Back then, deep within a secluded valley in Miao Territory where demonic qi surged to the heavens, Lin Fei had gathered Emperor Shun's remains and discovered a venomous spider that had devoured the emperor's flesh and blood, becoming incomparably powerful.
Lin Fei had subdued it with an effortless gesture and bestowed it upon Qing Yuntian, the ancestor of the Di people.
From the reign of Xia Qi to the present, nearly four thousand years had passed.
Qing Fen sighed and said, "The Mother of Ten Thousand Spiders has always lain dormant in Nine Nether Cave in Yundian Province. But when we went to worship it last year, it was already nowhere to be found. For a time, both our Qing and Bai families were thrown into a panic, afraid some great disaster would occur."
Lin Fei gave a faint grunt of acknowledgment. "Then it's fallen into the Bai family's hands."
Qing Fen asked in astonishment, "Even our Di main family can't control the Mother of Ten Thousand Spiders. How could a mere branch family manage it?"
Lin Fei asked in return, "What about the Sacrificial Ring?"
Qing Fen's heart jolted, and he seemed to understand something. "The Sacrificial Ring can control the Mother of Ten Thousand Spiders? I already passed the ring on to my son Mingyu, but some time ago, he suddenly fell unconscious and never woke up. The Bai branch family then borrowed the ring from me, saying they wanted to worship our ancestors. To think they actually meant to use it to... But what do they want to control the Mother of Ten Thousand Spiders for?"
Lin Fei looked at Qing Fen with the ghost of a smile, making him break out in a cold sweat.
After being held beneath the main family's thumb for nearly four thousand years, wouldn't a chance to overthrow its rule be tempting?
Qing Fen gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and said bitterly, "Then my son Mingyu becoming a vegetable has something to do with the Bai family too! What wolfish ambition! My son remains unconscious, and nothing we've tried has saved him. Even our ancestral method of implanting a gu to prolong his life was useless. The gu king was poisoned to death!"
So it was the legendary Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Poisons!
At that thought, he dropped to his knees again with a thud and knocked his head hard against the floor before Lin Fei. "Please help us, immortal master! Save my son, Qing Mingyu!"
Lin Fei told Qing Fen to get up before speaking, then asked, "How long has he been poisoned?"
Hearing there was hope, Qing Fen hurriedly replied, "More than seven months."
Lin Fei grunted in acknowledgment and said calmly, "He's been poisoned for too long. The poison has already invaded his soul. An ordinary person would certainly die. But if you can gather all the ingredients for a pill formula, there's still a thread of hope!"
"However, these medicinal ingredients aren't easy to find. It would be perfectly understandable if you couldn't gather them all, so prepare yourself."
Joy welled up in Qing Fen's heart, and he immediately displayed a look of pride. "Please, just tell me what you need, immortal master!"
"Though the Qing family's abilities are nothing compared to yours, we've been fortunate enough to receive your favor and do have some influence in the secular world. Finding a few medicinal ingredients is no difficult task."
A deadly poison that the elders of the ancestral land had declared "beyond even an immortal's power to cure" needed only medicinal assistance in Lin Fei's hands. How could he not feel pleasantly surprised?
Lin Fei did not puncture Qing Fen's baffling confidence. He merely tore a sheet from a notebook, then wrote out a string of medicinal ingredient names with flowing strokes of a fountain pen.
After a single glance, the smile froze on Qing Fen's face.
Hundred-year-old python gallbladder, hundred-year-old Sichuan aconite, tarantula eggs, hundred-year-old ironthorn branches, hundred-year-old musk...
Just as it was impossible for an ordinary person to live to five hundred, these medicinal ingredients could not survive for a hundred years under normal circumstances. For them to reach that age, there was only one possibility-they were rich in spiritual energy and already qualified as spirit medicines.
Qing Fen wanted to cry but had no tears. Spirit medicines were not things money alone could buy. They could only be encountered by chance, not sought at will!
Lin Fei left the sheet with Qing Fen and told him to call once he had gathered all the ingredients.
Though Qing Fen felt pressure as heavy as a mountain, what father would give up on his own child?
He thanked Lin Fei repeatedly and escorted him out with the utmost courtesy. Everyone throughout the company who witnessed this was utterly astonished and could not help stealing a few more looks at Lin Fei, wondering just who he was.
A traditional Chinese courtyard residence on the outskirts of Rongcheng.
After getting out of the car, Ji Yaoguang and Wu Moling headed straight for the pavilion.
Inside the pavilion, an elderly man with a youthful face and crane-white hair was playing a board game with his grandson.
The old man was none other than Hua Ming, the divine physician of Western Shu.
The instant he saw Ji Yaoguang, Hua Ming's hand trembled, and the game piece in his fingers fell onto the table and rolled off.
My medicine couldn't save Ji Yaoguang. She shouldn't have woken up!
But judging by her rosy complexion, she's clearly recovered extremely well. Hua Ming himself was bewildered, doubting his own medical experience for the first time.
After greeting the two politely, Ji Yaoguang made no attempt to conceal her gratitude. "Elder Hua, your Soul-Returning Pill saved my life."
"Ha... ha." Hua Ming gave two awkward chuckles and stroked his beard to ease his embarrassment.
Wu Moling knew perfectly well that it was Lin Fei, not Hua Ming, who had cured the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Poisons. Unable to hold back, she blurted out, "Sister Yaoguang, the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Poisons was Lin Fei's..."
Before she could continue, however, Ji Yaoguang cut her off sharply. "Moling!"
Seeing that Ji Yaoguang would not listen, Wu Moling sighed and let the matter drop.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Hua Ming took Ji Yaoguang's pulse, saying he wanted to check her recovery.
Yet the result only puzzled him further-Ji Yaoguang showed not the slightest sign of poisoning. She was extraordinarily healthy!
Unable to hide his astonishment, Hua Ming was about to ask a question when he saw Ji Yaoguang hold out a black card.
"Miss Ji, what is this?" Hua Ming asked instinctively.
Ji Yaoguang smiled, placed the black card directly on the table, and said generously, "You saved my life, Elder Hua. It's only right that I show my appreciation."
"There are eighty million in this account. It's a token of my gratitude. Please accept it, Elder Hua."
Eighty... eighty million?!
Hua Ming admitted to himself that he was tempted. His heart pounded fiercely.
Wu Moling could not hold back again and said with some objection, "Sister Yaoguang..."
Before she could finish, however, Ji Yaoguang interrupted her once more, saying firmly, "Repaying kindness-isn't that the most basic principle of being a person?"
Wu Moling felt stifled. Torn and frustrated, she had no idea what to say.
Hua Ming had originally intended to say that his medicine could not actually cure the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Poisons, but faced with such an enormous payment, he hesitated.
In the end, Hua Ming put on a deeply moved expression and said, "You're most thoughtful, Miss Ji. It would be discourteous for this old man to refuse."
Hua Ming accepted the black card after all, then saw the two women off with his grandson.
Watching the Ferrari speed away in a cloud of dust, Hua Ming wore a complicated expression and heaved a long sigh. As though trying to comfort himself, he muttered, "It must have been my Soul-Returning Pill taking effect."
"Yes. If I wasn't the one who saved Ji Yaoguang, who else under heaven could have saved her?"
Meanwhile, inside the Ferrari, Wu Moling looked glum and would not speak to Ji Yaoguang.
After returning to the company, Wu Moling excused herself to use the restroom. From there, she called Lin Fei and told him how Hua Ming had swindled Ji Yaoguang out of eighty million.
After hearing her over the phone, Lin Fei fell silent for a moment. A cold glint flashed through his eyes. "No one can pocket my wife's money without paying the price!"
His words rang out like clashing metal, each one striking the ground with resounding force.