Chapter 53: Treating the Symptoms and the Root Cause, Building Trust
At the same time, Dugu Yan's fair little hand tightly grabbed Lin Chen, pulling him behind her protectively.
Her emerald-green eyes stared at her grandfather, Dugu Bo, her face filled with grievance and anger.
Her grandfather had broken his promise. He had clearly agreed just now not to attack Lin Chen, yet now he looked as if he wanted to kill him.
Seeing this scene, Dugu Bo's anger gradually subsided, and the killing intent in his heart slowly receded.
If anyone else had dared to stand in front of Lin Chen like this, Dugu Bo would have let them taste the poison of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, showing them what it meant to be the Poison Douluo.
But this was his most beloved granddaughter. Dugu Bo had no way to vent his frustration and could only allow Lin Chen to live a little longer.
Seeing that Dugu Bo had calmed down, Dugu Yan continued to comfort him.
"Grandpa, Lin Chen just said he can treat the poison backlash you're suffering from. Since he dares to face you directly and say such things…"
"A person like this is either a once-in-a-lifetime genius or unbelievably foolish. And Lin Chen accurately described your poisoning symptoms just now—that proves he must belong to the first type."
"Would you like to give it a try?"
After patiently listening to Dugu Yan's explanation, Dugu Bo fell silent and began considering the possibility.
But after glancing at Lin Chen a few times, Dugu Bo still felt it was unreliable. He simply could not trust him.
A brat who had just awakened his martial soul—Yanyan—how could you expect Grandpa to believe him?
If Lin Chen were even ten years older, Dugu Bo might be willing to try.
Seeing Dugu Bo still hesitating, Dugu Yan felt helpless. Because she possessed a diary copy, she naturally knew Lin Chen had a way to solve their family's poison backlash problem.
The key issue was that her grandfather didn't believe him.
"Grandpa, if you really don't trust him, then let Yanyan try first."
Dugu Yan made her suggestion.
She wanted to take the lead herself. Once she solved the poison backlash in her body, her grandfather would naturally believe.
The moment he heard this, Dugu Bo immediately shouted:
"No! Absolutely not!"
"Yanyan, how could Grandpa let you try first? If something happens to you, what would Grandpa do?"
Dugu Yan was his only family in this world. If anything happened to her, Dugu Bo would blame himself for the rest of his life.
"But if we don't try, I'll suffer poison backlash at the age of thirty and eventually die from it."
"I don't want to face this slow death every single day. It's psychological torture."
Dugu Yan argued back.
Just as the grandfather and granddaughter reached a stalemate,
"Ahem… how about this, Senior Dugu? Why don't you listen to my detoxification method first?" Lin Chen poked his head out from behind Dugu Yan and spoke.
Seeing this boy again made Dugu Bo angry. He had no idea what kind of spell Lin Chen had cast on his granddaughter to make her so convinced he could cure the poison.
However, Dugu Bo had no better option at the moment, so he decided to hear Lin Chen out.
"Boy, speak."
"I'd like to see where your confidence comes from claiming you can solve the poison backlash in my body."
Dugu Bo looked at Lin Chen. Though the sharp killing intent from before was gone, he still held no goodwill toward him.
"Senior Dugu, I have two methods to remove the poison."
"The first method is to absorb a soul bone and force the poison into it. However, once too much poison accumulates in the soul bone, the body will still suffer backlash. This treats the symptoms."
"The second method is to find a suitable immortal herb. Using its powerful medicinal effects to evolve one's martial soul, it can completely solve the poison backlash problem. This treats the root cause."
Lin Chen spoke calmly. His gaze was steady, and his eyes were filled with confidence.
These two solutions would definitely be enough to convince Dugu Bo.
As for the more refined poison-pill method, Lin Chen had no intention of revealing it now. After all, he hadn't even obtained any immortal herbs yet.
Once he refined immortal herbs into pills and his relationship with Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan became closer, he would naturally gift that method to them.
"Boy, explain what an immortal herb is."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo was secretly astonished and began to reassess Lin Chen. He hadn't expected a child who had just awakened his martial soul to possess such knowledge.
Now, Dugu Bo was gradually beginning to believe Lin Chen's words and no longer saw him as a naive child.
Between the two methods Lin Chen proposed, compared to the symptom-treating soul bone method, Dugu Bo was clearly more interested in the root-treating immortal herb method.
"Immortal herbs are precious medicines that can evolve a Soul Master's martial soul. They usually grow in natural treasure lands, such as the legendary Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, where ice and fire coexist in places highly likely to produce immortal herbs."
"Unfortunately, such natural treasure lands are extremely difficult to find, and immortal herbs are treasures that can only be encountered by chance."
Lin Chen shook his head repeatedly, pretending to sigh in regret.
Beside him, Dugu Yan watched Lin Chen's performance, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly, her expression growing increasingly strange.
Lin Chen's acting was incredibly convincing.
If she hadn't already known from the diary that Lin Chen was aware of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, she might have been fooled.
"A natural treasure land… ice and fire coexisting?"
Dugu Bo stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The place Lin Chen described sounded very similar to a location he happened to possess. As for whether it was truly the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, Dugu Bo wasn't sure.
"Grandpa, do we have a natural treasure land like the one Lin Chen mentioned?"
Seeing this, Dugu Yan gave Lin Chen an assist, looking at Dugu Bo with anticipation.
"Yanyan, I'm not sure about a natural treasure land, but Grandpa does have a spring pool where ice and fire coexist. I just don't know whether it's the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well that boy mentioned."
Dugu Bo answered honestly. After all, this treasure land would eventually be left to his granddaughter.
It was just that Dugu Yan was still weak, and Dugu Bo wanted to wait until she grew stronger and more mature.
Seeing Dugu Yan's eager expression, Lin Chen's lips curved slightly upward.
Now he could be completely certain Dugu Yan definitely possessed a copy of his diary.
In fact, ever since Dugu Yan invited him to stay at her home, Lin Chen had begun to suspect it.
She was simply too enthusiastic, which didn't match her personality in the original story.
Only today did Lin Chen fully confirm it. Perhaps last night, while he was writing his diary, Dugu Yan had been reading it.
"Senior Dugu, could you take me and Sister Yan to that natural treasure land to take a look? If it really is the legendary Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well…"
"By coincidence, I happen to know a little about immortal herbs and understand their properties."
End of Chapter