Chapter 13: Secret Medicine!

Continuous wooden houses and low shanties interconnected and intertwined, forming a large, cramped residential area. The messy alleys crisscrossed like a maze, filled with a strong stench and pungent urine.

Workers and commoners near the dock all squeezed into this area.

Within such a cluster of buildings, a private house with its own courtyard stood out conspicuously.

However,

No local dared to approach it easily.

Because the Sand River Gang leader lived there.

The three much neater houses nearby were the residences of Old Ten, a trusted subordinate of the Sand River Gang leader, and a few of his men from the Ten Fiends.

However, at this moment, they were already empty.

Ding Xie walked out of Old Ten’s house, a money box in his hand.

Inside were Old Ten’s 50 silver dollars, and another 10 silver dollars found in the other two houses.

Compared to the experience points Old Ten provided, the silver dollars he offered were undoubtedly much more.

At least, the 50 silver dollars Ding Xie threw out as bait had already been recovered.

With the money box tucked under his arm, Ding Xie stopped outside the small courtyard, listening intently. When he confirmed there was no movement inside, he directly scaled the wall.

Unlike Jia Ren’s Dog Farm, this small courtyard only had three simple main rooms, and looking in through the windows, all three main rooms were connected, making them very spacious.

The compacted ground of the courtyard was paved with green bricks.

Ding Xie’s gaze swept over the neatly arranged and spotless weapon rack on the left side of the courtyard wall, and he immediately understood.

‘Training grounds!’

Evidently, even after becoming the Sand River Gang leader, Li Zheng had not abandoned his martial arts.

In fact, he had become even more diligent.

This made Ding Xie even more expectant.

And this expectation was not in vain—after confirming that there were only two hair-strand warning devices at the door, Ding Xie confidently pushed open the door.

Immediately, a strong medicinal scent wafted out.

Joy appeared in Ding Xie’s eyes.

With the 2 points of Medical Skill supported by his status as a former martial arts champion, Ding Xie could clearly distinguish that the medicinal scent contained ‘ginseng,’ ‘deer antler,’ ‘tiger bone,’ and other ingredients required for Cultivating the Iron Cloth Shirt.

Following the scent of medicine, Ding Xie looked to one side.

The three connected main rooms were extremely spacious, but aside from a medicine stove, a medicine rack, and a bathtub that could be heated from below in the corner, there was only a bed and a kang table left.

The source of the medicinal scent was the medicine stove.

Ding Xie cautiously approached.

The medicine stove was already empty, with only some residual dregs left.

There were no raw herbs on the shelf, only bottles and jars.

One porcelain bottle, two porcelain jars.

All were sealed with cotton-wrapped corks.

Ding Xie pulled one open slightly, and the medicinal scent immediately grew stronger.

【Discovered Medicine: meridian activating oil】

【Discovered Medicine: tendon strengthening soup】

【Discovered Secret Medicine: bone forging pill】

…The text that popped up confirmed to Ding Xie even faster that the porcelain bottle contained a bone forging pill, and the two jars contained meridian activating oil and tendon strengthening soup, respectively.

The latter two were essential for Cultivating the Iron Cloth Shirt.

They could not only accelerate the Cultivation speed but also help avoid internal injuries.

The bone forging pill, however, was different. According to the three pages of notes, the bone forging pill was a secret medicine for the Iron Cloth Shirt.

It could significantly reduce the difficulty of breaking through a bottleneck in the Iron Cloth Shirt and also enhance one’s Physique.

Without hesitation, Ding Xie packed up the bone forging pill, meridian activating oil, and tendon strengthening soup.

Including the bone forging pill, all three medicines were full.

‘Li Zheng must have reached a bottleneck in his Iron Cloth Shirt Cultivation and was preparing to use the bone forging pill as the core, combined with meridian activating oil and tendon strengthening soup, to break through in one fell swoop!’

The speculation that arose in his mind did not prevent Ding Xie from searching the entire room.

He didn’t miss a single floor tile and knocked on every part of the walls.

However, in the end, he only found two rolls of 100 silver dollars each in the money box on the kang table.

It was clear that the wealth Li Zheng had amassed through the Sand River Gang had truly been converted into what he needed for this breakthrough.

‘But now, it’s mine!’

Carrying his spoils, Ding Xie was eager to return to the hotel and attempt to Cultivate the Iron Cloth Shirt.

But before Ding Xie could approach the courtyard gate, he heard a series of footsteps.

Immediately, Ding Xie took a step back and hid in the shadows—

Creak!

The courtyard door opened.

A group of six people walked in.

Leading the way was a man wearing a turban and a uniform, carrying a bag.

Another man, also in uniform, was speaking to the former in a low voice.

Four tall, burly men followed behind.

“What?

The remaining nine of the Ten Fiends are all dead?”

deputy inspector Ram was startled.

Then, he instinctively pressed on.

“Have you identified the person who did it?”

“We’ve sent people to investigate.

But it’s dark, and the person was masked, so it’s hard to find them.

However, we confirmed that the person had black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin.”

The detective replied.

“An Easterner?

Just as I expected, that Jia Ren fellow provoked someone he shouldn’t have, dragging the entire Sand River Gang into Hell, but… for me, it’s the best news possible.”

Ram grew more excited as he spoke.

Just now, at William’s residence and office, this deputy inspector had already made a huge haul, but who would complain about more gains?

Especially when this matter could be attributed to infighting among Easterners.

Such an outcome truly couldn’t be better.

He could both get rich and complete his mission.

It was truly… Bang bang bang!

Before the deputy inspector’s smile could fully bloom, a series of gunshots rang out.

The four hotel security guards at the very back were shot in the head.

The detective made an evasive move the moment the shots fired.

However,

He was pulled by Ram.

And blocked in front of him.

Bang!

The detective was shot in the head.

Thick liquid splattered all over Ram’s face, but the deputy inspector completely ignored it, diving to the side, yet the bullet still didn’t miss.

Bang!

Another shot hit Ram’s left leg as he dodged.

“Ah!

You are…”

Amidst his screams, Ram fell to the ground, reaching for the pistol at his waist while instinctively turning his head to look behind him.

As the deputy inspector’s hand touched the gun handle, he also clearly saw the person behind him.

Immediately, his eyes widened, and he was about to shout out the person’s name, but he was slapped across the face by the shooter.

Slap!

The loud slap not only interrupted Ram’s words but also made his hand lose its grip on the gun handle.

Undoubtedly, this slap was delivered without mercy.

Looking at the bloody teeth that fell to the ground.

A strange sense of pleasure rose from Singh’s heart.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, in their past interactions, Ram had always been the dominant one.

Now, when it was his turn… Singh involuntarily lifted his foot and stepped on Ram’s injured left leg, twisting his foot while reversing the gun barrel, using the revolver as a hammer to fiercely smash Ram’s face.

Once! Twice! Thrice!

At first, Ram could still scream.

Later, only a faint breath remained.

“Kill me, and you won’t escape either!

No matter who you found as your backer!

It’s all the same!”

Ram did not beg for mercy.

Upon seeing that the shooter was Singh, this not-so-foolish deputy inspector instantly guessed the situation; he knew the other party would not let him go.

But he didn’t want to die.

He wanted to buy time.

The shots had just rung out; if he could just buy some time, there would still be hope.

Therefore, the deputy inspector said with all his might.

“You want to frame me as the mastermind behind this series of cases, but you don’t know that the culprit of the Dog Farm explosion was an Easterner; at least a dozen people saw it.

And it’s well known that I never associate with Easterners…”

“An Easterner?”

Singh frowned.

But then, the former hotel security captain smiled.

He had thought of a solution.