A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

The hand lurking in the shadows had its path to obtaining the medicine under Yang Hu's watchful eye, and the difficulties imposed by the yamen were resolved by the Zhou family. When one plan failed, they resorted to ruthless means.

The letter Su Qing sent came true within two days.

At noon that day, Yang's Medical Clinic was full of patients seeking medical treatment when a group of people suddenly arrived at the door.

The leader was a burly man with a face full of scars, followed by five or six hooligans, all of them bare-chested, showing off their tattoos, and looking fierce. They didn't bother with the patients, but barged straight into the hall, overturning tables and chairs, smashing medicine grinders, and immediately terrifying all the patients in the hall, causing them to scatter like birds and beasts.

"Which one of you is Dr. Yang?" The burly man, hands on his hips, spitting as he spoke, "My brother got some medicine from you the other day, and it gave him a stomachache. Now he's bedridden! You quack, are you going to pay for this with money, or with your life?"

This tactic is exactly the same as the previous fake medicine murder case at Jichuntang. It's the same old story of someone taking bad medicine and then framing someone for extortion. But this time, they're not even bothering to put on an act; they just come in and overturn the table and smash the bowls, clearly here to cause trouble and ruin their reputation.

Yang Hu sneered inwardly. He had been waiting for that hand to make its move these past few days, but he hadn't expected it to come so quickly and so suddenly. It seemed that the connection with Jichuntang had truly struck a nerve.

Lu Rou's face turned pale with anger. Liu Ye pressed down on the short dagger at her waist, about to step forward. Qin Ying, disguised as a medicine boy and hiding behind the medicine cabinet, also quietly placed his hand on the short knife he never parted with.

Yang Hu raised his hand and held everyone down.

"What's the rush?" He remained calm and slowly walked forward. "A head-on confrontation plays right into their hands."

He glanced at the burly man and said calmly, "When did your brother come to get the medicine? What kind of medicine did he get? Did you get the prescription or the dregs?"

The burly man was taken aback, clearly not expecting the young doctor to be so calm. He stiffened his neck and stammered, "Sir, sir! Who remembers what medicine you prescribed! Anyway, after taking your medicine, the person became unwell!"

"Oh?" Yang Hu smiled. "In my clinic, every prescription for every patient who comes to get medicine is kept on file and recorded by date. You mentioned the day before yesterday, so I'll show you the records. Every prescription I've dispensed and every patient I've seen on that day is clearly recorded."

He turned to Su Qing and instructed her, "Bring me the prescriptions from the past few days."

The burly man's face immediately turned red with embarrassment. This was clearly an extortion attempt; there was no real prescription or real patient. The truth would be exposed in an instant.

The onlookers, who had been too intimidated to utter a sound, now saw how the doctor handled the situation and began to whisper among themselves.

"This person isn't here to see a doctor; they're clearly here to cause trouble."

"So young, yet so calm and collected; he's quite experienced."

"Did you get an upset stomach the other day? I pass by here every day, how come I've never heard of anyone dying from Dr. Yang's medicine? I have heard quite a few stories of him saving people from terminal illnesses."

"That's right. It's clearly someone who's jealous and resorted to dirty tricks."

Seeing that his extortion attempt failed, the burly man decided to throw caution to the wind and waved his hand, shouting, "Stop talking nonsense! Brothers, smash it!"

Several hooligans yelled and were about to make a move.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Ye darted out, her movements swift and agile, quickly taking down the two leading figures. She had fought valiant barbarian bandits deep in the mountains; these common street thugs were no match for her.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the burly man threw a punch straight at Yang Hu.

Yang Hu sidestepped, his five fingers flashing like lightning, precisely striking several acupoints on the burly man's arm and shoulder.

The burly man suddenly seemed to have lost his nerve; half of his body went numb, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, unable to move, only able to groan.

"What kind of sorcery did you use on me?!"

"What kind of sorcery?" Yang Hu squatted down, a half-smile on his face. "I just pressed a few pressure points on you. I can both hold them down and undo them. But before I do, you should think carefully about who gave you and how much money to come here and cause trouble."

The burly man shivered. He felt a strange fear as the young doctor stared at him with eyes as still as deep as still water.

He had initially thought the man was just trying to bluff a weak, defenseless quack, extort some money, and cause a scene. But this man had first exposed his lie with a few words, then a woman wielding a dagger had taken down two of his brothers in the blink of an eye, and finally, the man himself had paralyzed him with a single finger. This was no ordinary quack; he was clearly a formidable and unfathomable opponent.

Just as the standoff was reaching its conclusion, a familiar blue sedan chair pulled up outside the clinic. It was the steward of the Zhou family, who had rushed over after hearing that something had happened at Yang's Clinic.

"Dr. Yang, what's going on here?" The steward of the Zhou family entered the room, saw the scene on the ground, and his face darkened. "Where did this scoundrel come from, daring to cause trouble in Dr. Yang's clinic? My master's savior is not someone you people can mess with!"

Zhou Ji was one of the top grain merchants in the city, and even the local government had to give him some face. As soon as the burly man heard the words "Zhou Mansion," he immediately went limp.

Yang Hu then calmly released the strong man's pressure points.

The burly man scrambled to his feet and, leading a group of bruised and battered thugs, fled in disgrace. As he left, Yang Hu casually remarked, "Go back and tell the person who paid you. Next time, don't just send a few lowlifes."

A farce will end here.

The neighbors applauded and cheered. They had been skeptical before, but now they all respected and admired this young miracle doctor.

"Even the Zhou family stood up for him, so this Doctor Yang's influence is quite deep."

"His medical skills are superb, and he has great courage. He can even treat scoundrels and bullies. It's truly rare."

"Who would dare to cause trouble for Doctor Yang from now on? They'd be asking for trouble."

This commotion, far from ruining Yang Hu's reputation, actually made everyone on the street realize that this young miracle doctor was not someone to be trifled with. With the Zhou family backing him and skilled fighters by his side, he could easily take down a strong man with a single finger. From then on, no one in the eastern part of the city dared to provoke him.

That night, Yang Hu laid out the events of the day in the main room.

Qin Ying dropped his disguise as a medicine boy, frowning. "A few rascals are nothing to worry about. But this shows that the hand has moved from scheming in the shadows to seeking revenge in the open. He's desperate."

"The more anxious he is, the more it shows that what we found has hit his sore spot," Yang Hu said in a deep voice. "His channels for obtaining medicine have been cut off, and he's exhausted the pretexts he has for the government. All he has left are these despicable methods. This means that the number of people he can openly use in the city is also running out."

Liu Ye clenched her fist and said, "I've memorized the faces of these guys from today. If we follow their lead, we might find out who's been slushizing the money behind the scenes."

"No need to rush," Yang Hu shook his head. "These hooligans are mostly just hired through layers of intermediaries; you can't find out their true identities. The real person in control is hiding very well."

Su Qing brought over some tea and said, "Master, there's something else. Today's incident has spread your reputation even further. I heard from people in the pharmacy that not only in the city, but also in neighboring cities and even in the border army, people are asking about a young miracle doctor in the east of the city who can save people from terminal illnesses."

Yang Hu paused slightly, holding his teacup.

In the border army.

The line he investigated, the military camp, the hand—his medical reputation, unintentionally, reached the place he would eventually go to before he even got there.

Is this a good thing, or is there someone behind the scenes adding fuel to the fire?

Yang Hu gazed at the deep night outside the window, unable to make out the details clearly for a moment.

All he knew was that the pool of water was spreading outwards in concentric circles, reaching ever more distant places. And his name had already stepped through the gates of that border region before him.