In the year that followed, young Fan Xian began to learn everything about poisons from Teacher Fei, who came from the capital, Qing Yu Nian. He occasionally took time out to go out of the city, crossing mountains and ridges to find those plant-based poisons such as nux vomica and Barbados nuts. He also tasted all kinds of fungi, suffering countless stomachaches. If it weren't for the presence of a grandmaster of poisons by his side, he would have probably gone to the underworld long ago.

Of course, in order to learn all this more deeply, under the guidance of Teacher Fei Jie, this illegitimate son of Count Sinan had committed numerous bloody crimes. The souls of countless short-tailed white rabbits and toads scurrying around were buried under his slender and weak hands.

This year, Fan Xian was five years old.

Strangely, after Fei Jie came to Danzhou Port, Wu Zhu, who had been living in the grocery store, no longer deliberately avoided Fan Xian. At least, whenever Fan Xian sneaked into the grocery store to drink alcohol that children definitely couldn't drink, Wu Zhu would always make him a few small dishes to eat.

Fan Xian sometimes wondered, Wu Zhu was his mother's servant, so why didn't he even care about him drinking?

Fan Xian knew that his mother must not have been an ordinary person, which was why she had a strong man like Wu Zhu, who was both loyal and terrifyingly powerful, as a servant. However, Fan Xian was not sure whether this blind master would stay by his side and watch over him all the time.

Unknowingly, Fan Xian had gradually become accustomed to Wu Zhu guarding him not far away, accustomed to that black cloth covering Wu Zhu's eyes occasionally appearing in some corner, such as under the bamboo in the alley, or next to the tofu stall on the street, and so on.

In this year, the true qi in Fan Xian's body was progressing very slowly but exceptionally steadily, vaguely approaching a certain threshold. However, the domineering true qi that could be accumulated in his sleep became somewhat unstable, making his emotions faintly agitated.

He knew that in this still unfamiliar world, there were many unknown dangers. At least, there must be many problems in Count Sinan's mansion in the capital that he didn't quite understand.

And after he had just awakened, he had set himself a goal: "Live well and strive for progress every day!"

Because of this "great" goal, in order to protect his life so that he could carry out his even more "great" three major tasks in the future, he was very persistent in his cultivation.

Moreover, because he suffered from myasthenia gravis in his previous life and had been unable to move, he cherished this ability to walk freely in this life even more. He got up early every morning to exercise, climbing high and low, diligent to the point that even Fei Jie felt terrified.

It was just a pity that he couldn't find a method to practice spells. If judged by diligence, he was definitely more diligent than any other child. However, he often comforted himself that as a twenty-year-old young man, he should be more diligent than those snot-nosed kids.

In fact, no one knew that he wasn't able to endure hardship, but just suffered from hyperactivity. After lying down for more than ten years, even the laziest person wouldn't want to lie down anymore.

……

……

At night, in Fei Jie's solitary house, the light of the oil lamp had not yet dissipated. He leaned against the table, and his gray hair seemed to be more black than when he first came to Danzhou Port. At this time, he was holding a quill pen, writing something on white stationery.

A knock came from outside the door. Fei Jie didn't turn his head back and said softly, "Come in."

Fan Xian pushed the door open, stepped over the high threshold, touched his little head, and approached with a chuckle: "What are you writing, Teacher?"

Fei Jie didn't avoid him much, casually pushed the stationery aside, turned around, and asked gently, "What's the matter?"

After spending a year with the illegitimate son of Count Sinan, for some reason, this poison expert from the Monitoring Institute, who terrified countless officials and thieves, actually felt a little warmth in his heart. Looking at this kid, he felt genuine joy from the bottom of his heart. The little guy was young, but he could endure hardship, was willing to study, and didn't have the kind of pretentious disgust for poisons that the world had. This made Fei Jie very comfortable.

And most importantly, Fan Xian was very smart, very sensible, and sometimes didn't even seem like a five-year-old child.

"Teacher," Fan Xian moved his butt, moving with some difficulty onto the stool, "I really want to know what kind of people my parents were."

In fact, this was the fourth time Fan Xian had asked about the past of Count Sinan and his mother in this year, but Fei Jie had always remained silent the previous times he asked.

"Your father... is a very remarkable person," Fei Jie said, "Of course, your mother is an even more remarkable person."

Saying it was like saying nothing. The Monitoring Institute was a terrifying place in the entire country responsible for investigating major cases and serious crimes of officials, and Fei Jie was an early member of the institute, later serving as the head of the Third Bureau, always holding a high and important position. Even in a place like the capital Qing Yu Nian, where dragons and tigers were hidden, he was an object of fear for everyone.

Such a terrifying grandmaster of poisons was actually sent to the remote Danzhou city by a single sentence from Count Sinan to teach his illegitimate son.

One could easily imagine how terrifying Count Sinan's power was in the capital Qing Yu Nian, but it was unknown whether this power was on the official surface or hidden in the dark.

As for his mother, who died on the day he was "born," although Fan Xian didn't know what kind of woman she was, his intuition told him that this mother must have been very extraordinary. And he always felt that he missed that woman he never met because of blood relationship or some other reason.

Fei Jie didn't seem to want to talk about this issue and asked indifferently, "Now that the concubine has already given birth to a son, you will naturally not be able to inherit everything from the Count's mansion in the future, so what are you planning to do?"

Fan Xian smiled sweetly: "Teacher teaches me how to use poison and also teaches me how to detoxify. I've actually learned a lot of medical knowledge. If things really don't work out, I can become a doctor."

Fei Jie stroked his long beard and said proudly, "That's natural. Even the imperial physicians in the palace are not necessarily stronger than me in terms of medical skills. As my only student, you will naturally be more than capable of becoming a doctor in the future."

The master and disciple said this, but in fact, they both knew very well in their hearts that this was just a luxury.

Fan Xian suddenly asked, "Teacher, the true qi cultivation method I'm practicing seems to have some problems. Actually, I came here quietly tonight to ask you for guidance."

Fei Jie believed that no one in the world could surpass him in the use of poison, but he had always refused to teach Fan Xian any other skills, because he always said to Fan Xian:

"A person's life is limited, and the methods of killing people are infinite, so we should invest our limited life in the infinite pursuit of the most powerful method of killing people."

And in Teacher Fei's eyes, the most powerful method of killing people was naturally poisoning.

Now that Fan Xian had the best teacher for poisoning, why would he still cultivate true qi? As for the spells that Fan Xian never forgot, Fei Jie, like ordinary people in Qing Yu Nian, also believed that they were just a kind of chicken rib-like learning that assisted in combat.

However, today was the first time in a year that Fan Xian had taken the initiative to ask, and Fei Jie couldn't help but be a little curious. He stretched out two fingers and gently placed them on his pulse, and his expression couldn't help but become stern.