Chapter 98: Poisoned, Stirring Up Trouble

"Shopkeeper, what's going on! He was fine, how could a person end up like this?" a diner shouted. "Could it be that your medicinal dish is at fault!"

The crowd, hearing this, set down their bowls and chopsticks, and looked at the man lying on the floor with terrified faces, wondering what to do if the medicinal dish were truly poisonous.

Chi Nan Yi picked up the Silver Needle, intending to see what poison the man had taken, when a woman rushed in, threw herself onto the man and began to wail: "Husband, what's wrong with you? Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

The woman shook the man on the ground desperately, with such force that even the onlookers nearby thought it was excessive.

"If you keep shaking him, he'll be as good as dead even if he doesn't actually die."

Hearing that, the woman released her grip on the man's hand and fixed her gaze tightly on Chi Nan Yi.

"It's you! You're the one who killed my husband."

"I…"

"Your medicine is three parts poison; you keep saying the medicinal dish is health‑nourishing, but in reality? Everyone, look!" the woman shouted hoarsely. "This is clearly a profit‑driven, life‑killing poison!" She clutched Chi Nan Yi's hand tightly: "Murder must be repaid! I want you to repay my husband!"

"Your husband hasn't died yet!" Chi Nan Yi said calmly. "But if you don't save him now, he will truly die."

The woman, hearing that, was startled.

Not dead?

How could that be?

In fact, when Chi Nan Yi examined his pulse, he detected an abnormality; the poison was rapid and fierce, and if not antidoted immediately—within the time a incense stick burns—he would lose his life.

So at the critical moment, he secretly took a pill and used it to hang onto the man's life.

Hearing Chi Nan Yi say that, the crowd saw that the man's chest was indeed still rising and falling.

So, indeed, he hasn't truly died.

The woman's complexion shifted; Chi Nan Yi saw the doubt and panic in her eyes, and his lips curled slightly: "What, you don't want your husband to live?"

"Nonsense!" the woman hurriedly denied. "How could I not wish my husband to live?"

"Then what does that regretful expression on your face mean?"

"Who…who is regretting?"

Chi Nan Yi strolled over to the man, took out the Silver Needle and lightly pricked the tip of his index finger; black blood dripped down the needle, and the Silver Needle instantly turned black.

"What are you going to do to my husband?" the woman asked, but Chi Nan Yi's heavy voice replied: "Deadly Powder."

"What Deadly Powder?" the woman's panic deepened. "He was poisoned precisely because he ate your medicinal dish. I'm telling you, don't try to shirk responsibility; today, no matter what, you must be held accountable!"

"Hm, is that so?" Chi Nan Yi walked to the table where the man had been eating, placed the Silver Needle into it, and shortly the needle also turned black, showing that the bowl of medicinal dish had been adulterated.

"Hmph! How can you still deny it now? Clearly it's your family's food that's at fault!"

Chi Nan Yi gave a faint smile: "I have never met any of you, let alone bear any enmity. Why would I harm you? Even if I wanted to hurt someone, why would I do it in my own shop?"

"How would I know?" the woman lifted her chin and said. "I don't care! Anyway the person was poisoned in your shop; don't think I'm trying to extort your silver. I'm telling you, I don't want silver, I only want justice! I want justice for my husband! I will seize you to see an official!"

The onlookers, hearing her, felt that the woman wasn't merely causing trouble on purpose, since she wouldn't even demand silver.

"You can demand justice, but before you do, shouldn't you first see whether your husband is alive or dead?" Chi Nan Yi looked at the man whose breathing was gradually weakening and said unhurriedly: "If you truly care about your husband, shouldn't the first thing you do when he was poisoned be to seek a physician? And you? You don't seek a physician and only come to me to argue—what are your true intentions?"

"I…" the woman stammered. "I was just anxious in my heart, and overlooked it."

"What if I say I can cure him?"

"What?"

"I can neutralize his poison." Chi Nan Yi smiled and said: "I happen to know some medical skill; the Deadly Powder's toxin is fierce but not hard to counter. I can help your husband detoxify the Deadly Powder, what do you think?"

"You…" the woman thought anxiously, wondering if this girl could truly undo the Deadly Powder's toxin.

"No!" she blocked Chi Nan Yi's path. "You poisoned my husband, and now you claim to treat him; who knows what intentions you have? I can't trust you."

"Since he's already taken the Deadly Powder, if I don't save him he'll die anyway. So if I fail to revive him, you can deal with him as you wish, okay?"

Hearing that, the woman glanced around, then looked back at the man on the brink of death and nodded: "Remember your own words; if my husband dies, you won't survive either!"

Yun Shan, standing not far behind Chi Nan Yi, furrowed his brows; this woman was truly relentless.

Chi Nan Yi turned to glance at Yun Shan, gave him a signal, and Yun Shan's figure slipped away quietly.

Chi Nan Yi placed the antidote pill into his mouth, then used the Silver Needle to pierce acupuncture points on the man's arm and crown; shortly, thin black blood oozed from his fingertips, emitting a strong foul odor, causing the onlookers to cover their mouths and noses.

Ouch—what's that smell! It's so stinky.

"Look, his eyes are moving!"

"Really, really moving!"

The woman never expected that the Deadly Powder's toxin would be undone so quickly.

She clenched the hem of her garment, swallowed nervously.

After a short while, the man slowly opened his eyes, filled with bewilderment.

"Th…this is…what's happening?"

"He's alive! Alive!"

"He's truly alive; the Deadly Powder's toxin was actually cured!"

"Chi, the shopkeeper, could he be a Divine Doctor?"

"Not necessarily; if she administered the poison, having an antidote isn't a very normal thing, is it?"

Hearing him say that, it seemed quite reasonable.

"What's going on? I was just drinking soup a moment ago—how…?" he covered his chest; the tearing pain he felt earlier was certainly not an illusion.

"You almost died," an elder said. "I don't know how you got poisoned, and your wife is demanding someone else risk their life!"

"Wife?" the man was stunned by the words. "Elder, how could that be? I'm still unmarried, where would a wife come from?"

"What? Unmarried?" the crowd gasped, that woman just now…

The crowd looked toward the hall, but there was no sign of that woman.

Chi Nan Yi smiled knowingly; his guess was indeed correct.

That man was dining at the shop for the first time today; before ordering, Chi Nan Yi took his pulse and found the man had never had any romantic affairs. When the woman grabbed his arm earlier, Chi Nan Yi seized the chance to feel her pulse; she was clearly no longer a virgin and had borne children, indicating they were not truly husband and wife.

At this moment, the woman was briskly running toward the end of the street.

"Stop."