Lin Xiaotian's silver needle darted out with extreme speed.
Without even turning his head, he walked directly out of the lifelong guardianship room.
Ye Lingfeng's face grew increasingly fearful, his gaze unfocused, despair filling his eyes.
At this moment, he truly regretted it. If only he hadn't sought trouble, hadn't used that fatty to target Lin Xiaotian, perhaps finding a place to end it all himself would have been a better option.
But now, it was too late.
The pain surged through his body, a tide of agony constantly washing over him.
Lin Xiaotian drove back to the company. As soon as he arrived, he saw Master Liu.
Master Liu's eyes lit up with surprise. "Mr. Ling, I've finally been waiting for your return. There's an item here that I've been unable to ascertain."
"I was hoping you could take a look."
With the decline of the Guan family, Hengxin Group was practically on the verge of collapse. Master Liu had directly pledged allegiance to Chu Group.
He was now in charge of Mingyue Pavilion's operations in Building One.
"What is it that even you can't figure out?" Lin Xiaotian was slightly surprised. If one were to talk about this fellow's character, it could only be described as mediocre.
But when it came to appraisal skills, he was far from ordinary.
Only slightly inferior to Tang Jingde.
"I've already brought it to the company. Why don't you take a look, Mr. Lin?"
"I'm quite curious what you've brought. Let's go take a look." Lin Xiaotian walked into the company's top floor with him.
Chu Nianxue was also there, her eyes filled with joy.
Placed on the table was a jade carving, exquisitely crafted. The jade carving was only slightly larger than a palm, depicting a small, lifelike monkey.
"You're here!"
"What do you think of this jade carving?"
Lin Xiaotian glanced at it, his brow furrowing slightly. "Wife, you haven't touched this jade carving, have you?"
"I just picked it up to look. What's wrong?" Chu Nianxue's eyes held confusion.
When she had held the jade carving, she hadn't felt anything unusual.
Lin Xiaotian directly took her fair hand.
Palm facing upwards.
"Wife, look. Has the palm of your hand changed color?"
A thin, black thread had appeared on the palm of her fair hand, clearly beneath the skin.
Upon seeing this, Chu Nianxue's expression changed drastically, her pupils contracting slightly. "What's going on?"
Lin Xiaotian smiled. "We'll talk about it later. No need to rush."
He then turned his gaze to Master Liu.
Master Liu also sensed something was wrong. His face had turned pale. He quickly explained, "This is something someone sold directly to our antique shop. I felt it was a rare piece, so I brought it to the company, wanting Mr. Lin to see if I had done anything shady."
Lin Xiaotian smiled. "Of course, I believe you. Your hands also have a problem."
Master Liu hurriedly looked down. The black threads on both his hands were even more obvious and were spreading towards his arms.
At this moment, his face was filled with panic. He quickly asked, "Mr. Lin, what is happening?"
"Is it because I touched this statue?"
"Is there poison on it?"
His voice trembled.
Lin Xiaotian smiled and nodded. "You're not completely clueless. This thing is obviously not right. Especially the lifelike monkey. Do you think an ordinary jade carving could achieve this level?"
"There's something hidden inside that you simply can't see."
"Extend your hand."
Master Liu quickly extended his hands.
Lin Xiaotian produced a paper-thin knife and swiftly cut open Master Liu's palm, then gently flicked.
A tiny black worm was flicked out.
The worm was still wriggling as it fell to the ground.
Master Liu let out a startled cry, his face turning ashen, the wrinkles on his old face twitching.
Lin Xiaotian smiled. "Surprised?"
"My heavens, if not for you, Mr. Lin, extracting this thing, I reckon it would have burrowed into me. I wouldn't even know how I died."
As Master Liu said this, his face suddenly turned furious. "Bastards! I'm going to find them!"
"How dare they sell such a thing to me."
"It seems you recognize them?" Lin Xiaotian's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew this matter was not that simple.
Chu Nianxue was born in the Year of the Monkey. The antique shop had received such a lifelike monkey statue, and Master Liu must have intended to please Madam Chu.
The consequences were predictable.
Master Liu nodded, his voice suppressed with anger. "It was that bastard Zhang Laohu. He used to be in the antique street, but his cronies were dealt with.
He was quiet for a few days, and now that he's out, claiming he was short on cash, he sold me this thing.
I thought Madam Chu was also a monkey, and the little monkey was indeed lifelike and very charming, so I sent it to the company first.
And I only spent thirty thousand for this item. The material alone is worth more than that. I wanted to please Madam Chu, but I didn't expect this outcome."
His face was filled with lingering fear.
Lin Xiaotian smiled. "After this worm was removed, look at your palm. Is there still a very thin black line, very faint?"
Master Liu instinctively looked down, his expression becoming even more grim. "Mr. Lin, are there more of these worms?"
"I'll go to the hospital now and have a doctor cut them out. Is that okay?"
As he asked this, a look of fear appeared on his face.
He noticed Lin Xiaotian's gaze was a little off, and his smile held a hint of amusement.
"If it were that easy to treat, why would they go to such lengths to sell it to you and have you pass it to my wife?"
"To put it bluntly, this thing is a蛊虫 (gu worm)."
"As long as it comes into contact with your palm, the body's temperature will cause it to hatch rapidly. You can think of it as a self-replicating organism."
"Unless you chop off your hand right now, it will continue to multiply."
Master Liu's face turned ashen, and he collapsed to the ground, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin, if I don't chop off my hand, will this worm continue to spread up my palm?"
Lin Xiaotian smiled and nodded. "This thing will eat your cells and reproduce rapidly."
Master Liu's pupils constricted sharply, his eyes filled with terror.
"Is there no other way?"