Chapter 200: An Even More Toxic Poison
Right in front of the ward, before Mata could open the door and walk in, Thuram stopped in his feet and said, “Mr. Mata, I’ve got a sudden urge to pee; go ahead without me.”
“Uhh…” Mata was a bit hesitant. “Right, I’ll go see Qin Mang first,”
Thuram then gave Xia Fei a look; the two of them then walked along the hallway.
“You don’t want to enter with him, do you?” Xia Fei asked with a smile on his face.
Thuram nodded and arrived at a window with Xia Fei. The two of them looked outside from the third floor. “That Mata wouldn’t come here for no reason. He might also have his eyes on Qin Mang’s belongings.”
Xia Fei kept quiet. This battlefield was far beyond his control. He did not know who these people or what their intentions were, so it was difficult for him to make a judge.
The two of them spent over an hour in the hallway. Mata aimed to arrive after Thuram just to listen in on what they would talk to Qin Mang, but his plan had been foiled by Thuram at the door.
Qin Mang did not like Mata, so he pretended to fall asleep after a few words. Mata was put in a tight spot, needing to leave despite not wanting to, but in the end he could only hesitantly leave Qin Mang’s ward.
Once he left the room, he was greeted by Thuram and Xia Fei looking at him with a smile.
Mata curled the corner of his lips. “Little brother Thuram, your trip to the bathroom sure was long.”
Thuram laughed. “Heh, it couldn’t be helped. My kidney hasn’t been doing too well at this age.”
Mata walked downstairs with a sullen face. Thuram and Xia Fei then entered the room and locked the door behind them. Mata let out a cold snort, for he was mad about more than one thing.
The ward was s.p.a.cious and well lit. Qin Mang was on the bed, completely pale. There was a large apparatus with flas.h.i.+ng indicator lights beside him that was working this entire time.
This was a cell-purification machine. The lamp at the top shone a cleansing light onto Qin Mang, removing all the poison from his body. There was also a transparent tube connected to Qin Mang’s blood vessels that was drawing blood into the machine to be purified before reentering it into his body.
Advanced apparatuses like such cost tens of thousands of star coins per minute to operate. If the one who got poisoned was an average person, there was not much they could do other than die even if they were unwilling to, for the astronomical expenses were simply beyond what they could afford.
Upon hearing that there was someone coming in, Qin Mang slightly opened his eyes. After making out who was in his room, his lips curled to form a slight smile.
“I’ve come to see you because I heard that you’re about to die, you old coot.” Thuram said, laughing.
Qin Mang did not seem to find the mention of death taboo and even replied with a smile, “Keep dreaming; I’m still doing great, so I’ll be here for a while.”
Xia Fei joined in and greeted Qin Mang as well. There were a few comfortable sofas next to the bed; obviously, they were set down for incoming visitors. There were also some fruits among other things on the table.
Xia Fei and Thuram sat opposite Qin Mang, who then stuck out two fingers. “Do you have a cigarette?”
Xia Fei took out a half pack of Hongtashan cigarettes and lit one up for Qin Mang. Thuram furrowed his brows due to his dislike toward the smell of cigarettes, yet remained silent.
“They don’t want me smoking. In the past, I would’ve kicked that horrible doctor, but now that I’m getting on in years, I couldn’t even kick anyone even if I wanted to,” Qin Mang said softly.
Thuram rolled up his sleeves. “Which close-minded doctor was it? Tell me!”
Xia Fie and Qin Mang both laughed. As the weapons and equipment head in the Adjudicator’s Headquarters, he was nothing less than highly respected, but his brutish and unreasonable behavior was no different from when he was younger.
“Xia Fei, go out for a second; I have something to tell this old man,” said Qin Mang.
“Sure.” Xia Fei vaguely nodded and left the ward.
There were a few members of the Adjudicator Union standing along the corridor. Who knew if they were there to protect the old man or to keep him under strict observation. All of them stood there like logs, not moving even a single inch.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette as he walked to the window. At this moment, Phantom excitedly appeared from the Moore Stone.
Phantom had been hiding in his tiny, cubic hole these past few days, working on something. As there was nothing important, Xia Fei let him be.
Phantom’s eyes were glistening with excitement. “Are you sure that Qin Mang was poisoned by the six-winged skylord?”
Xia Fei nodded slowly. “Probably, why? Did you figure out a way to combat the toxins?”
Phantom shook his head. “It’s not realistic to rid the poison, but I thought of an even more toxic plan.”
Xia Fei was confused. “What does a more toxic plan have to do with the old man’s poison?”
Phantom had a mysterious smile. “Just let me finish. I came up with a medicinal formula based on the six-winged skylord’s venom. It has similar characteristics, and is also a poison that stays in the body that can trigger anytime, but before it triggers, it can temporarily suppress the other toxins in the user’s body.”
Xia Fie learned a thing or two about medicine and toxins from Phantom, so he understood it right away when Phantom said that.
“Are you saying to use an even stronger toxin to suppress the six-winged skylord’s toxins?”
“Exactly.”
Xia Fei was speechless. Phantom’s theory was similar to Chinese medicine’s theory of treating poison with poison. Since the poison in Qin Mang’s body had gotten triggered sans any medicine to combat it, he could take an even stronger slow-enacting poison to suppress the already triggered poison.
Although this would rid the user of the pain from the triggered poison, their body would be under the control of another poison, which could also trigger anytime. In the end, he would still be in limbo between life and death like his present situation.
“How long could he last?” asked Xia Fei.
“It’s hard to tell; perhaps a year, perhaps a second,” replied Phantom.
Xia Fei let out a bitter laugh. Using a poison to suppress other poison, yet in the end, the victim would still die from poison… If they were lucky, they would live like a normal person for a few more days, and that might be the best of it. If they were unlucky, the stronger poison might get triggered right away, resulting in the person dying at once, faster than they would otherwise.
This was basically gambling with their lives, but the only thing on the table was their current, half-dead state.
“Xia Fei, would you take it if you were Qin Mang?” Phantom joked.
Xia Fei answered without even thinking, “If it were me, of course I would. I’d die either way; I’d rather take what’s remaining of my life and gamble with it. If I won, I’d get to live for a few more days, and if I lost, I’d at least die happy.”
“Since you could arrive at that conclusion, Qin Mang would, too.”
Xia Fie was left silent. He also agreed with Phantom’s suggestion. The cell purification treatment was extraordinarily painful. One could tell from Qin Mang’s pale and skinny face what kind of agony he was going through. An old man, who used to be so fat that he could not walk properly, had gone down a few sizes after a few months.
No matter the case, it was horrible to poison someone as treatment. It was one thing that Xia Fei was willing to try it; it was another matter convincing someone else to put their lives on the line.
“How about you tell him about the plan once you enter the room later and let him make the choice?” suggested Phantom.
Xia Fie nodded. “We can try, but not now.”
“Why?”
“If the old man dies before we manage to create the medication, aren’t we just giving him false hope? If we promise someone, we should be able to deliver. How about we make the medication first before we put it in front of him and let him choose? For now, I’ll have to check his tone.”
Although Phantom had managed to think of this extreme method of dealing with the poison, there was not much to go on in terms of its execution and application. Xia Fei was a very thorough person and would think of everything at all angles. This was an important matter, so everything must be taken step by step instead of being rushed.
“Is your idea hard to execute?” asked Xia Fei.
Phantom shrugged. “A bit. First, we need to catch a six-winged skylord to extract its venom. Second, I’ll use other toxins and ingredients that change their medicinal properties to reverse its effect.”
Phantom’s medications had always been extreme. He liked taking alternate routes, using the most dangerous methods to achieve the best results. Xia Fei had been with Phantom for quite a while now, so he was not too surprised about his suggestion.
However, the requirement of catching a six-winged skylord alive had some difficulty to it. Setting aside the possibility of subduing such a creature of evil, it was a problem in itself if it even existed near the Endaro Star Region. If he had to travel too long a distance, Qin Mang might be gone before Xia Fei could produce the medication.
While he was deep in thought, he heard Thuram’s voice some distance away. Xia Fei walked over after stomping out his cigarette.
Thuram said aloud, “The old coot’s is waiting for you. It’s best to be on your way in case he dies soon.”
Although his words were harsh, Xia Fei noticed that there was some redness in Thuram’s eyes while something sparkled and turned at the corner of his...o...b... It was evident that he was devastated, and it was taking everything in him to stop his tears from coming out.
It was just like that sometimes; the people who praise one might not be their friends, yet the people who yelled at them might turn out to be their best comrades.
Xia Fei nodded before pus.h.i.+ng through the door into the ward. Just like when he was in the library, he got some tea leaves, brewed a cup of such for Qin Mang, and pa.s.sed it to him.
Qin Mang took the cup in his hands and took a sip before smiling. “Not bad, not bad. I’ve never gotten around to asking you: How come the tea you make with the same leaves tastes better than the ones I make?”
Xia Fei smiled. “Because of the temperature and the flow of the water.”
“Temperature and water?” Qin Mang asked curiously.
“The water can’t be too hot. At a high temperature, the water can destroy the fibers of the tea, making it murky. If it’s too low, the leaves won’t be fully hydrated and will result in an incomplete extraction of flavors.
“There’s also the flow of the water. When the water is poured in, it should be poured along the side of the cup, allowing the water to flow in a clockwise direction and form a vortex; make the tea leaves go through said vortex.”
Qin Mang was thoroughly impressed. “I’ve drank lots of tea leaves my entire life, yet I’ve never noticed these details; my whole life has truly been a waste.”
After a few moments, Qin Mang asked, “Did you manage to find Old Porter in the Death Trio Star Region?”