Chapter 256 255: Poison and Antidote

Mu Lin's attitude made Ling Qiao tremble with rage. She was of noble birth; no one had ever dared to treat her with such disrespect.

She snatched the test tube and said to Wu Henghai, "Captain, I'll test this one first!"

"If his meddling delays Tang Zhi's treatment, I won't let him off easy! I'll torture him with a thousand of the world's most toxic poisons—ten different kinds a day, for a whole year!"

Wu Henghai felt a chill run down his spine and urged her, "Go, go! Just hurry up and get it done!"

Ling Qiao strode off, her head held high.

Mu Lin shook his head and sighed.

'Living in the mundane world with an attitude like that... she's bound to run into trouble sooner or later.'

'That Ling Qiao is just a Pharmacist, without a single martial art to her name. If she offended a powerful scion like Zhong Haoyu, who knows what would happen to her.'

'But that's her life to live. Not my place to worry about it.'

Wu Henghai grew a little worried. "Mr. Mu," he asked, "did you really identify it just by taking a simple sniff?"

Mu Lin laughed. "Of course. It was simple, wasn't it?"

"Besides, given my relationship with Tang Shuang, would I really do anything to harm Tang Zhi? What a joke, don't you think?"

Wu Henghai agreed. 'Still,' he thought, 'Mu Lin's methods were so outlandish. It's no wonder Ling Qiao was suspicious of him.'

Mu Lin said, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get the medicinal herbs."

After leaving, Mu Lin went straight to the pharmacy. He wrote out a prescription on the spot and placed his bank card on top of it.

"Get all these herbs for me. I'm paying now."

The pharmacist had never seen anything like it. "Sir, you still have to go to the cashier to pay first..."

"I don't have time for that! A life is at stake! Can you afford the delay?" Mu Lin yelled.

The pharmacist didn't dare say another word. He quickly gathered the herbs and handed them to Mu Lin.

Still not satisfied, Mu Lin stepped right past the counter. "Do you have a place to decoct herbs? I need to borrow it."

It was... the most aggrieved the pharmacist had ever felt in his life.

'Getting medicine without a doctor's prescription is one thing, but now he wants to brew it himself? Isn't that a bit too audacious?'

But Mu Lin was already inside, and he even found the decoction area as if he had been there a hundred times before.

He carried the basket of herbs to the stove, lit some kindling, and stuffed it inside. Then, he discreetly channeled a bit of his power, and the fire roared to life.

While he was brewing the medicine, the door to the resuscitation room opened. A doctor walked out, his face a mask of exhaustion.

The fatigue was plain to see in his eyes. "I've dealt with the internal injuries and muscle damage," he said, "but the toxins keep eroding his life. Critically, the poisoned blood has already reached his heart. It's too late even for a full-body transfusion. Unless we can formulate an antidote, he's doomed."

Wu Henghai remembered Tang Shuang was still there. He frowned and shot the doctor a reproachful glance.

Only then did the doctor notice Tang Shuang, whose eyes were flooded with tears, a complete crying mess.

He was instantly filled with regret, wishing he could just smack himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

Wu Henghai said, "Doctor, I need you to do whatever it takes to keep Tang Zhi alive for a while longer. Just half a day is all we need. Thank you!"

The doctor's mind reeled when he heard "half a day." He had already exhausted every available medical procedure before stepping out of that room.

Anything more would just be repeating the same, futile steps.

However, seeing the look on Wu Henghai's face, he knew telling the unvarnished truth wasn't an option. "I will do everything in my power," he said. "Please, don't worry!"

Wu Henghai nodded grimly, then turned to comfort Tang Shuang. At a time like this, it was impossible for him to focus on his duties, so he might as well do something else.

"Miss Tang, please rest assured. This doctor is very capable; he's saved patients in even worse condition."

"Besides, we have Mu Lin preparing an antidote. Your brother is going to be alright!"

Tang Shuang pressed her lips together and nodded. She understood what he was saying, of course, but she also knew just how terrible her brother's condition was.

She even had the terrible feeling, like a waking nightmare, that her brother was already drifting away from her.

She was sobbing uncontrollably, but events continued to unfold, one step at a time.

Meanwhile, in the laboratory, work was proceeding at a feverish pace.

Ling Qiao's analysis was progressing slowly. Even after prioritizing the first poison sample, the processes of dilution and fractionation were taking considerable effort.

An hour passed, and she had barely scratched the surface of the analysis.

Ling Qiao realized she had underestimated the difficulty of the task.

'Maybe Mu Lin was right. By the time the analysis is finished, the patient will already be dead.'

'He wasn't talking about analyzing all the poisons, just this one alone.'

'So what could she do? All she could do was bite the bullet and press forward.'

She did her best to speed up the analysis, pulling out all the stops.

Finally, a little over two hours later, the first set of results was ready.

"Sister Qiao, do you have the results?!"

Ling Qiao's apricot-shaped lips parted slightly. "We have a result... and it's a match... But how is that possible?"

'How could it be? All Mu Lin did was take a sniff.'

The few doctors standing nearby recalled the earlier scene with Mu Lin, and their expressions turned to ones of utter disbelief.

'My God, who knows how he did it, but Mu Lin actually managed to identify the poison.'

The printer began to WHIR, spitting out the report.

Ling Qiao stood beside the printer with her head down, pretending to watch the results print out.

But only she knew the truth: she was just trying to hide the bitter sting of defeat.

'It was too much. How in the world did he do it?'

'Could it have just been a coincidence?'

"Sister Qiao, should we start preparing the antidote?" her assistant asked timidly from behind. He was being extremely cautious. Ling Qiao was in a terrible mood, and he knew a single wrong word could set off a storm.

Ling Qiao said, "Yes! You watch the printer. I'll formulate the antidote."

'So what if Mu Lin has the nose of a bloodhound? I'm still the one who has to make the antidote.'

Mu Lin's work had attracted a crowd of doctors.

At first, they watched him as if he were a fool putting on a show.

But gradually, they realized Mu Lin was anything but ordinary.

Mu Lin's technique was truly masterful.

The pharmacy offered a decoction service for traditional Chinese medicine, so they all had experience brewing it themselves.

They were all quite experienced, but compared to what Mu Lin was doing, they felt like complete amateurs. Their own methods seemed crude by comparison.

Mu Lin controlled the flame perfectly, skillfully adding kindling and adjusting the pile of wood to keep the fire at the exact intensity he wanted.

He ensured the temperature remained perfectly constant at all times.

That was something none of them could do. Most of the time, they opted for electric decoction machines, which were far more efficient.

What was even more astounding was that Mu Lin had set up a second pot and was actually making pills by hand.

Purely handmade pills? Why bother? It gave them all a serious "what the actual f***" feeling.

'He's multitasking, can you believe it?'

But Mu Lin paid them no mind. Time was of the essence, and he could not afford to be distracted.

He poured out the water used to cool the Antitoxic Pills, placed them on a clean paper towel to dry, and then put them into a small bottle.

The Antitoxic Pills were done, but the Detoxification Soup still required a fair bit more time.

Mu Lin didn't know if he would be in time.

Now, it was all up to fate.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

The Detoxification Soup was ready!

He immediately lifted the clay pot and, along with the bottle of Antitoxic Pills, carried them out of the pharmacy.

Mu Lin reached the door to the resuscitation room. Seeing what he was carrying, Tang Shuang excitedly rushed toward him, but Mu Lin quickly stopped her. "Tang Shuang, don't move, it's still very hot! Rest assured, with these, your brother will be fine!"

Tang Shuang's eyes lit up. If Mu Lin said so, then he would definitely make it happen.

"That's wonderful!" Tang Shuang cried out excitedly.

Mu Lin smiled. "Captain Wu, I'd like to enter the resuscitation room. Could you please clear the way for me?"

Mu Lin was usually very polite. Aside from the time Elder Li and Mrs. Li were injured, when he had been on edge, he was generally one to follow the rules.

Wu Henghai said, "Alright! Just come in with me."

Wu Henghai pushed open the door to the resuscitation room, letting Mu Lin inside.

When the attending physician saw Wu Henghai enter, he said with a troubled expression:

"Captain Wu, I must ask you to leave. Even with your authority, all I can do is my best to sustain his life. It's becoming harder and harder to clear the toxins."

Mu Lin stepped forward. "It's alright. Thank you for your hard work. You can rest now. I'll take it from here."