The physician Bai, his hand holding the silver needle suspended in mid-air, shot a cold glare at Xiao Yunlong before turning to Liu Jianmin. "Mr. Liu, do not blame me for not warning you. During my treatment of the patient, there must be no disturbance whatsoever. Should any mishap occur, you shall bear the consequences!"
Liu Jianmin's expression darkened. He pointed at Xiao Yunlong and cursed, "You ungrateful wretch, do you think this is a place for you to speak? Get out this instant!"
Liu Guohao also stepped forward. "Exactly. Let alone being an outsider, even if you were truly our Liu family's live-in son-in-law, it's not your place to speak here!"
Liu Ruyan, however, asked, "Brother Xiao, you said just now that if this Physician Bai were to administer the needle, it would kill my grandfather. Is that true?"
Xiao Yunlong stated calmly, "Given your grandfather's current physical condition, if he were to receive this needle, stimulating the latent potential of his vital energy, he would indeed awaken in a short period. However, doing so would be fatal. Not even a celestial being could save him then!"
"Preposterous! Utter nonsense!"
Physician Bai was enraged. He pointed at Xiao Yunlong, saying, "Boy, do you know who I am? How dare a mere greenhorn like you speak so presumptuously in front of me!"
The other two physicians also snorted coldly, "Boy, Physician Bai is a renowned physician from the Returning Spring Gate in Southern Xinjiang. You have repeatedly spoken carelessly. It would be best if you could provide a coherent explanation, otherwise, immediately kneel down and apologize to Physician Bai!"
Xiao Yunlong grinned mockingly. "You dare to administer needles indiscriminately without even knowing what illness the patient has. And you call yourself a physician? I truly wonder who is being presumptuous!"
"You glib-tongued brat! Then tell us, what illness does this patient suffer from?" Physician Bai sneered and demanded.
Xiao Yunlong glanced at the elder on the bed and then said, "He is not ill; he has been poisoned!"
"What did you say? Poisoned?"
The three elder physicians widened their eyes and repeatedly scoffed, "We thoroughly examined his nose, mouth, and eyes earlier. We couldn't detect any signs of poisoning at all. You, boy, are simply talking nonsense without understanding anything!"
Xiao Yunlong sneered, "You cannot detect it because your medical skills are not yet proficient. The poison afflicting Old Man Liu is extremely rare in the world. It leaves no symptoms on the surface. Furthermore, the poisoning is not severe, merely eroding his vitality and energy day by day. This is also why he remains unconscious and weakens with each passing day!"
"Utter nonsense!" Liu Jianmin snorted coldly. "With your status as a nobody, you dare to point fingers and act presumptuously in front of Physician Bai and the others? Get out immediately!"
"Hold on!" Physician Bai suddenly waved his hand. "Boy, I have practiced medicine in Southern Xinjiang for decades and am considered a master in the Returning Spring Gate. No one has ever dared to speak to me like this. If you can prove what you say today, so be it. Otherwise, you are challenging the prestige of the Returning Spring Gate, and I guarantee you won't be able to stay in Southern Xinjiang!"
Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but laugh in exasperation, shaking his head. "Since that is the case, today I shall make you concede defeat wholeheartedly!"
Saying this, he pointed to an incense burner by the head of the bed and asked, "Does everyone smell the peculiar fragrance filling the room?"
"Of course, we smell it. You don't mean to say the scent from this incense burner is poisonous, do you? If so, that's utterly absurd!" Physician Bai remarked.
Liu Jianmin, standing nearby, saw a flicker of something in his eyes and quickly turned to whisper to Liu Guohao, "Hurry and call the guards!"
Liu Guohao hesitated for a moment before turning and leaving without a word.
Xiao Yunlong, of course, noticed Liu Jianmin's subtle action but couldn't be bothered. He let out a faint, cold smile and continued, "This fragrance itself is naturally not poisonous. However, if it is combined with this bowl of porridge, it becomes a potent poison!"
As he spoke, he casually picked up the bowl of porridge, which was more than half full, from the table.
"The combination of the two becomes a poisonous substance?" Physician Bai narrowed his eyes. "That's easy enough. Let's stir them together and find a small animal to test it on!"
"That is precisely my intention. If I recall correctly, there is a cat at the corner of the first floor, a pure white one!" Xiao Yunlong said.
Liu Feiyan roared, "You're talking nonsense! That's my precious cat, bought at great expense. It has noble feline bloodlines, and there are only a few like it in the entire Dragon Country. How dare you use it for an experiment!"
Just then, more than a dozen guards armed with weapons rushed into the bedroom!
Liu Jianmin sneered, "You, Xiao, have caused enough trouble. Take him down, tear that foul mouth of his apart, then break his legs and throw him out!"
"Ignorant fool, you think you can take me down with just you lot!"
Xiao Yunlong let out a cold snort, his feet touching the ground as he lunged forward.
Everyone in the bedroom felt a gust of wind sweep past them, followed by loud thuds.
By the time they regained their senses, all dozen or so Liu family guards were lying on the ground, groaning and unable to get up.
Xiao Yunlong held the incense burner in one hand and the porcelain bowl in the other. Despite his swift actions, not a drop of porridge had spilled from the bowl.
Liu Jianmin trembled with rage, his narrowed eyes flashing with murderous intent, but he dared not make any rash moves at this moment.
Huang Tingting, Liu Guohao, and the others were also quite frightened.
"Fetch that fat white cat from downstairs!" Xiao Yunlong kicked a nearby guard.
The guard stumbled to his feet and hurried downstairs, soon returning with a white cat.
"My cat... this is my treasure, with noble blood! Let it go quickly!" Liu Feiyan shouted.
Xiao Yunlong ignored her, pouring the incense into the bowl. After stirring, he placed it in front of the white cat.
The white cat sniffed it first, then began to eat heartily. However, after only a few bites, the cat began to convulse, foam at the mouth, and then its legs stiffened, and it fell silent.
Seeing this, everyone present gasped in unison.
"This incense and white porridge, when mixed, are indeed highly poisonous! The master was indeed poisoned, someone wanted to harm the master!" the butler exclaimed.
Liu Ruyan also clenched her fists, her delicate body trembling with anger.
"You three, what else do you have to say?" Xiao Yunlong turned to face Physician Bai.
Physician Bai's face turned pale and then green. After standing stunned for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, "This time, I have indeed misjudged. I have nothing more to say!"
With that, he turned to leave.
Xiao Yunlong grinned coldly. "The Returning Spring Gate is, after all, a martial arts medical sect in Southern Xinjiang, and you are quite an experienced figure. How can you not understand the rules of the martial world? You called me a 'stinking brat' repeatedly, and now you want to leave just like that?"
Physician Bai's eye twitched. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Then what do you want, sir?"
Xiao Yunlong pointed to the bowl of porridge on the ground. "Either eat the remaining porridge, or, as you said earlier, kneel down and kowtow three times, and then get out!"
"You, Xiao, I am an elder of the Returning Spring Gate. Must you really..." Physician Bai clenched his fists.
However, before he could finish, Xiao Yunlong interrupted coldly, "You have three seconds to consider!"
Physician Bai's veins bulged, but he ultimately dared not make a move, especially since more than half of the guards who had been taken down earlier were still lying on the ground.
"Alright, Xiao, you are ruthless!"
Physician Bai said, then knelt down with a thud, kowtowed three times, then stood up and turned to leave.
However, just as he reached the doorway, his resentful voice echoed back, "Xiao, I have noted today's humiliation. In the future, our Returning Spring Gate will surely repay it tenfold!"
Seeing this, Liu Jianmin shivered and suddenly shouted, "I never imagined the old master was actually poisoned! It must have been done by some servant. I will go and find him out!"
Saying this, he fled as if escaping, and Huang Tingting, Liu Guohao, and Liu Feiyan quickly followed suit.
"Stop!" Xiao Yunlong's voice boomed coldly.
Liu Feiyan, running at the rear, was startled and stopped in her tracks. She gritted her teeth and asked, "You, Xiao, what do you want?"
"Take this dead cat away!" Xiao Yunlong glanced at her coldly.
Liu Feiyan trembled with rage but dared not lash out. Suppressing her overwhelming anger, she turned around, picked up the thoroughly dead fat cat, and left resentfully.