I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

Lin Chen was sorting medicinal herbs in the clinic when his cell phone suddenly rang.

"Doctor Lin, I'm Manager Zhang from Huayuan Pharmaceutical Group. I'd like to invite you to an academic exchange meeting." A polite voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in these." Lin Chen was about to hang up the phone.

"Wait!" Manager Zhang said hurriedly, "This time is different. Our company has a collection of a precious ancient Chinese medical book, the Hua Tuo Classic. It's said to be a national treasure that has been brought back from overseas."

Lin Chen's grip on the phone tightened. Hua Tuo's Classic of Medicine? That was the legendary medical canon, lost for millennia.

"Are you sure this is the real Hua Tuo Sutra?"

"Absolutely true! This academic conference is centered around this ancient book, and we've invited top Chinese medicine experts from around the country. If you're interested..."

"I'll join." Lin Chen had almost no hesitation.

Three days later, Lin Chen and more than 40 other TCM experts boarded a cruise ship bound for an island in the South China Sea. The TCM practitioners on board were all extremely excited, discussing the legend of the Hua Tuo Classic.

"I heard that before Hua Tuo was killed by Cao Cao, he wrote down his life's medical skills in a book and gave it to the jailer." An old Chinese doctor sighed.

"It's a pity that it was lost later. I didn't expect it to see the light of day again." Another person continued.

Lin Chen stood on the deck, feeling the sea breeze, but he felt a sense of unease in his heart. This all seemed to be going too smoothly.

The cruise ship docked at a small island with modern buildings that looked like a specialized research base. Manager Zhang greeted everyone with a broad smile.

"Thank you for your hard work, experts! Rest up tonight and we'll officially begin the academic exchange tomorrow."

That night, Lin Chen tossed and turned in his room. This island gave him an indescribable, eerie feeling. Although the staff around him were polite, there was always a hint of calculation in their eyes.

The next morning, all the TCM practitioners were gathered in a hall. Manager Zhang stood on the stage, and the screen behind him displayed the cover of an ancient medical book.

"Everyone, this is the Hua Tuo Classic, which has been lost for a thousand years!" His voice was full of temptation. "However, we have a small request."

The hall fell silent instantly.

"We have some special patients here, and we hope you can use your medical skills to treat them. Whoever has the best treatment effect will own this Hua Tuo Classic!"

As soon as the words fell, the hall erupted in excitement. Many Chinese medicine practitioners, their eyes gleaming with greed, expressed their willingness to participate.

Lin Chen frowned. This was clearly a trap. But the others were already so engrossed in the Hua Tuo Sutra that they refused to listen to any advice.

"I think something is wrong." A voice sounded in Lin Chen's ears.

Lin Chen turned around and saw a middle-aged man in his fifties with a serious face and clear eyes.

"you are?"

"Wang Zhiyuan, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner." The man held out his hand. "Little brother, do you also think this is problematic?"

Lin Chen nodded: "It's too deliberate, and the location of this island is very special, almost isolated from the world."

Wang Zhiyuan glanced at Lin Chen approvingly: "Young people have good judgment. It's a pity that others are blinded by profit."

Soon, the staff led everyone to the "ward area." Lin Chen's uneasiness grew even stronger when he saw those so-called patients.

These patients had strange symptoms: some had black bodies, some foamed at the mouth, and some were convulsing. Most importantly, their eyes were empty and lifeless, as if they were being controlled.

"Where do these patients come from?" Lin Chen asked.

Manager Zhang smiled reluctantly, "They are all volunteers who volunteered to participate in medical research."

"Volunteer?" Wang Zhiyuan sneered. "I've been practicing medicine for 30 years, and I've never seen a volunteer with these symptoms."

But other Chinese medicine practitioners were already impatient to start diagnosing and treating patients. They were scrambling to be the first, fearing they would fall behind, and completely ignored the abnormalities of these patients.

Lin Chen quietly observed the surrounding environment and found that the security on the island was extremely tight, and all communication equipment had been taken away, ostensibly for the sake of confidentiality.

"Doctor Wang, we have to find a way to leave here." Lin Chen whispered to Wang Zhiyuan.

"That's what I thought." Wang Zhiyuan nodded. "But now all the ships are under control. We have to find another way."

At this moment, a young Chinese medicine practitioner suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. He had just been giving acupuncture to a patient when, for some unknown reason, he suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices.

The hall was instantly in chaos.

"What's going on?" Manager Zhang's face changed drastically.

"There's something wrong with this patient!" Lin Chen rushed over to check on the fallen Chinese medicine practitioner. "He's been poisoned!"

"Poisoned? How is that possible?" Other Chinese medicine practitioners stepped back.

Lin Chen examined the patient and found tiny pinholes under his skin, which seemed to contain something.

"These patients have been injected with some kind of toxin!" Lin Chen exclaimed loudly, "Anyone who comes into contact with them will be infected!"

The scene was in complete chaos. Some people demanded to leave immediately, some questioned Lin Chen's judgment, and some insisted that it was just an accident.

Manager Zhang tried to maintain order: "Everyone calm down! This is just an accident, we will handle it properly."

"Accident?" Wang Zhiyuan looked at him coldly, "What on earth do you want to do?"

"Doctor Wang, you're being too serious. We just want to..."

"Enough!" Lin Chen stood up. "You don't have any Hua Tuo Sutra at all. This is all a trap! These patients are your experimental subjects, and we are the next batch!"

There was deathly silence in the hall.

Manager Zhang's expression changed completely, and he dropped his pretense: "Now that we've been discovered, there's nothing we can do."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the hall suddenly closed, and dozens of people in protective suits rushed in, holding strange instruments in their hands.

"Dear experts, welcome to our biological experiment." Manager Zhang's smile turned sinister. "Your medical skills will make a huge contribution to our research."

"You're crazy!" An old Chinese doctor pointed at Manager Zhang, trembling. "We're here to participate in academic exchanges, not to be experimental subjects!"

Manager Zhang sneered, "Academic exchange? Your medical skills are indeed valuable for research, especially for our biological weapons project."

Biological weapons! Lin Chen was shocked. These people actually wanted to use the theory of traditional Chinese medicine to develop biological weapons.

"What country are you from?" Wang Zhiyuan asked in a deep voice.

"That's not important." Manager Zhang waved his hand. "What's important is that your knowledge will bring us a huge breakthrough. The toxins in those patients were developed by us based on the meridian theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

Lin Chen finally understood that these people didn't want a treatment plan, but to improve their biological weapons through the diagnosis and treatment process of traditional Chinese medicine. Every treatment method of traditional Chinese medicine would become a reference for them to improve the toxin.

"Everyone, rest assured. We will provide the best experimental environment." Manager Zhang continued, "Of course, there may be some discomfort during the experiment..."