Chapter 1368: Ambiguous Intent?
Edgar Alstreim appeared shocked at Davis's statement that his lips couldn't help but tremble.
"Do you mean...?"
Davis simply cast a gaze at the equally shocked Lia Alstreim before he returned his gaze and shook his head.
"The chances are fifty-fifty. My treatment either has a chance to work completely or utterly fail, but I muse that there are no untoward consequences to my treatment method. Even if there is, I reckon that it would not be anything dangerous."
Davis spoke with such confidence that Edgar Alstreim did not know what to say as his mouth remained agape in amazement and dumbfoundedness.
If it were any other man who had said these words to him, he would've mockingly snickered and perhaps even given a slap or two to the scammer, but these words were from his grandson, the person who had healed his dantian!
How could he not hope to believe!?
His wife's life was on the line!
Edgar Alstreim reached out his hands emotionally and held Davis's wrists that were on his shoulders.
"Can you really... heal my wife?"
"As I said," Davis pursed his lips and smiled wryly, "Fifty-fifty chances..."
Edgar Alstreim gasped as he nodded his head, "That's enough! That's more than enough! Apothecary Nazca Alstreim informed us that Lia has only a few decades to live until the blood crystals cover her entire body, meaning that she only has a few decades to live until the blood crystals burst apart."
"There's really nothing I can do except rely on you, grandson!" He emotionally tightened his grip, causing Davis to feel the intensity of his emotions.
"Jeez, that's all you had to say, but you two, for some reason, decided not to trouble me."
Davis shook his head as he chuckled, causing the two of them to become embarrassed.
Lia Alstreim kissed Tia Alstreim's cheeks as a few droplets of tears slid down her face in relief. On the other hand, Tia Alstreim also held her mother tightly, feeling all energized after hearing Davis's words. Before, as she listened to her father speak about her mother's illness, her heart was torn apart each time as it remained to pound rapidly, making her feel incredibly painful and heavy.
She sobbed all this while silently, and only after Davis assured that he had a fifty percent chance to heal her mother did she relax.
To an illness that has no cure before, fifty percent was more than enough!
Although she was shy of social interaction, that didn't mean she lacked knowledge, as most of her time was spent playing around or learning things. She was aware that increasing the chances by even a single percent was a great deal no matter what it may be.
She separated from her mother's grasp and turned to look at Davis, pursing her lips as she lowered her head.
"Sorry, big brother..." Tia Alstreim's expression became deeply apologetic, "I misunderstood your good intentions and-"
"It's fine... You did the right thing, Tia..."
Davis smiled teasingly as his lips widened.
"It's your mother's fault for saying something stupid like that. Really though... I haven't seen a young, beautiful grandmother try to hide an important matter with sexu- ambiguous humor..."
Lia Alstreim's cheeks went beet red as she hid her face behind her palms. On the side, Tia Alstreim slightly blushed, appearing to also understand a bit of what he meant.
Davis kept chuckling, but inwardly, he knew that he almost said something inappropriate to the little Tia. He reached out his hand and simply rubbed her head to hide the awkwardness.
"Sigh, Davis..." Edgar Alstreim appeared frustrated, "How could I bother you after you did something like that for me?"
"Mhm...? Can't I do it again?" Davis became confused.
Edgar Alstreim became awry as he sent a soul transmission, "Claire berated me that you had to sacrifice a lot of your blood essence to heal me using a mysterious technique in alchemy that you used to make the healing pill. I have no intentions towards your technique, not to mention that I probably cannot learn it as I'm not as talented as you are, but I absolutely have no intentions to trouble you as I felt that you might use up more blood essence that might hinder your cultivation."
"Oh..." Davis understood.
So his mother assumed that it was a pill technique instead of just a technique. No wonder Edgar Alstreim remained hesitant to seek aid from him.
"So if I did not come to offer help forcefully, you would've let your wife die?" Davis asked, his expression amused.
Edgar Alstreim shook his head, "I was prepared to travel around the Fifty-Two Territories to even grasp the slightest chance of cure I could find for a few years. Of course, if I couldn't, I was planning to return in a decade or two to ask for your help. At that time, I am already assured that you would've splendidly stepped into the Law Sea Stage and similar levels in the other two cultivation systems."
Davis smiled with satisfaction, "You thought of my health and future... I'm glad, grandfather."
Edgar Alstreim awkwardly smiled in return, "I don't think that I would've had that kind of patience with me if it were not for this illness. After all, the Crippling Bone Crystallization Rupture Illness is not anything dangerous until it completely matures. Only the numbness and paralyzing effect created by it in the initial stages is a problem, but other than that, it's relatively harmless as there is no pain."
"Besides, I didn't think that you might've really possessed a healing pill recipe for this illness..."
Davis shook his head, "Still, I am heartened that you did not immediately think of me just because I might have the capability to do so from my previous achievement."
"How can I shamelessly ask you when it's the same as me harming you myself? I wished for my Claire to be alive countless times, and she came back with her man and you, my overly capable grandson. I deeply care for you more than you think I do... I would lay my life down for you, Davis. Just say the word!"
Edgar Alstreim patted his chest with a solemn expression on his face that Davis became flabbergasted. It's been a long while since someone said that to him that he became tongue-tied for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"Alright, I need grandfather and little aunt to leave this place..."
He uttered, causing Edgar Alstreim to pause for a moment.
While Lia Alstreim and Tia Alstreim exchanged words of comfort to each other, Edgar Alstreim looked as if he was having a hard time deciding whether to leave or not.
That brief moment of hesitation could be seen in Edgar Alstreim's expression before it disappeared, his mouth opening as if he relented.
"I see..." Edgar Alstreim suddenly understood why he was knocked out, "So you also need the consumer's blood essence to form the pill. I'll wait outside with Tia, waiting for you to succeed..."
Once he said these words, he simply waited for Tia to leave before stepping out of the room. However, Tia came running back, looking at him with those teary purple eyes.
"Big brother, I truly apologize for the matter before, so please heal my mother to full health...!"
Davis blinked, wondering how many times that he would have to convince her to make her assured. He smiled as he narrowed his eyes, "If I don't heal your mother to full health, you can blame me all you want."
"Ehh...? Wait!"
Saying so, he pushed her by the shoulders and closed the door, shutting it loudly. Confirming that the door had been locked from the inside, he turned to look at his grandmother's countenance, which seemed to be one of courage and valor as she seemed to be preparing for the pill she would swallow as if it would determine her life and death.
He couldn't help but chuckle, "Hehe, didn't I say that my treatment wouldn't be harmful?"
"I know..." Lia Alstreim gasped, "It's just... I've been eating pills all my life after my middle dantian had ruptured, but... this one pill you are going to bestow me is truly life-changing!"
"If this treatment succeeds, then my gratitude knows no bounds. If it fails, then it means that the heavens want me dead, but my gratitude to you remains the same, boundless."
Davis raised his brows towards Lia Alstreim's passionate speech. But he could understand, considering that he has helped both her father and her man to fulfill their dreams and agenda. He was already a benefactor to her.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThinking all of this, Davis nodded his head, "Do you feel any pain?"
"No. I just can't feel my soles..."
Davis nodded his head again and simply brought a small cauldron out. It was just a few dozen centimeters wide and tall. He brought out ingredients, simply starting the refinement process in front of her before he began the concoction process. All of that took less than five minutes as a few pills emerged out of the small cauldron of which Davis kept one outside and stored the others.
Lia Alstreim, who looked entranced at watching the concocting process, became shocked at his prowess in alchemy. His skills were practically flawless in her eyes.
"Here, swallow this..."
Lia Alstreim blinked, her eyes roaming on the white pill that floated in front of her.
"This is...?" She asked doubtfully as she knew that this couldn't be that healing pill.
How could a pill like that be concocted so fast? But of course, it could be in higher stages, but that wasn't the point. She admitted that she couldn't sense his soul force, but that didn't mean that she was a fool. The pill gave her a familiar scent, the scent of...
"A sleeping pill... Once you swallow it, you'll be out for six or more hours unless I forcefully wake you up."
Lia Alstreim's expression froze as she heard Davis's nonchalant voice.
Davis imperceptibly smiled as he knew what Lia Alstreim was thinking. He was a man, and not a blood relative as that even though their relationship might be one of grandmother and grandson. They had met only twice or thrice, and she was now being told to swallow a sleeping pill by her non-blood-related grandson.
He understood that she was afraid of her body being taken advantage of while she was deep asleep! She was worried about her modesty coming into question!
He also understood that this was why Edgar Alstreim paused for a second in hesitation.
No man liked to allow another man, even if they were an apothecary, to touch their wife's modesty, and neither did most modest women in the cultivation world. That's why they might specifically search for female apothecaries and have them check, even if it cost them a fortune.
Of course, if it were a life or death situation, then most might not care about that and grasp whatever straw they might find.
In the glaring silence, Davis's smile became more prominent as his voice echoed out once again.
"I wonder how much trust does grandmother have in me?"
Lia Alstreim looked at him, her expression trembling in hesitation before her hand moved in an arc!
*Pahh!~*