Chapter 285
Quincey walked into the living room. "Where's your Master?" he asked without seeing Zinnia.
"Master's in the kitchen, cooking," Zinnia answered as she walked alongside Quincey.
Zinnia pursed her lips. "Quincey, I can’t shake the feeling that Master is keeping something from me. Do you know what’s going on with him? How were you two while you were abroad?"
Something just seemed off about Nathan. I was certain that Nathan was hiding secrets. But I knew that unless he decided to open up, no matter how hard I racked her brains, I would never figure it out, Zinnia thought.
"Nothing really happened. We were fine abroad, just taught those Moore family punks a lesson, that’s all. Maybe your Master’s just been a bit tired lately. He just doesn’t want you to worry, it’s really nothing."
Quincey chuckled softly. "Zinnia, go watch TV. I’ll help your Master with dinner. It’s been ages since I had his cooking. I kind of miss it."
Seeing the TV was on in the living room, Quincey steered her to the sofa, then darted into the kitchen and shut the door tightly behind him.
Quincey moved so fast that before Zinnia could react, the kitchen door was already closed, completely blocking her view.
Zinnia met Nathan when she was five. Zinnia, kind-hearted even as a child, begged Nathan to save Quincey, a former mercenary who was found injured and amnesic. After recovering, Quincey began following them and never left.
Quincey stayed with them for a year and chose to remain even after Nathan cured his amnesia. They’ve known each other for over a decade and share a deep bond. In Zinnia’s heart, Quincey is like another elder brother.
Both Nathan and Quincey were always there as Zinnia grew up. Quincey was always elusive; sometimes he’d disappear for months, and once, even half a year would go by without a trace of him.
Nathan always said he’d sent Quincey off to handle some business for him. Zinnia never pried. Now it makes sense, they must have been plotting revenge all along, Zinnia thought.
"Nathan." Quincey called out. Seeing Nathan leaning weakly against the wall, struggling to catch his breath, Quincey rushed over and quickly pulled out the medicine he’d brought, handing it to Nathan.
Nathan swallowed the pills without protesting. His slender figure leaned against the kitchen counter. His face was deathly pale, and faint red veins were creeping into the whites of his eyes.
"What’s the point?" Quincey sighed. "You’re using drugs to suppress your condition just to appear normal. It’s exhausting your energy. Once you stop, the rebound will be worse. You’re pushing your body to its limits."
Quincey looked at Nathan’s pale face, feeling utterly helpless.
To keep Zinnia from discovering his true condition, Nathan relied entirely on medication to forcibly suppress his illness, using up his vital energy just to appear normal.
But every time Nathan did this, he was simply using up the little time he had left. For someone already seriously ill, it was just adding fuel to the fire.
Nathan remained silent, his breathing shallow and labored as sharp pains shot through his body in relentless waves.
"Zinnia has already noticed something’s off with you. If you keep hiding it until you can’t anymore, do you really want her to end up hating you?" Quincey asked.
"Hate," Nathan murmured. His usually calm expression finally broke, his long lashes quivering.
"How can I tell her?" Nathan’s voice was hoarse. "Zinnia’s health is so fragile, she can’t handle any emotional distress. If she ever found out about my condition, her body wouldn’t survive it."
At the mention of Zinnia’s health, Quincey closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the pain in his gaze. Nathan and Zinnia were truly two poor souls, Quincey thought.
Zinnia’s health was precarious. No one knew when things might take a turn for the worse, and now Nathan’s condition was deteriorating too. Most of the time, Zinnia seemed fine, but any extreme emotional fluctuations could trigger a physical reaction.
"Having relied on Nathan since childhood, how could she possibly deal with this news? At present, Nathan’s health is so poor that he can hardly perform the Flowing Technique any longer. If anything were to happen to Zinnia, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
"How’s the investigation on those guys going?" Nathan asked.
It had been over a month since Donald disappeared. They didn’t suspect criminal involvement and didn’t investigate thoroughly. With the Shaw family in decline, Donald alone couldn’t cause much trouble. At most, he was just lying low to save himself.
But now that the remaining underground factions had gotten involved, it was a completely different situation. Jinston wasn’t their territory, so conducting an investigation there wouldn’t be easy.
"Those people are sly," Quincey said. "With the New Year approaching, Jinston is swarming with visitors. It’s hard to track them down. But now that the Perkins and Lynn families are involved, they don’t dare act rashly. The entire city is under covert lockdown."
Quincey shook his head and thought, Anyone who managed to escape from them must be highly skilled operatives. If they were easy to catch, they wouldn’t have survived this long.
"We can’t let our guard down," Nathan warned, his eyes remaining vigilant. "As the end of the year approaches and the crowds grow, they’ll definitely be looking for the perfect moment to make their move."
Nathan asked again, "Any leads on the antidote yet?"
At the mention of the medicine, Quincey looked utterly defeated. "Nathan, that Florivive, I really think it’s just a myth. How could something like that possibly exist in this world?"
Quincey thought, Those bastards poisoned Nathan. The toxin remained dormant for five years before finally taking effect. Now, we only have one year left. If we couldn’t find the antidote within that year, Nathan would be beyond medical help.
Otherwise, why would Nathan ever be willing to leave Zinnia alone? The Moore family was nothing to Nathan. The real reason he made the hard decision was because of his own health. Nathan was poisoned.
When Nathan infiltrated the organization’s core, everyone took poison to prove loyalty. To destroy it from within, Nathan swallowed the poison too. It was called soul-crushing.
As the name implied, soul-crushing was a toxin that corroded one’s body, causing it to deteriorate step by step, with no way to stop it.
Soul-crushing poison wasn’t just physical. The pain penetrated deep into one’s marrow, making one writhe in agony. The attacks were unpredictable. One moment you were fine, the next you were in unbearable pain.
When Nathan first went abroad half a year ago, his body got completely out of control. Only after developing a suppressant was he able to barely keep the toxin at bay. Even someone as capable as Nathan had no way to cure it.
That organization’s poisons were insidious and ruthless, each one was unique and used only once, leaving no cases for research or reference.
Recently, the Evans family contacted them. To persuade Nathan to make medicine for their family, they offered a universal antidote formula. Most ingredients were common, except Florivive, a legendary herb they’d never heard of.
The Evans family admitted Florivive was nearly impossible to find. Their ancestors had only come across a single seed by chance. Quincey clenched his fists, knuckles turning white. If only I could tear them limb from limb, Quincey thought.
More than half a year has passed. Nathan’s condition was deteriorating rapidly, but we still hadn’t found even the slightest clue about the Florivive. Florivive sounded no ordinary herb. Despite Nathan’s decades of medical experience, he’d never heard of it. We had reason to suspect it was a myth.
"If we can’t find it, just forget about matters," Nathan said. "We still have nearly half a year, don’t fret. I just need to hold on until Zinnia’s surgery. That’s the only thing that matters."