Chapter 636 Buying Medicine

Passing by the security office, Chen Shi copied the surveillance footage of the past week in the neighborhood. He then glanced at his phone and said to Lin Dongxue, “I need to excuse myself for a moment. I asked Xiaochong to help trace the source of the poison. He’s made some discoveries.”

“I’ll come with you!”

“Don’t you dislike those two?” Chen Shi asked.

“We’re investigating a case. There’s no room for likes or dislikes. Besides, I’m keeping an eye on you to prevent any mischief.”

“Alright!”

They arrived at the office. Seeing Lin Dongxue, KK warmly brought over a chair and fetched a drink from the fridge. The office seemed to have acquired quite a few new things, indicating smooth operations. Chen Shi remarked, “KK, didn’t you say you needed to hire more people?”

“It’s fine. We can manage… Sister-in-law, you’re looking good. Must be the effects of love.”

“Let’s get to business!” Lin Dongxue was uninterested in bantering with such a sneaky person. She always found them odd. How could Chen Shi be friends with people like them?

Sun Zhen adjusted his glasses and said, “I found someone online who claims to sell all sorts of illegal drugs and poisons. But as a sign of sincerity, he insists on receiving two thousand yuan before agreeing to meet for the transaction.”

“That’s clearly a scam!” KK interjected. “Anyone asking for money upfront should raise red flags. Even if buyers get scammed, they won’t report it.”

“Where did you find this?” Chen Shi asked.

“On a community forum. He sent me his transaction records and photos of the goods.”

“What’s your opinion?” Chen Shi turned to Lin Dongxue.

“Let’s give it a try. If it’s a scam, we’ll catch him and eliminate a threat.”

“Haha, whether these scammers are good or bad people… Those who buy these drugs aren’t morally upright either! Xiaochong, transfer the money!”

Lin Dongxue said, “Wait, let me contact the IT department and trace his IP.”

“No need. I can handle it here,” Sun Zhen proudly remarked.

After transferring the money, they arranged to meet in the afternoon. Chen Shi asked, “Did you ask if he has any poison that the police can’t detect?”

Sun Zhen typed away for a moment and replied, “He says he does, but it’ll cost extra.”

“That’s a clear sign it’s a scam. A series of traps, one after another, until you catch on,” KK remarked.

“I say we don’t wait until afternoon. Let’s take the initiative and find him now,” Lin Dongxue suggested.

Chen Shi snapped his fingers. “Tell me his address.”

They headed straight to the seller’s residence. Sun Zhen’s IP tracing narrowed it down to a certain neighborhood. He promptly sent the chat logs to Chen Shi—

XX: “I have a drug here, extracted from plants. It kills instantly upon injection. The police absolutely can’t detect it.”

Sun Zhen: “Has anyone bought it?”

XX: “Yes, quite a few people!”

Sun Zhen: “You say the police can’t detect it. Can’t we find any news about it?”

XX: “Haha, buddy, you’re so naive. If the police can’t detect it, there won’t be any case. You won’t see it in the news either. I can tell you’re serious, so whatever you plan to do with it, I won’t ask. It’s professional ethics. But selling it to you comes with risks, so you need to add another two thousand yuan as earnest money. Let’s meet this afternoon.”

Sun Zhen: “Are you afraid we’re police? You’re asking for four thousand before we even meet?”

XX: “Haha, believe it or not, the goods are definitely good. But in my line of work, I have to be cautious. How do I know you’re not a cop?”

Chen Shi messaged Sun Zhen, “Try to coax out his exact address with a picture or a voice message.”

After a moment, Sun Zhen replied, “I’m sending him a voice message.”

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue listened downstairs at the unit. Voices came from the third floor of a certain building. Chen Shi hurriedly rushed up, knocked on the door, and hid on either side of the peephole.

Someone inside asked, “Who is it?”

Chen Shi used the local dialect. “Open up. We’re here to collect garbage disposal fees.”

“I handle my own garbage. I’m not paying!”

“It’s not us collecting, it’s the garbage company. Everyone else has paid.”

The door finally opened. Lin Dongxue rushed in and pinned the man to the table, commanding, “Don’t move!” She then handcuffed him. The man cried out, “What did I do? Why are you arresting me?”

Chen Shi entered and saw the open computer displaying his chat logs with Sun Zhen. He was the person on the other end of the screen.

“Where are your drugs?” Chen Shi asked.

“Huh?” The man looked bewildered.

“Stop pretending. We just spoke to you. You said you have poisons that the police can’t detect.”

“I… I was lying. How could I have such things?”

One bedroom was filled with boxes containing prohibited drugs like Diclofenac, Ritalin, and amphetamines. It turned out he did have goods, albeit an unexpected discovery.

These drugs were taken back to the station for analysis. Pengsen Jue informed Chen Shi that they were all just vitamin pills. Not a single box was genuine. Chen Shi casually popped one into his mouth, prompting a frown from Pengsen Jue. “Just topping up on vitamins.”

During interrogation, it turned out the man was a seller of counterfeit drugs. He would deceive buyers, knowing they wouldn’t report being scammed.

“None of what I sell is real. That’s not illegal, right?” The man asked with a grin during interrogation.

The police had already checked his accounts. He faced at least ten years for fraud. “Given your situation, it’s likely just a fraud charge.”

“Good, good…” The man seemed oddly happy, clearly unaware of the law.

“Want to redeem yourself by helping us?” Chen Shi asked.

“Sure, sure!”

“Does anyone in Long’an sell actual poison?”

The man recalled and mentioned a few names. Chen Shi noted them all down. “Any ‘colleague’ claiming to have poisons undetectable by police?”

“Undetectable by police? That’s easy. Just tear off the labels. Police won’t detect it then!”

Seeing he didn’t understand much about law or chemistry, Chen Shi ordered him taken to a holding cell for now. Lin Dongxue said, “If you suspected Xu Fa was behind this poison, why didn’t we just find Xu Fa?”

“The problem is we don’t know where Xu Fa is. Also, we don’t know if he developed this poison himself or bought it from someone else. However, I believe the seller’s list provided by this scammer shouldn’t be targeted immediately to avoid alerting Xu Fa. I suspect Xu Fa has channels to sell poison.”

“Who exactly is Xu Fa?”

“He used to be a chemistry student. Heard he got expelled for experiments at school. He’s now known to be under Zhou Tiannan. Last time, the Silent One was killed with this poison, showing he’s in cahoots with Zhou Xiao.”

On the “Black Honey” forum, Xu Fa was notorious for chemical crimes, claiming lychees could detect drunk driving, extracting poison from dry cells, and large doses of federal cough syrup could mimic ecstasy effects.

The appearance of Nameless Poison showed Xu Fa had been busy refining his skills over the years. This person needed to be captured urgently.