Chapter 954: Chapter 954

The six of them rested for a moment before continuing forward.

Lin Chen relied on his x-ray vision, cautiously scanning the path ahead.

After all, there was no telling what kinds of traps that vanished guy might have set up.

At that moment, Lin Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks and gestured for everyone to halt.

Everyone's hearts tightened, thinking they'd encountered some new danger.

But Lin Chen shook his head and pressed his foot lightly on the soft ground beneath him. "There's a body down here."

"A body?" Everyone froze in shock.

Lin Chen glanced at the girls and said, "You all step back a bit. I'll handle this."

Lin Chen took out a digging tool and began excavating.

Within moments, several decomposed bodies reduced to bare bones appeared before them.

"This is—!" Lan Xingyue's gaze sharpened as she looked at the remains.

"What is it? Did you notice something?" Lin Chen asked calmly.

Lan Xingyue fixed her eyes on one of the skeletons. "Lin Chen, can you take the watch off that skeleton's wrist for me?"

Lin Chen put on his white gloves and removed the watch from the wrist bones of the corpse.

Lan Xingyue held the watch for a moment, her expression betraying a mix of excitement and emotion. "I recognize this watch. One of my sister's teammates wore it."

"Your sister's teammate?" Lin Chen and the others looked at Lan Xingyue in puzzlement.

Lan Xingyue let out a sigh and said, "Yes, this young man was my sister's boyfriend. My sister and I bought this watch for him together."

"What exactly is going on?" Everyone stared intently at Lan Xingyue.

Lan Xingyue continued, "Since it's come to this, I might as well tell you all about our mission."

Lan Xingyue glanced at the group, her expression heavy with seriousness.

"Four years ago, after a rigorous selection process, a small team from China entered the secret realm. All of them were highly skilled, with even the weakest member being at the Yunhai skill level. They were supposed to undergo trials there, but of all the members, only one made it out during the designated return period." Her voice was laden with gravity.

"If someone came out, shouldn't they have known what happened inside?" An Xiaodi asked.

"But that person went insane. We tried every method to help him recover, but nothing worked. Then, half a year ago, we discovered that the sole survivor had been a mole for the Ghost Society all along," Lan Xingyue said icily.

"Are you saying that the mole killed everyone?" Lin Chen asked grimly.

"Exactly. And we suspect they must have uncovered something in the secret realm, which is why the mole killed everyone and escaped. But for some reason, he went mad," Lan Xingyue explained in a low tone.

"Our mission this time is to locate the members of that team and find out what really happened four years ago," she added with steel in her voice.

The group fell silent at her words. The team four years ago had clearly been far stronger than them, yet they had been completely wiped out. And now, a group of mercenaries was pursuing them as well. Their chances didn't look much better than those of the previous team.

"How many people were in that team?" Lin Chen asked.

"Four men and two women," Lan Xingyue replied.

Lin Chen nodded. "The three skeletons here are all male. That means the two female bodies are not among these."

"Lin Chen, how do you know that?" Lan Xingyue asked excitedly.

Lin Chen answered calmly, "Men's and women's skeletal structures are different. These three bodies show no visible signs of injury, meaning they likely died from poisoning."

"And the poisons that killed them are different, which means they consumed toxic plants from around here," Lin Chen said, walking into the nearby thicket and pulling out four types of herbs.

"These should be the plants they consumed," Lin Chen said gravely.

"Poisoned? But along the way, apart from that Illusionary Love Flower with the aphrodisiac properties, we didn't encounter anything poisonous!" Lan Xingyue said, confused.

Lin Chen nodded and continued analyzing. "If I'm not mistaken, the survivor must have been the Pharmacist."

Lan Xingyue looked at Lin Chen in shock and nodded. "How can you be so sure?"

Lin Chen smirked coldly. "That explains everything."

Leaning against a tree, he struck a signature "Detective Conan" pose. "Here's the truth of the matter."

Despite the tension in the air, Lin Chen still found time to show off, leaving the others speechless.

Yet the five girls glued their attention to Lin Chen, eager to uncover the truth.

Lin Chen smiled and said, "Four years ago, the team likely followed the same route we did. They probably encountered that flower field as well."

The Pharmacist, using his medical skills, defused the situation and earned the team's trust.

After passing the flower field, they must have, like us, camped by the river for a meal and some rest.

And that's when he began enacting his plan.

"What plan?" Lan Xingyue's gaze tightened.

"First, he spiked the group's food, ensuring everyone got poisoned."

"But this poison wasn't deadly—likely just something to induce unconsciousness. You can all guess what happened next, can't you?" Lin Chen asked, looking at them.

"He claimed everyone was poisoned and collected these toxic plants for them to consume. Only he took the true antidote, while the others were given poison, correct?" An Xiaodi's expression darkened.

Lin Chen nodded. "By conventional logic, men typically handle dangerous tasks, like testing for poison.

This allowed the Pharmacist to easily eliminate the men, leaving only the women to deal with.

"The reason for his actions was likely twofold: to kill romantic rivals and win the affection of one of the two women. Of course, it also set the stage for the next part of his plan," Lin Chen concluded decisively.

"Exactly. Tian Xunhuan had been pursuing my sister, but she rejected him and was with her senior instead," Lan Xingyue said, slamming her fist against a nearby tree in anger.

At this point, Lan Xingyue was overwhelmed with a desire to tear Tian Xunhuan apart. The boys who had entered the secret realm with her sister had always been kind to her, treating her like a younger sister. They'd often buy her snacks whenever they met. And now, they'd all died such humiliating deaths.

"Enough. The dead are gone. Let's bury them," Lin Chen sighed.

They chose a scenic spot and buried the three bodies. Beside the graves, Lan Xingyue wept bitterly. After all, these boys had spent days and nights together with her. She had still held onto hope before, but knowing they were truly gone, her grief was inevitable.

Lin Chen patted Lan Xingyue on the shoulder. "Don't cry, Xiaoyue. I have a feeling your sister might still be alive."

"What? Are you serious?" Lan Xingyue's body trembled as she clutched Lin Chen's arm tightly.

"It's just a hunch," Lin Chen replied, gazing into the distance.

In the forest, a shadowy figure adjusted a pair of binoculars. When he realized Lin Chen was staring straight at him, his expression shifted dramatically, and he quickly disappeared into the underbrush again.