The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 2988 Doubt

Qian Zhenghao returned twice last night but found nothing unusual. Furthermore, when Chen Mo offered to join him on night watch, he was so frightened that he immediately forgot everything and retreated.

When they returned to the hillside nursery, Qian Ying was waiting for his report.

Qian Zhenghao then gave a report on everything that had happened the day before, including the dangers they encountered during their adventure, the strange beast Yixianhong they met, and how they detoxified themselves.

Of course, he didn't mention the embarrassing incident he caused that morning while trying to see if the rope would break. He skipped over the rope and went straight to what happened next.

As for the rope, although he suspected that Elder Qian might have done something underhanded, he couldn't speculate on such matters, so he could only remain silent.

"Wait a minute, stop for a moment." Qian Wantong interrupted Qian Zhenghao's story after he heard about Qian jumping over the rope and recounting what he had seen and heard while crossing the canyon, and asked, "How did you cross the canyon this morning?"

It would have been better if he hadn't asked. After he did, Qian Zhenghao gave Qian Wantong a resentful look.

This left Qian Wantong somewhat bewildered. What did Qian Zhenghao's gaze mean? He had never seen such a resentful look before.

Damn it, why are they looking at me like that? All I wanted to ask was about the rope. Elder Qian couldn't very well ask that question, given his status; he couldn't very well ask directly. So, it was up to Qian Wantong to do it for him.

Seeing that Qian Zhenghao did not answer, Qian Wantong asked again, "I'm asking you a question. How did your group cross the canyon this morning?"

Qian Zhenghao couldn't reveal that he knew there was something wrong with the ropes, or that his own elders had sabotaged it. So he could only answer, "We used ropes to cross the canyon this morning. However, that man named Li Mo replaced the rope bridge that was built yesterday with another one this morning."

Upon hearing this answer, Qian Wantong and Qian Ying exchanged a glance, a question arising in their minds: Did Ouyang Nan and the others already know that Qian Ying had sabotaged the rope?

'Impossible!' Qian Ying thought to himself. His strength was already at the peak of the third level of the Innate Realm, so tampering with the ropes would be incredibly easy for him, yet others were able to discover it. This was simply unbelievable.

"Then, did Li Mo say why he wanted to replace that rope?" Qian Wantong asked again.

Hearing Qian Ying and Qian Wantong's expressions and questions, Qian Zhenghao realized he hadn't been mistaken; there was definitely something wrong with the rope. Unfortunately, that guy named Li Mo was lucky; he simply replaced the rope.

“I asked, and Li Mo answered. He said that the rope was found to be corroded during an inspection in the morning, so he replaced it to ensure safety when crossing the canyon,” Qian Zhenghao said.

He was also relieved to know why the rope had been replaced; otherwise, it would have been difficult to answer that question now.

However, the elders of his own family had tampered with the ropes without telling him. If he hadn't known, and Li Mo hadn't changed the ropes in the morning, would he have been killed off?

Thinking about it, Qian Zhenghao felt a chill run down his spine. His family elder was truly ruthless and cunning, having even schemed to the point where he could be discarded at any moment.

Alas! It's all because of his weakness. If he had the strength of the tenth level of the acquired realm or the innate realm, these two people wouldn't have plotted against him, Qian Zhenghao.

Unfortunately, his current strength is only that of a minor martial artist at the eighth level of the Acquired Realm. This status might be considered decent when he was outside, but in the valley and in the current situation, a martial artist at the eighth level of the Acquired Realm is really nothing special.

Qian Zhenghao's mind was churning with various thoughts, but he didn't reveal them. He knew perfectly well how ruthless his elder was, and how sycophantic this Steward Qian was. Pretending not to know meant he could continue to live, but if he showed even a hint that he knew about the ropes, he might be dead by now.

Forget it, it's better to avoid trouble. Let's just pretend we don't know anything.

Upon hearing that Li Mo had replaced the rope due to corrosion, Qian Wantong and Qian Ying exchanged a glance, and then Qian Ying said, "Next, tell me what happened when we crossed the canyon."

Qian Zhenghao was at a loss for how to continue, but when he heard Qian Ying speak, he immediately continued to recount what had happened while crossing the canyon.

After hearing this, Qian Ying frowned. She really hadn't expected that a venomous snake would be found in the woods on the other side of the canyon.

Fortunately, Qian Zhenghao told me that an antidote for this highly venomous snake called "One-Line Red" was found on the spot, and he even personally tested it, which eased my worries a little.

"Did you catch the red-haired creature that bit you?" Qian Ying asked.

“Elder, that venomous snake called ‘One-Line Red’ is too fast. With my strength, I simply can’t catch it.” Qian Zhenghao continued, somewhat frustrated, “In the entire small expedition team, only that guy named Li Mo was able to catch the One-Line Red.”

"Oh? So fast, and you still couldn't catch it?" Qian Wantong asked incredulously from the side. "Yes, Manager Qian, after I was bitten by the 'One-Line Red' snake, I had no chance at all to catch it. That snake was as fast as lightning and very small, about the size of chopsticks, but the venom was extremely potent. Within ten seconds of being bitten, I had lost the ability to resist. In the end, it was only after that man named Li Mo fed me the antidote that I escaped being poisoned to death."

Even now, when Qian Zhenghao recalls that scene, he still feels a chill run down his spine. If Chen Mo hadn't intervened in time, he might have been the one to meet his demise.

"Did that young man named Li Mo save you?" Qian Ying asked, neither confirming nor denying.

"Yes, Elder, after I was bitten, my whole body was paralyzed in a short time, and I felt a little confused. Fortunately, Li Mo fed me an antidote, and I survived." Although he had a responsibility to supervise, he had nothing to hide since Chen Mo had saved him.

Therefore, when Elder Qian asked, he told the truth.

Qian Ying simply nodded, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "What was that antidote you used?"

"This is it. Li Mo calls this the Red Thread Fruit." Qian Zhenghao handed the Red Thread Fruit he had collected in his pocket to Qian Ying, and recounted how Chen Mo had discovered the Red Thread Fruit and how it was used as an antidote. He also explained how to detoxify, including internal and external applications.

"So, that guy named Li Mo actually knew about this venomous snake beforehand, and also knew that the antidote for it was this red thread fruit?" Qian Ying asked.

“Yes, I heard it from Li Mo himself. He knows about venomous snakes and even knows how to detoxify them,” Qian Zhenghao replied.

Qian Ying looked at the red thread fruit in her hand, which was about the size of a soybean, and her brows, which had just relaxed slightly, furrowed again.

He simply couldn't understand how that young man named Li Mo would know about this antidote, the method of detoxification, and even the name of the venomous snake. Even he, an old man over a hundred years old, had never seen or heard of such a venomous snake, nor of any fruit that could provide an antidote.

Is it reasonable for a young person to know this? Absolutely not.

Qian Ying wouldn't call himself an erudite scholar, but he was certainly experienced and had seen a lot. Could he really be inferior to a young man now? Impossible. Therefore, Qian Ying was somewhat skeptical of Chen Mo's words, such as "I've heard this before" nonsense.

But unfounded suspicions don't prove anything. So Qian Ying continued, "Now, tell me, after the poison was neutralized, is there anything else?"

“Yes!” Qian Zhenghao then explained how he felt after being detoxified and the reason for his physical discomfort. He then talked about how Ouyang Nan and the others discussed setting off again to collect red thread fruit and explore the road ahead.

During his wait, he did not leave the spot. After waiting for an afternoon, Ouyang Nan and the other three returned unharmed. They shared some of the red thread fruit they had collected with him and briefly explained the situation they had encountered during their previous adventure.

I continued to hear that after we left the woods, there were still bees the size of fists; you could tell from their appearance that these were not to be trifled with.

"Sigh!" Qian Ying sighed deeply and said to Qian Wantong, "Call Elder Zhou Zixing over to discuss some matters. Also, go to the Ouyang family and see if Ouyang Nan has returned. If she has, call her over. If she hasn't, search around the camp again to see if any of them have returned here."

Seeing Qian Wantong turn to call Zhou Zixing, Qian Ying asked Qian Zhenghao some questions again, even repeating some questions twice, worried that there might be inconsistencies in his previous descriptions.

After Zhou Zixing arrived, Qian Ying instructed Qian Zhenghao to recount the events of the day once again.

"Here, this is called Red Thread Fruit. It's an antidote for the deadly poison of a red venomous snake. Qian Wantong was poisoned and took this Red Thread Fruit to detoxify himself." Qian Ying handed the bag of Red Thread Fruit to Zhou Zixing.

Zhou Zixing took it, took out a red thread fruit from it, examined it carefully, and confirmed that he had never seen it before.

"It seems our young friend Li Mo is quite knowledgeable," Zhou Zixing said.

Of course, he said this in order not to arouse Qian Ying's suspicion.

After all, Zhou Zixing was now under Chen Mo's control, and he constantly felt a vague discomfort in his back, but he couldn't tell Qian Ying about these things.

"Yes, I've never seen this kind of fruit before, nor have I ever heard of the 'One-Line Red' venomous snake," Qian Ying said with a sigh.

"Elder Qian, what are your thoughts?" Zhou Zixing asked.

"Wait a minute, I've sent Wan Tong to find Ouyang Nan. We'll ask the person involved later," Qian Ying said.

"Okay!" Zhou Zixing agreed, then stared at the red thread fruit, examining it over and over, trying to figure out what was so special about it. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't figure it out.