Chapter 106: Proof
As they walked from the valley’s exit to the interior, Jiang Yue and his group came across three more people.
At first, each tried to run or fight to the death, but the matter was eventually settled.
When they finally came across a lone member of the death flower ascension front, the group already had nine members.
Six people were disguised as members of the death flower ascension front, while the remaining three acted as prisoners.
"Why are you here?" The lone member asked as he looked at the nine.
"We caught three." Jiang Yue said and pointed at the three that weren’t disguised.
"What’s the use of bringing them here? Just kill them."
A club appeared in the person’s hand, and he moved toward the three.
"Your duty is to guard the exit, why did you come?"
Yu Nianzhen was surprised when he heard that.
Although the enemy couldn’t tell that the actual members were dead, he could tell they were the group meant for the exit.
’Is there a way for the members to recognise each other? Is it on the clothes or mask?’ He didn’t know and didn’t have time to dwell on the matter.
He turned to Jiang Yue, and the two nodded at each other.
Jiang Yue swung his whip, and the furthest end coiled around the enemy’s waist, dragging him away from the three and pulling him towards himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Wait, you aren’t them."
At this time, the enemy seemed to understand what was going on.
However, his realisation came too late.
Desperation clouded his eyes, but there was no way to escape Jiang Yue’s whip.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Jiang Yue said, and Yu Nianzhen stared at him in disbelief.
When he saw the look, Jiang Yue blushed behind his mask.
’What? I always wanted to say that.’ He grumbled in his mind.
"What do you want?" The enemy asked through gritted teeth.
"What is the death flower ascension front looking for?"
"I don’t know."
"I see."
Jiang Yue injected some qi into his whip, and it tightened around the enemy’s waist.
Before the other could react, the whip cut through his clothes and dug into his skin.
"Won’t you reconsider your answer?"
The enemy glared in anger.
He wasn’t the most powerful amongst everyone that entered the secret realm, but he was powerful enough.
However, he understood there was no way to escape from the nine people surrounding him.
"The death flower shall ascend." He suddenly screamed and bit down on a pill.
Each member of the front had a poison pill implanted in their cheeks.
If they were caught and couldn’t escape from the enemy, they would bite down on the pill to kill themselves.
"Bloody wretch."
Jiang Yue pulled on the whip, and the person was dragged closer.
He removed his mask and tried to open the other’s mouth, but it was too late.
The person’s face was already black, and foam was pouring from one corner of his mouth.
"He is dead." Jiang Yue informed and retracted the whip.
The body fell to the ground, and he kicked it in anger.
"Don’t worry about it." Yu Nianzhen said.
If they had known about the suicide pill, they would have acted differently to prevent the prisoner from killing himself.
Unfortunately, the deed was done, and it couldn’t be undone.
"I know him." A soft voice said.
Everyone turned to look at one of the three people that weren’t disguised.
"You do?"
"He is from my Myriad weapons sect." The girl said.
Her lips were curled in a frown, and her face showed confusion.
"What’s wrong?" This was asked by Wang Xue’er.
She could tell that the girl’s expression wasn’t just about finding out that someone she knew was a member of the death flower ascension front.
"His name is Chen Nian, and he is a famous waste in our sect." The girl blushed when she said that.
After that, she explained everything she knew about Chen Nian.
According to her, Chen Nian was a young generation of the Chen family.
Although the Chen family was only a small family in the Tang clan region, one of its elders was a supreme elder of the Myriad weapons sect.
Because of that, members of the Chen family could easily join the Myriad weapons sect.
Unfortunately, Chen Nian was not talented.
Both his origin and aptitude were lacklustre.
Since he joined the sect, he was known as a bottomless pit because he required too many resources to break through each level.
Even then, his performance was still subpar compared to others of the same generation.
"How could someone like that have entered the secret realm?" Bai Ruyue sneered.
Places for the thousand herbs garden were limited.
It didn’t make sense that the Myriad weapons sect had given a place to a waste.
Without saying anything, Jiang Yue bent down and took Chen Nian’s wrist.
He injected a strand of consciousness into the other’s body and began to explore.
"What the...?" His hands shook slightly, and his eyes widened.
"What’s wrong?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
Jiang Yue shook his head and focused on his examination.
"All his meridians are mid-rank heaven meridians." He finally said.
"How is that possible?" The girl was not convinced.
She knew Chen Nian since they were in the same generation.
Although his elder had provided countless resources, Chen Nian had awakened nine earth meridians.
With this qualification, his potential had long been used up.
No one expected him to cultivate to the peak of the origin forging realm or break through to the qi transformation realm.
"You can check for yourself."
Jiang Yue was not offended when the girl did.
He would also be sceptical if he discovered that a waste from the Sea Cloud sect had somehow managed to transform himself.
"This..., this...," The girl stuttered and looked at Chen Nian’s body.
"We know that the death flower ascension front can steal and transplant other cultivators’ foundations. This is proof." Jiang Yue said.
"We need to take the body out of the thousand herbs garden."
At his cultivation realm, Jiang Yue could only do a basic examination of the body.
Once they brought back the body to the sect, the elders could do a more thorough examination.
Maybe then, they could figure out how the death flower ascension front did the impossible.
If they were lucky, the sect could also find a way to guard against it.
"I..., he..." The girl began, but Jiang Yue lifted his hand to stop her.
"He is from your sect, but I captured him. His body and everything on him belongs to me."
The girl could not argue with that reasoning.
She could only watch helplessly as Jiang Yue stripped him before placing the body in a storage bag.
"You can have his robe and mask for disguise."
He handed the items to the girl, and she took them without saying a word.
"There are still six bodies at the exit. We should grab them if we have a chance." Yu Nianzhen whispered to Jiang Yue.
"Alright."
When the girl was disguised, the group began to move again.
As they neared the valley’s centre, they could hear shouts and attacks hitting something.
"Looks like they are still at it." Xuan Ke commented.
Everyone sighed in relief, but they didn’t say more.
If given a chance, no one wanted to place themselves in danger by confronting the death flower ascension front.
However, they all understood the necessity.
At the moment, they couldn’t leave the valley.
If the death flower ascension front acquired a powerful weapon or an equally powerful artefact, their lives would be forfeit.
Right now, their only choice was to make sure the death flower ascension front did not get what they wanted.
"I have been wondering something." Bai Ruyue suddenly said.
"What?" Wang Xue’er asked.
"Before he died, that person said that the death flower will ascend. What does that mean?"
Although he hadn’t mentioned it, this question was also on Yu Nianzhen’s mind.
However, the more he thought about it, the more questions he had.
"We should capture a live one." Xuan Ke finally said.
They had questions, but they knew too little about the death flower ascension front to even speculate the answers.
The best way to gain answers was to capture a member, deal with the suicide pill, and then take their time to question them.
"Listen..."
Everyone stopped to listen.
From afar, they could hear the sounds of attacks hitting a formation.
However, there were other sounds mixed in with that.
"Fighting." Jiang Yue concluded.
"The remnants of the border guards and the BlueStar treasure pavilion should be fighting the members of the death flower ascension front." The flail-bearing cultivator commented.
"If that’s the case, there should be a chance to turn things around." Jiang Yue looked at Yu Nianzhen, and the other nodded.
If the border guards and the BlueStar treasure pavilion still had enough strength to fight, it meant they didn’t need to sneak around.
In this situation, the best option wasn’t sneaking around, but joining the fight to eliminate the death flower ascension front.
