He thought of the young county party secretary.

  Although the man was young, he had a deep and scheming mind that did not match his age. He must have already heard the news of his arrival. He also could transfer the helicopter. It now seemed the young man already known about the situation.

  Everyone present was thinking about a lot of things.

  In the biggest wooden building in the village……

  “Master, there is something wrong with the insect building. A man ran out and was seen by the two outsiders in the valley. Moreover, Yang Guanfeng has already contacted outside people.”


  Miao Xihe received the information firsthand.

  Whoosh! The helicopter rotor made a huge noise as it entered the valley. All the people in the stockade came out and looked at the helicopter that was slowly landing.

  “Master, a helicopter has arrived from the outside. Is it allowed to land?”


  “Let it land. Cooperate with their investigation and find someone to be the scapegoat for it,” Miao Xihe said.

  “Yes, Master.”


  The people who arrived in the helicopter were police officers and forensic doctors from the nearby city. One of them was Yang Guanfeng’s former colleague. After getting off the helicopter, they immediately made preliminary contact with him to learn about the case. The coroner began to examine the body.

  “This is?”


  After seeing the body, he was very surprised. This was the first time he had encountered such a body, even after only doing a simple spot check.

  “How is it going?”


  “After the preliminary judgment, the cause of death is poisoning,” the coroner said. “There are a lot of wounds on the body, and there are traces of sharp tools cutting the skin. He has been tortured. Also, there are a large number of these unknown poisonous insects in his body. The specific results can only be known after a more in-depth autopsy. Also, the body needs to be treated to ensure it does not carry any infectious diseases.”


  “You are the expert regarding this matter, so you have the final say,” Yang Guanfeng said.

  Just as they were discussing the man who had died, Miao Xihe arrived at the scene.

  “Hello, Captain Yang.”


  “Hello, Chief Miao, there has been a murder in your stockade. I hope you can assist in the investigation.”


  “You can be rest assured about that, Captain Yang,” Miao Xihe said. “We will do our best to assist in the investigation and find out who the murderer is. He is also a threat in the valley.”


  “Who is this man?” Yang Guanfeng asked as he pointed to the body on the ground.

  “I don’t know who this man is. He is not from the stockade.” Miao Xihe said after taking a close look at the dead man’s face.

  “He’s not from here?”


  “Correct,” Miao Xihe replied.

  “Weren’t we told that there were not many outsiders who normally come here?”


  “Few outsiders indeed come, but people are going out of the village,” Miao Xihe said. “I don’t have a complete grasp of some situations.”


  “Alright, please let me know immediately if you remember any information that could be of use, Chief Miao.”


  “Definitely.”


  “That’s good.”


  Following that, Yang Guanfeng launched the investigation. The dead man had left some marks on the road. They followed the marks and came to a wooden building in the corner of the stockade. The building was not small. It had two floors and looked old.

  Previously, they had made several rounds in the village, but they had not been to this location. The path leading to the village was narrow and had several turns and a fence blocking it off.

  “What is that smell?” When they got close to the wooden building, they could smell a medicinal scent.

  “Mr. Miao, what is this place?” Yang Guanfeng pointed to the wooden building.

  “This is the place in the village where people research herbs and develop medicine,” Miao Qingfeng replied.

  “Medicine and herbs?”


  “Yes, there are many people in our village who study herbs,” Miao Qingfeng said. “This wooden building has been in the village for a long time, at least 300 years!”


  “With such a long history, why was it built in a place like this?”


  “Some herbal medicines are very dangerous. The smell they emit is also dangerous. They might cause adverse effects to the human body, so we chose this remote location.”


  “May I go in and have a look?”


  “Yes, but it might smell a little pungent.”


  “It’s not toxic to the human body, is it?”


  “Since it’s your first time going in, it might be a little. At most, you’ll just be dizzy and nauseous. There won’t be a big problem.”


  “Let’s go in.”


  The door of the wooden building was locked.

  “It is locked?”


  “Yes, I have the key.” Miao Qingfeng took out a key.

  “How many of these keys are there?” Yang Guanfeng asked.

  “There are five in all.”


  “Who has them?”


  “One is with me, and one is with the chief. The other three are with the village’s three old people who study herbs. They often come here.”


  Creak! The door of the wooden building opened. As expected, there was a pungent smell. As it was their first time there, they were unable to get used to the smell.

  The furnishings in the wooden building were very old. There were wooden tables, chairs, and stools, as well as many special tools. They all looked ancient.

  “Well, what’s this for?”


  “It is a medicine roller for crushing herbs.”


  “And this?”


  “For drying herbs.”


  Yang Guanfeng was curious about all the things he saw. He asked about everything.

  “Well, there are a lot of things to learn from these!”


  “That’s right. It has been passed down for hundreds of years, and there is a lot of knowledge in it.”


  “What about the second floor?”


  “Let’s go up and have a look.” Miao Qingfeng led the way and took them up to the second floor.

  On the second floor, there were some books and bottles.

  “What are those?” Yang Guanfeng pointed to the bottles.

  “That is prepared medicine. Some of it can be used directly while others have to sit for some time.”


  “May I have a look?”


  “Yes.” Miao Qingfeng opened several bottles. Some of them were paste-like medicine, and some were pills.

  “What’s the purpose of all these?”


  “Different drugs have different effects. Some can treat trauma, and some can nourish the five main internal organs. There are also some to improve blood flow and dredge stasis.”


  They wandered around the second floor and found nothing unusual. They went back down to the first floor. Yang Guanfeng didn’t leave hastily. Instead, he wandered around the first floor again.

  “What’s the matter?”


  “Are there only two floors here?”


  “Haha, you are a criminal investigation expert indeed,” Miao Qingfeng said.

  “There’s another level, but it’s underground.”


  “Underground?”


  “Let’s go. We’ll go in the other direction.”


  They went outside and walked toward the back of the building. It turned out that there was a small house, which was also locked, behind the building.

  “I do not have the key to this lock. Please wait for a moment.” Miao Qingfeng left and came back after a while.

  “Alright.”


  “How many keys are there for this?”


  “There are three. The chief has one, and the other two are in the hands of two old men in the stockade.”


  “What’s in here?”


  “Just go in and have a look.”


  They opened the door and pushed it open. As the entered, the smell inside was more unique and pungent. An inclined stone ladder led to the basement. They walked down the ladder and reached the bottom. It was an irregular stone cave about 322 square feet. There were many wooden shelves with bottles and cans on them. There were also some cages on the ground and a pool with water in one corner.

  “What is in it?” the young man asked as he made a move to touch it.

  “Do not touch it!” Miao Qingfeng hurriedly stopped him.

  “What’s the matter?”


  “There are poisonous snakes in it,” Miao Qingfeng said as he gently opened the lid of the jar. Looking inside, there was a 2-foot-long green snake inside.

  “Poisonous snakes? Are they all in these jars?”


  “They are not all snakes. There are scorpions, centipedes, and lizards as well,” Miao Qingfeng replied.

  “Five poisons?”


  “It’s a poison to them, and it’s also a good medicinal ingredient. Some medicines need them.”


  “What about the insects in the man?”


  “To be honest, I have not seen them before.”


  “What about Chief Miao?”


  “The chief should know about it.”


  “What is in this pool?” He pointed to the approximately 32-square-foot pool near the corner of the cave.

  “That pool is connected to the underground river. There is a special kind of white fish in it, which has a nourishing effect.” Miao Qingfeng came to the side of the pool and took a fishing net from the side. He quickly inserted it into the water and scooped around. Two white fish could be seen in the fishing net. They were a rare snow-white color and looked beautiful.

  “Take it up. We can have a taste at noon.”


  “Thank you for your kindness, but no thank you,” Yang Guanfeng said with a wave of his hand.

  There didn’t seem to be anything unusual in the cave. They looked around it carefully and left.

  After coming out, they continued to search for clues. They soon came to the front of a bamboo building.

  “What is this place?”


  “A villager Miao Qingshan, lives here. He has a strange temperament.”


  “Strange temperament?”


  “Yes, go in and have a look?”


  “The clues have led us here!”


  “Let’s go in and have a look. We’ll talk later!”