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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

n“Wang Yide, open the door!”

n“Who’s calling me!” Wang Yide was unstable on his feet when he came to the door. When he opened the door, he was stunned.

nPolice!

nThe policemen standing outside the door were also shocked.

n“Damn, this guy is holding a knife!”

n“What are you doing?”

nIt was unknown how much Wang Yide had drunk; he was not thinking clearly. He seemed to have lost control of his speech and motor functions. There was an accompanying action with his words as his right hand was waving a knife.

n“Huh? What’s this thing in my hand?”

n“What’s this guy doing?!”

n“Wang Yide, what are you doing? Put the knife down!” There was a muscular man behind the town policemen who shouted when he saw what Wang Yide was doing.

nAh!

nWang Yide was stupefied. The two policemen saw him motionless and immediately pinned him to the ground.

nThud! The sharp knife dropped to the ground and was thrown far away.

nTwo men tightly pinned the alcohol-reeking Wang Yide to the ground. They took out handcuffs and handcuffed him and took him to the police car outside.

n“What right do you have to take me; I didn’t do anything wrong!” Wang Yide was still agitated and was vigorously struggling.

n“You’d better stop it!” One of the policemen went forward and smacked him. At that point, he halted and sobered up slightly.

n“Brother, you have to help me; I didn’t do anything wrong!” Wang Yide twisted his head to look at the muscular man behind him and exclaimed.

n“Once you’re at the police station, cooperate with our police comrades,” the muscular man calmly said.

nHe was the village’s joint defense officer. At night, while at home watching television, he suddenly received a call from the town’s police station saying that there would be two policemen who needed his help. Ordinarily, the village defense officer and the police station’s relationship was good, so when he heard their request, he immediately inquired what the problem was. But, the other party merely said that they were looking for someone and did not indicate the name. Shortly after, the two policemen had arrived at the village, and when he heard them say the name of the person they were looking for, the man named Wang Jiangang knew that there was going to be trouble tonight.

nWhen they arrived at this person’s house and saw the man waving a knife, he started to have a throbbing headache. He had brought the two police officers to this place himself. If there were to be an accident, he would be unable to avoid responsibility. At that time, he was tempted to roll down this drunken, senseless man with a rod.

nYou have the nerve to call me brother and ask me for help? You’re dragging me into the mud! Just you wait! Wang Jiangang’s inner voice was shouting. That man was famous for being a scoundrel in the village and got into trouble all the time. Going to the police station would be a good lesson for him.

n“Go in!” One of the policemen pressed down Wang Yide’s head and jammed him into the police car.

nThe police cars’ siren light flashed and left.

n…

nAround an hour later, in the town’s police station’s duty room.

n“I did barge into private property, but I did not threaten anyone!” Wang Yide finally realized why he was brought here in the middle of the night—it was because of Wang Fenghua’s family! They had called the police to report that he had trespassed on private property and threatened them!

nTo his conscience, before he entered the house, he had knocked on the door and shouted out loud. Before leaving, he had shouted some unpleasant words. Could those be considered threats?

n“You think about it carefully!” one of the policemen slammed the desk and said. He was very irritated that night. They had to make a trip to the village all because he had suddenly received a call saying that someone had trespassed on private property, making threats. The caller had even named the culprit.

nIn spite of the fact that there might be some personal connections involved, he immediately left the station, not expecting to be met with such a mess. After shouting at the man to open the door, the man who opened the door had waved a knife and had given them such a shock. If they were not careful and got stabbed, they might have gotten seriously injured and end up becoming martyrs. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

n“Just now you were so aggressive, and now you are begging for pardon. It’s too late!”

n“I wasn’t!”

n“What were you doing in the middle of the night carrying a knife?”

n“I was afraid there were bad guys!” Wang Yao said.

n“Bad guys? What bad guys!” The two policemen heard him and became enraged.

n“Now we are the bad guys, and you are the good guy—a good guy holding a knife. Good, very good! Do you know that you were attacking an officer of the law?” one of the policemen said.

n“I—I did not!”

n“According to the People’s Republic of China’s Regulation of Public Security, clause number 50…” one of the policeman behaved as though he was memorizing a book and cited a legal provision.

n“Fine and detention!”

nUpon hearing these words, Wang Yide was shocked into submission. Although he had always gotten into trouble in the village, it was his first time in the police station. He was scared and solidly regretted what he did!

n“Police, friends, I was wrong!”

n“Tell us more. What did you do wrong?”

n…

nThe next day, before daybreak, Wang Yao woke up, made himself breakfast, gave the dog some dog food and began a busy day. The villagers down the hill had also begun a busy day.

n“What, detained?”

nIn the early morning, there were a few families who heard of the shocking news that Wang Yao was taken in by the police to the police station the night before and was still not back yet.

n“What did he do?”

n“Who knows.”

n“He deserves it; he should have behaved!”

nIn the early morning, the gossip had cascaded throughout the village.

nIn the sky, white clouds were drifting, and the sun was bright and dazzling.

n…

nOn Nanshan hill, in the cottage, there was a pot, a few herbs, and a mild herbal scent wafting through. Wang Yao was decocting a formula for Wang Mingbao’s father.

nRadix sophora flavescens, citrus trifoliate, kudzu vine root…

nThese were common herbs whereas the formula was an ancient one. Wang Yao had added an exception—little glossy ganoderma and Shanjing, to supplement vitality.

nWoof, woof, woof. The dog’s barks rang out from outside indicating that there should be someone coming up the hill. As Wang Yao was still decocting, he did not move.

n“Let him in,” he shouted outside, and the barks outside stopped.

n“Your dog is psychic; he can even understand what you say.” Pushing open the door was Wang Mingbao. “Decocting again?”

n“Yes, tea is on the table; help yourself.”

n“Sure.” Wang Mingbao heard him and helped himself to a cup of West Lake Longjing tea. Carrying the cup, he took a stool and sat beside Wang Yao.

n“Your patience is admirable. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

n“I’m used to it,” Wang Yao smiled and said.

n“Tell me what’s going on. You were not clear over the phone.”

nWang Mingbao came here because of what transpired the night before. After the incident happened on the afternoon of the day before, Wang Yao pondered over it for a long time and then called Wang Mingbao. He told him what he thought and Wang Mingbao was stoked. He was furious that someone in the village had dared to bully his best friend. Hence he immediately called his connections and that led to the policemen entering the village that night and taking Wang Yao to the police station for an interrogation.

nPut nicely, they were using the law to protect their rights and not be bullied by others. Put baldly, they were taking revenge at the expense of public interest. In other words, they were giving the man a hard time.

nTo this, Wang Yao had thought it over. He wanted some people to know that he and his family were not pushovers and could not be coerced. Faced with a villager who did not know his limits and would not stop being shameless despite being shown reason, he had no choice but to resort to extreme actions!

nWang Yao calmly related the entire matter to Wang Mingbao, as he had not elaborated in detail to him over the phone the night before.

n“Eh? All this time in the village and I was not able to tell that this Wang Yao had such a shameless side to him.” Wang Mingbao was laughing in anger after listening to him.

n“Yes, I have experienced that side of him now, too,” Wang Yao commented and added wood to the fire.

n“I won’t let this matter rest!” Wang Mingbao said.

n…

nIn Lianshan County, county hospital.

n“Why isn’t your brother here?” the old man was a little anxious when he asked.

n“Don’t worry. I’ll accompany you.”

nHe finally got to see the specialist, yet his son was not around. He had no choice but to do the check-up accompanied by his daughter.

n“No problem. This is benign, and it is not big. At your age, you shouldn’t do surgery. Just take medication to control it. There’s a possibility of it reducing the tumor.”

nHearing the doctor’s words, the old man and his daughter felt a sense of relief. Returning to the ward, the daughter’s phone rang. After picking it up and hearing a few words, her face turned ashen.

n“What? What’s going on?”

n“Father, I need to go home for a while; there’s something I need to deal with. Later I’ll get Qinggang to accompany you!” the woman said.

n“If you have matters to attend to, go. I’m okay here,” the old man responded.

n“Okay, I’ll be back in the afternoon,” the woman said and left swiftly.

n…

nOn Nanshan hill, Wang Yao shifted the pot away from the fire and poured the decoction into a bottle.

n“Here, this decoction is for Uncle Wang. Drink it warm, and finish it within two days.”

n“Thank you.” Wang Mingbao stayed for a short while and then left.

n“On that matter, don’t overdo it,” Wang Yao exhorted.

n“Don’t worry; I know what to do. If not for the fact that we are from the same village, I would have caused him even more grief!” Wang Mingbao said coldly.

nAfter Wang Mingbao left, Wang Yao went uphill and moved a piece of rock that was three feet tall and a foot wide.

nHis array had trees, rocks, and water. The trees were like a frame, like the bones were to a human. The rocks were like an assistant, like the internal organs of a human body. Lastly, the water was like a spirit, like the blood flowing through the veins.

nHere!

nThe rock had a specific location; Wang Yao used his strength and pressed the rock down, deep into the ground. This was the fourth one. In this array, nine such rocks were required, separately placed in different locations. This part of Nanshan hill that had suitable and usable rocks was all used up.

n“I’ll have to go to the other side to find more.” Having said that, he was prepared to scale the hill to get to the other side of Nanshan hill to find suitable rocks.

nCaw! In the sky, a sudden eagle call was heard.

nWang Yao gazed at the sky and saw the eagle swooping down, dropping an item in front of him. The eagle flew to a nearby tree. Bowing his head to look, he saw a bloody wild rabbit.

n“What’s this, Da Xia?

nCaw, the eagle called.

nWoof, woof, woof. The dog who had been by Wang Yao’s side yelped excitedly.

n“Roasted rabbit?”

nWang Yao knew what these two creatures were thinking. Since the first time he had roasted rabbit meat for them, they seemed to have acquired a taste for it. Whenever the eagle caught wild game, it would drop it off with Wang Yao, who would roast it for the eagle and the dog. Wild game included mice too.

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