Just as Sun Shijie was about to enter the house, Xiao Feng stopped him, saying, "Wait a moment."

"What else is there?" Sun Shijie asked impatiently, his silver-gray eyebrows furrowing.

"Do you have more of the substance that gives off this smell?" Xiao Feng went straight to the point.

"I do, but what do you need it for?" Sun Shijie asked quickly.

Xiao Feng answered, "It's to make the villagers leave the village. Otherwise, how do you think a stranger like me could persuade all the villagers?"

"Makes sense!" Sun Shijie nodded, wasting no more words, and handed over a slender wooden tube, similar to a "blowgun" seen in films, along with a small bottle resembling a wind oil essence.

"This small wooden tube is what produces the overwhelming smell. When using it, just give a light blow—not a suck—because inhaling it into your body would cause big trouble." Sun Shijie handed the two items to Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng raised the porcelain bottle in his hand. "What about this?"

"Antidote. Just sniff it under your nose to become immune to that pungent smell." Sun Shijie explained while heading into the house.

In fact, it also serves as a life-saving charm left for Shao Wenxing. Once used, it emits such a stench within a hundred meters that anyone nearby can't help but want to vomit and retreat from the courtyard area.

Moreover, this is bound to draw the villagers' attention and cause a disturbance, giving himself time to rush over.

As for why he does this, at least for now, Sun Shijie has no intention of telling Xiao Feng.

"Are all traditional Chinese medicine practitioners this unorthodox?" Xiao Feng muttered in bewilderment while holding the two items.

To be honest, it's understandable that he had such doubts.

Take Zhao Guo'an for example. Regardless of whether his medical skills were exceptional, the laxatives he concocted were certainly rare in this world; if untreated in time, one might just end up with deadly diarrhea.

And Sun Shijie was even more extreme, creating something that could produce a "range attack," comparable to a tear gas bomb.

Little did he know that this was indeed another aspect of medical skills.

Take Western medicine: though there are far more practitioners than in traditional Chinese medicine, not everyone has the ability to develop new drugs. Most just combine existing drugs.

Zhao Guo'an and Sun Shijie both engaged in this sort of work, only they seemed to have veered completely off course, producing things that barely saved lives, but were remarkably effective for causing chaos.

Xiao Feng uncorked the porcelain bottle and took a tentative sniff. He found that not only did the bottle resemble wind oil essence in appearance, but even the liquid inside smelled very similar. Could this really just be wind oil essence?

However, this wasn't the time to investigate. It didn't matter if it resembled wind oil essence; what mattered was whether it actually worked.

Putting down the bottle, Xiao Feng truly felt that the surroundings were not as unbearable in their stench, although his nose felt stuffy, like having a cold; it seemed the remedy's effect temporarily dulled his sense of smell.

Leaving the courtyard without delay, he happened to hear Lin Zhiyan comforting the crowd under the big tree, saying, "Wait just five more minutes. If Xiao Feng doesn't come out, we'll go in and find him."

In fact, it wasn't that everyone didn't care about Xiao Feng's safety or placed too much confidence in his abilities—it was just that the smell was nearly impossible to bear; even without breathing, it still drilled into their nostrils.

After all, not everyone had the same tolerance as Xiao Feng.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Feng's mouth twitched involuntarily. Wait five minutes?

Wait five minutes to recover my body?

If Sun Shijie hadn't arrived, that would indeed have been the case.

"Brother Xiao Feng!" Seeing Xiao Feng emerge, the little girl's eyes lit up, and she ran over like the wind, leaping into Xiao Feng's arms and complaining, "You took so long to come out, you really worried me!"

Xiao Feng ruffled the little girl's hair and gathered everyone around. "The situation is urgent, so let's keep it brief. Have you dealt with those village officials?"

"Dealt with," Lin Zhiyan nodded in affirmation.

"Good!"

Xiao Feng didn't ask what methods were used, opting instead to cut to the chase. "Prepare yourselves, as we're likely facing a tough battle soon."

"A tough battle?"

The crowd exchanged glances, each growing increasingly solemn.

Xiao Feng nodded to confirm. Although Sun Shijie hadn't explained the bats' danger, the fact that he needed to help evacuate all the villagers indicated the seriousness of the situation.

"With Shao Guo'an?" Lin Jiaxuan frowned, her eyes reflecting not those of a girl barely in her teens, but the unyielding sharpness of an emerging top-tier assassin.

"No." Xiao Feng shook his head. "Let me keep it brief: I just saw Sun Shijie..."

"What?"

Everyone was taken aback, interrupting Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng gestured for quiet, "Listen to me. There's a heap of bats in Shao Wenxing's house..."

After Xiao Feng's explanation, everyone was left with a surreal feeling.

A man who had supposedly been dead for two years turned out to be faking it—what was the reason for such a deceit?

Also, how terrifying must those bats be, to make Sun Shijie insist on driving all the villagers out?

These questions clearly weren't going to be solved anytime soon. However, due to Xiao Feng not hiding his own poisoning, the group's understanding of Shao Wenxing deepened; while it was true they found him detestable, his character's distortion and his methods were anything but ordinary.

"Old Xiao, for someone as prideful as you to admit being poisoned, it's no easy feat." Zhao Guo'an remarked with admiration.

"Cut the crap!" Xiao Feng snapped, giving him a glare. This guy really knew how to hit the sore spots—clearly, he'd need to take some time to knock some sense into him.

"Everyone take a sniff of this."

Xiao Feng passed the porcelain bottle to the little girl, who passed it along to everyone else in turn.

"This smells like wind oil essence," Lu Yao commented uncertainly, then added, "But it does work, though my nose feels a bit uncomfortable."

Everyone nodded, evidently feeling the same way.

When it reached Zhao Guo'an, he chuckled and scoffed, "It's nothing more than temporarily dulling the sense of smell—I could make something like this with my eyes closed."

This statement verified Xiao Feng's earlier suspicion, and seeing Zhao Guo'an's smug expression, Xiao Feng sneered, "Alright, since you're so capable, you can be the main force later; we'll back you up."

"..." Zhao Guo'an fell silent instantly. His self-assigned role had always been that of support. And in games, supports are often called the soul of a team. A strong, effective support can exert immense influence during team battles.

Yet unforgiving reality proved that games are just games. In real life, supports can't outmatch the "main damage dealers." Whoever has the strongest fists holds the absolute truth.

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