Chapter 205 Qin Mang’s Decision
Chapter 205 Qin Mang’s Decision
Hek Star's Central Hospital, outside Special Ward 1.
Xia Fei hurriedly got off the hovercar. Thuram, who had already been informed of his arrival, was waiting for him at the entrance, a tense expression on his face.
"That old coot has been in a terrible condition today; I'm afraid that he won't make it past this night," informed Thuram, at the same time sneaking a peek at that transparent medicine bottle in Xia Fei's hand. Thuram knew very well that this bottle of medicine contained the six-winged skylord's venom, and he had no idea just what Xia Fei intended to do with it.
"I'm going to see the old man now," Xia Fei said in a deep voice.
Thuram nodded and led Xia Fei toward the ward.
The lobby had quite a lot of people, and they were split into two factions: One had the elder disciple Nalian taking lead; Ye Jingshan was among them as well. The other had the head of the headhunters department, Mata; those in it were fairly along in years.
Two very distinct groups were formed in that lobby, and it was apparent that they were arguing over what Qin Mang would leave behind upon his death. Both groups made the third faction, the one with Xia Fei and Thuram, look weak by comparison, be it in terms of strength or number.
Thuram and Xia Fei did not say a word and headed straight upstairs.
"Hold it right there," suddenly called Mata not too far away. The two burly men guarding the stairs heeded Mata's order and immediately extended their hands to block Thuram and Xia Fei from going forward.
"The doctors have instructed that no one should disturb Qin Mang's rest, which is why we're here in the lobby, awaiting news." Mata walked over with a smile.
"That's right. The master's condition isn't stable right now. We ought to heed the doctors' call." Nalian intentionally placed emphasis on the word 'master', clearly trying to hint how they were the real disciples of Qin Mang, therefore having a closer relation to him than the others did.
These people's covert wrestling had greatly antagonized Xia Fei right then. The old man was already tethering between life and death, yet this lot was busy fighting for the sake of personal gains.
Xia Fei's face darkened as he ignored all these people stopping him. He placed one foot on the stairs' step, causing the two, burly men to reach out in an attempt to grab hold of him.
Two vice-like grips pressed onto Xia Fei's shoulders, but they would soon regret this mistake they had just made in the next second.
A sinister smile appeared on Xia Fei's face as he made a slight motion with two hands, and Celestial Moon was unfurled.
In a silvery flash of light, with Xia Fei's quick speed, before either man could tell what had happened, two cleanly cut hands landed on the ground in unison as fresh blood spurted freely from their chopped stumps.
"Anyone who stops me is dead," growled Xia Fei in an even yet firm tone.
The two, burly men let out wails like pigs being slaughtered, their one hand clutching onto their other severed arm, trying to staunch the blood flowing as their faces paled.
None in the lobby had expected that Xia Fei would dare to play such a hand at this time, not at all placing anyone present in his regard.
"Well said!'' Thuram laughed uproariously, wagging a single finger at Mata's nose. "Stay here obediently if you don't wish to die. Yours truly will sever the legs of anyone who dare take a single step on this flight of stairs. Take two and I'll be sure to end your very life."
With that, Thuram rapped the concrete wall beside him with his finger. Following a crisp sound was the appearance of a circular hole, around the thickness of an index finger, on previously hole-less wall.
This was a metal-alloy-reinforced concrete wall, which was far sturdier than steel, yet Thuram's one finger had managed to so easily pierced through it as if it were just a thin sheet of paper, showing his truly frightening cultivation.
Everyone was stupefied. Both Xia Fei and Thuram were acting like reckless madmen, and from the way they looked, it was evident that they had no wish to talk things through logically today and would be more than happy to let their fists do the talking, instead.
Thuram used his two hands to grab hold of the collars of the two, recently handless men and tossed them from the stairs right out into the hospital garden, letting them continue their pain-filled cries there.
Mata's expression went pale. It appeared that Thuram had also steeled himself as he stood beside Xia Fei; were Xia Fei alone, a glance from him would render the boy dead, but adding Thuram into the equation meant that he had to weigh the situation once more.
Thuram and Mata were department heads in the Adjudicator Union, both wielding much power. If neither of them was to throw caution to the wind and not give the other face, the result would most definitely be a bloodbath.
The problem now was that Thuram had taken the initiative and torn off his façade first—a clear indication that he was willing to stake his life for this. All that was left was to see how Mata would respond.
Thuram swaggered fitfully from the stairs and sat down, calling, "Xia Fei, what are you waiting for? Go do what you intend to do. There's no need to be courteous if anyone wishes to stop you. I'll take care of the consequences."
Xia Fei nodded and quickly jogged up the stairs.
Nalian was staying in the background with the other disciples, waiting for Thuram and Mata to end up heavily injuring each other. The cunning Mata had of course considered all this, and while he could ignore a shrimp like Nalian, the old tiger Thuram was far from easy to deal with.
Mata's plan was to try and falsify the elderly curator's will the moment Qin Mang died, but if that were to fail, he would resort to using force to get his hands on the things he wanted. When that happened, it was crucial that nothing would fall onto Thuram's lap, since that old man was the only person Mata had no way of dealing with out of everyone here.
He did not expect Thuram to provoke him directly in front of so many others, clearly trying to incite them to fight. As such, that intricate plan he had was completely rendered useless.
"Mr. Thuram, we can always talk about any issues we have with each other. Is there really a need to do it in front of these blind fools?" Mata temporarily decided not to ignore the appropriate decorum they afforded to each other, adopting a wait-and-see approach.
Nalian was visibly disappointed. He was originally the weakest in terms of strength, so with Mata and Thuram being unwilling to fight, he had essentially lost his opportunity to fish in troubled waters. He cursed both old men inwardly, wondering to himself if he should join one of the sides. After all, he had no way of gaining anything from either Thuram or Mata.
The situation was at an impasse right now, but everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm, since all of them believed that Qin Mang was on his death bed and there was no way for the man to survive.
...
While everyone downstairs was harboring their selfish motive, Xia Fei reached Qin Mang's ward. Without Mata's order, neither of the men standing guard stopped him.
He unceremoniously asked the doctors and nurses in the room to leave, then he locked the door behind them before walking over to Qin Mang's side. At the same time, he kept checking for any movement inside the ward, just in case.
Qin Mang looked completely weary, lying feebly on that sick bed. He squinted his eyes and said, "There's no need to look. No one's around, though there is a monitoring camera.
Xia Fei nodded and said with a serious expression, "Old man, do you trust me?"
...
Qin Mang smiled, "Just what shady idea have you come up with this time?"
"Not some shady idea, but it might cost you your life."
"An idea that might cost me my life? I'm already at heaven's doorstep at this point; aren't you a bit too late for that."
With a flip of his palm, Xia Fei revealed that bottle of brown medicine. "This is a poison that has been concocted by using the venom of a six-winged skylord."
"So what?" Qin Mang asked.
"There are two outcomes after you drink this: One, you'll immediately be poisoned and die; two, you can live a bit longer before the poison acts up and kills you," explained Xia Fei in a grave tone.
Qin Mang was surprised, curiously asking, "I understand the first outcome, but what of the second?"
Xia Fei smiled. "Old man. I won't lie to you; I've secretly trained in medicinal concoctions before, and this one here is something I've made utilizing the method of 'fighting poison with poison'. After you take this dose, it may temporarily suppress the toxin in your body, making it go dormant again."
Qin Mang went silent for a good while before he hesitantly asked, "Do you mean to say that you're using one poison to suppress another poison?"
"That's correct." Xia Fei nodded. "That's one possibility. I've already concocted the medicine, but whether you wish to take this risk or otherwise, I'll leave it up for you to decide yourself, old timer."
Just as he said that line, the door to the room suddenly burst open, and several large, strapping men came rushing in, sealing up the ward completely.
Xia Fei already knew that there were cameras monitoring the room, meaning that Mata and the others had surely heard Xia Fei's words. This was why they had made such a reckless charge into the room, hoping to stop him.
Xia Fei shoved the bottle of poison into Qin Mang's hands, getting up to his feet without another word as he swept his cold gaze around the room.
A flurry of steps could be heard outside the corridor as Mata, Thuram, Ye Jingshan, Nalian, and the others all came dashing to the ward, a look of uncertainty in their eyes.
Thuram was somewhat skeptical, and Xia Fei could guess that he probably knew that Xia Fei would get Qin Mang to drink the poison, which was why he had his reservations. After all, it was far too bizarre to attempt to fight poison with another, and no normal human being could easily accept it.
"Xia Fei, how could you give that old coot a poison to drink?" asked Thuram with knitted eyebrows.
Xia Fei remained quiet.
"Hmph! It won't be easy for you to kill my master." Ye Jingshan pointed at Xia Fei's nose as he let loose his accusation.
Xia Fei continued to remain silent, his finger rubbing his spatial ring repeatedly, ready to deal with the worst-case scenario.
"I've already explained everything to the old man. Not drinking the poison will mean certain death, while drinking it may give him a chance," Xia Fei said deeply.
"What nonsense are you spouting? How could administering poison give him a chance at survival? You're clearly intentionally trying to endanger Qin Mang," cried Mata, his eyes sharp like a hawk that was eyeing its prey.
Xia Fei smiled. "It's his life; it's up to him whether to believe me or not. He's the one making the decision here, so what are you all so anxious for?"
That was when Qin Mang miraculously sat up from his bed out of nowhere, a weak laughter leaving his lips. "Xia Fei's right. This is my decision; none of you has any right to interfere."
Qin Mang uncapped the bottle and moved it toward his lips.
Several men all across the room tried to stop Qin Mang from doing this by rushing to him.
All of a sudden, Celestial Moon's eighteen disk blades appeared and swept the air in strange arcs, preventing any of these men from advancing toward Qin Mang.
"This is the old man's choice; don't blame me for being merciless with my blade if any of you try to stop him."
Xia Fei's anger erupted. A powerful killing intent then overwhelmed the room as if the grim reaper himself had appeared there to stop them all.
"Glug glug glug!"
Old man Qin Mang did not hesitate in the least. He raised his arm and poured the poison down his throat.