Uncle, if youre not kicking the habit of drinking and smoking, no amount of medicine would be of any help to you, Wang Yao added.

The old man was from the village and of advanced age, so he was very reluctant to hear harsh toward him. If it had been someone else, Wang Yao would have told them to leave at once.

Just give me a dose. The old man looked unhappy seeing how Wang Yao kept going in circles.

From his perspective, it was ridiculous for a doctor to refuse to give medicine to a patient.

Ill ask you to just head home then, Wang Yao said. This is one medicine that I wont be giving you.

Gosh, what a brat! The old man rose in a disgruntled manner. He flicked his shirt sleeves as he left fuming mad.

As he was entering the clinic, Jia Zizai walked by the angry old man. Hey, whats up with the old man? He sure looks ill-tempered!

He was sick and asked for meds, but I refused him, Wang Yao said with a smile.

Why?

No meds are going to help him if he refuses to kick those bad habits of his, Wang Yao replied. It would have been a waste.

Is something going on?

Yeah, something is going on, Jia Zizai said as he took out his phone.

Have a look at this.

On the phone was news from obscured sources.

The Valley of Thousands of Medicine?

Yeah, this place is somewhere in southern Yunnan. You told me about that place, so I sent someone to look into it. Things are pretty hot there lately. More than 20 have people died, one after another, in less than a month. All the higher-ups know about it.

Does all of that have to do with the Valley of Thousands of Medicine? Wang Yao asked.

The victims all died from poisoning, Jia Zizai said. Both suspects came from that place.

Alright, I see. If possible, tell your friends down there to keep their eyes peeled. Keep in touch if there is anything else.

Sure. But, Master, the Valley of Thousands of Medicine is thousands of miles down south. Why are you so concerned about those people?

There have been people seeking treatment here, from thousands of miles away, Wang Yao said. Isnt the person in charge of the county Secretary Guo?

Yeah, it is Guo Zhenghe, a tried and true third generation. His father is a governor of the province by the way.

I treated him before, and we kept in contact, Wang Yao said. Although Secretary Guo is young, he is meticulous. If he were able to introduce patients all the way out there to come here for treatment, he could probably be able to pull something else.

He was keeping an eye out for untoward happenings.

Got it. Jia Zizai knew more or less what was going on after hearing Wang Yaos words.

They chatted for a bit before Jia Zizai left the clinic. He quickly contacted his friends in southern Yunnan, telling them to narrow down news regarding He County and the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.

When Wang Yao arrived home for lunch, Zhang Xiuying asked about what happened in the morning. That old man had gone to their house and said something bad about Wang Yao to Zhang Xiuying.

Dont be angry over something like that, Mom.

Zhang Xiuying smiled and replied, Angry? Me? Im not familiar with that old man to begin with. That guy knows your dad, but they have only talked a bit.

Wang Yao nodded and did not say anything else.

How is that old man doing?

Hes extremely sick. If he keeps doing things the way he has been, I figure that he has three more years to live at most.

Is it that serious? Zhang Xiuying was surprised.

Its one thing to be sick, Wang Yao said. The key is that he knows that hes sick, yet he keeps the bad habits around. Worse still, he refuses to listen to advice from others. Someone who refuses to take care of their body will only get even sicker down the road.

Where is Dad?

Someone from the village said that they were buying lunch. Your dad went there.

Who was the one buying?

Wang Yijie.

Him? Is he that familiar with our family? Why the sudden gesture? Wang Yao asked, feeling curious about it.

Well, it beats me, his mother replied. Your dad didnt want to go at first, but that guy came five to six times in just one morning. We do live in the same village after all. If we were to keep refusing him, things would look bad, so your dad went off. But he didnt go empty-handed. He brought two cartons of cigarettes with him.

Thats fine. We arent going to be able to finish half of those things in the house anyway, Wang Yao said with a smile.

People like Tian Yuantu and Sun Yunsheng often brought things like tea leaves, liquor, and cigarettes when they visited. The gifts began to stack up as more visitors came. His house was currently filled with gifts. He gave some to his brother-in-law, but he still would never be able to finish any of those on his own.

In southern Yunnan, thousands of miles away

Inside the King Pharmacist Villa

It was the place where the King Pharmacist of Miaojiang took up residence, which was why it was named as such.

Within one day, Miao Chengtang was already able to get out of bed. He found a wound on his chest while the bandages were being changed in the morning. It looked like a red thread that was about two inches long.

He wondered, Did the King Pharmacist open up my chest?

The person changing the bandages was Ah Cheng, one of Wu Sans disciples.

Does your chest still hurt?

Not anymore, Miao Chengtang said. Its just that I still feel weak. Just out of curiosity, how did the King Pharmacist treat me? Did he open up my chest?

I have no idea. The other man shook his head.

Well, thanks anyway. Miao Chengtang smiled awkwardly after hearing that.

Ah Cheng left after the bandages were done being changed. Miao Tianchuan soon entered the room.

How are you feeling?

Weak. My chest still stings a little, but I dont feel anything wrong anywhere else, Miao Chengtang replied.

Good. Qingshan asked the King Pharmacist, and he confirmed that your curse has been taken out, Miao Tianchuan said. Well leave once you get better.

Sure.

They were unable to rest easy staying there. They were still in southern Yunnan, which was only hundreds of miles away from the valley. That distance was not too near or too far.

Get some rest, and tell Qingshan to keep an eye out, Miao Tianchuan said. Im heading out for a bit today. Ill be back by dawn tomorrow.

Going out? To do what?

To let you rest easy and keep Miao Xihe occupied, Miao Tianchuan replied.

Dont tell me youre going to the village. You cant go back there!

Of course, Im not going back there. Im not stupid. Just get as much rest as youre able to.

Miao Tianchuan left the villa and headed elsewhere, leaving the two behind feeling worried sick about things.

Qushan County was hundreds of miles away from where they were but only tens of miles away from the Valley of Thousands of Medicine. It was the nearest county town to the valley.

Something serious happened in that county town. Over a dozen people were poisoned in a restaurant, and they were all in unbelievably bad shape. The county hospital was unable to do anything about them, so they were all sent to the city. Two died on the trip, so the matter attracted a lot of attention from the county and city. Everyone was reminded of the recent poisoning cases in the nearby He County.

Sh*t! Why is such a thing happening to our place now?

The person in charge of the county town was furious. He slammed the table with his fists as he cursed.

What? Qushan County now? Lu Xiufeng and Yang Guanfeng, who were in quite a predicament in He County, were stunned by the news.

This is getting out of hand!

They went to Qushan County as soon as they received the news. When they arrived, the local government of Qushan County was already at work. They put the entire county in a state of emergency. With the lesson learned from the nearby county, it was only natural for them to pay full attention to it, especially those from the public security department. All of them had their eyes peeled. They were not asking for the case to be solved in a short period of time, but they were concerned about the problem getting increasingly major in a short time. The problem did get worse since two of the dozen or so people poisoned died on the trip to town.

Goddamnit!

Yang Guanfeng slammed the table for a bit after hearing the news. He smoked five cigarettes in a row.

Look at the report. We found a suspect.

What? Where? Lu Xiufeng leaped out of his chair.

They sped throughout the trip, running all the red lights to be had in the county town. They arrived at the scene where the suspect was being surrounded by the armed police force.

Is our guy is in there?

Yes.

How was he found?

Someone around saw a person in there and took a peek. They found a dead body that was still bleeding, and another person who seemed to be injured. The one who saw all that called the police.

A dead body and an injured guy?

Yes.

Great. This might be our chance.

Prepare to storm the place and take him alive if possible.

The armed police force barged into the house and saw the two down on the floor, who were utterly unable to resist.

One of them was lying in a pool of blood, seemingly dead, while the other was down and out.

What the hell? What is this?

None of the dangers they had anticipated happened.

Get forensics, and hurry up!

The forensics expert quickly came in. That expert was with Yang Guanfeng and his people. He was experienced in the field even though he was stationed in the county town.

This one is dead, but this one is alive. Be careful with the things on them. Dont touch them if you dont have to.