Chapter 167: Pill Completed

A massive, light-colored sun hat covered most of her face, revealing only a gentle, bright jawline and a delicate, fair chin.

The brim brushed against the tassels. As a breeze blew past, a few strands of dark hair fluttered across her lips; she looked as if she had just stepped out of a painting.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and come here." Huang Lan grabbed my shoulder and dragged me toward a less crowded section of the old street. This business elite, five or six years my senior, completely ignored the ancient teaching that men and women should not touch. She looked left and right, as if trying to avoid someone.

"What are you doing here?" She breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming no one had seen her. Taking off the hat, she let her long, flowing hair cascade over her shoulders.

"A friend asked me to buy a specific Chinese medicinal herb. I searched all over Jiangcheng and couldn't find it, so I came here to try my luck."

"Chinese medicine? What kind?"

I hesitated for a moment, but told her anyway. "Huang Xue."

"Why do you need Huang Xue? That herb isn't easy to find. It looks very similar to a few others, making it extremely easy to mistake, so very few people use it." Having followed Huang Boyuan since childhood, Huang Lan had picked up an excellent understanding of Chinese medicine over the years.

"It's someone else's request; I'm just running an errand." Brushing her off casually to divert her attention, I glanced at the bustling crowd outside and continued, "And what are you doing here? I heard this is the largest raw Chinese medicine market in central and South China, and the big boss behind it is Huang Boyuan. Aren't you afraid of being spotted by his people?"

"It wouldn't be a big deal if they did. Huang Boyuan probably already knows I've returned to the country." Despite her words, Huang Lan subconsciously put her sun hat back on, lowering the brim to cover most of her face. "I came here today to look into Huang Boyuan's operations and see exactly what the supply sources are for Qian Ding Pharmaceutical Company."

"Why are you looking into this? The executive director of Ganding Pharmaceuticals is your father. You aren't planning to go up against him, are you?"

"You actually guessed right." Huang Lan smiled and looked up. Seeing her stubborn, determined gaze, I knew this strong-willed woman wasn't joking with me.

"After graduating, I studied abroad and earned my doctorate from Wharton Business School. For the last few years, I've been promoting Eastern Chinese medicine in Europe. During this time, I reached a consensus with several financial syndicates to make Chinese medicine recognized worldwide."

"What does that have to do with Huang Boyuan? Do you need his approval to open up overseas markets?"

"You underestimate Huang Boyuan. Almost all the rarest and most precious Chinese medicinal herbs in central and South China are monopolized by him. For example, a rare herb like Huang Xue can only be bought in his shops." Huang Lan sighed. "Moreover, Huang Boyuan is deeply conservative at his core. He knows the wonders of Chinese medicine perfectly well, but he is unwilling to promote it to the West, especially the prescriptions and certain special processing techniques."

"There's that much complexity to Chinese medicine?"

"Of course. Take the Huang Xue you want, for example. It looks exactly like Feng Jiu and smells like Bull's Eye Water Caltrop, but its medicinal properties are entirely different. It also needs to be dried in the sun for a period of time before brewing, otherwise its medicinal effects can't be fully released."

"Alright, but those shouldn't be your reasons for going after Huang Boyuan, right? Besides, he has been operating in Jiangcheng for years, and his medicines are sold all over central and South China. It's not very realistic for a weak woman like you to break his monopoly." Deep down, I didn't want to see the father and daughter fighting. They were a family, after all; there was no need to draw swords.

To my surprise, Huang Lan nodded. "You have a point, and I admit I'm not as capable as Huang Boyuan. That's why I found a very reliable partner in Jiangcheng—Jiangjin Real Estate."

"You're teaming up with the Jiang family to deal with your own father?" I simply couldn't believe it. "Are you crazy?"

"First, in business, there is no father and daughter. Second, a man who could kill his own wife doesn't deserve to be my father at all!" Speaking up to this point, Huang Lan finally revealed the true reason. Everything still stemmed from that misunderstanding twenty years ago.

"Don't say that. I've already investigated what happened twenty years ago. The murderer was someone else."

I told Huang Lan everything I had seen in Huang Xue's dream in full detail. Although she was somewhat skeptical, I provided reasonable explanations for every question she raised, recreating everything that had happened in that small cabin back then.

"It's been twenty years since these things happened. How could you investigate so clearly?" She looked up at me. "And this Two-Faced Buddha you mentioned—in my entire life, I've never heard anyone other than you bring him up. Did you take Huang Boyuan's money to make up a story to fool me?"

I couldn't possibly tell her about the existence of the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman and the Underworld Live Show. Since we had reached this point, there was nothing I could do if she still didn't believe me. "In short, don't rush to sign an agreement with Jiangjin Real Estate. I suggest you find Huang Boyuan and have a good talk with him. I believe he'd be very happy to have a heart-to-heart conversation with his long-lost daughter."

Huang Lan fell silent for a moment before shaking her head. "Once I finish looking into Ganding Pharmaceuticals' supply channels, I'm going to the Jiang family tomorrow to finalize the agreement. This is already arranged and won't change."

As if afraid she might change her mind, she took a finely packaged bag of herbs from her handbag and handed it to me. "This contains processed Huang Xue. I originally prepared it for my sister to replenish her qi and blood from staying up late, but since you need it urgently, I'll give it to you."

Huang Lan shoved the Chinese medicine into my hands, then turned and walked briskly away.

Watching her retreating figure, I suddenly felt that this woman was very similar to Huang Boyuan's wife in the dream—not just in figure and appearance, but also in her temperament of being gentle on the outside and tough on the inside.

"Your family really knows how to stir things up." I smiled bitterly and put away the medicine. Huang Boyuan refused to hand the painting scroll over to me, and Lu Xing would make a move against him sooner or later. Now that Huang Lan was stirring up this mess, Jiangcheng would likely be thrown into utter chaos soon.

With all the medicinal herbs purchased, I took a ride back to Ting Tang Road. I placed the large pile of herbs on the table and poured them all into the rice cooker according to the dosages on the prescription.

"Will it explode?"

The prescription stated to simmer it over a low flame for two hours. I followed the instructions, but after only forty minutes, a pungent smell of Chinese medicine began wafting from the rice cooker.

"Why are the pills exchanged from the Underworld Live Show sweet and tasty? Could it be because of the rice cooker?"

After suffering through a two-hour wait, I nervously unplugged the power cord. Then I grabbed the lid, hesitating whether to open it. I hadn't even been this tense when lifting coffin lids.

"Here goes nothing!" I lifted the lid, and a massive cloud of steam billowed out of the cooker.

When the steam dissipated, I pinched my nose and peered into the rice cooker. It was a large, pitch-black mass. If I told people this thing was a meteorite, someone would probably believe it.

"Is this edible?" I dug out a piece with a spoon, intending to try a taste, but the moment my lips touched it, an overwhelming bitterness drilled straight down my throat.

"This taste is way too overpowering!"

Holding the small spoon, I felt that human willpower alone wasn't enough to handle this thing. So, I turned to look at Bai Qi, who was huddled under the table. "I have some highly nourishing Chinese medicine here. Do you want a taste?"

Upon hearing my "kind and gentle" voice, Bai Qi darted straight out of the shop doors and bolted frantically down the street.

"This dog is seriously too smart..."

This large pot of medicine had cost a lot of money; it would be a shame to throw it away. I took a deep breath, raised the spoon, and scooped the medicine into my mouth.

Don't even mention "melting in the mouth"—saying it tasted like chewing wax would be a compliment. It felt like my mouth was stuffed with sawdust. It took the same courage I needed to face an Underworld Live Show live broadcast just to swallow it.

"I hope I don't get medicine poisoning. If worse comes to worst, I'll go to the hospital and get my stomach pumped." I waited for over ten minutes. There was no pain in my stomach; instead, a surge of warmth blossomed between my spleen and kidneys.

"It's working. Good medicine tastes bitter, after all!" I circulated the Profound Truth Mental Method, silently digesting the medicinal energy. Once the effects were absorbed, I forced myself to eat another bite.

Little by little, the unhealed wounds on my body showed signs of improvement. My body was filled with a comforting warmth, and the mark of violent death left on the bridge of my nose from the fight with the black magician gradually began to fade.

I cultivated until late into the night. By the time Bai Qi sneaked back into the shop, I had already eaten seventy to eighty percent of that large pot of medicine.

Perhaps from over-cultivating, I was now feeling dizzy. I checked my watch, then walked up to the second floor alone to rest.

"The thin thread isn't broken, so no one has come in. It's safer if I stand guard on the second floor tonight." Lying on the bed, I originally intended to sit in meditation, but it wasn't long before I fell asleep.

...

In the dead of the silent night, the pitch-black coffin lid slowly slid open a crack, and strands of black hair began to spill out from within.