“It was this jade pendant that detoxified the poison.” Ling Zhang fished out the jade pendant hung around his neck.

In the morning, after Yuwen Qi’s venomous snake bit him, he had used this medicinal jade to detoxify his body, so he felt he owed Yuwen Tong an explanation.

“This is a medicinal jade?” Yuwen Tong looked in astonishment at the blackish green jade pendant hung around Ling Zhang’s neck. He had always known Ling Zhang’s possession of this jade pendant but had been unaware that it was a medicinal jade which could detoxify almost all kinds of poison.

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “My mother left it to me.”

‘Ling Zhang’s mother?’ Yuwen Tong recalled what he had read in the intelligence report presented to him by Yao Yi. Ling Zhang’s mother had passed away many years ago. At that time, Ling Zhang was still young. Her parentage was somewhat mysterious. People of Ling family had claimed that she was an orphan girl rescued by Ling Zhaowu, whose surname was Ji, but other than that, no further information about her had ever been disclosed. Since so many years had passed, there was no way to ascertain the facts.

But now it turned out that this supposed orphan girl had possessed a medicinal jade which could detoxify almost all kinds of poison. ‘It seems that the identity of Ling Zhang’s mother was not as simple as it was professed,’ thought Yuwen Tong.

“The medicinal efficacy of this jade pendant has been in decline. Its smell of medicine was quite strong when I was a boy, and now it’s very faint, but fortunately it still detoxified the poison of the snake,” remarked Ling Zhang, feeling lucky. Had it not been for this medicinal jade, he really might not have managed to escape death. “That snake was the source of the foul odor given off by Yuwen Qi that I smelled on that day, I suppose?”

Yuwen Tong gave a bob of the head. “It was. The way he came by this kind of poisonous creature was by no means decent. It could even deliver messages. Xie Shi is well acquainted with this kind of stuff. I’ll ask him in detail later and find out the origin of that snake.”

Soon Xie Shi was summoned. After that snake was trampled to death by Wang Dashan in the morning, its body had disappeared. He had gone to that street afterwards but failed to find it. Fortunately the poison in Ling Zhang had indeed been detoxified, which had greatly relieved Xie Shi.

“It’s blue all over in a very eerie way; not big, merely as thick as a little finger. Its coils are about the size of a palm. My arm went numb very soon after being bitten by it, and my vision blurred, too.” Ling Zhang gave a general description of the snake.

After a few moments’ thinking, Xie Shi told them, “It’s a virulent snake inhabiting south Xinjiang. The level of toxicity of its venom is extremely high. On top of that, someone specially domesticated that snake. If they fed pharmaceuticals to it, its venom would be even more poisonous. Anyone bitten by this kind of snake must ingest antidote immediately, or else the poison will take effect very soon and kill them. Fortunately Childe Ling promptly detoxified the poison with the medicinal jade he carried. Had there been a few moments’ delay, I’m afraid he would’ve…”

Ling Zhang was still experiencing a carry-over of fear, while Yuwen Tong had an icy look on his face. ‘I let Yuwen Qi get off too lightly by merely having his leg broken!’

Ling Zhang patted the back of Yuwen Tong’s hand consolingly. “I’m okay now.”

Yuwen Tong held his hand and asked Xie Shi, face frosty, “Can you prepare antidote to the venom of this kind of venomous snakes?”

Xie Shi replied, “I think so, but if the snake has been fed special pharmaceuticals, then I can only inhibit the toxicity of the poison with alexipharmic pills first and then figure out a way to detoxify the poison according to its properties.”

“Then prepare some alexipharmic pills right away. After that, ascertain the source of that venomous snake of Yuwen Qi’s. Find out where he got it,” instructed Yuwen Tong.

Xie Shi inclined his head. “Yes, Marshal.”

All of them had a lingering fear after what had happened on the street earlier this day. None of them had thought Yuwen Qi would resort to murderous means of this kind.

Yuwen Tong had already meted out severe punishment to Zhang Liu for his failure to render effective protection. Zhang Liu, having a guilty conscience, accepted his punishment without a single word of defense.

Xia Feng, Li Sicai and others had sullen faces, feeling that their young master had merely been in the capital city for a couple of days but had already encountered so many troubles, that this city was virtually no less hazardous than a dragon’s watery lair or a tiger’s den. What angered them even more was that people of Yuwen family were responsible for all these things. Though aware that Yuwen Tong had put pressure on those people, they were still in concern. Li Sicai had felt an urge to persuade Ling Zhang into going back to Tanyang, but eventually he restrained himself from doing so.

“Young Master, the next time you go out, you must take us with you. Please don’t leave this place with only two men again,” said Xia Feng.

“I see.”

“Young Master, if you encounter Yuwen Qi or any of the others again, don’t ever fight them head-on on your own like you did today. It’s too dangerous,” remarked Li Sicai.

“Young Master…”

A couple of people exhorted him one by one. It was not until Ling Zhang promised he’d heed their words that they stopped nagging.

After they left, Ling Zhang heaved a sigh of relief.

Yuwen Tong had been standing right on the side. Just now when Li Sicai and others had been, in the presence of him, telling Ling Zhang how to guard against possible underhand means of Yuwen family, none of them had made any attempts to sugar-coat their words, and he hadn’t dared to utter a single word of contradiction.

The two of them exchanged glances. Ling Zhang was the first to speak. “They know you had nothing to do with it. It’s just that–”

“I understand,” Yuwen Tong interrupted him.

…

At night, before they went to bed, Yuwen Tong suddenly recalled a particular matter. “What was it that you wanted to talk with me about in the morning?”

Ling Zhang, on being reminded, also remembered what he had meant to tell him. He replied, “It was about the old man we met in the Wu City on that day. I want you to take a look at the secret manual of internal energy for me and see if I should practice it or not.”

Yuwen Tong was surprised. This matter involved some of Ling Zhang’s secrets. He could tell that Ling Zhang had known that old man, and that secret manual of internal energy was definitely related to some secrets that were not supposed to be told. ‘Ling Zhang is willing to let me read it?’ he wondered.

“And there are also some things that I’d like to tell you about. You’ve always been meaning to find out the origins of those martial formations that I have acquaintance with, haven’t you?” Ling Zhang looked at him.

Yuwen Tong looked back at him. “You told me to stop investigating, and I’ve been waiting for you to tell me the truth all this time.”

Ling Zhang informed him, “I’ve thought about it. There are some things that I cannot tell you about for the moment, but there are also some that I can disclose to you. I’m very sorry that I cannot tell you everything.”

Yuwen Tong hurriedly observed in an earnest tone of voice, “It’s enough for me if you’re willing to tell me about some of them. I’m willing to wait longer for you to tell me about the rest.”

In fact, it had never crossed his mind that Ling Zhang would choose to disclose these things to him in these circumstances. After all, ever since he’d taken Ling Zhang into the capital city, so many dangerous things had happened in succession, in all of which Ling Zhang had been the target. He had been in fear all along that Ling Zhang would regret having come to this city with him, regret not having called off their engagement. If that was the case, it was possible that Ling Zhang might directly leave him and go back to Tanyang. Unexpectedly, Ling Zhang chose to tell him some secrets in these circumstances.

“It was my mother who taught me those martial formations. At that time, I was still young. She taught me a lot, spoon-fed all that knowledge to me regardless of how much I could memorize, because she really didn’t have much time left. For many years I couldn’t remember these. It was not until a few days ago that they came to mind,” said Ling Zhang.

‘Ling Zhang’s mother?’ Yuwen Tong, though surprised, didn’t find this too unexpected, for his men had found out the family history of Ling family almost down to the last detail. It was certain that nobody of Ling family had ever shown any talent for martial formations. The only thing that remained unknown to Yuwen Tong was the parentage of Ling Zhang’s mother.

“Why did your mother have acquaintance with these formations?” queried Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang shook his head. “That’s the part I cannot tell you right now. From the vantage point of the present, you may rest assured that not knowing this won’t do you any harm. There’s not much I can tell you. Apart from those formations and this medicinal jade of mine, that old man who suddenly showed up that day as well as the secret manual of internal energy he gave me are also related to my mother.”

Yuwen Tong had a thoughtful look on his face. “You said that you wanted me to check that secret manual of internal energy for you.”

Ling Zhang inclined his head, rose to his feet, fished out the secret manual of internal energy and solemnly handed it to Yuwen Tong.

After taking it, Yuwen Tong didn’t hasten to read it but felt burdened by Ling Zhang’s deep trust in him. ‘This thing must be very important. By letting me read it, Ling Zhang is placing no less trust in me than he did when he gave me that pamphlet with knowledge of those formations in it that day. Possibly, this manual is even more precious,’ Yuwen Tong thought.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Yuwen Tong looked at him.

Ling Zhang nodded. “I… trust you more.”

Indeed, he had far more trust in Yuwen Tong than he did in the Millennium Pavilion which was as insubstantial as a shadow. Besides, he wasn’t even sure whether the Millennium Pavilion was an ally or an enemy to him yet, so of course Yuwen Tong, with whom he had been through life-or-death moments and shared weal and woe, was more trustworthy.

Yuwen Tong turned the title page and was greeted and slightly surprised by a line of words, an uncertain look in his eyes, feeling that this sentence seemed somewhat familiar, as if he had once read this sentence somewhere before, but he couldn’t recollect any details.

Seeing this, Ling Zhang, who had been observing his face all along, couldn’t help but ask, “What is it? You’ve seen this sentence before?”

Yuwen Tong thought for a few moments and replied, “It’s just that these words strike me as slightly familiar. I seem to have read or heard them somewhere before.”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Ling Zhang’s face. After a while, he said, “Then keep reading.”

Of course, he himself had already read this secret manual of internal energy, and he had not found anything questionable. However, he knew he was inexperienced and rather undiscerning when it came to appraisal of this kind of things, so he trusted Yuwen Tong’s discernment more.

Yuwen Tong opened it and started reading carefully from the first page. Gradually, his countenance grew solemn. As he finished a third of it, he suddenly closed the secret manual of internal energy as well as his eyes. Not only was his face solemn, he also seemed to be in an unstable mood.

Ling Zhang was taken aback, thinking that there was something wrong with this secret manual of internal energy. “What’s wrong? Is there a problem with it?”

Yuwen Tong shook his head but made no reply. After a while, his countenance returned to normal and he responded, “Not really. It’s just that although I was merely reading this manual, the contents of it somehow exerted an influence on me. Just now my internal energy went somewhat unstable.”

Ling Zhang was amazed. ‘This thing is so powerful?’

“I told you this before – I was gifted with an extraordinarily retentive memory. Not only will I not be able to forget this mental cultivation method of internal energy after reading it, possibly it would even shake the foundations of my internal energy. I’ve got to stop reading it, but judging from the first one third of this manual that I’ve already read, this mental cultivation method of internal energy is not only unproblematic but also very profound and ingenious. You can practice it,” commented Yuwen Tong.

Ling Zhang took the secret manual handed to him by Yuwen Tong, unable to disguise the shock on his face. He had really never thought that this mental cultivation method of internal energy was so powerful, that even a man like Yuwen Tong, who had amazingly strong will and great self-control, would be influenced by it.

“Merely reading those lines in my head causes my internal energy to be mobilized and go turbulent,” Yuwen Tong added.

“I don’t feel anything when I read this manual. It’s just that I cannot understand those words,” remarked Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong replied resignedly, “That’s because you haven’t even learned the ABC of it. This secret manual of internal energy is not as simple as it seems. The mental cultivation method of internal energy I’ve been practicing is already one of the best cultivation methods in the world, but the contents of this manual still influenced me very easily. You must keep it somewhere safe and be cautious when you cultivate. Make sure not another person apart from me finds out about its existence!”