I was indignant.
Jing Tian put his arm around my shoulder. “Don’t be so harsh on Tong Le. He has worked so hard to reach his status today. When he took over the family, he was barely your age. Have you considered how hard it was for him? He had to bend certain rules and submit to certain people, or else the Tong Family wouldn’t have survived.”
I nodded. “I know it’s not easy for him, but I don’t want him to be bogged down by these trash relatives.”
“He is very emotional. If he is more unscrupulous in his dealing, Dragon’s Gate would be much bigger and his reputation louder. However, there is always a bottom line in Tong Le’s heart.”
I smiled. “Fine, you need to stop praising him. If he hears this, he’ll be so cocky. Anyway, you can stop beating around the bush. You’ve led me on such a long trail because you want to explain why he knows there’s another poison which can balance out forget-me-not, right?”
Jing Tian paused for a moment before pulling me into his arms. He kissed me on the forehead and sighed softly. “Nanxing, you’re too smart.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? How come you don’t look that happy?” I looked at him.
Jing Tian’s expression was complicated.
I waited for his answer.
“You had three uncles. Your Uncle Tong Hui was the one in charge of the underworld affairs. When he was alive, he met a woman and was poisoned with forget-me-not. The Tong Family fed him the counteracting poison, free-spirited grass. In the end, his mind was destroyed by these two poisons.
“Free-spirited grass can restrain the toxin of forget-me-not, but it can’t neutralize it. Eventually, the poison of forget-me-not would overcome the poison of free-spirited grass or vice versa. The final poison would mutate to become twice as poisonous. For the poisoned, it’s a fate worse than death.” Jing Tian said calmly.
I had no idea these two plants could be so dangerous.
“Then, what is the real antidote?” I was curious.
Jing Tian continued, “I also participated in the journey to find the antidote for Tong Hui. I learned about the origin of forget-me-not and how your uncle got poisoned with it. Forget-me-not was created by a witch from a primitive rainforest tribe. The witch was the holy character of the tribe.
“During a mission, Tong Hui was saved by this tribe. His life was rescued by the witch. They ended up falling for each other. For Tong Hui, this was a quick rendezvous, but for the witch, this was a connection that should last a lifetime.
“After Tong Hui recovered, he sneaked away from the tribe. Not long after he returned, he fell ill. He searched for help from many famous doctors. In the end, he had to return to the rainforest. It was a witch doctor from another tribe that gave him the free-spirited grass.”
I was gobsmacked.
“Tong Hui was still poisoned when the Tong Family was attacked. If not for his illness, the Tong Family wouldn’t fall so easily. Tong Le had always believed this was his oldest brother’s retribution. If he didn’t disappoint that holy witch, he wouldn’t be poisoned.”
I furrowed my brows. “Do you mean Tong Yan is related to that primitive witch?”
Jing Tian shook his head. “No. Everyone knew about Tong Hui’s situation since he had to go around looking for doctors. No one expected people with ulterior to venture into the rainforest tribes to try to obtain forget-me-not and free-spirited grass. They wanted to master these two poisons to rule the underworld.”
“That is crazy.” I found the story unbelievable..