When Xiao arrived at the town square, he saw it was completely packed, unlike before, when there had only been a dozen workers. He noticed groups of people scattered around, talking and gathering.
Most of the people Xiao passed had hollow eyes, their skin pale, with some slumped over tables, looking exhausted. Others had darting eyes, flinching at every sound.
Wanting to learn more, Xiao's gaze lingered on a group near the edge of the square. It consisted of two men and a woman, all of whom looked elderly. His curiosity piqued, and he moved toward them, quietly interrupting their conversation.
"Hello," Xiao said, interrupting.
They all glared at him, clearly irritated by the intrusion.
"Who are you, boy?" the elderly woman asked.
"I'm Xiao, and I just want to ask a few questions, if you'd allow me," Xiao replied, maintaining a calm demeanor.
"Go ask someone else," one of the elderly men grumbled, not even bothering to look at Xiao.
"No, Weisheng, don't be rude to the young man. We can answer his questions. We, too, have been waiting for this blessed day, the day the murderer will be executed," the other elderly man said in a pacifying tone.
"Huh?" Xiao exclaimed, surprised.
His heart raced. 'The murderer will be executed? Could this whole anniversary be a trap?' He kept his expression neutral, but a cold unease settled in his gut.
"You foolish old man! No one was supposed to know about that! But of course, you couldn't keep your mouth shut," the woman muttered angrily, squeezing the man's ear. But the old man waved her off dismissively. "It's common knowledge now. No point in pretending otherwise."
"Boy, forget what you just heard," the woman sighed. "Now, what was your question?" she asked.
"Oh, I was just going to ask if you were all living in the Infinite Hallway," Xiao replied.
"Yes. Everyone you see here was living there to escape Lin Jing and be protected. While we were safe, it was boring and exhausting. So, most of us have been impatiently waiting for this day for nearly a month. Now, leave us alone, boy," the woman said, turning away from Xiao.
'So that's why they're so tired,' Xiao thought.
With an understanding expression, Xiao looked around and noticed people eating and drinking at tables.
When Xiao eavesdropped on some of the conversations, he kept hearing the same thing, that this event was a setup to catch and kill the murderer.
'If it's so open, wouldn't the murderer know?' Xiao thought. Something about the plan felt wrong, but he decided not to say anything.
As some time passed, he decided it was time to have some proper food and sat down at one of the tables.
All the tables had a plain cup and a uniquely shaped bowl. Xiao was about to start eating the Lotus Root Soup when someone familiar approached him.
"Hey, Xiao, where did you get that robe?" a familiar voice asked.
Xiao looked up and saw Zhao. "Hi, Zhao. What are you doing here already? Aren't you supposed to be with the Zhu family? I got the robe from a store around here," Xiao replied to Zhao, whom he had first met in the village.
"They're coming soon, but I wanted to meet the people of this town first," Zhao said, smiling as he looked around with a hidden darkness in his gaze.
"Make sure you eat and drink today, everything's on the Zhu family. There's plenty for everyone," Zhao added before walking away to chat with other groups.
'That's odd. Why is he encouraging everyone to eat and drink?' Xiao thought, growing suspicious of the Zhu family as he watched others eat.
Xiao wanted to leave, but something in him kept him there. Even though he wasn't exactly a hero, he wasn't evil enough to let innocent people die if he could help it, especially if there was some profit to gain.
The people who had eaten from the bowls and drunk from the cups didn't seem sick, so Xiao thought it would be safe. He took a small bite of the Lotus Root Soup.
As the soup went down his throat, Xiao focused, trying to detect anything unusual, but it seemed normal. However, the same couldn't be said for the drink.
As the liquid from the ordinary-looking cup touched his throat, a sharp, burning sensation flared in his chest. His pulse quickened as something dark and ominous latched onto his qi, circling through his body.
'What's happening?' Xiao thought, delving deeper into his spiritual senses. He discovered the drink contained a low-ranking poison.
Xiao quickly used one of his spiritual root abilities: Time Healing.
As the ability activated, his body, which had been affected by the poison, healed rapidly—much faster than Xiao had expected. In about three seconds, his body was fully healed, as though it had never been attacked. However, it had used up one-third of the qi in his dantian.
Xiao guessed the poison was slow-acting; otherwise, everyone here would have already collapsed. He glanced around and noticed a man who looked unfocused, along with a few others slouching in their seats, fighting off drowsiness.
"So, I guess the poison is affecting some people," Xiao thought. "It seemed strange when others would eat or drink and not get sick right away. So it takes a little time for the poison to kick in." Now, he understood that the infinity hallway wasn't the only thing making people sick.
Feeling uneasy, Xiao examined the cup for signs of anything harmful. He found tiny runes etched inside the cup, which seemed to be the reason the drink was poisoned, rather than the drink itself.
Xiao kept an eye on Zhao, but whenever he checked, Zhao was simply chatting with others and doing nothing suspicious. However, when Xiao used a technique to eavesdrop, he finally understood what was happening.
"Please, continue eating and drinking. The Zhu family will reward those who eat the most," Zhao kept telling the families, emphasizing the word "eat."
Xiao, who wanted to save people, felt in his heart that it wasn't the right time to act yet.
Time passed, and Xiao waited patiently, prepared to draw the Infinity Edge at any moment.