Zheng Dongyang told Long Xiao that the National Martial Arts Alliance Grand Competition was a stage for young martial artists to showcase their strength. Winning the competition and becoming the first place would bring him immense fame in China, making him the foremost young martial artist in the country.
Upon hearing Zheng Dongyang's explanation, Long Xiao felt hesitant.
He did not want the Long family to notice him. He had yet to figure out how his parents had disappeared. If he were to attract the Long family's attention now, it would be extremely dangerous.
"President Zheng, if I happen to be busy during the competition, I will send someone with strength comparable to mine."
Zheng Dongyang had already heard from Chen Meijia that Luo Tianshui and Xiao Ming were both exceptionally skilled, not much less than Long Xiao.
"If you're busy, you can send Luo Tianshui or Xiao Ming," Zheng Dongyang said with a smile.
Long Xiao shook his head and replied, "No need for them. Don't worry, I'll find a skilled person for you then."
Zheng Dongyang chatted with Long Xiao for a while longer before taking his leave. As Long Xiao saw him off to his car and they were about to drive away, another car stopped in front of Xinglin Caotang.
The car door opened, and two middle-aged men helped a dark-faced elderly man out of the vehicle.
Seeing Long Xiao, one of the middle-aged men asked, "Young man, is the Sun Yaowang, Sun Sizhu, here?"
Long Xiao shook his head and replied, "Sun Yaowang has gone to the capital. What is your business?"
The speaking middle-aged man sighed, "Dad, let's go to the capital to find Sun Yaowang."
The other middle-aged man said, "Big brother, I'm afraid it's too late. If we don't reach the capital, Dad won't survive."
"Gentlemen, the elder is deeply poisoned. Please come in with me," Long Xiao said.
"How do you know?" one of the middle-aged men asked.
Long Xiao smiled, "Can't you tell? His face is already dark."
To the two middle-aged men, the elder's complexion was slightly dark, but to Long Xiao, a thick layer of black energy, the color of death, had already enveloped the elder's face.
This black energy was the aura of death, and at this level, one typically wouldn't survive past midnight.
After a moment of hesitation, the two men, supporting the elder, followed Long Xiao into Xinglin Caotang.
Long Xiao led the three into the reception hall. After seating the elder, Long Xiao took his wrist and examined him.
The poison had already entered the elder's internal organs, which were rapidly failing. Long Xiao had no choice but to use some vital energy to protect his organs.
The five-elemental vital energy within Long Xiao was hard-earned, and he was heading north to the capital in a few days, so he dared not use too much.
After stabilizing the elder's condition, Long Xiao called Chen Meijia in and wrote a prescription for her to prepare the medicine.
Chen Meijia left with the prescription. Long Xiao then asked, "Where did you go? Why is there so much corpse energy in the elder's body?"
The two middle-aged men exchanged glances. One of them said, "We make a living by trading antiques. A few days ago, we went to Lingnan to acquire some antiques, and someone poisoned us."
The other middle-aged man added, "We consulted many renowned medical practitioners for detoxification, but no one could cure this poison. We had no choice but to rush back to Donghai to find Sun Yaowang."
"Lingnan? Did you encounter the Luo family?" Long Xiao inquired.
One of the middle-aged men nodded. "It should be the Luo family. A woman was arguing with us over an antique burial object. We bought it at a high price, and after returning to the hotel with it, my father was poisoned."
"Who are you people, and why were you in Lingnan buying antiques?" Long Xiao asked, curious.
The elder opened his eyes and said weakly, "I am Ji Dajiang. Ji Dahai of Donghai is my brother."
"You are Ji Tianfu's uncle?" Long Xiao asked, looking at the elder in surprise.
The elder nodded slightly. "That's right. I never expected that our first return to Donghai in over a decade would be so humiliating."
Long Xiao chuckled. "What's so humiliating about it? It's just a minor poison. With me here, you'll be fine."
"Young man, this corpse poison is different from ordinary corpse poison; it was administered by the Luo family. Are you confident?" one of the middle-aged men asked.
"Don't worry, I guarantee Mr. Ji will be fine."
A moment later, Chen Meijia entered with the prepared medicine.
As Ji Dajiang drank the medicine, Long Xiao said, "Meijia, go and call Tianshui."
After drinking the medicine, the dark aura on Ji Dajiang's face rapidly dissipated.
Luo Tianshui entered and upon seeing Ji Dajiang, directly asked, "Elder, did you encounter the Luo family?"
"How did you know?" Ji Dajiang asked in surprise.
Luo Tianshui sat opposite Ji Dajiang and examined him closely. "You've been poisoned with corpse poison, and this type of corpse poison is unique to the Luo family."
"You know about the Luo family?" Ji Dajiang asked.
Luo Tianshui nodded. "I know a little about the Luo family's affairs."
Ji Dajiang recounted the incident of him and the woman competing for the antique. After listening, Luo Tianshui said, "The woman you encountered is Luo Yuhua. She is a master of poison among the younger generation of the Luo family. Being able to persist for three days after being poisoned by her indicates she didn't intend to kill you."
"If she didn't want to kill him, why administer such potent poison?" one of the middle-aged men grumbled.
Luo Tianshui glanced at the complaining middle-aged man and said, "If she had wanted to kill him, the victim would not have survived an hour."
After speaking, Luo Tianshui checked Ji Dajiang's pulse and said, "Mr. Ji, Brother Long has already cured your poison. You should recover completely after a couple of days of rest."
Ji Dajiang also felt the weakness in his body fading. He turned to Long Xiao and said, "Thank you, Mr. Long."
One of the middle-aged men took out his phone to settle the bill. Long Xiao replied, "Never mind. Ji Tianfu is my friend, I can't accept this money."
"Dad, we haven't been back for over ten years. Shall we go and see Uncle Si and the others?" one of the middle-aged men asked.
Ji Dajiang sighed. "I want to see them too, but I don't know if my fourth brother will see me."
Ji Dajiang told Long Xiao that the Ji family was a family of antique collectors. The four brothers had all loved antiques since childhood and started the antique business together in adulthood.
Initially, the four brothers worked together in the antique business, but later, due to differing philosophies, they parted ways and each pursued their own ventures. Ji Dahai stayed in Donghai, while Ji Dajiang left Donghai to collect antiques across China.
When they parted ways, Ji Dahai and Ji Dajiang had a huge argument and parted on bad terms.
After listening to Ji Dajiang's account, Long Xiao took out his phone and said, "Mr. Ji, I'll call Ji Tianfu and ask him to come and pick you up."
Ji Dajiang pondered for a moment and nodded slightly in agreement.
Long Xiao called Ji Tianfu. About forty minutes later, Ji Yuelan and Ji Tianfu entered Xinglin Caotang.
"Uncle, eldest brother, second brother, you're finally back! I've missed you so much," Ji Tianfu exclaimed loudly upon seeing Ji Dajiang and the other two.
Knowing that Long Xiao had saved Ji Dajiang, Ji Tianfu grasped Long Xiao's hand and said gratefully, "Brother, you have repeatedly saved members of our Ji family. I don't know how to thank you enough."
Long Xiao smiled. "Mr. Ji, we are friends. Why be so formal with me?"
Ji Tianfu insisted, "No, I must thank you. Yuelan, tomorrow you will take Long Xiao to the antique street and give him Yixuan Pavilion."
"Mr. Ji, there's no need. I don't have time to manage an antique shop."
"You don't need to manage it. I know you like antiques and often visit the antique street. This is just a place for you to stay, somewhere to have tea when you're tired from browsing."
After much polite refusal, Long Xiao could not sway Ji Tianfu and finally agreed.