Chapter 2489 - 2489: Antidote for Bone Softening Powder

At this moment, Wanyan Hongsheng had more or less decided to let the pot break and the shards fall; he dared to say practically anything. And precisely what he was saying now was exactly what Wanyan Second Master had been pondering all along.

Just as Wanyan Hongsheng said, Wanyan Second Master also suspected that, maybe one day, he would end up just like Wanyan Hongsheng, locked away in this Dungeon. Staying by Wanyan Hongfeng's side was far too dangerous; no one knew what that capricious Family Head might end up doing.

"Second Brother, looks like I'm out of chances. Locked in the Dungeon, forced to take that Bone Softening Powder every day—give it a few years and I'll be crippled. But you're different, Second Brother, you still hold the reins of power in the Wanyan Family." Wanyan Hongsheng looked at Wanyan Second Master and said in a low voice, "Let me give you a piece of advice: be on your guard. You're loyal to the Wanyan Family, but in their eyes you might not even be worth a dog. Even that junior Wanyan Ming can trample on your head and strut about—can you really stomach days like that?"

"Enough!" Wanyan Second Master suddenly roared. Wanyan Hongsheng showed no trace of fear; instead, a slow, cold smile crept onto his face. "Second Brother, you're stopping me because you're scared, or because you truly don't want to hear it? Second Brother, I know what's in your heart—it's the same as what's in mine. We're blood brothers, we've been together so many years, you can't fool me, hahaha…"

Wanyan Hongsheng laughed as he stepped back, watching Wanyan Second Master's expression. He no longer looked that frightened; instead, there was a hint of mockery on his face. As if he were watching a play, or watching Wanyan Second Master make a fool of himself.

Wanyan Second Master clenched his fists, stood silently at the entrance of the cell for a moment, then suddenly turned and walked out.

Seeing Wanyan Second Master leave, Wanyan Hongsheng still wanted to say more. Just then, a small bottle suddenly fell to the ground not far in front of him. Wanyan Hongsheng froze for a moment, then walked over and picked up the small bottle.

There was no mark on the bottle, but when he opened it, he saw quite a few tiny Pills inside. Wanyan Hongsheng sniffed them, his expression changed at once; he hugged the little bottle tight and exclaimed in a low voice, "The Antidote to Bone Softening Powder?"

Wanyan Hongsheng held a high position in the Wanyan Family and knew very well how things worked there, including the matters of this Dungeon. Everybody thrown into the Dungeon had committed a capital crime. To prevent these people from escaping, the Wanyan Family mixed a poison called Bone Softening Powder into their food. This stuff left a person with no strength in their body at all, completely unable to use their Inner Strength. That way, no matter how powerful the expert, once they entered the Dungeon, they could forget about getting out.

This Bone Softening Powder, taken in the short term, would only sap a person's strength. But with long-term use, it would gradually damage the Meridians. After a few months, a person's power would begin to decline; after three to five years, they would be completely ruined, turned into a cripple. That was the real reason Wanyan Hongsheng refused to stay in this Dungeon any longer. Even if Wanyan Hongfeng didn't kill him, as long as he kept being locked in here, he would eventually become a useless cripple—and that was worse than killing him.

All that he had just said to Wanyan Second Master was in fact aimed at getting Second Master to let him out. But although Wanyan Second Master hadn't released him, he had quietly given him the Antidote to Bone Softening Powder, which made Wanyan Hongsheng wildly excited inside. With this Antidote, he could regain his strength. And with his level of power, this mere Dungeon could never hold him. In other words, Wanyan Second Master was actually helping him in secret; whenever he decided to leave the Dungeon, he could simply take the Antidote to Bone Softening Powder.

The key question now was: when should he break out of this Dungeon? At present, masters filled every corner of Wan Yan Manor. With his strength, breaking out of the Dungeon would not be hard, but escaping Wan Yan Manor altogether was simply impossible. On the contrary, in such circumstances, if he broke out of the Dungeon and got caught, it would definitely mean death!

Clutching the Antidote to Bone Softening Powder, the cold smile slowly faded from Wanyan Hongsheng's face, replaced by a deep, heavy look. Now that he had this Antidote, he could save his own life and escape the Wanyan Family. And once he got out, he wouldn't just cut ties with the Wanyan Family—he would hunt down Wanyan Hongfeng for revenge and wash away the humiliation he had suffered!

Wanyan Hongfeng was in seclusion and naturally had no idea what was happening down in the Dungeon. If he had known, he would never have locked Wanyan Hongsheng in there. The result of his refusal to speak out was precisely this situation: Wanyan Hongsheng had already developed a rebellious heart toward the Wanyan Family, and as for Wanyan Second Master—since he had moved to aid Wanyan Hongsheng, how loyal could he still be to the Wanyan Family?

——————————————————————————————————————

By the time Ye Qing and his people arrived at the Capital, Old Wang Ba and the others had long since gotten there.

The Capital had once been the Nalan Family's turf, but the Nalan Family now no longer existed. After the last great battle at the Sword Saint Sect, Nalan Jingwei and the Nalan Family members had indeed followed the Sword Saint Sect people out through the rear passage. But once they got out, Nalan Jingwei and his people immediately turned and ran off; they never stayed with Ye Qing and the others.

That was only natural. Nalan Jingwei had brought the Nalan Family people across a thousand miles to strike into the Sword Saint Sect, originally intending to support the Sword Saint Sect from behind against the Wanyan Family, and in the process gain the Sword Saint Sect's backing. In the end, not only did Ye Qing trick them halfway, they couldn't offer much help afterwards either. Instead, Ye Qing won the Sword Saint Sect's full support. In such a situation, there was no point at all in Nalan Jingwei continuing to stay on Ye Qing's side. Ye Qing wouldn't trust him, and he couldn't get backing from the Sword Saint Sect; if he stayed, he would only be used as a pawn again in the future, so they left first.

Of course, after that battle at the Sword Saint Sect, the Nalan Family was thoroughly at odds with the Wanyan Family as well. So when Nalan Jingwei and his people got out, they rushed back to the Capital at once and moved away overnight to hide. Now the Nalan Family was an empty shell; only a deserted manor remained in the Capital. This family that had once been glorious now seemed like a pack of stray dogs, with no trace of them to be seen.

That suited Ye Qing and his people just fine. When they reached the Capital, they directly chose Nalan Manor as their temporary residence.

Old Wang Ba brought people from the Yelu Family, and Lin Tianyou came along as well. Huangfu Ziyu did not come, because she had been taken away by the suddenly appeared Shen Tianjun; she was probably in seclusion with Shen Tianjun at the moment.

Lin Tianyou had hidden the Lin family members in a secret place. He was now the heir of Divine Doctor An Shiping and could be considered part of the Martial Arts World; there was no guarantee the Wanyan Family wouldn't try to target him. Before the great war with the Wanyan Family, he had to ensure the safety of the people around him.

When the two sides met, the Yelu Family members were quite surprised to see so many masters suddenly gathered around Ye. The last time they had met, Ye had barely anyone at his side—so how had so many experts popped up out of nowhere?

When they learned these people were all from the Sword Saint Sect, the Yelu Family members were even more shocked. The Yelu Family had a thousand years of heritage. Though they hadn't schemed and plotted for a thousand years like the Wanyan Family, they still understood a great deal about the world and naturally knew the Sword Saint Sect's strength. And now, the Sword Saint Sect people were all following Ye Qing's lead so obediently; that was enough to stun anyone. You had to know, the Sword Saint Sect had always been aloof and above; the Wanyan Family had paid a huge price to control them. Who would have thought that in the end, the Sword Saint Sect would be under Ye Qing's control?

The two Tomb Guarding Elders of the Yelu Family were one thing—those two had always been a bit simple-minded, and aside from family rules they never cared about anything else. But the other Yelu Family members admired Ye Qing's current situation to the extreme. At the same time, they all felt secretly fortunate: it was a good thing they had a decent relationship with Ye Qing; perhaps in the future they could use that connection to revive the Yelu Family.

Ye Qing knew nothing of what the Yelu Family people were thinking. The main reason he had invited them over was to search for the Xuanyuan Sword. In the Yelu Family's Ancestral Tomb there were some clues regarding the Xuanyuan Sword. If they could find the Xuanyuan Sword, at the very least they would have something to counter the Scabbard of the Minghong Knife in Wanyan Hongfeng's hand.

Once the two sides met and exchanged a few courtesies, Ye Qing went straight to the point. He sought out the two Tomb Guarding Elders of the Yelu Family and stated his wish to enter the Yelu Family's Ancestral Tomb.

Earlier, because his relationship with the Yelu Family had not been settled, Ye Qing had been unable to bring up this matter. Now that he had acknowledged Yelu Ying as his younger sister, his ties with the Yelu Family were essentially fixed; going back to these two Tomb Guarding Elders, they naturally had nothing more to say.

In truth, though, the two Tomb Guarding Elders still harbored some dissatisfaction toward Ye Qing. While the issue of his relationship with the Yelu Family had been resolved, it was not the sort of relationship they had wanted. The two of them were old antiques; although everything had been agreed upon last time, they couldn't help but show Ye Qing a sour face when they saw him.

Ye Qing understood their temperament and didn't take it to heart. After letting the two Tomb Guarding Elders scold him a few times, the anger in them seemed to ease, and they began to talk to Ye Qing about the Yelu Family's Ancestral Tomb.

"If you want to enter the Yelu Family's Ancestral Tomb, these next few days won't do." The tall one in charge of Tomb Guarding said in a deep voice, "These days are not the right time."

"You even have to pick the right time to enter the Ancestral Tomb?" Ye Qingqi asked in surprise.

"Of course." The short one beside him immediately said, "You think the Yelu Family's Ancestral Tomb is some public garden you can stroll in and out of whenever you like? If it were that simple, what would the two of us Tomb Guarding Elders be here for?"