Hu Jia and his group hadn't even finished exploring the city when they heard that Lu Jiao had returned.
They initially thought it might be a misunderstanding, but then Fang Guobin informed them that Lu Jiao's legs had been broken.
Hu Jia was furious. His first thought was, "Daoren, damn it!"
Lu Jiao was touched by the crowd that swarmed him. The first words he spoke to Hu Jia were, "Benefactor, Brother Jia, don't worry, I didn't say a single word."
Hu Jia held Lu Jiao's hand, his mind filled with a thousand thoughts. This young man was now lying in bed, unable to move. The doctor had examined him and said he had fractured leg bones, and it would be impossible for him to regain his former agility.
Lu Jiao also didn't know who had captured him.
He said they had asked him a few questions, all about Hu Jia.
"Where did you go, why did you go there, and what is your relationship with me, did I tell you anything?" Lu Jiao immediately realized that they were after Hu Jia, and at the same time, he understood that the box was very important.
So he refused to budge, especially regarding the information about crossing the river contained in the box, which he did not reveal at all.
"You're stupid. It's not exactly a secret, why would you answer whatever they asked and lose a leg for it?" Hu Jia suppressed his anger, looking at Lu Jiao's bandaged leg, feeling extremely guilty.
"I'm just a nobody, they wouldn't do anything to me. The box you worked so hard to protect must be very important, I can't mess up your plans. Moreover, if I tell them the contents of the box, they might really kill me."
It had to be said that Lu Jiao was still smart.
"But I still thought too simply. Seeing that they couldn't get anything out of me, they planned to kill me to silence me." Lu Jiao hated this part. If he hadn't been a good swimmer and dived into the river, swimming to shore, he wouldn't have seen the sun tomorrow.
Lu Jiao was still fortunate to have saved his life. "They really had no patience. They wanted to silence me without even getting the information."
Seeing Lu Jiao's expression, Hu Jia couldn't help but feel a bit scared.
He had just told Qiao Huali the information, and Lu Jiao was about to be silenced. He had almost sent another person away.
"Oh, right. They also asked if I knew where water pepper grew in Zhong County, and said that there were a lot of water peppers in a place called Brazil, and that there were cold flowers, and asked me where Brazil was?" Lu Jiao recalled.
Water pepper?
Cold flowers?
Brazil?
The others were confused, only Hu Jia and his group were shocked.
Why would Daoren be looking for water pepper that grew in Brazil? Wasn't that the antidote for Qiao Huali's poisoning?
"It's likely that this thing can both detoxify and be used to make poison," Lü Qingqing guessed.
When everyone heard the whole story, they could only accept this explanation.
"Do you know where Brazil is?" Li Yang didn't expect him to have an answer.
"I know." Lu Jiao's words made Hu Jia and the others jump up from their seats in shock.
"You know?" Hu Jia's eyes widened.
"I know. Didn't everyone go there?" Lu Jiao looked surprised.
Everyone went there?
Now everyone was dumbfounded.
"Zhong County is Brazil!" Lu Jiao said.
"What?" Ouyang Wen unconsciously raised his voice. "You're saying Brazil is Zhong County?"
Lu Jiao blinked his eyes, still shocked by everyone's shock. "I'm saying Zhong County is Brazil."
The implication was that Brazil was not Zhong County.
What did that mean?
Lu Jiao was speechless. "You are all educated people, don't you know that Brazil refers to the west of the Ba Kingdom?"
Huh?
"..."
What the heck?
"I heard it from the elders. A great poet once described our eastern Sichuan like this."
"He said he took a small boat from Badong to Brazil. There was river wind, water waves, heavy rain, aquatic plants, and small red flowers. The scenery was beautiful, but because the weather was very cold, they all huddled together tightly, which was particularly beautiful."
"Look, doesn't it mention Brazil here?"
Everyone was speechless.
The answer was so simple?
It was practically testing their illiteracy.
"Did you tell Daoren about this?" Hu Jia asked.
"Yes, it's not a big deal. If you go to our place and ask, everyone knows that Brazil refers to eastern Sichuan," Lu Jiao said.
Ah...
Hu Jia put his hand to his forehead. This was bad. Now that they knew where water pepper grew, they could make more poison and control who knew how many more people.
...
After leaving Lu Jiao's place, everyone had grim expressions.
"Only the few people present knew about Lu Jiao's existence and our relationship with him. How did this information leak?" Ouyang Wen wasn't suspecting anyone, he just wanted to find the reason for the leak; if there was a loophole, it had to be fixed.
All along, Hu Jia had created the illusion that the police were looking for "Zhang Wei," and Luo Wenwu and Zhan Ruoxuan had disguised themselves both times they dealt with Lu Jiao.
Alright, even if their disguises were seen through, a little investigation would reveal that these two had gone to pawn items.
Logically, they wouldn't suspect any relationship between Lu Jiao and Hu Jia.
But now, Lu Jiao had inexplicably gotten into trouble.
"I think it might be me." Luo Wenwu was very embarrassed. Just now, he had figured out the crux of the problem. No wonder they had treated him so well last time and hadn't asked any special questions. Hehehe, it turned out they just wanted to see who he would look for first after he left.
After all, if Lu Jiao were truly just a pawnshop assistant, Luo Wenwu wouldn't have been so concerned.
After hearing Wenwu's analysis, everyone was also resentful. This Sixth Master was too cunning.
"We need to find the water pepper as soon as possible, faster than them." After walking for a while, Hu Jia turned to everyone and said.
Only by being one step ahead could they possibly turn the tide.
"Okay, we'll go to eastern Sichuan tomorrow," Luo Wenwu replied.
"But eastern Sichuan is so vast, when will we find it?" Zhan Ruoxuan felt that this time it would be difficult.
"Everyone try your best, mobilize your friends, and ask your colleagues," Hu Jia also knew that this task was arduous, but they had to do it.
Everyone agreed and left.
"Ouyang, wait a moment," Lü Qingqing called out to Ouyang Wen.
"What is it?" Ouyang Wen looked at Qingqing and then at Hu Jia, who also looked confused.
"I'm thinking about something. I don't know if my analysis is correct, but I want you to know my guess." Lü Qingqing said this, and then she specifically looked at the two of them. "Because what I'm about to say might not be pleasant, but I hope you can remain objective."
"Did something happen? Tell me." This was the first time Lü Qingqing had solemnly called the two brothers together, and the first time she had spoken so seriously.
Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
"I want to talk about Qiao Huali," Lü Qingqing said.
As expected, he saw the brows of the two brothers twitch involuntarily.
"Uncle Qiao?" Ouyang Wen retorted.
Seeing Lü Qingqing nod, Ouyang Wen hurriedly added, "You also know he was forced, and that poison..."
Before he could finish speaking, Hu Jia tugged at his sleeve. He gestured for Qingqing to continue.
After all, Lü Qingqing had never seen Qiao Huali in the throes of poisoning, so it was normal for her to suspect him.