237: Chapter 232 The Farce Ends

Now, only Cao Xiao and Elder Shen on the hospital bed remained on the third floor.

"Heh, this family is truly bizarre!" Cao Xiao muttered to himself with a shake of his head as he casually put the bonsai from the corner of the room into his space.

After a careful examination, he understood Elder Shen's physical condition and the cause of his illness clearly. Elder Shen's critical condition wasn't entirely natural; there was external interference accelerating the deterioration. If not for that, Elder Shen's normal physical functions would have allowed him to live at least another three to five years!

Although Elder Shen had many long-standing hidden injuries, his physical foundation was solid; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to live and work normally at over eighty years old.

There were two reasons for his current near-death state. The first was poisoning. A strange, chronic toxin was hidden in Elder Shen's body. It was an organic toxin with a molecular structure similar to amino acids, making it difficult to detect during standard lab tests while it lurked in the human body.

This toxin damaged body cells, but the process was very slow; even a large intake wouldn't be rapidly fatal. The poisoned person would find it hard to detect changes in their body early on. The longer the poisoning lasted, the deeper the damage to the body, causing permanent injury. Eventually, bodily functions might suddenly collapse like a chain reaction, manifesting as a phenomenon similar to total organ failure and exhaustion. The result was equally irreversible and inevitably fatal, leading doctors to diagnose it as natural aging without suspecting poisoning.

The second reason was harmful radiation. The small artificial rock in the bonsai pot he had just stored in his space contained a bean-sized radioactive metal source: Iridium-192. Iridium-192 is a synthetic, highly rare radioactive chemical element. Its radiation energy can penetrate steel plates one to ten centimeters thick, and it is a Class II high-risk radioactive source mainly used for industrial radiography.

When a person is exposed to "Iridium-192" radiation without protection, it leads to critically low levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Bone marrow hematopoiesis is severely damaged, cell chromosomes are injured by the radiation, and telomerase activity decreases. The human skin and organs immediately show signs of damage. Injured single cells are prone to cancer, and it can even affect genetics. Generally, a normal person exposed to 30,000 curies of a radioactive source for six minutes would die instantly.

This Iridium source in the rock had gone through multiple half-lives and was at the end of its decay, with its radiation energy activity reaching the lowest limit. Without any shielding, it wouldn't cause harm to the human body from five meters away. However, this study wasn't large, and Elder Shen on the hospital bed was well within the exposure range; even the entire study and most of the third floor were under radiation. Cao Xiao didn't know how long this bonsai had been placed there, but even with the less than three-centimeter-thick rock shielding, the weak radiation released in less than a day was enough to cause illness in the frail Elder Shen on the bed. Even the doctors and family members who stayed in the room for long periods were not immune; staying in the study for a week could lead to direct death! The person who placed this bonsai was truly vicious, willing to sacrifice the lives of innocent people, including his own close relatives, just to take Elder Shen's life!

Cao Xiao inferred that Elder Shen had been poisoned for at least a month, and the poisoning was very deep. Even if doctors could detect the toxin and clear it out now, they couldn't repair Elder Shen's already collapsed bodily functions. Moreover, there was the second fatal factor: multiple organ lesions, internal infection, festering, bone marrow necrosis, and immune system disorder. He was hanging by a thread; if not for his own intervention, no one in this world could have saved him.

He immediately cleared the toxins, treated the infected and necrotic areas, and then infused Yuan Energy to control cell division in the damaged areas to repair the wounds. At the same time, he precisely directed the delivery of nutrients needed for repair, restored all functional organs, and then began repairing the body tissues. This process was somewhat slow, taking nearly two hours to complete.

During this time, Cao Xiao was also anxious, fearing an unexpected accident during the repair process that might break the body's fragile balance, triggering a chain reaction and sudden collapse. Fortunately, although it took a while, no accidents occurred. After confirming the repair results, Cao Xiao finally relaxed. The ECG was steady, and the brain waves were stable, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep. This was a sequela of severe mental exhaustion, which Cao Xiao couldn't help, but since the brain was fully repaired, he wouldn't sleep indefinitely. He would wake up once his body naturally adjusted during the rest.

He stood up and stretched his stiff muscles, then remembered that the people who had been accompanying him in the study had also suffered radiation damage. Fortunately, those doctors hadn't left and had been asked to wait in the living room downstairs. They and Shen Hao all had some problems to varying degrees. The most serious was Yu Pinyun, who had likely been guarding the room without leaving, and whose body organs and blood system had already started to degenerate. Since Elder Shen, who was in such a severe state, had been cured, these people's conditions were trivial. In less than ten minutes, he silently resolved the damage caused by the radiation to them.

"Brother Li, notify all the family members downstairs to come up!" Cao Xiao shouted toward the door after leaving the room.

Originally, this was someone else's family business, and no matter how sordid it was, Cao Xiao didn't want to meddle; he could have just left after completing the task entrusted by his teacher. But since it involved He Yueyou's cousin, and out of a sense of justice, he had a reason to intervene. Even if he didn't take action himself, he had to tell Shen Hao the truth on the spot, support him, and watch with his own eyes as those inhumane beasts received the punishment they deserved.

"Little Uncle Cao, how is it?" "Cao Xiao..." The first to appear was Shen Hao, followed by Yu Pinyun, then Shen Hao's father, who wasn't in a wheelchair but was being carried up by Li Quanshuo. Finally came that bunch of toxic relatives. Not only were they slow, but they were also fooling around and laughing along the way, which annoyed Cao Xiao so much that he almost couldn't resist kicking them down one by one.

Cao Xiao said to Shen Hao, "He's fine now! With proper recuperation, he can live another ten to eight years without problems. The old man is resting, so don't go in and disturb him. I had no interest in getting involved in your family affairs, but some things must be told to you now, otherwise, I can't stand the trouble of having to run over every few days."

"Little Hao, where did you find this extra? Does he really think he's a miracle doctor!" "I've already had people prepare the death certificate; better prepare for the funeral sooner!" "The sooner he dies, the sooner he reincarnates. Since he's dead, there's nothing to see. You guys better hurry up and sign the contract, stop making a scene here."

As soon as Cao Xiao finished speaking, the others started making snide, noisy remarks, annoying him. He directly ordered his bodyguards to use force to ensure silence: "Brother Li, shut these guys up. Whoever keeps yapping, knock them down."

"Where did this brat come from? This is Heda..." "Get out..." Seeing Cao Xiao act like this, several middle-aged men were instantly enraged. Just as they were about to arrogantly make threats, a fist the size of a sandbag smashed into the face of the first person who spoke, causing a bloody mess. Then came the second. The third one, seeing the situation, quickly shut his mouth and retreated far away, not daring to speak again.

Looking at these cowering people with disgust, Cao Xiao said to Shen Hao with a stern face, "Call the police! Your grandfather is in critical condition because he was poisoned with a fatal chronic toxin. The time of poisoning cannot be determined, but the person who poisoned him is among these people, perhaps a conspiracy. Also, that bonsai in the corner is problematic; there is a fatal radiation source in the artificial rock, which I have already dealt with. I have an official identity, and my words can be used as direct evidence. When the police arrive, they can arrest people directly and throw them all in the slammer to sort it out slowly. The nature of this matter is too vile; I will suggest that the police handle it strictly and severely, but discreetly."

Hearing Cao Xiao say this, Shen Hao's father was struck as if by lightning. He slumped from the sofa onto the floor, his face full of grief, tears streaming down. He sobbed and pointed at his brothers, cursing hoarsely, "These beasts! That is their own father! He spoiled them so much, and now they are so heartless as to kill their father just to divide the family property! None of them are good people, they all deserve to die!"

Shen Hao was heartbroken. He held back his tears, clenching his fists until his nails dug into his palms, blood dripping onto the floor. With eyes full of hatred, he stared at those people and gritted his teeth, saying, "Good! Good! Good! I originally thought you were just jerks. Family harmony is the most important thing, so I tolerated you everywhere and didn't fight for the family property. I didn't expect you to do such a heaven-defying thing! I don't have relatives like you. Just wait! I guarantee you will get your retribution!"

Caught in their conspiracy, these people were not afraid but rather relieved. The sixth one, who was still standing, suddenly laughed wildly: "Hahaha! So what if you know now! That old man is completely finished! Call the police? Hahaha! Just try calling the police and see if they come!"

The two who had fallen to the ground also stood up. Three middle-aged men and two youths simultaneously pulled out handguns. Five pistols were aimed at Shen Hao, Yu Pinyun, Cao Xiao, Duan Hong, and Li Quanshuo.

At this moment, another voice said, "Third Brother, since we're exposed, let's just go all the way. Let Awa bring people in! You delusional bastards thought you could send us all to prison so you could monopolize all the property? Dream on! After we deal with you, we will also call the police and say that you poisoned the old man to death to monopolize the property, tried to kill us to silence us, and were killed on the spot when we rose up to resist! Hahaha, are you satisfied with this story?"

The man called Third Brother looked unhappily at the middle-aged man who had stepped aside to protect his family in fear: "Fifth, we've come this far, and you want to split the property but not put in the effort, cowering like a woman!"

Shen Hao's father and Yu Pinyun were stunned, not expecting such a turn of events. Especially Shen Hao, who had only recently retired from the military; he knew these people had real guns, not children's toys. With five pistols aimed at them at close range, even a soldier king couldn't resist. His heart sank to the bottom.

"You guys really think highly of yourselves, actually daring to pull out guns. If you hadn't resisted, you might have had a way out, but now it seems you are asking for it, and you deserve to die! Anyone who dares to point a gun at my people must be prepared to die!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang...!" Seeing these people putting on a show, Cao Xiao had no mood to watch. A golden, large-caliber handgun had appeared in his hand at some point. Duan Hong and Li Quanshuo were the same. Even before Cao Xiao finished speaking or gave the order, they had fired at the first opportunity! It was clean, ruthless, and every shot was fatal. By the time Cao Xiao finished speaking, there were already five fresh corpses on the ground, each face still holding that arrogant and smug expression.

"Ah!" "Bang~!" Following a shrill female scream, another gunshot rang out. The one who fired was Cao Xiao, but the one shot was a heavily made-up middle-aged woman, and she was indeed holding a small handgun in her hand.

"Alright, the ones who should die are probably all dead! The world is quiet now! Everyone else, crouch down with your hands on your heads." Cao Xiao slowly returned the gun to the holster at his waist and turned to Shen Hao: "Shen Hao, call the police! Contact the local police chief directly. With six lives lost, if they really dare not arrive in time, they can all wait for disaster."

Shen Hao's aunts and cousins were already stunned with fear, all of them silent, and some had even fainted from fright.

"Little Uncle, thank you! ..." The turn of events happened in the blink of an eye. Shen Hao and the others were overwhelmed. It wasn't until they heard Cao Xiao call him that they came to their senses. He took a deep breath and looked at Cao Xiao gratefully, his eyes full of sincerity. This "Little Uncle" was heartfelt and came out naturally, without the awkwardness from before. Shen Hao wanted to continue, but Cao Xiao waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Such inhumane scum deserve to be punished by everyone; you don't need to thank me. That Yili should be your Yuling Group's regional sales agent, right? That bastard colluded with other gemstone and precious metal suppliers to cause trouble at my company today. This matter must have something to do with these pieces of scum; otherwise, a mere regional agent wouldn't have the guts to go against Elder Shen's will. All in all, these guys of mine aren't enemies not meeting, it's their retribution."

Cao Xiao silently mourned for 0.1 seconds for these guys who failed to rebel and were wiped out instead. At the same time, he felt some emotion and sorrow for Elder Shen. Having such offspring made his later years a tragedy, and he wondered if he could bear the blow of losing his children after waking up and learning about these events.