“OK, wait a minute,” Wang Yao said.

  The old man’s illness was caused by evil cold entering into the brain. Naturally, it was necessary to use hot medicines to expel the cold. It would require a considerable amount of time to cure it if using ordinary medicinal materials, which might even work in time.

  Wang Yao’s main medicine was the Dangyang flower. The flower was like fire. It worked like the sun to replenish Yangqi. It was a pure, hot Yang medicine with obvious medical efficacy. He also chose a Ziyu to promote blood circulation. It would dredge the channels and collaterals. The Qi and blood in the old man’s brain were not smooth. In fact, it was not only the brain. The circulation of Qi and blood in his whole body were poor. It was, on one hand, because he was old. On the other hand, he was troubled by disease and less active.

  The three people sat quietly in the room.

  “Dad, how are you feeling?”


  “My head doesn’t hurt at all, but I don’t have much strength in my body.” The old man was weak and powerless. He had been tormented by the headaches frequently, so he had been unable to eat or sleep for many years. As a result, he had lost energy and become physically weak. He was getting worse. His son was filial. He took him to see many doctors, but the effect was limited. It was better in the spring and summer. In late autumn and winter, he didn’t dare go out because he was afraid to be blown by the wind. When the wind blew, the pain pierced his head as if it were killing him.

  “Don’t say anything. This young doctor is really capable!”


  “Yes, I came here after listening to the advice from others,” the middle-aged man said.

  In the next room, Wang Yao was slowly boiling the medicine soup.

  “What is he doing?”


  “He’s probably boiling medicine since it smells like Chinese medicine.”


  They were sitting quietly in the room. They would be embarrassed to walk around the clinic. Originally, the younger man with glasses wanted to walk around. When he stood up, his boss looked at him, so he sat down.

  How long do we have to wait? He complained in his heart, but he did not speak aloud. His boss was waiting, so why couldn’t he wait?

  They waited for an hour and a half in the room, just sitting there. Wang Yao finally came in with a white porcelain bottle.

  “The medicine is prepared. Drink it and see if it works.” Wang Yao poured it out into a small cup and handed it to the old man.

  “OK.” The old man felt it was not too hot, so he drank the cup of medicine in one go.

  “What should we do now?”


  “Wait,” Wang Yao concisely said.

  “What?”


  They waited for another 30 minutes. Wang Yao checked the old man and confirmed that there was no problem.

  “Well, you can go now. Come back in 10 days.”


  “Ten days?”


  “That is correct.”


  “How much is this medicine?”


  “$100,000,” Wang Yao said.

  “How much?” The three people were shocked. Wang Yao had said the medicine would be very expensive, but they did not expect it to be that expensive.

  “What?”


  “It’s OK, I’ll pay for it.” The middle-aged man was silent for a while before asking his secretary next to transfer the money.

  “Well, you can go now.”


  The two men helped the old man walk out of the clinic. They left the yard and got into the car.

  “Dad, how are you feeling now?”


  “It’s fine. My head doesn’t hurt. It’s warm and comfortable,” the old man said. For several years, he had never been as comfortable as he was now since the headache went away. He used to feel cold and pain internally to the outside instead of from the outside to within, even if he wore a cotton hat all day.

  “That’s good.” It was a relief for the middle-aged man. As long as it had medical efficacy, the $100,000 was well worth it.

  “I still feel that the price was a bit high,” the man with glasses said.

  “It’s expensive, but it is reasonable. Let’s go.”


  The car slowly left the mountain village.

  “It’s unexpected that a capable young man like him is living in such a small village.” In the car, the old man, who had no pain in his head, sighed.

  “You should consider hiring him to work for you,” the old man said. “You are planning to develop a talent introduction program in the city, right?”


  “Well, OK, Dad,” the middle-aged man hurried replied.

  I’m afraid he won’t come. Medicine here can be sold at $100,000. It’s almost catching up to my salary for a year. How much could he earn even if he goes there? Of course, that was what he thought. He couldn’t say it to the old man. He could see that his father’s temperament was good today.

  “Let’s go, I am a little bit hungry.”


  “What do you want to eat?”


  “What about drinking some lamb soup?”


  “No problem. Xiao Dai, try to find a restaurant.”


  “Yes.”


  Thousands of miles away, Guo Zhenghe was in a bad mood. There were more deaths in the county under his jurisdiction. This time, five people died at one time in a village in the suburbs of the county. The victims included men and women. He rushed over as soon as he received the news.

  Criminal investigation experts in the province also rushed there. They looked distressed. Their role was to help solve difficult problems. They were reputed experts but had not solved the problem. Now, new issues had appeared.

  Five people were killed at once. It was a serious case.

  Guo Zhenghe and the criminal investigation experts communicated about the case.

  “The deceased did not show any obvious signs of struggling or fighting before death. We found no other useful information.”


  “What about poisoning?”


  “We need to wait for the results.”


  “Thank you.”


  “You’re welcome. We came down to solve this problem.”


  Guo Zhenghe had a simple conversation with the criminal investigation experts. At the same time, he comforted the family members of the deceased. He left the crime scene and called Xu Xinyuan, asking him to meet him somewhere.

  “My Childe.”


  “Uncle Xu, what is going on over there?”


  “I came into contact with a person. My preliminary judgment was that he might escape from there. I am considering whether to have further contact with them. Is there something going on? Why you are calling me to come back so urgently?”


  “Five people died yesterday.”


  “More deaths? Is it due to poisoning?”


  “The autopsy is still underway, but my initial feeling is that the cause of these deaths is the same as those of the 11 deaths last time.”


  Guo Zhenghe was smoking a lot, which showed that he was very upset.

  Sixteen people had died in less than a week. This was a huge case. For his jurisdiction, what did it mean? It meant lawlessness, which was due to a lack of leadership. It would be a stain on his political career. It could possibly be a black spot that could not be erased, which would most likely affect his future promotion. Now, he thought more about it the situation. What if it happened to him? Since those people could be silently killed, he could also be easily killed.

  The key question was what their purpose was.

  “Childe, I think you should leak some of the information about this case.”


  “Leak some of the information about this case?”


  “Yes, let more leaders know that although the village was said to be difficult to enter and the people inside have some skills,” Xu Xinyuan said. “After all, it is only a small village. Ants can’t fight against elephants.”


  Guo Zhenghe squinted and thought about it for a while.

  “Suppress people with power, but we have no evidence!”


  “You don’t need evidence. Just try it if you doubt anything.”


  “If it doesn’t work, I can send them a message and let them know about these things.”


  “Let me think more,” Guo Zhenghe said.

  “Well, you must be careful, Childe.”


  “I see. Let them do it as soon as possible. Just tell me if you have any difficulties.”


  “Got it.”


  The results of the autopsy came out. The five people were poisoned. This time, the toxin concentration was stronger than the last time. It could be concluded that it was murder. It was also likely that this case and the last one were committed by the same person. In addition, they did not collect any clues, not even a possible suspect.

  Damn it!

  Those who come from the provincial capital were also under great pressure.

  That night, Captain Yang, who was leading the team, was smoking in the office. He suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

  He shouted, “Come in.” There was no response outside.

  “Huh?” He raised the head and looked outside before he continued to look at the file.

  Bang! Bang! He again heard knocking the door.

  “Come in!” This time, his pitch was raised a bit. After waiting for a while, there was no response.

  “What is going on?”


  He extinguished the cigarette went to the door. He reached out and opened the door. No one was outside.

  This is so strange!

  As he turned, his body violently tightened. He took out the pistol from his waist as he quickly looked around.

  The glass window had a seam, which let the wind blew in from the outside. The room was still the same. There were no changes.

  He searched carefully in the small office before looking out the window. There was no one except the guards on duty.

  No one?

  He turned to his desk and found that a sealed portfolio had been placed on it. Just as he got up to open the door, someone had put the portfolio on his desk without anyone noticing.

  He put on rubber gloves and carefully opened the portfolio. Inside it was a lot of information.

  Huh? After reading the contents, he was surprised.

  Valley of Thousands of Medicine?

  He was from southern Yunnan and had been engaged in criminal investigation for more than 20 years. During those years, he had traveled to nearly everywhere in south Yunnan. Many of the places were impressive. He even knew some remote villages. He had heard some secret stories, including about the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.

  He lit another cigarette and carefully read the information, even though he did not know who had given it to him.

  “Good at poisoning?”


  These three words were important since 16 people had died from poisoning.