to be holding her, while the other is desperate to be held." Ye Wan mocked, looking at Chen Fan meaningfully.

Chen Fan felt a chill run through his entire body and hurriedly tossed Qin Ziyan to Ye Wan. Caught off guard, Ye Wan failed to catch her. Or perhaps she had intentionally failed to catch her.

"Ow! That hurts!" Qin Ziyan actually climbed right back up after falling to the ground. "You threw me to someone else the moment I told you to hand me over? Hmph! I'm furious!"

Damn it, this girl had somehow woken up already. Chen Fan felt as though he had been played. Had she been pretending from beginning to end, or what? But that should not be the case, otherwise she would not have left him to face the questioning alone. Still, had she heard his conversation with Wan'er? If she had, that would be troublesome.

Ye Wan was also startled. This girl truly never followed common sense. If she and Chen Fan had done anything else just now, Qin Ziyan might well have seen it.

"You lot, why did you come so late? The things have all been stolen now!" Qin Ziyan immediately said to the Third Elder and the others.

Hm? This girl had not said that the items were in his possession? Had she lost her memory? That should not be possible. They had only been in the garden for a short while before Chen Fan told her to hold her breath, so she should not have been deeply poisoned. Moreover, she clearly knew what had happened.

Then Chen Fan suddenly saw Qin Ziyan wink one eye at him, and Ye Wan saw it too. Damn it! Was she flirting with him right in front of his wife? Chen Fan slowly turned to look at Ye Wan. Ye Wan was watching him with great interest, the corners of her lips lifted as though she had been smiling all along. But to Chen Fan, it was even more terrifying than her cold expression!

"It was our failure in handling matters. But since things have come to this, we should first bring them back to treat their injuries," the elder said. He had no desire to waste words with Qin Ziyan, quickly calling the others to prepare to leave.

"Senior Sister Ye, stay behind and support me for a moment. I seem to be feeling dizzy again." Qin Ziyan spoke again. After saying so, she appeared unable to hold herself up and seemed about to collapse once more. Ye Wan rolled her eyes again. These two truly could act better than the other.

Hearing this, the Third Elder merely waved at Ye Wan, signaling her to remain with Qin Ziyan. He himself left with the others, not daring to delay any longer.

After everyone left, only the three of them remained. Chen Fan inwardly cried that things were bad. In his eyes, this situation was even more perilous than what they had faced inside Hundred Herbs Garden.

"Enough playing around. I know you are fine," Ye Wan said irritably from the side.

Qin Ziyan instantly returned to normal and stuck out her tongue. "As expected of Senior Sister Ye. But how did you know I was truly fine? That was Spirit-Drunken Incense!"

Chen Fan and Ye Wan were both startled. It seemed she had woken up long ago. Did that not mean she had heard their later conversation?

Seeing their nervous expressions, Qin Ziyan smiled. "What are you afraid of? I will not tell anyone."

Those words made the two even more uneasy. What exactly did this girl know? Could she know about that between them too? That was impossible, was it not?

"You truly are a freak. I suspected it long ago. Back then, both you and I were poisoned by snake venom. I was hanging by a thread, so how could you have been completely unharmed?" Qin Ziyan said to Chen Fan, then turned to Ye Wan. "Did Senior Sister Ye already know this, and that is why she took such good care of him?"

The two of them greatly relaxed upon hearing that. If she only knew these things, then as long as she did not tell anyone, it would not be a major problem.

Seeing that neither spoke, Qin Ziyan took that as an admission. She curiously asked Chen Fan again, "But can your blood really cure poison?"

"Nothing of the sort. I am merely more resistant to poison, so I just said that. Do not take it seriously. Bloodletting to cure poison can kill someone." Chen Fan truly feared that this little devil woman would suddenly get the urge to use him as an experiment.

"Hmph, do not worry. Even if your blood can cure poison, I will not let anyone do that. Whoever dares draw your blood, I will kill them!" Qin Ziyan's expression suddenly turned solemn as she looked at Ye Wan.

Ye Wan was first taken aback, then secretly found it amusing. It seemed Qin Ziyan was afraid she would draw Chen Fan's blood. Tsk, tsk. This man really had incurred a romantic debt. She looked at Chen Fan again with an eerie smile.

Chen Fan's scalp went numb under her gaze. He said, "Ziyan, Fairy Ye will not harm me. Do not worry."

"Ziyan? You certainly call her intimately!" Ye Wan's voice sounded to Chen Fan's ears like needles stabbing into him.

"Senior Sister, do not misunderstand. He and I are only friends..." As she said the word "friends," Qin Ziyan's voice grew noticeably softer, and a faint blush appeared on her face.