"Do you buy it?" Hannah Nangong asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really. But I want to see what kind of people we're dealing with," Evan Yang replied. He'd already activated Thousand-Mile Echo, his divine sense trailing after the guy.
He watched as the man headed for another room nearby, where a burly, bearded fellow was standing guard.
"Who'd you bring in this time?" the bearded chief asked, voice gruff.
"Chief, this one's special. They said they're after a Ten-Million-Year Tree Heart and they've got plenty of cash, but none of the shops had it, so I lured them here," the man explained.
"Oh? That's a stroke of luck for our stronghold! Hahaha!" The chief burst out laughing.
"So, what's the plan?" the man asked.
"Easy. Just like always—give them some tea, they'll pass out, and when they wake up, they'll forget everything. No worries for us," the chief chuckled.
"Smart as ever, Chief. I'll get right on it," the man grinned.
The chief nodded, grinning, clearly in a great mood.
After eavesdropping on their conversation, Evan Yang sent a quick voice transmission to Hannah Nangong: "They're about to bring tea. Whatever you do, don't drink it."
"Tea? How do you know?" Hannah blinked, puzzled.
"Secret," Evan replied with a grin.
Hannah still didn't get it, so she just waited. Sure enough, the man soon returned and had someone bring over tea. "Since we're talking business, we can't treat you poorly," he said with a smile. "This is our best tea—it can even boost your cultivation, or so they say."
"Oh yeah? That good? Guess I'll have to try it," Evan said, grinning as he picked up the cup and took a drink.
Hannah felt a twinge of worry seeing Evan drink—not because she couldn't, but because she remembered he was immune to poison. Even if the tea was laced, he'd be fine, so she relaxed.
Seeing Evan drink, Hannah feigned drinking too. As she swallowed, she used her qi to wrap the tea, making sure it never touched her skin.
Seeing both of them drink, the man burst out laughing. "Haha, you two are clueless!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Evan said, putting on a show of panic.
"This is our forget-me tea. Drink it and you'll lose the last hour of your memory," the man grinned.
"Why would you do this?" Evan snapped, slamming his cup down. Hannah feigned outrage too.
"Why? Simple—we lured you here to take your Immortal Sources. Hand them over and we'll send you somewhere safe, even if you forget the last hour. Otherwise, we'll take them ourselves and kill you," the man sneered.
Evan pretended to be furious. "You bunch of bandits!"
"Bandits? Damn right. We specialize in tricking people and robbing them blind. What are you gonna do, kill us? You can't even walk now, let alone fight. Hahaha!" the man howled.
"I want your boss!" Evan demanded.
"The boss? You think you can just meet him whenever you want?" the man sneered.
"We have a major family backing us. If you don't hand over the antidote, they'll wipe your stronghold off the map," Evan threatened.
"Wipe us out? Please. You won't even remember anything—how could you do that?" the man scoffed.
"Sorry, I already sent the location and everything to my clan," Evan said, smiling.
The man blanched. "What? Are you serious?"
"Scared now? Get your boss over here, now!" Evan snapped.
The man didn't expect Evan to move so fast. Gritting his teeth, he hurried off to the wooden hut to report. When the bearded chief heard, he was shocked and rushed over, demanding, "What family are you from?"
"Hmph, we're from the Qing Family!" Evan shouted.
"Qing Family? You mean that top-ranked Qing Family?" the chief exclaimed.
"That's right. I already sent out the message. If you don't let us go, you'll be flattened," Evan said.
The chief gritted his teeth and finally snorted, "So that's how it is. No way out now. We'll just kill you and take your stuff, then evacuate the whole stronghold!"
"You're ruthless!" Evan hadn't expected them to play it this way, but he wasn't afraid. He snorted coldly.
"Ruthless is what it takes to be a bandit! Everyone, take them out so we can bail!" the chief ordered.
No one wanted to die, so the only option was to kill Evan, grab his Immortal Source, and run.
The group rushed Evan, but as soon as they got close, his aura exploded, blasting the unwary away. Only the chief and the man were left, staring at Evan in shock.
"Weren't you poisoned?" the chief blurted out.
"Was I? Who says?" Evan replied with a smirk.
"You?" The chief looked at his companion, who shook his head. "He's really not poisoned." He stared at Evan, still unable to believe it.
"Honestly, I knew you guys were up to no good, so I never drank the tea," Evan said with a grin. He spat out the tea, and Hannah did the same.
Seeing both of them acting, the bandits realized they'd been played. They stared in shock, and the chief snorted, "Let me handle this."
The chief was only eighth-tier Heavenly-Immortal, but to Evan, he'd already lost. Evan, now first-tier Heavenly-Immortal, crushed the eighth-tier chief easily—a totally one-sided fight.
Seeing their chief beaten, the other man quickly knelt. "Senior, I was blind. Please spare us."
"Spare you? Don't make me laugh. You tried to kill us and now you want mercy?" Evan snorted coldly.
The man thought fast. "Senior, if you let us go, I'll tell you where to find news about the Ten-Million-Year Tree Heart."
"Ten-Million-Year Tree Heart? Where?" Evan asked, interested.
"There's a place in the city where a group of cultivators are trading information about the Tree Heart. If you let us live, I'll tell you where," the man said.
"Fine, tell me," Evan said.
The man quickly gave Evan the location. Evan memorized it, then knocked the man out and destroyed the stronghold before leaving with Hannah.
They headed straight for the city, ready to search for the Ten-Million-Year Tree Heart.