With nothing better to do, Ning used his absorption technique to absorb some Essence while he was free. He tried to use eat one of the fruit, but even with as much strength as he had managed to gain, he still couldn't tear it open.
"I should find a way to get back to that turtle somehow," he thought. "Damn if it isn't one of the best ways to improve my rank."
He continued absorbing Essence but quickly found it rather useless. Not only was there no fruit for him to absorb Pure Essence from, but there also wasn't even any moonlight in the tent, to begin with.
Without those two, it was impossible for him to cultivate at all.
Ning sighed and decided to sleep.
He lay on the bed that was prepared for him and went to sleep. It was probably not the best idea to sleep in the current situation, but there was nothing else he could do.
There wasn't even much noise around him to keep him awake, and the carriage ride had left him very fatigued. So, he quickly fell asleep.
He was suddenly woken up by some noise in the area. He quickly got up and out of his bed. He heard some sounds as if something heavy hit the ground with a soft thud.
'What's going on?' he thought. Had a fight broken out by any chance? How were they even fighting without making some noise?
The eerie silence didn't sit right with Ning. A forest would usually have trees rustling, animals crying in the night, or even just some bugs that made some noise.
However, there was absolutely no sound from anywhere other than Ning himself. Even the soft noise from outside had completely disappeared.
As Ning thought that, the tent opened up and a masked man walked in. He tossed a fire sword next to Ning's feet. "Quick, we need to leave," he said.
Ning was a little surprised. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Stop asking stupid questions," the man said. "They sent me to get you out of this situation. I've knocked your guards out, but others will come here soon. We need to leave before they find out."
He turned around and walked out. Ning looked at the sword and picked it up before walking out of the tent.
After he was out, he looked around him, seeing the nearly 10 knocked-out individuals.
"You did this?" Ning asked the man in the mask.
"This way," the man said and walked towards the forest. However, halfway after going in that direction, he turned around to see that Ning hadn't followed him at all.
"What are you doing? We need to leave," the man said.
Ning instead squatted in front of one of the unconscious men. He smiled a bit and poked the man's cheeks. "Unconscious people don't have such tense faces, you know," he said. "Your acting needs work."
The masked man walked back towards him. "What are you doing? We need to leave," he said.
"Relax, I'm not the traitor here. Besides, your plan isn't really working. Anyone with half a brain would realize that you are faking it," Ning said. "Here, have your sword back."
He tossed away the sword and returned back to his tent. Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, he got into his bed and went to sleep.
The unconscious people around the tent started getting up one by one and looked in Ning's direction with inquisitive looks.
"I guess that failed," one of them said softly.
"Is he innocent then?" another one asked.
The masked man took off his mask to reveal that it was Erman behind it. "The culprits usually are happy that they are saved, and the innocent try to make a scene since you killed their people. This one did neither," he said. "It's hard to tell if he's innocent or not."
"So, what do we do now?" another person asked.
"Move onto the other one," Erman said. "Remove the Sound Restricting barrier from around him. We'll go for the next one."
Ning fell asleep in just a few more minutes. He was woken up by the loud sound of someone entering his tent.
The person had intentionally made some noise to wake him up.
"Urgh, what is it now?" Ning asked while rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Another person here to save me?"
"No," Erman spoke out loud. "You're free."
Ning stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up. "Oh, yesterday's tests worked?" he asked.
"For almost everyone," the man said. "You, on the other hand, we will have to watch for a little longer."
Ning gave a slightly confused look. "Why me?" he asked. "Was last night's test not enough?"
"Not yet," the man said.
"And killing the bandits doesn't get me off either?" Ning asked.
"Everyone killed the bandits, didn't they?" Erman said. "You aren't that different."
"But… I killed their leader," Ning said.
Erman paused for a moment. "You killed their leader?" he asked. "But that doesn't get you off the hook, does it?"
"I mean, I didn't just kill him. I was the one that launched the attack. I distracted the leader, destroyed his sword, and in the end killed him. The only one that even remotely helped me was Sophie, but I did everything else."
Erman didn't know what to say.
"Also, I hear you've seen the boss. Is that true?" Ning asked.
"I have," Erman said. "What about it?"
"I have too," Ning said. "Given that, do you not think it would be strange if I watched them look through all the men and say nothing?"
Ermna's eyes narrowed this time around.
"You make some good arguments, but you're still not off the hook," the man said. "But, we won't treat you like prisoners, so don't worry. We already caught 3 of the traitors, so you will remain free for now."
"I see," Ning said. "Well, do whatever you want then. Although, since I've completed a mission now, who do I go see to get paid?"
