Chapter 42

Yidu Zhidu (以毒制毒)

Liu Qingyun placed his hand on Tang Yingying's shoulder and asked with a rare serious look in his eyes.

“Miss Tang, although I cannot cure the head of the Tang family with my skills, I might be able to buy some time until the Toxin King returns. However, it’s very dangerous and I can’t guarantee success…”

He had to lay down some insurance.

He couldn’t be 100% sure of what he knew, and if things went wrong despite his good intentions, all the responsibility could fall on him.

In this situation, where no one else had stirred things up, he might end up bearing all the blame alone.

It felt like he was the only one entering the game before the funeral even started, ready to play a game of cards.

In response to his words, Tang Yingying asked with a desperate look in her eyes.

“Sir, what are the chances of success?”

“Very… it might be even less than that… However, since I handle pufferfish and know a lot about pufferfish toxin, I can say that the head of the Tang family might not last more than half a day.”

Tang Yingying’s face turned pale at his words.

In his previous life, right after his hotel apprenticeship ended, he was forced to handle pufferfish in a Spartan manner, thinking, “Is this the spirit of the continent?” while trembling and wondering what would happen if he got poisoned by pufferfish and if there was an antidote.

He had studied this by searching the internet and academic journals, so he could speak firmly about it.

He didn’t know how much poison had been ingested, but since about two hours (4 hours) had already passed.

It was known that an adult male would have a maximum of 6-12 hours after ingesting a lethal dose of tetrodotoxin.

So, even if the head of the Tang family, who had mastered poison techniques, could probably only last up to 12 hours.

By now, the effects of tetrodotoxin would start to make his breathing rapid, and he would eventually die from it.

Tetrodotoxin paralyzes the motor nerves, stopping breathing and leading to death.

Trembling, Tang Yingying asked cautiously.

“Sir, can I consult with the elders?”

“Yes, do so.”

Perhaps the burden of deciding her father’s fate with her own hands was too much, so Tang Yingying, swaying, wanted to consult with the elders. When they arrived outside the cave, more people had gathered than before.

“Miss, she’s coming out. The young lady is coming out.”

As soon as they revealed their faces outside the cave, people swarmed around them, asking questions from all sides.

“Young lady, how is it?”

“Hero, what about the head of the Tang family?”

“What about the head of the Tang family? Surely there must be a way?”

In response to the people’s questions, Tang Yingying said softly.

“Sir said that although he cannot cure, he might be able to buy some time until Grandfather arrives.”

At Tang Yingying’s words, the elders and the gathered martial artists exclaimed joyfully.

“Oh! Is that true?! There really is no other divine doctor.”

“I had heard that he cured Miss Zhuge Qing, but indeed.”

Before hearing her last words, however.

“But he said there’s no guarantee of success… and the chances of success are less than 10%.”

As her words ended, people’s faces turned the same color as Tang Yingying’s.

The heavy atmosphere and the oppressive air began to weigh down on the cave entrance.

While he could imagine how they felt, there was no time to wait for them to come out of this emotion and for the elders and Tang Yingying to make a decision.

“Then, Miss, consult with the elders. Time is short, so I will prepare in advance.”

After informing Tang Yingyun unilaterally, he took a lantern and ran down the mountain path.

The mountain path was somewhat runnable because there was a path for people to walk, but soon two Tang family martial artists ran from the cave and followed him on either side.

“Hero, we have been ordered to guard you.”

“Yes, huff huff, let’s go.”

Running down the dark mountain path with the Tang family martial artists, he headed for his healing point.

The inner garden of the Tang family, filled with poisonous plants.

As he entered the inner garden, the garden, which had been dark, had a different atmosphere from the daytime.

The flowers that had bloomed during the day were now closed in the darkness.

He collapsed in one spot, passing through the darkness and the closed flowers, as if time had been rewound.

“Huff huff…”

Breathless from running down the mountain path, but with time being short, he panted and began to dig up one of the closed flowers with his bare hands.

His strange actions made the two martial artists look at each other with awkward expressions, and one of them asked.

“Hero, what is that?”

“This could save the head of the Tang family.”

In his hand, a flower root dug from the ground was pitifully trembling.

***

Yingying stared blankly at the forest path where Liu Qingyun had disappeared, then quickly regained her composure and asked the two guards to protect Liu Qingyun.

In the heavy atmosphere that pressed down on all sides, she began to speak to the people, relaying the information Liu Qingyun had told her.

“According to Sir, if we just wait, Father might not last more than four hours.”

As Tang Yingying’s words ended, the heavy atmosphere seemed to sink even deeper.

And voices of disbelief could be heard.

“T-that… how can that be…”

“It can’t be. No matter how strong Ha Dun’s poison is…”

In the dazed atmosphere, the meeting between Tang Yingying and the elders began, but no conclusion was reached.

The weight of the head of the Tang family’s life was too great to risk everything on a small chance.

As the meeting between Tang Yingying and the elders dragged on, a woman’s voice was heard from the direction where Liu Qingyun had disappeared.

“What are you discussing?”

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and a middle-aged beauty walked toward the cave entrance.

A middle-aged beauty with long hair rolled up and twisted on top of her head.

Seeing the middle-aged beauty, Yingying immediately ran to her.

Unable to bear such a big event at such a young age, Yingying fell into her aunt’s arms.

“Aunt! Why did you come now? Sob…”

Soon, the warmth of her aunt enveloped Yingying, bringing a sense of relief.

“Yingying, I was locked in the Poison Hall trying to find a solution, but I couldn’t find one, so I came back. I was worried about you. What are you discussing?”

Tang Yingying, trying to hold on to her nearly collapsing spirit, relayed the story Liu Qingyun had told her to her aunt, who was in charge of the Poison Hall.

It wasn’t time to collapse yet.

It was a moment when the Tang family’s poison energy was needed.

Thus, while using poison energy to maintain her father’s life, she told her aunt that there was a low possibility of saving her father and that her father’s life was running out.

The elders, hearing again that the head of the Tang family had only a few hours left, showed difficulty, but her aunt confirmed to the elders that Liu Qingyun’s words were true.

“Liu Hero’s words are true.”

“Really? Is that really true?”

“Yes, Hero’s words are true. I, who am in charge of the Poison Hall, didn’t know this, but indeed, since I taught Yingying how to handle Ha Dun, she is well-versed in Ha Dun’s poison.”

With the confirmation of the head of the Poison Hall, the elders, who had doubted, realized that the head of the Tang family had little time left, and the mood shifted to trying something rather than doing nothing.

At that moment, Tang Yingying’s aunt, looking in the direction where Liu Qingyun had disappeared, asked.

“So, I’m curious about the method that can save my brother. Can I hear about it, Hero?”

Her heart began to beat rapidly at her aunt’s words.

Tang Yingying turned her head to look in the direction her aunt was looking.

Then, soon, he entered the cave entrance, holding a flower root, the symbol of the Tang family, drenched in sweat, and shouted.

“Huff huff… The symbol of the Tang family will save the head of the Tang family!”

Liu Qingyun’s face shone like the sun in the darkness of the night, and the flower root in his hand filled Tang Yingying’s vision.

Moved by his hopeful words, Tang Yingying fainted, as if the lamp had gone out.

***

‘Tang Yingying’s aunt, right? Her name is Tang Huayin (唐花银)?’

I had only seen her once at the Toxin King’s birthday when I arrived at the Tang family, and I had never met her again, but she met me as I entered the cave entrance.

In her hand was the unconscious Tang Yingying.

Perhaps the mental burden was too much for her, and Tang Yingying fainted as soon as I entered the cave entrance.

Tang Yingying’s aunt, holding her in her arms, said to me.

“Hero, let’s move to a quieter place. We can talk there.”

Accompanied by Tang Yingying’s aunt and a few key elders, we entered the cave again.

And only after moving to a distance where we couldn’t be heard from outside did we start talking.

Although I wanted to talk outside the cave, Tang Yingying’s aunt suggested moving because my information might be important.

“Hero, please explain. How do you plan to use it?”

Tang Yingying’s aunt, unable to hold back, asked.

I began to explain to Tang Yingying’s aunt and the elders, who were focused on me.

“I will use the method of Yidu Zhidu (以毒制毒).”

“Yidu Zhidu, using poison to control poison?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

At my answer, Tang Yingying’s aunt showed a very interested expression.

Since the Poison Hall oversees all poison-related matters in the Tang family, it was no wonder she showed a very satisfied expression at the mention of poison.

“A very satisfying method. So, with the aconite of the flower root?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Both the pufferfish toxin tetrodotoxin and the aconite toxin aconitine are potent neurotoxins.

Although they have different names, they result in the same death.

Respiratory arrest.

When poisoned by tetrodotoxin, the respiratory muscles are paralyzed, leading to death. Similarly, when poisoned by aconitine, the respiratory muscles are paralyzed, leading to death.

Although the result is the same, their mechanisms of action are opposite.

Our nerves communicate through tiny electrical impulses. Tetrodotoxin tries to block these tiny electrical impulses, while aconitine tries to keep the pathway open.

So, although the result is respiratory arrest, tetrodotoxin causes it by blocking the nerves, while aconitine causes it by overloading the pathway.

However, when both toxins enter the body, one tries to open the door while the other tries to close it, interfering with each other and creating an antagonistic effect.

After my explanation, Tang Huayin asked.

“So, ultimately, the toxins of the pufferfish and aconite must balance each other, like the harmony of yin and yang in the body?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But aconite is very toxic, and using it directly might be too risky…”

Indeed, as a poison expert, she had more knowledge than Tang Yingying or the other elders.

“The toxicity of aconite is reduced to 10% when boiled. However, this is all the help I can offer. I don’t know about the Tang family’s poison techniques or martial arts, so I can’t help balance the two toxins.”

While I had learned about aconitine and tetrodotoxin from the ‘Helleborus Poisoning Case’ in Japan, I