“What?” A severe expression flashed in Ling Dong Xing’s eyes. His first reaction was not to doubt his son’s judgement, but to turn his glare towards Ling Zhong Kuan and his grandson. The only one present who had the motive as well as the ability to poison their tea would definitely be Ling Zhong Kuan.
Instantly, Ling Zhong Kuan jumped up all of a sudden like a cat that had its tail stepped on and, while pointing at Ling Dong Xing, he said, “Ling Dong Xing, what do you mean, are you accusing me of trying to poison you?”
He could not control his anxiety as there were n.o.ble guests from the Stone Wolf Sect present–what great, unforgivable crime was it to attempt to poison disciples of Stone Wolf Sect? This kind of crime would definitely cause him to die a hundred times!
More importantly, he really didn’t do such a thing!
The old man had plotted many schemes throughout his life and had done quite a number of bad things, but it was still the first time that he had experienced being wrongly accused by someone else! In his fury, even his face had turned green.
Ling Dong Xing naturally knew that he himself did not place the poison, and Ma Lang had no reason to, so then the largest suspect could only be Ling Zhong Kuan. He humphed and said, “Ling Zhong Kuan, because we both are members of the Ling Clan, I have always tolerated you, but this time, you’ve gone too far!”
If Ma Lang died here, he, as the Clan Head of the Ling Clan, would not be able to escape responsibility.
“It’s not him!” Ling Han shook his head.
“Not him?” Ling Dong Xing’s face was filled with surprise, while Ling Zhong Kuan had an expression of disbelief. He had never imagined that Ling Han would actually speak up on his behalf.
Ling Han gave a smile, and said, “This pair of trashes wouldn’t be able to concoct such a poison.”
This…!
Ling Zhong Kuan and Ling Mu Yun were furious. The reason why they were not suspected was because they were trash and did not have the ability to concoct such a poison? But when compared to being found guilty of the crime of attempting to poison a disciple of Stone Wolf Sect, they still chose to remain silent.
“So, then who’s the culprit?” Ling Dong Xing wore a puzzled expression.
Ling Han glanced at Ma Lang, a smile unfolding on his face, and said, “Brother Ma, do you not intend to explain yourself?”
“Explain what?” Ma Lang’s face was filled with absolute confusion.
Killing intent slowly revealed itself on Ling Dong Xing’s face. From Ling Han’s words, this poison had actually been placed in their tea by Ma Lang? But the problem was, when had Ma Lang gotten the opportunity to poison their tea? The water in their tea came from their own well, the tea leaves also belonged to their own Ling Clan, and the one who prepared the tea was also one of their own people!
If this was known to others outside the clan, they would definitely die of laughter. You couldn’t wrong a man like that.
But as this was coming from his son’s mouth, Ling Dong Xing chose to believe it absolutely.
This was the trust that a father had in his son.
“Was is not you, Brother Ma, who had placed the poison?” Ling Han asked.
“Peng!”
Ma Lang suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up from his seat, furiously saying, “Ling Han, I take you as a friend, yet you wrong me in this way. What is your intention? You say I poisoned your tea? How did I do such a thing? This water, these tea leaves, the servant who prepared the tea all belong to your Ling Clan, so when would I have the chance to do such a thing?”
“Ling Han, you actually dared to slander a disciple of Stone Wolf Sect, this is definitely unforgivable!” Ling Zhong Kuan took the opportunity to immediately jump out and shout.
Ma Lang’s gaze turned to Ling Zhong Kuan, and he said, “Chief Butler Ling, I suspect this pair of father and son has murdered a fellow disciple of our sect, Hang Zhan. Are you willing to a.s.sist me in their arrest?”
Ling Zhong Kuan was immediately very pleased, and said, “I am willing to listen to Young Master Ma’s commands, and be of service to the Stone Wolf Sect!”
“Very good, you will be responsible for subduing Ling Dong Xing while I shall deal with this brat!” Ma Lang said while directing a meaningful look at the young man in black.
The young man in black nodded slightly, extended a hand into his sleeve and withdrew a jade bottle. He suddenly threw this bottle at the floor, and with a “pu” sound, black fumes immediately dissipated everywhere, very rapidly spreading to all the corners of the Main Hall.
Poisonous gas?
Without waiting for anyone to remind them, everyone held their breaths to avoid breathing the gas in. It was definitely nothing good.
“Hahahaha, I never thought you could actually be so quick-witted,” Ma Lang revealed a malevolent expression, “It’s true, it was I who had poisoned the water in your well. I never thought you would be so alert. Fortunately, I had already prepared Plan B. Let me introduce someone to you. This is my good friend, Yu Zheng, who holds the nickname of ‘Little Poison Lord’.
This is Origin Shattering Powder; once you breathe it in, it’ll cause the Origin Power within your bodies to stagnate, and you’ll become powerless. You won’t even have the strength to remain standing.”
Ling Dong Xing naturally felt great fury within his heart, but he could not even expel this anger in a loud rage, for the moment he opened his mouth, he would definitely inhale this Origin Shattering Powder, and that’d be the end.
The worst thing was Ling Zhong Kuan was actually still continuing in his attacks on his person, obviously intending to obstruct him here.
This old guy’s desire to take the position of the Clan Head had already overwhelmed all his logical processes, and was already mad with it. Did he think that once he got rid of Ling Dong Xing, he’d be able to finally take the seat of Clan Head? However, with the way that Ma Lang had shown how ruthless he could be, how was it possible that he would leave any member of the Ling Clan alive?
Old fool!
Ling Han withdrew a pill bottle from his sleeve. He took out a medicinal pill from it, which he swallowed, then took out another, throwing it to Liu Yu Tong. He took out another, and said to Ling Dong Xing, “Father, this pill has the effect of curing poison; it can easily deal with the poisonous effects of the Origin Shattering Powder.”
Liu Yu Tong naturally swallowed the pill she had received quickly. Ling Dong Xing slammed a palm attack on Ling Zhong Kuan, and disengaged from the battle, rus.h.i.+ng over.
Ma Lang made no move to stop them. In his opinion, Ling Han’s medicinal pill would be of absolutely no effect.
The reason was, every lock had its own key, and every antidote naturally could only cure a specific poison. It was illogical to say that Ling Han had so coincidentally possessed an antidote on hand that could deal with the poison of Origin Shattering Powder. How could he believe such a thing?
Haha, then let them believe that this pill would be able to cure their poison. At that moment, they would definitely open their mouths and breathe, thus inhaling the poisonous Origin Shattering Powder. Then, it would be too late for regrets.
Ling Dong Xing received the pill and swallowed it in one mouthful. He trusted his son without a doubt. After he had swallowed the pill, he immediately started breathing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to continue the battle for too long if he kept holding his breath.
The young man in black revealed a mocking smile. He was actually considered half an alchemist, though he had not used his mental capacities on the concoction of alchemical pills. Instead, he mixed various kinds of poisons, researching various methods to use poison to kill.
This Origin Shattering Powder was different from those low-grade products on the market. He had added a lot of other poisons to it. It not only had the effects of slowing down the circulation of Origin Power and disintegrating physical strength, it even had the effect of corroding one’s internal organs, possessing a terrifying poison.
…If it was not poisonous, how could he be qualified for the name of ‘Little Poison Lord’?
Unless it was the antidote that he himself had concocted, there really was no cure for it.
Ma Lang too did not rush. After all, Ling Dong Xing was still in the peak period of the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier and possessed tremendous battle strength. It was too foolish to fight with him head on. As long as he waited for a while longer, Ling Dong Xing would be defeated even without a battle.
As the saying goes, a cornered dog will jump over the wall. He had absolutely no intention of entering a life-and-death struggle with the man.
Meanwhile, Ling Dong Xing was deeply frowning. Now what?
Ma Lang could behave in this deranged manner, but could the Ling Clan bear the risk? Killing a disciple of Stone Wolf Sect, who moreover was in the role of “imperial envoy”… this was a huge crime that could lead to the Ling Clan’s utter destruction!
“There is nothing to ponder too much about. We are not fish on the chopping board, lying there waiting for others to chop us up!” Ling Han was much more decisive, as he did not have as much apprehension as Ling Dong Xing. Additionally, he also knew how many trump cards he could make use of.
…Chen Feng Lie, Zhu He Xin, as well as the Liu Clan of the Imperial City that was behind Liu Yu Tong.
Ling Dong Xing too quickly made his decision. He did not possess an indecisive character, and his killing intent immediately surfaced.
“En?”
Meanwhile, Ma Lang and Yu Zheng both a.s.sumed a very strange expression, wondering why was it that Ling Dong Xing and the rest had not yet revealed the symptoms of succ.u.mbing to the poison? After all, they should already manifest by now.
Could it be… that the pill that they had taken earlier had really cured their poison?