Inside the Lin Family Villa at Jinding Garden, Lin Changtian, who had been anxiously waiting, received a call from his subordinate, "Hello, how's it going?"
"Reporting to the boss, we have found the second miss; we are on our way back now."
Upon hearing that his daughter had been found, Lin Changtian breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Good that she's found. Did anything happen to her, any outbreak of the cold poison?"
"No, the second miss is quite well. But she said that just now, two people were planning to kidnap her, an old man in a robe and a plain-looking man in blue clothes. If I'm not mistaken, they should be the Twin Blades Kun and Poison Bee, whose names have been notable in the southwest these past two years."
"How dare they lay hands on my daughter, what audacity!" A streak of murderous intent flashed in Lin Changtian's eyes as he asked quickly, "Did you catch them?"
"We were searching separately for the young miss; there were only two of us on my side. Twin Blades Kun is a master of double blades, very agile, with tricky and vicious blade skills. Poison Bee's martial arts are mediocre, but he is skilled at using poison needles and is an expert at surprise attacks. Those two have always been inseparable and are not easy to deal with. I thought the second miss's safety was the priority, so I escorted her home first without pursuing those two."
For Lin Changtian, nothing was more important than his darling daughter's life, "Bring Jiaojiao back as soon as possible. As for those two, send others to capture them, I want them alive, not dead. I want to see for myself who dares to mess with Lin Changtian's daughter!"
"Subordinate understands. Boss, the second miss keeps clamoring that she hasn't said goodbye to a friend, insisting on going back, what do you think?"
"Nonsense. Bring her back to me immediately!"
At this moment, Liu Mang was already carrying Lu Mengyao into a public restroom, looking to quickly administer the antidote to her.
Thinking of what might happen next, Lu Mengyao, overwhelmed with shame and anger, spat out with all her strength, "Get lost, stay away from me, don't you dare take advantage of me!"
"Me, take advantage of you?" Liu Mang asked innocently, wasn't he giving Lu Mengyao the antidote for free? If anyone was taking advantage, it was Lu Mengyao.
"Don't play dumb, didn't you say you were going to 'suck the poison out'? I'll never agree to that!" Lu Mengyao would rather die than have anything to do with Liu Mang. If Liu Mang dared to make a move, she'd definitely kill him first, that disgusting hoodlum.
If possible, Lu Mengyao would indeed do so, go to any length to kill Liu Mang, to blow his brains out with a gun!
But now, feeling weak all over and having a hard time even speaking, how could she possibly deal with Liu Mang, "I warn you, don't you dare think about it, otherwise, I'll die just to spite you!"
Liu Mang placed Lu Mengyao on the toilet and stood aside with his arms folded, smiling at her as she raged.
After Lu Mengyao finished speaking, Liu Mang said, "If I don't do something, you are definitely going to die on me. If I'm not mistaken, the poison in you is called Bitter Mandrake. Do you want to hear about the toxicity of this poison?"
"I don't want to hear it, just take me to the hospital right now!" Lu Mengyao hated being poisoned and hated being with Liu Mang even more.
She had already been severely beaten by him earlier, and her self-esteem was already shattered.
Now, here she was, alone with Liu Mang, with no ability to resist, and he had the audacity to talk about 'sucking out poison' as treatment, which was outrageous, obviously trying to take advantage.
If this continued, it wouldn't just be her self-esteem that was being trampled on, but her pristine body as well.
Liu Mang said, "You might not want to listen, but I'll tell you anyway. Bitter Mandrake is a very unique poison made from sixty-one special herbs. This poison doesn't cause pain to those who are poisoned, only weakness. At this stage, the toxins haven't fully taken effect.
When the toxins really kick in, the poisoned will first feel very itchy, unbearably so, as if you'd want to scratch your face off.
Then comes the agony, like thousands, tens of thousands, countless insects biting your skin, your flesh, even gnawing at your bones and soul, causing heart-wrenching pain, making you wish you were dead, making you wish for immediate death.
After that, you wouldn't be able to muster any strength at all, let alone move your body, you'd barely be able to speak. But you'd be aware, feeling your body rotting bit by bit, decaying until you draw your last breath.
The process is very prolonged, lasting at least three days in short cases, maybe eight to ten days in long ones. It primarily depends on the physical condition of the person. You seem to be quite fit, and your will to live appears strong, so you could probably last eight to ten days."
As Liu Mang spoke, Lu Mengyao's expression grew increasingly awful. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she felt itchy already, "Stop it, stop talking nonsense, take me to the hospital right now!"
"Believe me, the hospital can't save you, because the Bitter Mandrake toxin has already spread through your body, and the hospital won't be able to extract the poison."
"The hospital can't save me, but you can? With someone like you, a rascal, you can? Take me to the hospital now, quickly, or I won't even let you off as a ghost!" When it came to matters of life and death, how could Lu Mengyao not be scared.
She didn't want to die, not at all.
She was young and had plenty of time to enjoy life; she certainly didn't want to die so soon.
"If I can't save you, then only two other people in the world have the ability to save you, but unfortunately, they are not in Jiangnan City," Liu Mang took out a small box and opened it to reveal a strange thing inside.
Inside the box was a multicolored creature only about ten centimeters long that looked like a snake at first glance.
Lu Mengyao's eyes widened as she stared at the thing inside the box, "What is that?"
"It's called the Seven-Colored Python, and it only likes one thing—that's poison. It can be considered a holy item for detoxification. You're lucky to have met me; I'll use the Seven-Colored Python to help you this time. But, ah, it's not free—I have to charge."
"Charge money?"
"That's right, we're not close, so of course I can't help you for nothing." Liu Mang had been in Jiangnan City for a few hours now and had been doing only loss-making deals. Now that he had the chance, he had to make a little profit, "Hmm, since the poison in you is so serious, it's got to cost you at least three hundred bucks."
"Three hundred bucks?" Lu Mengyao almost spat blood. She made the poison out to be some world-class deadly toxin, and then he only asked for three hundred bucks.
Seeing the shock on Lu Mengyao's face, he touched his nose and thought she found it too much, "You're really stingy, not willing to fork out three hundred for your own life. How about this, two hundred, how does that sound?"
"Two hundred?" Lu Mengyao was even more astonished. Was this guy sick in the head?
"Okay, if you're not even willing to pay two hundred, I give up, one hundred should do. Can't go any lower than that, it's settled then."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Mang placed the Seven-Colored Python onto Lu Mengyao with one hand.
"What are you trying to do... No, I'm afraid of snakes, get it off me, ah!"
Half an hour later, Liu Mang and Lu Mengyao walked out from the public area.
Lu Mengyao was able to walk on her own by then, but she was still very weak, staggering as she moved, looking like she might fall at any step.
Her complexion was still quite pale, although the black color from the poison had faded, replaced by a chill, with an appearance cold as ice.
Lu Mengyao gritted her teeth, her eyes red with anger as she glared fiercely at Liu Mang.
Once they reached the roadside, Liu Mang asked, "Where do you live?"
"I'm going to kill you!"
"I'm asking where your house is?"
"I'm going to kill you! Liu Mang, you scoundrel, I will definitely kill you, I'll kill you kill you kill you kill you kill..."
Lu Mengyao ranted hysterically, the recent event was undeniably a huge shame for her, something she would never forget in her lifetime.
The thought of her... being defiled by Liu Mang made Lu Mengyao feel so ashamed and furious she wanted to die, yet even more, she wanted to slaughter him first.
If looks could kill, Liu Mang felt he would surely have been hacked to pieces a thousand times over.
But he didn't care, because Lu Mengyao was in no condition to trouble him at the moment, "Stop ranting here, it would be better to tell me where you live."
Lu Mengyao snapped, "Why should I tell you!"
Liu Mang glanced at Lu Mengyao's figure with a lecherous grin, "Since you won't tell me where you live, does that mean you want to look for an inn or a hotel with me? Look at you, you're so weak right now, if you stay on the street alone and encounter one or a bunch of bad people, they're sure to drag you off somewhere. Me being a good person certainly can't let that happen."
"You're the worst of them all!" Lu Mengyao accused furiously. She would rather be mistreated by a group of people than stay with Liu Mang for a second longer.
"In that case, goodbye then." Liu Mang waved his hand and left without looking back.
Watching Liu Mang walk away, Lu Mengyao resentfully wished she could stop him from leaving but had no other choice. She only hoped she could find him again someday to give him the thrashing he deserved.
Though the poison was gone, her body was still weak. Lu Mengyao knew her condition was bad, especially in the middle of the night when an encounter could be really troublesome.
Trying to hail a cab home, she found the street too deserted for any taxis to come by, so she had to trudge towards the end of the street with difficulty.
Before Lu Mengyao got far, several men and a woman, reeking of alcohol, approached her.
Three men and one woman in total—the men stared straight at Lu Mengyao, instinctively showing a hint of fear when they saw her in a police uniform.
But as they got a clear view of her stunning face, their eyes lit up.
As they passed by Lu Mengyao, one man pretended to twist his ankle and bumped his shoulder against her.
The man barely touched her, and Lu Mengyao was knocked over, falling to the ground in a sorry state.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry, it wasn't intentional." The man feigned concern as he reached out a hand to help Lu Mengyao up.