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At the house rented by Arden's group of three.
"The conditions in the Outer Ring are really terrible."
Yiji smiled with undisguised disdain as she looked around.
They called this the best room here, but in Yiji's eyes, it couldn't even compare to the worst room on Yunkui Summit.
It had been fine back in Blazewood. After all, the Sons of Calydon had Lucy managing things. Even if Yiji was no longer acting like a young miss, some living habits were hard to change. But The Vanquishers were all rough men, and they weren't nearly as particular.
"Just bear with it. One or two days will pass quickly."
Arden comforted her.
All places suitable for human habitation had already been developed by New Eridu. The Outer Ring, put nicely, was the suburbs; put bluntly, it was a wasteland. Water resources were extremely scarce, there was barely any vegetation, and even farming was impossible. The conditions spoke for themselves.
Chirp chirp chirp chirp!
At that moment, a small black bird flew in through the window and landed on Arden's shoulder.
"A Qingming Bird? You came… to deliver a message for Shifu?"
Arden noticed that the Qingming Bird was holding a note in its beak.
With one hand, he gently stroked the Qingming Bird a few times, and with the other, he took the note.
To be honest, Arden felt a bit speechless about Yixuan's methods. A simple phone message would've done, yet she had the Qingming Bird fly such a long distance just to deliver a piece of paper.
"She really thinks she's running some ancient sect, doing flying-bird letters and all."
As he complained, Arden suddenly thought of another possibility.
Could it be… she sent the Qingming Bird to monitor me, afraid I'd have an affair? How could tha—
Arden suddenly froze and glanced at Belle beside him.
"..."
It seemed… Yixuan's concern wasn't entirely unreasonable?
Arden shook his head, throwing those random thoughts aside, and unfolded the note to read it.
There were only two words written on it: "Water" and "Poison."
"..."
Arden frowned, thinking over the meaning of those two words.
"Shifu means that the Fuel Drink Pompey was about to drink earlier had poison in it?" Yiji guessed.
"That should be it."
Arden nodded. "So, the one who shattered the cup earlier was you, huh?"
Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!
The Qingming Bird admitted it.
"Haa…"
Arden let out a breath. He had thought there was some unknown expert hiding in the Outer Ring. Turns out it was one of their own—no need to worry then.
"Hmm…"
Then Arden started thinking again.
"Shifu specifically sent a message… does she want me to help Pompey? Could it be… the two of them knew each other before?"
Still uncertain, Arden took out his phone, preparing to ask Yixuan Shifu directly.
Then he realized he had wronged her earlier—there was no signal at all. The fastest way to send messages really was the Qingming Bird's flying-letter method.
"Qingming Bird, I'll trouble you again."
Following local customs, Arden wrote a reply and let the Qingming Bird carry it back to Yunkui Summit.
...
The Qingming Bird was a supreme treasure refined by Yixuan of Yunkui Summit. It combined offense and defense, and its speed was astonishing. Used to deliver messages, it could even break the sound barrier. Thus, Arden had barely finished a cup of water when the Qingming Bird returned with Yixuan's reply.
This time, the message was much longer.
Yixuan admitted that she did indeed know Pompey.
Perhaps afraid of Arden misunderstanding, she also explained how she had met him.
It wasn't complicated. When Pompey had been racing in New Eridu, he encountered Yixuan leaping across rooftops. The two exchanged a brief bout, and that was how they met.
They hadn't interacted much afterward. This time, while Yixuan was using the Qingming Bird's eyes to monitor Arden, she happened to see Pompey and recognized him. Feeling that Pompey was a decent person, she wanted Arden to save him.
"Qingming Bird, go back and tell Shifu to rest assured. I have my own arrangements!"
Chirp…
The Qingming Bird flew out the window, vanishing without a trace the next instant.
"Husband, the one who poisoned him was Lucius, right?"
Yiji leaned against Arden and asked softly.
"Hmph! Who else could it be!"
Before Arden could answer, Belle snapped angrily. She despised people like Lucius the most. "Daoist Arden, you'll save Pompey, right?"
Whether from what Caesar and the others had said, or from seeing him personally today, Pompey gave her a good impression. It would be a shame if he were just killed like this.
"Hehe, don't worry. Do I look like the kind of person who stands by and watches someone die?"
...
In a room that wasn't spacious but was fully furnished, Pompey was buried in paperwork.
"Mm…"
Suddenly, the words on the documents began to blur. "Sigh~~ Guess you really can't fight age."
Putting down his pen, Pompey rubbed his temples.
Recently, he had occasionally felt dizzy and his energy was far worse than before. Pompey had simply assumed it was due to getting older.
"It's not that you're old. Someone poisoned you."
Suddenly, a man's voice sounded from the doorway.
!!!
Pompey abruptly raised his head and looked toward Arden, who was walking in.
Even though Arden had changed into a dark-blue Daoist robe, Pompey recognized him at once. The intruder was the probationary member he had accepted earlier that day.
"..."
The two stared at each other for a moment, the atmosphere a bit awkward.
As an Overlord who had experienced many assassination attempts, Pompey reacted quickly. He sprang up and lunged at Arden.
He didn't like communicating with people who barged in unannounced. Even if there was some misunderstanding, it could wait until the other party was subdued.
"Mr. Pompey, I'm from Yunkui Summit!"
Arden hurriedly revealed his identity.
Hearing this, Pompey withdrew his attack, though he remained on guard.
"You are…?"
"Daoist Arden from Yunkui Summit, the hero who saved New Eridu. Overlord Pompey, you haven't not heard of me, right?"
"You're that Daoist… Xu?"
Pompey hadn't seen Arden in person, but he had heard of his reputation. Thinking back to Arden's left-and-right embrace earlier that day, it did fit the image described in rumors.
"..."
Arden's mouth twitched slightly. It seemed his reputation for romantic scandals had spread even wider than his feat of saving New Eridu.
"Ahem! I'm here to save you. I hope you'll cooperate—someone poisoned your food and drink."
"Poisoned?"
Pompey frowned. His body had indeed been acting up lately. He had thought it was just old age—never expected it to be poisoning.
Of course, Pompey wouldn't blindly believe Arden's words alone. But considering Yunkui Summit and Arden's reputation, he couldn't dismiss it entirely either.
"Why are you telling me this?"
In the Outer Ring, he understood better than anyone that there was no such thing as kindness without reason.
"It was my Shifu… also my wife—she discovered that you were poisoned and hoped I could save you."
Arden brought up Yixuan.
"So, it was her!"
As the Grandmaster who could defeat his racing vehicle using only her legs, Yixuan had left a deep impression on Pompey.
At this point, Pompey basically believed it.
"How are you going to save me?"
Then Pompey asked the more important question.
"Sit down. I'll check you first."
"Alright!"
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