âThat is alright. Iâll call you when I have set a time,â Zheng Weijun said.
âThat is good.â
âI donât think your complexion is very good,â Wang Yao said. âRecently, you must have had too much internal heat in your liver. Pay attention to your general health.â
Zheng Weijun, who was sitting across from him, had bloodshot eyes and hot breath, which were signs of excessive internal heat.
âDrink more water, donât be angry, and avoid fat in your diet,â Wang Yao said.
âOh, thank you,â Zheng Weijun said. âI will listen to you, Sir.â
The two sat together for a while. Zheng Weijun left when the first patient came in the afternoon.
In He County, thousands of miles away...
After two days of cultivation, Xu Xinyuan had made a good recovery.
âChilde, Iâm going to see it again,â he said.
âDo you still want to go there?â Guo Zhenghe asked.
âYes.â
He had to get back to where he had stumbled. He would retaliate against who had harmed him. Xu Xinyuan had never a magnanimous man.
He had suddenly suffered from such unspeakable pain. If he had not gone to see Wang Yao for treatment in time, he might have lost his life. This matter could not end like this.
âUncle Xu, I donât think you should go there anymore. Itâs too dangerous,â Guo Zhenghe said.
âI have asked Wang Yao for some antidote.â
Guo Zhenghe, who was on the phone, was silent for a moment. He knew the manâs character.
âInstead, you could change your mind and look for the murderer Miao Qingshan, who disappeared, to find out if there are still some people who hate the Valley of Thousands of Medicine,â he said. âIt may be better to start with them.â
Guo Zhenghe had long been thinking about the Valley of Thousands of Medicine, especially how to prevent any further poisonings. He did not want to let Xu Xinyuan go because did not want to make things messy. He also did not want to get himself into trouble with the people from the valley. After all, this county was just a place where he worked to make his resume shine. He wouldnât spend his life there. According to his familyâs arrangements, he would stay there a maximum of three years before leaving for a better position.
One of his rules of doing things was to have fewer enemies and more friends. Of course, if his fundamental interests were involved, there was no other way to deal with it. However, this matter had not become so deeply involved for the time being. His main goal was prevention, not to proactively provoke the valley people.
âWell, Childe, you have the right idea,â Xu Xinyuan said. âThey should have taken precautions. Besides, it is too dangerous to rush in. Let me make some inquiries about it first.â
âOK.â Guo Zhenghe leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes after the call ended.
Some things could not be said too clearly. Otherwise, they would be counterproductive.
Hundreds of miles away from He County, there was a place with thick forests.
A tall man was walking in the jungle. His clothes were worn, and his body was tired. He shuffled through the dense greenery.
What?
He suddenly topped. He stared at the woods ahead. As his arm moved, a sharp sword appeared in his hand.
âWho is there?â His dull voice was like worn-out bellows.
âAs the offspring from the eldest patriarch, you are in such a poor position. Is it true?â A manâs voice came from behind the tree. A lone man appeared.
The man was wearing camouflage. He had an average body, a blue-black complexion, and bloodshot eyes.
âItâs you! You are still alive!â The tall man was surprised when he saw the other manâs face.
âAs you can see, I am alive,â the camouflaged man said with a smile.
âYou have been framed and are wanted,â the camouflaged man said. âWhere do you go? Do you prefer to hide in this old forest forever?â
âSay whatever you want to say,â the tall man said.
âCome with me,â the camouflaged man said. âIn the end, we are from the same group of people and village. Besides, we have a common enemy. You canât deal with him on your own.â
âDo you mean Uncle Xihe?â
âWhy did the two police officers go to your house out of the blue?â the camouflaged man asked. âWhy did the broken hands and corpses suddenly appear in your house? Why was it just at the time when they turned up? All of that was because they need a scapegoat to get off the hook. Your identity is a bit special, which is why I choose you. You still call him âUncleâ and offer him help even though you have been sold out.â
âWhy are you so clear about what happened in the village? Did you go back?â
âI have my ways,â the camouflaged man said. âCome with me!â
âI donât believe Uncle Xihe would do this.â The tall man was silent for a while.
âHa-hah... Qingshan, you are still too naïve,â the camouflaged man said. âAs the saying goes, you may know a personâs face but not his mind. Why did your father die after the old patriarch, and what do you think?â
âThink about the skills of the older generation in the village. What kind of illness couldnât be cured? As for his sudden death, you have to think about it. Over the years, very few people in the village have died of illness, yet your father died from a disease. Havenât you thought about it? It is because Miao Xihe wanted to be the patriarch. He poisoned your father. He even poisoned the old patriarch. â
âThat is impossible,â Miao Qingshan loudly said. âWhy didnât father say anything to me? And, it was passed to him by the grandfather.â
âMiao Xiheâs ability to use poison is too high,â the camouflaged man said. âSilently poisoning a person is easy for him. Besides, what could you have done if your father had found out about any of it? There was no evidence. Miao Xihe has the village. Most of the older generationâs support him. Things have gotten to that point. They just protect you. Why did your uncle escape? Just think about it!â
âHow do you know so much?â Miao Qingshan asked.
âWhy did I escape from the village?â the camouflaged man asked.
âBecause you broke the rules!â
âRules? Ha-ha! You are as upright as your father!â
âThatâs an excuse,â the camouflaged man said. He was becoming angry. âI saw what I shouldnât have seen. I heard what I shouldnât have heard. I knew what I shouldnât have known, so they wanted to kill me. Why did my parents suddenly pass away while they had always been healthy? They were innocent!â
âThese are all the tricks of Miao Xihe!â
Miao Qingshan was silent. He would not easily believe the other man without any evidence.
âYou will understand what I am saying sooner or later,â the camouflaged man said. âNow, the first thing you have to do is find a place to stay. You canât just hide in this deep mountain every day, right?â
âDo you have a way?â
âCome with me. Rest assured, I will not harm you. Besides, I am also a wanted criminal now,â the camouflaged man said with a laugh.
Miao Qingshan hesitated for a moment but followed and disappeared into the depths of the jungle.
In the mountain village thousands of miles away, two police cars broke the afternoonâs tranquility.
âThis is the car!â Director Zheng, who had been tortured the previous day, led the way.
He had never been bullied in that way. He had gone to the hospital for an examination. After confirming that there was no major problem with his health, he immediately reported what happened to him to the police. He brought the police officers, some of whom he knew to the village.
âHow could this village be like that?â the police officer who drove asked.
âI hope itâs not that person.â
Director Zheng quickly found the car that Jia Zizai had been driving.
âThis is the car.â
âAre you sure?â
âOf course, Iâm 100% sure,â Director Zheng said.
They knocked on the door. Jia Zizai greeted them with a smile.
âHello, officers, is there anything wrong?â he asked. âOh, itâs you. Your car accident was so serious, yet you were not hospitalized. You should stay in a hospital and be observed. You also should drive more carefully in the future. It doesnât matter if you die, but it is not good to knock down trees and flowers.â
âYou, you, you ...â Director Zheng was so angry that he suddenly felt out of breath. He became dizzy and almost fainted.
âWell, Sir, we need your cooperation to investigate this,â a police officer hurriedly said.
âNo problem,â Jia Zizai said. âDo I need to go to the police station?â
âNo, I will just ask you a few questions.â
âDid you hit this Mr. Zheng yesterday?â a police officer asked.
âI hit him,â Jia Zizai said.
âWhy?â
âHe spoke wildly and attacked me. He took the initiative first,â Jia Zizai said.
âYouâre full of bullsh*t! You did it first!â Director Zheng angrily yelled.
âWho can prove it?â Jia Zizai asked.
There were no witnesses.
âThere must be a surveillance camera nearby,â Director Zheng said.
âWell, Mr. Zheng, please stay calm while we finish talking.â
âCome in and have a seat. It is so tired to stand outside.â Jia Zizai invited them into the house. âAh, you, wait outside.â He stopped Director Zheng from going in.
âYou are wicked and acted like a crazy dog, yet you think you can come in.â
âYou, you ...â Zheng was shaking and shivering from the rage.
âMr. Zheng, please wait a minute,â a police officer said. It was obvious they would not be able to dissuade Jia Zizai otherwise.
âWife, some police officers are here to ask questions. Please make some tea.â
âOK.â After hearing her husbandâs shout, Hu Mei came into the room. The two police officers greeted here. She quickly brought in a pot of tea.
âPlease drink some tea.â
âThank you.â
The two police officers carefully interrogated Jia Zizai and took notes.
âWhat does his accident have to do with me?â Jia Zizai asked. âI kindly reminded him to drive carefully, but he verbally abused me and mistook my offer as a threat. Is he pretending to be confused?â
âThe doctor checked him. He has no major health problems.â
âAh, he drove too fast. I saw it. There was a possibility of drunk driving.â
The previous day, Jia Zizai could smell alcohol on Director Zheng, who had actually drunk some alcohol while driving. Alcohol was found in his blood at the hospital, but Zheng spent money to hide it.
âAccording to the hospital examination, they did not find any alcohol content in his blood.â
âReally?â
The two police officers did not get any useful information. They took Mr. Zheng to the clinic. There was a surveillance camera there. They went to investigate the video, but they couldnât see where the men had their altercation. They could only see Director Zheng walk out of the clinic.
âWhy did you have a dispute?â
âHe made me stumble.â