The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

It was already late at night when we arrived in Daliang Town.

At this hour, the town was no more bustling than the village; only a few shops had their lights on, and the streets were deserted.

Yang Shuisheng carried the sack and did not go directly to the police station or the Limin Hotel. Instead, he turned into a more secluded alley and came to a low bungalow.

This is Ma San's home.

Yang Shuisheng knocked on the door, and a rustling sound came from inside, followed by Ma San's sleepy and somewhat impatient voice: "Who is it? In the middle of the night!"

"I am Yang Shuisheng," Yang Shuisheng said in a low voice.

The room was silent for a moment, then a "thump" was heard, as if someone had rolled off the bed.

Immediately afterwards, the door was suddenly pulled open. Ma San was wearing only a pair of shorts, shirtless, with messy hair and a sleepy look on his face, still shaken. When he saw Yang Shuisheng carrying a large sack outside the door with an expressionless face, he was so frightened that he almost sat down on the ground again.

"Yang...Brother Yang?"

"Why are you here? This is..." Ma San stammered, his eyes glancing at the burlap sack on Yang Shuisheng's shoulder that was still moving slightly, his heart pounding.

Yang Shuisheng ignored him, squeezed in sideways, and threw the sack onto the ground in the corner of the room with a "thud".

Zhao Hu, who was thrown into the sack, groaned and began to writhe even more violently.

"Keep an eye on this for me," Yang Shuisheng said succinctly, pointing to the sack. "If I'm not back by dawn, take him to the town's police station."

"Tell the police that you heard him kill someone in the Daliang Mountains, and the body is in the mountains, understand?"

"Murder...murder?" Ma San was terrified, his face turned pale, his legs went weak, and he pointed at the sack, his voice trembling, "Brother Yang...Brother Yang, who...who is inside?"

"He really killed someone? Where did you get this? This...this..."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Yang Shuisheng gave him a cold glance, a look that made Ma San swallow back all the words he was about to say. "If the police ask, just say you went into the mountains to find herbs and overheard it by chance. You don't know anything else. Do you understand?"

"I...I understand." Ma San nodded hurriedly, though he was terrified, he dared not disobey Yang Shuisheng's wishes.

He now both fears and respects Yang Shuisheng, knowing that he is a formidable figure who should never be provoked.

"Keep a close eye on him, don't let him get away, and don't let anyone find out," Yang Shuisheng reminded him again, then turned and left Masanjia without lingering, gently closing the door behind him.

Looking at the burlap sack wriggling in the corner of the room, and then at the tightly closed door, Ma San felt like crying. He could only move a stool and sit far away at the door, staring intently at the burlap sack without daring to move, silently praying to all the gods in his heart.

After leaving Masanjia, Yang Shuisheng determined the direction and soon found the Limin Hotel.

The hostel was small, just an old two-story building with a faded sign hanging at the entrance. The first floor had the reception desk and a small shop, while the second floor had guest rooms.

It was late at night, and the hotel door was ajar. Only a dim light was on at the front desk, where a bald man in his forties, yawning, was dozing off in a chair.

Yang Shuisheng pushed the door open and went in; the hinges creaked.

The bald man woke up instantly, rubbed his eyes, saw Yang Shuisheng, and lazily asked, "Checking in?"

"I'm not staying at the hotel, I'm looking for someone." Yang Shuisheng walked to the front desk, his gaze sweeping over the several keys hanging on the wall behind it. "The innermost room on the second floor, a few people from the provincial capital are staying there, are they there?"

"That one?"

The bald man sized up Yang Shuisheng a few times and then shook his head: "I haven't seen him come back for several days. The rent is due tomorrow, but he's nowhere to be found. Who knows where he went?"

Nobody here?

Yang Shuisheng's heart sank.

Have they already fled, or haven't returned yet?

He quickly followed up, "Are their luggage still there?"

"Yes, yes, just a few changes of clothes and a worn-out bag, nothing of value." The bald man yawned, clearly not wanting to talk more.

Yang Shuisheng thought for a moment, took out ten yuan, placed it on the wooden counter at the front desk, and pushed it forward.

The bald man was yawning when his eyes caught sight of the ten yuan note. He stopped abruptly, his eyes lit up, and his lazy expression instantly transformed into a fawning smile.

He glanced quickly left and right, grabbed the money, stuffed it into his pocket, leaned forward, lowered his voice, and forced a smile: "Comrade, do you need to see them?"

"It's a personal matter," Yang Shuisheng said calmly. "What time do they usually go out and when do they come back? What are their habits?"

"Those three people are really strange."

After receiving the money, the bald man told him everything: "He's basically not around during the day. He goes out early in the morning and doesn't come back until dark, sometimes even in the middle of the night. He's very secretive and doesn't talk to anyone."

"By the way, the one who's in charge has a scar on his face. He's got a pretty bad temper. They don't seem to know anyone in town. Just a few days ago, a thug from Peach Blossom Village named Zhao Hu came looking for them a few times."

"Later...later Zhao Hu never came, and those three people didn't show up for several days either."

"I guess they've finished their business and left?"

"But I didn't take all my things, and I've already paid for the room until tomorrow. If I don't come back by tomorrow night and haven't paid the extra room fee, I'll have to vacate the room."

Haven't shown up for days?

It seems that after failing to kill Zhao Hu in the mountains, they felt that their plan had been exposed, or that they couldn't find Lin Wan, so they simply withdrew.

But you didn't take everything. Were you in a hurry to leave, or do you plan to come back?

"What names did they use when they registered for accommodation? Did they have any ID information?" Yang Shuisheng asked again.

The bald man looked troubled: "Well... comrade, according to regulations, accommodation registration information cannot be shown to outsiders casually."

Without saying a word, Yang Shuisheng took out another five yuan and placed it on the table.

The bald man's eyes lit up again, and he quickly put the money away. The embarrassment on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an "I understand" expression. He turned around and took out a crumpled register from under the counter, flipped to a page, and pointed it out to Yang Shuisheng: "Here, this is it."

"There are three people registered, two names in total. This one is Zhang Qiang, and this one is Li Guohua. The address listed is the provincial capital, and the ID numbers are also provided, but we don't know if they're genuine. Do you want to write them down?"

Zhang Qiang, Li Guohua.

Yang Shuisheng silently noted down the two names and the approximate address.

Although it's likely a fake name and address, it's still a clue.

Just as he was about to ask for more details, the hostel door was suddenly pushed open again, and a man wearing a dark jacket and carrying a canvas travel bag walked in.

The man was probably in his early thirties, with a somewhat haggard face and a wary and slightly flustered look in his eyes. After entering the room, he quickly scanned the front hall.

When Yang Shuisheng saw the man's face, his heart skipped a beat!

Even though the lighting was dim, he would never mistake this face.

It was that city dweller who was left to guard Lin Wan by the campfire in the mountains that night, and who was eventually scared away by him with a dart.

It's true that timing is everything.

He's still here?

It looks like they've come back to pack their things.

The man also saw Yang Shuisheng by the front desk, but Yang Shuisheng did not show himself at all, so he obviously did not recognize him. He just glanced at him casually and walked to the other side of the front desk, saying to the bald man, "Boss, check out, the innermost room on the second floor."

The bald man paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked at Yang Shuisheng, his face showing a "look, here comes one back" expression. He even winked at Yang Shuisheng and gestured with his lips, indicating that this was the person.

Yang Shuisheng nodded silently. It seemed that the person in front of him was the last one left and was about to leave as well.

As for the other two, one was killed by Zhao Hu, and the other may have been injured or died.

He remained expressionless, as if he were just an ordinary guest. He even nodded to the bald man to indicate that he had finished asking his questions, and then turned around naturally and walked towards the entrance of the hostel, seemingly to leave.

The other party didn't pay any attention to him, but urged the bald man to complete the check-out procedures, appearing very anxious.

Yang Shuisheng walked out of the hotel, but did not go far. Instead, he quickly slipped into a darker alley on the side of the hotel, his eyes fixed on the hotel entrance.

He wanted to see where this last lone tail was going to go.