The other man clearly hadn’t expected her to suddenly attack. Unable to dodge in time, he took the blow head-on and let out a muffled groan. Enduring the pain, he reacted quickly and locked down her right arm.
But he didn’t expect her left hand to suddenly fling several wild plants at him out of nowhere. The man swiftly dodged aside and cautiously held his breath.
“Stop moving, or I really will shoot,” he warned in a lowered voice, pressing the gun harder against her.
Su Wanyin wasn’t sure whether the poisonous herbs had hit him, so her movements paused slightly.
“Put both hands on your head. I won’t hurt you.”
Hearing the command behind her, she didn’t obey. With a thought, another handful of herbs appeared in her hand.
Just as Su Wanyin was about to throw them all over, the other party moved first, quickly tying her wrists together with a rough cloth. Then another black cloth covered her eyes.
She struggled desperately, her heart pounding so hard it felt ready to burst from her chest, completely unsure what the man intended to do.
After struggling for a while, the surroundings suddenly became silent.
Tentatively, she opened her mouth.
“What are you trying to do?”
No one answered.
“Are you still there?”
Still no response.
Only then did she realize the person had already left. Instantly, she began shouting loudly for help.
“Help!”
“Is anyone there?!”
…
She shouted until her throat was almost hoarse when heavy footsteps finally sounded behind her.
Her heart tightened. She had no idea whether the newcomer was friend or foe.
Just as she repeatedly began pulling poisonous herbs from her space, her vision suddenly cleared, and she met a pair of cold, indifferent eyes.
“How did you end up like this?”
Seeing the man in the half-dry coat, Su Wanyin stared at him suspiciously.
“Didn’t you leave? Why did you come back?”
“Who said I left?” Fu Shimo frowned and glanced behind her.
Only then did Su Wanyin notice that her two large bags were still sitting by the riverbank.
After untying her restraints, Fu Shimo asked again in a serious tone,
“Who tied you up here?”
Su Wanyin frowned while rubbing her aching wrists. Thoughtfulness flickered through her clear eyes before she shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“The person who tied you up didn’t say anything?”
Fu Shimo’s gaze landed on the glaring red marks around her pale, slender wrists, his eyes flickering slightly as he asked in a low voice.
Su Wanyin’s hands paused briefly before she shook her head again with a confused expression.
This man already seemed suspicious of her. If she mentioned what happened earlier, she would probably be interrogated again.
Better not to mention it at all. Easier that way.
Fu Shimo stared at her steadily for several moments before turning around and walking back to the river to grab the bags.
Looking at him, Su Wanyin suddenly remembered something. She picked up a smooth stone from the ground and ran to the river to wash it clean.
Then she slowly crushed the medicinal herbs in her hand into pulp.
“What’s that?”
A deep, magnetic voice suddenly sounded above her head.
When Su Wanyin looked up, the man had bent down closer. Seeing his sharply handsome face suddenly enlarged before her, her breathing faltered for a moment.
Then she cleared her throat and explained,
“This is an anti-inflammatory painkiller. If you apply this to the wound—”
Halfway through speaking, her expression changed slightly.
Her right hand quietly moved behind her back before she produced a withered yellow herb and naturally continued,
“If you apply this to the wound, it’ll heal faster than the medicine you were using before.”
Fu Shimo’s expression froze briefly.
After a pause, he asked,
“So you went to gather medicinal herbs just now?”
“What else did you think?”
Watching his expression carefully, Su Wanyin casually held out the obvious bloody scratches on her palm and pitifully pouted.
“I even fell while collecting them.”
For a moment, Fu Shimo felt something stuck in his throat.
Looking at the glaring cuts on her pale hand, guilt flickered through his dark eyes.
“Thank you for your trouble,” he said softly.
“It’s nothing. Helping you is also my contribution to the country.”
Su Wanyin smiled brightly. The sincerity shining in her eyes was so dazzling that he almost couldn’t bear to look directly at her.
Fu Shimo lowered his gaze slightly and inadvertently noticed the crushed herb residue on the stone.
“What about this one?” he asked curiously.
“No, that’s just some random wild grass I crushed for fun.”
Su Wanyin’s eyes flickered briefly before she calmly tossed both the crushed herbs and the stone into the river.
With a loud splash, water shot up nearly half a meter high.
Fu Shimo fell silent.
For some reason, he felt that what had been on the stone looked more like real medicine, while the one in her hand looked more like ordinary weeds.
“How do you know this works?” Fu Shimo asked casually as he accepted the herb that looked like grass from her hand.
Su Wanyin knew he was testing her, but her expression remained calm.
“The village barefoot doctor told me.”
Fu Shimo narrowed his eyes slightly, studying her thoughtfully.
Su Wanyin looked right back at him with her striking peach blossom eyes, innocent and坦然.
“Officer, is there anything else you want to ask?”
Fu Shimo silently withdrew his gaze, hiding the thoughts in his eyes before shaking his head.
Then he took the herbs and walked behind a distant tree.
Watching his figure disappear into the distance, Su Wanyin turned and stared at the river with pained eyes, biting her tongue in frustration.
The herb she threw into the river had been an extremely rare healing medicine. She had only found that single stalk.
What a waste.
But even if she lost it, she still wouldn’t give it to that ungrateful dog of a man.
That bastard thought he had hidden everything perfectly, but unfortunately for him, the poisonous herb she threw earlier would cause any skin it touched to itch and rot. It also left behind the herb’s unique scent.
Ordinary people might not notice it, but she could recognize it instantly.
There were very few vehicles for the return trip, so Fu Shimo stopped an ox cart by the roadside and paid a high price to hire it to take them back to town.
Su Wanyin sat comfortably in the most stable spot on the cart without the slightest guilt.
Just for the fact that this dog of a man had tied her up earlier for no reason, she would remember it for life!
Fu Shimo looked strangely at how suddenly relaxed and unreserved she had become, feeling puzzled, though he said nothing.
Because after applying the seemingly ordinary herbs the woman gave him, the pain in his chest had indeed eased considerably.
“Was what you gave me the Qingluo Grass you mentioned last time?” he couldn’t help asking.
Surprise flashed through Su Wanyin’s eyes. She hadn’t expected him to still remember.
Then she shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why did you say it’s best not to use Manluo last time?”
Even now, Fu Shimo still remembered the intense disgust in her voice when she mentioned those two words.
Su Wanyin froze briefly.
She knew she shouldn’t say too much to him right now, but thinking of all the families destroyed in the future because of that harmful drug, she still couldn’t stop herself from speaking.
“This medicine has severe side effects. Not only does it cause hallucinations, it’s also addictive.”
Afraid he wouldn’t understand how serious that was, she emphasized further,
“It’s like smoking opium.”
Fu Shimo’s cold face immediately turned serious. He looked at her gravely.
“Are you certain?”
“If you don’t believe me, go ask an authoritative hospital or experts to research it. I only happened to hear about it from the village barefoot doctor.”
Su Wanyin didn’t dare reveal too much and could only distance herself from the information first.
Fu Shimo looked at the youthful face before him, his expression unreadable as deep contemplation flickered through his dark eyes.