Shi Lin trembled all over and hurriedly said, "I am Liu's cousin, and we both apprenticed at the Martial Arts Hall, so we have the best relationship. This time when something happened to him, I volunteered to fill in for him. Who would have thought this would happen."
Zhao Ya turned back to look at Zhang Jia, "So you guessed this, and that's why you poisoned Old Liu?"
This time Zhang Jia did not deny it, "That's right, so what?"
Then he grinned at Shi Lin, "Senior brother, just admit it. If you hadn't instructed me to poison Old Liu, you wouldn't have been able to take this medicine-watching job."
"I...I'll kill you, you nonsense bastard!" Shi Lin, eyes wide with rage, was about to rush at Zhang Jia.
Miao Shaocheng kicked him to the ground, full of killing intent, "Behave yourself, I'll deal with you later."
Shi Lin suddenly became quiet, lying on the ground motionless.
At this moment, Zhao Ya looked at Zhang Jia, who had a face full of arrogance, and couldn't help but laugh, "How much did Yuan Chenfeng give you, to make you so willing to die?"
"Humph!" Zhang Jia snorted coldly, refusing to answer.
"Let me guess, with Yuan Chenfeng's hypocritical nature, he definitely wouldn't come forward himself in such matters, but sent his underlings to contact you. His underlings must have promised you a generous reward, enough for your family to live out their lives in peace, so you took the risk and are willing to die without speaking, right?" Zhao Ya said lightly.
The expression on Zhang Jia's face became slightly unnatural.
Zhao Ya pretended not to notice and continued, "But have you thought about it? Yuan Chenfeng can betray his fellow Martial Dao practitioners, why would he care about a promise to you? Do you believe that after your death, your family will also die, and none will survive?"
Sweat appeared on Zhang Jia's forehead as he hissed, "Impossible, he promised me personally."
"Does a personal promise mean anything? Besides, once you die, who will know about your agreement?"
Zhang Jia finally broke down, lowering his head and saying, "Yes, it was Yuan Chenfeng who sent someone to contact me and promised me a very generous reward, so that's why I did it."
Upon hearing his confession, there was a stir in the room.
Even good-tempered Shen Dao was thoroughly furious.
Miao Shaocheng even cursed out loud.
"Yuan Chenfeng, you heartless, despicable scoundrel, I fuck your mother."
At this moment, Zhang Jia also changed from his previous arrogance, full of pleading, "Uncle, I know I've done an irreparable wrong. I'm not asking to live, but my family is innocent."
Before he finished speaking, Miao Shaocheng angrily scolded, "Fuck your mother, who's your uncle?"
Saying that, he rushed forward and kicked Zhang Jia, sending him flying.
With Miao Shaocheng's strength, coupled with a kick filled with hatred, after landing, Zhang Jia spat blood repeatedly, clearly at death's door.
Miao Shaocheng was still not satisfied.
"Now you remember you're part of the Martial Arts Hall, but when you poisoned my master, you didn't think we were your uncles?"
Zhao Ya did not stop him.
Because if such a person is not killed, he will definitely bring endless troubles in the future.
He walked up to the dying Zhang Jia, seeing his lips move slightly, full of pleading, as if he still had something to say.
Zhao Ya crouched down and said, "If there's anything else, just say it."
"I... I know I deserve to die... but my family is innocent... please... please..."
Before the last word was spoken, Zhang Jia died.
Beside him, Miao Shaocheng heard this and couldn't help but ask, "Ya, his family..."
"No need to worry. If I'm not mistaken, Yuan Chenfeng has already sent someone to kill his family tonight," Zhao Ya stood up and said.
Everyone was chilled by the thought, yet felt Yuan Chenfeng could indeed do such a thing.
Unfortunately, Zhang Jia believed Yuan Chenfeng's words and ended up like this.
Although Shi Lin's suspicion was cleared, he was evidently not suitable to stay in the pharmacy anymore.
Someone took him away.
Then Zhao Ya decided that he and his senior brothers would take turns preparing medicine for their master, not letting others handle it.
At the same time, they needed to suppress this incident to prevent it from spreading too much.
After all, these are sensitive times, and if this incident causes panic, it would be detrimental to the stability of the Martial Arts Hall.
Thus, the incident blew over.
Although it's assumed the poison did not succeed, for safety's sake, the pot of medicine still couldn't be used.
Zhao Ya and the others brought the herbs and prepared a new pot.
This time, none of the four left but stayed by its side watching.
Taking this opportunity, Xu De asked, "Ya, how did you find out about Zhang Jia?"
"Yes, how did you know he was going to poison our master?" Miao Shaocheng asked as well.
Zhao Ya smiled, "Actually, at first, I wasn't sure someone would make a move. When I visited the pharmacy, I found that there was a replacement. Old Liu was replaced by Shi Lin. Shi Lin said it was because Old Liu had a sudden diarrhea so severe he couldn't get out of bed, so he came to fill in."
"Suddenly, I became suspicious. After all, Old Liu is an old hand in the Martial Arts Hall. Although not very strong, he's a Second Realm martial artist, so how could he suddenly have diarrhea?"
"But I didn't find anything unusual on Shi Lin, so I left, but something still felt off. So I went to Old Liu's, and I found out he had diarrhea because someone had drugged him. It became clear then."
"Someone must be planning this in secret, and that person should have a good relationship with Shi Lin, to have arranged this position for him."
"Then I sneaked back into the pharmacy, hid in the dark to observe, and sure enough, discovered Zhang Jia's misconduct. The rest you all know."
After hearing Zhao Ya's explanation, everyone couldn't help but be impressed.
They were grateful for Zhao Ya's keen awareness, or the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Damn, I used to think that Yuan Chenfeng, though a bit lacking in character, was at least as skilled as our master and had some grace. I never thought he'd be so despicable." Shen Dao rarely cursed.
"Bah, how dare he be compared to our master? He's a bastard." Miao Shaocheng cursed.
Knowing Miao Shaocheng's temper, everyone smiled.
The four brothers waited until the medicine was ready, carried it into the ward, and then dispersed.
After returning to his room, Zhao Ya placed a small packet of medicine on the table and began studying it carefully.
"Ghost Snake Grass, Black Willow Bud, and Mercury Nitrate..."
Relying on his understanding of poisons, Zhao Ya identified its components and deduced its effects this way.
After a long while, Zhao Ya lifted his head, a faint excitement on his face.
"Interesting, these herbs aren't particularly rare, but together, they can affect a half-step Fifth Realm martial artist."
The reason he said this was because Zhao Ya didn't mind taking risks. He had dipped his finger in a little of the powder and put it in his mouth.
Then he felt his Qi Blood become chaotic, although, under the enhancement of his powerful liver talent, this feeling quickly disappeared.
But Zhao Ya was aware of this poison's extraordinary effects.
It's known that since unlocking his kidney, his realm had been slowly improving.
Now he was about to succeed in Blood Exchange, crossing the peak of the Fourth Realm, heading straight for the half-step Fifth Realm.
Experiencing symptoms of poisoning even now shows how potent the poison is.
But this is exactly what Zhao Ya urgently needed now.
After all, with the poisons Zhao Ya currently mastered, most were narcotics effective only for martial artists below the Fourth Realm, and they were hard to use effectively on those above the Fourth Realm.
You could say Yuan Chenfeng failed to steal and instead gifted Zhao Ya a big treasure.
Just as Zhao Ya was focusing on studying this newly obtained poison, in the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall, Yuan Chenfeng sat in the middle and said solemnly, "Is everything done?"
"Reporting to the Temple Master, everything is done."