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

The figure that had been keeping watch remained motionless all night under the eaves of the teahouse.

Yang Hu leaned against the window, staring at the dim light, pondering all night.

We're being watched! This won't do, it's not a solution!

The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light; if we drag this out, trouble will happen sooner or later.

Before dawn, he had an idea:

We can't wait to be beheaded; we have to eat them first.

He led Liu Ye and Qin Ying into the inner room and explained the method in a low voice.

The method is not complicated. Throw out a bait, let the stalkers run out to a crowded place, and then catch them like turtles in a jar.

He was eyeing the stranger who brought the box into the city, so he decided to give this "stranger" a good chase.

Liu Ye's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the small dagger at her waist.

Qin Ying didn't have much to say, only asking, "Alive?"

"Alive!" Yang Hu nodded. "Dead men can't talk."

Just as dawn was breaking, the back door of the inn quietly opened a crack.

A figure darted out, shrank back, and walked deeper into the alley.

The eyes of the spies in the teahouse corridor never left the inn.

Upon seeing someone come out, he was slightly taken aback at first, but then followed without showing any emotion.

The fish has taken the bait.

The man followed them into the alley, where there were fewer and fewer people as they went.

He didn't notice that the waiter was an innkeeper hired by Lu Rou. He slipped a few strings of cash to him and kept walking forward with his head down.

They didn't notice that there were already people waiting at the exits on both sides.

The willow cat held its breath in the shadows of the wall. That was the patience honed by hunters who stalked wild animals.

Qin Ying blocked the alley entrance, her imposing aura completely concealed, making her look like an old woman buying groceries in the early morning.

The man walked deeper and deeper into the area, his footsteps growing louder and louder.

Seeing the guy disappear into a dead-end alley, he was about to turn in as well.

Just as he realized something was wrong and was about to turn back—

A chill ran down my neck!

The small, willow-leaf-shaped dagger was pressed against the back of his head.

Behind them, Qin Ying had blocked the alley entrance at some point, the short knife in his hand radiating a chilling aura.

The guy went limp and didn't even manage to utter a sound.

By the time they dragged the wood from the shed, it was almost dawn.

Yang Hu squatted down opposite him and slowly rolled up his sleeves.

The stalker was a city thug, but he had a cunning look in his eyes, unlike an ordinary hoodlum.

The thug lay on the ground, looking at the young doctor who was interrogating him, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"You pretty boy, trying to trick me with your words?"

"Speak," Yang Hu said indifferently, ignoring his words.

He extended two fingers and poked the other person's shoulder and under their ribs.

Before long, the thug's face turned pale, and large beads of cold sweat dripped down his face. He was in so much pain that he kept cursing, but he couldn't utter a sound.

Liu Ye had witnessed this move once before on the road, and it still made her heart pound.

The thug who had been talking back just moments before was now completely silent, his cold smile gone, replaced by a look of utter fear.

He probably couldn't understand how a seemingly harmless young doctor could hurt more than fire with just one finger.

The thug held on for a few breaths before collapsing.

"I'll tell you... I'll tell you..." the thug gasped, "There's a manager in town who takes us errand boys in. He keeps a close eye on any newcomers entering the city, and reports on anything they're hiding..."

The one in charge.

Three words again.

Just like the couple in the car, they're on the same page.

Yang Hu stared at him: "Who's in charge? Where are they staying?"

"I'm a low-ranking person... I've never seen a real person..." The thug's eyes were genuinely frightened. "I only know... that he always delivers a letter to a shop in the east of the city..."

"What shop?"

The thug swallowed hard.

"A...grain store."

Yang Hu's hand, which was holding something, stopped in mid-air.

Yesterday, that sign on the street corner was swaying in front of him again.

Zhou's Grain Store.

The couple in the car were carrying grain, and the hoodlum in front of them was also carrying grain; both of them were pointing at the shop in the east of the city.

The person he was going to treat in the city was Old Master Zhou, a prominent grain merchant in the city.

Coincidence? A powerful move? Or... is the Zhou family itself entangled with that thread?

When he went to the city for medical treatment, the person who recommended him was Manager Sun. Where did that connection come from?

If someone had planned this in advance, they would be targeting Old Master Zhou's illness.

So, isn't this disease, this grain store, this surveillance all part of a net set up for him?

It's also possible that I'm just overthinking things.

Old Master Zhou was a businessman; he wouldn't be involved in anything shady. Instead, he had someone borrow a shop as a front, and he was kept in the dark about it.

We can't find any clues now.

Yang Hu's suspicions grew stronger.

Outside the inn, there was a flurry of footsteps.

It's Manager Sun.

The person who initially recruited him and had him treat Old Master Zhou's illness.

He entered the room wiping sweat from his face, looking anxious.

He had been searching for Yang Hu for a very, very long time.

They went to the house they had arranged earlier but found nothing there. After searching all over the city, they finally found this inconspicuous inn in a small alley.

"Dr. Yang! We've finally found you!"

"Manager Sun," Yang Hu greeted him. "Tell me slowly, what serious incident has occurred?"

"Old Master Zhou... Old Master Zhou is dying!" Manager Sun's voice trembled. "For the past twenty days, his stomach has been so bloated that it feels like an overturned pot. He can't eat or drink anything. We've consulted several well-known doctors in the city, but they all shook their heads, saying... saying that he can't be cured."

Yang Hu had a plan in mind.

My stomach is bloated; I have worms in my stomach.

Most doctors would see this as a case of watery stools or even a terminal illness, believing that the more they treated it, the worse it got, and the person would be slowly dragged to death. However, in their eyes, this disease was nothing serious.

The difficulty isn't in getting medical treatment.

Rather, it was the Zhou family's pool of water, the depth of which was unknown.

If he really gets involved with that Zhou family or the mole, and he takes Qin Ying and the evidence and rushes in, who knows whether it will be a blessing or a curse?

But people!

If you're sick, you have to see a doctor. It's a matter of life and death. He's a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, why wouldn't he do that?

"Zhou's Grain Store..." Yang Hu asked casually, "The Zhou family's patriarch?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Manager Sun nodded. "Old Master Zhou is the owner of Zhou's Grain Merchant in the east of the city, one of the top grain merchants in the city. He has a lot of influence. If you cure him, we can establish a foothold in the city!"

Yang Hu didn't respond.

The patient needs to be treated, but the black thread that needs to be grasped is actually this character 'Zhou'!

He came to the Zhou residence to treat a patient, but he was also venturing into a tiger's den!

He glanced back into the room.

Qin Ying leaned against the door, having heard every single sentence she had just interrogated!

Their eyes met.

There's no need to say anything; we can understand each other's thoughts!

This trip to the east of the city was both to treat his illness and to poison him!

Yang Hu turned around.

Looking inside the room,

Qin Ying leaned against the door, having heard every single word of the torture she had just endured!

The two exchanged glances.

There's no need to say anything; everyone knows how dangerous this trip to the east of the city is!

"Go."

Qin Ying only uttered one word.

But you need to be more confident than anyone else.

"Wow!"

Yang Hu smiled and carried the box on his back, which contained:

Silver needles, scalpels, and some deadly herbs...

Then pack all these things into the box.

There was also a small wooden box containing evidence, which he clutched tightly to his chest…

Then, he entrusted the two survivors in the woodshed, along with the matter of the sealing wax envelopes in the army, to Liu Ye and gave her a thorough explanation!

"The city's defenses have just been breached; we can't afford to lose any of our trump cards!"

Liu Ye nodded heavily, gripping her dagger tightly!

Yang Hu felt at ease leaving the willow leaves there.

Those seeking medical treatment should go to the Zhou residence; those looking to catch the mole should go to the Zhou family's grain store.

These two things were about to collide in the house in the east of the city!

With his suitcase on his back, he stepped out of the inn's gate.

Head east towards the city.

There, before the morning light had broken,

The outline of the grand mansion was obscured by the thick fog, making it impossible to discern...

At this moment, no one could recognize the patient inside the gate or the pit outside the gate!

Just like himself...