Chapter 455: Chapter 455 Follow You Into the Mountains
"Euthanasia?"
Liu Zheng had known about this before, and euthanasia had already been legalized abroad, yet no one in their country had truly advocated for it.
"Exactly, because of its powerful lethality, the state had banned it comprehensively early on. But I’m shocked to find that it still exists now; I had no idea," he added.
"So what is the true purpose of this thing?"
"In some regions, some people still consider it a kind of painkiller or a drug to let people pass away peacefully. But there’s the fear of those with ulterior motives using it to kill without leaving a trace. Once it enters the body, it causes all the organs to gradually fail, and it’s impossible to detect from the outside."
"Good lord, I never thought such a thing existed!"
"You’re not the only one surprised. Yes, it used to exist, but I never imagined it would reappear here after nearly 20 years, especially given such harsh living conditions. Average people simply can’t cultivate it, since it requires care three times a day."
"Care three times a day?"
"Yes, it’s a very delicate plant. It has an exceptionally short growth cycle, about seven days per cycle. Then, roughly after seven days, it’s likely to produce one such pellet."
"One pellet in seven days? Are you saying that one plot of land could yield a lot of these pellets?"
"You’ve got it wrong. It’s merely a seedling; what it produces is nowhere near enough to be considered a viable product. It mainly consists of thousands of these plants. I don’t know how large your greenhouses are, but in my observation, if everything is produced in high volume without any loss, you might end up with only two pellets, that’s it."
Liu Zheng now felt somewhat confused by the math. There were about ten greenhouses in his village’s cultivation area. If they cycled as described, those ten would produce around 20 pellets per week.
"Looking at it that way, it seems they wouldn’t earn much."
"It’s a long-term operation. And as I told you, the growth cycle is about a week. In a month, they could harvest up to four times. Think about how much that would amount to? And another thing, this product fetches an extremely high price on the black market."
"I thought it would be a simple case to handle, but I never expected someone to be so bold. To secretly cultivate such things in the village? I have no idea how many years he’s been operating in secret?"
"This is something that poses a great danger to humanity, so none of it should exist."
"The key issue now is, on what grounds can we eliminate these greenhouses? Also, if we report it directly now, could there be someone who interferes?"
"Without solid evidence, it would all be in vain. Besides, this thing has a special efficacy. Among all these medicinal herbs, if you add a certain special element, all the seedlings could turn into a very common medicinal material overnight, which is often beneficial to humans. If you report it then, you might just spook the quarry."
"So, neither reporting nor staying silent seems right. Elder, what should we do? As the village chief, I absolutely won’t allow such things to happen in our village."
"Don’t worry, there’s actually another herb that pairs perfectly with it. When mixed with this vaccine, they may completely rot overnight, so they won’t get anything out of it."
"Are you sure? What is this thing?"
"What it is, you needn’t worry about. I need to go into your mountains, though. I want to see if there are still valuable things deep in the woods. I’ve heard that your mountainous area produces many precious herbs. It’s just that I haven’t come because of the distance. Liu Yang told me you go into the mountains to gather herbs every now and then, is that right?"
"Right, about once every half month. The amount of herbs depends on the patients’ conditions, so it’s generally no more than a month between trips."
"If you’re interested, how about we go together tonight? I heard from Liu Yang that you enjoy night gathering. To be honest, I haven’t done it for many years because of my poor eyesight."
"Of course, there’s no problem, elder. You know, I’ve always dreamed of going into the mountains with you to gather herbs because I could learn so much from you. That’s great, then we’ll act tonight."
The elder nodded in satisfaction. Seeing his confident demeanor, Liu Zheng wasn’t overly worried. With the elder’s guidance, he reckoned they could resolve the issue.
"Elder, it’s getting late. I’ll call the village canteen to prepare a meal for us. After dinner, we can go into the mountains together. Wouldn’t that be even better?"
Upon hearing this, the elder simply shook his head slightly but didn’t respond directly. This puzzled Liu Zheng—it was just a meal to express his admiration, so why didn’t the elder want to give him the chance?
"Master, don’t bother anymore. My grandfather has a habit of not eating anything before going into the mountains to gather herbs."
