798 Outside the Hill

In a remote town in southern Yunnan, thousands of miles away…

Within the mountain, the scenery was picturesque. A villa was built on the hillside. Due to the geographical situation, it retained the original nature of the ecological system as much as possible, trying not to destroy trees and rock formations.

In a wooden house, a young man under 30 and a middle-aged man, who looked over 40, were sitting across from each other. There was a pot of tea on the table that had a light fragrance.

"What do you mean by what you said just now?" Guo Zhenghe said.

"Secretary Guo, I am afraid, I am really afraid, " the man said. "I am sick, and my daughter is sick. Thank you. If not for your introduction, my daughter and I would now be lying in bed or even dead. If we can live, the amount of money no longer matters. I have already transferred the mountain away."

Guo Zhenghe did not speak. He picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. He stared at the man in front of him for a long time. He finally said, "I see. Come back then."

"Thank you, Secretary Guo." The man rose and bowed to Guo Zhenghe. "If you have any other matters for which you need me, please don't hesitate to ask. But I can't do this."

Guo Zhenghe waved his hand. After the man left, he sat alone in the room. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Interesting!"

The village was in a valley deep within the mountains. There were continuous peaks on both sides of it. There was only one way to get into and out of the mountains. Two men were halfway up one side of the mountain.

"Senior, this can't be good," Zhao Yinghao said. "If the Master's uncle knows about it, we'll be in trouble!"

"You're just too careful, and you look down on Master," Miao Qingfeng said. "He already knows. We're just out to take a breather. We didn't leave directly, so it's OK. He'll at most add three months to our grounding."

"More time?" Zhao Yinghao asked.

"Why? Still thinking of revenge?" Miao Qingfeng responded.

"Of course, Master's revenge must be paid back," Zhao Yinghao said.

"Wait a minute," Miao Qingfeng said. "What kind of person is that Wang Yao? How could he have such amazing skills?

"I only know his name, and that Master's death has something to do with him. If not for him..." Zhao Yinghao did not continue speaking.

What happened that night was still vivid in his mind. His master wanted revenge, which would inevitably hurt the villagers in that village. Therefore, Wang Yao retaliated with thunderous means. They could not fight back at all.

"You may not be able to avenge him even with another 10 years of practice unless Master personally attacks," Miao Qingfeng said.

"There's no need to trouble Master's uncle for that," Zhao Yinghao said.

"Master has not been out of the mountain for five or six years," Miao Qingfeng said. "He has been in meditation. He probably won't go out in the next two years as well."

Caw! With a cry, a white crane flew up into the sky from the village. It soon came above their heads and circled them.

"Master told us to go down, so let's go," Miao Qingfeng said after staring at the bird a moment.

The two of them went down the mountain and came to the tallest wooden house in the valley. A man with a pale golden face sat on a futon.

"I asked you to meditate," the man said. "Did you meditate up the hill?"

"Master, hehe, it's too stuffy to stay in the house all the time," Miao Qingfeng said with a laugh. "We went out for a breather."

"Did you really just want to go out and take a breather?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"Yes," Miao Qingfeng replied.

"Well, there's something that needs to be done by reliable people," the middle-aged man said. "It shall be the two of you."

"What's the thing, Master?" Miao Qingfeng asked.

"There's a Ganoderma lucidum I need. Bring it back to me," the middle-aged man said.

"Ganoderma lucidum?" Miao Qingfeng asked.

"Yes, it's not small too. It's located here." The middle-aged man took out a note and handed it to him. "Bring it back in its entirety."

"Don't worry, Master," Miao Qingfeng said.

"Be careful. Safety first," the middle-aged man said.

"Understood, let's go, Junior," Miao Qingfeng said.

The two men left the cabin. The middle-aged man breathed a long, somewhat weird breath, which dissipated three feet away.

"At last, we can go out and take a breather," Miao Qingfeng said.

"Is the village far from this one?" Zhao Yinghao asked.

"It's not too far, about 62 miles away," Mia Qingfeng said. "It's a small county town on the edge. Clean up. We'll go right away."

"Right now?" Zhao Yinghao asked.

"Yes, what if Master changes his mind?" Mia Qingfeng asked.

The two gathered some necessities as quickly as possible and walked out of the village. Outside it was a dense jungle with a narrow road. Everyone going in and out of the village had to go take the path. Most people walked, though some road horses. It had been like this for centuries.

Zhao Yinghao seemed to hear something and suddenly stopped. He looked into the deep woods next to him. He asked, "Is someone there?"

"It's alright," Mia Qingfeng said. "It's the guardian of the village. He knows us. He's out to run errands at the command of the patriarch."

The woods were silent. There was no echo.

"Let's go," Mia Qingfeng said.

The two continued. They walked for nearly two hours before they saw a decent road, but there were no cars on it.

"Keep going," Mia Qingfeng said.

After walking for more than an hour, they saw an old car by the side of the road. A man in his 50s was smoking as he leaned against the window.

"Uncle, can we get a ride?" Mia Qingfeng asked.

"Mountain people?" the man asked.

"Valley people," Mia Qingfeng replied.

"Get in," the man said.

The car started. It shook as it spewed black smoke and eventually jerked forward.

"Uncle, you should get a new car," Mia Qingfeng said.

"Why?" the man asked. "I just reviewed it this year."

"Can it pass like this?" Mia Qingfeng asked.

"Of course, what do you think?" the man replied.

It took an hour to drive to the nearest town.

"Alright, I'll let you off here," the man said. "You'll have to find your own way."

"Alright, thank you," Mia Qingfeng said.

The man drove back along the same road in the shaking car.

"Ah, let's go and find a place to have a drink first," Mia Qingfeng aid.

"Drinking? What about the thing that Master's uncle had asked us to do?" Zhao Yinghao asked.

"It's alright. Somebody's looking after that thing!" Miao Qingfeng smiled as he waved his hand. "After being grounded for such a long time, I haven't drunk a single sip of alcohol. My tongue is going numb."

"Senior, we should drink less. It is not conducive for practice," Zhao Yinghao said.

"Tsk, you're young but such an antique," Miao Qingfeng replied.

They found a restaurant and ordered several dishes and two bottles of wine. The senior hugged a bottle and drank from it as if he was drinking mineral water.

"Ah, so good!"

Thousands of miles away, in Dao…

"The Hou family has been so quiet lately!" Sun Zhengrong stood by the landing window and looked out at the scenery.

"I don't know why, but they seem to want to let the matter rest," Lin Sitao said.

"Letting the matter rest is not in line with their personality and habits," Sun Zhengrong said. "Maybe they're just waiting for the right time. After all, that one is quite busy at the moment and might not want to cause more trouble at this time."

Lin Sitao didn't reply.

Sun Zhengrong changed the topic. "What's the matter with that Sihai Trading Company?"

"We're looking into it," Lin Sitao said. "At least three people are known to have killed someone."

"That many?" Sun Zhengrong was surprised.

"Yes, one has been captured, and the other two are away," Lin Sitao said. "They're probably not coming back."

"What trade do they do?" Sun Zhengrong asked.

"It's mainly dealing in pharmaceuticals with a company in Dongying, along with health care products and so on," Lin Sitao said.

"Dongying?" Sun Zhengrong was silent for a long time. "The head of that company is Jiro Musashi, right? Has he committed crimes here?"

"Yes, he harmed a girl," Lin Sitao said.

"Cut off all our business dealings with them immediately," Sun Zhengrong said.

"Yes," Lin Sitao replied.

"On top of that, have somebody follow him," Sun Zhengrong said.

"Noted." Lin Sitao withdrew from the room, leaving Sun Zhengrong standing alone in front of the window and looking out.

Knock! Knock!

Someone was knocking on the door. Sun Zhengrong said, "Enter."

Lin Sitao, who had just gone out, came in again.

"What's wrong?" Sun Zhengrong asked.

"We found someone selling organs," Lin Sitao said with a bleak expression.

"Selling organs?" Sun Zhengrong's face immediately turned gloomy. "Is it related to us?"

"It's someone in the dark," Lin Sitao said. "He's been with Hao before."

"With whom?" Sun Zhengrong asked.

"Dongying," Lin Sitao said.

"He's seeking death," Sun Zhengrong angrily said. "Arrange for Hao to investigate this matter carefully, and go and find Director Du immediately!"