As he spoke, Qin Feng's thoughts stirred, and he began typing in the group.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "There is, of course, a way to cure the poison. Not only that, but in the future, someone will use the chance to cure you as an excuse to strip your Dugu Family bare, leaving you not even a shred of your ancestral legacy."
Those words landed like a bomb, kicking up a storm in the group.
[Poison Fairy]: "Group Leader! Who is it? Who would dare do such a thing?!"
Dugu Yan jumped to her feet in her room, her hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails nearly dug into her palms.
This was a matter of life and death for the Dugu Family. She couldn't afford to let anything go wrong.
Qin Feng didn't hesitate for a moment. He typed two words.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "Tang San."
At the sight of that name, Dugu Yan felt a chill run through her.
The boy she'd seen earlier that day immediately came to mind, trampled under her grandfather's foot and swollen up like a pig's head.
Could it really be him?
Could that brat named Tang San not only cure Jade Phosphorus Snake Poison, but also strip the Dugu Family bare?
Qin Feng grinned and took a sip of tea.
"Let's continue."
Qin Feng's fingers danced across the interface as he quickly started a new topic.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "Dugu Yan, your family has a treasured spot in the heart of Sunset Forest called the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well."
"It's one of the three great treasure troves under heaven. Countless top-grade Immortal Herbs grow there, herbs that have long since vanished everywhere else. They have the miraculous power to change a Soul Master's fate."
"In the future, Tang San will use helping you and your grandfather cure your poison as an excuse to enter this treasure trove."
"He'll make a grand show of saying he only wants a few medicinal herbs for refining medicine, but in truth, he'll be insatiably greedy."
"Knowing that Dugu Bo can't recognize those Immortal Herbs, he'll tear up every treasure there by the roots. Aromatic Silk Beauty, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Infernal Delicate Apricot, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum... all those legendary Immortal Herbs will be stripped clean, as if he were plucking wool. He'll leave not even three feet of ground untouched."
"Dugu Bo, thinking of how Tang San really did help suppress the poison, will swallow his anger. He'll even be grateful to him and treat that ingrate like an old friend."
The group members stared at the detailed account, too shocked to say a word.
But Qin Feng wasn't done exposing him.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "And that's not all. The worst part comes later."
"In later generations, the Tang Sect that Tang San establishes will claim the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well as its own. They'll call it protecting the treasure from outsiders who covet it, but in truth, they'll just be occupying it!"
"Your Dugu descendants won't be allowed to pick even the most ordinary herb there without first seeing how the Tang Sect feels about it."
"They'll even be treated like watchdogs and ordered around by Tang Sect disciples. If they don't obey, they'll be harshly suppressed."
"That's the generous reward Tang San gives your Dugu Family!"
The moment those words appeared, the entire Chat Group exploded.
[Little Witch]: "Good heavens! How shameless can he be?! He cures someone's illness and swallows up their ancestral treasure? Even our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect pays for what we buy. That's nothing short of robbery!"
[Pope]: "Well done, Tang San. His methods are even more overbearing than those of our Spirit Hall. He's a born bandit."
[Fragrant Fox]: "That isn't curing poison. It's sucking someone dry to the bone and wiping them out!"
Dugu Yan stared blankly at the screen, her back already soaked with cold sweat.
She remembered Tang San at the edge of the forest earlier that day, held by the throat, yet still insisting, "I can cure your poison."
So he hadn't been begging for his life at all. He'd already set his sights on the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well belonging to her family!
If her grandfather hadn't kicked him flying today, the Dugu Family really would have ended up enslaved by the Tang Sect, living a fate worse than death!
Fierce anger and the fear of having narrowly escaped disaster twisted together in her heart.
Dugu Yan clenched her teeth and immediately opened a private chat with the group leader.
[Poison Fairy]: "Group Leader! Apart from that heartless Tang San, who else in this world can save my grandfather and me?"
"Please, have mercy and point me in the right direction!"
"As long as you can cure the poison and preserve my family's legacy, I, Dugu Yan, am willing to pay any price!"
"Even if I have to work like an ox and a horse for you, or serve you as a slave or maid, I won't utter a single word of complaint!"
After sending the message, she clasped her hands together and paced around the room, her heart in her throat.
Inside the East Palace.
Qin Feng looked at the private message that had popped up, the smile at the corner of his mouth growing more pronounced.
Without any hesitation, he replied with a single word.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "Me."
Dugu Yan stared at the lone character on her screen, her mind going completely blank.
Then uncontainable joy surged through her like a volcanic eruption.
Just what kind of unfathomable being was the group leader?
He could see through the past and future, and even the Pope of Spirit Hall treated him with respect in the group.
If he said he could save them, then he absolutely could!
Two burning blushes instantly spread across Dugu Yan's cheeks.
If it was the group leader... then perhaps she wouldn't just be cured of the poison. She could also gain the backing of someone truly powerful.
The scene shifted back to the outskirts of Sunset Forest.
The night wind was chilly, and dead leaves rustled.
Xiao Wu was crouching in the mud, still holding the leather waterskin filled with clean water.
Now, as she read the revelations in the Chat Group, she felt her hands and feet turn cold.
[Bunny Eats Radish]: "Group Leader, h-how can that be?"
"Third Brother is usually such an upright person. He even takes such good care of an injured little rabbit. How could he do something like occupy someone else's property and repay kindness with betrayal?"
Xiao Wu's fingers trembled as she typed on the screen. She desperately wanted the group leader to say it was all a joke.
This couldn't possibly be the real Tang San.
Inside the East Palace.
Qin Feng saw Xiao Wu's message and thought to himself:
This girl's been brainwashed too deeply. It's time to give her a strong dose of medicine and show her what real hypocrisy looks like.
Qin Feng's gaze sharpened. Both hands moved across the virtual keyboard as he launched into a series of revelations.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "Upright? Xiao Wu, do you have some enormous misunderstanding of what the word 'upright' means?"
"In Tang San's dictionary, there's only one thing: double standards!"
"Let's start with the Tang Sect Secret Arts he's so proud of. In his previous life, he stole the sect's highest secret manual, an inner-gate technique, and learned it. When he was found out, he was driven to leap off a cliff. Yet he still thought he was helping the Tang Sect flourish, and that he hadn't done a single thing wrong!"
"He stole his own sect's secret texts and still thought he was in the right? And that's what you call upright?"
The group members held their breath as one long message after another appeared.
[Douluo People Don't Deceive Douluo People]: "Now, let's talk about hunting Soul Beasts."
"When other people kill Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings, Tang San stands on the moral high ground and scolds them for being cruel and bloodthirsty, spouting nothing but benevolence and righteousness."
"But the moment he needs a Soul Ring himself, no matter what that Soul Beast has done, it instantly becomes 'deserving of death'!"
"He kills them more efficiently than anyone, without even batting an eye. So all Soul Beasts in the world are following Heaven's will and acting in Heaven's name only when he kills them?"