They didn't recognize Yan Luoyang, nor had they ever witnessed his thods. However, they were all too aware of Lin Tang's expertise in poisoning. For so many people to be poisoned at once, it had to be Lin Tang's doing! How ruthless, how utterly unscrupulous. This sent those who were unscathed fleeing in terror, screaming curses as they ran.
Shen Youling's family was also horrified.
"...Was it really Lin Tang?"
"Where is he?"
"Damn it, I think I've been poisoned too! Does he dare to kill us as well?" Dong Mingfeng shrieked in panic. She felt a sharp sting on her calf, followed by a creeping numbness. Feeling terrible and unsteady on her feet, she beca so panicked that she imdiately started cursing Lin Tang and eighteen generations of his ancestors.
"Shut up!" Li Encai's gaze sharpened as she finally spotted the rapidly moving insect. "We're finished... It's clearly Yan—"
Her expression changed drastically. Just as she was about to na the true culprit, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. She had been bitten, too. Her consciousness began to fade, her vision blurring. She vaguely saw a terrifying sight: Yan Luoyang, grinning as he walked toward her. Then, she fell unconscious.
THUMP!
Dong Mingfeng and the others all collapsed, dead to the world.
"Hm?" Yan Luoyang looked toward Shen Youling, genuinely surprised. He had sent the largest swarm of insects after her, intending for them to bite her to shreds, yet he found that the insects were automatically retreating from her.
What's going on? Yan Luoyang wondered, quickly realizing her hairpin was responsible. A defensive treasure from Lin Tang? Well, I won't be polite then. I'll just help myself!
WHOOSH!
He appeared beside Shen Youling, his sharp, phantom-like claws stabbing fiercely toward her head.
It's over. I'm going to die... But at least I'll be killed directly instead of being humiliated. That's not so bad. The thought flashed through her mind.
Just then, Yan Luoyang's phone vibrated again. He paused his attack and chose to answer.
He heard Mu Fan's helpless voice on the other end. "I have another piece of bad news. My informant just reported that Lin Tang is back, his injuries are healed, and he's heading your way at an incredible speed... You're on your own."
"DAMN IT!" Yan Luoyang's composure completely shattered.
Just a mont ago, he was told Lin Tang had fled Jiangbei with severe injuries. The next mont, he was told the man was back and his injuries were gone. What the hell was going on?
"Mu Fan, if I survive this, I swear I'll kill you!" Yan Luoyang fud.
He unhesitatingly abandoned his plan to kill Shen Youling. Without wasting a single mont, he turned and fled. Why didn't he take Li Encai with him? Because he knew that if he did, Lin Tang would pursue him relentlessly. If he left Li Encai behind, Lin Tang would have to spend ti detoxifying her to save her life. This would make it highly unlikely for Lin Tang to give chase. He wasn't stupid; he would naturally make the wisest choice.
After all, the fra job was a success. The poisoned were all unconscious, and those who had escaped hadn't noticed him.
In an instant, Yan Luoyang and his insects were gone.
Suddenly, Lin Tang flashed into view before Shen Youling.
"What happened?"
"Lin Tang, so you finally decided to show up? I thought you'd been killed by that Grandmaster!" Having just survived a near-death experience, Shen Youling was bursting with grievances and couldn't hold back her accusations. "You're never here when I need you most! Don't even think about Dual Cultivation ever again! It's not worth it!"
"Are you threatening ?" Lin Tang's expression turned cold.
"So what if I am? Are you going to kill , too?" Shen Youling retorted stubbornly.
"...Move. I don't have ti to bicker with you!" Lin Tang unceremoniously pushed her aside and began detoxifying Li Encai.
He had already slled the stench of the Corpse-eating Worms and knew it had to be the work of that lingering phantom, Yan Luoyang. Even before, he could have dealt with this poison without breaking a sweat, let alone now. Once he activated the True Qi of his Golden Core Stage, it swiftly purged the toxins.
Li Encai moaned softly and slowly regained consciousness. "Brother Lin? I'm so glad you made it in ti!" Overjoyed, she threw herself into Lin Tang's arms.
Lin Tang patted her on the back, then glanced at Shen Youling. Look at her attitude, and then look at yours.
Shen Youling was left speechless. She felt even more aggrieved and couldn't stop herself from saying, "Saving a life is urgent! Can't you two stop being lovey-dovey for one minute?"
Honestly. He's taking , his wife, less and less seriously.
Lin Tang, however, ignored her, only saying to Li Encai, "Yan Luoyang probably hasn't gotten far. I'm going to kill him now and eliminate this threat for good."
Just as he was about to leave, Shen Youling cried out, "Wait! You have to keep saving people! They're about to die!" She grabbed onto Lin Tang, refusing to let him go.
Lin Tang was puzzled. "I don't owe them anything. Why should I save them?"
"You—" How could he say sothing so cold? "So people who weren't poisoned already ran away. They all think you did this! If you don't save these people now, it'll be too late to clear your na!"
"I only need a clear conscience. If they want to misunderstand, let them," Lin Tang said indifferently, impatiently prying her fingers off him.
"LIN TANG!" Shen Youling's face was streaked with tears. "Why won't you ever listen to ? Do you even consider your wife?"
Lin Tang had no intention of responding.
Li Encai, however, also held him back. "Stop fighting," she said softly. "Yan Luoyang is long gone. The chances of catching him are slim. Why not wait until you run into him again?"
"Alright."
Seeing Lin Tang listen to a single word from Li Encai and obediently start saving people, while her own earnest pleas had fallen on deaf ears, Shen Youling grew even more upset. It felt incredibly unfair.
Noticing this, Li Encai leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Brother Lin always responds to a soft approach, not a hard one. Why do you have to be so confrontational with him?"
"A husband and wife should be equals. Why must I be the one to humble myself?" Shen Youling replied, turning her face away.
"Well..." Li Encai didn't know what to say.
Lin Tang struck out with his palms again and again, dividing his True Qi to save one person after another. By the ti the poison was forced out of the last person, they began to wake up one by one.
"What happened... I rember!"
"We were poisoned! It was Lin Tang!"
"That son of a bitch!"
Instantly, they all glared at Lin Tang with fury.
The other group, the ones who hadn't been poisoned, had also returned, having sohow gotten their hands on masks and clubs. As soon as they arrived on the scene, they roared in unison, "Lin Tang, you vile butcher! Don't think we're afraid of you just because you can use poison!"
"Let's just burn him!" soone shouted, and another person carrying a can of gasoline started splashing it in Lin Tang's direction.
"See? This is the gratitude I get for saving their lives. Are you satisfied?" Lin Tang's expression was filled with mockery.
Shen Youling bit her lip and shouted, "Everyone, calm down! It really wasn't Lin Tang who poisoned you. If it was him, why would he bother saving you?"
"Hmph!"
"He's just trying to intimidate us."
"Does he think poisoning us and then curing us will scare us into dropping the issue of you selling fake dicine?"
"Dream on!"
"Don't give Lin Tang another chance to use poison! Burn him!"
"Burn my ass!" Lin Tang strode forward and slapped a man who was fumbling with a lighter, sending him to the ground. "You bunch of idiots! Keep spouting nonsense and I'll really poison you all to death!"
With that, he turned and strode away with Li Encai, leaving the crowd staring at each other in stunned silence. No one dared to actually stop him.
"Wait, he hasn't told us how to deal with the side effects!"
"Youling, hurry up and chase after him—" Dong Mingfeng's family panicked once more.
"I must have owed you people in a past life!" Helpless, Shen Youling took off running. She finally caught up to him, completely out of breath.
"Lin Tang, do you rember our three agreents? First, that you wouldn't casually reveal your martial arts. Second, that you wouldn't let people treat you like a servant. I hadn't thought of the third condition then, but I have now." She looked him straight in the eye and said earnestly, "Help resolve the side effects of this dicine. I'm begging you!"
Lin Tang was silent for a few seconds before he finally spoke. "Have them drink the original formula. If they stick with it for a week or two, the side effects will naturally disappear."
"Huh? It's that simple?" Shen Youling was stunned. "Then... just write the original formula down for ."
"Write it down for you, so your parents can steal it again? Then if sothing else goes wrong, you can co back and bla , expecting to clean up your family's ss?" Lin Tang's face was laced with scorn.
"...I'm sorry. I promise it won't be leaked this ti," Shen Youling said, lowering her head in sha.
"I've already granted exclusive rights for the Primordial Qi Supplenting Soup to Chen Shanchun, and he knows the recipe for the Three Flowers Spirit Nurturing Soup, too. Just go buy it from him. Stop bothering !" Lin Tang said, continuing on his way without a backward glance.
Watching his retreating back, Shen Youling opened her mouth, wanting to ask...
Didn't you say we were going to Dual Cultivate? When are we going to start?
But she didn't know that Lin Tang had already made a breakthrough. He no longer needed it, at least for now. Her angry threat to stop Dual Cultivating had been completely aningless.
「Back at the company」
Dong Mingfeng was impatient. "Well? What did that son of a bitch Lin Tang have to say?"
Shen Youling, her face taut, relayed Lin Tang's exact words.
"What?" Dong Mingfeng and the other three had priceless expressions on their faces.
When the others heard, they were imdiately suspicious.
"It's clearly a fake dicine, yet you're trying to trick us into drinking more of it?"
"What are your real intentions?"
Shen Youling had to repeatedly guarantee that if the complete version didn't resolve the side effects, she would willingly commit suicide to atone. She believed Lin Tang wouldn't lie to her.
"Then where can we buy it?"
"The Xuanhu dical Pavilion."
To be as efficient as possible, Shen Youling contacted Chen Yuyan directly. "I apologize for the late call, but is your grandfather asleep? You see, it's like this..."
Adhering to his principle of saving lives, Chen Shanchun was about to agree readily when Ning Yuexi suddenly walked in.
"Tell her," she said, her face expressionless, "that we'll only agree to help if Lin Tang cos and begs in person."
Shen Youling was speechless. How could he possibly do sothing like that?!
「The next day」
When Lin Tang finally heard about this, he nearly burst out laughing. "Ning Yuexi must be dreaming if she thinks she can control like this."
Since he was bored anyway, he decided to call Ning Yuexi directly. "So, Yuexi, what is it you actually want from ?"
Ning Yuexi responded coolly, "It's about poisoning Long Tianji, of course."
"Huh??"
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