Chapter 273: The Poison of the Human Heart

On the Dragon-Tiger Platform, Li Fei stood.

Below the platform, Liu Zheng lay.

Li Fei truly did not dare to expose his real strength, but at the final moment, the most critical juncture, he still used the Myriad Blood Bead to forcefully block Liu Zheng's attack, and even utilized "Blood Rage."

If it were only a momentary anomaly, it could actually be accepted; there would not even be a need for Li Fei to explain, as others would automatically "fill in the blanks" and assume it was some kind of ultimate technique of his.

"Good!!!"

After a brief silence, applause and cheers erupted in the restaurant.

Clearly, they were all coming from the Zhang family members.

"Good—"

Subsequently, the audience around the Dragon-Tiger Platform also clapped and cheered one after another.

They actually did not care that much about who won; they cared more about whether the fight between the two sides was exciting to watch.

In their view, this final duel was very exciting and fought with great momentum!

"He actually, really won?"

In the crowd, Zhao Yi stared blankly at the figure on the platform.

She knew about the Limit-Breaking Pill because she had a Master who was a Great Mage of the Possession Realm, who had told her many things about the world of martial arts.

A martial artist at the peak of the Qi Transformation Realm who takes a Limit-Breaking Pill has strength that approaches the Dao Foundation Realm!

Such an opponent, and Li Fei was actually able to win?

Although it was won under the rules of the ring match, it was still enough to make Zhao Yi feel shocked.

Such a person, could she really defeat such a person?

Zhao Yi was actually not afraid of climbing high mountains, because she was determined to become the number one.

But what made her feel chilled was that the high mountain she had to climb was still growing taller at an extremely fast speed!

At this moment, the joy of successfully breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm was gone.

How long would it take me to catch up to such a peerless genius? Ten years? Twenty years?

Zhao Yi fell into confusion.

On the Dragon-Tiger Platform, Li Fei looked up toward a certain spot in the restaurant.

There, Chu Bo stood with an expressionless face.

The moment Liu Zheng was swept off the platform, he actually wanted to leave right then and there.

But reason forced him to stand where he was.

If he left at this time, it would only make the already disgraced Chu family even more disgraced.

"Chief Helmsman Chu."

Li Fei looked at Chu Bo and said in a clear voice.

When he spoke, the surroundings quickly quieted down.

"Does the Chu family have anyone else who wants to come up?"

Li Fei asked.

Chu Bo clenched his fists, but his face remained relatively calm:

"No more."

"Good."

Li Fei nodded, "Then I hope Chief Helmsman Chu can keep the agreement; starting tomorrow, bring everyone from the Chu family to the Zhang residence to keep vigil for three days!"

Chu Bo was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly:

"Good."

Leaving this word behind, he turned and left.

"Whew—"

In another restaurant, the members of the Zhang family all breathed a sigh of relief and then began to cheer.

With today's battle, plus the Chu family coming to the Zhang residence to keep vigil, the Zhang family could finally catch their breath in this dangerous situation and see a glimmer of hope!

Shangguan Xiao looked at the figure below, and the scene of her first meeting with Li Fei surfaced in her mind.

At that time, Li Fei was still a junior martial nephew who needed her protection.

But now, this junior martial nephew had grown into someone she could rely on with peace of mind.

Soon, Li Fei and Shangguan Xiao returned to the Zhang residence together.

After returning to the Zhang residence, Li Fei intended to take off the Level 4 protective suit he was wearing and return it to the Zhang family, but he was stopped by Zhang Zedong.

This Level 4 protective suit belonged to the first branch, and there was only this one.

Zhang Zongyang actually had one too, but that was from the General Academy of Stopping Conflict and belonged to the public; after he died, the protective suit was taken back.

"You solved the crisis for my Zhang family and restored our reputation; just keep this protective suit, consider it my Zhang family's gratitude to you."

Zhang Zedong said to Li Fei in front of all the Zhang family members.

These words made everyone's expressions vary.

The value of a Level 4 protective suit was comparable to a Level 5 exotic weapon; both were treasures that were priceless and hard to find. For Zhang Zedong to just give one to Li Fei like this, his actions could not be called anything but generous.

But for winning over a peerless genius like Li Fei, it also seemed very worthwhile, especially at a time like this.

Li Fei wanted to politely decline, but was stopped by Shangguan Xiao.

She looked at Li Fei: "Just accept it. You may face risks in the future, and if you wear a Level 4 protective suit, I will feel more at ease."

Since Shangguan Xiao had spoken, Li Fei did not act coy and thanked Zhang Zedong.

This scene made the people from the second and third branches nearby look somewhat unnatural.

With the external crisis temporarily resolved, the infighting began again.

Or rather, the infighting had never stopped.

Next, Zhang Zedong wanted to arrange a room for Shangguan Xiao, but was refused by her.

"I will not be staying at the Zhang residence from now on."

Shangguan Xiao said calmly.

"Little sister!"

Zhang Zedong looked at her with some helplessness, "At a time like this, must you continue to draw such a clear line with the family?"

Shangguan Xiao looked at him with cold eyes: "Second brother, this time the Zhang family is in trouble, and I will definitely do my best to help the Zhang family get through this crisis, but I have never coveted the position of family head."

In this world where might makes right, there are families where women are the heads, so if Shangguan Xiao really wanted to fight for it, she would actually have a great advantage.

But she had never thought about fighting for it.

Zhang Zedong: "."

Shangguan Xiao swept a glance at the people present with their varied expressions; she saw secret joy in the eyes of many, which made the disdain in her heart grow even stronger:

"I will not ignore the Zhang family, but as for this position of family head, whoever wants to fight for it can fight for it; my surname is Shangguan, not Zhang."

Leaving this final sentence behind, Shangguan Xiao turned and left.

Li Fei followed closely behind.

The two walked out of the Zhang residence one after the other, walking slowly along the street.

"Do you think I am being hypocritical, clearly unable to let go of the family, yet wanting to draw a line with them?"

Shangguan Xiao suddenly asked.

Li Fei heard this and said calmly: "I don't know the entanglements between you and your family, Master Aunt, so I will not comment."

Do not urge others to be kind without having experienced their suffering.

Li Fei had always believed in such a principle.

Shangguan Xiao smiled, then said in an indifferent tone:

"I am just long tired of the disputes of these families and those ugly faces. In this world, the ones who hurt you the deepest may often not be your enemies, but your family, the people closest to you."

Li Fei nodded, feeling deeply touched.

"I promised to protect the Zhang family and help the family get through this difficulty only because I feel I owe my father, so I cannot let the Zhang family fall. But if it comes down to each individual in the family, if I were asked to risk my life for those who only care about their own interests, I would only feel disgust."

Shangguan Xiao shook her head and looked at Li Fei, "It's just that I've implicated you..."

She let Li Fei accept that Level 4 protective suit, which was actually helping Li Fei get benefits in advance.

She herself could help the Zhang family without expecting a reward, but Li Fei had no such obligation; as his Master Aunt, she did not want Li Fei to suffer a loss.

"Master Aunt."

Li Fei interrupted her, "There is no talk of implication. In this world, some things do not need to be drawn so clearly. For example, if I encountered any difficulties in Datong Prefecture, I believe you and Master would also choose to help me without hesitation."

A smile appeared on Shangguan Xiao's face: "Good, then let's not talk about this."

Next, the two walked into a guesthouse.

This guesthouse was built by the government and was specifically used to receive officials from other places coming to the prefectural city.

Shangguan Xiao was an official of the imperial court, so she naturally had the qualifications to stay here.

Staying here, she at least did not have to worry about her own safety.

Even if those enemies outside were crazy, they would not dare to kill their way into a government guesthouse at this juncture.

Moreover, with a fourth-rank official already dead, if another imperial official staying in the government guesthouse were to meet with an accident, then the Garrison Commander of Datong Prefecture, the Chief Inspector of the General Inspectorate, the Head of the General Academy of Stopping Conflict, and other big shots could all just resign!

Actually, Shangguan Xiao could have stayed in a higher-spec guesthouse, but since the investigation team from the provincial capital was currently staying there, she would not go join the crowd; after all, she was considered an involved party and needed to avoid suspicion.

After registering at the front desk and opening a room, Li Fei followed Shangguan Xiao into the room.

Shangguan Xiao still had things to ask him.

"Did you find any inside information through the General Inspectorate?"

After closing the room door securely, Shangguan Xiao asked.

Li Fei had previously said he would use his identity as a secret inspector of the General Inspectorate to try and learn more about the inside story of the case regarding the murder of Zhang Zongyang.

"There is, it concerns your father's autopsy."

Li Fei nodded.

When Zhang Zongyang's autopsy was performed, people from various parties were present, so the General Inspectorate also obtained a copy of the results.

Logically, Li Fei would not have the authorization to know these results, but perhaps because he was Shangguan Xiao's grand-nephew, for reasons unknown, Xia Huan had Lu Mengyang reveal an important piece of intelligence to him:

"A very rare toxin was detected on your father's body; the preliminary judgment is that he was poisoned while alive with a potent toxin that would trigger at a set time."

"What did you say?!"

Shangguan Xiao stood up abruptly, murderous intent appearing in her eyes.

She had always had one major doubt regarding Zhang Zongyang's death: who exactly possessed the strength to kill him?

Zhang Zongyang was a long-renowned Dao Foundation realm expert who had already integrated three types of implants and cultivated all of them to the Qi Transformation realm, having mastered high-level force.

Such combat power was in the upper echelon even among Dao Foundation realm experts.

Within the borders of Datong Prefecture, there were perhaps still quite a few experts capable of defeating Zhang Zongyang, but very few who could kill him, because the vitality of a Dao Foundation realm expert is extremely tenacious, making them very, very difficult to kill.

And on the night Zhang Zongyang was murdered, from the moment the sounds of battle emerged from that villa until the fighting ended, it took less than five minutes in total.

To kill a Dao Foundation realm expert like Zhang Zongyang in five minutes, leaving the opponent unable to even escape, was something few people in the entire Datong Prefecture could do.

And almost none of those few people had a reason to kill Zhang Zongyang.

This was the point that Shangguan Xiao could not figure out no matter how much she thought about it.

Now, this doubt finally had an answer:

It turned out her father had been poisoned while alive!

"What kind of poison is it?"

Shangguan Xiao asked.

Li Fei shook his head: "It is still unclear; toxins capable of taking effect on Dao Foundation realm experts are truly too rare."

"What else do you want to say?"

Shangguan Xiao saw that Li Fei was hesitating to speak.

Li Fei hesitated for a moment, then said slowly:

"After I entered the Martial University, I followed a teacher who specializes in toxicology to learn about the use of poisons. He told me that poisons like this, which can trigger at set intervals, are actually custom-made and require long-term observation and research."

Shangguan Xiao stared fixedly at Li Fei: "What did you say?!"

She was a smart person and possessed an instinct that could strike straight to the heart of a matter, so she understood Li Fei's meaning in an instant.

If it takes long-term observation and research to concoct a poison that triggers at set intervals, then who could have observed and researched Zhang Zongyang for a long time?

The most likely candidates were the people around him—the people of the Zhang family!

In this instant, Shangguan Xiao suddenly felt her body grow cold.

A poison capable of ensnaring a Dao Foundation realm expert was indeed terrifying, but what she found even more terrifying was the poison of the human heart!

Asking for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)