After hearing this, Evan Chu felt a bit puzzled, and the mention of "antidote" made him jump in shock. It was obvious that these men were being controlled—only after completing a mission for someone would they receive the antidote. The only question was, what exactly were they being forced to do?
Judging by how troubled the middle-aged man looked, it was definitely something he least wanted to do. Evan decided to get to the bottom of this—there was a good chance it was connected to the dark forces.
After chatting idly for a bit longer, the three men prepared to leave. Evan didn’t move—he’d already locked onto them with his divine sense. Even if they flew several miles away, he could easily track them down.
"Evan Chu, do you think there’s something off about those three?" Luna, the Sword Spirit, spoke up.
"That’s right. Luna, do you feel the same way?" Evan Chu asked. When he entered the city, he’d had Goldwing return to his body—he didn’t want to reveal his identity, and moving alone was much more convenient.
“Obviously! If I couldn’t figure this out, I’d be useless. All three of them have traces of demonic qi, but they’re also people from the Azure Tide Ruins. What does that tell you? I’m sure you can put two and two together!” Luna said.
“No idea. You know I’m not exactly smart—I hate thinking things through. Just tell me what you know!” Evan said.
“Then you can just wait. Don’t bother me unless it’s urgent—let’s see how long you can hold out.” Luna replied.
Hearing Luna say that, Evan panicked and quickly said, “Luna, don’t get mad! I was just joking with you.”
These people must be under the control of the dark forces. Now I’m starting to think that the reason a sect can be wiped out overnight is probably because someone inside was set up—maybe poisoned, losing all ability to resist, and then death is inevitable. From what that man said, it’s clear he’s been forced to do something that will harm his own sect.
He really didn’t want to do it, but he’d been poisoned, and the one who poisoned him only handed over the antidote at the end of each month. He was forced to go against his conscience. Clearly, the poison was vicious—making life worse than death. Otherwise, no one would do something so heartless and monstrous.
"Makes sense. They’ve already left—aren’t you going to follow? Maybe you’ll get the answers you need this time. If you do, I’ll help you see if you can dig out something even more useful," Luna said.
After Evan Chu paid the bill and left the teahouse, he locked onto the three men with his divine sense and quickly followed. He didn’t dare fly too fast, afraid of drawing attention, so he kept a steady five-mile distance.
The three men weren’t moving quickly. It wasn’t until late afternoon that they finally descended from the sky and landed atop a mountain where a sizable compound stood.
The three started up the mountain on foot. Evan Chu waited until they’d vanished from sight before landing himself. He glanced at the surroundings, a faint smile flickering at the corner of his mouth.
This was West Moon Mountain, a famous place in the Azure Tide Ruins. Atop this mountain was a sect whose strength rivaled the Nine Great Sects, but its master was extremely low-key—making it a true hidden-world sect.
The sect was called Crescent Moon Sect. Word was, its master was a Fourth-Layer Saint Martial expert, over three hundred years old but still looking like a middle-aged man—proof of his deep cultivation.
Evan Chu followed the mountain path up. Unlike other sects, Crescent Moon Sect didn’t have many disciples guarding the way—he only saw five or six along the route, all of whom he easily avoided.
Soon he reached the summit. Crescent Moon Sect’s compound wasn’t very large—about the same size as the old Frostbane Sect’s buildings, with a similarly ancient feel.
But now there were quite a few disciples moving about. To avoid exposing himself, Evan Chu used Earthshift to hide underground, slowly tunneling toward the heart of the sect.
On the way, he overheard plenty of disciples chatting, but most of it was trivial. Before long, Evan Chu picked up a familiar voice—the middle-aged man from the teahouse.
Evan Chu stayed hidden in the earth, but he could clearly hear the conversation. The middle-aged man was saying, "If the Sect Master finds out about this, we’re all dead. How are we supposed to pull this off?"
"Why are you so timid? Heavenfrost Poison is colorless and tasteless, and won’t show any symptoms for two days. By then, we’ll be long gone. You don’t have to worry about what happens after," another conspirator said.
"But the Sect Master raised and trained us—I really can’t bring myself to do it. Why don’t you two handle it instead?" the middle-aged man said, sounding tormented.
"It has to be you. We’ll handle the other disciples, but only you can get close enough to the Sect Master. He barely eats or drinks, and the only person he trusts for those things is you. If anyone can get him to ingest the poison, it’s you," one of the men replied.
At last, Evan Chu understood—the middle-aged man was the Crescent Moon Sect Master's most trusted subordinate. And now, the person the master trusted most was being forced to betray him. It was the most tragic thing imaginable.
Evan Chu burned to burst out of the ground and cut down these three traitors right then and there, but he knew he couldn’t. If he acted rashly, he’d lose his chance to uncover the real mastermind.
He also realized these three probably didn’t know much—there wasn’t much to gain from interrogating them. Evan Chu didn’t want to tip anyone off, so all he could do was wait.
He wanted to save Crescent Moon Sect, but with his identity unclear, it would be hard to explain things to the sect master. The Crescent Moon Sect Master was powerful—Evan Chu wasn’t afraid, but he didn’t want any misunderstandings. The best he could do was rescue him at the most critical moment.
With his mind made up, Evan Chu quietly withdrew and began searching for the Crescent Moon Sect Master's residence. If the poison was administered and danger arose, he’d be ready to intervene.
Tunneling through the earth, Evan Chu was now almost as fast as walking on land. He circled the entire sect without anyone noticing, and though he didn’t know every detail above ground, he’d roughly pinpointed where the sect master’s quarters were located…