---
Chapter 27: Secret
Yang Xie looked at Nangong Ya, who was still asleep, before beginning to feed the antidote to Nangong Qing and the others.
Nangong Qing, Nangong Gou, and Nangong Wei were all boys. He quickly gave them the juice of the Bauhinia vine.
Afterward, he let them lie back down and continue sleeping without waking them up.
Nangong Xiuqin, being the eldest sister, had a very pleasant fragrance when Yang Xie lifted her up. He couldn't tell whether it was perfume or her natural scent, but it was light, not overpowering like flowers, and yet very tempting.
He gently opened Sister Xiuqin's mouth and poured the Bauhinia vine juice into her. After raising her head slightly to make sure she swallowed it, he carefully laid her back down.
Next, he lifted Sister Lan. She was truly beautiful. With such a shy demeanor, she likely had at least a D-cup figure.
Yang Xie couldn't help but be distracted by her soft body; it was certainly... impressive.
He quickly pushed those thoughts aside and fed Nangong Lan the antidote, but couldn't help stealing another glance at her delicate face.
It might be due to his dark element or the talent of the Lord of Shadows, but Yang Xie could still see everything clearly even in the dim light before dawn.
Her face was oval, with a defined jawline. Her petal-like lips were full and looked irresistibly cute. Her small, upturned nose was delicate, and her eyes—phoenix eyes—were big and expressive, with thin, long lashes that gave her a spirited, lively look.
Wait... Why were her eyes wide open?
Yang Xie and Nangong Lan locked eyes for a moment, and the atmosphere froze.
Damn, Sister Lan, how did you wake up so quickly? Didn't you see that Brother Qing and the others were still asleep, like dead pigs?
"Sister Lan, hello," Yang Xie said, forcing a smile on his stiff face.
Yang Xie felt awkward being caught staring.
"Sister Lan, it's not what you think! I was just feeding you medicine."
"No, no, I fed you the antidote. You were poisoned."
Why am I making things worse?
"I know. I'm a wood-attribute martial soul. I'm very sensitive to plants, and I absorb medicine quickly. That's why I woke up so fast after you gave me the antidote," Nangong Lan whispered. If Yang Xie hadn't had sharp ears, he wouldn't have heard it clearly.
"Can you... let go of me?"
Yang Xie immediately let go of Nangong Lan's hand.
But in his hasty motion, his hand accidentally brushed against her chest.
"Hmm~"
Oh my God! I didn't mean it! Sister Lan, please stop making those noises!
But... it's really... big.
Wait, wait, what am I thinking about?
"Well, feeding you medicine was necessary! I really didn't mean it, Sister Lan!"
"I understand, but can you tell me what happened?" Nangong Lan asked as she stood up and tidied herself up.
"A group of pig-headed masked men tried to ambush us and poisoned us with a powerful drug called Bauhinia Tears Dream. The antidote I gave you just now is the juice of the Bauhinia vine," Yang Xie explained, showing her the bottle containing the juice.
Nangong Lan reached out to take the bottle and sniffed it.
"What about the others? How did you get the antidote for them?"
"They are..." Yang Xie instinctively pointed toward the area where he and the pig-headed masked men had fought.
Only then did he remember to ask Yang Yi and the others to clean up the battlefield. Now, there was nothing left to show.
Damn, they cleaned it up too well. Yang Yi should have left some evidence behind. Now it's hard to explain. He had wiped the evidence clean himself.
I don't even know where Yang Yi took the bodies!
Yang Xie quickly ordered Yang Yi to search for any clues or valuables that might prove their identities.
What a mistake—I forgot to search the bodies.
Oh, and bring back their personal warrior terminals and the pig head masks, he added urgently to Yang Yi.
"I'll show you later. But there are still some traces of the fight. I'll take you there," Yang Xie hastily explained to Nangong Lan, trying to ease her suspicion.
He pointed to the trees around them, some of which still bore traces of the struggle, especially the one Yang Xie had hit, which was split in half.
The most obvious sign was a deep pit left by the knife of one of the masked men.
Nangong Lan studied the traces and seemed to believe Yang Xie's story. She noticed that none of Nangong Qing and the others were awake, all still sleeping.
Though Nangong Lan hadn't been part of their group for long, she knew Nangong Qing and the others would never make such a basic mistake. There had never been a time when everyone had slept through the night watch.
The only explanation was the drug.
"So, Yang Xie, what happened to the people from the Alien God Cult?" Nangong Lan asked.
She hadn't considered the possibility that Yang Xie had killed them all. How could a newly promoted warrior do that?
If the drug had been used, it seemed impossible for him to defeat them without help.
Yang Xie's calm reply caused Nangong Lan to feel uneasy.
"The people from the Alien God Cult were killed by me, and their bodies are probably being fed to the alien beasts right now."
His words were too calm, making Nangong Lan feel even more unsettled.
However, she didn't believe it. How could a level-one warrior defeat those members of the Alien God Cult? They were no pushovers.
But Nangong Lan was even more confused. What exactly was going on?
Just then, Yang Yi returned with a large bag of items.
"Master, I retrieved everything. I've placed it behind the tree where you were resting before."
Yang Xie felt a little relieved. Yang Yi had cleared his name.
"Sister Lan, please wait a moment."
Yang Xie quickly went behind the tree to retrieve the items.
He placed the items in front of Nangong Lan: over a dozen personal warrior terminals, a pig head mask, and several miscellaneous things.
The personal warrior terminals were the most valuable, not only because they contained Da Zhou coins and secret martial arts books, but the terminals themselves were quite expensive.
Among the miscellaneous items, Yang Xie's attention was drawn to a pig head token. Everything else was just garbage to him.
Nangong Lan was now even more confused.
Just as she was starting to doubt, Yang Xie pulled out more items from behind the tree.
Nangong Lan gasped when she saw that the personal warrior terminals all had the pig head masks on them.
So, had all the Alien God Cult members really been killed?
Did Yang Xie really do it? How?
"Sister Lan, this is the evidence. Take a look," Yang Xie said while handling the spoils.
"I believe you, but how did you do it?" Nangong Lan asked, staring at Yang Xie with her big, cute eyes.
"Sister Lan, this is my secret. If you want to know, you'll have to keep it to yourself," Yang Xie replied with a mysterious tone.
"Yes," Nangong Lan answered without hesitation.
"Actually, I didn't kill them," Yang Xie said, as if clearing things up.
That seemed reasonable, Nangong Lan thought.
"Actually, I have a special talent. The mayor sent me a guardian. My guardian found the aliens, killed them, and then woke me up."
"Sister Lan, you can't tell anyone about this. If the news gets out, that I have a guardian, it could be dangerous for me next time."
Nangong Lan nodded seriously, "I won't tell anyone. I promise."
Yang Xie smiled inwardly but kept a serious expression. This secret would remain safe with Nangong Lan, and he would protect her as best as he could.
---