Chapter 239: Give Me a Chance

Wild beasts in the mountains, when food is scarce and there are many competitors of the same level, if they find food and cannot swallow it in one bite, they will first clamp the food in their mouths, run away quickly, and then find a place to consume it.

One must strike accurately and move quickly!

This time, Patrol Lieutenant Yang's operation was similar. Everything happened suddenly; he made arrangements before others could react, and once the target was found and the goods were secured, he grabbed them and moved away quickly!

While the people in the County Town were still confused and unable to grasp the situation, Patrol Lieutenant Yang had already taken his troops and escorted the medicinal materials back to the valley.

Over at Shenyi Gu.

Before Patrol Lieutenant Yang could even transport the medicinal materials back, the various parties in the County Town had already sent messages back via carrier birds.

Many people in Shenyi Gu were still angry about the poisoning in the teahouse, and upon receiving the news, they immediately exploded with outrage.

"Could it be the batch of medicinal materials that the Su Family smuggled back then, just as Zhang Dalang said?!"

Previously, because of the teahouse poisoning incident, Zhang Dalang had told this news to the master of Anxiang Hall in order to save his own life.

The master of Anxiang Hall felt that one person could not do much, so he told this news to the others in the Medicine Gang.

It was just that they had only just begun to act, and news had already come from the other side confirming that the people of the Zhao Clan had already gotten their hands on the goods!

"It must be! Oh, Zhang Dalang spoke too late!"

"Zhang Dalang deserves to die!"

"That should have been our stuff!"

The medicinal merchant Su Family was once part of the Medicine Gang; with the Su Family gone, those goods should have belonged to the Medicine Gang as well!

To think it was actually snatched by outsiders!!

If the outsiders were incompetent, they could have snatched it back, but it just had to be one of the warlords from the North!

"What a clever feint! They made such a big scene in the Town using Zhang Dalang's affair, but in reality, it was for that batch of medicinal materials!"

"No wonder some say the Xinzhou Xunweis are like hunting dogs; their noses are truly sharp!"

In the Council Hall of the Medicine Gang, some cursed in frustration, while others lamented and sighed.

Those medicinal materials with scarce resources and concentrated production areas are difficult to cultivate artificially and have high costs; previously, they mainly relied on wild harvesting and transportation.

Now that the plague is rampant, freight transport has long since stopped, and many rare medicinal materials from the South and overseas are hard to obtain; the existing stock is truly dwindling with every bit used, so who wouldn't want to hoard more?

They are things that can save lives at critical moments!

Sometimes when preparing medicine, adding just a little of a certain ingredient can have miraculous effects!

Seeing that there was truly no share of these precious goods for them, and having to bear the blame for the "teahouse poisoning," the elders of the Medicine Gang looked as if they had been smeared with excrement, and they convened several meetings with the masters of various large and small medicine halls.

On the day Patrol Lieutenant Yang brought the medicinal materials back to Shenyi Gu, Wen Gu went to ask Doctor Tang for leave to go down the mountain to handle some business.

Doctor Tang readily agreed, and even wished he could urge Wen Gu to go down the mountain quickly to see how many medicinal materials were brought back and if there were any of the types he needed.

In the eyes of outsiders, "Rong Huan" was just going down the mountain to report on work again.

But in reality, after Patrol Lieutenant Yang brought the medicinal materials back to the valley, he first reported the progress of the mission to Wen Gu and detailed the completion of the task.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang's tone was excited, and the wind and frost of midwinter could not hide his flushed joy: "The medicinal materials found—have already been sent to the Pharmacist for preliminary identification and screening. It is a pity that some have already rotted, but most are still usable. A batch has been picked out and sent to Xinzhou!"

The several carts of goods he brought back with his troops this time did not actually contain only medicinal materials; it was just to cover eyes and ears and confuse the situation.

The medicinal materials moved out of the Cellar were left overnight for the Pharmacist to pick through and screen, records were made, and an important batch had already been transported to Xinzhou.

These were all planned in advance!

Medicinal materials are important supplies in these chaotic times; if they were all dragged back to the valley, they might not be kept safe.

Only by transporting these important things back to one's own territory is it the safest!

Every action must be swift!

Wen Gu praised him with satisfaction and said: "I have already sent a message via carrier bird; there will be people from the Xianshou Army to meet us along the way."

Therefore, as long as the action is fast enough, there is no fear of interception by the pursuing troops of the other major forces.

With the overseas medicinal materials and the medicinal materials from the deep mountains of the South, the chances of Pei Jun recovering will also be greater.

It would be a great pity if such a powerful combatant were to have their combat strength impaired due to wounds that are difficult to heal.

Wen Gu looked again at a map that Patrol Lieutenant Yang took out.

When digging for treasure in the County Town, Patrol Lieutenant Yang took people to move things from the Cellar and arranged for another person to draw a map outside.

This was also what Wen Gu had ordered beforehand, to draw out the layout of that area of houses.

Looking at the layout of that place and comparing it with the original distribution of residents in the County Town, Wen Gu took out paper and pen to sort out the thread of events.

He made a mark on the place where the medicinal materials were hidden: "This household originally lived with a young widow and her son; the household next door was lived in by a merchant. The merchant ran goods between the North and South and set up a small courtyard here to stay, but did not live there often."

Before the chaotic times, no one paid attention to the oddities within.

"According to what Zhang Dalang said, these two residences actually both belonged to the Su Family Eldest. The widow was actually a mistress kept by the Su Family Eldest."

"When the chaotic times broke out suddenly, the Su Family's medicinal materials were transported back, and a batch was hidden there—"

Looking at the volume and concealment of the Cellar there, it must have been used to temporarily hide medicinal materials before. After all, they had smuggled goods more than once.

But the Su Family Eldest did not expect that the guards in his home would harbor ulterior motives, and almost his entire family was wiped out.

Those who knew the secret of that batch of medicinal materials were all silenced by Zhang Dalang, including the mistress and illegitimate child kept by the Su Family Eldest.

At that time, when the Su Family incident occurred, Zhang Dalang went to the place where the medicinal materials were hidden and dug out some to use for networking and to seek benefits for himself, while the rest remained hidden.

Zhang Dalang did not want to hand all these medicinal materials over to the Medicine Gang; he was greedy and wanted to keep them all for himself.

Therefore, at that time, Zhang Dalang only thought about coming to the County Town every so often to dig out some medicinal materials for emergencies.

But Zhang Dalang underestimated the talents of the world.

He did not expect that the situation in the North would change too quickly, and the Six Great Clans would form rapidly and simultaneously set their sights on the fat piece of meat that was Shenyi Gu!

The garrison troops sent by the Six Great Clans to guard Shenyi Gu were not all staying in the valley; some were also stationed in the County Town.

Zhang Dalang panicked and could only take advantage of the chaos at the time to go to the place where the medicinal materials were hidden in the County Town, make the place look even more dilapidated, close the entrance to the Cellar, and cover it with a layer of soil.

And he broke the large water vat at the entrance.

Broken containers are not easily moved away by people, and the accumulation of fragments can make the surrounding troops avoid the area.

Fortunately, that place was also not within the range of the Six Great Clans' encampments, so it was able to be preserved until now.

It was just that it would be very difficult for Zhang Dalang to go and get medicinal materials for his own benefit again.

He was merely a street soldier in the Town; how could he enter the County Town occupied by the garrison at will?

After thinking it over, Zhang Dalang thought of a way.

He built a good relationship with the Medicine Gang while also fawning over Shopkeeper Wu's daughter.

"Shopkeeper Wu's house and shop are very close to where the medicinal materials are hidden!" Wen Gu made a mark on the map based on the information he had collected.

"If Zhang Dalang can marry Shopkeeper Wu's daughter, he would have a sufficient excuse to go to the County Town to help his father-in-law tidy up the house."

Although that area of houses and shops only had low wall foundations left on the ground, according to the customs and habits of this era, it was acceptable to go and perform some sacrificial rituals or the like at certain times of the year.

Many County Town residents who came to the valley to avoid disaster would return in winter to burn incense and sacrifice to the wandering souls.

These types of sacrificial activities were organized by the Medicine Gang, and the Six Great Clans' troops stationed in the County Town would not interfere much.

Zhang Dalang had planned it very well, but unfortunately, Shopkeeper Wu simply did not agree!

Zhang Dalang could only continue to play the part of being deeply affectionate, and on the surface, he also suffered quite a few grievances.

Compared to the huge benefits, what did these count for?

However, Zhang Dalang never expected that someone would dig all these things up!

All his efforts were in vain!

Wen Gu took out another piece of the latest information found: "The cause of death of Doctor Ji's apprentice who knew how to make glue is suspicious; Zhang Dalang must have had a hand in this too."

As for this person Zhang Dalang, he had no other skills, but when it came to harming others, his devious mind was particularly active!

The Su Family's caravan escaped back to the valley from the outside, and not long after, something happened.

Following that, Doctor Ji's apprentice encountered an accident while out one time.

Doctor Ji's apprentice had a wife and child at home, and when the incident occurred, his wife was already pregnant.

Doctor Ji had always thought that it was the apprentice's posthumous child, and he often had people in the sect take care of them.

But—

Patrol Lieutenant Yang had a subtle expression: "That so-called posthumous child is actually Zhang Dalang's?"

Wen Gu nodded.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang frowned and thought for a moment: "No wonder! No wonder Zhang Dalang hid the matter of the glue-making so well; under the interrogation of the Patrol Guard Division, he didn't say a single extra word and took it all upon himself!"

Knowing that he most likely could not escape, he would try his best to protect his biological child and keep the secret to the death!

And there was even someone else helping to raise the kid!

Just as Patrol Lieutenant Yang was thinking about the people and events involved and had just developed a sense of curiosity, he heard Wen Gu beside him say: "Write a letter to Doctor Tang."

As Wen Gu spoke, he took out a piece of paper filled with writing.

He had even helped draft it, and Patrol Lieutenant Yang only needed to transcribe it once.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang could not care about being curious anymore; he composed himself, took it with surprise, glanced at it quickly, and his face was soon filled with worry, yet he dared not refute it, only stammering: "This—is this too risky?"

The content written on the paper was to ask Doctor Tang to perform a detailed dissection on a Plague Ghost.

The Patrol Guard Division side would be responsible for having "the dispatched personnel Rong Huan" observe and record.

When in Xinzhou, Lao Zhao was not at ease letting Wen Gu come into close contact with the corpses of Plague Ghosts, but coming to Shenyi Gu, Wen Gu finally had the opportunity.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang was worried to death: "It is just observing and recording, why does the Deputy Envoy need to do it yourself?"

Wen Gu only said: "I have my own considerations."

There were some things he had to see with his own eyes.

In this era, there was no video recording, and understanding through the mouths of others was limited; he could only watch at the dissection site.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang was silent. The excitement of having just obtained a batch of medicinal materials completely disappeared at this moment, and he only thought about how to persuade Wen Gu to change his mind.

Wen Gu glanced at the conflicted expression on the other's face and said: "Doctor Tang has dissected many Plague Ghost corpses and is skilled at this kind of thing. Moreover, this time we might be able to move Doctor Ji; it is a rare opportunity! With two great famous doctors taking action, I only need to watch from the side."

Patrol Lieutenant Yang had been stationed at Shenyi Gu for a long time and had access to a lot of intelligence information, so he had some understanding of that Doctor Ji.

Although he had not met him many times, from the collected intelligence, it could be known that Doctor Ji lived in seclusion, was usually not very willing to have contact with the Six Great Clans of Beidi, and transactions were all done by people from the Medicine Gang.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang then said: "Even with overseas medicinal materials, it might not be possible to move this person."

Doctor Ji's professional focus was not used much, and the overseas medicinal materials found did not have enough appeal to him.

Wen Gu said: "If material things cannot move him, then use personal favors."

It just so happened that this matter involved one of his personal disciples; being able to make Doctor Ji owe a favor was, of course, an excellent opportunity!

Given Doctor Ji's temperament, he would not be willing to leave a favor unpaid for long.

Wen Gu would give him the opportunity to repay the favor!

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