Veiled courtyard

In a short moment, everyone heard a muffled grunt and looked over to discern the situation. It was Chi Huo with a hand that was covered in blood. Everyone looking at this was equally confused. They could not see any sharp objects near him, so they could only surmise if Chi Huo had cut himself. The reason for such an act would not matter to them, but at least the situation would make a bit of sense. Even though the clues were right in front of the hunters, everyone seemed oblivious to anything.

Bai Ming, who was looking over, felt his heart tighten. He felt like this place was masked with a beautiful layer to hide the dangers that lurked in it. A short trail of blood was in front of Chi Huo. Looking at this, it was quite evident that Chi Huo had originally been standing where the trail started, but for some odd reason, he had taken a step back. In that short moment, he had been wounded by something as for what it was even Bai Ming couldn't put his finger on the exact reason.

Unlike Bai Ming, there were others who didn't want to waste their time thinking about this and just wanted to leave this place. Zi Yan took a step towards Chi Huo.

"Oi, Old Huo, what are you just standing there for?"

Chi Huo turned over with a twisted look that seemed to be in deep pain. Looking at his eyes, they could see his eyes bulged out. Zi Yan stopped in his tracks and looked at him intently. It looked like he had turned into a ferocious beast ready to pounce at any moment.

"Had this Chi Huo gone senile after just seeing a bunch of flowers?", such a thought ran through his mind.

A leaf petal slowly glided over Chi Huo shoulder and made its way to Zi Yan. Zi Yan, who seemed to be annoyed by every little thing that came through his way, simply lifted a hand to slap the petal away from reaching his face. Unexpectedly, after his hand made contact with the flower, everyone heard a muffled grunt once again. This grunt seemed similar to the one they had heard from Chi Huo.

Looking at Zi Yan, they saw a small drop of blood falling to the ground beneath him, tainting it red. Zi Yan turned his hand over to see the little leaf petal stuck on his palm.

The petal originally had a pink hue, but it had a deep red paint splashed over it. It looked like a work of art, but Zi Yan was not one fond of beauty and immediately grabbed it with his other hand and pulled it out. The moment the leaf was taken out, more blood began to spurt out.

Zi Yan frowned and looked around the courtyard. He couldn't be bothered with the cut. To him, it wasn't deep enough to cause any problems. What concerned him was this courtyard.

"So you noticed it too, yes, this is indeed a beautiful garden"

Everyone hearing this looked at Chi Huo as if he was some sort of lunatic. They had all seen what a single petal had done to Zi Yan, and yet this courtyard had plenty of petals and leaves floating about everywhere. 

Chi Huo just smiled ruefully. He had been flippant before, but now he had already realised that this was no paradise. The future he had envisioned moments ago had turned back into its most simple form.

A dream.

No one no longer had the luxury of admiring the scenery. Most importantly, they were in a rush, so they could not afford to waste too much time. The hunters steeled themselves as they advanced. The courtyard wasn't especially big, but the problem here lay in the winds and the petals. The wind in this courtyard seemed like it had a life of its own, unlike the ordinary wind they were familiar with. This wind did not show any sign of diminishing, and the flowers and petals were everpresent.

Chi Huo felt a stinging pain in his heart. Although he was now moving along with the group, he was still thinking of a way to at least take one flower with him. He had tried pulling the flowers from the roots, but they didn't budge one bit. Not only that, but the flowers stem was especially strong. Even though he put a lot of force, the result was the same. The rest of the group members had also tried and found it to their surprise that there were such strong plants. At this moment, his eyes seemed to have caught something interesting.

"Be careful with your steps and don't touch that flower on your left!", he warned.

Cui Rong heard this and didn't argue and just avoided the said flower, but out of interest, she could help but ask, "What is it with that flower?""

Chi Huo, who still had his eyes locked onto this particular flower, said soft, "It is poisonous."

Everyone heard this and looked at this flower. They did not doubt a healer's skill in identifying poisonous plants. Bai Ming, who knew that he was still poisoned, took note of this flower's appearance. He couldn't afford to make contact with another poison. Cui Rong and Si Niang, who knew they were poisoned, were of the same mind, too.

The figure floating behind the group snorted, but its gleaming eyes seem to betray its thoughts.

"Oh...A mortal alchemist!", these words rang out in Bai Ming's mind. Immediately, his thoughts moved in a manner he couldn't understand. He became confused, although he knew who the owner of the voice was he couldn't understand why these words were even transmitted to him.

"This master has been silent this entire way as if he was not even there, but now he says something. It seems the master is referring to Chi Huo.", reaching this thought, Bai Ming looked at Chi Huo for a moment and withdrew his gaze.

The figure then stopped focusing on Bai Ming and stood in deep thought for a while.

"To be able to identify its toxicity just by looking at the flower's appearance. It is quite normal for a mortal who delves in apothecary to be able discern plants which are harmful to humans from those which are not but this is only under premise that the said herb is among the mortal herbs."

"The herbs in this courtyard are all herbs that are well known in the cultivation world. It is common knowledge that a mortal cannot handle such materials and use them efficiently. It is even more inconceivable that a mortal can actually identify one of them but this seat does recall hearing that one of the trials the medicine god sect uses to select disciples is to identify poisonous herbs among the known cultivation herbs."

"Is he some sort of genius?"  

The figure stood still for a moment, then looked to the entire courtyard.

"Haha...has staying in this damp palace dulled this seat's mind?...There's no need to rush, how can such a small bunch be full of talents that even famous sects would kill to have as disciples"

The figure chuckled for a moment, thinking that Chi Huo's act of identifying medicines had only been a fluke.

"There's still plenty of time till they pass through the courtyard, so I would like to see if this brat can pull it off once more"

...

The group had now passed most of the courtyard slowly, but they were still left with a bit more ground to completely pass through it.

The figure's face looked quite ugly. It now understood that Chi Huo's act was no fluke at all. This person had the qualification to be a disciple of the medicine god sect. If he had the chance to be taken in, then he would surely soar like a dragon, and his name would soon resound in every corner of the world.

This figure's eyes seem to burn at this moment. Chi Huo and everyone below felt chills running down their spine. Bai Ming felt this gaze once and nearly cursed out loud. He knew who it was.

The master who had been silent for a second time had suddenly been triggered once more, and Bai Ming started to wonder, "What is this master about to do now?"

Although he knew who it was, Bai Ming did not miss to act bewildered, too. If things went wrong later on, he did not want to become the enemy of everyone here.

The figure didn't care about the reaction of the group below. To it, they were now of some value.

"Is this what they mean when they say heaven never blocks all paths?"

The figure turned and looked to the east. It was unknown what was there, but the figure seemed to have seen a glimpse of something.

"Perhaps..."

Looking at the figures in front of it covered in blood, the figure seemed to have thought of something.

"I had originally thought it might be pointless to keep going, but now I see a path, haha. Such talents! Since you have been sent to this seat then this seat will not mistreat you."