Ning Tao climbed to the top of the tree and peeped out from the thick branches and leaves to observe the quarry.

In the quarry, several conveyor belts were operating, and so were forklifts and sand trucks. No one went to look at the small building, and no one came after them. This situation was normal, because the workers in the quarry were ordinary workers, not the companions of those bad guys who kidnapped Su Ya.

Just as Ning Tao was about to take his eyes off the quarry and climb down, a taxi suddenly appeared on the road outside the quarry gate. His pupils contracted instantly and locked on to the taxi.

The taxi was the one he had met outside the Happy Community, and though he couldn't see the man in the taxi, he could tell that the driver was Brother Meng, who had just given him a call.

"The Brother Meng called and said the deal was going to happen in 40 minutes but not in the evening. He must have sensed something before he ventured back to inspect it. When he see the two guys I knocked unconscious. Will he run away or come after Su Ya and me?" Ning Tao wondered.

Before he could reach a conclusion, the taxi had reached the small building.

The door opened and a man came out of the taxi. It was indeed the so-called Brother Meng.

Brother Meng got out of the taxi and went straight to the room.

Because of the position and angle, Ning Tao couldn't see what Brother Meng did after he walked in the door. He took out his cell phone, took a picture of the building and the taxi, sent it to Jiang Hao via WeChat, and wrote, "The princ.i.p.al criminal is back in Red Star Quarry!"

Jiang Hao quickly replied, "Roger!"

At this point Brother Meng burst out of the building, got in the taxi, and drove off at full speed.

Ning Tao became anxious, but it was impossible for him to go after him. He sent another message to Jiang Hao, saying, "The princ.i.p.al criminal has fled in the taxi. Send someone to arrest him!"

Jiang Hao wrote back, "You stay where you are. I'll handle it!"

Ning Tao put up his phone, slid down from the tree, went back to Su Ya, and said, "The chief culprit was back."

"What?" Su Ya got frightened.

"Too bad he's gone," Ning Tao went on. "Hopefully Jiang Hao will catch him."

Su Ya gave Ning Tao a dirty look. "Did you mean to scare me?"

Ning Tao pretended to be stern and accused, "I scared you? I should have beaten you. Look what you've done! If I didn't find you, you would lose your life here!"

"I..." Su Ya dared not look at Ning Tao's eyes and lowered her head guiltily.

"Do you dare to steal again?" Ning Tao asked in a fierce voice.

Su Ya shook her head and mumbled, "You don't have to be so mean..."

Having reprimanded her, Ning Tao said in a soft tone, "Lie down and I'll treat you the wound."

Su Ya lay obediently on the gra.s.s in the forest, her well-developed chest heaving slightly. Although she pretended to be very calm, but her chest had already betrayed her. Ning Tao could tell at a glance that she was quite nervous.

Ning Tao squatted beside Su Ya and examined several obvious injuries on her body, and then made a diagnosis by the skills of looking and smelling.

During this process, Su Ya's chest heaved more obviously.

Ning Tao made the diagnosis quickly. "You have a muscle contusion in your right thigh. I'll find you some herbal medicine to treat it. Then it will be okay."

"Okay," Su Ya responded gently.

"But the rib on your left breast..."

Before Ning Tao could finish what he was going to say, Su Ya took a deep breath and jerked her b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+rt to her chest. Immediately, a lot of white skin suddenly exposed to air. Her abdomen was flat and smooth, with a faint outline of abdominal muscles; The black bra wrapped around the plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s, as if all the nutrients that her body absorbed were used for her b.r.e.a.s.t.s growth.

Ning Tao froze for a moment and then blurted out, "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you want to see my injury?" Su Ya explained. "You see, I, I just think you're a doctor."

Ning Tao was a little tongue-tied. "I am a doctor, okay?" He pulled Su Ya's s.h.i.+rt back and said, "Your ribs aren't broken. With your age, it will heal after a few days' rest. Take it easy."

"No treatment?" Su Ya's reaction was very strange.

"There is no need to treat it on purpose, but you should avoid strenuous exercise for the next few days," Ning Tao told her. "Now, you can get up and I will find some herbs for you."

"I'll go with you," said Su Ya.

"Forget it, you have injuries," Ning Tao said. "I'll look for the herb around here. Wait here for me, I'll be back soon."

Su Ya's lips moved, but she didn't speak her mind. She was actually scared, and felt safe with Ning Tao by her side. But how could she say that?

The forest was thick with all kinds of plants.

Ordinary people would be at a loss to enter such a forest, but Ning Tao was just like entering his own herb garden in the forest. He turned on his skill of smelling, and thus he could tell by the smell where the herbs were growing, and never missed them. As a result, he didn't waste his time by taking detours.

Within ten minutes Ning Tao was back with Su Ya. He picked a big fistful of Violabetonicifolia Smith. This herb had the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, dispersing congestion, which was the best herb for trauma.

There was no water to clean the Violabetonicifolia Smith in the forest. Ignoring other things, Ning Tao chewed up the Violabetonicifolia Smith and then applied the herb mud to Su Ya's wound. Finally, he took off his s.h.i.+rt and tore it into strips to tie up Su Ya's wound.

Su Ya said nothing during the whole process, and only watched Ning Tao who was handling her wound quietly. There was tenderness in her eyes that she did not know.

Ning Tao took care of Su Ya's wound very quickly. Then he stood up and said, "It's okay now. Go back and rest for a few days and you'll be fine."

Su Ya struggled to her feet and suddenly reached for Ning Tao's face.

Ning Tao's head tilted back slightly. "What?"

Su Ya didn't reply, but stubbornly put her hand on Ning Tao's mouth and wiped his mouth.

Before Su Ya could wipe all the juice and crusts of Violabetonicifolia Smith off his lips, Ning Tao retreated awkwardly. "I'll do it myself."

Suddenly there were sharp sirens at the foot of the hill. A dozen police cars roared into the quarry.

Ning Tao's cell phone rang at this time.

It was Jiang Hao. "We saw the car by the river, but it was empty. I reckon he escaped by water. Where are you now?"

Ning Tao was disappointed to hear the news. "I'm still on the hill behind the quarry. I've seen your car. I'm bringing my friend down now." When he hung up, he said to Su Ya, "Let's go down."

Su Ya keyed up again and refused to move.

"You have to face it sooner or later, and evasion is not the way. Come with me. Tell Jiang Hao everything you know," Ning Tao persuaded in a gentle voice. "I'll ask her for you. You'll be all right."

Hearing Ning Tao's words, Su Ya followed him to go down.

As soon as the two were out of the forest, Jiang Hao, several police officers and two paramedics carrying a stretcher came to meet them. The two medical staff wanted to take Su Ya to examine and treat the wound, but Su Ya refused. Finally, Ning Tao persuaded her to do so and she agreed.

"Is she your friend?" Jiang Hao asked Ning Tao. She didn't know Su Ya, and this was the first time they met.

Ning Tao nodded and replied, "Her name is Su Ya. She is a poor orphan, and grew up in the Suns.h.i.+ne Orphanage. Now she has become the orphanage's nurse. She... had a history of stealing things, but she did it for the children at the Suns.h.i.+ne Orphanage."

Jiang Hao looked straight at Ning Tao and asked, "How did you meet?"

"The former director of Suns.h.i.+ne Orphanage was sick and I cured her, so we got to know each other," Ning Tao replied, wondering why she was asking such irrelevant questions at this time.

"Come with me. Let's talk while walking. Tell me all you know," Jiang Hao said, walking toward the small building.

Ning Tao followed Jiang Hao while stating the cause and process of the event, from the time he found the stuff that Su Ya hid under the bed, to the time he met Brother Meng outside the Happy Community, and to the time he finally found here and rescued Su Ya.

When Ning Tao finished, Jiang Hao said, "So you knew your friend was kidnapped before you met me, and you had already met the princ.i.p.al criminal. I can understand your motive for not telling me about Su Ya, but I don't understand..." Then she looked straight into Ning Tao's eyes and demanded, "How did you get here?"

Ning Tao had already prepared to respond to this question. "I noticed that the princ.i.p.al criminal had sand on his shoes and I also smelled a little diesel and fishy about him, so I figured he must have been in a quarry by the river. So I rented a car and went from quarry to quarry. And I was lucky enough to find this one."

"You call that luck? How dare you? What would you do if he had a gun?" Jiang Hao questioned in a fierce tone.

Instead of arguing, Ning Tao took a plastic bag from his pants pocket and handed it to Jiang Hao. "This is what Su Ya stole from a businessman named w.a.n.g Yaoyang," he said. "Su Ya is safe now. I give it to you, and I hope you will not pursue her theft. If she is arrested, the children at Suns.h.i.+ne Orphanage will be left alone."

"That's another story." Jiang Hao looked at the bluish "clay" in the plastic bag and the nail-sized circuit board with a curious expression on her face. "You told me on the phone that you had something very important that I wanted, was that it?"

"Yes."

"What is it? Why are you sure it's important to me?" Jiang Hao asked in wonder.

Ning Tao made a small pause before he answered, "Maybe it has something to do with your mission."

Jiang Hao's face changed in a flash. "It has something to do with my mission?"

"At Lin Qingyu's house, Lin Qingyu mentioned Lin Qinghua's project," Ning Tao said. "I smelled a strange odor coming from Lin Qinghua while I was diagnosing him. Later I found the bluish 'clay' under Su Ya's bed, and sensed that Lin Qinghua smelled exactly like the bluish 'clay'. So, I guess Lin Qinghua has something to do with this thing, but I'm not entirely sure of it. I don't know what it is. It need your confirmation."

Jiang Hao make a prompt decision and said to the accompanying policemen, "Please investigate w.a.n.g Yaoyang immediately and send someone to arrest him!"

"Yes!" The policemen followed Jiang Hao's orders and left immediately.

Ning Tao looked at the plastic bag with bluish clay in Jiang Hao's hand and wondered, "If she knew I've kept a little bit of bluish 'clay', would she arrest me too?"

He came with nothing but the bluish "clay" and the little circuit board. Before he came, he had left a little bluish "clay" in his medicine chest. He did it for anything else but for it related to the new demon!