wavenovel Chapter 121 The Unexpected Upgrade of the Truth-Say Grass
Chapter 121 The Unexpected Upgrade of the Truth-Say Grass
The air in the pharmacy was frozen, colder than the molecular ice cream Pierre made with liquid nitrogen.
Zhao Yan, the head of the health supervision section, known for his impartiality and strict adherence to regulations, was frozen in place like a statue struck by lightning.
His finger, which had just been cut by the agave leaf, was still in an awkward, suspended position.
A drop of crimson blood slid down his fingertip and dripped into the pot of shiny black humus.
"Sizzle—"
A very faint sound, like a red-hot iron being dropped into water, rang out.
Then, everyone present witnessed a scene that would overturn their more than twenty years of materialistic education.
The agave plant, which had only sprouted two tender buds, suddenly trembled violently after absorbing Zhao Yan's drop of blood, which was filled with the aura of "entanglement" and "adherence to convention."
Those two purple buds grew wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye, sprouting and branching. The leaves, which were originally only the size of a palm, instantly unfolded and grew to the size of a palm fan.
Even more bizarrely, the veins on the leaves, which were originally dark purple, have now turned into pulsating scarlet red, as if they were living blood vessels.
A deep purple, trumpet-shaped flower bud suddenly emerged from the top of the plant and slowly bloomed.
A strange scent, a mixture of decaying soil and some kind of sweet pollen, instantly filled the air.
"Master...Master..." Li Siyuan dropped the broom with a clatter to the ground. He pointed at the potted plant that was "evolving," his voice trembling, "This...is this photosynthesis or a mutation at the speed of light?"
Wang Minyu's brows furrowed into a knot.
He hadn't expected that the "recipe" of this truth herb was so varied; it not only fed on lies but also on human blood.
Moreover, judging from this, the "energy" contained in Zhao Yan's drop of blood is even purer than Wu Youde's half-hour lie just now.
How conflicted must this guy be usually?
"Section Chief Zhao," Wang Minyu cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward atmosphere, "your blood... has good fertility."
Zhao Yan was still in shock. He stared blankly at the blooming purple demon flower, then at his still bleeding fingers, his mind completely blank.
He has spent his entire life dealing with rules and regulations, and he believes in science and data.
The plant in front of him that blooms in a second completely shattered his worldview.
"This...doesn't conform to the laws of plant growth..." Zhao Yan muttered to himself, his professional instincts making him subconsciously want to find a legal provision to explain everything.
Just then, a stream of pale purple pollen suddenly sprayed out from the center of the blooming demon flower.
Pollen disperses rapidly in the air; it is colorless and odorless, yet carries a strange energy fluctuation.
Zhao Yan, who was closest, took a deep, solid breath.
His gaze, which had been blank with shock, suddenly became... even more unfocused.
He pushed up his glasses, looked at Wang Minyu, and his mouth opened involuntarily.
"Actually... I came to investigate you today at the behest of Vice Dean Jia." Zhao Yan's voice became very flat, without any emotional fluctuation, as if he were reading a report. "Dean Jia said that doctors like you who have no connections have stolen too much limelight, and we have to find a reason to suppress you. He told me to focus on investigating your medicinal diet and that fermentation vat in the backyard. Even if there is no problem, we have to create a problem."
Inside the pharmacy, apart from Guan Shan still smacking his lips as he ate, it was so quiet you could hear dust falling to the ground.
Li Siyuan and Zhao Na exchanged a startled glance, then quickly lowered their heads, pretending to be studying the grout lines on the floor tiles.
Su Qing stopped wiping the scalpel. She raised her head, and for the first time, a hint of "interest" appeared in her cold eyes.
Wang Minyu's heart skipped a beat.
Oh no, after this Truth Herb comes into contact with blood, it seems to have upgraded from a "truth serum" to a "self-destructing truck".
Not only did they make people tell the truth, they also made them reveal their backers.
"Dean Jia also said..." Zhao Yan's mouth was still uncontrollably gushing out information, "General Manager Zhao of Kangmei Pharmaceutical gave him a card with 500,000 yuan, instructing him to revoke your business license within this week on the grounds of 'food safety.' Their next plan is to acquire Old Cai's 'Jingxinyuan,' monopolize the high-end vegetable market, and then launch their own 'Quantum Health Vegetables'..."
"Quantum health food?" Wang Minyu couldn't help but ask.
"It's just taking ordinary cabbages, shining them under an ultraviolet light, then labeling them 'quantum entangled,' and selling them for 880 yuan a head," Zhao Yan explained expressionlessly, as if he were talking about something perfectly normal.
Wang Minyu: "..."
Have these people gone so far as to exploit people's intelligence for profit, even extending to the realm of quantum mechanics?
"Section Chief Zhao!" Wang Minyu had to interrupt him. "Calm down first. Are you feeling a little dizzy and want some water?"
"I'm not dizzy." Zhao Yan shook his head and continued, "I also know that the paper that Dean Jia was awarded the national-level grant for was actually written by one of his graduate students; he just listed his name on it. That graduate student later jumped off a building because of the immense pressure, and he suppressed the matter..."
"Stop!" Wang Minyu rushed forward, grabbed a handful of dried, mutated mint leaves from the medicine cabinet, and stuffed them directly into Zhao Yan's mouth.
A pungent, cool sensation, comparable to a mixture of mustard and medicated oil, instantly exploded in Zhao Yan's mouth. The coolness rushed straight to the top of his head through his nasal cavity, forcibly interrupting his uncontrollable "telling the truth" state.
"Cough cough cough!" Zhao Yan choked and his eyes streamed down his face as he coughed violently.
When he recovered, seeing the strange looks from the people around him and recalling what he had just said, his old face instantly turned a deep purplish-red.
"I...I just..."
"You just gave us a vivid lesson on the theme of 'anti-corruption and integrity'." Wang Minyu patted him on the shoulder and handed him a glass of warm water. "Section Chief Zhao, your illness is more serious than I thought. It's called 'occupational speech disorder syndrome.' Being in a high-pressure and hypocritical environment for a long time makes it easy to blurt out your true feelings when you encounter strong stimuli. It needs to be treated, it absolutely needs to be treated."
Zhao Yan took the water glass, his hands trembling as if he were having a seizure.
He lost not just face today, he lost his career.
"Dr. Wang... Dr. Wang..." Zhao Yan said, her voice trembling with tears, "Is... is there any hope for him?"
"There's hope." Wang Min-yu pointed to the pot of Truthful Agave that was still blooming eerily. "The antidote is right here. However, we'll need to use a special method."
He turned to Su Qing and said, "Prepare a scalpel and hemostats. Also, call Pierre out and have him bring the most expensive bottle of soy sauce."
Zhao Yan looked at the gleaming scalpel in Su Qing's hand, his legs went weak, and he almost knelt down.
"Dr. Wang, I... I'm just an office worker, I can't handle much!"
"Who said I was going to chop you up?" Wang Minyu rolled his eyes at him. "I'm going to perform a 'minimally invasive surgery' on you. The root of your problem lies in your heart. Your heart meridians are blocked, and you're not speaking your mind. I'm going to make a small incision at the 'Shanzhong' acupoint on your chest to release the resentment that's been building up for over a decade."
As Wang Minyu spoke, he instructed Guan Shan to press Zhao Yan onto the treatment bed.
"This is called 'heart-point bloodletting therapy,' which comes from the 'Taiping Shenghui Fang' (Prescriptions for Universal Relief)." Wang Minyu began to give a serious explanation, actually trying to reassure the section chief who was about to wet himself with fear. "Don't worry, Su Qing is the most reliable surgeon here. She's dissected more frogs than you've seen any documents. I guarantee it will only break the skin, not hurt the heart."
Su Qing put on sterile gloves and wiped Zhao Yan's chest with an alcohol swab. The icy touch sent a shiver down Zhao Yan's spine.
"Don't be nervous, Section Chief Zhao." Wang Minyu stood beside him, like a persuasive devil. "Think about it, when you look at those rules and regulations every day, don't you think most of them are utter nonsense? Don't you want to tear up that thick 'Health Supervision Regulations' book? Don't you want to point your idiot boss in the nose and call him a good-for-nothing who only knows how to hold meetings?"
"I...I think..." Under the combined effects of the "truth chair" and the residual effects of the drug, Zhao Yan subconsciously revealed his true feelings.
"That's it!" Wang Minyu shouted, "Now!"
Su Qing raised her hand and brought her knife down.
The scalpel tip precisely cut through the skin at the Tanzhong acupoint on Zhao Yan's chest, to a depth of no more than 0.2 millimeters.
A drop of dark red bruise seeped from the wound.
At the same time, Pierre came over carrying a small dish of soy sauce.
That's not ordinary soy sauce, but his "soul sauce" carefully simmered with black beans that have been fermented for three years and several kinds of mushrooms. A single drop is worth hundreds of dollars.
Wang Minyu dipped a cotton swab in a drop of soy sauce and precisely applied it to the drop of oozing blood.
"Sizzle—"
It was as if some kind of violent chemical reaction had occurred.
The drop of soy sauce mixed with the blood clot, and surprisingly, a wisp of white smoke rose up, emitting an indescribable, burnt aroma?
Zhao Yan felt the pent-up frustration in his chest that had been building up for years instantly released with the flow of that drop of blood.
He sat up abruptly, opened his mouth, and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
"Cool……"
"That feels good." Wang Minyu put a band-aid on him. "This is called 'Soy Sauce Flavor Therapy.' It uses the small-molecule amino acids in soy sauce to neutralize the toxins in your blood clots. The consultation fee is five thousand, the soy sauce is extra, and that drop just now is eight hundred for you."
Zhao Yan touched his chest and felt completely refreshed.
He looked at Wang Minyu with an extremely complex expression.
Today, he not only got his illness treated, but he also exposed all the dirty secrets about his entire workplace.
"Dr. Wang," Zhao Yan stood up, straightening his shirt which was soaked with cold sweat, "Let's pretend today's events never happened. I'll find a way to return the 500,000 yuan card. As for Dean Jia, I'll say... it was a machine malfunction."
"No, please." Wang Minyu stopped him. "Section Chief Zhao, you're a good person, but you can't always be an honest man. A cancer like Jia Daoquan is a menace if he stays in the medical system. We've recorded everything you said today."
Wang Minyu pointed to a camera disguised as a lucky cat in the corner of the counter.
Zhao Yan's face instantly turned as white as paper.