The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

Huang Chenghai was lying on the bed, barely alive. His face was pale and his breath was faint. Although his eyes were open and he seemed to have some awareness, he could not speak or move his hands and feet.

“When I first returned to the manor more than a year ago, he could still move slightly, but in recent months he has become completely immobile and his body has grown cold. Many famous doctors from far and wide have seen him, but none of them have been able to help. That’s when I thought of you. I heard that Xiang Xue went on a training trip with a mysterious man, and I immediately thought of you, so I hurriedly left a letter at Qin Tian Manor,” Huang Chenghe said.

“Brother Chenghe, I’m really sorry, but I really can’t cure this illness. Judging from the way the eldest young master looks, he will only get worse and worse. At most, he has three to six months to live. What I can do is give him acupuncture to prolong his life, and maybe extend it to one to two years.” Su Zinong lowered his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Sigh," Huang Chenghe sighed, "My elder brother is a kind and honest man. I don't know why he would get such a strange and serious illness. Other famous doctors don't even dare to prescribe medicine or acupuncture. You said you could prolong his life by one or two years, which is already much better than those famous doctors."

“Brother Chenghe, you flatter me. I have another suggestion. Your elder brother’s name, Chenghai, is too grand. Why not change it to Chengxi? Perhaps it will change his fate.” Su Zinong tentatively suggested.

"Ah, you're not kidding me, are you?" Huang Chenghe found it hard to believe.

In the following days, many people at Yellow River Manor whispered among themselves when they saw Su Zinong, pointing and gossiping behind his back that he was a charlatan. He had suggested that the manor lord arrange a feng shui layout and that the eldest son change his name to improve his fate. The people in the manor didn't believe him at all. Since he couldn't cure the illness and was offering such terrible advice, they all sneered at him. Only Huang Chenghe stayed with him every day, trusting him as always.

To make it easier for Su Zinong to perform acupuncture on the eldest son, he moved into the eldest son's room.

Five days later, the eldest son's complexion did indeed become slightly rosy, but he still could not move or speak.

On this day, Su Zinong was talking about some interesting things that happened when he was training with Qin Xiangxue. Suddenly, he mentioned the carriage trap and then changed the subject, saying, "Why don't we go to Qin Tianzhuang for a visit, and then come back to give the eldest young master his second round of acupuncture treatment?"

Huang Chenghe didn't want to go at first, but he felt that Su Zinong's eyes were strange and that he suddenly mentioned the carriage trap, so he told his father and hurriedly left the manor with Su Zinong.

After leaving the village, the two walked slowly.

"Brother Su, weren't you in a hurry just now? Why are you walking so slowly now?" Huang Chenghe was very puzzled.

"If you want to be fast, fine. Let's see who's faster by using our movement techniques. I reckon you're not as fast as me right now," Su Zinong challenged.

The two ran like madmen, as fast as shooting stars. Huang Chenghe originally thought he would shake off Su Zinong in no time, but Su Zinong's agility seemed to have improved greatly recently, and he was not far behind Huang Chenghe.

They ran for thirty miles before stopping.

"Sigh, I can't keep running, I'll sweat a lot. Let's go take a bath!" Huang Chenghe said, fanning himself while wiping away sweat.

"Ah, who said they would never step into a bathhouse again? Have you forgotten the embarrassing thing that happened before?" Su Zinong asked.

“That’s from a bygone era; we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Huang Chenghe said, and there was some truth to it.

“Someone was following us just now,” Su Zinong suddenly said.

"Oh, we've only just left the village, where did these people come from?" Huang Chenghe asked, puzzled. "Could they be the people who were chasing us before?"

“Maybe it is, maybe it’s another group,” Su Zinong said. “Anyway, since someone is following us, it’s definitely not good for us. You need to disguise yourself.”

Su Zinong had already put on another human skin mask.

"Why did you mention the carriage trap when you were at the villa? I remember you had a packet of poison powder back then, was it related to poison?" Huang Chenghe wasn't stupid.

“This is my guess. Your elder brother’s illness is not an ordinary one; it seems like poisoning. Seeing his body gradually becoming unable to move and gradually turning cold, it must be a very severe cold poison. As far as I know, there is a cold poison called Soft Stone Powder, which is colorless and odorless…” Su Zinong said.

Soft stone powder is indeed a very potent cold poison that is extremely difficult to detect. If you accidentally ingest it, you will immediately become unable to speak or move your hands and feet. The vital energy in your meridians will seem to turn into stone, but it will not be too stiff. That is why it is called soft stone powder.

Since it was poisoning, and the eldest young master had been staying at the Yellow River Manor for a period of time before the incident and had not gone out at all, the one who poisoned him must have been a traitor within the manor.

If Huang Chenghe had been in the manor at the time, he might have been suspected of vying for the future position of manor lord. However, Huang Chenghe happened to be away from Yellow River Manor during that period, so he was not suspected.

The eldest son has always been kind and gentle, and doesn't seem like the type to offend anyone or make enemies. It's highly likely that the eldest son saw or overheard a major secret that someone wanted to kill to silence him, but failed, so he resorted to poisoning.

Why use Soft Stone Powder? Because this poison manifests as illness. Ordinary doctors, without knowledge of poisons and techniques, would find it very difficult to detect the cause and therefore unable to treat it.

Therefore, when Su Zinong arrived and saw the eldest son, he said that the disease was incurable. This was to save the eldest son's life. If Su Zinong had said that it could be cured, then Su Zinong's life and the eldest son's life would have been in imminent danger. Moreover, they did not know who the enemy was or what their purpose was, which was extremely dangerous and passive.

Of course, Su Zinong didn't dare say he could cure it. He only knew the direction of treatment; he would have to try it to know for sure.

The reason I dragged Huang Chenghe out was because he no longer knew who to trust within the villa.

"You mean you can't even trust my parents anymore?" Huang Chenghe asked, looking distressed.

"That's the rational view," Su Zinong said.

“But I still want to believe in my parents, and even my uncles, I believe in them too,” Huang Chenghe said.

"You can't know what's in someone's heart," Su Zinong said.

"Do you know what? That Golden Island just vanished into thin air," he said, recounting his experience of going to Fairy Island with Qin Xiangxue.

“This is too bizarre,” Huang Chenghe said. “Why are you bringing this up? Could my brother’s poisoning be related to this?” Huang Chenghe woke up immediately.

"That's right. Although the eldest son can't speak or write, he is mentally sound and can even blink. The day I moved into his room to share a room with him, it was so that I could speak to him quietly at night. I got up in the middle of the night and searched around outside before quietly taking out the note to show the eldest son. I didn't dare make a sound, or even turn on the light, but instead used a luminous pearl to shine it on him. The note was also covered with a cloth to prevent the light from leaking out."

"You are really careful and cautious." Huang Chenghe couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

Su Zinong obtained a lot of useful information, but could not know the details.

The eldest son confirmed with a blink that he had been harmed and poisoned, that there was an internal traitor, and that it was related to the theft of the Yellow River Three-Layer Waves Technique. Su Zinong had already learned a lot of useful information, but he could not know the details. Moreover, because he did not know anyone in the manor, he could not ask who was responsible.

"Ah, why didn't I think of this method?" Huang Chenghe slapped his thigh. "If I read out the names of everyone in the Yellow River Manor, and when I hear the name of the bad guy, I make my brother blink, then I'll know who the murderer is!"

“You had no idea you were poisoned; you thought you were just sick. I was quite surprised to find out such important information. It was all just a guess beforehand.”

That evening, the two stayed at an inn again, as they still had several days of travel ahead and couldn't continue driving without rest. Fortunately, there were two of them, and they agreed to take turns resting.

However, when it got cooler in the middle of the night, Su Zinong shook Huang Chenghe awake and said, "I'm cold."

"Hmm," Huang Chenghe suddenly woke up and saw that Su Zinong was so cold that his teeth were chattering and his lips were black.

Su Zinong said in a trembling voice, "It's soft stone powder..."