Chapter 90 - 91: Blood Boiling Powder, Monopolizing 3,000 Taels

Chapter 90: Chapter 91: Blood Boiling Powder, Monopolizing 3,000 Taels

"Who are you?"

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"Why did the Medicine Gang lock you up in here?"

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"Stop going ’ah, ah, ah’ and talk to me!"

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"...!"

Tian Yi fired off several questions in a row. The man reacted intensely and kept his mouth shut, refusing to say a single word.

Su Chen, watching from the side, saw the problem. He stepped forward and said, "Stop asking. He might be a mute."

As soon as he said this, the man—whose hair was disheveled and face covered in a thick beard—shook his head violently. "Ah, ah, ah..."

He pointed to his ears, seemingly trying to explain something.

Drawing from past experiences communicating with mutes, Su Chen observed him for a moment before asking doubtfully, "Are you saying you’re also deaf?"

Under Tian Yi’s slightly surprised gaze, the deaf-mute man nodded.

"Ah, ah, ah..."

"What is he saying this time?" Tian Yi asked, looking at the wildly gesturing man with a confused expression.

Su Chen couldn’t quite catch it either, so he said, "Calm down first and take your time. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say right now."

The deaf-mute man nodded. Although his gestures slowed down considerably, his expression remained extremely agitated.

"You want to ask what happened to those guys, right?"

"Ah, ah, ah."

"They’ve all been captured."

Upon hearing Su Chen’s reply, the deaf-mute man’s expression suddenly became even more excited.

He searched around and quickly found a pen and paper. Seeing this, Su Chen and Tian Yi exchanged a glance, feeling a wave of helplessness. "If you know how to write, you should have just done that from the start!" they thought.

"What happened to Qian Huan?" the deaf-mute man wrote.

"He’s dead. He was killed several months ago," Su Chen replied.

"Ah, ah, ah, gah, gah, gah..." Hearing this, the deaf-mute man began to wail like a banshee. A trail of clear tears streamed down his cheeks as he squatted on the ground, weeping loudly.

It wasn’t until the deaf-mute man finished crying that Su Chen and Tian Yi asked about his identity.

Once he had calmed down, he introduced himself.

He was a wandering Physician who had accidentally been captured by Qian Huan. Qian Huan had poisoned him to make him deaf and mute, forcing him to prepare medicines for the Medicine Gang. Qian Huan had investigated his background and used his family to threaten him. He had promised to let him go as long as he prepared a sufficient quota of medicine—a task that ended up lasting for several years.

Locked in this dark, sunless secret room, he didn’t know how many times he had questioned Qian Huan. But every time, Qian Huan had given him a perfunctory answer. For the sake of his family, he had no choice but to endure it again and again.

Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, he demanded that Qian Huan let him go. At that point, Qian Huan dropped the act and laid his cards on the table, telling the deaf-mute man that if he didn’t want his entire family slaughtered, he had better obediently prepare the medicine.

The man had been furious, but completely powerless to resist. Even when he threatened Qian Huan with a hunger strike, all he got in return was coldness and more threats. For his family’s sake, he could only accept his fate.

"What kind of medicine were you preparing?"

After hearing his story, Su Chen scanned the room. When he saw the Red Blood Grass casually discarded around the secret room, his expression turned slightly serious.

"Blood Boiling Powder!" the deaf-mute man wrote after a moment of hesitation.

"For enhancing Qi Blood?" Su Chen’s eyes lit up as he asked.

The deaf-mute man nodded.

"Are all of these Blood Boiling Powder?" Tian Yi walked to the side, picked up a packet of medicine, and asked thoughtfully.

The deaf-mute man nodded again.

Su Chen looked at the Blood Boiling Powder on the table and roughly estimated that there were at least forty or fifty packets. Afterward, he asked the deaf-mute man a few more questions before letting Tian Yi take him away.

Everyone stayed busy until late into the night before finally finishing.

During this time, Tian Yi took inventory of the spoils from their operation: thirty thousand taels of silver, along with various herbs and medicinal ingredients. As previously agreed, Tian Yi directly handed fifteen thousand silver taels over to Su Chen to distribute among his group.

Upon receiving the silver taels, Su Chen sought out Hong Ming and the others. He straightforwardly requested three thousand taels of silver, ten packets of Blood Boiling Powder, and a large amount of Red Blood Grass for himself.

No one had any objections to this; after all, Su Chen had made the greatest contribution to this operation. Out of the fifteen thousand taels, subtracting three thousand still left twelve thousand taels, which was more than enough to divide among their thirty-plus members.

Following a discussion among the masters of the three Martial Arts Halls, the silver was quickly distributed according to each person’s contributions.

Su Chen returned to his room with his share of the spoils. Tonight, everyone was temporarily staying at Tongshan Hall.

Needless to say, while those beasts had provided the children with living conditions worse than dog kennels, their own quarters were extremely comfortable.

It was already the dead of night. Su Chen originally planned to brew some Blood Boiling Powder, but after some thought, he decided against it. There was no need to rush. Finally, he stored his silver and medicinal ingredients away and fell into a sound sleep.

The next morning.

Su Chen got up and went out to the courtyard, where he saw everyone bustling about. When the others saw him, they greeted him warmly, and Su Chen replied to each of them.

Upon entering the main hall, Tian Yi saw Su Chen, gave him a nod of acknowledgment, and walked over. "Su Xiaoyou, I plan to hurry back to White Stone City today."

"In such a rush?" Su Chen asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes," Tian Yi nodded, then explained. "The matters in Medicine Town are pretty much settled. There’s no need to stay any longer. Besides, we still need to bring these children back. Delaying might lead to unforeseen complications, so it’s better to act as quickly as possible."

Su Chen remained silent for a moment before saying, "You all go back first. I might stay here for a while."

"This... alright then!" Tian Yi was momentarily taken aback by his words, but seeing that Su Chen had made up his mind, he didn’t try to stop him. After all, their mission was complete, and he had neither the authority nor the ability to stop him.

During breakfast, Su Chen informed Hong Ming and the others of his plan to stay behind for a period of time. Although they found it somewhat surprising, they didn’t ask too many questions and simply told him to be careful.

After breakfast, Tian Yi and his men began their preparations. Two hours later, several carriages rolled away, kicking up clouds of dust as they vanished from Su Chen’s line of sight.

Once everyone had left, Su Chen closed the main gates of Tongshan Hall and began brewing the Blood Boiling Powder.

Meanwhile.

At the Medicine Gang headquarters.

The flames of battle raged, and corpses littered the ground.

"Tao Dingfang, must we really fight until one of us perishes?"

Jin Peng, bathed in blood, radiated a ferocious aura. Gripping his Wolf Fang Club, he faced Tao Dingfang with extremely dark and solemn eyes.

Hearing this, Tao Dingfang chuckled. "Fight until one of us perishes? In this massive Medicine Gang, you’re the only one left putting up a stubborn resistance. Where do you get the confidence to fight to the bitter end?"

"Hmph! They may be dead, but as long as I’m still here, the Medicine Gang won’t be destroyed! Tao Dingfang, for today’s enmity, I will definitely make you pay in blood!" Jin Peng declared loudly. With the intention to retreat blooming in his mind, he leaped backward to escape.

"Leaving? Who gave you permission to leave?"

Seeing this, Tao Dingfang sneered. Moving with powerful, tiger-like strides, he darted forward in a flash. He swung the two massive iron hammers in his hands with the crushing weight of a mountain.

The injured Jin Peng hadn’t expected that after fighting for so long, Tao Dingfang would still be able to maintain his peak strength. Caught entirely off guard, he was struck by the twin iron hammers and bludgeoned to death!

"Sir, all members of the Medicine Gang have been subdued!" a subordinate came to report shortly after.

Tao Dingfang nodded and laughed heartily. "Haha, good! Have someone gather all of the Medicine Gang’s belongings and bring them back."

"Yes, sir!" The subordinate replied before taking his leave.

Tao Dingfang shifted his gaze away from Jin Peng’s corpse. His eyes darkened with an indiscernible emotion as he muttered softly, "Next, it’s time to purge White Stone City!"