The florist was done smoking and she pulled out a small bottle and spilled a few pills into the palm of her hand. She was just about to swallow them, but I stopped her immediately. She spread out her palm and said, “It’s just Vitamin C pills! I take them every day after a meal!”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll have to check it.”

The florist sighed.

“Seriously now!” she cried.

She handed the pills to Bingxin, who tested them and confirmed that they were uncontaminated. Once cleared, the florist went ahead and swallowed the pills.

“Vitamin C is good for the skin,” Xiaotao remarked. “You really do take good care of your body, don’t you?”

“It’s not just that,” the florist replied. “I went to see Dr. Cheng for an illness a while ago, and he told me to take Vitamin C every day.”

The moment I heard this, I panicked and shouted, “Spit out the pills now!”

The florist froze in shock. She uttered, “What….”

Then suddenly she clutched at her throat with her hands, her eyes rolled back, her mouth foamed, and she collapsed to the floor.

I asked Dali to quickly get some soapy water and inserted my fingers into her throat to induce vomiting. When someone got poisoned, their mouth would sometimes clamp shut and my fingers were at risk of getting bitten, but there was no time to worry about that—I had to save the florist’s life!

After a while, she finally vomited. I turned her over on my lap so she could throw up the contents of her stomach better. At that moment, Dali returned with the soapy water. I poured it into her mouth to force her to vomit again and again.

After that the florist was unconscious. I looked around and yelled, “Dali, find some lilies. We can use that to detoxify her if you crush the flowers in some warm water!”

Dali quickly fetched me the lily water and I fed it to the florist. Immediately, her breathing calmed down a bit. Xiaotao had by then called for the ambulance.

“I don’t get it,” Bingxin said. “How could Vitamin C be that poisonous?”

“Vitamin C on its own isn’t poisonous,” I explained. “But it can convert another substance into poison.”

“Arsenic!” cried Bingxin.

To be precise, Vitamin C could convert arsenic pentoxide, which was fairly harmless, into arsenic trioxide, which was highly poisonous.

Qu Tingting had proven to be extremely cunning. I’d never encountered any criminal like her before. I also had a feeling that she’d escaped far away by now.

Fortunately, at least the florist’s life would be safe. The ambulance arrived and took her away. Xiaotao turned to me and said, “I’m afraid Qu Tingting has already fled…”

“The florist takes Vitamin C pills after her meals every day,” I said. “The fact that she only got poisoned now meant that Qu Tingting must’ve met her last night or this morning. Let’s hope that she can provide us with some clues when she wakes up.”

Xiaotao nodded, then said, “I guess everyone’s starving right now. Let’s eat!”

She then called Wang Yuanchao and ordered him to investigate Qu Tingting’s background. We then stopped at a Chinese restaurant and had lunch there. As we were taking our seats, Bingxin hurried to my side and sat next to me, then turned to Xiaotao and grinned at her.

“Do you realize how ridiculous you are?” asked Xiaotao.

“Don’t know, don’t care!”

“Dude!” whispered Dali. “How did you get so popular with the girls? Teach me your ways, Master!”

I forced a smile in response. After their dispute at the florist, Bingxin probably figured out the relationship between me and Xiaotao. I had no idea if Bingxin was just joking or if she was serious at that point, but in all cases, I felt very uncomfortable being caught in the middle like that!

After the meal, we went to the hospital and waited until around five in the afternoon for the florist to wake up. When she did, she told us that a young woman had visited her shop this morning. She wore a hat and a mask. When she approached her and greeted her, the woman left immediately without saying a word.

“Did you eat or drink anything before and after the woman entered the shop?” I asked.

“I drank a cup of coffee by the windowsill,” the florist recalled. “When I finished the coffee, I found some white particles at the bottom of the cup. I assumed it was sugar that didn’t melt and didn’t think much about it.”

There was no doubt that the young woman was Qu Tingting, and that the particles in the florist’s cup was arsenic.

Xiaotao told the florist to take care and we all left the hospital.

“Where are we going next?” Bingxin asked.

Xiaotao glanced at her phone and said, “Wang Yuanchao found Qu Tingting’s address, but the landlord said she hasn’t returned for a long time and that she owes him three months’ worth of rent.”

“That’s strange,” Bingxin commented. “Where would she stay if she didn’t go back home?”

“Would the process of refining and synthesizing the poisons that she used create a strong smell?” I asked Bingxin.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “We usually need to turn on several air conditioners when we do experiments in the lab.”

“I just realized why we didn’t find anything missing when we checked the hospital inventory!” I laughed.

“Why?” Xiaotao and Bingxin asked simultaneously.

“Qu Tingting was very cautious and didn’t take the drugs from the storeroom,” I explained. “Instead, she took other chemicals and synthesized the drugs herself!”

“Which means that she must’ve stayed at an isolated place where no one is around,” Xiaotao stated.

“Yes,” I said. “Or the basement!”

It was already getting late, and Dali suggested calling it a day but no one agreed because Qu Tingting could flee far away in one night, and she might never be found again if nothing was done till tomorrow.

“Do you have any magical techniques to solve the case this time, Song Yang?” asked Xiaotao.

I frowned and considered it for a while. I did actually have a solution in mind, but I was afraid that the method came with side effects that were too risky. But if Xiaotao knew that I hesitated to use this method because of this concern, she might blame me afterwards, so I decided to say nothing about it.

“I’m going back to the dorm to pick up some things,” I told them. “The rest of you should go on ahead to the university hospital and wait for me there.”

“I’ll go with you!” cried Bingxin.

“No,” I refused her outright. With Xiaotao right there, how could I agree to that? “The ancestral formula of my potion must be kept secret. I have to go back and prepare it by myself.”

So, I went back to the dorm and packed up the materials for the potion which I had bought and stored in my room. I would often stock up the raw medicinal ingredients for my tinctures and potions whenever I had any spare money in case of emergencies. I then quickly prepared the potion. By that time, it was already 8 p.m. so I hailed a cab and went straight to the university hospital.

Although it was late at night, the hospital’s main entrance was still open because they accepted outpatients all round the clock. I headed towards the gynecology department and saw Xiaotao, Bingxin and Dali eating takeaway. Wang Yuanchao had joined them too. Xiaotao and Bingxin were casually chatting with each other about a TV series they were watching. They even looked close and friendly with each other. I found their relationship genuinely confusing.

Xiaotao caught me with the corner of her eye and shouted, “It’s about time you arrived!”

“I came as quickly as I could,” I explained. “Besides, the potion I have here can only be used at night.”

“What exactly is it?” asked Xiaotao. “Why are you so secretive about it?”

“Do you remember Murder Reenactment?”

As soon as she heard those words, her face darkened immediately.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her, “I’ve mastered the dose and made extra sure that it’s appropriate this time. The side effects shouldn’t be too bad…”

“What are you guys talking about?” asked Bingxin.

I explained the principles of Murder Reenactment to her briefly. The method I was going to use this time was slightly different. I would let one person inhale the Dream Potion and ‘become’ Qu Tingting, which would help us track down her movements in her normal daily life.

“Who should play the role of Qu Tingting then?” asked Xiaotao with deeply furrowed brows.

“Let me do it!” Dali offered. “I am psychologically strong!”

“That won’t work,” I shook my head. “We need someone who is impressionable!”

I looked at each of them. Xiaotao’s expressions showed that she was worried and hesitant. Dali looked scared. Bingxin, on the other hand, looked enthusiastic.

“Let’s test everyone’s eyesight!” I announced.

I pretended to pluck a hair off my head, trying to be as convincing as possible, then asked them, “I have a very thin strand of hair in my hand. Which one of you can see it?”

Dali scrutinized my hand for a long time and exclaimed, “Shit! Have I been watching too many movies recently that my eyes are damaged? I can’t see anything at all!”

Wang Yuanchao merely shook his head.

Bingxin stared at my hand for a long time and excitedly cried, “Ah, I can see it, Song Yang-gege!”

Xiaotao grabbed my hand and said, “You’re lying to us! There’s nothing in your hand.”

“You’re right,” I admitted. “I have nothing in my hand. This is just an impressionability test.”

Bingxin bit her nails and muttered, “But I really did see the hair just now…”

And that proved that Bingxin was the best candidate among us to become Qu Tingting!