The room sounded quiet, but Chu Fan could clearly sense that someone had snuck in.
Those who trespassed in the middle of the night were either thieves or the Qin family, who had declared war not long ago.
Lying on the bed, Chu Fan did not get up immediately, maintaining his original posture.
If it were a thief, he couldn't be bothered, as there was nothing valuable in the room to steal.
Conversely, Chu Fan most likely suspected the Qin family, as they had been quiet since the declaration of war.
Several days had passed, and by all normal accounts, the Qin family should have made their move.
Chu Fan wanted to see what they intended to do.
Were they here to probe his strength?
Or to assassinate him?
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, his senses fully extended.
Outside the room, three figures were stealthily moving.
Upon approaching Chu Fan's room and confirming his presence inside, one of them immediately produced a tube and began blowing smoke through the gap under the door into the room.
After about three minutes, seeing that the drug's effects were taking hold, the three men then switched on their flashlights and proceeded to open the door.
Seeing Chu Fan lying peacefully on the bed, breathing steadily, clearly incapacitated by the drug, the three men increased their movements.
"Brother, what do we do next? Do we strike here or take him somewhere else to deal with?" one of them asked.
"Let's kill him first!"
The man called "Brother" spoke, drawing a very fine steel needle from his arm.
After coating the needle with a potent poison, he slowly approached Chu Fan's neck.
At this very moment, Chu Fan's eyes suddenly snapped open.
The room was dark, but the electric lights shone directly on Chu Fan from above the three men. His sudden opening of his eyes startled them, as they clearly hadn't expected him to still be awake.
Those who dared to do such things possessed considerable courage.
The leader, about to strike, paused for a moment, then thrust the poisoned needle towards Chu Fan's neck.
*Ding...*
A light sound echoed.
The extremely hard needle touched Chu Fan's skin, as if striking stone, failing to penetrate.
The leader, encountering such a situation for the first time, was completely stunned.
He didn't understand how Chu Fan's skin could be so tough without any apparent protection.
A gust of wind suddenly blew.
The leader felt a blur before his eyes, and Chu Fan was no longer there. Just as he was about to warn his two companions, he felt a slight prick on the back of his neck, followed by an irresistible urge to close his eyelids.
"It's over!"
Before losing consciousness, the leader only had time to lament to himself.
*Clatter...*
Chu Fan turned on the lights. The three assassins lay sprawled on the ground.
A glance at their equipment told Chu Fan they were just ordinary assassins.
Who wanted him dead?
The Qin family?
Or someone with deep ties to the Ghost Gate Hall?
When he had sensed someone in the room earlier, Chu Fan had initially thought it was someone sent by the Qin family.
However, seeing the state of the three men now, he realized he had been mistaken.
The Qin family, being a martial arts lineage, would have a rough estimate of his strength after losing a team led by a Grandmaster.
Knowing that ordinary assassins were like moths to a flame, even if they sent people, it would likely be led by a Grandmaster.
Chu Fan couldn't fathom who would employ ordinary assassins.
Although he knew that the three assassins likely took the job online, Chu Fan still woke one of them up for questioning.
The outcome was as expected: the three had indeed accepted the mission online, and the specific individual who posted the assassination order was unknown.
The Demon God naturally didn't dwell on such matters.
However, not caring did not equate to complete disregard.
Too many flies would eventually affect one's mood.
Chu Fan made a phone call, and ten minutes later, Si Qian Yuan appeared downstairs precisely on time.
Someone dared to assassinate the Demon God?
Upon entering the room, Si Qian Yuan looked at the three unconscious assassins as if they were already dead.
"Take these three for interrogation. Dig upwards, follow the clues, and find out who the mastermind behind this mission is!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Si Qian Yuan immediately dispatched his men to take the three assassins away.
Disturbed by the assassins, Chu Fan, who had been resting through meditation, found himself completely sleepless. He walked onto the balcony, gazing at the night view of Nanyun City, reflecting on recent events and potential future encounters.
He had expected to quickly uncover the reason for Qing Long's disappearance upon arriving in the south.
However, it had been several days since his arrival, and there was still no movement.
Nevertheless, Chu Fan was quite certain that Qing Long's disappearance was definitely related to the main lineage of the Qin family.
Without knowing the location hidden by the main lineage, he couldn't continue searching for Qing Long's fate.
Although anxious, he had to proceed step by step.
For the time being, Chu Fan planned to focus on the array formations. First, he intended to break open the wooden box protected by the array formations to see if the sealed contents were the pills he desired.
The strange poison had become an obstacle preventing him from immediately suppressing the Qin family with overwhelming force.
As one of the five reclusive families, Chu Fan knew without much thought that the Qin family had many powerful individuals.
A forced entry would inevitably lead to conflict.
If the conflict became too fierce, it would affect the suppression of the strange poison. Should an accident occur during this time, causing the poison to erupt, he would be defeated without the Qin family even needing to act.
Furthermore, due to the influence of the strange poison, Chu Fan was completely unable to unleash his full capabilities when facing formidable enemies.
Only by eradicating the strange poison completely, or by having preparations to prevent unforeseen circumstances, would he then confront the Qin family.
As dawn broke, Chu Fan once again arrived at the Treasure Pavilion in the morning to administer needles to Cui Fu.
Following that, the two began to exchange their understanding of array formations.
As Cui Fu recovered, he was able to move with some ease, engaging in practice sparring with Chu Fan, which greatly enhanced Chu Fan's comprehension of array formations.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these seven days, Chu Fan spent most of his time with Cui Fu, treating his illness and studying array formations.
During this period, the Qin family remained inactive.
The investigation into the three assassins, tracing upwards, yielded no useful information as their headquarters were located abroad, being a small assassin organization.
The most significant event during this time was the burning down of the Ghost Gate Hall.
The Ghost Gate Hall, a local organization that engaged in nefarious activities, was suddenly annihilated, and countless people naturally applauded, celebrating the removal of this tumor that had caused suffering to so many.
As for the Yan Luo Sect, the backing of the Ghost Gate Hall, whether it was due to knowing that the person who destroyed the Ghost Gate Hall was not simple, or for other reasons, they did not cause any trouble upon their arrival, nor were there any further reports.
Chu Fan, using his profound medical skills, completely resolved Cui Fu's illness that affected his combat abilities.
After a brief rest, Chu Fan brought the wooden box to the Treasure Pavilion again. Together, they made an effort to try and break the array formations on the wooden box.
The result was unsatisfactory.
The array formations on the wooden box were indeed very strong.
With his strength depleted, Cui Fu sat down to rest and couldn't help but ask Chu Fan, "Is the item inside this wooden box very important to you?"
Chu Fan smiled wryly, "It might be important to me. I wish the item inside were what I wanted!"
"However, I still don't know if the item inside is what I most desire!"
Cui Fu nodded, pondered for a moment, and then said, "There is another way to break the array formations on the wooden box in the shortest possible time."