by <unknown>
As Ye Yuan spoke, he even made an explosion gesture with his hands. Liu An's entire body quaked as if following Ye Yuan's hand movements and exploded.
At this point, Liu An knew he was out of luck. Ye Yuan definitely saw through something.
Analyzing everything up to this point, Liu An's heart swiftly calmed down. This was an ability developed through countless years of hunting demonic beasts; he became an extraordinarily sinister and cunning person. His mind calculated everything, and a scheme developed.
It was already impossible to return to the past with the situation that was happening right now. Liu An decided to go all out. As long as he managed to swindle the antidote from Ye Yuan's hands, he would immediately kill Ye Yuan and this little girl before leaving for a distant place.
Liu An was a decisive man. Now that the scheme was in place, there was no need to delay things any longer. Naturally, he would not reveal his inner thoughts. Instead, he continued to maintain a pitiful and helpless appearance in order to deceive Ye Yuan.
Liu An repeatedly kowtowed and babbled nonstop, "Young Master Ye, I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. I can't hide anything from your keen sight. I'm willing to tell Young Master Ye everything. I only beg Young Master Ye to spare my worthless life."
Ye Yuan looked as if he was delighted with Liu An's performance. He smiled and said, "That will depend on whether the information you are going to reveal is valuable or not. If it is, this Young Master naturally will not make things difficult for a small fry like you."
Liu An became thrilled upon hearing this. He thought to himself, this punk is indeed a pampered child, baited with just a little bit of honey. Liu An no longer hesitated and spilled everything out.
The truth did not deviate much from Ye Yuan's conjecture. That brawny man initially went to several medicinal pill stores. Occasionally, there would be physicians who could recognize the Seven Evils Flowing Cloud Python's poison. But they were helpless against it.
Do not look down on Qian Miao just because he was nothing in front of Ye Yuan. When put in the entire Qin Country, he was a top-ranked individual. He could identify and treat the Seven Evils Flowing Cloud Python's poison, but this does not mean that others could do the same. Luckily they could not handle it; otherwise, the brawny man would have long succumbed to the poison.
Left without any choice, the brawny man then went to the Drunken Star Manor first. Coincidentally, the Drunken Star Manor's Manor Lord, Wan Donghai, happened to be there and saw the brawny man.
The diagnosis of a Drunken Star Manor's physician was actually the same as Qian Miao's. However, Wan Donghai saw that something was not quite right, and requested the brawny man to seek a more capable expert.
Within the State of Qin, other than the Drunken Star Manor, there was only the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion. What could the brawny man do, other than to go try his luck at the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion? Wan Donghai could feel that something was wrong, but like Ye Hang, he was helpless against the poison.
Your enemy would be the person who understood you the most. Wan Dong Hai was confident that Ye Hang could not neutralize this poison. Hence, he sent Liu An to blend with the crowd and wait for an opportunity to fan the flames in order to ruin the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion's reputation. If the situation went out of control, it would be best to incite the demonic beast hunters to smash up the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion.
That way, even if the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion was not destroyed, it would result in a considerable loss of reputation, leaving them unable to compete with the Drunken Star Manor any longer.
Liu An who was wounded earlier had just returned to the capital of the State of Qin. Furthermore, he was quick-witted which made him the most suitable candidate.
Initially, everything had been going along as planned by Wan Donghai. But who knew halfway through, something unexpected would happen. Ye Yuan unexpectedly actually managed to resolve this poison, leaving Liu An unable to do anything.
"Hehehe. It really was Wan Donghai. What a great trick to manipulate this incident." Ye Yuan smiled coldly.
This Wan Donghai had always viewed Ye Yuan's father as an enemy. Both were Alchemy Grandmaster with prominent status within the state. Yet, Wan Donghai was an insidious, unscrupulous person, completely different than Ye Hang.
Ye Yuan was naturally familiar with this Wan Donghai. Although his predecessor was far from being a match for Wan Donghai, his son Wan Yuan, was his nemesis at the Dan Wu Academy.
Naturally, although they are rivals, it was actually Wan Yuan one-sidedly bullying Ye Yuan. Ye Yuan thoroughly could not retaliate at all. Although Wan Yuan was also another silkpants like him, he was still outstanding among the students at the Dan Wu Academy. Apart from reaching the Sixth Level Essence Qi Realm, he even became an Alchemy Apprentice of the Dao of Alchemy.
Even among the talents in the Dan Wu Academy, Wan Yuan was an exceptional genius who was well-favored. In comparison, Ye Yuan was not even fit to hold his shoes up.
In fact, the matter regarding Ye Yuan's poisoning, after analyzing his predecessor's memories, there was an 80% likelihood that Wan Yuan being the mastermind behind the incident.
Good! Excellent! The old grievances have yet to fade, and new grudges were formed already. This father and son pair from the Wan Family . . . This feud, we will never reconcile! Ye Yuan thought and laughed coldly in his heart.
"Yo-Young Master Ye, I've said what I should say, as well as what I shouldn't have. Don't you think . . .?" Liu An said weakly.
Just now, he even revealed that he was a spy for the Drunken Star Manor; all just to obtain Ye Yuan's trust and swindle that antidote from him.
Feeling satisfied, Ye Yuan nodded. Taking out the newly refined poison pill, he threw it to Liu An and said, "Not bad. You've performed well. This antidote is your reward."
Liu An received the pill and was feeling elated. Without even being skeptical, he swallowed it and immediately meditated to absorb the medicinal effects.
Indeed, the moment the pill reached his abdomen and was being absorbed, his originally stagnant true essence started circulating immediately. His eyes suddenly snapped open, and he flew forward like a cheetah with clawed hands, moving towards Ye Yuan's throat.
"Ah! Young Master!" Lu-er at the side gave a shrill scream. Without even thinking, she jumped in front of Ye Yuan.
This claw attack was abnormally vicious, bringing with it an imposing aura tempered by the life-and death-situations he encountered daily as a demonic beast hunter. Against a little rookie like Ye Yuan, it was impossible to fail.
And yet, this claw suddenly stopped three inches away from Lu-er's throat. Following this, Liu An collapsed to the ground and started convulsing; his face distorted in pain.
Ye Yuan pulled Lu-er aside from the back. Looking with pity at Liu An who was on the ground, he smiled coldly and said, "Disasters from the heavens can be withstood, but the evil we bring upon ourselves is the hardest to bear. If you didn't have any devious ideas, this Heart Inch Fissure Poison wouldn't activate this early. Yet, because you had vicious thoughts, you have to suffer more."
"W-Why . . ." Liu An twitched as he squeezed out the word between his teeth.
Ye Yuan smiled lightly and said, "You thought the Heart Protecting Pill I gave you back at the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion was actually poison. In reality, that was really a Heart Protecting Pill. It's just that the medicinal pill had been refined several times. Consequently, the medicinal effects became several times more violent. You are bleeding from the seven orifices and unable to gather true essence was merely some side effects. There was actually no serious problem with your body. Once the medicinal effects passed, not only would you be completely fine, you might have experienced improvement."
"But the pill you just ate was a real poison pill, the Heart Inch Fissure Pill. Furthermore, the effects are extremely violent. After consuming it, you will suffer from the pain of your intestines rupturing for six hours each day. Moreover, each time it happens, it
will become even stronger. All the way until you die."
Ye Yuan's words clearly reached Liu An's ears. This seemed to make him convulsed even more violently.
Chapter 9. It's Impolite Not to Reciprocate |
At the Drunken Star Manor.
Streams of people can be seen busily going in and out.
In the manor, a middle-aged man dressed in a traditional outfit appeared very restless and kept pacing around non-stop. Beside him sat a middle-aged man who looked very calm.
"Big Brother, why isn't there any news from that Liu An? Could it be that the brawny-looking man's poison was cured by Ye Hang?"
The one talking was precisely the man pacing around, Wan Dongyang; he was Wan Donghai's brother, an alchemist himself from the same sect. The person sitting down naturally was the Manor Lord of the Drunken Star Manor, Wan Donghai.
But Wan Donghai was composed and said unhurriedly, "Dongyang, remain calm. I am all too clear on Ye Hang's abilities. It's impossible for him to treat that poison. We just have to sit here and wait for the good news to come."
"Aiya. Big Brother, this Fragrant Medicine Pavilion has been competing with us for so many years. Now that we finally have this opportunity, how can we ease the hatred in our hearts if we don't take them down completely?" Wan Dongyang gritted his teeth and said.
"Haha. Oh Dongyang, you really need to fix that short temper of yours. Otherwise, it will be tough to break through and reach the Alchemist Grandmaster Realm. The poison inflicted on that brawny-looking man was very peculiar. If I guessed correctly, it should be poison from the mythical Seven-Colored Flowing Cloud Python. If it wasn't for the fact that I happened to read a word or two about it from an incomplete book, I'm afraid it would be our Drunken Star Manor who would suffer from this. But since I encountered it, then Ye Hang deserves to be unlucky. However, it's only being unlucky. It's not realistic to use this to bring down Ye Hang. At best, this matter would only let us suppress them in the business aspect." Wan Donghai remained unperturbed.
Even though Wan Donghai said all that, there was not the slightest bit of unhappiness on Wan Dongyang's face. The step from Alchemy Master to Alchemy Grandmaster might seem simple, but in reality, it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Otherwise, there would not be so few Alchemy Grandmasters in the entire State of Qin.
However, this impatient temper of his was probably not going to change as he asked impatiently, "Big Brother, why do I keep feeling that something is wrong? Why don't we send someone down to check on the situation there?"
Wan Donghai was afraid that if he acted rashly, he would alert and draw Ye Hang's attention. Apart from Liu An, he did not send anyone else to inquire about the news. But if that side started to fight, they should have long received the news here.
Unless there really was an unexpected accident?
"Alright. You send someone to check it out." After thinking for a moment, Wan Donghai agreed.
Wan Donghai was not really worried that something had happened to Liu An. After all, he and the Drunken Star Manor had no connections on the surface. He was merely a demonic beast hunter.
Wan Dongyang acknowledged the instruction and was just about to send someone down when he heard urgent knocking on the door. "Manor Lord, something big is happening! Someone is here to cause trouble!"
Hua.
The door opened from the inside. Wan Donghai said coldly to the shopkeeper, "Who is it?"
"Who is so audacious? To actually dare climb on top of our heads?! What are all of you doing?!" Hearing that someone was causing trouble, Wan Dongyang's hot temper immediately surfaced.
The shopkeeper's face turned bitter and said, "T-they didn't really come to cause trouble . . . I-it's just to get a treatment."
Seeing Wan Donghai's face sank, the shopkeeper hurriedly rectified his words. "No no no, t-they are using seeking treatment as an excuse to challenge us."
"Who is it?" Wan Donghai's patience was almost exhausted.
"I-it's that silkpants from the Ye Family, Ye Hang's son, Ye Yuan," the shopkeeper said while trembling.
"Just a silkpants scared you until like this? Are you retarded? Do you still want your job as a shopkeeper?" The moment Wan Dongyang heard that it was Ye Yuan, he wanted to tear the shopkeeper apart.
"Forget it, let's go out and take a look," Wan Donghai commanded.
. . . . . .
The three of them went to the lobby and saw a youth sitting in an ostentatious manner where the shopkeeper was supposed to sit. Wan Donghai glared fiercely at the shopkeeper, but right now was not the time to punish him.
Just as Wan Donghai was about to deal with Ye Yuan, he glanced sideways only to see Liu An who was like a dead dog on the ground; his heart jumped.
Ye Yuan saw Wan Donghai appeared and took his time to get up. He walked in front of him, smiled and said, "Manor Lord Wan, this Little Nephew came here rather abruptly today. I hope you won't take offense."
Wan Donghai's facial muscles twitched a little and forcefully suppressed the impulse to slap Ye Yuan to death with one blow. Forcing out a slightly ugly smile, he said, "Not at all. So it was Honorable Nephew who came. I was wondering which blind little bastard dared to be so rude in our Drunken Star Manor. If Honorable Nephew wants to come, it's better to notify us beforehand, so that we wouldn't be discourteous."
Even though Wan Donghai wanted to gnash his teeth in hatred, he did not want to suffer a loss verbally, and so he scolded Ye Yuan being a little bastard. Everyone knew that the Drunken Star Manor and the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion were enemies, but they would still appear to be polite and amiable on the surface. They were all businessmen; if they were to really fight, in the future, who would dare to come and get their illnesses treated?
Ye Yuan snickered in his heart at how narrow-minded Wan Donghai was, and yet, he was smiling as he said, "Aww shucks. It's because I was anxious about saving people, and so I had no choice but to intrude. I've long heard that Manor Lord Wan's Alchemy Dao is number one in the State of Qin. That was why this Little Nephew had the idea of coming here to save a life."
Hearing what Ye Yuan was saying, Wan Donghai wished he could tear him apart alive. If there were only people from the Drunken Star Manor, those words would be fine. But on the way to the Drunken Star Manor, Ye Yuan caused a ruckus, as if he was afraid that people would not know he was bringing someone to challenge the Drunken Star Manor. He attracted many people, and currently, the Drunken Star Manor's lobby was swarmed to the point where water cannot flow through.
To say that Wan Donghai was the number one in the State of Qin in front of so many people was clearly intentional. One had to know that the Alchemy Grandmasters in the capital were not only Wan Donghai and Ye Hang. Ignoring others, there was also an Alchemy Grandmaster in the Imperial Family. If these words were to spread to the ears of the Imperial Family, Wan Donghai would be sitting on pins and needles.
The intelligence network of the Imperial Family covered the entire state. God knows if there were a spy from the Imperial Family within the crowd.
Currently, Wan Donghai was feeling uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly, yet he had to smile and greet Ye Yuan, "What are you saying, Honorable Nephew? How can I dare to claim to be the number one in the State of Qin? At least your father's and the Imperial Uncle's Alchemy Dao standards aren't below mine. However, I find it a little strange that Honorable Nephew came to the Drunken Star Manor to seek medical help. With an expert like your father, why didn't you find him, but come to our Drunken Star Manor instead?"
Ye Yuan smiled and said, "It's a matter of expediency. Firstly, your Drunken Star Manor has always been hailed as number one in the capital. Secondly, it was obviously because this place is nearer."
As Ye Yuan spoke, he pointed to Liu An who looked like a dead dog, and with a face full of benevolence he said, "I met this person in excruciating agony on the road. Thinking about how heaven cares for every living thing, I brought him to the Drunken Star Manor to seek medical help. But who would
have thought that even after swapping a few physicians, they still couldn't do it. This capital's number one . . ."
Wan Donghai suddenly discovered that he could not gain any advantage from this youth in front of him.
Something was wrong. Yesterday, Yuan-er even sent news back saying that he plotted to poison Ye Hang's son to death. So why was this brat alive and kicking here today at the Drunken Star Manor?
Needless to say, if Ye Yuan casually found someone to cause trouble, Wan Donghai naturally would not be concerned. But he just had to bring over Liu An. This was indeed too much of a coincidence.
Things would be fine if he could cure him. But if he could not, what if this Liu An betrayed the Drunken Star Manor? Liu An's identity cannot be known to the public. Apart from fellow alchemists, many demonic beasts hunters were also there. Once Liu An's identity was exposed, it would absolutely be a tremendous blow to the Drunken Star Manor.
Then again, just what was wrong with Liu An? He was perfectly fine when he left for the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion. It was only some internal injuries. Why did he become a dead dog when he returned?
With Wan Donghai's attainments in the Alchemy Dao, a single glance and he could tell that Liu An was poisoned. But just what kind of poison could leave so many masters completely helpless, and finally made the shopkeeper invited himself out?
At that moment, Wan Donghai thought of everything which had happened and realized it was highly unusual. If this was not handled properly, it might cause a massive blow to the Drunken Star Manor.
Chapter 10. Giving Him a Dose of His Own Medicine |
Currently, Wan Donghai was regretting that he did not send people to investigate the Fragrant Medicine Pavilion. He remained passive as the situation was unclear. But he never expected something to happen to Liu An who had concealed himself so well.