Just as Luo Lan had predicted, the people who coveted the black medicine Ren Xiaosu's controlled did not give up easily just because of Lu Yuan's intervention.
As news of the black medicine's effect circulated through the stronghold, a constant stream of people started coming to the shop to ask about it each day. If it were just for the intended effect of the black medicine, that would have been fine as people would not be as crazy as they were now. But it became magical when news spread that it could treat infertility.
Although Wang Fugui never admitted that the medicine had such an effect, those who came to their shop sought it for this purpose.
Nobody knew if it was an aftereffect of The Cataclysm, but infertility in humans had become increasingly common in recent times. That was where the market for the black medicine came in.
If it were only one stronghold, the market size would be considered relatively small. But many of the medium-sized companies in this stronghold had already gained the ability to sell medical drugs to the other strongholds. At the very least, it would not be a problem to export them to the dozen or so strongholds controlled by the Li Consortium.
If they could seize the formula of this black medicine, their pharmaceutical companies would possess a cash cow that would provide them with a steady stream of income.
Who would ever think they had earned enough money?
Ren Xiaosu headed to school early in the morning to continue taking his exams. Meanwhile, Wang Fugui thought that since it was not yet time to sell the week's allocated dose of the black medicine, he'd go out to check the bicycle market. Since Ren Xiaosu had told him to purchase some bicycles, he'd have to take a look around.
Since the boss had spoken, the shopkeeper would definitely get down to it.
Xiaoyu also told Chen Wudi to watch over the shop before she went out to buy some groceries. She was planning to cook some pork rib soup for Ren Xiaosu and the others in the evening. After all, many members of the family were still growing, so she wanted to make some nutritious food for them.
But in the morning, several people wearing red uniforms suddenly came down to the shop. When they walked in, they saw Chen Wudi sitting with his legs crossed. "Who is Wang Fugui?"
Chen Wudi glanced at them and asked, "What are you looking for him for?"
"My name is Chen Bohan. We're from the stronghold's Legal Division. Someone accused Wang Fugui of unfair business practices, so we're here to issue him a subpoena," a man in red said.
Chen Wudi was stunned. "What do you mean by unfair business practices?"
"You'll know when you attend court at our Legal Division." Chen Bohan looked at Chen Wudi and said, "You aren't Wang Fugui, right? You can also sign on his behalf, but this subpoena has to be signed by an adult member of his immediate family. Are you his immediate family?"
"Yes, I am," Chen Wudi answered.
"Oh, then you can sign it." Chen Bohan handed a pen to Chen Wudi and asked, "What's your relationship with the defendant?"
Chen Wudi said, "I'm his Senior Apprentice Brother."
Chen Bohan was confused. Immediately, he snatched the subpoena back and said, "How does a senior apprentice brother count as immediate family? Are you trying to mess with us?"
Chen Wudi was not happy to hear that. "What do you mean I'm mess with you? Our master and us three fellow disciples are like family, so how am I not his immediate family?"
Chen Bohan from the Legal Division was left speechless for a while. Then he explained, "The meaning of immediate family is not what you defined. Wang Dalong is the immediate family of Wang Fugui. You are not."
Chen Wudi thought for a while and got even more confused. "What's the difference? Wang Dalong is our Third Junior Brother. So if Third Junior Brother is his immediate family, why wouldn't I, as Senior Apprentice Brother, be considered his immediate family?"
Chen Bohan did not know how to react. What sort of nonsensical crap was this?!
Chen Bohan was so frustrated by him that he straight-up turned around and left. He felt he could not communicate with Chen Wudi at all.
When Ren Xiaosu came back in the evening, he frowned after hearing about the event. All of a sudden, he felt he could not fit in with this prosperous stronghold.
When they just arrived in the stronghold, the people on the streetcar got off when they realized that they were refugees.
When he started attending school, the students' parents wanted him to transfer away because he was a refugee.
Now that their shop was just starting to get popular, people wanted to enforce the laws in the stronghold to deal with them and force them to hand over the black medicine's formula. If they didn't do so, they would be imprisoned and their family torn apart.
Ren Xiaosu had yearned to live in the stronghold, but at this moment, he also started having thoughts of leaving like Yan Liuyuan.
The longer he stayed in the stronghold, the more he felt that it was not as comfortable as living in the wilderness.
Sometimes, Ren Xiaosu wondered, 'Is it possible to create a home I truly belong to?'
No, he still did not have that power.
But Ren Xiaosu had never been one to run away in the face of problems. Since he knew nothing about the rules of the stronghold, he could only resort to applying his own rules to solve the problem.
Ren Xiaosu said to Wang Fugui, "If they come to deliver the subpoena again, receive it. After that, go to the Legal Division to find out exactly what's going on and who's behind it. I'll handle the rest from there."
"Nothing will happen right?" Wang Fugui asked worriedly.
"No." Ren Xiaosu laughed and said, "Didn't Luo Lan mention that the Li Consortium has no time to worry about these small matters at the moment?"
In the eyes of the rich, Wang Fugui, Ren Xiaosu, and the others from this shop were just a group of refugees who had recently arrived in the stronghold. Although they had the backing of Lu Yuan and Luo Lan, this was their Li Consortium's home turf!
But what they did not know was that the person who massacred the Midnight team last night was the owner of this shop.
Right now, news of the Midnight team's massacre was causing a stir at the highest levels of the Li Consortium. The field survey showed there were only two people who battled against Midnight at night, and one of them had taken on three members of Midnight alone.
Even though Midnight itself was already pretty well-known, there was a supernatural being who could crush them single-handedly? But more importantly, everyone was still in the dark as to who this person was.
Currently, the Demon Whisperer, Li Shentan, was eating noodles in a small shop with Si Liren. Some people around them were discussing what had happened last night.
The Public Order Division did not keep this matter a secret, so the news spread extremely quickly. In the past, the public was still a little unfamiliar with supernatural beings. But after tonight, that gap seemed to have closed by quite a bit.
An uncle sitting next to them was drinking and saying mysteriously, "I told you they don't know who did it. There were no traces of the murderer."
"It's way too cruel. So many of them got killed just like that," someone said with a sigh.
"Don't talk like you know anything. Those people from the Pyro Company are not good either," the uncle scorned. "A friend of mine told me they were the ones who caused the explosion some time ago."
Li Shentan smiled and said to the girl, "It's probably that Ren Xiaosu."
"How do you know it's him?" Si Liren asked as she blinked.
"There are only so many supernatural beings in this stronghold, and he's the only one I have no idea of what kind of superpower he has." When Li Shentan smiled, he looked warm and inviting. No one would guess that he was the Demon Whisperer who was making the organizations feel a little on edge. He continued, "I told you, I knew he's really powerful."
"Is it because you weren't able to hypnotize him?" Si Liren asked curiously.
"No, no, no, I haven't tried to hypnotize him," Li Shentan said with a smile, "because my intuition tells me that if I try to hypnotize him, I could end up being hypnotized instead. Of course, that's just my intuition."
"Do you want me to kill him?" Si Liren asked. There didn't seem to be any trace of good or evil in her innocent tone. The malicious words of murder were a huge contrast to her lovely little face.
Li Shentan shook his head. "Why would we kill him? Have you forgotten? We just became friends with him."
"Oh, right." Si Liren nodded. "We're friends now."
"Besides, you might not be his match either." Li Shentan sighed.