Chapter 38 - 38 – Drugged
With that thought, he followed other guards to their post before sneaking away. He deactivated his optical illusion when he wasn’t seen by anyone.
He was in his suit again. His slightly long hair tied in a ponytail fluttered when hit by the wind.
Ready to meet someone crazy, he confidently walked toward the Tang Clan manor once again. The funeral was coming to an end. When he got to the entrance, the guards stopped him.
"Where do you think you are going?"
"I am here for business." Leo answered simply. "Inform Tang Yao that Leo is here for a visit. He will understand my reason to come here."
"He’s mourning. We don’t allow any guests to meet him."
"Tell him I will meet him right now or the deal is off." Leo declared while pointing at the leader of Tang Clan inside the manor. "I am sure if I just walk away here with my words, you will be in trouble."
With that, the guards seemed conflicted and started whispering among themselves before nodding in unison. The lead guard said, "Alright, wait here."
"There’s no need for that. He’s my guest."
A voice interrupted their discussion before Leo could answer, causing all of them to look at the figure behind them.
"Second Young Master." One of the guards greeted Tang Yao with a smile as he passed by them and stopped in front of Leo.
With that, he smiled at Leo and waved his hand, signaling him to follow him. Both of them entered the manor after Tang Yao ordered the guards to stand back.
"I will handle this. Don’t disturb us."
"Yes."
There was no hesitation when they bowed and obeyed his command. After all, this was the second son of the Tang Clan’s patriarch. And he was the man who had successfully defended Qin City from the Green Forest Bandit group invasion. Not directly, but he was still able to do it and impressed the citizens with his speech and leadership skill.
Tang Yao led Leo into a room on the second floor of the manor before sitting on a chair while offering another one to Leo.
"Please forgive the guards. They are really on edge right now." Tang Yao chuckled softly while stroking his hair, "The assassin who killed my brother is still missing and people in the city are restless. I am sure you understand."
"Of course." Leo answered with a nod.
’The assassin is right in front of you.’ He added in his mind.
Surely, Tang Yao didn’t think that a real Nokrim people appeared and took revenge for getting framed, no? But that begged another question, which was why? Why did his brother die?
"Anyway, what brings you here? Is there something wrong with our contract?"
Leo nodded his head and waved his hand lightly as he answered, "Not really. I just want to confirm about the job. If you want to cancel the contract, as written before, I will take the advance payment of 1,000 Golds and leave. Nothing personal."
Tang Yao smiled faintly, "What if I don’t want to cancel the contract? It’s just a little setback for us. I’m sure my father will solve this issue soon."
"Oh, that’s great to hear." Leo smiled happily at his answer and shrugged. "In that case, I will protect you and your companions when you begin your business travel."
"Please do. I have confirmed your skill yesterday and would like you to protect me. And your friend... Miss Anya, is it? She’s really skilled as well. Thanks to her, I came out of the attack uninjured."
Leo nodded his head in agreement, "She’s one of my most trusted subordinates. So it’s no problem. Our price still stands as I promised before."
"Of course." The second Young Master nodded his head slightly, "You will be rewarded as promised."
With that, he poured tea for both of them and sat in silence. It was unusual for a person of his status to offer tea to someone like Leo.
"By the way..." Tang Yao looked up from his teacup and stared at Leo intently, "Was the swordsman fighting against the Wandering Sword Saint yesterday your uhh... friend too?"
Leo paused and nodded slightly, "Yes. He’s my friend. Have your doubts about our abilities disappeared now?"
"Hahaha, yes. You’re just amazing, Mr. Leo." Tang Yao chuckled softly as he answered. "I thought you were hiding your strength from us, but I never guessed it would be something that... amazing. Ah, please drink the tea comfortably."
After saying that, the second Young Master drank his tea. He looked like he enjoyed it a lot.
"We don’t get Spring Tea often, so this is a rarity for us."
"Is that so? Then let me partake in it."
Leo then tasted his tea and found it slightly bitter but delicious, with a hint of fruitiness hidden beneath the herbal aroma that made it taste almost like water. The subtle flavor and aroma were enough to make him crave for more, but he knew better than to keep drinking it.
[Poison detected.]
[Drug detected.]
[Hallucination induced agent detected.]
[Addicting substance detected.]
’Holy crap,’
The smart lenses informed him of the harmful substances inside his body. He had guessed that Tang Yao tried to drug him but he didn’t expect the drug to be so dangerous. And many. He swallowed involuntarily as he read the description.
’Damn snake.’
[Neutralizing harmful substances.]
[Complete.]
If not for his Nanites curing him from whatever it was that poisoned him, he would’ve become an addict right there and then. That was how powerful those drugs were.
"Is there something wrong?" Tang Yao asked him innocently as he saw Leo stopped drinking his tea.
"Nothing. This is the best tea I have ever drunk."
He finished the tea in one go after saying it, putting it on the table once again to show Tang Yao that he drank it all.