Chapter 358: A Word of Advice

Ye Yuan waved his hand and said with a smile, "I won't hold it against you."

Before the clan chief could breathe a sigh of relief, Ye Yuan added softly, "However..."

The clan chief swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously, "Young friend, however what?"

Ye Yuan's eyes turned maliciously toward Master Daoyuan and Zhu Shan, and he said with a full smile, "However, I want to hold it against them!"

Daoyuan and Zhu Shan's faces changed at Ye Yuan's words!

The clan chief quickly said, "Young friend, we were all blind earlier. Please be magnanimous and forgive us! Master Daoyuan and Elder Zhu Shan were only thinking of Liyang's well-being when they stopped you from touching him. How about this: whatever request you have, just name it. As long as our Tengyun Tribe can provide it, we won't say a word!"

Ye Yuan's eyes flickered for a moment, then he gave a bright smile to the two and said, "Since both elders were acting for Liyang's good, it would be petty of me to pursue this further. Fine, I'll pretend nothing happened."

Hearing that this little ancestor had finally let it go, the clan chief breathed a long sigh of relief. If Ye Yuan had insisted on making a fuss, he wouldn't have known what to do.

Ye Yuan's words still echoed in his ears. If he offended this little ancestor and he walked out, his son would be lost again after having just been regained.

After all this turmoil, he probably didn't have many years left to live.

"Alright, since Xiaoyang is fine, everyone disperse! Quickly remove the mourning hall and all those white silk banners. Bad luck!" the clan chief ordered.

...

In the bedroom, Liyang lay weakly on the bed, unable even to speak. Ye Yuan was taking his pulse.

After a long while, Ye Yuan removed his hand and stood up. Clan chief Li Teng quickly approached and asked cautiously, "Brother Ji, what illness does Xiaoyang actually have?"

"No illness!" Ye Yuan said flatly.

Li Teng said with a bitter face, "Brother Ji, it was indeed my fault earlier..."

Ye Yuan raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "Liyang is indeed not ill; he has been poisoned!"

"Poisoned?"

Li Teng was full of surprise. Liyang's condition looked like an illness; how could it be poisoning?

"Don't believe me?"

"How... how could that be? Of course I believe what Brother Ji says!"

"But your face is full of disbelief."

"..."

Ye Yuan said, "The poison he was given is called Heart-Loss Powder. It is colorless and odorless, and even a Dharma-tool-grade Mysterious Silver Needle cannot detect it. As for a Spirit-tool-grade Mysterious Silver Needle... I suppose you don't have one?"

"This..." Li Teng gasped. A poison that even a Dharma-tool-grade Mysterious Silver Needle couldn't detect was extremely potent.

"Actually, when I met Li Hong and the others and heard them describe Liyang's symptoms, I had a suspicion. Just now, my diagnosis confirmed it. After being poisoned with Heart-Loss Powder, there are no obvious symptoms; the victim's behavior merely becomes somewhat strange. The poison takes effect in about a month—it's a very potent chronic poison," Ye Yuan said.

"Then... is there an antidote for Heart-Loss Powder?" Li Teng asked anxiously.

"There is, of course. But... why should I give it to an old fool like you?" Ye Yuan said flatly.

Li Teng was taken aback but forcibly suppressed his anger.

He could see that Ye Yuan was indeed capable, but his behavior was too arrogant.

Even if he had offended him before, he was still a peak Ocean Transformation Ninth Layer expert, yet this young man showed him no respect at all.

For someone in a high position like Li Teng, such humiliation was unbearable.

If it weren't for Liyang, he would have turned hostile long ago.

But Ye Yuan seemed to have seen through his displeasure and said with a smile, "If you have something to say, say it. Don't bottle it up. Don't let the old one fall ill before the young one recovers—that would really make someone's day."

Li Hong had been silent all along, but now he couldn't help urging, "Brother Ji, please say less."

Ye Yuan rolled his eyes and said, "You still have the nerve to speak! You fool, playing the martyr with your 'death to prove your innocence'! Don't you know that if you die, you'll be playing right into someone else's hands? If you die, not only will no one sympathize with you, but they'll trample on your corpse and spit on it!"

Li Hong was a man of honor and wouldn't argue with Ye Yuan, but Li Teng finally exploded!

"You young upstart, you're so ungrateful! Do you really think the world can't go on without you? I'm grateful that you saved Xiaoyang, but to throw your weight around like this—aren't you going too far?" Li Teng roared angrily.

Ye Yuan chuckled and said, "Unpleasant advice is a good medicine, old man! If it weren't for Li Hong's sake, I wouldn't bother with your tribe's messy affairs! You and your son can reunite in the underworld after you've both been killed!"

Li Teng snorted, "Alarmist talk!"

But Li Hong finally caught on and quickly asked, "Brother Ji, do you mean..."

Ye Yuan laughed heartily and said, "Don't you think the whole thing is very suspicious?"

"Huh? Not at all! Our tribe has always been harmonious. The clan chief and the deputy chief have been friends for centuries, and the younger generation gets along very well too! Brother Ji, are you... overthinking?" Li Hong said cautiously.

Ye Yuan looked at him with a sense of frustration and said, "You're loyal, but you're too stupid! Think carefully: why was your young master inexplicably poisoned? Why were you sent to the most dangerous place to find the Purple Illusion Blood Ginseng? And why does your clan chief look much older than before you left? Also, who has been holding the reins of the tribe these days? Use your brain and think! Maybe your clan chief and the deputy chief were once close comrades, but now... heh."

After Ye Yuan finished speaking, Li Teng and Li Hong both fell into thought.

Li Hong said weakly, "Do you mean that Elder Daoyuan deliberately made it impossible for me to return in time?"

Ye Yuan chuckled and said, "At least you're not completely stupid!"

"But... we had calculated the itinerary. How could he know I wouldn't be back on time?" Li Hong asked doubtfully.

"That's too simple! The Purple Illusion Blood Ginseng is essential for the evolution of the Red-tailed Scorpion. If he knew in advance that there was a Red-tailed Scorpion about to evolve there and sent you there, could you still come back?" Ye Yuan said.

Li Hong gasped but still found it too incredible: "But the Tengyun Tribe is thriving now. If the young master can advance to the Soul Sea Realm, we would be invincible. Why would they do this?"

"Because if that happens, they would have even less of a chance!"

It wasn't Ye Yuan who spoke, but Li Teng, who had been silent all along.