Chapter 1199: The Fall of the Dark (I)

"According to you, Cheng Clan used poisonous medicinal materials to make various medicinal pills and medicaments; additionally, Cheng Clan sold their poisonous medicinal pills and medicaments to the other provinces. Didn't anyone discover such evident actions?" Zhang Tie asked while frowning.

"The poisonous medicinal materials of Cheng Clan's medicinal materials was very special. It could never be matched by any poison that we've seen. Commoners could not discover the toxin in the medicinal pills at all..." Sun Jiagu revealed a bitter smile.

"Did Cheng Clan add something poisonous into their medicinal materials?"

"No, Cheng Clan didn't add anything into their medicinal materials. Cheng Clan produced all the medicinal pills in accordance with the strict manufacturing process and technologies. They couldn't add anything inside their medicinal materials!"

Zhang Tie became confused as he asked, "So why were Cheng Clan's medicinal materials poisonous?"

"They planted it!"

"You mean those medicinal materials that Cheng Clan planted were born to be poisonous?" Zhang Tie asked out of amazement. Although he was not a pharmacist, Zhang Tie still felt Sun Jiagu's words were unbelievable based on his understanding of the profession of pharmacist.

"Yes!"

"Had Cheng Clan added poison into the fertilizers or pesticides of those medicinal materials?"

"No. All the medicinal materials in the medicinal fields of Cheng Clan were as same as those in other clans. Additionally, Cheng Clan had many herbalists. If Cheng Clan added poison in fertilizers and pesticides, those herbalists must have discovered it!"

"Have Cheng Clan used shoddy medicinal materials or purposefully used wrong ingredients and components or took advantage of the mutual resistance between the properties of drugs?"

"None of them. Cheng Clan never made mistakes in producing medicinal pills. They always used the right raw materials, proportions and formulas!"

Zhang Tie forced a smile, "I'm confused. If there's no problem in medicinal materials or manufacturing processes. Additionally, they didn't add poison on purpose. How could Cheng Clan's herbal medicines become poisonous then? Were they born to be poisonous?"

"Yes, Cheng Clan's herbal medicines were indeed born to be poisonous!" Sun Jiagu said while gritting his teeth.

"What herbal medicines did Cheng Clan plant?"

"Cheng clan's herbal medicines included honeysuckle, evergreen vine, weeping forsythia, Isatis root, fishy grass, ginseng, crown prince ginseng, Chinese date, Chinese wolfberry, walnut kernel, root of red-rooted salvia, mung, yellow bean, lily, sweet wormwood, Polygonum multiflorum, longan pulp, bark of eucommia, licorice, semi-summer, Chinese bellflower, ginkgo, Chinese ephedra; the root of fangfeng, reed rhizome, earth-bone skin, bamboo leaf, chrysanthemum, patchouly, Morinda Officinalis, trifoliate orange and selfheal, etc.. Cheng Clan was the biggest druggist in Jizhou Province. Cheng Clan had a large area of herbal medicine mountains and planted hundreds of herbal medicines. Most of the herbal medicines that could be planted artificially could be found in Cheng Clan's medicinal fields on a large scale!"

"You mean the herbal medicines of Cheng Clan were born to be poisonous?"

"At the beginning, I didn't believe it either; however, through repeated experiments, I confirmed this fact!"

"How did you discover that Cheng Clan's herbal medicines were poisonous?"

"Since I became a herbal medicine apprentice at 16 years old, I had formed a habit, namely raising some white rats for a drug test. I inherited this habit from my enlightening master. Herbology originated from traditional Chinese medicines. It's the elementary knowledge for pharmacists. All the pharmacists have to learn it, no matter what level he is. As there're too many kinds of herbal medicines, some of them even carried toxicity; especially after being made into medicinal pills and medicaments, if you couldn't get hang of the proportions or choose the right variety, you might always have problems. Therefore, herbal medicine apprentices would always raise some small animals for a drug test. I'd been used to do that even after I got married. In the beginning, I used white rats for testing drugs; later on, I raised them as pets..."

"After promoting to a bottle-suspending pharmacist, I excelled at producing a low-level pill that could preserve one's spiritual energy and benefit one's blood circulation. It mainly targeted at commoners. Even old men, pregnant women and people in weakness could use it. Therefore, it has a great sales volume in Taixia Country. In the drugstore of Cheng Clan, I was responsible for supervising and guiding a medicine workshop to produce this pill. In the process of producing it, I discovered something wrong with their herbal medicines!"

Zhang Tie just listened to him quietly. At this moment, Sun Jiagu's expression became evidently sophisticated.

"The pill required very common medicinal materials, namely; walnut kernel and Chines date. The two medicinal materials could be found everywhere in the medicine workshop. People would send them there every day. I was responsible for checking and accepting them. As I raised some white rats at home, before leaving the medicine workshop at the end of each day, I would grab a handful of walnut kernels or Chinese dates from the warehouse of the medicine workshop to feed my pets at home. After working in the medicine workshop of Cheng Clan for half a year, the first batch of white rats that I raised at home died one after another..."

"At the beginning, I didn't pay attention to it. Because I've already raised those white rats for about 2 years. Generally, white rats could only survive 2 or 3 years. Therefore, when those white rats died, I didn't think too much. After they died, I bought another batch of white rats and raised them with walnut kernels and Chinese date as usual!"

"However, after half a year later, the white rats died one after another too. At that time, I still didn't imagine that there was any problem with the medicines. I thought it might be the other reasons. Perhaps I didn't look after them well or these white rats were weak and sicky. Therefore, I raised the 3rd batch of white rats..."

"Finally, the 3rd batch of white rats died half a year later too. This time, it reminded me that the walnut kernels and Chinese data that I brought back home might have some problem. However, this event was of great significance. As I was just a supervisor of a small medicine workshop, of course, I dared not do the wild talk or tell this result to the others; I just paid special attention to the walnut kernels and Chinese date. After that, I bought the 4th batch of white rats. I divided them into two groups. One group of white rats only ate the walnuts and Chinese dates that I brought back from Cheng Clan; the other group of white rats only ate some grains and preserved fruits that I bought from other places. Half a year later, the result shocked me once again. The group of white rats who were fed with preserved fruits and grains grew well; however, the other group of white rats who were fed with walnut kernels and Chinese dates died as usual!"

"I was startled. However, I dared not disseminate that news. After repeating the same experiment for two times, I got the same result. It finally confirmed that the medicines in the medicine workshop of Cheng Clan were poisonous. Later on, with my work as a cover, through careful observation, I investigated each link since the plantation of medicinal materials until they entered the medicine workshop, I found no problem in these links. The biggest problem lay in the seeds of the medicinal materials of Cheng Clan. These seeds were born to be poisonous. However, you couldn't discover their toxicity. Because these medicinal materials were normal in looks and tastes. Even the most experienced pharmacists couldn't discover any difference by tasting them. Only by taking these medicinal materials produced by Cheng Clan for a long time could they confirm the hidden toxicity in them!"

"Later on, I stayed in Cheng Clan for a few more years and sought evidence step by step. Finally, I found that all the medicinal materials that were artificially planted in Cheng Clan were different than natural medicinal materials and those planted by the other clans. All the medicinal materials that were artificially planted in Cheng Clan carried hidden toxicity. After taking them for a long time, humans would be severely poisoned. What was more terrifying was that the poisonous seeds of those medicinal materials in Cheng Clan were also sold to neighboring provinces in various commercial means besides being used for making various medicaments and medicinal pills. As a result, many herbalists who survived on planting medicinal materials in the other provinces would plant those poisonous seeds and constantly spread them to other provinces across Taixia Country; besides, those poisonous medicinal materials would be made into various medicinal pills and medicaments which would further poison the other people in the world..."

"What was more terrifying was that I discovered that the "toxicity" of those poisonous medicinal materials in Cheng Clan was contagious. For instance, there were two groups of medicinal materials, one group belonged to Cheng Clan, the other group was nontoxic. The medicinal materials of Cheng Clan could pass their toxicity to those nontoxic medicinal materials through pollen transmission. As a result, the next generation of those nontoxic medicinal materials would become poisonous too!"

"I doubt that the genes of all the traditional Chinese medicines had been modified. Although those medicinal materials looked nothing different than common medicinal materials, their genes had been demonized. Additionally, as long as they were planted, they would cause gene contamination. It's a plot of demons and Three-eye Association!"

"I'm just an average bottle-suspending pharmacist. I have no reliance or powerful human relationship. After discovering that, I dared not reveal it to anyone else. Because Cheng Clan had a very great power in Jizhou Province; additionally, I heard that Cheng Clan even had a relationship in Xuanyuan Hill. If I exposed it casually, I might lose my life instead of playing any effect. I buried this secret deep in mind. Half a year ago, I found a reason to leave Cheng Clan. I planned to accuse Cheng Clan in Xuanyuan Hill. I preferred to die for the benefits of all the people across the country. However, on the way to Xuanyuan Hill, I was discovered by Cheng Clan. Therefore, Cheng Clan assigned a killer to kill me. Thankfully, I had long prepared for that, the killer didn't get me. However, I had to hide here and there so as to survive myself..."

"All my words are true. If any word is false, you could chop off my head at any time!" Sun Jiagu looked at Zhang Tie with hopeful eyes as he looked like a bit excited after saying so many words.

After being silent for a short while, Zhang Tie threw a glance at Sun Jiagu before asking, "Do you want me to deal with Cheng Clan for you?"

"Cheng Clan does harm to the entire world; they're definitely the lackeys of demons. Shouldn't they be exterminated?" Sun Jiagu asked while being more excited.

"You've been staying in the inn since you came to Embracing Tiger City in October?"

"Yes, I entered Embracing Tiger City in October. Because I was afraid of the killer dispatched by Cheng Clan, I spent most of my time in the inn..." Sun Jiagu replied with a curious look after being stunned for a second.

"Cheng Clan in Jizhou Province had been exterminated. After the riot aroused in Xuanyuan Hill on November 15th, a catastrophe of bloody figures had broken out in Jizhou Province. The bloody sea that Cheng Clan built to raise bloody figures in their clan's hinterland had been exposed. Cheng Clan had been exterminated by the Supreme Court of Taixia Country. All the kights of Cheng Clan had escaped away. They were being wanted by the Supreme Court of Taixia Country." Zhang Tie exposed this news to Sun Jiagu.

The catastrophe of bloody figures in Taixia Country was growing increasingly fiercer in an increasing scale. More and more clans being related to Heavens Reaching Church and Bloody Soul Temple were involved in. The official news was always faster than those among the people. As a clan elder of Huaiyuan Palace, Zhang Tie knew the details a bit earlier. As for Sun Jiagu, after coming to Embracing Tiger City, he had been hiding here and there; therefore, he was more uninformed and couldn't get the first-hand details about the catastrophe of bloody figures across Taixia Country. Therefore, he still thought that Cheng Clan was dominating in Jizhou Province.

After hearing Zhang Tie's news, Sun Jiagu became dumbfounded at once. With mouth widely opened, he became stunned and silent for quite a while.

"If the killer that Cheng Clan assigned to hunt you is still alive, he will never come for you anymore as he can't even keep himself safe. Later on, you don't need to hide here and there anymore!" Zhang Tie comforted Sun Jiagu kindly while watching the latter's distracted look.

Based on Sun Jiagu's battle strength, the killer assigned to kill him was at most a LV 9 fighter. As Cheng Clan had been exterminated, it was meaningless for that killer to hunt Sun Jiagu. That guy might have been wanted by the Supreme Court and was escaping or had been killed. Compared to his own life, an average bottle-suspending pharmacist who worked for Cheng Clan was nothing but sh*t.

However, Sun Jiagu's words were still valuable to Zhang Tie. Additionally, although Sun Jiagu was just an average bottle-suspending pharmacist, he was disciplined. After discovering the problem in Cheng Clan, he dared accuse Cheng Clan in Xuanyuan Hill. This person must be generous and righteous; especially the last point which Zhang Tie appreciated the most. Although being a small figure, he carried a great moral standing.

"I've left 1,000 gold coins for you in the hotel. If you don't want to stay here anymore or feel disappointed, you could open a small drugstore in the downtown and live a stable and peaceful life in the future with the money that I gave you. If you want to do something more, you could join Jinwu Business Group in Jinwu City!" Zhang Tie said. At the same time, he moved his hand as he put a vial of senior recovery medicament, which was giving out a bizarre light, on the table before saying, "This vial of senior recovery medicament could cure all of your injuries!"

After saying that, Zhang Tie directly put on his hood and left the courtyard of the hotel...

Sun Jiagu just watched that vial of senior recovery medicament with a blank look...

...

Outside the hotel, the air became cold once again. At this moment, the gloomy skyline indicated that the night was falling. Although the cold in the air was nothing for Zhang Tie, the cold in Zhang Tie's heart made him tighten up his hood unconsciously.

Zhang Tie looked up at the sky before walking towards the direction of Embracing Tiger Mountain immediately...