Luo Qi held onto the edge of the table with both his hands as he frowned.

"Chief, do you wish to return to your room?" asked the man.

Luo Qi didn't say anything. He simply eyed the dishes in front of him and watched as they were taken away. His fingers curled into fists suddenly.

"Don't move!" He yelled suddenly. "Don't touch the dishes that I've eaten. Put them down!"

The man was startled. He had no idea what had come over Luo Qi and why the latter had issued such an order. That didn't matter now though. He barked out an order immediately.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing. Put the dishes down. Hurry up!" He turned towards Luo Qi and asked cautiously. "What's wrong, Chief?"

"There's poison in the food." Luo Qi clenched his jaw. Terror coursed through everyone when they heard what Luo Qi had said. Their faces drained of all blood.

"Poison?" Alarm flashed across the man's face. "How could that be possible? Chief, are you alright?"

"I should have thought of this. Why didn't I think of it?" Luo Qi felt his strength gradually drain from his body. This was obviously the Tranquilizing Dust. He was familiar with the poison. He began to yell, "Where's Elder Huang? Summon him immediately!"

He didn't move and simply sat there. He couldn't let anyone know that he had been poisoned and that he had been poisoned with the Tranquilizing Dust.

The man hastily ordered someone to summon Elder Huang. He seemed a little flustered. He couldn't believe that someone had poisoned Luo Qi's food. Everyone was going to get killed if Luo Qi flew into a rage.

Everyone but Jiang Ning was jittering with anxiety and fear. He feigned terror as he tried to determine if Luo Qi had truly been poisoned and was not pretending that he had been.

One had to be extremely careful when dealing with conniving foxes like Luo Qi.

Elder Huang arrived within moments.

When he saw Luo Qi sitting in the room, he said hastily, "Chief, is there anything wrong?"

"Do you have the Tranquilizing Dust?" asked Luo Qi.

Elder Huang reached into his robes and started rummaging through his pockets. "It's with me. I followed your orders and have been lacing their food with poison all this while. Look, it's..." Alarm flashed across the elder's face. He pulled out his hand from his robes. There was nothing inside. Nothing at all!

"Where is it?" He blurted out. He

yanked his belt loose, shrugged his clothes off and searched through them frantically. The Tranquilizing Dust was nowhere to be found. "I kept it on me. It never leaves my

sight!"

There was a stormy look on Luo Qi's face. If he weren't paralyzed at the moment, he would have given Elder Huang a slap so hard that the blow would kill him on the spot.

"I handed you the Tranquilizing Dust for your safekeeping and yet you slipped it into my food," spat Luo Qi. "Elder Huang, you've got quite some nerves."

Elder Huang fell into his knees with a loud thud.

"Chief, I didn't do it! I didn't do anything!"

"Take him away!" thundered Luo Qi. A few men stepped forward immediately and dragged Elder Huang away despite all his protesting.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Luo Qi panted heavily and tried to stand up, but his feet were like jelly. He couldn't stand at all.

His sharp eyes swept past everyone's faces. He gritted his teeth.

"I didn't expect that someone would slip past my defenses and slip poison into my food." He lifted his chin slightly and glanced at the man who had been serving him. The latter fell to his knees in terror.

"Chief, it's not me! I didn't do it!"

Luo Qi scoffed.

"I doubt you have the guts to do it." He clenched his jaw. "Quick, bring me back to my study. Hurry up!"

"Yes, sir, of course!" The man

climbed to his feet hurriedly, then

pointed at Jiang Ning and a few other men, "Why are you still standing there? Help our chief back to his study. Hurry up! No one is to speak of what's just happened. Anyone who does will be killed

without any mercy!"

"Yes, sir!" Jiang Ning and the other men shouted in unison before approaching Luo Qi and lifting him up in their arms.

"Come on, hurry up!" The man led the way to the study. "Chief, we'll arrive at the study shortly. I'll bring you the antidote and treat the poison!"