The person sent to gather the herbs returned quickly with all the ingredients.
Jiang Chen went back to his room and prepared some pills to suppress the poison's flare-up.
The Nine Laughing Gold Buddha Powder was potent, but its toxicity wasn't overly fierce. With proper suppression, he could guarantee at least ten days to half a month without any acceleration of the poison's progression.
As for curing the poison entirely, Jiang Chen could do that right now—but he needed to hold something in reserve.
He had no choice but to let the young master of the Wei family suffer a few more days.
Moreover, Jiang Chen suspected that this Seventh Master might be guessing at his identity—perhaps even suspecting he was the person the Indestructible Heavenly Capital was hunting.
If he didn't keep a grip on their weak point, all manner of trouble could arise.
It wasn't that the other party would necessarily sell him out, but they could simply choose not to wade into murky waters.
Put plainly, this was mutual exploitation. Only by making himself valuable could both sides be of use to each other. And Jiang Chen's current value lay in his ability to detoxify the Nine Laughing Gold Buddha Powder.
As long as they needed to rely on this, he had nothing to fear from any schemes.
He sent the prepared pills over.
"Seventh Master, once the young master takes this pill, his symptoms will certainly ease today, and he will regain consciousness. Let's schedule the departure from the city for tomorrow at the hour of the Dragon."
Jiang Chen wasted no more words, turning and drifting away in a flash.
Say too much and it would lose its meaning. The rest was up to them to figure out. Unless these people had gone completely mad, they had no reason to press for answers.
Seventh Master held the pills, dazed in thought, momentarily indecisive.
He truly couldn't figure out this person who had volunteered himself.
"Seventh Master, what does he mean by this?"
"Seventh Master—could he be the one the Indestructible Heavenly Capital is chasing, trying to use our forces to leave the city?"
"Exactly. He'd better not be fooling us and delaying the young master's treatment."
The others spoke up one after another, voicing their doubts.
Seventh Master waved his hand. "Things have already reached this point. Let's see how the young master responds after taking this pill."
No one had a better option. The poison had progressed this far—if they didn't treat it soon, something truly catastrophic would happen. Though no one wanted to admit it, they could only try a desperate remedy and hope for the best.
They placed the pill in the young master's mouth and helped him swallow it.
Everyone kept vigil by the young master's bedside, their eyes fixed unblinkingly on him.
After roughly a quarter of an hour, the young master on the bed struggled to open his eyes. "This… have I made it home?"
"Young master, you're truly awake!" Steward Seventh Master was overjoyed.
"Qi Xia, where am I?"
"Young master, we're in Wanyi City. We'll be returning to the Glazed Royal City soon."
The young master's voice was faint. "Qi Xia, if I don't make it, you must tell my father to watch out for trouble within the household—brothers turning on brothers…"
Steward Seventh Master hurriedly said, "Young master, you will not die. We've already secured a Pill King's help, and your poison has been preliminarily suppressed. Once we return to the Glazed Royal City, you'll definitely recover. You'll be back to your old self, full of life. Young master, you must hold on."
It was unclear whether the young master absorbed these words. He gave a slight nod of his head but said nothing, gently closing his eyes.
Seventh Master hurried over to listen for breathing. The young master's respiration and pulse were both stronger than before, and his heart swelled with joy.
He waved his hand. "Everyone out. Don't disturb the young master's rest."
The others filed out, leaving Seventh Master alone at the bedside. Roughly an hour later, the young master stirred again, his spirits noticeably restored and his consciousness seemingly back to normal.
"Qi Xia, I really didn't die?" There was a new glimmer of vitality in the young master's eyes.
"Young master, you'll be perfectly fine! A Pill King's intervention—truly extraordinary!" At that moment, Seventh Master finally believed in Jiang Chen's abilities.
"Which Pill King treated me? This poison of mine—most Pill Kings couldn't break it." The young master seemed puzzled.
Seventh Master summarized the events briefly.
The young master was taken aback. "Such a thing happened? Could this person really be that Jiang Chen the Indestructible Heavenly Capital is hunting?"
Seventh Master smiled ruefully. "That Jiang Chen is nothing more than a young nobody from the Myriad Manifestation Region. The Myriad Manifestation Region doesn't even have a Pill King. I did suspect him at first, but I don't think he's Jiang Chen."
A Pill King wasn't someone you could cultivate so easily.
Where would a place like the Myriad Manifestation Region produce a Pill King—let alone one as skilled as this? Earlier, Seventh Master had suspected the man was Jiang Chen because he feared the fellow wanted to use their forces to pass through the north gate. But now that the young master had been saved and he'd witnessed the man's abilities firsthand, he no longer suspected him of being Jiang Chen.