“What is the purpose of their sacrifice?” Guo Zhenghe asked. “Is it just for this monster because they don’t know what it is?”


  “I don’t know about that. Let me ask that person about it,” Xu Xinyuan said.

  “Alright, you must pay attention and ensure his safety. This time, Yang Guanfeng and his colleague met with obstacles when they went to the Valley of Thousands of Medicine for the investigation. The obstacles came from the higher-ups of the province. I think this Valley of Thousands of Medicine is not a paradise like the world sees it to be.”


  “Yes, I got it.”


  “Wait a moment, Sir. Shall we just ask now?”


  In front of Guo Zhenghe, Xu Xinyuan called the man he found, who had escaped from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine. He asked several questions, focusing on the Burial of Gods Lake.

  “What? He’s missing? Are you sure?” In the course of his conversation with the man, Xu Xinyuan learned another piece of information.

  “OK, I see. You must pay attention to your safety over there. Yes, yes, OK.”


  After hanging up, Xu Xinyuan was in deep thought for a while.

  “What’s the matter?”


  “In Linxian County, a person who escaped from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine disappeared two days ago.”


  “Two days?” Guo Zhenghe was stunned. “Hmm, the day before yesterday, Linxian County issued a wanted order, saying that a man had been suspected of being kidnapped!”


  As they spoke, both men’s eyes gazed back down to the photos on the table.

  On the surface of the lake……

  On the bamboo raft……

  A man was lying on it.

  Was he food for the monster?

  “Could it be him?”


  This could not be a coincidence.

  “Was it to punish a traitor?” Xu Xinyuan asked. “Why did they choose at such a critical period when the He County just had a homicide case?”


  “Perhaps the people of the Valley of Thousands of Medicine knew that there was a homicide in He county, and they had been the first suspects,” Guo Zhenghe said. “Since they did not do it, they believed they were framed. They likely suspected that it was the people who had escaped from the valley who did it. So, they sent someone out to bring those people back for questioning and punished them in this way similar to a sacrifice.”


  It was reasonable speculation.

  “It is very possible.” Xu Xinyuan agreed.

  “In that case, the first two events have little to do with them. According to my conversation with that person, it does not seem like they were the ones who did it. In fact, they had thought about exacting revenge in the beginning. They changed their minds later and just wanted to live a peaceful life. It was because they were afraid of being chased and killed by the Valley of Thousands of Medicine, so most of them went to other provinces.”


  “If it’s not them, who could it be? Could it be Miao Qingshan, who is hiding in an unknown place?”


  “By the way, have you asked about that man?”


  “Yes, I have. He said that when he was in the stockade, he was a loyal and honest person. He never studied the poisonous insects and objects.”


  “This one didn’t do it, and that one didn’t do it, but that man is dead,” Guo Zhenghe said. “There was more than one. Who could have done it?”


  “This……”


  “The Valley of Thousands of Medicine is a major suspect because all the people that we suspected were from there. There might be some other plot at play that they did not know about happening in there.”


  “Yes.”


  “Why don’t you go and have a good chat with that person?” Guo Zhenghe asked. “I think he might have something else that he has not told you. How much money did you give him?”


  “We gave him $2 million.”


  “Give him another $2 million and show him these photos. Tell him that we can guarantee his safety in the future. Also, arrange a job for him in the area. If he does not want to cooperate with us, he might end up like this.”


  “OK, I’ll do it right away.”


  What did they take this place for? Did they think it was somewhere they could come if they wished to and kill if they wanted to? What did they take these people to be made of? Clay? Were they all just decorations?

  Ring! Ring! Ring! A cellphone rang out.

  “Hello, it’s me. What? I got it. I’ll go there right away!” After hanging up the phone, Guo Zhenghe’s expression was very ugly.

  “What’s the matter, Sir?”


  “Leaders from the province have come to inspect and guide the work!”


  At this critical moment, how should he explain things to his superiors?

  “Uncle Xu, please settle your stuff first. Be careful, and don’t get tagged by them.”


  “Noted, you should be careful as well, Sir.”


  Thousands of miles away, Wang Yao was in his clinic. He gave a 2-year-old boy an acupuncture treatment. This time, the boy was awake. Wang Yao had used a special method to avoid letting the boy move randomly and make it hard to inject the needles.

  “Very good!”


  This child was very obedient. It seemed as if he was not afraid of the silver needles stuck in his body. It might have been because he was lying down and couldn’t see them.

  “What a good boy!”


  The young couple each held one of the child’s hands in their own.

  “Xiao Lan, don’t be afraid. Mom and Dad are right beside you.”


  The treatment did not last particularly long, but it seemed like it to the couple. The child was fine, but the two of them were nervously sweating.

  After Wang Yao had collected the silver needles, he said, “All done. Help him sit up.”


  The woman hurriedly dressed her son and held him in her arms.

  “Xiao Lan, don’t be afraid.” She was still worried that her son would develop fear from that treatment, leaving a shadow in his heart.

  “Mom, I’m not afraid,” the child sweetly said.

  After waiting for the child to relax for a while, Wang Yao gave him medicine.

  “Alright, come back again in two days.”


  “Thank you, Dr. Wang.”


  “You’re welcome. Be careful on your way back,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

  “Goodbye, Uncle,” the little boy said.

  “Goodbye.”


  The family was very heartwarming.

  “Xiao Lan, were you really not afraid just now?”


  “I was not afraid,” the boy whispered.

  “OK, OK, that is good. Xiao Lan is a really brave young man!” The woman held her son firmly in her arms.

  The man drove away from the small mountain village.

  The clinic was quiet again. Not many had come that day.

  In the small courtyard, it was half bitterness and half vitality.

  The leaves had fallen and the plants had withered, but some were still green and lively.

  Wang Yao stood alone in the small yard, quietly gazing at the sky. He gradually closed his eyes as he stood there.

  He heard dogs running outside, birds chirping in the sky, branches shaking gently in the distance, someone yelling, and water flowing slowly in the river. Although he had closed his eyes, he could feel everything around him. It formed an image in his mind. It was as if he had seen it with his eyes, and not just with one pair. It was very clear.

  It was a great feeling.

  In another part of the mountain village……

  “This is not scientific!” Jia Zizai looked at his wife in surprise.

  “How is it unscientific?” Hu Mei asked with a smile.

  “Are you sure?”


  “I’m 100% sure,” Hu Mei said.

  She had just told her husband that she felt the Qi, which meant she had developed Qi. This surprised Jia Zizai since it had only been a few days.

  “Ah, how do you feel?”


  “Well, it feels like there is something more in my body. My five senses seem to be more acute. That’s all.”


  Jia Zizai knew that his wife had probably developed Qi.

  “It is not scientific!” he loudly shouted.

  He had worked hard for such a long time before he had developed Qi, but his wife had done it in a short time. Comparing himself to her would only make him angry.

  “What’s the matter? Are you not happy that I have improved?”


  “That’s not true, but as your senior and husband, I feel a lot of pressure!”


  “Why feel pressured?” Hue Mei asked. “Hasn’t Sir already said that we practice according to our wishes. We pay attention to nature. The more we strive for it, the less we can improve.”


  “Well, yes.”


  The couple chatted for a while. Whoosh! It suddenly became windy.

  “Oh, it has gotten windy.” Jia Zizai looked up into the sky.

  “Could it be that Sir is casting spells?”


  “There’s no reason why Sir would want to change the sky. Judging from the scale, it does not seem man-made.”


  The sky changed. In just a few hours, it cooled down by several degrees.

  “Oh, it’s snowing!”


  Some snowflakes were falling from the sky.

  Huh?

  Wang Yao, who was standing in the clinic’s courtyard saw the changes in the sky and looked up.

  Snowing at this time?

  Someone was arriving.

  Creak! The door opened, and a person came in from outside.

  “Xiaoxue, why are you here?”


  In the cold wind, she was beautiful and gorgeous.

  “I missed you, Sir, so I’m here,” Su Xiaoxue said with a smile.

  After hearing that, Wang Yao was stunned. He went to Su Xiaoxue’s side and held her in his arms. He didn’t say anything. He just quietly held her.

  “Let’s go. Come inside the house.”


  Since Su Xiaoxue had arrived, Wang Yao decided not to do anything but quietly accompany her. He posted a message on his Weibo that he would not be receiving patients for a few days.

  “Is it cold in Jing?”


  “It’s fine. It’s not too cold.” Su Xiaoxue smiled gently.

  “What about your classes?”


  “I’m not busy,” Su Xiaoxue said. She was not only beautiful, but she also had an amazing academic performance. She could understand all the lessons teachers taught her after just listening one time.

  “What about you?”


  “I’m fine. Oh, yes, I have accepted two more apprentices. I told you that.”


  “The couple?”


  “Yes,” Wang Yao said. He frequently talked to Su Xiaoxue on the phone about everything that happened in the village.

  “By the way, there’s another interesting thing,” Wang Yao said.

  “What thing?”


  “I think I can cure lung cancer,” Wang Yao said.

  “Really?” Su Xiaoxue was surprised since that was an incurable disease.

  “Yes, I have already successfully treated a patient. Although he has not fully recovered, he has begun to improve. Within two months, I am sure that I can cure him.”


  “You are impressive, Sir,” Su Xiaoxue said as she clapped her hands.

  They talked for a long time. Everything they talked about was trifling life matters, but they were happy.