In the following year, the young Fan Xian began to learn everything he could about poisons from Fei Jie, who had come from the capital. Occasionally, he would leave the city, traverse mountains and ravines in search of botanical poisons such as strychnine and Barbados nuts. He also tasted all sorts of fungi, and suffered from stomach aches countless times. Were it not for the poison grandmaster at his side, he would have long since gone to the underworld.
Of course, in order to further his studies, under Fei Jie's guidance, Count Sinan's illegitimate son had already committed numerous murders. Countless white rabbits with short tails and scurrying toads were buried under his delicate hands.
That year, Fan Xian was five years old.
Strangely, after Fei Jie's arrival in Danzhou, Wu Zhu, who lived in the grocery store, no longer deliberately avoided Fan Xian. At least, whenever Fan Xian snuck into the grocery store to drink alcohol that no child could drink, Wu Zhu would always make him a few side dishes to eat.
Fan Xian sometimes found it strange. Wu Zhu was his mother's servant, so why didn't he even care that he drank?
Fan Xian knew that his mother was no ordinary person, which was why she had such a loyal and powerful servant as Wu Zhu. But Fan Xian wasn't sure if this blind master would always stay by his side to watch over him.
Unknowingly, Fan Xian had gradually gotten used to Wu Zhu watching over him from a short distance away. He had gotten used to the black cloth that covered Wu Zhu's eyes appearing from time to time in some corner, such as under a bamboo tree in an alley, next to a tofu stall on the street, and so on.
During that year, the zhenqi in Fan Xian's body had been progressing slowly, but with abnormal stability. It was nearing a certain threshold, but the tyrannical zhenqi that he could accumulate in his sleep had become somewhat unstable, making his emotions faintly restless.
He knew that in this still unfamiliar world, there were many unknown dangers. At least in Count Sinan's manor in the capital, there were certainly many problems that he did not understand.
And as soon as he woke up, he set a goal for himself: "Live well, and make progress every day!"
Because of this "great" goal, in order to preserve his life, and in order to carry out his three "great" missions in the future, he was very determined to practice.
And because he had been unable to move due to his previous life's myasthenia gravis, he was suddenly able to walk freely in this life. This made Fan Xian cherish this ability even more. Every day, he would get up early in the morning to exercise, climbing high and low. He was so diligent that even Fei Jie found it terrifying.
It was a pity that he could not find a way to practice magic. He was certainly more industrious than any other child, but he often comforted himself that as a young man of twenty, he was certainly more industrious than the little slugs.
Actually, no one knew that it wasn't that he could endure hardship. It was just that he had ADHD. After lying in bed for more than ten years, even the laziest person wouldn't want to lie down again.
...
...
That night, Mr. Fei Jie sat alone in his room. The light from the oil lamp had not yet dissipated. He leaned against the table, his white hair even darker than it had been when he first came to Danzhou. Now, he was writing on a piece of white paper with a quill.
There was a knock on the door. Without turning his head, Fei Jie said quietly, "Come in."
Fan Xian pushed the door open and stepped over the high threshold. Rubbing his head, he approached with a chuckle. "What are you writing, teacher?"
Fei Jie didn't shy away from him. He casually pushed the paper aside, turned around, and asked, "What is it?"
After spending a year with Count Sinan's illegitimate son, for some reason, this Overwatch Council toxicologist, who had terrorized countless officials and thieves, felt a sense of warmth in his heart. Looking at the kid, he was happy. The kid was young, but he could endure hardship, and was willing to study hard. And he didn't have the pretentious aversion to poisons that the rest of the world did. This made Fei Jie feel very comfortable.
And most importantly, Fan Xian was smart and sensible. Sometimes, he didn't even seem like a five-year-old child.
"Teacher." Fan Xian moved his butt to the bench with some difficulty. "I really want to know what kind of people my parents were."
In fact, this was the fourth time Fan Xian had asked about Count Sinan and his mother's past in a year. But the first few times, Fei Jie had always been noncommittal.
"Your father … was a very remarkable man," Fei Jie said. "Of course, your mother was even more remarkable."
His words were useless. The Overwatch Council was a terrifying place in the country responsible for investigating major cases, as well as major crimes committed by officials. Fei Jie was an early member of the Council, and later became the head of the Third Bureau. He had always held a high position, and even in the capital, where there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers, he was feared.
With a single word from Count Sinan, such a terrifying master of poisons had been banished to the faraway city of Danzhou to teach his illegitimate son.
Even an idiot could tell how much power Count Sinan wielded in the capital. But it was unknown whether this power was official, or whether it was hidden in the shadows.
As for his mother, who had died on the day he was "born," Fan Xian did not know what kind of woman she was, but his intuition told him that she was no ordinary woman. He did not know if it was because they were connected by blood, or for some other reason, but he had always felt that he missed that woman, whose name he did not know, whom he had never met.
Fei Jie didn't seem to want to talk about it. "Since the concubine has given birth to a son," he said indifferently, "you can't inherit the Count's estate in the future. So what do you plan to do?"
Fan Xian smiled sweetly. "Teacher taught me how to use poison, and how to detoxify it. In fact, I've learned a lot about medicine. If I can't do it in the future, I can become a doctor."
Fei Jie stroked his long beard. "That's only natural," he said proudly. "Even the imperial physicians of the palace may not be better than me in medicine. As my only student, you are more than qualified to be a doctor in the future."
Master and disciple said this, but deep down, they both knew that this was just an extravagant hope.
"Teacher," Fan Xian suddenly said, "there seems to be a problem with the zhenqi method I practice. I actually came here tonight to ask for your guidance."
Fei Jie believed that no one in the world could surpass him when it came to using poison, but he had never been willing to teach Fan Xian anything else.
"A person's life is limited, but the methods of killing are limitless. So we should devote our limited life to the pursuit of the most powerful method of killing."
And in Fei Jie's eyes, the most powerful method of killing was naturally poison.
Now that Fan Xian had the best poison-using teacher, why would he need to practice zhenqi? As for the magic that Fan Xian could never forget, Fei Jie, like most people of Qing, believed it to be of little use in battle.
But this was the first time in a year that Fan Xian had taken the initiative to ask a question. Fei Jie couldn't help but feel curious. He stretched out two fingers and gently placed them on Fan Xian's pulse. He couldn't help but feel apprehensive.
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