Chapter 43

"Lang, what's wrong?" Shen Haotian was taken aback.

His gaze fell on the chair that Shen Lang had crushed... It was a three-hundred-year-old red catalpa wood chair. Before he fell seriously ill, he would have needed some strength to crush it, but he was after all at the Seventh Level of the Qi Martial Realm. As for Shen Lang...

Moreover, the tangible killing intent emanating from Shen Lang, though not directed at him, made him feel unusually stifled and hard to resist!

Shen Lang turned around, calmed his mind, and controlled his raging killing intent. After a while, he turned back and said, "Father, have you been hiding this from us for so many years to protect our family and to prevent us from getting hurt?"

Shen Haotian was taken aback, his face a bit awkward as he said, "What are you talking about, Lang? What hiding... How could Father ever hide anything from you?"

"Father, the black aura around you, the green between your brows, the deathly aura in your eyes, and the dark black nails... You're not sick, you're poisoned, by corpse poison!" Shen Lang said with a pained expression.

"This kind of corpse poison usually comes from being injured by a demonic corpse or being attacked by a practitioner of the demonic path who cultivates demonic corpses... Father, tell me everything that happened when you were poisoned... I'm sorry, I only recognized it now, making you suffer for so many years!"

"How could you..." Shen Haotian was greatly startled, glancing nervously at the door and lowering his voice, "Lang, the matter of corpse poison is no small matter. Don't make a fuss, and absolutely don't tell your mother or your sister!"

Shen Lang frowned, lightly waved his right hand, and a gust of wind closed the door.

Then he said in a solemn voice, "Father, Lang had some extraordinary encounters recently, which is why I could recognize that you were poisoned by corpse poison, not just sick... Don't worry, I have a way to completely remove the corpse poison from you."

Shen Haotian suddenly understood, his eyes filled with joy as he said, "Indeed, I knew my son is no ordinary person..."

His nose tingled, and Shen Lang sat behind Shen Haotian, skillfully concealing his expression.

This corpse poison is extremely torturous. The poisoned person suffers inhuman pain every midnight, lasting at least half an hour. Father has been poisoned for several years, enduring such torment for so long. Now that he knows I can cure him, the first thing he's happy about... is not that he won't suffer from the corpse poison anymore, but that he's delighted his son had an extraordinary encounter...

"Father, take off your shirt, I need to see your injuries," Shen Lang said softly.

Shen Haotian nodded, took off his shirt, revealing skin that had turned a bluish-green. The skin was covered in lumps, looking as if scales had grown on it, a sight that was hard to bear.

"They... all deserve to die!" Shen Lang said through gritted teeth.

Shen Haotian was slightly taken aback, then smiled bitterly and said, "Lang, I'm really happy that you had an extraordinary encounter, but we need to think carefully about this. Since you recognized that I was poisoned, you must know that I was injured by a practitioner of the demonic path. Their cultivation is much higher than mine, and they even brought many demonic corpses, including a venomous corpse, which is not something you can provoke now."

Shen Lang didn't speak, pressing his thumbs on several acupoints on his father's back. A dark red palm print on his back gradually became clear.

The palm print was very large, unlike any human's, and at first glance, it might have been mistaken for a palm of some humanoid beast.

"Don't worry, Father, Lang has a plan and won't act rashly." Shen Lang said, his hands continuously moving on Shen Haotian's back, pouring surging spiritual energy into the acupoints, then suddenly pressing a palm on Shen Haotian's back.

"Phew!" Shen Haotian spat out a mouthful of black blood, which landed on the wooden floor, immediately producing a wisp of black smoke, a very eerie and terrifying sight.

"So comfortable, what technique is this, Lang? I feel like a mass of something around my heart has been dispersed, an indescribable relief and comfort..."

Shen Lang sighed and said, "This technique... I learned from an ancient book. It can expel most of the severe toxins from your body. Fortunately, Father's cultivation was strong back then, and you used spiritual energy to protect your heart, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable. It's just that the time has been too long... over three years... I'll go find a box of golden needles to stimulate your acupoints. In seven days, most of the corpse poison will be expelled, and the remaining part, I'll find some spiritual medicines to deal with."

"Good, good, good... I knew having you as my son is my greatest blessing! Hahaha!" Shen Haotian wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth and laughed heartily.

"Father, tell me about the incident when you were poisoned. Don't worry, I won't act rashly. I won't do anything without being sure," Shen Lang said after a moment of thought.

Shen Haotian was taken aback, his expression becoming serious. After a while, he said, "About three and a half years ago, a member of the Shen family went missing in the Phoenix Mountain Range... We were very puzzled because that member was only handling matters in the outer regions of the Phoenix Mountain Range. As you know, unless you go deep into the mountains, it's unlikely to encounter powerful demonic beasts or other dangers. When we were about to send people to search, Xu Jing came to inform me that someone had seen the missing member of the Shen family in the Black Wind Ridge, about sixty to seventy miles from the Tayan Academy..."

"The Shen family and the Xu family are like water and fire, having been in conflict for many years. Why would they be so kind to inform the Shen family? I remember Xu Jing is Xu Daolin's father, who has the greatest hostility towards the Shen family, especially towards you..." Shen Lang raised an eyebrow and said.

Shen Haotian smiled bitterly and said, "He didn't inform the Shen family, he only secretly informed me and hinted that something had happened to the Shen family, and someone wanted to seize my power, asking me to keep it confidential. At the time, I couldn't find any other clues, so I went to the Black Wind Ridge at night with two trusted companions, half-believing and half-doubting."

At this point, Shen Haotian looked gloomy.

"Later, we encountered demonic corpses in the Black Wind Ridge. Two of our people were killed, and I barely escaped. But for some reason, those demonic corpses pursued me relentlessly. In the end, I was intercepted by the most powerful venomous corpse, and at that moment, the person behind the demonic corpses finally appeared..."

"The person behind them?" Shen Lang's eyes narrowed.

Shen Haotian continued, "A person completely hidden in a black cloak. Since he controlled the demonic corpses, I knew he was a practitioner of the demonic path. I felt something was wrong... The demonic corpses were one thing, but the venomous corpse was too powerful, and I was no match for it. The black-cloaked person gave me an even more dangerous feeling. Just making eye contact with him made me sweat profusely, feeling as if I were in a pile of countless corpses..."

"I sensed that the black-cloaked person had at least the cultivation of the Spirit Martial Realm, or even higher... At that time, I was ready to die! I, Shen Haotian, a seven-foot-tall man, am I afraid of death? I would escape if I could, and if not, it's my fate!"

At this point, Shen Haotian's voice rose a bit, and a righteous and solemn aura was involuntarily released.

"Then, Father, you were struck on the back by the black-cloaked person while fleeing for your life?" Shen Lang asked, standing up.

He didn't ask for specifics. In fact, at this point, anyone could imagine the fierce battle his father, at the Seventh Level of the Qi Martial Realm, must have endured to survive.

Shen Haotian took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, the venomous corpse had the cultivation of the Spirit Martial Realm and was impervious to blades, spears, water, and fire... The black-cloaked person's cultivation was even higher than the venomous corpse. Encountering either one would have been a matter of life and death... Perhaps it was my fate to survive. I ran towards the Tayan Academy, and the black-cloaked person struck me with a palm, sending me into the river... It was summer, and the river was in flood. The turbulent waves quickly swallowed me, giving him no chance to kill me again... Or, he might have thought that one palm was enough to end my life, so he didn't continue to pursue me. When I woke up, I found myself stopped by a large log on the riverbank, realizing I had survived..."

Seeing Shen Lang silent, he continued, "Originally, when demonic path practitioners and demonic corpses appeared outside Tianfeng City, I should have informed the Tayan Academy, the Tian Shen Academy, and the City Lord's Mansion immediately..."

"But Father was worried that the demonic path practitioner would seek revenge and threaten Mother and our siblings' safety, so you've been claiming to be seriously ill all along," Shen Lang said without turning his head.

Shen Haotian sighed deeply and said nothing.

He had indeed considered this. Hundreds of demonic corpses, a venomous corpse equivalent to the Spirit Martial Realm, and a demonic path expert with cultivation above the Spirit Martial Realm who controlled the demonic corpses...

He had personally experienced the terror of all this, and his cultivation was only at the Seventh Level of the Qi Martial Realm.

Martial Realm, Qi Martial Realm, Spirit Martial Realm, Mystic Martial Realm... The higher the cultivation, the greater the gap between each level.

Perhaps a Martial Realm practitioner could defeat a Qi Martial Realm practitioner with some techniques or combat skills, but for a peak Qi Martial Realm practitioner to defeat a Spirit Martial Realm expert, the difficulty increased tenfold, unless they had extremely powerful magical treasures or secret weapons.

And the entire Shen family had no expert with cultivation above the Spirit Martial Realm!

"I understand... Don't worry, Father, I'll go find a box of golden needles. I'll use them to stimulate your acupoints and continue to expel the corpse poison. You'll be fine soon." Shen Lang got up and walked out.

Shen Haotian, sitting on the bed, smiled at his back, his eyes full of comfort and joy.

However, he didn't know that when Shen Lang walked out of the room and into the courtyard, he glanced coldly at the center of Tianfeng City, his eyes filled with icy killing intent.

He was looking at the tallest tower in Tianfeng City, which was brightly lit.

And below that tower was the City Lord's Mansion of Tianfeng City!

If Shen Haotian knew that his son had uncovered the true culprit behind the scenes with just a few pieces of information, he would have been greatly surprised...