Chapter 383 — Go See for Yourself

Kang Guifeng was a little put out, but there was nothing he could do about it—after all, the military contracts he still needed came through Liu Tianyi's hands.

"Ha ha, it's nothing, nothing at all!" Yet Kang Guifeng's mouth shaped itself into an unconcerned smile. "By the way, Brother Tianyi, there's something I'd like to ask you. That classmate of my nephew's—you know him?"

"Oh, you mean Mr. Lin—of course I know him, naturally I do…" Liu Tianyi gave a hearty chuckle.

"Oh? His family…" Kang Guifeng meant to probe into Wei Zhao's background.

"Ha ha, quite extraordinary, aren't they… Tell me, Brother Guifeng, why do you ask?" Liu Tianyi inquired mildly.

"Nothing much. It's just that elixir he brought today, the one for prolonging life and dispelling toxins—from the way you spoke, Brother Tianyi, it seems you know a thing or two about it?" Kang Guifeng ventured.

"That thing? Ha ha, it's a fine item indeed…" Liu Tianyi had more or less guessed Wei Zhao's intent—to make Divine Doctor Kang's family eat their regret—so he did not mind letting slip a few things that would deepen that regret. But as for the truth of the matter, he would not breathe a single word.

"A fine item? So you do know about it, Brother Tianyi?" Kang Guifeng's heart tightened. In a matter like this, Liu Tianyi had no reason to lie to him—what standing did Liu Tianyi have? He was of the Liu family; even if he was on familiar terms with Wei Zhao, he could hardly conspire with the man to deceive people. So Kang Guifeng had a vague sense that this Life-Prolonging Toxin-Dispelling Elixir truly was a fine item!

Of course, Kang Guifeng was not wrong to think so, though his guess was still a little off. Had Wei Zhao asked Liu Tianyi to help him spread a lie, Liu Tianyi would probably have nodded his agreement without a moment's hesitation!

"Ha ha, let's drop the subject—I can't go around saying just anything about it." Liu Tianyi chuckled again. "By the way, Brother Guifeng, I have to be going. I'm taking the old gentleman back to Yanjing."

"Eh? Brother Tianyi, didn't Elder Liu come to see Doctor Guan for treatment? Why is he going back?" Kang Guifeng was taken aback.

"Ha ha, because he's well, of course. He even wants me to buy him a courtyard house so he can grow vegetables!" Liu Tianyi laughed.

"Well?" Kang Guifeng was startled. "Didn't Doctor Guan say that only long-term acupuncture would have any effect…"

"Ha ha, would I gamble with the old gentleman's health? If he weren't well, I wouldn't dare send him back!" Liu Tianyi laughed. "All right, I'll say no more—the old gentleman's calling me to play Dance Dance Revolution with him…"

"What?!" Kang Guifeng nearly thought his ears had failed him! Play Dance Dance Revolution? With Elder Liu Zhenhu's condition, he could still play Dance Dance Revolution? The man could barely walk!

But before Kang Guifeng could ask another question, the line went dead… He sighed and walked back with a dark face.

"How did it go?" Divine Doctor Kang saw that his son's expression was not quite right, and his heart tightened. He asked at once.

"I couldn't get to the bottom of it, but it does seem to be a fine item!" Kang Guifeng said in a low voice. "However, I did learn something important. Liu Tianyi's father, Elder Liu, has made a miraculous recovery—he can even play Dance Dance Revolution…"

"What?" At his son's words, Divine Doctor Kang's heart nearly exploded. "You're saying that ninety-year-old man is playing Dance Dance Revolution? Is that true?"

Divine Doctor Kang had seen Liu Zhenhu's condition before—frail and ailing, he could barely manage to walk. And now the man could play Dance Dance Revolution? His brow twitched, and an ominous thought flashed through his mind. "Could it be… connected to that Life-Prolonging Toxin-Dispelling Elixir?"

"That's my guess… very likely connected. Otherwise, why would that old fox Liu Tianyi suddenly bring the matter up?" Kang Guifeng nodded. "That Life-Prolonging Toxin-Dispelling Elixir may well be the real thing. It's just that I don't know where Kang—uh, where that friend of ours got it from!"

"The fellow looks like some rich family's young master. It's hardly surprising that he could get his hands on rare things… But is this Life-Prolonging Toxin-Dispelling Elixir truly genuine?" Still unconvinced, Divine Doctor Kang picked up the "dog dung" in his hand and examined it again. "It stinks so foully—how could it be of any use?"

"Grandfather, as the saying goes, good medicine tastes bitter. I'd say there's something to that!" Kang Jingming had worked out this reasoning earlier and now brought it out to show off. He wanted to redeem himself for his earlier blunder, so he did his best to make himself seem important.

"Mm, Zhaoming has a point there! Good medicine tastes bitter!" Divine Doctor Kang nodded in agreement. "Still, what one hears from others is hearsay after all. Only after you've verified it yourself does seeing become believing!"

"Grandfather, you mean…?" Kang Jingming asked.

"Here—cut this Longevity and Detox Elixir in half and take it. We'll see whether it has any effect." Divine Doctor Kang hesitated a moment, then spoke to Kang Jingming.

"What? Me?" Kang Jingming had assumed his grandfather meant to take it himself; he had never imagined the old man would hand it to him.

"What, you don't fancy a longer life?" Divine Doctor Kang shot him a glance. The doctor himself did not quite dare take it—he was advanced in years, after all, and could not withstand much turmoil—but Kang Jingming was another matter.

"No, it's not that... I..." Kang Jingming faltered, his nerve failing. This Longevity and Detox Elixir looked like a fine thing, but that was only the family's own guess; until there was a definite conclusion, who would dare swallow it at random?

"You're afraid it's poisoned?" Divine Doctor Kang gave a contemptuous snort. "Fool. Even if Kang ** were the biggest idiot alive, he wouldn't bring a poisoned pill here—not in front of all those eyes, that would be deliberate murder, and he'd rot in prison for it! Even if this pill isn't the Longevity and Detox Elixir, it won't do you any harm."

"Father... perhaps I should be the one to try it..." Kang Cuipu hesitated, then stepped forward. Kang Jingming was his son; how could he stand by and watch the boy swallow some nameless thing?

In the Kang household, the old master came first, then the eldest son Kang Guifeng and the eldest grandson Kang Jinglong; he and his own son were reckoned of little account. A matter like testing a pill could only fall to him.

The crux of it was that this affair could be known only to the Kang family's inner circle—no outsider could be brought in to test it.

Otherwise, if word got out that the great Divine Doctor Kang's household had picked a crushed pill up off the floor and swallowed it, they would be laughed out of countenance.

The Kang family could not afford to lose that face.