Seven-Step Smiling Madness

Lin Qing stepped forward to help the old woman, who was slumped on the ground, to her feet, then comforted the tear-streaked He Xiaoya.

"Xiaoya, don't be afraid. It's alright now."

He Xiaoya lifted her tear-blurred face, suddenly grabbing Lin Qing's sleeve as she sobbed uncontrollably, "Brother Lin Qing, thank you."

"My father, he was forced into this..."

"Hmm?"

He Xiaoya began to recount the story in broken fragments.

It turned out that Lord Leopard of the White Horse Gang had long coveted He Xiaoya's beauty and wanted to take her as a concubine.

After being rejected by Blacksmith He several times, he had harbored a grudge.

Some time ago, Lord Leopard privately coerced Blacksmith He into secretly forging ten iron blades, promising him a heavy reward.

Blacksmith He knew well that this was a capital offense and had originally refused.

But Lord Leopard threatened the safety of the mother and daughter, leaving Blacksmith He with no choice but to accept.

Who would have thought that as soon as the blades were finished, someone reported them.

The authorities arrived and caught them red-handed.

"It must have been Lord Leopard; he must have been the one to report it."

The old woman's voice trembled, filled with hatred.

"Since he couldn't have Xiaoya, he wanted to destroy our family. What a vicious heart he has."

As Lin Qing listened, his eyes gradually turned cold.

A surge of fury rose within his chest.

This Lord Leopard bullied the market and plundered at will.

Now, he had resorted to such despicable tactics; he was utterly devoid of conscience.

Forcing a man to commit a crime, then reporting him.

This was an attempt to drive the He family to their deaths.

However, anger was one thing, but Lin Qing's reason remained intact.

Lord Leopard's own strength was not weak; he was at least a martial artist in the late stage of Tendon Opening, or perhaps even a higher realm.

He had a gang of desperate thugs under his command and the White Horse Gang as his backing.

With his current strength, rashly seeking trouble with Lord Leopard would be no different from throwing an egg against a rock.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning murderous intent.

He patted He Xiaoya's shoulder, his voice low, "Xiaoya, stop crying. What's done is done; crying won't solve the problem."

"You two stay here and rest easy. I will handle the deposits owed to the neighbors. As for Uncle He, I will find a way to get news."

"Remember, only by living can there be hope."

Looking at Lin Qing's steady expression, He Xiaoya felt as if she had found a pillar of support and nodded vigorously, though her tears flowed even more profusely.

Lin Qing sighed. After settling the mother and daughter, he looked at their closed courtyard gate, his fists quietly clenching inside his sleeves.

The darkness and injustice of this world.

Like heavy shackles, they pressed down again and again.

Lord Leopard—he had noted it down.

Just because he couldn't act now didn't mean he wouldn't be able to in the future.

Afterward.

Lin Qing took the time to visit the government office.

But after handing over a few hundred coins.

The jailer on duty simply drove him out.

He even threatened that Old He, who was in the cell, had offended someone he shouldn't have.

Lin Qing clenched his fists, feeling utterly helpless.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was midwinter.

The leaves of the locust tree beside Yongning Street had mostly fallen, adding to the bleakness.

However, inside Benevolent World Hall, the scene was entirely different.

Ever since the day he resolved the He family's trouble, Lin Qing realized more profoundly that in this world where the strong prey on the weak.

Overt martial strength was certainly important.

Yet, some methods hidden in the shadows can often produce unexpected results.

Especially when one's own strength is not yet enough to crush everything.

He devoted more time to the in-depth study of pharmacology.

After his pharmacology reached a remarkable level, his understanding of medicinal materials approached the realm of the Dao.

In his eyes, herbs, metals, and stones were no longer just good medicine for healing the sick and saving lives, but double-edged swords containing the power of life and death.

In the backyard of Benevolent World Hall, besides the lingering fragrance of ordinary medicinal herbs, a faint, extremely subtle, and almost imperceptible strange odor would occasionally drift out.

Lin Qing locked himself in a small, specially partitioned pharmacy, with the lamps often burning until late at night.

Before him lay medicinal materials of various shapes and colors, most of which were highly toxic.

He was not trying to concoct harmful poisons, but rather to ensure his own survival.

He sought a trump card capable of turning the tide at a critical moment.

During this period, he finished reading the yellowed medical books left behind by his father.

He also purchased a large number of books on pharmacology himself.

Combining these with the pharmacological experience bolstered by the Heavenly Dao Record, he constantly deduced and experimented.

Failure was a common occurrence.

Sometimes the medicinal properties conflicted, and the resulting powder was completely ineffective.

Sometimes the toxicity was too violent and difficult to control.

He nearly suffered a backlash himself.

But relying on the subtle intuition brought by the Heavenly Dao Record, he adjusted the formula and optimized his refining techniques time and again.

Finally, on a night shrouded in hazy moonlight.

When Lin Qing used a special technique to drip the final portion of Ghost Grass extract, purified nine times, into a colorless and odorless paste.

The paste quietly transformed into a small pinch of fine, dust-like white powder that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

It lay silently at the bottom of the jade bowl, emitting no scent, looking completely harmless.

Lin Qing took a thin rat that had wandered into the pharmacy and mixed a tiny amount of the powder into its water.

After drinking it, the rat showed no initial abnormalities and continued to scurry about energetically.

However, when it took its seventh step, its movements suddenly stiffened.

Immediately, its whole body convulsed, and without even a whimper, it collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

It died peacefully, as if it had instantly fallen into a deep sleep.

Only a strange, slightly upturned smile seemed to remain at the corner of its mouth.

Lin Qing carefully examined it, confirming that it was thoroughly dead.

Heartbeat and breathing had stopped, and the blood had congealed.

Success!

He let out a long sigh of relief, a complex light flashing in his eyes.

There was the joy of a successful invention, but also a wariness toward such a sinister object.

He named this poison "Seven-Step Smiling Madness."

Those poisoned would surely die within seven steps, beyond the reach of any medicine.

Moreover, the death was peaceful, making it difficult to detect the true cause.

At the same time, the moment he successfully concocted this poison.

Deep within his consciousness, the pharmacological experience value on the Heavenly Dao Record jumped abruptly.

[Pharmacology (Superb)]

[Experience: 1/20000]

An unprecedented, vast realization surged into his heart.

At this moment, it seemed that everything in heaven and earth could be medicine, and could also be poison.

With a medicinal herb placed before him, he no longer even needed to touch it much.

He only needed to focus his gaze on its shape, color, and texture.

He could accurately judge its age, the degree of potency lost during storage, and even the most minute circulation of medicinal power within it.

This was a realm bordering on the ability to observe qi.

Dozens of days passed thereafter.

The massive improvement in pharmacology fed directly back into the operations of Benevolent World Hall.

Now, every time he went to the Yam Market in the west of the city to purchase supplies, his efficiency and accuracy far exceeded what they had been before.

As his gaze swept over the stalls, those medicinal materials seemed to come with their own labels in his eyes; their quality, authenticity, and flaws had nowhere to hide.

He could always purchase medicinal ingredients of the finest quality and potency at the most reasonable prices.

After bringing them back to the shop, he would process and combine them by hand, resulting in various medicinal powders that were far more effective than similar products on the market.

Whether it was the Golden Wound Medicine for stopping bleeding and regenerating flesh, the Blood Nourishing Powder for regulating qi and blood, or the Plague Avoidance Powder for clearing heat and detoxifying, all gained widespread fame for their exceptional therapeutic effects.

As time passed, the reputation of Benevolent World Hall's medicinal ingredients as a unique marvel of Yongning Street spread far and wide.

It was not just the commoners of the outer city who trusted them; even noble families from the inner city, who valued health preservation or had children practicing martial arts, began sending their servants to make purchases.

For a time, Benevolent World Hall became bustling with constant streams of visitors.