Volume 9 Chapter 38: Celebrate This Nigh

"Turns out that even back then, the academy already began facing the west, preparing so many things."

Lin Xi chucked in self mockery. Only now did he understand why An Keyi said goodbye to him and left the academy so early.

The more it was like this, the more he felt like he was an extremely small fish in the great river.

"If we all end up being poisoned by Quicksand, teacher, how many people can you rescue with your methods?" Lin Xi's expression became grave, asking An Keyi seriously.

An Keyi reached out her hand. "Three."

When An Keyi reached out her three jade-like green fingers, Lin Xi didn't feel the slightest trace of a charming and gentle feeling, instead bitterly thinking that the amount of antidote she had really was limited.

"Teacher, since your respected self can already smell a bit of Sand Scorpion Venom, are you still unable to locate Wenren Cangyue's people in this city?" Bian Linghan couldn't help but ask.

An Keyi shook her head. "The smell of the 'Tarsus Bone' refined from Sand Scorpion Venom is extremely faint, it can only be determined with the help of some slight green color and I can only detect it when it is right before my eyes. I can sense the location where 'Tarsus Bone' was concocted, but it was only in an ordinary empty riverside room."

"This means that it is only because the smell of Sand Scorpion Venom is a bit special that teacher, your respected self was able to sense it. However, at that time, the Sand Scorpion Venom had already been finished in the preparation of Tarsus Bone." Lin Xi looked at An Keyi and said, "This means that the enemy might make his move at any time."

"Tarsus Bone and Quicksand are things only Gongsun Quan can make." An Keyi released a light en of agreement, calmly saying, "In the past month or so, the academy confirmed that Gongsun Quan was in this region, perhaps Noble Cloud Province is precisely the area he oversees. Only, he has always moved stealthily, the academy doesn't know exactly what he looks like... the poisons he makes might have also spread to other parts of Yunqin. Sand Scorpion Venom has a unique rotting odor, but in a situation where there is ventilation, as long as it exceeds eight hours of time, not even I can detect it. That is why Gongsun Quan definitely refined these poisons within the last eight hours."

Lin Xi thought for a bit and said, "Now that our two groups of people have met, he can get rid of all of us in one go... this Great General Wenren's subordinate Gongsun Quan really is quite fierce. However, if we all remain careful and don't go out, don't eat anything, it wouldn't be too good either."

An Keyi seriously looked at Lin Xi and asked, "Why?"

"In terms of setting poison and detoxification, no matter how formidable Gongsun Quan is, how can he possibly compare to teacher? Otherwise, the academy wouldn't have sent your respected self out to deal with him." Lin Xi looked at An Keyi and said, "However, defense is always more strenuous than attack and the academy definitely wishes for teacher to pull out this nail, forever eliminate this future disaster... It is because this type of cultivator who could prepare poisons, compared to a Sacred Expert, his effect on this western battle situation is even greater, no one knows how many cultivators will die under the poisons he makes. If he notices that we are clearly on guard against him, not taking action... or doesn't make enough moves, I believe teacher might not even be able to find him. After all, we don't even know what he looks like... Who knows, he might have just walked under our very eyelids, yet we had no idea."

An Keyi's fine rows furrowed together. She knew that what Lin Xi said made sense. However, as for how they were going to find Gongsun Quan, she couldn't think of any good methods either. After thinking for a moment, she still looked at Lin Xi, shaking her head and saying, "You want to lure out Gongsun Quan with bait? After all these years, since he could still prevent his own appearance and special characteristics from being exposed, this means that he is an extremely careful person who cherishes his life greatly. This type of expert has many ways of setting poison, even if he doesn't succeed, he won't show himself. Moreover, if he discovers that someone like me exists, he might just lie low, or even directly leave."

Gao Yanan, Bian Linghan and the others also silently nodded.

Even if it was a sword controlling Sacred Expert or a Windstalker assassin like Tong Wei, flying swords and arrows still had some traces, so there would be some clues visible when they made moves. However, when using poison to kill, with the methods of someone like Gongsun Quan, no one will know when he makes his move. Finding the perpetrator out of a city of hundreds of thousands without even knowing his appearance, this was completely an impossible task.

Lin Xi's brows also furrowed deeply. Only, unlike Gao Yanan and the others, he just felt like with An Keyi here, even if the other party already prepared to take action against them, he still hadn't used his unique ability used today, so there should be a way to find the other party.

Just how were they going to catch this enemy whose face they haven't even seen before? This Gongsun Quan might be the inn boss, the cook, a passing beggar, an elder or even a youngster, to the extent where there was even a chance that this person was an older woman.

Lin Xi tried to think of something. This entire room entered a state of silence.

...

In Sparrow Lord City's northeastern corner, there was a well-known restaurant called Star Seizing Restaurant.

Star Seizing Restaurant was built by a group of Sparrow Lord City's most well-known carpenters. This tall nine floored building was made through embedded wood, not a single nail to be seen, truly an astonishing sight to see.

Right now, in one of the nine floored building's elegant rooms, there was an extremely cleanly shaven shinny and middle-aged scholar who was drinking alone while enjoying some fine dishes. What he was looking at weren't the stars in the sky, but rather the distant Chaste and Undefiled Inn in the distant night scene.

His appearance, aside from his cheekbones that stuck out a bit because of being more meager in stature, wasn't all that different from Sparrow Lord City's natives, extremely ordinary. However, the fingernails on his hands were excessively thick and they were all slightly curled, thus making his ten fingers look a bit like claws. These fingernails somehow made his aura appear a bit strange and sinister.

Footsteps sounded by the elegant room's doorway. Then, there were immediately knocking sounds that could be heard.

"Come in." This middle-aged scholar's fingertips tapped lightly against the wine glass in his hands, calmly saying this.

A large plate of Star Seizing Restaurant's well-known fish with sour bamboo shoots was brought in.

After reaching out his chopsticks and picking a piece of the most tender fish meat together with a delicious sour bamboo shoot next to it, chewing it slowly and swallowing it, this middle-aged scholar fished out a white handkerchief. He wiped the corners of his mouth, and then let go, letting this white handkerchief drop and flutter about in Sparrow Lord City's lively night.

In a distant night market, there was a vendor that sold some bamboo utensils. The master of this stall was a reserved, forty or so year old middle aged fellow.

His eyes were always drifting towards that Star Seizing Restaurant window. Right now, no one else saw that soft white silk handkerchief fluttering about in the air, but he saw it.

However, he quietly put away his stall that didn't draw much interest to begin with, walking towards an alley.

Inside Star Seizing Restaurant, the middle-aged scholar turned the fish over, picking up the other most tender piece of meat and then placed it into his mouth, chewing it. Then, he lowered his chopsticks, as if he no longer had any interest in this extremely expensive Star Seizing Restaurant signature dish, extravagant to the point where he only wished to eat those two pieces of meat and those two pieces of sour bamboo shoots on that plate.

He didn't drink any more wine either, only picking up a cup of tea to rinse his mouth.

Then, his face became filled with satisfaction and mockery. It was because he didn't have any drinking partners with him. He raised his head slightly, looked into the stars in the sky, and then quietly said to himself, "An Keyi... my poison setting skills naturally cannot compare to you, the most formidable figure among Green Luan Academy Medicine Department's young generation. However, this is a battle, not a fair competition, so how can you possibly seize the advantage?"

"Even though your Green Luan Academy is formidable, just like Yunqin Empire, when it is too large, traitors will easily appear... I am different. For the sake of fighting against all of you, all those who have a chance of exposing my identity have already been eliminated. That is why I know that you and the people you are protecting are inside, yet there is no way you can possibly know who I am, to the extent where you don't even know that I know someone like you is inside your group."

"Just like right now, I can act completely without restraint, randomly poison everyone in your group to death, while you cannot act as unrestrained as me... moreover, you have no idea that I have an apprentice who can help me carry out these matters. That is why from the very start, there was no chance for Green Luan Academy and yourself to win against me. I am standing in an invincible position."

"Let's celebrate this night."

This middle-aged meager scholar was originally already rinsing his mouth, no longer drinking, but after he thought these things to himself, his eyes suddenly produced an enthusiastic and feverish expression. He drank another cup of wine and then sprinkled a cup of wine out into the night sky, pointing it towards Chaste and Undefiled Inn, quietly saying, "This night will definitely be extremely splendid."

"We will surely win!"

He then turned towards the west, bowing slightly towards that individual who respected him and obeyed his orders. As he said this inwardly, this solemn appearance and his crazy expression interweaved strangely,.

The fine liquor turned into an intoxicating scent, drifting about Star Seizing Restaurant's eaves.

The cheers and clamoring in Sparrow Lord City had just begun.

In the eatern corner of the city, what Lin Xi previously knew as sky lanterns in his past world, but were called flying fire lamps in this world were rising, flying high up into the sky.

Many Sparrow Lord City's people discovered that the cover of these lamps was actually a rarely seen green color, these lamps flickering with phosphorescent light in the night sky. Some people immediately couldn't help but point outwards in novelty.