Chapter 70: Medicine

There was a slight change in Chen Chuan’s gaze as he realized something.

These are all forbidden medicines!

He looked at the fallen people around him. By the looks of it, they were going to make a trade here as Chen Chuan just so happened to come for his mission.

He shook his head. These people only had their bad luck to blame.

He threw away the medicine he took out and walked over to deliver a few swift kicks to the people still wailing in pain on the ground. They all fell silent.

Chen Chuan walked over to the well with his flashlight and checked his watch. It was a little over 8:50 p.m. It was about time for the child in the well to show up.

So, he put the bucket down and swished it a little. Since he was not familiar with drawing water from a well, he only managed to draw about half a bucket of water, but that was enough.

He brought the black beans and soybeans from his bicycle and put them in the water before putting the bucket on the rim. Then, he slowly stepped away.

It was soon 9 p.m. Chen Chuan waited for a few minutes while checking his watch, but saw nothing in the well.

Just as he was wondering whether he got the wrong place, he heard faint splashing and rustling. The soft noise was crystal clear in the silent night.

Chen Chuan turned off the flashlight and looked over with the dim moonlight as his sole source of light. Soon, a seemingly cute child climbed out from the well while making childish babbles.

Chen Chuan focused his attention on the “child.”

It was no child, but a fat monster that looked like a cross between an insect and a fish. Its lower body was made of a row of slug-like limbs, while the fleshy hump on its back looked like the upper body of a baby that was a few months old.

The creature started squealing after it climbed out of the well, then dived head first into the bucket.

Chen Chuan grabbed the sturdy waterproof bag he had prepared and threw it over the bucket before turning it upside down to dump the creature and the water into the bag. Then, he removed the bucket and tied the bag up with only a slit left open for the creature to breathe.

Just then, he noticed that his second self was blurring out a little, and something stirred in his heart. This was quite similar to what had happened on Smoked Hills.

Was it because of the child in the well? What exactly was it?

Fortunately, the damage was weak and practically did no harm to him. So, after some thinking, he decided not to dive into this further. He just stood up, picked up the bag, and turned to leave.

As he was leaving, Brother Tian woke up; Chen Chuan had not actually killed him. His mind was not fully awake, though. When he saw that Chen Chuan was leaving with a bag, he mumbled in his confused state, “Brother Dong, you can take the stuff, but you have to pay.”

Chen Chuan ignored him and hung the bag off the bicycle’s handle. Just as he was about to push it and leave the place, he suddenly stopped.

Brother Dong?

The name rang a bell, and after combing through his memories, Chen Chuan did recall something.

He parked his bicycle again and returned to open a plastic bag he pulled out of the well. As he poured the contents out, boxes of medicine fell out. One of them was Tiancong Baicao Corporation’s Clarity Capsule, while the others were all injectable anti-mutation drugs from Troyden Pharma.

They were all anti-mutation drugs.

Chen Chuan sucked in a deep breath. After some thinking, he walked over and kicked Brother Tian again. Just like last time, Brother Tian fainted without a sound.

As for Chen Chuan, he put the medicine back into the bag and pushed his bicycle out of the alley. Then, he went to a phone booth nearby. Just as he was about to call the Constabulary, he canceled the call.

Instead, he took out a piece of paper from his bag and called the number written on it.

After some time, someone answered the phone in a loud voice. “Hello? Who is it? Why are you calling so late?”

“Mr. Wei, I’d like to speak to Wei Changan. We go to the same university,” Chen Chuan said.

“Oh, you’re his friend? Hang on.”

A moment passed before Wei Changan’s slightly exhausted voice came through. “Hello? Who is it?”

“Changan? It’s me, Chen Chuan.”

“Chen Chuan?” Wei Changan’s voice gained a bit of life.

“If you’re calling me so late, is it because you got into trouble? Just tell me. If I can help, I’ll definitely do it!”

“I think I saw Tong Qianjiang,” Chen Chuan answered.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“Who?”

“Tong Qianjiang,” Chen Chuan repeated the name slowly.

Wei Changan’s breathing quickened, and he whispered, “Where are you?”

“The northern side of the city, near the old City God Temple. I’m right across...” He looked across from him at a building lit up by the streetlight. “Beidun Department Store.”

“Are you at a safe place?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Stay where you are, and don’t call anyone else. Just don’t move! I’ll be there in a minute! Remember, don’t take any risks. Ensure your own safety first!” Wei Changan ordered.

“Got it,” Chen Chuan replied.

Wei Changan hung up immediately after.

Chen Chuan rode back to the alley. Brother Tian was still unconscious, so he took out the rope he had prepared and tied him up. He then lifted him up and put him on the bicycle.

Just as he was about to walk out of the alley, a group of people came running toward him from the other side of the street. Chen Chuan looked over and saw around thirty people. Once they saw him, one of them pointed at him.

“That’s him! He has Brother Tian too!”

Chen Chuan stared at the group for a while before putting down the bicycle stand. Then, he walked over slowly.

***

Wei Changan drove so quickly that it only took him a little over fifteen minutes to reach the area from the southwestern part of Yangzhi City.

When he arrived, he found bodies lying from the entrance of the street to a few streetlights further back. All of them were wailing in pain as broken bats, twisted machetes, and bent steel pipes lay everywhere. A bicycle was parked beside a phone booth by the road. Chen Chuan was sitting quietly on the rear of his bicycle while he read with the help of the streetlight.

Wei Changan parked the car, unfastened his seatbelt, opened the door, and went over to Chen Chuan. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Chen Chuan said as he stood up.

“That’s good. What happened here?”

Chen Chuan told him all that transpired and showed Wei Changan the medicine he retrieved.

After Wei Changan listened to him, he said seriously, “You’re right. That person was most likely Tong Qianjiang.”

He patted Chen Chuan’s shoulder and said in relief, “Thank goodness you didn’t fight him. That guy is really strong. Even I’m not confident in winning against him. He might also have a weapon on him, so that makes him even more dangerous.”

His impression of Chen Chuan’s strength had not changed since two months ago. Even though he was strong for a freshman, Wei Changan believed that he could not fight Tong Qianjiang. That guy was a true outlaw, and there was no telling whether he had reinforcements. His group of escaped convicts was not easy to deal with.

“Do you think you’ll be able to find Tong Qianjiang through these people?” Chen Chuan asked.

“It’d be practically impossible to locate Tong Qianjiang through these nobodies,” Wei Changan said with a shake of his head. “But I have a theory. If it’s true, then you and I are going to have a major achievement under our belts!” Wei Changan smiled.

He went to Brother Tian and grimaced in disdain as he reached out and pinched the latter’s philtrum. A few seconds later, Brother Tian stirred awake. Wei Changan immediately let go and wiped his hands with a handkerchief.

“Do you know Scar Face?” he asked.

Brother Tian trembled as he looked at them. “N-No.”

“Which means yes.”

Wei Changan threw the handkerchief away and said to Chen Chuan excitedly, “We won’t be able to find Tong Qianjiang, but we can find Scar Face. He has all of Qiu Huzi’s goods, so Tong Qianjiang must have come to make a trade with him!

“I’ve been looking for Scar Face for almost two months, but didn’t find any clues. I wasn’t expecting him to show his tail here. It’s all thanks to you!”

He then went to the phone booth and inserted some coins to make a few calls. He came back all fired up and said, “I’m going to take this guy with me. If we find Scar Face, we might find Tong Qianjiang and his group’s whereabouts! This case now falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Administrative Affairs. I’ll put your name as one of the agents involved. Do you want to come with me?”

Chen Chuan patted the rear seat. “Sorry, but I still have something to do.”

Wei Changan took it in stride and said, “Alright. You can forget about what happened today. Someone will take care of it. I’m going to look for Scar Face’s tracks. I’ll call you later.”