Chapter 80: Clues Within the Prescription

"What are you two looking at?" Suddenly, a face as pale as a ghost appeared beside Lu Feng and Su Dao'an, peering at them suspiciously.

"Whoa!" Su Dao'an jumped in fright. When he saw who it was, he snapped irritably, "Crazy girl! What are you doing?"

Su Muqing patted the mask on her face. "I was out patrolling today, got tanned, so I came to do a whitening mask."

"A little tan is good for you—healthy," Su Dao'an grumbled.

"No way. If I get tanned, I'll look different from my sister and everyone will recognize me at a glance. That'd be so boring." As she spoke, Su Muqing glanced at the surveillance footage. "What are you two watching?"

"None of your business. Go do your mask." Su Dao'an tried to shoo his youngest daughter away.

"Huh!" Su Muqing suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the female assassin on the screen. "With my Detective Qing intuition, this person is definitely suspicious. Did she steal something?"

That was hardly necessary to say—anyone could see from the footage that the woman avoided every camera, clearly up to no good.

"None of your business. Out, now!" Su Dao'an insisted.

"No way! Someone dares to steal in Yun'an? I have to catch her, or how will I have a future in the police force?" Not only did Su Muqing refuse to leave, she pulled up a chair and sat before the monitor, starting the footage from the beginning.

"Are you leaving or not? Investigating cases—do you think it's fun? Finish school and become a proper household registration officer!" Su Dao'an reached for Su Muqing's ear.

"Hold on! I've got an idea. What did she touch? Let me take it back and lift her fingerprints. If she's a habitual thief, her records will be in the database." Su Muqing suddenly cried out.

Su Dao'an realized this might actually work, so he let go of her ear. "You can access the fingerprint database?"

"Of course. I play on Fat Liu's computer all the time," Su Muqing replied confidently.

Su Dao'an, worried for Lu Feng's safety, looked at him. "Should we try?"

"Suit yourself," Lu Feng said. In truth, he doubted they'd find anything in the fingerprint database. The assassin was highly skilled—people like her wouldn't have a criminal record with the police. If a killer had a record, she'd be finished.

...

When Lu Feng handed the knife he'd taken from the female assassin to Su Muqing, she hesitated for a moment.

"She wasn't here to steal? She was here to rob?" Su Muqing blinked.

"Yes, to rob," Lu Feng nodded—to rob lives.

Su Muqing grew even more indignant. Robbery was far worse than theft. She took the knife, sealed it in a plastic bag, and hurried to the police station, eager to lift fingerprints and unmask this 'robber.'

But just as Lu Feng expected, there was no match for the woman's prints in the database.

...

After careful consideration, Su Dao'an concluded that the identity of the killer mattered less than who had hired her. So he started asking around for information on the underworld.

Lu Feng, meanwhile, believed the clue lay in the prescription, so he wrote out the formula for treating cataracts and analyzed it carefully.

It wasn't a common recipe. Lu Feng took it to Yun'an's largest pharmacy and asked the pharmacist, "Can you fill this prescription?"

"Yes, we can. But this doesn't look like a health supplement," the pharmacist commented curiously.

"I'm not buying yet. I just want to ask—are these ingredients available at any pharmacy?"

The pharmacist glanced at the prescription again. "This woodlouse isn't often used. Smaller shops might not have it."

"Anything else?"

"This bezoar is even rarer—only big, reputable pharmacies carry it. Small shops definitely won't."

Lu Feng nodded, considering. Bezoar was a stone from a dog's stomach, a medicinal ingredient hard to mass-produce and rarely used unless there was no substitute.

"Do you know which pharmacies in Guangzhou sell bezoar?" Lu Feng asked.

"I don't know, but we have it here in Yun'an," the pharmacist replied.

"Could you do me a favor and check how many pharmacies in Guangzhou carry bezoar?" Lu Feng requested.

By now, Lu Feng's status in Yun'an was high. Everyone wanted to curry favor—after all, the chairman's family had only two daughters, and Lu Feng might become their boss one day.

"Certainly, Young Master Feng. When do you need the results?" the pharmacist asked.

"As soon as possible," Lu Feng said.

"No problem. I'll call the suppliers right now."

"Thanks."

...

A little over an hour later, Lu Feng received a list of all the pharmacies in Guangzhou that sold bezoar.

He temporarily ruled out the more distant pharmacies and focused on three major pharmacies in Tianhe District.

Armed with the list and the prescription, Lu Feng took a taxi to visit each one.

Because the prescription was so uncommon, there wouldn't be many regular customers for it. There was a good chance he'd find something.

...

At first, the pharmacy staff refused to tell Lu Feng who had filled the prescription, citing patient confidentiality.

But once Lu Feng revealed his Yun'an credentials, they became cooperative.

The first two pharmacies yielded nothing—the pharmacists recalled filling the prescription before, but only rarely and long ago, so their memories were fuzzy.

At the third pharmacy, finally, a breakthrough.

"I remember this prescription. For the past two months, a young woman has been coming in almost every week for three doses. She was here just yesterday—I remember it clearly," the staff member said.

The prescription matched, and the person filling it was a young woman—very promising.

Lu Feng pressed on, pointing to his left eye. "Does she have a mole at the corner of her eye?"

"Yes, she does. It's what they call a 'tear mole'—quite rare."

"Do you know where she lives?" Lu Feng asked.

The staff shook their head. "No idea. We don't ask customers for their personal details."

"No phone number or anything?" Lu Feng persisted.

"None," the staff repeated.

"Does she drive, or take a taxi?" Lu Feng asked.

"She walks here, but she probably takes the bus—she always heads right when she leaves, toward the bus stop," the staff explained, pointing.

"The bus..." Lu Feng muttered, frowning. If she took the bus, tracking her address would be difficult.

"Hey! That's the girl—isn't that who you're looking for?" The staff suddenly pointed at a young woman entering at the door.

Lu Feng turned quickly, instantly recognizing the female assassin.

The pharmacy was spacious—twenty meters from the entrance to Lu Feng's position, with many counters in between. He glanced swiftly, then turned away before she noticed.

"Shh! Don't say anything. Show me some codonopsis—I want to buy some," Lu Feng quietly told the staff, his back to the assassin.

The staff was puzzled but prioritized business, turning to fetch the codonopsis.