Chapter 162 Poisoning Oneself?
After waiting for a long while, Chen Gong and Su Li finally saw Tang Lei cover his stomach and come with a weak look. Although his face was pale, the black eyes obviously faded, and the dead atmosphere around his body dissipated a lot. At least he didn’t look close to death.
Chen Gong was surprised in his heart. He saw that Su Li only took Tang Lei’s pulse and didn’t use other means. But she could make Tang Lei be quickly on the mend. This kind of attainments in medical circle almost caught Qi Xianqing’s. It was no wonder that Qi Xianqing allowed her to be the last apprentice.
Su Li reached out towards Tang Lei again. Tang Lei looked terrified. His fat body trembled. But he still stretched out his wrist. The feeling before reminded him of Su Li and let him know the little jailer in front of him would not harm him.
This time, Su Li took his pulse for a moment and then removed her hand. She said, “There is no problem for the time being. You should not eat three meals a day at home. You even must go outside to drink water. Ling Li is your good brother, right? You might as well ask him for help. It would be better to live in the Ling House.”
Tang Lei understood the meaning of Su Li’s words. He was in a daze and stood there for a long time. Then, he came to his sense and looked very upset. He muttered, “I have not fought for anything. Why still…”
Chen Gong squinted. He transmitted the sound in silence to Su Li, “Are you confident of success to detoxify him?”
“There are enough materials in the house. If you are willing to wait, I can detoxify him today. However, the poisoner hasn’t showed up. Even if I detoxify him, it is difficult to ensure that he will not be poisoned again.”
“Detoxify him.”
After transmitting the sound in silence, Chen Gong waved his hand towards Tang Lei. He said, “You, come with us.”
Tang Lei also realized that Chen Gong didn’t seem to be that terrible as his imagination. He nodded and then walked behind them. He followed them walking in the principal room of the Affiliated School. When he saw that they continued to walk in, he was about to speak several times. Finally, he couldn’t help but say, “Lord Chen, this place belongs to Lecturer Su. We just walk in… It isn’t good, is it?”
After having loose bowels, he still didn’t realize that the little jailer was Su Li.
“Just shut your mouth.”
Chen Gong’s voice was cold. Tang Lei was frightened and didn’t speak instantly.
Su Li shook her head slightly. Taking poison year in year out also affected Tang Lei’s brain. He became stupid. She didn’t know who hated Tang Lei so much and must use this method to torture him until death.
They came to the study in the back room. Chen Gong and Tang Lei were immediately shocked by its “cleanness”.
“This… Does Lecturer Su live here at ordinary times?”
Tang Lei was so surprised.
In the empty room, not only did the copybooks that Su Li usually used but also the whole bookshelf disappeared. There was even no furniture in the whole room. The floor was so clean that it could serve as a mirror. Obviously, someone carefully cleaned it.
Chen Gong looked serious. It could be seen only from it that the opponent was scheming and difficult to deal with.
Su Li walked in. She walked to the wall where the desk was originally placed. She patted the stone bricks several times. Her hands followed the lines of carving. It was weird. The solid stone bricks gradually became loose. Su Li quickly moved to the right at the opportune moment. The floor made too much noise.
Then, the central floor moved, and the downward stone ladder was shown.
Su Li’s expression was calm. The mechanism skill of the Tianhe Country was ingenious. No matter how many times she saw it, she would be amazed in heart.
Chen Gong and Tang Lei were more surprised. Chen Gong looked terrified because he recognized the origin of the mechanism. He asked, “Did your master leave it for you?”
“No, he didn’t.”
Su Li shook her head and said, “It was a gift from my senior fellow apprentice.”
Her cultivation was not so high that she could find the black iron adytum. Her senior fellow apprentice, whom she had never met, obviously not only was a senior of the medical circle, but also had a great talent for mechanism skill which was inaccessible for ordinary people. One day, when she read the notes that her senior fellow apprentice left, she used the character arrangement of the Ghost Valley Meditation Direction between the lines and decoded the secret of the tunnel.
Her senior fellow apprentice was quite meticulous.
“Senior Fellow Apprentice…”
A figure of the youth with an indifferent face occurred in Chen Gong’s mind. His origin was much more mysterious than Su Li’s. The youth never exposed his real name. People only knew that he asked the group of playboys to call him “Lecturer Yu”.
They stepped down from the stone ladder. Then the mechanism above their head gradually closed, while the walls on both sides lit up automatically. The stone room was bright.
The stone room was much larger than the study on the ground. It almost covered the whole underground space of the Affiliated School. It was hard for Su Li to imagine how her senior fellow apprentice dealt with the subsurface soil which was almost as hard as black iron.
Bypassing several stone pillars, Chen Gong and Tang Lei followed Su Li to a place which was similar to a herb store. The wall was full of herb cabinets. An old ladder was placed next to them, which seemed to be useless for a long time.
The huge table was piled up with messy bottles and jars. The smell of theses herbs was very strange. But it made Tang Lei feel comfortable, as if the sense of weakness disappeared a little.
“Lord Chen.”
Su Li called. Chen Gong immediately took out a porcelain bottle, which contained a block of poisonous stomach from Ma Ling.
Su Li took it and threw it into a transparent container. Then she sealed the container and put it aside. Next, she turned around and took many herbs in a bamboo basket from the herb cabinet. She said,
“Lord Chen, I need four hours to refine the antidote. You can look around here. My senior fellow apprentice left me a lot of unusual books. They are in the bookshelf on your left. It is very interesting to read them.”
Then, Su Li turned on the mechanism and entered the Alchemy Room in a deeper place.
Chen Gong looked at the block of Ma Ling’s stomach in the transparent container. It became colorful. He lifted the corner of his mouth. Then he went to the side of the bookshelf and took down a book. He really read quietly.
Tang Lei looked confused and had no idea what to do.
“Which antidote?” looking at Chen Gong’s smile, Tang Lei had the illusion that he was in his dream.
——
The Alchemy Room was spacious. The stone door slowly closed with a dull sound, but the light was not dim. The shelves on the wall were filled with bottles and jars and many yellow files. Obviously, they were more precious than others outside.
Su Li’s smile disappeared. She became indifferent as usual when she was alone. She ignited superior quality coals. Then she waited for the temperature gradually rising. She fell into deep thoughts.
It was not difficult to speculate on the planner behind the matter. If there hadn’t been the Baiwei Building and Su Li in Yunjing City, the major beneficiary would have been Wu Xiuxiu, instead of that group of playboys.
She had stayed in Yunjing for such a long time. How couldn’t she know whom the owner behind the Yiwei Building was? Besides, it was not a secret in the upper class.
However, thinking of it was not equal to finding out evidence. Chen Gong must find out convincing evidence in order to prove the innocence of the Baiwei Building. Thus it could change from a perpetrator to a victim.
The Wu Family’s means were always ruthless. Su Li believed that they had destroyed all the things removed from the Affiliated School. Besides, it was likely that they had destroyed the lost things from Ma Ling.
Thinking of it, Su Li tightly frowned. There was no solution at the moment. It seemed that she could only make plans after examining the poison.
Time passed by.
Perhaps Tang Lei was bored. He came to Chen Gong and read the book together. The ancient book was amazing. Tang Lei was surprised while reading. His inexperience and shock amused Chen Gong. Chen Gong laughed with a low voice repeatedly.
Tang Lei was not afraid of Chen Gong gradually. They talked about what happened recently. Tang Lei then knew that the Baiwei Building was in trouble.
“What did you say, Lord? Did Ma Ling and others all die?!!” Tang Lei was shocked. He lowered his head and muttered in surprise, “Did someone dare to poison Ma Ling? It should not be so. I met him that day. He looked very happy and said…”
“What did he say?”
Chen Gong put away the book and looked serious. He didn’t expect the unintentional positive outcomes. Tang Lei actually contacted with Ma Ling on that day.
“Ma Ling and others liked to bully me and show off their good items…”
Tang Lei shrank his neck and hastily said, “I hated them, but I had never intended to kill them. Lord Chen, they were not killed by me!”
Chen Gong was angry and laughed instantly. He said, “I knew it’s not you. What did they say that day?”
If Tang Lei had killed people, the sun would have risen from the west.
Tang Lei felt very relieved. He was afraid that Chen Gong might misunderstand him and directly took him into the Ministry of Penalty. He widened his eyes while recalling. Suddenly, his eyes, like mung beans, brightened up. He said happily, “I remember. Ma Ling said that he would become an official student of the National Academy soon. He would no longer be the student of the Affiliated School. He also asked me if I wanted to go with them.”
What?!
Chen Gong instantly found that Ma Ling’s words were very weird. Based on Ma Ling’s talent and learning, it was impossible for him to enter the National Academy. Even if his father dared to bribe the National Academy brazenly, it still was impossible. In the jurisdiction of the emperor, the National Academy must not be bribed. Ma Weiming didn’t dare to do it.
Therefore, who assured Ma Ling that he could go to the National Academy?
Ma Ling was not a fool. The person who gave him the guarantee must have a high status. That person deceived Ma Ling with a promise which seemed to be real and let Ma Ling do one thing.
This thing…
Chen Gong thought of it. Suddenly, his scalp tingled, and he looked shocked.
If Ma Ling poisoned, how could they reveal the truth?!
How did he poison himself?
Seeing that Chen Gong suddenly showed such a terrible expression, Tang Lei could not help but step back with fear.
Suddenly, the stone door made a sound behind him. He was so scared that he fell to the ground. Then he saw Su Li coming out from the Alchemy Room. A burst of smell of elixirs permeated.
Su Li glanced at Chen Gong, who was in his meditation, and did not bother him. She went to Tang Lei and handed out a bottle of elixirs. She said with a low voice,
“Eat one elixir every three days. You will recover after twenty-one days. But your appearance will not change, in order to avoid alerting the enemy. Go to the Ling House and live there. Tell what I said to your good brother. Then you can save your life. Do you understand?”
Tang Lei nodded quickly and put away the elixirs confusedly. He didn’t understand. But he could only remember the sentence and tell Brother Ling.
He knew very well that the little jailer was not a bad person. When she carefully warned him, her expression was the same as his dead mother’s.
Seeing that Tang Lei understood it, Su Li nodded slightly. Then she asked, “What happened to Lord Chen?”