Chapter 420: Chapter 419: The Hidden Person
The lady of Flying Fish Manor was a clean freak, distressed by the touch of strangers. As such, Jiang Moxian carefully covered her wrist with a layer of light gauze to protect her.
But despite this, Jiang Tian still resented this group of opportunistic Martial World charlatans for tarnishing her mother’s purity. This emotion reached a boiling point when Shi Xiaole, like everyone else in the room, furrowed his brows and prepared to declare that he was powerless to help.
Ignoring Jiang Tian, Shi Xiaole turned to Jiang Moxian: "If I were to cure your wife, what do you plan on offering as gratitude?"
The room fell silent.
Jiang Tian found her words caught in her throat.
Jiang Moxian, seeing the subtext in Shi Xiaole’s words, pupils contracting sharply, forced himself to remain calm, "I do not know what you mean by..."
"I am confident I can cure your wife."
Shi Xiaole said casually.
Jiang Tian cried out, "Impossible! Even the Poison-hand Medicine King and the Reviving Sage Hand were helpless. How can you..."
"Tian, don’t be rude!"
Jiang Moxian rebuked sharply, his chest heaving slightly, his trembling voice betraying his emotions: "As long as you can save her, I would sacrifice my very life for yours!"
Jiang Moxian kept telling himself to stay calm and not to hold much hope. He had been disappointed too many times to bear another blow.
Shi Xiaole shook his head: "You overestimate me, sir. I merely request the Vigorous Air Fruit in return."
"Okay."
Jiang Moxian immediately agreed: "To be honest with you, I once obtained a Vigorous Air Fruit three years ago and have preserved it since."
In fact, that Vigorous Air Fruit was reserved for his eldest disciple. However, in this dire situation, he would have to give it to Shi Xiaole if he could really cure his wife. He could always find another one in the future.
"I need to examine it first."
Shi Xiaole said.
Jiang Moxian waved over the housekeeper. Shortly after, the housekeeper entered the room with a red sandalwood box.
Upon opening it, a single fruit lay within, emanating an aura that stirred the internal powers of Shi Xiaole and Jiang Tian alike.
In particular, Shi Xiaole’s internal power surged like a dragon, hinting at an impending transformation.
Without wasting any words, Shi Xiaole immediately picked up the brush, wrote down the prescription, and handed it to Jiang Moxian: "Get the medicine according to this prescription. After a month, I will ensure your wife’s recovery. Additionally, from this day onward, I must inspect everything your wife consumes."
"Many thanks for your assistance, young master. Uncle Fu, immediately arrange a guest room for our young master. Make sure he is well-attended to," Jiang replied.
Unbeknownst to Shi Xiaole, after he left, Jiang Moxian did not ask anyone to get the medicine. Instead, he gave the prescription to a ruddy-faced old man, clearly hesitant to trust him.
"This prescription is indeed viable. However, to cure madam’s poison, I’m afraid... Well, this prescription seems harmless enough. Might as well proceed with his method and observe the efficacy later on," the old man said, stroking his white beard, his eyes gleaming.
If there were martial artists here, they would certainly be shocked. After all, this old man was none other than Jie Hui, the top healer in Xuanwu State, also known as the Reviving Sage Hand.
Jiang Moxian and Jie Hui did not know that although Shi Xiaole had learned the Pity Flower Treasure Identification, he did not specialize in medical arts. His accomplishments were far inferior to Wang Lianhua and even Jie Hui.
The prescription he wrote could not save Jiang Moxian’s wife at all.
Flying Fish Manor was known for its high-efficiency operations. In less than half a two-hour period after the prescription was written, the required herbs were delivered. Shi Xiaole immediately prepared the medicine. Seeing no one around, he pricked his finger and dropped his own blood into the medicine.
Indeed, it was his own blood that Shi Xiaole was actually relying on.
After swallowing the Golden Toad’s inner pill, Shi Xiaole’s body underwent a transformation he himself couldn’t explain - granting him immunity to various toxins.
The last time at Maple Forest Cottage, the reason he asked Ren Mengzhen to fetch the Vigorous Air Fruit wasn’t out of fear of the poison on the fruit itself, but rather the fear that he wouldn’t be able to eliminate the poison promptly and hence create an opportunity for adversaries.
Shi Xiaole had clandestinely experimented and discovered that his fresh blood could neutralize all poisons. This was the source of his confidence that he could heal Jiang Moxian’s wife.
...
"How are things going?"
In a secluded corner of Flying Fish Manor, an unknown dialogue was underway.
"Don’t worry. ’Heart-Eating Powder’ is colorless and tasteless. Unless you know the precise formula, there’s no antidote in the world. Those quacks who’ve run here are just running errands."
"Very well. I hope you’ll perform well and take over the control of the Flying Fish Manor soon."
"You don’t have to worry about that. The woman, Jiang Tian, cannot escape from the palm of my hand. Once I marry her, everything in the Flying Fish Manor will be mine."
...
On the tenth day of Shi Xiaole’s arrival at Flying Fish Manor, the lady of the manor, who had been asleep for three years, showed a touch of color in her face. Her breathing grew heavier, showing signs of awakening.
Everyone in the manor was overjoyed.
"Congratulations, Brother Jiang. The level of poison in your wife’s body has reduced by over thirty percent. If this trend continues, she will fully recover soon."
Jie Hui said, beaming with a congratulatory bow.
"Hahaha ..."
The cloud that had been suppressing him for the last three years was finally lifting. At this moment, Jiang Moxian laughed heartily, tears streaming from his eyes. He then approached Shi Xiaole with an unprecedented respectful elder attitude, "Thank you, Shi, for saving her life!"
"You needn’t be so formal, sir. I’m just doing my job for the reward," Shi Xiaole shook his head.
"Master and mistress truly love each other. Brother Shi saved my mistress’s life, which is the same as saving master’s heart."
The speaker was Jiang Moxian’s senior disciple, Xu Shaoyi. He was remarkably handsome, but with a somewhat large hawk-nosed face that gave off a particularly shrewd impression.
Perhaps he was overly sensitive, but Shi Xiaole always felt that Xu Shaoyi’s gaze held a different implication.
It was late at night.
Shi Xiaole was sitting cross-legged on the bed, meditating, when suddenly, he felt a shift in his heart and moved to his left.
A flash of a sword.
The plank where he originally sat was punctured by Sword Qi, forming a large hole leading three feet into the ground.
The intruder was at the Spiritual-Passage Realm’s eighth level. Failing to hit with one strike, he immediately fled.
But how would Shi Xiaole give him the chance? With a gentle flick of his finger, the man’s movements froze, and he fell to the ground. Yet, when Shi Xiaole uncovered his face, he found that this man was already poisoned to death.
The sound of footsteps approached.
"Young Master Shi, what happened?"
Jiang Moxian burst in with his men.
As key to curing the lady’s illness, Shi Xiaole’s residence was protected by the powerful guards of Flying Fish Manor. They knew anything happening within an instant.
"Someone tried to kill me."
Shi Xiaole merely stated one sentence.
Jiang Moxian looked at the sleeves of the dead body, found a spider-shaped pattern, and his face darkened, "The assassin is from the top assassination group in Xuanwu State, the Black Spider."
Though Black Spider was just a local force, it was so strong that even the superpowers of the Flying Horse Dynasty wouldn’t dare to underestimate it in Xuanwu State.
The leader of this organization was said to be a terrifying super-level master.
For no reason, Black Spider would not target Shi Xiaole, so there was only one explanation: he had saved his wife and angered some people.
Jiang Moxian suspected that if he hadn’t set up a Heaven and Earth Net Force around his wife’s room for the past three years, the sneaky ones would have commissioned the Black Spider to assassinate long ago.
Whoosh!
Just when people were pondering, unexpectedly, nine extremely poisonous, glowing, and sharp darts were shot from the east. The speed of these darts surpassed everyone’s cognition, quickly approaching Shi Xiaole from behind.
"Stop!"
Jiang Moxian waved his hand, and the nine darts shattered immediately.
Unexpectedly, eighteen faster darts shot out from the shattered ones, aimed deeply at Shi Xiaole’s body.
One of the Tang Sect’s hidden weapons, darts within a dart!
Jiang Moxian, as a master at the Dragon Gate Realm’s third level, flipped his wrist, and just when the eighteen darts were about three inches from Shi Xiaole, he smashed them all into pieces.
However, a faster sword thrust out from the bushes on the right, ruthlessly aiming at Shi Xiaole. This assassin, astonishingly, reached the first level of the Dragon Gate Realm!
The assassins of Black Spider are adept at stealth.
This assassin at the first level of Dragon Gate Realm even more so, outdid Jiang Moxian’s senses. Even more infuriating was his time of attack, exactly when Jiang Moxian was exhausted.
"Ah!"
A shriek came from the mouth of Jiang Tian.
If Shi Xiaole died, her mother might never wake up.
The eyes of Jiang Moxian turned entirely red. He was consumed by a murderous aura, but could only watch as the opponent’s sword reached Shi Xiaole’s chest, his heart sinking further.
None of the experts around Flying Fish Manor was at the Dragon Gate Realm, and they were all powerless at this moment.
A look of disdain appeared in the eyes of the assassin.
If not for the substantial bounty this time, he wouldn’t even bother with this youth in green.
Just as the sword was about to pierce Shi Xiaole’s chest, the sword paused. Two fingers had clasped the longsword, stopping it from moving even an inch further.
"What?"
Everyone was stunned, unbelievingly watching the sight before their eyes.
"Go!"
The assassin was horrified and, without thinking, retreated.
But no matter how fast he was, he was not faster than Shi Xiaole. With a loud crash, the assassin’s mind turned dizzy, he forced himself to remain calm and, with a look of terror on his face, escaped as fast as possible.
Who is this boy? His strength must be at least double that of the Spiritual-Passage Realm’s strongest master. The intelligence was severely wrong!
"Think you can escape?"
Jiang Moxian made a big sweep. With the Vigorous Air of the Dragon Gate Realm’s third level, he suddenly slapped out, creating a vacuum passage in the darkness which vomited blood from the assassin.
He was straightforward, knowing that he couldn’t escape, he forcibly broke his own heart vein.
"Young Master Shi, are you okay?"
Jiang Moxian looked at him strangely, especially surprised.
Although he had some guesses during Shi Xiaole’s request for the Vigorous Air Fruit, he still found it hard to imagine that someone, who had exceptional medical skills, also had such fearsome martial arts skills.
To block a killer blow from a first-level assassin of the Dragon Gate Realm with the strength at the peak of the Spiritual-Passage Realm is extraordinary indeed, even among the talents of Xuanwu State.
This was a genius.
"I’m fine. The only thing I want to know right now is who wants to kill me."
Shi Xiaole replied indifferently.
Jiang Moxian said, "Rest assured, Young Master Shi, I will definitely find out."
Looking at the unscathed Shi Xiaole, someone in the crowd clenched his fists tightly, hidden in his sleeves, murderous within his heart.
