Pulse diagnosis, tongue inspection, blood draw… after a round of examinations, Arden let out a sigh.
"Sigh~~ You're deeply poisoned."
The way Arden spoke immediately made Pompey extremely nervous.
"Daoist Arden, can I still be saved?"
At this point, he was almost certain he had been poisoned—and it was an erosive, slow-acting toxin. It was only because his body was strong enough that he had managed to hold on until now.
"There is a way…"
Arden actually had immortal-grade universal antidote pills exchanged from the system shop on him. Dealing with ordinary poisons would be effortless. However, those were meant to be life-saving measures for himself and his wives, and using them on Pompey would be too much of a waste.
Anyway, Pompey was still far from death. Arden could simply refine specialized detox pills himself. As long as Pompey took them on time, he would recover after some time.
"But I'll need to personally refine the antidote pills."
"Then I'll leave it to you!"
Pompey stood up and gave Arden a deep bow.
Arden accepted it openly. After all, when it came to saving one's life, no amount of gratitude was excessive.
"Oh right, I advise you to transfer Lucius away from your side."
Since Pompey had been poisoned, someone had naturally done the poisoning. Arden didn't even need Sweety's fan to figure out that it was the second-in-command, Lucius.
But Pompey didn't know that.
"Daoist Arden, are you saying… that's impossible, right? He's my deputy!"
Pompey looked shocked. For a moment, he even suspected Arden was trying to sow discord.
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
Setting aside how crude such an attempt at discord would be—something even a fool wouldn't fall for—Arden also had no reason whatsoever to do it.
Yunkui Summit had deep roots and vast resources. Even if they truly coveted the Outer Ring's meager profits, they could simply take it by force. There was no need for roundabout schemes.
"Hehe, who'd be willing to stay the eternal second-in-command—unless there's one male and one female."
Well, Arden himself was perfectly content being second-in-command at Yunkui Summit. Of course, one could also say that the one above him was also his.
"If you want evidence, I'll naturally find it for you later. But you need to remember this—it's not that I insist on saving you. It's that you begged me to save you… understand?"
Arden chose to save Pompey partly because Yixuan had asked him to, and partly because, when playing through the game's story, he genuinely felt it was a pity for Pompey.
But none of that meant he had to save him.
Even without Arden, the Outer Ring would still remain stable under the management of the Sons of Calydon.
"Mm… I understand!"
Pompey, who had long occupied a high position, had never had anyone dare speak to him like this. But for the sake of his life, he chose to lower his head.
...
Early the next morning.
Arden's group of three left the camp. After dropping Yiji and Belle off at Blazewood, Arden returned alone to Yunkui Summit.
Refining antidotes required an alchemy furnace. His inventory couldn't fit something that large, so he had no choice but to return to Yunkui Summit.
"Belle, you're back!"
Seeing Belle and Yiji walking in from outside the town, Wise immediately rushed up, grabbed his sister's hand, and looked her over from head to toe, fussing nonstop. Only after confirming she wasn't missing any limbs did he finally relax.
"Brother! With Daoist Arden protecting me, nothing would happen."
It's precisely because Daoist Arden is around that I'm even more worried!
Wise muttered inwardly.
"Welcome back!"
"I heard you infiltrated The Vanquishers?"
"You're playing undercover—why didn't you call me?"
"That's not espionage, it's an anonymous friendly visit!"
"Right, right, friendly visit!"
"..."
Members of the Sons of Calydon also rushed over, bombarding them with questions. After Lucy and Lighter brought the news back, everyone had been extremely curious.
"Hehe, it wasn't anything special!"
Yiji and Belle briefly described their adventure.
...
After spending an entire afternoon refining pills, then comforting Yixuan Shifu and Sweety in the evening, Arden returned to Blazewood early the next morning to reunite with Yiji and Belle.
"Good morning, Yiji, Belle… Daoist Arden, you're back too!"
Caesar was in the middle of her usual morning training. Seeing the three of them, she greeted them in her booming voice, then put down her sword and shield and walked over.
"I heard about Uncle Pompey. Are you still going undercover today?"
"Mm."
Arden nodded.
The detox pills had already been refined yesterday afternoon. It was just that Yixuan and Sweety hadn't delivered them the same day. If he delayed any longer today, it would be too late.
"As expected of Yunkui Mountain and the Proxies—so skilled even at going undercover. Bringing you here was totally worth it!"
Caesar sighed with admiration.
She truly hadn't expected a righteous and upright sect like Yunkui Mountain to also handle undercover work—and even uncover that Lucius was a traitor.
So, this was the strength of true experts. It left Caesar deeply impressed.
As for undercover missions, she knew she couldn't handle them. She'd probably blow her cover the moment she showed up.
"I hope things can be resolved honorably with Uncle Pompey. Please, I'm counting on you!"
Caesar's tone was extremely serious.
She was grateful to Arden, but since it concerned Pompey, she still hoped he would hold back a bit—so things wouldn't get too chaotic within The Vanquishers and leave her winning without honor.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
What Arden wanted to do was not something anyone could interfere with. Still, he would consider a friend's opinion. Moreover, he was also very curious to see what Caesar versus Pompey would look like—it would surely be spectacular.
After breakfast, Arden and the others bade farewell to their friends and continued their undercover mission with The Vanquishers.
...
Chirp~ chirp!
Before they even reached The Vanquishers' camp, the Qingming Bird suddenly appeared. Its wings transformed into an ink-black arrow, pointing in a direction. Clearly, the Qingming Bird—meaning Yixuan Shifu—wanted the three of them to go somewhere else.
It seemed that during the time Arden had been away from Yunkui Summit, Yixuan Shifu had gained more intelligence while controlling the Qingming Bird.
Led by the Qingming Bird, the three rode their combat motorcycles down a forked path and eventually arrived at a stretch of wilderness.
Judging by the traces on the ground, someone had been here not long ago.
Chirp chirp chirp…
There was a conspicuous pit in the ground, like an abandoned well. The opening was sealed with iron bars, and the Qingming Bird landed right on top of it.
"Help… h-help…"
As the three approached, a voice suddenly came from inside the well. Then, several fingers stretched out through the iron bars.
Yiji and Belle were startled. Instinctively, they each clung to one of Arden's arms—one on each side.
Chirp~
The Qingming Bird stared at Belle and let out a call, then landed on Arden's shoulder.
"Let's go take a look."
Still holding onto Arden's arms, Yiji and Belle followed him to the well's edge and looked down. Inside, a person was trapped, looking as if they might fall at any moment.
Arden roughly understood what his Shifu wanted him to do here.
"Qingming Bird!"
Arden patted the Qingming Bird on his shoulder.
Chirp~
With a sharp cry, the Qingming Bird transformed into an ink-black hook and latched onto the iron bars over the well.
Arden grabbed the other end of the hook and pulled with all his strength.
Creaaak… bang!
One by one, the bolts fixing the iron bars snapped apart. Finally, the entire grate was yanked free by Arden.
After retracting the Qingming Bird and tossing the iron bars aside, Arden pulled the person out of the well.
===BREAK===
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