Showing himself

Dawn had barely broken over little Qingshan Town, and the ordinary mercenaries had noticed nothing amiss.

But the slightly larger factions were unusually quiet that day, most keeping their doors shut.

They knew that the rumors circulating through Qingshan Town for the past month were finally about to come to an end.

Early that morning, inside the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

Xiao Yi Xian got up and washed as she always did.

Only the maid who had once attended her was nowhere to be seen.

After all, she had told only her maid about the treasures in the Mountain Cave, and she had not seen her since returning.

She did not particularly care.

These days, she barely even left her room. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion was no longer a good place for her to be.

Only in this room, which she had filled with fragrant spices, could Xiao Yi Xian feel a shred of safety.

Creak!

Someone gently pushed open the wooden gate of the Small Courtyard, and the grating sound snapped Xiao Yi Xian out of her thoughts.

She opened her door and looked outside. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion's guards had already surrounded the courtyard.

A fat figure slowly entered through the courtyard gate. It was the master of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion from the previous night.

"Mr. Yao, what is the meaning of this...?"

Pretending to know nothing, Xiao Yi Xian tilted her head slightly and asked curiously as she saw who had come.

"Heh heh..."

Mr. Yao put on a gentle, kindly expression and spoke softly to Xiao Yi Xian.

"Xiao Yi Xian, more than ten years have passed since our Myriad Medicine Pavilion took you in. How everything has changed, even though the place remains."

As he spoke, he turned toward Xiao Yi Xian and smiled.

"Our Myriad Medicine Pavilion has always treated you as one of our own, hasn't it?"

Xiao Yi Xian bowed gracefully to Mr. Yao.

"Your kindness to me goes without saying, sir."

Hearing her answer, Mr. Yao smiled.

"Good! Since the Myriad Medicine Pavilion is your family, I want an answer from you. Are the recent rumors in Qingshan Town true? Did you obtain a Black Tier cultivation method?"

Xiao Yi Xian looked at Mr. Yao and spoke gently.

"Then would you prefer those rumors to be true or false, sir?"

Mr. Yao paced through the Small Courtyard and declared in a clear voice.

"I won't hide it from you. An informant told me that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group plans to force your hand. If it's true, hand over the cultivation method, and we can naturally keep you safe. If it's false, then our hands are tied."

Xiao Yi Xian was about to reply when a voice outside the courtyard gate interrupted her.

"Heh heh, Mr. Yao, you won't be able to protect her."

A deep voice rang out from outside, cutting off their conversation.

"Who is it?"

Interrupted mid-conversation, Mr. Yao immediately darkened his expression and looked toward the courtyard gate.

"It hasn't been that long. Have you already forgotten the sound of my voice, Mr. Yao?"

As the words fell, a sinister-looking man strode inside. It was Mu She.

At the sight of Mu She, Mr. Yao's expression turned ugly.

"So it's Commander Mu. What business brings you to my Myriad Medicine Pavilion?"

"Heh! Are you looking for that bunch of useless fools outside, Mr. Yao?"

Mu She glanced at Mr. Yao's expression and spoke dismissively.

"What a pity. How could trash like that possibly stop my Wolf Head Mercenary Group?"

Ignoring Mr. Yao's ugly expression, Mu She waved his hand, and the Wolf Head Mercenary Group took control of the Small Courtyard. Even some of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion's men switched sides.

"You..."

Mr. Yao stared in shock at his own subordinates as they treated the Wolf Head Mercenary Group with utmost deference.

"You're spies from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group? Biting the hand that feeds you..."

"Hold on."

Mu She gave Mr. Yao an icy look and sneered.

"Mr. Yao, there's no need to put it so harshly. What do you mean, biting the hand that feeds them? They've always belonged to my Wolf Head Mercenary Group."

"Did you really think the Myriad Medicine Pavilion survived in Qingshan Town for all these years solely because of your medical skills?"

"Don't be naive. Without us, your Myriad Medicine Pavilion would have been devoured, bones and all, long ago. When I feel like showing you respect, I call you Mr. Yao. When I don't, what the hell are you?"

Struck by Mu She's words, Mr. Yao's face darkened like stormy water. He stared at Mu She through gritted teeth, but did not dare say a word.

Harsh as Mu She's words were, they were not wrong. Apart from those who had joined the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, the guards he had left could not stir up even the smallest wave.

Mu She glanced at Mr. Yao, then ignored him and walked straight up to Xiao Yi Xian, speaking in a low voice.

"Xiao Yi Xian, you know what I want. Hand it over and tell us where that brat is, and I can let bygones be bygones."

"You'll still be the Xiao Yi Xian everyone in Qingshan Town respects. Otherwise, don't blame us for what happens."

Xiao Yi Xian smiled, radiant as a flower.

"All right."

She took out a manual and offered it to Mu She.

At Xiao Yi Xian's answer, not only Mu She but even Mr. Yao, standing off to the side, froze.

If you'd handed it over sooner, none of this would have happened!

"You... you dare play me for a fool!"

Mu She stared darkly at Xiao Yi Xian, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.

Utterly unafraid, Xiao Yi Xian raised her head to meet his gaze and smiled faintly.

"Commander Mu, with all your power and influence, surely you wouldn't go back on a promise made before so many of your subordinates! As for whether I'm deceiving you, isn't the manual right here? And Xiao Fan, the man you're hunting, was merely a passing acquaintance of mine."

"Once word spread of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's bounty, what adventurer would dare stay in Qingshan Town and wait for Commander Mu She's revenge?"

With a dark expression, Mu She accepted the manual from Xiao Yi Xian and opened it. It was indeed a Black Tier cultivation method.

A cold gleam flashed through his eyes as he spoke icily.

"Good. I never imagined you had this side to you."

Mu She turned and barked coldly.

"The cultivation method is genuine. I've seen Xiao Yi Xian's sincerity. In that case, welcome Xiao Yi Xian to the Wolf Head Mercenary Group. Bring her along. We're heading back."

Mu She called to the surrounding mercenaries and left the Myriad Medicine Pavilion with Xiao Yi Xian in tow.

"They... they just left?"

Left standing there, Mr. Yao stared blankly at his lackeys, still unable to recover.

First, more than half the men he had recruited turned out to belong to the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

Then the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, which had arrived with such ferocity, had simply brought things to this hasty end? Could it really be so theatrical?

Unable to make sense of it, Mr. Yao sat there in a daze, still shaken.

"It seems I can't stay in Qingshan Town anymore."

After a long while, Mr. Yao heaved a sigh. His own greed was to blame. Not only had he failed to obtain the cultivation method, but the Myriad Medicine Pavilion he had built with his own hands would probably fall apart as well.

After this single confrontation, the Myriad Medicine Pavilion would likely have no footing left in Qingshan Town.

But when he thought of Xiao Yi Xian's strange attitude, Mr. Yao still felt there was something deeply suspicious about it.

Xiao Yi Xian had grown up in the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, and Mr. Yao understood her nature. She looked frail, but hidden depths lay within her, and her will was firm. She would never have handed it over so easily.

"Forget it, forget it. Whatever happens, it has nothing to do with me anymore..."

Meanwhile, Mu She led his men back. As he stepped through the Myriad Medicine Pavilion's main gate and looked at Xiao Yi Xian following obediently behind him, an indescribable unease filled his heart.

Narrowing his eyes, Mu She called Gan Mu over from beside him.

"Was there any unusual activity around the Myriad Medicine Pavilion just now?"

Gan Mu replied quietly.

"No. Everything's normal and under control."

"Strengthen the watch along the route too."

Mu She did not believe this trip would go so smoothly. If Xiao Yi Xian had intended to hand it over, she would never have waited until now.

"Still, whatever you're plotting, you're in my hands now."

Hidden nearby, Xiao Fan watched the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, his gaze settling on Xiao Yi Xian surrounded by its members. Beneath his loose robe, his face was full of confidence.

"Everything is going according to plan..."

None of them noticed that a faint floral fragrance had somehow filled the alley.

Everyone remained on guard, and the men escorting Xiao Yi Xian were still walking down the street. Yet the men lying in ambush around them had already silently collapsed where they stood.

"The thirteenth..."

Xiao Fan carefully supported the corpse before him and slowly lowered it to the ground, counting under his breath.

What he had taken from Xiao Yi Xian the previous night was no ordinary poison.

It was an intoxicating incense recorded in the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, called drunken dragon saliva. It could slowly render people unconscious without their noticing.

But drugging people in an open alley was no easy task. Xiao Fan had therefore buried medicinal primers around the alley to activate the drug, while the sachet Xiao Yi Xian wore concealed the key to the arrangement.

This way, as the Wolf Head Mercenary Group moved along, its members would gradually lose consciousness.

But Mu She was a seasoned veteran, and he soon noticed something wrong in the alley.

Qingshan Town teemed with mercenaries year-round. Where would an ordinary alley get such a faint floral fragrance?

He immediately stopped and blew a whistle.

At the whistle, the hidden sentries emerged from the shadows. Mu She counted them and discovered that more than ten men were missing.

His Dou Shi aura swept outward as he shouted.

"What skulking rat is there? Do you dare come out and face me?"

The surrounding mercenaries were jolted alert by Mu She's shout. Some of the hidden sentries looked at those beside them and cried out in alarm.

"Someone's dead!"

Hearing the startled cries, Mu She leaped onto a rooftop and surveyed the area, but found nothing.

Just then, a spear appeared from the shadows, striking the mercenaries around Xiao Yi Xian with lightning speed.

As the smoke cleared, Xiao Fan stood there in a loose black robe, with Xiao Yi Xian behind him.

"Who are you?"

Mu She stared at Xiao Fan, who held a spear, and asked in surprise.

He had no idea when such a powerful fighter had appeared in Qingshan Town. After all, the aura Xiao Fan currently radiated was already approaching that of a Dou Shi.

Hearing Mu She's question, Xiao Fan burst into laughter.

"You've been hunting me for over a month, yet you don't know who I am?"

Mu She looked at the arrogant Xiao Fan and sneered.

"So it's you. I never thought you'd actually dare walk straight into the net today. Since you're here, neither of you is leaving."

With that, he ordered the surrounding mercenaries to encircle Xiao Fan and Xiao Yi Xian.