Liu Mei had once described the appearance of the merman's tear to him. Shen Qingfeng slowly unfolded the brocade cloth. The moment he saw the smooth, teardrop - shaped object emitting a brown - woody glow, he was almost instantly certain that this was what he was looking for.
Shen Qingfeng looked back nervously. On the bed, Xia Chuli was lying on his stomach, sound asleep, making soft snores.
Shen Qingfeng swallowed hard. He took out a square handkerchief and a small knife from his bosom. He placed the merman's tear on the handkerchief and slowly scraped off some powder with the knife.
The merman's tear was only the size of a thumb - nail and extremely precious. The way to cure all poisons was to swallow its powder with water. However, since the merman's tear was so small, it could only be used a few times. Once Shen Qingfeng scraped off a layer, Xia Chuli would surely notice it when he saw it later. But Shen Qingfeng couldn't think about that for the moment.
He wrapped the powder in the handkerchief and stuffed it into his bosom. Then he wrapped the smaller merman's tear again with the brocade cloth and put it back into the secret compartment.
Shen Qingfeng restored everything to its original state. Then he tiptoed to the bedside. After hearing Xia Chuli's still gentle and regular snores, he was silent for a moment. Then he turned around and walked out of the room, gently closing the door.
The moment Shen Qingfeng's white robe disappeared at the door, Xia Chuli, who had been lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes. He slowly exhaled a breath and struggled to sit up, propping his body up with both hands.
There was a strange smile on his lips. His pupils were fixed on the closed door. After a while, he suddenly reached out his hand and took out an antidote pill for the soothing incense from under the pillow. Then he slowly crushed it between his index finger and thumb.
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Xu Ruhui dashed out of the city like a flash. Lu Yan chased after him all the way. At the same time, he sent a message to Shen Qingfeng, saying that he wouldn't be able to come back for a while.
Shen Qingfeng looked at the sky about to dawn. He rubbed his head, which had started to throb from staying up all night, and decided to go back to the Shen Mansion first.
As soon as Shen Qingfeng got home, he saw Shen Shiqiu grabbing Shen Yu's collar and throwing him into the carriage. Then Shen Shiqiu cursed and got in as well.
Both Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu were very busy. Although Shen Qingfeng also had an official position, his idle position in the Wenzhu Academy didn't really matter whether he went or not, and no one bothered to care about him.
After greeting his father and elder brother, Shen Qingfeng entered the mansion. As he walked along the corridor, he bumped into A Man who was carrying breakfast.
"Little young master?" A Man said quickly when she saw Shen Qingfeng. "The eldest young master said you were coming back and told me to watch you eat breakfast. Here, it's all ready."
Shen Qingfeng didn't expect Shen Yu to be so considerate. He smiled and told A Man to follow him into the inner room. As soon as the door opened, he saw Yu Shuang had just finished giving needles to Xiang Cheng. She was wiping the sweat off while putting the silver needles away.
"Sir." Yu Shuang stood up quickly and bowed when she saw Shen Qingfeng.
A Man poked her head out from behind Shen Qingfeng. Although Shen Qingfeng had asked her to take care of Yu Shuang's diet recently and this wasn't her first time seeing Xiang Cheng, she still couldn't help shivering when she saw the strange - looking guy on the bed.
Shen Qingfeng gave a soft laugh. He took the food box from A Man's hand and rubbed her head. "Be good, A Man. Go and do something else first."
A Man nodded. She looked up at Shen Qingfeng and said, "Little young master, you must remember to eat. The eldest young master specifically told me."
Shen Qingfeng nodded. "Okay, I know."
A Man still seemed a bit worried. After all, Shen Qingfeng was in poor health but often didn't realize it. The eldest young master and the master had been very worried about him.
Seeing that A Man didn't want to leave, Shen Qingfeng sighed. "A Man, don't worry. I'll eat. If I don't, I'll be a puppy, okay?"
A Man looked at Shen Qingfeng and nodded vigorously. Then she trotted out of the room. She even closed the door on her way out.
Shen Qingfeng turned to Yu Shuang and asked, "Didn't you sleep last night?"
Yu Shuang shook her head. "I did rest. This was the first time I gave needles."
Shen Qingfeng nodded. "You haven't had breakfast, right? You can have this."
Yu Shuang: "..." Sir, who just said that if they didn't eat, they'd be a puppy?
Yu Shuang didn't move. Shen Qingfeng sighed. He walked to the table and sat down. "I really don't want to eat. I'm so sleepy now. I just want to sleep."
Seeing Shen Qingfeng looking a bit haggard, Yu Shuang said, "Then you should rest first, sir. I'll give Xiang Cheng the second round of needles right away."
"No need." Shen Qingfeng waved his hand. He took out the handkerchief from his bosom. "I've already got the thing. Feed it to him."
Because Xiang Cheng's body had been nourished by the lead - laced silver water, his skin color was quite different from that of ordinary people. After Xiang Cheng took the merman's tear, his skin color began to change slowly. After a stick of incense burned, it had gradually returned to the color of an ordinary person.
Shen Qingfeng was overjoyed. He quickly asked Yu Shuang to check Xiang Cheng's pulse again.
Yu Shuang felt the pulse for a while and then withdrew her hand happily. "The merman's tear is really effective. The poison of the lead - laced silver water is slowly dissipating. I didn't expect it to really work. They all said that the lead - laced silver water was incurable. It seems this statement is inaccurate."
Shen Qingfeng frowned. "Can he fully recover to a normal person?"
Yu Shuang was stunned for a moment. "Well... People who have been nourished in this way are supposed to be irreversible. But there's no record about the merman's tear in the books. As for whether he can return to normal, it may take time to test."
In his previous life, Xiang Cheng never went berserk again. However, there was a kind of poison on his body that Yu Shuang never managed to detect in the end.
Suddenly, Shen Qingfeng seemed to think of something. He asked anxiously, "Yu Shuang, is there still a kind of poison in his body now?"
Yu Shuang was startled. She looked at Shen Qingfeng and quickly reached out to feel the pulse again.
This time, it took half a stick of incense. Yu Shuang was feeling the pulse while mumbling something. Her eyebrows were tightly knitted. After a while, she slowly withdrew her hand. Her face looked a bit uneasy. "Sir, you're right. In addition to the slowly dissipating madness - inducing poison of the lead - laced silver water, there's also a very strange poison in Xiang Cheng's body. I can't analyze what kind of poison it is for the moment. Moreover, the two poisons are colliding in his body, disturbing his pulse... If sir hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have noticed it for a while."
Shen Qingfeng nodded. He pinched his chin and said, "You just said that the madness - inducing poison of the lead - laced silver water is slowly dissipating, but at the same time, a new poison has appeared. Have you noticed this kind of poison before?"
Yu Shuang was stunned and shook her head. "No, I haven't."
Memories of his previous life flashed through his mind. Shen Qingfeng bit his lower lip. "Could it be like this - the lead - laced silver water can't actually be completely cured. The so - called dissipation is just that it changes into another form or toxicity and continues to lurk in his body?"
That was why Yu Shuang in his previous life couldn't figure out what kind of poison was on Xiang Cheng. It was because Lan had released Xiang Cheng from the body - nourishing state and made him temporarily return to a normal person. Since there were very few people who had been nourished in this way in the world, and even fewer who had been released from this state, Yu Shuang couldn't find out because there was no reference.
In his previous life, when he was trapped in the village at the foot of the Three Saints Mountain, Xiang Cheng didn't go berserk and kill him because Xiang Cheng was in the state of returning to a normal person after being released from the body - nourishing state.
That meant that he might have passed by Lan at that time!
Shen Qingfeng trembled all over and gritted his teeth tightly.
"This conjecture is very possible..." Yu Shuang murmured. "If the lead - laced silver water can change into another form and settle in the human body, it may explain that the body - nourisher can control the lead - laced silver water at any time, devour the consciousness of the nourished person again, and make him go berserk."
Shen Qingfeng frowned tightly.
Yu Shuang's conjecture should be right. There was no need to make the lead - laced silver water change into a form that didn't affect normal life and still stay in the nourished person's body.
In his previous life, until the end, Xiang Cheng was never stimulated to enter the body - nourishing state again. However, in this life, many things had changed. There were fewer and fewer references from his previous life, which made Shen Qingfeng even more reluctant to make random speculations.
However, one thing strengthened Shen Qingfeng's determination:
Whether it was because of Xiang Cheng or the Lu family's army, he must find Lan.