have a safe journey back, wang yao said to guo sirou. rest more. i think you look quite tired. if you go on like this, your body will not be able to bear it.

alright.

they went back to the villa in haiqu.

sis, i think your complexion is not looking good, guo zhenghe said. go and get some rest. he had noticed that his elder sisters face had turned a little pale.

ill go take a quick nap. guo sirou said. she felt groggy due to a lack of sleep.

go quickly.

sis.

yes? guo sirou, who was already at the door, stopped and looked back at her brother.

dont marry that person from the zhou family if you dont like him, guo zhenghe said. i support you.

huh? guo sirou was shocked to hear her younger brother say such a thing. before, her younger brother was very supportive of her marrying into the zhou family. it was a typical political marriage. no feelings between the betrothed existed. feelings well, they could be slowly cultivated, at least most people thought so. most people from the noble and rich families had the same thought.

go lie down and have a good rest. well talk about future matters later.

shortly after guo sirou left, xu xinyuan knocked on the door.

uncle xu, have a seat. guo zhenghe poured him a glass of water.

ah, young master, please sit down.

how do you feel? much better, right? i feel much better.

yes, i feel much better, xu xinyuan said. wang yaos medical skills are really superb!

in terms of medical skills alone, he is indeed extraordinary, guo zhenghe said. i have never seen such wonderful medical skills in my life. they dont even exist in jing. its just a pity that he wont work for me.

ah, the men ive arranged have arrived in haiqu, xu xinyuan said.

that was fast!

yes.

hmm, you have to remind them not to allow themselves to be exposed, guo zhenghe said.

i got it, xu xinyuan replied.

in the mountain village, zhong liuchuan and jia zizai were sitting opposite each other in zhong liuchuans courtyard. in front of them was a stone table. on the table was a crisscrossing chessboard. the black and white chess pieces were strewn about and entangled on the chessboard.

senior, cant you cut me some slack? jia zizai asked.

how can i cut you slack for this? zhong liuchuan replied. ill lose if i give one of my pieces to you. we couldve played a perfectly normal game of chess, but you insisted on playing gomoku.

dont look down on gomoku, jia zizai said. there is much wisdom to be extracted from it. otherwise, why is it that i always lose to you?

is sir very busy these few days.

yes, there have been many cars coming in from outside the village recently, zhong liuchuan said. the white chess piece landed after he spoke.

you lost!

ah, im not playing anymore, jia zizai said. i lose every time!

how are anxins studies faring?

quite good, zhong liuchuan said. her headmaster has praised her more than once.

well, im sure our sister wont do badly.

shall we invite sir to have dinner at home in the evening?

whats the matter?

i feel like we havent had a gathering in a long time.

alright, it shall be my treat this time, zhong liuchuan said. the location will be my house. its friday, so anxin will be back in the afternoon.

thats settled, jia zizai said. ah, ill go pick up our sister with you in the afternoon and go to lianshan countys town center on the way there.

alright.

the two men chatted with each other over tea. at about 4:30 p.m., they went out together. they were about to go to lianshan countys town center.

huh?

jia zizai suddenly stopped walking and looked at xishan mountain.

whats the matter? zhong liuchuan asked.

its nothing, jia zizai said. i might have seen wrong. lets go.

the two of them drove out of the mountain village.

on xishan mountain, a man walked along the mountain toward nanshan hill.

the man had been told, his medical skills are superb, and the drugs he uses are even more magical. the reason why the effects of his treatments are so good has a lot to do with those drugs. the root cause might be found there. he often stays on nanshan hill, so most of the drugs he uses are probably there. therefore, go to nanshan hill first to search around and take a look.

the man made a beeline for nanshan hill.

oh, rocks? when he went near nanshan hill, he saw a few pieces of big rocks.

he took a few steps and found that there was still a rock in front of him. he continued to turn around. only a few steps later, rocks still greeted him.

he whipped around. what greeted him was still a rock.

whats going on? suddenly, sweat poured out of him.

he turned left and right. no matter where he went, rocks surrounded him. they were in front of him, behind him, and on his left and right. rocks of different sizes enveloped him. they were all taller than him, so he couldnt go around them.

ill climb up and have a look!

after walking among the rocks for a long time, he suddenly got a flash of inspiration. he started to climb the rocks. after he had climbed halfway up the rock, he stepped on air and tumbled off the rock.

im going to climb again!

at last, he successfully climbed onto a huge rock. after he climbed up, he was stunned. his face was pale. there were no signs of trees, roads, or paths anywhere he looked. the sceneries he had encountered on his way there had vanished. nothing could be seen. only rocks met his eyes. the mountain seemed to be filled with rocks.

these damn rocks!

he looked up at the sky.

the setting sun had dipped below the hill.

at that moment, he felt as if the world was spinning. he fell to the ground with a thump.

woof! woof! woof!

whats making that noise? is that a dog?

lion? how could there be a lion here?

he was so agitated that he jumped up from the ground to take a closer look at it.

it is indeed a lion!

thats right! it is a dog! its a dog that big enough to appear like a lion.

next to the dog stood a young man, who was staring at him.

who are you, and what are you doing here? wang yao stared at the man in front of him. he sensed a familiar scent from the man.

i came here by mistake.

you are from southern yunnan, wang yao suddenly said.

hearing that, the mans eyes unconsciously blinked, and his body slightly quivered.

for real?

what are you doing here? who asked you to come, miao xihe? wang yaos tone turned a little chilly.

as he was asked that, the mans hand moved.

he suddenly fell to his knees with a thump. he was frozen and unable to move.

forget it. with a wave of wang yaos hand, the man immediately fainted.

right before he passed out, the man thought, whats going on?

at the foot of the mountain, jia zizai and zhong liuchuan had returned from picking up zhong anxin in lianshan countys town center. they had also bought many things along the way for dinner.

ill be your assistant, hu mei said.

no need, ill do it myself.

lets do it together?

riiing! riiing! jia zizais mobile phone suddenly rang out. he picked it up and looked at it.

sir?

what? ok, well be right there.

senior, sir is looking for us.

alright. zhong liuchuan said a few words to his sister before he went out with them. they arrived at an empty house near xishan mountain. after entering, they saw an unconscious man on the ground.

whats the matter, sir?

this man suddenly went up nanshan hill and entered the spirit gathering battle array by mistake, wang yao said. i detected a familiar scent on him. this man may have come from the valley of thousands of medicine.

the valley of thousands of medicine? they went up to nanshan hill?

yes.

they are seeking death! jia zizai stared at the man who was slumped on the ground with cold murderous intent in his eyes.

lets interrogate him and ask who sent him here, wang yao said. you guys are professionals in this field.

alright, leave up to us, sir.

dinner still went on as usual, but it ended quickly. there was no drinking because they had something to do afterward.

in the abandoned cottage on xishan mountain, the comatose man woke up and realized that he had been firmly bound. he was unable to move and had rags stuffed in his mouth. there were two people in front of him.

youre awake! lets talk!

ahhh! a scream of pain was heard coming from the cottage, but it disappeared before it could travel too far. people at the foot of the nearby mountain could not hear it at all.

i have a bad temper. ill ask you somethings just once.

the next morning, the three of them went up dongshan mountain. wang yao came early as well.

sir, we got it out of him.

who was it?

the people in southern yunnan sent him here, jia zizai said. as for who they were specifically, he didnt see them. the people who asked him to explore the place were mainly just aiming for nanshan hill, so it should be related to the valley of thousands of medicine.

ok, thank you, wang yao said.

sir, you are too polite for thanking us, jia zizai hurriedly said.

was he here to explore the place because sir cured those people who had been poisoned by insects? zhong liuchuan asked.

its not just them. im afraid it has something to do with that secretary guo. wang yao immediately linked it to guo zhenghe. it was highly possible that the other party had come because of him.