The two chatted for a while longer and finalized their plans for tomorrow.
After it got completely dark, the people who had been grumbling on the street finally dispersed. Lin En locked both the front and back doors and went to rest with Ronava.
The next morning, the two packed their belongings and headed north out the back door of the town.
The path Zhou Dashi mentioned is easy to find; just follow the stream upstream.
The stream was very clear, and you could see the fish at the bottom. The banks were covered with ferns and moss. After walking for about two hours, we crossed the first wooden bridge, and then walked for another half an hour to cross the second one.
"Once we cross the second bridge, we should reach the place he mentioned where there are many herbs."
Lin En looked at the road according to Zhou Dashi's description.
After crossing the bridge, the mountain slopes upwards, and the vegetation along the roadside becomes noticeably denser. The bushes and wild grasses grow to waist height, with occasional tiny white wildflowers peeking out from among the blades of grass.
Lin En slowed his pace, keeping an eye on the roadside. Ronava walked half a step ahead of him, her gaze sweeping over the bushes and tree roots on both sides.
Ronava suddenly stopped and squatted down in front of a clump of bushes by the roadside.
"Come and take a look."
Lin En moved closer.
A small patch of flowers grew beneath the bushes. The petals were dark purple with a layer of extremely fine white down along the edges. The stamens glowed with an eerie fluorescence, and the fragrance was very faint, but smelling it for too long could actually make you feel a little dizzy.
What kind of flower is this?
Lin En rubbed her nose.
" Dream-Lingering Flower."
Ronava reached out and touched a petal, the black energy at her fingertips seeping in, causing the fluorescence on the petal to dim for a moment and then brighten again.
"This thing shouldn't exist in Liyue. It grows in the tundra of northern Snezhnaya, and was later modified by Snezhnaya alchemists specifically for making hallucinogens."
Hallucinations?
"Excessive exposure can cause hallucinations, impaired judgment, and in severe cases, even coma."
Ronava stood up and looked around.
"There's more than one clump on this hillside. I counted when I walked over just now; there are at least seven or eight spots. They're scattered, but all near the roadside and on paths often used by herb gatherers."
Lin En felt a chill run down her spine.
These flowers were planted by the roadside, waiting for passersby to smell them. A sixteen-year-old girl went up the mountain to collect herbs, smelling them as she walked. After smelling a certain amount, she began to hallucinate, losing her sense of direction. She then fainted by the roadside. By the time she woke up, she had probably already been taken away.
"She's probably not the only one."
Lin En crouched down and looked at the flowers.
" Zhou Dashi said that several teenagers have recently gone missing, and they were probably all taken down in this way. But where did these people go after they were taken away?"
Ronava didn't answer. She walked along the path where the flowers were distributed for a while, then squatted down to look at the ground.
There were some messy footprints on the soil, mostly from ordinary cloth shoes and straw sandals, but there were a few deep, round dots in between, spaced evenly, like those made by some kind of standard boots.
"Someone comes to collect it regularly."
Ronava stood up.
"These flowers are well cared for; someone waters and fertilizes them, and new ones are planted after the flowering period. The soil around the flower beds has been turned over, and weeds have been pulled."
So that means it's organized?
Lin En pondered for a moment.
"Plant flowers, wait for people to faint, then come and collect them. Those collected are either sold or dismantled into parts."
He suddenly had an idea, and his eyes lit up.
"Since they're arresting people everywhere, I'll lie here and pretend to faint. Someone will definitely come to take me away. When they do, you hide nearby, and as soon as they show up, just pin them down."
Ronava turned and glanced at him, her eyes filled with hesitation.
"Are you sure? The effects of those flowers are no joke. If you lie here and inhale too much and pass out, I might not be able to get you in time."
" The Hydro in my body should be able to resist it, and I have a high health bar, so I won't die from being stunned for a while."
Lin En patted his chest.
"Besides, weren't you watching from the side?"
Ronava thought for a moment and nodded.
"Then lie down downwind of the flowers, but not directly facing them. I'll hide behind that big rock on the slope. Don't move when someone comes; wait for my signal."
What signal?
You'll know when I make my move.
Lin En went through the plan in his mind and, finding no loopholes, began to make arrangements.
He found a spot not too close to the flowerbed, just at the edge of where the fragrance could spread. He could smell it a little after lying down, but not enough to make him faint.
Just to be on the safe side, he smeared some more mud on his face, making him look like he had tripped and knocked himself unconscious.
Ronava climbed to the top of the slope and hid behind the large rock.
After Lin En lay down, she gestured towards the slope, Ronava returned the gesture, indicating that she was in position.
"Watch me trick him with my sweet talk."
After Lin En finished speaking, he closed his eyes and began to wait.
After waiting for about an hour, nothing happened.
He was a little bored, but dared not open his eyes and look around. He could only listen to the rustling of leaves in the wind, the gurgling of the stream, and the occasional bird call from afar, but there was no sound of footsteps.
After waiting a while longer, footsteps finally came from the slope. Lin En's heart tightened; someone was coming.
The footsteps were very light, but there was more than one person; at least two.
Judging from the rhythm of their footsteps, Lin En figured one was walking fast and the other was walking slowly; the one walking fast was probably leading the way, and the one walking slowly was following behind.
He slowed his breathing and pretended to faint.
Will this work?
The other voice was kept very low, as if afraid that others would hear it.
"She looks dizzy; there's mud on her face. She must have fallen and gotten dizzy."
Another voice came closer, Lin En could feel someone crouching down to look at him.
"Good-looking, young man, should fetch a good price."
"Move out, move out, stop dawdling."
Lin En felt two hands reach under his armpits and behind his knees, lifting him up.
He completely relaxed, tilting his head to the side and letting his hands hang down, pretending to have really fainted.
Two people carried him up the slope, and after a few steps, they heard a whooshing sound from the top of the slope.
Then there were two muffled thuds, and the two men who were lifting him let go at the same time, and Lin En's buttocks landed on the ground.
"Stand up."
Ronava's voice came from above.
Lin En quickly rolled over and opened his eyes to see that the two men were already lying on the ground. Ronava, and her spear was poked at the back of the other's head.
One got away.
Ronava turned her head to look at the other side of the hillside.
They ran eastward.
Should we pursue him or not?
Lin En asked.
"Chase."
Lin En bent down, pulled off the belts of the two men on the ground, and tied their hands behind their backs.
"These two can't escape. Let's catch that one first and bring him back."
The fleeing man was very fast and was clearly not an ordinary person, but unfortunately he ran into Lin En and Ronava. He was caught up in no time and was taken down by Lin En in one move.