The Rise of David
Copyright© 2025 by RichXpower
Chapter 35: Poisoning
After getting off work, Hilda didn’t hitch a ride home with David but hailed a taxi home by herself.
“What’s wrong with her today?” David murmured under his breath.
He could sense her being listless the entire day, and she didn’t speak to him either. Having driven home, he got changed, and Josephine came to pick him up. A luxurious car idling in front of the dilapidated neighborhood attracted plenty of attention in a blink of an eye.
“Who’s this wealthy lady, and why is she here in our shabby neighborhood?”
“Could it be that she has taken a fancy to one of the lads here?”
“It’s evident that she’s filthy rich at a single glance, so how could she possibly be interested in the lads here?”
A group of elderly ladies was sitting by the neighborhood entrance, shooting the breeze. Among them was Chloe, and she was also very curious to know who exactly the person in the car was waiting for.
However, when she spotted David exiting the neighborhood and getting into the car, she was wholly stumped.
“Chloe, that’s Gary’s son, David, no? So, he has gotten himself a rich girlfriend!”
“I remember that he’s quite close to your daughter, Hilda. What’s going on here?”
“Young people nowadays are always materialistic...”
The few elderly ladies gossiped among themselves while Chloe rushed home to ask her daughter what exactly had happened.
After David had gotten into Josephine’s car, they went all the way to the suburbs in Horington according to the location Walter had given them. The area was undeveloped, so single-story houses predominated, and the roads were rather bumpy as well. More than an hour later, they finally arrived at their destination. By then, Walter was already waiting there.
As David swept his gaze around, he couldn’t quite believe that Walter had a good friend at such a place, considering his identity.
“Mr. Chance!” Walter went up to David and greeted him courteously right away.
Beside Walter stood a similarly elderly man with graying hair at his temples. However, his aura and dressing were as different as night and day from Walter.
“This is Mr. Chance whom I spoke of, Kieran. His medical skills are unparalleled,”
Walter murmured to the elderly man beside him. As soon as Kieran Snyder saw David, he froze with disbelief written all over his face. In his mind, he pictured a professor or expert over seventy years old, since Walter had revered the person so greatly to the point of addressing him as “Mr.” and lauding his medical skills. Thus, he never expected David to be so young, a mere kid to someone of his age.
“Kieran, Kieran!” Walter called out to the man who had fallen into a trance.
Jolting back to his senses, Kieran quickly extended his dry and wrinkled hand, saying to David, “Oh, sorry! Nice to meet you, Mr. Chance.”
David shook his hand and inclined his head a fraction in greeting.
“Kieran’s wife is in the house, Mr. Chance. Please look her over.”
While Walter spoke, Kieran walked ahead and led the way. Walter walked alongside David and explained his relationship with Kieran. It turned out that they were childhood friends, and Walter had also used to live in a single-story house in the area when he was young. Of course, that was decades ago.
He had left after attending school and had slowly gone into politics. In time, he rarely contacted his old friends anymore. After he had retired and returned to Horington once more, he got in touch with his old friends. He then wanted to help Kieran move from the suburbs and buy him a house in the city, but Kieran was reluctant to leave.
Hence, he relented. The two of them often chatted over tea. While Kieran led a humble life, he found it very fulfilling and had never asked Walter for anything. However, a few days ago, he had suddenly sought the man out and implored him to help find a skilled doctor to treat his wife.
Walter was well-respected and had vast connections, so it would be a piece of cake for him to find a skilled doctor. However, Walter immediately surmised that Kieran’s wife wasn’t simply sick after hearing about her condition. For that reason, he went to David. Soon, they arrived at a courtyard with Kieran leading the way. The courtyard was exceedingly small, housing only three brick rooms, while a corner was dedicated to rearing chickens and ducks.
An unpleasant stench hung in the air. The moment they stepped into the courtyard, Josephine’s brows furrowed slightly. She clapped a hand over her nose and mouth, repulsed by the malodor, as she seldom visited such a place. Conversely, David wasn’t perturbed, as he had lived in a village for more than ten years before moving to the city with his mother. No sooner had they entered the house than the shrieks of a woman from the room on their left drifted into their ears.
Her voice was shrill and sounded particularly terrifying.
“Ahh! I’m going to kill you all! I’m going to execute the lot of you! I’m now the queen, and I want to sentence you all to death!”
Her screams and wails scared Josephine so much that she went as pale as a sheet. She clutched at David’s sleeve, regretting her decision to come with him.
Kieran then opened the room door on the left, revealing an elderly woman in her sixties with white hair and a wrinkled face screeching madly right then. There was nothing in the room save a single bed. The second the elderly woman saw someone entering the room, she leaped onto the bed.
“Who are the lot of you? How dare you barge into my palace? I’m going to have you all arrested!” she bellowed with widened eyes.
“I found someone to look you over, Darling. Please stop kicking up a fuss.” Kieran went over to soothe his wife.
Unexpectedly, the elderly woman darted forward and bit him hard before sprinting over to the corner.
“Oh, well...” Kieran heaved a helpless sigh at that turn of events.
“How long has your wife been in such a condition? And does she remain mentally unstable all the time?” David asked Kieran.
“It’s been seven or eight days now. She’s not mentally unstable all the time, but the times she’s cognizant are growing increasingly far between,” Kieran answered with anxiety etched on his face.
“I heard from Mr. Grange that this condition of your wife’s started after you both returned from a trip to the cemetery?” David continued inquiring.
Kieran nodded in affirmation.
“That’s right. My wife said that she missed our son a few days ago, so I brought her to the cemetery for a visit. Alas, she started acting up that night.”
“Kieran’s son passed away some years ago from an accident, Mr. Chance,”
Walter hastily explained to David. As David looked at Kieran and his wife, a wealth of sympathy filled him. Ah, losing a child at old age is the most tragic thing ever!
“Did anything strange happen after the two of you went to the cemetery?” he questioned.
Kieran pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
“No, everything was quite normal. Nothing happened.”
“Mr. Chance, could it be that Kieran’s wife is possessed?” Walter asked in a whisper.
“Let me check her over before drawing any conclusions.” After saying that, David took out a cloth pouch with rows of silver needles arranged neatly.
He swiftly whipped out a silver needle and headed toward the elderly woman in the corner. Seeing that, Kieran hurriedly blocked his path.
“You’ve got to be careful so that my wife doesn’t hurt you. She doesn’t recognize anyone now.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” David flashed him a smile.
When he reached the elderly woman, she rushed at him without warning and opened her mouth to bite him. David promptly inserted the silver needle in his hand into her neck, causing her to freeze before falling back onto the bed with a thud.
At that sight, Kieran dashed over and shook his wife vigorously.
When she remained motionless, he panicked and roared at David, “What did you do to my wife? Is she dead?”
Kieran grew very emotional and was seemingly a moment away from getting physical with David.
Upon seeing that, Walter instantly zipped forward and held him back.
“Kieran, Mr. Chance is here to treat your wife. What are you doing?”
“Don’t worry, for your wife is just unconscious. She’ll be fine.”
Having said that, David sat on the bed and placed a hand on the elderly woman’s pulse. On the heels of that, a burst of pure spiritual energy left his body and streamed into hers.
If she were possessed, his spiritual energy would undoubtedly be able to force the spirit out. Regretfully, no matter how much he increased the flow of his spiritual energy, she remained still without the slightest reaction.
At that, David frowned slightly.
“Hmm? Could it be that I made a mistake?”
In the beginning, he had thought that she was possessed by a malicious spirit, and he only needed to force it out before absorbing it into himself. However, it seemed that she wasn’t possessed, after all.
“Mr. Chance?” Walter called out softly when nothing happened after a long while, and he noticed something off about David’s expression.
At that moment, Josephine mustered her courage and went up behind David. Despite her fear, she was still curious and wanted to see how exactly a spirit looked like.
A long time passed without anything transpiring, and the atmosphere in the entire room turned a tad awkward.
David slowly retracted his hand, sweat beading on his forehead.
He had used too much spiritual energy earlier, so he was a touch enervated.
“She’s not suffering from hysteria, so I’ll check for other causes.”
After saying that, he picked up a silver needle and gently inserted it into the elderly woman’s wrist. Then he slowly twisted it.
Soon, almost the entire needle was embedded in her wrist.
A moment later, he took it out, only to see a drop of black blood beading at her wrist.
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