Chapter 255 254: Very Capable

"My brother is seriously injured, but he isn't dead yet! If you don't hurry up and save him, he's really going to die!"

Mu Lin was starting to get the picture. He turned and saw a man walking toward him.

The man's face was a grim sight, and his left arm was broken. From the look of the wound, Mu Lin judged it must have happened recently.

The middle-aged man walked up to Mu Lin and looked him in the eye.

"Sir, Miss Tang said you're very capable?"

Mu Lin said, "I'm alright. I know a thing or two. But saving a life shouldn't be a problem."

The middle-aged man pursed his lips. 'This Mu Lin guy sure talks big,' he thought. 'Can he really do anything?'

But at this point, he had to take any chance he could get. "I'm Wu Henghai, captain of Team Eight in the Nanjiang Province branch of the Military Suppression Bureau."

Mu Lin gave Wu Henghai a nod of acknowledgment.

"And you are?"

"I'm Mu Lin."

Wu Henghai said to Mu Lin, "Ah, so you're her boyfriend, right? She called you immediately. She must trust you a great deal."

Mu Lin pursed his lips. 'What am I supposed to say to that?'

'If I call her out on it, it'll just hurt Tang Shuang's feelings.'

He didn't get it. 'Why do so many women want to pretend to be my girlfriend?'

'We haven't even held hands. Why is everyone in such a rush?'

Mu Lin let out a long sigh, then said, "Yes, I am."

Wu Henghai began to explain slowly. "Let me fill you in. A group of heretical Martial Artists have been causing trouble all over Songyang. Their activities started affecting the lives of ordinary citizens, so we were dispatched to apprehend them."

"Our preparations were meticulous. We set up checkpoints in layers. But we never expected one of the heretical cultivators to have a breakthrough during the fight. He leaped from a Mid-stage Grandmaster to a Late-stage Grandmaster. After that, I was outmatched..."

"I'm only a Late-stage Grandmaster myself. I was caught completely off guard. He had the element of surprise and seized the advantage. I was also poisoned by him and nearly died."

Mu Lin glanced at him. "The poison you were hit with... was it Immortal Drunk? The kind that makes your Inner Strength and True Qi stagnate completely?"

"Yes. You know of it?" Wu Henghai had thought all information on Immortal Drunk was held exclusively by the Military Suppression Bureau, but now he realized that wasn't the case.

This meant Mu Lin had his own sources of information. He wasn't the harmless young man he appeared to be.

"If it's Immortal Drunk, then Tang Zhi isn't just wounded—he's poisoned, too, correct? It's unlikely a heretical cultivator like that wouldn't use poison. That's why the hospital doctors can't treat such a complex condition."

These are doctors who treat ordinary people. How could they possibly have encountered a condition this complicated?

"You're right. The doctors said all they can do is prolong his life for as long as possible. They said it'll be very difficult to save him."

Mu Lin said, "Actually, as long as you have the antidote for the poison, even a regular doctor could treat him."

"That's true," Wu Henghai said with a nod.

Mu Lin asked, "Did you find what the heretical cultivator was carrying? Was the poison among his things?"

Wu Henghai replied, "We confiscated everything, but he was carrying many different types. I wouldn't dare guess which specific poison was used on Tang Zhi."

"I can," Mu Lin said simply. "Bring all the samples to me. I'll identify it."

Wu Henghai felt a headache coming on. 'How can the person Tang Shuang called be so reckless?'

'It takes years of training for a Pharmacist to be able to identify poisons. How could a kid like him possibly be qualified?'

'If Mu Lin really had that kind of skill, how could the Military Suppression Bureau not know about him?'

"Mr. Mu, I appreciate the offer, but a life is at stake here. I can't let you waste this precious chance."

Mu Lin's eyes narrowed. "Waste? Are you saying I'm here to cause trouble?"

"I didn't say that. I mean, we should let the professionals handle their own business."

Mu Lin said, "I am a professional! Every second counts right now. If this is a fast-acting poison, it'll be too late by the time your people arrive!"

A team member standing nearby was put off by Mu Lin's arrogance and snapped, "Insolence! You think some random nobody like you is better than our Pharmacist? Stop interfering with our operation, or you'll find that our laws don't show mercy!"

Mu Lin raised an eyebrow. Wu Henghai's heart skipped a beat; he sensed Mu Lin might be getting angry and felt a pang of apprehension. He quickly said:

"Mr. Mu, forgive my bluntness, but can you really identify the poison that quickly?"

Mu Lin replied, "What's so difficult about it? I don't understand why you think it's such a hard task."

"Because our teammate's life is precious!" the team member who had rebuked Mu Lin retorted, his voice rising in anger.

Mu Lin shot back, "And Tang Shuang's brother's life isn't? You think I'm just messing around?"

The Military Suppression Bureau agent puffed out his chest, ready to retort, but Wu Henghai stopped him. "That's enough! Quiet down. He's not a bad guy, why are you so determined to treat him like one?"

Wu Henghai was at his wit's end. If they kept this up, they'd run out of time.

Wu Henghai was getting anxious, watching Tang Zhi's life slip away.

"Mr. Mu, I'll leave it in your hands!"

Mu Lin gave a silent nod.

Wu Henghai made a call, and a moment later, someone came running over.

It wasn't who Mu Lin had expected, however. Instead of a Military Suppression Bureau agent carrying the poisons, it was a group of medical personnel in white lab coats.

The woman leading them was beautiful. She had large eyes, fair skin, and small, cherry-like lips. Paired with her exquisite makeup, she had an air of limitless charm.

Her gaze was sharp and her aura, aggressive. It was clear she was an intelligent woman.

"Who's the one who said they'd identify the poison by smell? Step forward! I've got a discount coupon for a plot at West Mountain Cemetery I'd like to give you!"

The moment Mu Lin heard her voice, he knew she was trouble.

Mu Lin stepped forward. "That would be me. Do you have some guidance for me?"

Wu Henghai, nursing his headache, could only step forward. "Mr. Mu, this is our Pharmacist, Miss Ling Qiao."

Then he turned to her. "Ling Qiao, this is the victim's family. Don't be so confrontational."

"I want to take him down a peg!" Ling Qiao said, her sharp gaze fixed on Mu Lin.

'Getting worked up over pride at a time like this.'

Mu Lin couldn't understand why this well-endowed but clearly dim-witted woman had such a temper, or why Wu Henghai was being so polite to her.

'Isn't he the captain?'

"Is this how your elders taught you to behave when they sent you out into the world? To pick fights while a man's life hangs in the balance?"

Mu Lin started walking, intending to go around Ling Qiao and get straight to the poisons.

The person carrying the tray of poisons was walking at the very back, his meek, submissive expression suggesting he was often bullied.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to find the poison and cure him," Mu Lin said, his gaze just as sharp as Ling Qiao's as he met her stare.

"We don't need you to interfere! Even *I* can't identify it by smell. I refuse to believe some random nobody can just sniff it out."

"Our analysis team is on it. We don't need your help!"

Mu Lin retorted, "By the time your analysis is done, Tang Zhi will be dead. He's weak and poisoned. How long do you think he can last?"

"Who said you can't try? But you have to state what punishment you'll accept if you're wrong!"

Mu Lin smiled faintly. "Punishment? What did you have in mind?"

"You'll be my human guinea pig for a full year!"

Mu Lin laughed. "Is that all? What's so hard about that?"

Ling Qiao turned, clearing the path to the poisons, her eyes boring into Mu Lin.

Mu Lin walked up to the team member holding the tray of poisons. One by one, he opened the vials, gently wafting the air toward his nose to catch the faint scent.

'What a poser,' Ling Qiao thought with a cold smirk. 'It might be the proper technique, but seeing him do it is like watching a monkey in a crown. Utterly ridiculous.'

Mu Lin went through them one by one, then set down the final vial.

Finally, he took a sniff of Tang Zhi's blood sample.

He paused for a moment in thought, mentally comparing the scents.

Seeing this, Ling Qiao laughed mockingly. "Weren't you so full of yourself? Cat got your tongue? Go on, tell us. Which one is it?"

Mu Lin shot Ling Qiao a sideways glare, then picked out one of the vials. He held it carefully between two fingers and presented it to her.

"This is the one."

"Are you sure? If you're wrong, one year of your life is mine."

"Go run your tests if you don't believe me. But it'll be a waste of time."