Chapter 674 — The Poison Formula

"Uncle Gu, please do not go in just yet. Yaoyao is still rather weak. Would you wait for her outside the operating room?"

"Forgive me, that was rash of me!" Gu Pengzhan nodded hurriedly and halted his steps.

"Divine Doctor, have you finished curing Gu Mengyao? Could you look at my child now?"

"Yes, Divine Doctor, I beg you -- can you treat them now?"

Hearing Wei Zhao say that Gu Mengyao was out of danger, the parents were overjoyed. Earlier, while he had been speaking with Gu Pengzhan, they had not dared to cut in for fear of provoking him. Only now, once he had finished, did they open their mouths and ask.

Wei Zhao glanced over the parents. He could well understand what they felt, but he truly had no time to needle the poison out of them one by one. For one thing, he was already worn out; for another, there were schoolgirls among them, and he was not acquainted with them -- surely he could not have every one of them strip off her clothes?

And besides, if he ended up drenched in urine again, it would be sickening. He bore the young lady no ill feeling, but with anyone else, the prospect did not sit well with him at all.

"I will treat them, but the antidote has all been used up. I need to talk it over with Grandpa Guan and work out how to compound some more." Having said this to the parents, Wei Zhao turned to Guan Xuemin: "Grandpa Guan, let us find somewhere with fewer people to talk."

Wei Zhao's words were half true and half false, yet the parents could not help but believe them. When they heard he was willing to treat their children, they rejoiced; when they heard the antidote was gone, they were still somewhat anxious -- but since Wei Zhao had promised to compound more, he surely would not be deceiving them.

"Good!" Guan Xuemin was delighted. Wei Zhao had probably already grasped the way to neutralize the poison, but could hardly say so in front of the crowd of parents at the operating-room door.

Wei Zhao and Guan Xuemin went into the isolation room where Gu Mengyao had first been kept. Wei Zhao shut the door and said to Guan Xuemin: "It is indeed a rare poison of great antiquity, called the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder. Its antidote was lost as early as the Ming dynasty, but in the late Qing the Tang Sect gathered what remained and compounded the antidote anew. The cure is not instantaneous, but once the dosage is increased, the poison can be cleared completely within three days, and after a month of recuperation the patient will be no different from any ordinary person."

Wei Zhao wasted no words and simply told him what he knew.

"Oh? The Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder!" Guan Xuemin's eyes went wide with astonishment. "There is still someone who knows the formula for such a poison?"

To Guan Xuemin's mind, the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder had long since passed into legend: not only was the antidote lost, even the poison's own formula had gone unrecorded for ages. And yet Wei Zhao knew not only the poison but the antidote as well?

"Ha, ordinary people would not know of it, but a few ancient medical houses ought to." Wei Zhao spoke mildly. "As for the antidote -- that, I fear, they no longer know either."

Guan Xuemin was visibly stirred. "Shall we... begin compounding the antidote now?"

"Yes. In a moment I will write out both the poison formula and the antidote formula for you." Wei Zhao said, "Give the poison formula straight to the police, but do not let the antidote formula get out. Buy the herbs yourself, then take them to Fatty Lai's pharmaceutical plant for purification, and do whatever it takes to have the antidote ready by tomorrow morning. Those students can hold out until tomorrow night at the very least, but beyond that, I cannot say."

Guan Xuemin had not expected Wei Zhao to simply write out the poison formula and the antidote formula for him, and he was quite overwhelmed by the honor. How much trust did that require! The formula for a legendary poison like the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder was rare enough on its own, and Wei Zhao actually possessed its matching antidote besides -- to a man of medicine, this was a treasure beyond price.

"Good. I will see it done properly." Guan Xuemin nodded gravely.

"This is a fine chance to promote the company. Have a word with Fatty Lai and see whether he has any good ideas." What Wei Zhao had in mind was that the antidote could be made to stir up some publicity for Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals, though just how to do it was hardly his own strong suit; that would have to be Fatty Lai's work.

"Heh, this sort of thing is exactly Fatty Lai's specialty. I will speak with him." Doctor Guan nodded.

Wei Zhao said nothing further. He wrote out the prescriptions and handed them to Guan Xuemin, then left the isolation room. By then Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had already come out of the operating room and were talking with Gu Pengzhan, and Gu Mengyao appeared to be in rather good spirits.

Yet the young lady, catching sight of Wei Zhao, coldly shifted her gaze aside and paid him no heed at all.

In her heart Gu Mengyao was thoroughly ashamed. She had so wanted to say "thank you" to Wei Zhao, but the words would not come out. Being looked at and touched by him earlier was one thing -- in the end she had actually pissed all over his face and his clothes. How could she ever face Wei Zhao again as though nothing had happened?

In her own heart, she probably could not get past this either.

Wei Zhao had more or less guessed the young lady's thoughts, and so he did not speak to her, sparing her the awkwardness. Shen Yushu, meanwhile, was chattering away excitedly to Gu Pengzhan about how formidable Arrow Bro was and how strong Sister Yaoyao was.

But Shen Yushu was not one to play the fool before just anyone: of Gu Mengyao stripping naked and pissing all over Wei Zhao's face, she said not a single word.

"Wei Zhao, this time I truly have you to thank!" Seeing Wei Zhao come over, Gu Pengzhan walked up excitedly and clapped him on the shoulder. "If not for you... Yaoyao would have..."

"Ha, Uncle Gu, it is only what I ought to do." Wei Zhao smiled, claiming no credit for himself. "Besides, I have never counted Yaoyao an outsider."

"Good!" Gu Pengzhan nodded. "Since that is so, Wei Zhao, from today you are family to the Gu household, and half of my estate shall be yours as well!"

The parents and the rest were all astonished at Gu Pengzhan's words. They had not expected him to say such a thing, though they also supposed that it was because Wei Zhao had saved Gu Mengyao's life, and Gu Pengzhan, in his joy, had made him such a promise.

Gu Mengyao, however, looked at her father in some surprise. She had not expected Daddy to give away half the family fortune in a single sentence. Not that she begrudged it -- the one receiving it was Wei Zhao, which made it feel worthwhile to her -- but why was her father so good to Wei Zhao?

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