Venerable Demon King & The Doting Immortal (QT) novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Draught of love

The old man sat down next to Han Xin at the table, and Han Xin poured him a cup of tea. The steam curled up between them as the old man continued, "The sleeping thorn plant isn’t easy to find. It grows in the grasslands of the east. To gather enough of it, someone would have had to travel for months and then return the powder to Yige. It’s too much work for a poison when there are plenty of others that are more easily accessible and cheaper. They especially brought it for a wolf in my opinion."

Han Xin nodded thoughtfully. "If the sleeping thorn flower is addictive to wolves, would that make them aggressive?" _{fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com}

The old man took a sip of his tea, savouring the warmth. "Yes, the wolf would become aggressive if it didn’t get its fix. It would follow that scent until it found what it needed."

Han Xin’s mind raced as he recalled Peng Xiu’s words: "Would you have preferred it was you." The realisation hit him like a bolt of lightning. Based on her words it meant someone had tried to use the wolf to attack him. But who?

A regular wolf wouldn’t be easy to control and send his way so they used this method to ensure their objective was achieved. But what was their objective?

If it was to kill him then there were better alternatives to achieve that. The purpose must not have been to kill him because he would still be able to deal with the wolf, but it would have been a bit more difficult. He looked at his uncle, his expression thoughtful.

Han Zhan reached into his sleeve and pulled out an envelope, carefully unfolding the paper inside without touching it. "What about this?" Han Xin asked, turning to his uncle. "It had faint traces of poison, but we couldn’t determine which one."

The old man raised his brow wondering what sort of enemy did his nephew provoke. He took the envelope and walked back to the other room. He took a whiff of the paper, his eyes narrowing in concentration. He began running a series of tests, taking much longer than he had with the wolf.

While they waited, Han Zhan turned to Han Xin. "What do you make of the wolf attack?"

Han Xin leaned back, his expression thoughtful. "I think someone wanted to use the wolf to attack me for some purpose. But the princess intercepted it before it even reached the hot spring."

Han Zhan nodded slowly still unable to reconcile the image of Peng Xiu saving Han Xin. It didn’t make any sense. "So, the wolf was coming to the hot spring, attracted by the sleeping thorn poison."

When he realised what he was thinking he looked away. He couldn’t help but wonder what possessed him for him to have the sudden urge to buy one for Peng Xiu. He didn’t know if he would have to account for the potatoes when choosing a size. His brow furrowed trying to recall the exact size. His gaze lingered on the fruit stall with loquats and peaches. Han Zhan noticed what Han Xin was looking at but chose to remain silent. They left the city, a group of soldiers following behind them.

When they reached the camp, he dismounted his horse his eyes involuntarily glancing at the carriage nearby. There wasn’t much activity around it. He turned his gaze away and went to the hot spring with his cousin to take a look but there was nothing.

Their trip there wasn’t useless though because they found traces of someone having freshly dug something near the hot spring. Some trees even had traces of the white powder having sprinkled on them. It seemed there must either be a spy among them or they were being followed.

When they returned to the campsite Han Zhan sat down on a log, waiting for food. Han Zhan joined him, settling down with a relaxed air. "Do you want someone to call her Highness?" he asked, his tone casual. He knew that his cousin had been thinking of speaking with her ever since they left the town which was why he suggested it.

Han Xin shook his head, biting into a scallion pancake. Something inside of him was shifting and he didn’t like it one bit. It was the kind of feeling that he couldn’t control. His instincts were telling him to stay as far away from her as possible and he would make sure to limit their interaction.