"They rarely, if not never, use this kind of medicinal herb," Miao Qingfeng said. "There are too many medicinal herbs with the same efficacy that can replace it, and the dangers are much less. As long as it's someone with even just a little common sense, they won't take the risk."

"This is a new discovery," Yang Guanfeng remarked.

"Is there anything else?"

Miao Qingfeng looked at Miao Changhong, who was still examining the bodies. The latter shook his head.

"Not for the time being," Miao Changhong said.

"Alright." Yang Guanfeng nodded.

"So, what we now have to do is investigate this Five Poisons Stick."

"Yes, it is a clue," Yang Guanfeng said. "Check whether this kind of medicine has been put on record."

Miao Changhong suddenly looked up and asked, "Can I have a look at their blood samples?"

"Blood samples?" Lu Xiufeng was stunned at first. He quickly smiled and replied, "Of course."

They immediately went to retrieve the blood samples, which were very minimal. After getting consent, Miao Changhong actually drank a little of the blood.

"Wow!"

"Will he be poisoned?"

"No, he won't." Miao Qingfeng shook his head.

"How are you doing?"

Miao Changhong closed his eyes and focused on the feelings in his body carefully. He shook his head.

"Sorry, I have to think more about it."

He quickly picked up the water bottle and rinsed his mouth. His tongue had started to go numb, and his body was slightly trembling.

Upon seeing the situation, Miao Qingfeng hurriedly came to his side and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Miao Changhong replied as he gave a slight wave of his hand.

"I need to rest for a bit."

"I'm sorry, Captain Yang."

"It's alright. I'll arrange for someone to come right away."

A car soon arrived. It took them back to the hostel to rest. Lu Xiufeng followed them.

He quickly realized that Miao Changhong's complexion was a little ashen. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

"I'm sure that I'll be fine after some rest," Miao Changhong replied.

"Alright, you go rest," Lu Xiufeng said. "Call me whenever you need anything."

"OK."

Lu Xiufeng left, leaving the two men alone.

Miao Qingfeng asked, "Are you really alright?"

"It's Five Poisons Stick and Wisteria," Miao Changhong said.

"Wisteria? Are you sure?" Miao Qingfeng asked in surprise.

"I'm sure." Miao Changhong nodded.

"How could that be?" Miao Qingfeng was surprised. "Even in the stockade, it is a controlled medicinal herb."

"There can't be any mistake about it," Miao Changhong said. "I might not have other skills, but I do have the ability to distinguish medicinal herbs."

"That identifies a problem," Miao Qingfeng said. "There are spies in our stronghold."

"It doesn't have to be the people in the stockade," Miao Changhong said. "Didn't several of them escape from the stockade in the past? Some of them would also have knowledge regarding the use of these poisons, right?"

"It all boils down to the chief being too kind-hearted and soft, which has caused such a big hidden danger," Miao Qingfeng said with a sigh. "We won't be able to prove our innocence through words now. We are clearly the victim, but we have become the prime suspect instead."

"Didn't the chief send us here to prove our innocence?" Miao Changhong asked.

"How can we prove it?"

"Don't we know where those people are?" Miao Changhong asked.

"Of course, we have that information," Miao Qingfeng said. "What are your thoughts?"

After a moment of thought, Miao Qingfeng guessed Miao Changhong's idea.

They would fabricate a charge against the others.

Since the other party was able to frame them, they would naturally retaliate in the same way. Doing so, they could remove the suspicion placed on their stronghold. Also, those people had escaped from the stronghold, so a little investigation would uncover that. This would make the idea more convincing.

"What do you think?" Miao Changhong asked.

"It's a marvelous idea." Miao Qingfeng pondered it for a while. He paced back and forth in the room.

"While it is a good idea, we need to figure out how to implement it," he said. "We can't be detected by the other party, and we can't be caught by the police here. After all, there are quite a few professionals and experts here, including those from the provincial cities. Those two are not as simple as they seem on the surface. If we are even a little bit careless, they will be able to sniff something out."

He had interacted frequently with Yang Guanfeng and Lu Xiufeng in the Valley of Thousands of Medicine. Although he did not understand the two men very well, he knew something about their skills. Those seemingly unrelated questions and unrelated actions might actually have had deeper meanings.

"We must think through this idea carefully and ensure there aren't any loopholes," Miao Qingfeng said. "This is the outside. We're no longer in the stockade."

"Yes."

In a private room in a small restaurant…

"This is a good restaurant," Lu Xiufeng said with a smile. "I had the chance to eat here when I was on a business trip last time. I did not expect this small restaurant to still be here after so many years."

"You are a man of good fortune when it comes to food!"

"As for you, don't frown all day. You look like the sky is about to fall upon us." Lu Xiufeng poured Yang Guanfeng a gla.s.s of wine.

"People in our field should not go against our conscience and give our best," he said with a smile as he lit a cigarette. "At least, that's what I think. For every case to solve, even the immortals from the heavens will not be able to guarantee it, right?"

"Theoretically speaking, that's right," Yang Guanfeng said. "But when we encounter a case, especially a homicide like this, and we can't solve it, it becomes a knot in our hearts. We'll always feel as if we've let the dead down."

"Therefore, you age fast," Lu Xiufeng said. "Take a look at yourself. You are full of wrinkles. Now, look at me. Aren't I still as beautiful as a flower?"

"Stop spewing nonsense," Yang Guanfeng said with a chuckle.

Among the mountain villages thousands of miles away…

A very interesting patient had arrived at the clinic.

"Tell me, how much money do you want?"

This was a very rich man. One could easily tell that because he had a gigantic emerald ring on his finger. Also, be it his speech or behavior, both exuded a sense of wealth. He was a local tyrant and a man with a gold mine. To summarize, he did not lack money.

"I won't treat you." w.a.n.g Yao smiled as he shook his head.

This man's disease was quite strange. It was the kind that caused the affected to be embarra.s.sed to speak about it.

Although he looked tall and fat, he could not get hard.

No amount of medicine or treatments had any effect on him, which made him extremely worried. He had gone to consult with some famous old Chinese doctors without being cured. As a rich man who had a taste for these kinds of matters, how could he fail in that aspect? He had asked around and inquired everywhere. He eventually heard about a young doctor in a small village who possessed extraordinary medical skills. It was the doctor could treat almost any disease. Thus, the man came to the clinic. In the end, the reply he received was the words, "I won't treat you."

It surprised him. He, of course, thought that it must be a money problem. In his opinion, most problems in the world could be solved with money. In fact, what he thought was often true. The problem he had just encountered was the money couldn't be used to solve this problem.

If w.a.n.g Yao didn't want to treat his illness, he would not be able to make him budge even if he gave him a mountain made of pure gold.

"How about $10,000?"

w.a.n.g Yao turned a page in his book.

He had not expected to meet such an eccentric patient. Frankly speaking, he had not received someone this talented in quite a long time, that is, someone who thought that being rich meant having everything.

"$30,000."

w.a.n.g Yao flipped another page of his book.

The man was not impatient or angry. Instead, he was intrigued. He thought that it was a fun and interesting thing to be able to use money to solve problems. For example, an extremely anti-corruption and lofty scholar had been beaten down with his hard money. Now, whenever the scholar saw him, he would always bow. The professor's aloof manner he once had quickly fell into the stinking ditch. There were also plenty of women who looked pure and out of his realm, but none of them could stand their ground against the attack of stacks of banknotes. All of them had fallen under the attack of his money. So, he thought the doctor in front of him would turn out like them as well.

"$50,000."

He was still raising the price. He now felt that treatment for his physical diseases was secondary. The primary matter was to crush the hypocritical and arrogant mask of the young man and make him bow and surrender to him.

"$100,000." The price was still rising.

w.a.n.g Yao put down his medical book and stared at the man sitting in front of him.

The man thought, Ah! There is a crack! He can't hold back. Didn't he refuse to treat me just now? This amount of determination will not do! He had just offered a large amount of money, and it seemed the doctor could not hold back.