Zheng Weijun was eventually carted away by his assistant and driver. He ended up thoroughly drunk.

Wang Yao did not forget to tell them, Take care of him.

Rest assured, Mr. Wang.

Wang Yao got a cab and left the hotel. Once he returned home, he immediately went up the southern mountain.

Things were silent on the mountain. Nothing happened throughout the night.

The next morning, the sun rose, as usual.

Thousands of miles away in He County, Miao Qingfeng and Miao Changhong were in a restaurant.

He might be leaving town today.

Were you able to find out where he is going?

I did. Its most likely Tianjin.

When are we going to depart?

Well wait. We cant stand out too much now.

Tianjin is huge. Just be mindful not to lose him, Miao Changhong said.

Didnt we bring a lot of good stuff with us on this trip?

The bugs?

Yeah.

How would we bug him now? He isnt anywhere near approachable right now.

Theres no need to bug him. He isnt going alone. Yang Guanfeng or Lu Xiufeng might be going there with him. We could bug those two and follow them instead.

Lets hurry up!

Well, Ive already bugged them, Miao Qingfeng said.

In the afternoon, a car was seen leaving He County.

They left the county.

Lu Xiufeng?

Yeah.

You really have everything planned out, eh. Miao Changhong smiled after hearing that.

Who will be the ones tracking him? At this time, it was best for the two of them to not disappear right. If any problem arose, they would have been the first ones to be suspected.

Someone from the village is tailing him, Miao Qingfeng said. When they reach their place and get the location confirmed, well make our move.

If anything happens thousands of miles away, it probably wont be traced back to us.

Sure, and he will already have a taste of pain by then.

Under the calm surface of He County, things were actually boiling

What do you mean?

We managed to trace Miao Tianchuan, but something happened to the one following him.

What happened? Dont be anxious. Tell us everything.

The guys dead.

Dead?

It was the first time an officer had died on the job because of the case.

Goddamnit! That officer immediately cursed.

The case had no new developments. Now, one of his own was dead. It was truly infuriating.

After hearing the news, both Lu Xiufeng and Yang Guanfeng stayed silent for quite a while. They smoked nonstop.

Things cant go on like this, Yang Guanfeng said. Miao Tianchuan is no ordinary man. Hes too dangerous.

Yeah, weve never faced a criminal of his kind, Lu Xiufeng said.

He was the type of criminal who could be discovered as the culprit, yet the police were unable to do anything about it.

Shoot on sight? Lu Xiufeng asked.

Yang Guanfeng lowered his head. He started at the ash falling on the ashtray.

We can do that, but not somewhere with a lot of people. Who knows what he brought with him. Things will get a lot messier if more people end up dead.

Indeed. Well need to think this through.

In a small town about 200 miles from He County

Did you kill someone again? It was a cop this time! Miao Qingshan read the news on his phone. He looked up in surprise at Miao Tianchuan, who looked calm and composed.

Theyre too obnoxious, so its about time to show them what weve got, Miao Tianchuan calmly replied.

This was not the first time something like this had happened to him. When he set up his company a long time ago, he had frequently gotten his hands dirty. Back then, he was doing so as a gun-for-hire. Now, he was doing so to shake himself free of those people.

They might have traced us, and people from the village will soon be onto us, Miao Tianchuan said. Im afraid that you dont know some things. Along with Miao Xihe, there are others from the village who are difficult to deal with. They are older people. Given how Miao Xihe cares about face a lot, he wont mobilize those people if there is not an absolute need to. Things are different now. I figure they will be coming out of the mountain soon enough. If they find us, it will be a lot of real trouble for us.

He knew far more about the secrets of the village than Miao Qingshan. Despite the latter being the grandson of the previous chief, he had been sheltered. Be it the previous chief or his son, no one told Miao Qingshan about the brutal reality of their village. They might have done so to prevent traumatizing him, as well as to keep him away from all the fighting.

Miao Qingshan did not say anything. He just continued frowning. He was struggling deep down. He had many doubts about the whole situation.

It was clear that things were in a dire state. In truth, he had not done anything. Be it in the village or another place, he had never killed anyone. He had not harmed anyone, yet he still became a wanted criminal at large. Worse still, it was for something very severe. He followed Miao Tianchuan and ended up shouldering more and more of the other mans dirt. Now, he was unable to get rid of any of the dirt.

Things cant keep going on like this!

His thoughts about leaving Miao Tianchuan grew increasingly strong.

What are you thinking? Miao Tianchuan asked as he looked at Miao Qingshan.

Nothing.

Are you thinking that Im going too far?

Yeah.

Heh, Qingshan, you are indeed the grandson of the previous chief, but there are still things you know too little about, Miao Tianchuan said. Be it in the village or outside, nothing is as peaceful as it seems to be. Darkness is everywhere. Its a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Come, want a cigarette?

No, thanks.

It was getting increasingly dark outside.

After toiling for a whole day, Miao Chengtang finally arrived in Tianjin. The huge city, which was near the capital, was over a hundred times more bustling than the village. The people who came with him arranged for his temporary residence. It should have been Lu Xiufeng showing with him. Something had happened, so he headed back instead. It was a veteran police officer who was taking care of him.

When he got there, Miao Chengtang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This place should be safe, thanks.

Miao Qingfeng, who was thousands of miles away, looked glum because he lost his quarry.

What happened?

Lu Xiufeng headed back not long after he left town. Something happened back home. He sent someone else to do the job.

Huh? Miao Changhong was dumbfounded. What should we do now?

We will wait, Miao Qingfeng said. Those two have to go there sooner or later. They cant just leave Miao Chengtang to his own devices.

Isnt there something called GPS or whatever? Cant we just look for his car and be done with it?

We didnt get that part covered beforehand, Miao Qingfeng said. Its too late to talk about that now.

No worries. He isnt going anywhere.

Miao Changhong did not say anything else.

It was easier said than done. It was difficult to find a hidden person in the small county they were in, let alone a huge city somewhere else.

In Tianjin, thousands of miles away, Miao Chengtang settled into his new surroundings and met up with Miao Qingyuan, who was a friend of his back in the village. When they saw each other, both of them looked happy. Coming across a familiar face in a foreign place was something worth celebrating. Miao Qingyuan introduced him to someone else. That person had brought money.

What do you think of Tianjin? Xu Xinyuan asked with a smile.

Its not bad, Miao Chengtang replied.

This was a totally different world from the village, as well as He County. Those were small places. Tianjin, on the other hand, was incredibly busy. People and vehicles of massive numbers were prowling the streets. He was still getting used to it all since it was his first time there.

Great.

This is what we talked about before. Xu Xinyuan handed him a bank card. The $100,000 had been deposited into the account.

Thanks. Miao Chengtang hesitated for a bit before taking the bank card. It signified that both parties were in business.

Alright, lets get the food ordered, Xu Xinyuan cheerfully said. Well talk as we eat.

Before long, fine dishes of food filled the entire table.

Alright, a toast to a fruitful partnership and friendship. Cheers.

Cheers.

Miao Chengtang and Miao Qingyuan emptied their respective glasses.

Come, lets eat.

This was the first time they had met. Xu Xinyuan did not rush with questions regarding the Valley of Thousands of Medicine. They simply chatted like old friends who had not been in contact for a while.

The concept of throwing a long line out to catch a big fish was not an alien concept to him.

This was the first time they met, so both the host and guest merrily drank.

If youve any problems, feel free to drop by, Xu Xinyuan said.

Well, thanks.

Xu Xinyuan bode farewell and left. The remaining two men looked for a teahouse and asked for a private room.

Alright, who is that guy?