Chapter 147: The Grand Uncle-Master Descends from the Heavens

Senior Sister?

Tang Banxia was utterly bewildered. She had never heard her grandmother mention this before.

Seeing the complete confusion on Tang Banxia's face, the old woman felt around her neck and pulled out a jade pendant. "Do you recognize this?"

Tang Banxia looked closely and said, "My grandma has one too, except the one she has is carved with bamboo."

The one this old woman had was simply carved with plum blossoms.

"That's right then, I am your senior martial sister." The old woman smiled warmly. "How is your grandmother doing?"

Having a senior martial sister drop out of the blue left Tang Banxia unsure of how to react, so she replied, "She's doing great, her health is fantastic!"

Tang Banxia's grandmother, Cheng Xiao, was formerly a distinguished professor at the First People's Hospital. However, ever since the turmoil befell the Tang family, she had resigned from her position.

Later, when the Tang family's status was restored, she chose not to return to work, preferring to stay at home and tinker with medicinal diets.

Regarding her grandmother's past, Tang Banxia really didn't know much, mainly because her grandmother rarely spoke of it, and whenever it was brought up, it would bring her sadness. Over time, Tang Banxia stopped asking.

The old woman standing before her was named An Ruoshuo—a very beautiful name. She pulled Tang Banxia close, looking her up and down as if she could never get enough of her. "You know, you look exactly like your grandmother when she was young."

Tang Banxia listened quietly, though her grandmother had always told her that she looked like her grandfather.

In the blink of an eye, a serious academic seminar had transformed into a family reunion. An Ruoshuo held Tang Banxia's hand as they reminisced about the past, her eyes welling with tears at the most touching moments.

She said that she and Cheng Xiao hadn't seen each other in over thirty years, and had it not been for this national summons, she didn't know when she would have come to Beijing again.

She said that once matters were settled, she would definitely go visit Cheng Xiao. At their advanced age, every meeting meant one less left.

She said that she was currently working at the Pingcheng Military Region Hospital...

She said a great many things, but most of them revolved around the time she had spent with her grandmother.

When Professor Wei returned, he brought two other people with him—the heads of the virus laboratory and the pharmacology laboratory.

Hearing that there was a breakthrough, they had immediately followed him over.

When the three of them arrived, what they saw was An Ruoshuo weeping with old tears while Tang Banxia gently stroked her back. "What is this?"

Seeing the newcomers, Tang Banxia's eyes lit up. "Professor Wei, Number Zero?"

Professor Wei patted the box he was holding. "Right here."

At this point, she could no longer worry about her senior martial sister. She strode forward. "Shall we start now?"

She was a doctor as well, and possessed the fervor of a physician. Medicine was vast and profound; overcoming each challenge or curing every patient brought her an incomparable sense of fulfillment that nothing else could match.

"We can."

Professor Wei's mind was instantly diverted.

After briefly explaining things to her senior martial sister, Tang Banxia led everyone to her laboratory.

The bloodstains in her laboratory hadn't even been cleaned up yet. Over a hundred rabbits, dissected while still alive—one could well imagine what her laboratory looked like at that moment.

It looked precisely like a scene belonging to a psychotic serial killer, with tiny spatters of blood everywhere. Liu Yuan was dutifully scrubbing the floor when he saw the crowd. "Professor Tang?"

Tang Banxia waved a hand. "You go out first, we'll clean up later."

For people in the medical profession, blood was the most common thing in the world, so this small scene was a mere trifle to heavyweights like Professor Wei and the others.

Right now, their attention was entirely focused on Number Zero.

If Tang Banxia's hypothesis was correct, it would undoubtedly provide a correct direction for their research, taking a massive leap forward in the quest for an antidote.

Tang Banxia took a deep breath, put on a brand-new lab coat, donned a clean face mask and gloves, and opened the box before her. Inside lay a test tube the size of a thumb, containing only a shallow layer of pale white liquid.

Tang Banxia pulled out the stopper, extracted a single drop, diluted it repeatedly, and then grabbed another rabbit, injecting it with Number Zero diluted to one-eighth strength.

She stared intently at the rabbit's reaction. Its eyes became heavily bloodshot, growing increasingly intense by the second. The next moment, it began bleeding from all seven orifices, and within two seconds, it collapsed and stopped moving.

It seemed the dosage was still too high.

She continued to dilute it—sixteen times, thirty-two times—until reaching sixty-times dilution, at which point the rabbit managed to hold on for twenty seconds.

Twenty seconds was enough. Tang Banxia's hands moved with swift precision, cleanly dissecting the entire rabbit to observe its muscle tissue.

Sure enough, residual traces of the drug could be seen inside the rabbit's body. Though faint, it was far more intuitive than relying solely on blood samples.

She stepped aside to let the professors observe one by one.

"Splendid! Excellent!" Professor Wei also saw the drug residue that Tang Banxia had mentioned. "Girl Tang, you've earned a major merit."

Tang Banxia bit her lip and smiled, her face radiant with joy. Her hypothesis was correct.

Number Zero truly was an unconventional tonic; it was simply a mystery why it ultimately led to human death.

Returning the remaining Number Zero, Professor Wei and the other two laboratory heads hurried off. They needed to verify the findings for themselves.

"Liu Yuan, come back and continue cleaning," Tang Banxia called out.

The pungent smell of blood in her laboratory was overpowering; it was best to get it cleaned up.

As for herself, she accompanied An Ruoshuo back to the latter's lab to rest for a while.

Before long, the two of them received a notification that a meeting was about to be held—a plenary assembly.

At the meeting, the three heads announced the progress of the experiments and publicized Tang Banxia's discovery, instructing everyone to use this as a direction to continue investigating and analyzing...

In a very short span of time, the name Tang Banxia resounded throughout the entire experimental base.

After the meeting adjourned, Bai Yanli walked up to her. "Comrade Banxia, you're quite something. You've only been here a few days, and you've already made such a major breakthrough."

Tang Banxia smiled. "Just sheer luck."

After all, nobody could have anticipated that Tang Banxia would have the sheer audacity to vivisect over a hundred rabbits alive in a single night.

While she was achieving massive success, on the other end, Wen Mubai's train back had finally arrived.

After stepping out of the station platform, he thought for a moment and decided not to alert anyone. Donning a hat and wrapping a scarf around his neck, dressed plainly and unobtrusively, he boarded the bus heading back to the commune.

Upon returning to the commune, instead of seeking out Hou Xingyun immediately, he skirted past people to go home, picked up some beast-attracting powder, and headed straight up the mountain.

Taking a detour to the village where Hou Xingyun was staying, he hid on the hillside to observe and indeed found that Hou Xingyun's residence was being watched.

Without alerting the enemy, he went to the warehouse; that place was also under surveillance.

Wen Mubai frowned. Gouzi was utterly useless; his entire base had been completely exposed.

Next, he checked the homes of the lackeys Gouzi used to employ one by one, but none of them showed any trace of Gouzi.

After making the rounds, he retreated back up the mountain. Gouzi wasn't the type of person to go down so easily; he must be injured and hiding somewhere.

Wen Mubai knitted his brows in deep thought. Based on his understanding of Gouzi, this fellow was likely hiding in a place nobody could possibly imagine.

He looked at the deep, dark mountain looming larger in the gathering dusk. It wouldn't be on the mountain, nor would it be at the home of anyone close to him—those places were far too obvious.

So where could it be?

Having no immediate direction, he settled his dinner on the mountain, planning to go home for a good night's sleep and continue the search tomorrow.

He didn't want anyone to know he had returned, so he avoided people as he made his way down the mountain.

The moment he stepped back into his house, a keen sense of danger washed over him. He instantly darted behind the house. Being deeply familiar with his own home, he quietly circled around and stepped up behind the figure. "Gouzi?"