Soon after it was dark, a black and white electric car came to the entrance of the village.

Ning Tao pulled up the electric car, G.o.d's Will, and took a look at his phone. It was 7:32, 28 minutes to the appointed meeting time. He put it away and said, “Qing Zhui, you stay here and watch the car. I'll go into the village.”

Qing Zhui got off the electric car honestly and asked, “Don't you need me to go with you?”

“No,” answered Ning Tao. “Since the person asked me to meet him this way, if he sees you, maybe he won't show up.”

“Well, I'll wait for you here,” Qing Zhui replied.

When Ning Tao entered the village, a faint smell of salted fish came over his nostrils. Every family here made salted fish so that the air was filled with the smell of salted fish. The Pearl River was right next to the village, flowing gently into the distance. A few motorized fis.h.i.+ng boats were sailing along the river toward Guan City, presumably to sell their catch at the aquatic market at the dock.

For most people, that was the way life was—work according to the sunlight. They were not interested in the secrets of the world.

When Ning Tao entered the village, he walked slowly with the small medicine chest across his shoulder, occasionally flapping the Unbreakable Fan in his hand. Many people looked at him curiously, and a dog ran after him, but did not bark at him.

Ning Tao walked through the village, observing the people around him. Unfortunately, he didn't find suspicious “target”. He had been wondering who had asked him to meet him at such a place, but had no idea.

Soon, more than 20 minutes pa.s.sed. When Ning Tao was about to leave the village, an old woman with gray hair came out of a courtyard, gave him a look and asked in Hakka, “Young man, who are you looking for?”

Ning Tao stopped and politely said, “Old lady, can you speak mandarin? I can't understand you.”

Then another woman's voice came from the yard. “Seventh Aunt, that's him. Invite him in.” She was also speaking Hakka.

Ning Tao realized the sound was familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it. But the sentence was not complicated, and he could just make out that the woman in the courtyard had asked the old woman to let him in.

Sure enough, the old woman waved her hand and said, “Young man, come in.”

Ning Tao nodded, walked up to the old woman, and pa.s.sed her through the door.

The old woman went back in, closed the gate, and said, “Follow me, young man.”

Ning Tao was not interested in a.n.a.lyzing what she was talking about. As he followed her, he awoke the eyes and nose to the state of looking and smelling. Then he learned about the house, which had only one room with human odors, and he saw the colorful natural aura of life released through the ajar door.

Moreover, he also saw the internal strength from the old woman's innate aura, which only own by the real master of the internal force energy. The internal strength was different from the spiritual energy of the pract.i.tioner, but powerful. This surprised him. The old lady looked so weak that Ning Tao had no idea she was a real master. Her disguise was more powerful, and she deceived his eyes!

The old woman reached the ajar door first, opened it, and stopped at it.

When Ning Tao came to the door, the room suddenly lit up. The dim incandescent light dispelled the darkness in the room. When the light came on, a woman came into his sight. Seeing her face clearly, he froze for a moment.

The person who asked him to meet in this remote fis.h.i.+ng village was actually Xin Zhiyu's mother, Zhu Hongqin.

No wonder he felt a little familiar when he heard her voice just now. It was in the Prosperous House that I heard her voice.

Zhu Hongqin was sitting at an old square table with two cups and a kettle. Ning Tao entered the room, walked across to her and sat down without saying h.e.l.lo.

Zhu Hongqin picked up the kettle and made Ning Tao a cup of tea, saying, “Doctor Ning, I'm sorry I asked you to this place without explanation.”

“Never mind,” said Ning Tao. “Tell me why you asked me to meet you here.”

“Will you give me two minutes to get ready?” Zhu Hongqin asked.

Ning Tao said, “Sure.”

Zhu Hongqin got up from her seat and walked to the window.

Ning Tao turned his head to look at her, wondering what she was up to. He couldn't help thinking of the spirit tablet in the ancestral temple that had the name “Zhu Hongyu” engraved on the back and wondering how to ask about it later.

However, just at this time, he suddenly heard a strong wind in his ear.

A sense of crisis struck Ning Tao. The spiritual power airbag started instantly. At the same time, he unconsciously raised his arm, ready to block.

Bam!

Ning Tao had barely lifted his arm when a foot landed on his shoulder.

It was the old woman guarding the door who had attacked him, but that was not what surprised him. What surprised him was how nimble and how fast the old woman was!

“What are you doing?” Ning Tao was shocked and angry. As he pushed himself up with his feet, the force of his shoulders pushed out the old woman who had attacked him.

The seemingly old and thin old woman twisted her waist in the air. Her right leg was pushed away and fell, and her left leg suddenly kicked Ning Tao's head with the rotating force of the twisted waist.

This was to use the leg as a whip!

How could she make such an attack at her age!

Was it over?

Ning Tao just stopped hiding.

Bam!

The old woman's left leg kicked Ning Tao hard in the head. At the same time, Ning Tao's fist was swung out.

The old woman started. Ning Tao's fist was about to land on her heart, but she no longer had the ability to wriggle and dodge. The move she had just made was the limit.

Ning Tao's fist, however, stopped just before it hit the old woman's heart.

The old woman's right foot landed on the ground.

Ning Tao took a step back.

Only then did the woman's left foot return to the ground from mid-air. Her eyes were full of surprise. After a brief pause, she suddenly bowed and gave the clenched-fist salute. “Sorry, young man.” Then she said to Zhu Hongqin, “Lady, I'm no match for him. Mr. Ning went easy on me.”

Zhu Hongqin said, “Seventh Aunt, get out.”

The old lady gave Ning Tao another clenched-fist salute, then turned and left the room.

“If it weren't for the old lady, I would have been rude to her.” Ning Tao looked at Zhu Hongqin and said dryly. “And you, you invited me to a place like this just to try my hand? If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll be rude to you.”

As he said this, Zhu Hongqin suddenly bent her legs and fell to her knees.

“You…” Ning Tao didn't know what to say.

Zhu Hongqin said earnestly, “Doctor Ning, please save my son!”

Ning Tao suddenly understood. What had just happened was Zhu Hongqin testing out his abilities. If he was defeated by the old woman, Zhu Hongqin would not beg him, not to mention to kneel to him. She knelt down and begged him for help, all on the basis of the old woman's defeat.

“Mrs. Xin, get up,” said Ning Tao.

Instead of getting up, Zhu Hongqin said, “I'll get up if you promise to help me. Otherwise, I won't get up.”

This gave Ning Tao a bit of a headache. He made a wry smile and said, “Mrs. Xin, even if I promised you, I might not be able to do it. I don't promise you, but I may help you solve the problem. It's out of fas.h.i.+on now, so you'd better get up. If you don't get up, I'm leaving.”

Zhu Hongqin hesitated, before she got up from the ground.

Ning Tao sat back in his chair and said, “Sit down, I want to hear about it. Your son is free from illness and pain. Your husband is a well-known entrepreneur in Guan City. He has a high social status. Even the old lady standing outside the door is a real martial arts master. How am I worth a rich lady like you to beg on her knees?”

Zhu Hongqin sat back in her place and said after a silence, “You're not just any doctor, you're a cultivating doctor. Only you can save my son.”

Ning Tao was a little surprised, but on second thought the surprise disappeared. Zhu Hongyu's spirit tablet was in the ancestral temple of the Xin family, and Zhu Hongyu's skull was inscribed with the elixir prescription of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir. Zhu Hongqin had something to do with Zhu Hongyu. It was no wonder she knew there were cultivating doctors in the world.

Zhu Hongqin continued, “The other day when you were at my family's ancestral temple and cured Mr. Barnes, I guessed you were a cultivating doctor. You went into my ancestral temple because you needed a place to treat Mr. Barnes. Besides that, you probably had another purpose, right?”

“Now that you see it, it would be hypocritical for me to deny or digress. Well, let me get this straight. I'm interested in the story of Zhu Hongyu, the daughter of the third Crown Prince. I'm looking for an old elixir prescription related to her. I didn't want to go into your ancestral temple that day, but your name reminds me of something. I took the opportunity to visit your ancestral temple by treating Mr. Barnes.”

“There's another one, I suppose?” Zhu Hongqin said.

Ning Tao knew who she was talking about. It was Bai Jing.

“She wants what you want, too,” Zhu Hongqin stated. “But she's a demon. Not only is she going to take it, she's going to kill us all. I know them. That's why I'm here. Please. I can tell you everything I know, and I can give you what you want, on one condition.”

Ning Tao asked calmly, “What is it?”

Zhu Hongqin said slowly, “Kill, Bai, Jing!”

Ning Tao froze on the spot. Zhu Hongqin's condition was beyond his expectation.

He reflected with horror. That day, this woman and Bai Jing were talking and laughing together, just like a pair of harmonious mother and her daughter-in-law. Suddenly, she wanted Ning Tao to kill Bai Jing at the cost of a secret!

Zhu Hongqin in the present and Zhu Hongqin in that day were totally different people, but the woman with deep scheming that made people feel afraid was the real Zhu Hongqin. Not only was she not simple, she was even terrible!

Ning Tao paused before saying, “Now that you know who Bai Jing is, why don't you stop your son from dating her?”

“Humph!” Zhu Hongqin gave a cold snort. “She's a demon. If I could solve the crisis my family is facing by stopping my son from dating Bai Jing, would I come here and beg you?”

With Bai Sheng's methods and greed, it really didn't work.

Ning Tao was silent for a moment before he said, “Give me some time. It's not an easy decision and I need to think about it.”

Zhu Hongqin uttered, “I'll give you three days. After three days, if you don't promise, I'll ask someone else.”

Ning Tao nodded his head and said, “Okay, three days. I'll give you an answer in three days.”

Zhu Hongqin called, “Seventh Aunt, see the guests off.”

“No, I'll just go myself.” Ning Tao got up and left.

Seventh Aunt bent slightly toward Ning Tao, looking respectful.

In the room, Zhu Hongqin's eyes flashed a strange light…