The first to arrive was none other than the Ming sisters.
"Brother Mu Lin!" Ming Aolian greeted him upon seeing him.
"It's nice to see you." Ming Dandan spoke.
"Mmmhmm, it's good that both of you could come." Lin Mu said before gesturing for them to take a seat.
The two sat down and took a look around the elegant room. They had been surprised when Lin Mu contacted them and even more so when they learned the kind of place they were called too.
"I knew you had called us to the Spring Valley Restaurant but to think you'd be able to get a VIP room too." Ming Aolian said in surprise.
"Well, Brother Mu Lin also knew the Crown Prince, so this much is expected." Ming Dandan chimed in.
"That's true." Luo Liqin nodded his head.
"Of course, how can Brother Mu Lin's influence end just here!" A fifth voice was suddenly heard, prompting them to look at the door.
"Welcome, brother Lu Xu." Lin Mu greeted the next arrival. "Thanks for coming."
"Haha! I should be the one being thankful, Brother Mu Lin." Lu Xu replied. "I don't think we'd get to come to a place like this if not for you." He added.
"It's nothing." Lin Mu gave a smile before sensing another presence. "Seems like the final person is here too."
And surely, they could see Qian Wen appearing from the corridor. The man looked to be a bit confused and was being guided here by a servant. He was still in the attire of a soldier and didn't seem like he belonged here.
If anything, it would seem more appropriate for him to be the servant here than the servant. Qian Wen also felt the same as he had often been asked to guard locations before, but never got to enter them in these kinds of areas.
"Are we… In the right place?" Qian Wen couldn't help but ask.
"It's all good! Brother Mu Lin has the place for us!" Lu Xu went and patted the man on his back.
~Hiss~
But the man gasped in pain instead.
"Are you okay?" Luo Liqin asked.
"Just a scratch…" Qian Wen said, but the others didn't buy it.
~shua~
Lin Mu's immortal sense quickly scanned over the man and discovered the injuries. Qian Wen's back was dark blue in color, and blisters could also be seen on them.
'His immortal Qi fluctuations also seem weak… He didn't say he was injured though.' Lin Mu furrowed his brows.
"Did you have a difficult fight?" Lu Xu quickly guessed.
"You can say that," Qian Wen gave a wry smile. "I did win though." He added.
"That's good then." Lu Xu replied. "Though you should get that injury taken care of first."
"Yeah, it'll be bad for you in the next match." Ming Aolian stated.
A complex expression appeared on Qian Wen's face but he gave a nod.
"What's it?" Lin Mu had felt like the injury didn't seem to be normal, but hadn't taken a deep look yet. "Did you try to heal it and it didn't heal?" he guessed.
"Y-yes…" The man answered.
"Do you lack healing items?" Lu Xu asked. "You can borrow from me." He added, quickly taking out a few healing items.
"No, I don't need them." Qian Wen was a proud man and wouldn't accept something this easily. "Besides, I don't think normal healing items will help it." He added after a pause.
"Huh? Just how did you get injured?" Ming Dandan asked.
~sniff~
While they were talking though, Little Shrubby stood up and walked up to Qian Wen, sniffing the air. The beast had been sitting calmly so far, just watching everything but now something had prompted him to get up.
"What is it Little Shrubby?" Lin Mu asked.
"Poison. I smell poison." Little Shrubby answered which was only heard as a meow to others.
Lin Mu's expression turned serious as he did a proper look this time. His immortal sense directly entered the man's body, his defenses not even detecting it. There, Lin Mu sensed the foreign substance pervading the flesh of the man.
It seemed to be stable for the most part, but was actually corroding his flesh slowly.
"You were poisoned." Lin Mu stated, much to everyone's shock.
"Poison? No, I was just struck by a powerful attack." Qian Wen replied.
"Are you sure of it?" Lin Mu was not convinced.
He even wondered if Qian Wen was trying to downplay it, but didn't sense any lies from the man.
"Yes." Qian Wen confirmed.
"That can't be it. If Brother Mu Lin is saying this, there must be more to it." Lu Xu replied.
"Exactly. Tell us who you fought and how it happened." Luo Liqin asked.
~Sigh~
"It's like this…" The group would not be convinced, so Qian Wen narrated what had happened.
Similar to others, he had also fought two matches and his first match had been relatively simple.
In the second match though, he faced a man by the name of Gila. The man was not a native of the Dao Wind continent and seemed to be from some other place that Qian Wen couldn't tell.
His skills were also strange, being able to bend at unusual angles as if he had no bones. He used a pair of hooks that were sharp but could also change shape into straight pikes upon command.
Due to Gila's strange movements, Qian Wen had a hard time getting his attacks to hit. Since Qian Wen was part of the royal army, he had been trained in the standard skills and techniques of the empire, putting him at a disadvantage.
Though his cultivation base was higher than that of Gila, allowing him to prevail in the end. But despite his win, he had sustained several injuries including multiple cuts which had now been mostly healed using pills.
Upon hearing this, the expression of Ming Aolian and Ming Dandan changed.
"That man, Gila… I think we know where he might be from." The two sisters spoke.
