Tang Yu stood there without moving. Luo Feiying reluctantly brought over the basin of medicine and said, "You can soak in it if you want. If anything goes wrong, I won't let that old man surnamed Lin off the hook."
Song Hao struggled to raise his hands and dip them into the medicine, then smiled wryly and comforted the two women, saying, "It's just a little suffering, there won't be any danger."
After soaking for another hour, Luo Feiying rinsed Song Hao's hands with clean water. By this time, his hands were too weak to hold anything, and he couldn't eat the breakfast Tang Yu had bought. Tang Yu had to stand aside and feed Song Hao porridge with a spoon, while Luo Feiying stood on the other side and fed him snacks. Seeing Song Hao's condition, both of them felt heartbroken and tears streamed down their faces. Song Hao also had tears welling up in his eyes.
"Why are you crying?" Luo Feiying asked, choking back tears.
"I'm so touched! No one has ever been this nice to me before!" Song Hao said with a wry smile.
"Children who lack fathers or mothers are all like this!" Tang Yu laughed.
What a touching scene!
Around noon, the skin on Song Hao's hands had begun to crack and was showing signs of peeling. Tang Yu, fearing infection, gently wrapped them with gauze.
Song Hao looked around as if searching for something, his expression showing great distress.
"What's wrong with you? Did the poison affect your heart?" Tang Yu asked as she stepped forward.
"I...I need to go to the bathroom!" Song Hao said, his face flushed and embarrassed.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu felt relieved and smiled to herself. Then, she looked at Luo Feiying with a troubled expression.
"Sister Tang Yu, you wouldn't ask me to help Song Hao to relieve himself, would you?" Luo Feiying asked, her face flushed.
"What should we do then! What if he... what if he gets it in his pants? That would be even worse!" Tang Yu stood there, at a loss for what to do.
Song Hao sat on the bed, head down, not daring to look at the two of them.
"I've got it! Song Hao, just bear with it for a moment." Luo Feiying suddenly smiled and ran out of the room.
Luo Feiying then found a male employee in the apartment building, handed him a hundred-yuan bill, and said, "My friend here has a bit of a hand injury and has difficulty moving around. Could you help him to the restroom? One hundred yuan per trip, how about that?"
"Of course, of course!" The waiter nodded quickly, happily took the money, and went forward to help Song Hao away.
"Thank you so much, otherwise we really wouldn't know what to do. It's just a bit expensive," Tang Yu said gratefully.
"It's not expensive. Even if I gave you five hundred yuan, you still wouldn't want to go!" Luo Feiying said with a smile.
"You're so glib, you're asking for it!" Tang Yu waved his fist.
"Hehe! I was just kidding! It's only because you were here that I forced Song Hao to give in." Luo Feiying said smugly.
"What kind of behavior is it to force him?" Tang Yu asked shrewdly.
“Let him call me by my nickname!” Luo Feiying said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu felt a sense of relief, but also a strange feeling welled up inside her.
Volume Two: The World of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Tianyi Hall, Chapter Four: Transformation (3)
That evening, Tang Yu returned home with some groceries when she noticed a man in a trench coat and sunglasses enter her apartment building before her and go straight to the second floor. Startled, Tang Yu knew he was up to no good and quickly followed him.
The man walked to the door of Song Hao's room, looked around, took out a pistol from his pocket, and attached a silencer.
Just as the man was about to break down the door, he suddenly felt a gust of wind beside his ear, realizing something was attacking him. Instinctively, he tilted his head back to avoid it. With a soft thud, a toothbrush was embedded in the door frame in front of him, almost completely submerged. The man was horrified, knowing that a skilled fighter was nearby. He turned his head and saw a woman rushing towards him. He quickly raised his hand and fired a shot. While the woman dodged, he seized the opportunity to smash through the window at the end of the corridor and jumped out to escape.
Tang Yu startled the man away with a toothbrush, but when she looked out the window, he had vanished without a trace. Fearing something might have happened to Song Hao, she didn't give chase and instead went back into Song Hao's room to check.
At that moment, Song Hao and Luo Feiying were talking when Tang Yu walked in with a serious expression. Luo Feiying didn't notice and asked, "Sister Tang Yu, what's that noise outside?"
"It's nothing!" Tang Yu said coldly. "Come out, I have something to ask you." After saying that, she walked out first.
Luo Feiying was taken aback, then pouted and said, "What's wrong? Why so serious!" She got up and followed her out.
In the corridor outside the door, Tang Yu stared at Luo Feiying and said, "Only you and I know that Song Hao came here. Why did you also bring the people from the Demon Needle Sect here?"
"What do you mean? When did anyone from our Demon Needle Sect come here besides me?" Luo Feiying said angrily.
“It’s best if it’s not someone from your Luo family. I just scared away an assassin; it seemed he wanted to kill Song Hao,” Tang Yu said. She could tell from Luo Feiying’s eyes that the other was unaware of this.
"An assassin!" Luo Feiying exclaimed in shock. She glanced at the broken window at the end of the corridor and understood everything.
“Who would dare to take Song Hao’s life at this point?” Luo Feiying asked in surprise.
"Of course, it's those who don't value their lives! From now on, you and I will take turns on night shifts to protect Song Hao. He can't move his hands now, so he's in even more danger," Tang Yu said worriedly.
Because the medicine was too potent and the soaking time was too long, Song Hao's fingers and palms began to peel before three days had passed. The pain was excruciating, like being cut by a knife, as the old skin peeled away and new skin hadn't yet grown. Fortunately, Luo Feiying used acupuncture, which reduced the pain significantly, making it bearable for Song Hao.
Another day passed before the pain subsided. While the medicine had the effect of peeling the skin, it also promoted tissue regeneration, and new skin quickly grew back. Soaking in the medicine again brought on even more excruciating pain. Song Hao ignored it all, gritting his teeth and enduring the pain. Fortunately, Lin Fengyi arrived in time to stop him, saying, "I forgot to tell you, you soaked your hands too hard the first time. One peel is enough to offset three, so you can only soak them for one more day to counteract the medicine's effects. Don't soak them anymore, otherwise it will cause the skin and flesh to peel off the bone, and your hands will be truly ruined."
Upon hearing this, Song Hao broke out in a cold sweat. Tang Yu and Luo Feiying rolled their eyes at Lin Fengyi in anger.
Inside the European-style villa of Tianyi Group, Gu Xiaofeng was reporting to Qi Yannian.
“An assassin found Song Hao, and judging from his behavior, he intended to kill him. Before my men could stop him, the assassin was scared away by Tang Yu from the Tang family. My men followed the assassin all the way down and finally saw him enter a company and disappear. I just checked…” Gu Xiaofeng paused and said, “This company is actually a pharmaceutical factory under the Tianyi Group. In other words, the assassin is from the Tianyi Group!”
"What!?" Qi Yannian jumped up in surprise.
“Brother Qi, it seems things are getting complicated. Song Hao has just escaped trouble in the martial world, but now someone wants his life. It's no longer as simple as just wanting to get that acupuncture bronze figure from him. Also, it's not convenient for us, the Life and Death Gate, to directly investigate the internal affairs of the Heavenly Medicine Group,” Gu Xiaofeng said.
"How could someone within the Tianyi Group want Hao'er dead?" Qi Yannian asked, his brows furrowed.
"Brother Gu, things have come to this point, and there's something I won't hide anymore. Song Hao is my own flesh and blood, his real name is Qi Hao, my only son, so please be sure to protect his safety. As for why the assassin is from Tianyi Group, I don't know either, but I can now authorize you to conduct a comprehensive investigation inside and outside Tianyi Group, and you must get to the bottom of it," Qi Yannian said.
“Song Hao is indeed Brother Qi’s son! I had some suspicions before. Now that Brother Qi has spoken, I will investigate the whole story thoroughly.” Gu Xiaofeng nodded and said.
"This matter must be investigated in secret, especially so that my wife doesn't find out. Otherwise, she might impulsively try to acknowledge Song Hao first, which would make me break my promise to a benefactor," Qi Yannian instructed.