Outside the cave entrance near the mountain brooks, Zhang Xinyue stood restlessly with a face full of worries as her eyes constantly watched the direction of Qingcheng Monastery. She feared that they would encounter dangers after Tang Xiu left them here. Beside her, Mo Awu had returned and brought a lot of herbs, but it seemed like he also lacked two other herbs.
"Awu, did the Qingcheng Monastery really end up in a tragic situation?"
The matter of the Qingcheng Monastery was never Zhang Xinyue"s concern. She didn"t ask much, even if there was a powerful enemy who could even injure Tang Xiu severely, since she knew that she had no ability to help them and was just a pa.s.ser-by previously. But now, she was worried about Tang Xiu and thus couldn"t help but ask about it.
"Yeah, they"ve fallen into a miserable state. It"s no different from getting exterminated." Mo Awu nodded and said, "The entirety of Qinglin County is in fear. Right now, there"s a restless atmosphere where even the slightest disturbance could quake the people. It"s because there"s a powerful enemy who"s looking for Qingcheng school"s disciples everywhere and is directly killing them whenever he finds one."
Zhang Xinyue face turned ghastly. She was about to ask more, but her spirit suddenly shook upon seeing more than ten figures rus.h.i.+ng over very quickly from the distance, including Tang Xiu at the forefront—the very man she was always worried about.
"Awu, how"s the progress with finding the herbs I wanted?"
Tang Xiu kept thinking about the issue in refining the Poison Repellent Pill, so he immediately asked about it the moment he arrived.
Mo Awu glanced at a dozen Qingcheng disciples and was slightly surprised upon seeing w.a.n.g Rui among them. Then he immediately replied, "I was unable to find two herbs, Boss. I ran to several cities" medicinal herbs markets, including visiting some pharmacists and herbalists who run a herbs business, but I still can"t find them."
"Which two herbs, precisely?" asked Tang Xiu with knitted brows.
"The Arcane Mugwort Flower and the Orange Day-Lily Leaf," answered Mo Awu.
Tang Xiu s.p.a.ced out before hurriedly asking, "What about the Wild-goose Pond Reed? Did you find it?"
"I found and bought it from a medicinal herb store over there." Mo Awu nodded and said, "But the owner asked an outrageous price of 180 thousand yuan for it. He didn"t even allow me to haggle."
"Don"t say 180 thousand yuan; it"s still worth it even if it was priced at 100 times more expensive," said Tang Xiu happily. "Give me the Wild-goose Pond Reed first and keep the rest of the herbs for now. Also, these people are members of the Qingcheng school that survived due to luck. You are to settle them nearby while I go seize the time to refine the Poison Repellent Pill."
"Boss, Light, and Dark have arrived here as well and they are nearby," reported Mo Awu.
"Tell them to stand by and be ready to move at any time," said Tang Xiu with a nod.
Immediately after, Tang Xiu arranged a geomancy array inside the cave so as to prevent the leakage of medicinal efficacy when refining the herbs, as well to limit being sensed by people in the vicinity. With the bust furnace Demon G.o.d Spirit Devourer Cauldron, Tang Xiu stayed in the cave for two days and was able to concoct more than ten Poison Repellent Pills.
"Awu!" shouted Tang Xiu the moment he came out of the cave.
Mo Awu and the rest quickly appeared, even including the more than 10 people from the Qingcheng Monastery. Their eyes held some expectations as they watched him.
"Awu, you"re to stay here to wait for my news," said Tang Xiu. "Jin s.h.i.+ and Xue Sha, you are to leave with me along with w.a.n.g Rui."
"We"re going with you too, Senior," said w.a.n.g Feng quickly.
"You"re too weak and will only become a burden if you follow me." Tang Xiu waved and said, "I"ll have no spare hands to protect you when I really have to face Dao Master Poison in combat. Also, the rest of you excluding w.a.n.g Rui are to stay here to wait for my message."
Zhang Xinyue was aware that she was unable to help, so she reached out to grab Tang Xiu"s hand and said with a worried face, "The Great Ancestor once said that you should fight if you can and run if you are no match to your enemies. There will still be times when you can achieve it as long as you"re still alive, so safety is the most important thing."
"Don"t worry! I always put safety in mind." Tang Xiu nodded.
****
Qinglin County.
Warm sunlight s.h.i.+ned on the whole Earth, while a gentle breeze blew past the blooming purple and red flowers. This warm season should have been the most enjoyable days for people, but now, Qinglin County was full of a chilling and murderous atmosphere. Even the pedestrians on the street were anxious and a bit restless.
County Public Security Bureau.
The Captain of the city"s Criminal Police Division, Li Gangde, and Zhu Hongguo, the Chief of Qinglin County"s Public Security Bureau, were in the meeting room to discuss the coordination of work in intelligence personnel.
Knock, knock…
The meeting room"s door was knocked on and a middle-aged policeman entered the room to quickly report, "Chiefs, the higher-ups have sent another person."
Li Gangde and Zhu Hongguo exchanged a dismayed glance, though there was also a weird expression on their faces. However, since the person was sent from the authority above, they naturally didn"t dare to neglect him. After they came out of the meeting room, they saw Tang Xiu, Jin s.h.i.+, Xue Sha, and w.a.n.g Rui outside.
"Divine Doctor Tang?"
Zhu Hongguo was quite shocked since he knew Tang Xiu. Precisely speaking, Tang Xiu saved his life at the luncheon of the opening sale ceremony of the Golden Goblet Emperor Gauze villa complex.
"I heard that you"ve encountered troubles and are experiencing a headache in your endeavor to apprehend Dao Master Poison, so I came over to see the situation." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "If you can tell me the whereabouts of Dao Master Poison, I can help you catch or kill him."
"Divine Doctor Tang, you are talking about Dao Master Poison—is he the murderer in the green robe?" asked Zhu Hongguo quizzically. "Also, he"s very powerful and too strong to face, but you…"
Tang Xiu took out the green book and handed it to the two men and said, "I know that old fogy is very formidable and powerful. Even if you use military force to face him, it"s impossible to take him down. But I can do it."
Zhu Hongguo"s pupils suddenly shrunk after seeing the green book. Only now did he genuinely realize how terrifying Tang Xiu"s ident.i.ty was. For one to be able to become a special existence of the country"s security department, it meant that he was definitely not only highly skilled in medicine and brilliant at business practices, but he also probably… had a very formidable strength and combat prowess.
As for Li Gangde, he didn"t know who Tang Xiu was, but the green book made him instinctively apprehensive and respectful. Seeing that Zhu Hongguo knew Tang Xiu, he asked, "Chief Zhu, do you know him?"
"Captain Li, do you still remember what I told you before; that Divine Doctor Tang saved nearly 100 people at the opening sale ceremony of the Golden Goblet Emperor Gauze villa complex?" asked Zhu Hongguo. "The respected doctor is now in front of you, though I never expected that Divine Doctor Tang is actually someone from the state either."
Li Gangde suddenly understood and said with awe and respect, "Divine Doctor Tang, thank you for coming. Regarding the information on the criminal you asked about, we"re currently looking for him now as well, and the searching area is gradually narrowing down. If our guesstimate is correct, he should be lurking in the Eastern munic.i.p.ality area."
Eastern munic.i.p.ality area?
"Alright, we"ll go looking for him first." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "But do contact me at once if you get the exact location of his hiding place in advance."
"There"s something I need to tell you about, Divine Doctor Tang," said Zhu Hongguo. "Two people came here just before you arrived and they are in the same department as you. They are now in Qinglin County and are searching for the whereabouts of the murderer too."
"What are they called, exactly?" Tang Xiu was surprised.
"One of them is called Electrolady, whereas the other one is Aquababe," said Zhu Hongguo.
A strange expression appeared on Tang Xiu"s face and he couldn"t help but chuckle and comment, "Ah, it turned out to be these two! It seems the murder cases in Qinglin County have already alerted those higher-ups, eh? Alright, I"ll note that. If you don"t have anything else, we"ll take our leave first."
In the Eastern munic.i.p.ality.
Electrolady and Aquababe were standing atop a ten-story tenement building, both using binoculars to calmly observe the situation in the surroundings. The intel from the Public Security Bureau said that the murderer was very likely to be hiding in the vicinity, so they decided to stay here and wait for the murderer to expose himself without much effort.
"Hehe, it seems that there are a lot of people interested in this old man!"
Dao Master Poison appeared behind the two women out of thin air. He didn"t rush to attack them, but just grinned with a strange gaze at the two women. There was a bit of l.u.s.t and indecent intention in his eyes as if he could undress these two young women with his eyes only.
The expression of Electrolady and Aquababe greatly changed as they turned back in a flash, ready for battle. When they saw that Dao Master Poison was just ten meters away from them, however, the two women"s hearts were relentlessly falling deeper in despair.
"Powerful enemy!"
"He has a very terrifying strength; I"m afraid it"ll be extremely difficult to take him down with just the two of us."
The two women exchanged glances fast while tacitly understanding what each other had in mind and nodded without a word.
Electrolady treaded a step forward and looked at Dao Master Poison before coldly speaking, "You"re not an average person, so why do you keep killing those of ordinary society and create panic? Don"t tell me you dare to go against the state"s will?"
"The state"s will? What a big joke!" Dao Master Poison mocked, "Although this old man once lived in China for more than a hundred years, I"ve never set foot here for the latter half of my life. Had it not been for my two good-for-nothing disciples coming here, do you really think I"d be happy to come over?"
"Regardless of whatever reasons you have, we are now giving you two choices. First, you are to submit without resisting; Second, you are to leave China and are not allowed to step your feet in China"s territory ever again."
Dao Master Poison touched his chin and smilingly said, "You still want to threaten this old man by relying on the two of you, little babes?! Hahaha… For real?! Well, I won"t hurt you even if you threaten me, though. As long as you"re well-behaved in serving this old man very well, I can forgive those little guys of the Qingcheng Monastery. However, this old man must still find and kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d punk who killed my two disciples and has been badly injured by me!"
A cold glint flashed in Electrolady"s eyes and she angrily shouted, "Old loach, never think that because you have fearsome strength, you can do whatever you want here. The might of a nation is not something you can afford to fight against!"
"Overconfident and trying to bite more than you can chew, eh?"
Dao Master Poison shook his head and with the dragon figurehead walking stick in his hand, he immediately sent a barrage of attacks toward Electrolady.
BOOM…
A flying sword instantly appeared in front of Electrolady and the dragon figurehead walking stick was shattered along with the scattering flames. Dao Master Poison staggered backwards for several steps in succession before he was barely able to stabilize his body.
Currently, in front of Electrolady, Light was dressed in white attire donning a stunning and handsome look with a natural unrestrained att.i.tude. He looked at Dao Master Poison and smilingly said, "The two of them may be biting off more than they can chew—unaware that they"re doing something beyond their ability. But what if you add me into the lineup?"
"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" Dao Master Poison"s expression turned grim and he shouted in a rough, heavy voice.
"I don"t think you"re qualified to know who I am," said Light with a chuckle. "What you need to know is that you"ll only have one end today. That is, to have your soul scattered and vanished."