"Are you certain Gongsun Xiangyi is held here?" Ye Jingyu asked softly, gazing toward the distant Medicine King Valley.

"Uncertain!" A dark silhouette gradually materialized in the void. It was none other than Bing Ming. He glanced at the Medicine King Valley shrouded in darkness before continuing, "It’s just that all the assassins have converged here!"

"I have a creeping feeling that something isn't right!" Ye Jingyu shook his head.

"What's wrong?" It was Liang Xiaoke who spoke, currently perched on the ground beside them. He held one hand to his head while using the other to comb his hair with a comb. The mouth he held in his hand opened and closed rhythmically—a scene so bizarre that most people would have been terrified, but Ye Jingyu, Chi Yi Xiu, Hu Yan Qi, and the others who had arrived chose to ignore it completely.

Even Hu Yan Meng didn't spare him a glance; clearly, they had all grown accustomed to his eccentricities long ago.

"At least five separate groups of assassins are heading toward Medicine King Valley. Could it be that someone other than Gongsun Lu wants her dead? She's merely a prisoner of the Gongsun family now. How could so many people care about her life or death? Could it be that the Gongsun family members themselves wish her dead? What benefit would her death bring to the Gongsun family?" Ye Jingyu murmured, speaking as much to himself as to those around him.

"Gongsun Sheng hasn't recovered from the poison. If Miss Xiangyi dies, Gongsun Sheng might be beyond saving. Once he truly passes, the Gongsun family patriarch position will need to be re-elected. Do you think perhaps his sons sent them?" Bing Ming remarked calmly. As a Martial Saint, his capabilities extended far beyond mere martial prowess.

"Makes sense!" Ye Jingyu nodded.

", are we going in or not?" Liang Xiaoke had already managed to place his head securely back onto his neck and demanded.

"We go, of course, we go. The three of us will proceed first. Xiu, you find a place to conceal yourselves and cover us at any time!" Ye Jingyu stated plainly.

"Understood!" Chi Yi Xiu and the others nodded in unison.

Ye Jingyu said no more. With a swift movement of his feet, he sprinted toward the Medicine King Valley several miles away. Xiao Tao Tao, who had already transformed into the size of a small cat, clung tightly to his shoulder. Liang Xiaoke simply melted into the earth beneath him and vanished. As for Bing Ming, his figure dissolved directly back into the void.

Medicine King Valley was not only the property of the Gongsun family but also the primary location where the citizens of Medicine City gathered medicinal herbs. Due to its proximity to the Heavenly Dipper Mountain Range, many rare and precious herbs flourished there.

However, the management rights of the Medicine King Valley remained firmly in the hands of the Gongsun family. Ordinary folk were only permitted to gather herbs during the daytime; staying within the valley after nightfall was strictly forbidden.

In the central area of the Medicine King Valley, a towering pavilion had been constructed—another asset belonging to the Gongsun family. Unauthorized personnel were absolutely prohibited from approaching it.

Numerous guards were hidden around the pavilion, ranging in cultivation from the Warrior realm to the Innate Masters. However, at this hour, most of the guards had retired. Peace and prosperity reigned near Medicine City; citizens often left their doors unlocked, so naturally, no thieves were expected to target this specific building.

These guards had grown complacent from years of quiet duty and were certainly not maintaining rigorous watch.

A dark cloud momentarily obscured the bright moon hanging in the sky, and a figure appeared in a patch of woods not far from the pavilion. In his hand, he held a fist-sized pill. With a forceful twist, the pill shattered, releasing a plume of black smoke that drifted directly with the wind toward the pavilion.

A faint, sweet fragrance spread outward. The guards, already nodding off, inhaled the alluring aroma and could no longer fight their eyelids’ heavy descent, falling deeply asleep. Even those guards who had been standing succumbed to overwhelming drowsiness, eventually collapsing one by one.

Inside the pavilion, a woman in a flowing cyan gauze skirt, possessing a graceful figure, lay quietly on a bamboo bed. As the sweet scent drifted in, the woman inhaled sharply through her nose.

"Crimson Dust Intoxication? They really went to great lengths, even using this type of knockout drug. Tell me, who sent these people?" The woman did not turn over, but her lips moved slightly.

"These should all be assassins hired by those lords; they cannot be their trusted confidantes!" A voice, neither strictly male nor female, emerged from the shadows.

"That’s true. The Master’s instruction was to leave a live witness. Can you manage that?" the woman asked calmly.

"Rest assured, Miss Xiangyi lost her Sacred Beast, and her own strength is merely at the Innate realm, further compounded by the Master’s intervention. They won't dispatch assassins too powerful. Furthermore, Medicine City is not White Emperor City; you'd be hard-pressed to find a single expert above the Grandmaster realm, and even if you did, they wouldn't risk danger so easily. The assassins arriving will be, at most, Innate level. Such mediocrity—no matter how many arrive, they will all be defeated!" The voice in the darkness was filled with confidence.

"That’s good. However, you must remember, they are killers. Assassins always have their hidden cards—perhaps it's a killing technique, or perhaps suicide," the woman on the bed murmured faintly.

"You don't need to worry about that. You just need to play the role of Miss Xiangyi well!" The voice in the darkness sounded somewhat impatient.

"Hmph…" The woman on the bed let out a cold snort but said no more, feigning a deep sleep.

Just then, faint footsteps sounded outside the room. Though light, both Xiangyi’s body double and the master hidden in the darkness clearly heard them.

Creak... The room door was pushed open, and three figures clad in black, their faces obscured by bandanas, stepped inside.

Upon seeing the sleeping figure on the bed, a flicker of burning desire flashed in the eyes of the three intruders.

"Incredible. This 'Crimson Dust Intoxication' the client provided is truly potent. Seventy people in the entire pavilion were knocked unconscious. Entering so easily—this mission is turning out much simpler than expected!" the first black-clad man whispered.

"Indeed. Big Brother, look at this chick's figure—what a waste it would be to kill her like this, wouldn't it?" Black-clad Man Two eyed the woman on the bed with blatant greed.

"Exactly! Big Brother, shouldn't we take this woman out? Let the brothers enjoy themselves first, then kill her? It wouldn't be too late!" another black-clad man suggested.

Black-clad Man One’s eyes were also blazing with lust, but remembering the employer's orders—that the woman in the pavilion must be killed regardless—he hesitated momentarily.

Just as Black-clad Man One was wavering, a shadowy figure flashed out from the darkness. With lightning speed, he extended a single hand and struck the back of the necks of the three black-clad men. They slumped over without even a sound.