Chapter 40 Clarification

Chapter 40: Clarification

"What’s there to think about?! You were called by the shopkeeper, right? Quit trying to pull one over on us!"

"Yeah, we’re gonna see a doctor, and we’re going right now!"

Su Zheng shook his head and said, "I’m afraid those three can’t leave even if they wanted to."

"You—what do you mean? What’re you trying to do?"

"I don’t even know you, why would I try anything? I’m just telling you, the poison your folks got ain’t fatal yet, but the symptoms are severe!

First, they’ll just get real bad stomach pain, then they’ll start shaking all over, then they’ll feel something moving around inside ’em, and finally, they won’t feel a thing."

"You—you’re full of it..."

"Ah!"

"Hey, look!"

"They really are shaking!"

Before Da Niu could finish, he got cut off by the crowd’s shouts and looked down quick.

The three people on the ground were shaking all over.

Da Niu and the husband were both freaked out.

What the hell?!

That guy clearly said it’d just be a stomachache, nothing else, and they’d be good in half a day!

The three on the ground were scared shitless now.

‘Cause they really felt something crawling through ’em, all numb and painful!

Su Zheng chimed in right on cue: "Folks, you feel something moving inside you?"

Hearing that, the three, who hadn’t had a chance to think, were scared half to death by the words "something inside you"!

Could there really be something inside ’em?!

The woman, scared and in pain, gritted her teeth and looked at Su Zheng, shaking: "D-doc, am I, am I really poisoned or something?"

Da Niu’s mom was scared too and looked at Su Zheng: "Doc, doc, please, please save us, save us."

"It’s not like I can’t save you, but you gotta understand, what you took ain’t poison, it’s a medicinal toxin. To fix it, you gotta counteract the medicine, and that takes the right antidote.

So I need to know exactly when you took it and how much. Pretty soon, you’ll start losing your sense of pain. When that happens, think hard about what I asked, and tell me straight, so I can give you the right treatment."

Not long after Su Zheng said that, the three started feeling better, like their stomach pain was easing up.

They paid attention and realized they felt no pain at all!

"Hey, my stomach don’t hurt no more!"

"Me too, that bad feeling’s gone!"

"Hey, am I good? I don’t need no meds; the pain just passed, and I’m fine."

"Yeah, doc, you sure you’re not wrong?"

"Oh yeah? Then try pinching yourselves, and do it hard."

"Fine, I’ll pinch. What’s the big deal?"

"Huh? Oh! Why don’t it hurt! Why don’t it hurt even when I pinch this hard!"

"I can’t feel pain neither! Doc! Doc! What’s wrong with me?"

"The medicine’s numbed your sense of pain. You’ve lost all feeling, so even if you get hurt and bleed, you won’t notice.

But where you can’t see, cuts on your skin’ll make your insides rot slowly.

Without pain, you won’t know till your guts have rotted clean out. Then you’ll have trouble breathing and slowly choke to death."

Just thinking about what Su Zheng said turned their faces white with fear.

They started blabbing to Su Zheng about their meds right away.

Da Niu and the husband felt a bit off too, like something was wrong, and instinctively tried to shut the three up.

But by now, the three were panicked beyond reason. Whether Su Zheng’s description of their death was real or not, their current experience was undeniable!

They were scared out of their minds and couldn’t care about anything else!

Guided by Su Zheng, they all started talking at once, revealing that someone had given them medicine beforehand and told them to eat at Fubei Restaurant.

At the appointed time, the medicine would kick in, and they’d get stomach pains.

Then, those who hadn’t taken the medicine would accuse Fubei Restaurant of serving bad food and tell everyone not to eat there again.

They had even met before and rehearsed their story together.

Hearing this, the crowd finally understood. Someone was framing Fubei Restaurant and wronging the shopkeeper.

The onlookers all condemned the group and the person behind them, calling them utterly despicable!

Da Niu’s mom and the others no longer cared about that. They just looked at Su Zheng and asked, "Doc, doc, can we be cured?"

Su Zheng pulled a few pills from his sleeve and handed them to the three: "Based on when you took the medicine and how much, each of you needs two pills."

Each took two pills, glanced at each other, gritted their teeth, and swallowed them.

As soon as they swallowed, they felt their stomachs hurt again!

The sensation was such a relief!

They lay on the ground, no longer writhing and wailing, but rolling around in joyful screams: "It hurts! It hurts! I can feel pain! Oh my god! Pain feels so good!"

Su Zheng: "..."

Everyone: "..."

Su Zheng said to the husband and Da Niu, "Take them to the latrine. They’ll feel nauseous in a bit, and once that passes, they’ll be fine."

He had the waiter buy emetics to induce vomiting. After throwing up and drinking plenty of water to flush their stomachs, they’d be out of danger.

The five quickly helped each other to the latrine in the back courtyard.

Once the parties involved had left, the onlookers gradually began to disperse.

The shopkeeper immediately clasped his hands, addressing the crowd: "Everyone, although today's incident has brought my Fu Bei Restaurant some undeserved trouble, I truly feel sorry for ruining your meal.

So, let this lunch be on me. Additionally, when you finish your meal and leave, I'll give each of you a complimentary snack, as a small token of friendship.

I hope that if today's incident gets spread around, you can all help testify on my behalf. How does that sound?"

"Getting to share some juicy gossip—and gossip based on truth—while enjoying a free meal and taking home a snack? That's an offer too good to refuse." The crowd exchanged pleasantries with the shopkeeper.

Su Zheng had only listened for a couple of sentences before returning with Luo Yunchen to their previous table. He then called over a waiter: "Go prepare paper, an inkstone, a brush, and ink, and bring them here."

After the waiter left, Luo Yunchen looked at Su Zheng with curiosity in his eyes. "Brother, how did you manage that just now?"

He didn’t believe Su Zheng’s earlier explanation about drug-induced poisoning at all.

Whether such a peculiar drug even existed in the world was questionable.

As for the person behind this, their obvious intention was to create a food poisoning scare to stir up panic and drive away the restaurant’s customers.

There was no need—and likely no possibility—to use such a complicated and rare drug for that purpose.

Moreover, he was certain that the person inside this body was no doctor.

Yet, this person did possess some abilities that ordinary people didn’t have.