Nie Shan chuckled, no longer talking. Even he was wary of his senior brother Ye Chenghong’s scheming nature; continuing to tease might very well mean he’d actually have to face the wall to reflect on his actions soon.
After the jesting, the atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably, and Ming Yuan’s mood was no longer as heavy as before.
Ye Chenghong lowered his head and looked at the weakened Ming Yuan lying in bed, asking softly, "Ming Yuan, what exactly happened that day? Weren’t you going to treat a patient? How did you get poisoned by Qing Frost?"
Ming Yuan took a weak breath, recalled the scene from that day, and his eyes became somewhat animated.
"Sect Leader Uncle, on the fifth day of the month, I accepted an invitation from a patient to treat him. Long before that day, I had thoroughly checked the patient’s body. His pulse was strange, seemingly normal. He didn’t appear sick or poisoned, just like a very healthy person. But every midnight, he would vomit blood incessantly, completely wracked in agony."
Perhaps because his body was too weak, Ming Yuan took a noticeable deep breath after speaking at length, paused for a while, then continued, "Later, I carefully inspected his house and found that everything, from pots and pans used for cooking to cups for drinking water, was smeared with a colorless, tasteless poison. This poison was exceptionally peculiar; I had gone over medical texts before, and only our Medicine Sect antiquarian had records of this poison. It was also sheer luck that I managed to completely cure the patient by following the antidote method recorded in the Medicine Sect antiquarian."
At this point, Ming Yuan’s emotions began to grow agitated, perhaps recalling the life-and-death moment from a month ago. Even though he was always mature and steady, he still felt some afterfear.
"After leaving the patient’s home, I took a cab straight back to Medicine Sect, then got out of the cab in the alley two streets away. To my surprise, just as the cab left, I encountered a man in black in the alley."
At this moment, the Great Elder suddenly interrupted, asking urgently, "Ming Yuan, did you get a good look at what that man looked like?"
Ming Yuan weakly coughed a few times, shook his head, and said in a faint voice, "I couldn’t see clearly. That man was very strange; he wore a rather large duckbill hat on his head and his face was covered with a thick mask. However, from his silhouette, he was skinny and around one meter seventy in height. If my eyesight serves me right, he should be at least in his forties."
Ye Chenghong and the four Elders, along with Nie Shan, silently exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock.
An Yiqing, who had silently observed everyone, noticed her master and the Elders’ expression of disbelief, her eyes slightly narrowed with deep contemplation.
Ming Yuan took a break, then continued, "At that time, I hadn’t reacted to what the man’s intentions were when he suddenly attacked without saying another word, each move fierce and clearly aiming to kill. His attacks were so fierce that I was stunned momentarily and could only defend instinctively. Actually, I did not wish to be just on the defensive, but the man’s strength was indeed great. At the very least, he was on par with you, Master, and Sect Leader Uncle, which left me with no power to fight back."
"I thought for sure I would be killed by that man’s palm, so I wanted to fight back desperately. But suddenly I smelled a strange scent. Knowing this was bad, I quickly tried to hold my breath, but it was too late. My whole body started to tingle instantly, becoming very heavy, and my vision went white. I knew I had been poisoned and wanted to fight desperately to detain that person, but he was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared." Ming Yuan, recalling the brink of life and death situation, still felt the residual fear.