"Uh... Brother Liang, this is bad. I've got bad news for you. The poison we used — some outfit called Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals has figured it out. They've already reported it to the police. Do you think the police will come after us?" Gao Xiaofu had no thought to spare for congratulating Zhong Yongliang; his heart had already been swallowed whole by fear.

"What? They figured it out that fast? Surely not?" Zhong Yongliang was startled too. He had never expected the other side to move so quickly.

Wasn't the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder supposed to be an ancient poison beyond all cure, one that no one could crack? It seemed that so-called Medicine King at Young Master Bing's side wasn't all that reliable after all.

"That's right, Brother Liang, what are we going to do? I don't want to go to prison — waaah — I'm still young..." Hearing the strain in Zhong Yongliang's voice only made Gao Xiaofu more frightened.

"It's all right, Xiaofu. I'll call my dad right now. Young Master Bing has already found us a scapegoat. Even if something happens, it won't touch you — I'll shoulder it all myself," Zhong Yongliang reassured him.

"That's good, that's good!" Only then did Gao Xiaofu breathe a sigh of relief. "So I don't have to do anything? If the police question me, I just say I don't know?"

"Right. Don't say a word. If anyone's to be questioned, they can come to me. Just act as though you had nothing to do with it," Zhong Yongliang said.

"Okay, I understand!" Gao Xiaofu said gratefully. Brother Liang really was a stand-up guy — when trouble came, he didn't try to dodge it.

Zhong Yongliang hung up and called his father in. Zhong Fabai was in the outer room of the ward; he had just switched on the television and caught the news report about the mass fainting of First High students. He was still watching when Zhong Yongliang summoned him inside.

"Dad, the poisoning has been exposed. Call Young Master Bing right away — don't let this drag me in!" It would be a lie to say Zhong Yongliang wasn't anxious; he was afraid of prison too. He had only just gotten himself a fine kidney and hadn't had time to enjoy life yet — he could not let it all be ruined in a jail cell. "Xiaofu just called. He said some company called Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals has figured out what made the students collapse, and they've told the police..."

"I'm watching that very news report," Zhong Fabai nodded, his expression grave. "I'll call Young Master Bing right now. He's made his arrangements, but we still need to confirm them."

"All right, Dad. Whatever you do, don't let anything go wrong. I don't want to go to prison!" Zhong Yongliang warned.

"I won't. How could I ever let you go to prison?" Zhong Fabai waved a hand and dialed Li Cihua's number.

"Old Zhong, is that you?" Li Cihua answered Zhong Fabai's call. He had a fair idea why the man was calling, so before he could speak, Li Cihua said, "I'm sending someone to turn himself in at the police station right now. If anyone from the police comes to question Pinliang, just have Pinliang say exactly this. Young Master Bing will take care of the rest."

Li Cihua went through the whole speech Zhong Yongliang needed to make, and only then did Zhong Fabai set his mind at ease...

With the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder formula provided by Guan Daifu Pharmaceuticals, the police quickly identified the quantities of those seven herbs in the food. The poisoner had been clever: each dish contained only one herb, and a single herb on its own is not toxic — some of them, mixed together, even tonify the kidneys and boost virility. But all seven combined produce a deadly poison. That was why only a small number of students had been poisoned.

After all, very few students had ordered all seven dishes and eaten every one of them. The rest, who had eaten only a few of the herbs, would not be poisoned at all.

Once the source of the poison was found, the police sent officers to the school cafeteria to investigate. There was no great mystery to it: they soon narrowed the suspects down to Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu, who had come to the cafeteria early that noon.

According to the cafeteria's head chef, Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu were the only ones who had been alone with the dishes in the kitchen; no one else had touched them.

And once the chef was ruled out as a possible poisoner, the police fixed their target on Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu.

Zhong Yongliang had never expected the police to react so fast. Gao Xiaofu's call had barely ended before they came knocking at the door.

"Hello. I'm Liu Wangli, captain of the First Squad of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, Songshan City Police Department. Here's my identification." Liu Wangli found his way there quickly enough; the man who received him was Zhong Yongliang's father, Zhong Fabai.

"Hello, Officer Liu. You've finally come — how wonderful!" Zhong Fabai seized Liu Wangli's hand and shook it warmly, which left Liu Wangli rather taken aback. He could not understand why Zhong Fabai was so enthusiastic. He was here to arrest the man's son, after all.

"Mr. Zhong, are you... glad to see me?" Liu Wangli asked, puzzled.

"I am. Ever since my son Pinliang was persecuted by that kidney-harvesting ring and had a kidney cut out of him, he's been dazed and withdrawn, full of self-loathing. I wanted to report it to the police, but he refused absolutely — he was afraid the criminals would come after him in revenge." Zhong Fabai sighed, his voice full of pity. "My heart aches for my boy. Since you've come to our door, please talk to Pinliang, persuade him to cooperate with you and bring those criminals to justice!"

"Huh?" Liu Wangli was struck speechless by Zhong Fabai's words. He had never imagined that Zhong Yongliang was also a victim of the kidney-harvesting ring. It seemed this matter was not as simple as he had thought — could there be something hidden here?

He decided to have a talk with Zhong Yongliang first. "I see. Then where is Zhong Yongliang now?"

"He's in the ward inside. You see, he says that at school he's suffered every kind of scorn and mockery from his classmates — they say that with one kidney gone he's no longer a real man, that he's a eunuch!" Zhong Fabai sighed again. "They even jeer that he sold his own kidney to buy an ID. Tell me, Officer Liu — with our family's means, would he need to sell a kidney? I, Zhong Fabai, may not be rolling in money, but at the very least I'm the boss of an entertainment complex. Can't I afford to buy him an ID?"

"..." These were things Liu Wangli had not anticipated. Hearing Zhong Fabai's account, he actually began to feel some sympathy for Zhong Yongliang. But why had Zhong Yongliang gone out to poison someone today and then come straight back to be hospitalized? Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Did Zhong Yongliang go to school today? According to our investigation, Zhong Yongliang ought to be at school — so why is he in the hospital?"

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