Chen Fan waited outside, idly watching groups of patrolling soldiers march back and forth. No one could detect his presence. The highest-level defensive forces were presumably stationed at Xiling King's side. This royal palace was probably the most revered place in the mortal world of the West Ridge Mountains, yet a minor cultivator like him could come and go as he pleased? As expected, with strength, one could do whatever one wanted. Fortunately, this palace held little appeal for high-level cultivators. Otherwise, could the people within still live so comfortably?
He did not know how long he waited before the doors of the Treasure Pavilion slowly opened a narrow crack. First a head poked out, then a body. The prince had emerged! Chen Fan immediately sharpened his focus and watched his movements.
Yet the prince did not go anywhere else. He directly retraced his route, climbed over the palace wall again, and arrived at a secluded part of the royal city outside. Then, instead of heading toward the courtyard residence where he lived, he hurried all the way in the opposite direction.
Chen Fan followed at an unhurried pace. Suddenly, as though he had realized something, his steps halted and he did not dare move forward. From afar, he saw the prince pacing beside a large tree, seemingly waiting for someone.
What if an expert came here? Chen Fan realized that he was truly terrible at following people. Last time in Blackrock City, he had been discovered, and Wan'er had even been poisoned because of it. Thinking of that, he retreated farther and concealed all the aura around him. This way, so long as whoever came was not vastly stronger than him, he should not be easily discovered.
"Why did you come so early today? Have you already found it?" All of a sudden, a black shadow appeared beside the distant corner of the wall.
Chen Fan's heart tightened. He had encountered that bizarre concealment technique again. Fortunately, he was farther away this time and had been more cautious, so he would not be noticed for the moment. However, he could not hear their conversation clearly and could only make out the general situation.
Still, Chen Fan could glean some clues from the prince's actions. The prince reached into his robes and took out an object. The black-clothed man did not accept it at once, but instead produced a square container, clearly unlike an ordinary long jade case. The prince placed the item in his hand into it, and the black-clothed man immediately put the container away.
The two said something else afterward, but Chen Fan could not hear it. In the end, they parted ways. The black-clothed man vanished directly into the darkness, while the prince resumed his slow and sluggish manner. After wandering aimlessly through the city for a while, he headed toward the courtyard residence. He looked much the same as when he had first left it, dazed like a wooden chicken.
Chen Fan continued following the prince for a while. Before the prince reached the courtyard residence, Chen Fan suddenly flashed forward and blocked his path. The prince's brow merely furrowed slightly before his expression swiftly returned to normal. Yet that tiny change could not escape Chen Fan's eyes.
"Enough. Stop pretending!" Chen Fan said coldly.
The prince seemed not to hear him and continued walking forward blankly, as though he had not seen Chen Fan at all, crashing straight into him.
Chen Fan sneered. A surge of Origin Qi instantly condensed in his palm and struck toward the prince. This move contained no offensive force; otherwise, the prince would likely have been beaten half to death. The palm force hit the prince, sending him bouncing backward. He landed hard on his backside, clearly in considerable pain.
"Ah, what happened to me? Where am I?" The prince sat on the ground, looking as if he had instantly awakened.
"Hehe, what happened to you? Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Chen Fan's attitude remained icy.
"Ah? May I ask which eminent master you are, Senior? Earlier, this junior seemed to have lost consciousness and cannot remember anything that happened. To be honest, this junior is Xiling King's son. Since an accident some time ago, I have repeatedly suffered from this condition. My royal father ordered people to investigate, and it seems I was afflicted by some extremely potent poison, which caused me to become like this. My royal father has also sought help from cultivators before, but they were all helpless." The prince spoke with a dejected expression.
Chen Fan laughed inwardly. For your problem, ordinary cultivators truly would be helpless.
"Finding an antidote for someone who was never poisoned is indeed not easy!" Chen Fan ignored all the prince's explanations and delivered his verdict directly.
"What does Senior mean by that?" The prince asked anxiously.
"What is it? Now that I've seen through you, you won't keep acting?" Chen Fan was in no hurry. He stood where he was and scrutinized the prince, his eyes filled with mockery. The sight sent a chill through the prince's heart. Sitting on the ground, his eyes darted ceaselessly.
"Enough. You need not keep searching for excuses. Since I have made this judgment, I naturally have a way to see through all of it."
The prince's expression shifted again with uncertainty. In the end, he sighed, his tone full of helplessness and carrying a trace of pleading. "This matter is of great importance. This junior was also coerced by others. I hope Senior can lend a hand and save me!"
As he spoke, he repeatedly kowtowed to Chen Fan. Yet while his head was lowered, an imperceptible curve formed at the corner of his lips.
"Hmph, and at a time like this, you still dare play tricks before me!?" Chen Fan suddenly shouted and struck out with another palm, sending it straight at the prince.
This time, he used twenty to thirty percent of his true strength. The prince was blasted several yards away, rolling over several times before crashing heavily onto the ground and spitting blood. He was clearly badly injured. Beside him lay a short, burning stick of incense. He stared at Chen Fan in terror, his whole body trembling. His lips moved, but whether because his injuries were too severe or because he was too frightened, he could not speak for the moment.
"So it really is Spirit-Mystifying Incense. Hehe, if you hadn't run into me, perhaps you really could have kept fooling everyone." Chen Fan was not angry at all now. Instead, his interest in the matter had grown stronger. A prince actually carried Spirit-Mystifying Incense and had repeatedly committed crimes without being discovered. What was laughable was that his father deeply believed his son had been subjected to some vicious method, begging people everywhere to investigate and treat him. A thief crying thief indeed.
At that moment, the prince's body began to sway, and his gaze gradually became unfocused.
Damn it! Seeing this, Chen Fan hurriedly condensed Origin Qi into his palm and extinguished the half-stick of Spirit-Mystifying Incense. Then he rushed before the prince, struck with another palm, injected some of his own Origin Qi into the prince's body, and urged it through his circulatory cycle.
The prince's body, which had been about to collapse, was finally supported. Yet he remained seated, his eyes closed and unmoving, as if he could not break free and wake up, truly becoming like a corpse-like zombie.
What? With such low cultivation, he actually dared light Spirit-Mystifying Incense at close range. How was that any different from suicide? After all, he was only an ordinary child. Although he was not much younger than Chen Fan, their temperaments were worlds apart. The moment he saw that things had gone badly, he did something so foolish. Chen Fan had previously thought that since this fellow had acted for so long without anyone noticing, he should possess some courage and cunning. Who would have thought Chen Fan would scare him so badly that he nearly died on the spot?
Well, that was that. Even the living witness was gone. Chen Fan had not particularly wanted to delve deeply into the prince's affairs, since the prince was merely a minor character. What he cared about was the plan of the person behind the prince. From the prince's earlier meeting with the black-clothed man, the prince had to know some secrets and was already cooperating with them. Whether willingly or not, as long as Chen Fan followed the vine to find the melon, he would surely uncover something.
Forget it. Since he was already useless, Chen Fan could only think of another way. Looking at the prince, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind...
The next morning, in the prince's courtyard residence, the Prince of Xiling lay in his room without moving, as though fast asleep. Seeing this, the servants did not dare disturb him casually, and the matter remained calm and uneventful for the time being.
Naturally, Chen Fan had sent the prince back overnight. With his skills, he had not alerted any of the surrounding guards. Thus, that night, everyone believed the prince had remained in his room and never gone out.
An entire day passed, and night fell again. Chen Fan had calculated the timing. This was precisely the hour when the prince had met the black-clothed man the previous night.
Chen Fan stood beside that large tree, dressed exactly like the prince had been the previous night. That was right—this was the plan he had devised. There was no other choice. He could no longer follow the prince to find the man, so he had to take the prince's place himself. Fortunately, Chen Fan and the prince were similar in height, build, and age. As long as they did not get too close, it would truly be difficult to distinguish them at a glance.
What Chen Fan needed to do was wait for that person to appear, then strike directly. Since he could not conceal his aura from the other party, his only chance was to catch him off guard. When experts fought, victory or defeat could be decided in an instant. Under the present circumstances, Chen Fan was hidden while his enemy was exposed. It was not as though he had no chance, especially since he had two helpers with him.
He only feared the man would not come. If that happened, this lead might be cut off. Chen Fan recalled that the prince seemed to have found something and handed it over to the man yesterday. It was entirely possible that their relationship had ended there.
Yet enemies truly met on a narrow road. At that very moment, a hoarse voice came from a dark corner nearby. "Why have you come again? Didn't I tell you that my lord has no further instructions for now?"
Startled, Chen Fan looked toward the source of the voice. A figure clad entirely in black and wearing a bamboo hat emerged. It was indeed that fellow. Chen Fan said nothing, lowering his head and assuming a timid, submissive posture.
"Could it be that there is more than one piece of Vermilion Blood Sand in the royal palace?" Before Chen Fan could speak, the man continued on his own.
Vermilion Blood Sand? What was that? It appeared the prince had been helping them find this item. Chen Fan nodded slightly, pretending to answer the man, without raising his head from beginning to end.
"That's wonderful. If you can find this item again, my lord will surely reward you heavily..." The black-clothed man's tone initially carried a hint of delight, but he suddenly realized something and angrily said, "No, that's not right. You aren't Chen Tianyun. Who exactly are you!? Why are you impersonating the prince?"
Chen Tianyun? That was probably the prince's name. Being exposed was within Chen Fan's expectations anyway, so he did not panic. Raising his head to look at the man, he said, "My surname is Chen too. I'm his older brother."
The black-clothed man first froze, then came to his senses. "You dare toy with me! Huh, no... you're the one from Blackrock City that night..."
Before he could finish, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his thigh, as if something had pierced him. Then he vaguely saw a tiny black shadow leave his side and enter Chen Fan's sleeve. What was that? It seemed to be a hidden weapon! He had been struck just like that. Did Black Dragon Pool possess such a hidden weapon? Terror immediately seized him. That day in Blackrock City, he had recognized the Venomheart Darts. Those were secret treasures of Black Dragon Pool, not something ordinary disciples could use. Now he had been hit by another unknown hidden weapon. How could he not be afraid?
"I wasn't toying with you. My surname really is Chen. As for why I'm here, I imagine you understand that as well. Hurry and tell me everything truthfully. Perhaps there is still time for an antidote." At that moment, Chen Fan felt more like the villain.
The black-clothed man was even more horrified upon hearing this. So he really had been poisoned. At that moment, he felt a strange energy roaming through the various channels in his body. His limbs began to go numb, and even Origin Qi was difficult to gather. It truly was a strange poison. Without an antidote, he feared he would be unable to recover on his own.
"If I tell you everything, will you spare my life?" The black-clothed man's strength had plummeted, and he was suffering from a potent poison. He had no desire to fight at all. After all, he was merely a lackey; it was not worth truly losing his life over this.
Chen Fan felt somewhat awkward inside. Little West had eaten all kinds of poisons since it was young, and its snake venom had now become far too complex to determine clearly. How could there be any antidote? Still, he had never intended to spare this man anyway.
"Speak quickly. You won't endure my poison for long," Chen Fan said coldly.
"Yes, yes. I will tell you at once..." To survive, the black-clothed man revealed everything he knew, word for word. "I am the deputy leader of the Falcon Gang, one of the nine gangs and eighteen strongholds under Heaven and Earth Gate's jurisdiction. My gang and several other forces merely obey Heaven and Earth Gate's commands and secretly carry out these tasks. At first, I did not know why we were doing those things. But later, I encountered an expert from Heaven and Earth Gate who ordered me to carry out special tasks directly for him. Only then did I learn some secrets. It turned out that everything we had been doing before was to provide resources for the cultivation of another, even higher-ranking great figure." At this point, the black-clothed man's voice weakened, clearly because the poison had begun to penetrate deeply.
"Taking those children was for cultivation? And stealing all sorts of materials everywhere, including the item the prince was made to find—was all of that for this?" Chen Fan asked, deeply shocked. Stealing materials was one thing, but what kind of vicious secret art required the lives of so many children?
"Yes, precisely. The prince was originally meant to be a sacrifice for that great figure's cultivation as well. But considering that his status was special and could be exploited, they had him help steal precious treasures from within the palace. That expert even said he would take him as a disciple. Of course, that was merely bait to entice him." The black-clothed man seemed no longer able to withstand the poison. He urgently said, "This is all I know. I hope you will grant me the antidote."
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