Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Come!” Zhong Liuchuan carried the man into an empty house with one hand. It was as if he was carrying a rat. He moved very quickly.
He didn’t just stay with his sister when she was having treatment. He often walked around the village to familiarize himself with everything in it.
Zhong Liuchuan knew exactly how many people were residing in the village, how many dogs were in the village, which houses were not occupied, the roads in the village, and the entrances and exits to the hills around. He was even familiar with the villages nearby.
He took the man with a mask to a vacant old house, which was located far from the center of the village. The house was half way on Dongshan Hill. It had been vacant for a long time.
Zhong Liuchuan threw the man wearing a mask onto the ground.
Crack! Crack! The man’s dislocated shoulder and jaw were back in place.
Zhong Liuchuan was very good at what he was doing. Obviously, he had done if thousands of times.
“Now, tell me what you are doing here,” he said.
The half-naked man was shaking. He didn’t expect to be caught before he came to the village.
“I really just wanted to steal some money and herbs. If I was lucky enough, I was going to take some farm animals,” the half-naked man said.
“What is this?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“It’s just an anesthetic,” the half-naked man said.
“Really?” Zhong Liuchuan looked at the powder in the small bag. “I suppose anesthetic won’t hurt much.”
“I guess so. Wait! What are you going to do to me?” the half-naked man asked in fear.
“Come take some. I want to see if the anesthetic works. I don’t trust you,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Fine! I’ll tell you the truth. This is not anesthetic. This is poison,” the half-naked man said. He almost wet his pants.
“What poison is it?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“I… I don’t know,” the half-naked man said.
“Really?” Zhong Liuchuan forced the man to open his mouth and attempted to make him swallow the powder inside the bag.
“I don’t know! I really don’t know!” The man was struggling, but he found Zhong Liuchuan was too strong to fight against.
“Tell me the truth,” Zhong Liuchuan sternly said.
“I was telling you the truth. Someone paid me to contaminate the herbs in the clinic here. I swear, I’m telling you the truth,” the half-naked man said.
There was a rumbling sound outside. A thunderstorm was on its way.
“Humph, even god doesn’t believe what you said,” Zhong Liuchuan coldly said.
“I didn’t lie! I’m telling you the truth!” the half-naked man cried.
“Who asked you to come here?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“I don’t know,” the half-naked man said.
“What?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“I really don’t know. He always contacted me by phone and paid me online,” the half-naked man said.
“How did he find you?” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“I don’t know,” the half-naked man said.
“I find that you are not very honest. I think I should give you one night to think about what you should tell me,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
He took a small pill out of his pocket and forced the man to swallow it.
“What did you give me?” The man looked at Zhong Liuchuan in fear.
“Don’t worry too much. This is a special pill. You’ll be fine if you take the antidote in eight hours. Otherwise, you’ll be in pain,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
He tied the man up and stuffed something into his mouth. He took the man’s clothes and locked the door.
“Whoo!” The man was struggling, but it didn’t work.
He tried to untie the rope, but Zhong Liuchuan had made a dead knot. He eventually lost his strength, and his hands were hurting.
He started to look around. The house was old and shabby. The wooden window frame was damaged, so the wind was not blocked. Although it was June, it was quite cool and windy at night. He was shivering from the cold. He could see the trees dancing in the wind through the window, and the hill in front.
I hope the house is not haunted, the man thought. Damn it! I shouldn’t have taken the money.
He really regretted to come to the village. If regret medicine existed, he would have taken two bottles.
Time passed slowly that night. He had no idea what time it was. He fell asleep briefly suddenly woke up. He took a look outside. It was still dark.
How come it is still dark?
He moved his body toward the wall and leaned on it. The wall was freezing cold. He fell into sleep again but soon woke up again. It was still dark.
Why is time passing so slowly? This was the longest night he had ever had.
Finally, there was light.
Wang Yao came back from Nanshan Hill. He decided to open the clinic.
On the way there, he bumped into Zhong Liuchuan. It seemed that Zhong Liuchuan had been waiting for him.
“Morning, Dr. Wang,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Morning,” Wang Yao said.
Zhong Liuchuan told him about the man he caught last night.
Wang Yao frowned. “Let’s go to check on him.”
The two of them went to see the man in the old house. The man was still shivering.
“Please, let me go. I really don’t know who hired me!” the man cried.
Wang Yao stared at him for a while before patting on his belly. A moment later, the man started to feel pain in his belly. It was as if a small mouse was jumping up and down and tearing him apart from inside.
He was in severe pain. “Ouch!” He couldn’t help screaming.
Crack! Zhong Liuchuan dislocated his jaw again.
The man was shaking on the ground. Because he was tied up, he couldn’t even roll his body.
A few minutes later, Wang Yao patted on his belly again. The pain faded away gradually, like a falling tide.
“Now, speak. Who asked you to come here?” Wang Yao asked.
“I really don’t know, I swear!” The man was sweating.
“I think he is telling the truth. Let’s hand him over to the police.” Wang Yao called the police.
“Thank you,” the man said as he tried to catch his breath.
He was neither scared of the police nor the jail. He just wanted to leave the house and hoped he never saw Zhong Liuchuan and Wang Yao again.
“The antidote, give me the antidote,” the man said to Zhong Liuchuan as he suddenly thought about something.
“It’s antibiotics, you won’t die,” Zhong Liuchuan asked.
“What?!” The man was surprised.
The police came a moment later.
“Sir, you are finally here!” The man was so excited to see the police officers that he was in tears. It was as if the officers were his family.
“What is going on here?” The police officers were all confused.
One of the police officers went to talk to Wang Yao to find out what was going on.
“Someone’s causing trouble for you again? Have you offended anyone?” he asked.
In the past few days, Wang Yao had been blackmailed, poisoned, and stolen from. The police officer didn’t think those events were coincidence.
“You think I have offended someone?” Wang Yao asked while thinking. “I don’t think so.”
“Think hard and be careful,” the police officer said.
“OK, thank you,” Wang Yao said.
“You are welcome,” the police officer said.
The police officers took the man away.
“Thank you, Liuchuan,” Wang Yao said.
He really appreciated Zhong Liuchuan for assisting him the previous night. If the man entered his clinic and contaminated his herbs successfully, he would be in big trouble. His patients wouldn’t be happy.
“You are welcome,” Zhong Liuchuan said with a smile.
His sister was his only family member alive. He owed Wang Yao a lot since he had saved his sister’s life. He always wanted to pay it back. This had been a good opportunity.
It was business as usual in Wang Yao’s clinic. There were not many patients, perhaps due to those incidents. He had three patients in the morning.
After seeing the three patients, Wang Yao started to think about the incidents the past few days while leaning on a couch. He didn’t think it was coincidence. He thought about a person, who was good looking and always had a sunny smile on his face. The person was always well-behaved.
He was thinking about Guo Zhenghe, the well-educated offspring of a prestigious family was the primary suspect. He was probably behind all the incidents recently happening in Wang Yao’s village and clinic. He looked nice and polite, but he was actually a very calculating person.
Wang Yao could tell that Guo Zhenghe was not happy with him during their last meeting at Biyun Temple on Xiangshan Hill. He presumed Guo Zhenghe would take actions against him, but he didn’t expect him to do something so dirty.
Whoever was behind the incidents was mean. Of course, there were other suspects. Wang Yao had offended several people since he had opened his clinic. The rich man from Ji and Li Shaoyang could also be behind the scenes.
Wang Yao couldn’t think of anyone else. Guo Zhenghe was still the primary suspect.
