Chapter 276 — Arranging to Meet Xia Xue
Years of Heartflutter · Page 1 of 3
"Brother Yang, I've done all I can, but the gu poison still needs a cultivation period. It has to grow in the culture dish for a while before it becomes effective." Zhang Zhishen wiped the sweat from his brow and said to Yang Yanzhou.
"That's all right. Just do your best." Yang Duoran knew this thing could not be produced on demand; Zhang Zhishen had gone without sleep in the middle of the night to help him cultivate the gu poison, which was hardship enough.
"This is actually fast. Barring any mishaps, it'll be ready by this afternoon," Zhang Zhishen said.
"Good. Thanks for your trouble. What's the interval between the gu poison's outbreaks?" Yang Yanchuan asked.
"Roughly twenty-four to thirty hours," Zhang Zhishen said. "Brother Yang, do you have any special requirements? That interval can be controlled according to the gu poison's activity."
"No, that's long enough. But once this business is over, I'd like the onset time pushed back to about a year," Yang Ce said after a moment's thought. "If you could add a delay on the basis of the original gu poison, that would be ideal."
"That should be no problem," Zhang Zhishen said. "But it will also require taking a separate formula."
"Just go ahead and prepare it," Yang Yanzhou said. "I have to go out and take care of something now. I'll leave you and Xiao Qi to it—sorry for the trouble."
By now the sky was fully bright; it was already past five in the morning, and Yang Ce had other important business to attend to! Namely, investigating the people around Tian Long!
Fang Tian did have some covert connections, and some people there did run private investigation work, but these civilian organizations were ultimately no match for official ones. Investigating through them would take considerable twists and turns, and their efficiency was very slow.
So Yang Ce decided to go to Xia Xue for help instead. He could have gone to Chen Fei, but because of their personal relationship, there were some things he simply could not lie to him about. Asking Chen Fei for help would involve no end of inconvenience, and would easily expose his connections with the Sun family and with Sun Jie—things Yang Ce was unwilling to reveal at present.
Xia Xue, however, could help him. Yang Ce could perfectly well claim the identity of the Mystery Investigation Bureau and tell Xia Xue that his investigation into the Right Elder had drawn in Tian Long.
With that in mind, Yang Ce dialed Xia Xue's cell phone.
"Hello? Yang Ce?" On Xia Xue's end came the clamor of a busy downtown street—clearly she was out and about.
"Xia Xue, where are you? I have something to ask you," Yang Yanchuan said.
"I'm doing my morning exercise near my home, just about to grab a bite to eat," Xia Xue said. "You need me for something? Business or personal?"
"A bit of both," Yang Hengye said. "The personal part is that I'm going to treat you to breakfast right now; the business part we'll discuss when we meet."
"I was only asking casually—so there really is business?" Xia Xue was slightly taken aback, though she also knew that Yang Ce's current identity was somewhat special: he was with the Mystery Investigation Bureau, responsible for cracking unusual cases, and their local police bureau was obliged to cooperate with him unconditionally and with all their strength.
"Yeah. I'll come find you now," Yang Yanzhou said.
Yang Ce had been to Xia Xue's home several times, so he knew the way well. When he reached the neighborhood where she lived, he spotted her jogging from a long way off—Yang Juehuan had sharp eyes and could easily pick Xia Xue out among the pedestrians in the compound.
"Xia Xue!" Yang Ce parked the car at the side of the lane in the compound and called out loudly to Xia Xue, not far ahead.
Xia Xue turned and saw Yang Ce too. She waved to him, quickened her pace, and ran briskly over to him, pulled open the passenger door, and got in.