Chapter 57: 56. The Scorpion Beauty

56. The Scorpion Beauty

"Husband, I personally cooked your favorite Spirit Chicken noodles today. I've already served them and placed them on the dining table in the hall. Go eat them quickly, or the noodles will soak up the broth and lose their texture if left for too long."

Song Huaying walked out from the room with a virtuous look on her face and said.

As she spoke, she stopped in front of Chen An and opened her arms toward Chen Yuejian, who was in his embrace, saying:

"Xiao Yuejian, come to Mommy. Daddy needs to go eat breakfast."

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Chen Yuejian shook her head like a rattle-drum, reached out to wrap her arms around her father's neck, and pressed against his shoulder, refusing to leave his embrace.

Seeing this, Song Huaying's willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, wanting to scold this disobedient daughter.

Chen An, who doted on his daughter, smiled and said, "It's fine, I'll just go in and hold her while I eat."

"Husband, that will spoil the child!"

Song Huaying pouted, feeling that her husband was far too indulgent toward their daughter.

Looking at his young wife's rosy lips, Chen An couldn't help but lean in to kiss her, then smiled and pinched her tender lips with his fingers, saying, "It's fine, I'll spoil her just this once. If she does it again next time, I'll let you scold her."

"Alright then."

Song Huaying pursed her thin lips and said.

They arrived in the hall.

Chen An sat down with his daughter to eat the noodles together.

"I want to eat Daddy!"

Chen Yuejian looked at the noodles in the bowl, her little mouth drooling as she spoke.

Chen An was amused, pinched her little cheek, and corrected her:

"Xiao Yuejian, you should say it like this: 'Daddy, I want to eat!'"

"Not: 'I want to eat Daddy!'"

"Daddy is not the noodles in the bowl; he cannot be eaten."

Chen Yuejian did not understand what her father was saying.

She was only one year old and could only express her most primal needs; she could not yet fully understand what adults said.

Chen An naturally knew this, but he still had to teach her patiently.

If he taught her enough, she would understand sooner or later.

But if he didn't teach her and relied on her to understand slowly on her own, then she might never have a chance at the "sooner" part of "sooner or later."

"I want to eat Daddy!"

Seeing that her father wasn't feeding her the noodles, Chen Yuejian expressed her desire to eat again with an anxious look on her face.

Song Huaying, who was to the side, saw this and immediately scolded her with an unhappy look:

"You little girl, when Mommy fed you earlier you wouldn't eat, and now you want your daddy to feed you? Why are you so naughty?!"

"Ugh—"

Chen Yuejian felt like crying after being scolded; her little mouth puckered up instantly, her small willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, and she let out a long, whimpering sound.

Song Huaying did not indulge her, staring directly at her and saying, "Chen Yuejian, if you dare to cry, don't sleep with me tonight!"

Seeing that her mother was truly angry, Chen Yuejian's "spellcasting" was interrupted, and she dared not cry any further.

Chen An watched, feeling both amused and helpless.

After finishing breakfast.

They rested for a while.

Feeling that the time was about right.

Chen An walked into the Alchemy Room and began to refine the pills that were to be delivered to the Logistics Department of the Bamboo Leaf Gang tomorrow.

Just as he was preparing to light the furnace, a loud, anxious voice suddenly came from outside the house.

"Alchemist Chen, are you there!"

"Help!"

"My son has been poisoned, I beg you to come out and save him!"

This was the voice of Mo Lifang.

Chen An recognized it, and his heart was filled with doubt.

On the road back just now, her son had clearly looked lively and energetic; how could he be dying of poison in the blink of an eye?

He didn't think too much about it, grabbed a bottle of Detoxification Pill, stuffed it into his robe, and left the Alchemy Room, intending to go out and see what the situation was first.

When he arrived in the courtyard outside, his three wives and concubines were already there.

However, none of the wives and concubines had rashly opened the door; their vigilance was very high.

"Husband, that child looks like he isn't going to make it; his face has turned purple."

Song Huaying looked at the son held in Mo Lifang's arms outside the door, her face full of worry.

Kind-hearted as she was, she did not want to see a young life pass away just like that.

Wen Zhiyun and Gu Xinyue, who were to the side, felt the same.

"Creak—"

Chen An opened the courtyard gate.

Mo Lifang, outside the door, saw this and immediately walked up holding her son, her face covered in tears:

"Alchemist Chen, I beg you to save my son!"

"I beg you, Alchemist Chen!"

"As long as you can save my son, I will be your beast of burden and serve you to repay your kindness in the future!"

Mo Lifang's tone was very agitated, looking every bit like a mother desperate to save her son.

However, Chen An always felt something was not quite right.

But this was not the time to dwell on such things.

He looked at Mo Lifang and asked, "What kind of poison did your son ingest, and when did it happen?"

Mo Lifang hurriedly replied, "I just took him to the woods to pick snake berries, and I don't know what bit his neck, but he suddenly turned purple in the face and collapsed; it hasn't been long, less than a quarter of an hour!"

After hearing this, Chen An examined the wound on the child's neck.

After identifying it for a moment.

He discovered it was a bite from a Thousand Poison Spider.

His brows furrowed immediately.

He glanced at Mo Lifang before him, wanting to say something to her, but ultimately said nothing.

He simply took out a Detoxification Pill and stuffed it into the widow's child's mouth, deciding to help the child detoxify first.

The Thousand Poison Spider's venom was potent, but it just so happened that it could be neutralized by the Detoxification Pill.

It was just that the child's consciousness was already fading, so it took some effort to get him to swallow the Detoxification Pill.

Once the Detoxification Pill entered the stomach.

The purple color on the child's face faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It began to regain its healthy color.

Chen An observed for a while.

Seeing that no abnormal conditions appeared, he said to Mo Lifang:

"Alright, there is no major issue now; take your son home to rest for a few days and he will recover."

"Thank you, thank you Alchemist Chen for your life-saving grace!"

Mo Lifang knelt down to kowtow to Chen An, saying gratefully as she did so: "Alchemist Chen's great kindness and virtue, I, a weak First-tier woman, have no way to repay, so I am willing to become a maid in Alchemist Chen's household, at the beck and call of Alchemist Chen's family!"

"No need, it was a small matter; take your son back."

Chen An waved his hand, issuing a dismissal to Mo Lifang.

Mo Lifang was very tactful and hurriedly said gratefully: "Then I will not disturb Alchemist Chen any further; I will forever keep Alchemist Chen's life-saving grace in my heart, and if there is an opportunity in the future, I will certainly repay it well."

After speaking, she picked up the child and left.

After she had walked far away, Chen An's expression turned cold instantly.

He instructed his three wives and concubines beside him:

"You three, from now on, stay far away from that female cultivator just now; do not go near her, and even if she were to die in front of our door, you must absolutely not open the door to save her."

Hearing him say this, the wives and concubines could not help but knit their willow brows.

Among them, Song Huaying asked: "Husband, what is the situation with this?"

Chen An explained: "The Thousand Poison Spider is a venomous insect that, although carrying deadly poison, is exceptionally timid by nature; it will actively move away as soon as it sees a person approach within ten meters."

"There are only two scenarios where someone can be bitten by a Thousand Poison Spider."

"One, the person actively tries to catch the Thousand Poison Spider and is accidentally bitten, but in this case, it usually only bites the hand."

"Two, someone catches the Thousand Poison Spider and places it on the person, forcing the Thousand Poison Spider to bite them."

"Furthermore, did you notice that the anxious expression on that female cultivator's face just now was a bit unnatural?"

Hearing this, the wives and concubines all turned solemn.

They had not noticed the unnatural expression on Mo Lifang's face, but they could understand their husband's introduction to the Thousand Poison Spider.

Song Huaying felt a chill run down her spine and said in disbelief:

"Husband, do you mean that the reason the child was bitten by the Thousand Poison Spider just now was that his mother did it on purpose?"

"If nothing else, that is the case."

"This..."

Song Huaying felt her worldview had been overturned.

Wen Zhiyun, who was to the side, frowned and asked:

"Husband, what is the purpose of that female cultivator doing this?"

"I am not sure, but I suspect it is to get close to me and become one of my wives or concubines."

Chen An said without the slightest concealment.

Upon hearing this, the wives and concubines suddenly realized.

During this period, they were all clear about the situation in Green Willow Alley.

Widows were as common as dogs, and orphans were everywhere.

The widows were all trying every possible way to find a good family for themselves.

When there are many people, all kinds of unscrupulous methods appear.

And that widow surnamed Mo just now was a scorpion beauty.

After eating lunch.

Chen An returned to the Alchemy Room to finish refining the medicinal pills to be sold at Zhenbao Hang tomorrow.

After eating dinner.

He followed his usual routine of taking his wives, concubines, and daughter for a walk in the courtyard.

There was no help for it; it was not safe outside.

They could only walk around at home.

Seeing that the time was about right, he took his daughter to the room to coax her to sleep.

Waiting until his daughter had fallen into a sweet slumber.

Next, it was time for an upgrade.

To save himself from unnecessary trouble, Chen An had his three wives and concubines bathe together, go to the room together to exchange insights, and plan their future life together.

After one night.

Chen An sat up from the bed, feeling somewhat exhausted.

His dark circles were very heavy.

But he was not particularly sleepy.

Ever since his cultivation broke through to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, his need for sleep had decreased significantly.

Occasionally pulling an all-nighter, he could remain energetic even if he did not sleep the next day.

With a thought, he called up the notification messages generated with his wives and concubines last night.

【Fire Spirit Root aptitude +2】 x33

【Alchemy Experience +3】 x9

【Divine Sense strength +3】 x28

【Golden Finger proficiency +3+3+2+3+2+2+2+3+2+3……】

"Not bad, the improvement is quite significant."

Chen An smiled with gratification.

Afterwards, he moved his thoughts again to call up the attribute panels of his three wives and concubines and himself to check the data.

【Name: Song Huaying】

【Affection: 3 stars (1888/2500)】

……

【Name: Gu Xinyue】

【Affection: 3 stars (1314/2500)】

……

【Name: Wen Zhiyun】

【Affection: 2 stars (108/500)】

……

【Name: Chen An】

【Cultivation: Qi Refining Eighth Layer】

【Alchemy: First-tier Advanced (2223/2500)】

【Divine Sense: First-tier Advanced (1456/2500)】

【Golden Finger: Mastery (2333/2500)】

【Sleep Aid Technique: 336/500】

"Both Alchemy and Golden Finger are about to break through."

"I will strive to break through in Alchemy within ten days."

"I will strive to break through in Golden Finger within today."

Looking at the progress bars for Alchemy and Golden Finger displayed on the panel, Chen An could not help but feel slightly invigorated.

……

PS: Setting out the bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!