Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

Xu Xingguang painstakingly extracted the Corpse Centipede, not to let it become a new weapon of the Xia Country Alliance Military Department.

Her aim was to destroy it.

Luo Xiangyue was stunned for a moment.

Understanding Xu Xingguang’s request was for the safety of people worldwide, Luo Xiangyue felt a kindred spirit upon seeing Xu Xingguang.

She couldn’t help but remark, ”Miss from Medicine Farmer Star, if you were in the Alliance Military Department, you would indeed become an outstanding general.”

Xu Xingguang quickly shook her head. ”I’m not interested in those things.”

Rather than becoming a general in the Alliance, she preferred to be a carefree wanderer, designing occasionally, growing medicinal herbs, and perhaps having a charming young man to enjoy life with.

”I agree to your condition.” Luo Xiangyue shared Xu Xingguang’s view and was also determined to destroy the monstrous biochemical weapon, the ’Corpse Centipede.’

By the time Ye Mingluo, dragging the Zhu Mountain Housekeeper, came to the courtyard looking for Xu Xingguang, she had already secretly left with the Alliance Military Department.

Knowing he was too late, Ye Mingluo regretted bitterly.

He grabbed the Zhu Mountain Housekeeper’s arm, questioning the origin of Medicine Farmer Star. ”Housekeeper Zhu, where did you find the contact information for the teacher from Medicine Farmer Star? Tell me, and I’ll contact her personally!”

Naturally, Zhu Mountain Housekeeper wouldn’t foolishly disclose the connection between Medicine Farmer Star and Xiahou Zuiyue. He shook his head and said, ”I don’t know. Miss from Medicine Farmer Star came on her own.”

Seeing that Zhu Mountain Housekeeper was intractable, Ye Mingluo could only give up regretfully.

When he left the courtyard, he saw Huo Wen’an watching the koi at the gate and said in frustration, ”The teacher from Medicine Farmer Star is already gone.”

Huo Wen’an nodded, saying, ”I guessed as much.”

Ye Mingluo was perplexed by Huo Wen’an’s apparent good mood. ”Aren’t you the least bit anxious about not being able to contact the teacher from Medicine Farmer Star?”

Huo Wen’an suddenly laughed and asked Ye Mingluo, ”Where did the teacher from Medicine Farmer Star first appear?”

Ye Mingluo instinctively replied, ”At the Alanzhong auction.”

”Exactly.” Huo Wen’an looked up at the azure sky, a hint of joy in his eyes, and said, ”This is the Xiahou Family. The general manager of the Alanzhong auction’s Yujiang City branch seems to be from the Xiahou Family.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingluo immediately understood his thinking. ”Are you saying the teacher from Medicine Farmer Star was invited by Xiahou Zuiyue?”

”Besides him, who else at the Yujiang City branch has the authority to access the members’ information?”

Certainly no one else!

A lightbulb went off in Ye Mingluo’s mind.

”Let’s go, capture him!”

Xiahou Zuiyue had just started his car and was about to drive out of the parking lot when he was stopped by Ye Mingluo at the exit.

Xiahou Zuiyue dared not offend the Ghost Hand Divine Doctor, Ye Mingluo. He quickly turned off the engine and got out of the car voluntarily.

”Doctor Ye.”

After a pause, Xiahou Zuiyue nodded in greeting to the unfamiliar young man standing behind Ye Mingluo.

Huo Wen’an gave Xiahou Zuiyue a kind and harmless smile, but it somehow made Xiahou Zuiyue feel a chill.

Before Ye Mingluo could ask about the whereabouts of Medicine Farmer Star, Xiahou Zuiyue voluntarily explained, ”Gentlemen, I risked everything to invite Medicine Farmer Star to the Xiahou Family to save my great uncle. The deal between us has been completed, and even if I die now, I would die without regret.”

”Gentlemen, if you wish to force me to disclose Medicine Farmer Star’s information, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you.”

Xiahou Zuiyue suddenly pulled out a gun, pressing it against his temple, and said fearlessly, ”Betraying a benefactor would be unrighteous and ungrateful. Please do not force me.”

The determination in Xiahou Zuiyue’s eyes showed he truly did not care about his life.

Ye Mingluo was stunned by Xiahou Zuiyue’s extreme action.

He turned and asked Huo Wen’an, ”Ah Zui, should we still ask?” The only option left would be to use special means.

Ye Mingluo was not afraid of encountering cowardly people; he was only afraid of meeting gentlemen like Xiahou Zuiyue.

”No need to ask.” Huo Wen’an turned around and left.

Xiahou Zuiyue had already pulled a gun to threaten his life, leaving no point in asking further.

Seeing this, Ye Mingluo followed suit.

As they were about to leave, Xiahou Zuiyue called after them. ”Doctor Ye, Medicine Farmer Star left a message for me to pass on to you.”

Upon hearing this, both Ye Mingluo and Huo Wen’an stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

Ye Mingluo turned around and asked Xiahou Zuiyue, ”What message?”

Xiahou Zuiyue relayed Xu Xingguang’s instructions to Ye Mingluo without missing a word: ”Medicine Farmer Star’s original words are: Three people drinking on the lake.”

This is a riddle, but Xiahou Zuiyue himself hasn’t figured out the answer yet.

Ye Mingluo pondered over the sentence but couldn’t make sense of it immediately. He squinted and questioned Xiahou Zuiyue with a displeased tone: ”She already told you, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Xiahou Zuiyue truthfully replied, ”Because Medicine Farmer Star instructed me, if you forcefully and shamefully demand her identity from me, I would rather swallow a gun and commit suicide than reveal the clue to you. If your attitude is kind, then I’m allowed to tell you that sentence.”

Xiahou Zuiyue understood the intention behind Medicine Farmer Star’s decision; she wanted to test the character of Ye Mingluo and his friends.

If Ye Mingluo and Huo Wen’an passed the character test, she would naturally lend a hand. But if they were the sort who used any means to survive like scoundrels, regardless of how much Huo Wen’an appealed to her aesthetics, she wouldn’t help.

After all, she still doesn’t know Boss Huo’s true nature.

Xu Xingguang’s limited understanding of Boss Huo came entirely from the information Xu Zeqing had previously revealed—

A convicted murderer.

And whether a murderer should be saved, whether they can be saved, is a matter needing careful consideration.

Without understanding Boss Huo’s motives for the crime, Xu Xingguang wouldn’t send Huo Wen’an to Hell just because he had killed someone. If Huo Wen’an could pass her test, it would prove he isn’t utterly evil to live.

Last night, during a dinner outing with Huo Wen’an and others, Xu Xingguang overheard Ye Mingluo and Boss Huo discussing Ice Crystal Grass, which led her to speculate that they might have participated in the auction of Ice Crystal Grass.

Today, on the way to the Xiahou Family, Xu Xingguang specially asked Xiahou Zuiyue about this matter. From Xiahou Zuiyue’s account, Xu Xingguang pieced together the whole story—

Ye Mingluo, in order to treat Boss Huo, had illuminated Ice Crystal Grass on the Alanzhong auction site long ago. On the day Ice Crystal Grass appeared in the Alanzhong auction, Ye Mingluo did enter the auction live stream, but for some reason didn’t participate in the bidding.

Xu Xingguang speculated it was Boss Huo who voluntarily gave up the chance to bid.

The reason for giving up bidding was probably because a single Ice Crystal Grass couldn’t successfully cure Boss Huo’s illness. However, if the staff at the Xia Country Botanical Garden could successfully cultivate new Ice Crystal Grass, it would benefit more patients.

Boss Huo chose to give up bidding and pass hope to other patients.

It was because of Boss Huo’s action that touched Xu Xingguang’s healing heart as a doctor, and she decided to give Boss Huo a chance for renewal.

Whether Boss Huo could get that chance depended on whether he could pass today’s test.

Clearly, Huo Wen’an and Ye Mingluo had successfully passed Xu Xingguang’s test.

After hearing Xiahou Zuiyue’s explanation, Ye Mingluo felt both amused and relieved.

If he and Huo Wen’an had indeed used shameful means to pressure Xiahou Zuiyue right then, they would have truly missed the chance to really connect with Medicine Farmer Star.

Ye Mingluo looked back at Huo Wen’an with lingering fear and found him distracted, so he approached and asked, ”A Zui, what are you thinking about? Are you also feeling that Teacher Medicine Farmer Star is quite peculiar?”

Huo Wen’an replied, ”Doctor Ye, do you think Medicine Farmer Star might be someone we know?” The image of Medicine Farmer Star dressed in sterile surgical clothing flashed in Huo Wen’an’s mind again.

The sense of familiarity grew stronger.

But he still couldn’t recall where that feeling came from.

Ye Mingluo thought Huo Wen’an was daydreaming; they didn’t have any girl around them that could match Medicine Farmer Star. If they did, he would have confronted her in a duel eight hundred times already.

Ye Mingluo saw Huo Wen’an still pondering this and found it laughable, couldn’t help but to make fun of Huo Wen’an: ”Who knows? Maybe she’s a little fairy sent by Heaven to heal you!”

Upon hearing this, Huo Wen’an furrowed his brows lightly, turned, and got into the car.

”Wait for me!” Ye Mingluo hurriedly sped up to catch up.

After getting in, Huo Wen’an sat in the passenger seat checking the footage shot by a drone.

Ye Mingluo sat in the driver’s seat, fingers on the steering wheel, kept chewing on the proverb: ”Three people drinking on the lake, what does she mean by that?”

Ye Mingluo, a true literature imbecile, couldn’t make sense of such cryptic phrasing.

Huo Wen’an, not raising his head, said: ” During a full moon, she will put a little boat on the lake; that is where she’ll meet us.”

”A Zui, you’re really something, you artistic types indeed have outstanding perception!” Hearing Huo Wen’an’s explanation, Ye Mingluo suddenly felt enlightened.

”But, with so many lakes in Yujiang City, which one would she choose?”

Huo Wen’an then lifted his gaze to the window, lost in thought for a moment, then said: ”Check which lakes in Yujiang City are near bars.” We’ll find the best answer.

With this hint from Huo Wen’an, Ye Mingluo instantly realized.

He clapped his thigh rapidly, exclaiming, ”Exactly, Three people drinking on the lake, isn’t it just saying the poet drinks under the moon, with the moon and the poet’s shadow making three? This drink is most likely a bar.”

Ye Mingluo vigorously patted Huo Wen’an’s shoulder, ”A Zui, you’re indeed smart, no wonder you always topped exams as a kid!”

Huo Wen’an, bothered by Ye Mingluo’s noise, fake slept with closed eyes.

Seeing Huo Wen’an was tired again, Ye Mingluo quickly turned off the music, driving down the mountain quietly.